It took several days for April to adjust to living in the lair once more. The Turtles' lives had their own strange rhythm — when they weren't training, they goofed off like any teenage boys, and when they weren't goofing off, they were running over rooftops and swinging through dark alleys. They could be noisy or chaotic, such as when Mikey decided to turn the lair into a skateboarding obstacle course and nearly ran over Master Splinter.

But she had to admit, all four brothers were devoted to making sure she was as comfortable as possible. She couldn't even sit down without one of them diving to place a pillow behind her back or a stool under her feet, even though she wasn't even showing yet. They would often bring her things rather than letting her get up to retrieve them herself. And when morning sickness struck — as it did shortly after she moved in — there were always pairs of green hands to pull her hair back from her face as she vomited.

Raph was the one who was acting the oddest. More than once, April found him using Don's laptop, hunched over it as if he didn't want anyone to see what he was doing. He snapped it shut when anyone inquired what he was looking at, usually with a grunt of "Nothin'."

But otherwise, he seemed oddly cautious. He sometimes lurked around as she did things in the kitchen or around Don's lab, watching her for any risky behaviors, insisting on carrying heavy things or retrieving high-up items for her. He seemed to almost see her as the fragile vessel carrying his brother's child, and thus in need of his protection. April found it both endearing and annoying, and couldn't help but wonder if Raphael felt a little guilt over his past hostility towards her.

Mikey seemed delighted by the news of a baby, although April wasn't entirely sure he knew how much work a baby could be. He probably didn't remember his own infancy that well, but April could only imagine how stressful it must have been for Splinter to care for four fully-mobile baby turtles all by himself.

Mikey also seemed a little unclear on how pregnancy worked, as he almost immediately asked April, "Can I feel your baby kick?"

"Mikey, the baby's the size of a very small bean right now," April said with a laugh. "It can't really kick yet."

"Oh." He seemed a little crestfallen at the news, and April quickly promised to let him feel the kicks when the baby was large enough.

Leo was obviously pleased — but his delight over the baby's existence seemed to run deeper than simply being glad that he was going to be an uncle. He seemed pleased by the idea that all of them could father children in general, not just that Don himself was becoming a father. April found herself wondering if this was something he had always wanted but never thought he could have.

Splinter seemed even more pleased than Leo, though he remained sensitive to April's anxious feelings. He was obviously delighted by the news that he was going to be a grandfather, and remained steadfastly optimistic about the baby's chances, despite Don's worst fears. He seemed to have taken it upon himself to keep April relaxed and mellow, and she had to admit that it was comforting to be around him, especially given the absence of her own parents.

After two weeks of being doted on, April gathered the family together and announced that she was reopening her store.

"I love you guys, but it's driving me crazy, having nothing to do but sit down here being pregnant," she said.

"April, it's not safe for you or the baby—" Leo began to say.

"Leo, I'm not even showing yet, and I probably won't for at least a few months," April said firmly. "Even when I do start to show, I can just throw on a baggy sweater and everyone will just think I put on a few pounds."

They all looked at one another, dismay obvious in their faces. "What will you do when you can no longer hide your condition?" Splinter asked quietly.

"I'll shut down the store until the baby is born," April promised. "But I need something to do for the time being. And we're going to need money when the baby comes, for all the things it will need."

They reluctantly agreed, after April finally agreed to bring a Shell Cell with her at all times, and to call them if anything odd happened. She reopened the store the following day, and felt a strange sense of normalcy return as she waited behind the counter for the customers. She felt a little nervous about being in the open again, but the feeling evaporated when she caught a glimpse of a short figure in a slouchy red hat, hoodie and baggy pants. Raphael. He often dropped into her store and hung around for awhile, vanishing if customers came in.

Don's response was the strangest. He seemed apprehensive and almost shy when confronted by her pregnancy, as if he didn't know what to do about it. April knew that he wasn't trying to avoid responsibility, as many men in his position would, but she also knew that his powerful, intensely romantic feelings for her, his past trauma and his worries about the baby's health were making it more complicated for him to deal with impending fatherhood. He seemed a little dazed by the idea of being a father, and since he was only seventeen and had never even had a girlfriend, April couldn't blame him.

But she stayed close to him every day, making sure he didn't feel neglected. As he worked in his lab, she made sure to contribute when she could, helping him draw up schematics and build devices. He seemed particularly devoted to creating an ultrasound machine that would allow him to examine their baby in as much detail as possible, to check on its health and viability.

As they worked, her hand often brushed his, and she felt his fingers move more deliberately against hers. At times she caught him looking at her, and then down at her stomach with an odd, fascinated expression.

After a few weeks, he said almost shyly, "Can I touch your stomach?"

She smiled, taking his hand between hers. "Of course you can."

She placed his fingers against her lower belly, right above where she knew their baby was situated. She felt him stiffen a little at that, before his hand splayed against her pale flesh. He was gentle, pushing only a little against her, as if searching for that tiny fluttering heartbeat.

"If it grows at the same rate as a human embryo," he said softly, "then it's growing fingers and toes."

April smiled, feeling tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. It was the first time Don had seemed tentatively excited about the baby, rather than worried about what was to come — he was still haunted by visions of genetic disaster from the mutagen-based conception. But for that moment, April saw a gentle smile on his lips and a softness in his eyes, and felt his hand resting above where their child was growing.

It was relief to know that he wanted the baby — that the the indirect rape that had conceived it hadn't turned him against the child itself. April had known she wanted it from the moment Leo had suggested that it might be in danger from the Foot, feeling sudden fear at the idea of losing it. But there had been those anxious hours when she hadn't been sure whether Don did. He didn't seem entirely sure what to do about the baby, but he clearly wanted it to be healthy and as… well, as "normal" as an infant mutant could possibly be.

And April caught him occasionally with another look in his eyes — that soft, bittersweet look that she had never understood in the past few years. It threw her own emotions into turmoil every time — she wasn't sure how recovered he was, and when it would be all right for him to seek out something more than friendship from her. She wished desperately that the Turtles had access to a therapist who could help Don through his troubles, but Master Splinter was close as they could get to that.

And April would never have admitted it to him, but Don often featured prominently in her dreams. Some were nothing more than sensations or glimpses, but she recognized the three-fingered hands running down her body, the cool olive-green skin pressed against her own, and the lips that she remembered all too well from their time in his room. She often woke up breathless, her body warm and tingling, half expecting to find him lying in the bed beside her — and she couldn't help but feel disappointed when he wasn't.