~Ding Dong~
"I wanna! I wanna!"
Ky jumped a few times until he could reach the door handle, successfully opening the door. Mikey fondly rubbed a hand over his son's head before turning to greet whoever was at the door.
It was a female turtle, accompanied by a seriously large male turtle. The male wore sunglasses and a stoic expression, but the colorful basket in his arms made him look less intimidating.
The female seemed to be a little older than Mikey, though it was hard judging the age of the turtles here.
"... Hello?" Mikey greeted, remembering his manners. Ky clung to his leg, hiding behind it as he looked up at the big serious turtle from the safety of being behind his mommy.
The female seemed a little nervous, but smiled brightly. "Hello! You must be Michelangelo, right?"
"Uh, yes. Mikey is fine, though."
"Oh, alright." The wide smile stayed fixed, though she seemed unsure when nothing happened.
Mikey blinked at the strange display and pushed Ky fully behind him. The toddler ran off towards the living room. Only seconds later Raph appeared behind Mikey, assessing the visitors with a distrustful expression.
"What do you want?"
That seemed to scare the female, as she faltered and took a tiny step back. The sunglasses-guy stared at Raph, but didn't move or say anything.
Mikey pushed Raph back a little when he saw how genuinely put off the female looked.
"Excuse my mate, Raphael has no manners." Mikey frowned up at Raph, who rolled his eyes. Ever since the incident Raphael was quite wary of anyone.
Leo had joined Donnie to visit Telon. Over the past weeks the medic had apologized a few hundred times, and very very slowly Don began to forgive him. They had begun going over new meds together, and even though Donnie had started to trust Telon again, Leo and Raph wouldn't let them be alone together.
Their election plans were kept top secret, not even Kion and Bogen knew.
The female smiled shakily again and nodded, gaining courage.
"No, it's okay. I'm sorry, I rarely meet new turtles." She apologized. "My name is Asinda, I'm the mayor's wife."
Mikey was sure he felt his heart drop to join his eggs in in his stomach. He fought not to let his surprise and oncoming feeling of dread show, and he was really glad to feel Raph's hand squeeze his shoulder reassuringly.
"What do we owe this pleasure?" Raphael said before Mikey could find his voice again.
"Okay, this sounds really weird." Asinda started, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head with a blush. "But since Voron is busy with whatever all the time lately I grew bored at home. I... I rarely leave the house, so I thought I could start slowly by taking over the customary baby visit."
"... Baby visit?" Mikey asked, blinking.
"I don't know the official term. It's what I call it." She mentioned to the basket her companion was holding. "You know, the gift basket you get when you carry multiple eggs? Didn't you receive one last time?"
"Oh... yes we did. But only after the triplets were born." Mikey relaxed against Raph's solid body, hand automatically coming to rest on his swollen belly. Now four and a half months in it was quite sizable.
"Ugh I know. I'm sorry about that. My mate was so busy, I swear I had it done about a week after you gave birth. I didn't even know you were carrying triplets until Voron told me. It's different with the turtles in The Heights since there aren't too many families. It's the only place I'm comfortable walking around, though also only with my brother Reno here. And-"
"Asinda..." The male interrupted her babbling with a slight eyeroll.
"Oh, right, sorry. Anyways, here's your basket. Best wishes for you and your family." Reno handed the large basket over, that Raph took. It looked heavy, with tons of diapers and baby powder and several baby washes and oils, a few plushies.
Mikey couldn't help but smile. While Voron had made him uneasy from the moment they met, he felt Asinda was a honest turtle.
"Thank you."
"Mommy, we make muffins?" Nix appeared and tugged on Mikey's hand, frowning at the visitors.
He jumped in surprise when Asinda dropped to her knees and squealed.
"Oh my, aren't you a little cutie?!" She gushed, not fazed at all by the baby glare. "Hello little guy, I'm Asinda, what's your name?"
Nix frowned at the female, not getting why she was so happy. He looked up at his mommy and daddy before fixing his gaze on Asinda again.
"Niss." He said, stumbling over the letter 'x'.
"This is Nix." Mikey smiled as he patted his youngest's head. "Phoenix Malachite."
"Ah yes, Voron mentioned you used gemstones for names. A really great idea." She praised, sounding honest.
Raph schooled his expression to hide his surprise. Mikey was really relaxed around this female they should consider the enemy. However, Mikey's intuition had always been right, and even Nix warmed up to the friendly turtle. Now that was the biggest surprise ever.
The baby that would cry when his own daddies would touch him, and even took ages to warm up fully to Kion and his family, was nice to a complete stranger.
"I build a cahsle, you wanna see?"
"Aw sweetie, I don't know. I don't wanna invade your home."
"Mommy! Show Asin-dah cahsle?" Seeing his son so excited around a stranger was an instant dealbreaker for Mikey. There was no need to be afraid of this turtle.
"Please, come in. You want some coffee, tea?" Asinda gave an unsure look at Raph, who let out a sigh and moved to the side, mutely inviting them in.
"Thank you, some tea would be nice. Reno, behave." The last part was directed at her brother, making the large turtle roll his eyes before taking off his shades.
"Sorry, she's quite a ball of energy when you encourage her." Reno cleared his throat as he watched her be dragged off to the living room by Nix.
There was a fond underlying tone that had Raph relax a little. "Don't mention it, I have my own ball of energy here. If he wasn't pregnant he'd jump around with Ky in the garden until they both collapse."
xxxxx
"Oh wow, what a wonderful castle! And there's even a princess in there!"
Ky smiled shyly as he giggled. "Pincess Lulu. We mus' be quiet. She sleepin'."
Asinda gasped and covered her mouth. "Alright, we don't want to wake princess Lulu from her nap!" She stage-whispered, making the toddlers laugh.
Ky carefully reached for the bracelet on her wrist. "So pwetty!"
Asinda grinned and held her hand out so he could examine it properly. "It's diamonds. You like it?" Ky nodded with wide eyes. They looked like the stars they've seen!
Amy eyed the newcomer warily. She seemed nice, her brothers were relaxed around her. Carefully she toddled over to her. Since daddy wasn't here because he was helping mommy with the beverages, she had to make sure her brothers were safe.
"Can you already read?" Asinda asked Amy, gesturing to the book she was holding. The girl shook her head, hesitantly showing the other female her picture book.
"You read?"
"You want me to read to you? Alright, but we have to be quiet, because Princess Lulu is sleeping." Amy grinned and sat with her brothers as they gathered around the woman, enjoying the story time.
xxxxx
Some time later Raph was outside with Reno and the kids, playing a softcore version of soccer while Mikey and Asinda were on the couch.
"You have wonderful children, Mikey. And those names, just perfect. And so unique!"
"Thanks." Mikey blushed. "We wanted something that fit together. Once we decided on the category it was more or less a matter of color picking." He chuckled.
Asinda laughed. "Who picked what name?"
"Donnie picked Amethyst. It was that or Charoite, Charo for a boy. He's always loved purple." Mikey leaned back on the couch, a soft smile on his face as he remembered.
"Leo wanted Kyanite for a boy or Topaz for a girl, and Raph said he wanted something special."
"Oh please, these names are special! I don't know of anyone here using gemstones as names!"
"In our dimension it's not as rare. Amber, Jasper, Jade, Ruby, those are kinda common names where we come from."
"Ah okay." Asinda nodded in understanding, sipping from her tea. "So why settle for Malachite? The color too? Green is a beautiful color."
Mikey grinned. "Well, since I didn't get to pick any names myself I insisted we go by Red Malachite, it's a brownish orange. I like orange. And well, Malachite is quite gender neutral, Mal could've fit for both boy and girl."
"It is! But I have to ask, why Phoenix? Sorry if I'm nosy, I just love talking about special names."
"Don't worry... it's just a sensitive topic." Mikey sighed and rubbed his belly. "When they were born Nix' heart didn't beat for a while. We thought he was dead. But he pulled through. He came back like a phoenix from the ashes."
Asinda covered her mouth. "That's... oh my. I'm so glad he survived..."
"Oh believe me, me too. I'm a little scared for these two, to be honest. I don't know what I would do if they don't make it."
"No, don't think like that! You're strong, and your babies are too. You have to believe in them!"
Mikey blinked at the woman for a moment before he couldn't help but chuckle watery, rubbing at his leaking eyes.
"You're right. They're gonna be fine."
"Of course they will." Asinda said sternly, putting her cup away. She smiled then, changing the topic.
"Did you already think of names for them?"
Mikey shrugged, reaching for a book about gemstones under the coffee table.
"I haven't told the others yet, but since I didn't get to pick a name last time I think I deserve to choose the twins'." He smiled as he thumbed through the pages. He stopped and pointed at a picture.
"It's not set in stone, but I like Alexandrite. It changes color and Alex is a good nickname for both boy and girl. Peridot sounds so cute, but I'm not sure if it would fit for when he or she is grown up."
He turned a few pages to find the next on his list. "This is my favorite I think..." Mikey stroked a finger over the picture of a bright blue polished stone. "It looks like the ocean. Here stands it's a mineral, but who cares? Cavansite. Cav for short. I also like Calcite, Cal. "
"Aw..." Asinda smiled.
Mikey giggled and sniffed. "Sorry, I'm a little emotional."
"Oh no, it's okay. That's completely normal. Come, show me more."
"Here. Almandine for a girl, Alma. It's a deep red. Aventurine, Ave or Ava. Cassiterite, Cassi." Mikey counted off, pointing at the matching pictures.
"They all sound so pretty... I could never decide."
"I'm not deciding alone either. I'm gonna present the choices and they can vote." Mikey chuckled.
xxxxx
"... So you're telling us Voron's wife just came over for tea? And you like her?"
Both Leo and Donnie couldn't believe their ears. Raph was even totally calm when he told them.
"Hey, the kids like her, Mikey likes her. It's not like we told her our deepest secrets. She brought that gift basket, she had some tea and then she and her brother left. Completely peaceful, no nosy questions, nothing to worry about."
"Who are you and what did you do to our Raphael?" Donnie teased, making Raph roll his eyes at him.
"Actually, I think this is a good idea..." Leo mused, leaning back on the couch. "Just think about it. Voron could become suspicious with how Donnie keeps evading him, for example. If we act normal towards his wife he won't have a reason to suspect a thing."
"Yep. And as long as we don't tell her anything..."
"I don't care who; anyone but me is going to give them a bath." Mikey announced as he entered the living room.
"Baff! Baff!" Amy's squeal announced her arrival as she toddled in after him and clapping. She had chocolate smeared around her mouth and fingers. Ky and Nix looked similar.
Raph grinned and got up, offering his seat to his youngest mate, who took it gratefully.
"Now look at you, what did you do?" Nix grinned and licked some chocolate from his little fingers.
"Muffins! Imma chef!"
Mikey chuckled and snuggled into Donnie's side, whose arm came up around him.
"Ah yes, mommy's little chef. Did you all help baking?" Leo asked as he also got up to help bathing them. He picked up Ky, enduring the nuzzle that spread chocolate all over his cheek.
"I an' Amy are f-food c-... cwicket?"
"Critics. Food critics." Mikey supplied with a grin, not even looking up as he got comfortable with his head on Don's lap.
"Oooh, so what do you say? Are the muffins good?"
"Yes! Sooooooo good!" Amy spread her arms wide with a grin. Ky nodded in agreement and Nix grinned proudly.
Raph snatched Amy and Nix up, carrying each of them over a shoulder.
"Alright, let's get you nice and clean now and then it's bed-time." The toddlers squealed and wiggled in their daddy's grip.
Donnie waved bye-bye at them with an amused smile, their laughs and squeals vanishing up the stairs with Leo and Raph.
The olive turtle rubbed his hand over Mikey's head, chuckling at the content purr the action brought.
"You know, one of us could've helped you." He said after a few moments, his hand wandering over Mike's shoulder and arm down to his belly.
"As if I would let any of you know my secret recipe." Mikey smiled with his eyes closed. "I can handle a few energetic toddlers for an hour."
"Yeah, and it didn't tire you out at all." Don said sarcastically, laughing at his brother's yawn.
"I didn't say that." Mikey said, turning to lay on his carapace and enjoying the hand rubbing his belly. "I am tired."
"Mhm, I guess we're going to bed early tonight."
Mikey shrugged. "Oh hey, how did it go with Telon?"
"He's honestly sorry. I see it with every thing he says and does. He acts like I would cut off his tail any second... I still have half the mind to."
"Hey, you said you'd forgive him."
"I said I'd give him a chance, and that's what I'm doing. And believe me, Kion and Bogen made him suffer enough. Just... It's gonna take a lot more time until I can trust him again."
Mikey covered Donnie's hand with his own and smiled. "At least you're trying."
Donatello shrugged one shoulder and smiled. "Yeeeah whatever. Let's talk about something else."
"If you want a distraction, the kitchen is a disaster. And I'm not cleaning it up."
"..." Donnie blinked for a moment. "Why don't we watch TV? The show you like so much is on."
After successfully diverting the topic, the two turtles watched a show for a while until Raph and Leo came back.
"They want a bedtime story."
Mikey rubbed his eye, having been on the verge of falling asleep. "Can't you read something to them? I'm tired."
"We tried, they insist on mommy's special beddie-bye story." Mikey gave a sleepy chuckle and got up with Donnie's help.
"Fine, they get their story."
Don turned off the TV and draped an arm over Mike's shoulders, walking along with him.
"I'm coming with him. You two could do the dishes and join us? When they're asleep we could have a little fun..."
"Sounds like a plan." Raph grinned and grabbed Leo's hand, pulling him to the kitchen.
As soon as their backs were turned, Donnie pushed Mikey up the stairs as fast as possible. They were already closing the upper gate behind them when they heard the twin groans from their mates at the sight of the messy kitchen.
"How did they manage to hit the ceiling?!"
Mikey and Donnie exchanged looks and giggled before going to find their babies for their story time.
They were huddled under an improvised tent in Nix' room. Leo and Raph had built it and had dragged a few blankets and pillows underneath so their toddlers could cuddle together.
"Hm, I wonder where our babies are..." Donnie said out loud, grinning when they could hear them giggling cutely from the tent.
"I don't know, Donnie, if they aren't here I won't have anyone to tell my beddie-bye story to..."
There was a lot of shifting coming from the tent until the triplets rolled out.
"Here! Mommy, we here!"
Mikey and Donnie laughed at the enthusiasm.
"There you are!" Donnie tickled Ky's sides, making the kid giggle.
"Come in-side! Stowy time!"
After squeezing inside and some additional squirming around to get comfortable they settled down.
"Mommy?" Amy asked from Donnie's lap, leaning over to rest both hands on Mikey's rounded belly. "Baby soon?"
Mikey laughed and rested his head on Don's shoulder.
"It's still a while, sweetie. They have to grow a little more, their shells are still too soft..."
Ky pressed a slobbery kiss to the swell and patted it carefully. "Baby hear stowy too?"
"Mh, I don't know if they can hear it yet. Maybe." Donnie answered.
Nix had a frown on his face as he snuggled into Mikey's other side. "But mommy... dis our stowy..."
Amy gasped at her younger brother. "Niss! We share!"
Nix' frown deepened and his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. He squeezed Mikey best he could with his short arms.
"No! No shay-wing!"
Mikey blinked at that. Nix never had problems sharing with his siblings. He had no idea how to handle this. "It stays your story, don't worry. I'm gonna make up another story for your siblings." He assured their toddlers.
He and Donnie exchanged looks. They'd have to keep an eye on that.
"Papa, Asin-dah has pwetty bling." Amy said, pointing at her own wrist.
"Pretty bling?" Donatello asked with a smile.
"A diamond bracelet." Mikey explained.
"Bling like stars!" Nix' eyes were wide and shining as he said that.
"Yeah, diamonds are pretty. All gemstones are pretty." Donnie said, rubbing a hand over Amy's head. "You are named after gemstones."
Ky gasped. "Pwetty too?"
"You know, if Papa is nice enough he could get my book from the living room... then we could show you."
At the expectant looks directed at him Donnie couldn't deny. With a playfully suffering sigh he got up to retrieve the book.
When he came back he had a grin on his face. "Maybe we should sleep here tonight." He whispered as he crawled back into their tent. "Sounds like they're gonna be busy for a while, and they won't be happy." He snickered.
Mikey laughed while their toddlers ignored them and grabbed for the book Donnie brought. Ky patted the cover impatiently.
"Show! Show!"
"Alright, alright, geeze." Mikey opened the book and found a picture of an Amethyst. "Here, that's Amy's namesake."
"Ooooh... so pwetty!"
"Yes, really pretty." The adults watched in amusement as their toddlers gushed over the photo, and the others next to it. They turned the page themselves eagerly to see more.
Amy gasped and pointed at a picture of a green gem. "Mommy! Whassat?"
"Aventurine. You like it?"
Their daughter nodded eagerly, while Ky tilted his head. "Is gween."
"Yes sweetie, green."
"Avy is pwetty!" Nix exclaimed with a satisfied nod after inspecting the picture, shortening the complicated name.
Mikey smiled and snuggled against Donnie again. "Mommy likes it too." He said with a pointed look at his mate.
"If we have another girl we could name her Aventurine. Little Avy..." Don smiled. "I like the sound of it."
Pressing a kiss to the olive cheek Mikey gave a satisfied purr. A squeal from their kids brought them back to reality.
"Look! Ocean!"
"That's Cavansite."
"But is stone, why look like ocean?" Amy patted Don's knee without averting her gaze from the book. Her smart Papa knew basically everything.
"That's too complicated to explain now, princess. When you're older I'll tell you, alright?" The girl pouted, but nodded.
"Baby Cav... Cav'nsite?"
"We don't know yet... maybe we find another stone you like."
Since it was getting late, and their babies were growing tired, Mikey sped things up a little and quickly found Kyanite. "That's Ky's stone."
"Bloo!"
"Yes, blue, very good." Donnie chuckled at the delighted expression of their oldest son.
"Where mine?"
Mikey flipped to Malachite, specifically Red Malachite. "Here."
"Ooooh..." He cooed, grinning as he patted the picture. "I get b... b..." He frowned at the word he couldn't get out and pointed on his wrist instead.
"You want a bracelet with your stone?" Mikey asked, a little surprised.
Nix nodded eagerly. A chorus of "Me too!" sounded from his siblings.
"That's actually a sweet idea... There's this shop in the southern quarters. In this dimension gems aren't expensive." Donnie mused. "If you go to sleep really fast now, mommy and I will talk to daddy and fafa about it."
In a flash the toddlers tumbled over themselves to curl up in a cute little turtle pile, snuggling. They were tired anyways, and with thoughts of their very own special bracelets they fell asleep only minutes later.
xxxxx
"... And then, you won't believe it, I left the house and-"
"What? You left the house? Where did you go?" Voron frowned, sighing. "You know I don't like it when you roam around..."
Asinda rolled her eyes and put away her fork. She and Voron were having a late dinner.
"Since you are so busy I got bored. I didn't roam around, I thought I could visit Michelangelo to give him one of my gift baskets. Don't worry, Reno went with me."
"... You visited Michelangelo? Was Raphael there too?"
"Yes, and he was like, really freaking me out at first. I thought he would snap at me any second." She grinned. "But then he relaxed and he and Reno went to play a ball game with the triplets. Oh you should've seen them, they are so cute!"
Voron had a thoughtful expression on as he took another bite from his food. He was pretty sure he had Leonardo on his side, at least he didn't react any different. And Donatello had bought his kind act too, even though he stayed at home now most of the time.
However, with Raphael he always felt the distrust. He was partly the reason Voron didn't stop by to visit as often as he'd like to.
He smiled pleasantly. "I can imagine. How are they doing? I haven't visited them in a while."
"Oh, they're doing so well. Amy is so smart, and her speech is so well developed! Ky is a little athlete, so full of energy and his coordination is really remarkable. And Nix, you know, for his age he really has wise eyes. It sounds weird, but sometimes it felt as if he x-rayed me."
Interesting. And so perfect. Voron felt the giddiness build up in his chest. All he needed was more patience, and then he could finally go through with his plan.
"With how skilled their parents are it's no wonder. What about Michelangelo's pregnancy? He's doing well?"
"We didn't really talk much about it. He told me he's a little emotional, the mood swings are kicking in soon. He seemed to be doing okay, but with how sweet his mates are treating him that's a given."
"Of course. They share such a deep connection."
"Exactly! Mikey told me a little bit about how they support him and help him with the kids."
"Do you plan on visiting them again?" His wife could be the key to keep track of the children's development. Without raising suspicions and with enough time to concentrate on other important matters.
"I don't know, Vee. You know I don't like to bother others."
"My sweet darling, you could never bother anyone. Bring them a few slices next time you make your tasty fruit pie. The triplets' birthday is in a couple of months, we should give them a present."
"We shouldn't favor one family over others, Voron..."
"They're triplets, they're special. They deserve a little extra attention."
At Asinda's skeptical expression he shrugged and added, "But if it makes you feel better, you could make another gift basket for Kion and his family, even if he only carries one egg."
"I guess I could do that..." Asinda looked down at her plate. Why was he suddenly okay with her 'roaming around'? He always said it was too dangerous, he didn't want her to get hurt. "To be honest, I'm a little surprised you changed your mind about me going out pretty fast..."
"As long as you keep your visits at day time, stay in The Heights and take Reno with you it's fine. I can't force you to stay inside forever, my darling."