I do not own TMNT, and I doubt any amount of milk and cookies I may leave out for Santa will change that fact...

Chapter 7:...is (still) Coming...

"Now, let us have a special bedtime story, and then we must hang up your stockings- and then off to bed!"

Four voices agreed- and two sets of brothers began the countdown when they would put their plans into motion!

"Bedtime, my sons. Time to punch the bag," Splinter said, as the last stocking was hung up.

All four turtles laughed at their father's misuse of the expression.

"It's 'hit the sack', Father," Raph laughed the loudest. Splinter merely shook his head.

"Are you sure?" he asked in mock concern; he knew what the true expression was; it was a favorite little game of his to suddenly surprise them with such verbal "mistakes". He had found it a great little teaching tool to help them remember lessons. "I could have sworn it was the other way. Well, no matter! Time for bed!"

Cheerfully he herded the four boys before him, and each willingly climbed into bed and awaited their tucking in and good nights. The sooner Splinter believed them asleep, the sooner they could put their plans in motion.

While Splinter dealt with a last-minute request for water and a trip to the bathroom from Michelangelo (as usual), Raph managed to make contact with Leo without Don noticing.

"What if we fall asleep before midnight?" he whispered, sensing a flaw in their otherwise perfect plan- after all, there were three hours before they could safely assume Splinter was in bed.

For an answer, Leo showed him the little alarm clock he had hidden under his pillow.

"This'll wake me up," he mouthed back. "Then I'll wake you up!"

Raph, nodding, gave Leo a "thumbs up" signal- and then Splinter was back with Michelangelo who had had his final drink (and hopefully bathroom trip) of the night.

As he tucked in Leonardo, wishing him a personal good night, Donnie waved at Mikey to get his attention. When the youngest looked over, Don, noting carefully what Splinter was doing, slyly held up a digital watch, and made sure that Mikey saw him sliding it under his pillow. Don had set it to go off around eleven o'clock- he was sure that the other two would be asleep by then, and he and Mikey would have no trouble sneaking into the living room. Splinter usually sat up reading in his room until around midnight, but Don was confident that two well-trained ninja could manage to get to the couch undisturbed!

Mikey, as Splinter tucked in Raphael and gave him his personal good night, made an "okay" sign with his fingers, and then snuggled down in the bed, waiting his turn.

Now Splinter was tucking in Donatello.

"Good night my son," he whispered. "And thank you for what you have done for your brother."

Don looked a bit taken aback at this pronouncement; had Splinter overheard them?

"I can see that he is in a better frame of mind, and I am sure you had a lot to do with it," he continued with a smile. "Thank you."

Don suddenly smiled, and accepted his hug and kiss with more than his usual enthusiasm. He was so glad that Mikey had came up with the idea of giving Splinter a present for Christmas- though he still felt that an electric shaver was not a good gift for the rat.

At Michelangelo's bed, he took an extra moment to speak to him.

"Are you still worried, my son?" was all he asked.

"Nope," Mikey replied, grinning. "I know I won't get anything for myself, but I'm sure that Santa will come and bring the others presents, and that's good enough for me!"

Splinter did not push the subject further. He simply finished his nighttime ritual, and then, with a final "Good night, my sons," he turned off the light, and the room was plunged into darkness that was only relieved by the faint night light.

No one spoke. For once, no one spoke. Four turtles, in teams of two, had ulterior motives and feared giving them away.

One by one, though they swore to themselves they were too excited or nervous to sleep, they dropped off, and for a time there was nothing stirring in the room except the soft sounds of four peacefully sleeping turtles.

In the living room, Splinter retrieved the gifts he had hidden just outside the door, but he did not place them out just yet. If he knew his sons, at least one would be up in a little while to "wait for Santa". Carefully hiding them in the last place they would look (the small "closet" in the kitchen where the cleaning supplies were kept), he fixed himself a pot of tea and prepared to go to bed. He would sit up for a bit, then sleep. He would make sure to get up around three or so and place out the presents.

Since they knew it was he who filled the stockings, he went ahead and made the usual deposit of apples, oranges, nuts, candies and a small gift- this year little puzzles. No more noise makers- he had vowed that after the first time, when Michelangelo "serenaded" them for about two hours on the little plastic horn that soon disappeared. In all his years of cleaning, he never did find out which of the others had hidden it, and frankly, remembering the noise, he was not to eager to discover who had done so.

He pondered the letter that was marked "Do not open until Christmas!", and then carefully set it on the table in the kitchen. He would read it tomorrow at breakfast. It was very thick, and though he was curious as to its contents, he would wait.

He carried his pot of fragrant, hot tea on a tray to his room, then dressed for bed. Lighting several candles, he made himself comfortable, picked up his book, and began another chapter, one ear tuned towards his sons room, waiting for the inevitable stealthy creak of the door indicating that someone was on his way to wait up for Santa.

beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep...

Donnie, in the midst of a deep and beautifully peaceful slumber, kept hearing a weird noise in his left ear. It was drilling a hole into his rest, pushing its way rudely into his comfortable sleep, insisting that it must not be ignored.

Eyes popped open in surprise! Then, as he fully woke up, he realized that the little timer on the digital watch was the culprit. Looking quickly at its luminous face, he could see that it had been beeping for at least fifteen minutes!

Man! What if we already missed him? Donnie worried, quickly but carefully climbing out of his toasty warm bed into the chill of the room and making his way as quietly as possible up the ladder to Mikey's bed.

Then it dawned on Don what he had just thought. He shook his head, laughing at himself. Mikey had me believing for a moment! he smiled, as he went about the delicate task of waking one brother without disturbing the other two.

"Mikey," he whispered as loudly as he dared, shaking his little brother. He was answered with a protesting whimper. Don froze for a moment; no noise from the other two. Cautiously, he put one hand on Mikey's mouth. "Mikey! Let's go! Don't you wanna wait up for Santa?"

At those words, Mikey came fully awake- Christmas! Santa Claus!

Without a sound, the two of them climbed down, Mikey bringing his blanket with him so they'd be warm on the couch.

The door, no matter how slowly they moved it open, still managed to make a sound, and their hearts flew into their throats! They froze, one concentrating on whether the brothers had heard, the other watching the door of Splinter. There was the faint flickering suggestion coming from under the door that Father was still up, reading. But no other sound reached them from that room.

Both turtles breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Rather than risking the door's noise by closing it, they left it ajar, and slipped into the living room as if stalking an enemy.

Splinter had installed a few night lights around the lair for safety reasons. Candles used to be the norm, but ever since Michelangelo set a blanket on fire playing with the friendly light, he had had to come up with some other way for wandering children to find their way around the pitch blackness without fear of injury. Flashlights were for important things- batteries could not be wasted on foolish boys who felt like getting out of bed. After seeing how much the small night light he had put into their bedroom helped, he had found or bought a few more- bathroom, living room and kitchen.

It was by the soft, faint glow of the living room one that accustomed turtle eyes could see that no one had been there yet!

Mikey felt a thrill that he could not name! He tried and tried to remember feeling like this before, but the closest he came to it was a naughty memory.

"Remember that time that Raph was grounded?" he whispered to Don as they tucked themselves in on the couch with Mikey's blanket, and huddled together to get back some of the warmth they'd lost on their way to the living room.

"Which time?" Don grinned back. "Raph is always grounded."

That was true.

"The time I played this joke on him," Mikey laughed.

"Which time? You're always playing jokes on him when he's grounded."

That was true as well.

"It was the time when he couldn't get out of the bed for two hours, even for the bathroom, and I kept bringing him drinks of water and milk, and he really had to pee! And just as Splinter told him he could get up, he ran for the bathroom- and I was in there with the door locked, taking a bath! He was banging on the door and hollering, and I was sitting in the tub, just waiting for the right moment-"

Mikey's voice had started to get louder with the telling of this tale, and Don had to warn him to "shush" when he thought he'd heard a noise from their father's room. Both froze for a moment; silence answered them, and they relaxed.

"Anyway, just as I heard Splinter unlocking the door- how does he do that, anyway? I thought you could only lock and unlock it from inside?"

"Duh, he's a ninja!"

"Oh, yeah- I forgot- anyways, just as the door started to open, I turned on all the faucets so Raph could hear the water running, and he ran as fast as he could, but peed himself before he could make it to the toilet!" And Mikey stuffed a corner of the blanket into his mouth to smother his happy laughter.

Don looked at his little brother with a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"Why would you want to remind me of a time when you were bad? Didn't you tell me that Santa doesn't come visit the bad kids?"

Mikey shrugged.

"I'm already not gonna get a present, and 'sides that happened last year before Splinter said that Santa could come this year. Anyways, it was an exciting feeling, and yet it doesn't feel like how I'm feeling now! I hope we see him, Don! I wanna at least thank him for coming to bring you guys presents! I sure thought-"

"Yeah, I know, forget it, Mikey," Don cut him off. "It's okay, and it'll be okay. Let's just try to not get caught by Splinter."

"Wish we could turn on the TV," Mikey said after a few minutes of silence. "I don't wanna fall asleep."

"Don't worry, Mikey. I'll wake you up if you're asleep."

Mikey beamed at his older brother in the dark, and snuggled the blanket around them both even tighter.

"You're the bestest brother in the whole entire world, Donatello! You're the bestest brother that I have!"

Don, taken aback by the sincerity in that statement, nevertheless felt very pleased.

"And you're the best little brother that I have," he responded, smiling to himself and wondering how long it would be before Mikey caught on.

And they happily snuggled under the blanket, every now and again whispering some joke or story or just wondering how long before Santa would arrive...

"Raph... Raph! Wake up!"

"LemmealoneIdonwannawakeupzzzzzz..."

"Raph! We gotta go hide in the dojo! Santa Claus, remember?"

At the words "Santa Claus" Raph bolted upright, forcing himself to be awake. It was not a pleasant feeling; he had been all warm and comfortable and snug in dreamland, and now he was gonna have to get out of his nice bed and sit in a cold dojo, and for what? 'Cause his dumb little brother had to go and make Sensei tell Santa Claus where they lived!

The first thing they noticed was that the door was open; cold fear gripped them at the sight.

The second thing- that their brothers were missing!

"Aww, man... I hope they're in the bathroom!" Leo worried. What if Santa had already snuck in here and swiped the two on top 'cause they were the easiest to carry?

No light came from under Splinter's door. Good. He must be asleep.

Carefully, nervously, the two determined brothers made their way into the living room. They both breathed a sigh of relief! On the couch were the two missing brothers, sound asleep under a blanket.

"We shouldda brought a blanket, too," Raph pointed out, shivering despite the warm pajamas. "Lets take theirs."

"No, that would wake them up, and Splinter would catch us," Leo admonished. "Go in the dojo, I'll go get our blankets. You want some socks, too?" He added this as he noticed that Raph was barefoot (as they all usually were), but he had also noticed how cold the floor was.

"Naw, I'm fine," Raph assured him through chattering teeth.

Leo came back with two blankets, the alarm clock and two pairs of socks. Raph, without a word, put on his pair, and had to admit that it made a difference.

Leo, shutting the door tight, risked switching on the light in the room. There, against the wall, was the weapons rack that held the practice bamboo swords and the wooden bokken. They were not to touch those things without Sensei's permission or supervision, but they were the only weapons in sight.

He looked a question at Raphael, who shrugged.

"At the most, we get grounded for a month," he told his older brother. "No spanking, but also no TV for a week as part of the grounding, and anywhere from two to three hours grounded to the dojo in the corner, no bathroom breaks."

Nodding at the expert advice of his brother, Leo fetched them each a bokken. Then, bundled up in the blankets, they positioned themselves by the door. Leo turned off the light, and Raph opened the door just enough so they could see their brothers sleeping on the couch.

"How do you think he'll get in here, Leo?"

"Probably the front door. We don't have a chimney or windows- only way he can do it."

Raph thought about this.

"Unless he can somehow come through the pipes into the bathroom," he suggested.

Leo considered this, and frowned, annoyed at Raphael.

Man, now I gotta use the bathroom, and I'm too nervous to go... what if he can come through the pipes, he thought angrily, visualizing being alone and in an embarrassing position while the evil Human leered at him, bag ready to scoop him up and take him away!

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought as well as to contradict his brother.

"Nope, front door."

Silence. Silence. More silence.

"I wonder how long we've been waiting," Raph sighed, thinking of bed.

Leo looked at the little alarm clock and sighed himself.

"Fifteen minutes," he whispered.

"Dang! This Santa should hurry up! I'm cold!"

"Maybe there is no Santa," Leo said hopefully. "Maybe there is no Santa like I saw someone saying on that movie.

"You mean the movie where they thought the old guy was crazy cause he said he was Santa?" Raph frowned, remembering it. "But at the end, it kinda said that he was Santa, on account of the little girl got her wish for the house, and his cane was sitting in the corner- remember?"

Leo slumped. The he stiffened his resolution.

"If you wanna get some sleep, go ahead. I'll take the first watch!"

"Nope, I'll wait up with you! We'll both be wide awake for this Human!"

"Agreed!"

They fiercely watched out the door, keeping protective older brother eyes on the two younger ones.

Twenty minutes later, they were both asleep.

His brothers were alone and stranded on this strange hill. Towering over them was a Dark Shape in a robe. They were under some kind of spell; it was like they were asleep, yet trying to wake up, and all the time, the Dark Shape was whispering to them to get in the sack... get in the sack... get in...

"... the sack."

The words, a loud whisper, snapped Leo out of his sleep- to find his worst nightmare coming true before his very eyes!

In the soft weak glow of the night light, a Dark Shape in a robe was leaning over Mikey and Don! It had its hands on his brothers, shaking them! It was whispering about a SACK!

Leo roughly grabbed Raph, shaking him awake while covering his mouth. Before the grumpy turtle could punch his older brother, he froze in horror: SANTA CLAUS!

Cold, biting cold fear gripped the two brothers as tightly as they gripped their bokken. For a moment neither could move! Both felt on the verge of tears- both wanted to scream for Splinter!

And then Mikey whined piteously:

"But I don't wanna get in the sack!"

That did it!

With high-pitched six-year-old voices ringing out a battle cry, Leo and Raph, weapons raised, leaped out of the dojo, bravely charging the Dark Shape-

-and were met with the surprisingly painful and familiar sting of a tail being lashed sharply against their pajama clad legs, knocking them flat on their plastrons!

Stunned, they looked up as the living room light came on, and found themselves staring into the face of Splinter.

And he wasn't smiling!

"Uh..." Leo said.

"Sorr-ry?" Raph weakly smiled.

Splinter stared at these two, hands on hips, tail slowly moving back and forth.

"Yes, I believe you will both be more than sorry," he finally said, and Leo and Raph exchanged almost tearful glances. It appeared that, whatever else might come their way, one of their "Christmas presents" was going to be a spanking!