Growing Up Fast

Part 8

Every day became harder for Donatello to hide his pregnancy. His midsection was slowly becoming rounder. His once hard plastron plates had become flexible. They were still hard, but they were beginning to yield. It began to worry him. He had read that women don't even begin to show at five weeks, and here he was, already showing.

Thankfully, nausea and fatigue were going away, though he still couldn't stomach pizza. His craving for fish and milk grew stronger until he began to swipe pieces of sushi from Splinter's sushi tray.

He also tried to hide a lot from his ever-continuing curious brothers and sensei. He had begun to see them sneaking peeks at him when he wasn't looking. One time he even caught Leonardo staring intently at him, or at least his slightly rounder stomach.

Donatello had cleared his throat, causing Leonardo to look up into Donatello's eyes. Donatello had narrowed his eyes as he stared into Leonardo's. He was being defiant he knew, but if he could just keep this in hiding until he saw Goodfellow, he would relax much easier.

When he finally noticed that all of them and not just Leonardo staring at him, he began to hide it by donning a wider belt and keeping his arms crossed. It made him look moodier and if it hadn't been for April's continued visits and invites to her apartment, even throwing the idea of a Christmas pizza party to them helped distract his brothers away from him.

In the two weeks before Goodfellow was due back, April helped Donatello a lot. He found himself feeling alone and closer to April more than ever. He knew that it was due to the stress and the female hormones that his body was now producing. Sometimes, April would hold him as he cried. She never said a word, only held him. Her being there helped him more than he cared to think.

He also couldn't help but notice things he had never thought of before. Yes, he was a genius, but he also was a teenager. He had loved to goof off as much as his brothers, though he would still get easily distracted by something new, especially if it was in junction with technology.

But now as he awaited Goodfellow to return to New York, he couldn't help but see everything in a different light. His brothers were growing up, though they were still as silly as ever.

April had the biggest change. No longer did she try to use them to rise to the top as a reporter, but she had let go of that part of her life. She had been a good reporter, but she had found her calling as a freelance writer. She wasn't as whiny as she once was.

As Donatello was reflecting on all of this, his turtle com began to beep. Donatello lifted his head from his lab table where he had been resting it. Pulling it out, he clicked it open to see April's face. "What's up, April?" He asked.

"How you feeling, Donatello?" She asked.

"Depressed. I hate hiding this from the others. Any word from Dr. Goodfellow?" Donatello asked as he gave a sigh.

"Yes, that's why I was calling. She gave me a call just now. She's due to arrive tomorrow morning. She said that she got my message. I told her that it was due to you guys. She said to give her a call about ten in the morning tomorrow. I didn't tell her what it was about." April told him.

"Oh, thank you, April. You don't know how much you've helped." Donatello said, tears in his eyes as he felt his mood change. He wiped them way. He hated these hormonal feelings.

"Anytime, Donatello." She paused, "Do you want me to go with you tomorrow?"

Donatello nodded his head. "Would you?"

"Of course, Donatello. Just give me a call whenever you're ready. I've got to go, I've got this deadline due soon, so see you later." April's face then blacked out.