Leaping to his feet, Leo ran for the bedroom, nearly colliding with Don. When they reached Shilo's box, he was so distressed his face had a reddish tinge and his little hands were clenched.
Reaching into the box, Don lifted the baby out and was immediately hit by a smell that had him turning his head.
"He needs a diaper change," Leo said, somewhat unnecessarily.
"What's going on? Is he okay?" Mikey asked, appearing at the top of the stairs.
"Shilo had his first bowel movement," Don said. "That's a good thing, it means his internal organs are working properly."
"First time I ever heard poop referred to as good," Raph said, bypassing Mikey and catching a whiff of Shilo. "Phew! That's rank. Is he supposed to smell that bad?"
"According to what I read on the internet, this is normal for a formula fed baby," Don said.
"I am not dealing with that," Raph said, holding up a hand and backing away.
"Can someone grab the diapers?" Don asked. "Also, see if April brought baby wipes. I'll have to change him on the kitchen table."
"Where we eat?" Raph asked, his eyes widening. "No way."
"I need a flat surface," Don said. "It won't be an issue once we get the changing table."
Holding Shilo against his chest, Don took the stairs down to the kitchen and lowered the baby turtle onto the table that was still covered in clean towels. Mikey walked up next to him, holding a fresh diaper and a plastic tub of baby wipes. He removed the cellophane covering and popped open the top, pulling the first wipe up so it would be easy for Don to grab.
Opening the snaps on Shilo's pajamas, Don gently worked them off the crying baby. Once the pajamas had been stripped from Shilo, Don handed them to Leo.
A whiff of the pajamas had Leo's nose crinkling. "We can't put these back on him, they stink."
"You guys deal with the poop, I'll find him something else to wear," Raph said quickly, abandoning the kitchen.
Mikey chuckled. "Never saw him move so fast. Hey Donnie, how'd you know about wet wipes?"
"Internet," Don said, his concentration on removing the diaper. Once he'd gotten the side tape loose, he lifted the front but didn't pull it back right away.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked.
"He's a boy," Don said. "When air hits their penis, they tend to spray."
"Something else you learned from the internet?" Leo asked.
When Don nodded, Mikey said, "I guess Master Splinter had to learn that the hard way. Wonder who peed on him first?"
"Probably you," Raph said as he dug through the bags of clothing which still sat on the plastic chairs. "Now I see what April meant about finding a place to put his clothes. I think she bought out the store. He's gonna outgrow most of this stuff before he gets a chance to wear it."
"Not at this rate," Leo said.
Holding Shilo's legs in one hand, Don lifted his bottom high enough to pull the dirty diaper out from under him and set it aside.
"Oh yuck!" Mikey exclaimed.
Don's expression seemed entirely clinical as he took a wet wipe and proceeded to cleanse Shilo's rear end. It took a couple of wipes to get Shilo entirely clean and when Don was finished, he tossed the dirty wipes into the used diaper.
"Fold that up, would you?" Don asked Mikey.
Very gingerly, Mikey folded the diaper in half and then rolled the sides in, using the tape to seal it into a compact bundle. Taking the clean diaper, Don pushed the bottom half under Shilo and then lowered his legs to complete the process.
Shilo had stopped crying when the dirty diaper was off of him and seemed to be falling asleep again. Raph returned with clean footed pajamas and helped Don bundle Shilo into them.
"What do I do with this?" Mikey asked, purposely waving the dirty diaper under Raph's nose.
Raph smacked his hand away. "Cut it out."
"Put it in a plastic bag and set it in the garage," Leo said. "Later we can get a trash can for the diapers and leave it out there so they don't stink up the lair. I'll wash out these pajamas."
Don lifted Shilo from the table and held him in the curve of his arms, looking down at the now sleeping baby. "I'll put him down again and turn in too. 'Night guys."
He left his brothers and they separated to their tasks. When they were done, Mikey sprawled on the couch and dozed off in front of the TV, while Leo and Raph went to their beds. Both glanced in on Don and Shilo, finding them fast asleep, with Shilo's box right next to Don's bed.
"I hope he doesn't forget and trip over that box when he gets up," Raph said.
Removing his swords, Leo pulled back his covers and replied, "When have you ever known Don to forget anything?"
Raph climbed into his bunk and settled down to sleep. Once more the lair turned silent, only the soft sounds of water running across the slide providing any noise at all.
It was completely peaceful for a quarter of an hour and then their sleep was shattered by the screaming cries of an unhappy baby.
"What the hell?" Raph yelled, bolting upright and nearly falling off his bunk.
Tossing back his covers, Leo strode towards Don's alcove just as the genius swung his legs around and leaned down to take Shilo from his box.
Holding the baby on his lap, Don felt his diaper through the pajamas. "He's still clean," he said. "He can't be hungry again, it's too soon."
"More gas?" Leo asked.
"What's going on up there?" Mikey called out from the couch.
"Shilo woke up and decided to let us know about it," Raph said, sounding grumpy.
Don draped the baby across his shoulder and thumped his carapace. The move quieted his cries, but didn't stop them completely.
"Maybe you should put him in bed with you," Leo suggested.
"No, that's something none of us should do," Don said. "If we roll in our sleep we'd crush him."
"Try putting the box in one of our old beds," Raph said. "He might like it better if he's up off the ground."
"Maybe music will help him sleep," Mikey said, crossing over to their stereo equipment. Soon the soundtrack from the movie "A Star is Born" was echoing through the lair.
"More noise won't help," Leo said, raising his voice to be heard over the music.
"What is happening?" Master Splinter asked, coming out of his room.
"Mikey's battling Shilo for who can be the loudest," Raph told him.
"Um guys," Don said, getting his family's attention. "Not anymore. Shilo's asleep."
Sure enough, the baby turtle was sound asleep. Don carefully lowered him into the box.
Mikey leaned against the railing and looked up at his brothers. "Ha, I was right," he gloated.
"There's a first time for everything," Raph said.
Splinter walked over to stand next to Mikey. "We were all making an effort not to disturb Shilo and it appears we were too quiet," he said. "I understand that human children hear what is happening around them even from the womb. Perhaps his mother resided in a noisy environment."
"It's hardly ever quiet around here," Raph said. "If it ain't Don tinkering with some project, it's Mikey banging on his drums. The little tike will be right at home."
"So I can leave the music on and turn the TV up?" Mikey asked.
"Not too loud," Don warned. "The rest of us want some sleep too."
"As if you sleep," Mikey said with a grin.
"I'd like some now," Don said, pulling his legs back into his bed.
"Same here," Raph said. "Who knows how long it'll be before Shilo starts screaming again."
Once more the family settled in for the night. The music continued to play and below that was the faint sound of the television. Shilo slumbered peacefully through it all.
He was still sleeping five hours later when Donatello got out of bed. After checking the baby, he put on a pot of coffee and was scrolling through the local news stations on one of his computers when Leo rose.
"Get enough sleep?" Leo asked, bringing a cup of coffee over to Don.
"Thanks," Don said, accepting the cup and taking a sip. "I did. You?"
"I woke a couple of times to check on Shilo, but slept well for the most part," Leo said. "Anything interesting?"
"The usual," Don answered, knowing Leo was asking if anything fit in their wheel house. "Some break-ins, a couple of murders, one subway attack, a gang fight that might have involved the Foot."
"We'll have to check into that," Leo said. "It would be the first time they've shown themselves since the Krang incident. What about food thefts?"
"Three that were larger than normal, but smaller than would satisfy Bebop and Rocksteady's appetites. Unless all three thefts were done by them," Don said.
"They aren't bright, but I'm sure someone is helping the pair," Leo said. "It's possible they were told not to draw attention to themselves by taking their food all from one location."
"Do you think Karai is giving the orders? Or maybe Stockman?" Don asked.
"Doesn't matter, they're both wanted by the police," Leo said. "If we find Bebop and Rocksteady, we find whoever is pulling their strings."
"I can give us a logical search area by triangulating the locations of the thefts, including the ones from previous nights," Don said. "They know they're wanted, I doubt that they're straying too far from where they've been hiding."
"Do that," Leo said. "We can go tonight and look for them again."
When Don hesitated, Leo asked, "Something else?"
"I was going to hack into the traffic cameras around the area where the woman dropped off Shilo," Don said. "We might get a better view of her face or see where she came from. If there are any ATM's around there, I could upload the video feed from them too."
"That's a good idea, Donnie. Anything you come up with would help Casey find the woman," Leo said.
"Yo, somebody want to make this baby a bottle?" Raph asked, carrying Shilo as he walked towards them.
"We didn't hear him wake up," Don said, standing to check the baby in Raph's arms.
He made as if the take Shilo from his brother, but Raph shook his head. "I've got him. Go make a bottle of whatever that stuff is that he drinks."
Mikey approached, lifting his arms to stretch while yawning widely. "Can I turn off the music now?"
"Please do," Leo said. "I've had enough of that album to last a lifetime."
"It's one of Master Splinter's favorites or I'd chuck it on the garbage heap," Raph said. "Ain't that right, Shilo? What you need is some Rock."
"I read somewhere that classical music was better for babies," Leo said.
"It's called the 'Mozart Effect' and it's been debunked," Don said. "Classical music enhances cognitive abilities no more than listening to any type of music. When he gets older we should teach him to play a musical instrument. That's been proven to have longer lasting effects on spatial reasoning."
Mikey pointed at Don. "What he said."
"You have no idea what any of that meant," Raph told him.
"I want to hold Shilo. You're hogging him," Mikey complained.
"Don hogged him first," Raph said. "Wait your turn."
Leaving them to argue over the baby, Leo and Don went to fill a bottle for Shilo. Leo showed Donnie how to measure out the formula and prepare it.
Raph sat on the couch and fed the baby. Watching the tender care Raph took in making sure the bottle was tipped correctly and that Shilo was latched on properly brought a smile to Leo's face. He refrained from reminding Raph that last night the large turtle had said "I don't do babies".
Their first day caring for an infant went fairly well. Shilo slept through their practice session, enjoyed another bottle given to him by Mikey, and endured having his diaper changed by everyone but Raph. It was the one task they couldn't get him to do.
It was late afternoon when April strolled into the lair. Having ridden over on her bike, she carried only a backpack, which proved to be full of additional items for the baby.
"How much more stuff does he need?" Raph asked as he watched her unpack.
"Trust me, you'll appreciate the pacifiers," April told him.
"Casey just called," Don said, joining them in the kitchen. "He's coming over."
"Did something happen?" Leo asked, seeing Don's worried look.
"I don't know," Don answered. "He was being mysterious."
When Casey entered the lair a half an hour later, they could see from his expression that pleasantries would have to wait.
"What's up? Something wrong?" Raph asked as Casey joined them.
"I have good news and bad news," Casey said and then hesitated.
"Don't keep us in suspense," April said. "What is it?"
Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Casey said, "The good news is I found out that the woman you saw dumping the baby is his mother."
"The bad news?" Leo prompted.
"The bad news is that she's dead," Casey said.
TBC…