Over the summer months, Donny looked after Jade with the help of his family. He had his family look after her in certain parts of the day so he could get work done in his workshop, but he would still hang with her in the mornings and evenings. He especially put her to bed. She responded to his voice very well. He just had something that could calm her down.

If Don couldn't put her to bed then Leo was the next best one to do it. He might not have been her dad, but he also had a big fatherly touch.

Donny still thought of his son frequently; what would he have looked like and what would he have been like?

Despite how everything had started out that Donatello had wanted nothing to do with, especially since he had been in bad clutches at the time, now that he was back home, Don did now change his mind about it. He did want another baby. But he wanted to wait until Jade was a little older first.

His plastron was healing very well. And as for Leo's plastron, his cover had finally come off and he had a healed plastron now. There was some scarring, but Leo had gone through it to protect Don, and would go through it again, though not wanting it to happen again.

Mikey felt he was Jade's best uncle. He could get her to laugh at him easily. All his childishness could come in more handy now. He felt they would be real close while she was growing up.

While Mikey was the uncle that loved to get her to laugh, Raph focused more on keeping Jade serious. He would talk to her, tell his biggest secrets to, let her play with his mask and some other things.

Leo for the most part just loved holding her. For all the times that he had put in caring for his brothers like a parent, now at last, his parent like concerns and skills were coming in handy looking after a real baby. He knew his brothers were adults, but he just couldn't help but worry about them, especially for Raph's rebellious nature and Mikey's childish ways. Don wasn't too much of a concern, except for right now while he was still recovering and what if this Beatrice woman was still around? More than likely she would be wanting him back.

Leo was looking forward to having a fresh student to teach the ninja arts to in a few years as well. And maybe more if Don decided on carrying any of the frozen embryos in the near future.

Master Splinter spoiled his granddaughter. He would make her laugh with his fur tickling her. He even loved bottle feeding her.

Donny was recovering well and he was back to being busy nearly all the time. The lair just needed him a lot, but he didn't ignore Jade. He spent time with her for some feedings, baths, and bedtime. He would talk to her about how he was looking forward to teaching her many things and that someday she would have another brother or sister.

April and Casey loved watching and holding her too. It just made April want her own kids now. Casey on the other hand thought she was cute, but when it came to wanting his own kids, he wondered if he had what it took to be serious enough to be a good parent. He loved his night excursions and fighting criminals, much like Raph.

…..

By November, Jade was starting to teethe and was started on some baby food, but still took the bottle. She was six months old now. She was sitting up, starting to crawl, meaning that she had to be watched carefully when she was outside her playpen or crib. She was growing up all the time.

Don's plastron was now well enough he could start patrolling again. He would be so happy to get out of the lair again. He had began his training again a month ago. He had had much catching up to do. His foot was fully recovered and had healed long ago.

Don was weary though of going topside again. He wanted to get out yes, but he still worried about his former captor.

The turtles did see Foot patrols they had said. Though if they were seen, more than likely they had thought the turtles were reduced by one.

Splinter watched Jade while the four brothers had a reunion run tonight. Don was finally allowed to be with them again topside!

They played tag and hide and seek, just anything to try to have a good time to celebrate Don's return to the surface world. They even had a pizza and sodas while out.

With everything they were doing tonight, it made Don truly feel like himself again. He was out and about, and he was laughing and smiling. It was really good for his brothers too. They didn't have these moments enough.

The guys were out for a good 3 hours or so, not finding much in the ways of trouble, so they just kept on having fun.

But from a nearby rooftop, there were Foot ninjas watching them. They weren't going to bother the turtles tonight, as they didn't have enough soldiers with them, but they just watched them. They had gotten used to the number of three turtles, but now, they were seeing the turtle in purple with them again. He had survived and made his way back home!

When Beatrice had learned that her turtle was back, that made her more determined to want to get him back. She wanted to know if her experiment had succeeded or failed, and if successful, she would do it to him again. She figured the guys wouldn't bring a baby topside given its vulnerable state.

She had missed being around Donatello. He might not have liked being around her or working for her, but she had found him a delight to be around. And she still wanted more babies from him. She would have the Foot take a go at getting him back, one way or another.

…

The turtles did a lot more patrols together again. For right now, they wanted to make the most of getting out because once colder weather took hold again, there would be limited times of going out for their own good.

Donny was keeping tabs on how cold it would get down in the lair. He was already having Jade being put into her baby clothes to help keep her warmer, but she didn't exactly like being put into these clothes. She would throw fits and get mad every time Don or even one of his brothers would try to dress her. Dealing with the diapers was a little more simple compared to a fussy, mad six month old not wanting clothes on.

Dealing with the clothes was not something Raph liked to deal with because he didn't like to hear his niece screaming in his ears. He usually left that up to his brothers. They didn't like to hear her scream either, but it was for her own good.

Jade was dressed in pink, yellow, green, purple, light shades of blue, and even red and orange colors. They liked to see which colors suited her best. But her color wouldn't be decided till she was a little older.

Splinter always babysat when all of his sons went out. But sometimes one of they guys would stay home and watch Jade too, especially if they wanted one on one time with her while her dad and other uncles were out, and vice versa, Don wanting to spend time with her and her uncles were out.

April and Casey watching Jade was more of a rarity, but they would watch her too if needed. The two of them had discussed kids of their own and were soon going to prepare for them. They were married after all.

…..

The Foot and Beatrice's men were now all working together on patrols. Traps were being set all over the city should the turtles all come into them. The main trap was numbers. But they were to only try to get at them when the purple masked turtle was with them.

Karai also went out with her soldiers sometimes. She could see that Leonardo had recovered from the injuries he had gotten last winter. And she would see to do more harm to him this time and eventually, kill him.

Beatrice didn't care about what happened with the other three, she just wanted Donatello back. She had to know if the experiment had been a success or failure.

Tonight, two turtles were spotted going over rooftops in Chinatown. Donatello was one of them. They were told to engage them.