At Franklin's home, Mr. Turtle was at the garden with Harriet while Mrs. Turtle collected some mail.
"Hey, Mrs. Turtle." Mo greeted.
"Oh, hello there, dear," Mrs. Turtle smiled. "It's so nice to see you again."
"I'll say," Mo smiled back. "Ooh, it's mail time."
"Mail time, Cherry." Atticus smirked.
Cherry fluttered her lips and rolled her eyes.
"I bet you can guess who this is from?" Mrs. Turtle smiled to her husband as she held out a certain letter.
"No one else quite decorates their envelopes like this." Mr. Turtle smiled back as he saw the pyramids of Egypt with a hieroglyphic included.
"From Franklin's aunt, Lucy?" Mo asked.
"Why... Yes..." Mrs. Turtle said, a bit surprised that she knew that.
"Aunt Lucy!" Harriet beamed.
"Yes, Daddy's little sister." Mrs. Turtle said to her.
"She little like me...?" Harriet tilted her head.
"No, Aunt Lucy's all grown up, she's just younger than Daddy." Mrs. Turtle explained as she looked at the letter with her husband.
"She's right, when an adult calls their younger sibling 'little brother or little sister', they mean that they're older than the other." Mo explained.
"Ooh..." Harriet said as she felt amazed.
"So, what does it say, Mr. Turtle?" Gloriosa asked.
"It says... She's coming for a visit!" Mr. Turtle smiled. "But... It doesn't say when, and there's no return address either, and no stamp, but I guess she's here now if you guys know about her."
"Actually we know her because Franklin told us about her." Junior told him.
"Speaking of which, where is Franklin?" Cherry asked. "Are turtles really that slow?"
Franklin soon rushed with Snail as if on cue and was freaked out. He tried to open the fence, but it was stuck, so he jumped over it instead and ran to his parents.
"Right on cue." Timber said.
"Mom! Dad!" Franklin gasped and panted.
"Franklin okay?" Harriet frowned to her big brother.
"You look like you saw a ghost." Mrs. Turtle added.
"Not a ghost, a monster!" Snail shivered while sticking on Franklin's shell.
"Franklin, Snail, it wasn't a monster; it was just someone named Sam." Junior told them.
"Speaking of which..." Mr. Turtle hid a small smirk and walked off to the front of their home. "Follow me, everyone!"
The others looked curious and followed them to find a female turtle in a vest with a fedora as she smirked while leaning against the mailbox.
"I thought we might find you here." Mr. Turtle smirked to his sister.
"Took you long enough to figure it out, Big Brother." Lucy smirked back.
"Aunt Lucy!" Franklin beamed.
"Argh, if it isn't Captain Franklin?" Lucy smiled to her nephew before looking to see the little turtle girl hiding behind her parents shyly. "And you must be little Harriet."
Harriet soon giggled and ran up to her aunt, jumping into her arms for a hug.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Mo smiled.
"Hello there," Lucy smiled back as she carried Harriet. "Friends?"
"More or less, yeah." Cherry shrugged.
"And we kinda had a run in with a turtle named Sam and she was kinda mean when she scared us." Junior told Lucy.
"Sam, huh?" Lucy replied. "Sounds like you just met my goddaughter."
"Your goddaughter's a monster?" Snail asked.
"She's not a monster, she was just scaring us because she thought it was funny." Mo told him.
"When can we meet her?" Mrs. Turtle asked.
"Tonight," Lucy smiled. "I dropped by Mom's on the way over, and she insisted on having a welcome party for me, you interested?" she then asked her niece and nephew with a small smirk.
Junior already knew what Harriet and Franklin's answer would be. The siblings cheered in excitement as that sounded like a great idea.
"I think that means yes." Mr. Turtle chuckled.
"Oh, good," Lucy smiled before checking her watch. "Well, I better be off. I still need to unpack, see you tonight! 7:00 sharp!"
"We'll see you tonight, ma'am." Gloriosa said.
"See you then." Lucy smiled as she walked off and whistled.
"Well, she hasn't changed." Mrs. Turtle smirked.
"Nope, still full of surprises." Mr. Turtle smiled.
"I think she's neat." Franklin smiled about his aunt.
"Same here." Junior added.
"Well, I guess I better get home now." Snail suggested since this was a family dinner.
"Do you need help getting there?" Mo asked.
"Well, Franklin usually takes me home, but if you don't mind coming along..." Snail smiled.
"I don't," Mo smiled back. "We'll get you there in no time."
"That's right." Cherry nodded.
Snail smiled to them as they were quite friendly. Franklin soon went inside with his family to put on his usual clothes to get ready to visit his Granny later tonight.
"So, Snail, how long have you known Franklin and the others?" Mo asked.
"Aw, gee, quite a long time," Snail replied. "I first met Franklin a couple of summers ago when my family moved into Woodland."
"Aw." Mo smiled.
"I don't think anyone's known Franklin as long as Bear and Otter though." Snail then said with a smile back.
"Maybe you could ask him sometime." Mo shrugged.
They soon came to a very small house deep in the forest, but not in the spooky part where the kids weren't allowed into.
"This is it, right here." Snail told the others.
Mo then knelt down by the tiny house and put her hands out so Snail could slither out and get home.
"You have a nice home." Atticus smiled.
"Oh, thank you," Snail smiled back. "I'd invite you guys in, but... It's a bit too small."
"We understand." Patch said.
"Say hi to Franklin's family for me." Snail smiled.
"Will do." Timber smiled back.
Snail then slithered inside of his home and the others then went to go back to Franklin's house as they were getting ready for tonight.
Once they got inside, they were ready.
"I hope there's probably Shoo Fly Pie." Franklin smiled.
"Flies...?" Cherry asked, uneasily.
"Uh-huh!" Franklin smiled. "It's great!"
"Um, okay." Cherry replied.
Eventually, it was time, and they took a walk, but not too far as they went to a house where an elderly turtle lived alone.
"Hello, hello." Granny smiled before the door was opened once she saw her family.
"Hello, ma'am." Mo smiled back.
"I saw you coming." Granny smiled to her, remembering her from before as well.
"Our extended family's here, I hope that's okay." Mo told the elderly turtle.
"It's fine." Granny reassured.
Mo smiled as she had a feeling she would be alright with this.
"How are ya, Mom?" Mr. Turtle smiled.
"Same as always," Granny smiled back as she took off her apron. "But isn't it wonderful that your sister's visiting?"
"Aunt Lucy?" Franklin asked. "Is she here?"
"In the backyard." Granny smiled.
"Then let's go see her." Cherry said.
They soon followed Franklin into the backyard and saw a grill cooking with his aunt and Sam from earlier.
"Hi, Aunt Lucy!" Franklin beamed.
"Franklin, you're just in time," Lucy smiled. "The corn's just about done."
"Mm..." Patch smiled back, hungrily.
Sam coughed from the smoke and Lucy soon cleared it away from her and Franklin found himself staring at the turtle girl.
"Mm... Something smells good..." Mrs. Turtle smiled until she saw the girl. "Oh, hello."
"Everyone, this is my goddaughter, Samantha." Lucy introduced.
"Yeah, we've met." Mo said.
"She's been traveling with me this summer." Lucy continued.
"Hello, Monster." Cherry whispered.
"Hello, Samantha." Mr. Turtle smiled.
"Hi, but please, call me Sam." The turtle girl replied.
"What a coincidence," Mrs. Turtle smiled. "That's the name of your stuffed toy, Franklin!"
"Oh, boy..." Junior whispered, having a bad feeling Sam might start teasing.
"Mom!" Franklin complained.
"That's okay," Sam smirked and crossed her arms. "Most little kids I know have dolls."
"And here comes the teasing." Junior sighed.
"Hey, I'm just being honest." Sam replied.
"Well, I'm not a little kid!" Franklin frowned.
"You are, you're younger than me," Sam smirked. "That's what your aunt said."
"Leave Franklin alone!" Junior told Sam.
"JJ..." Mo frowned a bit.
"Hey, you don't have to be like that." Sam defended.
Junior glared as he didn't know how or why Sam was Lucy's goddaughter, but she wasn't a very nice turtle.
"That was Sam playing 'Monster' this morning," Lucy smiled to the others. "I'm afraid she's a bit of a mischief maker."
"A bit?" Cherry deadpanned.
"It was just a joke, you didn't have to get so scared." Sam shrugged innocently.
"You jumped out wearing a mask while in the dark, how could we not be scared?" Junior asked.
"I wasn't scared." Franklin defended.
"Heh... Could've fooled me." Sam smirked.
Cherry turned to the others with a small smirk. "My dad knows a friend with a recipe for turtle soup."
"Don't you dare." Atticus told her.
"Who's ready?" Granny changed the subject. "Who wants to serve?"
"I'll take care of that, Mom." Mr. Turtle offered.
"Yes, you go sit down," Lucy added. "Come on, Sam, give us a hand."
'I'm having mixed feelings about her.' Mo thought to herself about Sam.
Sam stuck her tongue out to the others as she went inside with Lucy.
"I told Aunt Lucy to set up my old phonograph outside, Franklin," Granny smiled to cheer up her grandson. "Feel like cutting a rug?"
"Can we dance to your favorite song?" Franklin smiled back.
"It's on the turntable." Granny smiled before hugging him.
"Great." Junior smiled back.
"Come on, you all, dinner's getting cold!" Mrs. Turtle called out.
"Okay, Mom!" Franklin called back as he soon left with his grandmother and the others.
"I can't wait to eat." Mo smiled.
They soon all sat down and ate corn on the cob with some hot dogs and fruit with glasses of lemonade. Mo couldn't help but stare at her hot dog since she couldn't eat meat the same way again sometimes.
"Is something wrong, Mo?" Granny asked.
"Oh... Uh... I'm sorry, I just... I don't really eat hot dogs." Mo said.
"More for me." Cherry said, taking her hot dog and ate it in front of her.
Mo soon gulped from that as that kind of made her a bit sick.
"Mm... Hot dog~..." Cherry smirked.
"Cherry, you can be so inconsiderate sometimes..." Atticus sighed.
"Am not." Cherry pouted.
"Oh, really?" Gloriosa asked as she saw her little sister looked sick after seeing Cherry eating the hot dog.
"She's fine." Cherry said.
"Excuse me." Mo said before standing up and walking away.
"Cherry, you know that Mo is a vegetarian now." Atticus reminded her.
Mo soon took a moment alone and came back and they finished up dinner.
"Are you alright, dear?" Granny asked Mo.
"Yes, I'll be okay now..." Mo said.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a vegetarian." Lucy said to her.
"No, it's alright; I should have told you earlier." Mo frowned.
"Still a good dinner," Cherry said. "Thanks for having us."
"Oh, Franklin, I almost forgot, this is for you." Lucy smiled as she held out a box for her nephew.
"Thank you, Aunt Lucy." Franklin smiled back and soon opened the box to see that it was a musical recorder.
"Ooh." Junior smiled.
Franklin soon began to play the recorder peacefully. The others smiled to the song as it sounded very wonderful and they clapped when he finished.
"Thanks for the recorder, Aunt Lucy," Franklin smiled. "Where did you get it?"
"It was made by a friend of mine," Lucy smiled back. "A sweet old panda from China."
Mo could tell that this friend of Lucy's was as sweet as she sounded.
"So, where you off to next, Sis?" Mr. Turtle asked his sister.
"Egypt, to search for a mysterious long-lost tomb." Lucy said as Harriet soon tugged on her grandmother's shawl.
Granny soon looked down to see Harriet and carried her.
"I can't wait to get started~" Lucy beamed.
"You sure love your adventures." Mo smiled at Lucy.
"They're very special, I just love my job." Lucy smiled back.
"Did she tell you that she's leaving in ten days?" Granny asked the others.
"There's lots to do before I set sail," Lucy said. "And I have to get Sam back home before school starts."
"Goody." Cherry said.
"Oh... It's just, we don't get to see you very often..." Granny said to her daughter. "I'm not getting any younger, you know."
This made most of the others frown, but Harriet was oblivious since she was a toddler.
"Oh, you'll probably outlive us all." Lucy smiled encouragingly and patted her hand.
"Maybe." Mo said.
"True, I'm not gallivanting all over the world, getting into mischief." Granny smirked.
This made the others laugh.
"Still, it's lovely having the whole family together, isn't it?" Granny smiled as she hugged Harriet.
"Oh, that reminds me." Mrs. Turtle smiled as she brought out a photo album from her bag.
"Ooh." Junior smiled as he saw the photo album.
Mrs. Turtle smiled and cracked open the book for all to see. "And here we are, a picture of Baby Franklin with his Aunt Lucy."
Franklin was shown as a baby with Lucy behind him, putting her fedora on him.
"Aww, he's so cute~" Sam cooed.
"Yeah, well, at least I don't look like a monster." Franklin glared to her.
"Let's let bygones be bygones." Mo told Franklin and Sam.
"She started it." Franklin huffed before slamming the recorder down on the table and stormed off.
"I'm sorry," Sam frowned to the others. "I didn't mean to-"
"We know," Lucy said. "I'll see what I can do to cheer up Mr. Grumpy."
Lucy soon went to talk with Franklin. Sam simply pouted at the table. Cherry just glared.
"You gonna be okay, Cherry?" Patch asked.
"She's worse than Cera." Cherry grumbled.
"No argument here, but she's slightly different from Cera." Mo said.
"Who's Cera?" Sam asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know, you dinosaur?" Cherry glared.
"Hey, I'm just a kid." Sam defended.
"Let's just say Cera's kinda like you, except she's a little more aggressive." Mo told Sam.
"Yes!" Cherry replied.
Sam simply pouted.
"You better say you're sorry to Franklin when he comes back, Miss Busybody!" Cherry snapped.
"Okay, that's it." Mo said before dragging Cherry out.
"Lemme at her! Lemme at her!" Cherry called out, reaching out for the turtle girl. "I'm gonna make Master Splinter work her to the bone!"
Mo and Cherry were soon outside where none of the Turtle family members would hear them. Franklin sat alone until his aunt came to join him.
"Calm down, will you?" Mo said to Cherry. "Sheesh! I've never seen you this tense over a bully before."
"Well, since she's Lucy's goddaughter that makes her related to Franklin, and where it's one to tease a family member, but scare him or her and thinks it's funny, that is just taking it too far." Cherry told her.
"I know, but you can't let her get to you..." Mo said. "Maybe she'll warm up a little."
"Hm..." Cherry hummed about that, but shrugged.
There was soon a special song being played back with the Turtles.
"What's that song?" Mo asked.
"I guess we should find out." Cherry shrugged.
They soon came back and Franklin and Lucy seemed to do the same. Franklin smiled to his grandmother as he began to dance with her and his parents.
"Looks like Franklin cheered up." Mo smiled.
"Momo, can we go to Miss Lucy's place tomorrow after breakfast?" Junior asked. "She invited us over after talking with Franklin."
"Sure we can, JJ." Mo smiled.
"Yay!" Junior cheered which made Mo, Gloriosa, and Timber smile for his happiness.
Sam soon tried to dance along with the others, but it wasn't very good. Harriet had fallen asleep on the porch swing while everyone else danced to the old music. Mo couldn't help, but awe at how cute Harriet looked sleeping.
"Now pick your partner!" Mr. Turtle called.
Franklin ran to someone, but ended up in front of Sam. Sam soon gave him a friendly smile and held out her hands, but he just shut her down.
"Come on, Franklin; give Sam a chance." Mo told him.
Franklin shook his head and soon danced with his sleeping sister.
"Ah... Dances..." Cherry sighed as she sat at the table and had some leftover cake.
Mo sighed before looking at Sam with a friendly smile. Sam pouted as she soon sat down at the table with Cherry, but looked up at Mo. Even the fireflies in the lantern seemed to be dancing together as they provided light for the night. Sam soon saw Mo offering her to be her dance partner. Mo smiled politely and nicely to the turtle girl. Sam soon smiled back and danced with Mo and the two of them soon had fun.
"You remind me a lot of myself." Mo said to the young turtle girl.
"I do?" Sam smiled.
"You know, Sam, Franklin may be younger than you, but you can be friends." Mo suggested.
Sam frowned as she was unsure about that.
"Think about it, okay?" Mo asked her. "What do you really want out of this summer?"
"Well... To be honest, I've always wanted to go on an adventure." Sam said to her.
"Well, you just might get an adventure." Mo smiled.
"If you say so..." Sam sighed as she felt like that was unlikely.
Eventually, it was very late which meant that it was time for bed.
"Alright, it's time for bed." Mo said.
"Aww..." Junior pouted.
"Come on, kiddo, I'll carry you." Gloriosa smiled.
Junior smiled back to her and came into her arms so she could carry him.
"Uh, where do we sleep though?" Cherry asked.
"Last time when I was here with Rosie, we stayed with Franklin and his family." Junior told her.
"So, I guess that's where we'll be sleeping?" Cherry guessed.
"Why not?" Junior replied.
"Well... At least one turtle won't be there." Cherry muttered, referring to Sam who would stay with Lucy obviously.
"That's right." Junior said.
They soon followed the family home.
'This will be a peaceful night.' Mo thought to herself.
"Of course you can stay with us." Mrs. Turtle smiled.
"Thanks, Mrs. Turtle," Mo smiled back. "This means a lot to us."
"Yeah, it really does." Atticus added.
"I suppose." Cherry shrugged.
Everyone was given either the couch or a guest bed and soon went to get some sleep after a pretty big day, and where the adventure would soon start.