Leo's eyes fluttered open, waking from a dreamless slumber. The blue-masked turtle yawned and stretched as he got up from his bed. Rubbing his blue eyes, he walked over to the calendar to check the day and date.

"Ugh," he sighed, going towards his door, "I hate Mon–"

The turtle stopped himself with a frown. He quickly backed up to be level with the calendar. He turned his head to re-check the date. Realising what day it was, his eyes lit up like fireworks; he himself looked as though he might explode. Last time it was his birthday, his brothers and Splinter already had a set up right outside his door. He rushed to his door and flung it open… only to have a tub of yellow paint dump on him from above. The turtle's excited posture and expression deflated into one of an annoyed disappointment.

"We got you, fool," Mikey hollered as the others broke out into a chorus of laughter.

The leader sighed. He trudged off towards the shower room. As he opened the door, another bucket poured down on him, this time being filled with silver glitter. He pursued his lips together in an agitated manner and rolled his eyes as Amber dropped to the floor with a wheeze of laughter.

"Yup. I hate Mondays," Leo grumbled as he shut the shower room door.

By the end of the day, Leo was over the whole pranking thing. Mikey and Amber drowned him with water balloons after frightening the life out of him; Raph had threw a cream pie in his face; Donnie had pranked called him, saying Mikey had turned into goop, which led to Leo having more paint dumped on him; Amber had put worms down the back of his shell; and too many others to list.

To put it bluntly, he had to have at least five showers. Six, including the one from earlier. It was getting a little old. They were cracking out every single prank in the book. Even April and Casey got in on it!

"Ooohhh, Leo," Mikey and Amber chorused in a sing-song manner.

"Oh no," he thought, regrettably turning to them.

"What is it this time," he asked, crossing his arms.

"Aw, don't be like that, mate," Amber pouted.

Mikey casually slung an arm over his eldest brother's shoulders .

"Come on, Leo! We've got something to show you," he smiled, "I promise there's not gonna be anymore pranks."

Leo eyed him for a few moments, "Sure. That's totally not what you said the last three times…"

"Please," Amber and Mikey begged, giving him pleading puppy eyes.

Leo sighed in defeat; the other two whooped with joy. They each grabbed one of his hands and dragged him towards the dojo. The blue-masked turtle allowed a smile to come to his features… but he most certainly wasn't going to let his guard down. Amber quickly tied a blindfold over his face, raising Leo's alarm. The two continued to lead him into the depths of the dojo.

"Shh," Raph hissed as chuckles hit Leo's ears.

Saying that dread washed over him was an understatement. Leo flinched as Mikey threw off the blindfold.

"SURPRISE!"

Leo stared wide-eyed at the scene. A table sat in the middle of the room with a beautifully decorated cake and other decorations, all blue themed of course.

"What– YOU GUYS," Leo beamed.

Feeling a weight in his shoulder, Leo looked up to see Splinter smiling down at him.

"Happy birthday, my son," he said.

"I-I thought you guys forgot," Leo laughed.

Raph chuckles, throwing an arm around Leo's shoulders.

"Are you kidding?! Of course we wouldn't forget," he smiled, rubbing his knuckles against Leo's head in a playful aggression.

"Come together to get a family picture," Jazmine smiled, holding up a camera.

Splinter, Casey, April, Amber, and the four brothers smooshed together around Leo to get into the frame of the camera.

"Come join us, Jazmine," Splinter offered.

The white wolf smiled with a shake of her head.

"That's okay. I do not feel I have earnt that title. In time, possibly."

The others rose up in protest. Jazmine chuckled.

"Okay, okay," she sighed, giving in.

She set the timer and teleported to stand behind Donnie. The camera flashed: Mikey and Amber had their arms around each other's shoulder, making a peace sign with their free hands; Raph put Leo in a playful headlock; Casey pulled a weird face, making April roll her eyes with a smile; Jazmine rested her head on Donnie's shoulder to get her head in the frame due to her height; and Splinter smiled down at Leo.

Once the photo was taken, everyone laughed. Leo looked around at his family.

Today was pretty great.

For a Monday.

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