100 Theme Challenge
3. Light
Don woke with a start and looked around the room at his sleeping brothers. Even though they each had their own spaces, they'd once again all dozed off in front of the television. Don knew he slept more soundly with the knowledge that his siblings were nearby and figured it was probably the same for them as well.
He was about to turn over and get comfortable again when a light from the kitchen drew his attention. Don heard a faint sound and decided that must have been what woke him up.
Glancing towards Master Splinter's room, Don decided it wasn't his father because the shoji was closed. Rising silently, Don walked quietly to the kitchen door and looked inside.
April stood at the center table, a large mixing bowl in front of her, the contents of which she was busily stirring. Several baking pans lined the table nearby, and dirty dishes were piled in the sink.
"Hey April," Don said in a soft voice.
Startled, April jumped and nearly dropped the bowl. Don was across the kitchen in a flash, his hand catching the edge of the bowl and steadying it.
"You scared me half to death," April scolded lightly.
"Sorry," Don said contritely. His eyes fell on a spot of flour adhering to her cheek and he was instantly mesmerized, wondering if he had the courage to wipe it off.
April tugged at the bowl trying to get him to relinquish his hold and finally said, "Let go, Donnie."
"Hmm, what?" Don looked down and realized what April was asking. Embarrassed, he let go of the bowl and took a step back.
"So, what are you making?" Don asked.
"Double chocolate crisp cookies," April said. "I couldn't sleep and I felt like my hands needed to be busy."
"Double chocolate," Don said dreamily. "I like chocolate, it's my favorite."
"Casey's too," April said, her eyes on the baking pans as she dropped spoonful's of dough onto them. Her cheeks colored slightly but she didn't look up. "At least, I heard him telling Raph that he likes chocolate cookies."
"You're making them for Casey?" Don asked, his voice spiking just a little when he said the other boy's name.
April did look up then, saying quickly, "I'm making them for everyone. I just thought if I was going to bake, I might as well bake something I knew would be eaten."
"That's really nice of you," Don said, offering her a smile.
"Well, you guys don't really have much in the way of snacks," April said with a shrug. "I figured if Casey's going to hang out here, there should be some food a boy his age would like."
Don nodded, feeling his stomach flop over on itself. As far as he was concerned, Casey Jones was hanging out with them much too often as it was. It was bad enough that the youth had begun to make a nuisance of himself while Don was working, but now April was baking the guy cookies.
The love struck turtle also couldn't help but notice the light in April's eyes whenever she talked about the boy.
As April pushed the pans into the oven, Don wondered how sick he would get if he ate all of the cookies by himself.