A Merry Little (Apriltello) Christmas

He was at his desk, working furiously on a large blueprint, shell hunched over as he scribbled across the paper. The lab was dark except for a small desk lamp that shone down where he wrote, casting a warm glow across the top of his head. A string of multicolored lights twinkled along the shelves behind him and Christmas music quietly played on the radio, making the room feel warmer than it was.

A shift of his large ruler made a rough scraping sound as he slid it across the tabletop. She watched as he lined it up just where he needed it, before running his pencil along the side. His focus purely on the project before him.

April made a soft throat clearing sound to indicate her presence, causing him to snap his head up and meet her with his chocolate gaze. A grin broke across his features and his eyes sparkled when he identified her as the sound.

"April."

She loved the way he said her name. His voice breathy with a combination of surprise and admiration.

"What are you doing hiding out in here? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your family?" April asked with a smile and a gesture over her shoulder towards the main room where his brothers were congregated.

"I watched the first couple of movies with them." Donnie shrugged, a bashful look on his face. "But it's not very often we have a whole day of relaxation and I was itching to work on this."

April shook her head with a smile, it was silly to assume he could just sit around all day doing nothing. His brain was incapable of shutting off and this was his way of relaxing.

"Actually, what are you doing here?" Donnie asked returning her same argument back to her. "It's Christmas Eve, shouldn't you be with your family?"

She nodded with a raise of her eyebrows. "You guys are my family."

He ducked his head down, but she could still see the rosy warmth on his cheeks. "I mean, shouldn't you be with your Dad?"

"He's here too."

She watched the browline of his mask perk up, obviously not expecting the answer.

Suddenly she felt the need to explain herself further. "I checked with Sensei ahead of time, he said it was alright. We figured it was easier for the two of us to come to you, than for the five of you to trudge across the snowy rooftops. And since you'll be coming by tomorrow evening for dinner…" She trailed off when she saw Donnie shaking his head.

"No, no. That's fine, I didn't mean to make you feel… That's not what I…" He paused and took a big breath. "I'm glad you're here, it's a lovely surprise."

April smiled and felt her cheeks flush. Whether it was from the sight of her friend's gap-toothed grin, or simply from the warmth returning to her extremities, she couldn't be certain.

She shifted her footing and felt the weight of her backpack, still slung over her shoulder, reminding her of the purpose for her visit to his lab.

"Speaking of surprises." She spoke, swinging the bag down her arm, and depositing it onto a nearby chair. She glanced up to see Donnie setting aside his pencil and ruler, watching her intently as she moved.

Digging a hand into her bag, she withdrew a large box wrapped in festive paper with a bow on top. Pulling at the ribbon, she attempted to make her bow a little less squished looking and handed the parcel over to her friend. "Merry Christmas!"

The corner of Donnie's smile shifted up and he eyed the gift curiously as he accepted her package. "But it's not Christmas yet." He stated with a playful tone.

Pulling her phone from her back pocket April pressed the home key to reveal the clock display and held it out for him to see. "You are indeed correct, there's still 7 hours to go." She returned the phone and looked at him mischievously. "Tell you what? It can be our little secret."

She smiled, watching her friend chuckle at her silliness.

"Alright then," Donnie replied. "We'll keep this expedited present-opening just between the two of us."

Taking the box from her, he placed it on the table, after pushing aside his papers to make room. Leaning forward he clicked the light on another notch to brighten up the tabletop. Something April would have thought might have been more handy while he had been working.

April moved her bag to the floor and slid the extra chair over beside his, making herself comfortable in the cool metal seat. The radio station switched to a new song and 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' began playing, in the low and melodic sounds of Ella Fitzgerald.

Donatello covertly watched as his friend settled her way into the chair beside him. He noted a new puffy turquoise scarf around her neck that brought out the blue in her eyes, and a pair of dangly Christmas earrings shaped like tiny bows, sparkling from beneath her ginger locks. Absolutely beautiful, was the first thought to cross his mind. But beyond that she looked positively content, like a wave of happiness had washed over her. It was a look that was much more rare than he'd like. If he could build a device that could fill her heart with joy every day, he'd waste no time in designing it.

She cleared her throat again, and he was shaken from his moment, realizing that she had caught him staring. He turned away, feeling the heat on his cheeks; time to focus on his task. It wasn't entirely new, that they were exchanging their gifts in private, away from the roaring hustle that is his family on Christmas Day, but something about this moment felt different to him.

For one, she had sought him out. After the dismal failure that had turned out to be his handmade music box, he had been quite nervous about the whole idea of a gift exchange in the first place, and worried again if the gift he had chosen for her was right. But in the grand scheme of things a lot had happened since then, and they had grown closer, bonded together as friends that had been set adrift across space to fix a future that they now lived out. Many months had passed since that awkward summer afternoon at the farmhouse, even more months if you accounted for the time traveling.

He picked up the package and turned it over in his hands as he contemplated his thoughts.

"Are you going to open it, or what?" April teased, nudging her shoulder into his. "My wrapping is definitely not worth admiring."

"Oh right. Of course." Doofus. He grimaced to himself. Real smooth bozo.

Running a large finger under the elaborate ribbon, he pulled it over the corner, loosening the red polka dot fabric enough to slip it off. The metallic green paper crinkled as he delicately broke the tape, separating the seams.

He heard April scoff beside him and it brought an internal chuckle knowing that she despised his methodic manner of unwrapping. Much like his youngest brother, she would prefer the route of quickly tearing the paper to shreds.

Setting aside the flayed rectangle of paper, he turned over the gift to find a wooden box with the letters EMS engraved into a small metal plate on top. The box was medium sized, larger than a cigar box, but not identifiable as to what purpose it served. He adjusted it in his hands, surprised he had not noticed earlier how heavy it was. Hearing a faint rattle from within, it was clear that there was more inside. Raising a curious brow ridge he looked up at April to find her literally on the edge of her seat in anticipation. She made a quick nod towards the box in a clear indication that he should 'go on'.

The lid was tight and required a firm tug to remove. Once it was freed he turned it over and set it gently on the table beside him, his gaze immediately dropping to inspect the contents within. Narrowing his eyes, he reached up to adjust his desk lamp, angling the light to better reveal the insides.

At first glance, it was apparent that the box was full of tools. Among others, he could spot a caliper, a small protractor, a few guides and some rulers. Inside, another small box caught his eye and he greedily reached in to open it, surprised to find a dial indicator and a force gauge. This was not just some random collection of tools, these tools were well cared for and arranged in such a manner as to all fit within this housing.

He looked up again, but found that April's eyes were caught on the contents still inside.

"They were my mom's." She spoke softly, pulling away from them to look up into his eyes.

EMS: Elizabeth May Sumner. He should have recognized the initials, goodness knows he had spent a fair share of his time looking into her disappearance. That is at least after he had found out more about her last summer, and their family's connection to the Kraang. For as much as April doted over her father and family traditions, she rarely spoke of her mother. And after the Kraang had created that monster to impersonate her, it seemed to have bottled up any further discussions around the topic.

"She was a mechanical engineer." She added, a soft smile crossing her features. "At least before she took time off to have me."

This particular bit of information caught Donatello by surprise. When he had first learned that April's father was a scientist, he had been filled with glee that it was a topic he could share with her. But once it was revealed that her Dad was a psychologist, more in the field of the workings of brains and less of machines, his excitement was deflated. He had assumed that April's comfort around blowtorches and garage tools was simple due to her adaptability, but perhaps at least a bit of her interest indeed ran in her genes.

"I had no idea." He finally voiced his surprise.

She shrugged, her hair folding up on the edge of her scarf as she moved. "I don't really talk about her... Not that I remember her all that much."

This was the first time April had ever willing entered into a conversation around her mother and Donnie knew he needed to tread carefully and let her traverse the topic at her own speed. He gave a polite nod to indicate he was listening, but kept any further inquiries to himself and instead quietly inspected one of the tools.

"After this summer, with the whole thing at the farmhouse." April began again, knowing that she didn't need to further explain which traumatic experience at the farmhouse she was referring to. "And then after we returned and I got my dad back again, I finally sat down with him to talk about her. There was so much I really didn't remember."

He watched her smile softly to herself as her story trailed off, most likely recalling a memory she had discussed with her father. He was glad to hear that she had approached her father on the topic, it was obvious that she needed some closure.

"Anyways, we went to the storage unit where he saved a bunch of her old stuff. And I came across this box of her old tools."

Suddenly Donatello was hit with the amount of sentimentality that surrounded this gift. It felt like something too precious for her to be giving away.

"I… are you sure you want to give these away?" He asked, unable to stop himself from voicing his concern.

April turned to face him, her cerulean eyes bright in the dark light of the room. "Of course I do! I know you'll put them to good use, there's no sense in them sitting in storage."

"But, they're your mom's, don't you want to keep them?" He asked again, not wanting her to ever feel any regrets towards him.

April laid a delicate hand over his, her gaze still locked with his own and smiled. "She would want you to have them too."

He nodded, returning her smile. "I will definitely put them to good use. Thank you, April."

"You're very welcome, Donnie. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." He all but whispered back, suddenly feeling very unsure about the turn this conversation had taken. Perhaps he was reading too much into it, but this felt like it was intended to be more than just a thoughtful gift.

"You know," April spoke up again, a warm smile lighting her face. "I think she really would have liked you, my mom I mean. It seems like you two would have a lot in common."

As much as he had desperately tried to find things in common between himself and the O'Neil family, he knew that it was fruitless. There's only so much you can have in common with someone when you are a freak of nature, a mutant that wasn't even human. So to have someone like this amazing woman in front of him suggest such a thing, was probably an even better present than the physical one that sat before him.

"I wish I could have met her." He replied softly, hoping that he said the right thing.

"Maybe one day." April shrugged and Donnie couldn't help himself from raising a brow ridge. "If I've learned anything in my life, it's that things don't ever turn out quite like you'd expect."

Donnie let out a little chuckle to the mirth in her voice. "That's for sure." He replied.

April hopped down from her stool and put out her arms, silently asking for a hug and Donatello was all to happy to oblige. Within a fraction of a second he was out of his chair and wrapping his long arms around her back, soaking in her warmth and the fruity fragrance that was uniquely hers.

"I uh, I have your present too, but I must confess, I was going to wrap it tonight." He spoke as he held her, knowing that he still had a few finishing touches to add to it as well.

His mind frantically began to spin worrying whether the gift he had made her could possibly compare to the one he'd just received. He had spent so much time stressing about not pushing her again, not repeating the music box… he shook his head. No, he had already decided, besides it was late. He would give her the gift he made her and hope for the best.

"It can wait until tomorrow." She replied, her voice muffled by his plastron as she continued to press her cheek into the front of him, unaware of his silent debate with himself. She then patted his arm and added, "C'mon, let's go join the others. Dad and I brought Christmas cookies and cocoa."

"That sounds lovely." He replied, feeling a sense of relief for the opportunity to review his gift one last time tonight.

Releasing herself from his hold, April stepped up onto her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, dangerously close to his lips. He felt his heart stall for a moment and forgot to breathe. Only shaken from his shock when he felt her warm hand lace between his three fingers as best as she could manage and gently pulled him in the direction of the door.

He knew he wore a goofy grin on his face, but couldn't care less, even if it brought endless teasing from his brothers.

Something was shifting between his relationship with April and he was overwhelmingly thrilled that she was the one tipping them into the next section. He was willing and ready to explore it, whatever it may be. Making this quite possibly his best Christmas ever.

The end.

A/N: I obviously took some liberties with my own headcanons for April's mom. The name 'Elizabeth' comes from her mother's character in the IDW comics, but I completely made up a maiden name to go with it. In other variations of TMNT, April is more science-focused and I like the idea that she got some of that from her mother. And of course the whole connection to Donatello. ;)

And yes, I completely avoided revealing the gift Donnie had gotten her, but rest assured she will love it!

Hopefully you enjoyed my completely out of season story, I needed a good warm-up to get back into the turtle mood and this has been sitting in my drafts folder since December.