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Mikey strolled into Raph’s room without knocking, blinking at the sight before him. “…Am I hallucinating? Is this the Twilight Zone?”
Raph was on his knees, dustpan in one hand, the other sweeping a broom under his bed. The bed was perfectly made, coverlet and pillows stacked just right. The shelf above had been dusted and arranged. Raph’s comic book collection sat, neatly organized, in storage boxes.
Mikey wasn’t done. “Do I detect a hint of lemon in here? Ooh la la. What’s with the spring cleaning? Trying to impress your lovers? We’re already impressed, dude.”
“Ha ha,” Raph muttered without looking up from his sweeping.
“I’m just saying.” Mikey sauntered right on in, running a finger over Raph’s drum set as though testing for dust. His finger came away spotless. “Last time I saw you clean like this… well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you clean like this, but the last time I saw you come close to this was when Sensei ordered you. And you didn’t do this much of a good job.”
Raph pulled a dust bunny the size of a dinner roll from under the bed and stood up to sweep it into the pan. “Can’t a guy just want things clean, for once?”
“For no reason, though?” Mikey hummed thoughtfully. “You’ve, uh… you’ve been feeling good lately?”
“... yeah?”
“Not like… tired or sick or anything?”
Raph glared at him for a half-second before shoving the broom under the bed once more.
“Okay then. You could at least wear a sexy maid outfit… maybe I’ll get you one for later tonight–?”
Mikey hurried out of the room before the dustpan made contact with his head.
*******
Donnie stood in the kitchen entrance, sipping coffee, and observing thoughtfully.
The floor was spotless. The counters gleamed. The oven looked clean for once. And Raph was elbow-deep in the cabinets, scrubbing the shelves.
“Are we expecting… company?” Donnie carefully asked.
“No.” With an abundance of care, Raph pulled bowls from the cabinet, stacked them gently, and resumed the scrubbing. “Maybe I’m just tired of living in filth. You guys are slobs.”
“Mm-hm. This is an interesting abundance of energy for you.”
“Yeah, well. You weren’t complaining last night. Hand me that rag?”
Donnie did, pondering some more. Interesting point. When the four of them got busy in the bedroom, it wasn’t unusual for one or two to tap out for some rest, and then join back. Raph had been insatiable all night, and beyond.
Very interesting.
Donnie hummed some more as he opened the fridge. “I can see the back of the fridge.”
“It reeked in there. Couldn’t open the door without gagging. Someone’s got to be on top of things here.”
“... did you organize the condiments?”
“Don’t touch them. They’re organized by flavour.”
Before Donnie could wrap his head around that, Raph began to drag a chair towards the cabinet. “Whoa! Uh… you probably shouldn’t be climbing right now.”
Raph glared. “Why not. I can’t clean the top if I can’t reach.”
“I’ll help,” Donnie offered, hurrying over. “I can reach. So… smells have been bothering you more lately?”
“Maybe?” Raph shrugged, shoving the chair back into place.
“And have you considered that maybe you’re… preparing for something?”
“For what.”
“... For a cleaner lair. Never mind. Hand me a rag?”
*******
“Okay, no. Get out, Raph.”
Leo stood in the doorway of his own room, watching Raph fluff pillows and arrange them just so on Leo’s bed. He wasn’t sure if he was more upset about the fact that Raph had re-made his bed, or the fact that it actually looked better than this morning.
“You’re welcome,” Raph muttered, crouching in front of Leo’s display shelf to dust the Space Heroes action figures.
“Stop touching my stuff! Go clean your own room.”
“Already did.”
“What’s with you today?”
Raph ignored him. He dusted, until he abruptly stopped. A telltale sniffle made Leo blink. Was Raph just inhaling dust, or…?
“This one has a busted arm,” Raph whispered, holding up the gangster planet variant of Captain Ryan.
“Uh, yeah? That one’s been broken for a while, the arm snapped off– are you crying?? ”
He was. He absolutely was. Sniffling again, Raph tenderly cradled the broken action figure to his plastron. “You need to take better care of your things! They’re so small and you’re too rough with them!”
“Uh…” Way out of his depth, Leo carefully stepped closer, patting Raph’s shoulder. “There there?”
This day was getting weirder. Raph didn’t clean without prompting. Raph didn’t burst into tears for no reason. Raph didn’t…
Oh.
Ooooooh.
*******
Raph was in the dojo when they finally cornered him, intently mopping the floor. All three approached, gently and ever so carefully, until Raph stopped mopping and glared at them.
“What’s with you guys?”
“Raph… sweetheart,” Donnie softly said. “We need to talk. We’ve noticed your… energy lately.”
“And your mood swings, and… well, everything else,” Leo continued.
Raph glared a little harder. Donnie continued. “All this instinct of yours right now, to clean and organize and make everything nice and homey? It’s called nesting.”
Raph froze. “Nesting?”
“Yep,” Leo supplied. “It means you’re preparing for something. Something big. Something that’s all of ours. What we mean is–”
“You’re pregnant, babe!” Mikey squealed, launching himself into Raph’s arms.
The mop clattered to the floor. The hug turned into a four-way embrace as Raph wheezed. “...Oh shit. ”
“Yep,” Donnie chuckled, kissing Raph’s cheek. “I can’t believe it took me this long to notice.”
“We’re gonna be dads!” Mikey said brightly, patting Raph’s plastron. “Dibs on being the fun dad!”
Leo frowned. “Why can’t I be the fun dad?”
“Dude, look in a mirror.”
Raph sniffled again, the sound ending in a watery chuckle. “Great. So I’m going to be like this until the kid’s out?”
“Yeah, but we still love you,” Mikey giggled. “... as long as you promise to clean my room next.”
Raph lightly cuffed him, then hugged them all tighter.