Michelangelo never thought he'd dread Christmas. The thought of it would have sent him into a fit years ago. Ever since Splinter was able to trust Michelangelo with a ladder on his own the lair was always decorated with some gaudy tinsel and flickering lights.
But now he had three teething toddlers screaming in his ears, a migraine that was about three days old, and he hadn't been out the lair in nearly four weeks.
"Do I look like I want to do a Christmas dinner, April?" Mikey snapped. "I don't even really want to do dinner tonight!" He crammed his mop and bucket into the tall cupboard in the corner of the kitchen. "Aren't you doing something with your aunt anyway? Why would you want to spend Christmas down here?"
"You skipped out on Thanks Giving, remember?" April put her hands firmly on her hips. "You've spent too long down here."
"I've been busy. Raising three kids takes up a lot of my time."
"That's an excuse. Ever since the Mutanimals took over beating up the Kraang you've completely withdrawn from the outside world. Casey and I can't keep getting groceries for you." April pouted and threw a longing look to the lounge room. "You haven't even put up any lights, or your tree."
Mikey frowned at the thought of his little Christmas tree. It wasn't even half his height and judging by its merit alone it was the most pathetic thing he owned. The only reason it stood upright was because Mikey had taped a ruler to the tree's snapped spine. Last he saw it was-
"I threw that out a month ago" he mumbled.
"Why would you do that?" April cried, "You loved that tree."
He had loved that tree. He was meticulous in decorating it with tinsel and lights, so much so that you couldn't tell that it had no leaves. He'd found it while cleaning out his own room after a grand epiphany of just how much crap he owned that a small child could choke on. It was in a raggedy box at the top of his wardrobe. He didn't react immediately but before he knew it he was storming out of the lair throwing Casey a terse I'll be back soon and then top side, smashing every bauble, tearing every shred of tinsel, snapping the tree in half, and tossing is all in the first dumpster he could find.
"I guess I wanted to start fresh," Mikey shrugged, deciding to not tell April about the inexplicable anger he felt about the tree. "The boys aren't going to remember anything this year, I really just don't want to think about it."
"But… but its Christmas." Mikey rolled his eyes at April's pouting and started digging out vegetables from the fridge.
"I know that. Look, you can babysit tomorrow night and I'll go out with Leatherhead and get food. Just do me a favour and drop the Christmas topic."
"Will you at least call me Christmas night?"
"Yes. I'll call, now can we please drop it? I have a headache."
-:-
"Something troubles you, my friend."
Mikey readjusted his grip on his grocery bag. He and Leatherhead were heading back to the lair after picking up some groceries. "It's Christmas. I'm not looking forward to it."
He really didn't want to think about it. How he used to get all his brothers and father up a whatever time was agreed upon the night before and cook them a special Christmas breakfast. Every year Leo's eyes would widen at the work load Mikey set himself and insist on helping, and Raph would remark how that was a bad idea because Leo could burn water, and Don would hum with agreement. Splinter would simply smile and sip whatever Christmas themed tea Mikey had insisted he drink.
"Would you like me to come and have dinner with you?" Leatherhead asked.
"If you want to. I don't really want to have to do anything big though."
"That is fine, Michelangelo. It'll will be my first Christmas. It may be best to start small."
Mikey's eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks. "You've never celebrated Christmas?"
Leatherhead kept walking, tilting his head back to Mikey. "Of course not. Why would I?"
That made a lot of sense. Mikey felt bad, he'd completely forgotten about Leatherhead. The guy was almost ready to move in properly and he hadn't even thought to invite the guy to Christmas (as sombre and self-pitying it was going to be).
"We shouldn't be alone for Christmas," Mikey straightened his shoulders and jogged to catch up with Leatherhead. "I'll do dinner. Just dinner. Invite the Mutanimals. I'll let April and Casey know. I'll make soup and a pudding or something."
"And some bread for Pete."
"And bread for Pete." Mikey nodded. He was going to do this, he had to try. He would have all morning to feel sorry for himself. "No presents. I don't have time for that. I already have a present for you though. You'll have to come over before everyone else does."
"Very well. I look forward to it. I'm glad you're doing this."
Mikey smirked. "Did April put you up to this?"
"Not at all." Leatherhead smiled and Mikey knew he wasn't lying. "I just didn't think it was right you were alone on Christmas."
-:-
Christmas morning Mikey was woken up to the sound of a screaming child.
"I can't wait for this teething phase to be over," he mumbled, slowly sliding out of bed and trudging out to the babies' room.
"Come on, who's grumpy?" He yawned as he slipped into the room. He was greeted by Leo's wide blue eyes and teary, snotty face. As Mikey got close Leo stuck his arms up, only quieting down when Mikey picked him up and started rubbing his back. "Not a big fan of Christmas?"
Mikey cringed as Leo rubbed his little face across his shoulder. He needed a shower anyway and he supposed it was better to have a snotty shoulder than a vomit covered shell (an indecent punishment he wasn't sure he deserved). He slipped out of the room with his little bundle and slowly padded his way to the bathroom.
"How about a shower? We can clean your face and my shoulder." Leo just yawned and hid his face his Mikey neck. "Hey, you woke me up."
Their bathroom set up with pretty simple. On the right was the bath, an old porcelain pink thing Splinter had ripped out of some condemned building and managed to drag into the sewers. They never bothered with a shower curtain. The whole lair felt damp most of the time anyway, a shower curtain just meant there would be another thing to clean. The shower head was just a pipe coming out of the ceiling and a garden hose nozzle Donatello had fashioned years ago. Propped against the wall just next to the bath (with a very carefully built child proof guard around it) was their old water boiler.
Mikey stepped into the bath and turned the tap built into the wall. Leo's head picked up as the water started to fall. Mikey smiled as he watched his brother try and follow the water with his eyes. Mikey reached his hand under the stream to checked the temperature, chuckling as Leo tried to do the same in vain but couldn't quite reach. Mikey took his wet hand and quickly wiped it across Leo's face, earning a few whines.
"Trust me, this is better than a crusty face," Mikey stuck his tongue out at Leo's look of pure indignation. "I've had enough of them to know."
Slowly, Mikey backed into the water stream. He tilted his head back and let the water run down his face briefly. "What do you think, Leo? Look like fun?"
Leo watched with wide eyes, moving his hands in and out of the stream. He gasped a little bit, his eyes dancing with wonder.
Mikey had read on those 'mummy blogs' that this was a magical thing, introducing a baby to the shower for the first time. Well, it was half and half. One half ended in screaming and tears. And the other half was more like this. Wonder and trust and something else Mikey couldn't pin point that he could only describe as good. He reached down to grab the wash cloth hanging over the edge of the bath. He started to wipe Leo's face. Mikey thought Leo might protest, but he was too focused on the water to be bothered.
"Thanks for making this easy, Leo." Mikey smiled and kissed Leo's forehead, just as the sound of the other two waking up reached his ears. "Shell knows the rest of today won't be."
-:-
Mikey vaguely registered that Slash was giving him a weird look. But he ignored it pretty well, focusing on his soup and preventing Pete from eating all the bread in the kitchen.
"No! I bought you the good stuff, you can wait until dinner!"
"Ahh let the guy eat," Slash grumbled as Mikey wrestled Pete out of the kitchen.
"No, Michelangelo is correct." Rockwell took Pete by the elbow and directed him to the TV. "He has gone to the trouble of making us dinner, be polite and wait."
Mikey was sure Rockwell was using his powers to calm Pete down and he wasn't completely sure how he felt about that but he said thanks anyway and ducked back into the kitchen.
"Where are they?" Mikey spun on his heels to face Slash's glare. Everyone else was in the main part of the lair. April and Casey weren't able to get away from their families. Mikey figured he'd have to stay up late to call April like he promised or just not bother and send her a text and fall asleep before she calls to make him regret it.
"Where are who?"
"The guys."
Oh.
Ohh.
"They're sleeping. Why?"
"Curious. I want to see them."
"No, they're sleeping. Your tip toe is a stomp you'll wake them before you even open the door." Mikey laughed, ignoring the tight feeling in his chest. Slash was still glaring. "Have I done something wrong?"
"No." Slash grunted and turned to leave.
"Then why the attitude?"
Where did that come from? Maybe it was the stress of cooking for two giants and three others, or maybe it was because he hadn't had that one-hour cry like he'd wanted. Either way he wasn't in the mood for… whatever this was.
"What?"
"You heard me. You've been glaring at me every chance you get. I must have said something in the twenty minutes you've been here, because I haven't even seen you in the last seven months. Not to pay your respects or just to say hi." Don't cry, don't cry over Slash.
"You never offered." Oh, this guy had the nerve to sound annoyed.
"Of course I didn't, you idiot! Do you have any idea what it's been like for me? I'm pretty much stuck down here being miserable! I don't ask anyone to visit because it's awful here! I'm awful! Everything about this is awful and it would have been nice if the one person who could even come close to what I'm feeling had given a crud!"
"…Wow."
Yeah, wow. At the risk of being repetitive, where did that come from? Aside from the occasional cry under his bedsheets Mikey had never been so emotional about Slash. And it really all was true. He tried to even out his breathing, only just realising he'd been yelling. Everyone in the lair was sure to have heard him.
I'm so calling April tonight.
"If you want to see them you'll have to ring me or something and we can sort it out." Mikey rubbed his hands against his face and turned away from Slash to stir his soup. "we can have lunch or-"
"Forget it" Slash growled and left the kitchen. Mikey had half a mind to keep yelling at him, but it was Christmas. He always hated it when his family fought on Christmas.
-:-
As Slash was leaving, Mikey quietly slipped him a neatly wrapped box.
"I thought you said no presents."
"I did. This is different."
Slash didn't unwrap his gift there. Mikey knew he'd wait until he was alone to open it. He had decided to give Slash Raphael's old sais. He knew the guy would probably have his own sort of shrine.
As he waved Slash away from the turnstiles Mikey felt the soft pressure of Leatherhead's hand on his back.
"That was a very kind gesture."
"Slash loved Raph. I don't think it's fair that he has nothing just because he's not that great to me." Mikey shrugged and smiled up at Leatherhead. "How about we unwrap our presents now?"
"That sounds wonderful." Leatherhead slowly followed his friend to the pit of the living room.
"No time like the present, huh?" Mikey laughed with a cheesy grin. "Wait right here. I kept your present in my room. Close your eyes!"
Leatherhead did as he was told and sat down. Listening to the shuffle of Michelangelo darting off was amusing. Not all that long ago the only sound the boy made was the drag of his feet against the ground. But now it was more like when they had first met, even after the altercation during the night. Which both parties had pretended didn't happen quite brilliantly.
"Ok, you ready?"
The crinkle of paper and the excitement in Michelangelo's voice made Leatherhead smile as he nodded and opened his eyes. Mikey held an oddly shaped present about half his height, wrapped in a multitude of different papers and complete with a stick on bow. Gently, Leatherhead took it in his hand, and handed Michelangelo his gift with the other. It was a decorated box (that he had April buy on his behalf) about the size for Mikey's head.
He watched Mikey take the lid off the box as he slowly knelt down on the floor. He watched his friend's eyes widen as he picked out a coffee mug with #1 Best Friend printed on the side in bold black letters.
"This is the best thing ever," Mikey mumbled, tilting the mug in his hand. "I'm gonna drink out of it every day."
"I'm glad." Leatherhead gently started to tear away the paper from his present as Mikey began to marvel at the plush toy alligator and turtle shaped book mark left in the box. As he tore the paper of his present away, he was greeted with a giant teddy bear, with its own orange mask.
"Do you like it?"
How could he not? The nervous quiver in his friend's voice was saddening. Leatherhead wondered when Michelangelo had started to doubt himself. One of the things Leatherhead had always admired about him was is confidence and conviction in his actions. Maybe it was just first Christmas time nerves that he wouldn't worry about next year.
"He is perfect. Thank you, Michelangelo." He put the bear to the side and opened his arms to his friend. Quickly Michelangelo jumped into the hug, and they stayed there for the night, under the soft glow of the Christmas light Mikey had haphazardly pined to the walls. They stayed together like they always had, listening to each other's gentle breathing, pretending the rest of the world didn't exist. Safe with one another.
It was the first peaceful sleep either of them had had in a long time.
-:-
"How did you convince me to do this?" April grumbled, holding two pieces of wood together. She levelled a glare at Mikey as he rummaged through the tool box. "And how did I not think to ask how you broke one of the cribs?"
"I didn't break anything. Leatherhead swung his tail too wide in training and broke the child guards to the dojo. I asked Rivet to fix it, but quickly. So instead of trying to find anything at the dump he took apart one of the cribs."
"And you didn't realise until this morning?"
"He moved Donnie into Raph's crib."
"You freaked out didn't you?"
"I may have assumed the crib ate Donnie and ran away."
"HA! What I wouldn't give to see that!" April laughed and her grip on the wood slipped.
"Hold it still or you'll get a nail in the hand. Or worse," Mikey snapped. This was not his thing, nails and hammers, or any kind of building for that matter.
"Just get Rivet to do it."
"He refused. He thinks because two babies can fit in one crib that building a third is a waste of time."
"That doesn't sound like Rivet."
"That's because he's always on his best behaviour when you're here."
"He's a robot, Mikey."
"Donnie built him! Of course he's gonna go bolt over steel for you!"
April snorted as Mikey wacked a nail with the hammer. "Was that supposed to be the robot version of head over heels?"
"My humour is slipping, cut me a bit of slack."
"You know what you need? A vacation!"
"I'm not going to Northampton."
A year. It had almost been a year. It felt like so much longer.
"What about a birthday party?"
"What?"
"For the boys!" April beamed. Clearly she had already planned it all out in her head. "I've bought them some toys. I want to see them unwrap them!"
Mikey hadn't thought about that. Should he have? He didn't even have high chairs for his brothers, or cutlery made for babies, let alone birthday presents.
"Wait, if you don't have high chairs how do you feed the boys?"
Oh crap.
Did he say that out load?
"You know those big plastic sheets?"
"Oh Mikey, you don't…"
"I do," he cringed. "I lay it down in the play pen and give them a big plate of food."
"Mikey!"
"It's only when I'm too tired to feed them one by one! What do you want me to do?!"
"We're finding some high chairs! Rivet! How could you let him do this!?"
"Don't chastise the robot! He doesn't have a conscience."
"If Donnie built him and I'm yelling at him he does!"
-:-
"I am not having those things in the lair, April. They're mouldy."
April frowned. "When have you ever cared? You would eat off this." April tapped the high chair on the side. They were at the dump, trying to find new furniture for the lair.
"I would have eaten off that, April. But not now." Mikey turned away from the collection of high chairs. "Things have changed. I can't just eat anything that's on the ground now. Or on the wall. Or whatever is in the back of the fridge or behind it… How am I not dead?"
"One should ask," April mumbled. "We'd have to clean it obviously. Rivet could probably make a big steamer thing to kill all the mould and bacteria!"
April tried to be enthusiastic. But it was hitting her all at once how much Mikey had grown up. He was just that bit taller than her, had leaned right up with all his training and his voice even sounded deeper. She'd spent so much time marvelling at how his brothers were growing that she had completely missed Mikey blossom and mature.
"Donnie already made something like that," Mikey said walking around the offending high chair. "I used it to cook fish sometimes."
"Oh my God! I haven't had your fish in ages!" April cried, flailing against his side. "You have to cook it for the boy's birthday!"
Mikey quirked a brow at her and smirked. "Are you ok? You seem very… exaggerated tonight."
She was, because she was trying to hide how sad she was. She missed the way Mikey used to look up at her with those big, round eyes. Now she looked up at him, wondering if his brothers would have had those cheekbones if they were still the right age. She missed his freckles, which had faded into his skin, as had her own, ridding him of that boyish charm. She missed his short bandana ends that used to look like little goldfish, now he wore them long down his back like the tail feathers of some elegant bird. She missed so many things she didn't realised she loved.
"Just feeling nostalgic," she said moving away from him and heading towards another pile of junk. "Come on, we need to find good beds for kids!"
-:-
Mikey's favourite appliance was the food processor. It used to be the milkshake maker (and wow he hadn't had a milkshake in over a year, he and Ice Cream Kitty would have to do something about that), but Mikey had found out the hard way that feeding babies steamed veggies as they were was a recipe for disaster. More food was thrown than eaten and rats decided the kitchen was the new heaven.
(And that was the first time he prayed since burying his father, to ask for forgiveness for the rat traps. Sorry, but if one of those things bites one of the boys I'll torch the place.)
After what was dubbed "The Great Food War", Rivet had printed off recipes upon recipes and slipped them into a folder unapologetically titled "101 Ways to Make Mush Taste Good" and set himself about making the best food processor possible, which Mikey joked had a hundred and one functions of its own.
Tonight's mush was broccoli, carrots, beans, and squash with brown rice mixed in. He'd made enough for him and the boys to eat because he never had time to make his own meal after feeding three kids. And he and Rivet both agreed he couldn't live on instant ramen as an afterthought in the middle of the night.
But it made Casey smile how much Mikey had changed in the last year. He knew it upset April which Casey didn't really get because Mikey was still Mikey. The guy still loved pranks, now instead of throwing water balloons about the lair he took Shadow to the roof tops and threw them at people walking by (which Casey begrudgingly overlooked because it was helping Shadow with her aim before she touched any weapons). Mikey cooked more than ever, and he finally started watching kid's shows again instead of those crappy soap operas. Sure he changed physically but they all had, even Leatherhead looked younger with less tension on his shoulders.
"Raph, sit still!" Mikey groaned as he tried to wrestle the thrashing Raph into his high chair. Mikey had to sew some straps into Raph's high chair because the kid was renowned for climbing out of anything (they could only find really old chairs that had none), and Mikey had said that with his luck he'd look away for one second and he'd find Raph on the floor with his head cracked open.
Casey smirked from his vantage point looking into the kitchen. Mikey had no idea he was there. Casey had picked up a thing or two watching Mikey try to train Shadow in stealth.
"Ok," Mikey sighed as he finally clipped Raph into his seat. "Want some rice, Raphie?"
Raph made some grumbling noises as he fidgeted in his chair, but opened his mouth when Mikey pressed the tip of the spoon to his lips. Raph considered the food as he sucked it off the spoon, but Casey could see what was about to happen. April would kill him if he said it out loud, but Casey definitely had a favourite between the boys and there's no special prizes for guessing that was Raph. And it'd break Mikey's heart if Casey said he was pretty sure the boys had some sort of memory of them, because Casey never had an issue with Raph, and Donnie always fell to sleep quickly in April's arms. Casey figured it was like how babies could remember who their parents were, but the boys had that memory since before… just since before. Anyway, those two factors were the reason Casey knew Raph was about to spit his food out.
Mikey didn't realise until it hit his face.
"Again, Raph?" Raph giggled and beat his chubby hands against the front of his highchair. Casey was about to step into the kitchen and offer to help Mikey out when it happened.
"Dada!"
"What?"
Casey froze.
"Dada!"
Casey leaned against the doorway, slowly sliding down to the floor. He watched with watery eyes as Mikey went unnaturally ridged.
How didn't we think of this?
"No, Raph. Mike. I'm Mikey." Casey could hear the nervous rattle in Mikey's voice. He wanted to run in there and hug the guy but something was keeping him firmly on the ground.
His own sadness? Maybe. All three of the boys had made the odd 'dada' sound recently but it was usually followed by some other garbled mess that none of them put much thought into it.
"Dada!" The conviction in Raph's voice hurt Casey and he couldn't imagine how Mikey was feeling. Mikey slumped in his chair and stared at his own feet. There were no tears just a blank expression that scared Casey. The kid couldn't shut down. Not now, not after they've been through so much.
"Dada!"
"I guess I kinda am, huh Raphie?" Mikey mumbled with a barely there smile.
Casey didn't know what to do. He suddenly felt like he was seeing something he definitely shouldn't be. Like he was intruding on an incredibly private moment. Quietly, he slipped away from the kitchen with a plan to re-enter the lair as if he had never heard a thing.
So reckons that it has been nearly two years since I updated this story and I didn't mean that at all. I'm sorry :(
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
