"Three Turtle Tots and a Baby"—A TMNT 2012 Story
Summary: tots Leo, Raph and Mikey spend the day with their human baby sister. Requested by "TMNT Fanatic", so please no flames.
TMNT © Mirage Studios
Joey © Me
~Three Turtle Tots and a Baby~
Hamato Yoshi, or as his sons called him Splinter, slowly arose from slumber as he felt the sun's warm rays seep through the cracks in the ceiling above him, and the sound of cars zooming by and horns honking made his sensitive rat ears twitch. He slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust before sitting up, and he stretched with a yawn. He scratched behind his ears and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before glancing over at a small mass of blanket beside him.
He smiled as he slowly pulled the blanket back to reveal his adopted infant human daughter, Josephine, or Joey as his sons frequently addressed her by among other nicknames. She slept soundly, breathing softly while cuddling a teddy and sucking her thumb. Splinter chuckled softly as he gently petted her head, which stirred her from sleep. The baby opened her teal eyes, pulled out her thumb and yawned.
"Ohayō, musume," he softly spoke to her, allowing her to wake up some more and then lifted her into his lap. "Tanoshī yume?" Baby Josephine only sleepily cooed as she rubbed her eyes with tiny fists. Splinter chuckled; he knew his adopted daughter did not understand Japanese as well as his sons just yet, but he hoped that speaking to her bilingually would help her learn at a younger age. He nuzzled her button nose with his snout and stood up. "Come, little one. Let us go awaken your brothers."
The two headed off to wake up Splinter's four sons, who were also mutants—mutant turtles, to be precise. Not only were they his sons, but also his students. He trained them in the art of Ninjutsu, giving them their own masks and practice weapons. Josephine would begin her training whenever Splinter deemed she was ready to learn.
He went to awaken his oldest son first, Leonardo. Although his sons were the same age, Splinter considered which was the oldest and youngest based on their level of maturity; Leonardo easily was granted the role as the oldest brother. The young mutant was still asleep on his cot, his hands folded and rested on his plastron, his blue mask folded neatly on the nightstand next to him, and his room was kept very tidy and neat. Leo, as his brothers nicknamed him, was the most obedient and loyal out of the brothers, and he did whatever his Sensei told him to do.
Splinter was normally the one to awaken them, but today he thought he would get a little creative. Very carefully, he placed the little baby onto Leo. Baby Jo cooed and started crawling all over Leonardo; the young turtle groaned and grunted at the extra weight on his chest and stirred from slumber, awaking to see his baby sister beaming a bright, gummy smile. He smiled and petted her head, then lifted her off and placed her in his lap. "Good morning to you, too, Osanai imōto," he said. Then he glanced up at the tall, humanoid rat. "Ohayō, chichi," he greeted, bowing his head in respect.
"Good morning, my son," Splinter smiled and took Josephine back into his arms. "Time to get up and prepare for your training. Go wash up and head for the dojo. I and your brothers will meet you there."
Leo stood up and bowed respectively. "Hai, Sensei," he said, grabbed his mask, and went to the bathroom.
Yoshi watched him go, adjusted the wriggling baby in his arms while she played with his beard, and then made his way to the room across the hall, lightly rapping on the door first before entering. Hearing no reply, he opened the door, allowing the light in on the messy room. This pigsty belonged to the second oldest of the four turtles—Raphael, or Raph as he brothers called him for short. He was not quite as mature as Leonardo, but more mature than the two younger brothers; mainly due to his fiery temper. The young turtle had a chip on the left side of his plastron from a little sparring accident in the past; while the younger siblings often teased him about it, he bore it as a symbol of honor, or so he says.
There was a small little tank beside Raphael's bed, and residing in the tank was his pet turtle and best pal, Spike. Raph had found him as a baby abandoned in the sewers one day when he had run away, and begged Splinter to keep him. Normally he would say no since he had broken the rules that day, but seeing the bond already formed between his son and the tiny thing made it too difficult to separate them, so he complied. The tiny, regular turtle heard them enter and perked up, blinking its beady eyes. Joey cooed and reached for the turtle, wanting to play, but Splinter walked on to where Raph slept.
The young mutant snored obnoxiously, drooling a little, sprawled out on his cot. Splinter chuckled softly while shaking his head, then placed baby Josephine on his chest. Jo blinked at the turtle she was put onto; seeing another familiar face, she squealed happily and crawled to his face, playing with it. Raph groaned and turned his head away, but Jo only continued playing. Raph slowly emerged from sleep and heard the happy cooing of his human baby sister. He smiled as he opened his eyes, sat up, and plopped Joey on his cot in front of him. "Morning, Princess," he yawned and ruffled her hair, making her giggle, and allowed her to play with his large, three fingers.
Splinter smiled; he also saw a strong, powerful bond between these two. He noticed it since the day he brought the orphaned infant home with them to the lair. This tiny human somehow knew how to make Raph happy whenever he was angry or upset, and Raphael was very protective of her. Whenever she was crying, he would cheer her up in any way he could; when she was sick, he watched over her and helped Splinter give her medicine. It made Hamato Yoshi feel happy to see his ill-tempered son at peace, even if by the magic of a human infant.
Then he lifted Joey into his arms. "Raphael, go and wash up and head to the dojo for your training," he said.
"Yes, Sensei," Raph nodded and left with his red, torn up mask.
Then, Splinter headed for the third youngest of the son's room, named Donatello. Though he was the third youngest, he was very intelligent since he was fascinated by the studies humans learned in school. He had collections of textbooks and encyclopedias he found in the sewers, and he liked to do experiments with chemistry equipment. He was definitely the brains of the outfit, but Splinter's third son often had a problem with over-thinking things, which caused him to struggle a little during their ninja training. Donnie, as his brothers dubbed him, had a small gap between his front teeth; how it came to be is still a mystery to the entire family.
Splinter shushed baby Jo to hush her cooing as he opened the door slowly, allowing light to fill Donnie's room. He saw a mass of blankets on the cot in the furthest corner, and when the light reached said corner, the mass wriggled and groaned, shifting around before settling again. This worried Splinter. That was not a "I'm not ready to get up" groan; that was a "something is the matter" groan. He held Josephine close as he went to check on his third son. "Donatello? Are you alright?" he asked softly.
Donnie moaned from beneath the blankets. "No," he croaked, "don't feel good."
"Come out from beneath the blankets and let me check you," said Splinter.
"Is Jo-Jo here?"
"Yes."
"Then no. I don't want to get her sick," Donnie moaned before going into a coughing fit. Splinter sighed. Judging by the sound of Donatello's raspy, nasally voice, he was unwell and did not need to be checked for fever; whether he had one or not Splinter would not let him out of bed.
"I see," Splinter said softly. "Very well. You will stay in bed for today and rest. If you need anything, let me or your brothers know. I promise I will return to care for you once our morning routine is finished."
"O-Okay," Donnie coughed.
Little Jo whimpered, wanting to see her third big brother's face, and she began reaching out and tugging on the blankets. "Oh, no, no, little one," Splinter told her and gently pulled her hand away. "Donatello needs rest. We must not disturb him." Baby Joey sniffled and began to cry as fat tears streamed down her rosy cheeks. Splinter sighed as his ears drooped. Donatello and Josephine also had a bond; not as strong as hers and Raphael's, but they did bond. Donnie would show her pictures in his encyclopedias and read to her if she refused to sleep, mainly because he believed teaching an infant to read at a young age would make them more intelligent; that, and he was a loving brother who wanted his baby sister to be happy.
Yoshi then patted the mass of blankets. "It is alright, my son. Get some rest." Then he left, gently closing the door, and he headed for his youngest son's room.
Michelangelo was the least mature and the most random of the four turtles; however he had a wild imagination. He was hard to keep still from most to all of the time, and he had a difficult time focusing during training since he was so easily distracted. Even though his constant pranking caused his brothers to become angry with him, Splinter sometimes saw it as a way to play or to show how much Mikey loved his brothers. He knew better than to pull major pranks on their baby human sister. Mikey and baby Jo also had a bond; they loved to play games together and he would give her rides on the back of his shell. Raph of course would get mad at him and tried to take Joey away because he thought Mikey was too immature to know how to properly handle a baby. Then again, they were all young boys who had no experience with infants; their Sensei, however, has.
Splinter could hear snoring come from inside of the room and he chuckled while still trying to calm little Josephine down. He opened the door, allowing light to flood the room, and he found Mikey curled up on his cot, hugging a teddy bear and drooling while snoring. Splinter smiled and knelt down beside the little one's cot, still holding the fussing Josephine. "Michelangelo," he said softly over Joey's crying. "It is time to wake up, my son."
Mikey yawned obnoxiously as he stretched and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Morning, Splinter," he mumbled, trying to wake up. "Morning, Jo-Jo." He finally fully awoke when his ears picked up the sound of his baby sister's crying. "What's the matter, Jo?" he asked, worried.
"She is sad because she could not see Donatello," Splinter explained. "He is not feeling well this morning."
Mikey nodded in understanding. "Aw, Jo-Jo, it's okay," he crooned, holding baby Josephine in his lap. "It's okay. You still got big bro Mikey to play with!" He started to bounce her as he flapped his legs like butterfly wings and made funny noises to make her laugh. Splinter smiled, pleased to see his infant daughter happy again; Michelangelo always had that natural gift to make anyone smile or laugh.
Splinter carefully took Josephine back into his arms as he stood tall. "Go and get ready for training, Michelangelo."
"But, what about breakfast?" Mikey asked. "I'm starving!"
"You will all eat breakfast after our morning routine. Now, hurry along, my son." Mikey hopped out of bed, grabbed his short-tailed orange mask and scurried to the bathroom to wash up. Splinter then looked to Joey and nuzzled her. "Perhaps we should freshen you up as well, little one. You probably need changing." He carried Joey back to his room and laid her on a changing mat, where he removed the soiled diaper, cleansed the baby's bottom, and applied a fresh one.
Then he and baby Jo headed for the dojo, where the three turtle brothers were wrestling around on the floor. He was willing to allow the fray a little longer since he was aware they were merely playing until the first sign of distress, then he called it off with a slam of his staff on the floor. The mutants instantly stood tall and still, then knelt down at their Sensei's command. Splinter told them to put on their masks, and they did. He told them to retrieve their practice weapons from the shelf, and they did. Then they returned to their spots in front of Master Splinter, who sat on his mat while cradling baby Joey.
Splinter ordered them all to start with their morning stretches, and they all do so, bending over to touch the floor without bending their knees, and reaching high up to the ceiling. Mikey, standing in between Leonardo and Raphael, couldn't help but reach out and tickle Raph's side, making him laugh; however it also made the young ninja turtle angry, and he turned on his heels and snarled.
"Don't do that!" he spat.
"I'm just playing!" Mikey said innocently.
"Yame! Both of you!" Splinter said, flicking both of their legs with his rat tail.
"OW!" both boys whined and grumbled; baby Joey giggled a little because she found the situation funny and Splinter smiled. Leo couldn't help but chuckle as he continued his stretching via Splinter's instructions.
Once the stretches were over, the turtles sat down again. "Now," said Splinter, "you will being today's morning routine. Leonardo, you will resume perfecting your kata. Raphael, Michelangelo, you two will spar. No headlocks, Raphael. Hajime!" Leo went off to another part of the dojo to practice his kata while Raph and Mikey stood in front of Splinter and began to spar. A few times the boys got out of focus and things got out of hand, but they were quickly corrected with another flick in the leg by Splinter's naked tail. After half an hour, the morning routine ended with Raph sitting on top of a fretting Mikey, a satisfied Leo, and a crying infant—which meant it was time for breakfast.
"FINALLY!" Mikey exclaimed and flew out from underneath Raph, dashing for the kitchen. The others followed and took their seats at the table. Splinter placed baby Jo in a hand-made high chair and went to make their breakfast; however, the little tyke did not understand that breakfast was coming as quick as it could and she continued to bawl. Splinter watched from the corner of his eye Leo and Raph trying to calm their baby sister down and faintly smiled. While he fixed up the turtles' usual meal of algae and worms, he was also brewing up some algae soup. Mikey smelled it and instantly wanted some for himself.
"No, my son," Splinter said. "This is for Donatello. He is unwell."
"Donnie's sick?" Leo repeated. "No wonder he wasn't in the dojo."
Splinter nodded and poured some of the soup into a bowl. Then he went to prepare baby Josephine's meal, which was a small cup of apple sauce he would sneak into markets for and purchase since the little one could not have algae. The turtles had no idea what the mushy stuff was and found it disgusting, not liking the texture or taste, so he only buys them for the baby. "Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo," he said as he opened up an apple sauce cup and went to fetch a spoon and napkin, "I need you three to look after your sister while I take care of Donatello."
"Aw, but baby-sitting is no fun!" Mikey whined.
"That's 'cause you don't know how to take care of a baby, doofus," Raph said, flicking him.
"Neither do you!" Mikey retorted.
"I could help you take care of Donnie, Sensei," Leo offered.
"No, my son. I do not want to risk you becoming ill as well. The three of you will look after Josephine. Behave yourselves." Seeing how his decision was final, no one else spoke out. With that, Splinter placed the cup of apple sauce on Jo's platter, took the bowl of soup and headed for Donatello's room.
Joey noticed her yummy breakfast in front of her and eagerly reached for the cup; she dipped her fingers into it, scooped out a handful and shoved it into her mouth, smearing some on her face. But Mikey suddenly snatched it away. "No, Jo-Jo! You don't know how to eat by yourself yet," he said. Baby Joey thought he was taking her apple sauce away forever and started crying again.
"Mikey, give it back to her!" Raph exclaimed and snatched it back.
"I wanna feed her!" Mikey whined and took it back.
"Enough!" Leo said loudly, silencing both boy and even little Josephine, who only resumed sniffling and whimpering. He took the apple sauce cup and spoon and stood on his knees in his chair. He scooped a spoonful of apple sauce and guided it carefully to Joey, who opened her mouth and happily suckled the sauce from the spoon. Leo smiled to see his sister content and resumed feeding her for a while.
"I wanna try now!" Raph protested and took the spoon.
"Fine," Leo said, "if you can do it right."
"I've seen Splinter feed her many times! I know what I'm doing." Raph scooped up a spoonful of apple sauce and held it out. "Come on, Joey," he said, "open up. The Applesauce Express is coming in for a landing." He made funny plane noises to make her giggle and guided the spoon to her mouth, and she happily ate.
"My turn, my turn!" Mikey bounced up and down.
"No way," Raph snorted. "You don't know how to feed a baby."
"Do too, do too!" Mikey stamped his foot. "It's my turn!"
"Raph, share," Leo said. "It's Mikey's turn."
"Okay, okay!" Raph spat and shoved Mikey the apple sauce cup and spoon. Mikey happily stood up on the chair and gave Joey the last spoonfuls of apple sauce while making funny noises to make her laugh and open her mouth. When the apple sauce cup was empty, Mikey threw it in the trash can and tossed the spoon into the sink, and Leo wiped Joey's face clean.
"Now what?" Raphael asked.
Leo helped Joey out of her high chair and cradled her. "Well, I'm sure we should play with her," he suggested.
"Don't we need to burp her?" Mikey said. "I saw Splinter do that to her one time."
"That was when she was fed a bottle," Raph snorted and rammed his elbow into Mikey's side.
"Ow!"
"Stop fighting!" Leo exclaimed. "Geez, you two sometimes need more taking care of than Joey. Come on, let's go to the living room and get some of her toys out."
They headed for the living room and brought out little boxes containing some of baby Joey's favorite playthings. However, Joey didn't seem to be very interested in them and crawled off.
"Hey, Princess! Wait!" Raph called out and scooped her up. "Don't go off on your own. You could get hurt." Jo then started fretting and whining. "What's the matter?"
"I think she has to go potty," Mikey suggested.
"Mikey, she's a baby. She doesn't know how to use the potty yet," Leo reminded him.
Raph brought her back to the living room and their baby sister started sobbing and whimpering. "Aw, Joey, what's the matter?" Raph cooed, lightly bouncing her in his lap. Mikey then started waving toys in front of her face, and her sobbing escalated to loud wailing. "Stop that, you're scaring her!" Raph said and shoved him away.
"Am not!" Mikey stuck his tongue out.
"Nani ga okotta?!" came a rather displeased voice and the three mutant turtles turned their heads to see a glaring Splinter, and a sniffling Donnie, wrapped up in a blanket, standing behind him. "Why is your sister crying until her face is red?!"
"We don't know!" Leo said, trying to calm little baby Joey down by patting her head.
"We tried playing with her, but Mikey only made it worse by scaring her!" Raph said, pointing to the youngest brother.
"Hey!" Mikey whined.
Donnie sniffled and coughed. "S-She probably wants her bear," he pointed out hoarsely.
"Her bear? That could be it. Raph, go get it," said Leo, and Raph hurried off to Splinter's room. "Don, what are you doing out of bed?"
"G-Gotta go to the bathroom, but I can't go by myself," the sick turtle replied with a shiver.
Splinter gently guided Donatello to the bathroom while keeping his gaze at the others. "You better take care of your sister; if she gets hurt..."
"We won't let her get hurt, Sensei!" Leo declared. "I promise."
"I got it!" Raph said, waving the teddy bear around. He then knelt down in front of Joey and held the bear out. "Look, Princess. Look what Raphie's got for you." Joey's wailing dwindled to sniffles and hiccups as she opened her teary teal-blue eyes. Seeing her cuddly teddy bear within arm's reach, she snatched it and hugged it tightly, cooing softly. Raph smiled and petted her head. Leo and Mikey sat beside him and chuckled. Splinter, content with seeing Joey happy and the boys beginning to get along, and followed Donatello into the bathroom.
Not long after, with Donnie in bed and Splinter watching over him, the other boys were trying to get Joey to sit still. "Joey, come back!" Mikey exclaimed exhaustedly as they chased their baby sister around the lair, who was crawling at super-sonic speed and giggling.
"Jo, wait! You'll hurt yourself!" Leo cried out.
"Jo-Jo!" Raph shouted.
Splinter poked his head out of Donnie's room. "Shizukana! Your brother is trying to sleep."
"Sorry, Sensei, but we're trying to get Joey to sit still," Leo said as he crawled under the table after Joey. "It's her nap time!"
"Well, try and do it a little more quietly, please," Splinter said and returned to tend to his ill son.
"Come on, Jo!" Mikey whined as he continued to chase the tiny, hyper baby. "Sit still! I'm getting tired!"
"Well don't fall asleep! It ain't your nap time, Mikey!" Raph said as he tried to cross paths with his sister and block her, but she only crawled through his legs, continuing to giggle. "Hey! Get back here!"
While sweet little Josephine was having fun playing this game, her older brothers were not. After a while of playing chase, the boys all became tired and frustrated; wanting this charade to end, they simultaneously shouted, "JOEY, STOP!"
Baby Joey screeched to a halt with a gasp, frightened by their raised voice. Seeing their glaring, hardened expressions, she got the idea that she had done something wrong. Fearing that she was in trouble and going to be punished, she stuck out her bottom lip and whimpered as tears swelled in her eyes, then started wailing.
The turtle brothers all sighed exasperatedly, even more irritated that their sister was making even more noise. Then they jumped when they heard a door slide open quickly and a displeased voice exclaim, "Nani ga okorimashita?!" They slowly turned around and saw Splinter towering over them, his rat eyes narrowed to slits and his tail flickering angrily.
"S-Sensei...!" Leo stammered as the boys straightened and their sister continued to wail.
"I thought I told you three to keep the noise down so your brother could sleep! And why is your little sister crying?!"
The boys hung their heads shamefully. "We're sorry, Sensei," Mikey mumbled. "We didn't mean to make her cry."
"We were just trying to get her to stop so we could put her down for a nap," Raph explained, shuffling his feet.
Splinter sighed and knelt down to their height. "I know you three care very much for your sister; all four of you boys do. But yelling at her is not the right way in getting her to do something you want. Josephine is an infant, and thus she needs to be treated gently."
"Hai, Sensei," the three said in unison.
Splinter gave his head a nod, then stood tall. "I am going to meditate. Josephine had better be napping by the time I return," he said sternly. Then he walked towards the sobbing infant and nuzzled her with his snout, calming her down a little, and then continued his journey to the dojo to meditate.
When he was gone, Leo, Raph and Mikey went to their baby sister, who continued to sniffle and whine. Raph pulled her gently into his lap while Leo and Mikey sat on either side of him. "Hey, Princess, it's okay," he said to her calmly while rubbing her back. "You're not in trouble."
"We're sorry we yelled at you, Jo-Jo," Mikey said, petting the little baby's head. "We didn't mean to scare you."
"But you heard Father. It's your nappy-nap time," Leo told her.
Joey wrinkled her button nose and blew raspberries, obviously indicating she did not want to nap. "Huh? You don't want to nappy?" Mikey asked and Jo blew raspberries again, giggling. The three exchanged glances and grinned.
"Not sleepy, Jo-Jo?" Leo said, raising an eye brow.
"Well, then," Raph said, raising up a hand and wiggling his fingers, "we will just have to MAKE you!"
All three turtles started to tickle their baby sister, making her wriggle herself to the point of exhaustion. Baby Joey squealed, kicked and giggled as her big brothers tickled her tummy, her little feet and her neck, scrunching up and curling into a ball as she tried to escape their tickling fingers to no avail. "You're not going anywhere, Princess!" Raph teased playfully.
"Cootchie coo!" Mikey crooned.
After a while, Joey had giggled and wriggled until her cheeks were as red as a rose; the three turtle brothers stopped at this point to give her a break. They sighed of relief when they finally saw her give a big yawn. "Ooh, somebody's sleepy," Mikey crooned. Leo got up, walked off, and returned with a small quilt. Raph stood slowly, cradling his sister carefully and made his way to one of their large beanbag chairs, sitting in a comfy position for both him and his sister. Raphael watched Jo's eye lids become heavy until they closed. He smiled, and soon found it difficult to keep his own eyes open; all that chasing and baby-sitting had worn him out. He decided he could go for a nap too and leaned his head back.
Leo and Mikey smiled at them; then they started yawning as well, also exhausted from running around and taking care of their baby sister. They headed for the couch, curling up in a comfortable position, and crashed.
Splinter had finished his meditation, quite pleased to hear nothing but silence. He figured Donatello would be wanting more soup by now and headed towards the kitchen, preparing a warm bowl for his sick son. As he headed for Donnie's room, he passed by the living room; stopped for a moment, thinking he should check on the boys and see if they had succeeded in getting baby Joey to take a nap. Slowly entering, he saw his oldest and youngest sons curled up together on the couch under a blanket and smiled. He noticed a bit of green over by the beanbag chair and crept to it. He smiled warmly, seeing Raphael and little Josephine napping together under a quilt. Being quiet as a mouse, he bent down and kissed them on their foreheads, returned to Leo and Mikey and did the same thing, and then headed for Donnie's room to give him his soup.
A/N: hope you liked it, TMNT Fanatic! I knew you were waiting such a long time for this and I sincerely apologize for that, so I tried to make it as cute and lovable as possible between the turtles and their sister just for you ^^
