Fearless woke up to a bunch of muffled crashes- and a lot of loud footsteps. He poked his head out of his shell, and tried to listen.
Mama Jones and Dad Jones were whispering loudly- and it excited Fearless. What was going on? He had to know!
Casey was still sleeping, so it was easy to run out of the room. Fearless squeezed under the door, and scampered past the living room and he heard all the big sounds coming from behind a big door.
All of a sudden, the door flew open and Fearless barely had time to move from Dad Jones's foot. Fearless watched as the man tried to put on a shoe while talking into a little glowing box. He was talking quickly. Something about a babysitter! Baby? Sitter?
What was going on?
Fearless watched Dad Jones rush back into the room- and wow… It was even messier than Casey's room! A bit bigger too! There were clothes all around and… Mom Jones was sitting on the bed, breathing heavily, eyes closed.
Something smelled bad- like blood. It made Fearless feel nervous. Blood wasn't good. Blood only happened when someone got hurt. Was Mama Jones hurt?
Fearless walked to Mama Jones, and when he was standing by her feet, he caught her eyes. She looked uncomfortable- with her eyes all scrunched up and her face red. Her hand was over her belly and she was rubbing it slowly.
There was a baby in there, right? Yes! Casey said his baby brother was in there.
What was going on with Mama Jones? Was the baby okay?
Fearless grabbed the bedsheet with his mouth, and tried climbing up. He noticed the dark red stains on the bed. He didn't like being there. But he wanted to know what was going on!
Fearless chirped at Mama Jones, and she patted his shell, but she didn't talk to him. How rude! He wanted to know what was going on! Somebody tell him what was going on!
Dad Jones sounded tired, "Marie, we're ready to go. My mom's on her way and… Fearless? What are you doing here?"
Mama Jones sighed, "Ignore the turtle Arnold- let's just go. I don't think the baby is doing so good,"
Dad Jones helped her up, and he gave Fearless a confused look. Fearless was getting mad- why wasn't anyone talking to him! Where were they going? Were they going to leave Casey alone? No!
Casey appeared at the door, rubbing one eye and looking like he was barely awake, "Mama? Dad? What's going on?"
Mama Jones told him, "Honey, Mama's going to the hospital with Dad, and Grandma Jones is going to be here soon, okay?"
Casey got a little more awake, "Is my baby okay?"
The adults didn't answer, and Fearless didn't like that. He jumped off the bed, and hurried to Casey's side. Casey barely noticed him.
Dad Jones patted Casey's head, "Take care kiddo, we'll be back soon."
Casey watched as his parents rushed out the door. He stared at the door for a few more minutes, and Fearless had to climb up his pajama pants to get his attention.
What on earth was going on?
It took Casey a long time to notice Fearless, but when he did, he looked worried.
"Hey Fearless, don't worry. Grandma Jones is gonna come soon. Wanna watch TV? You can pick!"
Ooh. TV sounded nice!
They spent the night on the couch. But they didn't watch TV for too long, because Casey fell asleep. Fearless got to watch it all by himself! He learned a lot. He learned that tomorrow was going to be rainy. And that he should buy car insurance from a lizard. And that there was a robbery by purple dragon people. And that lots of things cost just $19.99! And- worst of all- a little girl and her mother got into a car accident. It made Fearless feel sad, especially since the picture of the little girl was really cute- with big blue eyes and red hair.
Fearless jumped on the TV remote, until the right button switched it off. Watching TV was fun, but it made him tired. He should take a nap.
So that's what he did! He cuddled up next to Casey's neck, and they both fell asleep.
He dreamed about Friend. And he dreamed about playing chase with Casey. And he dreamed about the little redhead girl on the TV. And he dreamed about swimming in coffee with his brothers. Hamato Yoshi was there with Dad Jones, and there were tiny Krang jumping around in the rain like wiggly worms.
It was a good dream.
But then he woke up because of another loud noise.
It came from the door! Did Dad Jones and Mom Jones come back already? Fearless decided he was going to be mad at them.
Fearless climbed onto Casey's head, and glared directly at the door. Why did they leave Casey alone? And why didn't Grandma Jones come yet?
The door opened, and a big silver-headed woman wearing strawberries on her dress came in! Ooh! Fearless liked that dress. But she was frowning. She looked angry, upset and disgusted all at once.
Was this... Grandma Jones? A new friend?
Grandma Jones shook her head, and started muttering about how messy the place was, and it was no good place for her grandson and that darn Maria didn't have a clean bone in her body.
Fearless wasn't sure if he liked her as much.
So he hid under Casey while the woman walked over. She smiled softly at Casey- a nice, warm smile- and then she got a blanket from the closet and put it over him.
Okay, maybe Fearless did like her.
If Fearless was as big as her, he would be pulling blankets all over everybody he cared about! He'd carry a giant blanket with him at all times, and when he found his turtle brothers and Hamato Yoshi, he'd give them blankets because being under blankets was very comfy.
Grandma Jones picked up things from off the floor, and she did the dishes, and she swept the room- and she scrubbed the shoes and she changed the curtains and she started making something yummy in the kitchen!
But she was muttering all the time. Complaining. And looking angry.
Fearless still wasn't sure if he liked her or not. He liked that she was nice to Casey, but he didn't like how she was saying bad things about Mama Jones. Good people didn't say bad things about each other! So… was Grandma Jones good or bad? Fearless had no idea.
But one thing was for sure, she made the entire room smell nice!
Little Casey started moving under the blanket, and soon, he was awake! Fearless chirped at him, and Casey smiled back. The boy had drool all over his face, and he smelled stinky, but Fearless didn't care. He let Casey give him a kiss.
Then Casey sniffed the air, and his eyes widened, "Grandma?"
Without a warning, Casey was running into the kitchen and there was a lot of hugging between him and Grandma Jones!
Fearless watched them from the couch. There were lots of kisses too. Grandma Jones then picked Casey up- and carried him to the bathroom, and there were lots of more laughing and shouting and water splashing.
Fearless wanted to play in the water too! But he stayed on the couch because it was comfy.
When Casey came out of the bathroom, he was wearing different clothes and his hair was combed and he smelled a lot better. Grandma Jones put him at the table, and told him to eat something.
Fearless slowly crept over to the kitchen. He didn't want Grandma Jones to see him go fast. He wasn't sure if he liked her or not. Dad Jones said not to let everyone see him go fast- so he was listening. Because he was a good turtle and good turtles listened to instructions!
The kitchen was like a whole different world. He'd never seen all this food in one place before- it smelled so good. There were all kinds of foods and they were different colors and there were so many smells!
He climbed up the table, and hid in Casey's lap. Casey was giggling, and gave him a piece of something yellow! Fearless nibbled on it- tasted better than a lot of things he'd eaten! Cutie would have loved it! Casey called it eggs.
Eggs were yummy.
And then Casey gave him more. Fearless felt full, but he kept eating because Casey kept giving him food. Worms tasted better though…
He ate and he ate until he felt kinda sick.
But he kept eating. Until his mouth didn't want to chew any more eggs and he spat it onto Casey's clothes.
He felt kinda dizzy.
Uhoh. He didn't know that too much food could make him sick!
Casey made a concerned noise, "Fearless? Are you okay?"
No…?
Casey whined, "Grandma! Fearless isn't doing so good!"
"Fearless?" Grandma Jones asked, and when she peeked into Casey's lap, she gave a sudden shriek.
It wasn't a happy sound. Fearless winced, and he tucked back into his shell. He shouldn't have eaten all that stuff.
"His name's Fearless!" Casey said, and he lifted Fearless up, "He's my best friend!"
Fearless poked his head- just in time to see Grandma Jones make a very strange smile. The smile didn't reach her eyes- and she looked as though she were in pain instead of smiling.
"That's nice Casey," she said- but fearless didn't believe her. He ducked back into his shell.
When was Dad Jones and Mom Jones coming back?
"Turtles don't like being messy," Grandma said. Fearless had to agree- it's true! He liked being clean!
"Come on Casey," Grandma Jones said in a too-sweet voice, "Let me wash him up in the bathroom."
What? Fearless looked up at Casey- and Casey didn't look too sure. He was looking at the floor, and he looked back at Grandma before nodding.
Casey whispered to Fearless, "Come back soon,"
Grandma Jones's hands were very warm, but Fearless liked Casey's hands better. Grandma held her hand out as far as she could, and Fearless liked it better when Dad Jones held him close for cuddles.
Grandma Jones shut the bathroom door, separating Fearless from Casey. He didn't like that. And he didn't like the way she was looking down at him. She was frowning. She put him on the counter, and looked at him for a long time.
Why didn't she put him in the sink?
"Turtles," she shook her head, "Not good for children. He should get a dog, who could protect him, and play fetch and guard the house. Not a turtle who eats and poops everywhere. Stupid, lazy creatures."
What?!
Stupid? Lazy? No! Fearless wasn't stupid- he was a smart turtle! Dad Jones said that!
Grandma Jones was a liar!
Oh if she got close enough again- Fearless was going to BITE HER! He'd never been this angry before. Not since those stupid Krang hurt Friend!
Fearless was not lazy! He was not stupid! He was a smart, fast turtle! Casey knew that- Dad Jones knew that! How come Grandma Jones didn't know that?
He didn't like her- not anymore!
He didn't want to be cute anymore- he wanted to be angry. An angry turtle! Who… bit people when they insulted him! He bit a Krang once- biting her would be just as easy!
He barely noticed when her hand came flying towards him.
It hit him. Hard.
Then he was falling- feeling absolutely dizzy and barely understanding what was happening.
Cold! Water?
Cold water?
He looked around, and saw a big white bowl. He looked up- and saw Grandma Jones smiling at him. Her eyes were very wide and for a moment, he was terrified.
He pulled into his shell, wishing he were anywhere but here!
He heard a loud flush- and to his absolute horror, he started spinning, spinning, spinning- and he was being pulled down and then whooshed and everything was happening so fast and there were loud noises and lots of water and it was so cold and his shell was being banged all over and he shut his eyes really tight and hoped that it would all be over!
He wanted to fight- he wanted to swim- he wanted to get away but he couldn't move and it was really, really cold and he wanted his brothers and he wanted Casey Jones and he wanted Hamato Yoshi and he wanted Friend and he wanted to be anywhere but here!
The cold felt everywhere, and without his permission, his body was falling asleep. He couldn't keep awake, no matter how hard he tried.
He was asleep for a long time.
It was not a nice sleep.