UNIVERSE: a mix of all TMNT universes.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own TMNT.
Chapter One
Leonardo stared at the egg, wondering how it had gotten into the sewers. He had been on the way home from a run and his eyes had caught onto it. He watched as the egg hatched and felt himself tense as a hand reached out and an ear-splitting cry filled the sewers. The blue clad ninja found that he could no longer breathe. This egg… It wasn't just any egg but a turtle egg.
A mutant turtle egg, at that.
"It's a boy." Donnie confirmed, his desk chair swivelling around to face towards his brothers and his father. The mutant turtle tot had fallen from its egg and Leonardo had made the decision to bring it back to the lair.
"How can you tell?" Mikey asked.
"Well, a few reasons really. The main one being that he has... Certain parts a girl wouldn't have." Donnie explained.
"Oh." Mikey said, laughing sheepishly, "Right."
Leonardo looked down at the small baby boy that currently lay in his arms. The child was so tiny that he could fit his whole hand on his plastron, though the infant made it bluntly obvious he did not like having pressure on it, not that the blue clad ninja could not understand. Leonardo looked up from the child to his father, asking what they were going to do with him.
"Ooh, can we keep him? Can we? Can we?" Mikey inquired excitedly, jumping up and down. The baby once again stirred in Leo's arms, beginning to make a fuss, and the baby's small blue eyes opened groggily once again.
Splinter sighed and stroked his goatee in thought, "I believe that would be wise until we learn more about where this baby has come from."
"Awesome! C'mon, Leo, lemme hold him!" Mikey said excitedly, a bright smile on his face.
Leonardo rolled his eyes and let out a sigh, unhooking the baby's fingers from his own and handed the child to the all-too-enthusiastic Michelangelo, who had sat down beside him. The baby opened his eyes, whining at the orange clad prankster. He reached out for Leonardo, who frowned. What difference did it make, if it were Leo or Mikey holding him?
"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad, dude." Mikey said, carefully rocking the baby within his arms.
"I, uh, think he want's Leo, Mikey." Donnie said. Leonardo's frown deepened in confusion at the tone Donatello had used and he looked at him for an explanation, as did the others, except Splinter who had his lips curved into a small smile. That was not a good sign, Leonardo thought. Something about the way his father was smiling unnerved him.
"Why's that?" Mikey frowned, sounding hurt.
"I think he, uh, might have imprinted on Leo." Donnie replied, smiling apologetically at the said turtle. Raph burst out laughing.
"Why would you think that?" Leonardo snapped. After all, the baby could be hungry, since he had not eaten anything from the moment he had hatched. Mikey, curious handed the child back to Leo and the crying gradually grew to be nothing more than sniffles and sobs. The small child nuzzled into Leonardo's neck, causing a warm fuzzy feeling to stir within his gut – not that he would admit it aloud, of course.
"That doesn't prove anything." Leonardo muttered helplessly.
"What's 'imprinted' mean?" Mikey questioned, glancing between his brothers.
"It means the baby thinks Leo's his dad." Raph snickered. The two began to laugh, in a slightly hysterical way. Mikey doubled over.
"That… Makes… More sense." Michelangelo said in-between bursts of laughs.
Once the laughter died down, Mikey turned to Leo.
"So what are you going to call him, then?" Humour still lingered in his voice.
"I – I thought you were the naming guy..?" Leonardo asked.
"Well… yeah, but if the baby thinks you're his dad, and, well, you found him and everything… So, it makes more sense for you to come up with his name." Mikey concluded.
"Um…" The blue clad ninja's voice trailed off and he looked down at the baby in his arms. There was one name he had always been quite fond of – Jasper.
Realising that his brothers were still waiting for an answer, a name, Leo replied, "Jasper?"
"Like the gemstone?" Donnie questioned.
"Yeah." Leonardo shrugged.
"Hmm, Jasper. Jasper. Jasper." Mikey nodded, grinning, "Yep. Sounds good."
Leonardo rolled his eyes, "I'm so glad you approve."
The baby, Jasper, stirred within Leonardo's arms. Then he stirred more. And more. He began to cry and sniffle, whines escaping his lips. Leonardo shifted him. He didn't stop crying. Leo held him on his shoulder. Jasper didn't stop crying. Leonardo nuzzled into his neck, like he had done to him. Jasper didn't stop crying.
"Uh, what do I do?" Leonardo asked, unsure. He had never had to take care of a child before. Raph, Donnie and Mikey avoided his gaze as Leonardo looked at them. He turned to Sensei, who was thankfully more helpful.
"I believe that this is his way of telling you that he is hungry." Splinter explained, smiling softly.
Leonardo looked down at Jasper's distraught face, covered in tears, as if he would answer him. Leonardo asked what he would eat and Splinter replied that the blue clad ninja and his brothers had been content with human baby formula and baby food when they had been younglings. Leonardo nodded and looked down at Jasper, gently rubbing his hand. Jasper then quietened, resorting to sniffles.
"I could ask April to bring some baby food down. There's a store for baby things near her shop." Donnie suggested.
Splinter nodded, "That would be a good start, Donatello."
Donnie nodded before flipping out his shell cell, flicking it open and using speed dial before holding the phone to his ear slit and exiting the room. Jasper shifted in Leo's arms again, another small cry escaping his lips.
"Yeah, yeah, yer hungry, we get the damn idea!" Raph growled, shaking his head.
Jasper quietened, whimpering.
"Aw, don't worry 'bout mean ol' Uncle Raphie, Jasper. He's just a big meanie." Mikey chuckled, earning a death glare from Raph.
"Uncle?" Leo frowned.
"Yeah, well – we're your brothers, aren't we? So that makes us uncles." Mikey responded.
"B-But I'm not-,"
Leonardo was interrupted by his purple clad brother entering the room, announcing he had told April to bring down baby formula.
"And ya told her about Jasper, right?" Raph inquired, his eye brows quirked.
"Eh, not…" The purple clad genius glanced at the small infant in Leonardo's arms, "Not quite."
Raph snorted, "Well ain't that gonna be one ol' dandy conversation?"
Leonardo chose to ignore their bickering and looked down at Jasper, who looked up at him. A smile spread across Jasper's face, and Leonardo's heart twisted in his chest. Jasper was smiling… At him.
Click.
Leonardo frowned, looking up for the source to find Mikey with a camera in his hands.
"Please tell me you didn't." He whined.
Mikey only laughed, looking into the camera, "Aww! So cute!"
Leonardo shot a glare at his orange clad brother; Jasper whined and, with a sigh, the blue clad ninja looked back down at the child, who giggled, revelling in the attention.
"You're an attention seeker like Uncle Mikey, aren't you?" He mumbled, humoured, Jasper giggling in reply.
"Hey!" Mikey complained, "I'm not that much of an attention seeker!"
"YO GUYS, WHERE YEH'S AT?" Casey's voice boomed, "WE GOT THE BABY STUFF."
Jasper began to sob, his breaths growing heavy.
"No, no, shh." Leo begged but, nonetheless, Jasper continued to cry. Leonardo let out a sigh and hoped that April had brought Panadol with her, too, because, in that moment, he truly did not care about Splinter's dislike of such medicine.
"Hey, uh, guys?" April asked from the doorframe, "What's… What's with the baby?"
A/N: Feel free to leave a review! :)
