Chapter 8 - Delicious Thoughts

For the last few minutes, it was quite possible that anyone walking into Donatello's lab could have mistaken him for a statue. His feet were rooted into the exact place he had been standing when April had rushed from the room. Still at the foot of the exam bed where the redhead had sat, topless, only moments earlier. His mind racing through the events of the last several minutes.

Did that really just happen? No, she had been merely seeking his medical advice, and nothing more, the rational side of his brain argued. Although, the exam had been over and yet she sat there, still disrobed, and made no attempt to cover herself. She even commented on him looking at her breasts. Her beautiful breasts.

Being a hormonal, teenaged boy, Donatello had spent his fair share of time learning all about the female body through the internet. He had seen breasts of every shape and size and color, but somehow, April's petite, yet perfectly round peaks, cupped in her flowery pink bra had instantly won them all out. He had not been able to resist and she had caught him openly staring at them, and surprisingly enough, she didn't seem to mind.

His enjoyment of that particular part of her body made him feel so human. Reptiles did not produce milk for their young and therefore did not have mammary glands or breasts to contain them. That small scientific fact meant more to Don than it probably should, the mere notion that he was attracted to them was a reminder that even though his façade may say otherwise, part of him inside was indeed very much human.

A human-turtle hybrid that was very confused. What was happening between he and April? Where would things have gone had they not been startled? He literally had no idea. Up until recently he had been fairly positive that his feelings were one-sided. But lately, something felt different. The hugs lasted just a little longer, and she had been looking at him in a way that made his insides tremble with excitement. Whatever it was, Donnie was eager to learn more. And this recent turn of events seemed to fill him with a confidence he had been lacking.

The following afternoon April found herself sitting at her desk, typing a long-winded email to her aunt. Donnie had set up some extra security so that she could keep in contact with Susan, but not have to worry about giving away their location. Her aunt had been surprisingly calm and cool about April running away with a group of mutated turtles, but April knew she'd still be worried about her and made a promise to herself to write at least once a week.

She tried to keep the topics on her aunt. She asked about her cousin's wedding that was coming up and wondered if she still had plans to travel to Maine for the event. The whole thing felt strangely normal, but also made her a little homesick.

There was a light rap at the wall outside of her room. April called out for whoever it was to enter, and was not expecting to see Michelangelo pulling back the curtain.

"April! I've got a surprise for you!" The young man announced as he practically bounced into the room.

April clicked 'Send' and closed her laptop before looking up at his enthusiastic entrance.

"A surprise for me!?" She asked in an overly dramatic way. "Whatever could it be?"

"Well… I still feel really bad about using up all of your shampoo…"

April noticed the guilty look appear again beneath the orange mask and quickly cut him off.

"Mikey- it's fine. I totally overreacted about that. It was just one of those 'comforts from home' that I was trying to make last." She smiled at him for reassurance.

Mikey nodded in a sheepish look of understanding.

"And it's not like I can just run to the store to get more…"

"Neither can I," Mikey cut in. "Buuuuuuuuuut" He dragged out the word for emphasis. "I was talking to Murakami-san and he mentioned that he places an order online to be delivered every week and offered to add a couple items to his order."

Mikey reached behind his shell, tugging on an object that seemed to be tucked into the back of his belt. And with an exaggerated gesture, flipped something over his head, caught it in his other hand and then proudly displayed the bottle of April's favorite shampoo as if he were a game show host. "Ta-da!"

April beamed at the boy, the thoughtfulness and the presentation almost proving to be better than the gift itself.

"Mikey! You are too sweet!"

She took the bottle presented to her and clicked open the lid, taking in a deep whiff. "Mmmmmmm. Thank you."

"Oh that's not all." He added mysteriously. "I have something to show you."

He led them out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen, excitedly explaining along the way.

"…and then, Murakami-san said he got the feeling that we didn't have much experience with fresh food. Plus, I might have mentioned that you were tired of eating pizza and Ramen all the time. So he sent me home with all of this!"

Mikey's story quickly came to a conclusion as they reached the kitchen and April spotted the 4 large boxes of groceries piled on the cement slab and counter tops.

"It took me two trips just to get it all home!"

"Oh wow!" She was amazed at the sheer amount of groceries and wondered for half a second how long it would last in a home full of hungry boys.

"I don't even know what some of this stuff is!" Mikey said as he started pulling random items out of each bag. "Like this fuzzy thing- eeeeeew!"

Pulling his hand forward, so she could see what he was inspecting, April declared that it was a kiwi. This did not seem to put Michelangelo at ease and he shuddered as he laid it back on the counter.

She glanced in a few more of the boxes and noted that Mirakami had done a good job of providing a lot of the staples as well. Flour, sugar, oil, butter, pasta, rice and beans. The blind noodle shop owner had proven himself to be a true friend on many occasions, but this was a step beyond. She'd make sure to somehow pay him back one day.

"April- check this out!" Mikey handed over a large paper bag that had been folded and stapled shut with a note, simply labeled 'A' attached to the front.

Curious, she pulled off the note and flipped it over to read the printed message on the back.

'I figured you might need some of these supplies. I trust you know what to do with them! Enjoy. -M'

Opening the bag, April smiled in delight.

"What is it?" Mikey asked excitedly.

"We owe Murakami big time for this." She answered with a smile as she pulled from the bag measuring spoons, cups, baking papers, a muffin pan and a few other utensils that were most definitely missing from the kitchen.

Michelangelo's eyes lit up at the sight of the pan. "Oh man, is that for cupcakes?! Will you teach me how to make them?"

The boys excitement was contagious and gave April a great idea.

"Absolutely yes to the cupcakes, but let's make dinner for everyone too!" April announced.

"But I don't know what to do with half this stuff." Mikey pointed out.

"My Mom taught me how to cook when I was a little girl, which was fortunate since my Dad can be a bit absent-minded. If I didn't plan and do the cooking, more often than not we'd be eating cereal for dinner."

"What's wrong with cereal?" Mikey asked, acting astonished by such a silly statement.

Ignoring the remark, April shook her head and inspected the ingredients to plan a home-made meal for the boys.

Donatello was passing through the lair, on his way from the lab to his room, when he was distracted by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

Unable to resist investigating, Donnie peeked through the arch leading into the kitchen area. It was not uncommon to find his youngest brother experimenting with recipes, and finding new ways to combine sludge into something more edible. Rarely however, did these experiments result in such enticing scents, so he was not all that surprised when he realized Mikey was not alone.

The slender figure of his favorite redhead darted around his brother to grab something from the fridge before returning to a bowl she was mixing.

Donnie watched as Mikey turned to her with a spoon to taste something. Her pink lips parted as he brought the spoon up to her mouth for a sampling. She smiled in approval, patting the young man on the back of his shell. He watched as the two worked side by side, happily chatting away about something he couldn't hear. Whatever Mikey was going on about was obviously funny, as April was giggling so much that her eyes were watering. She seemed to be simultaneously helping Mikey with whatever he had going on the stove, while also showing him how to measure the dry ingredients she was adding to her bowl.

Donnie had to take a moment to appreciate just how lucky his family was to have found April. Sure, they may have saved her that night from the Kraang, but he knew that she had brought a spark of life and a connection to the world above them, that his family had so desperately needed.

She had made quite the impact on their little family; She stepped right into the role of big sister for most of them, something they hadn't even realized they were missing. And she helped to fill the hole in Splinter's heart still left behind from his departed daughter, Miwa.

For Donnie, though, it was so much more. She was the first person that he had ever really bonded with. He had always felt like he didn't quite fit in with his family. He wasn't as strong as Raph or as athletic as Mikey or as determined as Leo. He enjoyed being a ninja and training with his brothers, but he always saw it as more of a hobby and not a way of life. He was an intellectual and would much rather spend his time building a new contraption or inventing the next gadget, something that always made him feel like an outcast; until he met April.

The two had immediately bonded over their shared love of science. Her father was a scientist and the things his brothers teased Donnie about were the exact things that made her feel right at home. It was a common place for her to join him in his lab and play the part of his assistant. I mean, who else would have ever helped him to analyze sewage?

He could talk about theories and proofs and the latest discovery and instead of being greeted with eye rolls, she would volley with her own theories and pointers. She may not be quite at the genius level he was at, but she could hold her own in a scientific debate. It was the type of relationship he had been dying for all of his life and to make it all the sweeter, it just so happened to come packaged up in the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he had fallen instantly in love with her.

He watched as that beauty laughed and worked alongside his brother. Seeming to all the world that she fit right into their make-shift kitchen in some dank corner of the New York sewer system. Never seeming the least bit put off by the fact that his family was anything but average.

At that moment, Mikey must have said something rather hilarious, as he watched April erupt with laughter, playfully pushing back against Mike's plastron as though she needed the room to breath. It was such a small innocent gesture, something that appeared to come so easily to most humans. But the fact of that matter, was that Don and his family weren't used to physical contact from outsiders. To have someone so normal, so different from them brush against them and not recoil in horror was something they never thought would happen.

Raph had made a statement once when they had been younger; while watching some romantic-comedy that Mikey had found on television that night. Mikey had commented on how he couldn't wait to have his first kiss, and Raph had scoffed at him, stating that there'd never be a woman who would be able to touch them without being disgusted and that he'd probably be waiting forever. It was one of the things that drove Donnie's self-doubt when it came to the possibility of April ever being able to get close to him. But then he remembered how she had lightly pecked him on the cheek and suddenly his odds didn't seem so bad. He reached up and brushed over the exact spot where her lips had touched his skin and smiled to himself before joining his brother in the kitchen.

"Donnie!" Mikey exclaimed and April turned to smile.

"Where'd you get all this food?" Donnie asked, smiling back in her direction.

"That's classified information!" Mikey spoke using his best authoritative voice, bringing out another giggle from April. Which of course got her to join in on the fun.

"You best learn to stop asking questions, Son." She said, using what she felt was her best 'Sheriff' impression. This of course caused Mikey to roar with laughter and made Donnie wonder if there happened to be any alcohol in this mysterious care package.

"Seriously though," April wiped away a joyful tear in her eye as she retained her cool. "We were trying to surprise you guys with dinner, and it's not quite done yet."

"Oh don't worry, I'm still plenty surprised." Donnie remarked. "Can I help set the table or something?"

"Sure! That'd be great!" April beamed.

Don gathered their mis-matched and chipped dinnerware from the cupboard and took it over to the "table". He looked up to see April demonstrating to Mikey how much batter to place in each cupcake paper. She placed the pan into the oven and turned to wave Donnie over in their direction.

When he joined them, April handed over the dirty spatula from the cupcake batter, and gave Mikey the bowl.

"You both helped with dinner, so it's only fair you get to help with this part." She said, to the two perplexed boys.

"Doing the dishes? Gee thanks." Mikey huffed and Donnie glanced sideways at him and then back to April wondering what the joke was.

"No silly, licking the bowls clean." As a matter of demonstration, she reached into the mixing bowl Mikey was holding, ran her slender finger up one side, collecting a dollop of batter and popped it into her mouth.

The boys' eyes lit up and they both took a large lick of the chocolate batter still clinging to the kitchen utensils.

"Man! I can't believe I was trying to make cake out of algae - even before it's done cooking this is way better!" Mikey exclaimed, as he ran his finger back around the bowl for another pass.

"Wait, did you say algae?" April asked.

"You don't want to know." Don shook his head smiling.

Raphael, Leonardo and Splinter had been pleasantly surprised as Mikey had come to collect them for dinner and found the homemade feast waiting for them of spaghetti and meat sauce, crusty garlic bread and a fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella bruschetta. April didn't really know that many recipes off the top of her head, and figured Italian was a safe bet, due of the boy's fondness for pizza. On the side was a small fruit salad, to make sure that none of the ripe fruit went to waste.

The meal was a hit and Mikey received many compliments for the sauce he had concocted. His cheeks blushed brilliantly as April insisted she just gave him a list of ingredients, but had encouraged him to add things to his liking.

"I gotta say little bro, this is the best meal you've ever served." Raph slapped his brother on the back of his shell in approval.

"I don't think I've ever had bread like this before, this is amazing!" Leonardo commented while reaching for another slice.

April beamed as she watched the happy family enjoying their meal, laughing and carrying on. She had managed to seat herself beside her favorite purple-clad brother. Somehow just being near him brought back the warm happy tingling sensation from before and it excited her in a way that was completely new. She couldn't stop herself from sneaking glances of him between bites.

He seemed quiet and lost in thought as he pushed around the fruit on his plate.

"Have you had kiwi before?" April asked as she noticed Donnie poking at the green slices, speckled with black seeds.

Don shook his head. "We don't exactly have access to fresh produce down here, if it doesn't come in a can, we've probably never eaten it."

"Well, you have to at least taste it."

April picked up a smaller slice from her own plate, leaning over and offering the fruit. Without hesitation, Donnie opened his mouth, allowing her to place the slice right on his tongue, her fingertips barely grazing across his lips in the process. The ghost of a touch across the tender skin caused a pleasant shiver to run up his spine. She picked up another slice, popping it in her own mouth, before licking the sour juice from her finger tip.

Raph made a loud throat clearing noise beside him while simultaneously elbowing Don in the ribs. Realizing he had been frozen in place, his mouth still parted, watching April's delicate hands instead of actually tasting the fruit she had just shared with him. He turned to give Raph a quick side-glare while chewing the strange, new food.

"Mmm. It's tart!" He commented, scooping up another mouthful and nodding in approval, while staring down at his plate to hide his red cheeks.

Raph watched the painfully awkward scene play out beside him, while his other two brother's seemed unaware as they carried on a rather loud and animated story with their father. Something odd had just happened between Don and April and he wasn't really sure what to make of it. But decided it was better to butt in before it got any worse.

He leaned across his brother's place, forcing him to lean back a little, he wanted to make sure the others couldn't hear him.

"Hey Red. Did you have Don check you out?"

"What!?" April asked, the meaning of his statement lost to her at first.

"Did he say you were ready to train again?" Raph explained, raising an eyebrow at her confusion.

Just Raph bringing up the topic oh her shirtless exam, was enough to embarrass the young girl. She felt as if by talking about it, Raph would somehow find out more than he should. April tried to hide her mortified expression and Don seemed to be having just as hard a time retaining his cool, choking on a piece of kiwi and coughing between them.

Raph squinted in suspicion as he eyed the two.

"I'm all clear." She finally managed to get out.

"Great - you wanna meet up tonight? Same time as usual?" He asked.

"Sounds good." She nodded before excusing herself from the table.

She motioned to Mikey to follow her and as soon as the youngest caught on he lept up to stand in his chair and shouted, "And in case this wasn't enough, we made dessert too–cupcakes!"

The room filled with cheers.

As dessert wound down, Leo and somewhat reluctantly Raph, offered to clean up after the meal and set to work washing dishes. April had just finished placing the small amount of leftovers in the fridge when master Splinter approached her.

"I want to thank you for that wonderful meal. I can't remember the last time we've all eaten so well." He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and bowed his head.

Returning his bow, April responded. "You are very welcome Sensei. It's the least I can do, I owe you all so much."

"Nonsense my dear. You have brought so much to this family, you owe us nothing. If anything we should thank you for teaching Michelangelo some cooking skills!" The old rat patted her shoulder before walking away, chuckling to himself.

Raph paced back and forth in the small dimly lit makeshift-dojo that he and April had set up. He really had missed their practices and was looking forward to their first session back. He picked up some stray crumpled newspaper that had blown into the room and tidied up the area as he wondered what was keeping her.

In the distance, he picked up on April's voice, but couldn't tell what she was saying. A minute later she was jogging into the room. "Sorry I'm a little late."

"Were you calling to me?" He asked, gesturing out into the tunnel she had come from.

"Oh, no. I ran into Donnie on my way out and of course he had to remind me to take it easy." She rolled her eyes a bit at the statement, but the smile didn't leave her face.

Raph was surprised that Don hadn't walked her in here and insisted on watching things. Just the thought of it really irked him and he couldn't stop himself from speaking up.

"I know this is none of my damn business, but you really need to hurry up and let him down."

"Let him down?" She asked, honestly confused as to what he was meaning.

"Donnie's crazy about you and he's going to keep following you around like a puppy dog until you tell him otherwise. It's just going to get worse the longer you wait."

"He's crazy about me?" Her voice was quiet as the shock from Raph's blunt statement hit her. "How do you know?" As much as she wanted the statement to be true, she really needed to be sure.

"C'mon Red, he acts like an idiot around ya. You trying to tell me you didn't notice?"

"Well, I wasn't sure…" She mumbles, her heart speeding up at the prospect. "… I just,… doesn't he act that way around all girls?"

"No… well, I mean… honestly, you're the only girl any of us are ever around, but trust me when I say, it's all you."

April was taken aback by this news. She had spent the last few days wondering if the way Donnie was acting around her was all in her head. And she had gotten damn good at convincing herself, so to hear this now was a bit of a shock. A wonderful shock that brought back that warmness from before. Her heart was still racing and she couldn't think of what to do or say and finally settled on just sitting down.

"April?" Raph asked the redhead as she stepped back silently and slunk down the wall to a sitting position. "Hey look, I didn't mean to upset you. I just think the sooner you tell him you aren't interested, the better he'll take it."

Raph crouched down in front of April just as she shot up to look at him. "Aren't interested?"

That was when Raph noticed the flush on her cheeks and the nervousness she was trying to hide. Suddenly the new vibe he had been picking up on made sense. "You like him too." It was a statement, not a question, suddenly it was so obvious.

"I… I don't know…" She wasn't really sure how to voice what she was thinking or how much of it she was ready to share with Raphael.

He stood back up, a decided look on his face and quietly replied, a tone of bitterness on his tongue, "It's the mutant-thing, isn't it?"

"What?"

"You don't want to admit that you might have feelings for a mutant turtle right?" His tone was more hurt sounding than angry.

"No! That's not it at all!" April surprised herself with her angry reply. It seemed unfair that Raph would instantly declare her to be so shallow. "You guys are like a second family to me– do you honestly think I care that you're part-turtle?!"

April had stood back up to level her eyes more with Raph and he took a step back from the intensity he could see swimming in their cerulean sea. How could he have been so wrong?

"M'Sorry." He replied softly, not losing her gaze. He hesitated for a moment before adding. "So what's holding you back?"

He watched her eyes soften before she glanced down and shrugged. "I dunno know."

Raph nodded silently, not really knowing what to say to that. He had really stepped into something he hadn't meant to. What the hell kind of relationship advice could he possibly have to give. He had just been trying to help make it easier for Donnie to get over her, not help them get together. He let out a low sigh.

"You know Red, I think I'm just going to call it a night."

She looked up at him obviously disappointed, but didn't attempt to argue.

"G'Night."

"Goodnight Raph." She mumbled quietly as she watched him disappear into the dark tunnel.

End Chapter 8 - Delicious Thoughts

A/N - Oh man, I'm sorry this update took so long. October is always a busy month for me! I've got Halloween parties, zombie crawls and the homemade turtle shell we're constructing for my 4-yr old's costume! :)

Anyways, I just want to take a moment to thank all you for reading and for the lovely reviews! I posted my last chapter hoping to break 100 reviews and now I'm up to 118! Seriously, you guys are the best! I cannot express how happy it makes me to hear what you like, take in critiques and learn how to improve.

Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! I think these two are finally starting to figure things out…

Don't stop reviewing now! And have a Happy Halloween!