Part 6-Mikey's Surprise and Bedtime

Mikey and Donnie's tent...

The three older turtles gathered inside Mikey and Donnie's tent, where Mikey was resting in to spend some time with him before bedtime.

Donnie checked the now awake Mikey's temperature, which was found to be the same as it was since this morning, and then he heard Mikey start to talk to him and his brothers with a small but amused smile on his face.

"Erm...I'm guessing that…dinner didn't go so well…?"

Shortly after saying that, the sounds of rumbling and growling could be heard from the three older brothers' stomachs and they looked down with miserable faces before Raph spoke up first with a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, Leo and Casey messed it up…Almost killed Donnie and me due ta how bad it was…!"

"W-We've already told you that we're sorry, Raph…! It was our first time making it, after all!" Leo said defensively with his hands held up.

"Whatever…" Raph said gruffly as he looked away from Leo.

"Oh…so, that's what all the shouting and yelling was about…" Mikey said curiously, causing the three older brothers to look at him with wide eyes before Donnie spoke in concern.

"Did we wake you up earlier, Mikey?"

"Err, y-yeah…" Mikey answered shyly.

"Ah, man…M'sorry, bro…" Raph said guiltily since his loud yelling had woken up his baby brother who was trying to get better through rest.

"I'm sorry too, Mikey…it was my fault that things got heated out there earlier…" Leo said miserably.

"Hey, it's ok…besides, I wanted to know how dinner went anyway since you guys are clueless when it comes to knowing how to cook properly…heh, heh!" Mikey said with a smile of understanding before he laughed a bit after finding out the outcome of tonight's dinner.

"Ha, ha…You're one cheeky little turtle, you know that?" Donnie laughed whilst he gently rubbed his baby brother's head, causing him to giggle in the process.

"Yeah, so don't make me come over there and tickle ya, chucklehead!" Raph said with a smirk, causing Mikey to hide his head under his sleeping bag for a moment.

"I wouldn't mind joining you on that, Raph…ha, ha! But seriously, though, we really miss your cooking, Mikey…I hope you get better soon before our trip ends…" Leo said with a sad smile as he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"Thanks, Leo…I definitely need to teach you guys how to cook sometime, huh…" Mikey replied with a warmer smile before he spoke again. "By the way, you should take a look in that bag behind Donnie; there's a little surprise for you all…"

The three older brothers looked at each other before they looked at the rectangle-shaped bag behind where Donnie was sitting. Since he was the closest to it, Donnie grabbed the bag and put it in the middle of where they were sitting before he opened it.

When the three older brothers looked inside, their eyes widened; three different coloured boxes were found inside the bag, and the colours were blue, red, and purple, which meant that they represented each of their mask colours, so they took out their respective coloured boxes and looked at them.

"What's in these boxes, Mikey?" Leo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Open them and see…" Mikey answered with excitement rising in his heart as he watched his brothers begin to open their boxes.

Once they opened them, the three older brothers gasped and their eyes widened even more at what they found inside; each box contained a variety of different foods, both savoury and sweet!

"This is…a boxed lunch!?" Donnie said in shock.

"More like a boxed dinner! It's got a few slices of my favourite pizza inside and a piece of chocolate cake too!" Raph said in delight as he looked at his food box with gleaming eyes.

"Yeah, and mine has three rice balls, a small pot of ramen, and a fruit salad! What have you got, Donnie?" Leo said joyfully as he looked over at Donnie when he asked the last question.

"I've got some rice balls and a fruit salad too, but I've also got a pot of spaghetti with small meatballs!" Donnie answered with a joyful smile on his face before he, Leo, and Raph looked at Mikey as he spoke again.

"So, this was what you and April were up to when you wanted to speak to her in private…Did you plan this surprise because you predicted that this would happen, Mikey?"

"Well, I had a feeling that…dinner wouldn't turn out great tonight…so I asked April to help me put together some boxed lunch-style meals with your favourite foods in, hence the list that she was writing when you walked in, Donnie…" Mikey answered tiredly with a sheepish but happy smile on his face.

"Wow…thanks, Mikey…!" Leo said after a moment of silence before he held and squeezed his baby brother's hand in thanks.

"Yeah…thanks, bro!" "Thank you, little brother!" Raph and Donnie said to their baby brother before they patted him gently on his shoulder or head, causing him to blush and smile even more.

Just as the three older brothers were about to tuck into their food, a tapping sound was heard from the front of their tent. Leo, who was closest to the tent's entrance, opened it to reveal April in front of them holding a bowl of warm soup.

"Hey, guys…! I've brought some soup for Mikey. Is he still awake?" She said with a warm smile.

"Hi, April…Perfect timing; we were just about to have our boxed meals! And yeah, he's awake..." Leo replied before he allowed April in to pass Mikey, who had sat up with help from Donnie, the bowl of warm tomato soup.

"Here you go, Mikey…be careful, it's still hot..." April said softly.

"I will…Thanks, April…" Mikey said as he carefully held the warm bowl in his lap that was covered protectively by his sleeping bag.

"I see that you have found your surprise…" April then said when she saw the now opened boxes in the older turtles' hands.

"Yeah, and we could tell that they were made with a lot of effort put into them…Thanks, April…!" Donnie said with a grateful smile on his face before Raph and Leo said their thanks too.

"No problem, guys…it was all Mikey's idea, really…!" April said as she looked at Mikey who was still blushing.

"Yeah, we know..." Raph said with a smirk.

"Well, I'll leave you all to enjoy your meals…Goodnight, guys!" April said as she waved goodbye and left the tent.

"Goodnight, April!" the turtle brothers said in unison as they watched her leave the tent altogether before they began to tuck into their food.

/

20 minutes later…

The turtle brothers' stomachs were happily filled with delicious food and Mikey was able to eat most of his soup before he felt full and started to feel sleepy. Donnie gave Mikey some medicine to reduce his flu symptoms and help him sleep during the night before he tucked him into his sleeping bag.

"Goodnight, Mikey…See you in the morning..." Leo said softly before he gave him a goodnight kiss on his warm forehead.

"Goodnight, lil' bro…thanks again fa da meal…" Raph said next before he gently rubbed his baby brother's head affectionately.

"G'night, bros…" Mikey replied back tiredly as he watched them leave his and Donnie's tent to go and sleep inside their own. Donnie then closed the entrance and moved over to Mikey before he spoke with a warm smile.

"Goodnight, Mikey…"

"G'night, Don…" Mikey replied in a slur before he let out a yawn and fell asleep instantly.

Donnie looked on with a smile still on his face for a moment until he decided to move towards his own sleeping bag and went inside it before he fell asleep seconds later.

/

Later on in the night…

"SSSNNNOOOORRRE…SSSNNNOOOOORRRE…!"

Loud snoring could be heard from within Leo and Raph's tent, and they were coming from the red-banded turtle.

"You have got to be kidding me…!" Leo said tiredly and in annoyance as he tried to block out the noise by placing his pillow over his ears, but the snoring could still be heard through it.

"SSSNNNOOOORRRE...SSSNNNOOORRRE...!"

"Urgh…Now I get how Mikey felt when he slept in and shared a room with him a few years back…" Leo then said as he sat up and looked at Raph with a frustrated look.

With Raph's snoring showing no signs of quieting down, Leo decided to leave the tent with his pillow and an extra blanket to find a quieter place to sleep. As soon as he left the tent, he spotted April doing the same thing, which was leaving her and Casey's tent with a pillow and blanket whilst wearing an annoyed look on her face.

"Hey, April…!" Leo called out quietly towards his female friend who jumped slightly and looked over to see Leo waving at her in the dark, so she walked over to him before she heard him speak again.

"Let me guess; can't sleep due to a noisy roommate?"

"Yeah, it's hard to sleep when you've got someone who has beer breath and snores like a train sleeping next to you…!" April answered with a tired sigh as she rubbed her eyes.

"Mmm, same here…" Leo said whilst shaking his head.

"Do you think there's enough room in Donnie and Mikey's tent for us to spend the night?" April thought out loud when she looked over to the tent next to Leo's.

"I don't know, April…the last thing I want to do is upset Donnie if we disturb a sick Mikey…!" Leo answered with an unsure look on his face.

"I'm sure he'll understand. Come on…" April said before she walked over towards Donnie and Mikey's tent, with Leo reluctantly following her from behind.

April lightly tapped on the front of the tent and waited for a response. After a minute with no sounds coming from inside, she tapped on it again but slightly harder this time before she and Leo heard small movement. Then, the door opened and a tired-looking Donatello revealed himself.

"April…? Leo…? Wha's wrong?" He questioned sleepily.

"Hey, Donnie, sorry to wake you up but do you have any room for two more in your tent?" April asked quietly to avoid waking up Mikey who could be heard sleeping away next to Donnie's sleeping bag.

"Why? What's-"

Boom! Crackle! Crash!

Donnie was suddenly cut off by the loud clashing of thunder in the dark night sky before the first few drops of rain began to fall on top of the tents and on April and Leo.

"Uh, oh…" Leo said as he felt the first few raindrops land on his head and shoulders.

"That's strange...the weather forecast didn't predict a thunderstorm to appear during the weekend…" April said as she held a hand out to feel the raindrops herself.

"Alright…hurry up and get in you two…just don't wake up Mikey when you enter!" Donnie said with a sigh as he moved aside to allow April and Leo to crawl into his and Mikey's tent before he closed the entrance and turned to look at the pair and spoke in a whisper with a questioning look.

"So, might I ask why you two are here of all places?"

"Well, let's just say that we've got a sleeping train in each of our tents…" April answered in frustration.

"Huh?" Donnie said with a confused look on his face.

"In other words, we can't sleep with loud snorers next to us…" Leo specified with a sigh.

"Oh…Well, at least our tents are just big enough for four people, and they're also waterproof too..." Donnie pointed out as he heard the rain pouring down heavily on top of the tent.

"That is good to hear, but I can't believe that it's raining when the weather forecast didn't say anything about it yesterday…!" April said in relief before she grumbled a bit loudly about the lack of accuracy in the weather forecast.

"Shhh!" Leo and Donnie shushed April in unison to tell her to keep her voice down due to the risk of waking Mikey up.

Luckily, Mikey just hummed and groaned in his sleep before he turned his body to the left in his sleeping bag, with his back facing the trio, and continued to sleep peacefully.

"I think we should go back to sleep, now…" Donnie said firmly as he looked back at Leo and April, who nodded and settled into their chosen places whilst Donnie went back into his sleeping bag before they all fell asleep despite the continuous downpour going on outside.