April retched into the toilet bowl, clinging to the sides desperately. The sour taste of vomit still clung to the interior of her mouth, even though her stomach was now empty. The only relief was that Mikey's large hands were pulling her hair from her face, which he had been doing for almost ten minutes. Finally the retching stopped, and she scrambled back from the toilet, shaking slightly and wiping her mouth with her hand.

"You got any more, April?" Mikey said, attempting a joke. "I think I only saw part of breakfast in there."

She smiled, still a little wobbly. "I'll let you know if I need you again," she said, sitting heavily on the bathroom floor.

Her morning sickness hadn't really abated since she entered her second trimester, and April was starting to wonder if she would be nauseous until she gave birth. She was now five-and-a-half months along, and her stomach was swelling outward enough that she knew soon she would have to close her shop down until the baby was born. At least three months of simply hiding in the sewers and waiting for the inevitable. Backaches. Swollen feet. Mood swings. And the prospect of giving birth in a sewer.

It would be a relief to the Turtles when she shut down the store, she reflected dryly. They hadn't said anything about it lately, but she could feel that they were worried about her being topside without them watching over her. There was always the lingering worry that she would somehow end up in a hospital, and the doctors would get a glimpse of the child inside her — a child who was most definitely not human, and whose father's identity would be of great interest to everyone who knew of it. Or worse, that Agent Bishop or Shredder would take an interest in her baby.

Mikey handed her a damp towel, and April dabbed at the sweat on her face and throat. She let the Turtle help her to her feet, and he followed behind her as she headed out into the lair.

One nice thing about being pregnant was that all four of the Turtles were at her disposal — whenever she needed help, they would drop whatever they were doing and rush to help her. They seemed to take turns, though, which felt a little odd — it was as if the baby had four fathers who were evenly dividing the work. Mikey was supporting her in her morning sickness, so Leo might give her a backrub, and Raph or Don might fix her lunch.

She sank into the couch and curled up against a battered cushion, absently running her hand over her stomach. From there, she could see that Don was in his lab, bent over a large rectangular object that he had been tinkering with for days. His goggles flickered with reflected light as he shone a small flashlight into its depths, then dug his hands into the device's guts. April wasn't sure what it was yet, but she suspected it had something to do with the baby. She smiled a little at the thought.

They had done several ultrasounds since Don had first confirmed that the baby was growing normally, and Don seemed reassured about that. But his concerns had begun to grow about her well-being. She still had to give birth to their child, and he seemed to be worried because she wouldn't have access to a hospital's resources when she did.

Near the pool of water in the lair's heart, Leo was lost in conversation with Master Splinter, with the stern look on his face that he always wore when he was concentrating on a kata or technique. As she watched, he nodded and leaned forward to listen more intently.

April frowned. "Where's Raph?" she asked Mikey.

He flopped onto the couch beside her and buried his hand in a bag of chips. "He and Casey are out lookin' for Purple Dragons," he said.

"Again? They've been doing that almost every day."

"Well, Raph really wants to find Dragon Face. And Casey just wants to bust Dragon heads," Mikey said, stuffing chips into his mouth.

"Do you think —"

But she was interrupted by the sound of the elevator doors opening, a sound that drew her eyes to the other side of the room. As they parted, pale crystalline light glowed from the other side, outlining the two dark shapes stepping out into the lair.

"Christmas!" a voice bellowed.

The hockey-masked figure raised a bat over his head as if he were brandishing a sword. Leo and Master Splinter immediately looked up from their conversation, and Don paused in his work, raising his goggles from his eyes. Behind him, Raph crossed his muscular arms and waited for the fallout from his best friend's words.

"Christmas!" Casey repeated, apparently thinking that the others hadn't heard him the first time.

"Christmas?" Leo repeated.

"Christmas!" Casey said, apparently pleased that someone had responded to her. He slid his hockey mask onto the top of his head. "Raph and me were talkin' while we was out, and we decided that all of ya are goin' up to the farm for Christmas. Get away from it all, spend some time outta the sewer, get some fresh air for April…"

April sat up straighter, her eyes widening. She and the Turtles had spent a previous Christmas at Casey's farm, but it had been a rather depressing, joyless experience — they had been driven from their home, her shop and apartment had been destroyed and Leo had been slowly recovering from a nearly-fatal beating that had wounded his spirit as well. There hadn't been many gifts, but April and Casey had managed to scrounge together a large dinner for themselves and their friends. She still remembered how they had gathered on the floor of the living room, surrounding Leo, who had still been confined to the sofa.

And this year had been rough as well — especially for Don. But Casey was right — getting away from it all might help all of them feel a little better. It might distance Don from the experiences that had hurt him. One of the best things about the farmhouse was that the Turtles were able to spend time out in the open, in the light of day, just being themselves. And April knew she would enjoy being able to walk out in the sunlight, out of the sewers, without hiding her belly.

But then she glanced at Don, who was up to his elbows in the machine he was building. He had a peculiar, far-away look on his face, as if he wasn't sure whether the news was welcome or upsetting. She uncurled her legs and moved closer to his side, resting a hand softly on his shell.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Don seemed to shake himself out of a trance, blinking over at her. He withdrew his hands from the innards of the machine. "Yeah, I was just — thinking," he said.

"So whaddaya think?" Raph said, his eyes roaming from face to face.

"That seems like a good idea to me," Leo said, uncrossing his legs and scrambling to his feet. "Master Splinter?"

Splinter closed his eyes, and seemed to mull it over, his hands resting together on his walking stick. "I believe that some time in the country would be beneficial. For us all," he said, casting a quick glance at Don. "We will accept your gracious offer, Casey."

Casey grinned. "It's gonna be a great Christmas this time. Presents, a real Christmas tree, and we're gonna eat til we explode." Raph held out a fist, and Casey energetically bumped knuckles with him.

"Nice!" Mikey exclaimed, perching on the back of the couch. "Maybe this time an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet?"

"That's not exactly traditional, Mikey," Don said, crossing his arms.

"It's never too late to start a new one," Mikey declared.

Don smiled a little at that, and April felt warmth glow inside her at the sight. He didn't smile enough these days, in her estimation — although he had been smiling more in the last few months, as his nightmares and flashbacks became less common with time. But then the smile faded away as his gaze moved back past Raph, to where Casey was standing, and he quickly looked down at his feet.

"But first we got something else to do," Raph spoke up, moving down among his brothers. "Casey'n'me got our hands on this Purple Dragon, a little weedy guy with a big nose. He spilled where Dragon Face and the rest have been hidin' out for months now. Hun ain't found it yet, neither have the cops. But we know where it is." A sharp-edged grin crossed his face, and he rammed one fist into his open palm. "And I'm ready to bring some pain."

Leo crossed his arms. "Are you sure this isn't some kind of trap?"

Casey grinned, and fondled the handle of his hockey stick.

Raph snorted. "That little weasel didn't have the guts to lie to us when I had my sai pointed at him." The crimson-masked Turtle spun his sai in his hands, his eyes fiercely fixed on some unknown point that only he could see.

April glanced from Raph's face to the faces of his three brothers, who were all staring at one another. Leo looked slightly dubious, with his arms crossed across his chest. Mikey was sitting atop the couch, his legs dangling over the side of it, his usually grinning face perturbed.

And Don was pressing a fist to the left side of his chest, as though feeling his heart, with eyes that darted back and forth across the far wall. His expression was harder to pin down than that of his brothers — it was grim, but there was something else there, a pale light in his eyes that made her uneasy. Without thinking, she reached out and brushed her fingers over his broad shoulder, then gripped his arm tightly. "Don," she said quietly.

"We have to go," Don said, raising his head. April wasn't sure if he was talking to her or not, but his expression transformed into one of uneasy determination. "We have to go tonight."

His brothers looked toward him, and Raph's angry expression smoothed out as they studied his face. Even Mikey was uncharacteristically sober as he glanced between Leo and Don.

"All right," Leo said. "We'll go tonight."

"All right!" Casey said, brandishing his hockey stick. A flinch ran through the room, as everyone braced themselves for possible smashed furniture.

Splinter's quiet voice broke through before the vigilante could say or do anything more. "I too have business tonight," he said, stepping between his sons. "I will need to spend some time away tonight, while you are abroad. I have an idea of where I might be able to find information that will be vital to us all."

"Be careful, Master," Leo said, turning towards their father.

"I will. But April…" Splinter said, raising his eyes towards her. "Will you be all right alone?"

"I'll be fine," April said, quickly smiling. "Don't worry about me. I used to live alone, don't forget. I think I can handle being by myself for one evening."

But she felt a flicker of apprehension as she looked back to Don, her fingers still clutching at his forearm. His eyes were a million miles away, and that strange unreadable look had come back over his face like a mask. April wanted to pull him into her arms and hold him there until the warmth seeped back into his gaze.

But she knew she couldn't hold him back. Not tonight.