Chapter Text
There are times Yoshi was a good parent, spending time and bonding with his four sons, then there are times Yoshi was a bad parent. Well, he thought he was a bad parent. There were days where he just wanted to hide away and enjoy his movies, reliving the old days when things weren't so complicated. But those days also meant neglecting his parental duties, ignoring the his turtles when they needed him. Over the years they soon grew to understand his depressive episodes, struggling to fight against them. Yoshi liked to think at least he hadn't adopted only one child and they had each other to rely on besides himself. It was a blessing no matter how hard it was raising them.
But for all his good and bad days, bedtime was the exception. Yoshi made sure to be apart of their bedtime routine, it lessened the guilt and caused one on one bonding together. It made the rat smile and he came to look forward to at the end of the day. Speaking of such things, it was time for the boys to settle down. He turned off the tv, having been in front of it all day, it didn't provide comfort this time. Only misery. He missed those days, missed being able to walk down the street, having people run towards him in hope of autographs. Now, he lived in a sewer and raising turtles. The day had gone by so quickly, he hoped his children hadn't gotten into any trouble without him around.
He stood up, stretching and popping his back into place and so began the task of finding his little turtle boys. He passed the kitchen which was left a mess, he smiled though, a mess meant that they had food. Continuing onwards, he came across Red and Orange together. Sitting together on the ground using chalk to decorate the walls, it was something Orange loved to do and Red now knowing his responsibilities as an older brother, kept him company. Ignoring the guilt, he watched them, Red was handing colors to the Box Turtle and even sometimes drawing outlines and shapes for the younger to colour in. The shapes and outlines were sloppy but Orange always neatly colored inside the lines.
"Red." Yoshi called out, the Snapper smiled seeing him, instantly jumping up and running towards him, wrapping a chubby arm around his leg.
"Papa!" Red purred as Yoshi rubbed his head, Orange clapped in delight at the sight and crawling over for his own hug.
"Yes, my boy. I'm here." The pit in his stomach grew, how forgiving his little boys were. "Come now. Help your brother, it is bedtime." Red nodded dutifully and went ahead to clean up the mess they made. Proud, Yoshi left them to find the twins. It was Purple who he found first, playing with his cardboard collection that he didn't quite understand. But it kept his boy quiet and happy so he didn't mind, his little Soft Shell was an enigma. At least he wasn't playing with his brother, them two got into more trouble when they were together than by themselves.
"Papa! Tell him to stop!" The little Soft Shell came running up, tears in eyes and clearly annoyed.
"Yahoo!" Yoshi sighed as he saw Blue running around the room, knocking over the cardboard creations. Never mind, they were together still causing trouble.
"Blue, what have I said about respecting other peoples property?" Blue stopped, looking alarmed at the sight of his dad standing in the doorway.
"But he didn't want to play with me." Yoshi sighed, Purple must've got caught up in how own world again and with Red taking care of Orange that left Blue to try and entertain himself.
"Purple, did you play with your brother today?" His boy looked away, giving Yoshi his answer. "We need to also play with others and not just yourself. Could you maybe play with Blue for a while tomorrow?"
"Okay." Yoshi smiled, wiping away a stray tear.
"Good boy. Now, it is time for bed."
"No!" Blue quickly ran making his escape but Yoshi caught him easily with his tail. At least his mutation was good for something.
"Yes! Bedtime." He gave the Slider a wobble who laughed at the motion, then guiding them both to bathroom where Red was finishing up with Orange.
"I'm not tired." Blue complained.
"Oh but you are." It was the same argument each night, but Yoshi could always see the signs. "Come on." He set Blue down on the stool next to Purple. "Brush your teeth." He picked up Orange as Red headed to his room. Yoshi left to placed Orange in his crib, he was getting a little too big for it but Yoshi didn't want to accept it just yet. First story of the night, A tale of the Runaway Rainbow.
Orange loved the story, trying his best to stay awake so he can hear the ending, he hasn't managed too yet. Next up was Red who happily waited for him, tucked into his bed. He enjoyed the tale of a boy looking for his missing family but instead gained one after saving a village. He came to Purple next, the boy already chosen the book he wanted read that night. It honestly won't be long before he could read for himself, his boy following along with him word for word. Secretly Yoshi cringed at his chosen book. Einstein's Violin. He regret taking his boy to the dump and letting them choose some books to bring back.
"Maybe we could read something a bit more tonight?" Yoshi reasoned. Purple just shook his head, shoving the book into his father's hands. He sighed, it was wroth a try. It was a struggle to read, especially for the harder words, he was still a foreigner after all even if his English was good. He was lucky it didn't take Purple long to fall asleep probably wiped from arguing with Blue all day. Now it for the hard part of the night, his energetic Blue. He wasn't sure why Blue put up much of a fight at bedtime but it starting to become a bit of a hassle. Coming to his son's room he saw the boy on the floor messing with his action figures.
"Blue! Bedtime." Maybe it was time to look into names.
"Why?" Blue whined as Yoshi helped him into the covers, tucking him.
"because, we need to rest our bodies and minds. Ready to face the challenges tomorrow."
"But it's loud. I can't sleep with the noise."
"Noise?" He listened for anything but could only hear a very faint sound of the trains, that was only with his rats traits, there was no way his son could hear any of that. "There's nothing to hear. Now what story should we try tonight?"
"Dunno." Yoshi smiled, his little boy was still finding his interests and so far hadn't really enjoyed the stories he read.
"How about a story of the great Lou Jitsu?" He got a curious look which was enough encouragement for him to continue. "It starts with out hero arriving at the local restaurant ordering the special." Yoshi got very involved in the story, remembering how he acted on set, in fact he got so into it he showed off some of the moves, jumping, spinning, kicking, saying his lines remembering them word for word. And Blue watched on, raptured by his dad's story amazed by the moves and giggling at the tale of how the bad guys where felled. Yoshi really didn't mean to rile him up again but he was so caught up in the story and enjoyed his son's cheers. But all too quickly it came to an end, wrapping up the ending and calming down.
"Another!" Blue demanded as he re-tucked the tot back in bed.
"Tomorrow. Sleep well my son." He was happy to know his son loved the story, maybe this was the way he could get him to sleep. That night, Yoshi decided to try and sleep in his bed instead of falling asleep in front of the Tv. He led there, not really tired but not willing to get up either, he started to spiral again. Then his bedroom door slightly opened.
"Daddy?" Blue whispered. Yoshi sat up seeing the turtle tot wide awake, he smiled, opening his arms up for the child who climbed up on the bed snuggling up together.
"Why aren't you in bed?" Yoshi whispered but Blue didn't answer him. "Blue?" His boy didn't hear him. "Son?" Yoshi spoke normally catching the Slider's attention. "Why aren't you in bed."
"It got loud again." Yoshi hummed, he was going to have to look into this so-called loud noise. Statically his boy was deaf which was strange as he still communicated and acts like he can hear them, sadly for Yoshi the book he had was torn so the page was cut off. He needed to find more research material especially if his little one couldn't sleep.
"Dad? Can you tell me another story with that man?" Yoshi smiled, he settled themselves into the bed, his boy curled in the crook of his arm and told the tale of Lou Jitsu.
Splinter groaned shoving the rubbish and empty packaging off him, he rose from the bed ignoring the mess and blank screen from his projector. What a day. he ate way too much and his head was spinning. But that's what a depressive episode that has been left to fester instead of getting help does to someone. He noticed how silent it was around the cave and dark too. Everyone must've gone to bed. Heading over to the kitchen he got a cup of water in hopes of helping his stuffy head. He then took a stroll around the lair, need to stretch. That's when he noticed a light coming from the living room.
Peaking inside he saw Lou Jitsu on the screen, the show muted as not to disturb anyone. And there passed out on the couch was Leonardo. Splinter smiled, happy to know that his son was some way getting some sleep. He lifted the blankets, rearranging them so they covered his body, making sure he stayed warm. Leo let out a sleepy rumble, turning away from the light. It took a year to figure out the problems, his son's hearing was more overactive and at night he could hear the loud vibrations and rumbles of the trains and any of the city noises. Sadly, the damage was done by the time Donatello came up with soundproofing the lair. His boy became an insomniac.
Splinter, stroked a his head, wishing him a full night's rest. At least Lou Jitsu helped his son sleep.