- Chapter 81 -

Adventures in Babysitting Vol. 2: Raising Hope

In a small apartment in Flatbush, Sydney was sitting in a recliner when she heard a light tapping at the window. She headed over, opening it to see Raph on the fire escape.

"Hey, Sydney," he greeted.

"Raph, hey," Sydney slid the window open. "You know, I gave you a house key."

Raph shrugged as he climbed in. "Force of habit. And I'd rather not draw too much attention to you guys by waltzing in the front door."

"Understandable."

A happy shriek came from a small playpen. Sitting in it was baby Hope, wearing a small onesie with small turtles on it. She had soft, thin black hair growing off her head, and she was already sitting up.

"Hey there, squirt," Raph greeted with a smile. "Miss me?"

"'Aph!" Hope shrieked, clapping her hands and laughing.

Raph perked. "She just said my name…"

"Oh yeah," Sydney nodded. "She's already crawling, too."

"Seriously? But she's only four months old! I may not know much about human babies, but isn't that a bit too soon for all that?"

Sydney nodded. "Majorly so. But she's not sprouting fur, and nothing's gone flying around the room on its own, so I'm just counting my blessings."

"Right."

Sydney sighed, sitting down, and that was when Raph noticed how exhausted the older woman was.

"You okay?"

"Just tired. Motherhood isn't for the faint of heart."

After a few moments, Raph made his decision. "Well, maybe I could take her off your hands for a bit."

Sydney raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I mean, even with how fast she's developing, she's still a newborn."

"I'll have to talk it over with my sibs first, but yeah. You and Rich need a break."

Sydney smiled. "Raphael, you are a godsend."

At the lair, Raph explained his plans to the rest of his siblings.

"It'd just be for a few hours."

"Raph, this is a newborn," Leo pointed out. "This won't be like Kristy or Airi. She'll need constant care."

"Where would we even watch her?" Hisako added. "Their apartment is too small, and we can't bring a baby down into the sewers. Way too dangerous and unsanitary."

"Well, there is my place," Kagome chimed in. "Plenty of room, and it's relatively isolated."

"Bringing up Leo's earlier point, this is a newborn baby," Vee said. "There's no way we're qualified for this."

"If we can save the world from certain destruction regularly, we can handle a baby," Mikey remarked.

"And if all else fails, we've got Kasumi and Dad on speed dial," Raph added.

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Well… it is just for one afternoon," Leo conceded.

"And Raph seems dead-set on doing it anyway," Donnie included.

Raph nodded. "Damn right I am."

Kagome pulled out her phone. "I'll call Mom and get the okay from her."

Later, at the Lee mansion, Sydney handed Hope and the baby bag over."I included her feeding schedule, as well as some of her preferred baby foods."

Raph blinked. "She's already on baby food?"

"As I said, she's developing fast, but she's still on soft foods. No teeth... Yet."

"Got it," Raph thought for a minute. "You, uh… think she might be…"

Sydney nodded. "Rich and I did discuss that it might kick in when she gets older. But it doesn't matter. She's our little girl. And if/when that time comes, we will support her, and we know you all will as well."

Raph smiled. "Damn straight. So, anything else we need to know?"

"With the rate of her accelerated development, she might start teething soon, so keep an eye out for that," Sydney smiled. "Again, I can't thank you for this enough."

"Of course. Go and take some time for yourselves."

With that, Sydney left, Hope waving her little arm in goodbye.

-X-

Before long, however, Hope began crying and wailing, virtually inconsolable. Donnie covered his ears, cringing.

"Oh, you gotta make it stop ," he let out. "I can't take it anymore!"

"What's wrong?" Raph demanded. "Why is she crying?"

"Her mind isn't advanced enough for words," Hisako replied. "All I'm getting are basic emotions."

After a minute, Mikey did the first thing that came to mind: making faces.

"Look at the funny face!" He blew raspberries, making goofy noises as he kept making funny faces. "Is it working?"

Hope's continued wailing was all the answer he needed.

"Is it her feeding time?" Leo asked.

Kagome checked the schedule. "No, not yet."

"Then there's only one other thing I can think of," Vee piped up. "Hisako, what emotions are you getting?"

Hisako put two fingers to her head, focusing. "Well, she feels… gross."

"Thought so. She needs a diaper change."

Mikey winced. "Oh, boy."

"Seeing as Raph volunteered us for this, it's only fair he does the job," Leo decided, getting nods of confirmation. Raph, however, was less than enthusiastic.

"Wait, I got an idea. Why not Kagome?"

Kagome blinked. "Me? Why?"

Raph twiddled his fingers. "Well, 'cause, you're, y'know... a girl?"

Kagome gave him a deadpan look. "Oh, you are not saying what I think you're saying, Hamato Raphael."

Raph shook his head. "No, it's not like that!"

"Oh really? Then what is it like?" Kagome scooped up Hope, handing her to Raph. "Because I'm with everyone else. This was your idea, so you change her diaper."

Raph shook his head. "I'm a guy. She's a baby girl. Wouldn't taking off her diaper and all that be, I dunno... awkward?"

"I think you're thinking too hard about this," Vee deadpanned.

"Yeah, you think there aren't fathers out there who change diapers?" Leo added. "Who do you think changed ours when we were little?"

"And I'm sure Dad changed mine in the beginning," Karai chimed in.

"Okay, fair point." Raph laid Hope down on the changing pad, only to hesitate as soon as he got the diaper off, blushing in embarrassment. "I… um… this… I can't do this!"

"Oh, for the love of Pete…" Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "You just need to wipe her butt and put on a new diaper, Raph. It's not that hard!"

"But I have to touch-!" Raph sputtered. "I-! I can't touch her there!"

"Oh, my God…" Kagome sighed. "How are you this pathetic when it comes to something so simple?!"

"Pathetic?!" Raph turned to her. "How is it pathetic that I don't wanna touch a baby girl's forbidden zone?! That I don't wanna feel like a creep?!"

Unbeknownst to them, Hope had rolled onto her stomach and was busy crawling away. Hisako saw it out of the corner of her eye.

"Uh, guys?"

"You're cleaning a baby!" Kagome snapped, ignoring Hisako. "There is nothing creepy about that! It's normal! For Kami's sake, Raph!"

"I can't help it!"

"Guys…" Hisako tried again.

"It just feels so wrong to me!" Raph went on. "If it's so simple, why don't you do it?"

Kagome stormed over, jabbing a finger into his plastron. "Because watching Hope was your idea. Because we all took a vote on who's doing it. And because I'll pummel you if you don't."

"...Why else?"

"NOW , RAPHAEL!"

"GUYS!" Hisako screamed, getting their attention.

" WHAT?! " Raph and Kagome snapped in unison.

Hisako was holding Hope in mid-air, using TK to wipe and re-diaper the baby. "Some babysitters you are."

Kagome blinked. " ...She tried to crawl away while we were arguing, didn't she?"

Hisako nodded, setting Hope down. "Eyup."

Kagome sighed. "So, there you have it. Simple and clean, Raph. Next time it happens, you think you can handle it?"

Raph nodded awkwardly. "Yeah… that was… sorry."

"'Aph!" Hope crawled over to him, making "up" motions. He scooped her up.

"Sorry you had to see that, Hope."

In response, Hope smacked him on the nose, laughing and clapping her hands.

-X-

Sometime later, while the others were working on other things, Raph and Kagome were watching over Hope. Raph was apathetically rocking Hope's rocker with his foot... and as soon as he was sure no one was watching, he began playing peek-a-boo with the girl.

"Where's the baby?" He pulled his hands away to reveal he'd retracted his head into his shell before popping it out. "There she is!"

Hope laughed and clapped at that. Kagome sat down next to him, wagging a finger at the baby who, after a minute, leaned forward and gently bit down on it.

"Awww…" Kagome pulled her hand away, playfully tickling Hope. Raph smiled at the sight.

"Y'know... I think you'd make a great mom someday."

"I hope so," Kagome replied. "I think you'd make a great dad too, once you get over your diaper squeamishness."

"Yeah… dad," Raph seemed uncertain.

"Raph?" Kagome tilted her head. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Well…" Raph sighed. "Kagome, let's face it. Us having kids? You're a human. I'm a turtle. We're not exactly biologically compatible."

Kagome shrugged. "There's always adoption. I'm sure there are plenty of kids in the system we could help out. Or who knows? Maybe we can find our own Hisako to help."

"Well, there's that," Raph conceded.

"Even if we can't have a biological child, we can still be parents. And I'd like to think we'd be good ones. Hope and Airi already adore us."

"Yeah…" Raph smiled. "You're right. What do you think, Ho-?" He turned to see Hope had crawled away once more. "Oh, crap."

At the sound of a throat clearing, they turned to see Hisako walking in, once again carrying Hope with TK.

"Worst. Babysitters. Ever," she declared as she handed the baby back.

Raph rolled his eyes. "We just can't take our eyes off her for one second…"

-X-

Later, Hope was laid down for a nap, hugging a stuffed bear as the tired Hamato/Lee siblings tucked her in.

"Finally, she's asleep," Raph sighed.

"Little escape artist," Kagome quipped.

Mikey yawned. "Man, I'm beat."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Leo agreed.

"I don't think anyone'd blame us for a quick power nap…" Mikey was stretching out on the couch as he spoke.

"Sounds perfect," Hisako leaned against her brother. One by one, everyone got settled, dozing off.

Sometime later, Sydney arrived at the door, Kasumi answering.

"Hello, Sydney," Kasumi greeted. "Did you enjoy your day off?"

"I did, thank you," Sydney replied. "How's Hope?"

Kasumi smiled. "Come see for yourself."

Sydney entered to find Hope sleeping peacefully, the Hamato/Lee siblings all curled up around her cradle.

"Oh, my gosh…" she gasped.

"She tuckered everyone out," Kasumi explained.

"So I see. I almost hate to wake them."

"Just let them rest." Kasumi gently reached into the cradle, pulling Hope out and handing her to her mother, the baby instinctively curling up in Sydney's arms.

"Please tell them thank you for me," Sydney requested. "This really means a lot."

"Of course," Kasumi nodded. "Have a good evening."

Sydney looked at them, smiling warmly. "C'mon, Hope. Let's go home."

She left, leaving the teens to their well-deserved turtle pile.

Author's Note:

So yeah, expanding on Richard, Sydney, and little Hope here. After Krang's defeat and Hope's birth, Kasumi gave Richard a job at her company. And a fun little breather after the Dracula arc.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Hope - Didi Archilla (Sue Mitama from A Centaur's Life, Aries from Fairy Tail, Hinata Okano from Assassination Classroom, Yuho Mochizuki from Wanna Be the Strongest in the World)

Please R&R. Until next time!