Hey, I'm back! Hopefully this slightly longer chapter will make up for how long it has taken to get it out. Now, I'm going to ask for some forgiveness if some of my storyline doesn't exactly fit actual, medical fact. I've worked with infants, but I've never had one of my own, so some of this might not actually fit reality. If possible, just accept it as part of the story. Please? Anyway, hope y'all enjoy.
The turtle family quickly discovered that having two new babies disrupted life in ways they never imagined possible. First of all, both babies seemed to always be hungry. Although they were on a pretty straight feeding schedule of every three hours, their schedules were at odds with each other, so it was pretty much a given that at least one of the two was going to need to be feed every hour and a half. However, with six turtles and one aging rat around, a schedule for who was feeding whom, and when, was quickly established. The same went for the inevitable diapers that took place, as well.
In contrast to the daytime schedule, during the night, the Brats took responsibility for caring for Leo, leaving the Menaces and the Geeks to look after Gabby. Taking this into account, practice had been moved up from six until 7:30 in the morning, with whichever two turtles were responsible for the first morning feedings excused from that day's exercises.
On top of their schedule being totally disrupted, the turtles found themselves having a lot more dishes and clothes to wash. Being premature, both Gabby and Leo were far more prone to spitting up, which resulted in a lot of bibs and burp cloths becoming soiled. Additionally, both of the Geeks were adamant that the bottles be completely sanitized after each use. With all of the additional germs of the sewer floating around, none of the older turtles wanted to risk the two most fragile members of their family becoming ill. Eventually, however, they were forced to develop a mechanical sanitizer after the Brats complained that their hands were cracking and bleeding from how often they were having to do submerge them in the cleaning solution the Geeks insisted they use.
Despite the sometimes less pleasant changes the two infants brought, the family quickly reached a point when they couldn't remember a time the two babies weren't a part of their life.
"You are going to have that little girl completely spoiled before she's even old enough to roll over," Donny told Raphael one day after catching the older turtle holding his niece once more, after the young scientists had purposefully put her in her infant seat.
"Nah," Raphael countered as he grinned at his niece, who was staring fixedly at her red-masked uncle. "Gabby's too good natured. I don't think we could spoil her if we tried."
There was some truth to his words, for Gabby was as good a baby as anyone could ask for. For one thing, Gabby almost never cried. Whenever she got hungry, she would reach out along the mental bond she had with all of her uncles and touch the mind of the closest turtle to alert him that she wanted to eat NOW. After eating she would either cuddle right up to her doting uncle and go to sleep, or she would contentedly sit and observe the world around her. The few times that she had cried, the spells hadn't lost long, and they had been because her uncles had been too soundly asleep to feel her hunger in their minds. Among the older turtles there was something of a competition to see who could hold Gabby next.
In his own way, Leo was just as easy a baby to care for as Gabby. Like his sister/daughter (it was very confusing, since it was hard to consider the infant Leo as Gabby's father), Leo very rarely cried. However, he was far more apt to spit up after eating, making it difficult to get him full. Leo also had to be more carefully observed when he was sleeping, for he occasionally developed had trouble breathing when lying flat to sleep. Donatello hypothesized that, due to his aborted time in the incubator, Leo was actually a few weeks less developed than Gabby. Gabby, he and Donny had figured, was somewhere around the equivalent of 35 weeks along when they had brought her home. As for Leo, he had probably been approximately 33 weeks along. That small difference of two weeks left Leo with lungs and a respiratory system that was just slightly underdeveloped.
The biggest difference between the two babies, however, was the comfort level their caretakers had in handling them. With Gabby, there was never a shortage of hands willing to pick up and care for the infant turtle. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Leo. While the Brats cared for him as naturally as if he was their own offspring, the others weren't nearly as at ease around their infant brother. The Geeks would gladly take their turn caring for him, but they just as quickly handed him off to either get Gabby, or to get back to work on whatever the experiment of the minute was. Raphael would take his turn with Leo when it was required of him, but he never just sat and held his brother the way he did his niece. As for Raph, he refused to have anything to do with Leo at all. As for Splinter, he relished the time to just lavish love and attention on his "oldest" son once more.
About the time all three babies in the turtles' family were a month old, April brought Lexi back for her first real visit with her uncles, and for her chance to meet the other two newest additions for the first time as well.
"Hey guys, we're here," Casey called as he and April entered the Lair from the elevator, though in a much more subdued voice than his normal tone.
"Come on in," Raphael called back. "We'll be there in a minute."
True to his word, the turtle family filed into the main family room moments later. With her daughter safely in Casey's arms, April was free to jump up and rush to meet the new arrivals.
"Oh my gosh," the human female gushed as she observed both infant turtle. "They're adorable! Look at how tiny they are."
"You want to hold him," Mikey asked, gesturing to the sleeping Leo in his arms. In response, April plopped down on the couch and reached eager arms out to receive the sleeping bundle. "Careful," Mikey warned her as he placed the baby in her arms. "His shell is still rather soft, so you have to be a little gentler with him."
April cuddled the tiny turtle to her chest and cooed at him. "How much does he weigh? Compared to Lexi he weighs next to nothing."
"Leo's about 5 pounds, give or take a few ounces," Donny told her. "With all the trouble he's had spitting up he hasn't put on weight like he ought to. We just can't seem to find a formula mix that suits him. Gabby's a little horse, though, and weighs almost twice that much. Of course, she was bigger when we brought her home to begin, so that's not much of a surprise."
"So let's see Miss Gabby," Casey said. "I want to see how much she takes after her daddy."
"I'll trade you," Raph said. "I'll let you see Gabby if I can hold Lexi. I haven't seen the tadpole since she was born. She's lucky to have April as a mama, because she probably would be twisted beyond repair with you as her daddy otherwise."
"Watch yourself, shellback," Casey growled good-naturedly. With a skill only found in those accustomed to handling newborns, the two traded babies. Lexi looked up at her green-skinned uncle with large blue eyes that were just beginning to show a hint of green.
"Well, she definitely has April's eyes," Raphael muttered, looking at the little human over his twin's shoulder. "And her mouth. But that's definitely you nose and chin. All in all, it could be worse."
"Oooh, hit him for me, Michelangelo," April called. "I'd do it, but I don't want to disturb Leo."
As Raphael laughingly ducked his brother's playful jab, Casey was considering the little turtle he was holding. To his surprise, Gabby had violet eyes, which were staring at him in unabashed wonder. Other than the unexpected color, however, her eyes were identical in shape to Leo's. The green of her skin, however, was darker than Leo's had been, more closely matching Raph and Raphael in hue.
"If I didn't know better, I'd almost say she was Raph or Raphael's spawn," Casey said after a moment's consideration. "Other than the eyes, she's almost a replica of the Menaces."
"That's probably because, genetically, Leo, Raph, and Raphael are triplets," Donatello said offhandedly.
"Whoa, want to pass that by me again," Raphael growled at his younger brother, having been caught just as off guard as Casey at the news.
Grinning at his "win" over his unsuspecting brother, Donatello said, "It was something Donny and I discovered while doing some work on a recent project. The truth is, if we hadn't come into contact with the mutagen, you and Leo would probably have been identical. And since Raph is identical, genetically, to you, he's your genetic triplet. In fact, out of all of us, you three are the only ones to actually genetic material. The seven of us are brothers by choice, but you three really are brothers."
Donatello might have gone on, but just at that moment Mikey interrupted, saying, "April, Leo's ready to be fed. You want to do it, or do you want to hand him over and I'll do it?"
"If you'll bring me his bottle, I don't mind feeding him," April replied.
"Then I'll be right back," the youngest turtle told her before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Hey, Mikey, Leo's new formula's in the fridge in the blue bottle," Donny called after his brother. Turning back to April he said, "Hopefully this one will suit him better. In all honesty, I'm beginning to grow more than a little concerned about his lack of growth."
"Have you considered that it might not just be the formula," April asked.
"What do you mean," Donatello asked, giving his friend a genuinely puzzled look.
"Donatello, I have been in this room for only about half an hour, but in that time all of you have checked on Gabby multiple times. I actually though Raphael was going to snatch her out of Casey's hands a couple of times. On the other hand, the only ones who have shown any concern for Leo whatsoever are the Brats. Heck, you'd think I was hold one of their precious first, limited addition comics the way they have hovered around me. But the rest of you haven't given your brother a second glance. Now, you tell me, is this a healthy environment for you brother?"
"Ah, come on April," Raphael jeered. "Leo's just a baby. Like he can tell who is, or isn't, paying attention to him."
"No, your brother is an empathic baby, with a unique emotional tie to all six of his brothers," April corrected. "So you tell me. Do you really think he can't tell which of his brothers don't really care for him?"
Before the de facto oldest turtle could respond, Mikey returned from the kitchen, the bottle clutched in his hand. "Here you go, April," he said, thrusting the bottle, as well as a stack of burp cloths at her. "He doesn't have to drink all of that, only about 4oz. I just gave you so much because he spits up so much of it."
"Thanks, Mikey," April said with a smile. Turning her attention to the little turtle in her arms, she tucked one of the bibs under his chin before offering him the nipple. Latching on immediately, Leo began sucking hardily at the bottle. Settling back in a more comfortable position on the couch, April began humming softly as the baby ate. After Leo finished the first ounce, April pulled the bottle from his mouth and, using a combination of gentle patting and soft bounces, got a small burp from Leo. Satisfied, she returned to feeding him. Repeating the procedure after each ounce of formula, April soon had four ounces of formula in Leo, with minimal spitting up.
"Hey, Donny, Leo's had his four ounces. Do you want me to stop, or should I offer him the rest of the bottle," April asked.
"Get him to take as much as you can," Donny told her, shock written on his face that his human friend had been so successful at feeding Leo when none of them had been half as good. "But tell me, how did you do that?"
"Simple," April said as she cooed at the now drowsy baby in her lap. "Leo knows I love him, no matter what. And being such a sensitive little guy, he was able to pick up on that, so his little tummy didn't get upset. Surely you remember how poorly Leo used to eat when he got stressed? This version of our brother isn't much different; he just can't verbally describe his feelings like the adult version could."
"So, April, you willing to move into the Lair for the next few months," Mikey asked, only half-jokingly. "With you around, Leo will fatten up like he's 'sposed to in no time."
April had just opened her mouth to respond to Mikey's teasing, when a very familiar light filled the room, and four figures stepped into the Lair.