Raph walked into the lair almost completely hidden by bags full of various plants. He set it down carefully in the second storage room, and then went to pay his respects to his mother, who was temporarily living in a smaller aquarium in the kitchen. Don gazed after him.
"Is it just me," he said to Mikey, who was balancing on scaffolding, "or has Raph been… different lately?"
"Dude, I know what you mean. He's been totally mellow since you brought mom home."
"Hmm…" Don mulled that over for a while, while Mike jumped down to begin sorting through plants.
"Hey, what are we gonna call her?"
"Hm? Oh, you mean mom?"
"Dude, we can't keep calling her mom."
"Why not?"
"Well…" Don could hear Mikey fidgeting high above. "I dunno. It's weird."
"I don't know about weird, but you're right. We should give her a name."
"How about Catherine?"
"Why Catherine?"
"'Cause any lady worth mentioning during the Renassiance is named Catherine. Catherine Baloney, Catherine Hemessen, Catherine de Medici."
"Catherine Baloney?"
"Yeah, you know, that one chick. The patron saint of artists."
Don gave his little brother a suspicious look, but Mikey was suddenly too busy hammering to notice.
Mike is referencing Catherine Bolonga, also known as Catherine de'Vigri, a Renaissance painter who was later canonized. Caterina van Hemessen was a Flemish painter during the Renaissance. Catherine de Medici was a pretty ruthless lady who was the Queen of France and ruled it as regent behind three of her sons. I agree with Mikey. Any Renaissance lady worth her salt was called Catherine.
If you want more about Raph and mommy issues, go to Stealthy Stories and find my meganechan page, where this story is also being posted.