turtle tot stories | tmnt 2012

First Words

There was no doubt about it: Splinter was proud of his sons.

They'd learned to crawl, then eat, then walk, and then even find their way around most of the lair. All with barely any help from him. But there was still one thing they couldn't do. Something very important.

They still couldn't talk.

None of them could speak words. The only noises they could make with their mouths were...well, baby noises. They could gurgle, they could laugh, they could cry. But they could not talk.

Splinter knew that just like getting an infant to walk, getting an infant to talk took lots of time and patience. But he'd thought an infant would talk sooner than it would walk. Then again, the growth of youth could be unpredictable. Especially when it came to the growth of mutant turtles.

Mutant turtles.

Splinter stood up from where he sat, meditating, in his room. He left his room and headed for his sons' room. The four infant turtles were sharing a rather small room together farther back in the lair, where stray wanderers or perhaps even predators wouldn't find them.

Splinter opened the door to his sons' room, which creaked open as he did. The four little turtles were each doing their own things; Michelangelo scribbling with a crayon, Donatello studying his hands, Raphael and Leonardo fighting over a teddy bear.

When they saw Splinter come in, however, they all stopped what they were doing and tottered over to him eagerly, arms outstretched and smiling.

"Hello, my sons," Splinter said warmly, returning their smiles.

He caught Michelangelo as he fell straight into his arms. The little turtle laughed and clapped his hands, looking up at Splinter with happy blue eyes.

Suddenly, the smallest turtle made an odd noise in his throat. He coughed and sputtered, and the noise kept sounding. Splinter's heart pounded in panic. Was he choking? What was happening?

He researched out to help his son, but suddenly something came out of Michelangelo's mouth.

A word.

"Dad-dy," he said in a tiny voice.

Splinter's eyes widened and his whiskers twitched. But then he relaxed.

"Yes. That is right, little one," he said.

"Dad-dy," Michelangelo repeated, louder and stronger now. "Daddy!"

"Daddy!" another voice echoed.

Splinter looked up to see that Donatello had spoken as well. The second-youngest turtle's eyes were wide with shock and excitement, like he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Dad-dy!" Leonardo said next.

There was a big grin on his little face as he repeated the word. And he said it again with delight.

"Daddy!"

"Daddy?" Raphael spoke this time, his voice lower and unsure. Then his green eyes grew wide, and he said louder,

"Daddy!"

And within seconds, all four turtles were chirping in choruses of "daddy! daddy!", big smiles on all of their faces.

And as Splinter listened to them saying the first words they would ever say, he couldn't help but smile, too.