Rating: G

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Summary: Halloween is fast approaching and Splinter has been unable to get a pumpkin for his disappointed sons. Therefore, they must improvise. Chibi turtle fic.

A/N: Prompt Balloon. One-shot written for TMNT-AllStories on Deviant Art back in September 2018. Word count: 840.

Suddenly saw I didn't post this anywhere but DA so fixing that now.

Balloon

Splinter trudged wearily into the lair after a long night of scavenging with little to show for his efforts. Once again, he'd travelled far across the city and by the time he finally made it home, the sun had been up for hours. Even so, he was startled to find his young sons crowding him the moment entered, all four bright, green faces looking eagerly up at him for good news and his heart sank, knowing he would be forced to disappoint them. Again.

"Did you get one, father?" Leonardo, ever the spokes-turtle, asked hopefully. Michelangelo bounced excitedly beside him, almost on top of him.

"I am sorry, my sons but I was unable to find any," Splinter replied, trying to keep his ears from drooping as he broke the bad news.

"But... but... how are we s'posed to do Hal'ween without a pumkin?" Michelangelo pleaded piteously. "You promised we could do Hal'ween this year an'... an' we can't without a Jacky lantern."

"Jack-o-lantern," Donatello corrected in a quiet, disappointed voice. Michelangelo ignored him.

"You even helped us make costumes already!" he continued, whining. "I'm gonna be a mummy, Leo's gonna be a ghost ninja, Raphie's gonna be a pirate and Donnie's gonna be a boring ol' book."

"Encyclopaedias aren't boring," Donatello protested, louder than before.

"Donniepaedia is though," Raphael retorted, arms crossed and taking out his frustration and disappointment by bumping into Donatello who glared back.

"Enough!" Splinter commanded firmly before matters could degenerate. Then, in a gentler tone, he added. "You can still dress up and go topside for Halloween."

"Really?" Michelangelo burst out hopefully, excitement oozing in his voice.

"Really," Splinter smiled back indulgently. All four turtles began jumping around excitedly until Splinter held up a hand, stopping them in their tracks. "We can even have a Jack-o-lantern." He'd thought about it all the way home that morning.

Four sets of eyes blinked up at him in confusion. "How, Father?" Leonardo asked, voicing the question on everyone's minds.

"Have you four had breakfast this morning?"

"Mikey made cereal," Donatello offered as his brother nodded eagerly.

"An' he got milk everywhere," Raphael boasted proudly.

"Only 'cause Raphie bumped me when I was mixing it!" Michelangelo retorted.

"I see," Splinter replied knowingly. His son would likely have spilt it while mixing the powdered milk anyway. "Did you clean up afterwards?"

"Yes," they replied in unison, though Michelangelo and Raphael looked shifty as they answered, leading Splinter to believe that it was probably Leonardo that cleaned up. He decided it wiser to keep silent on the matter.

"In that case, my sons, gather the old newspapers and the large mixing bowls and meet me in the kitchen. Make sure the table is clear," he said firmly. With that, Splinter turned and walked out of the room.

-:-

Having finished stirring a flour and water mix, Splinter stood in front of his family and looked down at them. Leonardo and Donatello stared attentively and calmly up at him, and beside them, rather more restless, Michelangelo and Raphael also stood.

"Papier-mâché?" Donatello questioned.

"Indeed," Splinter smiled, reaching into the pocket of his robe and drawing out a small packet filled with colourful rubbery objects.

"I thought we were gonna make Jack-o-lanterns," Raphael frowned, reaching out to touch the table in consternation.

"We are," Splinter replied, even as Michelangelo became excited again. He chuckled. Michelangelo certainly loved his arts and crafts. Any chance to get messy, really. Leonardo frowned slightly; he didn't enjoy getting messy so much.

"How we gonna shape it, daddy?" Michelangelo asked.

"With these," Splinter replied, pulling out a bright yellow balloon and blowing it up. Once inflated, he promptly tied it off and placed it on the table before drawing out the next. Within minutes, he had five large balloons ready to go and despite having made papier-mâché objects before, he demonstrated how to lay the strips of newspaper over the balloons and begin shaping them.

-:-

The next morning, Splinter helped his sons carve faces in the papier-mâché pumpkins and then, mixing some home-made paints, allowed them to paint their creations as they wanted. Afterwards, as the Jack-o-lanterns dried, Splinter surveyed his boys proudly, pleased that they had overcome their disappointment of not having a real pumpkin to carve with such aplomb and creativity.

"Daddy?" Michelangelo asked, jiggling in place as he stared hopefully up at Splinter.

"Yes, my son?"

"Can we do this again next Halloween?"

Splinter smiled softly. "Of course we can. In fact, next year, we will start a little earlier to give the papier-mâché time to dry properly so that the Jack-o-lanterns will last longer. Now, what do you say you all go get into your costumes? We have a long evening of trick-or-treating in front of us." He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his young sons excitedly spin around and dash off, arguing good-naturedly about who had the best costume.

-:-

Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.

* If you ever see my stories posted anywhere other than under the name Zelgadis55 at Deviant Art, FFNet, AO3 or Live Journal, then they have been stolen. Please report them.