By now, the Foot had returned to New York. They had heard the news reports from down in Springfield, Georgia a month ago, and had gone to investigate. Some of the ninjas had gone out in ordinary clothes and talked to the police of the town.
The Sergeant had told them that he had tried to intercept the creature, but he couldn't catch him, and he hadn't been seen since that day. Surely it had moved on.
The Shredder knew that Leonardo's loyalty to his family was too strong. He would be headed for home no doubt. He would go there and wait. Leonardo would show up there sooner or later.
The first day on bed-rest: Leo woke up and went to the bathroom. He went to join his family for breakfast. He yawned as he came in.
"Leo, what are you doing up?" Don asked.
"Is it okay if I can join for breakfast?"
"Ok. This time Leo, but most of the time, I'd much rather you stay in bed." Don said.
"What's wrong with him eating with us at the table Don? It'd be good for him to be out of bed too." Mikey said.
"Because Mikey, he needs to stay off his feet. It could help to prevent a lot more stomach troubles." Don stated.
Leo knew this bed-rest thing wasn't going to be easy. It was only the first day. He was used to joining his family for meals at the table. But as soon as eating was over, Don got insistent on him returning to bed.
"Okay Don. I'm going." Leo said in an annoyed tone.
Once back in bed, Leo let out a huge breath. He leaned his shell to the wall, sitting up. He looked down at his stomach. "I wouldn't have to be on bed-rest if you weren't attached to my intestine, Little One." Leo said to the baby. "But I'm trying to get you to the best point possible for you to be able to come into this world. But I do know I can't wait to have my body to myself again too." He gave his swollen belly a rub.
The baby kicked out at his hand.
Leo smiled. For now, the new feeling of the baby's kicking wasn't bad. But it wouldn't be long before it would seem to get old.
Leo did some more reading. He didn't want to go back to sleep. He read that soon, even though feeling the baby could give the 'mother' some comfort in knowing the child is alive, but the bigger the baby gets, the more uncomfortable it gets with its movements. And the more pressure is applied to the internal organs.
"Great." Leo said in annoyance. "The last thing I need is more stomach problems."
He soon felt tired. Leo fell asleep and slept till before dinner.
Don came in to see if he was hungry and found him asleep. He was happy to see Leo taking it easy. He came over and gently shook him awake.
Leo groaned. "What?"
"Dinner's ready. You want some?" Don asked.
"Do I have to eat it in here?" Leo asked.
"I guess for the time being, until the baby gets bigger, you can still come and eat with us at the table for awhile longer. But it's straight back to bed after that." Don said.
"Alright."
Leo got up slowly and followed Don out to the kitchen, where Raph, Mikey, and Splinter were all waiting for them.
While the rest of his family loaded their plates pretty good, Leo only ate some salad and rice for his dinner. He didn't eat much. It was just that where the baby was, it was harder on his digestive system with the weight of the baby on it.
"Shouldn't you eat a bit more than that Leonardo?" Splinter asked.
"I can't Sensei. If I do, it upsets my stomach." Leo already knew his eating limits. "I have to eat several small meals a day."
"Very well my son. Take care."
"Do you want to watch some TV with us?" Mikey asked.
Don gave his baby bro a glare. Mike caught it.
"Oh come on Don! Let Leo watch some TV! He needs to get out of his room! He can't stay in there all the time!" Mikey defended against Leo getting so bored in there.
Leo liked his baby bro sticking up for him. And he was supposed to be the leader here. He held a giggle in.
"I think we need to come up with a plan here Don." Leo said. "About when I can be up, and when I can't. But I promise to just relax."
"I know this is only the first day of this, but perhaps, you are right Leo." Don agreed. "Since you are the best one at planning things out, you come up with a schedule and I'll give it a look over. If I find it satisfactory, I'll let you get out of bed at certain times of the day."
"Good." Leo said. "I can't stay in bed at all times of the day."
After dinner, they all watched some TV for a little while before Don began to urge Leo back to his room. To Raph and Mikey, they sure were going to have to get used to Don being the more pushy one. But it was only towards Leo, his condition and all.
Raph had had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. The medic and genius of the family being just concerned and making Leo go to bed all the time. But it was for the baby's and Leo's sakes to help him avoid too many stomach issues.
Ever since Leo had found out about his pregnancy, aside from all the hunger issues he and the others experienced when they were young kids, Leo had never had this many stomach issues in his life. Now, with a baby inside him, the bed-rest was all for that.
Leo was more than happy to be the one deciding his own hours to be up out of bed, but still relaxing. He got out a pen and paper and began writing down what he wanted to do. He didn't come up with any moving around activities or anything, but Don had told him to do this, and as much as he cared about Don, he didn't like to be fussed over all the time. He wanted Don off his back about this.
And, while Leo was coming up with a schedule, Don was doing some research on bed-rest. There were 4 categories to choose from: house arrest, partial or modified, strict, or complete bed-rest.
Don knew that Leo's pregnancy was a very high risk one, but he knew Leo was too stubborn to want to stay in bed all the time.
In house arrest, Leo would only be able to move around the lair as much as he wanted, but he couldn't be lifting or exercising. But his rule of no going upstairs still stood.
In the partial one, Leo could be able to leave to go to April's at least, but he had to spend a quantity of the day resting too. And again, no exercise or lifting. But there was more freedom.
Don didn't want to put Leo on strict or complete bed-rest. He would only let Leo be on the first one. His pregnancy was too high risk for him to be venturing out anymore. Even to April's, now that the baby was moving. If she wanted to see him, she would have to come here. But Don also wanted to be fair to his bro, to let him have some freedom from his bed too. He needed to stay off his feet most of the time however.
Leo soon came into the lab with his schedule written down. "Don, I have my schedule written down."
Don turned. "I'm sorry Leo. I was overreacting. I thought you had to be on complete bed-rest, but I did some research while you were doing that. I want to talk to you."
"Ok." Leo said.
"Leo, I did some research on kinds of bed-rest for a pregnant uh, mother. When the pregnancy is high risk, and I know how you don't like to be confined to bed, and I just don't want to worry about you outside the lair. So the best option for you is, it might sound kind of mean, but the house arrest kind. You can move about the lair, but please, don't go upstairs, there will be no lifting and no exercising. Otherwise, as long as you just stay off your feet as much as possible, you can move about the lair." Don explained. "And your pregnancy is very high risk Leo."
"I know that Don. And thanks. I'll be happy to go along with that. I don't want to feel like I'm just a shadow in the background. Me being in bed all the time while you get to have all the fun out here? I don't want to be like that. I still want to hang out." Leo said.
"And you can. Just do like what I said. I don't want you going into labor or having too many stomach problems." Don said.
"I don't think I'm going into labor for awhile Don." Leo said.
"But you never know Leo. I don't want you under any stress. At least this way, you can also still eat with us and watch TV anytime you want. And play some games."
Leo smiled. His doctor bro was being very considerate of him. Though he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, Leo would be more than happy to move about the lair. If that's how it had to be.