Chapter Two

A few hours later after the shower of red and white gradation caps had fallen, the Turtles had gathered their families together at Michelangelo's homestead in Queens. The kids enjoyed themselves in the Olympic sized swimming pool, while Linda, Angie and Mandy sat in the eastern corner of the patio, engaging in conversation while soaking up the bright rays of sun. The Turtles placed themselves far away from the pool under the shade of a large green and white table top umbrella, and were also in the mist of talking.

"So, where is Andrea going again?" Leonardo asked his brother Raphael as he replaced his iced tea to its coaster on the glass table.

" Some photography school in Vermont. I don't remember the name of it." Raphael sighed as he leaned back into the chair, feeling the white cushion of the chair mold around his shell. "She's leavin' after we get back from the mountains."

Leonardo could see the heartache in Raphael's eyes and he patted his brother's left hand.

"It'll be okay Raph."

"Yeah," Donatello offered Raphael a smile. " That's the thing about having kids. They can't stay younger forever."

Raphael snorted. " Yeah, I know." His eyes looked around Donatello to his daughter, who held Shawn on her shoulders as he battled Adam in a game of chicken. "Time went by too damn fast."

Donatello then began to laugh, and his brothers gave him odd looks. " Sorry, but it still seems a bit strange for us to be sitting around talking about kids, don't you think?"

Leonardo smiled and let out a small chuckle. " Yes, it does. Who would have thought when we were younger and battling the Shredder that we would end up with families?"

"Well, here we are, twenty-six years later," Donatello added as he raised his glass in a mock toast. "In our early forties and getting grumpier and older by the second!"

"Old? Speak for yerself, Donnie," Raphael said with a smirk on his face. "I feel better now than I did when I was younger."

"That's because you finally took my advice and started taking better care of yourself."

Raphael turned back to Leonardo and stuck out his tongue as he mocked his oldest brothers' words, which only made Leonardo laugh harder.

"Mikey?" Donatello waved his hand in front of Michelangelo's face and the youngest turtle snapped out of his daydream state.

" Huh? What?" Michelangelo moved his brown eyes up from the smooth, ice blue glass surface of the table and stared at Donatello.

"Are you going to talk to us now or are we still under the 'mind our own godamn business' policy?" He asked, trying to get a laugh out of Michelangelo as he placed his hand on his brothers' shoulder.

Michelangelo's response was a shoulder shrug as he slammed his finger into the puddle of condensation that had gathered under his untouched glass of tea.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Mikey." Raphael mumbled. "I didn't mean it."

"It's okay," Michelangelo shrugged again. " Maybe you were right."

Leonardo's eyes grew. " You're not really considering getting a divorce, are you?"

Michelangelo rose his eyes past Leonardo and Raphael to the back end of the patio and watched as Mandy spread tanning lotion on her thin legs, then adjusted the top of the purple bikini she was wearing. He knew she could feel his eyes on her, and Mandy was doing everything in the world to ignore him.

"Are you guys fightin' about money again?" Raphael butted in, causing Michelangelo to change his line of sight.

Michelangelo let out a small laugh before he spoke. "What else is new, right?" He shifted his position in the chair and sunk down into his cushion, obviously uncomfortable with the subject his brothers had brought up.

"Mikey, why don't ya just put your foot down and tell that bitch to stop spendin' so much?" Raphael growled.

"Dude, don't call her that," Michelangelo sighed at his brother's choice of words.

"Raph's got a point, Mike," Donatello jumped to Raphael's defense.

"Look, it's not only about how much money she blows, okay?" Michelangelo snapped back at his brothers, then stood up and grabbed his glass. "There's just . . . oh, forget it! I just don't wanna talk about it!"

Michelangelo walked in a fast pace across the green lawn and up the back steps of the patio. He flung open the sliding glass door, then slammed it shut behind him, rattling the other three doors connected to it.

"I can't believe how much Mikey has changed," Donatello commented. "He used to be so . . . happy."

"Yeah," Raphael shook his head. " See what women do ta ya?"

Leonardo wrinkled his forehead and threw Raphael a dirty look as he rose from the table.

"I'm going to go talk to him."

"Good luck with that!" Raphael called out sarcastically as Leonardo strode across the grass and into the three story off-white house. His bare feet made no sound as he moved through the living room and into the kitchen, finally finding his brother sitting at the end of the black dining room table.

"I said I didn't want to talk, Leo," Michelangelo said without raising his head from its resting place on his folded arms.

Leonardo smiled as he moved into the chair next to Michelangelo. "How did you know it was me?"

This time, Michelangelo lifted his head. "Who else beside you ever bothered trying?"

Leonardo's smile turned into laughter, but it then faded as he leaned over the table. " All right, Mikey. It's just me and you now. Tell me what's going on."

Michelangelo moved his arms, placing his elbows on the table and his face into his palms, and Leonardo couldn't help but laugh again, noticing the lines of age starting to appear, but how he still looked like the young teenage mutant turtle he once was.

"Leo," Michelangelo moaned. " I really don't. . ." His eyes met Leonardo's no-nonsense stare and he let down the wall he was hiding behind.

"Okay, okay," Michelangelo sighed. " It's not only the money thing we've been fighting about. Mandy's pissed at me for working too much."

"That's all?" Leonardo made a face.

Michelangelo rolled his eyes. " No, that's not all. She said that I spend too much time at work making other people happy and not her."

"That sounds kind of selfish," Leonardo said cautiously. " And by other people she meant . . . "

"Our fans!" Michelangelo exclaimed. " She's jealous of our fans! She thinks I care more about them then I do about her and Jenny."

"That's ridiculous, Mikey," Leonardo crossed his arms over his gray shirt. " Doesn't she know that you have to work for the fans to make a profit so she can live in this over-the-top fancy house?"

Michelangelo ignored Leonardo's comment and continued. "There's more to it, Leo."

Leonardo then saw a hint of tears beginning to build in Michelangelo's eyes.

"I think she... has. . .someone else."

Leonardo's eyes grew as he let his arms drop. "What?"

"I don't know for sure if it's true, and I don't have proof, but-"

Leonardo then grabbed Michelangelo's hand and jerked it down, and the turtle stopped talking.

"You think Mandy is cheating on you?" Leonardo shook his head in disbelief. " Come on Mikey, do you really think she would have the heart to do that?"

Michelangelo lowered his face back down to the table, squeezing his eyes together to stop his tears from falling any farther.

"I don't know, Leo. I feel like I don't know her anymore." Michelangelo kept his head down as he continued to talk, his tears breaking through his barrier. "I remember when we first got together, I couldn't believe how happy I was just being with her. You know, she used to tell me that we were meant to be together."

Leonardo offered Michelangelo a smile as his brother looked up. " Maybe you were."

"But then after we got the company going, and she quit the music biz, it just seemed like things went downhill from there. And it only got worse after we got married and had Jenny."

"I remember Mandy calling Linda at three in the morning crying her eyes out because you weren't home and Jennifer was screaming her head off." Leonardo lowered his eyes to the table and concentrated on a small scratch that ran across the shiny black surface. "Have you talked to Mandy about this?"

Michelangelo sighed as his heart sunk closer to the white tiled floor under his feet. "I've tried. We can't even carry on a conversation anymore, Leo. We always end up yelling, and it kills me cause I know Jenny can hear us."

Leonardo looked deeper into his brothers' eyes, taking in all of the pain and unhappiness that sat behind the brown irises. "Well maybe this trip upstate will give you two some time to rekindled things."

"I don't know if I should go, Leo," Michelangelo leaned back into his chair, suddenly on the brink of an anxiety attack. "There's a lot to do! I've got a meeting with Korea next week, then the promotional tour, and the Toy Fair is coming up soon -,"

"Mikey," Leonardo held up his open palms, quickly silencing the younger turtle. " You're leaving the office behind for three months. Everything has been taken care of. You have more important things to deal with."

"Leonardo!"

The turtle turned his body around and faced the in the direction of the backyard. "I'm in the dining room, Linda!"

Seconds later, Linda flew in, her shoulder length black hair whipping around her face as she moved. " You need to get outside right now. Your sons are tearing each other apart!"

The calm demeanor Leonardo had used on Michelangelo changed in an instant and he bolted out of his seat. "I... am getting so . . . SICK of those two!"

Linda followed behind her husband as he stomped back through the house, and she could feel the anger radiating from his green skin.

"Leonardo, wait!" Linda then jumped in front of him as he reached for the sliding door handle and pushed on his chest. " You need to calm down. You can't go out there and scream at them. It will only make it worse."

Leonardo narrowed his eyes and exhaled loudly. "What else am I supposed to do, Linda? They obviously don't listen to a word I say!" He then peered around Linda and through the glass door, watching impatiently as Raphael held Shawn back, already beating Leonardo to the joy of yelling at his son. Leonardo then turned his attention to Gavin, who was nursing a bloody nose with the help of his aunt Angie, and he knew at once who was at fault.

"Why does Shawn always have to start things?" Leonardo's anger induced tone and wrong choice of words went right through Linda, and she immediately felt her own bad temper flare up.

"For your information, honey, Shawn does not always 'start things', as you put it." Her brown eyes burned into Leonardo as they narrowed. " And Gavin doesn't exactly help things, either. You know for a fact that he antagonizes his brother and makes it worse!"

Leonardo gave Linda a cold glare. "Well, maybe if you stopped babying that kid, he would learn how to ignore Gavin's taunting instead of beating the shit out of him!"

"'Babying' him?" Linda took a few steps away from the glass door and crossed her arms over her white tank top. "I cannot believe we are having this conversation again! Just because I show my children some affection, it automatically means that they are weak." She then lowered her hands to her hips. "Why can't you just be a father and not drill sergeant for once?"

Leonardo's eyes grew, the fury raging on inside. " How can you say such a thing? I've done the best that I could trying to teach those kids, and it's not my fault that Shawn goes against my authority! He's a hothead just like Raph was, and I'm fighting a losing battle with him!"

Linda shook her head and calmed herself down. " That's the problem, Leonardo. You need to stop fighting with him and listen to what your son is trying to say to you. He needs you. He wants you to be involved in his life. He wants you to understand him." Linda moved back to her husband and placed her palms on his shoulder, taking in the tension that laid beneath his clothing. " Shawn is such a great kid once you get to know him. You knew that from the time he was born that he wasn't like Gavin. He's a very emotional person, and just like Raphael, he just someone to understand him."

Leonardo relaxed under Linda's touch and he instantly grabbed her into his muscular arms. " I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just... that kid! I don't know what to do with him sometimes!"

"Just promise me you will at least try to be patient with him, okay?" Linda patted Leonardo's cheek, then kissed him softly on the lips. "You two are more alike than you think you are."

Shawn pushed his loose brown hair behind his ears as he bounced down the wide staircase, singing the words of his favorite rock song as he glided across the wooden floor of the house's foyer. He paid no attention to the fact that his father was seated at the long, oak dining room table as he moved into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, his voice echoing along the wooden cabinets above his head. Leonardo looked up from his pile of paperwork and arched an eyebrow.

"Shawn, what are you doing? We just had dinner an hour ago."

His son stopped singing as he pulled out a pitcher of Kool-Aid and threw Leonardo a dirty look as he purposely slammed it onto the counter and reached up for a glass. Leonardo sighed heavily, remembering the words Linda had said earlier about having patience with his middle child, and returned to his work without saying a word. A few seconds later he heard the chair across the table slide out and the sound of Shawn's thin frame slump down. Leonardo then felt suddenly aware of a pair of eyes on him, and he looked up, meeting Shawn's green stare as his son gulped down the orange liquid in his glass.

"Yes?" Leonardo said in a slow, drawn-out tone.

Shawn still said nothing as he tipped his glass up, finishing his drink. He then set it back down gently, which was then followed by an enormous belch.

Leonardo wrinkled his forehead and gave his son a disapproving frown. " Nice, real nice."

"Can I ride with Adam tomorrow?" Shawn suddenly spoke, almost catching Leonardo off guard. " Aunt Angie already said I could and -,"

"Absolutely not." Leonardo answered quickly as his eyes skimmed over an expense report page. "You know that we all ride together as a family, just like always."

Shawn rolled his eyes and let an exasperated sigh. " Come on, Dad! Can't you just let it go this one time?"

"Shawn, I'm not in the mood to argue with you over this." Leonardo turned the page of the report and kept talking without lifting his gaze. " I said no and I mean it."

"Why do you have to be so uptight about everything?" Shawn pushed on, bothered by the fact that his father wasn't even bothering to make eye contact.

Just then Constance entered the dining room and squeezed in between the back wall and the table, and inched her way over to where Leonardo sat.

"Dad, is it okay if Jenny rides with us? She's kinda upset and I think it would be good for her to be with me."

Leonardo lifted his eyes and smiled at the silent plea that shone in his daughter's pale green eyes. "Sure Connie, that's fine."

"What the hell!" Shawn shot up out of his seat and violently threw the chair back under the table. "That's a bunch of fuckin' bullshit!"

"Shawn!" Leonardo stood up and pointed his index finger at his son. " I warned you about speaking like that!"

Shawn then started laughing at his father. " Yeah, well ya know what? Fuck you Dad!" Shawn then moved away from the table, his laughter increasing as he walked back to the stairs.

"Fuck everyone in this fuckin' house! I hate this fuckin' place!"

"Shawn Michael! Go upstairs this instant!" Linda stepped out of the living room, still holding onto the laundry she was folding.

"Whatever." Shawn mumbled, then ran up the steps, deliberately shoving his older brother, who was coming down as he went up. Gavin held himself against the wall, not moving until he heard the sound of Shawn's bedroom door slam shut above him.

"Asshole." Gavin whispered to himself as he walked into the dining room and joined his father and sister at the table. "Another fun filled night in the Okasana household, I see."

"The amusement never ends." Leonardo replied sarcastically as he sat back down, leaning on his elbows and rubbing at his pounding temples. He again felt a stare, and he glanced up to find his wife giving him a look of disapproval.

"Why did you do that, Leonardo?" Linda held her arms across her chest, the bath towel dangling from her right hand.

"I didn't do anything!" Leonardo protested, trying to get back to the pile of company paperwork. "Shawn knows that we always ride together."

Linda growled deep in her throat at him, then turned to her daughter. "Constance, honey, I know Jennifer's parents are going through a lot right now, but do you think it's fair that she can ride with us when Shawn can't go with your uncle Donatello?"

Constance wrinkled her nose slightly. " No, that's not fair at all! Is that what you did, Dad?"

Linda then leaned her head to one side and arched both of her eyebrows. " See? Even your fourteen-year-old daughter knows that was not right."

Leonardo slowly lifted his eyes up and pushed his chair back, picking up the stack of papers before moving away from the table.

"I have a lot to do and I can't concentrate with all of you around me! I'll be in the computer room."

Linda growled again as Leonardo disappeared in the study, slamming the door behind him. She grabbed the yellow bath towel with both hands, holding back the urge of ripping it to shreds, and this thought was apparently noticeable to her children.

"Uh, Mom?" Gavin took a step back from the table as Constance did the same.

Linda closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing her hold on the helpless towel. " I'm sorry." She then handed the mangled towel to Gavin. " Go finish folding the laundry for me, please. I need to go upstairs and talk to your brother."

When Linda reached the top of the winding staircase, the sound of a heavy bass beat echoed through the green and white hallway, growing louder as she approached Shawn's room. She moved down to the second door on the right side of the hallway, and poised her closed fist against the white door, her distant memories reminding her that the same sound had come out of that very room when Raphael occupied it years ago.

"Shawn? Can I come in?" Linda shouted as she pounded on the door.

The door remind shut, even after Linda knocked a second and a third time. It was only until she had given up that the aggressive rock music lowered in volume and Shawn slowly cracked open the door.

"What?" He mumbled, and Linda could tell from the red stains on Shawn's cheeks that her son had been crying.

"Mind if I come in?" Linda offered him a smile, and received one in return as Shawn pulled the door farther back and let her in.