Chapter 9

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-

Kristiana

As soon as I woke up I stretched a little without meaning to, feeling the warm body move and grumble beside me. I looked up from the chest I was laying on, seeing Mikey's eyes open to slits, the tired blue orbs looking down at me.

"Hey" I managed to croak out, smiling a little as I gave him a small squeeze with the arm that was still draped over his waist.

"Hey" He responded in the same sleep clogged tone, returning the pressure with the arm that was around my shoulders.

"Sorry for waking you" I mumbled, cuddling into his side and just enjoying the warmth. I wondered if I'd be able to fall back asleep, feeling so nice and warm...

"It's cool babe. I was kinda half awake anyway" He responded, and I felt his lips on my forehead.

I moved my head up to look at him, finding our faces were so very close...

His lips were soon touching mine, and I responded in turn, both of us waking up a little more now.

I gasped a little when his other hand now wandered, landing on my thigh, just at the hem of my nightie.

"Mikey... it's..." I tried to say, getting lost in another playful kiss.

"I know... but... I want to..." He never got to finish, instead moving to straddle my hips, sending hot kisses down my neck. I was starting to wonder if I really wanted him to stop...

I felt him start to undress me a little, giving in to it finally. Even after all these years... my turtle boy knew how to get to me...

BAM!

A sound at our door made us both jump a little, looking at one another. Then... the handle started to turn...

"Um..." Mikey looked at a loss as to what to do, both of us breathing a sigh of relief when the door clicked, signalling that it was locked.

"Good thing I remembered" I half whispered to him, just before we heard,

"Mooooooom! Daaaaaad!"

I couldn't help but giggle, seeing Mikey shake his head a little as he moved off me, half laying beside me as he propped himself up with an elbow.

"Maybe tonight" I told him, tapping his cheek a little and watching him roll his eyes, just before we heard the little voice repeat its low whine.

I fixed myself up, making sure we were both presentable, before using my powers to unlock our bedroom door, a small but cheerful figure almost crashing through it.

"Momdad!" She almost screeched, jumping onto the bed and almost crash tackling us.

"Urgh! What?" I returned the half hug she was giving me, seeing her move to look up at me with those bright blue eyes.

"We gotta go! Santa's been here!"

I shared a look with Mikey, who was now grinning madly. He was never sad for too long, and the sight of his little seven year old princess just seemed to brighten his mood, no matter what she was doing. Unless she was sick... then he would worry more than me.

"Well, what are you waitin for little girl, let's go see what he left!" Instantly Mikey was up, sweeping Cassie in his arms and the two of them disappearing out the door, Cassie squealing happily.

I heard them thundering towards the living room as I moved to plant my legs on the ground, grabbing my dressing gown and throwing it over my shoulders as I stood up. I could hear Mikey doing his giggle, and Cassie saying something to him.

Christmas day was usually like this, only... this time there was going to be one change.

This time? We'd be going on a big family holiday.

There was a ski resort a few hours from us, and all of the families would be going this time. Usually we'd all meet at the base in the afternoon, but this time we decided to do something different.

Plus... Mikey had a special gift for Cassie today. Well, we all had special gifts for the kids. But... we wanted to wait until we were all together to give it to them. It would be a good Christmas indeed...

"Hey, babe!" Mikey indicated I come over as soon as I hit the doorway, grinning excitedly at me. I took a moment to look at all the already opened presents as I stepped into the room, then at the one he was holding out to me. It was small, and terribly wrapped, but the smile on his face told me it was something he had made himself, with love, and he was very proud of it.

I was proud of him too... I loved gifts that were hand made...

I moved over, sitting beside him and half cuddling into him, seeing Cassie collapse to her knees in front of us and grinning madly as well.

"Open it mom! Open it! Open-"

"Settle down Cass" I laughed, lifting my arm so she could move under it, setting the present on my lap and using my free hand to open it slowly.

There was alot of sticky tape on it, and it looked to be double wrapped, so I had a little trouble opening it with just one hand. Soon Cassie helped with her free hand, revealing what looked to be a little box. It was painted an array of colours, some mixing in with the others, but it was still very pretty.

I lifted the lid, seeing a crudely made little ballerina, and hearing a soft melody start to play.

"I painted it!" Cassie announced, half digging her head into my shoulder as she touched the edges of the box.

"And I made it" I looked up at Mikey, who I was surprised was frowning a little "Sorry it looks kinda..."

"Oh babe, I love it! Looks like you guys really put alot of effort into this" I moved a little to kiss his cheek, seeing the smile return to his face.

"And you" I turned to Cassie, who had taken the box and who was now admiring her handiwork it seemed. She looked up at me when I said this, the look her face now going from happy to almost confusion.

She yelped a little when I grabbed her, squeezing her tight.

"You are my little artist! I love you so much!"

She made a cute giggle, soon hugging me back.

"Love you too ma"

"And I love you both!" Suddenly we were both trapped in Mikey's arms, being lifted a little off the ground as he laughed.

Being with my family was really the most wonderful feeling in the world.

-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Whoa" Mikey just stared in awe at the rolling mountainside in front of us.

"You've seen snow before" I told him, hearing Cassie get out of the car behind us, her feet crunching a little on the ground.

"Oh wooow... soo coooool!"

"Oh look at that!" Mikey pointed, and we all turned to see someone explode over one of the snow dunes on a snow mobile not far off, flying around a corner and disappearing again.

"Oh dad, look!" Cassie pointed, seeing all the people on skis or snowboards going down the mountain, all at different speeds.

"Oooh, gotta try that!" Mikey grinned, looking over at me. I shook my head a little.

"Me too! Me too!"

"Cassie" I warned, knowing I had to be careful with her now. She would always try and copy what Mikey did, sometimes almost hurting herself. I knew my husband could handle himself, but Cassie... well, she sometimes over-estimated abilities. I loved her enthusiasm, but I just wished she'd take after me sometimes...

"She can learn with an instructor... but... man, this reminds me when we fought the Shredder the first time!"

"Oh dad, dad, tell me again!" Cassie jumped up and down now, and I couldn't help but sigh a little.

"All right, you can tell her while we get unpacked" I told him "But nothing bad, remember?"

"Oh, I know babe" He nodded, moving to the back of the car and opening it. Slowly, Mikey proceeded to tell the... well, Mikey version... of the events from his youth, all of us managing to get settled inside our room in the lodge to wait for the others.

"And then he like... fell, and bounced around on the ground!" Mikey finally ended as I started the fire in our room, grateful to be inside again. I loved snow, but I hated how numb your fingers and toes got. And my nose felt like it had fallen off...

"Oh dad, that was awesome!" Cassie started to jump up and down on the smaller bed, stopping when I gave her a look.

"Oh yeah, and then we fell with the big canister... thingy... and when it hit the ground we stopped it from... well, hittin the ground!"

"Good use of words hun" I shook my head, grinning in spite of myself and moving to go unpack our bags. We'd be here for a week together, which would be a nice change from our usual routine.

The dojo was so successful, we had managed to sell it off and split the profits between us. Now, we were able to travel around a bit more, provided it wasn't on school weeks. I was told that Donnie and Jade had taken a holiday to France recently, back to the now restored Eiffel tower, where Donnie had originally proposed to her. I still remembered the utter shock in her voice when he did...

The thought of the old days made me smile a little, getting lost in the memory of when I first met Mikey...

He had been so attentive to me when I was hurt. At first I was a little creeped out, especially after all I'd been through, loosing control of my body, finding out aliens exited...

After a while though, it was just nice to have the company, and his gentleness just eased any worries I had about him and his brothers.

He had become my protector... my knight in shining armor. I was so surprised to find I had feelings for the orange clad turtle, his smile just making my heart jump, and his touch making it beat faster every time he helped me.

Even now, almost nine years later, I was still so in love with my cheeky turtle. Even more so when I watched him and Cassie.

I still couldn't believe how much she'd grown, looking at her as the two sat on the bed, talking in excited tones about what they wanted to do here. I overheard talk about building a snowman too...

I eventually got them to help me unpack a little, before there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Whoo iiis iiiit?" Mikey called playfully.

"Miah Rose" Came the little girls voice, then a noise and "Oh, and the parents!"

"Miah!" I heard Jade scold before I opened the door, almost being barrelled over by Miah as she dove into the room. I turned in time to see her crash tackle Cassie off the bed, both of them shrieking as they hit the floor with a thump.

I turned back to let Jade and Donnie in, hearing the two girls now squealing in delight.

"They're excited" Donnie chuckled a little, moving over to greet Mikey.

"One day they're going to hurt themselves" I muttered, looking at Jade who nodded in agreement.

"Miah doesn't know her own strength"

"Neither does Cass" I shook my head, watching as Mikey latched onto Donnie in a big hug, one which Donnie slowly returned.

Eventually the others showed up, and we all moved into what looked to be the main room of the lodge, sitting around and realising how quiet it was inside.

But... of course... most people were out hitting the slopes and having the time of their lives. Even for the early evening though, it was fairly... serene.

A large christmas tree was off to the side, and we took up the seats near it, seeing Splinter having a little trouble sitting down. Thankfully Mikey and Leo were there, settling him in... but it still worried me...

He really was getting on in age, but I watched as the kids all went up to him, sitting beside or near him as we settled our own selves around in a weird circle.

"This is nice... somewhere different for a change" Serah smiled, half sitting on Leo.

"Yeah, we needed to do something different... and it's something the kids will remember" Amanda added, linking her arm through Ithiell's and pulling him towards her. He made a weird sound, half glaring at her.

"And you just had to find some place colder than the city to go"

"It's not that bad" Raph grunted, his arms folded in front of him. He was the only one of us who was still standing.

"Okay, enough chat" Rachel broke in, smiling and looking at all of us "Let's get to the real reason why we're here"

"Quick and straight to the point... as usual" Leo shook his head a little, smiling anyway.

"Well... it is a special event. Well, kind of" Donnie shifted his glasses up again, looking lovingly at his daughter. Miah herself was giggling with her cousins, talking in little whispers and all of them including Splinter in on their little secrets. Splinter himself looked amused to say the least.

Mikey looked at me, the excitement in his eyes hard to ignore.

"All right, boys... up you get. Kids... line up" I told them, seeing Splinter's brow furrow in confusion, knowing this would make him probably the happiest of all of us. Well, I know Serah and I were still a little undecided, but... well, what could you do?

We had made sure that the staff knew we were doing this, before we did... knowing it would probably freak them out seeing what they were about to. Either way, it was going to prove to be interesting...

I watched as Ithiell and the four brothers stood up, all with different size boxes in their hands, wrapped in Christmas paper. The kids all lined up awkwardly, slightly pushing and shoving each other.

"Kids... line up in front of your dads" Serah told them, watching as they moved around now, Dean and Jake pushing one another a little.

"All right, now... this is something that we all agreed on, so I hope you enjoy these presents" Amanda said, and us girls shared a look. I kind of wondered if any of them wouldn't want their gifts. The boys had definitely put love into these presents, making them by hand...

"All right, here you go" Raph gave Jake his box, seeing the others do the same. I watched Cassie carefully as she ripped at the wrapping paper, tearing the box open excitedly...

And then she stopped, staring at what was inside. I half noticed the others as they did, but my focus was now on my daughter. There was shock on her face, her mouth open slightly.

Slowly, very slowly it seemed, she pulled out the specially made nunchucks, looking them over slowly. It was hard to tell if she was happy or just plain shocked. I looked up at Mikey, now seeing the worry on his face. I opened my mouth to say-

"OOOOOH! THIS IS AWESOME!" Cassie squealed, hearing all the other kids erupt in a similar way.

I looked at each of them as Jake gently thumbed the Sai's, Miah lift the Bo she had been given and almost hit Dean, seeing Donnie stop her before she could. Dean was... well he was playfully lifting the katanas up, before aiming them back at the box they had been in. Eoran was looking over some kind of large techy kind of device, his big eyes now wide.

"Mom!" Cassie giggled, pointing to the nunchucks that we had given her, noticing Mikey's joy at seeing his daughter so happy.

"I know, but kids... stop for a minute" I told them all, seeing they were all still too excited to really hear me.

"Oy!" Rachel snapped, and they soon quietened down, look from us to their fathers, who were still standing dutifully in front of them. Leo cleared his throat.

"This family has always believed very strongly in traditions. And in keeping to these traditions, we have decided that we would like to pass our knowledge... and our training... onto the five of you. Yes, even you Eoran. But..."

He stopped, and all the kids looked at him expectantly. After a tense moment, he continued.

"But you all must be willing to accept our knowledge and training completely. As we have specialised in these weapons, we would like you to as well. To become ninjas... as we have"

"Yes!" Dean said, standing up and surprising us all by bowing "I want to learn... and I want to be just as good as you, if not better!"

"Yeah!" Miah jumped up now, grinning "I wanna be like you dad... I wanna learn the Bo!"

"I want to show you what I can do dad!" Jake now.

"I wanna be a tekni- techni... that word, genius! And learn to be a ninja!" Eoran pumped his fist in the air.

"I want to kick butt and take down bad guys like daddy!" Cassie jumped up, nunchucks in hand, starting to spin them a little.

"My sons... and daughters" Splinter's voice now made us look over at him, surprised to see him smiling, a glimmer in his eyes.

"This makes me very happy... to see and to hear. And to know... our family traditions will not be easily forgotten"

"Never Sensei" Leo smiled "We will always remember what you taught us"

"And now... we'll be teaching it to the next generation" Raph smiled too, nodding at his master.

A yelp made me look over to Cassie, realising she'd just hit herself with the nunchucks, all of us having a little giggle.

This would definitely make life alot more interesting from now on.

-x-x-x-xx-x-xx-x-x-x-

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you do!

Constructive Criticism appreciated!