Author's Note: Woo! It's 3:17 am and I have been trying to get to edit this story since 10:30 PM Central Standard Time! I finally got it though! Only took me Gads knows how many hours and my sisters fast internet but it's here! Woohoo!! Ok...couple of things real quick everyone. 1)This is dedicated to my beloved little TMNT freak of a nephew who I learned yesterday afternoon has become very sick. In fact I'm at his house right now babysitting his baby sister while he and his mommy and daddy are in the hospital trying to figure out what's wrong with him sniffles So if you're the praying type or candle lighting or positive thinkin' type...do what'cha gotta do to keep him in mind ok? I'd be lost without my Little Buddy.

2) In case you haven't read it on my profile already, I'm taking a minor break from story writing for a bit. Before my nephew got sick family issues with my brother arose which put me in the middle of something I don't want to be in the middle of and has in fact made things very difficult for me to write. So...until things simmer down with my brother and I find out that my Little Buddy is gonna be ok...all future stories are on hold. Hope you guys can all understand.

3) This is what you've all been asking for...the story of how Raph won Angie over. There's a part that's all in italics, it's Raph telling the tale but don't worry, it's not in "Raph Speak"...there was too much and too many people would have been confused. So...just lettin' ya'll know.

Ok, time to cut the crap! Let's rock! Enjoy!

Tell Me a Story, Daddy?

Written by: Corky Castel

Genre: General

Rating: K

Summary: Raph reflects on how he won Angie over in his own fairytale bedtime story to four-year-old Casey. ::Set three years prior to Honor Bound. Part of the TMNT: Family Ties Series::

"Yo Casey! C'mon…time fer bed. Ev'ryone else is already in bed…c'mon." Raph said as he scooped his four-year-old son Casey up off the floor from where he sat watching television. It was well after eight o'clock and the rest of his cousins had been put to bed hours before. The little boy with shaggy blond hair, wiggled and squirmed in his fathers arms as he tried to continue watching the set.

"Nooooo! I'm not sleepy!! Don't wanna go bed!!" He cried, struggling to get free. Trying to keep his temper in check, Raph forced a smile on his face and tightened his hold on his son. Reaching out, he clicked the television set off in the middle of "The Breakfast Club" and shook his head.

"You're not old enough to be watching that movie anyways. C'mon…ya gotta get some sleep."

Casey's bottom lip trembled as he looked into his daddy's chocolate brown eyes and forced tears to his own. He didn't like having to go to bed with the rest of his cousins; he always felt he was missing out on all the fun the adults were having. Forcing himself to cry, Casey began to kick and punch against his father.

"No! No! Nooooooooooo!!! I don't WANNA!!! NOOOOOO!!! I WANNA STAY WIF YOU DADDY!!!" The little boy wailed, faked and forced tears streaking down his little cheeks as his tiny fists and feet pounded against his father's well toned body. Smirking and shaking his head, Raph continued off towards the boys shared room.

"Cassidy Jones Miller if ya wake up da othah's I'll give ya a real reason ta cry." He answered, bouncing his son up over his shoulder so that he could hold the boy's legs to keep them from bruising his stomach. He felt the fists bouncing off his shell for a few seconds more before they stopped and a loud sniffle sounded.

"You mean, Daddy!" Casey lamented, trying his hardest to fake a shaky, heavy sigh, as he put both hands on his fathers shell to push himself up. Raph chuckled and shook his head as he entered the dark alcove that held several small beds, each with a sleeping child in them. Lowering his oldest son down into his little bed, Raphael smiled slightly and reached for the little blue and white 'Buzz Lightyear' pajamas Casey loved so much.

Tugging him from his dirty play clothes and tossing them across the room towards the laundry basket the boys all shared, Raph began redressing him in his PJs.

"Trust me, kid…ya ain't da first ta call me mean…ya won't be da last eiddah. Now take Bill an' go ta sleep." Having picked up the horribly worn out and heavily loved teddy bear up off the floor and pulled the covers up over him, Raph handed Casey the bear before kissing his head.

Still trying to fight having to go to sleep, Casey quickly racked his brain for ways of keeping his father in the room longer and for him to stay up later. Smiling to himself, the four-year-old reached out and wrapped his arms around Raphael's waist, pressing his face into his stomach.

"Tell me a bedtime story, daddy?"

Raphael froze where he stood, his sons arms still wrapped tightly around him. He had never told a bedtime story before in his life, and now his first born was looking up at him with pleading hazel eyes, begging for one. Bedtime stories had always been left up to the moms or even Michelangelo when he wasn't too busy; they were all the story tellers, not Raph. Reaching down to pry the little fingers off of him, Raph sighed and shook his head.

"I don' know any bedtime stories, kid. Jist do whad I used ta do…close yer eyes an'—"

"Noooo…I wanna bedtime story!! Pweeeeeeeeeeease, daddy?" Casey pleaded, his bottom lip protruding as he looked up at his father with the best 'puppy dog eyes' he could muster. Rolling his eyes and letting out a low grumble, Raph pulled the little chair from their table up next to Casey's bed and sat down.

"Alright already…knock off dose eyes…I'm gonna kill yer Uncle Mike fer teachin' ya dat." He grumbled as he watched Casey's begging face do a one-hundred-and-eighty degree flip to one of triumph. Snuggling down into his blankets—Bill the Bear clutched tightly to his chest—Casey smiled contently and waited for his daddy to begin his story.

After a moment or two of silence and quiet grumblings, Raph finally sighed and shrugged. "Once upon a time, dere was a beautiful lady…"

Who lived in a world all her own. She traveled from a far and distant land to make sure her best friend didn't get into any trouble. Thing was…no one was around ta make sure she didn't get into trouble. See…this lady wasn't all there in the head…she forgot stuff all the time and kept tripping over her own shadow. But she had a heart of gold and would stick her neck out as far as she could to make sure nothing happened to the people she cared about.

When she followed her best friend to a new and scary land so she could be with the prince she loved, the beautiful lady met a hot-headed punk who wasn't all too happy to be meeting her. The punk had trouble trusting people, especially ones who came too close to his brothers…which the prince her best friend was seeing just happened ta be. So the punk would try his hardest to ignore this beautiful lady whenever she came around to hang out with her best friend. Only thing was, was this punk thought she was the most beautiful lady he had ever seen, but since he always made himself out to be a punk who could care less about people, he was too scared to let it show.

Every time this lady would come ta visit with her friend, the punk would try to show he wasn't such a bad guy, but she didn't care. He scared the crap out of her and so she wouldn't ever listen to him. Instead, she'd start fights and little arguments with him. Which, ya know, he didn't object to because he enjoyed fighting and arguing…and if it meant she was at least talking to him…then he didn't care. Even though she was mean to him and everything…the punk still would follow her home to make sure she got there ok and nothing bad happened to her.

One night, the punk was sitting outside her window like he had done for nearly a year, just watching her rattle around like a marble in a can when he heard voices below him. Slipping into the shadows, the punk hid until they got closer and he saw they were planning on busting into the beautiful ladies' place. Since he had never been one to let anything bad happen to good people, the punk saw this as a chance to maybe prove to the lady he wasn't as bad as she always tried to make him out to be.

Watching as the burglars opened the window and climbed in, the punk sprung into action and leaped at them, tackling both of them to the floor as the lady screamed and ran for cover. The punk smirked as he easily knocked the two silly and got them set up for when the police arrived. Hiding in the broom closet, the punk watched as the cops burst through the door and came to arrest the still faint crooks. The punk smirked more as he watched the cops drag them out before taking a statement from the lady who thankfully made no mention of him.

When the boys in blue finally left, the punk left his hiding place and stepped up next to the lady. She was shaking and staring at her window with her arms wrapped around her. The punk didn't like seeing her like that and offered to take her someplace safe and warm. Taking her back to the home he shared with his three brothers and their father—not to mention his youngest brother's girlfriend—he sat the lady down on the couch and watched as she curled up into a tight ball and wrapped her arms around herself. The punk wasn't really sure what to do in problems like that, but he had an idea of what his other brothers would have done.

Sitting down next to her, the punk watched in shock as the lady crawled into his lap and held onto him as tight as she could and cried. She ended up crying herself to sleep and since the punk didn't know what to do, he just continued to hold her until he fell asleep on the couch with her.

A few hours later, his brothers came home from being out most of the night and saw them sitting on the couch together. Since they'd never seen him do something like that, they all began picking on him and making fun of him, just to watch him get mad. When the lady finally woke up—and fell off the punk's lap in surprise—she looked at his brothers and questioned why he looked so mad and they seemed so pleased with themselves. When she heard their reasons, she folded her arms over her chest and quickly began to tell them of how brave his was in saving her life that night and bringing her back to their home. Also how nice it was of him to let her cry onto his shoulder even though she had always been so mean to him in the past.

And so from that day on, the beautiful ditzy lady hardly left the side of her not so mean hero…

"An' da two lived 'appily evah aftah." Raph finished quietly as he watched Casey's eyes gently close.

"I wike it bettah when mommy tells it…she makes you sound funnier…" He said tiredly as he slipped into his own little dream world, clutching tightly to the bear his daddy had given to him that had once belonged to him when he was little.

Raphael's eyes widened and his jaw slacked slightly as he stared at his sleeping son. Narrowing his eyes some, Raph shoved the tiny chair back under its table before heading up the stairs to the room he shared with Angie and their one year old son Chris. He should have known that Angela would have made him sound like a bad guy and put her own little spin to their story. Did she really have to make him sound funnier though?

Raph growled low in his throat as he closed his bedroom door just as Angie was putting Christopher down in his crib for the night. She was absolutely stunning to him in the dim light of their room with the glow of the night light reflecting off her blond hair to form a sort of halo around her. He had to admit, it was extremely hard for him to stay mad at her for anything when she looked like that. Turning her head and smiling, Angie hit play on her little CD player before crawling into bed.

"What took you so long?"

"Casey…he wouldn't go ta bed an' den wouldn't let me leave till I told 'im a bedtime story." He grumbled, removing his pads, belt, and red worn out bandana. Moving over to the crib, he glanced down to make sure that little one was asleep before moving back towards their bed. "An' who names dere bear Bill? 'Is name is Stewer…it's been Stewer since I could say it."

Angie couldn't help but giggle lightly as she pulled the covers back for her turtle husband and waited for him to lie down so she could cuddle against him.

"Why was his name Stewer, again?"

"Cuz I found 'im in da sewers an fer some reason I could say Stewer but not sewer…so he was my Stewer Bear instead a sewer bear." He rumbled softly, a hint of compassion towards his beloved and most well hidden childhood friend. Finally turning out the lights, Raph climbed into bed and tugged Angie into his arms, still after all those years amazed that his size and strength never seemed to hurt her any.

Sighing contently, Angela rested her head on his plastron before draping an arm over his stomach.

"What story did you tell him?"

"Da one about a beautiful ditz who fell madly in love with a hot-headed punk. Turns out Casey's heard anothah version of it t'ough." He answered, smirking slightly. Raph felt Angie's small smile against his chest and heard her light and sleepy giggle.

"I love that story. It has such a great ending…"

"Yeah…it does." Raph said softly, nodding his head some before leaning down to kiss her gently. "G'nite ya Ditz…love ya…"

The End