Pele peered out of the doorway into the darkened Lair. It was almost three o'clock in the morning; she was the only one still awake. The golden sea turtle pulled the blanket a little tighter around herself and stepped out into the quiet of the Lair. Her knees were shaking with exhaustion, but this had to be done before she could sleep.

Pele had just spent the last thirty hours in labor. She and her sister, Makai, being reptiles, didn't have menstrual cycles like human women. Instead, once a year, they laid an egg. Pele had been the first to lay while they were staying in New York. The boys were all a little weirded out about the whole thing, except for Donatello, who had been begging her to let him dissect the infertile egg once it was laid. No way in hell was she going to let him cut up one of her duds. Pele hugged the egg a little closer to her chest and made her way through the darkened Lair with painful, mincing steps. Normally, she would have gone to sleep right away and disposed of the egg in a day or two. No way was she leaving it sitting around that long; the temptation would be too much for the resident science geek. No, the lifeless little shell needed to be gotten rid of right away; and there was only one person she could trust to do it properly.

Not bothering to knock, Pele pushed open the door to his bedroom.

"Leonardo? Leo, wake up," she murmured, going and sitting on the edge of his bed. Leo twisted under his blankets, stifling a yawn as he reached over and turned on his bedside lamp.

"Pele? It's late; what is . . . ." he trailed off as he saw what she was holding.

"It's early, actually," Pele corrected with a weak smile. "I need you to take this out somewhere it won't be found. I'm not letting Donnie cut it up."

"Oh." Leo blinked at her, his eyes still bleary with sleep. "Okay. Let me get my gear." He started to rise, but Pele reached forward and grabbed his hand.

"Don't just dump it in a sewer somewhere. Put it somewhere . . . . decent. But, it's not fertile; there's no baby in it." She seemed to want to say more, but Pele fell silent, stroking the smooth surface of the shell lightly. "It's not alive; there's no baby in it." She reiterated softly.

"Pele . . . . . when you say 'somewhere decent' . . . . you mean you want me to give it a decent burial?" Leo asked gently.

"It's not dead!" Pele snapped, some of her usual brio coming back. It was quickly squelched by overwhelming exhaustion and a quiet that seemed to be tinged with sadness. "It was never alive to begin with. It's just . . . a dud. There's no baby inside."

"Okay," Leo murmured. "Don't worry; I'll take care of it."

"Make sure you do. Promise you won't come back until you've gotten rid of it." Pele said.

"Okay," Leo said, a little surprised at her fervor.

"Promise!" Pele cried. "Swear to me you'll take care of it!" The sea turtle paused and stared up at him with eyes as deep and dark as the ocean. "It won't be nearly as easy as you think it will." For a long moment they locked eyes. Then Leonardo leaned towards her with resolve shining in his eyes.

"I swear I'll take care of it, Pele," he said. Pele continued to stare into his eyes for a long moment, then relaxed, a small smile curving her lips.

"Thank you so much. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but you're the only one I could trust." Leo reached out and to stroke her tousled curls.

"That means a lot to me," he murmured. After a slight hesitation, he rose and began to put on his gear. Pele looked down at his vacant bed and curled up in it, pulled the covers up over herself. In less than a minute, she was asleep.

Leonardo sheathed his katanas and turned to look at Pele. She was so beautiful. How could he resist her, all curled up in his bed like that? And she had said he was the only one she could trust! Wow; that was a very, very good thing. All he had to do was find a decent place for this egg. Leo leaned over and studied the white globe. It wasn't as big as he would have expected; maybe a few inches larger than one of those mini-basketballs. It had still taken long enough to get born, not to mention exhausting Pele in the process. Oh well; he had sworn to Pele that he would find a decent place for it. It was time to make good on his promise. Leo picked up the egg. And very nearly dropped it.

It was warm! And the shell was soft and leathery, with a little give to it . . . . almost like flesh. Leo stared down at the weird little ellipsoid, unsure of what to do with it. After a moment, he held it to his ear. It sloshed gently. Leo held it away from his face again, staring at it in puzzlement. He held it over the lamp beside his bed and tried to candle it. Besides a small, darker blur in the middle, he saw nothing but reddish light. Leonardo continued to stare at the egg in his hands. No wonder Pele wanted it safely out of the Lair. There was no way Donatello would be able to resist dissecting it. For some reason the thought of his brother cutting into Pele's egg made Leo very angry. Pele snuggled down into his bed, making a small noise in her sleep. Leonardo finally tore his attention away from the egg to look at her. He had sworn he would get rid of the egg for her. He had to keep his word.

At first Leo thought of the storm drains. The egg wouldn't be found and it wasn't exactly like dumping it in a sewer. The heavy rains from the week before would carry it away quickly and cleanly. That sounded like a good idea. As he headed for the nearest conjunction of storm drains, Leonardo turned his attention once again to the egg in his arms. It really wasn't that big; was a baby expected to hatch out of it? Then again, how big were newborn babies? Leo had never held a baby before; newborn or otherwise. Idly, he wondered what one of Pele's babies would look like. Would it be all red-golden like it's mother? Or would it take after him or his brothers? Oh, screw his brothers, Leo wanted it to take after him. 'Daddy Leo' and 'Momma Pele'; he smiled to himself. Maybe it would be green like him with Pele's little white markings all through it. Pele would make a great mother. She seemed hard, but she was quite soft and loving underneath; Leo was just sure of it. She was just hard enough to make sure the children would have discipline and be well behaved. Yes, a whole clutch of respectful hatchlings to teach ninjitsu, and lua, of course, to walk in the way of the warrior; to carry on the family honor. Leonardo had never considered having family honor before; well, not the sort he could pass along.

When the girls had first appeared, his first thought had merely been thoughts of an intimacy of a physical nature. He had never really sat down and considered the fact that Pele and Makai could bear children. Or rather, bear eggs that would hatch children. How long would the eggs have to incubate? Would they be warm enough in a sewer? Didn't turtles usually lay eggs on a beach? Maybe Donnie could build some sort of giant incubator. Without realizing it, Leonardo had settled the egg into the crook of his arm as if he were holding a baby. They would have to have a special room for the eggs. And everyone would have to be very careful when they went into it; if Mikey broke an egg from his fooling around, Leo would literally kill him. Even if it was Mikey and Makai's egg! The fertile eggs would be so precious; worth ten times their weight in gold! And if it was Leo and Pele's egg . . . . . no one would be allowed to pick it up; not even Sensei! Well, maybe Sensei. And Pele, of course. She would want to bond with it. And . . . maybe Donnie . . . he'd probably need to monitor it or something. Maybe April. And Makai . . . . other women were probably okay. They knew about babies. But not Mikey or Raph. Or Casey. Definitely not Casey.

Leo reached the conjunction of storm drains and stared down into the rushing water for a moment. Despite his earlier conviction, Leonardo was seized by doubt. He chewed his lip and looked down at the egg in his arms. The water was awfully rough and there was lots of debris. Still . . . . it wasn't a sewer and no one would find it. Leo wasn't going to just chuck the egg down a hole, though. Somehow it seemed wrong. He waded out into a channel of water a few inches deep and gently set the egg down. It started to roll away almost immediately, the strong current carrying it along. Leonardo gasped as the water snatched the egg away. Despite the fact that this was exactly what he wanted it to do, he was seized by total panic.

"Oh god! The baby!" He cried, rushing after the egg. The strong current clutched at his ankles as he tried to run through it. The egg continued to roll along, heading for a drop-off that dumped water into a churning, boiling mass. Leo dove into the water, sliding along the sluiceway to catch the egg in both hands just as it tipped over the edge. The young turtle wrapped himself around it for protection as they both dropped into the churning water. The force of the water pinned Leo against the bottom of the pipe. With a twist and a powerful kick from both legs, he managed to thrust himself into an upwelling current and shot to the surface of the water like a cork out of a bottle. Coughing and spitting water, Leo fought his way towards an access ladder, the egg clutched protectively to his chest. The water still trying to drag him back down into the current, he slowly climbed out of the pipe and threw himself down on some safely dry brickwork. Wiping the dirty water off of the egg, Leonardo quickly checked it for damage. It was unharmed. Thank god. He hugged it to his chest as he panted.

'You just damn near killed yourself for a dud,' the logical part of his mind pointed out. 'Pele said there's no baby in it. It's a dead thing.' Taking the egg in both hands, Leo held it up in front of his face. Now he knew why Pele kept repeating 'There's no baby; it's a dud,' like it was a mantra. Maybe it was just a dud, but every instinct screamed at him to protect this precious, precious egg with his very life. 'It won't be nearly as easy as you think it will,' she had said. Leonardo also realized why Pele had made him swear on his honor not to return until the egg was disposed of. If he could, he would have returned to her with tears in his eyes and told her he couldn't complete the task. With his honor at stake, there was nothing he could do but find a place to abandon this egg.

A few hours later, he crouched low in Central Park, gently placing the egg in a shallow grave. Here it could rot away unnoticed and undisturbed. That thought brought a lump to Leo's throat. But – no, this was best. It would be safe here. Eyes burning, Leo brushed the loose dirt over the egg. He covered the loose soil carefully with a layer of dead leaves and melted back into the shadows, wiping at his eyes. A few minutes later, a scrawny dog came nosing around the bushes. It sniffed at the pile of leaves cautiously, then began to dig, its tail waving at the thought of a good meal. A rock flew out of the darkness, nailing the mongrel soundly in the ribs. The beast yelped and ran off into the night. Leonardo came tearing out of the shadows and dropped to his knees over the hole. The dog had managed to uncover a bit of the pearly white shell in only a few seconds. Oh god, he couldn't leave the egg here! It would get eaten! Leo dug up the egg in record time, and then rushed back into the storm drain. He would have to think of something else. This just wouldn't do.

The sun was rising over New York Harbor. One of the fishermen getting an early start paused as he was getting ready to step out onto the pier. He looked around uncertainly, but there was no one else around. That was odd. He could swear he heard a male voice singing. Shrugging, the man headed off to his boat. Under the pier, Leonardo rested in one of the storm drainpipes, the egg cradled in his arms. He couldn't pretend this lifeless shell didn't break his heart. It spoke of lost opportunities and impossible dreams of a normal life. It might as well have been a stillborn child. Leo had wanted to sing it a lullaby before he gave it to the ocean, but he didn't know any lullabies. He had settled for 'Sea of Love' by The Platters.

"Come with me, my love

To the sea, the sea of love.

I want to tell you

How much I love you." Leo gentled rocked the egg in his arms, a few tears slipping down his cheeks.

"Do you remember when we met?

That's the day I knew you were my pet.

I want to tell you

How much I love you."

The newly risen sun shimmered and danced through a veil of tears as Leonardo let the egg slip from his fingers and slide beneath the cold water of the New York Harbor. For a moment, he could see the white egg gently spiraling downwards then it was lost to the depths. Feeling as if his limbs were made of lead, Leonardo pushed himself upright and started back to the Lair.

"I can't believe she did this," Makai snapped, glaring into Leo's bedroom at her sleeping sister. "I can't believe she made Leo do it." Mikey looked over at his sweetheart, puzzled. Makai was really pissed. Nothing ever pissed Makai off; she was always so sweet.

"We don't know that she did anything, sweetie," He began diplomatically. Makai shot him a dark look and pushed away from Leo's door.

"She's laid, the egg's gone, Leo's gone, and Pele's still here. She made him go out and get rid of that egg by himself. And I know why." Makai's angry look shifted from Leo's bedroom to Donatello.

"I can't believe she got rid of it," he lamented. "Just think of what I could have learned from dissecting that egg!" Makai slapped her hands down on Donnie's desk, leaned over and got in his face.

"This is your fault, you know! If you weren't so keen to cut it up like . . .like . . . like a ghoul she wouldn't have made Leo get rid of it right away!" Makai yelled.

"Makai! Calm down!" Mikey cried, pulling her into his arms for a hug. "I don't know why you're so upset over th—oh. Never mind." Leonardo had entered the Lair. His expression was hard and tired. Haggard. That's how he looked. Like he had just been put through a wringer.

"Leo! You're back!" Donnie came out from behind his desk and approached his brother. "Tell me you at least dumped that thing where I can get to it. We really need to st--." Leonardo punched his brother in the face. Don went backwards shell over teakettle. Mikey stared, his eyes wide. Raphael had come into the main room just in time to witness the strike. His brow ridges raised sharply, the temper mental turtle slowly turned and went back the way he had come. Without a word, Leonardo went to his bedroom.

Pele was still sleeping in his bed. Leo stared down at her. How could he tell her he had just dumped the flesh of her flesh in the ocean? That's what she asked you to do, he reminded himself. But still, he had just dumped it; abandoned Pele's egg, just tossed it away like it was garbage. The sobs came tearing out of Leo's throat, followed by a rain of tears. He collapsed next to his bed, his face buried in his crossed arms and wept. This was no dignified show of sorrow; Leo sobbed like a child with a broken heart. He barely felt Pele's hands stroking his head soothingly, but he allowed her to pull him upright and pillow his head against her chest.

"Oh Leo, I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I never should have made you do it."

"I got rid of it . . . I'm so sorry!" He choked, clutching her tightly.

"Don't be. It's my fault. I just didn't want Donnie getting a hold of it. Sssshhhh, it's okay." Pele pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Don't cry. It's all right."

"I – I took it down to the pier and I sang it a lullaby an-and then I put it in the water," Leo blurted. "That's probably really stupid, huh?"

"No. It's not at all. I kept my first egg for almost a year because I couldn't bear to get rid of it. Humans don't understand. Eggs are like babies for us. I would have been more upset if it hadn't bothered you, Leo."

"I – I don't want to think about how many more times I'll have to do it," Leo choked. "You haven't even chosen which one of us you want." Pele was silent for a moment, then hugged Leo tightly.

"Oh yes I have." She said firmly.

"Oh." Leo returned Pele's tight embrace, then rested his head on her plastron, his tears starting to slow. "I guess I'll have to keep you pregnant, then." Pele burst out laughing.