A/N: Thank you redxcanary and Wonderwomanbatmanfan for being the only two people to review the last chapter. Thank you. And Wonderwomanbatmanfan the missing baby thing is going to be explained soon we actually took it from the comics. Don't worry we have two separate plots going on right now, so trust us when we say it's important and will be explained, except not in this chapter we actually finished before we got your review. But don't worry! We'll explanations are coming soon. Once again thank you for the reviews, they mean a lot.

Family Time

The next day saw Piper, April, Li, and Splinter sitting in April's living room drinking tea and catching up. April had told them about how her store had been mentioned on Antique Roadshow and how after that, business had been booming.

"It's great, the store hasn't done this well in years." She smiled proudly. "So great in fact that I've barely been able to get away, I was thinking about hiring some extra help, but with ninja's coming over at all hours I decided against it." She gave the girls a devious smile. "But I was thinking that if you two wanted lower rent, I could slash the price if you agreed to working a few shifts a week." They gave her an excited look.

"April, that would be great!"

"I thought so, that way I don't have to worry about the guys coming over." They heard a crash downstairs accompanied by cursing and someone being called a bonehead. April got a look on her face. "They better not have broken anything." The turtles and Casey were down in the basement cleaning out and renovating the apartment for the girls. Leo shared the same opinion as Raph and wanted Piper to live in the lair, but once she explained it wasn't honorable, he went along with the apartment idea. He even told Piper he was proud of her for watching out for his honor like that. She had to keep from laughing during the entire exchange. Truth was, she just wanted to make it through a night where she didn't get punched in the face by a sleeping Leo.

"Why don't we go see how things are going? I wanted Casey to run to the store and pick up more ice cream for me anyway." Li eyed April suspiciously, she noticed last night and today that April had been eating more and had an appetite for unusual food combinations, like how she insisted on having pickles with her tea. She doubted anyone noticed, but Casey did seem to be doting on her more than normal.

"April, are you?" She turned around and smiled at Li, holding a finger to her lips. Oh, so she was.

They went down to the basement and saw Donny working on the wiring, Leo and Mikey clearing out junk, and Raph and Casey arguing over the best position for the beds.

"Da beds can't be in da same room."

"There ain't enough room else ways."

"I don't care, figure someting else out." April cleared her throat, and they stopped fighting.

"Problems boys?" They both straightened up.

"No ma'am."

"Good." She smiled. "Now, why doesn't everyone take a break and I order some food?" Casey rushed up to her and took her hand.

"What da you want babe? I can run out and get it." She smiled.

"Chinese would be good...and cheesecake with caramel." He agreed and ran out the door, promising to be back in twenty minutes. Raph gave his retreating form a look.

"Anyone else notice da head case is actin' odd?" Leo shrugged.

"It's Casey." Like that explained everything. April ushered everyone upstairs to wait for Casey to get back.

"Actually something is up, but I'll wait till Casey gets back to tell you." Mikey tried guessing what it was and wouldn't shut up till Raph shoved a cookie in his mouth. Li patted him on the head while he choked. He seemed to lean into her touch, but she shrugged it off as odd Mikey behavior. Casey finally returned holding a large bag of food and a massive cheesecake complete with ice cream. He set everything down and got everything ready for lunch. Once everyone was settled with food and cheesecake Leo finally asked what was on everyone's mind.

"So, what's the big announcement?" Casey stood behind April grinning like a maniac.

"We're havin' a baby guys, April's pregnant!" It was obvious he couldn't be prouder. Excitement broke out and everyone rushed to congratulate her.

"That's great!"

"When are you due?"

"You mean this bonehead did something right?"

"Are you gonna name it after me?" April calmly explained that she was due in six months and couldn't be happier, and no they weren't going to name their child after Mikey.

"April, Casey, this is indeed wonderful news. There is nothing more rewarding than being a parent." Splinter smiled proudly at his sons. "Congratulations." He patted April's hand. "You will make wonderful parents." April glowed at the compliment and Casey's grin had yet to leave his face. This led to a discussion over baby clothes and furniture, and Mikey and Donny began arguing over whether or not it would be a girl or a boy.

"Yes, we're remodeling the little room off the hall I've been using as an office into the nursery."

"So are you going to find out the gender, or be surprised?" April smiled at Casey.

"Well, we were going to have it be a surprise, but decorating would be a lot easier if I knew, so I've decided to find out." Li nodded and sipped her tea.

"You're at what, twelve weeks? You've got about a month then." April nodded.

"Yes, that's right. We're pretty excited." She squeezed Casey's hand and took a big bite of cheesecake. Raph punched Casey in the shoulder.

"Remember our bet?"

"Uh, Raph I'm not sure now's the best time..." April looked up from her cheesecake.

"What bet?"

"Nothing babe." Her grip on his hand became painful. "Ow! Uh...I lost a bet to Raph and uh he...gets to name out first born."

"What? Casey Jones, of all the irresponsible stupid things! Why would you bet something like that and especially with Raph?"

"Ah Ape it was years ago I didn't think he'd remember." Raph cracked his knuckles.

"Don't worry Ape, I've already got da name picked out, and trust me it's better den what Casey wanted."

"What did he want?"

"Shadow." Everyone in the room started laughing except for April.

"Why would you want to name our child something like that?"

"It's a good vigilante name."

"It's a sue name and our child isn't going to be a vigilante."

"But I was gonna teach it to fight." April sent a sharp glare in his direction.

"Shutting up now." Li nudged Raph, she was curious.

"What was the name you picked out?" He smiled proudly and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Raphael Axel 'The Duke' Jr. We'd call him Axel or The Duke to avoid confusion." Li was stunned into silence, she didn't know what to say, luckily Piper said it for her.

"That is only, just only, slightly a little bit better than Shadow. What were you going to do if it was a girl?"

"Raphaela." Mikey burst out laughing, followed closely by Donny and Leo.

"Raphaela! That's the worst name ever!" Mikey could barely get the words out he was laughing so hard. He was clutching his side and had to use Raph for support. He pushed him off and glared.

"No it's not. Tell 'em babe." Oh no, he was looking at Li for backup. Luckily help came in the most unlikely of places, Piper.

"It's not so bad Raph, my dad wanted to name me Thermina Munson, and all my brothers Thermon Munson after the baseball player. Mom put a stop to that." Now it was Leo's turn to stop laughing. What if she thought that was a good name? What if Piper wanted to name their kids something like that?

"Uh, you wouldn't have been okay with that would you?" She shrugged.

"I coulda pulled off being a Mina. I'd have to be blonde though." She gave a thoughtful expression and Leo panicked. Maybe if they ever had children he could convince her that was a bad idea because it would be hard for children to spell. She might buy that. At that moment, April pulled out paint samples and began showing them to Li and Piper, trying to get their opinion, Casey was awful at interior decorating. The turtles and Casey moved to the TV to turn on a wrestling match that was on, making bets on the outcome. Splinter joined the conversation about paint samples and helped narrow down the choices to sunshine yellow or blooming meadow. April wanted to paint the room now, so she chose neutral colors. She'd decide on cribs and decorations when she knew the gender of the baby. Two hours later everyone left, April promising the place to be ready to move in at the end of the week. The girls, Splinter, and the turtles headed back through the tunnels to the lair. Leo had decided it was training time and all the turtles headed to the dojo. Piper grabbed a magazine and headed to the couch, while Li went to Raph's room. Sleeping together on the hammock the night before had not been the most comfortable experience, one she decided to fix. She went into Mikey's garbage-ridden room and stared at his bunk bed. He didn't need both mattresses...she pulled off the bottom one and began heaving it to the door, but failed at turning it. She went outside to get Piper.

"Hey, can you help me with something?" Piper put down her magazine and followed her to Mikey's room where Li was commandeering his mattress. She shrugged.

"Okay." They got on either side and turned it, then walked it out of the room. Splinter said nothing as he watched them move the mattress to Raphael's room, and get fresh blankets. He'd let his sons deal with it on their own. Li threw Mikey's sheets in their laundry pile and stepped back to admire her work. She pushed Raph's garbage off to the side and put the mattress next to the hammock. It looked rather cozy, besides, sex on a hammock was hard.

"Did he squash you with his shell last night?"

"I don't know what he has against beds. Everyone else has beds." Piper shrugged. Then suddenly got the greatest idea ever.

"Let's have a slumber party with Mikey!"

"What?" Piper started babbling excitedly.

"It'll be great! We haven't seen him in forever and you know he'll make us cookies, and Mikey was our first turtle. What if he thinks he's not special anymore cause we spend so much time with Da Vinci and Raph?" She gasped. "What if Donny feels the same way? Oh no! I love Donny I don't want him to feel neglected, he can come to the slumber party too."

"Piper shut up." Li silenced her friends rambling, then looked mildly uncomfortable.

"I don't know if Raph would like that." Piper stopped bouncing excitedly, she looked at Li disappointed.

"Oh, you're going to be one of those types of girlfriends." She shook her head.

"What type of girlfriend?"

"The kind that never does anything their boyfriend might disapprove of, you know the kind that eventually become weak willed and boring."

"I'm not one of those types of girls! I just don't want Raph fighting with his brothers over me!" She paused. "Fine we can have a sleep over."

"Yay!" They waited until the turtles were done with training and took turns in the shower. Piper and Li had joined Splinter in watching the boxed set they got him. After Mikey was done Piper jumped up dramatically.

"Mikey! You must now make...pre-sleepover cookies!" Mikey blinked for a second, then grinned.

"You got it, pick out what you want to watch." Piper nodded approvingly, then addressed Donny, who was headed toward his lab.

"Donny, you come too!" He turned around.

"Me? I-okay." Piper went to pick out a movie and Raph sat next to Li on the couch. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"Want ta retire early?"

"Sorry, Piper planned a sleepover with Donny and Mikey so they don't feel left out since we spend all our time with you and Leo." Raph's frowned and Li misinterpreted his expression. "Don't worry, I can sneak into your room when everyone's asleep. Training helps though, right?" She was referring to his need to mate. He shrugged.

"A little, you help more though." He put his mouth on her neck and Leo came out of the shower last and gave them a disapproving look. He nodded his head toward Splinter at the table, his meaning obvious. None of that where father could see. Piper came out of Mikey's room and pulled Li off the couch.

"C'mon, you can have her later." She addressed Raph, who crossed his arms. Piper rolled her eyes and they went into Raph's room where Li grabbed a tank top and shorts out of her bag. Piper just waited till she was done changing and then they went to Leo's room so she could get her pajamas. They silently agreed that if one of them was present, their respective turtles would be less likely to jump them in their rooms. Leo walked into his room, clearly disappointed Li was there with Piper.

"You're having a slumber party?" Piper nodded, not understanding why Raph and Leo seemed so upset about it.

"Yeah, me and Mikey and Donny and Li are gonna hang out and tell ghost stories, and gossip!" She didn't seem to notice the disappointment on Leo's face.

"But I thought we could spend time together." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Don't be silly Leo we just spent two weeks together. I haven't seen Mikey or Donny in ages." She kissed him and again and whispered something that took his frown clean off and replaced it with a devious grin. Li pretended she didn't notice and they went into Mikey's room and arranged his pillows and blankets on the floor for lounging. They got comfortable and put in a DVD, waiting for Mikey and Donny so they could start it. They had propped the pillows against the bed and curled up on the blankets, since Li took Mikey's bottom mattress. She couldn't get the top one down. Soon, Mikey bounded in with the cookies, followed by Donny, and they grabbed places on either side of the girls. Mikey passed his cookie plate around and Piper pushed play on the DVD. They ended up watching Dirty Dancing, which, apparently, Mikey and Donny thought was some adult film. They were slightly disappointed when it turned out to be dancing. As the ending song came on, Mikey jumped up, pulling Li with him.

"I bet I'm a way better dancer than that guy, c'mon babe!" He spun Li around, who basically had no control and was along for the ride, and dipped her. Donny and Piper clapped and Mikey pulled her back up with an odd expression on his face. He didn't release her.

"Mikey, you okay?" He blinked and cleared his throat.

"Fine, maybe I should just stick to ninjutsu." They laughed and picked out the next movie, deciding on The Omen. Li was holding the plate of cookies, and Piper leaned across Donny to grab one, giving him a rather...nice view. He swallowed and blushed, and Piper sat back with her cookie, completely oblivious. They laughed at the movie, especially the gorilla scene, and Piper ended up leaning against Donny accidently. She didn't seem to care and continued using him as a cushion. Mike turned off the lights and brought out a flash light.

"It was a dark and stormy night, much like this one."

"Mikey we're inside and it's not raining." Mikey waved his hand, unaffected by Donny's logic.

"Enough from the peanut gallery. It was a dark and stormy night and a group teenagers sat around the campsite telling ghost stories."

"Wait I know this one, it's the opening to Are You Scared of the Dark?" Mikey pouted.

"Awww, you're ruining it!" Piper rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine." He noticed the slightly terrified look on Li's face and decided not to go on. He remembered she was really susceptible to nightmares.

"Nah, never mind you guys ruined it." He grabbed another cookie. "What now?"

"We could play a game." Piper and Li looked wary, it better not be something like Truth or Dare. That game combined with Mikey would be dangerous. Piper decided to nip it in the bud.

"I have a better idea!" She raced out of the room, leaving Donny, Mikey, and Li to look at each other in confusion. She raced back in with a container, which she tossed Li.

"Facial Cleansing Mud?" The turtles looked at each other in confusion and Piper beamed.

"Yep, you remember how we used to use that all the time in high school?" Li smiled.

"Yep, and read fashion magazines." They both looked at Mikey and Donny, who raised his hands.

"Whoa, wait a second..." Ten minutes later saw the four of them happily watching The Golden Girls and reading magazines, all of them sporting mud masks. Donny looked at the Cosmo rather resigned, while Mikey and the girls happily watched TV. Never doubt a woman's persuasive ability. Donny never would again. He sighed.

"When can we wash these off?" Piper looked at her phone.

"In...thirteen minutes, then we'll all have amazing skin!" Donny twirled a finger in the air.

"Whoop de do." He said sarcastically. Piper gave Donny a look.

"Don, I'm getting the feeling you're not enjoying our slumber party facial mask magazine time." He sighed, and gave up reading the article on how to please your man in bed.

"It's not that, it's just..." He trailed off and Piper wrapped her arms around him, giving him an enthusiastic hug, kissing him on the cheek and patting him on the head.

"It's okay Donny, you can pick the next activity. Now why don't you tell me about your latest experiment." Donny always had a latest experiment. He brightened and began telling Piper about something to do with nano bots. She wasn't exactly sure, but she listened attentively anyway. After the time was up they washed off their mud masks, complimenting Mikey's skin, since it practically glowed.

"I wish my skin could look like that! It's not fair, I bet you never had acne either!"

"Nope." Both girls sighed. To not go through acne would have been a great thing indeed.

"Well Donny? What's next?"

"Well..." A few minutes later they were crowded around a box on the floor.

"Okay, just a little more..." A zap was heard and everyone groaned.

"You almost had the chicken bone!" Donny made a comment about wanting to play doctor and Piper took that to mean he wanted to play operation, which surprisingly ninjas were not good at. Li guessed it had something to do with the size of their fingers. Well, Donny settled and here they were. Li carefully took the tweezers and just when she was lowering it to the board, Piper bumped her, causing it to hit the side and zap.

"Hey!" Li took the pillow she was using as a backrest and smacked her with it. Piper then grabbed her pillow and the two had a full on pillow war. Donny and Mikey, having never experienced an actual girl pillow fight, did not know what to do and simply high fived each other, neither taking their eyes off the girls. Eventually, they abandoned the pillows and began to thumb wrestle, much to the turtles chagrin. Li won, having a longer thumb, and declared her victory.

"Ha! I win, I win that too!" She pointed at the game.

"How?"

"I just do."

"I'll accept your logic for now, but only for now." They decided to browse the channels, as everyone was beginning to get tired. Mikey found X-Men and Li and Piper put their pillows back and curled up in Mikey's blankets. Donny turned off the lights so that the room was dark except for the light from the TV, and everyone lay back and began dozing. Twenty minutes later, they were asleep.

Raph stared up at the ceiling in his room, waiting. Li said she was going to sneak away and visit him, so now all he had to do was wait. First he waited by the door, ready to grab her when she came in, then he waited on the bed, but he remembered it was Mikey's when he noticed it was giving off an odd smell. So now he was waiting in his hammock for her to show up. He looked at the clock, yup still waiting, still waiting. He started counting the holes on the ceiling again. After another hour, his eyes drifted shut and he fell asleep.

Something was pushing into Piper's back, and there was something in front of her that was blocking her from getting away. It felt like she was about to be smooshed. She tried getting away but her arms were pinned. She opened her eyes and finally figured out what was going on. She was back to back with Mikey, his shell pressing against her back and somehow Donny had ended up using her as a teddy bear. He had a tight grip on her waist, making it impossible to try to move, not that she was planning on it. Sleeping with Leo had taught her one thing, never wake a sleeping ninja, you will get you butt handed to you. She sighed and resigned herself to wait until Donny or Mikey woke up. She wondered if Li was in a similar situation. Donny muttered something about electrons and nuzzled closer to her, his face a little too close to her chest for comfort. Maybe she could somehow telepathically communicate her situation to Leo and he'd come to rescue her from his handsy sleeping genius brother. She resigned herself to wait, but heard someone outside the door ten minutes later.

Raph had fallen asleep, dreamed something rather raunchy, and woke up to see Li was still not there. It was six in the morning! He headed toward Mikey's room, intent on hauling her back to his. Mikey's door was squeaky, so he opened it quietly, so that nobody would wake up. The first thing he saw was Piper, who looked incredibly relieved. She began whispering.

"Thank god, get him off me!" He saw Donny hugging her and grunted. Donny always had been a cuddler, good thing Leo didn't see. He just leaned down next to his face and whispered.

"Donny, you have to let go of Piper so she can...do science." Donny muttered something unintelligible and let go of Piper and mimed pouring something in a beaker. Piper jumped up and sighed.

"I wish I had known it was that easy before." Raph wasn't listening, he was too busy staring at Li, who was sprawled on her back, Mikey's head pillowed on her thigh. A growl started in his throat and Piper panicked.

"Uh oh, look, he rolls around a lot, almost got me too, uh, don't kill anyone?" He growled and grabbed Mikey by the leg, pulling him off Li in one quick movement. He woke with a start.

"Hey Raph, what's the big deal?" Li sat up and stared at the two green blurs who were arguing until one of the green blurs picked her up threw her over his shoulder and left the room. She took a wild guess.

"Raph?" They reached his room and he locked the door and threw her on the mattress on the floor, jumping on top of her.

"I don't like to be kept waiting." He rumbled, and she got a sheepish expression on her face.

"I guess I was more tired than I thought..." She couldn't say anything else, as Raph kissed her hungrily, and they fell back on the mattress. Meanwhile, Piper was busy sneaking back to Leo's room, which was across the living area from Mikey's. She tiptoed quietly, trying not to wake anyone up. She got to Leo's door and pushed it open very slowly to see...nothing. She heard a thump from the dojo and sighed. Then she heard a thump from Raph's room and sighed again. She closed the door behind her and went and collapsed onto Leo's already made bed. She pulled the covers around her and closed her eyes. She'd wake up in an hour and try and make breakfast, then buy Donny a body pillow...

No! No! No! It wasn't supposed to happen! This wasn't in his plans. He followed her for specifically this reason, so she'd never be out of his sight. He didn't like it when she wasn't around, didn't like it when her couldn't see her. He didn't like it when he didn't know where she was or what she was doing. But that was exactly what was happening. He punched the brink wall, blood dripping down his knuckles. Somehow he had lost her. Somehow she had gotten away from him and now he didn't know where she was, all he knew was that she was with that freak. That freak! He was going to make that freak pay for taking her away. He was going to make him wish he had never been spawned from the hell he came from. He was going to make that filth suffer and pay for everything he did, for ever touching her, for taking her away and keeping him from finding her. And he was going to teach her that she was never supposed to leave him. But for now he had to wait, wait for the moment for all the pieces to line up, and for him to make his move.

"No, waffles, bad kitty..." Piper mumbled, turning over on her side. Leo watched her as he leaned against the wall. He had come back from his morning training to see her sleeping in his bed, and the sight filled him with affection. He really wished she wouldn't move to April's...He heard movement outside and went and kneeled next to her on the floor. He knew she liked to wake up early.

"Hey, sleepy head, wake up." He stroked her hair and she frowned, but didn't open her eyes. She rolled over and Leo suppressed a yawn. He himself had had trouble sleeping that night, every time he did fall asleep, he woke up wondering where Piper was. He was already used to sleeping with her. He glanced at the door and gently moved her to the other side of the bed as he slipped in next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled the covers around them.

"I think we can sleep in today."

Mikey, Donny, and Master Splinter sat around the breakfast table waiting for the rest of the family to appear so that they could start eating. Splinter had a strict rule about not eating until everyone was present, Mikey had never been less fond of the rule than he was right now. He had woke up and found both girls gone, something he bet he could blame his brothers for, but he'd never been one to hold grudges so he let it go and went to make breakfast. Forty-five minutes later saw him, his brother and his father sitting around watching their eggs get cold. He hated cold eggs.

"Perhaps it would be best if the two of you went to fetch your brothers." Splinter was tired of waiting as well, his shows were coming on soon and his pigs in a blanket weren't getting any warmer. Michelangelo jumped up anything to get breakfast underway.

"I'll go get Raph." Donny got up stretched and followed his brother.

"I'll see what's keeping Leo." Donny headed to Leo's room, and slowly opened the door. Just enough light showed from the living area to see Leo curled up on his side, facing the wall. Donny walked over to him quietly, intending to shake him awake. He leaned over and paused. Leo's shell had blocked his view of Piper lying next to Leo on the bed, his arms around her. Both of them were sleeping peacefully, Leo with a small smile on his face. He paused, he hadn't seen a look like that on Leo's face in a long time, content. That's what that smile was, a small happy content smile. And yet...he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He had been feeling a bit irritable since the girls got here, especially with Leo. He wanted to work with Piper in the lab again, they had gotten along perfectly, and even though she was a geneticist, it was nice to talk with another scientist. That feeling swelled in him and he turned abruptly and headed for the door. He knocked loudly on the wood, causing Leo to jump out of the bed onto the floor, almost kicking Piper in the face. Leo saw him and calmed down.

"Breakfast." He said simply, and left. He wasn't feeling so hungry anymore.

Mikey was trying to suppress his laughter, while thinking of the best way to wake up Raph. He could twirl him out of his hammock, dump a bucket of water on him, or put a fake bug in front of him. He settled on a classic, scream in his ear. He entered Raph's room without disturbing anything. His brothers didn't give him enough credit, he could be just as stealthy a ninja as Leo, and just as clever as Don, but only when the occasion called for it, like right now. He snuck over to Raph and got down right next to him.

"MORNING RAPH!" He jumped out of the way as Raph shot straight up and punched the spot Mikey had just been standing in.

"Mikey! I'm gonna cream you!" Li had also shot out of bed and was sitting straight up.

"What! What happened?" Mikey paused and stared at Li, then grinned like a fool.

"I gotta say, I like the look Li." She gave him a confused glance and looked down just as Raph did. She wasn't wearing a shirt. Raph's left eye twitched and he jumped out of bed, chasing Mikey.

"I took out the pizza boy! Don't think I won't take you out!" Li grabbed her clothes and put them on, ignoring Raph and Mikey running around the lair. She sat down at the table and poured a glass of orange juice. Splinter gave a resigned look at his sons than glanced down at his pigs in a blanket.

"Today, I believe we will forgo our traditional rule. Dig in." Everyone started eating as Raph continued to chase Mikey.

"Get back here so I can kill you!"

"I regret nothing!"

The next few days saw Piper and Li helping Casey get their room ready, as they were eager to get their own place. Mikey had started interrupting Raph and Li at every possibility, and Donny was constantly trying to catch Piper's attention. They were getting sick of it, and so were their boyfriends. Li's theory was that they started their seasons and they happened to be the only girls their age around, thus, their attention was focused on them. Tensions between the brothers was running high, so Li and Piper were trying to get moved in as soon as possible. Li was currently sweeping the floor, while Casey moved out the last of the junk. Piper had taken to cleaning off the furniture, and she and Li were raring to get to work on the kitchenette, which Casey needed to rewire. None of the appliances worked. Until he got that done, they were going to have to order takeout, as neither wanted to impose on April. Once Casey was outside, Li paused her sweeping and hit Piper with a plan.

"We need to get out." Piper didn't look up from the table she was dusting.

"Yeah, that's why we're cleaning." Li shook her head.

"No I mean we should go out with the guys tonight, but by each other not a group date." Piper looked up.

"Go on."

"Well, the guys are about ready to kill each other, and I'd hate to say this about Mikey, but Raph and I need alone time without him trying to show me his Silver Sentry comics. Besides, when was the last time you and Leo went on a real date?" Piper gave it a thought.

"Bout five months ago he took me to the fair."

"And Raph and I haven't done anything since we went to that movie back home." Piper nodded.

"Dates would be good. I'll call Leo, you call Raph." Piper whipped out her cell phone and waited for Leo to pick up.

"Hello?"

"What's cooking good looking?"

"Piper?"

"Hey, sexy." She could hear Leo laughing on the other end.

"Got bored from cleaning already?" Piper shrugged but realized Leo wouldn't be able to see her.

"Well you know me. Say, Da Vinci?" Her voice took on a sly undertone.

"Yeah?" He sounded hesitant.

"What cha doing tonight? Cause I was thinking that you should go gussy yourself up cause I feel like hitting the town."

"Gussy myself up?"

"Yeah Leo, get sexy for me." She tried to turn her voice into something akin to a purr but ended up laughing instead. She decided she just better explain what she wanted before she died of laughter. "Li pointed out that we haven't really gone on a date since the last time I was here. So how about it would you like to go on a date with me tonight?" Leo looked over to the living area, where the rest of his brothers were fighting over the remote-with weapons.

"Sounds great, I'll be over there tonight to pick you up-you guys knock it off!" Piper snapped her phone shut and sighed.

"Sounds like another brawl." Li gathered all the dust she collected in the dustbin and threw it in the trashcan.

"I'm so glad we're not there right now." Piper nodded her agreement and Casey came back in with some tools to work on the kitchen. He inclined his head upwards.

"April wants ta see you guys upstairs...baby stuff I think." Piper and Li set down their broom and rag and headed upstairs, glad for a break. April was sitting on the couch with different designs spread over the coffee table for the nursery. The girls sat down and she beamed.

"Alright, I want your guys' opinion..."

When Leo told Piper he'd pick her up, she didn't think he realized she'd be getting ready in his room. The apartment still wasn't ready yet, so after an afternoon of baby plans Li and Piper had returned to the lair. Raph had seemed particularly pleased with the date idea and had his arm wrapped around some part of Li the entire time she was there, until she had to pry him off so she could get ready.

"Come on babe! Are you ready to go yet?" Raph sounded dangerously close to whining. Li had to suppress her laughter at the thought of a pouting Raph, she opened the door and stepped out fresh faced and with a new outfit on. Raph's jaw dropped when he saw what she was wearing. Black boots, a low-cut red top, a black leather jacket, and grey skinny jeans that made him want to grab her ass and take her back to his room.

"Well, are we going or what?" She walked past him and headed to the garage where he kept the shell cycle. She leaned against his bike and he had to fight off the urge to use his bike for something other than driving... He cleared his throat and tossed her a helmet.

"Yeah we're going." She wrapped her arms around him and Raph fought off a groan. He had a feeling this was going to be a difficult night. Meanwhile, Piper was waiting on Leo's bed, waiting for him to come get her. You'd think he'd be ready, it's not like he had to put makeup on. Finally, he knocked on the door and Piper bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Yes?" Leo opened the door and cleared his throat, holding out his arm. She walked over and took it, still holding in her laughter and let him lead her out of the lair. They got on Leo's shell cycle and drove away in the opposite direction.

Raph kept his arm around Li's waist, glaring at every guy that checked her out. She was walking next to him happily eating a churro and not paying attention. They had driven around for a while before settling on spending some time in Central Park. Neither of them actually had a plan for their date and a walk in the park was the best they could come up with.

"Find the queen, find the queen, win the pot. How about you sir, think you can find the queen?" A man in a plaid jacket and fedora was standing behind a small fold up table with three cards in front of him, daring people to bet their money to try to find the queen of hearts. He couldn't have been more obvious if he had con artist stamped on his forehead, but the man in front of him didn't seem to think so. He was a short skinny man with bottle neck glasses and thinning hair, if the man addressing him had con artist stamped on his forehead, this man had sucker stamped on his.

"Well alright, it doesn't seem that hard."

"That's right sir, that's right, not hard at all. All you have to do is find the queen." He lifted the middle of the three cards and revealed the queen of hearts. He put the card down and started shuffling them around. "Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows." He stopped moving the cards and motioned for the man to take his pick. He picked the one to the right, lifted it up and revealed the queen.

"We have a winner! There you go sir, there you go. Happy winnings." The man walked away with a bundle full of ones. "Anyone else want to test their luck? What about you?" This time he was talking to Raph, who pulled his hat down lower on his head. He snorted.

"Yeah, I'll play your game." Li got a bad feeling, she'd seen this type of thing before.

"Raph, that's not a good idea. Why don't we just leave?"

"Relax babe, if dat scrawny guy could do it, so can I." She was going to point out that the 'scrawny guy,' as he put it, was probably in on the con as well. "Besides, I'm a ninja."

"Oh, a ninja? Then you'll have no trouble at all. Now sir, you know the rules of the game, find the queen, win the pot." The man repeated the same motions as before, revealing where the queen was before shuffling the cards around. Raph watched his hands, there was no way he was going to lose to this guy. The cards stopped.

"Alright sir, find the queen." Raph pointed to the middle card, the man flipped it over. It was the two of spades. "Ah, tough break my friend, tough break indeed. Care to try again?" Raph nodded, determined, and he put another five dollars down, and the process started over again. This time Raph picked the left card, it was the ten of diamonds. He made a noise in the back of his throat Li couldn't place and put another five dollars down. Li sat down to finish her churro, this was going to take a while.

"Did you make this?" Leo had brought Piper up to a rooftop that had a blanket and several cushions on the ground with a picnic basket full of food, as well as a bottle of wine. She was the most surprised by that, as Leo didn't drink. They sat down on the cushions and opened up the basket. The gesture was incredibly sweet, but Piper knew Leo couldn't cook.

"Uhh, well...no." He scratched his head sheepishly. There were little finger sandwiches with chocolate covered strawberries and different cheeses. He poured the wine and she took a sip. Prisoner, her favorite. "Mikey...helped." She smiled, good the food was safe. She took a bite of one of the sandwiches and looked up at the stars. There was only a few visible because of the light pollution, but the night was beautiful. It was just cool enough to need a light jacket, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The moon was half full, and the lights of the city reflected off the water in the Hudson Bay.

"This is nice, I was just going to suggest a movie."

"I thought this would be special." She took a sip of her wine and grinned at him.

"You just didn't want to watch the movie I picked out."

"Uh...no?" Piper laughed.

"It's okay Leo not everyone can appreciate a movie about man-eating fish."

Li sipped her drink and looked at her phone, they'd been here for twenty minutes and she was pretty sure Raph had bet away his life savings and was now moving on to Mikey's. He put another five dollars on the table and once again didn't pick the right card.

"Ooh tough break sir." She got up and tossed her drink in the trash. She watched Raph bet again, she would have thought he'd catch on quicker than this. He picked the middle card and Li put her hand on it.

"Flip the other two." She was looking at the con artist, not caring in the least that she was emasculating her boyfriend. The man pulled on the collar of his shirt.

"Now, there isn't any need for that."

"Flip the other two."

"Babe, what are you doing?" He was torn between confusion, embarrassment, and indignation.

"He's been conning you. Flip the other two, they're not going to be the queen of hearts." Raph did as he was told, revealing the two of spades and ten of diamonds. Li removed her hand and flipped the card over, the nine of clubs. "See." Raph stared for a second before turning his attention at the man standing in front of him, who was trying to gather his belongings as quickly as possible.

"There seems to be some mistake, I assure you. How about you just call the whole thing a draw?" He was waving his arms trying to deter Raph from impaling him with sai that he happened to have handy, when the queen of hearts flew out of his sleeve.

"Oh, there she is. Looks like you won after all. Well I best be going." Li watched idly by as the man tried to flee. Raph picked him up by the neck of his cheap suit and demanded his money back. He pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and handed it to Raph, who tossed him over his shoulder. He turned back to Li and they walked away like nothing had happened. He nodded his head.

"Nice save." She smiled and said nothing. The fact that Raph wasn't freaking out about being emasculated was good, it meant he was secure, that the two of them were secure. She leaned into him.

"Just repaying the favor."

"Hey, I want to toast something." Piper looked up at Leo in surprise. They had finished everything and were working on the chocolate covered strawberries, Piper would have to thank Mikey later, he was an amazing cook. They had spent the past hour just laughing and talking and telling each other humorous stories about their families. It was great to have these moments with Leo, where they were just two people in love, getting to know one another. They had been careful with the wine, as Piper wanted to save some so that they could enjoy it later.

"Alright." He topped off their glasses and she waited for him to speak.

"To your twenty second birthday..." Piper blinked, this was a birthday thing? Oh, he was sneaky. "And to our six month anniversary." Piper kept her expression carefully schooled, she had completely forgot about that. "I was surprised that you wanted to go out tonight, I thought you wouldn't remember." He beamed at her and she smiled back, mentally patting herself on the back. Well, this certainly was lucky, she'd have to thank Li later. They clinked glasses and drank their wine. Piper put her glass down and Leo pulled out a small box with a ribbon tied around it from the basket and she felt momentarily panicked. Crap, she hadn't gotten him anything. He handed it to her, smiling softly.

"For your birthday."

"We didn't toast your birthday." He put a hand to his head.

"Well, I'm not much on presents, I figured we could wait until you're in April's place." Piper smiled, good, Leo was easy to shop for. She carefully untied the ribbon on her box and opened the lid.

"Leo, you didn't have to-" He shook his head.

"Yes I did." Inside was a pendant, with a sapphire blue crystal heart on a silver chain. She smiled softly, it was beautiful. She had the fleeting worry that he had spent too much on her, then he was carefully clasping it around her neck, his big hands gentle against her skin. She swallowed, her throat suddenly tight.

"Leo." She murmured, and flew into his arms. She felt his arms go around her and felt that familiar warm fuzzy feeling she always got when they embraced. Security, comfort, safety. He pulled away and lifted her chin, pressing his mouth to hers, and as the moon and stars looked down at them, Piper thanked them silently for sending her Leonardo Hamato.