I am saddened to say that this is the final chapter to A Turtle Divided. Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, everything! I hope you'll stick around for my other stories as well!

Epilogue

April sighed and ran a hand through her ginger hair. It was nine o'clock at night and here she was, hunched like a weird hermit over yet another pile of papers. This was the most boring aspect of her life, one that she wished she could avoid.

Oh well, if the joys of teaching must come with a price, she'll just have to pay it.

She paused, dropped her pen and took out her laptop, typing in 'Offer Gregory Jameson place in Adv. Psychology class', pleased by her student's amazing progress. He was almost as smart as Donatello!

Her phone rang, and she scooped it up, eager for some diversion from the endless grading.

"Aunt-pril?" Came a small voice from the other end. She smiled.

"Yes, sweetheart?" There was a hesitation.

"Could, um, could Dulcie come over? To play?" She thought for a moment.

"Honey, I'm at work, and it's nine at night." There was a dejected sigh on the other end. "So how about you spend the night at our house instead?" She offered. There was an excited squeal and the sound of things being shoved into a bag.

"Sure! Thanks, Aunt-pril! I'll be over in ten minutes!" The child exclaimed, hanging up. April placed the phone on the hook and started to pack up. Looked like that was all she would get done tonight!

She pulled into the driveway twenty minutes later, flopping tiredly on the couch as soon as she was in the door.

"How was work?" Came her husband's voice. She moaned out something nonspecific into the couch's cushions. There was a chuckle and then the feeling of added weight on the cushion next to her.

"That bad, huh?" He didn't expect an answer to that, just began massaging her shoulders and smiling softly as she sighed in relief.

"Oh, and Angel got here like, five minutes ago. She said you invited her over? Anyways, she and Dulcinea are in her room, playing something or other." He informed her. When April just nodded slightly in response, he chuckled again and pulled her up to lean against his side. She gladly snuggled into him and closed her eyes.

"Mikey called earlier, by the way. Told me to tell you that Erica is doing just fine, my math was correct after all!" He said rather triumphantly. This was their daily routine. She would get home from work, the girls would normally be in bed, and they would tell each other about their day. She listened contentedly to the rumbling in his chest as he spoke. "I finished reading Don Quixote with Dulcinea this morning. A lot sooner than I expected; kid's learning faster than I can teach." He said fondly. "I can't wait until Juliet starts reading. I'm so proud of them both." And he was; there was no way he couldn't be proud of his beautiful baby girls.

April opened her eyes and stared at the family photo on the mantel.

The picture showed the mother and the father with an arm wrapped around the other's back, each putting one hand on a daughter's shoulder. The older girl, Dulcinea, was six years old at the time, her curly auburn hair held back in an intricate braid. She wore a simple blue dress with a nice white bow around the waist, and a silver heart locket her father had made her was adorning her neck. She had big, expressive brown eyes- like her father- and a lanky stature- also her father. She inherited her mother's strong jawline and button nose, but that was about it. She was a daddy's girl.

Juliet, the younger sister, was about two at the time, and she had thin, wispy red hair tied up in a cute little butterfly pin. She wore a pink polka-dot dress, and she had a heart anklet from her father. She stood on tottery legs next to her older sister, her big blue eyes glinting with childish happiness as she smiled very widely at the camera. Juliet was a momma's girl.

April herself was dressed in a long, elegant black dress and wore a simple bead necklace and earrings. Her newly cut short red hair was swept to the side, and her wedding ring- made for her by her husband- was a small silver band with hearts engraved along the sides. She looked so happy with her small family.

And last but not least; her husband. He stood taller than the others, wearing nothing except his mask, a matching purple bowtie, and a specially made wedding band on his finger. Donatello smiled blissfully.

April remembered when he had first proposed almost ten years ago. He had gotten down on one knee, offered his ring to her, and then he had pulled out a simple sheet of paper covered in writing, stuttering out, "B-before you answer, l-look what I c-can give you." As if she would have said no without whatever little gift it was! While she knew she could never have the children she had wanted, she had made peace with that disappointment when their relationship started to get more serious. And so, as she scanned through the lines and lines of Donnie's rough scrawl, her eyes widened in shock and her lips slowly turned up as the scientist in her realized what exactly this meant.

"Is this…?" She gasped. He smiled and nodded. Beaming, she tackled him in a hug and repeated the word 'yes' at least a hundred times.

He had created some sort of formula that made their DNA compatible enough to create life. It simply took two blood samples, two skin samples, and two saliva samples. Then the samples were added to one heated mixture of carefully-measured chemicals (which she honestly couldn't pronounce) and various other things, then sealed into a sort of bioengineered 'egg' and surgically implanted into the woman's womb. Six months later, a healthy baby is born.

"Daddy, daddy! Angel says her daddy used to kick ask with you and uncles! Izzit true? Did you kick ask?" Little Juliet cried, running up to her father and jumping onto his plastron.

"Juliet, we don't say that in this house." He warned sternly. She bashfully lowered her head before apologizing and re-stating her previous question.

"Yes, it is true. In fact, Uncle Raphie still does it with Uncle Casey, remember? My brothers sometimes join him, but I don't." Little Angel came in, pushing her black hair from her face.

"Uncle Donnie? Why not?" She asked, her big green eyes- identical to her mother's- full of curiosity. Donnie frowned, remembering.

He remembered his brothers' shocked faces and his blood-covered hands as he awoke to find a body slumped in front of him. He remembered panicking, not knowing what had happened after slipping into 'Beau Mode'. He remembered feeling sick when he found himself stepping in a pool of crimson fluid that could only be blood.

He had tried so hard to control his other personalities, and hated that Beau had just slipped from his grasp like that. And now he had killed somebody, and he was debating whether or not to flee. But then Raph had come up to him with a proud smirk and pat him on the back in congratulations, and he remembered who in fact they had been battling when he had slipped. The decapitated body of the Shredder lay before him, and he suddenly dropped the twin blades he found himself to be holding. Even if what he did was considered a good thing, he despised the fact that he had killed someone.

He swore he would never battle again after that. After all, he was a newlywed then, and he did have a family to care for. He still kept up with his training, but now mostly devoted his life to his experiments, his reading, his studies, and most importantly, his family.

April had written a paper a few years back about his specific case of split personality disorder (excluding the turtley details) and had gotten a scholarship with it. From there she had gotten several degrees in Psychology, and was now a world-renowned Psychology professor and author. She had helped engineer more effective medicines for the condition, and even helped Donnie create one for himself so that he was in charge of the other five. He took his meds every day, and now rarely had any incidents, much to his relief. Still though, Yakko's ability to turn educational information into catchy songs was quite handy with Dulcinea's homework. Thanks to him, she never forgot the nations of the world, the US presidents, or how earthquakes worked.

He smiled. "Because I have such a wonderful family to take care of." He pulled his two daughters close and the four of them cuddled up, and he rubbed his hand down Juliet's back. While both girls had human appearances, they still had turtle DNA in them. That's why Juliet had a rather hard, rounded back with hexagonal birthmarks in several places, and why Dulcinea had a slightly pale green complexion (hardly noticeable) and a really armored front, like a plastron underneath her skin.

They were the closest things to perfection he had ever seen. No, correction, they were perfection itself. They were his little miracles, and he loved them with every inch of his heart.

He smiled and released the two squirming girls, then hugged his wife closer. The three little girls sat on the floor in front of them when he told them he had good news to share.

"Did you girls know that you have two new baby cousins to meet tomorrow?" He asked, and the girls all squeed with delight.

"Is it a girl? I want to do her hair!" Dulcie proclaimed.

"I just heard this morning that Mikey and Erica's first baby was born today, girls! And it's healthy…" He paused for dramatic effect, "… Boy!" While there was a bit of disappointment from the two Hamato girls, the lone Jones girl jumped up and pumped her fist.

"Yesss! A cool little dude I can hang out with!" She said excitedly.

"His name is Miko."

"What? What kind of a name is that?"

"Isn't that the one raccoon from Poke-uh-haunt-is?"

"No, well yes, I suppose, but it was Erica's idea and Mikey let her choose."

"Fine, whatever."

"Who's the other cousin?" Donnie smiled at the excitement in his eldest's eyes.

"Remember Auntie Lisa was the other carrier this year?

"YEAH!"

"Well, yesterday Uncle Raphie called me and told me that they had a little girl." He paused as his daughters let out the pent up squeals. "Her name is Monalisa."

"Oh! Like when Uncle Lilo named his baby girl Venus DeMilo?"

"Yes, they are both renaissance names."

"Rennah-wha?"

"The Italian Renaissance was a time period during the 14th- 16th centuries also called 'the awakening' amongst other names, during which several artists formed new ways to create-"

"Okay, speak English?"

As Dulcinea explained in a more dumbed-down way, Donnie watched the scene with nostalgia as he remembered so many times when he had done the same thing with his brothers and friends. My, how they had all grown up.

After his compatibility-formula proved to be a glorious success with little Dulcinea as the result, he had quickly made another 'batch' of it and altered it a little to better fit each of his brothers' unique types. As a result, every brother and their wives had a child. They all sang praises to Donnie's name for allowing them the impossible. They all were implanted at almost the same time, so it was like a big baby boom year for them.

"Alright, go play. You have twenty minutes 'til bed." He said, shaking his head. Suddenly he blinked quickly and then looked to Dulcinea sternly. "And stop considering hiding from us to avoid it." He said suspiciously, before blinking quickly again and relaxing into the couch. April giggled as the three girls smiled innocently before rushing out of the room.

"Was bringing William out really necessary?" She asked in mock-frustration. He smirked and kissed her head.

"What can I say? He's better with reading them than I am!" She giggled again and closed her eyes, sinking further into his side. She found it almost amusing now that he could control which personality he changed to. He used it when it was needed, and it was quite handy!

Twenty minutes later found the girls all camped out in Juliet's room, tucked into their sleeping bags and clad in various forms of pajamas. Their teeth were brushed, their hair was washed, and they were all trying hard not to fall asleep right then. Donatello stood in the doorway, turned off the light and started to walk away.

"Wait! Daddy!" Dulcie called out, stopping him mid-step. He turned back around.

"Yes?" The girl laughed and hid half her face under her blanket.

"You have to do the thing!" She cried. He looked fake-thoughtful.

"Which thing? I do a lot of things." He teased. She giggled again.

"No! The goodnight funny thing!" She exclaimed. He sighed and nodded.

Blinking his eyes very fast, he slouched in a new posture and saluted exaggeratedly at the three children.

"Goodnight everybody!" He said in a high-pitched voice, before disappearing down the hall.

Fin

And there it is! The happy ending!

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Your encouragement has been so wonderful!

Don't go changing for nobody!

God Bless!

~Violet-Bo