A/N: This one is rated K.

Choices

Summary: House hunting is such a bother, but sometimes you find that diamond in the ruff.

Leo stared up at the old building. "I still don't understand, what are we doing here?" The building was an old hotel, probably built around the turn of the century. But unlike most historic structures, this one was dilapidated to a point that it was boarded up and looked like it was barely standing.

"Aw, come on, Leo. Just take a look." April prompted. "You might like it."

Leo looked around the neighborhood. It was rather quiet here, but not overly so. There were enough businesses that it didn't look like the place was dying at least. "I don't know…" He was skeptical but Jamie pulled at his arm.

"Let's take a look before we jump to conclusions."

Leo glanced at Donnie, who was frowning. "It would take a lot of work."

Sarah squeezed his hand. "Yeah, but there are a lot more of us to help with all that work now. It won't just be you and me."

Shinta gazed up at the building. The idea of living above ground hadn't really occurred to him. What would it be like to wake up to the sun every day like he'd been able to do at the farmhouse. A spark of excitement shot through him. "Let's go see!" He jogged forward to the door where April had already stopped to pull out the key.

"This place has been on the market for seven years. The real estate broker nearly begged me to look at it." She explained as the rest caught up with her. She opened the door and coughed as they were assaulted by a storm of dust.

Shinta moved inside, flipping on his flashlight. To their right was a reception desk and to their left was a lounge, where dust covered armchairs sat. Past the reception desk a stairwell climbed to the next floor. The banister was an ornate curving and swirling iron railing. "Wow."

April led the way to a short hall, where she pushed open a door on the left. "Here's the kitchen."

Sarah's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. The room was filled with modern appliances and stainless steel surfaces. She ran her fingers over a prep table. "This place looks like it had an upgrade not too long ago."

April nodded. "Well, they were running this hotel up until ten years ago, so it figures the appliances would be mostly new."

Jamie smiled behind Leo's shoulder and Don caught the look, but he didn't question it as he watched his spouse roam the rather large industrial kitchen. He could feel her excitement at the idea of preparing their large meals in such a room.

"There's still another room on this floor that I want to show you." April grinned as she stepped back into the hall again and pushed open another door at the end. She was very satisfied with the gasps that followed the group's entry. Even Leo looked a bit awestruck. "It's a ballroom. But you guys could use it as a dojo, or use part of it as a dojo and the other part as a dining room." The room was wide and long, matching the length of the hotel.

"This is so cool!" Shinta ran to the other end and looked out the window. But there was an empty lot behind the building, so there wasn't much to see. But the space was great. It really would make an awesome dojo. He ran back. "Can we see upstairs now?"

April and Jamie chuckled, but Leo frowned. "Don't get too excited Shinta. We're just looking."

Jamie squeezed his arm still smiling. "Oh, don't be such a wet blanket."

Shinta laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her back through the lobby and up the stairs. Leo followed, still frowning. April, Sarah and Donnie also trailed after them. Each of the three floors above had five rooms with their own baths. The rooms weren't furnished, but they were fairly large. Their tour ended on the roof which had easy access.

"So, what do you think Donnie? Do you think we could fix this place up?" Jamie leaned on the roof's ledge looking out over the surrounding buildings.

Donnie rubbed his chin. "It would take a lot of work. The wiring is kind of old and we'd have reconfigure a few spaces. There are a lot of windows, but we could probably put some tint on them or cover them to keep out prying eyes. I haven't gotten a look at the basement, but if the plumbing is okay, I'd say it's definitely doable. Especially, if I have some help."

"You know we'll all pitch in, Don." Leo reminded him. Then he shook his head. "But I still don't know why we are looking at this place. It's not like we can afford it."

"Yes it is." Jamie said softly and he looked down at her.

"What are you talking about?"

She shifted a little nervously. "Don't be mad, but I sort of sold the place in Texas."

Leo's jaw dropped. "You did what?"

"Well, it wasn't like I was going back to live there and Randy has a girl in Oklahoma now. He and I talked it over and we decided to sell." She took his hands. "That plus the money I still had saved from when dad died should be enough."

April chuckled. "As desperate as they are to sell this place, I'd say you'll probably have some left over."

Leo cupped Jamie's cheek. "You really shouldn't have done that. It's been in your family for a hundred years."

She placed her hand over his. "Who cares? You're my family now – all of you. And if I can continue to keep us safe and together, I will."

Leo swept her into his arms, kissing her so passionately that the others looked away. Don smiled to himself. Leo had relaxed as he'd gotten older. He wasn't as formal or as restrained with his show of affection. And in a way it made Don happy to see him so uninhibited. He looked around the roof. "You know I could probably put some solar panels up here to help offset the cost of electricity."

Sarah frowned. "Yeah, but what about the rest of the bills? What about Cat and the garage?"

"Well, that's the bad part I suppose." April pointed to the empty lot that was grown over. "The lot comes with this place, but we'd have to build a new place. That is if she still wants to have one." April recalled how depressed Cat had sounded when she'd last spoke to her a few weeks ago.

Don gave a small nod. "I think she will, but I also think it'll be too much for her to handle right now."

"We could do most of it for her." Leo joined them with Jamie still held tight to his side.

"I was also thinking, maybe I could move the music shop into the lobby area somehow. That would save us on costs too." Jamie spoke up, her hand resting on Leo's chest.

Shinta looked at each of them and grinned. "So, does this mean we've found a new home?"

"Yes." Leo looked down at Jamie, gratitude and admiration sparkling in his blue eyes. "Thanks to loving and generous hearts, we do."

"Yay!" Shinta did a backflip landing on the roof's ledge, making the girls laugh. "So, when do we move in?"

Leo sighed, but a smile tugged at his mouth. "It's still going to be a while. It'll take time to buy the place and then we'll need to do some work before moving in."

"We'll have to set up the security system and a few other things first, but we can work on the inside once that's all set." Don assured his exuberant nephew.

"And the place could definitely use a good cleaning." Sarah hugged herself. "I don't think I've ever seen so many spiders in all my life. I hate spiders."

Donnie chuckled, pulling her close. "I'm sure Raph is going to be just as thrilled as you are to deal with them."

They laughed and Leo smiled. "I guess we'd better do something about them before Raph gets here or he won't set foot in the place."

A/N: I am SO with Raph on this. I hate bugs! Give me a rat or snake any day, compared to bugs...-shivers- EW, bugs!