Father~ Page 1

Father by HorrorRuby7

Raphael

“Father?”

“Yes, Leonardo?”

“What are you doing?”

Father smiled. He sat at an old desk with and equally as ancient chair. He stopped writing and set the fragile book down with care, the pencil he used tuck neatly within. He held open his feeble rodent arms and the small turtle climbed inside.

“I was writing, my son.”

Leonardo smiled, showing his two missing front teeth. “You write a whole bunch!” For added emphasis, the turtle stretched his arms out as far as possible. The act caused the rat to chuckle before nuzzling his adopted child.

“Yes, I suppose you can say that.”

Leonardo snuggled deeper within his father and tried to stifle a yawn- unsuccessfully. Father grinned before taking him to his makeshift bed of dozens of pillows and blankets. Tucking Leonardo in, Father gave his child a kiss on the forehead.

“Father?”

“Yes?”

“When will my brothers come?”

Father looked up in thought. His son was referring to the unhatched mutated turtles eggs that sat by the heater, which served as an incubator. “Perhaps soon. Do not worry, they will come.”

“Okay,” Leonardo responded drowsily.

“I love you Leonardo.”

“I love you too, Father,” and Leonardo was out like a light.

In the morning, Leonardo had awoken with his father next to him. He thought that Father looked tired so he quietly began to play with his toys. Father was not tired, though, so he awakened at the sound of his son. He stretched and saw Leonardo looking at him apologetically.

“Sorry, Father. Was I too loud?”

Father shook his head. “No, of course not, my son.”

“Oh. So can you play with me?” Then it was Father’s turn to look remorseful. “My son, I must go to the surface today.”

“But you promised!”

“I know. I am honestly sorry but we need to eat.”

“Oh. Okay,” Leonardo said quietly. He did not want Father to leave because when Father left, he was by himself and it was very scary.

“I’ll return very quickly.”

“Okay,” Leonardo answered once more, watching his father get dressed for the above-world. Father ran out hurriedly. He knew his son hated when he left and wanted to return just as immediately.

Leonardo wanted to cry, but he knew he had to be a big boy. He watched the eggs that he identifies to be his unborn brothers. He couldn’t wait for them to h—

One of the eggs began to move. It rocked from side to side and in some areas, it began to crack. To say Leonardo was excited would be an understatement. One of his brothers was hatching!

“Father!” he called but remembered his father was not home. So instead, he watched intently. He saw a green arm protrude from the white prison and then a tiny foot. Eventually, the turtle was fully free yet he did not walk around like Leonardo. His eyes were closed and he was covered in a thick layer of slime. Leonardo heard footsteps and turned around to see Father. His eyes were wide. Leonardo moved to the side as his father ran over to pick the whining turtle up. Quickly, Father bathed the baby. Father had fixed the water so it became hot and the wiring so they got electricity. They also had gas, for the heat and stove.

Father said he was a great scavenger because of his rat heritage. He gained a lot of items like the television, clothing, food, furniture. He also began to teach Leonardo the basics of Ninjutsu.

Wrapping the baby in a towel, Father brought the newborn back into the room. He sat crossed legged on the floor. Eagerly, Leonardo moved and sat in front of his father. He eyed the dozing child closely. His skin was a very dark shade of green. The child opened his eyes briefly before shutting them.

Leonardo was silent for a while, contemplating. “Father?”

“Yes?”

“Wassit name?”

Father closed his eyes. He mumbled something about rebirth and reading literature on the great artists of the renaissance. That the name pattern should remain the same.

“Raphael.”

Leonardo frowned. He could barely even pronounce his own name correctly. “Rabbyel?”

“No, Leonardo. Raphael.”

“Raphie-L.”

Father chuckled. “Close enough, my son.”

Leonardo huffed. Father noticed that lately, Leonardo did not like to be ‘close enough’, he wanted to be ‘perfect’.

“Father, why you name us words that are dif… diffy… hard to say?”

Father bounced the baby that rested within his arms. “I like them,” he smiled. Raphael yawned and looked towards Leonardo, his face analytical.

“Hi Raphie-L. I am Leo’ardo,” Leonardo gently clasped one of Raphael’s tinier hands. Instinctively, Raphael grabbed his older brother’s hand in turn “I am your brother. I love you, okay?”

Raphael’s face stayed the same before he smiled for the briefest second before turning and tucking his face in his father’s side.

“He cute Father.”

Father laughed. “Yes, quite.”