Show me Space (pt.2)

                                    

                                          
@BallAnn2023  your request is in! (pt.2 haha)
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"Leo- you're not Superman. we're gonna have to make multiple trips."
	He shakes his head fervently, and one of the boxes he'd been piling on top of one another falls. You snatch it out of the air and roll your eyes, if he hadn't insisted on not using his mystic powers you could have done this in one trip. But he didn't want to use them so you weren't gonna push it, his explanation was 'portal pirates'. You wholly accepted that answer. You didn't want any of your shit stolen.
	"Splints, please tell your son that he does not, in fact, have super strength."
	Splinter smiles at you, grabbing a box out of the car, and walking towards your doorway.
	"He is no longer my problem."
	You groan, shoving Leo towards your home's door. It was small, two bedrooms, two bathrooms. You'd made sure to note whether it was drafty in the winter or not, had AC in the summer, all the works.
	"Go inside, I'll bring in the next few boxes."
	He sighs, but goes towards the house anyway. You didn't even own that many possessions. But the people moving into the 'Lair 2.0' as Donnie had started calling it, had all chipped in and bought you some furniture.
	A couch, a few chairs, or they just gifted you some of the furniture they owned before they had to leave their houses.
	It warmed your heart.
	Hell most of those people were helping you move in. Eleanor and Benji's mom had come with, even getting the younger kids to help with some of the lighter boxes of knick-knacks. Mostly, they'd started playing in the back yard you'd somehow managed to get far within the depths of New York City.
	Everest and their siblings had come along too, some posing to keep the little kids out of the way by playing with them, and others helping out with the boxes.
	The car was emptied in thirty minutes with all the hands, and you smiled at a few of the gifts you saw standing on the kitchen island.
	Mostly, bottles of non-alcoholic cider. You crack one open, and pass out cups of the carbonated drink. smiling as you poor the little kids some as well (of course after asking their mother, there's enough sugar in one of those non-alcoholic cider bottles to keep them on a sugar high for years).
	You look around at the people surrounding you. Grinning at them all. It had been so long since you had looked around your old apartment, and all you could do was dream of being in their world, of knowing them, befriending them.
	Now look at you, you're moving in with Leo, you're practically a sibling to Donnie, Mikey, and Raph. You've got the best sister you could ask for with Tanya. You have people to care for, and people who care for you.
	"I'm gonna make a toast."
	You say, smiling, everyone goes silent. The smaller kids giggling in front of you. Your smile only grows brighter.
	"When I look around this room, I don't just see people, I see family. Something that's with you for life."
	You look at the teens and kindergarteners staring up at you, awe in their eyes.
	"I see wonderful kids with so much spark," you look up at Eleanor and Benji's mom, smiling softly at Jodi and then shifting your gaze towards Donnie. "Wonderful parents who will do nothing less than let that spark grow, and be there to help it grow if it changes."
	You look at Tanya and Raph.
	"I see love, like floods, rushing through lives and keeping life a float."
	You look at Mikey, laughing a little.
	"I see Picasso's, artists in their own time that will create something bigger than themselves."
	You take Leo's hand, his gaze never leaving you as you speak.
	"I see winding paths and unpaved roads, and somehow they all managed to connect, right here. In this house."
	You lift your red cup, grinning wide.
	"Here's to letting life, like everything else, grow!"
	Cheers go up around the house, and everyone downs their cups of apple cider. You grin, smiling.
	"Now! Who wants to help me cook?"
	More cheers from the kids as Mikey and you shove the other adults out of the kitchen. Leo observes from where he stands, chuckling at you smiling and telling the kids to wait while you grab the ingredients from one of the boxes.
	Donnie walks up behind him, standing beside his brother as the other adults begin to try and piece together some furniture.
	"When's the wedding?" He teases, and Leo rolls his eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips. His hand itching to reach into the pocket of his sweats and pull out the little box sitting there.
	Donnie turns towards you, face expressionless.
	"You seem to forget, I record everything."
	Leo bristles a little, turning towards his twin.
	"You didn't-"
	"Not a soul." Donnie says, smiling slightly. "I'm glad you're happy, Nardo. You deserve it. A whole lot more than most people."
	The lavender clad soft-shell, huffs out a bit of a laugh.
	"I'm happy for the two of you."
	Leo leans against the kitchen island, looking up at his brother's eyes.
	"What about you, Don? You happy?"
	Donnie grins a little wider.
	"For once? Observing isn't data collection, it's living life."
	The two laugh, but Leo's eyes turn back towards you. He didn't think you were ready to get married, but this ring wasn't to marry you, far from it. You both weren't even considered actual citizens yet.
	You, because you didn't exist (despite Donnie's best, and persisting efforts), and him because he's a mutant.
	No this ring was a promise, that when he could, he would. Because this was you, the real you.
	He wasn't joking when he said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you.