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Chapter Text

Raph was comfortably reading his book which he held in one hand. His other hand was resting on the shell of the little toddler, who was currently sleeping on Raph's plastron. Raph was leaning against the wall in a half sitting half lying position with many pillows behind him, the position greatly eased the breathing of the little turtle who was sleeping peacefully on his stomach with his mouth half open and a purple pacifier threatening to fall out of it. 

Small voices and movements told Raph that his little brother was in the process of waking up and he closed the book and placed it on the bed. He looked at Don with a smile as he saw the little boy rubbing his eyes with a closed fist. Raph lifted the blanket to cover his brother a little better after it fell a bit with the toddler's movement.

"Hey Donnie, good morning" Raph said in a sweet and quiet voice, not wanting to startle the little turtle, (after all, he knows how Don can get up on the wrong side of the bed if he doesn't wake up gently, Don is just sensitive that way). The young boy mumbled some words that Raph didn't understand through his pacifier and snuggled closer to the warmth coming off his older brother. Raph chuckled to himself and put another arm around his little brother so he would feel protected and covered.

After a few minutes where Don moved a bit, mumbled a few more things and managed to crawl up to Raph's chest, he opened his eyes completely and looked with unfocused eyes at his older brother. Raph smiled at Don and stroked his head.

It was about 9 am, and Raph, who was on Donnie's night shift, didn't get up for morning practice due to him serving as a human pillow. He also hasn't gone to the bathroom or brushed his teeth yet and he was already awake from about 7:30 (damn you internal clock). He decided to pass the time while reading a book until Don woke up and then he would be free to do his morning routine.

Don looked at Raph, his pacifier working overtime and making noises as Don sucked on him, a clear indicator that Don was not pleased at the moment. "What is it baby?" Raph said cooing at him sweetly.

"Mak'y" Don said through the pacifier.

"Do ya want Mikey?" Raph asked with a smile and continued to stroke circles on his little brother's back.

Don nodded and rested his head on his brother's chest.

"Ok love, I'll call him" Raph said and put one hand to block Don's ear so he could yell "MIKEY".

After a minute Mikey appeared at Raph's door, "Did you call?" He said with a smile, gaming headphones around his neck, 'He must have come from the games room' Raph thought to himself.

Leo appeared behind him as well, (although he wasn't called), but he assumed that if Raph yelled, then Don had woken up, and he wanted to check on his brother.

"Don wants ya" Raph said with a half smile. "Look at that Donnie, you asked for one brother and you got two" Raph said amused at the sight of Leo behind Mikey. Leo just stared at him unamused.

"Aww little dude, you want big brother Mikey don't ya?" Mikey said walking over to the bed his brothers were lying on. He reached out his hands to Don, as if asking if he wanted to be picked up, but Don made no move to get off of Raph's chest, happy in the warmth of his big brother and the blanket.

"Mak'y" he said pleased that his other brother was in the room as well.

"Don't you want up D?" Mikey asked, a little disappointed.

Don shook his head lightly but it soon caused him to have a coughing fit, Raph and Mikey's faces fell at the sight of the fit shaking their little brother's body, and Raph lifted Don a little higher on his chest so he could breathe easier.

At the sight of his brother's distress, Leo entered the room from where he stood at the entrance and approached Raph's bed, he leaned down to the height of the bed and placed his hand on his little brother's forehead. Leo's huge hand covered almost all of Don's face.

Leo frowned at the feeling of the heat radiating from his brother. "His fever rose again" he said with disappointment.

He turned to the tray that was on the dresser next to Raph's bed and took the thermometer that had been there since the night before as he waited for Don to stop coughing.

After a few more seconds, Don's coughing fit passed and he slumped forward on Raph's chest. Gasping heavily, his pacifier fell out of his mouth and he wasn't happy about it. His eyes began to water from the pain the coughing brought him and he looked at Leo who appeared in front of him.

"'eo" he said in a crooked voice.

"Hey Donnie, open up for me so I can take your temperature" Leo said with a smile, trying to convince the toddler to cooperate with him.

Don made no move to comply with Leo's instructions, causing Raph to pick him up and flip him so that he was now lying on his back against Raph's chest. Don let out a whimper at the change in position, but quickly calmed down after Raph brought both of his arms to hug the distressed little turtle.

"Come on Donnie it's just a thermometer, let's see how high your temperature is? It's interesting isn't it?" Leo tried again, he knew his little baby brother, even now as a toddler, Donnie was still fascinated by every bit of technology and information he could get his hands on.

His little brother's big brown eyes looked up at him, his teary red feverish eyes. But at the promise of new information, Don opened his mouth a little and allowed Leo to put the thermometer in his mouth. He looked at the thermometer in his mouth in wonder and Mikey and Leo couldn't help but giggle at the way Don was trying to squint to look at the device in his mouth.

After a few more seconds, the thermometer beeped and before Don's small hands could grab the device, Leo grabbed it and looked at the result, as Don whimpered a little and tried to grab the thermometer from Leo's large hand.

"38" Leo said in disappointment, he was really hoping that maybe Don would wake up today without a fever.

After another whimper from Don, Leo opened his hand and let the toddler take the thermometer from him, Donnie held the device with both hands and turned it from side to side, examining it.

"It aint passing" Raph said in a worried voice, he held Don tighter with both hands to prevent the young kid from falling off of him, following Don's fiddling with the thermometer.

"I thought he would at least get better today, even though his temperature isn't as high as it was a few days ago" Mikey admitted and pressed the button on the thermometer in Don's hand so it would beep, Don let out a surprised sound and started pressing the button many times to make the sound.

Leo, as much as he wanted to be amused by his brother's investigation, was busy measuring Don's medicine with the baby syringe. April brought them fever syrup when Don got sick 5 days ago, after they realized they had nothing to give the toddler that wasn't pills.

Leo turned to Don back with the syringe full of syrup, "Donnie, look what I have, wanna try it?" Leo said in a happy and cheerful voice.

But Don was not humored by the attempt to trick him, as soon as he saw the syringe full of medicine he knew what it was, he was smart after all, even for a 3 year old, and he shook his head as a clear no.

Leo sighed, his little ruse didn't work. Obviously, Don knew what the syringe was, it had appeared in front of him for the last 5 days already, several times a day. Sometimes Leo hoped that instead of Don, who was so smart, Mikey would have turned into a baby, it must have been easier to scheme him. But not Don, Don remains wise despite being turned into a baby.

"Come on buddy, I need you to take the delicious medicine so you can feel better" Leo tried to convince with a smile and offered the syringe to his brother's mouth.

But Don who was now sitting on Raph, dodged him and dived forward towards his pacifier, effectively catching it and putting it in his mouth from where the pacifier was thrown on the bed earlier.

"Haha, he put a stop to your plan Leo" Mikey was amused by the whole situation.

"Thanks Mikey, that helps a lot" Leo said coldly, as he not amused at all, and gave his little brother a dirty look.

"Donnie..." Leo tried to stay calm, "give me the pacifier" he said.

But Don shook his head and said through the pacifier "bo'ks" and pointed towards the door.

"Hahahahah, Don is right Leo, if you want a pacifier, take it from the pacifier box in the kitchen, this is Don's pacifier" Mikey said with a laugh.

Leo's face twisted into anger and he growled at Mikey.

And as much as Raph loves to see Don outsmart Leo and piss him off, Raph needed to go to the bathroom, and Don needs to take his medicine.

"Don" came Raph's booming voice. And it made Don freeze, and turn to his older brother, out of all his brothers he was a bit more intimidated by Raph, not because he thought his brother would hurt him, but Raph had a certain authority over him, maybe it was because even when he was older, Raph was the one responsible for putting him in his place once his brothers had to drag him to do something for his health, like carrying him from his laboratory for a much needed rest that he hasn't had in a few days. Raph was always the muscle behind the operations to bring Don to order, or make Don take care of himself.

"Pacifier, to me, now" he said stiffly, and his hand was sent towards Don to receive the pacifier.

Don, whose eyes had doubled in size, sucked the pacifier quickly and hard, a sign that he was not satisfied.

"You'll get it after you take your medicine, now giv' it here" Raph said bringing his hand under Don's mouth.

The little turtle's eyes filled with tears but he dropped the pacifier in his big brother's hand in submission.

Raph was glad he didn't have to forcefully take the pacifier from his brother and managed to get him to give it up willingly. He wanted to avoid making Don cry at all costs.

"Well done buddy, you'll get it after you take the medicine ok?" Raph said stroking his brother's back in soothing circles.

"Come on Donnie, Mikey made you a glass of grape juice for after you take your medicine" Leo said holding the syringe to Don's mouth again.

Don looked from Leo and saw that indeed Mikey, while he was fussing over with Raph, had made him a glass of juice and he was holding it up in the air to show it to Don. Grape juice was Don's favorite, and his brothers didn't always let him drink the sweet drink because of the amount of sugar in it, so Don was excited to have the juice as a promise.

He opened his mouth and allowed Leo to give him the liquid medicine, he gasped at the orange taste of the medicine but before he could recover, another syringe was shoved into his mouth and he was forced to swallow the cold liquid substance again.

Don made a sound of disgust but immediately felt a cup on his lips, and he relented to the delicious juice that replaced the taste of the nasty medicine. But before he could drink the whole glass it was taken from him.

"Aaaaaah" Don whined but Mikey took his hand in his, "Wait little dude, you need to take the cough syrup too" Mikey said sympathetically. He knew how disgusting the medications Don had to take were, he himself was famous for his reluctance to take anything when he was sick, deciding it was disgusting and he'd rather die.

Don looked at his older brother and then looked back at Leo who was holding a small cup of red liquid.

"Do't w'na" Don said and turned his head to the side at the sight of the approaching cup.

"If you take it Mikey will make you another cup" Leo said in a singsong voice.

"Leo that's too much juice" Raph said in opposition to Leo's offer.
But Leo didn't listen to him and when he saw the agreement in Don's eyes, he brought the cup to his little brother's lips and helped him drink the cough syrup.

But Don immediately started coughing due to the strength of the medicine. So Mikey was quick to let him drink what was left of the juice and it helped Don stop coughing.

"Well done Donnie, you were really mature" Leo said with praise and put the things back on the tray on the dresser.

"Yeah, Leo why don't ya bribe him with chocolate every time he has to do something he doesn't want to do?" Raph asked teasingly at the sight of Mikey making another glass of juice for Don.

"At least he took the medicine Raph" Leo said coldly. "And no crying" Mikey added and gave Don the glass of juice to hold.

But Raph wasn't happy with the idea of the toddler holding a glass of juice alone above his sheets so he grabbed the bottom of the glass as Don drank. After half a cup, Raph took the cup from Don and quickly brought the pacifier to his mouth before he could whine about it.

Don looked at Raph in astonishment but Raph drank what was left of the juice quickly and set the glass aside. "Sorry Don, too much sugar for ya" he said bringing his legs to the side of the bed. He grabbed Don with both hands and lifted him off the bed with him.

There's nothing like a change of location to distract a toddler.
Raph passed Don to Leo after he stood. "I have'ta pee" he said and walked towards the door of the room.

Leo rolled his eyes but hugged Don to his chest anyway. And Donnie, who wasn't too stunned by the sudden get-up, clung to Leo and hugged his neck, the pacifier in his mouth making a clack clack every time Don sucked on it.

"Dad'y" Don said in a crying voice.

"Do you want father?" Leo said in understanding and moved towards the exit of the room. He understood Don's plight and his desire to be with their father now. Don was sick and he just woke up. And he still felt more comfortable with Master Splinter than with them because he remembered him the best.

"I think Master Splinter is meditating but let's check" Leo said with reassurance and moved towards the dojo. He cradled Don in his arms and held him tight like he knew Don likes.

Don came down with an illness 5 days ago, it started with a cough a week ago and five days ago he developed a fever. The fever remained since then and the cough only got worse, which made all the brothers and their father worried. They let Don rest and take medicine that April brought, but Leo worried it wasn't enough. He will call Leatherhead after he'll give Don to Master Splinter and see if he can come to check on him.

Leo entered the dojo with Don to see his father was indeed meditating, but as soon as Don saw Splinter, he started to cry and the old rat immediately got up from his place in the middle of the room, and walked towards his oldest son and his now infant son.

"Hello Leonardo, Donatello" Splinter said calmly and took Don who threw his hands towards his father and immediately buried himself in his father's fur, still crying slightly.

Splinter looked towards Leonardo for answers, though he could guess himself.

"He woke up with a fever, 38, we gave him some fever medicine and cough syrup," Leo said in explanation to his father.

Splinter rocked Donatello from side to side in a soothing motion and patted his infant son's back.

"Thank you Leonardo, can you make your brother a bottle? I don't think he will be eating solid food anytime soon" Splinter told Leonardo and continued to try to calm the young turtle.

"Sure Sensei" Leo said and left the dojo.

Splinter looked at his son, he was wearing a furry purple onesie (courtesy of April) to keep him warm. Splinter felt the diaper that was under his clothes and judged he needed a change, so he made his way towards the changing table that Raphael and Casey had built in Don's room.

When he got to his now, youngest son's room, which in the last few months had become a nursery with a crib (mostly unused because Don liked to sleep with someone), a changing table, that Casey and Raph tried to build from Ikea (emphasis on the tried part, it came out a little crooked) and a supply of diapers, toys and other things that April brought after it was apprehended that it would take longer than they expected to turn Don back into an adult.

Splinter turned on the light in the room and it immediately took Don's attention away from his crying, and he lifted his head from his father's neck.

"Look Donatello, we are in your room, why don't we change your diaper and go have a bottle in the living room?" Splinter said softly and with one hand took a new diaper and a toy from the pile on the table.

He placed his son on the changing table and gave him the toy to hold. Don, who was shocked by the new thing in his hands, stopped crying completely and started fiddling with the object.

Splinter wasted no time, and efficiently and skillfully changed his son's diaper. He was of course, experienced in changing diapers (courtesy of the fact that he did it for many years for 4 babies, so one is nothing).

When he was done, he picked Donnie up, who was still fiddling with the toy and took him out of the room. Splinter walked towards the living room, where Leonardo was waiting with the bottle of formula he had asked for.

"Here you go Master Splinter" he said and handed his father the bottle.

"Thank you Leonardo" Splinter said and sat down on the sofa to give Dontello the bottle. And as soon as Donnie saw the bottle, he took out his pacifier and gave it to Splinter, he then opened his mouth to accept the bottle. Splinter chuckled at his son's eagerness to eat and he was filled with relief at the fact that Donatello was eating something.

Although they couldn't estimate the exact age Donatello had changed to, he showed signs of a child's development between 2-3 years old, according to Splinter's estimate. He wasn't potty trained yet so they made him wear diapers, but he did say sometimes if he needed to use the bathroom, in addition, he did talk (although his speech was a little slurred and broken).

Splinter tried to explain to his adult sons, that Donatello always behaved more mature for his age, he was the first to talk among the brothers, the first to wean himself from a diaper, and the first to write and read of course. But his progress didn't always match their age, hence the difficulty in determining the exact age he changed to.

He enjoyed being with a pacifier and he walked if he was put down (although a bit clumsily, and he didn't like not being picked up and getting carried anyway). But what they decided about Don's food, after much deliberation, was to give him bottles of baby formula.

As Leatherhead informed them several times after he checked Donnie over, he was under the weight he should probably be in. He also refused to eat most of their food, which worried the family even more. They had always known that Don was on the thinner side, both as an adult and as a child, but they were determined to get his weight up to avoid health problems.

April suggested baby formula, as it is full of vitamins and nutrients for babies, and it is known to help small children gain weight. And after she brought a bottle and formula, and Don agreed to drink it, they made it a rule that Don would drink at least 2 bottles of formula with at least 4 scoops every day. There were days when he had more bottles (even though they did try to give him adult food as much as possible), and there were days when he did agree to eat with them, depending on his mood.

Today, Master Splinter decided not to try regular food at all and go straight to formula, to help his young son calm down after the less than pleasant morning he had.

Chapter Text

After Don finished his bottle, he was feeling sleepy, so Splinter let him lie down on him while he turned on some television for himself. Splinter did noticed, that Donatello wasn't really interested in the show and was just staring at all sorts of things around the living room, while he fiddled with the fabric of his onesie.

After about half an hour of television and rest, Donnie apparently felt awake enough to start moving on his father's lap, as he sat up and started fiddling with Splinter's kimono and beard instead of his onesie. And Splinter let him, even though he didn't really enjoy it, becauseo he knows how much his wise son likes to explore, even at such a young age, Donatello was always interested in the world around him and nothing was beyond his reach to explore.

After a while, Splinter felt a presence approaching them and he greeted Michelangelo as he passed the couch.

"Hey sensei, Leo told me to tell you that he called LH, he's coming in a little while to check on Donnie, Leo is worried because he's not getting better" Mikey said to his father and sat down on the couch.

Donnie who saw his brother immediately started crawling towards him on the couch and stood up with the help of Mikey's shoulder, as he grabbed the edges of the orange mask in his hand trying to pulled it off.

"Hey Don, knock it off come on" Mikey said giggling at Don's strength, and moving his head towards the toddler. But Don kept pulling and Mikey's mask came off his head as Don fell back on the couch with it in hand. But the fall didn't seem to bother the little tot, and he just started playing with the mask in his hands, stretching it and putting his little fingers inside its holes.

"Orange isn't your color Donnie" Mikey said happily and made a move to take the mask from Don's hand, but Don moved his body to the side to avoid the kidnapping attempt, he wasn't done messing with that cloth yet. So Mikey gave up and let Don play with his mask. They didn't put Donny's mask on him, so he walked around without his purple signature garment. At first, they tried, but after Don kept taking it off, and Splinter was afraid he would tie it around his neck, they gave up on the idea.

Mikey sighed and put a hand to keep Don from falling off the sofa, his little brother sat with the orange mask and twisted it around his hand, fascinated by the stretch of the fabric. Mikey didn't know that taking care of a baby would be so difficult, really, his perspective of his father had changed during the last six months that they had to get used to a new life with a baby. How his father did it alone with 4 boys he doesn't know.

And Donnie was not a difficult child at all, except for the matter of the food, the clinginess and the unwillingness to sleep alone, he was a very easy kid. He didn't cause them problems in the shower, or at sleep time. He played with anything that was given to him, and his reluctance to be alone or walk alone on the floor kept him most of the time from getting into trouble with dangerous things like in the kitchen.

Don now took the mask off his hand and crawled over to his older brother to wrap the mask around his brother's hand, and Mikey let him, he smiled to himself, it reminded him of when Don was older and would bandage him up after he got injured on their missions.

He missed his older brother, not that he didn't love Donnie as a baby, the fact that Donnie became a toddler gave them the opportunity to experience something they never thought they would be able to share, the experience of raising a child. But Mikey missed the conversations with his older brother, he missed the light in Donnie's lab that was always on even in the wee hours of the night. He missed Donnie on their missions and patrols, he missed testing him and nagging him, he missed the smell of Donnie's coffee every morning and training with his brother in the dojo. Not to mention the fact that half of their house wasn't working now that Donnie wasn't there to fix the things that broke down.

Casey, April and LH tried to help as much as they could, but even with everyone working together, some things just couldn't work out, and some took them weeks to sort out instead of the few hours it would have taken Donnie.

He just missed his big brother. Period. He hoped that Donnie could get back to himself soon, half a year without his brother taught him how much he underappreciated his ability to spend time with his siblings.

After a few more minutes of playing, where Donnie ditched Mikey's mask and moved on to play with some objects on the coffee table, Mikey and his father were drawn into a conversation about general things, they both kept an eye on Donnie, as he sat on the couch between them and brought the cup coasters and remote from The TV mess with them.

"My friends" Leatherhead's voice came from the entrance and Mikey and Splinter turned to see the alligator walk into their house.

"LH my man, what's up" Mikey said happily waving to his friend. Leo and Raph also emerged from their place in the kitchen to greet the large crocodile.

"Leatherhead, thanks for coming on such short notice" Leo thanked their friend and moved closer to him.

"You're welcome Leonardo, I told you I am ready to help you with whatever you need" LH said with a smile.

But then there was a shriek of terror from the couch area, and everyone turned to see Donnie, who had managed to make himself stand on the couch cushions to see who had entered their home, with a scared face looking at the big alligator.

"Oh shell" Raph said and before he finished the sentence Donnie bolted running towards the rooms, screaming while running.

"Donnie!" Mikey called after him and got up from the couch. How could he forget that Donnie is afraid of Leatherhead, he sighed and slapped himself on the forehead in frustration.

Raph had already made his way in the direction where Donnie ran to, and Leo apologized to LH for the incident and the fact that Donnie was still afraid of him.

Mikey joined Raph in the search for their little brother, for a 2 year old, Don hides really well. He and Raph split into the lower rooms and started calling and looking for Donnie.

After a few minutes of searching, Raph heard a voice from the laundry room area, he smiled to himself, Donnie wasn't exactly a little ninja just yet, he approached the dark room, and turned on the lights, with a little searching, he found Don behind the washing machine, balled up.

"Donnie, what are you doing in there?, come out" Raph said and started moving the washing machine to get to his brother, Don was small enough to fit in the slot between the two machines.

"No" Don whined and went deeper into the groove.

"Donatello! I swear, if you don't get out of there right now...." Raph raised his tone and continued to move the machine. He succeeded and despite his little brother's tries, Raph very effectively got him out of his hiding place.

"Hey!, Donnie stop it, look you're all dusty now" Raph said to the toddler who resisted in his arms, he started to brush off the dust that had accumulated on him from being in the dirty hideout.

"No, no, no" Don kept saying while trying to escape from his older brother's grip, Wiggling in all Direction and trying to get away.

Raph sighed in frustration, he knew that Donnie was afraid of LH, hell, he himself would probably be afraid of the huge 7 ft crocodile with sharp teeth at Don's age. But he also knew that Don was afraid of Leatherhead for another reason, since Don turned into a baby, the brothers invited Leatherhead to be the little boy's doctor several times, especially at first, when they didn't understand what was going on and if Don was okay. And Donnie started to fear the crocodile even more than before, after he also stuck needles in him a few times. Everything he did was necessary of course, but go explain it to a 2-year-old boy, that he needs to be stabbed several times and have blood taken from his body.

So Raph knew why Donnie was terrified every time Leatherhead came to visit, it didn't help that Don, again, was still smart even at that age, so he remembered a lot of things that little kids would probably forget after a few minutes.

"Donnie, hey, buddy, I need you to calm down, shhhh Donnie, calm down" Raph regained his composure and tried to calm the distressed toddler more effectively and without anger. He rocked Don from side to side and walked with him around the laundry room, he went to close the door as well, to separate them from the rest of the house, and to give Don a sense of security that Leatherhead wouldn't come in and Donnie wouldn't see him.

Don stopped his escape attempts, and instead, clung to his older brother and started crying loudly, he also started coughing and choking as a result of his hysteria, Raph continued his calming attempts, he caressed his brother's shell and whispered sweet things in his ear to distract the little one.

After a few moments, Don began to calm down again and his breathing returned to normal but with an occasional wheezing.

"Donnie hey buddy, look at me come on" Raph said pulling the boy away from his chest. Don looked at his older brother with tear wet cheeks and a miserable face.

"Donnie listen, Leatherhead is here because we called him ok?, he's a doctor, that means he treats people and makes them feel better, and you feel bad right?, you've been sick for a long time now, and me, Leo, Mikey and dad are taking care of you. We brought Leatherhead to check you out and give you something to make you feel better, don't you want to feel better? to stop coughing? and stop taking nasty medicine all the time?" Raph knew that some of what he said went over the little one's head, but he hoped the point got across.

Donnie said nothing and just sniffled his snot back into his nose, Raph took his hand and wiped the snot that managed to trickle out of his little nose. He wasn't surprised that he wasn't disgusted by anything related to baby Donnie, he was afraid at first, that he wouldn't be able to do things like change diapers, but he was quick to discover that nothing that came out of Donnie disgusted him, April said it was a trait of parents, that they weren't disgusted by their children, because they love them and felt that they are a part of them. Raph may not have been Donnie's father, but he did help raise him at the moment, so he felt a connection to him, even stronger than the previous connection he had with Big Donnie.

"Listen baby, that's what we're gonna do, we're gonna go to the lab together, and you're gonna sit on me the whole time with your pacifier, while Leatherhead checks you ok?, if you want Leo, Daddy and Mikey to sit with us too they can. After that, we're gonna go play in your room with the trains April brought yesterday, what do you say?, does that sound fair?" He tried to sound convincing and exciting.

Donnie looked at him, he had a cute pout on his face, Raph thought Donnie looked very sweet that way.

"Sca'ed" Donnie said in a weak voice, Raph probably wouldn't have heard him if he wasn't so close to the boy.

"I know pal, but I'll be with you the whole time ok? I won't leave you for a second, and neither will the others ok? And hey, you don't have to be afraid when big bad Raphie is here to defend ya right?" Raph said in amusement.

"Ra'hie" Donnie said whining and hugged Raph tightly. Raph returned the hug and pulled Don a little closer to him.

"We'll leave now ok? And we'll go to the lab and Leatherhead will check you out real quick and then we'll go play ok? I promise" Raph said and opened the door to leave with Donnie in his arms.

He went to the living room where Splinter and Leo were waiting for him, Mikey was on the second floor and when he saw Raph with Donnie he hurried to jump downstairs, "Donnie, hey, don't run away like that dude I thought I would never find you" Mikey said with a smile to relieve the tension of the atmosphere.

Leo nodded to Raph in a silent  asking, if he had taken care of the matter, Raph nodded back and Leo was content with that. He knows Raph must have been talking to their little brother and making all sorts of promises to get Donnie to cooperate.

They walked towards the lab where Leatherhead was waiting for them, when Don saw him he immediately hid in Raph's chest and let out a wail of fear. Raph stroked comforting circles on his brother's back and went to sit with him on the cot.

The others also stood close to the cot, Mikey sat down next to Raph and put a hand on Donnie's leg. And Leo stood next to Mikey and handed Raph a new pacifier that he brought from the box in the kitchen earlier. Raph took the pacifier and put it in Donnie's mouth, the little one immediately started sucking it to calm himself.

"Leo, come sit on the other side, Donnie wants us all with him don't you Munchkin?" He said turning Donnie so he was sitting with his back against Raph's stomach. Leo nodded and went to sit on the bed on the other side.

"Heem will it hold us all?" Mikey said hesitantly.

"I think so, just try not to move too much" Leo said.

Splinter stood close to Mikey in his little boy's line of sight, he trusted the brothers to provide support and protection for their little brother at this moment.

Leatherhead at the same time brought a chair to sit in front of Donnie and Raph, and turned around so Donnie wouldn't see him. When he turned back towards the brothers he had a round red clown nose attached to the end of his snout, and stag ears on his head. Mikey immediately started laughing, which got Donnie's interest, and he looked at Leatherhead in amazement to see the change in appearance of the scary alligator.

"Leatherhead, what?" Mikey said between laughs.

Leatherhead gave a happy smile "I'm not Leatherhead, I'm Doctor Boli Boli" he said sticking out his tongue at Donnie with a smile.

Don who was completely mesmerized by the new sight in front of him, and confused by the behavior of this once scary crocodile, reached out to try to touch the red patch on the nose of the figure in front of him.

"Boly boliy" he muttered and Leatherhead moved closer so he could press the red circle, when Don pressed it the circle made a squeak sound which made Donnie smile and chuckle.

Leo and Raph looked on happily, after Donnie ran away and Raph and Mikey went looking for him, Leatherhead informed Leo that he had an idea to try and make Don less afraid of him. Leo is happy that for now, it is working.

"Hey Donatello, I'm Boli Boli, Doctor Boli Boli, and I wanted to know if you wanted to help me?" Leatherhead asked in a voice he hoped was cheerful enough. He didn't exactly know how to deal with children, but he had researched a lot in the past month about the behavior of small children and the methods of making children less afraid of doctors.

He found that putting costumes on, making silly noises and saying silly names, can contribute in getting children's cooperation and to make them less afraid, in addition to that, he read that if you let the children participate, and let them believe that they are contributing to the exam then they are likely to be less afraid.

Donnie, moving to look at the stag ears adorned on Leatherhead's head, didn't say a word and just nodded a little.

"I need to check your brother Raphael, do you wish to help me?" Leatherhead asked.

Don's eyes opened wide and he turned to his older brother whom he was sitting on, to see why his brother needed to be checked.

"Yeah Donnie, I'm sick, will you help Leatherhead check me out?" Raph said pretending not to feel well with a hand on his forehead.

Don looked horrified at the news and hurried to nod earnestly to Raph and turned back to Leatherhead to wordlessly confirm that he would help.

"Good, you will be my little helper ok?" Leatherhead said.

"Ye, help" Donnie said decisively, his face serious now, he took out his pacifier and gave it to Mikey.

Mikey couldn't help but smile, Donnie was so cute, he completely forgot his fear when he found out that one of his brothers needed his "help".

Leatherhead took his stethoscope and put it to his ears, he gave the end to Don "Donatello, put the end to Raphael's chest so I can hear his lungs" he told the boy.

Donnie immediately took the end and pressed it to Raph's chest, although he did it upside down and Raph had to turn the device.

"Excellent Donatello, move it from side to side" Leatherhead ordered.

And Donnie did as he was told.

"Good, Raphael, can you take a few deep breaths now?" Leatherhead asked and Raph did just that, he looked at Donnie as he did the breaths, he assumed Leatherhead was going to do the same to Donnie, so he wanted to set an example.

"Great, now Donatello, do you want me to listen to your lungs too? To see if they are like your big brother's?" Leatherhead asked the boy. Don hesitated for a second but nodded slightly, so Raph helped him put the end of the stethoscope on his small chest.

Leatherhead then took the end from Raph and moved it from side to side on Donnie's chest as he told him to do to Raph.

"Wow, you and Raphael have the exact same heart pace you know?" He told the toddler and Donnie's eyes were full of wonder, he followed the device that was traveling on his chest.

Leatherhead then took the device and put it on the sides of Don's body where he had no plastron.

"Excellent Donatello, now, can you take a few deep breaths for me, like Raphael did?" Leatherhead asked and when Donnie started breathing he moved the stethoscope to listen to the little one's lungs.

"Excellent Donatello, a few more breaths" he said and moved to the other side of the little boy.

Donnie tried to breathe as much as he could, but he started coughing after a few breaths. Leatherhead also listened to his coughs, as he wanted to ask the boy to cough anyway. He continued to check Don's lungs for some long seconds on each side, at the same time Leo's hand found its way to Don's leg and he placed it on his thigh for support.

"Excellent Donatello, you were a really, really great helper" Leatherhead said and lowered the stethoscope. He turned to the table next to him and picked up a test stick and a flashlight.

"Look Donatello, I will now check Raphael's throat, can you tell him to open his mouth?" Leatherhead asked.

Don nodded after he looked at what the alligator was holding in his hand, he saw that it wasn't medicine or anything sharp, it was just a stick.

"Ra'hie, open" Donnie said and Raph smiled at the instruction from his little brother and opened his mouth to let Leatherhead pretend to check him out.

Leatherhead made noises of arrangement and Don seemed very interested in the flashlight he was holding so he reached out to take it from the alligator. As Leatherhead let him take the object. "Do you want to light your brother's mouth Donatello?"

Don nodded eagerly and pointed the flashlight at his brother.

"You see Donatello, Raphael's throat doesn't look too red, does it?" He asked the boy, and Don moved closer to his brother's mouth to see for himself.

"Now let's see if yours is as red as Raphael's" Leatherhead said and moved the stick from Raph's mouth.

"Open up Donnie, let's see who has more red there" Raph said and took the flashlight from his brother and brought it to Leatherhead. He then held Don's head in one hand and wrapped the other around his stomach. Don hesitated for a few moments but then opened his mouth a little.

"Donatello, do you think you can open your mouth wider? Like a roaring lion?" Leatherhead asked the young kid. And Donnie who liked the comparison, opened his mouth wider and roared like a lion.

"Ahhh what a loud roar" Leatherhead said with a chuckle and placed the stick on Don's tongue to quickly look at the young kid's throat. Raph took that as a cue to hold his brother's head steady so he wouldn't try to escape. And after a few seconds, Leatherhead took out the stick.

"Excellent Donatello, your mouth is just as red as Raphael's" Leatherhead said and returned the things to their place on the table. "You can take your pacifier if you want it now."

Donnie liked that idea and turned to look for the pacifier, Mikey then reached out and brought Donnie the pacifier to his mouth.

Leatherhead then turned to Leonardo, "His lungs have fluids in them, I suspect he's developing pneumonia, his throat looks relatively fine, but he could also develop strep throat at this rate. Did he complain of a sore throat?".

"Not particularly, but he coughs a lot, it might be bothering his throat" Leo said he didn't like the news.

"Ummm I see, I want to check his ears and if he lets me, take some blood to check that the diagnosis is indeed pneumonia" Leatherhead said and turned to get the device to check the ears.

"You said he was running a fever?" he asked the oldest brother.

"Yes, for the last 5 days, the highest it reached was 40" Leo informed the crocodile.

"Donatello, I want to look at your ears, will you let me?" Leatherhead asked and Don looked at the device in the alligator's hand.

"It's not a painful device, look it's not sharp" he told the boy and touched the end of the device to the boy's thigh to get his point across. Donnie considered the possibility, Raph saw his younger brother's hesitation and decided to take the decision and help Donnie.

"Here Don, put your head on me and Leatherhead will take a quick look in your ear ok?" He said pinning Donnie's head to his chest with his hand, stopping him from moving, Don resisted a bit as Leatherhead put the device in his ear, but Leatherhead made quick work of looking into the young boy's ear cavity, then Raph switched the side of Don's head and he looked in the second ear.

"It doesn't look like he has an ear infection, that's good, I was afraid he might develop one" Leatherhead said affirmatively.

"How can you develop an ear infection from pneumonia?" Mikey asked in confusion.

"Our facial area and lungs are connected Michaelangelo, and often in children, a sore throat can develop into an ear infection and vice versa, and pneumonia can develop from a sore throat and also affect the throat. This whole area is connected together," Leatherhead explained.

"Leatherhead, I'll hold Donnie, so you can take his blood ok?" Leo said taking Donnie from Raph's hands. He wanted Leatherhead to find the cause of Don's illness definitively and not just with a guess. Even if Donnie wouldn't be happy about the idea of being stabbed a little.

Donnie didn't understand why he moved into Leo's arms, but he didn't resist. Then Mikey got up and moved to Leo's other side, and Raph turned to him as well, as Leo sat him down and held his waist in place. Raph grabbed his right hand and held it close to his body tightly. And Mikey held his left hand outstretched forward. Then, he started to get a little stressed by the fact that he couldn't move.

"Donnie, Leatherhead needs to take some blood from you ok?, it won't hurt much just a little poke and it will be over ok?, can you be brave for me?" Leo told his younger brother and hugged him tightly so he wouldn't move.

When Leatherhead got closer and Don saw the needle, he immediately started trying to resist the grip and started crying. Leatherhead disinfected Don's hand, which Mikey was holding forward, and Donnie instantly started crying harder, his pacifier falling out of his mouth.

Leo thought his heart was going to break, and he was sure Mikey and Raph felt that way too, but he knew they had to do it, for Donnie's health, and it really wasn't that bad, but Don was small, and he didn't understand what was happening and why he was being hurt, Leo will just have to make up for it later with grape juice or chocolate.

Master Splinter also came over to stand next to Leatherhead and he put a hand on his youngest son's cheek, he was so far happy with how Leatherhead and Raphael had managed to convince Donatello to participate in the examination on his own, but he assumed that this part, wouldn't be as easy to convince as listening to the lungs.

"My son, everything is fine, Mr. Leatherhead will soon finish ok?, try to relax my Donatello" he said and smiled at his young son who was in distress.

But Donnie didn't seem to be able to understand anything and when Leatherhead started taking his blood he started screaming along with the crying. But the strength of a 2-year-old boy was not equal to the 17-year-olds, so he couldn't move much. And after less than 2 minutes, Leatherhead was done and hurried to put a plaster on the red dot on the young boy's hand.

Raph and Mikey released Don and Raph brought the pacifier that fell back to his brother's lips, but Don was so hysterical that the pacifier fell again. He cried and shouted and coughed and Leo turned him around and stood up from the bed with him, he started walking with him around the room and bouncing him in an attempt to calm the young turtle down.

"Look Donnie it's over, you were so brave you know?, I'm really proud of you, well done baby" he encouraged his younger brother. He was one of the ones who were able to calm Donnie down the quickest usually, so the others gave him the space to do just that.

Leo walked with Donnie in his hands around the lab, and he tried to draw his attention to different things. After some interesting devices, Donnie finally started to relax and see what Leo was pointing at and trying to get him to touch.

"Look wow, how shiny is that right? I wonder what it does? You want to touch it?" Leo asked with exaggerated admiration and managed to get Donnie to touch the object he was aiming at.

While Leo was on calming Donnie duty, Leatherhead put the test tubes he took from Donatello into the filter machine, "I'm rather sure he developed pneumonia, but the blood test will give us accurate results" he informed the rest of the family.

"Mr. Leatherhead, if Donatello does have pneumonia, won't he need antibiotics?" Master Splinter asked.

"Yes, it is the correct course of treatment" Leatherhead confirmed.

"But he needs one for babies, doesn't he? He can't take pills" Raph pointed out.

"Right, he'll need one in liquid form, I'll prescribe you the right one so you can get it from a pharmacy" Leatherhead said.

"Can't April bring us one?" Mike asked.

"No, in the human world antibiotics can only be purchased by prescription" Leatherhead explained.

"No problem, write us down what to bring and we'll take care of bringing it" Raph said, there's no problem for them to break into a pharmacy and obtain what they need, they do it on a regular basis anyway.

After Donnie completely calmed down, Leo came back to the other side of the room and Raph brought him the pacifier again, this time, Donnie accepted it and started sucking on it immediately. He looked tired and sad and Raph wanted to get him out of the lab at this very moment.

"Thank you Leatherhead for helping us and coming to check on Donnie" Leo thanked the crocodile.

"No problem Leonardo" Leatherhead replied.

"I think we should go play in your room now don't we? What do you say Donnie? The trains are calling for us to put them together" Raph said cheerfully and stretched his arm for Donnie. Donnie reached back and was happy to be in his protector's grip again, he clung to Raph and rested his head on his older brother's chest.

"I think we should change his clothes, he sweated a lot in them" Mikey pointed out.

"Yes, I believe it is for the best, maybe a shower would be a good distraction" Splinter said looking at Raphael.

"Wan'a help Mikey?" Raph asked his younger brother.

"Sure, me and Donnie like to take baths right? I'll get Dee's animals" he said with a smile.

"I'll stay with Leatherhead for the results, get him dressed in something warm" Leo said after his brothers.

"Yes we know Mama Nardo" Raph said teasingly and left the lab.

After the shower, which left the bathroom looking like it had been through a war, Raph and Mikey dressed Donnie and went with him to his room to play some games, they spent almost an entire hour playing on the carpet when they noticed that Donnie's eyes were closing a few times. So they put him down for an early afternoon nap, Raph decided he would eat after he woke up.

Mikey stayed with Donnie to take the nap, and Raph went to the lab to see if the results were ready yet. When he arrived, Leatherhead had already left, and Leo tidied up the lab a bit.

"Leatherhead said it's pneumonia, it doesn't look too developed right now, but he needs antibiotics, he told me which one and we'll go get it from the pharmacy in the evening" Leo informed Raph.

"Did he say any other things?" Raph asked.

"Keep him warm, make him eat, lots of rest" Leo replied, "Is he sleeping?".

"Yeah, Mikey's with him" Raph said.

"So we'll let him eat after his nap, even though it's early today" Leo said with a frown.

"Children are not soldiers Leo, when they are tired, they go to sleep, when they are hungry, they eat, it is not that complicated" Raph said with a half smile.

Chapter Text

That evening, Leo and Raph went on the supply run, they also went to the pharmacy to get Donnie's antibiotics, and a few other things they were short on. Then they went to the grocery store, Mikey insisted that he wanted to try to make soup for Donnie again, he was positive that maybe this time the little one would eat some of it, so Raph and Leo went to get things that they were short on in the kitchen as well.

Mikey, stayed at home with Donnie and Master Splinter, both because they didn't need the three of them to get the groceries, and also because they didn't want to leave Donnie alone when he was sick. Even though he was with Master Splinter, and he was perfectly capable of taking care of the toddler, their father was already old himself, and they wanted to help him in any way possible.

It was a bit similar to the beginning, when Donnie just became a baby, the brothers hardly left the house for the first few months, they refused to leave the toddler alone. Even with the offers of Splinter and even Casey and April to babysit, the siblings just couldn't bring themselves to be apart from their baby brother.

They felt a strong desire to be around him all the time, to protect him, keep him safe, they didn't know until now how he turned into a baby, and no one wanted to think about the possibility that the transformation was permanent. But as the months passed, and the possibilities they considered for an explanation of how Donnie became a baby dwindled, they encountered the option that Donnie was stuck as a baby, perhaps forever, destined to grow up again.

Mikey at the moment, was lying in his room on his bed, Donnie, sleeping on his plastron peacefully, it was already late, and Leo and Raph weren't supposed to be back for at least another hour.

Mikey lightly caressed Donnie's shell, the baby was sleeping soundly, his breathing was relatively unclogged, Mikey guessed that maybe the nebulizer that April brought in at noon helped more than they expected.

After Leo called April and told her what LH found out, she immediately said that she would bring a humidifier, which most of the time, is supposed to help babies breathe easier. She arrived with the device a few hours later, and with little resistance, they managed to get Donnie to be with it for 20 minutes, to everyone's surprise.

Mikey was sure Donnie would throw a fit over the foreign device on his face, but after the initial panic, Donnie was more interested in the device and the fumes that came out of it, so with some extra distractions, they were able to get it to work and for him to keep it on his little face.

Leo said they were going to start doing this with the device a few times a day, so Mikey tried to do it again before bed, after he gave Donnie a shower, but this time Donnie was not so cooperative, even when Raph came in to try to help him, so Mikey realized that Donnie was just too tired to have the patience for this.

So at the moment he was in bed with Donnie, this new thing of going to bed early because Donnie goes to bed early, and he needs a 'person pillow', became relatively nice.

Throughout the last six months, they rotated among themselves, who was responsible for Donnie every night, the rotation was mostly flexible, and was divided between the brothers, but Splinter also took part many times. Especially if they had to go on missions.

But because Donnie was little, his day was already over at around 7pm, which was a big difference from the time the siblings usually went to bed. So Mikey found himself trying to occupy himself without moving with a sleeping baby on him. He often put Donnie's laptop in front of him on the bed, and watched movies or shows until he was tired enough to sleep. Today, he did just that, with headphones and a pillow behind his head, he laid down for a good few hours and watched movie marathons.

He looked down at the sleeping baby, he couldn't help but smile, Donnie looked so peaceful as a baby. Big Donnie was always the quietest and most peaceful of them anyway, but baby Donnie was barely audible most of the time. And now, he wasn't stressed about projects, or gadgets, he didn't run around the lair fixing things, he wasn't cooped up in his lab all day, and he was much calmer and actually slept compared to when he was older.

He enjoyed the company of his brothers and his father, he liked to explore almost everything, and take apart most of the toys they brought him, but he was much more peaceful than before, and also much quieter, Mikey missed his brother's non-understood babbles about technology and other science things. But baby Don hasn't gotten to that part yet, he was quiet most of the time. But when he did chatter, he usually did it to himself, usually when he was playing or trying to disassemble a certain object.

One time, he also got into a 'fight' with Leo over dismantling the toaster, no one knows how Donnie got the device from the kitchen, and brought it to the carpet in the living room, but when Leo found him, he immediately took the half-disassembled device from him, declaring that it was too dangerous for Don to mess with anything such as this.

And Donnie, for a little kid, gave a serious fight over the toaster, Raph and Mikey stood amused while watching Donnie's attempt to yell at Leo and probably explain to him (in a language that no one understood except the words 'no' and 'Leo') that he wanted the toaster back. And Leo, tried to explain to his little brother, as calmly as he could, that there was no way he was getting the dangerous thing back.

It was a funny memory, Mikey suddenly realized that a lot of new memories had been added to their family since Donnie became a baby, the brothers behavior had also changed significantly since Don's transformation.

Raph became much calmer, you could say. He never yells anymore (in Donnie's presence anyway), if he feels the need to pick a fight with Leo, they take it to the garage or to the surface. He also no longer goes out in the middle of the night to fight criminals alone. Mikey also noticed that Raph has become much happier, he laughs more, especially when he is with Donnie, and to his great surprise, his edgy brother actually plays with Donnie, teaches him, and takes care of him in general.

Mikey was a little afraid at first that Raph wouldn't be able to connect with Donnie, now that he was so small, with all that 'bad and big' persona, but he proved Mikey wrong, he was as gentle as possible with their little brother. And Donnie many times, wanted to go exclusively to Raph, especially if he was scared or in distress.

He was also more protective of Donnie than before, he didn't allow Mikey at first to even pick Donnie up (which was really annoying), with the excuse that Mikey would drop the toddler. But after a while, he relaxed with his defensiveness.

Leo, compared to Raph, became like a second father to Donnie, he was in charge of everything surrounding their brother's schedule and needs. He talked to LH when they needed to, asked April and Casey for things, and built Donnie's schedule for each day. Mikey saw how his older brother took on the responsibility of taking care of Don like a parent, he was there in the difficult times, like when LH initially had to check on their brother, or take blood from him, he always sacrificed himself to be the bad guy, the one who puts his foot down when needed.

And Donnie liked the authoritarianism that Leo displayed, he often also wanted to be carried by the leader in blue, April told them that children need a fixed timetable to develop properly, and that they tend to stick to those who have the most authority over them.

Leo took charge of Donnie's schedule, and he was especially strict about making sure their brother got all the essentials. He became even more annoying than before, even more so than his obsession with training. Mikey thinks that Leo, if it's even possible, became even more overprotective, he always had to know where Donnie was at any given time. And until now, 6 months after his change, he still hasn't allowed Donnie to leave the lair. He also always monitored when Donnie slept, when he ate, how much, when he played, etc.. Raph called him Mama-Nardo. Which annoyed Leo a lot. But it still described him very well. Luckily for Raph and Mikey, the name didn't catch on with Donnie.

But on the other hand, Leo was also calmer. With all of his energy now surrounding Donnie, it has dipped away from him and Raph, especially with training, and he has also partially abandoned his journey of glory against the criminals of New York, which Mikey was kind of thankful for, because honestly, keeping up with all of the criminal activity in New York, was such a headache.

And above all, when Leo was with Donnie, he was glowing. Which you don't see every day. Mikey loved watching their interaction. Leo played with Donnie with such delicacy and softness, and also spoke to him in a soothing and cute way, Mikey was happy to see his brother so happy every time Donnie crawled up to him, or wanted him to pick him up, he knew it was very important for Leo to have a good relationship with their little brother.

And he, he supposes, has also changed, he wants to believe that he did became more responsible, especially after he started being alone with Donnie on his assigned days. Raph teased him and said that Mikey finally had a brother who was on Mikey's level in terms of intelligence and behavior, but Mikey valued his special bond with Donnie. He was Donnie's playmate, and he thinks he spent the most time playing with him out of the brothers, he also always tried to come up with new games for Donnie, to excite the toddler. Mikey had to admit that he totally loved baby Donnie. He was so cute, and sweet, and playing with him was so fun, and exciting, and every day with him was full with new experiences.

Mikey never knew what new thing Donnie would do, what new word he would say today, or what new game he would try, new food he would taste. And every moment with him was a new and exciting memory.

Master Splinter, had become more, Lively? Younger? All the brothers noticed it. He spent less and less time meditating, and on the television. And spent a lot more time with Donnie and with the other brothers.

Mikey thinks their dad remembers their youth whenever he was with Donnie, and at first, Donnie only wanted him, he recognized him best. So Splinter spent almost every moment with him. Mikey saw how their old father's eyes sparkled every time Donnie wanted to be picked up by him. He was excited about everything Donnie did, and started to reminisce and tell them more often, about things and moments from their youth. And compare it to Donnie's behavior now.

Donnie's time with their father was different, the baby was mostly content with just sitting quietly on his father's lap, or play with his fur, or with his kimono. He always seemed the most relaxed with their father, the most comfortable, and the others enjoyed seeing their father beaming and happy from the quality time with his young son.

In short, everyone had fun with Donnie. And Mikey assumed they all benefited from the quality time with the toddler.

Not to say that they didn't miss Big Donnie, but as time went on, they came to terms with the fact that Donnie might not be able to go back to his original age, and they would have to deal with the possibility of him growing up all over again.

Mikey sighed and stopped the movie on the computer, his movement made Donnie move a little and the toddler started to cough, so Mikey quickly lifted him up a little higher from where he was currently laying on his chest. After a while, the coughing stopped and Donnie mumbled some unintelligible words. Mikey smiled to himself and reached out to put the fallen pacifier back in his little brother's mouth, so he could go back to sleep.

This pacifier was a lifesaver Mikey had to admit, from the moment April brought them pacifiers, two days after Donnie became a baby, their lives became at least 200% easier.

Mikey remembered that Donnie used to suck his finger when they were little, a trait that disappeared after they got older, around age 4-5. So he wasn't surprised that Donnie immediately accepted the pacifier with love.

And they also, received the pacifier with great love, because after more than a day of hysterical crying, and lack of sleep, Donnie was finally quiet. And all thanks to the little plastic. He remembers everyone's sighs when Donnie finally went to sleep with the pacifier, he fell asleep in seconds, exhausted from his non-stop crying. And they too, went to sleep as soon as the crying stopped.

And Donnie hasn't parted with the pacifier since, it was almost impossible to get him to give up the pacifier. Mikey didn't care, and neither did Raph, but Leo didn't like the pacifier that much, and tried to get Donnie to take it out many times during playtime, sometimes it worked for him, sometimes it didn't. But that didn't stop their stubborn older brother from trying, luckily for Donnie, he was a more stubborn baby than Leo, and had a special superpower, a cry that made the other three family members come to his aid in seconds.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened, cutting out his thoughts, and Mikey was able to spot Leo in the entrance beyond the light of the living room, Leo entered the room and closed the door.

"Hey Mikey" he whispered.

"Hey Bro, did you get everything we needed?" Mikey asked in a whisper as well.

"Yes, Raph is organizing the groceries in the kitchen".

Mikey saw Leo holding a bag in his hand, "Is this the medicine LH said to bring?".

"Yeah, I was hoping to give Donnie the first dose now, but I don't know if I want to wake him up" Leo admitted.

"Don't wake him up, he's been sleeping really well so far, if you wake him up he'll be cranky in the morning, one dose won't make a difference if you give it to him in a few hours" Mikey said.

"Yes you are probably right" Leo replied and placed the bag on the dresser next to Mikey's bed, he then placed his palm on his baby brother's face, he didn't feel any serious heat coming off their brother, which made him happy.

"Are you going to sleep?" Leo asked Mikey.

"Yeah, I was gonna" Mikey said and yawned.

"Okay, so good night, call me if you need anything at night, or if something happens" Leo instructed and walked towards the door.

"Yeah yeah don't worry bro" Mikey said and got down to a lying position with Donnie together, he covered them both better and found a comfortable position. Leo closed the door behind him and the room was filled with blessed darkness.

Mikey put a hand on his brother's shell, and yawned again. He didn't know if it was forever, but he was happy with these moments now that he had with Don, and no matter what, he knew they would always be a family and take care of each other.

Chapter Text

"Donnie no!" Leo reached over and picked up the shoe that his little brother had kicked off his foot for the fifth time.

"No oze" the little tot said and started to take off the other one as well, but Raph's hand stopped him.

Leo sighed in frustration, they've been trying to convince Donnie to wear his new shoes for 20 minutes now, but it seems their little brother isn't ready to have his feet locked up, because every attempt ends in either crying, or throwing the shoes off. Leo's hand reached his face in silent anger for the millionth time in the last 20 minutes, Donnie was so stubborn, just like he was when he was an adult, if he didn't want something... well.

"Yes shoes" Leo said and approached his younger brother with the shoe again, trying to put it on his foot, but Donnie kicked and tried to dodge every attempt, combined with shouts of "no". Raph was on the carpet with Donnie, holding him from the side, so that the little one wouldn't try to crawl away from them. He had to admit that watching Leo and Donnie argue was always funny, but he was also starting to get a little fed up with the fight over the shoes. He watched again as Leo managed to put Donnie's shoe on, only for him to take the other off and then kick it away from them.

"No oze" Donnie said again decisively, and Raph saw the vein in Leo's forehead pop out even more. "Don…" he warned but Donnie turned to him and looked straight into his older brother's face "No oze Ra'pi", and Raph sighed again, "What's your problem with the shoes?" he asked, of course he didn't get an answer back, Don's vocabulary was as expected, befitting a two year old, and conveying himself verbally wasn't that common.

"But look Donnie, what a cool shoe, I would totally want it, look it's a teddy bear" Mikey picked up the shoe that Donnie kicked to the other side of the carpet and sat down on his knees in front of his baby brother. Mikey really didn't understand Donnie's problem, the shoes that April brought him were really nice, they were house slippers for children, the kind that closes on the whole foot with zippers. They were shaped like a brown bear with ears that beeped when pressed. Donnie looked at Mikey for a few seconds, and Mikey thought he had finally reached and understanding with his brother, but then.. "Mak'y oze".

"What? No Donnie it's your shoe, April brought it to you as a gift" Mikey hurried to try to explain, but the damage was already done.

"Mak'y oze, I gif'" Donnie said and took the other shoe off his foot and reached forward to bring it to Mikey.

"Great Mikey" Raph rolled his eyes and Leo sent an angry look toward his younger brother.

"Hey I was just trying to help" Mikey defended himself, "Donnie come on dude, the shoes are not my size at all I was just kidding". But Donnie had already decided that the shoes had passed on from him, and made his way to stand up "bye bye" he said but was pulled back down by Raph in a swift motion. "Bye bye my ass, sit back down pipsqueak" he said and Donnie stared at him with the most annoyed look the little boy could possibly express.

"Donatello" Leo got Donnie's attention back, he was hoping to try to reason with his little brother about the shoes thing, he was the one who asked April to get Donnie some shoes after all. It had only been a week since Donnie had already recovered from the pneumonia he caught, and it had been a difficult two weeks for the family. And after a long conversation with Splinter and LH, they reached the decision that the toddler needs to be dressed more warmly, hence the new shoes. Not that Donnie walked that much anyway. He often prefers to be carried by one of the family members.  But for the moments he did walk, Leo wanted a buffer between his little feet and the cold floor.. "You need to put your new shoes on ok? This is so you don't get sick anymore because that's no fun right?" He went ahead and took the Mikey shoe to present to Donnie.

Donnie looked at his older brother for a few seconds, then pointed at Mikey with a grin "Mak'y oze".

"Ok that's it, it's useless" Raph said and got up from his seat, just then, Master Splinter appeared in the living room, he stopped and looked at the scene in front of him and thought for a few seconds, wondering if he should try to meddle or give his sons another shot at convincing their younger brother to listen to them, at the end he decided to meddle, "Donatello" he called and his son looked straight away at his father "Dad'y" he said and stood up to go to his father, and Splinter bent down to his son's height and put a hand on the toddler's small shoulder, "I see you got new shoes" Splinter said in amazement. And Donnie looked at his father and shook his head in the negative "No, Mak'y oze" he explained.

"Ahh I see, well then Michelangelo can come with me to investigate on my trip then" he said, and had to hold back from laughing as his young son's eyes widened at the information.

"I!" Donnie called and put his hand on his chest quickly. But his father shook his head once "No Donatello, it is impossible, only those who have shoes can come" he explained. He looked at his smart son's face, and could literally see the possibilities running through the toddler's mind as he considered his next move.

"Oze I" Donnie said excitedly and ran back to his brothers, he took the shoe from Leo and Mikey's hand, and ran back to his father.

"Excellent, I think this is a perfect choice" Splinter said as Donnie sat down and put his feet up in the air, so that his dad could put the shoes on him. After Splinter put the shoes on his son's feet, he took his son's hand and helped him up, Donnie's steps were a little unsteady at first, but he was helped by his father's hand. "Do not worry my son, I am sure the shoes will be comfortable after you get used to them" Splinter said and smiled at his son reassuringly.

"Master Splinter, wow, just wow" Mikey said excitedly at his father's success in getting Donnie to put on the shoes.

"Yeah Master Splinter, how did you manage to get h'm to agree with ya?" Raph said moving closer to Donnie to pet his head affectionately.

"That is simple my sons, Donatello likes to be a part, and to not miss things, if he did not put the shoes on, he would not be able to come with me on my trip" Splinter explained simply.

"Well, we'll think about it next time I guess" Leo said folding his hands, he didn't really care who managed to put the shoes on Donnie, he was just glad they were on him.

"Yeah, and it won't be that far away" Raph responded as he waved Donnie with his arms from side to side. Which earned giggles from the little one.  Splinter watched his boys together with a smile, he appreciated the willingness of his three older boys to help with the younger one, but they still had a lot to learn about being parents. "Donatello, have you had breakfast?" he asked his son, who at the moment was in a strenuous battle with Raphael's hand, the tot looked at his father and stopped fighting longingly "bo'hel" he happily agreed, and Splinter hummed in understanding.

"He hasn't eaten anything yet, we dealt with the shoes first thing this morning" Leo hasten to intervene so that Donnie does not miss breakfast.

"I see, I think we will try to have a more nutritious breakfast than a bottle today Donatello" Splinter said towards the young tot, but Donnie shook his head quickly "bo'hel", he looked at his father with big eyes threatening to burst into tears, but Splinter decided that today he would try to break the habits of his youngest son.  After all, they also talked to Leatherhead about the fact that Donatello is not eating enough for his age, and this is shown by the size of the toddler. "Yes, a bottle after breakfast" Splinter replied, which caused the expected reaction of his baby's bottom to connect with the floor along with a wail of crying and anger. But Splinter didn't seem moved by the tot's expression of disapproval, "Did he sleep well at night?" He directed the question to Leonardo, who was in charge of Donatello the other night.  

"Relatively Master Splinter" Leo looked down at his younger brother who was busy crying loudly, his hands rubbing his eyes as tears spilled from them onto the floor, "He had a few bad dreams but he went back to sleep after that, he got up at 6" Leo continued to tell. He then reached towards his little brother, his hand reaching forward in an attempt to comfort the little one, only for the other to angrily smack it away with a shout of defiance.

"Umm, well, that could explain the behavior" Splinter replied in understanding and leaned towards Donatello, "Come on Donatello, let us go to the kitchen to see what is in the fridge" he said, picking up the little turtle. Donnie didn't resist his father's lift, and buried his face in his father's shoulder.  

"Yeah, little D isn't usually that angry, he must be spending too much time with you Raph" Mikey said with a chuckle, but quickly followed his father towards the kitchen to escape the hand that tried to grab him at that comment.

"Why didn't he want to come to me?" Leo wondered out loud and disappointed, watching as Donnie also slapped Mikey's hand away from him when he tried to tickle him in the face. It looks like Donnie got up on his angry side this morning, which hardly ever happens. 

"He just wants dad today Leo, besides, remember that April said that children are attracted to authority figures or something, and Master Splinter is the most authoritative here Splinter Jr" Raph replied and went towards the bathroom, he was in training with Mikey this morning, and he meant to go take a shower when he left the dojo and saw Leo arguing with Donnie about the shoes. But now that this fight is over, he is totally ready to go and take a long shower.

Mike followed Splinter and Donnie into the kitchen, he tried to encourage his little brother with nonsense like he always does, but Donnie must have been really not in the mood for games because he threw Mikey's hand away and buried his face deeper into Splinter's shoulder. "Michelangelo, leave your brother alone" Splinter warned, and Mikey stopped his attempts and quietly followed the two.

"But Master Splinter.."

"Your brother does not feel very happy today my son, I suggest you try to match what you call your 'mod', with his" Splinter explained as they reached the kitchen. Every attempt he made to get his hysterical son off his hands ended when it started, so he decided he would try to remaster the ancient technique of cooking with one hand while holding a baby in the other.

"Michelangelo, why don't you make breakfast for you and your siblings, if you would like to come with me and Donatello on our trip, I think we can enjoy it together" Splinter suggested, as he took out one of the baby food containers that April made from the fridge, it was a mash of boiled vegetables and chicken, ground together. Despite Donatello's refusal to eat solid food most of the time, Splinter sometimes managed to give him some of the porridge on a good day. He hoped that maybe today, he would succeed as well.

"No problem master Splinter, awwooo we can go to the area where we always go skateboarding, I can totally teach Donnie some tricks for the kids" Mikey said excitedly as he took out pans to make eggs.

"Perhaps" Splinter replied with a chuckle at the excitement of his son, who was only six months ago the youngest. But he picked up the pace when he heard new voices of dissatisfaction from his current youngest son, who was still fussing in his hands.

Splinter did manage to get Donatello to eat half a bowl of the porridge, with relatively little fussing and crying on the tot's part, but at some point he decided that it was enough attempts to stretch the young boy's limits. So he switched to the bottle, which Donatello always happily took. It also helped that the other brothers came to eat with them, distracting Donnie a bit. And now he was sitting curled up in his father's arms, on Splinter's favorite armchair in the living room, eagerly sucking the formula that Raph had prepared for him earlier. Splinter looked at his young son with a pleasant and calm smile, he noticed this pattern with Donatello from time to time, even when he and his siblings were babies. He was always the quieter brother, barely disturbing the other ones and not demanding too much attention, but sometimes he would get up on his bad side in the morning, which means he was cranky and upset through the entire day most of the time. And this morning too, Splinter took into account the insufficient sleep Leonardo reported his youngest son had. 

Splinter picked up his son's bottle a little more after he started to notice his son's difficulty in getting the milk left in the bottle, he had already decided on the rest of his day for today, instead of letting his boys take after Donatello like usual, he would stay by the little one's side throughout the day. Today is a day for Donatello, no new things, no rampages, a calm day that will revolve around things that his young son will want to do.

And Splinter already knew that the first thing they would do, was a nap, he noticed his son's eyelids, which threatened to close every few seconds, that he hadn't tried to hold the bottle by himself for the past five minutes, he assumed an early nap would be in order. And he will remind his other sons that Donatello is still recovering from an illness, therefore his body cannot always return to normal function so quickly, especially at such a young age as now. After they will of course ask about the change in plans. But for now, Splinter enjoyed watching his son fight between his desire to sleep, and the desire to finish the bottle. He lifted the end of the milk towards his son, which woke the little one up a bit and made him suck faster again.

Leo saw his father walking with Donnie in the living room from side to side, he assumed that after their father finished feeding Donnie, he would go with Mikey and Don on the trip to the sewers that they talked about, but after he saw Donnie, held on his father's shoulder, half asleep, he realized that it would probably have to wait. He felt a little guilty that Donnie was so tired, it was his shift with Don last night, but he also knew that sometimes you just do not sleep well, even babies. 

As he made his way back into the kitchen to break the news to Mikey, he took in the rear sight of Mikey and Raph being in the same room without fighting for more than 5 Seconds, "Hey Mikey, Donnie is sleeping so I think you guys are going for a walk with him later" he said to his brother who was in the middle of drying the dishes Raph had handed him.

"Oh really? Ugh" Mikey complained and dropped the plate and towel to each side of his body in defeat.

"Aw get over it you overgrown baby, you have all day, it's only 8am" Raph rolled his eyes at Mikey's reaction.

While Mikey and Raph argued a bit, Leo peeked out of the kitchen again, only to see Splinter disappear with what appeared to be a sleeping Donnie into his room at the dojo. He was just glad that Donnie would get some more sleep, and that maybe it would make him less angry when he got up.