Chapter 23 - Ice Cream and Fairytales
"Raphael!"
The shriek came from the kitchen, where April and Mikey had promptly disappeared to as soon as they'd returned home. The racket caused the occupants of the living room to look over in shock. A moment later, the door opened.
"Out! Get out." April shoved a bewildered looking Raph through the door, into the living room. She then turned, and marched back into the kitchen.
Don looked over to his brother with amusement. "What'd you do?"
Raph glanced over to his brother, and grinned sheepishly. "Caught me with my finger in the icing."
Leo snorted in laughter at that, and Raph looked over defensively. "Well, you'd think she'd want my… culinary opinion."
This made Leo have to turn away, holding in a laugh.
"When did you become the food expert?" Don asked, a barely restrained grin on his face.
Raph made a face, walking further into the room. "Well… I eat a lot of it…" He said, then looked over at the rest of them, daring them to comment. "You'd think she'd just want to know what someone thought, jeez." He walked over to the couch and plopped down, staring at the TV, which meant 'conversation over'.
Don looked over at Leo and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
"Didn't want to stay in there, anyway." Raph mumbled, changing the channel. "About to use the food coloring. Might've ended up polka-dotted."
The rest of them managed not to laugh too hard, thus avoiding any unnecessary bruising. Leo went back to his book, and Don looked back to the clock he'd been trying to fix. Lindy babbled softly from her place on the floor, where she was playing with the ball she'd gotten after Raph discovered it hidden in the attic.
An uncommon, yet peaceful silence filled the room. Like most of these instances, it didn't last long.
"Ugh." Casey moaned from his place in the chair, where Lindy had begun pulling on his jeans. "C'mon kid. I'm tryin' to take a nap here." He leaned down and untangled her hand from his pant leg.
Don looked over, eye-ridge raised. Lindy crawled away again, and Don went back to his clock.
A frustrated sigh broke Leo out of his reading, and he looked over. Lindy had raised herself up, and was standing next to Casey, poking at a hole in his jeans with her finger.
"Kid, all I want's a little snooze." Casey said, moving her away from his chair. He looked over at Don. "Help me out here, huh?"
Leo's gaze went to Don, also. Don finally looked up at Casey.
"She won't leave me alone." Casey said, then looked back down at Lindy. "C'mon, let your Uncle Casey rest, will ya?"
Leo saw Don's brow go up at that.
"Right…" Don breathed, then spoke up. "She'll be fine. Just ignore her, and she'll let you alone."
Casey grumbled, but leaned back when Lindy crawled towards her ball again.
Leo looked over at Raph, and they shared a look, before he turned back to his book, and Raph to the TV.
"This kid doesn't know when to quit." Casey grumbled again suddenly, as Lindy began pushing the ball into his legs. He sat up. "Come on, kid, cut it out!"
"Please don't yell at my daughter." Don said finally, not looking up at them, keeping his eyes trained on his work.
"Right." Casey said under his breath. "She's not constantly pushing something into your legs while you're trying to take a nap."
"She wants you to play ball with her." Leo said, trying to sound helpful.
"Well, I don't want to play ball." Casey retorted.
"You don't have to." Don said, looking over at them. "Just like you don't have to take a nap down here. There are beds here, you know."
Leo looked from Don to Casey to Raph. Something had happened in the past few days, and he didn't know what. Raph caught his eye and, knowing the question, shrugged. Leo looked back to the others. Don and Casey had never been the best of friends, but at least they'd tolerated each other a little more, even joked around a few times. Strained jokes, but still, nothing like the tension that had filled the room now.
Casey held Don's eyes for another moment, then looked back down at Lindy. "C'mon kid, I'm not gonna play for long." He reached down and grabbed the ball, and bounced it on the ground, towards Lindy, who'd pulled herself up next to the couch.
What happened next was an accident, by all means, and Leo saw it coming as soon as the ball bounced up from the ground.
It bounced up, a little too high, and missed Lindy's outstretched arms, hitting her in the head, and knocking her down. A second later, her wails filled the room.
Leo looked to Casey, and the look on his face told him that it had, in fact, been a mistake.
Don was out of his chair in a flash. "That was too hard." He said, moving towards Lindy. "What's wrong with you?"
As Leo watched, the regretful look disappeared from Casey's face, as soon as Don's accusing words left his mouth. A hardened, stubborn look replaced it as Casey looked at Don.
Leo groaned inwardly. This could not end well. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo could see Raph sit up more, watching the exchange cautiously.
"What's wrong with me?" Casey countered. "All I wanted was to be left alone for a few minutes. She wanted to play ball, I tossed it at her."
"You didn't have to hit her." Don said, the gentle way he smoothed his hand comfortingly over the spot where Lindy had hit her head a stark contrast to his tone of voice.
"And I didn't mean to." Casey shot back. "But maybe my aim was a little off from lack of sleep."
Not much made Don angry quickly. But at that comment, he shot up from his crouched position faster than his brothers had ever seen.
Leo jumped up, putting a hand on his brother's plastron, stopping him from moving forward.
"Well, you wanna blame me." Casey said from where he stood behind Raph, who'd jumped up at the same time that Leo had. "I'm just giving you a reason, Don, since you don't wanna hear about it being an accident."
The door to the kitchen opened then, and Leo almost sighed in relief. April and Mike poked their heads out.
"What's going on?" Mike asked. April looked over at Don and Leo. Don sighed and Leo could see him visibly relax.
"Lindy fell, bumped her head." Don said, leaning back down to pick up Lindy, who was just sniffling now, and wiping her eyes.
"Well, bring her in here, and we'll see if we can't make her feel better." April said, giving the rest of them another look. Don walked past Casey and Raph, not looking over, and into the kitchen. April went back in, but Mike stayed out a bit longer. He looked over at Leo, who shook his head slightly. Mike rolled his eyes and disappeared back into the kitchen with the others.
Casey stayed where he was for a moment longer.
"Fine. I'll be upstairs." He said suddenly, then began walking up the steps. "I know there're beds here… Not an idiot…" Leo and Raph could hear him muttering as he disappeared from their view.
Raph looked over at Leo once Casey was gone. "What was that all about?" He asked.
Leo shrugged. "I… I'm not quite sure." He said.
Raph grimaced. "You have no idea what would make our normally overly-calm brother flip out over nothing…"
"I wouldn't say that was nothing." Leo said. "Well," He mused. "I know why Casey at least is acting weird… even for him." He looked over at Raph. "I caught him and April getting into it a bit last night… Or early this morning, however you wanna see it." He grinned grimly at Raph.
A moment of silence followed that statement while Raph mulled it over. "You don't think," He began, looking back over at Leo. "That the incident last night has anything to do with the incident today, do you?"
He asked the question carefully, and crossed his arms as he waited for Leo's response.
Leo was silent for a moment, brow furrowed. "I… I don't think so." He said finally, looking back over at Raph. "But, you know Casey and Donnie aren't the best of friends, to say the least. Maybe this whole day just… helped set him off."
"Maybe…" Raph said reluctantly. He shrugged, then turned back to the television.
Leo sat back down, also, grabbing his book. But he didn't read. He couldn't. Raph had planted a seed in his mind. On one hand, Casey had overreacted a bit. On the other, all Don had to do was pick Lindy up to get her away from him. His brother wouldn't really have let her bother Casey on purpose, would he? Leo shook his head, ridding his head of the thought.
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A few hours later, they were all joined around the table. Mike was looking longingly at the counter, where April was putting some final touches to the cake. Finally, she turned around, and brought it over to the table, beaming proudly.
"Finally!" Mike exclaimed, and it wasn't clear whether he was more excited to eat the cake, or for the others to see what he'd done decorating-wise on the cake.
"OK." April said happily. "Everybody ready?" She looked around the table, and then began singing 'Happy Birthday'. They all joined in, and Lindy looked around at all of them in confusion at first, and then began clapping. Don looked over to April as they sang and was surprised to see her eyes were glassy with tears.
After the song was over, and the candles "blown out" (which really consisted of Lindy blowing raspberries at the candle, while Don gently blew the candle out) they began dispensing the cake and ice cream. Casey excused himself to gather some wood for the fire, and the rest began filling their plates.
"April?" Don walked up to her as she scooped ice cream into a bowl.
"Yeah?" She said, looking up at him and smiling.
"Um…" He began. "Are you OK?" She frowned slightly and he continued. "I saw, I mean, while we were singing, it… it looked like you were upset."
She looked back down to her work. "It's nothing, Don."
"He didn't say any-…"
"It's nothing, OK?" She said briskly, still not looking back up at him. "It's just… today. There're so many emotions. It's nothing." She finally looked back up at him. "I'm fine, OK?"
He stopped. "OK." He said slowly. "Just… Just wanted to make sure…" He said, then walked away.
Leo looked up from where was eating, catching the end of the conversation, at least visually. He frowned as Don walked away.
Mike, oblivious to the exchange, had finally gotten Lindy to keep her party hat on, and was busily trying to get Raph to wear one. So far, it was not going well.
"Mikey, get outta here." Raph swatted his brother away. "I'm not gonna wear that stupid thing, so stop trying."
"Come on, Raph." Mikey pleaded, trying to follow Raph, who'd moved to the other side of the table.
"No." Raph said, moving whenever Mike did, keeping his brother parallel to him across the table.
Leo sighed as Raphael moved around him.
"Lindy'll love it." Mike said, switching to another tactic.
"Lindy's finding it humorous that you two are acting younger than her." Leo muttered, and Raph looked over at Lindy. She was giggling madly, watching them move around the table with a fistful of cake and icing smeared across her face. Raph quickly looked back at Mike, but his momentary distraction had cost him. Mike swiftly jumped up, vaulting himself over the table, and plopped the hat down on Raph's head before he even had a chance to move.
There was a moment of shocked silence, and Raph realized he'd been had. That lasted until Leo looked up and saw a surly looking Raph with a birthday hat on his head. The visual was too much, and he snorted In laughter, causing the rest of the room to look over at them.
Another moment of silence followed, then the room erupted into laughs. A light flashed, and Raph looked over to the source.
April held up the camera, her eyes dancing. "Now that is a keeper." She exclaimed.
Raph's eyes went wide, and he lunged for the camera. April quickly tossed it to Don, who snapped two pictures quickly, then tossed it to Mike.
Mike began snapping more pictures. "I cannot wait to get these developed." He said, keeping himself away from Raphael.
Raph's eyes narrowed, and he growled in frustration. Mikey's eyes widened, then he swiftly tossed the camera to Leo.
"OK, how do I get to be the last one to get it?" He asked jokingly, and even joined in on it, snapping more pictures before moving towards the door.
"You started it, bro." He said, throwing the camera back at Mikey, then opened the door. Mike caught the camera, and took the opportunity, running outside full-speed.
A moment after he'd gone out the door, another blur of green went flying outside. Leo promptly shut the door after them.
April sat down in the chair next to Lindy's highchair, holding her sides from the laughter. "Ok, it's tikes like these I wish I'd turned on the…" She cut off as Don silently pointed behind her. Both she and Leo turned, and saw the camera that had been set up on the counter to catch the singing and cake; it's red light flashing, signaling that it was on.
That sent another burst of laughter to come from the adults in the room, and Lindy watched them, a bewildered look on her face.
"We've gotta make copies." Leo gasped, laughing.
Don nodded. "Oh, as soon as he finds out, Raph'll destroy it first chance he gets."
A moment later, the door to the kitchen opened, and Casey walked in, his arms full of wood, covered in dirt and looking flustered. "What the…"
"Language." Don corrected automatically.
Casey glared at him a moment before looking back at the rest of them.
"What is going on?" He asked. "I was coming back from the barn when I was almost run over by two green bulldozers."
"Did you happen to notice a certain colorful cone-shaped item?" Leo asked wryly.
"Oh, so that's what Raph was trying to shove down Mike's throat…" Casey muttered.
Don looked out the window thoughtfully. "I wonder when they'll realize that it's about thirty degrees outside. Not to mention the wind-chill factor…"
"They will soon." Leo muttered. "Gonna get sick…"
Quiet laughter filled the air at that, and the all went back to their now almost soupy ice cream. Casey went to the living room to start the fire.
April looked over at Lindy and laughed. "I'm gonna take her to go get cleaned up." She said, and Don nodded. April picked Lindy up and took her to the living room, where she knew there were extra clothes in the laundry basket she'd set there earlier.
After April left, Leo looked over at Don. "Don?"
Don looked over at him. "Yeah?"
"Is there something going on?" Leo asked. "That I should know about."
Don looked back at his dish. "Not at all." He said. "Why?"
Leo licked his lips, watching his brother for a moment longer. "No reason." He sighed. "Never mind."
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Lindy giggled when April tickled her stomach as she changed her diaper. April swiftly finished, then put another, cake-free outfit on Lindy.
"Could've been nice." Casey muttered from his spot by the fireplace.
April looked over from where she was sitting on the floor.
Casey raised his eyebrows. "This." He gestured around them. "Me and you, a nice warm living room. A family."
She sighed. "Please don't Casey. Not now. Not today…"
"No time's ever good for you, you know that?" Casey said. "You lost the right to boss me around the day that you decided I wasn't good enough for you."
"I never said you weren't good enough."
"Well, you might not have said it, but you made it quite clear that I wasn't 'special' enough to you to…" He stopped, hearing the door open in the kitchen. He looked over at April once more, then looked back to the fire, putting another log in.
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Don and Leo were almost finished cleaning up when Raph and Mike stumbled into the kitchen, almost breathless. They stopped when they noticed Leo and Don staring at them.
"Little nippy out there?" Don asked dryly.
"No." Raph said defiantly, but Don could see him wipe an arm across his nose out of the corner of his eye.
Both of their cheeks were flushed. Leo grinned grimly. "Casey brought the wood in. You two go warm up by the fire."
Raph turned to leave, but Mikey looked over at the table.
"You guys cleaned?!" He asked despairingly. "And I still had half a bowl of ice cream…" Raph turned back and grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him into the living room.
Leo looked at Don, and shook his head, smiling. They both walked into the living room after them.
April looked over as they walked in and smiled. "Good!" She said. "Now we can get to the good part; the presents."
"Yay." Mike said, putting Lindy's arms up in the air.
"Me first." April said excitedly, standing up. Leo and Mike looked at each other and grinned knowingly.
"Stand up." April said, walking over to Don.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"Stand up." She repeated.
Don gave her a look, but stood. Mike stood also, bringing Lindy with him.
April led Don over to the window. "OK." She said. "Look outside."
"I don't know what you're…" Don began, but stopped as he saw what she pointed to. His jaw dropped.
There in the yard was a small swing set. Three swings and a slide. Don ogled it for a moment later, then turned back to them. "April…" He began.
"Don't even say I shouldn't have." She said. "Leo and Mike were in on it, too."
Don turned to his brothers. Mike was smiling widely and Leo was trying to hide his own burgeoning smile.
"You don't think April built that on her own, did you?" Mike said, the smile on his face growing larger, if that were possible.
April smacked him playfully. "I could have, you know."
Don smiled. "Well, thanks guys. She'll… she'll really enjoy that."
"So will we!" Mike burst out and everyone turned to him. "Um, well, that is…" He began. "Until she can." He looked around at them, smiling. "Uh, Raph, how 'bout you?" Mike said, looking at his brother.
Leo looked over at Raph, too. When April'd mentioned the swing set idea to them, Raph had declined, saying that he'd already gotten a gift. Now, he was curious to see what it was.
"Uh, OK." Raph shifted uncomfortably. "But it's nothin' as nice as the swing thingie." He reached back behind him and pulled out a box. "Here." He shoved it towards Don.
Don looked down at the box, and took off the top. He looked down into it, then stopped. He looked back up at his brother, who was looking down.
"Raph…" Don began. "These are…"
"I know they're not great." Raph broke in. "I tried to fix 'em…"
"That was my gift, by the way." Casey added in and Raph nodded. "Yeah." Raph said. "The supplies."
"What are they?" Mike, beyond his threshold of curiosity, peered over Don's shoulder. He reached down, grabbing something, and straightened, holding up a dark red book. "Cool." He flipped through some pages. "Fairy tales."
Raph frowned a bit. "Yeah, well, the library was gettin' rid of 'em, so I got a hold of them. Like I said, I tried to fix 'em, but I'm no good at that. That's you're thing, Don."
By then, everyone had gathered around to look at the books. April bent down to pick one up. They were obviously a collected set, and they looked expensive, like encyclopedias. A few corners and the spines were worn, but it seemed to add to their charm.
"Some of the stories are missing, too." Raph said, and Don looked up at his brother again. He'd never expected something like this from Raph. He wanted to tell his brother how great the gift was, but knew Raph was already uncomfortable with the attention, and decided to do it later.
Leo looked over at his brother. Raph was intently trying to ignore the attention. Leo shook his head slightly. His brother continued to amaze him…
"Thank you, Raph." Don said, and Raph nodded. Don could see the pleased look in his brother's eyes at his gift being a hit.
"There's some clothes and things, too." Leo broke in. "Some toys… Things she could use now."
"A stuffed bunny." Mike said, holding the toy out towards Lindy and shaking it. Lindy laughed
Don nodded. "Thanks guys." He said, then shook his head. "I don't know how I missed that in the yard this morning."
"You're losing it, bro." Mike said. "She's making you go soft." He joked, playfully punching his brother in the shoulder.
They laughed at that, and April stood. "OK, so who's up for seconds on ice cream?"
Mike was up in a flash. "I'm up for firsts!" He exclaimed, then quickly moved to the kitchen.
"Me too." Casey said, and was followed closely by Raph.
Don walked up to Leo after they'd all left and out a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Today wasn't so bad, was it?" He asked, and Leo looked over at him.
"I know." Leo said, a grin forming on his face. "You told me so…"
Don smiled. "I wasn't gonna say a thing." He said, then slung an arm over his brother's shoulder. "Let's get in there before Mikey eats all the ice cream."
Leo nodded. "Or we're gonna have to hear him complain about being sick all night. It's the lesser of two evils."
Don nodded back. "Oh yeah. We're helping the whole house here… It's our duty."
They laughed quietly, and began walking towards the kitchen. They stopped, however, when they heard a familiar hissing sound and a crash.
"Mikey!" They heard April shout. "Put the whipped cream down. NOW!"
"Um…" Don began.
"Maybe we'd better let them take care of it this time." Leo finished.
Don nodded. "TV?" He asked.
"TV." Leo agreed, and they went to the couch, making sure to turn up the volume loud enough to cover up the sounds from the kitchen.
To be continued…
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A/N - *Whew!!* One of my longer chapters, I believe… But, it all needed to be in there. And, I know, some stuff seemed… out of place here; reactions and things. Trust me. It's all there for a reason. ;)
Next chapter coming soon!