Waiting On Santa
Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent or adult transformed shadow warrior chelonians.
Rated- G
Author's Note: This story takes place before The Legacy for Rama fans.
Part one:
Mike was looking forward to this Christmas, more so then any Christmas since he was a young shellback, because this year, he knew that Rama was finally old enough to really take part in the festivities and remember it.
When Rama had experienced her first Christmas she had only been eight months old, both her second and third Christmas she had gotten a bit into but Mike wasn't sure how much she would recall of it. When he asked Rama the other day about Santa she had only given him a puzzled look.
This year would be different this year she was almost four years old, or would be in four months time at any rate.
It was a pity really that he couldn't take Rama in to go visit Santa Claus in person at the mall, but Santa was so popular and the line ups so long, the malls so crowded that it would be almost impossible to get Rama in and out without someone noticing that they were turtles.
Today was December 2 and Mike hoped that by Christmas day itself Rama would be hyped and ready to go, and he was just the person to wind her up too.
Raph came into the kitchen with Rama riding on his shoulders. Rama was a turtle but she had dark hair and five fingers and five toes and light green skin.
" Daddy!" Rama squealed as soon as she saw him and dived off Raph's shoulders towards him. Raph with all the reflexes of a trained ninja caught her before she fell short of her mark, handing her over to her dad.
" Hi ya Rama llama ding dong how's my favourite girl?"
Rama hugged him tight " Daddy I miss you."
" I missed you too baby." Mike held up an advent calendar and opened one of the doors on it to reveal a chocolate " See I got a candy for you."
" Candy?" Rama's eyes lit up as her dad handed her the treat and she popped it into her mouth.
" When you get to the last candy Rama that will be the night Santa comes." Mike explained.
" Sana?" Rama's face scrunched up in puzzlement.
" Yeah, Santa Claus Rama. Santa brings presents to the good boys and girls."
Rama knew the word present. Presents were wonderful. " I good girl daddy presen?" She asked quickly.
" When Santa comes baby, you have lots of sleeps first but trust me Santa will come visit with you and leave a present" Mike assured her as he hugged her.
Rama looked questioningly at her father " More candy pease daddy?"
" No Rama one candy a day until Santa comes" Mike insisted.
Raph shook his head " What else you got for her on your little trip?"
" A new Christmas stocking because her baby one is too small" Mike brought out a large red stocking with a white trim.
" It's twice as big as ours are Mikey" Raph noted.
" Yeah well I happen to know Santa is going have a little help in filling it Mr. I can't deny Rama anything."
" HA! That's where you're wrong Santa doesn't need my help" Raph scoffed.
" Come on Rama let's go play." Mike suggested taking her hand.
A few days later the boys went out and returned with a live Christmas tree, a rare thing to have in the sewers but Mike had insisted Rama deserved a live tree, and Raph being the favourite Uncle totally agreed.
" The kid doesn't get much chance to see any other trees might as well let her have a live one over Christmas."
They had left Splinter to give her, her lunch and put her down for her afternoon nap and that had given them enough time to purchase the tree and return to set it up.
" Rama is going to love having a real tree in her home, she can smell it and touch it…"
" Long as she doesn't knock it over," Leo muttered.
" Aw Leo she hasn't knocked it over before this" Mike protested.
" I don't know guys but any of you care to make a bet on which of the two kids in the family are going to be the worst? I have a feeling they are both going drive us nuts" Don said.
" Can't be as bad as Mikey setting traps around the tree to catch Santa when he was six" Raph chuckled.
" You helped Raph!"
Raph chuckled " By the time Christmas eve comes both of them will be sitting up waiting on Santa."
" Come off it you guys. This is the first Christmas that Rama will really be able to remember. She has forgotten all about Santa from last year even. I just want to make it special for her because she is old enough to remember it and get into the spirit of it. Is there anything wrong with that?" Mike demanded to know.
" There is nothing wrong in making the holidays memorable or special Michaelangelo but I doubt that Ramiela will need any help getting excited for the big day. Children usually do that well enough on their own. Wait to see her next year at this time," Splinter stated.
Leo grinned " Last year Rama wouldn't even try to say Christmas all she said was Merry over and over."
Rama at the point came toddling into the living room yawning and rubbing her eyes with one hand while the other hand clutched her stuffed Franklin turtle, which she had received as a birthday gift.
Rama stopped short staring in disbelief at the partially decorated tree she mumbled something and continued to look at the tree in confusion and disbelief. It wasn't often she woke up from a nap to find a tree where one hadn't been before. She wasn't even sure it was a tree for that matter which probably didn't help solve her problem.
" Daddy what dat?" Rama finally asked.
Mike went over and hugged her scooping her up into one arm " it's our Christmas tree Rama we are decorating it to make it pretty, and on Christmas Eve Santa will come and put the presents under our tree."
Rama scowled Christmas, Presents and Santa were being mentioned quite a bit the last few days. She still wasn't sure how they all connected to each other or if they even did.
" Do you like the tree Rama? Come here and feel the needles they prick a little bit and see how green the needles are?"
Rama grabbed a branch in one small fist and tugged.
" No Rama gentle with the tree. No pulling on it all right?" Mike loosened her grip on it.
Rama still managed to pull a couple of needles loose and looked at how dark they were up against her own skin, her fingers had a slight scent to them and she rolled the needles in her fingers trying to see if the scent would get stronger. Daddy often brought her flowers and they had pretty scents.
Being as it was something unfamiliar she licked her fingers and made a face, it wasn't eatable that was for sure. The tree had to be like the flowers daddy brought pretty to smell and touch and to see but here for a short time only.
Mike watched Rama carefully " Want to help us decorate the tree Rama we saved the bottom part for you."
" I help daddy," Rama cheered giving him a slobbery kiss.
Mike put her down and found some non-breakable ornaments and showed her how to hang them on the tree " Help put these on and make the tree pretty for us Rama" he coaxed.
Rama soon was digging through the stuff that was allowed for her to put on the tree and came up with gold and red garland, which she wrapped all around herself instead.
" Looks like we have two trees this year" Mike laughed as he pulled the garland off her and placed it on the tree.
The last bit of decorating was the tinsel and Mike handed Rama a handful of the glittery stuff, Rama glanced at it then tossed it up in the air letting it flutter down and about her.
" I pree" She announced.
Mike well used to translating his daughter's language only laughed " Oh you are very pretty Miss Rama llama ding dong but it is supposed to go on the tree, not on you."
Rama giggled at her dad " Me on Ree?'
" Rama you are forgetting your T's again it is T-ree" Mike corrected stressing the t sound. Rama for some reason had a very hard time saying her L's and her T's. " You can't go on our tree because you are too big and you might wreck it," he told her patiently.
" I big!" Rama cheered.
" You sure are baby." Mike agreed.
Once the tree was decorated to everyone's satisfaction Don did the honour of lighting the tree for the first time that year.
Rama inhaled sharply and her eyes grew large and sparkled as she saw the sight before her.
" Pree, ree ights daddy" she squealed in excitement bouncing at Mike's feet.
" Very pretty tree lights Rama and I think I know what I'm asking Santa for this year I'm going see if Santa will give you your l's and t's" Mike swooped her up in his arms and tickled her.
Rama giggled kicking her legs with delight and her little childish laugh bubbling out growing louder and more cheerful by the second.
Mike paused and kissed her, holding her tight to him.
The next few days Mike had Rama help him with the Christmas baking and sampling of the many treats like the tarts, cookies, fudge and numerous other good things, some of which would be given away to their human friends as a Christmas gift.
While Mike and Rama mixed up the various treats Mike would play tapes of Alvin and the Chipmunks or Mickey Mouse and friends singing popular Christmas songs. Mike played these tapes so much that the rest of the family, Raph especially was threatening to destroy the tapes.
" Rama has to learn her Christmas songs" Mike protested, all as innocent as could be.
" Mike if you think that we don't realize that you are also doing this to torture us then you are crazy and my sai might be able to repair that for you" Raph growled.
" Come on Raph get into the spirit of Christmas you old scrooge, here have a treat."
At night Mike would read Rama the Night before Christmas story to Rama before tucking her into bed.
Rama with the passing days looked forward to seeing the lights lit up on the tree, she wanted them on whenever she was in the room and she had also learned that each morning she got a candy.
The little turtle child listened carefully to the promise that Santa was coming and he was bringing presents to her in lots of sleeps. She was starting to pick up on some of that excitement that filled the lair and the normally rambunctious child reacted to all the excitement in the typical childish way by running through the home and practically bouncing off the walls.
Rama woke early one morning and headed to the washroom, she was on her way back to wake daddy when she remembered about the candy in the kitchen. She knew she always got one when she woke up, so she headed to the kitchen.
The candy she knew was up on the counter out of her reach but she was determined to have her candy, it was morning she was up, it was time.
She pushed a chair from the table over to the counter climbed onto the chair and then onto the counter with ease.
Rama grinned all her hard work was about to pay off her fingers now struggled to open one of the doors where the candy hid.
For some reason she couldn't get her fingers to open the door, they didn't seem to work and she was just about ready to let loose some of her frustration in a piercing scream when one nail caught in the right place and opened the door.
The scream died instantly as Rama gained her hard earned prize.
" Sana come when candy gone" she said repeating the words daddy had often said to her " Sana bring presen when candy gone."
She thought about that for a moment, she was tired of waiting for Santa and presents she wanted her presents NOW!
A light sparked in her eyes and she gave an almost fiendish giggle as she started her fingers working to open the other doors.
Mike entered the kitchen still half asleep, he woke almost instantly when he saw Rama her back to him up on the counter.
" Rama!" he yelled.
Rama startled by his call turned suddenly and lost her balance falling towards the floor. Mike dived to catch her before she hit the hard, unforgiving concrete catching her in time.
" You are not suppose to be up there Rama" Mike scolded as he stood her up.
" Sorry daddy" Rama turned.
Mike looked at his daughter bits of melted chocolate was all over her face and fingers. Mike got up off the floor and saw smudged chocolate prints all over the kitchen countertop.
" Oh, no, what a mess!" he groaned.
Rama licked her lips " Candy gone daddy. Sana come" she announced cheerfully.
" No way Rama. That isn't how it works. You have to have one candy a day. You have twelve big sleeps before Santa comes and that is IF you are a good girl."
" I good girl daddy" Rama protested.
" Eating all of that candy is NOT being good Rama. Making that big mess is also NOT being a good girl. I have to clean up that mess little mischief and I guess I better start with you." Mike decided, then he gave a small grin " But before I do clean you up I'm taking pictures to blackmail you with when you're older."
Mike was just thankful that the candies were small and probably wouldn't cause her to be sick.
What Mike didn't count on was what that amount of chocolate could do to an active child.
Rama was on a sugar high, the terror of parents everywhere.
By the end of the day a totally exhausted Mike collapsed on the couch.
" Cheer up Mikey she is getting into the Christmas spirit" Raph stated.
" Yeah, but I have come to the conclusion Rama gets no chocolate for Christmas."
Raph laughed " What's a matter she wear you out Mikey? Oh by the way while I was out today I bought her the biggest chocolate Santa I could find call it payback for that inane Christmas music you keep torturing us with" Raph teased.
" Raph you should be lucky she wore me out or you would be so dead!" Mike replied wearily.
TBC
Is Rama going deserve a visit from Santa or is she going be so bad she only gets coal in her stocking?
The second part will be posted around the week of December 14-20.