"You sure you're up for this?"
Stella rolled her eyes. "Raph-."
"Hey I'm just sayin'," he raised his hands defensively. "I mean, if you're not ready for this, I'm cool wit waitin' a lil' bit longer-," he leaned in towards her neck in an attempt to distract her but she smoothly dodged out of his reach leaving him looking slightly perturbed.
"Thanks for the concern but I'm pretty sure I can handle this shit," Stella assured him as she helped move his scarf into place. "Hell, I'm more worried about your ass. At least people knew I was takin' off when I did. From the sounds of it you on the other hand just got pissed off one day and walked out mumblin' to yourself and just didn't come back. Pretty sure they're gonna be way more pissed about that."
"I don' know, a coupla' weeks isn't nearly as bad as three fuckin' years Stel. Sides," he pointed out, "it's not like it was the first time I took off to cool off for a while."
"Touché," she replied as she pulled out a knit cap and handed it to him. "Alright, how 'bout we just agree that we're both fucked? No matter how you look at it, this whole shit storm we've got brewin' is going to be daytime talk show worthy. Maybe even a two parter."
Raphael arched an eye ridge skeptically. "Yeah?"
"Uh yeah," Stella nodded adamantly. "Think about it. We got the perfect older brother still ridden with guilt for leavin' years ago so he's going to be agonizing about what to say about the two of us leaving, just like he did. He's also now married to what you've described as a fuckin' hell hound named, Tina?" Raphael nodded so she continued. "Okay so we've got Tina who's pissed that I never showed to witness their blessed nuptials even though I was in fuckin' Tibet when I heard about this shit so there was no way I could- you know that doesn't matter. Anyway, then we've got the brainiac and his ice queen named-," Stella furrowed her brow as she tried to remember Donnie's new wife's name.
"Hera," Raphael interjected.
"Thanks, Hera, stupid name by the way. Anyhow, they somehow pulled the sticks out of their proper asses just long enough to get into trouble and earn themselves a shot gun wedding which took place only a few days ago and are currently expecting to lay their little bundles of joy any time now. Lay as in she's going to lay a coupla' goddamn eggs. Now thrown into this mix of hormones we've got the shy bookworm, Demi short for Demeter, as well as Artie, the horrifying ball of cuteness to whom you lost your v-card."
"I think I see your point," Raphael agreed.
"Oh wait, I'm not done," Stella assured him. "In the thick of all of this is our eccentric and highly excitable younger brother who has decided to document this entire shit storm with video. Have I forgotten anything?" She paused for a moment before snapping her fingers. "That's right, how could I have neglected to mention that in the middle of all of this is our elderly soap opera addicted father who just so happens to be a rat with a Japanese accent who teaches Ninjutsu and lives in a sewer?"
"Well when you put it like that-," Raphael trailed off.
"Raph, I haven't even gotten to the fact that none of them know you're coming, they certainly don't know we're sleeping together, and the last time I saw any of them, three years ago, I more or less told them to back the fuck off and not to bother looking for my ass."
"Okay so it's definitely a two parter, maybe even a week long special with the possibility of a six month check in," he admitted with a smirk. "Is it bad that I'm kinda' lookin' forward to how much hell we're gonna raise when we walk through those doors?"
"Oh hell no. I've been plannin' my grand reentrance for a while but never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine this shit. This is goin' to be fuckin' epic, I live for this kind of chaos!"
"You and me both Stel. Hell raisers for life." He held out his mitten covered fist.
"Fo' life," she agreed bumping her fist with his.
Raphael took a deep breath as he looked down at her, all sense of fun gone from his voice. "So I'll see you in two days right?"
"Yeah. Don't worry you'll recognize me, I'll be the one causing the shit storm." She assured him. While it wasn't ideal, it had been necessary to drop him off in Jersey as the boat was certainly going to be inspected once she docked since Stella was bringing it in from abroad and it would be nearly impossible to hide a six foot talking turtle aboard such a small vessel during the inspection.
Also, they had decided that showing back up at the lair separately would be much more dramatic than together since no one knew they had found one another. It was the kind of havoc they lived for. "Alright well just- watch your ass. Don't do nothin' stupid," Raphael requested leaning in for one more kiss before disembarking.
"Raph just go," Stella laughed into the kiss before pushing him forward onto the dock. "Like I said, I've got this shit handled. Besides, if you really need to get a hold of me I did give you my cell phone number," she reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah. But seriously Stel, if you're even a minute late I'm huntin' your ass down and draggin' ya back. Ya got me?"
"I gotcha," she reassured him. "And I promise, I won't be late. Now go, before you miss your fuckin' ride," she pointed toward the cab she had managed to order over the phone. "It's already paid for, tip and all. Just don't let your scarf and hat slip and you'll be good."
"Aight'," he sighed. "Love ya Stel."
"Love you too, now go!"
Twelve hours later, Stella had finally finished with customs and after docking at a private marina in the New York harbor and was sitting in the back of the cab that was to drop her and her bags off at the Hotel Carter. While she would have preferred heading back to her old apartment nothing would scream 'I'm here' more than moving back into her old apartment above the store April and Casey were currently running in her absence.
In the end it didn't matter much anyway as she was planning on spending the remainder of the next two days getting a number of affairs in order before making her grand entrance which would, incidentally, coincide with Christmas perfectly after which time she planned eventually to escape from the lair and return topside to check on her store.
After checking into what could only be described as one of the most disturbingly dirty tourist haunts in New York City, Stella deposited her bags before setting out for her first meeting of the day.
Walking around the city, she couldn't suppress the familiar feeling of a New York Christmas that began to course through her veins, raising her excitement level. The constant thrumming of the city life made her heart beat just a little bit faster and she found herself looking at everything with new eyes as she noted the changes to the city she had called home for most of her life.
As she made her rounds, Stella couldn't help but stop every so often to press her nose to a particularly attention catching store window before tearing herself away only to have her attention snapped up again moments later by some new wonder. It had been that way ever since she was a child. Something about the decorations and overwhelmingly magical quality of the season always lit her up inside and made focusing on much else immensely more difficult.
Growing up, she and Michelangelo had managed to sneak out, sometimes without Raphael if they were stealthy enough, to explore their own winter wonderland. They would spend hours wandering the sidewalks after dark staring wide eyed at the fantastical window displays and the giant Christmas trees. Of course every year they also got caught by either Splinter or if they were particularly unlucky, Leonardo, but that never stopped them from doing it again the next year.
Raphael had never enjoyed those late night winter excursions as much as he was known to be a bit of a pessimist and at times, especially as a teenager, he was notorious for pointing out what they didn't have rather than appreciating what they did have leaving the two dreamers in his company feeling a bit cheated by his lack of Christmas spirit. He had only ever tagged along because his two best friends, although he would swear until he was blue in the face that Mikey was not his best friend in any way shape or form, were going and as a rule of thumb wherever Stella went Raphael was sure to follow.
By the end of her first day back in New York, Stella was exhausted and freezing. Having lived in a fair number of more tropical locations over the course of her travels had apparently made her much more aware of the freezing temperatures now plaguing the city and she was thankful she had thought to don a rather thick coat before leaving the hotel that afternoon. After picking up a quick bite to eat, Stella returned to the hotel and holed up until morning.
The next day donned hazy and cold but Stella was not stayed by the threat of snow that hung heavy in the air, instead she was spurred onward onto the bustling streets to tie up the last of her loose ends before returning to the lair.
Having either the best or possibly some of the worst luck ever, she almost ran right into Casey and April who were pushing a rather large jogging stroller around a small very cramped store specializing in exotic teas in Greenwich. It was only a sudden cry from inside the blanket covered stroller that saved Stella from their notice and allowed her to slip out the door of the shop without incident. Offering her thanks to the heavens she vowed to buy the small bundle of pink she had glimpsed amongst the fuzzy blankets something awesome for Christmas, making her next stop the giant toy store in Times Square.
That night, with her arms laden with packages of various shapes and sizes, Stella stumbled into her bleak hotel room in order to begin the tedious task of wrapping her many purchases just so.
She had just finished tying her last bow when the sound of her phone interrupted the stream of music she had been piping through the small room. Digging through a pile of multi colored papers and ribbons, she finally located the small device and hit answer.
"Lo?" She grunted as she began separating the multi-shaped packages into piles.
She was going to need all of her ninja training to get this load into the sewers and to the lair without being seen by either people on the streets or Donatello's security system, getting Mikey and Artie's gifts into the lair undetected was going to be a feat in and of itself. Maybe she'd just leave some of her load in one of the storage closets near the manhole she planned to use and retrieve it all later.
"Hey," Raphael's voice whispered into the phone.
"Hey yourself," she grinned while balancing the small phone on her shoulder and looking around for the pen she was certain she had seen only moments ago. "What's up?"
"Nothin' just-," he paused for a moment and sighed, "just missed your ass." He admitted quietly causing her grin to widen. "Can' really ya know, talk or nothin' but I just wanted to make sure we're still on."
Stella laughed at how nervous he sounded over the phone. "We're on, I promise. Just a few more hours," she assured him. "How goes it?" She asked as she remembered that the missing pen was currently holding her long curly hair off of her neck.
He let out a dark chuckle. "It's even betta' than I imagined."
She pulled the pen out of place and felt her heavy curls spill back around her head and down her back. "Really? Why?" She asked getting more excited by the moment.
"Can' tell ya, but jus' wait. I swear this is not real life."
"Ah now I can' wait!" She gushed with a giggle.
"Well get your ass down here," he hissed before uttering a low curse. "Shit I gotta go, jus' hurry," he urged before hanging up leaving her laughing. Glancing at the clock, she noted that it was now nine o'clock on Christmas Eve leaving her just a few more hours to work before making her grand entrance. With a renewed sense of vigor, she began addressing each of the exquisitely wrapped packages before tucking them safely inside of the large sea bag she had brought along expressly for this purpose.
It wasn't until just after midnight that Stella bundled herself up against the cold and slung the bag over her shoulders before grabbing a small carrier in each hand. She was ready, or at least she was pretty sure she was ready. The manhole she would be using was located near 33rd and as she was currently on W 43rd she had a bit of a trek ahead of her before she even got into the sewer system.
After twenty minutes of trekking through the driving snow that had begun to fall around the city, Stella was relieved to drop into the darkness of the familiar sewer system. While it certainly wasn't the cleanest part of New York City it sadly wasn't the dirtiest either. After stowing the bulk of her load in an unused storage closet she had used for years to hide various objects, Stella resumed her trek toward her family's lair while on high alert for any sign of Donnie's advanced surveillance system.
It had been necessary for her to use a well-traveled manhole to enter the sewer so as not to set off any alarms. Had she descended into the sewers any nearer to the lair she would have immediately tripped the surveillance cameras located throughout the sewers, ruining any chance she had of making a truly epic grand entrance.
After a few more minutes of traveling through the darkness, Stella caught sight of the first of the cameras. She silently thanked Raphael for telling her about the new surveillance blind spots as they had changed significantly since she had left.
Making sure to stay to the right, Stella placed her load on a beam above her head before swinging herself up as well and creeping past the camera that was trained on the stagnant water below. Once past the camera it was necessary for her to climb back down before ducking under a motion sensor near the ceiling and diving through an array of beams set at various angles that would trigger a series of hidden cameras.
After what felt like hours, Stella found herself standing outside of the entrance to her childhood home nearly hyperventilating. She was mere seconds from turning around and running away when she felt the familiar buzz of her cell phone in her pocket. Carefully placing her load on the ground she withdrew the small device and couldn't help the small smile that played across her face when she saw that it was a text from Raphael.
'You have three minutes to get your ass through the fucking door before I hunt you down like an animal.'
"Aww how sweet, he misses me," she whispered to herself while slipping the phone back into her pocket and retrieving her packages. Closing her eyes for a moment, Stella focused herself before beginning the best break-in of her life.