It was the day before their 'birthday', which Mikey had soon named 'Mutation day' as soon as he had heard the story of how they became anything but ordinary turtles through a mutation.
And Donnie had helped him by saying that they didn't exactly know the day they were born, so the name 'birthday' didn't actually fit.
Their other brothers and their father had agreed.
And so, mutation day was born!

April had given them the idea to get presents for each other.
Since they had never met a real human, they didn't know it was a tradition to get someone a present on their birthday. So they had never really given each other a present. Only master Splinter had given them presents on Christmas, but never on their mutation day.

April decided to leave the boys alone on their special day, but she got them a little something anyway.
"Something all of you will like", she said "even you, master Splinter!"
When she opened her bag, everybody started laughing. In the bag were all the ingredients for a real cake! Not worms and algae, but flour, eggs, milk…
She and Mikey spent the rest of that day in the kitchen making the cake for the next day. Even master Splinter helped them.

In the meantime, Donnie had an idea how to arrange the presents: "Since there's four of us and we can't get three presents by tomorrow morning, I say we write our names down, put it in a bowl and just pull a name out. Whoever's on the card is who you get a present for. Deal?"
Raph and Leo nodded, while Mikey yelled from the kitchen that he agreed.
They all wrote their name down and then pulled a name.
Then, Leo and Donnie took off. Mikey asked Raph to join him in the kitchen for a moment.

"I'm still working on the cake with Splinter and April", Mikey asked "So if I tell you what I need for the present and I do your chores for two weeks, can you get it for me?".
Raph nodded: "Sure thing. What do you need?" Mikey smiled and whispered his idea in Raph's ear.
Raph smiled: "Good idea. But I don't know if I still can get that today…"
But then Mikey put on his best puppy-eyes. Raph sighed: "Fine! I'll see what I can do"
"You're the best!", Mikey yelled. Then, he went back to the kitchen to work on the cake.
And then, Raph took off as well. Determined to find the perfect present for both his and Mikey's person.

Leo and Donnie were walking through the sewers, heading for the river. Leo wanted to get Mikey the perfect present and he had the perfect idea. But he needed Don's help to do it. Donnie was honoured that he could help his oldest brother and agreed. Now they just needed to find what he needed.
Then, Leo saw some planks lying in the sewers. "Exactly what we need!", Leo exclaimed.
He took the planks and headed back to the lair, while Donnie continued his way to the junkyard.

Donnie had arrived on the junkyard and started looking through some piles. He had some old inventions just standing in his lab, which either had never been finished or had no more use to him.
And one of them was the perfect present for Raph. After fifteen minutes, he had found everything he needed and got back to the lair, so he could spend the rest of the day (probably even night) to make the present.

Raph needed two presents. He himself needed something for Leo, while Mikey needed a present for Donnie. Mikey had been very clear in what he wanted to get Don, but Raph had no idea where he could find it.
For Leo, he had the same problem. Because there's no such thing as a 'sewer store'.
Then, he saw an old trench coat lying in the sewers, together with an old hat. "Perfect!", he said. He put them on and just climbed out of the sewers during day time. I've never felt so free!, he thought. But he still needed to focus. When he walked through a dark alley, he saw exactly what he needed for Leo.
A couple of streets further, he found a flea market. Standing right there was what Mikey had asked for. And only for a couple of dollars. He searched in his belt, got the right amount of money (unbelievable how much money people just drop in the sewers!) and paid the guy. Then, he went back to the lair.

The rest of the day, Leo and Donnie spend together in Don's lab. Mikey was finishing the cake and Raph was watching TV.
Tomorrow will be a very special day, he thought.

The next day, training was cancelled. But still, the turtles woke up at 8 a.m. and ran downstairs.
Master Splinter was already sitting in the kitchen with his cup of morning tea. Around him were four plates with a great breakfast. Eggs, fresh orange juice, pancakes,…
"Wow, I didn't know you could cook!", Raph exclaimed with a smile on his face. Splinter grinned: "How did you think Michelangelo learned to cook?" Mikey nodded. Together, they enjoyed their breakfast.
After that, everybody went to the living room. Though nobody said it out loud, everybody wanted their present.

"Shall I start?", Donnie asked. Everybody agreed and Donnie ran to his lab. When he returned, he was pulling something with a white sheet draped over it. "This is for Raph", he said.
Raph stood up and walked over to Donnie. "I know you said you don't have a 'good training opponent' down here, so…", Donnie pulled the sheet away.
Under it was a machine with all kinds of weapons attached to it. "This robot can imitate all our fighting styles, can handle all our weapons and can even fight like the Foot or even the Purple dragons. And you can choose the level, from easy to extremely hard"
Raph smiled: "Thanks, man. I appreciate it, really!" He gave Donnie a knuckle box and then turned around to face Leo.

"Now, it's my turn. Leo, I got your name. Just give me a minute to get it.", Raph ran over to his room and was back within two minutes. When he had returned, Leo walked over to Raph.
"I know you are completely in to martial arts and stuff like that. So… I got you this. Hope you like it".
From behind his back, he got an old looking book with 'Martial arts, expert edition' written all over the cover. Leo took it and started looking through the pages. He couldn't stop smiling: "Thanks, bro… I love it". Then, he pulled Raph into a hug. Raph stiffened at first, but then sighed and hugged back.
After their little hug, Leo turned to Mikey.

"I dare to say that you'll get the biggest present of all of us, Mikey!", Leo said "But you'll have to come with us to see it!" They ran through the sewers for about five minutes.
Then they arrived in a huge open space, much like their own lair, but the ceiling was much higher.
In the middle of this room was a huge half-pipe, completely made out of wood. "Happy mutation day, little brother!", Leo said.
Mikey was speechless. He had never expected this! A comic book, yes… But nothing like this!
"But know that the rest of us are going to use this as well…", Raph grinned. Mikey smiled and nodded. Then, he ran up to Leo and involved him in a huge hug.
"Let's get back home, so I can give Donnie his present!", Mikey said when he let go.

Back home, Mikey first went to his room before he joined the others in the living room.
When he returned, he asked Donnie to close his eyes. Then, he put the present on Don's lap and sat next to him: "Open your eyes!"
Donnie opened his eyes and looked at his present. On his lab was a brand new, modern coffee machine. Donnie almost got tears in his eyes. He couldn't even say anything. He just stared at the machine.
"I broke your old one two weeks ago", Mikey explained "and I felt so bad about it. Mostly because you were so sad you couldn't fix it anymore. Plus, you get extremely cranky when you can't get your cup of coffee in the morning!"
Everybody started laughing after that last commment, even Donnie chuckled a little.
Mikey continued: "So I sent Raph yesterday to get you a new one and he found one at a flea market around town. Extremely cheap, the seller had gotten a new one and just wanted to get rid of this one."

Now Donnie put the machine on the floor and then turned to Mikey. He didn't say anything, he just pulled Mikey in a hug. "Thank you", he whispered. Mikey did nothing but hug back.

The others were just looking at them and smiling. When they broke apart, Leo stood up: "And for you, master Splinter, we also have a present! It's your mutation day to, technically speaking"
"No, no… I don't want you boys to spend any money on me. Having you is all the present I need", Splinter refused.
"But it isn't a direct present", Raph helped Leo out.
"Yeah", Mikey now also said "Since we'll be so caught up in our presents we just got, you won't see us a lot the next two weeks."
"So your present is…", Donnie said with a smile "Two weeks of peace and quiet! So you can meditate and do whatever you want to do!"

Splinter looked surprised at first, but then smiled. Now he stood up as well: "You boys are wonderful!"
"We know", his four sons said at the same time.
Now, their Sensei pulled them in a hug.
"I love you all, my sons", he whispered. The guys didn't really react, they just hugged him a little tighter.
Then, Mikey said something that everybody agreed on: "This is the best mutation day ever!"

Author's note: And that's the end of my very first one-shot! :D Reviews are welcome, as are suggestions for other one-shots or stories with plural chapters. :)
You can find my other stories on my profile :).
Thanks for reading! :D