AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is one of the shorter ones that takes place after Wilbur and Karena move to Connecticut. For those who have read all of my stories so far, Karena's first friends are actually the Ninja Turtles, so we'll see them again here.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons" or "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)," I only own Karena, Diana, and Lillianna.

STORY #27: Reunion

STORIES OF REFERENCE: Psychic in the Light; Pride and Justice; Hope

NARRATOR: Karena

JUNE 2, 2045 – WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT, USA

"Smile for the camera, Diana!"

Diana gave me her biggest smile as I snapped the picture of her on my phone. My four-month-old daughter was lying on a black blanket with the numbers one through twelve that represented how many months she was. The number four was circled with pink ribbon. I thought about creating a post about Diana on Facebook, but I decided against it for now, putting my phone away and picking her up.

"How are you four months old already?" I asked in a high-pitched voice, and Diana responded with a hearty laugh, the most precious gift a baby could ever give me. "I'm gonna have to put you in some new clothes!"

Diana continued to laugh as I changed her diaper before laying her down in her crib for her midday nap. Then, I collapsed on the rocking chair right next to the crib and took out my phone. I got onto Facebook, uploaded the picture of Diana, and started to write a caption:

"Diana is four months old and she LOVES to smile and laugh. She still loves my milk, but we have introduced her to some baby food, and she absolutely loves strawberries. She absolutely loves it when Daddy comes home from work and she loves being on her tummy. She now weighs twelve pounds and is a very healthy baby."

After I hit the 'post' button, I glanced at my daughter, who already fell fast asleep, and I smiled. Then I realized something: I was now living in Connecticut, and where I'm living, I'm an hour away from New York City. I wondered how my ninja turtle friends were doing and thought about visiting them. The last time I saw them was when they flew to Los Angeles to help me grieve for my dad, who had passed away from a bad heart. Leonardo was a sensei who had created his own school. Raphael was a detective for the New York Police Department; Donatello worked as a scientist; and Michelangelo was a chef in his own restaurant.

"Karr, I'm home!" I heard Wilbur say.

I shook myself back into reality, got off the rocking chair, and made my way down the stairs and to the living room to greet my husband. We hugged and we kissed before Wilbur Robinson made himself comfortable on the couch.

"How are my favorite girls?" Wilbur asked with a smile on his face.

"Diana is doing fantastic," I answered with a chuckle. "I just put her down for her nap. I can't believe she's four months old already."

"And how are you doing?" Wilbur asked, looking into my green eyes with his brown ones.

"I'm tired."

I paused, scratching my head while letting out a yawn.

"Wilbur, all I've been doing since we've moved is take care of Diana and cook all of our meals. There isn't a school for me to go to for teaching since, well, we just moved here."

"Well, I could take you out on a date," Wilbur suggested with a coy smile. "We can ask Jessi to take care of Diana and spend time together, just the two of us."

"I'd love that, and maybe we can."

"What do you mean?" Wilbur asked, his smile quickly fading away.

"We're an hour away from New York City," I explained. "Do you remember the Turtles?"

"It's been a while since we saw them. Over a year, maybe?"

"I was wondering about maybe paying them a visit and letting them know that we moved here."

"Lilly lives here, too."

"No, Wilbur. Lilly is still in Todayland, remember? She graduates next year."

"But this is her home. Besides, she's on summer vacation, so she's here in New York. Unless, somehow, she decided to stay in Todayland with her boyfriend."

"Donatello would not be happy about that," I replied. "But, anyway, what do you say? We pay the Turtles a visit and then go out on that date?"

"I would love to show you around the city," Wilbur answered with a smile. "There's a whole lot to see."

"Wilbur, we've both been to New York before we moved here."

"We have? When was that?"

"Remember the year Lilly came into our lives?" Wilbur nodded in response. "We worked hard to bring her home to her parents in New York. We spent a week in New York with the Turtles."

"Oh yeah! I had totally forgotten about that."

"I did, too. It's been… how many years since then?"

"Let's see, that was my sophomore year," Wilbur answered, pausing and mentally counting how many years had passed. "I was a sophomore in 2038 and we went to New York the next summer in 2039. So… six years ago?"

"If you say so, Wilbur," I replied with a coy smile. "So, what do you say? Visit the Turtles and then go out on a date?"

"I'm all for it. Let me call Jessica."

We heard the doorbell ring after I got changed in a blue dress, and I walked up to the door to greet Diana's babysitter.

"Hi, Jessi! Come on in!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Robinson," the blonde teenager replied happily as she walked in.

"Oh, please call me Karena. We're on a first-name basis here."

"So, is there anything I need to know?" Jessi asked.

"Diana's milk bottle is in the fridge, but you have to warm it up first. If she doesn't want the milk, then give her some baby food – either the strawberries or the chicken. Always be sure to check her diaper before putting her to sleep, and she loves to be sung to sleep."

"Is there a particular tune that she likes?"

"Lavender's Blue."

"I'm afraid I've never heard of it before."

"Really? Has your mom ever sang you lullabies?" I asked with surprise in my voice.

"She has, and she's an amazing singer. But she hasn't sung that particular one."

"Well, then let me sing a verse for you, just for you to know how it goes."

I took a deep breath, and I started singing.

"Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, lavender's green. When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen. Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so? 'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so. There are three more verses, but if Diana falls asleep before the end of the song, you don't have to sing the whole thing."

"Your voice is beautiful," Jessi complimented me. "I wish I could sing like that."

"You don't sing?" I asked with surprise.

"Singing was never my ideal thing to do. My brother, on the other hand, is a fantastic singer."

"I didn't take Jasper to be the kind of person who sings."

"Jasper surprised everybody with his talents, even our dad."

"Hi, Jessi!" Wilbur said happily, running down the stairs after putting on a black jacket.

"Wilbur, right?" Jessi asked, and he happily nodded. "It's good to see you again."

"Thank you again for taking care of Diana while we're gone," Wilbur replied. "We'll be back before midnight."

"Have a good time, you two!" Jessica yelled out before we waved to her.

We walked out the front door and into Wilbur's car, and we took off, heading for New York City.

"Do you remember which part of the sewers they live in?" Wilbur asked.

"Head that way," I told him, pointing him toward the way.

Fifteen minutes after arriving in New York, we found the sewers, and we climbed down the ladder.

"Augh!" Wilbur exclaimed. "I don't miss the smell at all."

"This just makes me glad I'm not pregnant anymore," I replied.

We continued walking until we approached an area with turnstiles.

"Hello?" I called out after Wilbur and I walked through. "Donnie? Leo? Raph? Mikey?"

"Who are you?" Leonardo asked from a distance.

"It's me, Karena!"

"Karena?" I heard Donatello ask before he emerged from the shadows. "Karena, it really is you!"

"Hi, Donnie," I replied with a smile as he swept me off my feet. "Put me down, silly!"

"Would you look at that?" Raphael said with a smirk on his green face. "Karena made it back to New York."

"And we're staying this time," Wilbur chimed in.

"You're staying?" Michelangelo asked excitedly. "Woo-hoo! This is going to be awesome!"

"I thought you lived in Todayland?" Leonardo asked, finally emerging from the shadows.

"I did for a few years so that I could grow my relationship with Wilbur," I explained.

"So, what brings you back to New York?" April Hamato, Donatello's wife, asked.

"Have you guys heard of the TIME agency?" Wilbur asked.

"Yes!" Donnie enthusiastically answered. "They have the most advanced technology on the planet! I mean, after your dad's technology, of course."

"Well, I accepted a job there."

"No way!" Mikey exclaimed happily.

"That's awesome!" Raphael said at the same time.

"What are you doing at TIME, Wilbur?" Leo asked.

"I'm the new historian. I get to analyze important documents that have a big impact on history and I also get to translate any language to English so we'd understand what's going on."

"History is very important," Leo replied.

"So, how did you come across TIME?" April asked.

"Wilbur, Karena, you made it!"

We all turned to see Lillianna Hamato, Donnie and April's daughter, running up to us and giving us a hug.

"Long time no see," Wilbur replied with a smirk.

"Please, Wilbur, we saw each other three whole weeks ago," Lilly playfully replied. "How is TIME working out for you?"

"I can't say yet, since it has been only a few weeks, but so far so good!"

"Guys, how did you come across TIME?" April eagerly asked.

"Well, I had graduated from Todayland University early," Wilbur explained. "I did my student teaching at the junior high school before then, and I continued to work at Futureburgers while trying to find a teaching position somewhere in either North or South Montana. During that time, Karena and I had welcomed our daughter—"

"No way!" all four Turtles exclaimed happily.

"You have a little girl?" Leo asked with delight.

"What's her name?" Mikey asked.

"Congratulations!" Donnie told us happily.

"Yes, Wilbur and I now have a baby girl named Diana," I explained happily. "She was born on my birthday, believe it or not! She just turned four months old today."

"And she looks a lot like me," Wilbur chimed in. "So, anyway, because Diana became a part of our lives, I was even more determined to get a job to support her, but I came home depressed each night. Out of the blue, my now-boss shows up at my house just to interview me for the historian position. I hadn't even applied until we did the interview."

"So Wilbur went from being depressed to being anxious because he had never moved before," I chimed in. "It took the whole family to help him decide to go through with accepting the job."

"I remember Justine telling me that she got you a horse," Lilly told my husband. "Do you still have your horse with you?"

"Yes, the horse is back at the house," Wilbur answered. "Moana's been a huge help in helping me overcome my anxiety. I moved here almost a month ago to be trained in the position, and then Karena and Diana moved last week."

"You're getting paid a lot to work for TIME," Donnie replied.

"I had actually forgotten you guys lived here," I said sheepishly.

"It does help knowing that I have friends close to us in case I need some help adjusting," Wilbur explained. "I'm still having some trouble with it."

"Take your time," Leo advised him. "It felt surreal when I was finally able to start my own school above the surface, but I didn't let that get to me. Meditate on it before jumping in."

"Always follow the evidence, not your gut," Raph told him. "Granted, you have an office, so you're not the one pointing fingers."

"No, but I can point a finger to the next direction," Wilbur replied.

"Just don't point it to the wrong one," Raph advised him. "I say that because that can cost you your job."

"Don't be afraid to ask for help," Donnie said, giving Wilbur advice. "I was stubborn for a while until April came along. But I've learned that two heads are better than one. The five of us, plus Lilly, are here, and so is Karena."

"We've also made friends with Wilbur's boss, her husband, and their two kids," I chimed in.

"You've got friends everywhere, dude!" Mikey replied enthusiastically. "Always have a positive attitude. Life is meant to be lived with happiness, not in sorrow. Fighting the bad guys for so long has worn me out, so I turned to my passion to keep my positive attitude going."

"Well, unfortunately, taking the time machine is now out of the question because it's a part of my job," Wilbur replied. "That was my hobby."

"Wilbur, what about chargeball?" I asked after giving him a look of disbelief.

"We don't have a chargeball set," Wilbur answered. "We left that back in Todayland."

"I can make one for you," Donnie suggested.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have Diana to think about. When I'm home, she and Karena are my priorities."

"Wilbur, may I give you some advice, from father to father?" Donnie asked, and Wilbur nodded. "You're going to want time away from your kid because being a parent can be stressful. I should know. April had her job here in New York, so most of the time I was the one at home with her. Between chasing her around the lair and my working on my experiments, it was tiring. And when you go out, it doesn't have to be a date with Karena every time."

"Donnie's right," Leo chimed in. "Before we realized that Karai was our sister, Karai and I spent our free time brawling at each other for fun."

"Wait a minute, Karai is your sister?" I asked in disbelief. "I thought she was Shredder's daughter!"

"You two have arrested the Karai from another dimension," Raph replied. "Here, Master Splinter had a daughter named Miwa, whom the Shredder took after setting his house on fire and called her Karai."

"So how come we've never met her?" Wilbur asked.

"Because she moved back to Japan," Mikey answered. "She wanted to pay homage to her family, and that is what she did. We didn't object to that because we wanted to respect her wishes."

"Anyway," Raphael rudely chimed in. "The point is, if you like brawling, go brawl it out when you need a break from parenting. Cook a meal. Make a garden. Do anything you like to take your mind off your kid."

"Wilbur loves photography," I replied.

"I didn't think of that," Wilbur said, rubbing his neck.

"You said your boss has a family, right?" April asked, and he nodded. "You could take pictures of their family to take a break from your daughter."

"Or you could take pictures of your wife," Mikey said enthusiastically.

"Mikey!" the three brothers shouted at him.

"Guys, guys, it's okay," Wilbur replied while laughing. "Thank you, guys, for the advice."

"Have you two eaten dinner yet?" Mikey asked.

"We were going to go on a date after visiting you guys," I answered.

"Why don't you eat with us?" Leo suggested with a smile. "We haven't seen you since some time after your wedding."

"We'd love to catch up with you guys," April chimed in with a smile on her face.

"I don't see how we can refuse, then," I answered, and Wilbur nodded in agreement.

"But, you absolutely have to tell me all about your daughter!" April said with a big smile on her face.

"There really isn't that much to tell yet," I replied with a laugh. "Diana's only four months old."

"I'll order the pizza!" Mikey volunteered with his phone in his hand.

"In the meantime, come on in and get settled," Leo said warmly, leading us further into the lair.

We gathered together and lounged on the beanbags while we waited for the pizza to arrive, and Wilbur and I enjoyed catching up with our friends the rest of the evening.