Disclaimer: I still don't own the TMNT. *sigh* I'm beginning to think I never will. Oh well, I still own the baby, who will have an actual name from here on out. Yay.
A/N - I've changed the category this fic was in, putting it into drama, too. I realized my summary was a bit misleading, seeing as how it was under General/ Humor. And I wrote a lot of stuff that should be in the Drama category.
If you'd like to archive my story elsewhere, please just ask.
And, I know in my last update, I said I'd try to email everyone who reviewed me. Well, I'm having trouble with my mail, it won't send some stuff. Unless I just did something wrong, which could very well be. So don't feel put out if I don't reply to you. I can still get mail, though. Thanks again!! OK, now, on with the story!!
Chapter 4 - The Name Game
Donatello went to put the baby to bed, and April excused herself, stating she had to get up early for work.
The rest of them gathered in the living room,.
"OK, guys." Michaelangelo sat down on the floor. "We need to give this baby a name."
"No, Mikey, I thought we'd just call it 'the baby' forever." Raphael said sarcastically.
Leonardo sat down on the couch. "OK, let's think…"
"OK, guys." Donatello came back into the room and sat in the chair. "Let's brainstorm."
Michaelangelo rolled his eyes. "You make this sound like homework…" He made a face.
Raphael sat on the floor near Mike, but leaned back against the couch, trying to look nonchalant.
"She needs a good name." Don started. "A name that…"
"Shows she's a girl?"
"Right." Don looked at Raphael in annoyance. "But more than that." He gestured helplessly. "You know."
Leonardo nodded. "Maybe, we could give her a Renaissance name, like us."
Michaelangelo smirked. "Like Raphaela…" He laughed until Raph growled and threw a pillow, which connected to his face. "Ow." He grumbled, but smiled.
"Guys." Don reprimanded. "This is serious. This is going to shape her whole life…"
"How about Barbara?" Mike shot out.
"Mikey, we are not naming her after a silicon manic doll." Raphael said.
"Well, what about Kelly?" Leo said, but it was drowned out by Mike's next suggestion.
"Brittany!" Mike shouted out.
"No, Mike…"
"Christina!"
"Mikey…"
"Beyonce!"
Raphael clamped a hand over Mike's mouth. Donatello put a hand onto his head. "She is never watching TV with you. Ever."
Leo looked at them. "Well, Don, do you have any ideas?"
"Ummm, yeah." Don said, looking down. "I was thinking of, umm… I liked Rosalind." He said shyly.
"Hmmm…I like it." Michaelangelo flipped through the baby book he'd found in the pile of things that April had left before.
Leo smiled. "Yeah… Rosalind."
"Rosalind Imogen." Don said softly. He didn't exactly enjoy being the center of attention.
"I like it." Even Raph smiled.
"Yeah, good name, Donnie." Mike flipped through a few more pages, then gasped. "Hey! What if she turns out to be like her favorite uncle?"
Raph grabbed the book from Michaelangelo. "We'll spend the rest of our lives making sure that doesn't happen." He said, then flipped through the book, also.
"OK," Leo said. "Rosalind Imogen it is." He smiled. "Where did you get that, Donnie?"
"Shakespeare." Don smiled. "Rosalind's from 'As You Like It', and Imogen's from 'Cymbelene'."
Suddenly, a wail came from the other room.
"Well, looks like little Rosalind Imogen's looking for you, Don." Raph sat back and smirked. "Have at it."
"Thanks." Don said sarcastically, but got up and went to check on her.
Mike grabbed the book back and pouted. "I still say we should've named her after Raph." He ducked as Raph swung at him. "Listen to that pair of lungs." He gasped, running around the couch while trying not to laugh at Raphael, who tripped on the rug in his haste to go after him.
Leo shook his head and smiled. A few minutes later, Donatello came back into the room.
"Diaper change." He said simply, and Leo nodded.
"Leo?" Don said softly.
"Yeah?" He looked at Donatello. He looked nervous.
"I, uh, need to tell you something. I… lied to you."
Leo was confused. "What do you mean?" Mike and Raph stopped their fight and walked back over to the couch, where Don and Leo sat.
"I, uh, never really talked to Liv about this. I never said I'd watch her."
"What do you mean?" Mike asked.
Raphael gave a disgusted sigh. "What he means, Mikey, is that she just left her. The stupid b--"
Don broke in, covering whatever Raphael had been about to say. "She left her." He burst out. "I found her in the alley we were supposed to meet in, and there was a note… I didn't know what to do, so I just brought her here. I didn't know what else to do." He looked to his brothers. Michaelangelo's face was sad, and Raphael's was angry. But Leo just looked thoughtful.
"You knew." Don whispered. It was enough to break Leo out of his thoughts. He looked at Don, then nodded slowly. "I'd figured as much." Leo said.
"I'm sorry." Donatello whispered, looking down to the ground. "I never meant to betray your trust like that. All of you… I'm sorry."
There was silence for a moment before Mike broke in.
"Hey, dude, it's OK. But if you really want to make up for it, my stomach's singing the praises of pizza!"
Raphael finally got his revenge, grabbing the pillow from the couch and hitting Mike on the back of the head so hard, he tumbled over the couch face first.
Leo snorted in laughter, trying to hold it in, but failing when Michaelangelo stood up, a tiny pink bow stuck to the side of his head. They all burst into laughter, even Mike, and Don went to call the pizza place.
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Donatello stumbled to the kitchen from another late night feeding and changing. Leo was at the fridge, but shut the door and sat down at the table with Don after grabbing his drink.
"We've got to stop meeting like this." Don joked softly, smiling weakly.
"Ah, I don't think it's so bad." Leo said, opening a water. He took a swig, then made a face. "Jeez, how do you guys drink this?" Donatello made a gesture for Leo to give it to him. Leo handed it to him, then stood back up, walking back over to the fridge. "You guys may think I'm an uptight pain in the butt, but I say, give me the good, old fashioned pure caffeine." He grabbed a soda, then sat back down.
Don took a sip of the water. "I don't think you're uptight." He said, calmly, sipping his water, and trying to hide his grin.
Leo stopped drinking for a second and looked at Don. "Ha ha." He said. "Very funny."
"Well, I try." Don said, then fell silent.
"So, how are you?" Leo asked him, looking concerned.
"I'm… I'm good. Doing OK." Don said, not looking at his brother. "Why? Because of the late night hours?"
"No, it's more than the lost sleep." Leo said. "What I mean is, how are you?" He looked at Donatello.
Don played with the wrapper on the bottle of water for a few minutes before answering. He could feel Leo's gaze on him, waiting patiently for him to answer.
"I don't know, Leo." He looked up at him. "I honestly don't know how I feel. Sad, I mean, I guess. I guess, I just think that, maybe, there was something that I could've done. That I could've said. That could have made this whole thing turn out differently. I didn't know…"
"Don…" Leo was shocked at his brother's revelation. He thought he was to blame in this? "Don, don't you ever think you had any kind of hand in this. Liv… she had some problems. Problems that you couldn't fix."
"She just seemed so… I don't know." Don was back to playing with the label, tearing it into tiny pieces onto the table. "She was just so bright and funny and confident and… she was just so…"
"Nobody's perfect, Donnie." Leo said softly.
"I know." Don sighed. "But she seemed like she was so close." He smiled sadly. "Maybe there was some sign I'd missed…something."
It was Leo's turn to sigh. "She had problems, Donnie. Real big problems. Behind everything else she seemed like. You can't trust how people come off, especially if you can't see them."
"I know." Don said softly, sounding close to tears.
Leo caught this change, and sighed again, wishing he knew what to say, what to do, to make this all seem better. But there was nothing.
"Don…" He began, but stopped when Don started talking again.
"Y'know, maybe if I were more like Mikey, I could've done more." He said, his voice watery. "Mike's so good at picking up on stuff like that. Maybe I could've said something. Maybe…"
"Maybe, if you were Mikey, you would've been late meeting her and someone else would've found the baby. Someone that wouldn't have done what you did, taking care of her." Leo started. "Maybe she wouldn't have agreed to meet you at all, and done something to herself with the baby in the apartment with her, and no one would have found her until it was too late. Maybe she'd have hurt the baby instead."
"She would never have…" Don began, his voice growing stronger.
"But we don't know that, do we?" Leo said softly. Don looked away again. "Yeah, Don. Mikey's real good at picking up emotions and stuff. But you're better at knowing what's right to do with them. Maybe he would have picked something up. Maybe not. Would he have done the same things as you?" He sighed. "Don, you're the most competent person I know. You know what to do in situations. I… I admire that about you."
"Not in this one." Don spoke to his water. He furiously wiped his cheeks, where tears leaked down and fell to the table.
"Yes you did." Leo said, reaching across the table to squeeze his brother's wrist for a moment in comfort.
"You did the right thing. Bringing her here. She's safe here. And loved. I think this is the best way this situation could have turned out. It was out of your control." Leo sat back. "And you made the most of what you could control."
Don smiled weakly, and looked back up at him slightly. "Raph wasn't too thrilled."
"If Raph didn't want this, you would've heard his big mouth telling you so from dawn to dusk. Mikey was right about that." Leo looked around for a second before moving chairs so he was now sitting next to Donatello. "Look, don't tell him I told you so, but Raph cares a heck of a lot more than he lets on. The second night, when the baby slept really soundly?" Don nodded, and Leo continued. "He went and checked on her to make sure that she was still OK. He was afraid something had happened to her, and wanted to make sure she was still all right." Leo sat back, his arms crossed, smiling. "But don't let on I told. He'd kill me."
"Did he see you?" Donatello asked, his eyes wide, and a smile starting.
"Oh yeah." Leo nodded. "That's when he told me he'd kill me if I told."
Donatello's smile became full- blown at the visual of Raphael sneaking out of the baby's room, and discovering that he'd been caught. He snickered. "OK, for supplying that great visual, not to mention future blackmail, I'll keep it a secret. It's too good to share."
"Oh, yeah." Leo said, and they both sat there until Leo stood, clearing his throat. "Don, all kidding aside, I meant what I said. You did the right thing." He took a deep breath, then released it slowly. "Master Splinter would've been proud of you." He finished, softly, averting his eyes from Don's.
Don stood then, also. He walked up and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "Thank you." He said, speaking just as softly. "I… thank you." He smiled at Leo, then turned to go back to bed. "Goodnight, Leo."
He turned back after a few steps. "Same time tomorrow?" He half joked.
"Yeah." Leo said. "At least as long as she wakes up during the night."
"And you have insomnia."
"Yeah." Leo smiled. "Deal?"
"Deal." Don smiled, his first genuine smile of the night. He turned back to go to his room.
"Night." He called back again.
"Goodnight." Leo walked back to his room, and lay on his bed. Soon, the barrier he'd held for over a year now broke down, and he could feel the tears run down his cheeks, each one breaking open the dam a little more, until his face was soaked and his eyes red. He let out a choked sigh, and laid his head down onto his now drenched pillow. He closed his eyes, rivers still streaming down his face. Soon, they slowed, and his shoulders stopped their heaving, and his breaths became calmer as he fell asleep, and had the best night's rest he'd had in almost two years.
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A/N - OK, guys, this fic's not even near done, which is good news if you like it, bad if you don't. But it will get more interesting, I promise. More action coming up soon!