Summary: What if the turtles had a human little sister? This explains how Josephine became a part of the family.
This will take place with the 2k12 series.
I don't own anything TMNT related!Hamato Yoshi reached out for his kimono and draped it over his new rat body as he listened to his soon-to-be six-year-old mutant turtle sons play in the living area. He pulled the hood of his kimono over his head to hide his identity of a humanoid sewer rat, and he entered the living area. He found Leo watching the television of Space Heroes, Donnie was in the recliner reading a book, and Raph was sitting on a fretting Mikey.
"My sons," he said sternly. They all stopped what they were doing and scampered around to where they stood shoulder to shoulder. "I am heading up to the surface for supplies." He couldn't tell them he was going to the surface to buy them all birthday presents for their 6th mutation day, which only two days from then. "I won't be gone long. Leonardo, you are in charge."
"Yes, Father," the blue-clad mutant boy bowed.
"Why is Leo always in charge?" Raph whined.
"Yame! Do not question me, Raphael," Splinter, as his sons called him, scolded to his ill-tempered son. "I expect you all to be on your best behavior while I am away. If I find that any of you have left the lair, you will be punished. Understand?"
"Hai, Sensei," the boys said and bowed their heads.
Splinter gave them a nod, kissed them all on the forehead, and he left the lair; once he did, he heard a fight between Raph and Mikey break out, and Leo and Donnie were trying to separate them. With a pitiful sigh, he carried on through the sewers until he approached the nearest manhole.
Splinter made sure no humans were around to see him crawl out of the sewers. Once he was completely up on the surface, he brushed himself off and checked to see if his wallet was still in his pocket. Satisfied that it was, he casually trekked the streets of New York and entered the toy store.
He already knew what his four children would want. He bought Leonardo a Captain Ryan talking action figure, he bought Raphael some boxing gloves, he bought Donatello a science book of the many species of animals, and he bought Michelangelo a little stuffed bear with bright blue eyes and an orange bow tie. Satisfied with his selections, he headed for the checkout.
He was relieved that the cashier hadn't questioned his strange appearance. She just told him, "Have a good evening," and went on doing her job.
Yoshi left the toy store carrying a bag full of the toys and headed his way back to the manhole from whence he came. Along his way home, he noticed a strange dark cloud rising from a building. Racing around the next corner, he saw that an apartment building was on fire. He was taken aback; how had he not seen this only minutes ago? He heard others screaming, and distant sirens blaring out. Yoshi knew he had to return to the sewers soon.
But before he could, he saw a woman in a hooded cloak jump out through the fire. She appeared to be holding something in her arms. She had many burns on her body, Splinter could easily see them from his distance. The woman noticed him, and ran as fast as she could towards him. Splinter began to turn away.
"Wait!" she cried. "Please, please wait." Splinter stood still and let the woman approach him, a bit anxious for how she'd react if she saw who, or what he was. But she didn't notice anything, and if she had, she didn't care. She wearily held out the box, losing her grip on it, and quickly. "Please...take care of her...Give her the life I never could."
Splinter reluctantly accepted the box, and once it was in his possession and no longer the woman's she took off running...back into the apartment building. Within seconds, it collapsed to the ground. Yoshi stood there in shock.
The sirens were getting louder; Splinter hid in the shadows of a nearby alley as firetrucks and police cars swerved around the corner. "You, go and search for any survivors!" shouted one cop. Splinter heard the loud hose activate, and water began spurting out of the nozzle and poured onto the fire.
He sought the opportunity to open the box. He gasped at what he saw; inside was a little infant girl, fast asleep. She had peachy skin, dark brown hair, and little freckles on her cheeks. She wore an infant's bright red nightgown, and slept while sucking her thumb. There were other items in the box as well. There was a little stuffed bear covered in ashes and burns, a photo of the baby and her parents, and the child's birth certificate. Splinter carefully pulled it out and read it. The girl's name was Josephine Parker, and she just so happened to share the same birthday as Yoshi's sons; she would be turning one.
Splinter gazed at the sleeping child; he couldn't leave it there. With a heartfelt smile, he carried the box in one arm and held his sons' toys in another, and he headed back to the lair.
When he arrived back home, he saw his sons all sitting on the couch watching a movie. He quickly snuck into his quarters, hid the toys, and lifted the infant out of the box. "My sons," he said. "Please come here. I have someone I want you to meet." The boys came running to their father and all saw him cradling something in his arms.
"What is that, Daddy?" asked Mikey.
"Come and see, my sons. It is alright," the rodent said softly.
Always being curious, Donatello was the first to observe what his father held. He knew whatever it was, it was wrapped in a blanket, and it moved. Donnie peeked into the blanket and gasped. "It's a little baby," he said to his brothers, and they all crowded around him to see. It was a baby.
"He's got freckles, like me," Mikey beamed.
Splinter chuckled. "Yes, she does, Michelangelo," he said, lightly bouncing the infant.
"Oh. She? It's a girl," Mikey said. "That's still awesome!"
"Hush, Mikey," Leo snapped. "You'll wake her up."
The little one fretted in Yoshi's arms. She took her thumb out of her mouth and yawned.
Donnie glanced down her throat and in her mouth. "She's got teeth."
"We've all got teeth, shell-fer-brains," Raph grumbled.
"I know," Donnie spat back. "What's her name, Father?"
"Her name is Josephine," Splinter said softly. Almost of cue at the sound of her name, the infant opened her eyes.
"That's a pretty name," said Leo. "Oh, look, her eyes are open!"
"They're a pretty blue-green color," Mikey said.
"It actually looks more blue than green, probably teal-colored. Those are rare," Donnie pointed out.
"Way to be Mr. Accurate, Mr. Accurate," Raph snorted, Donnie just replied by sticking out his tongue.
Josephine did the same.
"Whoa, did you see that?" Leo gasped.
"What?" Donnie asked.
"When you stuck your tongue out, Josephine did the same thing. Do it again," Leo exclaimed.
Donnie did so, and Leo was right; the infant copied him. He blinked twice, Josephine blinked twice. Donnie couldn't help but giggle. When he giggled, so did Josephine. They all laughed.
"She's so cute," Leo said, tickling the baby's chin.
"She's very precocious," said Donnie. Before Mikey could ask what precocious meant, Donnie explained, "It's what you would describe a child who is highly intelligent at a young age, like me. I'm precocious."
"Yeah, you make us take precautions with your precociousness," Raph snickered.
"Stop it," Donnie pouted. He didn't notice the infant freeing her hand from the blanket and reaching out to grab his. He felt her tiny fingers graze his hand, getting his attention. Don held her hand and she played with his two fingers and thumb. Then she merged her own fingers together and lined them up with Donnie's making her hand look like his. He smiled, revealing his gap-toothed grin.
"Is Josephine gonna stay with us? Where's her mommy?" Leonardo asked.
Splinter remembered seeing the child's mother disappear in the burning apartment building. He had a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach she didn't survive when the building came crashing down. "I do not know. I found her in a box on the streets while I was out."
"Is she gonna stay with us?" Leo repeated.
Splinter smiled. "Yes, she is."
"Awesome!" Mikey cheered. "But can we call her Joey? Josephine just sounds to grown up."
"I kinda like just Jo," Donnie shrugged.
"No, no, let's call her Jo-Jo. It's fun to say," Leo giggled.
Splinter chuckled. "You may call her what you wish." He noticed all but Raphael had come to meet the young infant he held. "Raphael...come here, say hello to her." He saw the reluctance on the red-clad turtle's face, but the boy approached the infant nonetheless.
Raph just stared at the infant while baby Joey blinked at him, batting her large teal blue eyes. He got down on his knees to get a closer look. Baby Joey reached her hand out and patted Raph on the head. He noticed he was smiling. Did he just let out a laugh? He did. Why did he feel so happy? He didn't know. He tickled the little baby on her tummy, and she let out a squeal. Raph laughed and rubbed her head.
"I think Raphie's got a friend," Mikey whispered to Donnie, and the two snickered. Leo just smiled pleasantly at seeing his hot-headed brother so happy, especially with a human.
"Little one," Splinter said to the child, and she looked up to him and rubbed his new rat face. "Welcome to our family. These are your new older brothers: Leonardo"-Leo stepped forward-"Donatello"-Donnie smiled-"Raphael"-Raph gave his head a nod and winked-"and Michelangelo." Mikey grinned ear to ear. "And I am your father. You may call me so, or Splinter."
Baby Joey cooed and squirmed in the rat's arms. She yawned and began to fall asleep again.
"Oh, I also forgot to mention: we must find her a gift," Splinter whispered.
"A gift? Why?" Leo asked.
"She shares the same birthday as you four. She will be turning one year old," Splinter informed them. The boys all smiled. "Now, come and say goodnight to your new sister, my sons."
Leo stepped up first and kissed her on the cheek. "Yoku nemuru, Jo-Jo," he whispered and left.
Donnie kissed her as well. "Good night, Jo," he said and followed Leo out.
Mikey kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep tight, Joey. Don't let the bed bugs bite," he said with a giggle and ran out of the room gleefully.
Raph kissed his new sister on her cheek and held her hand. "Yoku nemuru, Josephine," he whispered and said goodnight to his father before leaving.
Splinter made a comfortable bed for baby Josephine to sleep and laid her down. He remembered the bear in the box; Yoshi retrieved it and nestled it up against the infant's head. He laid down next to her, resting a paw on her stomach, feeling his hand rise and fall as the child softly took in a breath and let it out.
Everyone that night fell asleep with a smile.
*next-Jo's first word*