Little Raphael

Chapter 3

After two days, every one of the teenagers had started to feel the exhaustion of having a new born around.  All the teenagers had bags under their eyes because of the late night feedings.  While Raph did do most of them, there were still moments he was too deep in a sleep to hear her crying.  That's when someone else would do it.  However, usually everyone woke up because the echoes of Selena's screams were so loud in their hallway.  Splinter only heard her because of his hearing, but usually let someone else take care of her.  

Haley yawned as she took a sip of her coffee.  "I'm so tired." 

Donnie rubbed his eyes as he sat down on the couch.  "Me too.  Forget the Foot clan, taking care of one baby is kicking my butt more than trained ninjas ever did." 

Suddenly there was another cry that came from the hallway, causing everyone to groan.  Leonardo sighed.  "I guess that means Raphael is awake if she's crying." 

Haley sighed.  "I'll go get a bottle started," She said as she handed her cup of coffee to her boyfriend.  "Don't drink my coffee." 

Leonardo shook his head.  "You know I don't drink coffee," He said as he watched his girlfriend stand up.  

"Yeah, but with all the late nights we've been having, you might start," She said before smirking at her boyfriend.  "I'll be back soon." 

Mikey yawned. "I might as well go start breakfast since we're all up," He said as he also stood up.  "How does waffles sound?"  He saw his brothers nod.  "I'll let you guys know when they are done." 

Raph then walked through the doorway with his baby in his arms.  Her pajama set onesie was covered in different sized red hearts on it.  It had only been two days since Selena had been brought to the lair, and she already had more outfits than Haley.  Most of them were hand-me downs from Melissa, April and Casey's daughter, that Haley had picked up while on her way home from work.  

Today was actually the first day April and Casey were coming to officially meet Selena.  They were coming over for dinner with all of their children, so the day would be spent cleaning what they could, grocery shopping, and cooking an actual dinner rather than ordering out. 

"Morning, everyone," Raph said drowsily.  "Where is everyone?"

Donnie yawned.  "Splinter is meditating, Mikey is making breakfast, and Haley is getting a bottle ready for Selena."

Raph sighed.  "Okay.  I'm just going to sit down for a little bit then," He said as he sat down on the couch.  

Leonardo chuckled.  "So, I'm assuming Selena's mom was the reason you were always going out before patrol on your own?" Leo reached out to take Selena to give his brother a quick break.  Plus, between Mikey and Haley he hadn't got to hold her very much.

Raph nodded as he handed over his daughter.  "Yeah.  I would go see Claire." 

"Why didn't you ever tell us about her?" Donnie asked as he watched Raph relax onto the couch.  "We would have liked to know your human friend."

"There... there were reasons I didn't want you guys meeting," Raph confessed. 

By this point Haley had walked in.  She smiled when she saw Leo holding his new niece.  She handed him the bottle as Raph continued, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. 

Raph sighed.  "You cannot tell, Splinter, okay?  He would freak out if he knew about any of this." 

Leo looked up from feeding Selena.  "Freak out about what, Raph?  What could be so bad?" 

Raph sighed.  "There is more that led me to taking Selena, even if Claire did want to help raise her... I wouldn't want Selena to be raised there," He paused and looked at his brothers and Haley.  "She... she prostitutes herself out to get money for alcohol."

All those listening felt their jaws drop open.  Leonardo was the first to speak.  "Are you serious, Raphael?  How could she even buy the alcohol?" 

"She's twenty-four..." Raph confessed again.  

That caused Haley to choke on her sip of coffee.  Leo and Donnie's jaws dropped even farther.  

"I know its bad-" Raph started to say. 

"It's worse than bad, Raph," Leo said, trying not scream at him.  "You're only sixteen!  That's illegal!" 

"I know, but we weren't thinking about that," Raph started to feel the anger burning in his chest.  "Plus, its not like I can just walk into the police station and tell them that an adult was having sex with me!" 

Leo was about to respond when Selena started to cry in his arms.  Haley sighed as she took the girl in her arms.  "Great, you guys made her cry again," She stood up.  "I'm going to take her into the kitchen while you guys finish this conversation," She said before walking out of the living room.  

Leo sighed as he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger.  "Are you going to go see her again?"

Raphael sighed.  "I-I don't know," He admitted, defeated.  "I still love her, and she's Selena's mother.  I don't want to be the one to take that away from Selena.  She deserves a mom in her life, and if Claire changes her mind, she deserves to have a relationship with her daughter." 

Donnie sighed.  "You don't know if that will ever happen though," He pointed out.  "What will you do if she ends up not ever wanting a relationship with Selena?  Are you just going to be holding out hope forever?" 

Raph sighed.  "I haven't thought that far ahead, if I'm being honest.  Right now my main focus is on Selena, and I'm just taking it one day at a time until I feel like I have a good enough understanding on this parenting thing to look beyond that."

"Guy!" Mikey screamed from the kitchen door, "The first round of waffles are done!  The next few will be ready soon too!  Come and eat them before I do!"

Leonardo sighed as he stood up and extended a hand to his red-clad brother.  "I may not agree with everything you do, but I do think you did the right choice..." He paused as he started to walk away.  "And, you have all of us to help you.  You don't have to do this on your own completely.  You know that right?" 

Raph smiled slightly.  "I know that."