Raph continued to watch the twins from more at a distance, but one evening, the guys were called on to take care of something topside.

Leo wanted to see what Raph was capable of doing for the kids for a change and made him stay behind. "Leo, you know I have limited tolerance for the screaming and the diapers." Raph argued.

"Raph, they need to know that you are family too and not an outsider. I'm sure you can take care of them. It's just for tonight." Leo said.

Raph growled. "Fine, but you know I'm an action turtle, not a babysitter."

"They're asleep right now, Raph. Maybe you'll get lucky and not have to do anything." Don said. "Splinter's here if you need help if they wake up."

"Let's go, guys. I'm counting on you, Raph." Leo said as he led Don and Mikey out the door.

Raph grumped. He hated being left behind. He wanted to see the intense action and be part of it taking down baddies. But tonight, he was stuck at home to take care of the little noise makers. He hoped they wouldn't need him for anything.

He knew Splinter was in his room meditating and Raph sat down to watch some TV, waiting for his brothers to return. He turned the channels to a Wrestlemania. But within an hour, there was a crying sound.

"Agh! Go back to sleep!" Raph groaned. But the crying didn't stop.

After about five minutes, Raph reluctantly got off the couch and went to Leo's room, where the twins were. Brian was the one crying.

"What do you want, Kid?" Raph said in a low voice. The baby continued to cry. "I'm no good at this."

Raph finally picked up the little boy. "Just stop crying, please." He pleaded with him to no avail.

Raph had the technique down for holding Brian, but he didn't know what was wrong. He took the child down to Splinter's room.

Master Splinter heard the crying and opened his eyes when Raph came in. "Sorry, Master, but I have no idea how to handle this little guy. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Let me see him, my son." Splinter said.

Raphael gladly handed him over.

Splinter checked him and smelled him. "He might need changing."

"Uh, no. If it was feeding, I could handle that, but no. No diapers." Raph said.

"Could you bring me a diaper and cleaning wipes for him?" Splinter asked.

"Yeah." Raph said and went and got the stuff out of the baby's room. He brought it to his father, but didn't stick around to watch the cleaning up part.

He went back to the Wrestlemania. But when Splinter was done, he brought Brian over to his son.

"Now that he is changed, you were the one that was left in charge of him and his sister." Splinter said.

Raph reluctantly took Brian. He was calmer now that his diaper was changed. Splinter went back to his room.

"Now what?" Raph asked the baby turtle.

Brian looked up at him and cooed in response.

"I hope you're not hungry. Your dad fed ya before he left."

The baby didn't do much else.

"Fine, you wanna watch this game with me? Well, you don't have much else to do rather than sleep."

Raph turned Brian around so he could watch the game with his Uncle Raph. Before long, the baby began to get tired again. Raph then positioned the baby boy against his plastron belly down. In no time, Brian was asleep.

Raph watched the game a little longer, waiting for his brothers to come home. He hoped they hadn't run into any trouble because he wasn't there to back them up.

As Raph watched the baby turtle sleep, he saw the look of innocence on his little face. He knew they were innocent when they were sleeping, but they required so much attention when they were awake.

As he listened to Brian's little breathing, soon, even Raph got tired and fell asleep on the couch, with the baby tucked under his arm.

….

When Leo, Don, and Mikey eventually came home, they were covered in a few cuts and bruises from their skirmish with the Purple Dragons and later, a Mob incident in Midtown.

"So how do you think Raph did with the twins?" Mikey asked.

"Hard to say." Leo said. "I just hope he didn't ignore them if they started crying."

Leo saw the TV was on, but didn't see anyone watching it. Don and Mikey had gone to the infirmary to get their injuries treated. Leo went over to turn the TV off when he saw Raph passed out on the couch with Brian on his plastron.

Leo smiled at that. He went to the infirmary to tell the others.

"Mikey, Don, you should see what's on the couch. Raph has little Brian sleeping on him."

"After this is put on Mikey's arm." Don said, applying a bandage to a cut on Mikey's right arm.

Then all three went to look. They all smiled at what they saw. Don took out his phone and snapped a picture. It was so cute. This was the first time Raph had shown any type of bonding with either of the kids.

After that, Mikey carefully picked up his son while Don and Leo went to go treat Leo's injuries. Mikey took his son back upstairs to Leo's room and put him back in his crib. Hannah was still sleeping peacefully.

After he was treated, Leo went to see Splinter, who had finished meditating for the night. "Good to see you are back, Leonardo." Splinter greeted. "What happened?"

"Some Purple Dragons and the Mob had to be causing trouble in Midtown tonight. We got away with just minor cuts and bruises, nothing major. But how did Raph do tonight?"

"He had a little trouble when Brian started crying, needing to be changed. But after that, things were quiet. He was the one to care for Brian, for the most part." Splinter said.

"We found him asleep with Brian on top of him. It was real cute. He's still on the couch but Mikey took Brian upstairs." Leo said.

"I think Raphael bonded with him then."

"I hope so. He has to find a way to get closer to the kids somehow. I know he hasn't been real close with them at all ever since even before they were born, but he needs to be bonded to them so they know he's not a stranger." Leo said.

"Just don't force it on him too fast, Leonardo. Things might get better as time goes on and when they are older. He'll protect them just as he would any of you."

"That's all I'm asking of him. But I'm hoping he'll have stronger bonds with them when he looks after them from time to time. By being with Brian, he showed us that he does have a softer side for the kids."

"That is good. Well, take care, my son. I must go to bed now. It has been a long day." Splinter said. "Good night."

"Good night, Sensei." Leo said and left his dad's room. He was tired too and ready for bed.

Don was up in Leo's room when he came into his room. His brother was tucking his daughter back in for the night, as Don too was going to bed. "Good night, Hannah." He said, kissing her. Then he put her back in her crib.

"Night, Leo." Don said on his way out.

"Night, Donny." Leo replied. Then Leo went over and looked at the peacefully sleeping babies. He smiled, and then kissed them both good night too. Then he went over to his own bed and tucked himself in.

Before sleep claimed him, Leo thought to himself that hopefully times would only get better for Raph and the kids. He was learning to bond with them though he knew Raph wasn't always the biggest kid lover. But he could tolerate kids when he had to.

Don and Mikey were also very happy that they had seen the scene on the couch. Their brother needed to bond with the kids too. They all had to take turns babysitting now that Leo was capable of going topside again.

….

The family knew that Agent Johnson and Bishop would not give up looking for Hannah and Brian and only wanted them for the DNA they had, but they would always be there to protect the little ones.

Leo had come a long way in this situation from when this pregnancy had been forced on him, to losing two babies to only have the last two, and going through problems with some family members who hadn't accepted everything at first. And now, Raph was making progress in bonding with the twins finally. It couldn't make Leo any happier.

Don and Mikey were also great fathers/uncles. They gave their own child plenty of attention, but like when Don got busy with his projects, Leo or Mikey, and now Raph were happy to give Hannah attention when her father couldn't. Hannah was the more serious baby.

Mikey loved to read to his son, and he would try everything in his power to get him to laugh. Brian laughed a lot at Mikey. He would surely have Mikey's energy and lust for life.

Then there was the lair being destroyed. All they could do was take many precautions and make sure this lair wasn't discovered, but overall, it was big and all settled into now. Everyone had their space to have their own room and do their own activities. And the twins were now sleeping in their own room instead of Leo's.

Leo knew he needed to let go a little more and get the babies started on a road of independence by letting them sleep on their own. But he would always be there when they needed him.

Master Splinter was so proud of how all his sons had grown to taking care of these special, yet strange blessings in the twins being brought into their lives. He would help out too for as long as he could, but he left the main responsibility up to his sons.

And as with their human friends, the mutant family was also glad that April and Casey had let their daughter, Erica, be considered a cousin to Hannah and Brian. They would need another kid their own age to play with. And they all needed more family.

They would get revenge for what happened one day, but it could wait. Life was just too sweet for it all to be taken away again so soon.

The End

Beta read by Applepye.

This was the last chapter of this story, but a sequel is planned for it soon. I'll be sure to write it in the description.

I would like to know what you all thought of this story. No flames please.