Author's Note: It's been a very long time since I've updated this story, and for that I apologize! There's no excuse for such a simple fic to wait so long. I guess real life and my other projects got in the way. I hope you enjoy what I've put out here and I'll try to update more quickly next time!

The days began to fall into a new routine. Pieces of Donatello's old life were quickly transplanted around his new one. A blanket with mismatched pieces quilted into the edges, the stitches unsure and oversized.

He hadn't realized what being exhausted really meant.

Sometimes it was hard to look at her. Haru's eyes and jawline were Akane's, and in her face shades of Donatello himself, things even he could point out. He ached with guilt some mornings, waking up seeing the tiny creature in her basket. Her existence was precarious. And entirely his fault.

When he thought about her like that, he couldn't help but feel affection-she was, after all, the product of a kind of love, if brief and spontaneous. And she was extremely cute, reaching for his mask tails in fascination or smiling wide when he leaned over her. Donnie was incapable of hardening his heart, much too compassionate not to be taken in by his tiny charge.

Usagi had disappeared not long after he'd brought Haru to them, but returned just days later, shaking his head at Donatello's questions. The house Akane had lived in was empty and cleared of all furniture, all food, all traces of life. Villagers said that the hag she worked for had packed up abruptly, taking her servant girl to somewhere unknown. Nearer to Edo, they said. Or Nagoya. Nobody was certain.

Donnie knew for sure then that he would be alone.

So he woke up early for her, put aside his projects for her, fed her and changed her. Each was a challenge in itself, but he did what he could, and he was grateful when it all seemed to work. Haru kept weight on and had high energy, to his relief. He wasn't sure what he would do if he mistreated her by accident on top of everything else.

Mikey hovered, eager to help. Sometimes Donnie found his presence useful, with Mikey able to quiet her quickly, and always more instinctive in his actions with Haru than Donnie could dream of being. To avoid brotherly contact, he tried to be out and about only when his younger brother was suitably distracted.

Splinter took her sometimes too, even if it was just to give Donnie a chance to eat or rush to shower. But most of the time Donatello went through his penance himself, keeping busy and distant with Haru's care. It needed time, he told himself. Soon he could bring his family back into his new, frightening pattern.

The resentment would rise up suddenly and in spite of himself, if he happened to look towards his lab while trying to calm Haru late at night, or the way Raph or Leo would look at her in his arms, an alien being in their tight-knit little clan. He tried to be collected about it. She was an infant. She wasn't in full control of all her functions, and she needed him on task at every moment. His brothers would get used to her, and so would he. They were good brothers, gentle people, and would even grow to love her one day. Maybe.

Maybe not if he kept her away like he had. Donatello needed the right moment to re-orient himself, and Haru.

Still, the isolation stung. He missed his projects (the poor Battle Shell, possibly never to be remodeled) almost as much as he missed his brothers. Food and sleep were speedy, necessary chores to keep himself alive in between the parenting.

The piercing cry of his daughter woke him, again, and his eyes snapped open. He reached to his right for his mask, and the digital clock caught his eye. 6:21. Later than yesterday. He might as well just get up; he could make coffee and no one would be there to get in the way.

Except his charge—no, his daughter. He had thought he might be getting better at thinking of her in the right terms, but maybe not. Patience was needed.

His feet hit the concrete floor and he made himself head towards the basket, the same one Haru had been delivered in. It sat next to his bed, soon to be much too small for her to use. Where else, though, would they have put her, and what else could she sleep in? Mikey had started to scrounge around topside for him (he had not been asked), but pickings were slim when it was for something so unknown. He'd have to get around to asking April sometime soon.

He was just leaving the room, Haru tucked snugly against his shoulder, when he heard the telltale sounds of training. Leo's swords made their soft swish against the air, Donatello's oldest brother occasionally grunting with the effort.

Maybe he could cross the lair and make it to the kitchen before Leo noticed him. Get his coffee, cross again, and hide out till Leonardo left. Silent on his feet, he left the doorway and hoped the katas would be a deep enough distraction for his brother.

"Morning."

Donatello stopped in his tracks, suppressing a sigh. "Hey." Stupid. Nothing got past Leo.

Leo paused, lowering his swords. "You're up early." His eyes darted around uncharacteristically, apparently trying to avoid Haru.

Donnie smiled, awkwardly shifting his weight to his other foot. He and Leo hadn't spoken much since the incident, and he wasn't sure if it was because Leo was ashamed of his brother's mistake, Donnie was too ashamed of himself, or if neither of them just knew what to say. Maybe all of the above.

"Yeah, well. She kinda sets her own schedule." Haru was unusually quiet, her gaze trained on the unfamiliar figure not far away. Unfamiliar because Donnie had barely even brought himself to pass her to Splinter or Mikey occasionally, let alone his other, older brothers. Ones he was pretty sure were unhappy with the change to their family's dynamic.

"Heh. I guess babies do that."Leo seemed unsure of what to say next. Donnie was about to smile back, agree, and make his escape when Michelangelo stumbled in, rubbing his eyes as dramatically as possible.

"Ugh, dudes, I had such a crazy dream that I had to get up, and-" He trailed off when he saw Donatello, and his face lit up straightaway. "Hey! Look who's back out with the family!"

Donnie didn't have time to tense, with Michelangelo suddenly at his side, grinning at Haru. "Morning, kiddo! Did you wake up early, too? I don't usually, but it's lucky I did! I could say hello."

Haru gurgled, reaching a out a tiny hand towards him and shifting in Donatello's grip. Mikey met it without hesitation, letting her grab his finger and reach out another hand, towards his mask. Despite all these exciting distractions, Michelangelo's eyes took in the details—the bags under Donnie's eyes, the droop in his posture, the likelihood that he'd been losing weight these weeks.

"Bro! You look exhausted. Did you get any sleep the past three days? Even, like, half a wink?"

He could see Leo standing behind Mikey, watching this exchange with something like bemusement. Neither he nor Raph had come anywhere near Haru since her initial arrival, so Mikey's enthusiasm had yet to be infectious. Donnie smiled tiredly.

"A little bit. She's kind of a restless sleeper." A restless sleeper who seemed completely unaffected by her long nights. Who Mikey had successfully just made laugh, without trying. Donnie rarely had the energy or presence to make her really laugh, not yet.

"Dude!" He came back to real life at a sharp pain in his head, and he realized Michelangelo had flicked him on the skull. "You're dozing off on the spot." Now his brother just looked worried, and from behind them Leo had turned away, pulling out his swords again.

"I'm fine," he said, ignoring how right Mikey was. "I just need my coffee, don't worry."

A hand on his free shoulder, and Donnie sighed. Not so easy to get away, not from Mikey's warm, vice grip.

"You should go back to sleep." Mikey had removed his finger from Haru's grasp and had his arms outstretched. "Like, I know you want to do all this yourself and sensei said not to bug you if you don't want it, but I told you I was gonna help you, right?"

His bed, and the promise of a relatively uninterrupted sleep, was tempting. Donnie frowned.

"You know where her food is? And how to clean her up and stuff? I'm sure sensei will help you if you-"

"It's fine!" Mikey was grinning again, apparently eager to do some solo babysitting. "I've seen you take care of her, I can manage! Go rest, dude, you've earned it."

Leo kept his back turned, going through his katas again. Donnie chose not to bring it up.

Instead he sighed, and let his youngest brother take Haru from his arms. He waited for the fuss, from being taken out of her comfort the way she did with him or even Splinter, but she stayed calm, making her soft baby sounds.

Donnie relaxed, allowing his shoulders to slump. "I-Thanks. Just keep her out of trouble." He forced another smile. "And wake me up if she's really trouble. Really."

Hopefully he'd have the sense not to. Now that Haru's weight had been (literally) lifted from his shoulders, at least for the moment, he really could go get some sleep. Maybe even wake up and tinker quietly with something small, if he got up and Mikey was still going strong.

He felt Leo's eyes following him back to his room, but he paid no attention. The sound of Mikey chatting away at Haru filled his ears and his mind until he shut the door. Then Donnie collapsed on his bed, and heard nothing at all.