A Christmas To Remember
Chapter 1: Decorations and Discovery.
"I don't know why people bother putting this stuff up when it just gets ripped back down again!" Raphael moaned as he lifted up some tinsel and passed it to Michelangelo, who was standing on a stepladder.
"Aww, stop moaning Raph! Christmas is fun!" Mikey stretched out his arms and stuck some tinsel on his bedroom wall, securing it with blue tack. "I don't know why you don't just lighten up bro, and get into the Christmas spirit!"
"I'll give you Christmas spirit", Raph mumbled under his breath.
Mikey smiled. "I heard that bro! Here", Mikey grabbed a long strip of tinsel and put it round Raph's neck. He got off the stepladder and looked at his fuming brother. "Aww, red tinsel really goes with your bandanna!" Mikey frowned slightly. "And also your very, very red face, what's wrong with you?"
Raph clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "How about a Christmas sandwich, Mikey?"
Mikey relaxed a little and shrugged. "Sure, whatever"
"I meant a 'knuckle sandwich'!"
"Hey! Chill bro!" Mikey ducked when he saw Raph's hand level with his head.
Raph grabbed the tinsel from around his neck and slung it on the floor.
Mikey got up and smiled. "Aww, what did the tinsel ever do to you?"
"Mikey!"
"Chill bro! Just having a little fun!" Mikey grabbed the tinsel from the floor and climbed back on the stepladder. "Now pass me the orange tinsel, I want one that matches my colour scheme!"
Raph sighed and passed Mikey his most favourite tinsel colour. "I'm going to get a drink".
"Don't forget we have to put the little tree in here next!" Mikey shouted to his back when Raph was in the doorway.
Raph smiled slightly and closed the bedroom door behind him. Mikey always loves this time of year; he thought to himself, I don't think they'll ever be a time when he doesn't like Christmas!
//
Raph entered the kitchen and groaned. "Not you too!"
Leo was standing on a kitchen chair, sticking tinsel to the ceiling and it happened to be blue tinsel. "Huh?" He got down and slid the chair back near the table. "What's up Raph?"
Raph shrugged. "Nothing. Just Mikey's all crazed about this Christmas stuff!" He walked over to the fridge and opened it. "Want a can of coke, bro?"
"Sure", Leo sat down at the table and smiled. "What's Mikey doing now?"
Raph closed the fridge and sat down opposite his brother, handing him his can of coke. "His traditional 'I-love-orange-tinsel' gig"
Leo laughed at the fed-up tone in Raph's voice. "You and I both know that Mikey's like that EVERY year Raph! He's been doing his 'orange-tinsel' gig since he knew what tinsel was!"
Raph gave his brother a small smile. "It just annoying sometimes, next year I'm spending Christmas with April!"
Leo smiled. "That's not a good idea. You know Mikey's always round there decorating April's apartment!"
"There's no escape!" Raph joked.
Leo opened his can of coke and took a sip. "Well you know Donnie's just as bad as Mikey, he's always brewing up new inventions! Remember the burping Santa?"
Raph scrunched up his face as a memory from last year formed in his mind. "Don't remind me! That thing kept me up ALL night!" Raph opened his can of coke.
Leo nodded. "Yeah, until Master Splinter asked him to turn it off. This Christmas he's planning on doing a plain sleigh with just the 'Jingle Bells' tune".
Raph frowned and asked; "Didn't he do that about two years ago?"
Leo nodded again. "Yeah", he took another gulp of his coke. "But remember, it blew up!" He added with a smile.
Raph smiled at the memory. "Yeah. Donnie was crushed!"
They carried on talking for a while. Remembering Christmas after Christmas, each one involving Mikey's tinsel-disease, or Donnie's Christmas inventions.
Leo enjoyed his brother's company. He laughed when Raph reminded him of the time when they were five. Leo had pushed Raph over for something and he had head-butted the tree. Leo smiled to himself. He and his brother didn't always get along. But they did share some good times together. Even in the holiday season.
"Remember when Mikey kept planting the Christmas whoopee cushion on you every time you sat down? I was in stitches for weeks!" Raph laughed at the memory.
Leo smiled slightly. "It wasn't funny! I couldn't meditate because every time I sat down that thing went off!"
Raph stopped laughing and smiled at his brother. "I thought it sounded pretty realistic".
Leo grinned. "I have to agree with you there, it did sound realistic".
Raph nodded and finished off his drink. He preferred to talk to Leo then trying to knock him out. And Splinter would prefer it if they didn't argue at such a festive time of the year. Raph sighed, he tried not to fight with his brother but sometimes it was hard not to. "I have to help Mikey put up his little Christmas tree, and" - he added with a smile - "wrap some orange tinsel around his neck".
Raph got up and chucked his empty coke can in the bin.
Leo smiled again at his brother. "Put red tinsel around your neck again, huh?"
Raph shrugged. "Same every year bro, see you later". He lightly punched his brother's arm and walked out of the kitchen.
Leo finished off his own drink and chucked his can away. Maybe I should see what Donnie's up to, he thought, as he walked out of the kitchen.
//
"Donnie?" Leo tapped on his brother's bedroom door.
"Come in", came the quiet reply.
Leo opened the door and walked in. Donnie was perched on his bed, fiddling with, what started to look like, Santa's sleigh. "Hey bro", Leo sat himself down on the end of the bed. "How's it coming?"
Donnie smiled and looked up at his brother. "Good, the tune's in, I just need to paint it and I'm done".
Leo nodded. "Great, so you going with your colour this year, purple? Or the traditional Santa-sleigh red?"
Donnie's smile bent downward a little. "Purple? I like purple bro, but, I don't think purple will look good for Santa's sleigh, do you?"
Leo shrugged and smiled. "Guess not, but blue with blue, red with red, and of course, Mikey, who is an 100% orange tinsel dude!"
Donnie laughed. "You know he goes through that EVERY year!"
"I told Raph the exact same thing", Leo pointed out. "But he still hates it when Mikey's in his 'I-love-Christmas-so-much' mode, you know that".
Donnie nodded in agreement. "Remember when we were six? Mikey nearly broke his foot by all the orange tinsel lying around!"
Leo replayed the scene in his head. "Yeah . . . he had to stay sitting down for days".
Donnie also replayed Mikey's sad face when he couldn't put up the Christmas tree. "Poor Mikey, it was the first Christmas where he couldn't put the 'star' at the top of the tree".
"He could never reach it anyway", said Leo. "He always had to use the stepladder, even now he can only reach it by tiptoeing".
"Yeah", agreed Donnie and returning to his Christmas gadget. "But it's always like that at Christmas, Mikey, and Mikey only, has to put the 'star' on top of the tree".
//
"Ok guys, remember that I -."
"We KNOW Mikey!" Raph folded his arms and rested on the couch. Leo was sitting next to him, elbow rested on his knee and head in his hand. Donnie sat on the floor, legs crossed. Splinter was sitting in his armchair smiling at his sons. And finally, Mikey was getting the Christmas tree 'star' out of its box.
"Go ahead Michelangelo", Splinter nodded at his son.
Mikey smiled and tiptoeing, put the star on top of the tree making it stand perfectly straight. The tree was put near the ladder, at the entrance of the lair.
Mikey smiled to himself and walked over to his family, sitting down next to Donnie on the floor.
Donnie smiled at his brother then looked at his watch. "Three . . . two . . . one . . ."
Once the countdown was over lights went on throughout the whole den. The Christmas tree lit up in beautiful shades of orange, red, blue, purple, yellow, green, every colour the guys could think of. Lights lit up around the doorways to each of the guys' rooms, including Splinter's.
Raph leaned forward and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Good work Donnie", he said, and then he leaned back and put his arms behind his head.
Donnie smiled and folded his arms. "I'm a genius". He complimented himself. The only answer he got was pillows flying at him in different directions and the sound of Splinter trying not to let out a laugh.
//
"APRIL!! Merry Christmas!! In two weeks time, of course", Mikey hugged April tightly then let her go.
"Merry Christmas to you too Mikey", April smiled at him softly. "Ready to put up some decorations?"
April's apartment was bare, so she had asked Mikey to come round and help her put up the Christmas decorations, "besides", she had said, "I know how excited you get about finishing off the tree".
Mikey picked up her box of Christmas goodies off the floor. "Let's do it".
//
They spent two hours decorating April's place. Mikey looked outside and realised that the sun was starting to go down. What a day, he thought. They had put tinsel in April's bedroom, living room, and kitchen and around the staircase. The tree was easy, but it took an hour to put all the final touches on it. Mikey had put the star on it because April had insisted, but it ended in a game of rock, paper, and scissors until Mikey had won it.
Mikey took the remaining tinsel out of the box and put it on April's coat hanger, lying near the door. He was about to get ready to go when he found something stuck against the side of the box. He picked it up; it was a Christmas card.
"April, what's this?" Mikey asked when April stood beside him.
April examined it closely and smiled. "It's a card I received from my niece last year, she's very pretty isn't she?"
Mikey smiled and looked at the picture on the front of the card. It was of a young girl. "How old is she?" He asked.
"Erm, I'd say about your age . . . yeah, that's right, her birthday was about a month ago". April went to turn on the kettle while Mikey studied the card.
The girl on the front had long - Mikey looked closer - LONG, hair, it was in between her knees and the top of her legs. It was a shiny, light blonde. That girl must use a lot of shampoo, thought Mikey. She had an adventurous face and a cute smile, her dimples showed faintly but looked sweet, her face complete with bright, blue eyes. She wore a pair of jeans and a three- quarter length, red sweater with 'Christmas' written on it.
April came and stood next to him, a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands. "Here Mikey", she put it down on the counter next to him. "Warm yourself up before you go".
"Thanks April", Mikey nodded thankfully.
April smiled. "Told ya she was pretty".
Mikey nodded. "I never knew you had a niece".
April nodded and sat down on the couch. Mikey joined her; hot chocolate in one hand, the Christmas card in the other.
"She's my brother's daughter. You don't know my brother. But that's because he lives in India. They moved to India about ten years ago, before I met you".
Mikey frowned. "How come you never mentioned them?"
April shrugged. "We write to each other, but they can't visit, it was only last year that my brother lost his wife".
"Your sister-in-law? I'm sorry".
April gave him a small smile. "S'ok, he had the hardest time and so did she, bless her".
"What's their names?" Mikey asked her.
"Who?" April asked, thinking.
"Your niece and brother?"
"Oh! Right", she smiled at him, "my brother's name is Tony, my sister-in- law's name was - still is - Kathy, and the 15-year-old girl is Tailor".
"Tailor?" Mikey frowned. "I thought that was a boy's name?"
April giggled. "It can be a boy's and a girl's name, but I think it suits her, she's an adventurous kind of girl".
Mikey nodded and handed the card back to April.
April opened the card and looked at the neat writing inside of it. "Here, read it", she handed it back to Mikey. Mikey gave his hot chocolate to April and started to read what was written in the centre of the card:
Dear Aunt April, Just two main words; MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope all is well. India is great, and hot! I'm glad you sent me a picture last year, you're very pretty, if I become a news reporter, will I be that cute?
April watched where Mikey's finger had got to and smiled. "She has a sense of humour".
Mikey smiled and carried on:
Dad's fine and so is mum. The doctor said that the cancer's gone now! She's all clear! It's the BEST Christmas ever! Thank you for the 'get well' card, (mum said that). Thanks a lot for the glass ornament you sent me; it's beautiful. Who told you that elephants were my favourite animals? Well I am around them a lot in India!
I hope you like the cushion I made you! I know it's in an India atmosphere, but I do think it will go lovely with your apartment, (unless you decorated after the last time I was there).
Dad said that maybe next Christmas we could come down and see you? Would that be ok? Please let me know.
Other than MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you have a great holiday (enjoy it, don't spend hours on reports all day, young lady).
I love you Aunt April! Hugs and Kisses. Xxx. Also Tanya (my baby elephant friend - the one me and Dad are looking after - said 'hi'!)
LOVE YOU! Merry Christmas! Say 'hi' to me on T.V!
Yours, Tailor. Xxx.
"She's got such a funny way of writing letters hasn't she?" April asked Mikey when he had finished.
Mikey turned the card over and looked at Tailor on the front. "She sure has, is that how her mum died, cancer?"
April sighed. "Yeah, just after she got rid of it too, I think Tailor changed her mind when she said it was the best Christmas ever".
Mikey frowned. "I bet it was hard for her, and her dad".
"It was, but -." April smiled at him. " - They got through it, that's what I wanted to tell you, I'm expecting a letter off Tailor in a week to see if she's coming down this Christmas and if she is, I'm afraid I can't spend as much time with you as I thought".
Mikey smiled even though he was slightly disappointed. "It's ok April, you can say you have a report and come and see us".
April nodded. "It won't be as often though".
Mikey nodded, a nod that said 'I understand'.
//
"Hey guys, I'm back!"
Donatello looked up and smiled at Mikey. "Hey, how'd the decorating go?"
"Great", Mikey slumped himself next to his brother on the sofa. "Wiped me out though".
Donnie laughed. "No one said that you had to do it".
Mikey laid back and rested his feet on his brother's lap. "Where's Splinter?"
"Meditating", Donnie replied.
"Leo?"
"Meditating", Donnie repeated.
"Raph?"
"Movies".
"Ah, well I was going to come home earlier, but April showed me some letters from her niece".
Donnie frowned, confused. "She doesn't have a niece".
"She does, she lives in India, name's Tailor, I found a picture of her on a Christmas card and April told me about her. That Tailor's mum died last Christmas though".
"Oh, poor April, must be hard losing a sister-in-law, I wonder why she didn't tell us".
Mikey shrugged. "She said they only write, and only visit not very often, the last time they visited was before April met us, her niece is very pretty".
Donnie smiled. "Got yourself a little Christmas crush there, Mikey?"
Mikey smiled. "Hey I'm cute, I can have a crush if I wanna. But no, I don't have a crush, just saying she's pretty".
Donnie nodded and patted his brother's foot. "Would be cool if we could meet April's friends, wouldn't it?"
Mikey sighed, but kept the grin on his face. "Yeah . . . and I'm not joking, her niece looked cool, adventurous kind of girl".
//
(Ok, this is my first chapter for a new story! I do know where it's going, but I hope you enjoy the first one! The stories based on an idea I had. Oh and 'Tailor' ( similar to 'Taylor' but spelt differently, it's a girl's name, not a person who makes clothes, etc, ok? Ok).
Chapter 1: Decorations and Discovery.
"I don't know why people bother putting this stuff up when it just gets ripped back down again!" Raphael moaned as he lifted up some tinsel and passed it to Michelangelo, who was standing on a stepladder.
"Aww, stop moaning Raph! Christmas is fun!" Mikey stretched out his arms and stuck some tinsel on his bedroom wall, securing it with blue tack. "I don't know why you don't just lighten up bro, and get into the Christmas spirit!"
"I'll give you Christmas spirit", Raph mumbled under his breath.
Mikey smiled. "I heard that bro! Here", Mikey grabbed a long strip of tinsel and put it round Raph's neck. He got off the stepladder and looked at his fuming brother. "Aww, red tinsel really goes with your bandanna!" Mikey frowned slightly. "And also your very, very red face, what's wrong with you?"
Raph clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "How about a Christmas sandwich, Mikey?"
Mikey relaxed a little and shrugged. "Sure, whatever"
"I meant a 'knuckle sandwich'!"
"Hey! Chill bro!" Mikey ducked when he saw Raph's hand level with his head.
Raph grabbed the tinsel from around his neck and slung it on the floor.
Mikey got up and smiled. "Aww, what did the tinsel ever do to you?"
"Mikey!"
"Chill bro! Just having a little fun!" Mikey grabbed the tinsel from the floor and climbed back on the stepladder. "Now pass me the orange tinsel, I want one that matches my colour scheme!"
Raph sighed and passed Mikey his most favourite tinsel colour. "I'm going to get a drink".
"Don't forget we have to put the little tree in here next!" Mikey shouted to his back when Raph was in the doorway.
Raph smiled slightly and closed the bedroom door behind him. Mikey always loves this time of year; he thought to himself, I don't think they'll ever be a time when he doesn't like Christmas!
//
Raph entered the kitchen and groaned. "Not you too!"
Leo was standing on a kitchen chair, sticking tinsel to the ceiling and it happened to be blue tinsel. "Huh?" He got down and slid the chair back near the table. "What's up Raph?"
Raph shrugged. "Nothing. Just Mikey's all crazed about this Christmas stuff!" He walked over to the fridge and opened it. "Want a can of coke, bro?"
"Sure", Leo sat down at the table and smiled. "What's Mikey doing now?"
Raph closed the fridge and sat down opposite his brother, handing him his can of coke. "His traditional 'I-love-orange-tinsel' gig"
Leo laughed at the fed-up tone in Raph's voice. "You and I both know that Mikey's like that EVERY year Raph! He's been doing his 'orange-tinsel' gig since he knew what tinsel was!"
Raph gave his brother a small smile. "It just annoying sometimes, next year I'm spending Christmas with April!"
Leo smiled. "That's not a good idea. You know Mikey's always round there decorating April's apartment!"
"There's no escape!" Raph joked.
Leo opened his can of coke and took a sip. "Well you know Donnie's just as bad as Mikey, he's always brewing up new inventions! Remember the burping Santa?"
Raph scrunched up his face as a memory from last year formed in his mind. "Don't remind me! That thing kept me up ALL night!" Raph opened his can of coke.
Leo nodded. "Yeah, until Master Splinter asked him to turn it off. This Christmas he's planning on doing a plain sleigh with just the 'Jingle Bells' tune".
Raph frowned and asked; "Didn't he do that about two years ago?"
Leo nodded again. "Yeah", he took another gulp of his coke. "But remember, it blew up!" He added with a smile.
Raph smiled at the memory. "Yeah. Donnie was crushed!"
They carried on talking for a while. Remembering Christmas after Christmas, each one involving Mikey's tinsel-disease, or Donnie's Christmas inventions.
Leo enjoyed his brother's company. He laughed when Raph reminded him of the time when they were five. Leo had pushed Raph over for something and he had head-butted the tree. Leo smiled to himself. He and his brother didn't always get along. But they did share some good times together. Even in the holiday season.
"Remember when Mikey kept planting the Christmas whoopee cushion on you every time you sat down? I was in stitches for weeks!" Raph laughed at the memory.
Leo smiled slightly. "It wasn't funny! I couldn't meditate because every time I sat down that thing went off!"
Raph stopped laughing and smiled at his brother. "I thought it sounded pretty realistic".
Leo grinned. "I have to agree with you there, it did sound realistic".
Raph nodded and finished off his drink. He preferred to talk to Leo then trying to knock him out. And Splinter would prefer it if they didn't argue at such a festive time of the year. Raph sighed, he tried not to fight with his brother but sometimes it was hard not to. "I have to help Mikey put up his little Christmas tree, and" - he added with a smile - "wrap some orange tinsel around his neck".
Raph got up and chucked his empty coke can in the bin.
Leo smiled again at his brother. "Put red tinsel around your neck again, huh?"
Raph shrugged. "Same every year bro, see you later". He lightly punched his brother's arm and walked out of the kitchen.
Leo finished off his own drink and chucked his can away. Maybe I should see what Donnie's up to, he thought, as he walked out of the kitchen.
//
"Donnie?" Leo tapped on his brother's bedroom door.
"Come in", came the quiet reply.
Leo opened the door and walked in. Donnie was perched on his bed, fiddling with, what started to look like, Santa's sleigh. "Hey bro", Leo sat himself down on the end of the bed. "How's it coming?"
Donnie smiled and looked up at his brother. "Good, the tune's in, I just need to paint it and I'm done".
Leo nodded. "Great, so you going with your colour this year, purple? Or the traditional Santa-sleigh red?"
Donnie's smile bent downward a little. "Purple? I like purple bro, but, I don't think purple will look good for Santa's sleigh, do you?"
Leo shrugged and smiled. "Guess not, but blue with blue, red with red, and of course, Mikey, who is an 100% orange tinsel dude!"
Donnie laughed. "You know he goes through that EVERY year!"
"I told Raph the exact same thing", Leo pointed out. "But he still hates it when Mikey's in his 'I-love-Christmas-so-much' mode, you know that".
Donnie nodded in agreement. "Remember when we were six? Mikey nearly broke his foot by all the orange tinsel lying around!"
Leo replayed the scene in his head. "Yeah . . . he had to stay sitting down for days".
Donnie also replayed Mikey's sad face when he couldn't put up the Christmas tree. "Poor Mikey, it was the first Christmas where he couldn't put the 'star' at the top of the tree".
"He could never reach it anyway", said Leo. "He always had to use the stepladder, even now he can only reach it by tiptoeing".
"Yeah", agreed Donnie and returning to his Christmas gadget. "But it's always like that at Christmas, Mikey, and Mikey only, has to put the 'star' on top of the tree".
//
"Ok guys, remember that I -."
"We KNOW Mikey!" Raph folded his arms and rested on the couch. Leo was sitting next to him, elbow rested on his knee and head in his hand. Donnie sat on the floor, legs crossed. Splinter was sitting in his armchair smiling at his sons. And finally, Mikey was getting the Christmas tree 'star' out of its box.
"Go ahead Michelangelo", Splinter nodded at his son.
Mikey smiled and tiptoeing, put the star on top of the tree making it stand perfectly straight. The tree was put near the ladder, at the entrance of the lair.
Mikey smiled to himself and walked over to his family, sitting down next to Donnie on the floor.
Donnie smiled at his brother then looked at his watch. "Three . . . two . . . one . . ."
Once the countdown was over lights went on throughout the whole den. The Christmas tree lit up in beautiful shades of orange, red, blue, purple, yellow, green, every colour the guys could think of. Lights lit up around the doorways to each of the guys' rooms, including Splinter's.
Raph leaned forward and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Good work Donnie", he said, and then he leaned back and put his arms behind his head.
Donnie smiled and folded his arms. "I'm a genius". He complimented himself. The only answer he got was pillows flying at him in different directions and the sound of Splinter trying not to let out a laugh.
//
"APRIL!! Merry Christmas!! In two weeks time, of course", Mikey hugged April tightly then let her go.
"Merry Christmas to you too Mikey", April smiled at him softly. "Ready to put up some decorations?"
April's apartment was bare, so she had asked Mikey to come round and help her put up the Christmas decorations, "besides", she had said, "I know how excited you get about finishing off the tree".
Mikey picked up her box of Christmas goodies off the floor. "Let's do it".
//
They spent two hours decorating April's place. Mikey looked outside and realised that the sun was starting to go down. What a day, he thought. They had put tinsel in April's bedroom, living room, and kitchen and around the staircase. The tree was easy, but it took an hour to put all the final touches on it. Mikey had put the star on it because April had insisted, but it ended in a game of rock, paper, and scissors until Mikey had won it.
Mikey took the remaining tinsel out of the box and put it on April's coat hanger, lying near the door. He was about to get ready to go when he found something stuck against the side of the box. He picked it up; it was a Christmas card.
"April, what's this?" Mikey asked when April stood beside him.
April examined it closely and smiled. "It's a card I received from my niece last year, she's very pretty isn't she?"
Mikey smiled and looked at the picture on the front of the card. It was of a young girl. "How old is she?" He asked.
"Erm, I'd say about your age . . . yeah, that's right, her birthday was about a month ago". April went to turn on the kettle while Mikey studied the card.
The girl on the front had long - Mikey looked closer - LONG, hair, it was in between her knees and the top of her legs. It was a shiny, light blonde. That girl must use a lot of shampoo, thought Mikey. She had an adventurous face and a cute smile, her dimples showed faintly but looked sweet, her face complete with bright, blue eyes. She wore a pair of jeans and a three- quarter length, red sweater with 'Christmas' written on it.
April came and stood next to him, a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands. "Here Mikey", she put it down on the counter next to him. "Warm yourself up before you go".
"Thanks April", Mikey nodded thankfully.
April smiled. "Told ya she was pretty".
Mikey nodded. "I never knew you had a niece".
April nodded and sat down on the couch. Mikey joined her; hot chocolate in one hand, the Christmas card in the other.
"She's my brother's daughter. You don't know my brother. But that's because he lives in India. They moved to India about ten years ago, before I met you".
Mikey frowned. "How come you never mentioned them?"
April shrugged. "We write to each other, but they can't visit, it was only last year that my brother lost his wife".
"Your sister-in-law? I'm sorry".
April gave him a small smile. "S'ok, he had the hardest time and so did she, bless her".
"What's their names?" Mikey asked her.
"Who?" April asked, thinking.
"Your niece and brother?"
"Oh! Right", she smiled at him, "my brother's name is Tony, my sister-in- law's name was - still is - Kathy, and the 15-year-old girl is Tailor".
"Tailor?" Mikey frowned. "I thought that was a boy's name?"
April giggled. "It can be a boy's and a girl's name, but I think it suits her, she's an adventurous kind of girl".
Mikey nodded and handed the card back to April.
April opened the card and looked at the neat writing inside of it. "Here, read it", she handed it back to Mikey. Mikey gave his hot chocolate to April and started to read what was written in the centre of the card:
Dear Aunt April, Just two main words; MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope all is well. India is great, and hot! I'm glad you sent me a picture last year, you're very pretty, if I become a news reporter, will I be that cute?
April watched where Mikey's finger had got to and smiled. "She has a sense of humour".
Mikey smiled and carried on:
Dad's fine and so is mum. The doctor said that the cancer's gone now! She's all clear! It's the BEST Christmas ever! Thank you for the 'get well' card, (mum said that). Thanks a lot for the glass ornament you sent me; it's beautiful. Who told you that elephants were my favourite animals? Well I am around them a lot in India!
I hope you like the cushion I made you! I know it's in an India atmosphere, but I do think it will go lovely with your apartment, (unless you decorated after the last time I was there).
Dad said that maybe next Christmas we could come down and see you? Would that be ok? Please let me know.
Other than MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you have a great holiday (enjoy it, don't spend hours on reports all day, young lady).
I love you Aunt April! Hugs and Kisses. Xxx. Also Tanya (my baby elephant friend - the one me and Dad are looking after - said 'hi'!)
LOVE YOU! Merry Christmas! Say 'hi' to me on T.V!
Yours, Tailor. Xxx.
"She's got such a funny way of writing letters hasn't she?" April asked Mikey when he had finished.
Mikey turned the card over and looked at Tailor on the front. "She sure has, is that how her mum died, cancer?"
April sighed. "Yeah, just after she got rid of it too, I think Tailor changed her mind when she said it was the best Christmas ever".
Mikey frowned. "I bet it was hard for her, and her dad".
"It was, but -." April smiled at him. " - They got through it, that's what I wanted to tell you, I'm expecting a letter off Tailor in a week to see if she's coming down this Christmas and if she is, I'm afraid I can't spend as much time with you as I thought".
Mikey smiled even though he was slightly disappointed. "It's ok April, you can say you have a report and come and see us".
April nodded. "It won't be as often though".
Mikey nodded, a nod that said 'I understand'.
//
"Hey guys, I'm back!"
Donatello looked up and smiled at Mikey. "Hey, how'd the decorating go?"
"Great", Mikey slumped himself next to his brother on the sofa. "Wiped me out though".
Donnie laughed. "No one said that you had to do it".
Mikey laid back and rested his feet on his brother's lap. "Where's Splinter?"
"Meditating", Donnie replied.
"Leo?"
"Meditating", Donnie repeated.
"Raph?"
"Movies".
"Ah, well I was going to come home earlier, but April showed me some letters from her niece".
Donnie frowned, confused. "She doesn't have a niece".
"She does, she lives in India, name's Tailor, I found a picture of her on a Christmas card and April told me about her. That Tailor's mum died last Christmas though".
"Oh, poor April, must be hard losing a sister-in-law, I wonder why she didn't tell us".
Mikey shrugged. "She said they only write, and only visit not very often, the last time they visited was before April met us, her niece is very pretty".
Donnie smiled. "Got yourself a little Christmas crush there, Mikey?"
Mikey smiled. "Hey I'm cute, I can have a crush if I wanna. But no, I don't have a crush, just saying she's pretty".
Donnie nodded and patted his brother's foot. "Would be cool if we could meet April's friends, wouldn't it?"
Mikey sighed, but kept the grin on his face. "Yeah . . . and I'm not joking, her niece looked cool, adventurous kind of girl".
//
(Ok, this is my first chapter for a new story! I do know where it's going, but I hope you enjoy the first one! The stories based on an idea I had. Oh and 'Tailor' ( similar to 'Taylor' but spelt differently, it's a girl's name, not a person who makes clothes, etc, ok? Ok).