A/N: Sorry for the late post. Friends. LOL. But now we FINALLY get to my favorite chapter out of the whole book!

Sciencegal - Hard not to be mysterious when you're trying to focus. Ha.

D - Fiddlesticks, now you have the follow up. :P

Feather - Yea! Thanks again for all the support/love/reviews/gushing/everything. Now here's another chapter. ;D

February 2
1:58 P.M.

Drugs were Nia's new best friends. She couldn't care less what they were or how Melody came across them; they helped her sleep for a while, which is all she could ask for after ten grueling hours of labor and panic.

Thank God she could barely recall it.

Donatello and Melody had filled in some details. In all honestly, their doctor-side account left Nia uneasy. She'd rather focus on the fact they survived—her and her daughters. So, really, she had no other desire, except to cherish her moments with them.

She lay inside the brick bedroom she shared with Raphael, fresh from a quick shower. A single window set beyond the foot of the king-size bed filtered in minimal sunrays from its dense curtains. The shield kept a headache away, but lent enough light for Nia to study the newborns sleeping on her bare chest.

Their bald heads used their mother's breasts as pillows and they clung to Nia with warm, four-fingered hands. Smiling, Nia stroked the left one's monkey-esque nose. It accentuated her cupid's bow by connecting it with the nose's tip, and created a unique Philrum that she shared with her sister.

Maybe it would be a distinctive look for all hybrid children?

Not like it would be the only distinctive thing. Their skin was a deep green, surpassing their father's, with pebbly patches one would only notice if massaging their elbows and knees. A subtle yellow-green left their cheeks lighter than the rest of their body and their pouty mouths looked to have lipstick already on them.

Their small size still stunned her. They could fit in Donatello's palm when extended—that Nia could remember. Even now they seemed fragile, just big enough to cover her breasts, but their silence no longer frightened her as it had after her first daughter's birth.

"You gave your Mama such a scare," Nia whispered to the one on the right. She brushed the newborn's cheek, noting the dwarfed ears that grew from her head. "Least you can hear," she added in an undertone.

Sucking in hot air from the bedroom, Nia paused; a knock sounded.

"Ni," Raphael's voice penetrated the double-wide door. "Uh, a—are ya up?"

Nia smiled and didn't bother covering up, "Come in, Raph."

Raphael opened the bedroom door with baited breath. Instinct urged him to barge inside, to run to his family, ensure they were alright. However, a sting in his gut slowed him. His feet crossed the threshold before the door shut behind him and ventured no further.

"Hey," the young woman in bed said. She smiled through the wild dark hair around her.

"Hey," he replied. "How ya feelin'?"

"Better than last night."

The mutant balled his fists when his wife chuckled.

"Melody stitched me up. Gave me meds. I got some sleep and a shower, so I'm just…enjoying the peace before the whole clan wants to see us."

"They've been antsy, waitin'," Raph said towards the brick wall beside him. "We understood ya needed rest, though."

"Did they send you to check on me?"

He nodded.

"So wh—why are you standing all the way over there?"

Raph clenched his jaw then turn his head. He caught Nia's brown-and-teal eyes, their lure agonizing. He forced himself to stay still, yet was powerless against the urge to look at the twins on Nia's bare chest.

"Ya guys are comfortable," he said. "I dun't wanna wake 'em or ruin…anythin'."

"As if." Nia's sweet smile grew. "These girls have been hearing your voice for months. If anything, they'll be glad you're here. Come on."

Raph approached the bed, his heart pounding, his mouth dry. Why was he so nervous? It was just his wife. And two new lives, who would always count on him from this moment onwards…

"My God," the mutant breathed as he sunk onto the bed's right side.

He hesitated before laying a hand on the closest hybrid, his daughter. Her legs were tucked upwards like a frog, her skin just as green as one, and her thin arms wrapped around Nia's boob. Raph smiled at her soft breathing, running a finger along her three-toed foot.

Guess she inherited those from him.

"That's Selene," Nia whispered. "Got to use my name."

Raph kept focused on the newborn and traced a thumb along her back. She lacked a true carapace, although scutes grew over her skin. They looked like gray stepping stones that followed her spine and shoulder blades, collecting at a fanned cluster at the base of her neck. Like her father, she'd never be able to look straight up.

"Hard to believe we thought she wouldn't make it…huh?"

Last night's memories tightened Raphael's throat. "Don should'a told me what the fuck was goin' on sooner."

"Would it have made a difference?"

"Not really, but…"

"Daddy helped figure it out. There are worse things than a mute baby, Raph."

"Yeah; they could'a grown wit' their head conjoined."

Nia's smile fell. "We would've loved them all the same."

"I know. It ain't bad in that sense. A baby cries 'cuz they need somethin', right?" Raph paused before his wife nodded. "Maybe we should put a bell on her."

"A bell?"

Slowly, Raph ducked his head. "Sh—she can't cry. She can't tell us if somethin's wrong."

"You're scared she'll be in trouble…and you won't know."

Damn straight. The mutant could think of nothing worse, short of knowing about the danger then being powerless to stop it.

"Raph"—Nia's gentle touch lifted her husband's chin—"we'll figure it out. Learn sign language. Keep a constant eye on her. Maybe Don can make us special baby monitors, so we can track her heart rate."

"That'd make things a little beddah…wait; can sign language work wit' only eight fingers?"

Nia shrugged. "Guess her language will be unique, too."

Unique? Yeah, that about covered the entire Hamato Clan—extended family included.

"You wanna hold one, Raph?"

"What?"

"Wh—why are you gawking? They're your babies too."

"But they're, like, sleepin'."

"Come on." Nia nudged Selene towards him. "Feeling is very important at this stage, Mel says. It forms a bond. It's comforting for them."

"But." Raph stared at Selene. "Look at 'em! They ain't much bigger than my Shell Cell. Ya know what I do ta that."

The hybrids shook with their mother's sudden laugher, which she quelled only be biting her bottom lip. "Yo—you aren't going to squash your daughters, Raph!"

"Not on purpose," he squeaked.

"Here."

Nia left him no choice. She forced his hand under Selene like a wedge. The newborn felt warmer than expected. Light, too, as if she were weightless. Raph could gather her in one palm, but used both hands to hold her—for safety. The green hybrid curled between his cupped fingers, lying on her back, and his thumbs ran down her slow rising chest to her diaper.

"Sh—she has plastron scutes," Raph said. The smooth, yellow plates also resembled stepping stones; imperfect shapes along Selene's diaphragm and hips.

"They almost match her sister's," Nia said. "She has two additional ones, though. Lower on her hips."

Selene squirmed when her father leaned in closer. He felt paralyzed by her movement, maybe more so since she was silent. Quick breaths proved her awareness, and her puffy eyes squeezed then flickered opened. Raph met her gaze for the first time, taken aback by her innocence and multi-colored irises.

"She's got Heterochromia?"

Nia nodded. "They both do. With the blue parts on opposing sides."

"Really? What caused it?"

Not that discoloration was a bad thing; it added to their charm. Selene's wide eyes resembled Raph's in color, only a dark brown rim muted them. It made the section of blue-green look that much more prominent, like the top-half of her right iris had frosted over.

"Mel said that when I got hit by…by Black it messed up the Melanin distribution."

"The what?"

"Something to do with pigmentation. Apparently, her vision won't be too good in that eye, even if the blue spot gets smaller."

"Gotcha…"

"So," Nia drew out her syllable into a song, her smile returning, "have you thought about a name yet? You've had a few hours."

"'Thing Two' won't suffice?" asked Raph with a smirk.

The new mother pouted then ran her fingers across the second hybrid's head. "We can't keep calling her 'the other one."

"Alright, alright...Nyx."

"Another goddess." Blinking, Nia raised her mismatched eyes to Raph. "Yo—you didn't have to stick with the Greek theme. I just love 'Selene'."

"An' I like 'Nyx'. It's short. Powerful. I mean…she's a child born in the shadows, our shadows. We're the night an'…she will be as well."

"In that case"—Nia sniffled—"I love it. Selene and Nyx Hamato. Our babies."

They were his. What a surreal realization. Even if Raphael felt Selene's form squirm in his hands, her tiny fingers around his thumbs, she seemed like a dream. All three of them did.

Had he really come this far? Did he even deserve such a chance?

Guess none of that mattered since Nia had given everything to him anyway.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Hell if it seemed strange or awkward; he faced Nia with a serious expression. She was speechless when he leaned in for a short kiss and began crying when he broke it. Because, right then, she knew what he meant without him having to utter another word.

These were his girls, his everything. They mattered more than his whims, wants, health, or fears. He would never forsake or regret them. He'd cherish them. And he vowed to forever protect them, no matter the cost.

A/N: I loved, loved, loved, LOVED writing this chapter. You guys don't even know. Just. *melts* One more chapter left, everyone, then the journey of "Shift" is complete. :)