Three Turtles and a Hatchling
Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo held their breaths for the impending wail that they were sure was about to ring their ears any second now.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Their nephew stared up at them with a curious look on his face; wondering what exactly it was they were expecting from him.
Don stepped forward and scooped the hatchling up from the floor and gently rubbed his little head. He took out a small device from his robe and pointed it at his bundle's direction.
"What are you doing?" Raph asked his brother.
"I'm scanning him for any head injuries. He seemed to have hit himself pretty hard on the leg of the crib."
After looking at the readings of the gadget he sighed his relief. "He's fine."
"I could have told you that." Mikey said. "He doesn't only look like Leo, he acts like him, too. That bump on the head is nothing. 'Coz he's a toughie like his daddy." He said as he reached out to tickle the baby turtle. "Aren't you, little buddy?"
"Ughfi." Leon echoed, as he squealed and tried to capture his uncle's hands to stop their assault on him.
"Ticklish like our fearless leader, too." Raphael chuckled.
"All right, Mikey, that's enough." Donatello scolded lightly as he pulled Leon away from the youngest ninja's reach.
"But we were just getting started." He whined. "You're no fun. Pffffttttttzzzzzzz."
"Oh, real mature, Mikey." Raphael scolded, rolling his eyes. "I still can't believe Leo made you in charge of public relations."
"Well, he has significantly matured over the past year." Donatello said in his younger brother's defense, despite being the recipient of Michelangelo's unfavorable "tongue-lashing". "He's actually doing a very good job of making us look good with Shellri-La's alliances."
"Yeah, well, I'm still surprised that he hasn't gotten us in trouble with the aliens with that big mouth of his."
"Pffffttttttzzzzzzz."
"Mikey, would you stop already!" Raphael growled, his annoyance already manifesting.
"But that wasn't me."
"Pffffttttttzzzzzzz."
The brothers simultaneously looked at each other before looking down at Leon.
"Pffffttttttzzzzzzz." The little prince mimicked, with his tongue sticking out as far as it would go, apparently very much amused with the new "skill" he learned.
The color from Donatello's face drained. "Leo is going to have our heads."
Michelangelo and Raphael didn't seem to have heard their brother's remark.
"Dude, that is so cute!" Mikey screeched, taking Leon from Don. "Do that again for Uncle Mikey."
"Pffffttttttzzzzzzz."
"Mikey, stop encouraging him!"
"Oh, relax, Don, I'm sure Leo'll enjoy this, too." Raphael said, as he poked Leon on the nose. "Little munchkin like you can get away with it, too."
The little prince giggled and again, tried to capture his uncle's big hand with his own miniature ones.
Donatello was unconvinced. "Guys, seriously, when Leo asks whose bright idea this was, leave me out of it."
"I wonder if he still remembers how to burp." Mikey suddenly brought up, looking at the oldest turtle in the room.
"He should, I just taught him that yesterday."
"Oh, brother." Don exclaimed, burying his face in his hands. "Don't even think about it, Raph."
"I'm not thinking about it." He answered as he took the tot from Michelangelo. "Now, make your Uncle Raph proud." He said as he poked the little prince on the nose once again. "Just like I taught you."
"Buuuuuuuuurrrrrrp."
"There ya go!" Raphael cheered.
"Very nice, Leon." Michelangelo said, with much approval.
The tiny turtle squealed with glee, remarkably satisfied of his gassy feat.
Donatello groaned. "You realize of course that when Leo finds out about this, he's never going to let us near our nephew again. EVER."
"What are you talking about? He'll be totally ecstatic when he sees this." Mikey declared. "Right Leon? Dada will likey."
All of a sudden, Leon's smile turned upside down; his demeanor instantly changing from high-spirited to downcast.
"You just had to open your big trap, Mikey."
"What? All I said was, 'Dada will likey.'"
"Mikey, we already talk about this. We've agreed that we will not use the word 'dada' in front of Leon --- especially not while Leo hasn't been able to be with him for a while."
"Oh, sorry, little dude." Michelangelo said as he stroked the baby's head. "I didn't mean to make you sad."
Leon slumped his head on his uncle's shoulder, obviously shattered and lethargic. He was reminded of how long it has been since he last seen his father. A few minutes later, he sniffled and pushed himself slightly away from Raph's grasp and pointed towards one of the dressers at the corner of the nursery.
"What is it Leon? What do you want?"
The tiny turtle squirmed as if wanting to be let go of and flailed his arms around; desperately trying to get hold of what looked like a circular device on the top shelf.
Donatello walked towards the item of their nephew's interest and brought it to the fidgeting baby. But before handing the hockey-puck sized mechanism, he took the liberty of switching it on.
And out popped a holographic image of their eldest brother, Leonardo.
"Dada." Leon said sadly as he tried to grab the three-dimensional picture with his hand. The gesture disrupted the projection and seemed to have made the hatchling even more miserable. He sniffed once again, and this time, tears fell from his round, brown eyes.
Raphael couldn't stand it anymore. "Dada's just a little busy right now, Leon." he began, his tone unusually muted. "But he always thinks about you and he loves you very much."
"Dada, wov?"
"Very much." Raph repeated.
"And we love you, too, Leon." Don added. "We can't take the place of your dada, but know that we'll try our very best to keep you happy and away from harm's way."
"Stop crying, Leon." Mikey cooed, trying to pacify the baby. "I'm sure dada won't want you to cry."
Leon looked at his uncles and seemed to consider their words.
"Wov dada." Leon soon affirmed as he sniffed hard and tried to wipe his face with his chubby, still uncoordinated hands. "Wov uncas."
"But you love Unca Mikey the most, right?"
WHACK
"Owwwww."
"Nice one, Don."
"It was long overdue."
And just like that, the baby turtle's mood unexpectedly shifted once again and was very much amused.
"See? Even he likes it when you get smacked on the head."
"Wov uncas." Leon declared once again.
The three ninjas gathered closely together to give their nephew a hug.
"We'll see what we can do about dada visiting you soon, okay?" Mikey told him.
"Remember what we told you, Leon." Don said as he stroked Leon's cheek. "Your father loves you and we love you. And we don't want you to be sad."
The baby nodded then reluctantly let out a yawn.
Donatello motioned for his brother to hand the prince to him. "We know what that means."
"Beddy-bye." Michelangelo announced, his toned hushed after noticing his nephew already with half-closed eyes.
"We don't have to sing to him, do we?"
"Let's just leave the lullabies to Lori, okay guys?" Don said as he tucked the now sleeping baby in. "Hopefully with the surveillance system I've set up in the nursery, we'll be able to see how often Leon wakes up at night."
"You think he has insomnia or something?" Mikey asked.
"I'm guessing it's because he misses Leo so much, that he wakes up every so often hoping to see him walk through that door."
"I'm thinking the same, Raph." Don concurred. "Let's just hope Leonardo's busy schedule doesn't stretch out for so long or we're going to have one sick and very depressed hatchling in our hands."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
He sat quietly in the dark, waiting.
He stared expectantly at the door, as he did for several nights now.
Minutes soon turned into an hour and he grew weary. He felt his heart break once again and felt his eyes fill-up with unwanted tears.
He whimpered slightly in disappointment. It seemed that this, again, wasn't meant to be the night he was to see him.
Then, he heard the entrance to his room swoosh open. He got on his knees and crawled to the railing of his crib to prop himself up; his chubby legs wobbling a bit as he stood and watched the intruder in the dark.
The lights flickered open and his eyes adjusted quickly, eager to see who it was that entered.
With wide curious eyes, he stared down the late night intruder.
Then squealed with delight.
Dada.
He came.
They were finally together again.
And that made him very, very happy.