Splinter was sure things could not get much better than this...
One of his favorite soap operas was on, a pot full of warm tea set on the table, the many pillows and blankets on the sofa making for a very comfortable nest, but above all this was the tiny form using Splinter as a bed.
Mira lay on her grandfather's chest, nose dug into his fur, tail wrapped securely around Splinter's wrist as she dozed lightly, the rat's free hand being used to gently pat her back, and once and a while reach for a sip of tea.
Almost everyone was out of the lair for the night, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael all had gone out for a patrol in the sewer, well Michelangelo and Leatherhead had gone to another part to enjoy a small date night, and Splinter was more than happy to watch over his six months old grandaughter and soak up all of her affections.
Warm brown eyes wandered over to the side to take note on who was also in the lair with them.
Usagi stared straight ahead, seemingly not paying too much attention to the show playing, his tea growing cold on the table, hands in his lap and back stalk straight, mouth moving slightly, a subtle clue he was about to start chewing on his lower lip.
"Stomach still upset? Try to drink more of the tea, it will help" Splinter asked lightly, the reason Usagi had stayed behind was because he had mentioned that he did not feel very well, that the leftover pizza they had for dinner that night was not agreeing with him, but had encouraged the openly worried Leonardo to go with his brothers on patrol anyway, that things would be alright as long as he relaxed a while.
Splinter did not need to have a brain like Donatello's to figure out what was really going on.
He would soon get another grandchild.
The nose knows, he had known back when Michaengelo had been with Mira, but had said nothing, wanting the words to come from his son's own mouth, and Michelangelo had been more than happy to gush about it the second he learned about her existence so Splinter had not been forced to wait long.
But Usagi was visibly far less open to sharing his precious secret, trying to keep a straight face, but his hands clenched together that would every so often, brush against a still-flat stomach, before he finally took the cup and downed the entire thing, the tea Splinter had picked the same brand that his youngest had used to curb morning sickness with Mira, far from the rats favorite, but worth it to make sure Usagi drank some without becoming suspicious.
The scent that Splinter had recognized from his time as a normal rat whenever a doe was expecting a litter, that had recently surrounded his son like freshly applied perfume, and now was unmistakable on Usagi as if someone had taped a sign to his back.
The rabbit was clearly and understandably wrapping his head around the realization of his condition, not expecting it, but recent nausea he had done his best to keep hidden, the dizzy spells and urges to eat the strangest foods acting as a metaphorical slap in the face,not knowing of his watcher who had more than enough experience to see the signs, Splinter could almost see the worries and concerns on the one who he had happily accepted as another son face as if it was an alarm blaring away demanding attention.
The many blows and injuries the rabbit had taken over the course of knowing them, forcing him to take blood, mutated blood, from his sons to survive, the blood that allowed Michaelangelo to have Mira, now put Usagi in the same situation.
Perhaps Splinter could coax him into telling Leonardo that night, so they could discuss things, get a proper check-up from Leatherhead, put some of those worries to rest, and free Splinter of being secret keeper.
Not that Splinter planned on letting Usagi know that he knew, where was the fun in that? And he didn't want to take the moment away from his children by revealing he had a built-in baby-dar.
Now how to do it...hm?
That's when Splinter finally turned his attention back to his stories, and frowned, suddenly remembering the episode's premise.
Marigold was pregnant by her boss who was planning on having her killed- until his sister mentioned she wanted a child, so they ended up kidnapping the poor girl to wait for her to give birth, then planned to murder her after it was all said and done.
Granted everything turned out alright in the end, but not a good story to watch with someone who you wanted to be comfortable with their own pregnancy and reveal it with confidence.
Splinter quickly took up the remote at his side and switched off from Dreams of a Flowery Mind to the DVD player causing Usagi to turn to him in mild confusion, momentarily drawn from his thoughts.
Splinter offered a smile "I just remembered, this episode is not appropriate for children"
Born or unborn...
"Oh" was all that the rabbit said.
"I will go find something a bit better for little Mira to watch, would you mind holding her for a while?" Splinter asked standing up, Mira only gave a mild grunt of annoyance, before rapidly peeping as she was transferred from her grandpa to her uncle, the temporary loss of warmth most certainly not boding well with the infant.
All for a good cause little one.
Usagi gasped mildly as her knee came in contact with his stomach, not hard, but enough to make his heart jump before he became distracted as Mira wrapped her tail around his wrist and shoved her face into his chest as if trying to see if it met her standards like her grandpa's fur did.
Splinter tucked a small pink blanket around Mira, both to make her less fussy for Usagi and to gauge his reaction, the rabbit slowly leaned back into the couch cushions, smiling a bit as Mira's legs came up to curl into him a bit more, him passing her judgment with flying colors.
When you have no less than nine individuals coming and going, and all eager for a piece of their newest member, it left very little time for certain members to get as much as they might have wanted.
But tonight, Splinter was more than happy to give up his share, at least for a while, to make Usagi more relaxed.
Splinter made his way over to the practical arsenal of movies and tv shows that they had on the wall, a sea of color that ranged widely to meet each of his son's preferences, comedy, horror, drama, historical, fantasy, and more, from dark and ghoulish films that his grandchildren would not watch till they hit thirty, or never, if Splinter had any say, to loud and colorful animations that would make teeth rot from how sweet they were.
The animations were the best bet.
The Prince of Egypt beautiful music and animation...and children being fed to crocodiles...
Watership down Absolutely NOT...that one gave Splinter nightmares, rats attacking rabbits in a shed as they slept...that was not going to help anyone.
Lady and the Tramp Perhaps this...no...now he remembered...the black rat leering over the baby's crib...grinning evilly.
Perhaps he needed to have a talk with whoever bought these...
And moving onto the comedies...
Look who's talking perhaps a bit too on the nose, and the screaming birth scene would not make for a relaxing evening.
Knocked up...no...
Finding Nemo...no...
Batman and Rob-why did they even HAVE that movie?
"Master Splinter? Is everything alright?" Usagi said lightly peeking over to see what the hold-up was, and sensing that the rat was becoming very annoyed about something.
"Yes, just trying to find something not too loud or wild, unfortunately my sons have a flair for both" Splinter said, glad when he heard the rabbit chuckle in agreement.
"Well, they are never boring"
"What is boredom?"
Even Mira seemed to giggle at that one.
My neighbor Totoro
That would do it, it didn't have anything to do with babies, but it was a rather adorable film, Splinter would just have to trust his granddaughter to handle herself in assisting with his plan.
And walking back into the living room, DVD in hand, Splinter smiled a bit to himself seeing that she was already well on her way.
Mira's tiny head settled under Usagi's chin, her tail still wrapped securely around his left wrist. Both of her hands clutched at the rabbit's kimono, not about to be rudely displaced from her comfy spot again if she had any say. Her blue eyes opened slightly as her grandpa sat back down once the film had been started.
"Seems she's latched on rather tightly," Usagi said lightly twisting his wrist to perhaps loosen the grip on it not wanting the blood to be cut off there only to get a big squeak of disapproval from Mira as her tail yanked on his hand as if trying to tuck it under her for further security.
"She didn't want to let go of Leatherhead earlier either,but he and Michelangelo needed the break, heaven knows I often wished for one when my sons were this small, but it was all worth it" Splinter did not expect this opening, but took it reaching out to pat Mira's back.
The rabbit chuckled a bit looking off to the side "Hard to imagine for me...any of them being small or helpless, Leonardo and Raphael both seem to wish to carry the whole world on their shoulders to keep it safe, Donatello with his strange machines...and Michelangelo with his constant ...himself...how did you do it?" Usagi asked looking back at Splinter causing the rat to sigh.
"They had no family, and I had recently lost mine, the ones who cared for me, despite how I was nothing but a common street rat invading their space, they owed me nothing but to shoo me off with a broom, but, then I was a beloved pet, food in my stomach and warm hands cradling me, keeping me safe from the harshness that my species was destined for, so when I saw four orphaned baby turtles...how could I not repay the same kindness shown to me? And as they do with everyone else who meets them who has even a small piece of kindness, they grew on me, gave me something to love, to care for, a reward after all the pain, tis the nature of any child, no matter how they come to be, either birthed into the world as a manifestation of love between two joined as one, or one taken into the arms of someone who will give them their all no matter the circumstances"
"Suppose in any situation we must give our all," Usagi said, absorbing the words "Even when-"
"The awesomeness has returned!" exclaimed a familiar voice as Mira popped back up from her doze and started to babble excitedly unwrapping her tail and unclenching her fists to reach towards her parents.
Usagi just chuckled "Seems she is done with me"
"Don't take offense Sagi, hey, what samurai voodoo did you pull to get Splinter to let go?" Mikey asked, scooping Mira into his arms and giving his baby a loud kiss on her chubby cheeks making her laugh.
"Voodoo?"
"Nevermind, and watching Totoro without me? Shaaaaame!" the orange turtle pouted dramatically.
"Master Splinter said the show we were watching was not appropriate for little Miracle, so he picked out something else" Usagi said getting to his feet slowly, trying not to cause a dizzy spell with so many witnesses.
"Must have been bad for him to turn off his stories" Mike said before he suddenly quirked his eyebrow "Hey...you alright dude? You look...funny...not like silly funny, or just a stomachache funny"
Sometimes it was easy to forget that when he put his mind to it, Michelangelo could be annoyingly perceptive.
"Yes, I'm alright, in fact, I feel much better, when do you think Leonardo and the others will be back?"
"Right now actually"
"Wow you didn't even have to say his name three times"
Mikey just laughed as Leonardo glared at him.
"Watch it Mike, you can only use Mi-mi as a shield for so long" Raph snorted slapping a hand on Mikey's shoulder but smiled when his niece grabbed hold of his fingers.
"Mi-Mi?" Mikey questioned, "Where did you come up with that?"
"Short for Mini-Mikey" Raph laughed before using the confusion to take possession of Mira to blow a raspberry on her belly.
"Hey, share," Leonardo said stepping forward before a furry hand stopped him.
"Could we talk first? There is something important we need to discuss" Usagi asked already starting to herd the turtle toward their room.
"Oh, um, ok...is everything alright?"
"More than alright"
Splinter smiled before wondering if he should follow behind to catch his son when he fainted...