Sky blue eyes kept looking back and forth from the television to the incubator. The show running was doing nothing to distract Mikey.
A week. A whole week went by since he passed the eggs. And while they kept moving around, there were still no signs of them hatching. It was quite worrisome, though Telon had frequently assured them that it was fine.
During the past days Leo has kept close contact with Usagi and the rebels. Since their rabbit leader was trusting Leonardo more and more, most of the group followed his example. Some were still suspicious, but they would support him. Everything was better than to have Voron rule another five years, they guessed.
Speaking of the mayor, the Hamatos haven't heard of him all week, thanks to Asinda and Reno. It was for the better, really. With Raph still fuming over the incident there was no guarantee that Voron would leave with all his teeth in place. Even Leo was having problems controlling his rage sometimes, though he was way better at keeping it inside.
Donatello has never been the aggressive type, but even he grimaced when the mayor was mentioned. So they left the sensitive topic as it was, hoping there wouldn't be any unwanted visits anymore.
The triplets looked up from where they were playing in their pen when Don and Raph appeared, carrying their old hand-made hexagonal crib.
The emerald turtle took out the padding and shook the dust off best he could, while Donnie checked if it was still fully intact.
"What'sat?" Ky asked with curious eyes as he and his siblings scooted closer to the interesting new object.
"That's where your new siblings will stay when they're downstairs. They're gonna be too little to sit with you in your playpen." Donnie explained with a smile, satisfied that he wouldn't need to repair the crib.
They'd just need to find a replacement mobile, as they've used the old plush stars to decorate Nix' bedroom.
"We should've set it up sooner." Raph said as he came back from putting the padding to be washed.
"At least we have the nursery all done. I can't believe we put that off so long." Donnie shook his head.
"Hey, we thought we still had a few weeks."
Knowing the mood would drop at the reminder, Mikey rolled his eyes. He shifted on the couch with another mute wince to be closer to the incubator next to him.
The heat lamp warmed his hand as he touched each of the eggs carefully, smiling when there was shifting beneath his palm.
"Still nothing?" Raphael settled down next to him, also reaching out to feel the twins moving.
Mikey shook his head and leaned back against Raph's hardened chest with a sigh. He was amused though at the sight of their toddlers eagerly climbing the couch after Don has let them out of their playpen.
The genius settled down on the opposite side of the incubator, smiling.
"Technically it could be two more weeks. You know, since they were three weeks early."
"Two more weeks? That's gonna be an eternity..." Mikey pouted.
"We should enjoy the peaceful nights as long as we can... Remember when these little rascals were just a few weeks old?" Donnie chuckled as he tickled Nix' feet.
The toddler squirmed away with a giggle, but quickly resumed watching over his younger siblings in the incubator.
"How could we forget waking up four times a night?" Ky let out a delighted squeal when Leo showed up, leaning against the back of the couch with a soft grin on his face.
"Fafa!"
The eldest of the triplets purred when his father rubbed a hand over his head. Apparently his meeting with the rebels was over for today.
"Hey champ." He greeted back, also giving his other two toddler attention before settling down next to Donnie.
"I also remember losing our last nerves with Nix' crying."
There was a round of chuckles from the adults, while said little turtle gave an offended pout, even though he had no idea what exactly his parents were talking about.
"Imma big boy... I don' cry." He said sternly, folding his chubby arms and frowning.
Judging by Donnie's laughter it looked just as cute as Mike and Raph imagined.
"There. Your son, one hundred percent." Donatello giggled as he leaned back against his older mate, who tilted his head with a frown.
"Nah, I don't make faces like that. That's more Raph's expression."
"Seriously, it could be any of you two."
Now with both Raph and Leo frowning and pouting, and Nix looking exactly like a miniature mixture of them, Mikey laughed too.
Getting upset, Nix turned to pout at his mother.
"Mommy! Don' laugh... Imma big boy!"
Mikey bit his lip to keep from laughing more, and instead cuddled his youngest son close, who soaked up the attention like a sponge.
"I know, angelcakes, you're my big boy now. But when you were really little, you always wanted me to hold you and cried when anyone else tried." He explained with a fond smile. "You were giving everyone a hard time. Kinda like your daddy."
Nix shrugged, hugging Mikey as tight as he could. "I love mommy." Was his simple statement.
The freckled turtle only chuckled when Raph flicked his forehead with a deadpan expression.
"Papa, I was crying too?" Amy asked, her wide mahagony eyes fixing on her beloved Papa.
"Yes sweetie, all babies cry. They can't talk yet, so they cry when they're hungry, or need a fresh diaper, or want attention..." Donnie counted off.
"But you weren't as picky as Nix. You mostly wanted to be held so you could explore your surroundings better."
Leo smiled at the reminder and nodded. "Really really curious, like your Papa. Though you didn't like strangers."
"Like Fafa." Don added with amusement.
"And I?" Ky also looked at Don for answer, but it was Raph who gave it with a grin.
"You basically liked everyone. Just like your mommy you have that sweet sunshine smile that draws everyone in."
Giving a giggle that could almost pass off as bashful, Ky cuddled against Raph and Mikey.
xxxxx
It was after lunch that their calm day ended.
The triplets had just settled down by Mikey on the couch to take their nap when the doorbell rang.
Frowning, Mikey and Leo exchanged a frown. Who could that be? Kion was on strict bedrest until he passed the eggs, and Elia was taking a nap herself after lunchtime, so it wouldn't be Bogen or Telon.
Since Raphael and Donatello were taking care of the dishes, the forest-green turtle went to open the door.
In front of it he met Raph, a dishtowel hung over one muscular shoulder and his face pretty unhappy. He probably came to the same conclusion.
And indeed, as they opened the door Voron was standing there, looking so horribly fake sorry that it made Raph sick.
"Hello, Raphael, Leonardo. Can I come in? I really need to talk to all of you..."
Knowing his hotheaded mate was about a second away from jumping at the mayor, Leo squeezed the emerald tail to keep him in line.
He was livid too, but beating up the head of this city wouldn't elevate their chances to take over in May.
"Actually the triplets were about to take a nap. And Mikey needs to rest. The birth did quite a number on him." Leo said calmly, his other hand having a tight grip on the door-handle.
"That's what I wanted to talk about... I... I'm really sorry that you missed it. Asinda never told me that she'd planned on visiting you after dinner, and I sometimes over-react when I worry about her."
"No shit." Raph rudely stated, glaring at his mate when Leo gave his tail a hard pinch.
"Have the twins hatched yet? Asinda said they were alright, but-"
"They haven't. And it's probably going to take some more weeks. You know, since they came prematurely."
It was quite impossible for Voron to not sense the hostility. Still he soldiered on, his own stubborn streak coming to light.
"I'm trying to apologize for that. Look, there's been trouble with rabbits years ago, and I just know they're gonna be a problem some way or another. I guess I was just scared for my wife's safety, and I think that you could relate if you imagined Donatello or Michelangelo in her place."
"But it's not them in her place, nothing has happened to Asinda, and there are no hidden rabbit burrows."
"It's impossible to say that for sure if there hasn't been a throughout search-"
Raph's attention diverted when Don leaned against the wall next to him to listen in, out of sight of the mayor.
The genius shook his head at Voron's speech. Seriously. He came to apologize for making them miss the birth of their children, at least that was his pretense. Of course he'd want to talk about his rabbit problem, it was probably the main reason he even came over.
"Like we said before, mayor," Raph thought his tongue would burn away with how much poison he laid in the title, "Mikey needs rest, and until he's given the all clear he won't see any visitors."
"... We could at least talk about the impending danger. I'm sure there is a hideout from where they're planning an ambush. We need-"
"That's something we can talk about with the whole council, and figure something out there. We're not talking potential battle strategies in our house, with our children just sleeping next door."
Voron realized they wouldn't budge, feeling anger starting to bubble up at their unwillingness to cooperate.
"The council is stupid. They wouldn't approve of a battle plan against the rabbits if there's no proof of their planned ambush!" His dark eyes were glinting with something dangerous and Raph just waited for him to make the wrong move so he had an excuse to punch him.
"You have a whole police force at your beg and call, tell them to comb the-"
"These incompetent fools won't find them! I told you I need your special skills to finally find those blasted rabbits!"
"Ex-cuse me mister." The cute lisp of their daughter had Leo and Raph look down, meeting Amy and Nix who had squeezed through between their legs and were now standing there. Both had their arms crossed like they've seen their parents do a million times.
Ky had steered over to Donnie, stretching his arms to be held by his Papa as he shyly watched the scene from the hiding spot and Don's safe arms. That evil turtle scared him.
"Princess, it's rude to interrupt adults talk." Leo's protective instincts came out, he didn't want his children exposed to this crazy monster of a turtle.
"You should be napping with mommy."
"But Fafa, he's so loud!" Amy complained. Nix just kept glaring at the mayor, looking quite scary for a two-year-old.
"I know he is. He was gonna leave now anyways."
"I'm sorry for disturbing your nap." Voron was quick to say, though his eyes narrowed as they found Leo's hard expression. "But I wasn't finished yet. I really need to talk to your parents."
"No." Nix simply said. "You are loud an' my baby siblings don' like loud an' evil people."
"Young man, it is quite disrespectful for a kid to talk like that towards an adult, you should-"
"No, you should leave. He's right. The twins don't like loud turtles." Raph tried and failed to hide a tone of pride for his youngest son.
Voron opened his mouth to protest, but Leo cut him off beforehand.
"You came to apologize. You did. Now I kindly ask you to leave us alone so our toddlers can sleep and the twins can settle down in their eggs. Until they're hatched we won't be available for meetings of any kind."
Not waiting for a reply, Leo simply shut the door in his face, his grip on the handle white-knuckled from the sheer force to keep his cool.
They waited for a few moments, but Voron didn't knock or ring the doorbell again. Only after more minutes passed did Leo allow himself to let out a sigh.
"I seriously thought he was going to explode." Don shook his head as he led the way to the living room with Ky still in his arms.
"I'm surprised Asinda managed to keep him away for a whole week with how crazy he is for that."
Mikey opened his arms to hug Nix and Amy close when they climbed the couch again. His face was pale and worried.
"Do you think he's gonna do... something...?"
"Is evil?" Ky innocently asked, snuggling into Don's embrace.
"No honey, evil is not the right word. Sometimes people just imagine weird things, and their mind can't separate reality and imagination anymore. He is crazy, not evil."
Raph swallowed a mean retort, better let Donnie handle this. He didn't need his kids running around and telling everyone that their mayor was an evil monster.
Of course he wouldn't mind them doing that, but knowing Leo...
"You've seen how frazzled he was. He's starting to lose it, I'm seriously not sure what he's capable of in this state." Leonardo mused, resting his head on Raph's shoulder, whose arm came up around him.
"You don't think he's patient enough to wait until they hatch to approach us again?"
"I'm afraid he caught on how we're not cooperating at all anymore. Could be he's thinking about using Asinda to convince us to be on his good side again."
"Asinda wouldn't-" Mikey started, but Don interrupted him, shifting so sleeping Ky was cradled in one arm while the other pulled Mikey closer.
"She's a good turtle, but also pretty naive. He's manipulating her. I don't think she means to, but she's unconsciously working for him, gathering information from us that Voron can't get."
Mikey looked down to where Nix and Amy were also fast asleep in his lap.
"We just have to be really careful with what we talk about when she's around. And it's not like she could convince us to leave everything and go meet up with Voron."
xxxxx
"Guys! Guys wake up!"
Leo shot in a seated position hands going to where he's used to having his old weapons stored, only to grasp empty air. He gave his sleep-muddled brain a second to adjust.
Don was grinning widely at the incubator, where one of the eggs had fallen over and was still moving like crazy.
Suddenly wide awake, Leo scooted closer, bringing a still sore Mikey with him. Raph was turning on the overhead light and hurrying out the door to get the emergency bottles they prepared every night for this case.
Leo shot up from the bed to collect the baby blankets and diapers, and at Don's plea also the bag with the doctor equipment.
In a matter of two minutes everything was set for the twins, the four adults surrounding the incubator with anxious expressions.
So far only the second egg had fallen over, the white shell cracking slightly with the movement from inside.
Mikey bit his lip in excitement, almost squealing in joy when a tiny sea-green foot crashed through the thin shell. Almost simultaneously a fist of the same color burst through the other eggshell.
It was a close race as both infants fought their way to freedom. One was squeezing its closed eyes against the light of the heatlamp once it managed to hatch completely, not crying yet but close to it. Donnie hurried to take it and check the gender and vital signs.
His smile was so wide it hurt, even as the infant – a boy – began to cry. He was healthy, legs kicking strongly as Raph hurried to fasten a diaper on him and wrapped him in a soft blanket.
He handed their son to Mikey's reaching hands. The freckled turtle had tears of joy in his eyes as he traced a finger over the little face, delighted when he found a dusting of freckles on the cheeks.
The warmth of his mother was very familiar to the infant. He was comforted by it, blinking a few times to get his eyes open.
Leo's grin split his face as midnight blue eyes were revealed, matching his' to a T. They were curious as they found Mikey's smiling face, mouth opening and closing as his little legs worked.
Raph chuckled at the display and handed Mikey a bottle so he could feed their son.
"Our little Cavansite... Welcome to the world, Cav."
Their attention was back to the incubator when the second baby managed to free itself, though it couldn't get the top of the egg off its head. It wailed in frustration and Donnie had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as he quickly took the shell away and checked their now youngest child over.
"A healthy baby girl." He announced proudly, helping Raph with the diaper and blanket before the four of them settled back against the pillows.
"Hello baby, I'm your daddy." Raph said softly as the girl blindly grabbed the offered finger, crying reducing to hiccups.
Donnie held the bottle for her, resting his head on Raph's shoulder.
"I have to admit, I've been hoping we'd have another girl." Donatello grinned, especially when their daughter's eyes blinked open to reveal light hazel eyes, a mixture between brown and green. "Baby Aventurine."
"Me too." Raph admitted with a matching grin.
"Hey, no playing favorites." Mikey chastised, but he was also smiling.
Once the bottle was empty and their son well on the way to dreamland, he handed him over to Leo, who held the infant like it was the most precious gem in the world.
Michelangelo smiled as he looked at his daughter, the eyes of the infant closed again, though her lips still worked on the empty bottle.
"They're so perfect..." Donnie said softly, taking the bottle away by pushing it to the rest of the equipment laying on their bed. Neither of them wanted to get up at the moment.
"Yeah... totally worth the excruciating pain I've had to endure." Mikey joked, wincing as he shifted in a more comfortable position.
"And the soreness I'm still experiencing." He added, snuggling his face into Leo's hip as he settled down to get some more sleep.
He was sure his mates could handle their new family members just fine, now that they were both slumbering soundly.
xxxxx
Or not. Every hour one of them would wake up and cry, waking the other and launching into a duet of wails.
This was the fourth night in a row none of the adults got to sleep soundly. Not even Mikey managed to calm them down, and all their nerves were frayed.
"Come on, you're not hungry, your diaper is dry, your blanket is warm, what do you want?" Raph begged as he cradled Ava.
"Shh, no no, you're not going to cry again, you're fine..." Leo soothed Cav, the infant was whimpering as his big eyes were fixated on his father's face and he sucked on a pacifier.
Donnie rubbed both hands over his tired face as he sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't know what their problem is..." he muttered for the sixth time in the past hour.
As Raph had listed, they couldn't imagine what was wrong with them. It weren't pained cries either, and if it was only for attention they should've stopped when picked up.
The daylight was announcing the start of the day, and sure enough the toddlers were whining over the baby monitor for their parents to let them out of their beds. As if the twins weren't enough, the triplets were a lot of work too.
They've been really excited the first time seeing their new siblings, cooing at them and talking to them about how much they were gonna play.
However, as soon as the wailing started each of them quickly had enough of them as they mostly covered their earholes to block out the deafening cries.
While they've been assured that would stop eventually, they didn't dare come very close again, only brave enough to do so when the twins were in one of their sleeping hours.
Mikey was already moving to take care of the toddlers, but before he could as much as push the blanket off Raph had placed Ava in his arms and practically fled the room to tend to the triplets.
Seizing the chance to get a break from all the crying, Don hurried after the alpha turtle to help him, muttering something that sounded like "You're still on bedrest." towards Mikey before he also took off.
The girl whined and squirmed, though she stopped crying when Mikey wrapped her tighter in the blanket and started to rock her gently. "See, it's not so bad. I know the world is scary, but you don't have to be afraid."
Aventurine snuggled her face closer to Mikey, cooing now instead of wailing.
"What did you do?" Leo asked with tired eyes.
Careful, as to not startle their daughter, Mikey leaned back against the pillows and yawned. He shrugged one shoulder.
"Dunno. Just pulled the blanket tighter... No idea how that's comfortable, she barely can move her limbs."
Leo looked down at his son, and desperate as he was also adjusted the blanket so it was really tight.
Cav relaxed in his arms then, eyes blinking as he gave a cute little yawn.
"I don't know why, but it works..."
Using all his stealth, Leonardo settled back down on the bed next to Mikey, and the smaller turtle used the opportunity to rest his head on the forest-green shoulder.
"I don't even care as long as they're quiet for a while." Michelangelo yawned again.
They both looked up when Donnie carefully peeked into the bedroom.
"... And here I thought something happened." The genius whispered, eyes fixed on the infants as he tip-toed over to the bed. "They look content."
"No thanks to you." Mikey stuck out his tongue, feeling quite snappy with how exhausted and sore he still was. "Here, can you put her to bed? I'll try to take a nap now."
"That sounds wonderful, actually." Leo agreed, also getting up to put Cavansite in the crib they've moved into the bedroom.
However, as soon as Aventurine was in Donnie's arms she stirred, fussing in the hold and starting to whine unhappily after another moment.
Cav also wasn't happy when he was put down, joining his sister in voicing his dissatisfaction. It prompted Leo to take him again.
"I'm tempted to cry along with them..." Mikey grouched, sitting up against the pillows again with a wince and holding out his arms.
"Go try to get some sleep, sweetheart." Don said gently as he bounced Ava to calm her. "I don't want a repeat of two years ago."
"This isn't like it was with Nix. She only calmed down when I wrapped her up like a burrito." Mikey insisted, gesturing for the genius to hand him the girl.
As soon as she was cradled by her mother's warm arms she snuggled her face into his plastron again, cooing with her eyes closed.
Cav was also calming down as long as Leo had him in his arms.
"Maybe they like your warmth." Don mused, eyeing Leo with Cavansite as he sat next to Mikey again.
"And with how you wrapped them in their blankets, it's like it was in the eggs. Tight space and body warmth."
"Great, so we are on baby-sleep-duty, and when they're awake you and Raph are gonna take care of them." Mikey pouted down at his daughter, though a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when the girl's lips moved as if she was sucking on a bottle in her slumber.
"The triplets were never like that." Leo said quietly, leaning back on the pillows and smiling when Mikey's head landed on his shoulder again.
Don mimicked the soft expression and adjusted the blankets around them.
"There are human infants that were born prematurely and cry a lot. I've once seen a documentary where they put them in a bucket filled with body temperature water. It creates a feeling for them that reminds them of being in the womb, and they calm down because of the familiarity."
"It's gonna be quite strenuous to hold them 24/7..."
"Actually I think they were mostly cranky because they didn't get much sleep, because they were scared of this new environment." Don's voice grew even quieter when he noticed Mikey's already fallen asleep.
"I have high hopes that they're gonna be calmer once they had a few good hours of sleep."
"Mhm..." Amusement glinted in Donatello's eyes as Leo's own lids dropped as he too succumbed to sleep.
"The tots were scared something happened to their siblings because it was so quiet suddenly." Raph chuckled, startling Donnie.
The genius happily accepted a cup of coffee from his mate as he stood, delighted when Raphael took a few pictures of that cute scene on the bed.
"I so wanna join them right now." Raph yawned, almost groaning but stopping himself as Donnie pulled him out of the bedroom.
"You were so sure we could handle more kids, the triplets just woke up and need us. Get used to it, daddy." The olive turtle laughed at his mate's suffering expression.