Tale Of The Lilly

"And where have you been?" Raph asked grabbing my arm.

"Out," I answered briefly.

"Out where?" he twisted my arm.

I just looked at him and he released me. I walked to my computer without any more distractions. The logon took forever, of course. As soon as I was on, I got an instant message from Dr. Rooks.

Rooks05: Donatello, good to see you again.

Generation T: Good to see you, too.

Rooks05: So, have you learned anything from my assistant?

Generation T: Yes, a lot.

Did he know about us? He couldn't have. She would never tell him.

Rooks05: Anything that interests you?

Generation T: The whole field of mutation interests me.

Rooks05: Well, I had pulled up some research of mine from a while ago. Would you like it?

What was his angle?

Generation T: Of course.

Rooks05: Sent. Now I must go. It was good talking top you again. Bye.

Before I could say anything, he got off. I checked my mail and printed off all that Dr. Rooks had sent me. There were at least twenty pages to his study.

That night I sat in my room earnestly reading all that had been sent. The study showed natural and unnatural mutation. The study fascinated me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't put it down. I believe I read it almost eight times before I finally stopped. I placed it on my dresser, and then I went to bed in hopes of seeing Lily tomorrow.

I was at the door at 5:30 again. One of these days Lily will break me of the habit of always being early. Instead of Lily the only person who came was Dr. Rooks.

"Oh, Donatello. I didn't even see you," he said politely.

"Um, Where's lily?" I asked.

"She didn't tell you did she. She's not feeling well, so she's staying home today."

"Could you give me her address?"

"Why would you want to see her at her house?"

"Just need to ask her something from a previous discussion," I lied through my teeth.

Eerily he wrote it down and sent me on my way. It took me a good two hours and stop at a store until I found her place. I climbed up the fire escape and knocked on her window. She opened it and let me in.

She looked pale and sickly. She wore a baggy sweat pants and a baggy shirt. With her wearing that, it made it hard to see here slender form.

"Don, what are you doing here?" she asked almost surprised.

"Came to see how you were doing, and to give you this," I pulled a teddy bear from behind my back.

"Oh, Don. It's so cute. Thank you," she gave me a hug and that's when I noticed. I pulled away from her, and looked at her long and hard. I placed my hands on her stomach.

"You're, you're, you're," I started not releasing my hands from her stomach.

"Yeah. You're a daddy." I picked her up in my arms. I was so happy. I couldn't believe it. I was actually going to have a family, a wife, a child, and a perfect life.

That's all I ever wanted, and now I finally have it.

For weeks I would go to her apartment and take care of her. I was there for her through it all, the morning sickness, cravings, and mood swings.

Especially the mood swings. Surprisingly she didn't gain much weight, but she was only in her fourth month so it was hard to tell. Plus, I didn't know much about babies to begin with. I think I read practically everything to know about babies in the four months.

After I made sure she was okay for the day, I decided to tell my brothers that they would soon be uncles.

"Hey guys. I got something to tell you," I said as I walked into the den.

They were all sitting there, even Splinter, either playing video games or just talking.

"Don, you're in the way," Mikey said motioning for me to get out of the way of the television.

I turned off the television and faced them again, "What I have to say is more important then you're game."

"Out with it then," Leo urged me to continue.

"Well, you guys have noticed that I've been acting strangely lately," they all nodded their heads. "Well, that's because I met this girl. Her name is Lily and she's just great. And..."

"Is that it?" Raph asked rolling his eyes.

"Yes, um, no," I couldn't decide.

"Say what you need to, my son. We are willing to listen," Splinter's words calmed me.

I took a deep breath, "You guys are going to be uncles."

Leo fell off the chair, and Mikey was jumping up and down with happiness. Raph just came over and nudged me as if to say way to go. Even Splinter seemed happy for me.

"So when can we meet her?" Mikey asked finally calming down.

"She goes to work around six. So not until then."

Six o'clock came quickly, quicker than usual. We all met in the den then began the walk to the lab. With each step we took we grew more anxious than before. When we reached the lab the guys stayed in the shadows, as I knocked on the door. For some reason they didn't trust Dr. Rooks, and I didn't understand why.

Dr. Rooks opened the door and poked out his head as if he was scared of something. His suspicious behavior didn't faze me once, maybe because I was too preoccupied with the idea of Lily meeting the guys. When he saw that is was only I, he flung the door wide open.

"Donatello. So good to see you," he said as several men worked behind him in the lab.

"Uh, Dr. Rooks. Sorry if I'm interrupting something," I said while looking at the men.

"You're not interrupting anything. Now what can I help you with?"

"Is Lily here?"

His expression went from happy to sad and distant in moments, "Donatello, didn't she tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"She moved. She had this planned for some time now and she just left yesterday night."

"What?" how could she do this to me? We were supposed to have a family.

"I'm sorry"

"That's okay."

"If you want I could forward you the e-mail she sent explaining everything before she left."

"Please," I walked away with a broken heart and a head full of empty promises.