The last week before their holiday break was crazy for April and Holly. Their school was cramming in as much work before the break due to the week and a half they had closed after the Krang invasion. Most of the girls spare time was spent doing homework or trying to keep up with regular training sessions, while the guys were out most nights keeping tabs an eye out for any Foot activity.
"Do you guys celebrate the holidays?" April asked the turtles one day while she and Holly were at the lair.
"Sure, I guess." Donnie said. "I mean, we watch all the TV specials that run and we agree not to fight for the day."
"That usually doesn't last the whole day though." Leo said with a glance at Raph.
"What?" Raph said defiantly, and he caught Holly smirking and shaking her head at him.
"What did you do as kids?" Holly asked, "Did you decorate the Lair?"
"Not really. Splinter would usually get us a small gift, but we would just all hang out as a family."
"Remember the year Raph got Spike?" Mikey asked. "He tried to pretend he didn't care, but we all knew he loved him."
"That sounds about right." Holly said, and Raph pulled a face at her.
"Can we bring over some stuff and decorate with you this year?" April asked.
"Yeah! Can we get a tree?" Mikey asked enthusiastically.
"We probably can't get a real one down here, but I'm sure I can find you a fake one. I'll get some of those scent sticks so it smells real though." Holly said.
Mikey kept asking about all the things they had never had, and Holly jotted down anything she thought she could actually get in a note on her phone.
Splinter emerged from the training room and padded into the kitchen for his usual pot of tea.
"What holidays did you celebrate in Japan, Splinter?" April asked.
"In Tokyo, we celebrated Christmas." Splinter said with a smile, "But it is not really celebrated the same way as it is in America."
"How so?" Holly asked, curiosity piqued.
"In Japan, Christmas is more of a romantic holiday. It is still a time for family and gift giving, but it is usually a day for lovers to be together." He smirked to himself as each of the teens faces changed upon learning this information.
"Oh," Holly said pleasantly surprised. "I'm not surprised its different, and quite frankly it sounds a lot less stressful that the Christian version."
"Would you be OK with us bringing over some stuff to decorate?" April asked
"Of course, I do miss the light displays they used to put up around the city." Splinter smiled at his memories and turned back to the kettle that had finished boiling.
After the girls had left, Raph snuck into the lab to find Donnie working on one of his many projects. "Yo? You busy?"
"Yes." Donnie responded irritably, but Raph didn't leave. Instead he looked around uncomfortably as if waiting for Donnie to start the conversation. Donnie didn't comply though, he just continued working and let Raph stand there.
"OK, fine." Raph snapped, "I need your help."
"With what? Did you break your phone again?" Donnie asked accusingly.
"What? No. I need help to find a gift... For Holly." Raph trailed off in a mumble.
"And you think I can help you?" Donnie scoffed, "I am still trying to think about what I'm going to get for April."
Raph groaned and flopped down into the spare stool Donnie had by his desk. He folded his arms on the table, "Why is this so hard?"
"Because you like her, and you want to show her that you do." Donnie said without looking up at his brother. It was easier to talk about this stuff without eye contact.
Raph just sat and sulked for a moment. "How did you tell April?"
"Tell her what?" Donnie frowned in confusion.
"You know..." Raph said through his teeth.
"Oh!" Donnie finally caught on, he immediately lowered his head back to his work. "I don't know, it just sort of happened." He paused, not really sure how much detail Raph would want to know. Raph was looking at him with expectant eyes. Donnie sighed, "Look, I was still sleepy, and warm, and happy. I didn't even realize I had said anything until it was too late."
"Yeah, that's what April said." Raph said moodily.
"If you knew, they why did you ask?" Donnie shouted slightly hysterical.
Raph shushed him. He checked the door to make sure the others were not coming in. "I was just asking." They both fell into an irritable silence. "How do you not know what to get April? You're a genius."
"Its hard when we can't exactly go shopping." Donnie said. "If I could I would find her something small but meaningful, maybe a necklace or something."
"Make one." Raph said scowling, "You're good at that delicate stuff." He waved his hands around trying to gesture at all the little circuit boards strewn on the desk.
Donnie looked up at his brother with a surprised look on his face. "Raph, that's brilliant." He cleared off his desk frantically, he scrambled around grabbing various solutions and a large container to start growing a crystal.
"Well, I'm glad you've figured it out." Raph grumbled.
"What does Holly like?" Donnie asked, "Aside from you." He added when Raph opened his mouth with a smug grin on his face.
"Music and terrible movies." Raph said with a grin.
"Well, can you write her a song?" Donnie asked.
"Don't be ridiculous." Raphael said.
Donnie shrugged. "Well, she likes those cheesy old Rom-coms, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you gather a collections of songs for her? Like they used to in the old days?"
Raph considered it. Maybe he could find the perfect song to tell her how he felt. "Like a mix-tape?"
"Sure, but maybe a playlist... Tape decks are hard to find these days."
"Can you show me how to do that?" Raph asked quietly.
Donnie eyes his brother suspiciously. "If I do, you have to be nice to me for a month."
"Deal." Raph said, and scooted around the table to sit by his brother.
"Its easy," Donnie said and pulled up his laptop and navigated to one of the more popular streaming services "Just search for the song you want, click this button, select add to playlist."
"Will anyone else be able to see it?" Raph asked.
"You can make it private by clicking on this button. Then the only people who can see it are you and anyone you share it with."
"Can I borrow this?" Raph said pointing at the laptop.
"You have a perfectly good phone that can do all this." Donnie said.
"I'm going to be using that too."
"Fine, but don't break it." Donnie said as Raph grabbed his computer and ran for the door.
Before he left, Raph stopped and looked back at Donnie, "If you tell anyone about this, I'll brain you."
"Of course." Donnie said deadpan, and rolled his eyes.
April and Holly managed to find a couple of boxes of decorations at a thrift store, along with a tree, and carted it all over to the lair as soon as their school break started. Holly had thrown it all into her van and they drove it over, much to Stacey's disapproval. They arrived to find Donnie in his lab working on something, but he covered it up as soon as he saw April.
"What are you guys doing here?" He almost shouted at them in surprise as he struggled to look casual.
"We brought over some decorations, what are you doing?" April asked him suspiciously.
"Nothing." He answered innocently.
"If you say so. Help us with this?"
Donnie adjusted the stuff on his desk to better hide whatever it was he was working on, and grabbed a bag of stuff out of the back of the van, "What is all this?"
"Just grab some boxes and follow us."
They dragged out all the stuff to the living area where Leo and Mikey were sat. "Hey guys, what is all this?" Leo said, putting down a comic.
"We wanted to go all out for the Holidays for you guys!" Holly said beaming, but added just in case she had misjudged something, "If you guys want to, of course."
"Sure, what do we need to do?" Leo shrugged.
"What ever you want! I have a bunch of stuff, you can pick and choose what you want to use. I'll donate anything you don't want to use." Holly beamed, "Mikey, I found pizza slice hanging lights, just for you."
"Pizza lights!?" Mikey scrambled over Leo, who protested at being used as a climbing frame, and grabbed up the box Holly was holding out for him.
"You can put them on the tree, or in your room, whatever you want. I bought four boxes, in case you all wanted some."
Mikey was already unwrapping them and connecting them all together. "Can we hang them in the kitchen?"
"Sure, if that's where you want them." Holly said, and Mikey skipped off happily to hang the lights up. "Where's Raph, he should be out here too."
"He hasn't come out of his room for three days." Leo said, "Not unless I force him anyway."
"I'll get him, you guys start unpacking anything you want to use." Holly said and jogged over to Raph's door. She knocked and called through the door, "Raph? Can I come in?"
"NO!" He shouted back through the door, and she heard him shuffling around inside his room.
"April and I brought over some decorations, Do you want to help us?"
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." He shouted.
"OK?" Holly said, and walked back over to the others. "What is he doing in there?"
"No idea, but he's been acting really weird for a few days." Leo replied. Donnie intentionally made himself busy so he could avoid answering any questions.
"I know he took Donnie's computer in there." Mikey said with a singsong tone.
"How do you know that?" Donnie said without thinking.
"Why does he have your computer?" April asked. Donnie's eyes went wide and he couldn't think of an answer.
"Wait a minute, Raph has locked himself in his room with Donnie's computer and doesn't want anyone to know what he's doing?" Holly laughed to herself.
"He better not be doing that with my computer." Donnie said indignantly, and Holly and April burst out laughing.
"Whatever he is doing, its taking up all his free time." Leo said.
"That doesn't necessarily rule out 'self care'." April said and she and Holly giggled again.
"You guys are so immature." Leo scolded them.
"Oh please. Everyone needs a release sometimes." Holly said.
Leo and April both went wide eyed. April out of amusement, Leo was mortified. "That's just ridiculous." He squeaked out.
"You're a bad liar Leo." Holly said and grinned at him mischievously. Leo opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to come up with something to defend himself.
"I think you broke him." April said.
"He just doesn't like that I know the truth." Holly said. "Its alright Leo, we all do it." Leonardo was still wide eyed, but he had shut his mouth. "Would you like an escape?" She offered him with pity.
"Yes please." Leo said tightly.
"That big box has a tree in it that is in about thirty pieces, would you like to organize it so we can put it together?"
"Yes ma'am." Leo said and quickly busied himself with his task.
"So now we all know how to get Leo to do what we want." April said.
"I feel bad, I shouldn't have made him so uncomfortable." Holly said.
"He'll get over it." Mikey said.
"Mikey, do you even know what we're talking about?" Donnie asked his little brother.
"Nope." Mikey said happily, and continued worrying about his lights.
"Never change Mikey." April said with fondness.
"Why don't we start getting everything unboxed and untangled." Holly said, "I did pick most of this up at the thrift store, so some of it might be trash."
"Where is Splinter? He should be out here too." April said, and Mikey ran off to go find their father.
By the time Raph finally emerged from his room, Holly and Leonardo were putting together the faux tree while April was sat on Donnies shoulders hanging lights over the archway that led to the kitchen. Mikey was sat cross legged on the floor by a box of decorations, adding string to them so they could put them on the tree.
"Ahh, there you are my son." Splinter said, coming out of the kitchen with a cup of tea. "What has been keeping you so busy these last few days?"
"Yeah Raph, what have you been doing?" Mikey asked mockingly.
"Nothing," Raph tired to sound innocent, but it wasn't convincing. "What are we doing now?"
"Decorating!" April said from atop Donnie's shoulders. "Are you going to help?"
"Do I have a choice?" Raph asked, seeing that everyone else was already doing something.
"Of course you do, but it would be nice if you helped." Holly said. Raph joined her and Leo trying to put the ancient plastic tree together. Leo decided to turn on some music, and soon they were all working and dancing around the lair, singing along with any song they knew, and commiserating over each others guilty pleasure songs as they came on.
After the tree was up, Raph and Holly began to make paper chains to hang up. Soon Mikey joined in, and they made incredibly long chains that they draped from any surface that didn't have lights on it already. April then popped some corn and she and Donnie made popcorn garlands to hang on the tree. It took them all working for about three hours to put everything up that they wanted to use. They all stood together an admired their work once they decided they were done.
"Its amazing!" Mikey said with wonder.
"This was the most fun I've had decorating in a long time." Holly admitted. "I feel like a kid again."
"It was alright." Raph said, only to be elbowed in the arm by Holly for being a grouch.
"Mom wants to cook you guys a full blown dinner. You're welcome to come over to ours after dark if you like, or I can bring everything here."
Splinter stroked his whiskers, "If it would be easier, I believe we would be happy to have your mother come to our home."
Everyone looked at Splinter surprised. "I'll ask her." Holly said softly, genuinely touched that Splinter was willing to let her into their home.
"What are we going to be eating?" Mikey asked, and Holly told him everything that her mother had planned for them.
Stacey was more than willing to cook for the Turtles and Splinter in their home, so on Christmas morning, after she and Holly had opened their gifts to each other, and Stacey insisted on doing Holly's hair and makeup for the 'special occasion', they packed up Stacey's car with all the presents and food and drove over to the Lair. Holly directed her mother where to go, and Stacey was amazed at the secret underground entrance Donatello had made. They drove into the abandoned underground system that led to Donnie's lab.
When they arrived, Holly jumped out of the car and ran to find someone to help grab some of the stuff. Everyone except Raph was in the living area, and they expected April to show up later after her family had done their celebrations, so Holly enlisted all their help.
"Wow, you look great, but what's the occasion?" Leo said when he saw her.
"Thank you, I have a sneaky suspicion she wants me to look nice for Raph." Holly shrugged.
"You know he doesn't care one way or another, right." Leo said.
"I am aware, yes." Holly shook her head.
Stacey was absolutely astonished at how they had managed to make the old station so inviting and homey. "This is lovely! Did you make everything in here?"
"I found most of the appliances and repaired what I could, or scavenged the parts." Donnie said feeling very proud of himself.
"What about all the cushions? And all the beautiful Shoji?" Stacey asked.
"Those I brought with me from Japan." Splinter said from the doorway of his room. "Welcome to our home."
"Thank you for trusting me to come here." Stacey said, and inclined her head slightly.
Leo and Holly shared a curious glance as they carried more foil wrapped pans of food over to the kitchen.
"Whats this?" Mikey asked holding a bag of presents.
"You can open those once April gets here." Stacey said.
Mikey gasped and immediately began to pull all the gifts out of the bags to find his. He then sat and shook them to see if he could figure out what was in them.
"Hey!" Holly said, "Be gentle with those."
"What is it?" Mikey asked.
"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise." Holly frowned at him and followed her mom into the kitchen.
"This should be pretty simple, it's just warming up everything in the oven really." Stacey said. "I'll just need to time it out right."
Once the Ham was in the oven, Leo and Donnie gave Stacey a tour of their home. Donatello was thrilled to have someone else to show off his Lab to since his brothers were not excited by his work at all, and the novelty had worn off for Holly months ago. They showed her their training room too, and Stacey was most interested in their tree that was growing underground.
"How did you manage to grow that down here?" She asked them.
"Sun lamps and high quality soil." Donnie said with a shrug.
Stacey rejoined Splinter, Holly, and Mikey in the living area. Holly was fighting with Mikey, who was still trying to shake the presents to find out what was in them.
"Why don't we play a game to take your mind off of things?" Leo said when he sat back down in the living room.
"Ooh, OK!" Mikey said.
"You want to get spanked again in Plumber Kart?" Holly asked.
"Yeah right, I've been practicing." Mikey said and loaded up the game.
"Let me go see if Raph wants to play." Holly said, "Is he still hiding in his room?"
"Yup, I haven't seen him in two days." Leo said.
"What the hell is he doing?" Holly muttered to herself as she walked over to his door and knocked, "Raph? Are you going to come hang out with us today?"
"Yeah, give me... a bit." He shouted back.
"Come on, whatever it is your doing can surely wait, can't it?" She said through the door.
"No, it can't." He said. So Holly left him to it with a little sigh.
Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Holly all played the game together for a while. Donnie was perpetually in last place, only beaten marginally by Leo. Mikey and Holly were having an all out battle for first place through. Mikey had gotten better at the game, although Holly still knew a few tricks that he hadn't figured out yet, so she did end up coming first most of the time. Eventually she took pity on them and showed them all her tricks so that even Donnie could beat Leo occasionally.
Stacey and Splinter were mostly just talking between themselves. Splinter had made a pot of tea and they shared it over some trivial chit chat.
Raph did finally decide to join them. He brought out Donnie's laptop and handed it back to his brother, to which Stacey raised an eyebrow at her daughter, who smiled.
"I already made that joke." Holly said before laughing at the uncomfortable look on Leo's face.
"What'd I miss?" Raph said, looking between Leo and Holly. His mouth fell open when he finally saw Holly's hair and makeup. "You... ahh, you look, nice." He swallowed hard, and Holly had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing.
"Thank you." She said, and could feel her mothers eyes boring a hole into the back of her head.
"Are you going to tell us what you've been doing yet?" Mikey demanded, which snapped Raph back to the room.
He scowled at his baby brother, "No, and its none of your business." He sat a little off to the side of the others. Arms crossed and tough guy face firmly in place, just to reassure them all that he still thought he was too cool for all this 'family' business.
When April arrived, she had more bags full of stuff for the guys. Donnie hopped up to take all the bags so she could take off her heavy coat. April, had likewise decided that she wanted to make a little extra effort today. She had put on a blouse and skirt over thick tights, and her hair and makeup had been paid extra attention.
"Oh, you look absolutely lovely today." Stacey said to April, who beamed.
"Holly! You look so nice too!" April said, and rushed over to her friend and began to play with her hair.
"This is the exception to my usual habits." Holly raised her voice, as Stacey was about to say 'I told you so', from the kitchen. "But thank you, and you do look beautiful."
"You're just in time, the ham is nearly ready." Stacey said.
They had to cram in around the little table in the kitchen. It was big enough for the teens who were the ones to usually used the space. But with eight and a huge amount of food, it was a squeeze. However, despite being elbow to elbow with each other, they all were laughing and telling stories while they juggled the plates of food around the table for each other.
Mikey dove at the pile of presents and began to rummage through them again. "Can I open these now?" He asked while everyone else was still cleaning away the plates and food in the kitchen.
"Have patients my son." Splinter said, but he knew Mikey would not be able to contain himself for long.
The others abandoned the dishes for the time being, and joined Mikey on the couches so they could exchange gifts.
Mikey immediately tore open all the gifts that were for him. Stacey had made each of the turtles a hat, scarf and mittens set in their preferred colors, and decorated them with their family crest and their initials.
Leo was opening the other gift from Holly and Stacey when he let out the most undignified squeal any of them had heard. "Is this the complete run of Space Hero?" He asked holding the box out at arms length.
"Yes, with the extended cut of all seven movies, with cast and director commentary." Holly assured him.
"Are you serious!" He shouted at her and began to unwrap the cellophane that contained the box set.
"Calm down already, you sound like a girl who got her first concert tickets." Raphael said watching his brother.
"Be nice," Holly said, knowing full well that Raph was going to have a similar reaction to his present.
"These are great and all," Mikey said holding out four brand new video games April had gotten him, "But I can't play them on this console."
"Oh no. What a shame you don't have that console." Stacey said with mock sorrow. "Here, maybe this will cheer you up." She slid over a larger gift that she had intentionally hidden from Mikey,
Mikey's expression went from confusion to sheer joy as he unwrapped the newest console. "You got me a Noontindoo Swatch?"
"It is for all of you," Stacey said, "But Holly said you would use it the most."
Mikey squealed and launched himself at Stacey, he hugged her tightly around the waist "Thank you, thank you, thank you".
Stacey laughed and hugged him back. "You're welcome."
"You did not have to do that." Splinter said, "Those games are not inexpensive."
Stacey grimaced. "I probably should have asked you before I bought that. I'm sorry."
"Oh don't be, if you did not get it for them, they would have found a way to get one." Splinter chuckled.
"Well, I have something for you too." Stacey said while Mikey and the others were inspecting their new console and letting Donatello set it up for them. "I have a friend in Japan who owed me a favor."
She handed him a box that was wrapped in paper and tied with twine.
He took the package and unwrapped it. Inside was a beautiful yukata embroidered with the Hamato clan crest. "Where did you find this?" He asked softly as he let the fabric slide between his fingers.
"One of my colleagues was kind enough to make it for me." She said. "He runs a museum where he demonstrates traditional methods for making kimono."
"This is truly the most exquisite gift. Thank you." He said, and bowed his head to her.
"Oh, please don't mention it. I can't thank you enough for taking care of my girl for me while I'm away. I have never seen her with so many friends that make her so happy." Stacey watched the teenagers for a moment before her emotions got the better of her. She sniffed and wiped away a tear before it could leak out.
"Would you join me for a quiet cup of tea?" Splinter asked. "I have a feeling Michelangelo is about to get very loud."
"Yeah boy!" Mikey shouted as the console powered up.
"That would be lovely." Stacey said, and she and Splinter rose to take a pot of tea into the training room for a brief moment.
"Where are they going?" Leo asked noticing Splinter and Stacey leaving.
"They probably need an escape from Mikey." Raph said, but his brother was far too absorbed with getting his games ready to play.
"I dunno, it looks like they want some privacy." April said with a glance at Holly.
Holly grimaced, "I don't want to think about that. Its bad enough that she constantly tries to talk to me about my non-existent sex life."
"Hey!" Raph protested. Holly shrugged.
"Maybe they just need a moment, the Holidays can be very overwhelming emotionally." Donnie piped up.
"My mom does cry a lot around the holidays." Holly admitted. "Anyway, you guys still have gifts to open. Oh, and I have one for Spike."
"Really?" Raph asked, "You got Spike a gift?"
"Of course!" Holly said and handed over a small box.
Raph opened it and found a pack of plastic wiffle balls and a container of blueberries. "He's going to love these!" He said with more enthusiasms that he usually showed, and jumped up and rushed over to his room.
Holly beamed at his genuine joy, "he hasn't even opened his gift yet."
Donnie was opening his gifts, now that Mikey was perfectly happy. Holly had bought him a giant pad of graph paper and some high quality drawing pencils. "Oh, sweet!" Donnie said, as he examined the pencils. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Holly said. Her phone pinged and she fished it out of her pocket to see who was messaging her.
Donnie checked to make sure the others were well and truly distracted before gently placing one of his hands over Aprils. "Come with me." He whispered at her, and they both glanced at the others before standing. Leo was engrossed with the fold-out booklet that came with his gift, Mikey was completely oblivious to anything going on around him, and Holly was giving her phone a very strange look.
They crept away to the lab and Donnie gently closed the door behind them.
"Whats going on?" April asked softly.
"I wanted to give you your gift, but not in front of the others." He looked uncomfortable. "They'll make fun of me."
"No they wouldn't." April said earnestly, but then remembered that Raph and Mikey were merciless. "Well, they might."
Donnie walked over to his desk and opened a draw. "I just hope you like it." He handed her a small box, and April opened it. Inside, was a delicate pendant. The clear crystal had been carefully wrapped with wire to look like a tree warping its branches around the gem.
"Its beautiful, where did you get it?" She said and held it up to better see the details of the little tree.
"I made it." Donnie said sheepishly.
"You made this?" April asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I grew the crystal and then twisted the wires to make a basket." He flipped it over in her palm. "On the back I even added your initials."
"This is..." April was lost for words.
"Here," He took the necklace from her hands and walked behind her. He clipped the tiny clasp behind her neck and walked back around to see how it looked. "Do you like it?"
"I love it." April replied, "Thank you." She stepped towards him and kissed him. She could feel him relax as he wrapped his arms around her waist, apparently he had been nervous that she wouldn't like his gift. "I love you." She whispered against his mouth.
He froze for a moment, shocked that she had finally said what he had been desperate to hear. But then he regained control and pulled her closer until her feet left the ground. He swung her up and caught her legs around his waist. April let out a little gasp of surprise, then laughed as she was now looking down at him. She took his face in her hands and kissed him again.
"We should probably go back out to the others." She said without actually doing anything to suggest that she meant it.
"They can wait." He said assertively. He carried her over to his cot and lay her down. Careful not to squash her leg, he propped himself up on one elbow and kissed her deeply.
April felt a little giddy. She was excited, and nervous about what was happening. She wasn't sure how far she was ready to go, especially since their disappearance was bound to be noticed sooner or later.
Donnie seemed perfectly content with kissing her though, he was being perfectly gentlemanly. His thumb traced little circles on her side that tickled more than anything while he used his other hand to brush her hair out of the way so he could kiss her cheeks and neck. He nudged her blouse aside with his face and kissed along her clavicles, drawing a little moan from between her lips.
"Oh?" He commented and kissed her again.
"Now you're just being mean." April said without any real malice in her voice.
"Trust me, if I could lock those doors, I would kiss every inch of you." Donnie mumbled into her neck before he could stop himself.
"Oh, would you now?" April said with a grin.
"If you wanted me to?" He looked at her questioningly.
She smiled at him, "I do, but perhaps when the doors are locked."
"That suits me perfectly." Donnie smiled back at her.
Holly was surprised to see a message from Raphael. He was only in his room and she had expected that he would come back out with Spike rather than stay hidden away. She opened the message to see a link to the music streaming app that she used most frequently. She tapped the link and it took her to the app and opened up to a private playlist titled "Holly's songs." There was a numbered list, but the titles and artists were hidden to her.
She tabbed back into the messaging app and sent him a note. 'Did you make me a playlist?'
The bubbles danced on her screen. 'Yeah.'
'Do you want me to wait, or can I listen to it now?' She asked him
'Later' was all he replied.
She sat for a minute wondering what how he had manage to hide the songs in the playlist from her, 'are you coming back out here?'
'Only if you're not listening to the songs.'
'I'm not, I swear'
After a couple of minutes, Raph did reappear. He was carrying spike and a couple of the wiffle balls and he looked uncomfortable. He sat on the floor next to Holly and set Spike down on the floor where he immediately began charging around and headbutting the ball.
"Look at him go!" Holly said.
"Yeah, he's having a ball." Raph said, and Holly burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.
"It wasn't that funny." Leo said, finally looking up from his box set and scowling at Holly, who tried very hard to get herself back under control before Raph disappeared again.
"I'm hilarious." Raph snapped back.
"Please, that was the worst pun I have ever heard." Leo said .
"Hey," Holly interjected to change the subject, "Have you opened Aprils gift yet?"
"No," Leo looked around for the package and turned to where April and Donnie were stilling earlier, "Sorry about... Where are they?"
Holly and Raph both looked around to find them gone.
"They went into the lab." Mikey said without breaking eye contact with the television.
"How do you know that?" Leo asked, "You don't pay attention to anything."
"Actually, you guys were the ones not paying attention." He said and turned his head to stick his tongue out. "Donnie wanted to give April his gift to her."
"OK, how do you know that?" Holly asked in disbelief.
"Because I know what it is." Mikey said smugly.
"How do you know what it is?" Raph asked, thinking he was the only one who knew.
"Do you know?" Holly shot at Raph, utterly surprised by all the knowledge they seemed to have.
"He made her a necklace, and he thinks we would make fun of him." Mikey spilled the tea.
"He made her a necklace?" Holly's head whipped back to Mikey.
"It was my idea." Raph said annoyed that Mikey had found out. Everyone's head turned in his direction, and his annoyance subsided into embarrassment as he knew his brothers would now tease him about it.
"That was so sweet." Holly said without thinking. Leo and Mikey both began to laugh derisively at their brother.
"Raph's got a soft side." Mikey said with a smirk before turning back to his game, "Awe, man!" He had forgotten to pause it, so he had died and was back at a checkpoint.
"Watch it, or I'll pummel you in your soft side." Raph said irritably.
"Oh, stop it." Holly said, "Come on, you can help me with the dishes while we wait for April and Donnie to come back."
Raph groaned, but allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and dragged into the kitchen. "Keep an eye on Spike."
Holly then set her phone on the table and pulled up some other music to listen to while she washed the dished. "You can dry." She told Raph and threw a towel at him with a smile.
The started the chore, Holly singing along to the music and swaying back and fourth to the beat until Raph eventually began to lighten up again.
"You should show your tender side off more often. It suits you." Holly said softly so that no one else could hear her.
"And be the laughing stock of the lair? No thanks." Raph grumbled.
Holly shrugged, "They may tease you, but they won't think less of you. If anything, you may be surprised to find out that they think better of you." She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek.
Raph was quite for a moment, contemplating what she said. "They'll think I'm weak." He mumbled with resentment.
"Are you crazy?" Holly checked behind them to make sure no one was listening in. She opened the freezer door and pulled him behind it with her. "No one thinks you're weak. Everyone knows your physically the strongest, but I know how strong you are in here too," She touched his plastron with a soapy finger, "and the reason I know how strong you are, is because I get to see all of you. You are strong, but you're also caring, and loyal, and fiercely protective of the people you love. Your bothers deserve to see that too." Raph didn't say anything. He was deliberating internally with himself. "Just, think about it." Holly said, and closed the freezer door and stepped back over to the sink. They continued to wash the dished for a minute in silence. "Can you just tell me what the first song is?" She asked abruptly to take his mind off of his own self pity.
"No!" Raph said defiantly. "You just have to wait."
"Oh come on," She pleaded, and they proceeded to playfully argue while they completed the dishes.
Splinter and Stacey reappeared just as Raph and Holly were back to dancing and singing to the music that was on. They were stepping around each other in a little made up routine to get all the dishes away. They were both smiling as they went.
"It's nice to see you enjoying yourself for once, my son." Splinter said trying to keep the amusement out of his voice.
Raph started, and he immediately tensed up and rearranged his face to a more stoic expression.
"You don't have to pretend you're not having fun just because we show up." Stacey said.
"Oh don't worry about him, He's just shy." Leo said grinning mischievously at his brother as he joined them. Raph glared at Leo. "Oh come on, lighten up a little."
"Did you two get a chance to relax?" Holly asked, changing the subject
"Actually, we held our own little tea ceremony. It was lovely." Stacey said beaming.
"I had forgotten how nice company can be." Splinter agreed.
"Next time, I'll bring that tea you suggested." Stacey said.
"You're going to come back?" Leo asked.
"Will you cook for us again?" Mikey shouted over his shoulder at the group.
"Mikey!" Both Leo and Raph shouted at their brother.
"Yes, If you don't mind me coming by. And it would be my pleasure to cook for you again." Stacey answered. "Are you kids all done with your presents?"
"No," Holly said irritably, "We're still waiting for April and Donnie to come back out and be social."
"Where are they?" Stacey asked, looking around the room realizing she had missed them.
"In the lab." Mikey said, "I can go get them?"
"I wouldn't" Stacey scrunched up her face in suppressed amusement. "I am going to have to get going soon. Did you want to stay here for a while, or come home?"
"I can come home. But I still want to see Raph open his present." Holly bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Will you open it?"
"Right now?" He asked, glancing nervously around everyone else who was watching him.
"Yes please." Holly grinned.
Raph walked cautiously away, knowing full well that he was being watched. Holly bounded up beside him when he picked up his gift and sat down opposite him so she could watch.
"Is this really necessary?" He asked her. She just nodded, so he rolled his eyes and opened his gift. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open when he realized what he was holding. She had found him one of the rarer prints of his favorite comic book, along with a print out of a 6 pack of tickets to the upcoming convention where the artist would be a vendor. "Wha..? How..?" He stammered trying not to squeal like a teenager getting her first concert tickets.
"I figured, this would give you all enough time to put together costumes so we could all go be nerds for a few hours." Holly said with a smirk.
"What is it?" Leo asked, and even Mikey scurried over to find out what was going on.
"Oh, Leo. The actor from Space Force is going to be there too... So you can get your box set signed." Holly said as Leonardo's face similarly went slack-jawed as he read the sheet of paper over Raphs shoulder.
"Who's going to be where?" Mikey demanded.
"The comic convention we're all going to." Holly told him.
"Wait? Like a real convention, during the day, with people?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah. Provided you're wearing costumes, no one will even know." Holly said.
Mikey and Leo both erupted in rambunctious shouting and incoherent freaking out. They both dove at Holly and tackled her with a bone crushing hug.
"Oh my goodness. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal." Stacey said from the kitchen. Splinter laughed at the boys joy.
Donnie and April appeared from the lab, "Whats going on?" Donnie asked seriously.
Mikey and Leo both immediately began talking at the same time.
"Calm down, one at a time." Donnie had to wave them off, but April was just laughing. She had know what this was all about, but had been distracted by Donnies gift to remember that it was coming.
"Are you OK?" Holly asked Raph once she was free of the others.
"You... You didn't... We can't." Raph was trying to talk, but he was completely overwhelmed.
"Actually, April and I brought it up to Splinter last week, after we decided to celebrate the Holidays together. I told him all about it and he agreed that, provided you're covered up, it should be a fun time." Holly said. Raph's eye actually twitched with suppressed excitement. "Come on, let it out! Its going to be amazing!" She stood up, hands on her hips triumphant.
Raph leapt up and grabbed her around the waist, he spun her around once before dropping her back down. "This is going to be awesome!" He shouted, and now all the turtles were freaking out.
April walked over to Holly and rested her arm on her friends shoulder. "I think they're excited."
"We win Christmas." Holly said and they high-fived each other before being dragged into the middle of the celebrations.
Once everyone had calmed down a little, and April was busy showing the turtles the event schedule for the convention. Holly and Stacey packed all the pans back into the car, along with the few little gifts they had gotten from Splinter and they boys. When they got home, Holly retreated to her room to finally check out the playlist Raph had made for her. She put her headphones in so her mom wouldn't be bothered and hit play. The first few songs were absolute classics, 80's power ballads that we're a staple in any good playlist. There were a few newer, more upbeat songs too. Raph had picked a couple of her favorite songs that did carry an undertone of affection and friendship, along with a couple goofier songs that made her laugh when she heard them. It was the last song that surprised her though. It was one she had not heard before and was recorded by a group she knew, but it was from the early 2000's, so wasn't something she was familiar with. It was much more somber, but had a funk inspired melody. As she listened to the lyrics, she felt a smile spread over her face. She closed her eyes and let her emotions swell in her chest knowing that he had picked this song specifically to tell her how he felt.