Book One In The Ahh-Ness Of Things Series: April & Donnie were once inseparable, but now almost six years have passed since she left NYC. What if April O'Neil could set the record straight, once & for all! The only girl down enough to chill with the...
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We were all gathered around the kitchen island, the kids lined up; one two three little kappa monsters in a row, each with an outstretched plate. Michelangelo & Renet served them straight from the stove. She passed out bacon & eggs on an outstretched spatula while he flipped pancakes dangerously. Mona poured cups of juice & Leonardo placed a bowl of lychee on the counter, popping one into Flower's mouth.
"Hana." Leo was getting frustrated with her, he couldn't see if she had shoved more of the fruit into her pudgey little face. She was bouncing up & down on her toes, trying to snatch another from his fingers, with her puckered lips. "Mei Hana! Don't jump around with that in your mouth."
"Yeah you don't want to get one stuck like last time, & you choked & puked." Fern was digging her fingers in her little sister's cheeks, producing multiple lychee. Flower bit her finger hard. "Okaasan!" Fern yelped to her mother.
"rokka Shida." Mona gave her oldest daughter a stern look. "You are the one sticking your finger in the mouth of another. rokkarokka"
" Why am I in trouble?" Fern sulked as Flower ran past with the whole bowl of little balls, leaving Fern to backtrack for her sister's plate. Yoshi followed them into the great room; carrying their cups, sighing impatiently.
I could hear Raphael in the living room messing with the TV. All at once the opening to Space Heroes was screaming through the speakers. The kids piled onto the couch, the girls fighting for spaces. Raph picked up the little one & switched her with her cousin, putting the boy between them. It was heaven. I could remember not so long ago, we were those kids. I sat still wet, wrapped in a ratty old towel on my familiar stool, my bare legs propped up on the next, moving them only for Leo to sit beside me.
Raph came barreling through the curtains, slinging his arm around my shoulders, kissing the back of my head. His new found ability to be openly affectionate was either a testament to Mona Lisa's hard work or he was still truely grateful to have me back, safe & sound. There had been a time when he had only tolerated my presence, & not quietly. There had been a time when he had to be persuaded to not end my life. He had become my greatest ally, my muscle, & we had come to realize we were very much the same beast. I hugged his elbow briefly before he was off again, around the table to Mona; halfway knocking her over as he kissed her with both hands on her face. It made me laugh out loud seeing this Amazonian battle princess leaning down so clumsily. I'd forgotten she was a full head taller than Raphael. As he straddled a stool, ready to attack the plates of food, he pulled her into his lap causing her to mildly threaten him with bodily harm. She caved & perched on his knee when he held a strip of bacon up to her. She ate it flirtatiously & licked her mouth with her long tongue, revealing her rows of pointed, gleaming teeth. She caught me watching the scene curiously & she let out a hearty 'rrr'okka'.
"Maybe now that you have returned, you are Donatello's kanojochan." She gave me a deadpan stare. Mona never accepted the human idea of subtlety. I think I almost choked on the apple I was eating. The whole kitchen went silent, then erupted in blusters of laughter. Eventually Leo put his hand on my back, patting me hard & caught his breath in discretion.
"Babe, we don't call her that...well not to her face anyway." Raph looked at Mona trying his best to be serious. She was confused, then annoyed, & he cleared his throat.
Renet leaned full force across the table; "Wait, why? It means 'girlfriend'. Right?" She was so voluptuous, her boobs were pushing up out of her tiny tank top & into my face. I covered the side of my eye & mouthed to Leo "why?" forgetting he was half blind.
"Well, it can be impolite." He said to her.
She began rapidly tapping the holographic screen implanted in her wrist. She was searching terminology. When she decided she got what she was looking for, she leaned all of her weight onto Mikey's shoulder, flustered. "Japanese is so grockin weird!"
He just shoved a a pancake-bacon-whip cream sandwich into his mouth & nodded happily. "Yeah WE even suck at it. Donnie's the only one that's really fluent"
"What! I speak perfect Japanese!" Leo snapped.
Raphael looked up from his coffee; "Sure thing Sensie, if you were an 80 year old grandpa in the old country if that's what you mean."
"Where is Donnie, anyways?" Mikey realized he never came to breakfast.
"He said he had somewhere he had to be", I tried to make myself sound as emo as I could.
"Well wait, you are his girlfriend? Aren't you?" Renet was eating fork fulls of scrambled eggs off of Mikey's plate. Raph & Leo looked to one another while he fed her a bite of his pancake sandwich. Her cotton white curls piled perfectly ontop of her head made her look like a darling child. He sprayed a little whip cream straight from the can into her mouth & then helped himself to the whole thing.
"Mikey. I wanted some of that." Raph grumbled at him in disgust.
Mona reached her sparkling, long purple arm across Leo & I, & pulled the can from Michelangelo."rokka We will acquire another container for you Michelangelo." She started to top off Raph's pancakes just before he hovered his hands over them.
"I'm good."
Leo took it from her & put some in his coffee.
Other than the uncomfortable questions, none of this seemed out of place to me. This was my family. They were just the way they should be. All of them so comfortable together; everything literally on the table, my incredibly abnormal tribe. A highly advanced, spoiled little rich girl from the future, an alien reptile woman that could & probably would actually eat you, & our men like ancient monsters right off a yakuza's tattooed back. A troupe of little green children surrounding them & their blind, youthful patriarch. Then there was me. We don't know what I am, but I was happy to be there with all of them again; together. Everyone but Donatello.
"BRA!" Mikey shouted across us, through the open curtain to the great room. Donnie was on his way out. "Aren't you going to come eat? I made lots of stuff, well there's no whip cream left!" He glared at Mona who only eyed him back.
"I'll be back tonight." Donnie sounded bothered. He looked at me as if he were going to say something. I wished it was for me to come with. Or even just an 'I'll see you later'. He adjusted his big duffle bag higher onto his shoulder & turned away.
"Oh... Maybe this is another timeline." Renet said quietly, looking a little sadly over at me.
