And so the family goes on a vacation... well sort of. Ha ha. Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Thank you again for those who've taken the time to review it is always greatly appreciated. Hope you have a great rest of the week. I'll be back Sunday.

Chapter 10

The next morning seemed rather hurried to Elizabeth. She had her hands full trying to get Akemi's bag packed along with her own. She was silently grateful that she didn't have to pack a suitcase full of clothes for Raphael as well. It made one less bag they had to pack.

Raphael had been a bit grumpy that morning at first, Elizabeth knew his arm had been hurting him and urged him to go see Donatello to get something for the pain.

At first he'd refused, but finally he'd wandered off towards Donatello's lab.

Elizabeth folded another pair of pajama bottoms into her suitcase. She could hear Michelangelo excitedly talking to Melinda downstairs about how much she'd love the farmhouse, and Melinda's skeptical responses.

Elizabeth smiled to herself. Melinda really wasn't the outdoorsy type. She also knew that the only reason that Melinda was even going was because she couldn't stand being away from Michelangelo for hardly any length of time. Michelangelo really did have her wrapped around his fingers. Though, Elizabeth knew from experience it was hard not to love Michelangelo. He was so easy to love with his fun outgoing personality and quirky sense of humor.

"Leo's jus' about ready ta go. Ya all packed?"

The voice made her jump. She hadn't heard Raphael come upstairs. She put a hand over her racing heart and turned to glare at her husband. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," Raphael smirked.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "No you aren't."

He chuckled softly as he walked further into the room.

Elizabeth picked up the last shirt she'd selected and put it on top of the pile before closing the suitcase.

"They have a washing machine there?"

"Yep, an' a shower, an hot runnin' water. Ya don't gotta haul water in from da well."

Elizabeth scowled and smacked his good arm.

He chuckled again.

She zipped up her suitcase but as she started to lift it off the bed Raphael's playful tone suddenly changed.

"Hey! What do ya t'ink yer doin'?" He grabbed her arm stopping her.

"I'm moving my suitcase. I thought you said Leonardo is waiting."

"He is but ya ain't liftin' dat." Raphael growled as he grabbed the handle to her suitcase.

"Raph, I can handle it! You have stitches. You shouldn't do any heavy lifting."

"An yer pregnant. Ya should take yer own advice."

"It's not that heavy."

"Den I can handle it. 'Sides, " his smirk was suddenly back. "I got off easy, Mike's got two big suitcases he's carrying fer Melinda downstairs. Dey gotta weigh fifty pounds each."

Elizabeth laughed softly. "Only two? She must be roughing it."

"She t'inks she is," Raph was clearly amused.

Elizabeth shook her head but grinned. Raphael lifted her suitcase.

"Raph, are you sure? I don't want Don yelling at me."

"I'm fine – usin' my right hand anyway." Raph said showing her his free bandaged left arm. "Ya sure ya packed enough?"

"I have everything I need. Including my vitamins. Don't worry, Raph."

"Come on den, Akemi's bag is already downstairs. Dey don't gotta TV dere, so I packed 'er some books instead. Jus' in case. But dere will be lots fer 'er ta do out outside anyway. She'll love it."

"I'm sure she will." Elizabeth reassured him.

She followed him out of the room and down the stairs. She suppressed the grin as she saw Michelangelo lugging the two big suitcases towards the elevator with Melinda hovering behind, warning him to be careful because her curling iron and blow dryer were in the outside pockets.

"Raph, you really shouldn't be… "

"I ain't usin' my bad arm, Don. I got dis. It ain't 'eavy,"

Donatello frowned after his brother as Raphael headed for the elevator. After setting Leonardo's arm last night he'd gone and replaced the fan belt in the battle shell so it would be ready for them this morning. He'd also carefully gone over Elizabeth's car. He'd been surprised last night when Raphael had told them that he'd taken Elizabeth's car to meet up with them. The brothers had doubled back to retrieve it and had dropped Casey off at home before they'd returned to the lair. Everything seemed to be running smoothly now so hopefully it stayed that way.

"You ready, Don?" Leonardo asked.

Elizabeth's eyes snapped to the blue banded turtle. He was holding Akemi in his good arm, her arms wrapped around his neck, holding a stuffed Nala by the tail that gently bumped against his carapace as he walked. His right arm was bound tightly and in a sling, but not casted. She frowned. It really should be casted to support the break properly.

"Yeah, Leo, I've got everything I need."

"Good, let's try and head out in ten." Spotting Elizabeth Leonardo adjusted Akemi and handed her off to her mother. Akemi sighed but pushed into her mother's chest, holding Nala close. "I'll get Master Splinter."

"Ok, Leo."

As the older turtle slipped into the rat's quarters Elizabeth looked at Donatello, eyebrows raised. "Shouldn't he have a cast on?"

Donatello shook his head. "Leo doesn't like casts. The splint I put on will support the break, as long as he doesn't use it and gives it time to heal he'll be fine. We all heal pretty fast, Elizabeth."

"I know, Don, but this is different from the time Mike broke his toe." Elizabeth frowned as she adjusted her daughter.

"It'll be fine. I have some medical stuff in my bag if we need it while we're out there, and April and Casey have stocked a pretty exclusive first aid kit up at the farmhouse as well," Donatello reassured.

"Ok, Don. Well I'd better go get her in her car seat."

"Melinda is going to go with you, and Mikey asked if you'd mind taking Klunk as well. He's in his cat carrier already."

"Oh, um sure that's fine," Elizabeth agreed, she looked for the cat carrier.

"Michelangelo already took him up to the warehouse. He can be a bit cranky when he's in his cat carrier."

Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her temple, she was going to have to put up with a yowling cat for who knew how many hours.

"He'll settle down after you get going. I gave Melinda a GPS with the address already plugged in. But we all have our shell cells if you have trouble finding it."

"Sounds good, Don. Thanks," Elizabeth said tiredly. It was going to be a long day. She could feel it already.

"You feeling ok, Elizabeth? You still look a little pale," Donatello frowned. "You feeling sick?"

"No, I'm ok. It was just a long night is all."

"Maybe you should have Melinda drive then. The GPS has voice activation as well. That way you could grab a couple hours sleep."

"I might just do that," Elizabeth said nodding.

"Mikey packed some food for you guys so you don't have to stop for lunch on the way. There's a few sandwiches and sodas, and there's some animal crackers and fruit snacks too. He's put them in the backseat of the car already."

"Ok great. Thanks, Donny."

Donatello smiled and headed to his lab to grab his bag. Elizabeth took the elevator up to the warehouse where Raphael, Michelangelo, and Melinda were waiting. Raphael and Michelangelo had donned street clothes to better hide their shapes while they were driving through the busy city streets. It gave them a rather bulky appearance and it was odd seeing them in clothes, Elizabeth was so used to seeing them go without them.

Michelangelo had Melinda wrapped up in his arms, holding her close, her head tucked under his chin, her eyes closed contentedly.

Raphael was leaning against the driver's door to Elizabeth's car, with his baggy street clothes he looked like a punk rock fan. She suppressed the urge to laugh but smiled a little as she got closer. He watched her approach, his amber eyes softening as she opened the back door and put Akemi into the car seat. Raphael shifted and moved slightly so he could reach in and tickle Akemi under the chin. She grinned and buried her face into her stuffed Nala.

"We'll see ya in a few hours kiddo, be good fer yer mom."

"Ok, daddy."

Raphael turned to Elizabeth and wrapped her up in a gentle hug. Elizabeth pushed into him. She knew that while at night the tinted windows of her car were dark enough to hide the turtles' shapes, during the day it was far too dangerous for them to ride in it. She knew that the safest way for the turtles to get out of town would be in the battle shell. That didn't mean she liked it. She wanted to be with Raphael. It was hard for her to be away from him for too long. It was almost a physical pain to be away from him. But she knew she'd see him in a few hours. Just a few hours.

"Drive careful," Raphael said a bit gruffly. "An' call if ya run inta any problems."

"Don't worry, Raph." Elizabeth said teasingly as she smiled up at her husband. "You'll get wrinkles."

He rolled his eyes before he brought his mouth to hers in a soft kiss.

"Hey, Elizabeth, would you mind taking Klunk with you?" Michelangelo asked hopefully as Raphael broke the kiss.

"That's fine, Mike," Elizabeth gave the younger turtle a smile. He picked up the cat carrier, which made Klunk start to yowl again.

"He isn't going to do that the whole way is he?" Melinda asked, frowning.

"Nah, he'll calm down once you get going. He's a pretty reasonable cat after all," Michelangelo grinned. He walked over to the car and put the cat carrier on the floor behind the passenger seat.

"Would you mind driving for a little while, Melinda?" Elizabeth asked the other woman.

Melinda shook her head. "That's fine," she caught the keys that Elizabeth tossed to her. Melinda gave Michelangelo another hug, followed by a quick kiss before she headed around to the driver's side door.

Elizabeth found herself pulled into one last hug as the elevator doors opened and Leonardo, Splinter and Donatello entered the warehouse, though they weren't wearing their street clothes yet Elizabeth knew they'd have them on before they left the warehouse.

"I love ya." Raphael said so softly that she knew the others wouldn't hear. Raphael wasn't one for openly expressing his emotions in front of his brothers.

"I love you too." She whispered back.

Raphael's mouth met hers briefly and then he let her go, opening the passenger side door for her. She slid in and grabbed her seat belt, pulling it across her lap and chest and buckled it into place. Once she was settled Raphael shut the door softly.

A minute later Melinda joined her, Michelangelo shut the door after her before he and Raph climbed into the battle shell.

"You going to grab a nap?" Melinda asked as she turned on the GPS, turning on the voice activation.

"Maybe, didn't sleep that much to be honest."

"Well if you can grab one you probably should. I've got the voice activation on this and I'll be following the guys, if there's a problem I'll wake you up."

"Thanks, Melinda." Elizabeth said with a sigh as she leaned her head back against the head rest, closing her eyes.

She heard the battle shell's engine start with a dull roar, then heard it idle for a minute as Melinda turned the key starting up the smaller car's engine. Then felt the car shift as they left the warehouse.

"In thirty yards turn right," a computerized voice instructed.

Carefully Melinda maneuvered out into traffic following the battle shell. Elizabeth was asleep before they'd gone more than five blocks.

Raphael glanced in the rear view mirror for the sixth time in the last half an hour, as if to make sure that Elizabeth's car was still right behind them.

They were almost there now, and with Michelangelo's constant drumming of his fingers on his plastron and nodding of his head as he listened to his headphones Raphael's nerves were strung tight. He'd kept glancing back the whole trip up here, making sure that Elizabeth's car was still right behind them. Every half hour or so Michelangelo would call to talk to Melinda until Donatello had made him stop, chiding him for distracting Melinda from her driving. Despite Michelangelo's insistence that he was checking on Klunk, Donny wasn't fooled and neither was Raphael.

Truth be told he was tempted to call Elizabeth, but Michelangelo had told him that she had fallen asleep not long after they'd left the warehouse. Raphael was content to let her sleep. She needed it.

A baby. Another one. What would the others think of it? He was sure they would be excited for him and Elizabeth. But he had never thought such a thing was possible. With the mutation… but would Elizabeth be able to carry the baby to term? What if there were complications?

When Akemi had been born she'd had some medical problems that had made her stay at the hospital until they had been fixed. What if the same thing happened this time? But this time there wouldn't be a hospital. What if Elizabeth had problems? He remembered some of the things Donatello had told him when Elizabeth had been pregnant with Akemi. Pregnancies could be dangerous for the mother as well.

The thought of something happening to Elizabeth made him feel sick. He didn't know what he'd do without her. She completed him in ways his brothers couldn't. She balanced him in ways that Splinter and Leonardo had tried to help him with for years. She was his other half. He couldn't be without her now. Not when he knew how incredible life with her was.

It was like Michelangelo with Melinda. He'd found someone who balanced him well. Melinda was fun, she loved to play video games with Michelangelo and watch the same boring super hero movies over and over that Michelangelo loved so much. But she also helped Michelangelo focus when it was important. He had grown more serious when they were out on patrols, had taken the situations more seriously, because he'd had one more reason to get home safely every night they went out.

Sure Melinda could be a bit over the top with her shopping sometimes, Raphael didn't understand why she needed so many pairs of shoes, she only had two feet. It didn't seem to balance out for him, but he wasn't a human – or a woman. Women always seemed to like have more than they needed when it came to clothes. Well, except Elizabeth, she seemed content with her tired sneakers. Raphael liked that about her.

But besides her shopping addiction, and fear of bugs – which Raphael could completely understand, Melinda was great. She made Michelangelo happy, which made Raphael happy. He hadn't been at all sure if she would fit in when she'd first moved in with them. Especially since Michelangelo had been having memory problems at the time, but it was while he hadn't remembered who his brothers were that Michelangelo had grown dependent on Melinda. She'd set him at ease and had made him feel more comfortable there in the lair. And while it had been frustrating in some ways, it made Raphael happy that Michelangelo had had someone who seemed to understand him at the time.

When Michelangelo's memories had returned all the brothers had been worried about how they were going to explain who Melinda was to him, but they hadn't had to worry. With Michelangelo's outgoing personality he'd quickly seen to it to make friends with Melinda. Over the last year their relationship had grown. The roots growing so deep they could never be ripped out.

Donatello pulled into the drive that led up to the farmhouse, and a few seconds later Elizabeth's car followed. As soon as Donatello came to a stop in front of the tired looking farm house Raphael was opening his door and getting out of the car.

He saw Elizabeth getting out as well, she paused as she looked up at the tired looking old farm house. Over the years Casey had been working on some improvements on the place, replacing shutters and adding a fresh coat of paint. But there was still a lot of work to be done, and he wasn't here that often.

The meadows behind the house and the barn were full of tall grass and wild flowers thanks to the warm summer season. The birds called happily to each other back and forth in the trees, a light breeze danced across the treetops.

The newest thing on the property was the barn, something that the turtles had helped Casey and April rebuild after it had been destroyed at the couple's wedding. Not that Casey used it for much, Raphael had a feeling that Casey had just wanted it built up for sentimental purposes, but he hadn't minded the work. The barn was a nice place for them to go when they came out to visit. He remembered the first time they had come out to the farmhouse, after Leonardo had almost been killed when he'd been ambushed by the Foot one morning.

When he'd recovered enough to leave the couch Leonardo had wandered out to the barn and stayed there, a refuge from the curious and worried eyes of his family as he fought the injuries that had plagued his mind. At least until Raphael had gone out there and talked his brother into forging some new weapons for him. Working together out in the old barn, not speaking to each other, but working side by side had brought the brothers closer together, and as they'd worked Raphael had noticed a change in his brother. His big brother had transformed in those hours, and the old Leonardo had come back.

"It's not much," Raphael said as he approached his wife. "But it's nice an' quiet out 'ere… "

"It's beautiful, Raph," Elizabeth's eyes danced. "Look at the flowers, and the trees are so beautiful."

Raphael smiled. Elizabeth had grown up on a ranch, she could appreciate this place for what it was.

"What do you think, Melinda? Pretty sweet huh?" Michelangelo grinned as he opened the door for Melinda to get out.

Melinda blinked as she looked around the place. Taking in the old house and the rickety old swing on the front porch. She surprised Raphael by smiling. "Wow, Mike, this is so nice… " She drew a deep breath, grinning at the fresh air.

"Come on!" Michelangelo insisted as he grabbed her hand. "I'll show you around the place. After we take Klunk inside."

Melinda allowed him to lead her around the car, where he retrieved a freshly yowling Klunk from the back seat and led her up to the house.

"I should get Akemi out of the car," Elizabeth said. "I'm sure she'll have to use the bathroom, and then she'll probably want to play."

"Probably," Raphael agreed. He tugged the itchy sweatshirt off his head and wadded it up into a ball under his arm. That was better.

Elizabeth chuckled, but when he looked at her curiously she just shook her head and made her way to the back of the car, unbuckling Akemi's car seat and pulled the toddler out of the car.

Akemi blinked looking around at her new surroundings. She pointed excitedly to the wild flowers growing in the back.

"Look, mom! Look!" She cried unable to contain her excitement.

Elizabeth smiled. "I see, baby. How about we go use the bathroom then you can go pick some nice flowers for me?"

Akemi nodded eagerly as Elizabeth headed for the house. She paused and looked back at Raphael. "Unless you want me to help with the bags, Raph. Is your arm alright?"

"I'm fine, 'Lizabeth," Raphael said firmly. "I can 'andle da bags."

"If you're sure… " Elizabeth looked uncertain.

"I said I got it, don't worry so much," Raphael tossed the wadded up shirt into the battle shell, nearly hitting Leonardo as turned with a couple bags in hand.

Leonardo scowled. "Nice, Raph."

Raphael smirked. "Jus' keepin' ya on yer toes, big brother."