Journey's end

Ch 3. Friends and Foes.

"AH YEAH!" Raph yelled as he ran into the house. He grabbed a hold of Leo exuberantly and brought him into a hug. "School is over for the summer and I've aced all my test!" Leo laughed as Raph swung him around. "Let's go out and celebrate!"

"That is a wonderful idea Raphael." Splinter said, walking out of the dojo. The last class had just ended and he and Leo were about to go into the kitchen and have their usual daily tea. "If I may join you, I would like to pay for the dinner."

Raphael smiled at his father. "That would be great Sensei." He said. "I would be honored to have you come with us."

"It would be great, but I'm suppose to meet Donnie at TCRI and get my blood checked." Leo reminded him.

For the past four months, since Leo's father had injected him with a type of enhancing drug, he had been seeing Dr. Tyler Rockwell to verify if the injection was doing anything to his system. So far, there had been no change and Leo was feeling fine. But Rockwell had insisted on Leo being checked once a month to keep an eye on things and verify the drug did not affect Leo in the future. .

On these day, Leo would take the train to TCRI and meet Don in his new lab. Now that Dr. Stockman was in jail and no longer working at the research facility, Don had been promoted to take his place and was staying at the lab longer. He would meet Leo and after, the two would ride the train home together.

"Mikey and Renet will be here soon." Leo said. "Why don't we wait for them and all go out to dinner together?" Leo grabbed his wallet. "It will be my treat." He suggested, deciding it wasn't fair for Splinter to pay for the others since he had suggested it.

"Nonsense Leonardo." Splinter gave him a look of determination. "I would be happy to treat everyone."

"Then let's go!" Mikey's voice sounded out at the front door. They turned to see Mikey and Renet walking into the house.

"Mikey!" Renet giggled. "Can't you say hi first."

"Oh, sorry everyone." He looked at the others sheepishly. "Hi." He greeted them with a wave, then he smiled. "OK! Let's go!" They all laughed and Raph drove the family's SUV to TCRI. An hour later, Donnie and Leo piled into the car and the family drove to Murakami's Japanese Restaurant.

Upon hearing the news, Mr. Murakami, a long time friend of the Hamatos, gave a large free plate of egg rolls in celebration. While they ate and celebrated, Raph's phone went off. He pulled out his cell phone and smiled broadly. "It's Casey!" He announced. The table quieted while Raph took the call.

"Yo Casey. What's up, how ya been?" He answered. He was silent for a few minutes but the look of excitement on his face was clear as he listened to his friend speak. "No Way!" He yelled excitedly. "That is so cool!" He listened quietly as the voice on the other end spoke and the others saw his face fall slightly. "Ah yeah, no problem. Everyone's here anyway, we're celebrating my being done with school and acing my finals." He listened a few more minutes. "Okay Case. Talk to ya later."

Raph turned to the others. "Case and April will be here in New York in a week. Their getting married at the end of the month and April is transferring to NYU, now they'll be here permanently!" The family agreed this was good news.

"Now I'll finally get to meet your friend." Leo told Raph with a smile.

"Oh and the best part is, he wants me, Don and Mike to be his groomsmen." Raph told them.

Mikey looked excited while Don looked hesitant. "Yeah, that's great Raph but did he say who will be the bridesmaids?"

At this time, Raph turned to Renet. "April will be calling you later tonight Renet to ask you, but you are one, Casey's sister Angel is another." Now he looked down at his food hesitantly. "And Mona is the other."