A/N: :D

Thanks for the support, guys.

February 2
2:06 A.M.

Michelangelo noticed Raphael's pacing was unlike normal. The hothead didn't move with frustration or anxiousness, but manic fear. Mikey had to admit: it felt unnerving. And he was sure the whole group sympathized with him.

"Dude," he told his older brother, "you're wearing a hole in Donny's nice, new Lab. Try sitting with the rest of us."

Raphael glanced towards the large company gathered in seats throughout the underground room then continued his short strides, hands balled at his sides.

"I know you were kicked out, Raphy, but—"

"Shut up, Michelangelo," Raph spat. His gaze remained focused on the floor, his voice near demonic. Maybe that's why he felt scarier than usual.

"Wow, did you just…?" Mikey glanced over his shoulder at Adeline and Mia. "He used my full name. Not even an insult!"

The hothead growled—proof he was listening after all.

"Nia's separated, too," added Mikey. His attention returned to Raph. Then, he stretched his hands to keep his worry contained and his tone soft. "Listening to everyone comment about your breakdown probably isn't helping."

"If she can hear us between her screams," Sophia interjected from Mikey's left side. She hunched in her fold-out seat with her arms wrapped around her stomach and looked sickened when new contractions caused Nia's voice to rattle the large Lab.

"I should be in there, dammit!" Raphael roared.

As the pained screams trailed into sobs, he glared at the right door at the room's back wall. Mike could tell his brother fought the urge to burst into the delivery room, so he dared step forward to place a hand on the hothead's shoulder. Raph spun, amber eyes wild, and snarled while brushing off the comfort.

"You were with Nia through most of the labor, Bro," Michelangelo said with watery eyes. "But yo—you know Melody was right. The room isn't gigantic. She and Don need as much free space to move for…for whatever happens."

"Whatever happens?" Raphael echoed. His glare narrowed even further, so his eyes looked like nothing more than bright slits. "I'm her husband, her coach! We prepared for this. Togeddah! I should—I should be there no matter what!"

Nia screamed again. The intermittence between cries had shortened within the last hour, and Mikey's racing heart ached whenever his brother flinched at their strangled nature.

"Let me, Michelangelo."

Mikey felt a tap against his wrist before he glanced down. Mia rolled her wheelchair towards Raphael, undaunted by the muscular arms he flailed when he cursed. She caught his hand by some miracle—a gentle, poignant action. The hothead whirled to yell or fight off the contact, Mikey knew it; yet his open mouth fell silent under the woman's stare.

"Nia senses emotions, doesn't she?" Mia asked.

Raph froze, his mouth closing.

"We aren't that far away, Raphael. I'm sure she can sense the energy in this room. It could even over-flood her own. Does she need that pressure on top of giving birth?"

The burly mutant kept quiet, but the silence spoke volumes. Mia understood, so she caught his other arm and made him kneel before her wheelchair by pulling his hands to her knees.

"Th—things weren't goin' well," Raph said in a broken tone. "I thought the scariest thing would be becomin' a parent, but…it ain't. What if"—his voice lowered to a hoarse whisper that barely carried over Nia's distant whimpers—"what if they dun't make it? What if I lose my kids before I even get ta know 'em? Or loose Nia? I…I can't…"

'He should know by now that it's okay to cry,' Mikey thought, watching Raph's forehead meet Mia's hands on her knees.

The older Chūnin voiced grim concerns that everyone shared, and it came as no surprise when Gavin left the Lab, his face flush and his glasses removed. No one followed him, though; Raph and Mia still had center stage.

"Everything has a reason," Mia whispered. "Good or bad."

"I don't give a shit if them bein' alive marks the end 'a our dimension," Raph snarled. "Losing them would—"

Mia silenced the hothead by pressing her fingers against his mouth. "It would be tragic and I'm praying to God he lets us have them. But if you only want to see the bad in the situation, you'll drown. Trust me. Ni—Nia can't have that. You hear me?"

Maybe Raph did. Maybe he didn't. He never got the chance to say. A cry erupted, severing the conversation. It sounded too high-pitched to be Nia's, too much like Tobias when he was hungry. Michelangelo felt frozen by it, but then he caught Adeline's and Splinter's smiles.

It was a baby's cry.

When the door clicked open, Michelangelo's grin had full reign. Donatello stuck his head out. The genius cuddled something out of view, bloodshot eyes roaming over the large group.

"Where's Gavin?" he asked.

Mike found his thin tone disheartening, and his grin fell when Raphael stood.

"How are they?" the hothead questioned.

Don glossed over him to look down hall beyond the lab's open door. "Can someone get Gavin, please?"

"Don"—Raph stepped forward—"how are my kids?"

Donny sigh-groaned. "They're born. Mel recorded the times, but we need Gavin."

Both were born? So why did Mikey not hear more crying?

"I only hear one kid," Raph said, chest puffing. "If there're two, why's only one cryin'?"

The genius didn't answer. His green features were set in a stoic expression and he likely ignored his red-masked brother to maintain it.

"Donatello!"

"Raph, please! Stop." Piercing brown eyes silenced Raphael then returned to the door when April entered with the older redhead in tow. "Gavin. Good."

"What do you need?" asked Gavin. Correct the youngest mutant if he was wrong, but did he sound scared?

"Another doctor's opinion," Don answered. "We just…please, come."

Gavin did so without another word. It was the first complaint-free compliance Mikey had ever heard from the man. Did that mean things were really bad?

He hoped not. While he'd known about the twins for no more than half a year, he already adored them. They were his nieces (maybe even nephews). He spent hours talking to them and had so many plans for fun times. Losing one now would crush everyone.

Especially Nia and Raph.

Mike doubted his strength to pull them out of such a depression and the nausea he'd been fighting for hours left his legs too weak to support him any longer.