Leonardo woke up to find Mikey gone. It wasn’t like his little brother to be up before him. He was up to something.
Leo dressed and headed out the door in search of his brother to make sure he wasn’t breaking any rules. When he stepped out he saw Donny and Tello tweaking the cooling unit to Ice Cream Kitty’s play center under the stairs. It was good of Donny and Mikey to come up with the set up. It gave the mutant cat a little more freedom than spending her life in the freezer.
She was able to move through a series of open areas that were kept at a freezing temperature while Klink and Klunk were able bound around her on padded areas. The three cats got along well enough and played together with the various toys.
“Have you seen Mikey?” Leo asked the duo.
“He’s in the kitchen,” Tello answered.
“It’s not his morning to cook,” Leo thought out loud.
Donny chuckled. “He got it in his head to do something nice for the girls to help raise their spirits. He’s actually been up for a few hours. I know this because he woke me up and had me go with him to the store.”
“Okay,” Leo said with a soft sigh and then turned to Tello. “Is Raph up yet?”
“He’s struggling a little this morning,” Tello replied. “Some mornings he’s a little more stiff than others.”
“I’ll give him a little while longer then,” Leo mumbled, half to himself. “I’m gonna go check on Mikey, see if he needs any help.”
Donny held up an empty bowl. “Since you are going to the kitchen, would you mind taking this with you? ICK has finished her breakfast.”
“Sure,” Leo answered, taking the bowl.
Leo stepped onto the platform and saw the girls sitting on the stairs, talking to their mother. They all looked like there were still overwhelmed and a little confused. He walked towards them. “You all have free reign of the lair.” Then he shrugged. “Well, mostly. We respect privacy so bedrooms are off limits and Donny’s lab is out of bounds unless you want a lecture.”
“I heard that,” Donny called out from the other side of the staircase. “And it’s true.” He appeared from around the stairs and looked directly at Donna. “Except for you. Later on today I’ll get you familiar with the lab and set you up your own workstation.” He ducked back around the stairs and called out, “I can always use the help of another genius. The work here never seems to end.”
Leo couldn’t help but chuckle at his brother. “My point is, you don’t have to stay here on the stairs. The entertainment room is more comfortable, or you can go in the dojo and look around. There is a hot tub in one of the bathrooms. Go have a nice relaxing soak. Don’t sit on the hard steps. This is your home now, make yourselves comfortable.”
“Thank you,” Sliver said. “I will admit that we do feel like interlopers right now. It will take us some time to settle in.”
“I understand,” Leo replied. “I’m going to go check on Mikey in the kitchen. We’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”
“Thank you,” Sliver said, with a slight bow of her head. She then turned to her daughters. “Let’s go into the dojo and get out selves familiar with it.” The girls stood and followed their mother into the dojo. It was the better decision. The entertainment room would be occupied at the moment with Leatherhead and Snow.
Leo took his leave and headed into the kitchen. He watched in amazement as he placed the bowl in the sink. Michelangelo had a large pile of biscuits sitting off to the side on the counter. The scent of bacon, sausage, and eggs filled the air. “What are you making?”
Mikey looked up from his cooking. “I Googled, ‘comfort food’ and saw an article on southern cooking. So I went to the store and got everything I would need.” He pointed to the plate of biscuits. “Can you take those to the table?”
“In a minute,” Leo replied. “I just had a thought. The table isn’t going to be big enough for everyone. I’m going to get Raph and pull out the larger table. We’re going to have to start eating our meals together on the platform from now on.”
“Sounds good,” Mikey said, getting back to his cooking. “Once you get the table set up come help me take the food out to it.”
“Okay,” Leo replied and made his way back out of the kitchen. He exited the kitchen in time to see Raph step out of his room. “Hey,” Leo called out to him. “You up for helping me get the big table out of storage and on to the platform?”
“Yeah,” Raph replied with a tight nod of his head. “I think so.”
Together they carried the large table, usually reserved for Christmas dinner, out of storage and put it together. It had to be placed on the platform because the subway car was not big enough for it. The table should be big enough to sit their growing family. Leo didn’t know what they were going to do when Christmas rolled around. They were going to need an even bigger table.
By the time they were done, Mikey was finished preparing breakfast. Leo and Raph helped him set the table while Donny and Tello gathered the others.
The girls came up to the table and looked at the spread. “What’s all this?” Rachael asked in a flat tone.
“Breakfast,” Mikey exclaimed, spreading his arms wide.
“We normally don’t eat like this,” Donny stated as he walked up to the table with Snow in his arms. “We usually keep breakfast small because we don’t want to be weighed down during practice. But we made an exception for you.”
“But… we’re vegetarians,” Michelle said.
Mikey’s face dropped. “What?” he whimpered out. “But….”
“You should see your face,” Michelle laughed while Leah and Donna cracked a smile.
Rachael simply smirked and let out a soft chuckle. “I can’t believe you fell for that.”
“That was funny,” Raph agreed with a chuckle, slapping Mikey on the shoulder. “You looked like you were about to have a panic attack.”
“Everything looks wonderful,” Sliver stated as she took her seat. “Thank you.”
“Yes.” Leah sat in the seat directly to the right of her mother. “Thank you, Michelangelo. It’s been a while since we have had a warm meal… with fresh ingredients.”
“I remember what that was like,” Mikey said, making a face as he sat down, taking the seat next to the one Michelle chose. “No need to be formal. You guys can call me Mikey.”
When they were all finally settled at the table, Mikey pointed to all the food. “The biscuits go with everything,” he stated. “You can eat them with the eggs and bacon or make them into a breakfast sandwich. There is a cheese sauce over there. There is also sausage gravy to pour over them. Or you can have butter and jelly or honey. There’s hash browns on that plate there. I have hot tea, iced tea, water, coffee, juice, and milk. So eat up.”
Leonardo gave everyone time to get their food and start eating before he decided to ask, “Are you all settling in alright? I know you don’t have a lot of things right now but, in time, we will be able to find or buy things for you.”
“We have lost everything,” Sliver replied with a slight nod of her head. “If it weren’t for the fact that my daughters had their weapons on them, those would have been lost as well. Some of the items we have lost can never be replaced and others… would be too costly.”
“For example?” Splinter pressed.
Sliver let out a sorrowful sigh. “We had instruments. Four of them in fact. Michelle and Donna were learning how to play the koto while Rachael and Leah were learning the shakuhachi. I had brought the instruments with me from Japan. They had been in my family for generations.”
Leo glanced over at Raph as Sliver spoke. He could see that his brother was taking mental notes. Sliver was right, the costs of the four instruments would be more than they could afford and it wasn’t likely that they were going to be able to find any to restore. None of them had the skills to make them. So, what was Raph planning?
“Mother also had all of her kimonos,” Leah added. “And her brushes and combs. Her tea sets. Her incense for when she meditated.”
Michelle nodded. “Even though we lived in the sewers, mother was always a proper lady.”
“Yeah,” Rachael smirked. “All prim and proper until one of us got her mad.” Sliver looked over at her daughter and narrowed her eyes slightly, causing Rachael’s smile to drop as she looked down at her food.
“And then there were the things we’d collected over the years,” Michelle continued. “I had all of my comic books and a few games Donna had been able to get working again. Rachael had her weights. Leah had her collection of boring books.”
“They weren’t boring, they were informative,” Leah argued. “They were useful.”
“Boring,” Michelle stated, drawing the word out.
“I had my projects,” Donna said, interrupting her sisters before their argument could escalate. “But they were just things to make living in the sewers easier. I didn’t really have anything else.”
“You had that damned doll,” Rachael pointed out.
Leo saw Raph perk up at that and then felt his larger brother kick him under the table. Getting the hint, Leo asked, “You had a doll?”
Donna blushed and looked down at her food. “It was something mother found and gave to me when I was little. She was just a plastic human doll that was all tattered, but… I liked her. She… was comforting.”
“Donny was attached to a teddy bear for the longest time,” Mikey stated. “He slept with it every night and cried when it was lost.” He looked over at his brother. “What ever happened to that thing?”
“It got lost when the mousers attacked our home,” Donny answered, contemplating the memory. Then a soft smile spread across his beak. “Raph eventually found me another one that is similar. It is in my lab, on my night stand.”
It was clear the way Raph and Don felt about each other. Their whole lives, they have done little things for each other without needing to be asked. Leonardo looked over at Rachael. What if she was like Raph and was attracted to Tello? That would mean Raph would be with Donna, Tello would be with Rachael and Mikey would be with Michelle. That would leave Leah for Leo. And that would also mean that Leah would be holding a torch for Raph. Settling for someone who had also settled was not something Leo wanted to do.
He looked over at Tello and remembered their discussion last night. Tello had no desire for Rachael. That, at least, gave Leo hope.
“Maybe we could eventually find you another doll,” Leo offered to Donna, setting his mind back on the conversation. “It will take some time but we will be able to find things for each of you,” he added looking around the table. “I know there are things that can never be replaced. However, you will eventually have collections of personal belongings again.”
“We know the feeling of losing everything,” Donny added sympathetically. “We’ve had to move and start over again so many times. It will get better.”
“Replacing your comics in this world is going to be hard,” Raph said to Michelle.
“Why?” Michelle asked, tilting her head to the side. “Don’t you have Silver Sentry comics here?”
“Yeah we do!” Mikey answered with a cocky grin. “He’s one of my favorite super heroes. I’m even his part time sidekick.”
“Him?” Michelle looked over at Mikey. “Your Silver Sentry is a him?” She looked up in thought for a moment then her face lit up as the realization struck her. “Guys, it’s like everyone on this planet is the opposite gender than they were on ours.”
“You just figured that out?” Rachael asked flatly. “You’re a little slow on the uptake there, sis.”
“That’s enough,” Sliver warned. Leo had a feeling that warning Rachael was something she had to do often. Leo had to take a bite of food to hide the smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rachael mumbled, once again looking down at her food. She was so much like Raph.
They continued to sit around the table even after all the food was gone. They spent the time comparing different aspects of their lives and the parallels of their worlds. Tello was even able to talk about his brothers without tearing up. Leo was glad to see how far he had come in his recovery.
The more he got to know her, the more Leo was sure that Rachael was the one he wanted. She was strong, witty, and devoted to her family. Part of him had desired a combination of Karai and Raph and Rachael seemed to fit the bill. She was everything he loved about the two of them. He just hoped that she wasn’t like them in who she was attracted to; the studious nerd type. Leo inwardly sighed. He needed to stop thinking about it so much.
When they finally decided to get up from the table it was past mid-morning. Tello helped Raph with the dishes while Donny took Donna up to the lab to get her settled in. Michelangelo ducked down into the tunnel to work on a secret project. Leo had a feeling that it had something to do with Michelle. Of course it had something to do with Michelle. She was all Mikey was thinking about. Leo had more control and he was thinking about the girls, and sex, almost constantly. He hadn’t been able to tuck his tail since they got here.
By lunch time, everyone was still too full from breakfast to really eat. It was a good thing that Splinter and Sliver had decided to give them the morning off to help get the girls acclimated to their new home. Having a full stomach tended to hinder movements. Leo had forgotten how well Mikey could cook when he applied himself.
After a small snack to tide him over until dinner, Leonardo headed to his room to meditate and reflect on all he had learned about the girls. He needed the moment alone, to settle his mind and get his thoughts back under control.
He locked the door, dimmed the lights, and lit a few candles. Sitting on the floor, Leo sought his center and tried to clear his mind. Tried. He couldn’t get them out of his head. He couldn’t get her out of his head. Her voice. He knew she would be demanding, and vocal about it.
With a groan of frustration, Leo got up off the floor. It seemed like meditation wasn’t going to be enough to calm him down.
