After they finished their morning stroll, Valeria checked her email. "Bishop booked me on an afternoon flight," she announced. "Ooooh, I even have an alias."
"What is it?" Don wondered.
"Violet Krej," Valeria answered. "I'm sure the Violet thing is a dig at my hair, but he sure did pick a weird last name."
Don thought for a moment, then let out a hearty laugh. "It's jerk spelled backwards." He grabbed his ribs and doubled over.
Valeria chuckled too. "I guess he's had enough of my nonsense."
Don couldn't stop laughing, even though it was irritating his ribs and getting the babies riled up. "Violet Krej. Who knew Bishop had a sense of humor?"
Valeria frowned. "Sit down before you hurt yourself. It's not like my boss hating me is that funny."
Don obliged, and his laughter gradually died down to a chuckle. He wiped his eyes. "He doesn't hate you. You're one of his 'finest young minds,' remember?" For the last part, Don did the Bishop-impression that they had been messing around with last night.
"That was about 100 hair excuses ago." Valeria dismissed. "Anyway, how long will it take me to get to LaGuardia?"
"Forty-five minutes if you take the subway," Don answered. "Not that I've ever been there myself."
"I guess I'd better leave in an hour or so," Valeria considered. She sat down on the sofa next to him. "I wasn't expecting this to end so quickly."
"Neither was I," Don admitted. "I'm sure you'll be happy to head home though. I was out of ideas for entertaining you anyway."
"Yes, you do stink as a host," Valeria chuckled. "Stuck underground with no way to see the sights, terrible cooking, no TV."
Don exchanged a smile with her, just to make sure that she was kidding. "Keep your opinions to yourself, Krej."
Valeria reached out and touched Don's arm. "I feel sort of badly leaving you. Are you sure that you're okay?"
Don smiled sadly. "Don't worry. I've got friends looking out for me, my brothers too if things get dire. I'll be alright."
"Is it okay if I come and visit you again?" Valeria inquired. "I want to meet those babies of yours."
"Of course it would be okay," Don affirmed.
Valeria showered and packed her clothes into a bag. They shared one final meal together, then set out in the general direction of LaGuardia. Don hadn't planned to walk very far with her. He was going to lead her to a safe manhole, then give her directions to the nearest subway station, but separating from his friend was harder than he expected. He kept delaying and delaying, reasoning that walking was almost as fast as taking the subway, given how often it stopped, and how long loading and offloading passengers took. He aimed for a manhole near the next station, then the next.
Finally, Don couldn't delay it anymore. "Here we are," he said. "This manhole will let you out right behind the station." Don climbed the ladder and moved the lid like a proper gentleman. He came back down the ladder, panting for breath. "Coast is clear."
Valeria looked at him sadly. She had known that he was delaying her departure when the walk had taken twice as long as he had predicted. Separating was going to be hard on her too. Despite the secrets that he kept, Donatello was still a very dear friend, and she was worried about his future. She threw her arms around him. "You take care of yourself."
"I will," Don promised. "Call me when you get home so that I know you're safe."
"I will," Valeria promised in turn. She released him from the embrace, then pulled something out of her bag. She handed it to a curious Donatello. "This is for your babies, and on behalf of all of us at Area 51, thanks for all your hard work and dedication."
Don opened the bag. Three stuffed animals were inside, all of them turtles. "I saw them in the bodega and couldn't resist." She put her hands on either side of Don's protruding belly, silently saying goodbye to his children as well.
Don was thankful that the darkness of the sewers hid that he was getting teared up. These were the first toys that his kids had received, and it was so nice that she was comfortable touching him, even when his own family had avoided it. He hugged her again. "Thanks. I'm really going to miss you."
"Me too," Valeria said. She gave him a final squeeze, then steeled herself and resolutely climbed the ladder. She gave a tiny wave before closing the lid.
Don bit his lip to keep from crying as her face disappeared and his world went dark once more. He had never felt as weighed down as he did on the long walk home.
Donatello got a lot done in the next week. At his request, April and Casey came over every night after work to finish the kitchen remodel. They never asked why he had wanted them to stay off of the security system. Since they didn't ask, Don didn't tell. It would have been hard to describe without getting upset or emotional. In the long run, it didn't matter anyway. Despite her request to visit someday, he doubted that he would ever see Valeria again.
Doing so much manual labor was hard on Don at this stage. He got into the habit of taking nightly baths, often even eating in the tub. It soothed him enough that he could get at least a few hours of sleep afterward. He fixed the TV so that he would have something to watch during his lonely nights.
During the day, he focused on the Earth Defense System. At this point, it was pretty much done, or at the very least it was at a point where Bishop's crew at Area 51 could finish it without him if need be. This was good because Don was really slowing down. The winter always had this effect on the turtles, but this year was worse than ever. Don was so big and uncomfortable. He was exhausted and hurting all the time. Usually, he could soldier through that sort of thing, but since Valeria had left, he'd fallen into a state of perpetual melancholy that was only made worse by the hormones.
Talking to Valeria on the phone only made him sadder. He kept the calls brief and impersonal. It was confusing to Val, but she chalked it up to Don being busy getting ready for the babies. Her calls became more infrequent, but she texted and emailed more to make up for it.
One night, Donatello hit his breaking point. Thinking about how much he missed Valeria had made him realize that he missed his family so much more. He'd never expected romance with Val or anyone else, but he had expected that his lifetime would be spent together with his brothers. Now, when he needed them most, they weren't there. They never even called. Don wondered what he had done that was so horrible. He wondered how he could still love and miss them as much as he did, given that they had abandoned him for no good reason.
When he finally started crying, he couldn't stop.
He sobbed so hard that he feared he would break a rib. His back began to spasm. He was afraid to move his body at all, not even to get a desperately needed tissue. He just buried his face in one of the pillows and let it soak everything up.
April looked in on him using the security camera. She couldn't see where he was, but she could hear his cries. At first, she assumed it would blow over, but when an hour passed and it still didn't, she closed her shop and started running.
April raced towards Leatherhead's old home at top speed, taking only seconds to deactivate the security system. She tore into the bedroom where she knew Don must be. The heart-rending noises ceased the moment he sensed her presence. "April?!" He gasped in surprise, "What are you doing here?" he rasped, as he struggled to move.
April simply continued to run towards him, extending her arms as she did so. Don instinctively did the same, and they caught each other in a firm embrace. He immediately began to sob in her arms, his whole body shuddering. She maneuvered him closer as best she could, rubbing his shell as she did so. "What's wrong, Don?" she soothed.
"Everything. Everything's wrong," he moaned.
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry."
April's concern made Don cry even harder. "I'm so scared, April. Everything hurts. I'm so lonely, and I don't know how to do any of this. My heart is broken."
April knew it was true, so she just held him and let him release these feelings. "Why does life have to be so hard? I don't know what to do," he wailed. "Why doesn't my family love me anymore? I need them so much!"
"They do love you, Don. I know that they do."
"Then why aren't they here?" Donatello demanded. "How could they leave me alone like this?"
"Sometimes the people who love us might do things that hurt us, but that doesn't mean that they don't love us at all," April reasoned as best she could.
Don didn't respond, so she switched tactics. After all, who was she to guess what was going through the other turtles' minds? She was beyond angry with them at this point.
"I love you, Don. I love you," she whispered over and over into his ear. Heavy as he was, she rocked him back and forth as best she could. "We're family too, you know," she comforted. "Your babies will love you too. So many people love you."
After a while, the sobs slowed, and she felt his body begin to relax against hers. Gently as she could, she eased him back into the pillows so that she could look at his face. She lightly massaged his shoulders, as he watched her through half-lidded eyes.
April made Don eat and drink a little, and turned on his heat lamp. She then climbed into bed with him and held him until he fell asleep against her side. She texted Casey to let him know that she was spending the night. The two of them vowed to keep an even closer eye on Donatello. If they had to move in a little earlier than planned, so be it. There was no way that he could continue like this.
I know that it got a bit sad again at the end. The next chapter is much sweeter, I promise.