"Machi, seriously, give me your foot."

Machi giggled and shook her head.

"I'm not kidding. We don't have time for you to be playing. Just give me your foot." He didn't want to wrestle with her, but he would if he had to. He had gotten up early. Very very early to do this and he knew he was running out of time.

"Look," he said to her. "I know you're too little to understand this, but this is our new home and these are our new parents and we are very lucky and you are going to give me your foot!"

Machi continued to give him a slightly amused look, but finally lifted her foot towards him. Akito was her only constant, although she was growing fond of the two turtles she now seemed to live with as well, and she didn't want to see Akito actually upset.

"Hold still," Akito said. He held her little foot tightly in one hand and began painting over the underside with the finger paint his new Uncle Mikey had snuck to him when he'd asked for some secret art supplies.

His ears flew up and he stilled his movements when he thought he heard something outside his bedroom. When there was no further noise, he went back to his task and twisted Machi's foot until he could press it down on the paper he'd set up on his floor.

Machi stared down in interest at her paw print on the paper as Akito applied more paint and pressed her foot down on a second piece of paper. She watched Akito nod happily at his creation before he quickly slid the papers under his bed.

"We're not touching them again until they're dry," he whispered to her as he pulled out a baby wipe. He had to quickly shush her as she practically fell over giggling as he tried to scrub her foot clean.

"Machi, you're going to wake them up," he whispered loudly while struggling to get her paw still enough to clean. But Machi only giggled louder the more he struggled with her. His ears flew up again when he heard his doorknob turning and quickly swept the paint and baby wipe under his bed with his tail, being careful not to disrupt his current project. He was just going to have to hope that Machi's paw was clean enough.

Leo looked into Akito's room, surprised to find Machi not only up this early, but also sitting on the floor with Akito in his room.

"You guys okay?" he asked slowly.

"Yes," Akito said, hopping up onto his feet. He was careful not to draw attention to anything under his bed by doing something as foolish as trying to guard the supplies with his feet. Instead he moved to use a skill Master Leonardo had recently been teaching them in class. He moved towards his bookshelf and pulled down a book. "Will you read us a story?"

Leo kept the prideful smirk off his face as he recognized Akito's distraction technique. He tilted his head out towards the couch where they'd be more comfortable, smiled as the two little ones piled in next to him, and began reading.

"Uh uh. Not this morning."

Leo smiled as he felt those emerald fingers tighten around him, forbidding him from leaving their bed for his normal morning meditation. "You need some attention from me this morning?" he murmured.

There was a chuckle in response as Raph pushed at Leo's leg before Leo could press it any further between Raph's thighs.

"Later," Raph said. "Kids are up to somethin."

Leo stilled and lifted his face from Raph's neck. He heard distinct noises that told him the kids were in the kitchen. He went to push himself up but Raphael kept him in place again.

"They're in the kitchen," Leo said.

"Yeah."

"That can't be safe."

"It's only not safe when you're in the kitchen," Raph said with a smirk.

Leo frowned at him. "What if they're touching the stove?"

"They're not," Raph assured him. He, unlike Leo, knew their stove well enough to recognize the distinct beep it made when turned on and so far he hadn't heard it. "Ya do know what today is, right?"

Leo met Raph's eyes with a confused frown before his eyes widened in realization.

"You think they're -,"

Raph nodded and smiled when Leo's face lit up in a smile.

"They're coming," Leo whispered. He felt Raph release his hold, allowing him to push himself off Raph's body in order to appear as if he actually used his side of the bed. He listened to Raphael begin to chuckle and silenced him with a swift nudge to his mate's calf.

Akito paused outside the door and glanced down at Machi. She looked up at him expectantly and then looked towards the door. Akito looked towards the door as well and suddenly wondered if this was a good idea. A year ago, with the help of their mother, he and Machi had done this for their first dad. Of course, he had had zero plans of doing anything like this for their uncle this year. And with that thought, he remembered how happy he was that they were both here instead of back with their mean uncle.

"Okay?" Machi whispered up to him.

"Yeah," he whispered back with a quick nod. "Yeah, we're okay."

"Yup," Machi said and jumped up and down.

Akito smiled again, and slowly pushed the bedroom door open with a new confidence.

"Surprise!" Machi said, shouting the word Akito had been rehearsing with her all morning as she skipped into the room and jumped up on the bed.

Akito moved more slowly as he balanced the tray of food he was carrying. He didn't know how to brew Master Leonardo's tea, and Raphael didn't drink it anyway, so he'd settled on glasses of water for both of them, along with slices of jellied toast. He watched as the two turtles sat up from sleep, rubbed at their eyes, and then smiled first at Machi, who had already climbed into Raphael's lap, before smiling at him as well. He stopped in his tracks at their smiles and swallowed as he remembered how his father had smiled that same kind of smile at him last year.

"Happy father's day," Akito said, quickly recovering himself. He moved forward and gently set the tray of food on the bed before climbing up to sit on the edge.

"This is great!" Leo said enthusiastically as he pulled the tray towards him. "You made us breakfast!"

"And this!" Machi said, waving around the papers Akito had had her carry in.

"Let's see this, kid," Raphael said, taking both papers from her. He quickly glanced at them both and handed one over to Leo when he saw that they were identical. His smile grew as he saw both kids' painted paw prints on the sheet with the words You're toe-tally awesome written underneath. He leaned down and nuzzled his face against the top of Machi's head and was slightly surprised when she turned towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck for a hug.

Leo stared down at his own present and was soon pulling Akito into his side for his own hug. "This is – this is awesome, buddy," he murmured. He'd seen Akito's apprehension when the kids had first entered the room and was relieved now to feel Akito relax against him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Akito said with a sincere smile before moving to give Raphael a hug as well when he saw the other turtle beckon him over.

Machi jumped up to quickly hug Leonardo as well before turning to press her foot over her own painted foot on Leo's paper. "Akito made for Daddy and Papa," she proudly said.

Akito was handing Raphael a plate but froze when he heard what Machi had said. He glanced at the two turtles and watched as they glanced at each other.

"Is that okay?" he slowly asked. "I mean, its okay if its not okay. But I told her maybe we could start calling you Daddy and Papa."

'I think we'd like that very much," Leo said.

Raphael didn't say anything, but he did set his plate down and scoop Machi up to throw her in the air a few times, filling the room with loud giggles.

"In fact, I think we'd love it," Leo said with a wide grin.

"Okay," Akito said, doing his best not to look too relieved as he handed a plate over to his new dad.

Raphael tucked Machi down into his side and picked up his toast to take a bite. He watched as Akito laughed at something Leo said and then slid his hand under the sheet to squeeze Leo's fingers.

Leo nodded and squeezed back.

They both sat back and enjoyed this moment. They'd been given these children to take care of and they were happy to bask in any moment when it seemed like they were doing the job right.

A/N: I'm a little early for Father's Day, but I'm also too impatient to wait to post this!

I know its been a little bit since I posted a new chapter here. It's because I wrote a new short story, Muted Victory, which I hope you'll check out if you haven't already.