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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"Hey April! Do you want a beer?"
"What!?" I looked up at Raphael standing in the fridge, pulling two glass bottles from inside. He knuckled them both around the neck in one hand.
I peered at him slowly as I reached for one; "Why do I feel like this is some sort of twisted peer pressure?"
"Oh give me a break, April!" He passed the other to Mona, but she literally turned her snout up at it.
"You know I think that non sense tastes like filthy water." she quipped.
Raph smirked at her as he popped the top off & took a drink. "Well you know I'm still gonna offer you one." He leaned towards me & clinked his bottle to mine, in a cheers.
It was late afternoon & my first day back was coming to an end. Mikey & Renet had gone back to his place, leaving the rest of us to reconvene again in the kitchen. Mona sat on a stool next to me stroking Flower's sleeping face as she cradled her. The toddler's plump little legs dangled over her mother's arms. Leo walked by & paused to squeeze her tiny foot lovingly, for a moment. The beauty of their form was surreal. I couldn't help but stare at Mona. She raised her eyes to me & made a humming sound in approval. Her life was good; she was an amazing picture of someone who lived fully in who she was. She was equally a fierce fighter as she was a tender mother. Her very presence seemed to calm Raphael, who had always been a roll of razor wire strung with anger & distrust when we were kids. Infact, watching them flirt all day had been the highlight of my return, so far. I couldn't get enough of them, the way they simply knew each other, the sweet & funny way they constantly gave each other a hard time. My brother had finally found someone he could challenge that would neither back down, nor exert themselves to rise above him.
Leonardo sat across the island & worked his hands together, in the way our father had taught us, to relieve tension. He was preparing to address my elephant in the room. Before he had decided how to approach the conversation; his older brother took it upon himself to overstep the Sensei, in true Raphael fashion:
"Well so April! Where do you wanna sleep tonight?"
Leo shot Raph a glance as if he could see him perfectly clear, in complete irritation with his lack of discretion. "Raphael you're impossible! Could you be any more immature?"
"Oh I'm being very mature, Leo. You're thinking it, too." Raph turned his face to Leonardo, bottle to his mouth, but he kept his eyes on me. "I didn't ask where she should bunk for the night, I asked where she wanted to sleep."
Leo rolled his eyes; "Yes thank you, for clarifying the obvious."
Mona attempted to turn the conversation as she interjected, "What my love is thinking is we should relocate our daughters to Michelangelo's empty room so that you may have your space here, back."
