Shilo was sleeping so peacefully in Raphael's arms that he was loath to put the baby turtle down. While he held Shilo, his brothers made other baby preparations.
Donatello cleaned the plastic storage box thoroughly before placing a cushion in the bottom. Mikey picked out footed pajamas from the selection of baby clothing that April had brought over, choosing one that looked as though it would fit the little turtle.
Taking the bottle they'd fed Shilo from to the kitchen, Leonardo washed it carefully. Then he and April cleared out a kitchen cabinet so there would be a place for the infant's bottles and formula.
Casey had followed Don into his lab in order to retrieve the newspaper that Shilo had been wrapped in. Using a magnifying glass, he studied the paper, looking for trace evidence that could lead him to the woman who had dumped the baby into a trash bin.
Because the newspaper was probably the key to locating the woman, Casey used a great deal of caution in handling it. Besides blood, there were smudges in a number of places, which had very likely come from the oils in the woman's hands.
Using his camera phone, Casey took pictures of the spots where the ink from the newsprint had transferred the woman's fingerprints to the paper. The fact that there were prints on the paper told Casey one thing about the mystery woman; she wasn't conniving. She'd clearly been panicked when she'd wrapped the malformed baby in the newspaper and hadn't thought to cover her tracks.
Don carried the storage box over to the couch and set it down. In a quiet voice, he said, "Let's put Shilo in his new bed."
"Not until he's dressed," Mikey said, waving a diaper in the air. The pajamas he'd chosen were draped over one arm. "You said we can't put blankets on him but he's gotta stay warm."
"Nor do you want him soiling his new bed," Splinter said, his face crinkling with amusement.
"So how are we gonna do this without waking him up?" Raph whispered.
"Keep his head against your shoulder," Splinter instructed, "and hold his body while your brothers dress him."
Once Shilo was in position, his little legs dangling, Don followed the diagram on the package and diapered the baby turtle. Then it was Mikey's turn to place Shilo's feet into the pajamas before working them over his diapered bottom and up onto his carapace. Very gently, Mikey shifted the baby's arms, placing them into the pajama sleeves without waking Shilo.
When they were done, Raph lowered Shilo into his makeshift bed and closed the snaps on the pajamas. Standing around the sleeping baby, the three turtles admired their handiwork.
Seeing April approaching, Mikey said proudly, "We got him dressed and put to bed without waking him."
"Congratulations," April said. With a grin, she added, "Most moms manage that all by themselves."
"It's our first time with a baby, cut us some slack," Mikey said.
"Shh, not so loud Mikey," Don admonished his brother. "You're going to wake him."
"We should make a schedule," Leo said. "When to feed him, when to change him, when to give him a bath, things like that."
April's grin turned into a chuckle. "Good luck with that. I'm afraid babies can't read, so he won't follow your schedule. He'll cry when he wants food, he'll cry when he needs to be changed, he'll cry if he's sleepy, and he'll cry when he wants attention."
"So how the hell do we know what he wants if all he does is cry?" Raph asked.
"You'll start to learn the difference by watching the way he cries," April said. "His behavior will tell you what he needs."
"How come you know so much about babies?" Mikey asked.
"I did a week long segment on the subject for my TV station," April answered. "Each segment was only about ten minutes long, but I was with various new mothers for hours that week. I got hands on experience."
"Please don't ever turn off your phone," Leo said. "We may have to call you at any time for advice."
"All the advice you need is sitting right there," April said, nodding towards their father. "Master Splinter has a lot more experience than I do and he knows everything there is to know about mutated baby turtles."
"Oh right," Mikey said, sitting down on the couch next to Master Splinter, who was leaning over the box to watch Shilo sleep. "I was the cutest one wasn't I, dad?"
"You were all very precious," Master Splinter said, choosing to answer in a diplomatic way. "You each provided your own unique challenges as well."
"He's talking about you," Mikey said, looking up and smirking at Raph.
"I'll show you challenges," Raph growled.
"Shh," Don reminded them again.
"Maybe we should move him into our bedroom and put the box on your bed Donnie," Leo suggested. "Then we won't have to worry about our voices waking him."
"Just make sure that whatever surface you put the bed on isn't one where his movements might cause the box to fall," April warned. "Babies roll. The box will work for now, but he really needs a crib."
"Those things cost money," Leo said. "We can't ask you to foot that sort of bill."
Casey walked up in time to hear that part of the discussion. "I have an idea. There are junk cars in the police impound lot. I could buy a couple of them when they go up for auction and we could restore them here and resell them. If Don can transform a garbage truck into a rolling battle station, he can fix anything."
"That is an excellent idea," Master Splinter said. "We must be as self-sufficient as possible. Will that enterprise bring in enough money to repay both you and April for your purchases?"
"It'll bring in more than enough," Casey said. "I can pick up a junker for a couple hundred bucks and resell it for two or three thousand. We'll have a clean title and everything."
"Don't worry about reimbursing me for the things I brought today," April said. "Consider them a baby shower gift."
Shilo grunted in his sleep, twitching as though he was dreaming.
"I'm going to move him," Leo said, lifting the box off the couch.
Don trailed along behind his brother, helping Leo to get Shilo's box situated safely in the curve of his own bed. Once certain that the box wouldn't fall, the pair rejoined the others.
"There were fingerprints on the newspaper," Casey was telling them as Leo and Don walked up. "I've got a buddy in the crime lab who'll run the prints and get a DNA sample off the blood left on the paper. The woman could be in the system; either because she's had run-ins with the law before, has a driver's license, or had a background check done for employment. We won't know if the woman who turns up is the mother, but we'll have a starting place for finding her."
"I started recording as soon as we saw her," Don said. "I haven't had time to review the footage, but I might be able to zoom in and lighten the image enough to catch a glimpse of her face."
"Can you do that before I leave?" Casey asked. "It'd be good to have a picture to compare to whatever I get from the fingerprints."
Don nodded and went to his computer station to start downloading the recording from his shoulder camera.
April turned to the other turtles and said, "You know, you guys are either going to have to wash all of Shilo's things by hand, or invest in a washing machine and dryer."
"There's room in the garage," Leo said, "if the machines are small."
"Get a set of stackable ones," April said. "Where are you going to store his clothes?"
"Can't we just leave them in the bags?" Raph asked.
"You can if you don't mind digging through bags looking for something you might need in a hurry," April said. "A combination storage unit and changing table would be ideal."
"So we need a crib and a changing table," Mikey said. "Where are we gonna put all of that? Shilo needs to be close to us."
"Move your drum set," Raph said. Seeing Mikey's disapproving expression, he added, "We all gotta make sacrifices."
To prevent them from arguing, Leo asked Casey, "Is your friend discreet? Will he tell anyone besides you what he finds?"
"No she won't," Casey said. "She's done stuff for me before and kept it to herself."
"She huh?" April asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Casey glanced at her and then did a double take, trying to determine if April was teasing him or actually jealous. "We're just friends," he said, feeling he needed to provide a bit more of an explanation.
"Mhm," April murmured. Turning back to Leo, she asked, "Are you guys good for the night? I need to catch some shut-eye. I've got an early shoot in the morning."
Don came over with a print-out in his hand. On it was a slightly blurry image of the woman who had dumped the baby.
"This is the best I could do," Don said, handing the picture to Casey. "The low light didn't help the resolution any and its pixelating when I try to zoom in. It's the only place on the video where she turns her face enough to see any of her features at all."
Holding the picture up, Casey examined the woman's features. Her mouth was wide, her nose slightly convex, and her eyes appeared almond shaped. A street light had caught one side of her face, showing that she had brown eyes. Her hair was completely hidden beneath the hoodie she was wearing.
"It's not much, but it's better than nothing," Casey said. "At least it eliminates women with light colored eyes. In fact, she might be Puerto Rican. The newspaper's in Spanish and it's a community rag out of East Harlem. That area around the alley where you retrieved the baby is in that neighborhood."
"How do you know all that stuff?" Mikey asked.
"It's my job to know the city," Casey said.
"Come on Casey, drive me home," April said. "The guys probably want to get some sleep."
"We usually sleep during the day," Don said.
"Trust me, you'll learn to sleep when the baby does," April said.
"Let me grab the newspaper," Casey said, jogging back to Don's lab.
He reappeared a minute later with the newspaper inside a plastic bag. Bidding the turtles a goodnight, the duo left the lair.
"Hey, we didn't find out what Casey was going to tell the baby's mom if he finds out Shilo was kidnapped," Mikey said.
"He probably doesn't know," Leo said. "What could you say? Anything you told her would raise questions. You tell her that her child is alive, dead, or kidnapped and the woman is going to ask for proof."
Mikey reached for the remote. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm too excited to sleep."
He turned on the television and a movie battle scene roared to life, the sound reverberating through the lair.
"Mikey!" Don yelped, lunging for the remote and lowering the volume.
"Sorry," Mikey said, looking abashed.
"We have to remember to keep it down when Shilo is sleeping," Don said.
"Mr. Jones' suggestion was a good one," Master Splinter said as he rose from the couch. "I am going to turn in. Call out to me if you need help with Shilo."
"Thanks dad," Leo said. "Goodnight."
"Make room," Raph told Mikey as he took a spot on the couch. "I like this movie."
"I want to take another look at my recording from earlier," Don said. "Are you going to bed, Leo?"
Shaking his head, Leo pulled the chair around and sat down near his brothers. "I'll peek in on Shilo every fifteen minutes or so until you're ready to sleep," he said.
Don left them and the lair became quiet, the only sound that of the TV, which was nearly muted.
The quiet lasted about five minutes before Shilo began to cry.
TBC….