A/N: Here's a little fluff/angst combo for your enjoyment. This little plot bunny bit me on my birthday and I just had to put my views on birthdays into one of turtles. :) Bet you can't guess which one :P Hope you enjoy this little drabble!
"Happy Birthday dear April! Happy Birthday to you!" My four turtle brothers, and Master Splinter sang boisterously to me. I laughed as Mikey strutted about the room bearing a quadruple layered cake in his large green hands, obviously proud of his baking prowess. Twenty-six candles flickered softly atop the cake, not that I could reach the top if I wanted too.
"Need to stand on my shoulders so you can blow out the candles, April?" Mikey asked grinning deviously as he set the massive cake in front of me.
"Nah! Because unless a male stripper is going to pop out at me, I'm not impressed" I shot back, matching his grin.
Master Splinter politely ignored my lewd comment but the boys howled with laughter; Mikey took that as a personal challenge and immediately began twerking on me, which makes cutting and distributing birthday cake quite difficult, actually. Donny got that look on his face like he was about to join in, but I refused to allow my birthday party to become a turtle twerk team practice.
I slapped the back of Mikey's head, "Michelangelo , if you don't stop assaulting me with your backside I swear I'm going to steal your entire comic book collection and burn it!"
He stopped immediately and gave me the most pathetic puppy dog eyes that have ever existed; I'm almost positive he broke the world record for most pathetic face then and there but he still sat down and practically inhaled his first of several cake slices. As we conversed over cake, it dawned on me that in all the time I had known the guys that, one, I had no idea how they knew their birthdays, and, two, I couldn't think of a single time that we had celebrated one for Raphael.
I didn't want to be rude, but the longer I thought about it, the more it bothered me. Finally I worked up the courage to ask, "So, how do you guys know when your birthdays are? Did you find documentation from the pet store from before you were mutated or something?"
The four of them looked up, surprise and an unidentifiable emotion falling across their faces.
"Master Splinter knows his; it's February 29th, the same as his Master Yoshi's. When we were little we always celebrated together, but once we were old enough, Master Splinter let us pick the day we wanted." Leo shrugged lightly. "I always wanted to be the oldest so I picked January 1st. Mikey picked December 26th because he wanted to be able to open presents two days in a row and Don picked August 12th so he could share his birthday with his favorite scientist."
"Erwin Schrodinger! He used a cat in a box to explain the quantum mechanics of infinite possible realities." Don's face glowed as he (somewhat) briefly explained the theory behind the cat experiment. I'm pretty sure I was the only one that understood a word of it since the others just nodded blankly throughout the lecture. Oh Donny, your genius astounds me. He finally trailed off, leaving a gaping hole in Leo's explanation. When was his hot headed brother's birthday?
"And Raph?" I looked inquisitively between the red and blue banded turtles.
Leo replied hesitantly, "Raph doesn't have a birthday."
I looked at Raph incredulously, and all I managed out was a less than intelligent, "What?"
Raph crossed his arms and looked around, refusing to meet my eyes. "I never wanted one. So I decided I wouldn't have one. I still don't understand what everyone gets so excited about. If you're a human, ya get to celebrate the day that your mother squeezed you out, covered in nasty shit an' screaming bloody murder. Congratu-freakin-lations." He rolled his eyes.
I wrinkled my nose at his less-than-poetic description, but, hey, that's Raph for you.
"An' if you happen to be a giant mutated turtle, you get to pick a day to remind yourself how you don't know when you were born-"
" hatched, Raph, we hatched" Donny cut in.
"Yeah, yeah, hatched, born, same thing." He continued his voice gaining a razor sharp edge of resentment. " The fact remains that it don't really matter that we exist an' you guys just pick a day an' call it ya' 'birthday' to make yourselves feel better!"
His words hung thick in the air, the isolation and anguish tangible in his voice. They were alone.
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead , " 'm sorry, April. I'm not tryin' to make your day bad. You should be enjoyin' your birthday!"
He looked up at me, and we locked eyes. His intense gaze was momentarily filled with pain, but it was quickly walled away behind his mask of confidence. Looking for a graceful way out, he stood, gathered the dirty dishes, and exited to the kitchen. I looked between the four remaining in my living room and shrugged. Master Splinter stood up and pulled me into a close hug.
"Happy birthday, Miss O'Neil!"
I smiled back. I was with my family, and that made it the best birthday I could wish for.
