Chapter 10: Overnight Guests
The movie ended at around 9:30. Everyone was getting tired. Liz was already starting to yawn at her spot on the floor. Leo stood up, stretching.
"We really should head back home. It's getting late."
Hannah got up. "Do you want me to drive you? I'd feel bad just saying good-bye and that's it."
Raph stood up next. "That would be great if you don't mind."
Leo looked around. "Two of us should stay behind, just in case these men look up your address and find Jewel here. Is that alright with you?"
"Sure, that's fine. Uh, which two want to stay?"
Liz jumped up and grabbed Mike's arm. "I want Mike to stay!" She then sat on the couch, continuing to yawn.
Don got up next. "I'll stay too. I can email the others from here if possible."
Raph glanced at him. "Plus you want to stay and mess around on that gold mine of a computer!"
"You read my mind."
Raph rolled his eyes, moving toward Leo. "Let's go Leo. I'm not sure of the train's scheduel, so we'll-"
Hannah grabbed his arm. "Oh, no! I'm taking you straight home. Into the city."
Raph looked at Leo. "Wait a sec, you're going to drive us from the Island into Manhattan? That's almost a three hour drive."
"I know. But you guys have been so wonderful to Jewel, it's the least I can do."
Leo shrugged. "Okay. I guess we have no choice. Let's go."
"Great. Let me get my purse and call Michael real quick. Since two of you will be staying, we can't be sneaking around the house with him. It wouldn't be right."
Hannah disappeared up the stairs. Leo smiled at me.
"Jewel, she is such a wonderful woman."
"Yeah, she really is something. I love her like she's my mother. I
wonder how my real parents are doing from time to time. But since the witness
protection program started, it's almost as if I lost my
parents. In a way, I did. They're still alive but the people I knew them as
are long gone. I guess when I got married, I grew independent and lost track of
Hannah, her husband and my step sister. Now,
she's all I've got left."
"Don't forget you still got us." Leo placed a hand on my shoulder.
I stared deep in his eyes. "I will never forget you."
Minutes later, Hannah came back down, coat and purse in hand. "Okay, I
talked to Michael and he seemed a little understanding but I'm sure Jewel can fill him in
when he gets home. I wouldn't worry
about him guys. I'm sure he'll understand." She went to the couch to hug
Liz. "See ya later, honey. Don't stay up too late."
"Yeah, yeah! I know Mom!"
Raph grabbed his hat and coat, putting them both on. He handed Leo's to him who
did the same. Raph then opened the door and Leo followed next. Hannah waved to
us before closing and locking the
door. I looked out the window as they got into the van. Yup, knew they'd argue
over shotgun. Looks like Leo got to it first. They're so funny. I turned
around to stare at the two turtles and Liz.
"Well, what do you want to do now?"
Lizzy motioned over to the backyard door. "Wanna go swimming?"
I raised an eyebrow. "At night? Are you serious? It's too cold out."
"Our pool is heated."
"Yeah, that's all well and good but you have to get out sometime. And the night air is freezing. Especially to wet bodies."
"Dad let's me do it. Besides, it's the weekend. I don't have any school tomorrow. Come on! You can borrow one of Mom's suits!"
I looked at Mike and Don. "And what about you guys?"
Mike smiled. "Well, it really doesn't matter. We swim in the nude all the time!"
I groaned as Liz laughed at that. "I meant about the whole idea of swimming at night. I don't want you guys to get into trouble. Her dad will be home in about an hour and forty-five minutes."
Mike shrugged. "So? Hannah told him about us. It's already been taken care of."
I paced around them. "I just think he wouldn't be too pleased to come home to find his daughter swimming in the pool. At night. And with two man-size turtles no less."
Liz pouted at me. "You take the fun out of everything, don't you?"
I crossed my arms. "I think we should wait till he gets home, gets over your guys's appearance and then ask him about swimming. We don't want to risk anything."
"By then, it will be too late." Liz whined.
Don grew tired of this. "Maybe we should hide in the closet and when he gets
here come out to greet him. I mean, come on, Jewel! Listen to yourself!
Okay, you have a point that we shouldn't
go swimming with Lizzy without him knowing or even being here. But if he is already
expecting to come home to something out of the ordinary, I'm sure it'll be alright."
I let out a heavy sigh, similar to what Leo has done in the past. "All I'm
saying is we should play it cool. Maybe Mike and Lizzy can play some video games for
awhile and um, you and I can watch
some TV or something. Simple, harmless, stuff. Okay? Please?"
Don looked at Mike. "Sure. Just hope Michael doesn't freak out when he sees me on the couch."
I started to walk toward the couch. "He'd freak out more if he saw us all in the pool. I'm sure being man of the house, he's got his rules."
Liz rolled her eyes. "Please, don't remind me!"
I sat down on the couch, skimming through the guide. "Okay, is there anything good on right now?"
Lizzy headed for the stairs. "Come on, Mike. We'd better head to our battle stations."
"Right behind you, chief!" Both disappeared up the stairs. Don looked at me and then sat down on the La-Z-Boy. He stared at the blank screen.
"Jeez, I never thought I'd have to watch TV on purpose. What are we going to do in the next hour, excuse me, forty-five minutes?" Don checked his watch.
I stood and took the remote from the Scooby-Doo pouch. "We're going to watch....something." I sat back down, reading the TV Guide. Don let out a groan and sat back, letting out a yelp.
"Whoa! What's with this chair?" The stool part for the feet started to come out from him pushing back in the chair.
I smiled and got up. "You wanna sit back in it? Here, watch." I pulled a lever on the side. "Now, push your body backwards into the seat."
Don put one foot on the floor and pushed his shell into the cushion. The stool for the feet popped out the rest of the way and the backing leaned further. His expression was priceless.
"How do you feel?"
His body was laid almost flat in the chair; his feet propped up on the stool. "I feel lazy."
I laughed at him. "That's why it's called a La-Z-Boy chair." His body looked flat as a board. "But you don't have to lay like that, here, sit normally and relax. It's not going to bite you."
Don relaxed and let his backside sink into the crack of the chair. He grinned, placing both his arms on the arm-rests.
"This is comfy. Now I know why guys love to sit in these things all day."
"Yes, and us women have to do everything for them. 'Honey, can I have another beer?' 'Sweetie, be so kind as to turning up the volume for me?' Bleeeech!"
I sat back on the couch closets to Don. He turned toward me with a grin.
"Jewel, be a doll and turn on the TV?"
He got smacked with the TV Guide.
We ended up watching The Final Countdown on the Turner Network Television
station. It was an excellent movie; both Don and I agreed to that. I told him
I saw it before a long time ago but had
forgotten how it ended.
"It would be great to go back in time and try to change history."
I looked at the clock on the VCR. It said 10:35. "Michael should be home soon. Do you want to go hide in the closet now?"
Don leaned forward, setting the chair back to normal and raised one eyebrow at me. "You're not serious, are you?"
"No, Don, I'm not."
He nodded and looked away.
"But you should relax when he walks though the door."
"What does he look like, anyway?"
"Uh, he's about 6'1, brown hair, fair skinned, kinda sexy-"
"I don't need any details."
Lizzy dragged herself downstairs, still yawning. "Is Daddy home yet?"
"No, Lizzy, he's not. He won't be here till after eleven." I tapped the couch. "Wanna come sit down before you fall down?"
"Uh, huh." Liz went toward the couch, forgetting about the three steps and fell to her knees.
Don jumped out of the chair to help her up. "Heh, looks like you already did!"
Liz planted herself to the carpet still in Don's arms. "Mm, too tired."
"Okay, I'll give you a lift." Don lifted her off the floor and carried her to the sofa, placing her gently next to me.
He sat down on the other side of her as Liz placed her head on my lap. I lifted
it carefully, placing a pillow underneath. Without a warning, Lizzy threw her legs
up onto the couch, over Don's lap. He
looked down at her wide-eyed. Then at me. I shrugged.
"Shoes, please." Don mimicked Hannah's orders.
Lizzy looked up at him. She then folded her legs toward her body, off of Don's legs. I reached over and unlaced her shoes, removing them slowly.
Mike came downstairs next, looking triumphant.
"Hey, Lizzy! I finally beat X-Men Vs Street Fighter! Wanna try combat mode?"
Lizzy shook her head, her eyes half-opened.
I slowly stroked her hair, pulling the braid out at the same time. "Lizzy, why don't you go put on your night gown. You should go to bed now. Okay?"
Mike stood there. "I guess this means we're not going swimming, huh?"
I looked at the clock again. "It's almost 11. We should all go to bed. You guys can sleep down here on the couch bed. I'll take the couch bed in the computer room."
Mike looked at Don. "Fair enough."
"Um, Mike, can you check the linen closet? It's upstairs in the hallway. There should be some extra pillows and blankets up there."
"Sure, no problem!" Mike trekked back up the stairs.
I glanced down at Liz who's eyes were closed shut. "Liz, hon, come on. Wake up. It's time to go to sleep." I grinned at Don. "That didn't come out too good, did it?"
Liz hugged the pillow, making a soft moan.
"Come on." I removed the pillow and placed my arm under her neck, starting to get up than sat back down, her weight felt doubled for my tired arms. "Ooof! You weigh a ton."
Don stood up. "Here, I'll take her." Before I could answer, he took her into his arms. If he's got the strength, by all means. "Now, show me to her room."
I smiled up at him.
He looked at me. "What? What are you staring at?"
"I don't know. You look so cute holding her like that."
Don rolled his eyes, stepping back to walk around the coffee table. "I'm cute?"
"Yes, you're both cute." I took her shoes and stood up, heading for the stairs. "This way."
We caught Mike at the top of the stairs, looking into the closet and making a small pile of blankets and pillows.
"Awww, Don! You look so cute!"
Don groaned at his remark. "I don't want to be cute!"
"Hang on, Don, I need to make a path to her bed." I walked into her
bedroom, moving over to pull the bed covers down. Don brought her in and laid her
flat on the bed. I looked through her
dresser drawer, finding a long, beautiful night gown with a small print of flowers on it
and three buttons near the neck. Don started to leave but I stopped him.
"Wait, can you just hold her up straight so I can slip this on her? It's
like dressing a rag doll when she's out cold." Don nodded and reached over to
sit her upright. He unsnapped her overall shorts; the
straps falling loosely to her waist. Keeping her back toward him, he quickly removed
her lavender shirt and I came over to throw the night gown over her head. I lifted
her body as Don pulled the night
gown past her stomach, inserting her limp arms through the sleeves. I pulled down
the overall shorts and removed them from under her feet. Liz never woke up.
Don smiled at her as he laid her flat on
the bed again, pulling the covers over her. I watched him for a bit before turning
around to clean up around the area.
"It's amazing how kids can sleep through just about anything and never wake up."
I started clearing more toys off the floor but nodded to his response.
"Yeah, there was one time when I was like 5 and my parents went out to a
Christmas party, leaving me at the neighbor's house
next door. My mom told our neighbor that if it got too late, they should just put me
to bed till they came home. Well, it got late and Jean, our neighbor, put me on her
bed and when my parents came
to take me home, they carried me out, changed my clothes and put me in my own bed. I
never woke up. I remember waking up, thinking, 'how did I get here?' It was all a
blur."
Don gestured to Liz. "I hope she doesn't mind that I- you know."
I waved a hand. "Nah, she probably won't remember anything. I'm just
thankful someone was here to help me. The last few occurrences such as this where I
had to do it alone were such a hassle.
It was a lot easier this way. She can be quite a handful."
"Dressing or undressing her?"
"All of the time!"
We suddenly heard a slam come from downstairs. I listened carefully as Don got up off the bed, slowly heading for the door. Mike greeted us at the door instead.
"Um, guys, we've got company!"
I placed a finger to my mouth as a signal for him to keep his voice down. "Who's here?"
"I think it's Michael."
We heard a voice come from downstairs. "Hello? Anyone home?! Jewel?"
"It's Michael. Wait up here, guys. I'll go talk to him."
Mike and Don stood in the darkened hallway, watching another reunion as I went down to embrace Michael as a greeting.
"Oh, Michael! It's so good to see you! How are you doing?"
"Been busy. Working late as you can tell. So, Hannah tells me we have some guests staying here tonight? Is that right?"
"Yes, two of my friends that I met a couple of days ago. It's ahh, it's a long story but they ask that you please do not freak out when you see them."
Michael frowned at me. "Freak out? Hannah told me they were a little unusual but harmless."
"Exactly. Just um, treat them as you would to any normal human being."
"Oh, okay. Where are they now?"
"Um, they're upstairs. Here, sit down on the couch, I'll get you something to drink and then I'll bring them down."
"She's stalling." Mike whispered to Don.
"Maybe it's better that way. The man just walked in the door. I'm sure he's not ready for any surprises right now."
I brought in a glass of decaffeinated iced tea and set it on the coffee table with a coaster. Michael looked up at me.
"Hannah got to you too, didn't she?"
"What do you mean?"
Michael held up the coaster. "She's always getting on my case about little rings she finds on her table."
I sat down on the La-Z-Boy. "Call it a habit, I guess."
Michael looked around the room. "Where's my little girl?"
Don snickered at that reply, making Mike frown at him.
"Lizzy? She's already in bed. She couldn't wait for you."
Michael nodded, taking another sip from his glass. He glanced at the staircase.
"So, do I have to wait all night or do I have to go up there after them?"
"Oh! You want to meet them now? I figured since you just walked in, you wanted to unwind a bit and relax."
"No, I want to go to bed to unwind and relax. The office told me I have to work tomorrow so I need at least 6 hours of sleep."
I stood up. "Okay, I'll go get them." I walked halfway up the stairs. "Come on you two, it's showtime."
I came down again. "Michael, this is Donatello and Michaelangelo. My friends." I had to keep reminding people upon meeting them that they were my friends. And harmless ones.
Don and Mike entered the room, standing above the three steps. Michael stood up as they walked in, his eyes widening with shock.
"Holy, sweet Jesus." He uttered underbreath.
Don and Mike looked at one another as I stood to the side, feeling a sort of discomfort for them.
Michael stepped around the coffee table, never taking his eyes off of them. Still staring, he handed his empty glass to me.
"Are they....turtles?"
"Yes, Michael. Mutant turtles. They're story is just as long as mine but you must understand that these guys are a gift sent from Heaven above."
They looked over at me, making faces.
"Jeez, Jewel, when you put it that way, I feel so....important."
Michael looked at Mike after he said that. "You speak English?"
Don spoke up next. "Very good English, might I add. One of the few languages taught to us."
"But turtles don't talk. How is this possible?!"
Mike shrugged. "Hey, don't ask us! We've just been doing it practically all our lives."
Michael turned away back to the couch. "This is incredible. I'm talking to two gigantic turtles. Jewel, you should have gotten me a beer instead of the tea."
I looked at the clock. "At close to midnight?"
Michael looked back. "Hell, why not?"
"Look, maybe you should just go to bed too. It's very late and I'm not planning on staying up for much longer."
Don and Mike, still feeling on spotlight slowly started inching toward the couch. Michael looked at them as if they were diseased.
"So where are you guys sleeping tonight?"
"Um, down here. On the couch bed." Don gestured to the pillows and blankets.
Michael nodded. "That's fine." He walked past them, almost against the wall, to head up the stairs. "Goodnight, Jewel."
"Goodnight....Michael." He didn't wait for my response. He was already gone. I looked at the two.
Mike made a small grin. "That went well."
"Right, Mike. I feel a whole lot better." Don moved to pull the
coffee table toward the television. I started to pull the cushions off of the couch
and grabbed the small piece of fabric to get the bed out.
I placed a foot on the couch frame trying to yank it out. Damn thing. Hate
them. Don took my hand away and pulled with all his strength, getting the bed
halfway out. He pulled again; the bed coming
out looking sandwiched. He grabbed the end and laid it flat, the legs unfolding and
touching the floor. Don stood upright, placing a hand on his shell to stretch his
spine. Wherever it was on him.
"Hate these damn things."
It's funny how he reads my mind. Scary too.
Don started helping Mike place the sheets, blankets, and pillows onto the mattress.
I placed a hand on Don's shoulder. "Well, guys, I'm going to bed now. See you in the morning." I turned and headed for the staircase.
They spoke in unison. "Goodnight, Jewel."
I smiled, hearing that as I left. They're such sweeties. I got to the top
of the stairs, seeing Hannah's and Michael's door closed. Lizzy's was slightly open.
I went into the computer room, turning on the light. Goody. Another couch bed
to play with. I was thinking of calling one of them up to help me but decided not
to. Michael was probably asleep by now, if he can get over what he saw
tonight. I did not
like the way he handled their appearance. He wasn't as forgiving as Hannah was.
I looked down at the couch. It could be comfortable without pulling it out.
But then, I saw on the side of it, Mike had
put down extra pillows and blankets. How thoughtful of him! Now, I really
should pull this sucker out. Removing the cushions, there was another piece of
fabric. Yippee. I grabbed the fabric and as before, placed a foot on the
frame, pulling out the bed as hard as I can. This one came out easier, it being
smaller and not much weight compared to the downstairs couch. I unfolded the
mattress and threw on
the sheets, blankets and pillows. I opened a window and shut off the light.
Before closing my eyes, I checked the clock on the computer desk. It said:
11:32. Perfect. Just perfect.