Chapter Text
April was quickly approaching and it showed in how much food the turtles were consuming. Plans had to be made about the children being watched while they were indisposed of for as long as two weeks. After that there'd be talk of adding to their young family. Donnie was still in his lab, muttering to himself about this experiment he wanted to do while Raph and Leo focused on the toddlers that were steadily running amuck.
"How in the world is Dad and sis going to deal with these guys?" Raph asked as he watched Musashi and Darwin chase each other around in some form of tag. Every time they ran past Newton, the little turtle would pop his head into his shell, peeking out cautiously. Kenta was watching his brothers on the other side of the room and then decided to move over to Newton to play with his dino beside him. "They're absolutely hyper after feeding them and they still have the dojo to deal with."
"I don't know. What I do know is that we won't be capable caring for them."
"Dudes, I told you, if you guys only take a week, we'll hold out. Donnie was working on some sort of preventative for Omegas anyway." Mikey knew how important family was to Raph and hell, he wanted to increase his own family as well. The thing was he could wait because Donnie could wait.
"Contraception," Donnie corrected as he emerged from his lab for coffee. "I think it's important especially as we age."
Raph gave Don a weird look. "Why's that?"
"Because as we get older, the toll of carrying to term becomes more stressful on the body. And if our egg count turns out to be more like 4 or five instead of 2 or three, our resources are going to be severely taxed."
"As well as our ability to keep ourselves secret," Leo added, understanding immediately. Maybe having such a large family was just a pipe dream. "We'll have to find a large place to live. And food gathering may become more difficult."
Things that Raph hadn't really thought about. Neither had Mikey, for that matter, but it wasn't like it was something Mikey would think about anyway. "So are you going to test it out?"
Donatello nodded. "This season. Time to see if this actually works." His eyes went to Mikey who smiled encouragingly, nodding a second later.
Raph saw it. Michelangelo didn't seem entirely on board and yet Donnie had continued to push his way to making the decision. He had no idea how to address it, though. Instead he grumbled something and left the room to go beat on his punching bag. Leo was about to say something but Kenta was before him, doing a very distinctive dance. "Otu..peepee."
"Okay, let's go." Leo was up in a rush, ushering his young son into the bathroom.
Michelangelo sighed a bit, moving to fit up against Donnie's side. "We can try for more next time, right?"
"Of course, Mikey." Don curled his scarred arm around his mate. "It's a given that during an Omega's season, they will produce offspring. If we're successful in preventing that, I'll feel a lot better about the future." He paused for a moment, noting Mikey's morose expression. "Are you still okay with this?"
"Yeah, I am." While the Alpha sounded sincere, he was still saddened. "It's just... I was looking forward to talking to your egg bump, again. Waiting for our kids and telling our friends ---even telling our boys that they're gonna be big brothers. I never got the chance to be a big brother."
The admission struck a chord in Donatello and he clung to his mate. "Oh, Michelangelo."
"It's okay, dude! Really." Yet Mikey hugged Donnie tight. "It's for the good of the family, right? And like you said, there's next time."
"There is. There definitely is."
"Then I'm okay with it. I want to do my part in helping us do better."
"And that's why I love you, Mikey."
*********
All the kids knew was that they were going to have a 'camp out' with their Sofu and Obasan and her friend, Peter. Peter was still trying to gain favor with the turtles and Leo was apprehensive about the male being around his children even though he trusted Miwa implicitly. It probably didn't help that their initial meeting was a year ago and not exactly on the best of terms.
It had been a year since Casey and April got married. The twins were well on their way to walking and talking fluently. Miwa had just warmed Peter up to the idea that her brothers were not necessarily public friendly. And Peter accepted that, assuming she meant that they had the Variant. He didn't know any Alphas or Omegas that were well accepted. Hell, many times they were treated as second class citizens or worse, depending on where you were from. Peter listened to Miwa's stories about her brothers, laughed at their antics, became supportive in her emotional distress. He took it all in stride when she said that they were adopted. So they weren't Asian. And given their names, he had to wonder what in the world Yoshi was smoking at the time. And finally, after another six months of negotiating, her brothers agreed to meeting Peter for the first time. Which was weird, in a sense, because wasn't it Peter who should have been agreeing to it?
Never the less, it was happening in Miwa's home, after dinner. Miwa told Peter to wait in the dojo and he did so patiently, deciding to admire the art that supposedly the brothers had painted themselves. Somewhere in another section of the house he heard commotion and the scampering of little feet and joyful calls to 'sofu.' There was definitely more than one child and Yoshi sounded happy to see his grandchildren. It brought a smile to Peter's face to hear Yoshi offer to make them some popped corn and watch some stories on the television. There was a chorus of 'Paw Patrol!' and then the noise dissipated. He smiled as Miwa entered the room, sliding around the shoji.
"Ready?"
"It's about time!" Peter wondered what football teams they were into. And if that meant soccer or American Football. He was eager to have another set of friends and most importantly get to know Miwa's family a little more. She had always been so secretive and protective over them that he knew they were special. He just hoped that he had proven himself worthy to earn her trust. His smile faded as he looked at the blindfold in her hands. "What's that for?"
"It's Leo's condition. You should meet them as people first," Miwa explained, tying it behind his head and kissing his temple in the process.
"Leo's condition? What, are they two headed or something?" Peter was joking but didn't hear Miwa respond. She simply lead him to some cushions to sit. Without his sight, he had to rely on his other senses. Hearing was actually more difficult than he thought since he didn't hear them until one said something to Miwa and then they removed their 'gear' as requested. He tried to figure out who was wearing the strong cologne and then realized belatedly that it smelled a little like garbage. His nose wrinkled a bit.
"Thought you said he couldn't see us?" He had no idea who said that, just that the voice was gruff and defensive sounding.
Peter's voice was flat. "My nose isn't blind."
"Oh, lookit! A comedian!"
"Settle down, Raphael." This voice was next to the first and seeming to be the reasonable one. "Thank you for indulging us in this. We are an extremely private family."
"You must be Leonardo." Peter took a hunch.
"Yes."
"Alright! So... how long is this going to last?"
"As long as necessary."
"Do you do this with your students at your dojo, where ever it is?"
"No. They're too young to be taught blind skills."
Okay, that was a weird answer. Peter wondered where Miwa had moved to during all of this. It would have been nice to have her close. "So....kids."
"Yeah?" Raphael seemed to be the most vocal one out of the bunch.
"Who's are they? How many?" Trying for small talk while blindfolded wasn't the easiest thing to do. Peter tried to sit back and act casual but alas, he was on a cushion.
"Ours?" Peter could see the confused sneer of this Raphael in his mind's eye.
"But you're brothers."
"Not by genetics," responded a third voice. "None of us are genetically related to each other and we all have the Variant. It was perfectly logical to turn to each other considering in a city of nearly nine million, only sixteen thousand carry the Variant."
"Ah!" Peter pointed in the direction of the third voice. "Donatello?"
"Yes, that's correct. The children are--"
"Wait. You guys were okay with bonin' each other?"
Donnie's lips pursed together as he was interrupted. "We don't carry a Westermark Effect on each other."
"Westermark?" A fourth voice appeared. It had to be Mikey, Peter concluded. "What's that, D?"
"The Westermark Effect is essentially a hard wire in the human genome to create incest avoidance. By the age of six, humans who were brought up together very closely develop a sexual repulsion towards each other in that specific group. They won't find siblings, first cousins and the like as a potential compatible mate."
Peter caught onto the way Donatello said humans and he tilted his head a bit. It was interesting the way Donatello explained the definition. "So you guys were adopted later on in life."
"....Sure."
Oh, that definitely didn't set off little mystery alarms on him! "Alright. So you guys are parents. Congratulations."
"Thank you." Back to Leonardo, now. "How long have you been seeing Miwa?"
Ah, the questioning was out of his hands now. "A little over a year and a half, now."
"How do you feel about her keeping us a secret?"
"I'm sure she has her reasons." Peter turned his head, hoping that he could catch her making a noise. "Or should I say I'm sure you have your reasons?"
"She's not in the room."
That...was not a comforting thing. Peter sat a little more stiffly. "Okay. So why all this? Why.... play good cop, bad cop with me?"
"This is for our sister's sake."
"Seriously? You expect me to believe that?"
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, it is what it is." Leonardo continued his level, civil tone. "I told her once when I first discovered that she had someone special in her life that if he was the one, choose him. Miwa doesn't want to live separate lives any more. She doesn't want to loose us or you and I can appreciate that. However, I will not jeapordize my family. I will not put my children in danger. But I will trust Miwa's judgement. If she trusts you, then you deserve some chance." There was a snort at the end. Peter was certain it wasn't from Leonardo. "Miwa does not give her loyalties freely."
"Fair enough." Peter had a feeling he was going to be talking blind for a while. "So. Ask away."
Two hours into the 200 questions game, Peter caught the sound of running feet. "DA!" There was another shuffle and suddenly gruff, intimidating, threatening Raphael was a giant teddy bear. "I got ya, buddy. What's wrong?"
"Owwie." The little voice sounded wretched as he hiccupped, causing another body to shuffle.
"Let me see." Donnie's voice. "It looks like a scraped knee. Nothing serious. A dab of ointment and a bandaid and it'll be fine, Raph."
"You're sure?"
"I've dealt with worse injuries on you." Donnie shifted his attention. "Do you need us for anything else, Leo? I'd like to get this taken care of."
"No, I think we're good. You can get the kids ready, too."
Yet another shuffle told Peter that someone moved closer. "I got your sh--back, Leo."
"Thanks, Mikey."
"Hey, they sound like a great couple." Peter was sure he'd get points for the compliment. "Taking care of their kid and all."
"Raphael is my mate," Leo informed flatly. "Musashi is our son."
Shit.