Reviews are appreciated. Let me know what you think. Thanks again for reading! Chapter 13 will be mission time!
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Chapter 12
Raph emerged from his room just a few minutes after noon. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, he worked out the kink in his left shoulder that had come from sleeping on that side for almost two hours. He didn't know whether to be surprised or perturbed by the fact that he had meditated for a solid sixty-eight minutes of his own free-will, but he did know that he felt better than he had this morning, heck, than the last few days. He felt…lighter. Sure, that word worked. His headache was gone, the tension in his neck had eased, even his gut didn't feel so hollow – maybe he should meditate more often? It was a question he seriously entertained as he strolled into the kitchen, bee-lined for the bread box, and dug through the fridge for mayo, meat, cheese and, yes, tomatoes! He stared at the red fruit in his hand for a moment and something Splinter had said long ago came back to him: Knowledge is knowing tomatoes are fruit; wisdom is not putting them in a fruit salad.
"Poor little tomato-fruit," Raph found himself saying out loud. "Nobody wants ya in their fruit salad. But ya do make nice sandwiches so there's that, I guess. I don't like apples in my sandwiches."
"Raphael?"
The red-masked turtle spun, almost crushing the tomato as he narrowly avoided clenching his hand into a fist. His whole family sat at the table and watched him, their lunch of fresh ramen half-eaten. He was very grateful he was green as his whole face flooded with green's natural colour-opposite. Any stranger might have thought there was no visible change, but the turtles and rat who knew him best tried to hide smiles at Raph struggling to speak.
"Hi, Raphie!" Leo greeted exuberantly, smiling at him with soya sauce dribbling down his chin.
"Hey, Leo," replied Raph a little hesitantly, but he was rewarded with a wider grin which made him smile a little in turn.
"There is still ramen in the pot, my son," Splinter said kindly. "Would you like to join us?"
"Sure." Raph returned the sandwich ingredients to their rightful places but kept the bread mostly because he had already touched it but also because he liked to mop up the sauce with it.
Don set a bowl and chopsticks out for him while watching him in his peripheral vision. "You doing okay, bro?" he asked.
Raph helped himself to the pot. "Yeah," he said. "I guess I really needed that nap."
"You do look better," Mikey put in. "Not that you looked bad before," he added quickly. "It's just you were really pale this morning during training."
"Here." Don set a cup of steaming tea in front of him, and Raph knew by its scent that it was Sensei's immune system blend. "We can't afford to get sick."
The red-masked turtle caught the plural and raised a brow ridge at his elder brother. "You've had a cup?"
"We all have," Splinter said dryly, taking a sip of his own tea.
Raph took a swig of the herby brew before shoveling food into his mouth. Man, was he ever hungry; he hadn't eaten since supper last night.
Mikey leaned back in his chair, strangely nonchalant. "When you're done eating, Raph, we're headed for Saki's mansion."
Cough, cough, cough! Raph hacked on his noodles, choking and gagging, and Don thumped him on the back with a fearful "Are you okay?!"
It was still several seconds before Raph could get enough air in his lungs to speak, and he was very aware of Donnie half-rising from his chair, readying to perform the Heimlich. He waved him back down with a hand, and Don obeyed…very slowly.
"You okay, Raphie?" Leo asked, his eyes large in his face.
"Fine," Raph squeaked. He cleared his throat. "Fine, yeah, I'm fine." He glared at Mikey who was more horrified than pleased by his reaction to the joke. "Don't say stuff like that when a guy's eatin', Mike," he grumbled.
"Sorry," his little brother said hurriedly. "I didn't think you'd choke."
Raph sneered at him over his chopsticks and chewed another mouthful before speaking: "You were joking, though, right?"
"My son, it is broad daylight," said Splinter, ever wise and sensible. "I wouldn't let you set foot out of the lair until dusk at least."
"Oh. Right." Well, he felt foolish. He ate some more to cover his embarrassment but then his brain picked out a detail Mikey had dropped. "Wait, Saki's mansion?"
"The weapon gives off a unique energy signature that I've been able to trace," explained Don. "I had to completely refigure my plan because it's not at Foot Headquarters like we'd thought."
"So there'll be fewer heads to bust," Mikey added.
"It'll be strictly recon," Donnie corrected, exasperated. "Get in and get out."
"Yer no fun. I could do with bustin' a few heads." Raph spun the chopsticks expertly before taking another mouthful.
"We want to bust as few heads as possible, if any at all," retorted the resident genius. "Besides, even after Shredder's fall, we don't know about Karai. Chances are she's taken up his inglorious cause and has replenished the Foot ranks. We cannot and will not wage a war," he emphasized, staring Raph in the eye. "Not when we have work to do if we succeed."
"If?" Mikey echoed.
"We're not strollin' 'round Casey's farm, Mikey," Raph reminded him. He glanced back at Don. "What're our chances?"
"Not the best but we've pulled through with worse."
"We also had Leo with us," Mikey pointed out in a small voice.
"Can it!" snapped Raph automatically. Everyone at the table, including Sensei and Leo, flinched. He sighed, closed his eyes, and opened them again, meeting his little brother's frightened gaze. "Leo's why we're doin' this," he said more calmly. "I know he's not here right now but we can't let that stop us. He wouldn't give up if it were any of us so we won't either." He held those round, baby-blue eyes for a second more before turning to Donnie's concerned brown ones. "When?"
"Three nights from now. There'll be no moon, not that it'll make much difference with all the light pollution but you never know."
Raph had to grin. They were ninja to the core.
At just that moment, Mikey's phone rang.
"Michelangelo," Splinter rebuked. He had a strict no-phones-at-table rule.
Mikey smiled apologetically as he answered, "Hey, April. Sup? ...Oh, really? Right now? … Yeah, sure. I'm coming up…Yep, see you soon." He disconnected. "April has our supplies," he announced. "She's got a van full of stuff."
Raph downed the last of his tea, shoved his bread into his mouth and stood to help, Don right behind him. Splinter quickly cleaned up Leo and followed them, the toddler on his hip.
April had backed the van right into the garage so they could unload without being seen by any passersby, and opened the back and side doors to reveal the haul.
"Gee, April! Did ya get enough stuff?" Raph quipped when he saw the boxes stacked to only a few inches shy of the vehicle's roof. He also spotted a rocking chair.
April laughed and climbed into the back to hand stuff out. "My friends have kids and they were more than willing to supply everything and anything. I did mention that we were good on the clothes front, though," she added with a wink.
"I'm just glad we don't have to deal with diapers," Mikey said, his nose wrinkling.
"Who is this 'we', Michelangelo?" Splinter asked, a twinkle in his eye. "I dealt with four times as many diapers. I've had my fill for a lifetime, and would have happily designated you on diaper duty should that have been the case."
Mikey scowled as Raph and Don guffawed.
Leo squealed happily, joining in. "Down, Daddy! Down, please!"
"All right, Leonardo. There you are."
Raph watched the toddler peripherally as he ran to the van and beamed up at April. "Hi, April! What doing?"
"Hi, Leo! I'm playing Santa Clause. Want to see?"
"Yes, yes, please!" Leo stepped away so April could set her box down in front of him and open it with a utility knife. "Ooooooh!" He dug in with glee, and produced Fisher-Price cars and stuffed animals. "Soft," he whispered, stroking the fur on a panda.
April smiled over his head at the older turtles. "We can go through it, and I'll donate what you don't want. Baby locks should be in that box," she added, pointing to the box currently in Raph's arms.
Raph looked over at his father. "Do ya want me to start puttin' them on now, Sensei?" he asked.
Splinter smiled, his whiskers twitching. "If you would, Raphael. Thank you. Make sure to include Donatello's lab and the bathroom. Someone forgot to watch Leonardo this morning and I caught him swishing his hands in the toilet." He fixed Michelangelo with a pointed stare while April gagged.
"That is so gross!" she complained.
"So gross!" Leo echoed cheerfully. "Ewwww!"
"Don't worry, Sensei," said Raph as he turned to the elevator. "When I'm done, Leo won't be able ta go anywhere without us knowin'."
"Go-go, Raphie?" Leo asked. "Go-go?"
Raph rearranged his grip on his box so he could hold out a hand. "Come on, Leo. You can help."
"Okay! Help! Bye, April!" The toddler raced away, the panda tucked under his arm, and took Raph's hand. "Come on, Raphie! Come on!"
Raph ignored the surprised looks from his family as the elevator doors slid shut, smiling down at Leo who looked up at him with shining, navy eyes.
This really ain't so bad, he thought while Leo giggled and swung from his hand. Sure, he missed his sixteen-year-old brother but there was just something about having a kid-turtle look up at him like he was the sun or something that made him feel…different. It's a good different, he decided.
It was a pity it wouldn't last.
The next three days found the family settling into a routine. Though their normal routine of training in the mornings, followed by breakfast, then exercise, then lunch and downtime in the afternoon was no different, it all centered on Leo now, with the exception of training. Meals became a much messier ordeal, and a round of rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock was the only way to decide who would clean the toddler and the space he had occupied. As it turned out, Raph was terrible at the game but he consented to his perpetual defeat, knowing that he would beat his brothers in the dojo later. Exercise comprised mostly of playing with Leo, the games involved ranging from hide-and-seek to beat downs to building pillow forts. After lunch was quiet time, when Leo either napped or they all pulled out books, crayons or paint; and all too soon, the fridge was covered with papers of scribbles and tiny handprints in multiple colours.
The baby locks were a blessing and a curse because Leo was immediately frustrated when he couldn't open doors he had previously been able to. The screams that resulted. When Casey came by to hang out that first evening after April had dropped off the stuff, Raph heard him mutter something about "terrible two's, thrillin' three's, formidable four's and freaky five's" and was inclined to agree. The first day and a half were awful but once Splinter had rebuked the child for screaming in the first place, he figured out that the locks were there to stay and that asking nicely would easily remedy a closed door with very few exceptions (mostly the bathroom).
Raph did his best to not think about the impending mission, instead working out in the dojo and meditating in his room. He still didn't enjoy meditation but there was something about it that was reminiscent of Splinter's herbal teas: unpleasant but beneficial. That, and the scent of sandalwood was beginning to grow on him. When he wasn't in the dojo or his room, he was playing with Leo who was shadowed constantly by Mikey, and Don when he came out of his lab (which was a lot more often now). Raphael was glad that Don didn't shut himself up in his lab as much anymore, and was surprised to hear him laughing more than once at the child's antics. He'd forgotten how light-hearted Donatello could be, although Mikey certainly had a hand in that, as well. For Raph, the sight of the toddler still rocked him; he was not used to not seeing his eldest brother, blue-masked with his katana on his back, and he wondered if he ever would be. But then he had to remind himself that he didn't have to get used to it because they would fix it. Leo would be sixteen years old again before they knew it, and the tickle wars, pillow forts and paintings would all be a distant memory.
