A/N: In this oneshot Jasper will have two older brothers; both of the older brothers are twins; Kuroko and Kyle.
Oneshot
Leonardo felt a content sigh leave his lips. He was lying across the lounge, snuggled against his chest, the two covered in blankets. They had been watching a show – Jasper had persisted Leo watched it with him – but Jasper had been too tired to last until the end.
Slowly, careful not to wake his son, Leo reached for the controller and turned the television off. He bent his head down and kissed the back of the small boy's head, before standing up and tucking him in. Jasper's sapphire blue eyes fluttered open.
"Where you goin'?" The small boy mumbled tiredly.
"Go to sleep, Buddy." Leonardo replied softly, placing a hand on his son's head.
"Bu'… Um…" Jasper let out a yawn and drifted off to sleep.
As night dawned, the four brothers – Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo – began awaking. Mikey had retreated to the kitchen to help their father, Splinter, with breakfast. Raphael and Leonardo had gone to the dojo; Leo to meditate and Raph to pound his punching bag. Donnie, of course, had gone to his lab to continue on his inventing.
In the lounge room, in front of the blank black television screen, covered and tucked in blankets, laying on the lounge, little Jasper Hamato stirred.
"Daddy?" He mumbled, still half asleep. His eyes slowly opened and he surveyed his surroundings. Surroundings of which his father was not a part of.
He slowly swung his legs from the lounge and plopped onto the carpeted ground. He snuck to the edge of the lounge and peeked around it. What time was it? He hoped he wouldn't haft to go back to bed. Oh, wait, he could hear Uncle Mikey and Grandad-dy cooking breakfast – that meant it was night-time; time to get up. A small smile appeared on his lips and he headed for the dojo, knowing his father would be there. He hesitated by the doorway; he wasn't allowed in the dojo without very special permission.
"Come in, Jasper." Leonardo said, opening his eyes.
Jasper breathed in a deep breath and hurried to his father – who had started standing up from his meditative pose – and tackled him. The blue clad ninja stumbled, keeping his arms tight around his son, before regaining his balance and standing up straight. He heaved his son to his waist. Raphael, at his punching, smirked.
"You're gettin' big, aren't you, Jasper?" Leonardo asked, ignoring Raph.
"A little bit, I suppose." The small child shrugged. He looked to his father's eyes, "Do you know wha's for breakfast yet?"
"Nah." Leonardo glanced around the room, "You seen your brothers yet?"
"No." Jasper replied, "But they'll turn up, won't they?"
Leonardo let out a heavy sigh and smiled weakly, "Yeah."
His two older sons, Kuroko and Kyle, both twins and aged at eight years old, had proved themselves to be very mischievous children. Despite being the middle child, Kyle was generally the one to lead their so-called 'expeditions'.
"I hope they're not up to something stupid again." Jasper sighed as Leonardo carried him out of the dojo and towards the kitchen.
"Probably best not to let our hopes get to high." Leonardo said.
"Yeah." Jasper replied. Leonardo chuckled.
Mikey poked his head out of the archway that connected the kitchen to the dining room, which was separated from the rest of the lair by a simple half-wall.
"Dinner's almost ready." He informed the two with a smile before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Leonardo, who now stood in the middle of the lounge room, placed Jasper down lounge.
"You get ready for breakfast – I'm going to go look for your brothers."
"'Kay." Jasper went on his way to where his father had directed him, while Leonardo headed up the stairs to his sons' room. The three were always complaining about having to share. "When can I get my own room?" They always asked. "When you're older." Leonardo would reply. Ten, he would specify. When Kuroko and Kyle were ten, they could all have their own room. "But then Jasper won't haft to wait that whole extra year we did!" The twins would complain. Because that one year mattered so very, very much. Leonardo heaved a sigh and rubbed at the creases on his forehead, smoothing them over. He arrived at their room and knocked on the door twice before opening it. He could hear the two scurrying and was half thankful that they were still here in the lair and not exploring the sewer tunnels on their own, but was also suspicious of the hushed whispers they made.
"What are you two up to?" Leonardo demanded.
Kuroko and Kyle stared up at him from the middle of the room innocently, their hands behind their shells.
"Nothing." They replied in synchronisation
"Hands. Now. All four of them."
The two glanced at each other, sighed in defeat, and then showed what was in their hands; chocolate.
"And what's this?" Leo asked.
"Um… Just… Just chocolate." Kyle said.
"Chocolate?"
"Yeah."
Leonardo turned to face Kuroko, knowing that he was most likely to spoil their plans, "And what were yous planning to do with this 'chocolate'?"
Kyle felt his throat tighten and his shoulders slump, knowing, too, that Kuroko would – unwillingly, unknowingly – give them up. He had a knack of saying the wrong thing and this generally caused them to get punished. Of course, this would happen either way, but Kyle preferred to be punished for a prank they had pulled, not one they had been planning to.
"We were," Kuroko hesitated and glanced back at Kyle.
"I asked the question, Kuroko. You're talking to me. Not Kyle."
Kuroko gulped and nodded, "Y-Yeah. I-I know." Again, Kuroko hesitated, "We were… Going to… Give them to Jasper? As a present?"
Leonardo nodded, "So you weren't going to eat them?"
Kuroko hesitantly shook his head, his eyes staying on his father's. Leonardo searched for some glimpse of his son's give-aways. There was none. So, they were going to give the chocolates to Jasper? But there was no way this was just some act of kindness. Kuroko and Kyle, do something nice? No.
"So, why don't you try one, then, Kuroko?"
His son's blue eyes widened, "T-Try one? B-B-But- but- but- I mean, they're-they're for-for… For… O-Okay."
Kuroko turned to Kyle, who flashed him an 'it was nice knowing you' smile. Letting out a hesitant sigh, Kuroko plopped one of the chocolates into his mouth. As Leonardo had expected, this did not end well. As it had turned out, the chocolates were not actually chocolates; merely disguised as such. Leonardo was not sure what they were really made of, nor was he certain that he wanted to know. All he knew was that the 'chocolates' were a bad, bad thing. Both Kuroko and Kyle grieved over their prank-items, which Leonardo had disposed of in the sewer waters, and had watched as they drifted away.
"It took us weeks to make those!" Kyle had whinged, earning a scolding look from his father.
"Come on," Leonardo sighed, "Breakfast should be ready."
The second the whole of the Hamato family had sat down, Michelangelo leaned towards the twins to ask about their latest expedition. Jasper frowned at them from his end of the table, next to his father. Donnie sat on Leonardo's other side and asked what they had been up to now. Leonardo gave a brief explanation.
"And they thought I was stupid enough to eat them?" Jasper gasped, obviously insulted.
"Hey!" Kyle said indignantly, "You know, one day we might give you an actual box of chocolates!"
"Pff." Jasper scoffed.
Splinter rolled his eyes and smiled. The three sometimes really did remind him of the "old days". It was always odd to think back to when Donatello and Michelangelo had both taken an interest to pranking.
"It would've worked." Kuroko stated confidently.
"Sure." Jasper said, rolling his eyes.
"It would have!" Kyle insisted.
"Enough." Leo said, his voice growing evermore steadier with annoyance.
Mikey laughed. All eyes turned to him for an explanation of the sudden humour.
"Well, it's just," Mikey said as he picked up a fork and poked at his scrambled eggs, "You know, yous remember when Raph used to call Leo 'mother hen'? It's just funny that now he's… Um… It… It sounds funnier in my head."
Raph rolled his eyes. There was a beat of silence.
"It's funny thinking of Dad as a kid." Kuroko said as he shovelled a pile of eggs into his mouth.
The four brothers laughed.
"I don't think he was ever a kid." Mikey teased, flashing his blue clad brother a grin, "He was always way too serious for all that. Weren't you, Leo?"
"Well, I wasn't… I wasn't always serious." Leo said defensively.
Raphael scoffed and humour lightened his eyes, "Yeah yer were, Leo. A teacher's pet, too. Nevah broke a single rule."
Leonardo raised his eye bridge at that.
Donatello raised his eye bridge, too, "What? So you did break the rules?"
Leonardo shrugged and returned his focus to his breakfast, and smiled slyly, "Maybe once or twice."
At this, Splinter's ears perked up.
"Seriously?" Raphael asked.
"Well, you don't seriously thought I waited up all those nights for you, do you?" Leonardo still did not look up from his food.
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold it up jus' a minute. Those nights you lectured me for bein' reckless and goin' out and stayin' out late-,"
"You're the one who gave me the idea." Leo said, clarifying, "To, you know, say I was staying up waiting for you."
"How?" Raphael frowned.
Leo shrugged, "You jumped to an assumption. One that involved me not breaking the rules and… I don't know, I just took it. Why admit to breaking the rules, and get in trouble, when I could just tag the blame on you? Made my excursions to the surface a lot easier."
"Is that so?" Splinter asked.
Leonardo opened his mouth, as though to speak, but no words came out.
"Ooh, busted!" Michelangelo cooed.
"Busted, indeed." Splinter said.
"I-It was a long time ago, though," Leo said, fearing being punished, "I mean-,"
"Busted, indeed." Splinter repeated.
Raphael smirked, obviously liking this.
"I can't believe Daddy used to break the rules!" Jasper exclaimed, flopping onto his bed.
They were all gathered in their bedroom. Their father was in the dojo, being 'disciplined'. None of the three understood what the word meant entirely.
"Me, neither." Kyle said, frowning, "I mean, all these times he telling's us off, and he's used to break the rules, too! That's so unfair!"
"I don't think Daddy broke the rules like you and Kuroko, though." Jasper said, "Yous two break the kinda rules that Uncle Mikey broke."
"Yeah… But still." Kyle said grudgingly.
There was a prolonged pause in which nobody spoke.
"You guys ever notice how dark it is down here, compared to topside?" Jasper asked softly.
"Not really." Kyle said.
Kuroko made a humming sound; mm-mm. 'No', in word-form. Jasper felt his cheeks burn.
"M-Me, neither."
A/N: Please review. J