Disclaimer - Don't own any of them.
A/N - This little side story is just a little piece of fun set right after they get to the farmhouse in What The Heart Wants, but you don't need to read that to understand this. It's just for laughs. Enjoy.
Adventures in Housekeeping
April's stomach always dropped when they called her, and said they'd had an accident. Every time. So when her cell phone rang and it was Leo saying that she should come back home, that something had happened, she paid for the groceries and sped back to the farmhouse.
She ran through the door, and stopped. It was silent in the house, not a good sign.
"Guys?" She called out, praying for an answer.
"In here, April." It was Mike, and he was just a few rooms away. She took off, running to the room.
She didn't know what she was expecting when she went through the door, but she'd never expected what lay before her.
She closed her eyes. "Oh God…" What a mess…
"What… what happened?" She asked, opening her eyes again slightly.
"Two words." Raph said. "Mikey and Laundry."
April looked at Raph. He was sitting on top of the dryer, his legs drawn up to his chest, avoiding the white fluff that filled the room, that almost reached the top of the dryer.
Her eyes moved from Raph to Don and Leo, who were kneeled side by side, Don's head almost invisible under the suds.
"What happened?" She asked, walking over to them.
"It wasn't my fault." April heard Mike call from somewhere in the suds filled room.
"Well," Don began. "We decided to… you know, help out a bit with the laundry." At April's pained look, he continued. "I know we said we'd wait, but we figured, how hard could it be…"
"Then Mikey decided to take the first go at it." Raph continued. "I think he added a bit more soap than he should have."
"You think?" April said, sarcastically. She sighed, and rubbed a hand over her forehead and looked back over at Leo. "And then…?"
"Then, well… we don't know." Leo shrugged.
"Why did I even ask?" April asked herself. "What is Don doing?"
Don's head suddenly popped up from the suds. "I'm trying to fix this thing."
"Why does it need fixed?" She asked, looking back to Leo.
"I, uh, kinda panicked." Mike said sheepishly from his spot in the bubbles. April looked over at him, he was in the corner, away from the others. "I might have, um, broken something trying to turn it off."
April groaned.
"But look." Mike continued. "Isn't this cool?" He threw some suds into the air. "It's like snow, but without all the cold."
Don grinned. "You know, Mikey, after this, no one's gonna have to fight over the shower tonight…"
Leo looked at Don and grinned.
"Bonus!" Mikey yelled, and then threw some more suds into the air. He turned, a glob of suds in his hand, and looked at Raph.
"Don't even think about it." Raph said.
"Don't you think this would be easier to fix if we weren't knee deep in suds?" April interrupted.
"I agree." Leo said, and Mike groaned. "Come on." Leo continued. "Let's get this all cleaned up."
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A little over an hour later…
April wiped her forehead. "Whew. Finally done." She looked around. "And I've never seen this place look so clean."
They all looked around at their handiwork. The room practically shone, it was so clean. But, of course, with the amount of soap that was in there, it was probably cleaner than it had ever been.
"OK, now let's get down to business." Don rubbed his hands together.
"I'll stay and help, if I can." Leo said.
April nodded. "Since I'm the only one who really knows how it works…"
"I'll be in the other room." Raph said, then left the room.
"And I'll help by getting out of your way." Mike said, grinning, and followed Raph out of the room.
"OK, lets see what we've got here." April said, as Don opened the door of the washing machine.
Don looked in, then brought his head back out. "Filled with soap." He said.
"Looks like." April laughed, then wiped a bit of suds off of Don's head.
"Thanks." Don said, then looked at April. "Well, what do you think we'll need?" He asked.
"Well, first of all, to clean out the machine. Second of all, I'd guess we'd have to look at the damage to see what we need."
Don turned to Leo. "Leo, can you go and get my toolbox? And April and I will finish cleaning this thing out."
"Sure." Leo said, then went out to find Don's toolbox.
Don and April crouched in front of the washing machine, trying to scoop out most of the suds.
"I always thought it would be the VCR." April muttered softly.
"What?" Don asked.
She turned to him, and smiled. "Oh, Donnie, you're a genius, but… everyone has something that they can't do. I guess in my mind, yours was always programming the VCR." She grinned again, then continued. "How disappointing for me to find out it's something like doing the laundry." She laughed lightly.
He grinned. "VCR's I can do. And anyway, this was Mikey."
She smiled and continued scooping out bubbles. "How come you guys can't do laundry?"
"Well, we haven't had much practice, you know." Don grinned. "And when it did need done, it was all hand washed."
"Oh." She said, then wiped the inside of the machine with a towel. "Sorry," she said, sticking her head in the machine farther in order to clean the back. "I guess I just assumed that you guys just knew how to…" She pulled her head back out. "I shouldn't have made a fuss…"
"April." Don interrupted softly. "It's no big deal." He reached out and wiped a bit of suds stuck to her nose.
She nodded.
"Don, I don't know how you find anything in that room of yours."
They both jumped as Leo came back into the room.
"You are the smartest person I know, but your room…"
"Needs cleaning, I know." Don added, then grinned. "I haven't fully unpacked yet."
"Here." Leo handed them the tools.
"Great. Now lets get this thing fixed." Don said, and April nodded.
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A bit later, Leo, Don and April made their way into the kitchen.
"How'd it go?" Mikey looked over from the table.
"Well, it's working again, if that's what you mean." April said, looking at Mike and grinning.
"So, you're not mad?" He asked.
"No, of course not." She sat down at the table. "That room needed cleaning anyway."
"Great." Mike said, then got up from the table and walked to the door. "I'm not touching that thing again." He said, then looked back. "Unless…"
"No, Mikey."
April turned back to Don and Leo and grinned. "So, are we filing this one under home disaster adventures?" She asked.
"Oh, this was definitely an adventure." Leo said.
"Yeah." Don agreed. "And why do most of our adventures take place at home now?" He asked. "And accidents." He added under his breath.
Leo grinned. "Sometimes, those are the most exciting."
"And dangerous." April added.
The all laughed, until there was a crash from somewhere else in the house. Suddenly, they could hear the pounding of feet, then the door to the kitchen opened.
"That was so not me." Mikey said, breathlessly, then took off out the door.
They all looked at each other. The door opened again, and Mike peeked his head back in. "Oh, and you three never saw me." He said, then was gone again.
April groaned.
Leo chuckled, and Don smiled. "Never a dull moment…"
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A/N - This is intended to be a little side story one-shot to What The Heart Wants, but I had fun with this. Maybe, if anyone else wants to read more like this, I'll do some more. Hmmm… Can they say 'Spring cleaning'?