Chapter 5: Surprise

"Kaylin, check your feet," Leo corrected the young teen on her fighting posture.

"Like this?" she asked.

"Yep," he said. "Now deliver two swift punches into Mikey's hands…Good."

"Man, you got a heck of a punch, li'l dudette," Mikey laughed, shaking some feeling back into one of his hand.

"How's this, Raph?" Peter asked, kicking the punching bag.

"Good form but try and get your leg higher," he said.

"It hurts to get it any higher than that."

"Well, if you had stretched properly when we started it wouldn't hurt as bad," Don chuckled.

"Oh shut up…"

Master Splinter smiled to himself at the scene laid before him. His sons had taken a genuine liking to teaching the twins ninjitsu. Molly was, of course, sitting on the mat next to him watching the others intently.

"Would you like to join them, Molly?" he asked softly. The little girl just looked at him and shook her head. "I think you would enjoy it." He encouraged. Molly just shook her head again and turned her attention back to her siblings and his sons training. The children had been with them for almost two weeks now and in that short two weeks the twins, appearing to be very fast learners, had quickly picked up on many of the ninja ways. He had hoped that Molly and Madison would join but Molly refused to leave his side when Raphael was busy and Madison always insisted that she was busy with Brian or some other house hold chore. Though he had to admit that the Lair had never been cleaner, Master Splinter had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that young Madison was going out of her way to specifically avoid coming in the dojo when others were present. He had seen her in here before though.

A few nights ago he awakened in the wee hours of the morning by a strange noise. Leaving his room, he thought at first it might have been Raphael snoring away on the couch. After only one night he bluntly refused to share a room with Michelangelo any further. The sound was different however; like a swift thumping. He found Madison in the dojo attacking the punching bag violently. He would have gone in and spoken to her but decided against it, even from his distance he could see in her eyes what she that she was letting loose what she tried so desperately to hide most of the time. He knew her dreams haunted her, he had heard her cry out many times in the night. Letting her get her anger out on that bag rather than an alternative was probably best. 'Though,' he admitted with a small grin, 'her skills, however unpolished, would probably give my sons a run for their money.'

"Are guys done torturing my brother and sister yet?" came Madison humored voice from behind the dojo door.

"Torture?" Kaylin asked, dodging an attack from Don. "Are you kidding! This is fun!"

"Fun?" Raph half laughed. "Yo, Leo! The Jackie Chan-wanna-be here thinks this is fun. I think we need to up their training a bit."

"Not a bad idea."

"Well up their training tomorrow," Madison chuckled. "Dinner is ready and they haven't done their other training yet today."

"Other training?" Peter asked, wiping his sweaty face with a towel.

"Your school work," Madison said lightly, turning around and walking away, avoided the groans and whining from her brother and sister. "They are just as important as this if not more so." She called over her shoulder.

"Your sister is right," Splinter said rising from his spot. "Now let us go and enjoy the meal she has prepared for us."

They all made their way to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Mikey, Don and Peter had gone out the other night and found several more chairs at the dump so that they could all sit down and eat together. A few adjustments to each and they were ready to go. They'd even some how found a highchair for Brian, which Madison was greatly relieved to have. With the exception of having a few minor problems, which Donny fixed with out a hassle, the thing was practically brand new. Geez…the things people threw out. Having the kids around the lair had had an interesting affect on the brothers. Raph was actually swearing less, although at first that could have been due to the fact that Madison threatened to tell Master Splinter about his stash of inappropriate magazines that she found hidden under his bed. Of course when Madison caught him letting Peter look at them all hell broke loose. The two were still recovering from the training punishment Splinter and Madison gave them. The magazines were immediately burned despite Raphael's sorrowful pleas and outbursts.

Mikey had taken probably the greatest interest in caring for Brian. On more than one occasion Madison had laughed herself stupid while watching Mike try and feed Brian. Whenever Mikey tried feeding Brian he would always emerge from the ordeal cover from head to foot in the processed Gerber baby mush.

"Aw, come on, li'l dude!" Mikey said failing for the fifth time to get Brian to open his mouth. "It's good for you! Mmmmm! Smell them stewed asparagus!"

"Stewed asparagus?" Raph wrinkled his nose in disgust. "It's no wonder the kid won't eat it!"

"Oh give me a break, Raph," Madison snapped, dishing some potatoes on to Don's plate. "He's a baby. One flavor is the same as the next to him."

"Then why ain't he eatin' it?"

"Because he is being stubborn infant," she said, "Much like another certain someone I know,"

Raphael scowled but ignored her comment, "I think it's because the kid is smarter than ya take 'im for and knows no one in their right mind would eat that crap."

"You're distracting him, Raph, shut up and eat your own food."

"You say you love the kid but you force 'im to eat that stuff! That is just plain cruel! It's a shock he don't freak out every time you put 'im in that chair, knowing what's comin'."

"One more word, Raph, and I swear…"

"Brace yourself," Kaylin muttered to Leo as the bickering continued and started to escalate. "This could get messy."

"… Oh yeah!" Raph exclaimed. "Alright than you eat it and tell me it ain't no different."

"Fine!" Madison snapped, practically slamming the bowl in her hands down on the table. "But you're trying it with me, Mr. I know everything about raising kids."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"Better 'im than me," Peter said smugly under his breath to Don.

"I heard that, Peter Ronan," Madison snapped, retrieving two spoons from the drawer. "And don't think you aren't still in it deep for those magazines." Peter grumbled at his plate while Madison spooned out the green mush onto the two spoons and handed one to Raphael, "On the count of three, one… get ready to eat your words…"

"Two... bite me, babe."

"Three!" They both shoved the spoons into their mouths at the same time. It took them all of five seconds to make horrified faces and run to the sink to spit the gunk out, trying to shove each other out of the way in order to use the faucet. Everyone else in the room started laughing hysterically. Kaylin was laughing so hard she fell off her chair and landed on top of Leo, who was already on the floor gasping for breath. Madison, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, marched over and snatched the jar out of Michelangelo's hand and immediately threw the vile substance in the trash along with the spoon. Nothing touched by that stuff was worth saving.

"Brian, I am so sorry!" she exclaimed, still gagging. The child laughed and clapped his hands.

"I told you!" Raph yelled his head still under the faucet. "'Oh no, Raphael, I know what's best for the little twerp because I am Madison and I know everything there is to know about feeding poor defenseless children nasty ass processed baby mush!'…" Madison glared at him. She marched over and grabbed the rinser nozzle next to the tap, pulled it out and fired water right at Raphael face. "HEY!"

"The taste gone yet, Raphie boy!" she shouted.

The room was rolling by now at the sight of Raph trying to wrestle the nozzle away from Madison but was only succeeding in creating a giant mess and soaking himself and her further. Even Master Splinter was laughing uncontrollably, and when the two bickering water logged opponents slipped on the puddle of water and landed in a tangled up heap on the floor, STILL bickering, he too fell off his chair on to the laughing pile of Kaylin and Leo. By the time the two had resolved the issue and were also laughing, the entire kitchen and everyone in it was soaked; dinner was destroyed.

"I'll call April and have her grab us a couple of pizzas," Don said, still chocking down some more laughter, getting out from under the table where he had taken cover.

"Tell 'er to get olives!" Madison called over her shoulder, pushing herself off the ground but slipping on water at least twice on the way up. She had met April and her husband Casey about a week ago and the two had become instant friends. She was kind enough to take Madison topside today to go shopping for groceries and other things. Molly went with them but the twins opted to stay behind.

"And pepperoni!" Kaylin called from her spot on Leo's plastron. Master Splinter had regained his bearing and was seated back in his chair.

"We're mutants, not barbarians!" Don's voice thundered from the other room. "Of course with pepperoni and olives!"

"Alright," Madison said, helping Raph up. "Leo, you grab a mop, Mikey, Peter, you two get towels, Raph, turn the water off and Kay and Molly, start scraping this food into the trash," everyone groaned but got up and went about their tasks all the same. "And Master Splinter, if you wouldn't mind taking and getting Brian out of these wet clothes I would be much obliged."

"Of course," Splinter took the child from the chair and left the room with a small smirk on his face. He got out of having to help to clean up. Donny came back a few moments later and was immediately put to work as well, much to his dismay. An hour later, when the kitchen was finally clean and everyone dried off, April and Casey walked through the door holding several pizzas and a few cases of soda.

"Hey, Guys," April smiled. "What's up?"

"Not much," Kaylin said, taking the pizzas from her. "Did you get the pepperoni?"

"Yeah it's the third on down," April chuckled. "Hey, Madison."

"Hi, April," she smiled, giving the red head a hug. "You guys staying for pizza?"

"We didn't climb all the way down here and walk through all these tunnels to just drop it off and leave," Casey said, flipping open a box, grabbing a slice, and shoving it in his mouth. "Imf sarvfink!"

Madison laughed and grabbed a slice herself before sitting down to talk with April. It didn't take very long for the pizzas to disappear. Mikey and Peter were engaged in a highly competitive belching contest, complements of the soda, while Raph, Casey and Kaylin had begun to yell at the hockey game referee on TV for a bad call he made. Leo had retreated with Master Splinter to the dojo to do some katas and meditation; Molly had fallowed them. Donny and April had disappeared to his lab; he had been dieing to show her some new gadget of his that he had been working on for a while. It wasn't till Brian had completely nodded off in Madison's lap did she realize the late hour.

"Guys, it's time for bed," Madison announced.

"But there's still 3 minutes left in the game and we're down by two goals!" Kaylin protested.

"Kay, it's almost 11 o'clock," Madison said firmly. "It is time for bed. Go and get Molly."

Kaylin grumbled, but when Donny, who had returned with April, whispered something in her ear her face lit up and she immediately jumped up and ran to get Molly. Madison arched an eye brow when she suddenly realized everyone was suddenly grinning at her. Even Splinter, Leo and Molly were smiling when they came back in, "Did I miss something?"

"We have something to show you," Peter said, taking Brain out of her arms and passing him to Don. Then he and Kaylin grabbed her by the arms and dragged her across the Lair with everyone following. Peter covered her eyes and led her around for a few moments before they finally stopped.

"Alright you guys, what is going on," Madison sounded more annoyed than she actually was.

"For once just trust us, ok?" she heard Raphael say behind her.

She heard the creaking of a door and was, to her guess, lead through it, "Will you guys clue me in here already?" she asked.

"Alright, but you have to close your eyes first."

"Peter!"

"Just do it already!"

"Ug, fine they're closed." Madison felt Peter and Kaylin step away from her. "Guys?"

"Ok, open 'em!"

Madison opened her eyes and her chin dropped. She was standing in a fairly decently decorated nursery. There was a changing table, and a crib, even a rather large floor rug. The walls were painted a mix of yellow and pale blue with splashes of pink in various places. On one side of the wall there was a small regular bed that Molly had gone over and jumped on, obviously claiming it as her own. She grabbed what looked like a well loved stuffed bunny rabbit, hugged it close, and smiled at Raphael, who looked away with hint of blush in his cheeks. Madison couldn't do anything except stand there with her mouth open. She felt Kaylin grab her hand again, "There's more."

Madison hardly had time to question before she was dragged out of the room and into one right next to it. There she found two more beds. The walls were painted in a cheerful blue and assorted posters covered the walls. Small bed side tables with lamps on them sat next to each bed, an alarm clock on one of them. A furry off white rug lay in between the two beds and a desk with another lamp on it sat at the end of one of the beds with a dresser at the end of the other.

"I have a room right next door," Peter's voice cut through Madison's in state of shock. "And we're trying to find some more dressers…"

Madison, who was only half listening, fingered the books on the shelf she had found in another corner, tears forming in her eyes.

"So what do you say, Maddy…"

"Huh?"

"What do you say," Kaylin asked, hope swirling in her blue eyes. "Can we stay?"

"We worked all day on it while you were gone," Donny said.

Madison shot April a stare who smiled sneakily. She just smiled back.

"Please, Madison?" Peter pleaded.

"Yeah, come on, Madison!" Mikey chimed in.

Madison stood there for a moment, looking at each smiling, hope filled face, not knowing what to do. All she had ever wanted to do was to find a safe place for her family to be happy. A place where they didn't have to be afraid anymore and could go and come as they pleased with out having to worry about someone wanting to beat the heck out of them. She promised Mama. She promised that she would take them some place safe some day. When a sudden warmth appeared in her hand, Madison looked down and saw Molly's pleading hazel eyes looking back up at her as she squeezed her hand gently. Madison smiled, bent down and hugged the child. She picked Molly up and faced the group again. 'This is that place, isn't, Mom?'

"Alright," she smiled. "We'll stay."