So, this was supposed to be angsty and full of Leo-guilt. However, the turtles let me know that they weren't doing angst this chapter. That will come, but this is just a light fluffy chapter.

Even after rescuing his brothers, Leo still faced a long night ahead of him, and he was well and truly exhausted by the end of it. While April was waiting back at the Lair to assist in cleaning and patching up his younger brothers, but Leo and Casey were the ones who had to lug the now unconscious turtles down from the Battleshell. It then took several hours to clean, disinfect, and bandage all the wounds the younger turtles had acquired during their time with Mindshadow. There were even several gashes that required suturing, most notably being the one on Raphael's face. To everyone's relief, despite the severity of the injury, his eye itself was untouched, though he would carry a noticeable scar for the rest of his life.

Once everyone was cleaned up and resting as comfortably as possible, and April and Casey had headed home to relieve the babysitter who was watching Lexi, Leo settled in to keep an eye on them. Since there wasn't enough room for all six turtle in the infirmary, they had been scattered around the living room on various pallets and other bedding. Being the most grievously injured, Raphael had been placed on the couch. Leo had pulled the cushion from the other family room in to make himself a pallet on the floor next to him. It didn't take long for the whole family to be sound asleep.

TMNT

It was a testament to how depleted the younger turtles were that not one of them awoke to Gabby's cries, even with the mental nudging she was sending out. Even Splinter slept through it, though given the rat's advancing age and the stress of the past few years, that might not be completely surprising. Leo, however, was quickly awakened by the unfamiliar noise. It took him a moment to identify the sound, as well as the soft but demanding mental touch. With something approaching awe and delight, Leo approached the crib in Donatello's room where his little girl was pulled up and watching expectantly for one of her caregivers to arrive and take care of her current needs.

When Leo walked in, rather than one of her more familiar guardians, Gabby looked at him a bit hesitantly. Leo smiled softly at her. "Hey there baby girl," he whispered as he extended his hands to her. She looked at him suspiciously for a long moment, and then a light of comprehension seemed to suddenly light her eyes, and with a huge grin she reached up eagerly for her daddy to pick her up.

Leo was completely overwhelmed holding his baby girl for the very first time. He had missed out on this right after Gabby was "born," so he was trying to take it all in now. Everything from her miniature fingers, to her delicate shell and her violet colored eyes just absolutely fascinated Leo. He could see bits of himself in her features, but also, surprisingly, Raph and Raphael.

"She's beautiful, isn't she," a quiet voice whispered.

Leo turned around to give Raph a goofy, watery smile. "I can't believe she's mine."

"We've all felt very blessed to be able to look after her while you were protecting her brother, and we'll be just glad to have him here once you can bring him home," Raph told him. "Our family has been apart for way too long. You realize it's going to be your birthday in just a couple of weeks, don't you? And the babies are going to be a year old a few weeks past that."

"Then I think we need to turn the planning over to the Brats, and have the biggest, craziest party they can devise," Leo suggested with a grin. "And since I didn't exactly get the chance to visit with the Senior brigade when they were here last time, why don't we invite them as well?"

"They would enjoy that I think," Raphael agreed. "Now, why don't we get this little lady fed before other uncles wake up? Come on, daddy, you've got a lot to catch up on."

Before they headed for the kitchen, however, Raph threw his arms around Leo and gave him the biggest hug he could, being careful of his niece, obviously. "Welcome back, bro."

TMNT

After feed and changing Gabby, Leo handed her off to Raph to look after. He knew ghost-Leo was more than capable of looking after Remy, but he wanted to check on him personally. Besides, it was time to finally bring the youngest turtle home. Fifteen minutes later, Leo was back, his son bouncing and laughing in his arms. As soon as he saw Raph he squealed in delight and reached out for his red-accented uncle.

"Fff," he chirped as Raph scooped him up. Leo just laughed.

"Yep, that's your uncle Raph," Leo told him. At Raph's startled look, Leo explained, "Since we were so closely tied together with that psychic bond, and since I didn't want all of you to be strangers when he finally met you, I've been helping him get to know each of you using my thoughts and memories. I wasn't sure, until just now, whether he really understood."

Just then, Gabby looked up at her uncle from the safety of her daddy's lap where she had been watching Remy carefully and started repeating, "Fff. Fff." The two older turtles looked at each other, not sure what to think.

"Did you just feel what I felt," Raph asked his brother.

"If you mean, did I sense Gabby, Lexi, and Remy connecting through the bond and 'sharing' what Remy's learned, then my answer will have to be, I think so," Leo replied. "Something tells me raising three semi-psychic/empathic children is going to be an adventure all by itself."

Just then, the sound of shuffling feet alerted them that at least one of their brothers was finally back in the land of the wakeful. A quick mental check had Leo putting Gabby on the safety of the floor as Mikey suddenly came hurtling through the room and directly into Leo's open arms.

As the orange-accented turtle hung on like he was never going to let go, he whispered exultantly, "I knew it wasn't a dream! You're really back!"

"Yep, and as good as new," Leo assured him as he tightened the embrace just the slightest.

Before either could say anymore, they interrupted by a shrill "Eee-Eee" from the excited Remy, who was reaching for his new uncle. Mikey grinned like a fool at the sight of his nephew, and after disengaging from the hug, moved to take him from Raph.

"It's funny," he said after playing with the baby for a few minutes. "I knew he was going to look a lot like Leo, being his clone and all, but I wasn't expecting the resemblance to the Menaces to be quite so pronounced. I mean, I didn't see it so much when it was baby Leo we were dealing with."

"I think that's because you were expecting to see me," Leo said. "You knew who I was, even with the body of an infant, so that that's what you saw when you looked at me. Remy, however, is his own person with his own personality, so he doesn't look quite the same. It's kind of like a mother of identical twins; the rest of the world might not be able to tell them apart, but to her they look nothing alike. My question is, why such the resemblance to Raph and Raphael?"

"Oh, yeah, forgot you were still a baby when the Geeks dropped that little nugget on us," Mikey said. "Turns out you lot are all genetic twins, triplets, or whatever; you only look different because of how the mutagen affected you."

Leo didn't have a chance to react to the news before the remainder of his family came pouring into the kitchen. Michelangelo was helping Raphael, whose eye was bandaged over, making him a little wobbly on his feet. Directly behind them were the Geniuses who, now that they were actually aware of what was going on around them, pounced Mikey-like on Leo. The oldest turtle just laughed and hugged them both. Once he got Raphael settled Michelangelo joined the group hug as well, causing his grumpy brother to grouse that they needed to leave some of Leo behind for him, too.

When the turtles turned to meet their nephew properly, Leo made his way to the doorway where his father stood observing his very happy family. Splinter smiled gently at his oldest, who knelt respectfully at his feet, and drew him in for a hug of his own. "Welcome home, my son. I am glad to have you back."

"Me too, Father. Me too."

So, I hope Leo's first visit with his daughter satisfies everyone. I was hoping to get across the sense of awe of new father feels (hopefully) on holding his child for the first time. By now, the babies are about 10 1/2 mos old. I was basing Remy a little off my nephew who, by this age, had been identifying my sister on sight as "Jsss" for several months (we all call her Jess). And if you asked him where "Jsss" was, he'd look right at her. Remy is just a smart little turtle.