Don didn't know how much sleep he managed to get that night since Kira had another nightmare and woke him at least once, crying quietly against his side. Her face twisted in anguish.
After that it took about an hour to settle her down again before he managed to doze off again himself. Which was probably why he was so reluctant to wake up again when he felt a thick index finger tapping him on the shoulder in the universal sign that Leo had created to wake him and the others on days when they had ninjutsu practice.
Goaning Don cracked one dark eye open and sort of glared at the person leaning over him when he heard Leo whisper, "Easy Don, it isn't time for practice yet. I was just trying to find Kira since she was missing from her bed again."
Don sighed and managed to open two bleary eyes to look the girl over. Kira lay on her back, the knuckles of one small hand touching his plasteron while her other hand rested under her cheek, her fingers curled just so. Her long dark hair a tangled mass around her little head- she was dead to the world after the night she had had.
Or so he imagined.
Shifting slightly, Don subtly moved his body away from her own and slowly disengaged himself from her and rolled out of bed. Once standing he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked towards the digital clock across the room that he used to help him keep tack of time and frowned when he noted that it was past eight am.
Usually on a normal day- their mornings started at five and continued until nine or ten depending on Master Splinter's mood. But ever since the night Kira had become one of their family, Splinter had been allowing them to sleep more, checking on them while they all slept- getting himself into the old familiar pattern that he had used to raise them.
Of course this didn't mean that they could just laze about, after all stopping the Foot and the Purple Dragons were of great importance to them. It mearly meant that their father was driving them harder in different ways while trying to give Kira what she needed. It was a difficult task, but one that the turtles certainly didn't envy their master/father.
Don motioned for Leo to follow him to the door and had to stop and wait when he and his older brother heard Kira whimper in her sleep. Both turtles looked over their shoulders for a moment, half wondering if she was having another nightmare when she fell silent and simply rolled over- still sound asleep.
Once outside of the lab Don let out a loud yawn as Leo asked quietly, "So what brought her down here this time?"
"The usual." Don said as the two headed towards the kitchen where they could hear Mikey moving around, trying to fix their breakfast. They walked into the kitchen and Mikey paused just long enough to ask,
"Kira okay?"
"Yeah. She's fine Mikey."
"Are you sure? Cause she was missing again-" The orange clad turtle pointed out before going on to say, "Master Splinter nearly had a stroke when he came to check on us and couldn't find her." Mikey said as he pulled some yogurt and fruit out of the fridge to make Kira's breakfast/lunch along with an egg that he set down on the counter before reaching up to the top of the fridge where the bread was kept and pulling it from it's place.
Don made a noncommental sound as he made his way over to the coffee machine and grabbed his favorite mug from the cabinet and poured himself a cup of the steamy dark liquid, and took a small sip before saying, "Well of course Splinter is going to have a conniption upon finding his new baby missing. Remember some of the fits we used to give him when we were kids?"
"Yeah." Leo said as he remembered the first time he had run away from home.
"Of course." Mikey said as he recalled the first time Raph had flipped out on them all and taken one of his birthday presents, a skateboard that Don had managed to salvage from the dump and fix up with some paint- and broke it over his head causing their master/father to nearly scream the lair down around them.
"Then you should know that as the new baby of the family-" Don said, pausing to take another sip of his coffee before continuing, "Master Splinter will worry and fuss over her endlessly. Besides, she's good for him. Have you guys noticed that she's taken an interest in some of the things we never did?"
"Like what?" Both Mikey and Leo asked in unison.
"Like ink painting, and folklore- I even think yesterday Master Splinter broke out that old bamboo flute to teach her how to play it." Don said as his brothers stared at him for a moment before smiling. Yes, that sounded like something that their master/father would teach his daughter.
Something beautiful and tasteful, much like the girl herself. "I think I'm suddenly excited to hear her first song." Leo said as he leaned back against the counter as Mikey pulled out a frying pan and set it on the stove and turned on the eye so that the pan could heat up.
"Me too." Mikey said as he grabbed some cooking spray and a spatula.
Don smiled and then quickly finished off his coffee then said, "I need to get back to the lab just in case she wakes up. She has enough issues without abandonment issues becoming an issue too."
"Right. I'll come and get you both when breakfast is done." Leo said as Don made his way towards the door.