TMNT are Mirage's. Turtle Tots are sweet and too much can hurt your teeth.

Splish-Splash

Splinter carefully monitored the progress of the water as it filled the tub. It had taken him what seemed like many tension-filled minutes to figure out how to light the water heater- all the time afraid that he would blow the place up- indeed, at first he had put the boys into his room, to protect them, but the thought of their slowly starving to death resulted in his putting them in the kitchen with himself- better to die quickly and not suffer.

He had felt the same way one he had figured out how to light the heater that was installed to keep this place warm.

And when he had finally figured out how to light the stove in the kitchen.

This was the final gas appliance. Thank goodness!

He had waited a while, then tested out the water in the kitchen, and had been amazed that it was actually hot!

Now it was time for their first "hot" bath. Their first REAL bath period, as he was used to bathing them from a sink or a bucket, with very cold water!

Cold water had not hurt them, but he was convinced that it was not good for them. He had noticed that they were rather sluggish after he would finish subjecting them to the repeated application of cold water as he dipped his rag into the bucket time after time, scrubbing them down as best as he could. Sometimes it took what seemed like forever, though they never fussed. Indeed, each one stood perfectly still- and shivered- as he would wash them from head to toe, with a final rinse for good measure.

Yes, by the end of each "bath" they were decidedly sluggish- not sleepy, but not active, and it concerned him. He did not mind their being calm and quiet; he just did not want to do anything that would make them sick!

Now he was watching and testing the water- not too hot, not too cold. He carefully monitored the level of the water as well- not too deep, but enough for them to have natural turtle fun! This would be their first experience in the tub, and he wanted it to be enjoyable.

Now the hard decision- all together or one at a time? Perhaps two at a time? Splinter had such little reference to go on! His natural instinct was to do one at a time. This made it special in that he got to interact with each one separate from the others- strengthen the already strong parent-child bonds that tied the five of them together as it were.

Yet, would it not be less traumatic for them if they had at least one sibling with them in the tub? This was a new experience, after all! He had no idea how it would go.

He went into the bedroom, where the four were happily playing with the clothes he had been collecting- and had carefully put away! They had dug them out of the drawers and were now laughing as they put them on (the wrong way, naturally)- draping the pants over their shoulders, putting the socks on their hands, wearing the shirts over their heads, and generally having a good time.

He'd been scrounging donation boxes and drop-off sights for places like the Salvation Army, gathering what he could to help keep them warm this winter. Even in this new home, with its heating system, still seemed to be getting colder. And, like the lights, he worried that the activity of using the gas would attract unwanted attention.

He'd managed to find what he remembered hearing called "pajamas"- clothing to be worn while sleeping- that fit each of them. Oh, they were a little big, granted, but he knew all too well that they would soon grow to not only fit into them, but also outgrow them as well.

He had the pajamas in the bathroom even now. Watching them play like this, he decided that it would keep them busy.

"Bath time!" he announced, and four happy faces turned to him. "Who is going to be first?"

Suddenly three chubby hands shot out- and pointed at Donatello!

Donatello, realizing that he had been "volunteered", started to look upset! He didn't want to stop playing for a bath! Baths were cold and boring!

Splinter laughed loudly at the sudden display of trickiness, and before the fourth one could argue, Splinter picked him up.

"Very well- but he gets to chose who will be after him," Splinter told the other three. "And he will go last next time."

He left them in the room, secure in the knowledge that with the hallway light off they would stay in the room. They still did not like the dark unknown. At night, when they went to bed, he would leave the hall light on and the door open so that it seemed almost like sleeping in the old home.

Leaving them in a room with the light on, and other lights off, was almost like putting them in an invisible cage- they never ventured out into the dark unknown.

Donatello clutched his father tightly as they made the brief trip through the "dark unknown" to the well-lit bathroom.

"Tonight you are going to have a bath in the tub," Splinter said, showing the toddler the tub full of water. "The water is warm, and you can sit in it instead of stand up."

Donatello looked at him with renewed interest. This was new. New was interesting!

Splinter knelt down, still holding his son, who now was staring curiously at this thing. He had climbed into it before, when they were playing in this room during potty lessons (which were not going well, but that is another story). But now he could see water in it- lots of water!

"Sewer?"

"No, not sewer. Clean water. Clean water from the faucets. Like in the kitchen."

"Where's it come from?"

"From big places full of water."

"How's they get the water?"

"From the rain."

"What's rain?"

"I will tell you some other time. Are you ready to get in?"

"Yes."

Carefully, so as not to startle his young son, Splinter carefully lowered him into the tub.

As soon as his feet hit the very warm water, he instinctively started kicking. But not because he was afraid.

Once in fully, he stood for a moment, a large smile on his face, as he experimented moving his toes in the water, staring down at the funny sight. The water level was just above his knees.

"Sit down, my son," Splinter encouraged, and this one carefully did. The sensation of being in so much water triggered another instinct, and to Splinter's utter shock, he suddenly sprawled forward, face first, full length, head under water!

Splinter, concerned parent, made to grab him out before he drowned- and then watched in amazement as this one began some remembered movements, and attempted to swim!

Of course, it wasn't deep enough or big enough for swimming, but the turtle was having the time of his life! He came up out of the water on all fours, face dripping and a huge grin plastered all over it.

"Water is fun!" he crowed, and before Splinter could react, he "dived" in again, managing to squirm and turn and "swim" from one end of the tub to the other, all the time keeping his face submerged, coming up laughing and splashing and then doing it again.

Indeed, he began to move faster and faster, and the water in response began to move faster and faster as well- starting up a wave action that threatened to soak the bathroom floor and the hapless rat as well!

"My son!" Splinter finally insisted, hands firmly on the sides of his shell, pulling him into a sitting position. "My son, calm down a bit. You will put the water on the floor."

"Water is fun!" Donatello laughed again, splashing it now with his hands, cupping it up and letting it fall back, watching the sparkling streams and drops as they hit the rippling, agitated surface, making echo waves, and doing it again and again- and laughing loudly each time.

Sitting back, legs outstretched, he lifted one foot out for the moment, watching gleefully as the water shimmered on his wet leg, and dribbled and ran in rivulets from his wiggling toes to his odd-shaped heel.

Then he repeated the action with the other one, comparing the two, as Splinter finally soaped up the rag and began a new experience- for he only used to bathe them in water. Since finding the soap in that bag, he had been looking for an opportunity to use it.

Donatello watched the suds and began to examine them, laughing at the bubbles, making a face at their taste, and generally having a good time.

And as he sat there in the nice warm water, he began to yawn and look sleepy. But not sluggish. No, Splinter noticed almost at once, definitely not like when he had been forced to wash them in cold water. This was relaxation he was witnessing. This was a very active turtle who was soon going to be in bed it seemed.

Pulling the plug, he lifted the now rinsed clean turtle out, well-wrapped in a towel, and began the job of drying him. Donatello stood there, with a happy sigh, and got a bit excited watching the water and suds swirl down the drain.

"Where's it gowin?"

"Into the sewers."

"Oh. Then where?"

"I do not know."

"Oh."

Then Splinter was putting him into the nice warm pajamas, and picking him up. Almost reflexively he snuggled into his father's arms and with a happy smile blinked sleepily.

"Bed?"

"Yes, I think so, my son. Bed."

" 'k..."

Splinter, reentering the bedroom, was almost surprised to discover that the one he carried was already asleep. He tucked him in, then turned to the other three, who were playing some game known only to them. Leonardo was hanging upside down from his bed for some reason, with socks hanging from his hands. Raphael and Michelangelo were wearing the same pair of pants- each had managed to get one leg in- and they were trying to walk together.

"Seepin'?" Michelangelo asked, surprised, as he watched Splinter put Donatello to bed.

"Yes, Donatello is sleeping, so you must be quiet. Now, Raphael, it is your turn." And he picked him up.

"But I's payin' wid him!" Michelangelo protested. Splinter smiled.

"You may play with him later," Splinter said, leaving the room. "Remember, be quiet now."

The trip in the dark hallway was a short one, but Raphael clung to his father tightly anyway. When they entered the brightly lit bathroom, he relaxed his grip and stared with curiosity at the filling tub.

Splinter set him down and quickly turned off the faucets, testing the water. Yes, perfect! Not too hot, and not too cold.

"OOOOOO!" a voice startled him. Turning around he found Michelangelo!

"How did you..."

The youngest turtle turned his fascinated eyes from the sparkly water and looked with pride at his father.

"I's brave! I's walk inna dark!"

"You followed us, on your own?"

"Yes! I's brave! Wassit?" and he pointed to the tub.

"That is the water for Raphael's bath."

Now Raphael took a good look at it. It reminded him of the lovely stream of water by the old home; the lovely stream he wanted to play in but got spanked for when he tried.

The look on his face! He was going to get spanked!

"NO! NO spank NO spank!" Covering his little bottom with his hands, he backed away from the tub. Splinter was at a loss for words.

"My son, no one is going to get spanked!"

Raphael pointed at the tub.

"Stream! Nasty stream! No play in the stream, Rafiyel! Father spank!"

Splinter laughed at this imitation of his words and voice. Such a bright child!

"No, my son, this is not the stream. This is good water for a bath. I promise you."

splashsplashsplashsplashsplashsplashsplash

Splinter turned to see Michelangelo, struggling on tiptoes as he leaned over the tall edge of the tub and managed to make contact with the surface of the water with one hand.

splashsplashsplashsplashsplash

"Wants a baf! Wants a baf!" he was saying, trying to figure out how to get into the tub but failing. "Water is fun! I's spashin'!"

Splinter looked again at the other one, who did not seem all that convinced. He knew from experience that it was not good to force them into something that made them uncomfortable, and most times he avoided that, unless it was for their own good. Ignoring the larger turtle, he turned and picked up Michelangelo and gently placed him in the tub.

Almost at once the littlest turtle went under, acting in a way similar to Donatello earlier, only with more room and more energy!

Indeed, Splinter thought for a moment that he wasn't going to surface!

Then, with a loud laugh, he came up out of the water, and stood up. Suddenly he scooped up a double handful of water and tossed it in the air. It wasn't much, since his hands were so tiny, but it was enough to make Splinter wet!

"No, my son!" he chided, as Michelangelo continued to toss tiny handfuls of water into the air. "Must not make Father wet!"

" 'k," he giggled, and he sat down in the water, playing with it in a way that was similar to how Donatello had- and yet, in his own way as well.

All the time that he was splashing and giggling, Raphael had edged closer and closer to the tub. Now he was up against the edge, watching as Michelangelo played in the water and didn't get spanked. He looked a question at Splinter.

"This is clean water, my son," he said as if answering his thoughts. "This is not the nasty water outside that I tell you not to touch. This is the good water. The water in our home is good water. It is all right for you to play in and to get your bath in."

Raphael looked again at Michelangelo, who was waving his hands under the water to see what would happen. Tentatively, he reached his own hand in, and the look of surprise on his face brought forth yet another laugh from Splinter.

"Warm!" Raphael exclaimed. He had not realized that water could be warm! Water was always cold!

"Yes, this is warm water. Warm water for bathing," Splinter smiled, picking up the unresisting child and placing him in the tub next to his brother.

Almost at once, Michelangelo splashed a big (for him) handful of water into Raphael's face, and laughed long and loud.

Raphael, startled, at first looked angry- and then he splashed Michelangelo back, which only caused the tot to shriek even louder than Splinter thought possible with laughter. Ears flattened against the noise of two suddenly laughing toddlers, he allowed them a few more minutes of this water battle.

Then Raphael, like his two brothers, answered some inner call of instinct, and dunked himself under the water, face down. There was no room for him to "swim" as the first two had done, but he made the effort none the less, and came up giggling just like the first two had done.

Now the soap and rag began to make its rounds, and the two brothers repeated the actions of the first, feeling the suds, looking at the bubbles, tasting the nasty soap, and splashing each other (as well as Father).

And, like their brother before them, the soothing warm water began to work its magic on them, and the play gradually began to die down; both began to look comfortably sleepy; both began to relax.

Splinter had a hard time managing two, but he got them both out and dried and dressed, and soon he was carrying them into the bedroom, where only one turtle remained.

He barely tucked them each into their beds before they were sound asleep. Then he turned to Leonardo.

"Come along, my son. Bath time."

Leonardo looked from his father to his sleeping brothers, then back again. What the heck was going on? Turtles left for their bath all awake and playing, and came back all asleep and beddie-bye time!

"Don't wanna bath," he stated. "Don't wanna beddie-bye time!"

"You do not have to have beddie-bye time," Splinter said, picking up his son. "But you must have a bath."

In the bathroom, Splinter wondered how this one would react. Of the four he seemed the most- well, mature. The oldest in a way. Oh, it was not anything that Splinter could put his finger on to mark this, but in many ways, to his mind at least, this one seemed ahead of the others age/wise.

Leonardo was unresisting as he was placed in the tub. He stood perfectly still, startled by the sensation of standing in all this warm liquid, and yet- Splinter had said bath time- why wasn't this like bath time? Where was the rag and the cold water?

Splinter merely knelt by the tub, watching and waiting.

"You sit down in a bathtub," he told his son. "You sit down in the warm water, and then you have a bath. It is much nicer than the old way."

After a minute, Leonardo cautiously lowered himself into the water until he was sitting.

He seemed to be afraid to move. He sat there, looking at his feet and hands in the water; then looking at the water. Splinter was wondering if he should take him out; obviously he was not happy. Even Raphael had overcome his shyness of the tub and had-

SPLASH!

Splinter was hit full in the face by a large crashing wave of water as Leonardo suddenly launched himself full length on his plastron, submerged like the other three had done!

SPLASH!

Splinter had barely dashed the water from his eyes when another wave of water soaked him as Leonardo had done it again- and when he could look, he saw his son doing what the other three had tried to do- "swim" in the tub! But he was not content with merely doing this! As soon as he needed to turn around, he rose up on his knees and then-

SPLASH!

"My son!" Splinter protested, putting a restraining hand on this suddenly active turtle to keep him from doing it again.

Leonardo looked at him, water streaming from his happy face.

"I made Father take a bath!" he sang out, laughing, trying to splash again.

"Yes, you did," Splinter, soaking wet, sighed. He was going to have to clean the floor when this one was finished.

Now Leonardo sat in the tub, playing much as the others had done, manipulating the water with his hands, splashing with his feet, and laughing the entire time.

"This bath is fun! Wheres tha water come from? Whys it warm? I likes the bath! Wanna see me splash?" SPLASH! His hands came down, hard and flat, on the churning surface, and once again Splinter was hit, though it wasn't as much as the last time.

Splinter, sighing, once again utilized the soap and rag, and now Leonardo repeated the exploration that his brothers had participated in.

The suds were funny! The bubbles were funny! The taste was not too bad, and he had to be restrained from eating more. And all the time he chattered and wriggled and splashed.

Finally the bath was over. Leonardo had the same sleepy, relaxed, happy look of his brothers as Splinter lifted him out of the tub and pulled the plug yet again. He stood there, being dried with the towel, and felt that this was the best thing in the world.

Before he knew it, he, too, was soon dressed in pajamas; he, too, was snuggling onto his Father's shoulder; he, too, was being tucked into bed.

"Can I has another bath?" he asked, closing his eyes.

"Yes, you may have another bath."

" 'k. Night."

"Good night, my son."

Now the Dark came into the room. Light moved into the hall, and four clean, sleeping turtles were snuggled safely into their beds.

Splinter mopped up the floor. Then the tub was filled one more time. Gratefully, he sank into this warm liquid; a happy sigh of relief escaped him, and his eyes closed in relaxation.

This was nice.

Then, with a guilty smile, he made a small SPLASH! and laughed. Yes- he could see the attraction of this.

Settling back, he soaked in the warm water and reviewed his newest happy memory of the turtles, as he always did whenever they had achieved a first, committing it to memory where it would live forever.

It was another blessing, to have another happy memory to push away the unhappy ones of his life that had begun with his beloved Master's murder and, strangely enough, had ended with the finding of four little turtles in the drain.

"Yes. More happy memories. I will always have room for more happy memories."