Things had gotten better for them, now that Donnie was actually getting enough sleep and letting Mikey get to know his niece. For the first weeks he'd only been allowed to hover, making funny faces at Haru when he could get close, even holding her if he begged enough. Splinter, who had chosen to give Don time, had seen even less of her as a result. Leo and Raph had barely looked at her since that first day—for what were, Mikey suspected, different reasons.

Of course, now that Donnie had started giving Mikey babysitting duty, he could see why Don was exhausted all the time. Haru craved affection and had needs, tiny baby needs that Michelangelo wasn't very experienced at fulfilling and did so clumsily. Like, he'd watched a lot of Full House, and Good Luck Charlie, but it had left him woefully unprepared for his sudden duties.

Still, this sort of adversity had never stopped Michelangelo. And there were rewards—Haru was exactly as cute as she had seemed from a distance, full of more personality than someone her size seemed able to hold in.

"You were the same way, my son," Splinter said warmly one morning, as Haru giggled and kicked her feet against the edge of the counter.

"What, adorable?" Mikey asked, lifting her up so she could stand with his help. "I could have told you that, sensei."

Splinter chuckled. "Active, but yes," he said. "Donatello was more careful. And less ... wiggly," he added, as Haru reached for the sink full of dishes. "Of course, there were four of you and there is only one of her, thank goodness. I'd fear for your brother's sanity otherwise."

"I fear for the mad scientist's sanity every day, sensei!" Mikey said cheerfully, handing her off into Splinter's waiting arms. "Here, Haru, go see jiichan. I need to eat my cereal."

He was looking forward to watching Justice Force Unstoppable with his breakfast before training, but as he passed by the doorway he happened to hear hushed, angry voices in the next hallway.

So of course he pressed himself against a wall and listened in instead, cereal forgotten.

"I'm tired of waking up to crying, Donnie! Can't you do something about her?"

Mikey blinked. Leo sounded genuinely angry, and that didn't really make sense. Sure, he ignored Haru completely, but it didn't seem worse than a sort of nervous indifference. Even Raph hadn't said anything about the baby, though Mikey hadn't chalked that up to dislike so much as not knowing what to do with her.

Donnie's voice had a tired edge. "She's a baby, Leo. And if you're awake, trust me, I'm up too because I can't just leave her to-"

"I don't care if you're up all night—which, by the way, you were plenty of times before your accident."

Mikey's eyes widened. He considered going out there and interrupting, to nip it in the bud ... but he had to know. What had Leo been holding back?

"What's gotten into you?" Donnie asked. Mikey wasn't looking, but he could picture his brother's expression: eyes widened just slightly, hands in front of him to guard against Leo's rare anger. A sheen of calm and patience that made him Donatello. "Leo, I'm doing the best I can. This isn't like you, it's-"

"Hey bros," Mikey said. He stepped into the doorway. His brothers stopped, and turned towards his voice. Mikey stood there for a moment, casual as could be, spooning sugary cereal into his mouth. "Wanna read the comics over breakfast with me?" This was a little muffled, around the food in his mouth.

"No, Mikey," Leo snapped, turning towards him. Donatello shook his head, just slightly: I've got this, bro.

Mikey raised his brows. Expertly balancing his cereal in one hand, he leaned forward and grabbed Donnie by his elbow. "C'mon. You need sugar in you."

Donnie seemed surprised enough to follow (and, his reflexes were softening just a bit with the training he'd been missing), and Mikey left Leo standing alone in the hall. They heard him turn, mumble something angry ... and slam his knuckles against the wall as he went. Michelangelo whisked Donnie into the kitchen, his lips in a thin line.

"Sensei, Leo needs to talk to you right now," Mikey said, pushing Donnie into a chair and taking his niece from Splinter's arms. When Splinter looked at them, eyes narrowed in his patented give-me-an-explanation way, Mikey pointed out the door. Their sensei had good ears. He'd have picked it up, and he left his tea without a word.

He was relieved when Haru got a thin smile out of Donnie, sitting in Mikey's lap where she could just reach the table. Already she was leaning over, trying to get one of Donnie's mask tails in her hand, and Don let her take his finger.

"Geez," Mikey said, hoping his easy grin would mask the worry. "Someone's a ray of sunshine this morning. What's gotten into him?" It was unnerving when Leo got like this, for any reason. But especially about Haru. Neither she nor Donnie deserved the treatment.

Donnie rubbed his temples, eyes squeezed shut. "It's not just that, that's too easy an excuse for Leo," he said. "I think he's upset we can't train together any more."

"But it's Leo," Mikey said. "He's like...the most understanding guy ever. It's awful of him to call Haru an accident and-"

"Don't," said Donnie. He sighed, heavily. He still had bags under his eyes. His family couldn't pick up all the slack, especially at night. "You shouldn't have brought sensei into it like that. I'm gonna take care of it."

Mikey frowned, looking down at his soggy cereal. "Master Splinter knows how to get him to talk, though," Mikey said. "He'll get to the bottom of why he's been rotten to you and Haru." Shifting his weight so he knew Haru wouldn't fall, he grabbed his cereal bowl and tipped his head back to slurp down his milk. Haru squealed, like it was the funniest sound she'd ever heard. (In fairness, at this point it might have been.)

"Maybe we'll get to the bottom of Raph too," Donnie said, smiling wanly.

Mikey smiled at that, genuine. Raph had given Haru a wide berth, but sometimes he caught him hovering in the door, trying to get a good look. An offer to hold her was always met with no, and he'd disappear until Haru and Don were out of sight. "Raph? Raph's just nervous. I don't think he thinks he gets babies."

"He probably doesn't," Donnie said. "I mean, I don't get babies. Not like you and sensei."

"Natural talent I guess, bro," Mikey said. He clapped Donnie on the shell. "He has to have a life changing moment or something so he'll step out of the sidelines." Helping Raph would be easy enough. Raph didn't know what to do with the baby, so he stuck with Leo and avoided the baby. And Donnie had made that very easy for him to do.

"Well," Donnie said, standing up. "Let's hope Splinter can get something out of fearless leader. You'd think he could adapt better to someone who can't even talk."

Mikey laughed, and was pleased when he noticed Don smiling too. Splinter wasn't likely to tell them what was at the bottom of this for Leo, so they'd just have to wait.

"You know what I think we should do?" Mikey said. "We should get April and Casey over here to meet Haru. I bet that will get our brothers out of hiding."

Donnie made a face, returning to the table with a cup of coffee. "How am I even going to explain? I guess I should get it over with."

"Probably," Mikey said. "Or, I mean, I can call for you. I'll tell them all about how Usagi showed up and how none of us knew you had such a way with the ladies—ow!"

Haru squealed, and Mikey scowled, reaching up to rub his head. Donnie was scowling too, and looking very red. "I will call them. Don't worry about it."

It was then Mikey caught Raph's eye in the doorway—he was gone in no time when he saw who else was here, and Mikey rolled his eyes. They'd better force them out of hiding soon.

Don't worry, I thought I'd forgotten about this story too! This chapter has been basically complete in my documents for a year! Ridiculous of me to leave it this long, but that's what happens when you have too many projects on the go. We'll see about the future as it comes lol.