A/N: Yeah, Sophia is one of my problem children. LOL. I let her be, though, since I know not all women like the idea of pregnancy. XD

Now we get to a chapter I've been itching to release. Time to meet Tobias!

November 19
9:43 P.M.

The group of eleven fit tightly inside Hugh's townhouse living room, but Michelangelo thought it bearable. The reward was too good to pass up. So he ignored the looks Marina and April sent from the sofa, laser focus set dead on the tanned infant swaddled in his mother's arms.

"Hi, Tobias. I'm your Uncle Mikey!"

"Not so loud, Doofus," Donatello said when the one-day-old twitched. He stood close by, though, just as curious yet not wanting to admit it.

"Do"—Marina hesitated with parted lips—"do you want to hold him?"

The youngest Hamato brother sprung up. "Pick me! Me! Me, please!" He gagged when a force pulled his carapace backwards, bending him so he saw Hugh's upside-down scowl.

"Not until you calm down," the detective said. "She was talking to Don."

"Aww."

"Me?" The genius waved his hands. "I—I—I've never—I mean—"

Hugh released Michelangelo then flashed a smirk. "You're gunna have a couple of nieces or nephews here soon. Consider it practice."

"Besides, you can handle delicate things, remember?" asked April with a wink.

Don sent her a glare that cried betrayal, yet a chuckle from one of the two armchairs soon brought his attention to Splinter.

"Go on, my son," the master said. "Holding an infant is good for one's soul."

Don gulped, but nodded before situating himself beside Marina. He took Tobias into his long arms as Michelangelo sent his father a pout.

"Why does Donny go first?" he asked.

"Keep up the antics and Raph will hold him before you do," Hugh interjected.

"What?" Mikey turned towards the couple in the second armchair, particularly to the red-masked Chūnin who about choked at the idea. "Get in line, Buddy."

"Have at it," Raphael said, squeezing the artist in his lap.

Nia rubbed his shoulder and let him hide his expression between her breasts. So what if he acted like he didn't care? Mikey still knew the hothead was more terrified than Donny looked.

'Well, he's gotta get used to it. I just won't let him hold Tobias before me. I called dibs long ago and now Don's going first. Jerk.'

He didn't mean it—not really. The childish pout was more of an act to show the others how much this chance meant to him. The most impactful thing a person can do is mold the future, and children were the future.

Mikey never forgot that.

"He—hello, Tobias," Don said to the infant. Although stiff, he smiled, a dorky action enhanced by his gap-teeth. "You're sleeping like a log, aren't cha?"

"Newborns tend to sleep up to eighteen hours a day," Melody added, matter-of-fact. "Bottle-fed, they wake maybe every three to four hours. More often if they're breastfed. But, regardless of what she chose, Marina fed him soon before we arrived. He shouldn't be fussy."

Mikey chuckled as he leaned an elbow on Hugh's shoulder. "Melody: our walking medical textbook. Gotta love it, eh?"

"That doesn't grantee anything, Mel," Donny muttered. His eyes widened when Tobias squirmed—tense from head to toe—but other than a high whine, the infant remained still.

"Marina-san," Splinter said when his genius son heaved a sigh, "we are honored to have been invited over for such an occasion."

The tan woman ran a hand through the curly hair that frizzed around her head like a halo of scribbles. "Jen and her family got to see him yesterday. April, too. So, considering how close we've grown over the months…I thought you may want to see him as well."

"You thought right," Mikey said with a broad smile. "I love kids and this is the perfect chance for Hoshi to get used to them. Right?"

The pink-and-black clad blonde (who leaned against the doorway to the kitchen) returned her boyfriend's hopeful gaze by grimacing. "It's not that I hate kids, Figo," she said. "We just disagree. A lot."

"Toby may be different. Why not try?"

"Tell you what: if Sorriso holds him, so will I."

Boom; instant glaring battle. Mikey glanced between Sophia and Melody, a cyborg who obviously didn't appreciate being thrown under the bus. What was with these ladies? Tobias was just a little person!

"Mel-anechan"—Nia's small voice broke through the tension—"are you scared?"

Melody flinched, gaze lowering to her hands. "It's just that…metal is hardly comforting for a child."

"It's comfort enough for me," Donatello added. Perhaps he hadn't meant to say that out loud; his face flushed a dark yellow-green, his hold on Tobias shaking. "Uh, why not take him anyway? He's swaddled. Besides, we're going to deliver Nia's twins, aren't we?"

Melody, above anyone, was powerless against logic, so she claimed the bundle her husband offered, mindful of his head. She kept quiet while situating him in her metallic arms, but despite the offhanded nature, Mikey could tell she studied him as eagerly as he wanted to. Her blue-gray eye darted across the infant's features too much to insinuate otherwise.

"See? It's not so bad," Mikey told her.

Melody ignored him then landed her gaze on Sophia.

The blonde pushed herself off the wooden frame. "Sul serio?"

Her up-turned nose flared, but Michelangelo approached her with outspread arms. "You made the deal, Hoshi," he sang while hugging her.

"I hate you," she grumbled into his plastron.

"Hence why we date. Now, come on; get to it." He urged her (pushed, really) towards Tobias. He could swear Melody smiled while transferring the baby to the much shorter female, and Marina shifted on the sofa. Mikey sent the new mother a quirked grin. "They'll be okay. I'll guide her."

Sophia moved like a Barbie doll, fighting her boyfriend's lead. A good minute passed before she let the mutant's arms fold hers under the newborn. Tobias' wrapped head nestled in the crook of her elbow, a sensation Mikey adored.

He rested his chin atop Sophia's ponytail and peered down at the frail being whose face squinted. The tan skin around his button nose wrinkled. Then, his eyes fluttered opened. They were dark, tapered to a prominent point at the corners, and yet large and shiny like polished Onyx.

"Hey, you." Mikey fought for air; the infant stared upwards in complete trust and acceptance. "Get used to this face. You'll be seeing it a lot."

"What'd I say?" Hugh asked Marina. "With a stick."

"Actually, Michelangelo," Melody butted in, "he cannot see you. Not in the way we do. An infant's sight is poor, so they rely more on their sense of feeling and hearing. That is why it is so comforting for them to sleep on their mother."

Mikey leaned closer to Tobias, who gurgled. "Then get used to this voice. You'll be hearing it a lot."

"Ain't that the truth," added Raphael.

"You wanna go, Raphy Boy?"

The hothead froze in the armchair. "Th—that's alright," he said more towards Nia's collarbone than his youngest brother. "Let Sensei go before me."

"What?" Hugh bent one knee, leaning backwards as if he had just sustained a blow to the face. "My kid not cool enough to fight over? Is that it? He's a possible future son-in-law, you know, if ya have a daughter."

The hothead's eyes flashed. It likely wasn't meant to be threatening, but that's what it came off as. So Hugh backed up under such intense amber.

"I'm messing with ya, Dude," he said.

Raph looked down at his wife's striped tights. "I know. Sorry, Man, I just…"

"Let Raphael gather himself," Splinter said. His paws reached for Mikey and Sophia. Hoshi seemed eager to disrupt the hold she shared with the orange-masked Chūnin, which broke his heart a little.

'I hope she changes her mind later,' he thought as the awkward blonde carried her load to his father. 'One day…I'd love to be in the same position Raph's in…'

"What a beautiful boy, Hugh-san." Whiskers twitching, the wizened rat lifted the child, gaze unreadable. Was he imagining what it would be like to hold his own grandchild? Or was he elated that he could manage the weight without pain? Maybe it was a mix. "You are blessed, young Tobias. You have a mother who has eagerly awaited your arrival and a father who is willing to sacrifice anything for your sake."

"And a clan who will protect you as one of their own," added Mikey.

His firm belief—and perhaps even the uniform nods around the living room—brought tears to Marina's eyes. They didn't flow from sadness. If they had, she wouldn't have smiled. So the mutant joined Hugh in hugging her and let her cry.

After all, that's what you do for family.

A/N: I loved writing this chapter. Little Tobias is going to be fun. :D