Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT. I do own Rosalind.

A/N - This next chapter is pretty much just a couple little 'Days in the life' of the turtles and the baby. There is also a passage of about 3 months in between the two parts of this chapter, just in case I didn't make it clear in the story. I'm having trouble making the passing of time less confusing in this story. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Again, thanks to all for the nice reviews. I still can't email everyone yet, so please don't be angry if I don't respond. But keep reviewing, I can get all the mail still . And I love it so. Thanks again. I appreciate them.

And, it was pointed out to me that I had it set to not accept any anonymous reviews. Thanks, Ramica! I did not realize this, and have fixed that. So, if anyone tried to review and couldn't, I apologize. And if you're still reading, you can all review! Sorry about before, I didn't know. Forgive me.

By the way, after I'd already decided on the name, I found out that the name Rosalind is an intellectual power name. How fitting, then, for Don to name her that. Just something extra I just figured out, that someone might find interesting. Now, on with the story!

Chapter 6 - Just Another Day…

"DONNIE!" Donatello could hear Raphael bellowing from the other room. "She did it AGAIN!"

Don let his head sink down onto the table, hitting the keyboard of the computer he was trying to fix. Raising a baby was no cheap matter, and they needed food and clothes and other things that they couldn't find or make. And Rosalind grew like a weed. Don had taken to fixing things for money. April would bring him things from her apartment building; from her neighbors, things that people wanted fixed, and he'd do it, sometimes improving on them. It didn't pay much, and sometimes it was a pain, but it bought the food, for now. And April was always happy to spoil the baby, all too much sometimes, Don thought.

He broke out of it when he heard the starting whimpers of the baby. He got up and stretched, rubbing his sore neck muscles, and walked into the other room, where Michaelangelo was glaring at Raphael.

"Look, you scared her." He cradled the baby protectively. Don looked to Raph. He tried not to smile when he saw the reason for all the ruckus. Raph had a generous splattering of some post- lunch spit- up on his leg. Rosalind, or Lindy, as they had taken to calling her, had decided that Raph was the perfect target for getting rid of some unwanted food.

'Poor Lindy." Mike cooed, cradling her to him protectively. "Did mean old Uncle Raph scare you?" She placed her head in the crook of his neck, and stuck a finger into her mouth. Raphael growled.

"I swear, that kid has it in for me." He said. "She's tryin' to drown me." But his growl was softened now. "I don't get it, I really don't. Mikey can hold her for hours, and two seconds after I get her, BOOM. It's like 'The Exorcist' in here."

"Ah, Raph, that's just because you don't have my natural charm and ability with kids." Mike tossed Lindy gently into the air, and caught her swiftly. She shrieked in laughter.

"Yeah, not to mention matching IQ levels." Raph muttered, wiping his leg with the paper towel Don handed him.

"I think there's somethin' wrong with her, Don. Seriously." Raph turned to Don, and it was all he could do not to smile at the concern that Raphael was trying to hide in his eyes.

"Raph, she's a four month old." Don explained again, gently, trying not to set his brother off. "That'll happen. They do that." He grinned wryly. "Must we make Mikey read you that chapter in the book

again?"

Raph's eyes widened. "No. No, that's OK."

"Apologize to Lindy." Mike said from his place behind the couch, keeping, Don noted, a large piece of furniture between himself and Raph.

"What?" Raph turned to look at him in shock. "I'm not…"

"Apologize to Lindy." Mike said firmly.

Raph opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, instead walking over to Mike and Lindy. Don could see Mike tense for a second as Raph reached out, but Raph just gently patted Lindy's head, softly stroking her silky, soft brown hair.

"Sorry kiddo." he said softly, then walked off to clean himself off better.

Mike looked to Don, an astonished look on his face. He then looked back down at the baby. "You, are going to be a great tool for Uncle Mikey to use against Uncle Raph when you get older." He held her out in front of him, smiling. She gurgled back, smiling just as widely.

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Time's a funny thing. It passes quickly, all too much so, sometimes. Never is this more apparent than when a baby is involved. Days turn into weeks, and weeks into months…

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Leonardo watched his opponent carefully, waiting for him to make a move, give him a chance to move in for the strike… There. He moved in swiftly, delivering a blow to his opponent's chest, knocking him backwards and effectively ending the fight.

Don sat up, wheezing and gasping for air. The blow had knocked the wind out of him.

"Nice one, Leo." He wheezed, hands on his knees as he stood, attempting to catch his breath.

"Don…" Leo shook his head. "You were distracted."

"I know." Don said, apologetically, walking over from the mat to the corner of the room, where Lindy had

wandered and was about to pick up a nunchuck. He grabbed it from her chubby hand quickly, then picked

her up, kissing her on the head. She giggled and reached for something else.

"Sorry." Don continued. "I just noticed her moving; she's getting so fast now…" She grabbed his mask and stuck part of it into her mouth. "I didn't want her to grab anything dangerous." He gently, almost unconsciously, removed his mask from her mouth as he spoke. "Just wait until she learns to walk." He smiled down at her.

"Yeah." Leo smiled, then continued seriously. "But in a battle…"

"Oh, Leo. The only battle we're up against now is how much Raph's going to fight over baby- proofing the lair." Don stopped, then smiled again. "I wonder how that's going, by the way."

Leo sighed, knowing this fight was lost. "Well, with Mikey and Raph doing it, you never know."

"Yeah." Don said, smiling. "We'd better get out there soon, or Raph's going to baby- proof Mike."

They both walked out into the living room, where Raph and Mikey were trying to figure out what needed baby proofing. Mike had obviously given up on reading the book, and was down on all fours, crawling around.

Raph, meanwhile, was muttering to himself about the whole ordeal. "Can't believe it. Only seven months old… and already getting into every-…"

"But Raph," Mike broke in, popping his head up from underneath the table. "The book says that seven months of age is when…"

"Mike, if I hear one more word today about what that book says, I'm going to lock you in the cabinet, and baby proof the handle." Raph spoke lowly, the tone dangerous. Mike gulped and ducked back under the table.

Don chuckled. "Mike," He said, looking under the table at him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm baby proofing, like you told me to. I did all the stuff in the book, and now I'm double checking everything, from her point of view. See?" He demonstrated, crawling around a bit more. He stood then, and bowed at Leo and Don. "To accomplish our goals, we must first become one with… uh, that which we must defend?" He said wisely, as if he were teaching them an ancient secret. Leo rolled his eyes. Don snickered.

"Do you see?" Raphael said from across the room. "Do you see what I've had to put up with for the past hour and a half? I'd have rather watched the baby. At least she can't escape from her crib." He muttered.

"Yet." Mike put in helpfully. Don had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"And, you know, these instructions are stupid." Raph continued. "Look, look at these. Even Donnie couldn't read these. I locked the instructions in the cabinet twice and it took me forever to open them."

Now even Leo was holding in a laugh. Raph turned to glare at Mikey. "It's not funny, Mike."

Michaelangelo laughed, then moved back a few paces. "Oh sure it was." He looked to Leo and Don. "I had to take his sais away from him."

Raph moved up a few steps menacingly. "Mikey, I said it's not funny."

"Yes it is." Mike looked back from Raph to the others and smiled widely. "Because I could get it open." He said in a sing- song voice, and then took off out the door, Raphael hot on his heels. They could hear him laugh all the way down the tunnel, until suddenly, everything went quiet.

After a few seconds, Leo looked at Don. His eyes held concern.

"You don't think he killed him, do you?" Don whispered to Leo, only partly joking. Leo looked back at Don, and then shrugged. He moved up to the door of the lair, listening for anything. He glanced at Don once more, and then opened his mouth to yell for them, when Raph's voice came from down the tunnel.

"Hey, you guys better get down here. There're tracks. Somebody's been down here."

Leo and Don both took off down the tunnel until they saw Michaelangelo standing there.

"Where's Raph?" Leo asked him. Mike pointed his finger down another of the tunnels, and Leo followed. Don handed Lindy to Mike. "Watch her for a second." Mike nodded. Don then went in where Leo had gone, walking until he could see Leo and Raph. Raphael was staring at the wall, his fists clenched, and Leo stood, shaking his head sadly.

"What is it?" Don asked, running up to them.

"Look." Leo said, simply. Don looked at the wall, then saw what Raph was staring at. He gasped, tracing a finger over the marking. "Is that…?" He began, unable to form the question. Leo nodded, and so did Raph. Don let out a breath, and looked back at the symbol.

"They're all over here." Raphael said finally. "They must've marked off every tunnel they've checked. They're looking for something. Three guesses what."

Don sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall. "I thought we were done with them." He shook his head. "I thought…" He gulped, looking away from them.

"I know." Leo said quietly. "Me too."

They walked back up to Mike, who was still standing where they'd left him, holding Lindy, who'd fallen asleep on his shoulder. "Is it what we thought it was?" He asked, any traces of the sarcasm or joking from just a few minutes ago gone, as he looked at them.

"Yeah." Raph sighed, looking back into the dark tunnel, a disgusted look on his face. "The Foot were down here. They're looking for us."