Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 4: September 29th

"WAKEY, WAKEY, PARTY MUTANTS!" Michelangelo hollers as he races back and forth, up and down the hall, bouncing between his brothers' bedroom doors like a strung-out pinball. "WE'RE EIGHTEEN TODAY, BROS!"

Inside Leonardo's bedroom, he grumbles under his breath and rolls over, slinging his arm over Destiny. She exhales heavily and cuddles closer to him, nuzzling her nose against his neck and making him smile sleepily.

"Happy mutation day," she whispers.

He brings her closer to him, pressing a lazy kiss to her forehead, and they stay cuddled for a few minutes longer.

Donatello and Raphael emerge from their rooms in varying states of alertness, one still drowsy and in need of coffee, the other awake but annoyed at how they were woken up. Raphael snatches Michelangelo by the back of the shell as he goes racing by, dead-eyed glare on the back of his head, and Michelangelo lets out a sheepish giggle.

"I don't care if you're excited, you wake me like that again and I'll shell-wedgie you so hard that you'll walk funny for a month," he growls. Michelangelo lets out a soft "meep".

"Yikes, Raph," Donatello drones, tying on his mask as he blinks a few times, trying his best to focus through the fog of his mind. "Harsh...on our birthday, too."

"He's been warned," Raphael retorts. "Now, if he does it again, he had it coming."

"Uh, heh...gotcha," Michelangelo says. He clears his throat and wiggles out of Raphael's grip. "Sarina made coffee and I made breakfast, so go get it while it's hot!"

Raphael and Donatello wander off. Michelangelo makes sure Leonardo and Destiny are awake before dashing off to enjoy breakfast.

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It's a Tuesday, meaning that Casey, April, Taylor, and Annalise are at school until later. Fortunately, that leaves a lot of time for everyone else to set up. They blow up balloons and hang streamers, bake cake and gather presents hidden away where even ninjas like the turtles can't find them.

Destiny hurries in from the hallway, a small box in her arms, and when she reaches into it, it comes out clutching a strip of white material. She flashes a pointed grin and tosses it to Sarina, who shares the excited grin with a flash of her eyes.

"Masks, I almost forgot," she admits as she ties hers on.

Donatello's mask crumples as he stops hanging up a streamer. "Wait, what masks? When did you get masks?"

"We made them," Destiny says, giving the box a shake and allowing him to see more strips of coloured cloth. "We thought we'd have a theme party and have everyone wear masks, just like you guys." Before the others can speak, she adds in a rambling, excited tone, "See, I've got black, Sarina gets white, Taylor asked for maroon, Annalise has pink, April gets yellow, Casey gets green, and Splinter gets brown."

"Nice," Raphael says, far more focused on positioning a balloon on the platform above the living room.

Leonardo enters from the kitchen and he gasps, his eyes sparkling. He promptly races across the room until he skids to a stop beneath a cluster of Space Heroes balloons, his mannerisms de-aging him ten years in an instant.

"Who got those?!" he exclaims, bouncing back and forth on his feet as he lets out an excited squeal. "Whoever it was, I love you!"

"You're welcome, Leonardo. I love you too," Splinter calls from the kitchen.

Donatello and Michelangelo burst out laughing as Leonardo's cheeks darken.

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The final four guests arrive not long after four o'clock. They tie on their masks and gather in the living room, where Splinter cuts generous servings of real, honest-to-goodness cake—thanks, April and Casey—not a worm or a speck of algae in sight. Michelangelo's boombox plays music in the background.