Revelations of the Heart

And Baby Makes Four.

Aella Jones, 17 years old
New, York 2018
When April and Casey came home from Jersey with a pink bundle in the backseat, we all thought they had lost it. But it wasn't a mistake. In Casey's words, when they saw her in the hospital they already had second thoughts. And then Casey saw the note that Gabi left with her parents for him. Basically, before my brother met her, she had been in a relationship with some drug lord that had abused her. She ran away, found work at a diner, and met Casey. Then, her ex found her, and threatened me and Casey if she didn't leave us and go back to him. That's why she had left after two years with no notice, to protect us. He took her back, and she got pregnant. When she was 8 months along she escaped again, to have the baby. Her plan had been to leave the baby at the hospital and keep running, knowing her boyfriend would find her again and probably kill her this time. In the letter she begged Casey to take care of her daughter, and to hide her from her father at all costs. After that, there was no question in Casey's mind, and April was right behind him. He would claim the baby, Maria Isabella Jones. April decided to legally adopt her as well, in case something happened to Casey, and just like that they had a daughter. Mikey took to her immediately, and she to him, which was a good thing being that Mikey and I were the designated babysitters most of the time. She earned the nickname Shadow as the months went on, first crawling and then toddling after whoever was in her direct vicinity, prompting Donnie to babyproof the loft, and then the lair, so she couldn't get hurt. She was adorable, taking after Gabi in looks, with blonde hair and freckles and big brown eyes, and even Raphael couldn't resist her. All she had to do was crawl up into his lap and he was a puddle of goo on the floor, which was bad for me. Seeing him be good with her made my insides melt, and I wanted to be closer to him than ever, but he wanted nothing to do with me. Since Homecoming he had avoided me like the plague, not even getting irritated like he used to. It was frustrating, which told me there was something terribly wrong with me if I would rather have him be mad at me than be ignored. Before long the date marking the end of Leo's training came and passed, and he didn't come home. He quit writing, and the boys got even more restless. Donnie, to pass the time, began to operate a tech support line, for almost everything A-Z. Mikey saw a commercial for a party business and decided to try it out for himself, adopting the title Cowabunga Carl, wearing a turtle costume that was a bit on the nose, and catering to kids parties. On the weekends he moonlighted as MC Mikey, a dj whose appearance was shrouded in secrecy, and he loved every minute of it. None of us knew what Raphael did with his time, but he began to sleep for most of the day, waking in the afternoon to eat and train. I kept busy with school, and continued my training. I dropped babysitting in the neighborhood and opted to get a job at Murakami's because in my downtime he allowed me to study at the counter, and his son, Kaito, was able to tutor me since Donnie had gotten busy with work. Nicole hung out some afternoons, talking to me whenever she could, but mostly because, in her words, 'Lesbian or not Kai is pretty to look at,' and she was right. Pretty was the exact word I would use. He had shoulder-length black hair that he usually wore in a half ponytail, clear skin, and handsome features. He was two years older, having graduated a year ago, which made him a great tutor, and just in general he was an all-around gentleman. The best part was how he talked about his girlfriend constantly. She was prepping for nursing school, so she was always either too busy or too tired to come see him at work, but he showed me tons of pictures of a brunette with soft features, and kind eyes. He was totally smitten and it was adorable, but of course it made me think of someone else with green eyes and a bad attitude. One night Kai and I were cleaning up tables before closing and Nicole was hanging around to drive me home, when a few of Hun's thugs showed up and started messing with Kai. Hun had been trying to recruit Kai into the Purple Dragons in exchange for the 'protection' of the noodle shop, but Kai kept turning him down. One of the thugs locked the door and turned the Open sign to Closed, and two more grabbed hold of me and Nicole. Thankfully Murakami had went home, so it was just us. I had pushed the alert button on my watch as soon as the first one locked the door, and the guys would be there any minute, but it felt like forever. Kai started to attack the one holding Nicole, but the first one grabbed him and dragged him over to a chair. After Kai was tied up, the guy started smashing things, and turning over tables. The one that held me whispered in my ear, 'Now there's nobody coming to save you, doll. I bet Hun would be pleased if we brought him a new toy to play with.' I brought my head forward to smash into his jaw. He yelled in pain and slapped me hard across the face. Just then we heard a crash from the back, and Raph's voice said, 'Get away from her.' The two holding me and Nic threw us to the floor. I yelled at Nicole to run and I'd be right behind her. I rushed over to Kai and untied him, ducking as a wok was thrown over my head. Mikey yelled, 'Sorry Angelcakes!', and kept fighting. I didn't think Nicole had seen them but Kai definitely did. He jumped up, eyes wide, and snatched me off the floor, dragging me behind him out the door. We didn't stop running until we were three blocks down, and we sank against a wall catching our breath. He started to talk but I shushed him. 'I called them, Kai. They're friends, and they just saved us. Trust me.' He nodded and I took my hand away from his mouth. 'But I do need you to not tell anyone about them. Your dad knows, but that's it. Not even your girlfriend. I'm sorry, but they have to stay a secret.' 'Ok, ok I promise. Does it hurt badly?' He asked, gently pushing my hair aside to look at the bruise blooming on my cheek. I winced. 'A little. But I'll be ok. You need to go home and tell your dad what happened. The guys will take out the trash at the restaurant, but he's gonna go into a mess in the morning.' He nodded, and let go of my cheek. 'Yeah, you're right. I'll see you tomorrow night, ok? And uh, can you thank them for me? They probably saved my life.' I chuckled. 'More than you know.' He looked at me funny. 'I'll explain later.' He waved and ran across the street toward his apartment. I called Nic to make sure she was ok, and then started walking home. I didn't get far before I was snatched into an alley by a three-fingered hand. Raphael, judging by how tight the grip was. The alley wasn't lit, so I turned on my phone's flashlight to see. He dragged me over to a manhole, opening it and ushering me inside. 'Where are the others?' I asked, climbing down the ladder. 'I sent them on an errand. I wanted to talk to you. Alone.' He followed me down, and I thought he would keep going towards the lair, but he stopped in front of me instead. 'Don't worry Raph. Kai won't say anything to anyone.' But he didn't reply. He just grabbed my chin in one hand and examined my face. I sucked in a breath at the pain. In the dim light of the tunnel his expression turned hard, and I thought I heard a rumble from his chest. 'I shoulda killed him.' He let me go and said, 'You need to get home. Casey will be worried about you.' He turned to walk down the tunnel, but I stopped him, saying, 'That's it? That's what you needed to say to me alone? Why have you been avoiding me Raphael? What did I do to you?' He looked at me then. 'What are you talking about? I'm not avoiding you. I just have no use for you.' That honestly stung more than it should have. 'Go home, Aella. I'm sure Mikey'll be over later to check on you. Oh, and you're welcome.' Suddenly I was alone. I swallowed the lump in my throat and climbed back up the ladder, replaying the whole thing in my head. He was furious that I was hurt one minute, and the next he 'had no use for me' whatever that meant. I was confused, and hurt, both physically and emotionally and I just wanted to go home and cry. When I got back to the loft, Casey and April were on the couch. 'Hey sis, I was about to call you. Everything ok?' I nodded yes, and went upstairs, getting in the shower. Thoughts of Raph kept going through my head. Why did he hate me so much? Was I just a burden for them? I couldn't even protect myself from some low-level goons. And then I did cry, sitting in the tub, the sound muffled by the spray of water.

Raphael, same night.
Damnit. She was in my head again. Aella was right. I was avoiding her because I was a coward. I didn't want to deal with my feelings for her, so I hurt her instead. But tonight they all came rushing back to the surface. I saw that idiot slap her, and anger clouded my vision. I saw her get away with her boss's son, and then I beat the thug unconscious. Donnie and Mikey handled the other two quickly, and I told them to go dump them outside the Purple Dragon's headquarters while I went to find Aella. I just wanted to make sure she was ok, until I saw that guy from the restaurant still with her. He held her face in his hand, and the familiar feeling of jealousy reared its head. I heard her tell him to go home, and pulled her into the next alley. When I got her alone, I couldn't resist grabbing her face, having the sudden urge to cover that boy's touch and scent with mine. I had so much I wanted to tell her, but when she gasped in pain rage boiled up inside me. I growled and told her to go home, intent on taking out my anger on the practice dummies, but then she asked me why I was avoiding her. I couldn't tell her the truth, so I lied, and hurt her all over. It would be better if she hated me, even if I couldn't stand it. Every day got harder, watching her become a woman. And seeing her with Shadow almost killed me, because I knew she would have that someday with some other guy that probably didn't deserve her. A guy like the one tonight. I had seen him with her before, outside Murakami's after closing, just talking. He made her laugh a lot, and the sound made my chest tight. She told Casey that he was just a coworker that helped her study, that he had a girlfriend. But I had seen the way he looked at her lately when her back was turned. He wanted her, too, but she just couldn't, or wouldn't, see it. She was too good for that, and she saw the good in everyone else until they gave her a reason not to. As I walked through the sewer tunnels I wondered if I had just given her that reason.