Later that day, July 24, Brennan arrived shortly after five p.m. Raphael was watching TV with his sons, the baby on his lap. "Bren!" Leo jr said, running to Brennan and throwing his arms around Brennan's legs. Raphael looked up and scowled. Brennan laughed and scooped the toddler into his arms. "Hey, buddy," he said. Kane sensed his father's displeasure and stayed with him. Brennan set Leo jr on the ground and said, "Hello, Raphael. Hey, Kane, buddy. I got new toys for you and your bros." Brennan took out two cars from his shoulder bag and said, "Here you, go boys. I also got a stuffed toy for Raphie."
"Cars," Leo jr shouted, taking the car.

Kane wanted the car and looked from his dad to the car and back at his dad, but he made no attempt to move. Despite only being two, he was good at reading moods and he knew his dad was about to explode.

"No!" Raphael said furiously. "Ya don't accept toys from strangers. Ya know better than that, Leo. Give it back."
"What the hell, Raphael," Brennan said, taken aback. "I'm not a stranger."
"I said now, Leo. Give it back ta him and come here."

"But I want the car," Leo jr bawled. "Want car."
"Do ya want a smack?" Raphael growled. "Do as I say."

Weeping, Leo jr handed the toy back to Brennan and went to sit with Kane. "That was cruel and pathetic, Raphael," Brennan said. "It's only a toy."
"Yer tryin' ta buy my kids' love. Ain't gonna work and no one buys them toys, but me and people they know. Not ya."
"Raphael, we're going to have to learn to get along."

Leo jr was still crying. "Stop it," Raphael said, kissing his forehead. "I'll buy ya somethin' much nicer, Leo. That's a load of junk and yer wrong, I don't have ta like ya, Brennan, or get along with ya."
"Have you considered medication, Raphael? You're acting rather unstable."
"Unstable? Ya want me ta show ya unstable, because I will if ya don't shut the hell up? Ain't nothin' wrong with my mental state. It's ya who's the problem!"

Brennan was about to comment, when Leo entered the room. "Hey, Bren," he said, kissing his cheek. Raphael noticed and scowled. "Things okay, Bren?" Leo asked, sensing the thick tension in the room. "Yes. I was just talking to Raphael about Homeland and…"
"You don't have to cover up for him, Bren. Raphael, you behaving?"
"He's fine, Leo. Really. Can we talk for a few minutes privately? Something I want to say."

"If it's about me, ya can say it here," Raphael said.
"All right," Brennan said, clearing his throat. "Raphael's crazy. All I did was give the boys a toy and he freaked out."

"That true, Raphael?" Leo demanded, his hands on his hips.
"They're OUR kids. Not his. He's a damn stranger."
"No, he's not. He's my boyfriend and you owe him an apology. For now and this morning."
"I ain't ta blame. He deliberately presses my buttons, Leo."
"RAPHAEL!"
Grumbling under his breath, Raphael muttered, "Sorry."
"I didn't catch that. Can you speak up?"
"I said I'm sorry. Happy now?"

"It's all right," Brennan said, and smiled warmly. I'd love ta slap him, Raphael thought. Bastard actin' so smug and like he's family. He ain't and will never be. "I'd like us to be friends, Raphael," Brennan continued. "It would be nice to be able to have a conversation without fighting."
"Sure."
"Great. So can I give the cars and stuffed toy to the kids, Leo?

Satisfied that peace was restored, Leo said, "Of course you can give the kids their toys. It was wonderful of you to think of them." Brennan handed the toys to the kids, but Kane shook his head. "No."

"Don't you want, it Kane?" Brennan asked.
"Daddy said no."

"It's okay," Raphael said. "Take it, Kane. I ain't gonna get cross with ya." Kane shyly took it. "Say thank ya, Kane."
"Thank you," Kane said, clutching the car to his little chest. "Look, Daddy. It's wed. Just like you."
"So it is."

Leo watched his sons play with their toys and said, "You want a drink, Brennan?"
"Coffee, please."
"Raphael?"

"No, thanks," Raphael said. Fuckin' asshole is never gonna be my friend, he thought. If he thinks he is, he's the insane one.

Brennan sat down on a sofa and said, "What are your hobbies, Raphael?"
"Get one thing straight," Raphael said quietly, but firmly. "Ta Leo's face, I'll be nice ta ya, but me and ya ain't gonna be friends, so ya can stop the small talk. Ain't interested in talkin' with ya. Got it? Now shut up."
Brennan sighed. "I get it. You like fighting. Always so aggressive and angry? Why is that, Raphael? Is that why Leo and you split? Or is it because you always act so crazy? Do you have a split personality? Maybe that's it. Or you're psychotic. I'm leaning towards that."
"That ain't no business of yers! So shut yer trap."

"RAPHAEL!" Leo said, entering the lounge and hearing the last comment. "I thought you said you were going to be nice. If you can't, you can go to your bedroom."

Raphael said nothing and turned to the cartoon he was watching with his kids, but he was seething inside. That asshole's gonna get it. Look at him, so perfect. Fuckin' slime ball. I'd like ta shove my sai up his damn ass.

At six, the entire family gathered for dinner in the kitchen. Mikey had cooked lasagne. Raphael helped his kids eat their dinner and tried to drown out Brennan's voice. The rest of the family seemed to like him and peppered him with questions, but Raphael had no interest, until Brennan said, "I come from a broken family. My parents divorced when I was little and it was really tough. I wouldn't wish that on anybody."
"Then ya should move on, shouldn't ya?" Raphael said, chewing a mouthful of lasagne.

"Raphael," Splinter said. "We should be nice to our guests. Please apologize."
"Sorry," Raphael mumbled.
"Please continue, Brennan."

"My dad left Mom and me with no money and my younger brother, Rhys and I could barely afford t go to school, but Mom got several jobs and managed to send us. She died of cancer when I was ten and Rhys and I were sent to Ghana to live with our uncle who owned a mine. He used to be in the US army."

"I thought your brother was called Ryan, Brennan?" Leo said. "And he was older."
"You're wrong, Leo. I said he was younger."
"Oh. That's so sad. I'm so sorry, Brennan."

Smacks of bullshit, Raphael thought. "What's yer surname, Brennan? Ya never said."
"Casey. Anyway, my uncle got kidnapped by some Nigerian war lords and Rhys and I had to fend for ourselves in Ghana. It was so scary. And then we got kidnapped and sold to some French human traffickers and they made us do the most appalling things." Brennan covered his hands and let out a sob.
"Oh, Brennan. I'm so sorry," Leo said, grabbing his hand.

"Dude, I feel for you," Mikey said. "That's so sad. "Hey, Don?"
"Yes," Don said. "Very. You're very brave, Brennan, to have survived that. Isn't he, Dad?"

"Indeed," Splinter said. "I'm most troubled that you went through that, Brennan, but you are safe here and you are part of our family."

What bullshit, Raphael thought, catching Brennan staring at him. He knows I know it, too. The others are eatin' his story up. How gullible. Why can't they see he's lyin'?"

"And then," Brennan said, "We landed up in the Congo, but me and Rhys ran away and we took a boat to South Africa, stowing away. When we got there, we worked on the docks, saved our money and headed to the States."
"And yer uncle?" Raphael asked.
"He'd managed to escape and was now working as an engineer on a boat in New York. He had the qualifications. That's what I do."

"Aren't you a banker, Brennan?" Don asked.
"No, no. Engineer. I used to be a banker."

Ya change yer stories all the time, ya wanker, Raphael thought. Don't believe ya.

"And we were all happy being reunited," Brennan said. "But then my uncle and I had to go to Somalia for work and he was kidnapped by pirates. By the grace of God, I survived. They killed him with a machete before my eyes. It was so brutal."
"Uh huh," Raphael said, rolling his eyes. "I bet it was. If it were true. Did they make yer brother walk the plank?"

"Of course it's true, bro," Mikey said. "Bren wouldn't lie. Would he, Leo?"
"No. Raphael, show some compassion. Bren's been through a lot."

"My brother died of cholera," Brennan said sadly. "He wanted to work for the Doctors Without Borders and went to Guinea-Bisau to do his good deeds. He died last month at the tender age of seventeen."

"Bit young ta be a doc," Raphael said, raising an eye ridge.
"He was the genius in our family," Brennan said.
"This is a load of crap and ya ain't gonna fool me!"

"Yes, my son," Splinter said. "Raphael, you need to show more compassion and empathy towards others. Young Brennan has been through a tough time. And your language is shocking."

Brennan shot Raphael a nasty look and said, "I wasn't trying to trick anyone. Talking about it was hard, but I wanted to be honest with everyone about my past."
"You owe Bren an apology, Raphael," Leo snapped.

"Yeah. Whatever. Sorry," Raphael said, getting up. "I'm gonna bath the kids." He took his three kids to the bathroom, getting in the bath with them. When they were all clean, he wrapped them up in towels and took them to their bedroom, dressing them in their pajamas, trusting Leo jr to hold Raphie for a minute, while he lugged the cot from Leo's room into that room. Then he settled Raphie into the cot and kissed him. "Love ya, baby boy," he said. "Always and forever." Raphael then sat on the double bed his boys shared and read them a story. They shrieked with delight and made him read it a few times. When they'd fallen asleep, he kissed them and said, "I love ya too. Ya boys are my world and I'll always be here for ya."

Raphael got up, sat at the desk and switched on the laptop, looking up "Brennan Casey". Not shocked that he didn't find a hit, he mumbled, "Scammer." And then an article caught his eye. "Romance scammer Brennan Masters strikes again." Opening the article, Raphael's eyes widened as he read how many victims Masters had fleeced of money. Male, female, young, old. He wasn't choosy who his victims were. The various victims recounted the stories that Brennan himself had said. Raphael clenched his fists and swore under his breath. Leo has ta see this. I knew that ass was lyin'. He's probably broke and spins those lies ta make people feel sorry for him and then he steals their cash and bolts. That's what he did ta those other people!

Raphael stood up, went to the lounge, hoping to see Brennan, so he could clobber him, but there was only Leo. "That guy 'bout, Leo?" Raphael asked.
"Brennan went home."
"Come and see this, Leo."
"What?"
"Just come."

Raphael returned to the bedroom and Leo followed him. "Read this article," Raphael said. "See. He's lyin' ta us. He's a fraud, Leo."
Leo skimmed the article and said, "It looks like Brennan, but it's not him."
"It is, Leo. Yer bein' thick. He's playin' ya and our family!"
"You're just sore about me and Brennan dating, that you'll do anything to cause trouble. That's NOT him, Raphael."
"Sure looks like him!"
"Get a life, Raphael. It's not him. Now stay out of my business," Leo said, standing up.
"It is my business if he's gonna be around the kids. That guy's hidin' somethin', Leo. Maybe this ain't him, but that stuff he told ya is horse shit. Smacks of a romance scam."
"And you're the expert on that?"
"I ain't, but I can call a spade when it's a spade. This is shit, Leo. Ya can't see that, because yer too blinded by yer interest in him. Ya don't wanna admit that he could be a fraud." Leo stalked out without another word. That is him, Raphael, thought. I know it's him, and I know he's hidin' somethin' else too. I ain't gonna rest until I find out what. Raphael sat at the desk and went back online, surfing. Finally, he stopped, his eyes wide in shock as he read, "JUVENILE SEALED REPORT of Brennan Worthington." I'll call Casey in the mornin' and ask him ta help me, Raphael thought, saving the URL and turning off the laptop. But I bet it's real dirt. Has ta be. Yeah, Brennan, yer gonna be busted big time by me!