Acceptable Risk

Fatherhood

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, neither characters nor anything pertaining to the franchise. I do own a cat though, so I have that going for me which is nice.

Author's Note: So I've decided to write some shorts (some might not be so short some might be rally short) from the perspective of April/Raph. Originally for the 2012 series Raph was supposed to be in love with April, not Donnie. Since the series presents him as a guy who can't really be honest with his feelings I figured that Raph would be the ultimate tsundere type guy.

Also I'm on tumblr starsiasestra#tumblr#com (#=.). Come follow me if you like. I'm a big turtles fan and sometimes post extra stuff there

Being a single parent is hard, especially when one has four ninja sons. This one focuses more on Splinter so I wasn't sure it belonged in this story or as a standalone drabble. It does have some lovely Rapril background noise though and Mikey being a shit disturber.

The meditative trance that Splinter had settled into was the most soothing exercise he had experienced in a very long while.

In his life he had never regretted his new role. While he might miss his old family, his old life, pointless regrets would discredit the life he had managed to create with his sons. He was proud of his role, both as father and teacher.

His four sons had their weaknesses but they were a credit to his teaching and he was very proud of each one of them. Even April, despite being very much a beginner, showed great promise. The seriousness with which she trained was impressive for a young woman of her age.

He was very proud of all his students, his children.

Still, there were some days that were more trying then others.

"April and Raaaph, sitting in a tree."

"MIKEY!"

Splinter winced at the bellow that echoed through the tunnels. They were young, he had to remind himself. Young men were prone to such exuberance. Concentrating harder, the rat master tried to sink more deeply into his meditative state.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"Shut UP, shell brain!"

Despite Splinter's best attempts meditation did little to drown out the yelling. If anything the voices only got louder. Clearly his sons had very healthy lungs so he should be thankful for that if nothing else.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Spike in a baby carriage!"

"I'm warning you Mikey if you don't stop I'm going to smack the green off'a you."

Splinter ground his teeth but remained in place. They had to learn to sort their differences out on their own. It would be wise for Raph to practice controlling his temper, as for Mikey…well, he would eventually learn that his "practical jokes" had their consequences. Hopefully that maturity would come sooner rather than later.

"What you don't want to kiss her? Smooch smooch."

"THAT. IS .IT! You get back here you little grass stain!"

Oh good. Now, along with the yelling, the sounds of heavy footfalls reverberated through the room. Was it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet? Not for the first time Splinter wished that his beloved Tang Shen were still with him. She would know how to deal with his rambunctious sons.

"Ahahaha, too slow bro. You're going to have to be better than that if you want to impress April.

"Wha? Impress? Why would I want to do that?"

"Ya right. April I'll help you stretch. Never mind Donnie, I'll be your sparring partner April. Oh April, you're soooo good at daki wakare."

"Oh now you're gonna get it! Grrrrr."

"Guys help! Raph's gone crazy."

"I'll show you crazy you little…"

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

The sound of shattering glass brought Master Splinter to his feet.

Clearly his son had and excess of free-time and energy that needed to be worked off and what kind of father would he be if he didn't tend to that need?

A few rounds of randori would do the trick.

Okay so there is a little joke in there if anyone caught it. If you wanna check out what daki wakare means then please feel free. Poor Master Splinter I think having 4 teenage sons might drive him crazy, especially since they stay indoors ALL DAY! I mean think about it the man lived in one space with his sons for 15 YEARS. I mean it's not like he could be like "go outside I need some me time". Jesus. Also I figure that while all his brothers tease him, Mikey takes the greatest amount of joy from his brother's little crush. Leo and Donnie joke under their breath or in their head but not Mikey, he's all in. Plus there was a Teen Titans reference if anyone got it…nope? Okay then. Thanks to all the lovely people who reviewed. Rapril liiiiiives :) If you have anything to say, comments, criticisms, ideas, ect, then please drop me a review or PM. I love to hear from you it lets me know that people actually like what I'm doing. Well, that's all for now, so Big Sister is signing off.