Chapter 5 - Changes

"That was the start of your daddy's return to us." Mikey told the little turtle on his lap. "It was still slow going for a long time, but that game and movie were truly a good start."

"What happened next, Uncle Mikey?" Catherine shouted, bouncing in his lap, desperate for more of the story.

"Well, as long as he could put that month out of his mind your daddy started to come back to himself. He slowly began spending time with us again, and he smiled more."

"What about us, Uncle Mikey?"

Michelangelo sighed. "Those 6 eggs still brought that month back to him faster than anything else could."

"Six?" She counted on her fingers and held up all of them. "This many? But-"

"Six." Mikey repeated with a nod. "Whenever you were brought up or he remembered your presence in the main room, he'd retreat mentally and disappear again. A couple days later he would recover and work his way back out into the lair. But that all changed."

"When?"

"I'm getting there, Kitty Kat."

It had been a little over six months since the purple and orange masked turtles had been returned to the lair, and Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo had taken to watching over the eggs at all times. Leo was watching them around 2:00 in the afternoon when the first one started moving. He called out for his family and Raph, Mike and Splinter were there almost instantly. The only absent individual was the one who should most be present. Leo jumped up and stormed into his brother's room.

"Donatello, you get up this instant! You are going to be there when your babies hatch whether you like it or not!" He physically pulled Don to his feet despite the purple-masked turtle's protests. "If you don't do this now, Donnie, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Leo promised.

With a sigh, Don stopped fighting against his brother's will and went to the main room. The others surrounded the box and watched the wiggling egg, but Don hung back. In another show of just who was the leader of the small group, Leo pulled Donnie so he was kneeling right by the box as well. It was easy for Leo to feel Don's apprehension at the situation, and he kept a hand on Donnie's shoulder in a silent show of support he was aware his brother needed. Leo knew that, in the long run, it was best that Donatello be present for this, but he could also see that Don was dangerously close to falling off a very high cliff.

Finally, the egg ripped open. It was just a line down the side, but it was something. Leo, Raph and Mikey had done some research and knew that normal turtles could take days to get out of their eggs, but Leo didn't have a clue how things worked with mutant turtles. They weren't exactly the norm so what applied for other turtles in this situation could very well not apply to them. It was at that point that Donatello withdrew, disappearing into himself. Leonardo sighed, easily lifted his still horribly underweight brother and carried him back to his bedroom. Once Don had been safely tucked into bed, Leo opted to stay with him. Past experience had taught them that Donnie was more likely to come out of these little relapses quickly if a friendly presence was in the room. If anything happened downstairs, which he doubted for a while yet, he was sure that he'd hear about it.

Two days later

Donatello had come out of his catatonia and the hatchling had nearly freed itself of the egg. In addition, a second egg had split open the day before. As the first hatchling was so close to clearing its egg, the whole family was gathered around the box again, including a more than reluctant Donatello.

Leo knew that Don was holding his breath and fighting not to run away. Mikey gently picked up the baby as it freed itself from the egg and showed it to Don who wanted to be just about anywhere but where he was. One of the things that Leo noted about the child was that its yolk sack was much smaller than he would have expected. That was something he chalked up to their mutation and prayed he was correct about.

"It's a boy, Donnie." Mike said as he tried to hand the little guy to the new father, being very careful of the small yolk sack.

Don backed away as far as Leo would allow and refused to take the baby from Mikey. His breathing was quick and shallow, and he was just this side of panicking.

"Breathe, Donnie." Leo instructed carefully, hoping he wouldn't push his brother into another relapse. "Two deep breaths." He watched as Don did what he was told. While it had stopped Don from hyperventilating, Leo noticed that his brother was shaking again.

When the tiny turtle started to cry, Mikey pulled the baby close for a moment before offering the little boy to Don again. This time Leo shook his head.

"He's shaking too badly, Mike. He might drop him."

Mikey nodded and cuddled the baby for a moment. When the little boy stopped crying he carefully wrapped it in a small clean blanket and handed the child to Raphael. Master Splinter eventually received the baby, and Leo stood Don up and led him to the couch.

"You really should hold that baby." Leo said, kneeling down in front of his brother. "The longer you wait, the harder it will be." He knew that the conversation wasn't helping Don's nerves any, and that his brother's shaking was worse than ever. "And you need to name him."

Don shook his head violently. "L- Leo, I c- can't."

"Yes, you can. He's a baby, Don. He can't hurt you."

"Mikey, you're the one who made sure they got out of the lab. Why don't you name him?" Don tried.

For a moment Mikey was shocked, but he recovered quickly. "Donnie, I would be honored, but I'm afraid I have to agree with Leo. You should name the first one."

Don sighed and thought for a long moment. During that time, Leo sat next to him on the couch and Master Splinter gently placed the baby in Leonardo's lap.

"Is he sleeping?" Don asked worriedly, even as he tried to scoot farther away.

Mikey grinned. "Wouldn't you be tired if you had just ripped your way out of that?" He asked with a hint of a laugh.

"Yes, he's sleeping, Donnie." Leo assured his brother with a smile.

Don reached out slowly and ran a finger along where he knew the edge of the baby's carapace to be before quickly retracting his hand. "Ga-Galileo." He said finally.

Splinter couldn't help but smile at Donatello's play on the naming scheme he had started nearly eighteen years previous. A renaissance Italian to be sure, but not exactly an artist, at least not in the painting and sculpture sense.

"Do you want to hold him now?" Leo asked.

Don shook his head, but Leo placed Galileo in his lap all the same. "NOOO! No, Leo! Take it back, please?" Donnie begged.

Leo pulled the now crying baby back into his own lap, but scooted closer to Don on the couch. He waited for Galileo to stop crying again before he spoke. "Come on, Donnie. Galileo is not going to hurt you. I'm going to put him in your lap now, ok?"

When Don didn't object, the baby was moved back into his father's lap. Leo could tell that said father was just shy of panicking again, barely managing to keep his anxiety in check. After what seemed like an eternity, Donnie finally started to relax. He carefully ran his finger along the rim of the baby's carapace again before getting the nerve to actually pick the child up. A small movement from Galileo nearly startled Don into dropping the baby, but he held on and even pulled the tiny turtle closer. Though he still didn't quite believe what was happening, Donatello found himself absolutely fascinated by the little boy he cradled in his arms.

"Donnie?" Raph asked.

"Hmm?" Came Don's distracted response.

"Raphael, Shh..." Splinter scolded gently. "Let him have a moment."

"But-?" Raph insisted in a soft voice.

"I told you to be quiet, Raphael." Splinter said a little more sharply. The same question had been on his mind as well, but it was quite probable that there was a reason, other than what Raphael was thinking.

"What was Uncle Raph talking about?" Catherine asked.

"I'll get there. For now, I want you to know that this was a major turning point for your daddy. You kids were able to do what we weren't. When you all started hatching, he could finally put the past behind him and see a future again."

"Huh?"

"You made him happy when nothing else could." Mike simplified for the girl.

Galileo was sleeping on the couch, for the time being, and was watched by whoever was keeping an eye on the five remaining eggs. It was 4:30AM and Raphael was awake when the next one threatened to finally free itself.

When everyone had shown up in the main room again, Galileo noticed all the activity and began to fuss. Mikey picked up the baby and rocked him while they waited for the next small turtle to pull clear.

Splinter was the first to reach down and pick up the child that had just freed itself from its egg. "It's a girl." He said, taking note of her plastron. Though the child was very young, and the external differences were small, Splinter had raised four mutant turtles and was well aware of what their plastrons looked like, this child's was different so it had to be a girl. He handed her to Donatello and sighed, noticing that the young father was still hanging back slightly.

"Do you want to name her, Mikey?" Don asked as he tentatively took the little girl.

"I don't know any good girl names, Donnie!" Mike moaned. "There aren't a whole lot of choices."

Don nodded, agreeing with the statement. There weren't a whole lot of prominent women during the renaissance. He frowned for a long moment as he tried to think of something that might be a good name for the little girl.

"What about Catherine?" Raphael suggested.

"What?" Leo asked, unsure of where his red-masked brother had come up with that name.

"After Catherine de Medici." Raph explained, ignoring the look he got from Leo that clearly wondered where he'd heard of Catherine de Medici.

Don nodded in agreement as he handed the baby to Raphael.

By the time the little girl made her way into Michelangelo's arms, she had evidently had enough of the being passed around thing.

"YOW!" Mike cried out. "She bit me!"

"Uncle Raph named me?" Kat asked in disbelief.

"He sure did, Kitty Kat. Kind of fitting really." Mike told the little girl on his lap.

"What?"

"You, My Little Kitty Kat, are a lot like Raph was when he was a kid." Mikey informed the child as he played with the short tails of her maroon bandanna.

"I AM!" Catherine asked in horror.

"Do you have something against Raph?" Mikey asked with a laugh, though he knew that Raphael was secretly Kat's favorite uncle.

"No." Kat admitted sadly. "It's just..."

Mike laughed at the look on the little girl's face. "Hey, don't be like that kiddo." He chided. "Raph has some great qualities. He might get a little angry from time to time, but there's no one more more loyal than he is. And he's a kick ass ninja to boot!"

"KICK ASS!" Catherine repeated the new phrase gleefully as she bounced slightly on Mike's leg.

"Oh geez, your dad's gonna kill me." Mikey moaned.

"KICK ASS!"

"I told you, you're like Raph."