"This one?"
"No."
"This one?"
"Too scrawny."
Donnie did his best not to shiver in the snow as he raised his arm to point to another.
"Only if you can add more branches."
"I, uh, no, Mikey, I can't add more branches to a tree." Donnie trod on ahead of the others before stopping yet again to point out another tree.
"That one smells funny."
Despite his better judgment, Donnie took a deep breath in through his nose. "It smells just like every other tree, Mikey."
"Nooo, it doesn't have the Christmas smell."
"That's not a thing."
"Yes it is. Right, Leo?" Mikey spun back around to where Leo and Raph were trailing behind them. "You said last year the tree smelled like Christmas!"
Leo smiled and nodded at Mikey, but also offered Donnie a half-hearted shrug when Mikey's shell was turned to him once again.
"Is this what it's like every year?" Raphael murmured.
"Ever since Mikey could talk," Leo answered. "Although, we usually pick one from a tree lot, and this -," he swung his free arm in the general direction of the forest they were wandering through, "- might just be too many choices."
Raphael chuckled as he glanced behind them and considered the fact that he couldn't even see their house anymore.
"Can you make the top of that one more pointy so the star will stay on it?"
Donnie examined the tree Mikey had picked out. "I can make sure the star stays on top of that one."
"Then it's perfect!"
Raphael let go of Leo's hand so he could kneel beside the tree and begin sawing.
"I have a knitting request for you."
Raph looked up from his laptop and grinned at Leo as he entered the kitchen. "I already made gloves and hats for all three of ya. Ya want an ugly Christmas sweater?"
Leo laughed and set the box he'd been carrying down on the kitchen table. "No, although this is a Christmas request." He opened the box and pulled out the three stockings inside. "Our father had each of these made for us."
He passed one of the matching stockings over to Raphael so that Raph could see the pattern. Each red stocking had not only their name knitted into the top, but a decorated tree knit into the front of it.
"You probably have your own stocking, so you don't have to, but - ,"
He watched Leo pause to shrug for a moment and Raphael resisted the urge to stand and wrap his arms around the other turtle. He wondered if Leo knew just how ridiculously adorable he was all the time.
"I just thought it might be nice if you had one that matched. And since I know what an amazing knitter you are - ,"
Raph groaned. "Don't call me a knitter."
Leo's grin only widened.
Raph's fingers slid over the stocking he held in his hand as he examined the neat stitching of Leonardo's name.
"Well, at least my name is shorter than yers."
"So you'll make one?"
"Of course I'll make one." How could he say no anyway with the way Leo's blue eyes were lighting up?
"You don't have one already, right? I don't want you throwing away your childhood stocking or anyth-,"
"No, Fearless, I don't still have my childhood stocking. Not like I had a good reason to have a stocking for the past few years anyway."
Leo moved to stand behind Raphael so that he could wrap his arms around Raph's shoulders and nuzzle against the side of Raphael's face. "You definitely have a good reason to have a stocking now, Raphael."
Raph shivered at the new, low tone of voice Leo was using. "That so?"
"Tis the season for stuffing things."
Raphael sputtered before he dropped his head back to land on Leo's shoulder as he released a loud chuckle.
"I can't believe you gave him tinsel."
"Amateur."
Raph's mouth pressed into a thin line as he listened to Leo and Donnie. "I just -," he cut himself off with a sigh as he watched their living room couch, chairs, mantle, shelves, table, and floor be completely lost to a tiny turtle with handfuls of tinsel.
"I'm not cleaning that up," Donnie announced as he continued to work on the wiring for the Christmas tree lights. "I have, uh, lots of studying to do later."
"Yer on winter break," Raph grumbled as he went back to making sure their tree was secure in the tree stand. "I thought you agreed with me and Leo that ya were going to take an actual break?"
"And we don't clean up Christmas decorations!" Mikey added, sparing Donnie from having to answer Raphael. "We enjoy them! Right? Leo? This looks good, right?"
"I like it so much that my right eye is beginning to twitch," Leo responded.
Raphael bit back a smile as he stood up again and made sure the tree was straight. "Uh, Mikey, did ya save any tinsel for the tree?"
Mikey looked down at his now empty hands and then turned big puppy dog eyes up to Raphael.
"We'll get more," Raph whispered down to him.
"I heard that," Leo murmured as he continued to attach hooks to the ornaments that needed them. "Mikey maybe we could just take the tinsel from the couch and -," he cut himself off as well as Mikey's puppy dog eyes turned in his direction.
Donnie huffed out a breath as he realized both big brothers had succumbed to Michelangelo. Now that Raphael was finished with his part, he began walking around the tree as he strung the lights, and when he was satisfied with their placement, he plugged them in.
Michelangelo had been watching him closely and now his mouth turned down in a pout when plugging the lights in didn't result in a lit tree. "Uh oh, the lights aren't working, D."
"They will in a second, Mikey. I just made a minor modification." Donnie grinned as he pulled a remote from his back pocket. "Just one button push and we'll be all set. Everyone ready?"
Leo's eyes shot over to Raphael and Raph reached forward and pulled Mikey back a few steps.
Donnie huffed out another sigh and rolled his eyes. Then he hit the on button for his lights.
"Ahhh!" Mikey yelped as all four turtles quickly ducked and covered their eyes from the ultra-bright, strobe-like lights as they began flashing repeatedly.
"Donnie, turn them off!" Leo ordered. "The reflection off all the tinsel is making it worse!"
"I can't see!" Mikey yelled. He quickly backed up a few more steps and then fell to the ground on his shell when he bumped into a chair.
"What is going on?" April asked as she and Casey entered through front door and found utter chaos.
"April and Case, shut yer eyes!" Raph said.
"It's like a helicopter looking for an escaped convict!"
"Nice example, Casey."
Donnie ignored the lot of them as he tweaked the remote until finally the flashing stopped and the lights dimmed to a gentle twinkle.
"Got it!" Donnie announced. He glanced around the room at his other family members. "You don't think that was a tad overdramatic?"
"I'll never see again!" Mikey wailed as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "Donnie, you'll describe the pictures in my comics for me, right?"
Donnie moved to Mikey's side and offered a hand to help him up. When Mikey didn't take it, because I can't see your hand, Donnie! Donnie hoisted his little brother up by his shoulders.
"So, we're not too late for all the fun, huh?" Casey asked he plopped down on the couch next to Raphael and sent some of the couch tinsel to the ground.
"Those lights are beautiful, Donnie," April added as she headed to the kitchen with the Christmas cookies she'd brought for everyone to snack on while they trimmed the tree.
"Well, I'll admit, I didn't take into account the amount of reflective tinsel there was going to be in the room," Donnie said, shooting Mikey a light glare, which Mikey easily ignored as he scampered after April to dig into the cookies. "Guess your sight has returned, huh, Mikey?"
"The nose knows, D."
"I have heard that other senses kick in when you lose one," April added sweetly as she couldn't resist giving Mikey a big hug before she handed him a cookie. She offered Donnie a smile as she lifted the plastic container and waved it towards him until he relented and joined them in the kitchen.
Leo blinked a few more times as the white spots in his eyes finally receded. He went back to his task of organizing the ornaments, a job he'd volunteered for since he'd hidden something in the ornament box a couple weeks ago. He pulled that small box out now and glanced over to Raphael.
"I have an early Christmas present for you," Leo said when he had Raphael's attention.
Raphael's eye ridges rose in surprise and he stood to join Leo. Leo watched as Raphael opened the box and found the ornament Leo wanted to be the first to go on the tree. He hadn't wanted to do something as cheesy as Our 1st Christmas, but he would admit he did want something to mark this special occasion for all of them. So he'd ninja'd the supplies to his classroom and stayed late a few times after school so that he'd be able to actually surprise Raphael with something. And he'd been fairly happy with the end result. Now he watched to see Raphael's reaction.
Raphael gingerly pulled the ornament from the box and then slowly turned it in his hand so that he could see each of the four turtle shells that lined the bulb. Not only was each shell represented in painstaking detail, but the outer rim of each of their shells had been outlined with their favorite colors: red, blue, purple, and orange. And as Raph examined it closer, his mouth dropped open when he realized the entire bulb had been hand painted. He lifted his eyes to Leo to ask where he'd had it made, but stopped short when the slightly anxious look on Leo's face told him that the artist was standing in front of him.
"Ya never mentioned being able to paint like this, Fearless." He sidled in closer to Leonardo, and Leo's dorky, pleased grin, so that he could lean in and kiss him. "Love you," he whispered.
Leo's mouth followed Raph for another kiss before he whispered back, "Love you, too."
Raphael looked down then when he sensed eyes on them and found Mikey grinning up at them.
"Did you know about this already?"
Mikey grinned and nodded. He'd spent a couple afternoons peering over Leo's shoulder after school as he watched his big brother work on the project.
"Donnie, have you seen this?" Raph asked, turning towards the other brother.
"Not finished," Donnie replied, coming closer so he could look it over.
Raphael showed it off to April and Casey as well before he finally found a front and center spot for it on the tree.
"That's a - that's a kitten."
"Yeah."
"As in -," Leo paused as he continued to stare down at the small orange creature that looked like it could live happily forever in Raphael's palm, "a kitten."
"Yeah."
Leo's shocked eyes lifted to meet Raph's eyes again. Raphael had taken a small list of Christmas shopping ideas with him when he'd ferried over to Seattle today to meet with some of his customers. And when Leo heard their front door opening, he'd rushed to meet him, expecting to take a few presents to hide until they could be wrapped.
"Mikey asked for one of those egg things that hatches an electronic creature."
"Right."
Leo stared at his partner and waited.
"They were out of the egg things."
"How did you jump from fake creature toy to live animal?"
"It needed a home."
Leo continued to stare back at Raphael as Raphael's chin dipped and his eyes got slightly wider and more pathetic.
Leo closed his own eyes and sighed dramatically. "I forgot I'm dating the baby of the family," he mumbled, mostly to himself, at the sight of Raphael's puppy dog eyes.
"Mikey's gonna love him," Raphael said, dropping the eyes as he grinned at Leo. "Plus, ya know it's not safe to have all that tinsel all over the living room with a kitten running around."
Leo glanced down at the kitten with new eyes. "So, really this is a gift for Mikey and me?"
"That's right, Fearless. I'm a giver."
Leo huffed out a laugh as Raph handed the tiny kitten over to him. "I'm gonna go get the boys," he announced as he took off in a jog up their stairs.
Leo eyed the kitten again, and when the fluffy thing mewed up at him, he found himself instinctually cradling it closer to his sweater-covered plastron. "Well, it is pretty cold outside right now." He scratched behind one of the kitten's ears. "And you don't exactly look like you can fend for yourself out there." When additional ear scratching resulted in purring noises, Leo couldn't help but smile. "I guess you can stay."
A large gasp interrupted his thoughts and he glanced up to see Mikey practically fall down their stairs in his efforts to reach Leo and the kitten. Leo gingerly handed the kitten to Michelangelo and was instantly impressed with Mikey's gentle handling as he nuzzled his face against the kitten's face.
"We're keeping him right?" he glanced up at Leo and then Raph who had followed him down the stairs. "He can sleep in my room?"
Leo glanced up at Raph and then up at Donnie who was trailing behind him. Perhaps the kitten would be added incentive to keep Mikey in his own room at night.
Donnie's thoughts mirrored Leo's and he immediately chimed in, "Sounds like a great idea." After all, it was hard to get that good night's rest Leo kept bugging him about when his sleep was interrupted by a small turtle climbing in his bed every night.
"You don't mind, D?" Mikey asked, quickly. "If he sleeps in my room at night, we can share him during the day."
"Its okay, Mikey," Donnie said, smiling as he watched the kitten climb up on Mikey's shoulder in an attempt to cuddle up against his neck. "I have a feeling he's going to like you best."
Mikey beamed at the thought and Leo decided to wait on mentioning the need to remove the tinsel.
For a few minutes anyway.
"Mikey and the kitten are asleep," Raphael said as he entered their bedroom and found Leo staring out their large windows over the backyard. Raph sat on the edge of their bed behind him and glanced out the windows as well. It was too dark to see the water, which Leo could often be found staring out at. However, tonight they were being treated to the sight of snow falling. "You really think he's gonna keep calling the kitten Ice Cream?"
Leo chuckled, although he kept his eyes on the snow. "Yes I do."
"Paid Donnie a little visit up in his room, too. He's working again," he said pointedly.
Leo sighed. "I will talk to him again about getting more sleep, but you know he doesn't see what he's doing up there as work."
"It's not even about getting more sleep. He should be out with other teenagers, knocking over mailboxes or stumbling through awkward kisses."
One of Leo's eye ridges quirked up as he turned to eye Raphael. "What else did you do as a teenager?"
"This isn't about me."
"I hope you went back and fixed the mailboxes."
"Do you know what will happen if Donnie never gets to be a teenager?"
"And who did teenager Raphael kiss?" Leo's eyes narrowed. "Are they still on the island?"
"Ya know, I read about this guy who graduated from MIT at 15, and do you know where he is now?"
"Hmmm," Leo hummed, "they are still on the island, aren't they?"
"MIT teenaged-genius guy is in a mental health hospital."
"Would it make you feel better to tell me who you were kissing and then we'll go knock down their mailbox together?"
"A mental health hospital, Leo. He claims aliens from another dimension have contacted him."
"Or I could send Donnie to take down their mailbox. That's kind of like 2 birds, right?"
They were both grinning widely at each other by now. Raphael stood and stalked over to Leonardo, who only stood waiting with a grin on his face as Raphael pulled him in close and kissed him.
"Yer a real smartass, Fearless. I'm being serious."
Leo tucked himself against Raph's plastron and then listened to Raph's breath hitch as he let his lips move over Raphael's neck. "Are you insinuating that I am not being serious?"
Raphael growled.
Leo chuckled. "I'll talk to Donnie again. And I'll be sure to let him know you'd feel better if he'd go out and violate something -,"
Raphael was already shaking his head and narrowing his eyes in response to Leo's teasing voice.
" – or someone."
"So you were a perfect angel as a teenager, huh?"
Leo slipped his hands under Raph's shirt so that he could push it up and over the other turtle's head. "Who can remember? It was so long ago."
"Says the history teacher," Raph said dryly, but he quickly removed Leo's sweater and then went after his jeans.
"I wanna change my last name to Hamato."
Raph's voice rumbled into Leo's almost-sleeping mind and he forced his eyes open in order to meet Raph's eyes, only to find them still closed. "What?"
"I wanna change my last name to Hamato."
Even though he had repeated himself word for word, Leo still stared at the other turtle in confusion. He shook his head a bit, as if to reassure himself that he was indeed awake.
"What?" he repeated as well as his sleepy brain first thought about Raphael's roots on his home island. "You have businesses, Raphael. And everyone on the island knows you as -,"
"The restaurant and the brewery were named after the island, not my family." Raphael finally opened his eyes and met Leo's slightly confused blue eyes. "And everyone on the island will still know who I am even if I become a Hamato. Besides, since you three are already Hamatos, it just makes more sense that I switch to yer name."
Leo raised himself up on one elbow and continued to stare down at Raphael. He watched a smile grow on the other turtle's face and began to feel something close to adrenaline begin to run down both of his arms.
"What brought this on? Why would you want to change your last name?"
"I just think ya should have the same last name as yer husband." Raphael watched the dorky smile he liked so much begin to pull at Leo's lips and he immediately felt equal parts thrilled and relieved. Although, when a few moments went by and Leo still hadn't responded, he did his best show of an exasperated sigh. "Ya ain't gonna make me get down on one knee, are ya?"
Leo huffed out a quick laugh as he ducked his head to meet Raph's mouth for a kiss. He kissed him slowly, savoring the way their lips seamlessly moved together, and felt a churr roll up his throat at the touch of Raph's fingers curling around the back of his neck.
"I love you," Leo whispered breathlessly to Raphael a moment later.
"Marry me," Raphael whispered back.
"Yeah."
