Leo's Pov...
The sound of the whistling kettle on the stove top caught my attention as I took it off the flame before it would of made too much noise during the early morning hours. I carefully poured myself, my wife and my father cups of jasmine tea that we had daily every morning, but I made sure that there was enough warm water for something else. I poured the remaining into a small bottle right beside the tray of cups that would be ready for my daughter Julietta when she would wake up. It was a miracle that the moment that I had seen her opened brown eyes after hanging by a thread I knew she was going to live and I wouldn't have to face the fact that I would of almost lost one of my children again. I shook up the formula in the bottle before setting it on the tray leaving the kitchen to head towards the dojo to Splinter's room.
I knew his routine for as long as I could remember, he never missed a day where he would be doing his early morning meditation, even if he was ill he always would start his morning meditation at the same exact time. I quietly opened the door to his room and found him in his usual spot on his mat and left him his cup of tea right in front of him, before leaving not saying anything to disturb him. Leaving the dojo I could hear the sounds of my brothers still asleep from their rooms, even hearing the sound of Mikey's sleep talking through his bedroom door was able to bring out a chuckle from me as I made my way back towards my room. I made another stop to check in on my oldest daughter opening her door quietly, who was sprawled out on her bed laying on top of her stuffed turtle snoring softly in her sleep with her mouth slightly opened.
I chuckled softly, sometimes she would remind me of how Calli would sleep when I would wake up before her. "Sleep tight Green Bean", I said, softly before shutting her door again
I made my way back towards my room to find my wife still fast asleep sleeping on her side. I came up to her bedside setting down the tray and leaving her cup right in front of the small vase with a dark pink rose I had gotten her the day before. I gently stroked her head softly as she moaned pushing her head deeper into the pillow still remaining asleep. Her soft pink mask was skewed slightly as I carefully fixed it to where it was straight before giving her a gentle kiss to her temple. "I love you", I said, softly
I was happy to see my wife was in a much better state after seeing our youngest was going to pull through. I had to admit seeing her so in distress and seeing the life drained from her worrying about if our daughter would live or die, it broke my heart to have seen a completely different person in front of me, she wasn't herself, not at all. It must of been some slim chance of good luck that we avoided another tragedy such as this, I am just grateful that we were out of the woods and we can get back on to the path of our lives.
As I covered her up a little bit more with the comforter as I started to hear soft coos coming from the crib. I chuckled softly grabbing the bottle and went over to the crib and looked inside to see my daughter Julie cooing rubbing her eyes and yawning softly. It was wonderful to not see all the tubes that were attached to her to keep her alive on her anymore and she was now living happy and healthy. "Hey Julie, wake up Sunflower", I said, softly rubbing her plastron before stroking her head
Her brown eyes fluttered open as she looked up at up at me with a smile, shifting quickly up and down clearly happy to see me. "Hey beautiful good morning, you sleep good?", I asked, tickling her cheek as she giggled grabbing on to my hand and began to suck on my finger "Looks like you are ready to eat huh?"
She cooed as I carefully picked her up resting her on my forearm kissing her head. I sat down in the rocking chair and began to rock softly as Julie began to nurse holding on tot he bottle with both of her hands. She has gotten stronger and bigger since the day she was born, she didn't look recognizable from going from being able to fit in my hand to being over two feet tall at three months it was remarkable of how much progress she has made after being in intensive care. Anybody would of called it a fluke but to me it was a miracle, a second chance to raise another child.
Julie continued to nurse as I carefully rocked us both softly with my foot. Memories were starting to flood back to me when her sister Ellie was this small when I would nightly feedings and when we would have those little bonding moments where it was just us as father and daughter. I still couldn't get over how much she looked liked me, compared to how Ellie looked like Calli. Julie's forest shade of green skin was exactly like mine as well as the same brown coloring of my shell. Of course I was happy that she got her mother's beautiful features and that she had her mother's smile. With Julie now on the right track, I couldn't wait to do her training where she will be able to join her sister and the rest of us when she gets older, from looking at her I know she has the strength and the stubbornness to become the best kunoichi that she can be.
As she finished her morning bottle, she burped softly making me chuckle as she giggled. "Well excuse you little lady", I said, wiping her mouth gently with a cloth "Hopefully you didn't learn that from Uncle Mikey"
Soon as I finished cleaning her face, she immediately grabbed on to my mask tails hanging over my shoulder and began to chew on them keeping them tight in her fists. This was her favorite thing to do, for some reason she always loved to have something in her mouth whether it be her pacifier to my mask tails, anything she can get her little hands on she will suck and chew on it. "Is that yummy? You seem to like to chew on this the most", I said, with a smile "If you keep that up I might have to get a new bandanna soon"
Julie babbled happily still keeping my bandanna tails in her mouth as she let one of her little hands let go to reach up to me. I smiled softly and took her little hand into my own softly giving it a gentle kiss. I then heard the sound of a camera flash and looked up to see Calli was wide awake sitting in her spot on the bed with her phone in her hand. "That's a keeper", she said "Couldn't resist not capturing it"
I chuckled shaking my head with a smile. "I assume you saw the whole thing?", I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her
"Right when I heard you talking to her, I couldn't miss it", she said, with a giggle "How is she doing?"
"She's perfect, big, strong, healthy and beautiful", I said "Just like you"
I gave her a sweet smile as she giggled blushing pink the cheeks. "Oh Leo, stop", she said, coyly covering her face with her hand
I walked over towards the edge of the bed and placed Julie down as she cooed happily starting to crawl slowly towards her. "Hey baby girl, come on, come to mama", she said, softly, holding her hands out to her
Julie took it slowly but from watching behind her she was determined to get to Calli as she shifted her little body along the covers. As she got closer there was a pillow in front of Calli legs that she had used sometimes for support as Julie began to climb over the pillow, she sunk in the center of it and began to squirm trying to get over. I chuckled softly as she began to whine softly kicking her little legs trying to get over the obstacle herself. I sat down beside her trying to give her shell a little push to help but she looked back to me with a babble before getting back to her task. "Okay pretty girl, just trying to help", I said, with a soft smile
Julie continued to try to make it over the pillow, but soon stopped as she sunk further in and Calli giggled pulling her over into her arms. "Good try Julietta, you almost made it", she said, giving her forehead a nuzzle
"Well with her being stubborn like her mama she will get over any obstacle", I said, coming around the bed
She stuck her tongue out at me as I snickered, sitting next to her. "Can't help I am stubborn", she said, in a playful whiny voice
"Don't worry babe, it has its good moments", I said, pulling her around her shoulders giving her cheek a kiss
"Good to know", she said, as we gave each other a peck
Julie cooed as she got in between the two of us pushing on my face back in the middle of our kiss as we both chuckled. "Oh I am sorry, I couldn't forget you", I said, as she grabbed on to my face in a hug and began suckling on my nose as I kissed her face
I chuckled but then we heard commotion coming from outside the bedroom that was filled with laughter and screaming. "Oh boy, what do you think is going on this time?", I asked, looking to my wife
She pressed her fingers to her temple as she closed her eyes and after a few moments she fluttered her eyes opened. "It's Ellie and Mikey and they are doing one of their battles again, this time from last weeks patrol with the Purple Dragons", she said, with a chuckle "And the living room is a mess and I can sense that Donnie has an experiment about to explode and Raph is going to play a prank on Mikey"
"Usual bet?", I asked
"As always", she said
As we slid out of bed with Julie in Calli's arms as soon as I opened the door, sure enough Mikey came rushing past us with Ellie chasing him with a plastic sword as they whacked sword against his tonfa. "You shell freaks ain't going to take our streets while we stand about!", Mikey said, mimicking one of the gang members voice
"Yeah mess with the green it gets mean!", Ellie said, as they both jumped on the couch continuing their fight
"I got a beef with you! I'll teach you to give me a tattoo with your sword on my arm!", Mikey said, sweep kicking Ellie on to the couch as she laughed bouncing on the cushions
"Hey remember Mikey, I got him on the leg on the upper left thigh!", she said
"Oh yeah thanks sis!", he said, as Ellie jumped up tackling him on to the floor
Just then we heard an explosion come from the lab as purple fog came out from the opening lab doors, with Donnie coming out coughing. "Note to self chemical metal embrittlement is more explosive with higher dosages of hydrogen peroxide", he said, putting his goggles on his head and wiping his face clear of the purple residue
"Donnie I swear someday you are going to blow up this entire lair with that chemistry set you found at that abandoned lab", I said, shaking my head
Ellie screamed and laughed as Mikey chased her around the subway nearly slipping off her feet and just as Mikey was about to reach out and grab her, Raph jumped out of nowhere knocking them both to the ground as they crashed into the dinning room knocking a few of the chairs over. "And his name is Raphael!", Raph said
"Thanks Uncle Raphie! I owe you one!", Ellie yelled, as she ran off
"Well what do you know, you were right again I guess I owe you ten bucks", I said, giving her arm a nudge
"Thrice", she said, with a giggle
Moans came from Mikey as Raph rolled off of him with a laugh. "Yes finally! Got that body slam right!", Raph said
"Raph come on! I almost got her!", Mikey yelled, chasing after him
"Sorry dude but the princess bribed me to do it!", Raph said, laughing
"Boys hey! Mikey don't you dare use another one of your stink bombs it took me a whole day to get that stench out the last time!", Calli said, rushing after them
I chuckled to myself crossing my arms, shaking my head. "I guess it's back to the old grind again", I said
I suddenly felt foam darts stick against my face as I saw Ellie on top of the subway car laughing before running along the roof. "Got you! Can't catch me!", she said
"Eleanora Marie! Get down from there we have talked about this young lady!", I said, rushing over to the car and climbing up the ladder
Calli's Pov...
After a crazy hectic day of dealing with the brothers, the kids and on top of doing a four hour long training session and cleaning up a huge mess in the kitchen that resulted in a huge food fight started by baby Julietta from throwing her food at her sister which quickly escalated into everyone getting in on the action and everyone was covered in pasta, melted cheese and sauce. By the time it was late in the evening the lair had finally quieted down and my husband and I both finally got the kids down in bed for the night. I came out from the bedroom shutting off the light leaving Julie to sleep as I saw Leo come crashing down on the couch and I joined in right beside him letting out a sigh. "Damn..", I said, softly
"You said it", Leo said, turning his head to me
"What chaos, felt like we were dealing with six kids today", I said, with a chuckle
"Including our own, I know and it was just the two of us handling all of them", he said "Even though four of them are adults"
"Hey but to think our kids are only going to get bigger, just imagine the havoc then", I said, with a giggle
Leo chuckled. "Don't remind me, I want to avoid getting gray scales before I turn thirty", he said "Man I am beat, four brothers, two children, we have our hands full"
"I think us parents can use a little break, don't you think?", I said, with a smile giving his shoulder a nudge
"What did you have in mind?", he asked
"Care to take a little stroll?", I asked, shrugging
"Lead the way beautiful", he said, with a smile
"Good, grab your coat, it's going to be a chilly where we're going", I said, getting up from the couch patting his thigh
I rolled up a small woven blanket underneath my arm and grabbed two bottles of sparkling soda from the fridge before walking out of the kitchen to meet up with Leo coming out of the bedroom. He peeked into Ellie's room for a moment before closing the door. "Both girls and all brothers sound asleep", Leo said, softly
"Good, we should be back before Julie has to wake up for her next feeding", I said, pulling my coat tighter to myself
"So where is it that you are actually taking us?", he asked, adjusting his own coat on himself as we walked to the entrance of the lair
"Oh you will see", I said "Patience is key hubby"
"You are starting to take my lines!", he said, as he climbed up after me chuckling
"And I am starting to like it", I said, with a giggle
I shrieked and giggled more as I climbed up faster up the ladder when I felt him slap my butt being cheeky as we left the lair for our outing. After about a few minutes of walking, we made it down towards the boardwalk and back to my paradise but this time I brought my husband along to release that tension. The soft wind brushed against my face blowing my mask tails in the wind and the scent of fresh ocean smell filled my nostrils and already I could feel everything just leave and it was just me, Leo and the beach that was in front of us. "Works every time", I said
"Wow", Leo said, softly "Even after living in New York all my life I never been to a beach here"
"I call it my teenage paradise, before I met you this is where I would go to get away from it all", I said, as we walked down the stairs
"Like your own shangri-la?", he asked
"Sort of, but it's not like the one in the book in a Himalayan utopia", I said, looking over my shoulder with a chuckle
We walked towards a good spot near the where the tides came and I spread out the blanket on the sand taking our spot. Leo took the bottles of soda popping them open before handing mine. "To making it through?", he said, holding up his bottle
"To making it through", I said, as we clunk the bottles together before each of us took a sip
As we sat there in our spot, we didn't say anything, we just held each other in our arms and allowed the sounds of mother nature to let the tension leave us both. Nothing was on my mind and I could feel it through Leo that nothing was on his mind neither. The wind blew softly letting our mask tails fly all around in the wind, a fine misty spray from the cold water that crashed before being pulled back in hit against my face and even though it was cold, it felt so good. All the pain, fear, and stress of everything that we have been through was finally gone and we were given now a fresh new start. Even though Julie had responded well after I placed her with Gattino, I knew she wasn't out of the woods just yet and it was still trying up the good fight to keep her going on the right track till we knew for sure she was going to be alright, but after today I realized we had made it out of those woods and we were now in the clear again. "Sweet relief...", I said, softly
"It sure is, I got to say this really did take a toll on everyone", Leo said, looking down at me
"I know", I said "I am just glad that us as a family and even having help from family that has passed on that she was able to pull through and we get to have our daughter"
"That is the most important thing", he said "Everything is where it needs to be"
He kissed my temple softly as I rested against his chest as we continued to stare off into the night and it started to bring back a sweet memory of what we shared only a few years ago. "You know this kind of reminds me of our honeymoon", I said
"It does kind of, except our beach was just private and we had it all to ourselves", Leo said, with a chuckle
I giggled. "That was the plus side of it, but at least we have something even if it is right next door to a noisy city", I said
"You know I never thought of ever going to something like this to to escape from everything, not before I met you", he said
"Really? Not one time?", I asked, curiously
"Didn't have the time, I really kept myself on a very strict schedule", he said "Just didn't think that it was all that important"
"I understand, you were given a pretty big responsibility at a young age and leading a team, protecting your brothers, and trying to keep a whole city safe, that isn't easy at all for someone to do", I said "There is only so much that one person can take and if you put too much on their shoulders it's not okay, you have to treat and take care of yourself too"
"There was moments where I could do only a little of what I wanted to do personally, I thought after I got into the leader role more that I would have some more time back for myself, but as time went on and it started to get harder, it took a lot out of me", he said "Someone had to keep everyone in line"
"If I only had knew you prior to, I would of relieved some of that tension and stress", I said, looking up to him "You deserved to be able to be yourself too you know, enjoy being a teenager"
He chuckled lightly. "First time I felt like I could really do that, is when I first met you", he said, looking towards me "That night when we met in that alley and forward, every time I was with you, I felt like I could just bring that wall down I didn't have to be so uptight or worry about anything, no brothers, no patrol, no missions, no stress, I felt like I could just be me and nothing else"
"I had no idea that I had done anything like that, hopefully that was a good thing", I said, sounding surprised
"It was one of the best things that you could have ever done for me", he said, titling my chin up to meet with his face "And I thank you everyday for giving me that gift"
I couldn't help but smile and we gave each other a peck. "Well I am glad that I was able to, and I got to say I have brought out quite a bit of a dork in you", I said
He blushed red in the cheeks looking away embarrassed and I shoved his shoulder playfully giggling. "Hun it's okay it never hurts to be a kid once in awhile, between you and me, I acted like a kid at times too even when I was a teenager, Yani would do the silliest of things sometimes, even if I was in a bad mood he knew that would get me turn around. His favorite prank was the foam dart gun and we would get into it for hours", I said
"He did that?", he asked, sounding surprised
"For someone who was very disciplined and old schooled, yeah he certainly had his moments", I said, giggling "He told me that it can't be all work and no play"
"Splinter had a few moments too, when we were younger", he said
"Really did he now? And just what did our father have up his sleeve?", I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder
He chuckled. "This one time when were nine, Mikey found a few cans of silly string in the tunnels where we would go exploring and thought it would be funny to start a trend of pranking, it started off where he would get us at the random of moments, each of us wanted to get revenge. Who would of thought that each of us would of found the same spot where he had found the arsenal trying to think of a way to get back at the knucklehead?"
I giggled. "And let me guess it turned into a full blown prank war?", I asked
"Oh it did", he said, laughing "I swear there was enough silly string to cover the whole lair we just didn't stop, not until we were completely covered, but when Splinter came back to the lair from a retreat, oh man we were in so much trouble, he sent us straight to the hashi"
I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh no, what happened?", I asked
"We weren't even in there for a good ten minutes having to do these balancing acts and when he came in I was expecting a lecture for us making such a mess, but what he did next took us by surprise, he sprayed all four of us with hidden cans of silly string while we tried to stay balanced and it quickly turned us to getting back at him with us eventually being all caught up in a tangled mess, here I even have it saved on my phone"
He pulled out his phone from his belt and showed me the photo and I couldn't help but burst out laughing with Leo joining me. "Oh my gosh! You guys are completely covered!", I said
"Yeah it was tricky to get all of that stuff off, had to take like three showers", he said
"This is too funny, how long did this battle go on for?", I asked
"With Splinter, making it a total of five hours", he said "Plus the two hours of clean up"
I gently took the phone from his hand and pulled it closer to my face. "You guys sounded like you had quite the memories growing up", I said
He carefully took the phone back as he kept his eyes on the photo. "We tried to make the best of it, Splinter told us for as long as I could remember, that he knew growing up underground wasn't the easiest thing in the world for all of us. His teachings to us of the way of the ninja provides us with focus and purpose and without it we would be directionless", he said
"Do you have any more memories like this?", I asked
"I only remember a few from when we were just hatchlings, but I wished we had more of memories like this as we got older, but I was so involved in Ninjitsu that I just...", he said, softly closing his phone with a frown
"Hey", I said, placing my hand on his shoulder "It isn't your fault, you were just doing what you had to do"
"But still I wish I could of allowed more, but being leader took over everything", he said "Sometimes I wish I wasn't chosen"
"I know, but that doesn't mean that what you have done before isn't bad either", I said, rubbing his shoulder tenderly "I mean think about it, if you weren't chosen as leader, imagine how things would be today probably not the way that they are now if you hadn't lead the team to success, you are the leader that they need and more than you think Leo"
"Thanks Callista, I guess you are right and I am and will always be grateful for what he has done for me and my brothers, though I wish I had known better, you know if I wasn't so strict some of things wouldn't have happened, like all those fights", he said, looking to me with a frown "I regret all of them"
"I know you do, but it's all in the past now, but look at all the fun moments and memories we have made together up and until now, think of it as a way of making up for all that time that was lost", I said, with a smile "We have done so many amazing things that you probably would have never thought you would be able to do. Going up to a cabin, watching fireworks, hiking in Japan, skiing down a hill, even coming down here is a fun time because we get to spend time together. So you see, it doesn't matter what happened in the past because it doesn't matter anymore the only thing that matters is what you do now"
Leo slowly began to smile. "You know you are right, sometimes you really amaze me with your wisdom", he said "I really needed that"
"It's a specialty", I said, with a giggle "Amen to Yani"
I laid my head against his shoulder as Leo brought his arm around me giving my head a nuzzle and kiss. After another hour of relaxing and having small talk, the moon was just resting above the skyscrapers, it was starting to get late and we would have to head back soon. But before that had to happen, I grabbed Leo's hand around my shoulder giving the knuckles a kiss before getting up to my feet walking along the soft warm sand. I walked over to the shore following the path where the tides met the sand. The cool water rushed past my ankles bringing the salty scent of the ocean up to my nostrils. The moon was just in the right place at the right time casting a beautiful dancing glow making the surface shimmer with white light. I was glad that we had came here tonight, it was allowing me now to reflect on everything that has happened in my life. Some were the best things to ever happened in my life, while only a few were not so much. Despite everything that we have been through in the last two months, we made it through together and we were now stronger than before. I could hear the faint footsteps of Leo coming up beside me even without having to look beside me to see him. But not after a few moments I heard a splash and water sprayed my face making me shriek. I turned to Leo who looked away with an innocent big grin on his face, biting his lower lip trying not to laugh.
"Oh yeah?", I said, wiping my face dry from the water
As a small wave was coming towards the shore, I got a sneaky idea as I suddenly grabbed a hold of Leo's chest strap and tried to sweep my foot behind his ankles. We both ended up laughing as each of us struggled trying to get the advantage. But I managed to twist him to side low enough where I could sweep my foot behind his ankles knocking him off his feet before tossing him into the wave that came crashing down on top of him, covering him completely in water. As the wave pulled away Leo was now cover in strands of seaweed and sand spitting out water from his mouth, I couldn't help but laugh at his state as I stood over him. "I always knew you were a bit of a sea turtle!", I said, laughing
"You wait!", he said, suddenly getting up
I shrieked running away laughing as Leo chased after me, luckily I had an advantage since I have ran on the beach more times than he has during a few training sessions with Yani and I was able to kick water at him splashing he got too close. Though he was very determined to catch me as I saw the devious smirk on his face as he started to catch up, making me giggle uncontrollably. Soon I felt his strong arms encircle around me pulling me off my feet trying to drag me to the ocean. "No! No!", I said, laughing as I fought against his grip
"Oh not this time Calli! Now it's your turn!", Leo said, chuckling
"No! I won't let you win!", I said, shrieking as he continued to try to bring me closer and closer to the shore
I was laughing so hard I nearly melted out of his grip and I could tell Leo was having a struggle to with him laughing just as hard as me. But then I felt Leo being pushed over me and that's when I looked behind me and a wave hits us both knocking us both on the sand. As the wave pulled away I shook my face free from water and sand even though some still clung on to my wet skin. I looked down to see Leo's face till he brought his head up to meet my face and there was more seaweed stuck around his bandanna than the first time. I couldn't help but start to laugh as he started to laugh along with me. "I got to say I love the new hairstyle", I said, giggling "Is seaweed in this year?"
"Oh it is everyone is trying in it!", he said, flipping the seaweed as if it were hair as I laughed out loud "Is that a new face mask you trying?"
"Oh yes sand is just so good for the skin, it makes me feel ten years younger", I said, rubbing my cheeks feeling the sand in between my fingers as he chuckled
"Jeez we acted just like everyone did today, like little kids", he said, sliding off of me, helping me sit up
"Hey but this time you actually started it", I said, with a smirk "It's normally most of the time it's me who instigates it"
"Well you still splashed water on me!", he said
"Hey I saw an opportunity and took it and besides you weren't ready for the trick I had up my shell", I said
"I almost had you!", he said, holding up a fist playfully
"Yeah almost, but I still got you twice", I said, with a victory grin
"Well at least I managed to get you with one wave, so that is a victory for me", he said, with a chuckle "But I got to say you were quick for running on sand"
"What can I say? I have had quite a bit of practice, thank you Yani for doing beach training sessions", I said
"Just wait until next time I went easy on you", Leo said, as I rolled up to my feet
"Sure you did honey", I said, with a smart tone, helping him up
Even for us being serious leaders of a ninja clan having to deal with stressful situations and a crazy family life it never hurts to act like you are a child again, being silly when you can have the moment. It's what gives you a break in the hardships of life. I shed off my wet coat shaking off the remaining off of me as Leo was squeezing out the remaining water from his mask tails and I chuckled throwing my coat on top of his head as he growled playfully taking it off his head. "Hey! What the shell?", he asked, laughing
"Payback is a kick in the shell babe!", I said, giggling "That was for Valentines Day"
"Oh so that is how you want to play it huh?", he asked, taking off his coat, twisting it up
"No! No! No!", I said, running off giggling as Leo started to chase me trying to squeeze the water on me
Leo laughed as he chased me across the beach but ended up catching up to me squeezing the cold water from his coat on me making me shriek trying to block it with my arms. "Leonardo!", I yelled
"Payback baby!", he said, laughing
"You are so dead!", I said, trying to hide myself the best I can
The chase didn't last for too much longer till there was no more water in Leo's coat to get me wet, it ended up with me being soaked but I would have my revenge soon enough after giving him a playful punch to the arm. We got back up to the board walk as I dried off with the blanket that we brought as we started to make our way home. "You are lucky we have a baby to go home to otherwise I would of tossed you back into the sea again", I said, with a giggle
"Like you even could", he said, with a chuckle nudging me
"Just you wait, I will get you, you will regret being so cocky towards me", I said, giving him a smirk
"Oh I am so scared, I am so scared", he said, saying in a dramatic playful voice
We both ended up laughing as we made our way into the sewers and us climbing down the ladder into home. "Perfect just like how we left it", Leo said, softly as he hung both of our coats on hooks
"I am surprised no Mikey up for a late night feast", I said, softly giggling "Guess our cooking did another miracle tonight"
"I'll go check up on the kids, you go on and get yourself cleaned up", he said
"Right clean my hubby's mess he made on me", I said, cocking an eyebrow at him
He stuck his tongue out playfully before I shook my head rolling my eyes walking away to head to the bathroom for a shower. After getting cleaned up, I snuggled up in bed reading one of my newest novels looking over to Julie to see she was sound asleep with Gatino tight in her arm resting her head on his back. I couldn't help but smile, ever since I put him in her incubator she loved him every second always snuggling up against him. I took a sip of my tea from the cup on my nightstand before turning my attention back to my book. After a few more minutes I heard the lights clicking off and Leo come out from the bathroom. "Ahhh much better", he said, stretching his arms above his head
"You said it, it's better to be nice and warm", I said, looking up from the page "Rather than being cold and sandy"
"I think this was just what we needed tonight a little break from everything, a chance to heal", he said, putting his katana on the rack above my own "After everything"
"I think so too, we just haven't had the time to you know, I got to say this has probably been one of the toughest battles we have ever faced", I said, setting my book down on the nightstand "To me it felt just as tough maybe even more tough than the final battle with Shredder"
"I agree with you, but like all our battles we have ever faced we triumphed it, it wasn't easy but by staying strong and having faith, we made it", he said, with a smile "We won"
"You are right and it only made us stronger", I said
"We should go down to your paradise more often, it was really...fun", Leo said "Felt like a little kid again, it felt nice"
"We should, I think it really gives a chance to really bring us closer together as a couple", I said "Maybe we should bring the whole family along down there one day too, I think everyone would love going down there too"
"Great idea, we can all be little kids together", he said, laying down beside me
I chuckled. "For sure, but I am glad we had fun tonight", I said, smiling down to him "It was nice to spend some time with you"
"Me too, by the way you got a lot of sand down my shell", he said, nudging my thigh
I chuckled and just then we could hear Julie started to whimper from her crib before it turned into soft cries. "Makes you feel any better, you did get a lot of sand down my shell", I said, sliding off the bed "And you even got a strand of seaweed in too"
I walked over towards the crib and carefully picked up Julie, who was swaddled in her yellow blanket hugging Gatino with her one arm, giving her shell a few gentle strokes hushing her softly as she settled down. "It's okay Sunflower, it's okay, we are right here, everything is alright now", I said, softly rocking her "We made it through, things are going to be get better now"