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Splinter sat in front of the television as he always did. His sons sat around him, enraptured by the Halloween special episode playing on the kids’ channel, he was there to comfort his children, not for the pointless drama that normally aired on children’s channels. Though he could admit that the Halloween specials were more bearable than the regular airings, being darker in tone, and more serious, perhaps made for a demographic older than his sons. The still light-hearted atmosphere and setting of the movies had scared them before, he knew that sooner or later the waterworks would come pouring.
Every once in a while the shows would be interrupted by commercials, advertising overpriced costumes or plastic pumpkin buckets. It was repetitive and boring and he was pretty sure they aired the same ones every year, he could just exploit the opportunity to take some snacks and stretch after another boring fifteen minutes of pointless spooks that weren’t even scary. As much as Splinter wanted to get up, he also didn’t want to move Orange from his lap just for food.
“Dad?” He glanced down to see Blue tugging at his robe.
“Yes, Blue?” He answered tiredly.
“Can we do that?”
“Do what, Leo?” The purple one asked from the armrest beside him.
"I know! I know! Like in all the TV shows! The one where the kids put on costumes to look like us?” Orange added, “Can we do that Dad?”
Splinter gazed at his sons, and four beaming, enthusiastic grins begged him to go. He considered it for once, they seemed old enough to behave themselves and the message of sticking by his side has finally been ingrained in them.
“I can take care of them if you don’t want to go to the surface!” Red volunteered, “I promise we will come back by curfew, and we’ll stay together like you told us to if we ever go to the surface.”
Red has certainly grown into his role as the oldest, he’d been relying on him to keep his brothers in check a lot this year. He would be able to manage them, he supposed, but he would accompany them just in case.
“You can go-” the brothers cheered loudly, celebrating their minor victory. “-on one condition.”
The brothers sat down immediately, resigning themselves to whatever their father wanted, just for the taste of freedom.
“I get to go with you.”
“But Dad!” They whined.
“No buts!” Splinter shot them down immediately, “I get to go with you or you won’t go at all.”
Blue looked like he wanted to complain again, but Purple slapped a hand on his mouth, making a shushing motion. Ever the feisty one, Blue shot a glare and licked Purple's hand in retaliation.
“We accept,” Purple announced on their behalf, pulling his hand away in disgust.
“Do we get to wear costumes?” He winced as Orange shouted a little too loudly from his lap, pulling his attention back to the youngest. From the corner of his eye, he could just about hear Purple say ‘you’re disgusting’ to his twin, the younger blew a raspberry at him. He wondered about paying more attention to the twins but Red was already standing up from his action figures, so he didn’t think too much of it.
“What day is it?” Splinter considered, if there was enough time, they could easily make their own costumes instead of risking their discovery with another trip to the surface. What types of costumes could be pieced together with junkyard scrap?
Red was pushing Blue and Purple away from each other, from the intensity of their glares, it was obvious that they would have broken out into a sibling scuffle if it weren’t for Red’s intervention. Orange still watched him patiently, still awaiting his answer.
Looking at the calendar- that he seriously needed to mark properly, all he could see was tiny red scrawls all over the paper, had his handwriting always been this bad?- Splinter found that it was already the 15th of October, another 15 days to prepare. It should be enough, right?
Orange shook his leg again, “Is that a yes? Please say that’s a yes-”
“That’s a yes,” Splinter conceded.
They celebrated again, the twins forgot their previous build-up to a fight as they immediately switched back to chattering. Hopefully, they’d be like this the rest of the night, it’d be one less problem to deal with, he thought.
“What do you want to be for Halloween?”
====================
“Dinosaur! Dinosaur! Dinosaur!” Red chanted as they sat in the communal room.
“No! Do mine first Dad!” Blue begged as he rocked his leg back and forth.
“Blue, be patient, you can help your younger brother while I work on Red’s costume.” The child opened his mouth to argue again but he shot him down before he could say anything. “If you ask again I’m helping yours last.”
Blue pouted but didn’t complain, and sat down next to Orange who somehow already had paint on his face. Orange always had paint even though the paint cans were still sealed tight though, and he kept it out of reach from them. Maybe it wasn’t paint that he was playing with… he’d have to check later.
Splinter took up the minuscule needle, lifting it to the light. He could see warm yellow light reflect back into his eye but he still couldn’t pinpoint the needle’s tip at all, perhaps he should go to the surface to get some reading glasses. It wouldn’t do much good if he couldn’t see, he set the needle back into his sewing pack stuffing it under all the other excess fabric he had salvaged over the years, better than risking the boys stepping on it accidentally.
He picked up the crochet needle instead, he’d figure out how to sew with his deteriorating vision later, preferably when the boys were asleep, he couldn’t risk anything. Red took up the thicker crochet hook from the kit, staring up at his father with a determined look that he couldn’t deny. Wordlessly he let his son edge closer as he took the end of the yarn to begin the stitch.
Starting the first layer, he made sure to go slow so Red could follow. The turn could be hard to follow, and aligning may be a slight problem, but it was fine, he didn’t expect much from a beginner and he could fix it later anyway. After the demonstration to get him going, he handed his hook to Red, who was nervously knitting his fingers together. Splinter placed his hands over his bigger ones, guiding him through the process of forming a chain. After making just one chain, Red looked up with a blinding grin, almost disbelieving and in wonder at the potential he could create resting his hands.
Splinter guided him through a few more before letting go of the boy’s trembling hands. His head snapped towards him and in his eyes were fear and panic. Given his history of accidentally breaking multiple toys and the small yet terrifying moments when he overexerted his strength while playing with his brothers. They weren’t ever injured badly but he’d always be scared for their safety, Red would be so scared as he apologised to his brothers. Nobody ever blamed him, he didn’t ask for his strength or his mutation, he was a child- no one in their right mind would have expected him to regulate his strength at such a young age.
He pat his son's shoulder, urging him to continue while putting on a proud smile for him. Red looked back at the yarn in his hand, the grip in the hooks faltering in fear of his strength adding yet another object onto his list of things he had broken in childhood. Still, he repeated the motion he had taught him earlier, and while the knots may be a bit loose, he could always go back and fix it later. Red looked up at Splinter again for affirmation which he was happy to provide, giving him a thumbs up.
It may have been a bit too long since he last paid attention to his younger siblings though, Red could handle it alone for a while, right?
“Tell me if you need help, I’ll be right there.” He instructed, standing up to go and check on his other sons.
“Have you decided on what you want to be Orange?” The others had already chosen what they’d wanted to be while he went to the surface to pick up some supplies and possible materials that could be used for a DIY costume.
“Um…” he mumbled, still unsure of what he’d be.
“It’s okay, no rush, take your time.” He reassured, “You can help your brothers as you think, alright?”
“Paint?” What was with this child and his obsession with painting, how did he even know how to hold a brush correctly? He doesn’t remember ever teaching them. They didn’t have the luxury of allowing them to attend any classes, let alone an art one, due to their mutations and poverty, yet his son always manages to surprise him with his intrinsic artistic talent.
“Okay,” He agreed with some hesitation, “Colours?”
“White!” showing his pearly teeth.
He moved to get the paint he kept out in the backroom, too high up for even the four of them stacked to take. Sure it was a hassle to bring stuff up and down the secret trapdoor on the ceiling of his room but he didn’t want any of them swallowing anything toxic either. “I’ll be right back, don’t come if anything falls.”
“Okay!” He replied brightly, already crawling towards Purple and Blue, who were coexisting quietly for the first time in a long while. Perhaps he should direct Blue to better hobbies, how much were the Jupiter Jim action figures that he always wanted?
Splinter returned with a paint bucket dragging across the floor and a sore back, not that his sons noticed, too engrossed by their own projects. Purple probably had a sketch of all the design specifications in his project and a checklist of things he needed, but Blue? He may need a little more help organisation wise, even if his plans were detailed.
“Okay, I’m back with the paint.” Splinter panted, “You have your brushes?”
The youngest pulled out his paintbrushes and waved them around wildly. The blue-banded blue-banded brother was already marking out the cardboard with markers, they’d be ready to cut it out and put it together soon then it could go through its painting stage.
“Wait, Orange,” The boy looked innocently back up at him, “What do you need the paint for?”
“Um...” he mumbled, “To… paint? Leo’s going to be done soon right?”
“Isn’t the uh… “ he paused to remember the actor’s name, “Jupiter Jim’s suit grey?”
“But you have to coat it with white first!” He exclaimed, somehow knowledgable about this subject, “Otherwise it’ll be uneven.”
“How do you even know this?” Splinter asked no one in particular.
“I dunno!” He loved all his sons with his whole entire being and he’d like to know what he’s doing more often, he might get high blood pressure from the stress of parenting. He patted his son's shell, which he leaned back into, he almost didn’t want to stop but he had to see what Purple was doing too.
“Blue, do you need any help?” He looked over Orange’s shoulder to see him taking the kiddy-scissors, sticking a tongue out in concentration.
“Not now, Dad. I’ll tell you when I do, I promise.”
“Purple?”
His son ignored him, too absorbed by his work.
“Purple?” Splinter knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder, hoping that he wouldn’t shock him. They were surrounded by scattered papers, sketched and written in an unreadable scrawl he couldn’t decipher. “Anything you need?”
He hummed for a while, too preoccupied to answer. “Uh… I’m almost done with the prototype.” He mumbled. “Might need some batteries…”
“Batteries?” Splinter inquired, to which Purple absentmindedly nodded. He sighed, knowing that he probably didn’t even know what he had asked. He was already late into the planning and finalisation from the looks of it, nothing much he could do until he decided.
“Tell me if you need help okay?” He reminded him, returning to check on Red, who was making a surprisingly neat stitch, exceeding his expectations. His hold on the needle was steadier than before, the control and the precision of the stitch came naturally after that as he fell into a comfortable rhythm of looping and hooking.
Everyone turned as a gasp cut through the quiet of the room.
“Dad! I know what I want to be tonight!” Orange called out. “Peter Pan!”
“That’s good Orange, how do you want to go about doing it?”
“Um…” At least they had a good place to start with Halloween just two weeks away.
He laughed, they had a long few nights ahead of them.
====================
“April!” The boys called, bouncing in her direction.
“No way!” She gasped, her tall witch’s hat nearly fell as her head snapped towards them, astonished at their presence on the surface, “Guys? What are you doing here? I thought you said that your Dad banned you from going to the surface!”
“Don’t tell him but we sneaked out ourselves,” Leo whispered conspiratorily into her ear, though the plastic bowl- space helmet- on his face was smashed awkwardly to the side of her cheek. The words also echoed within the container, and April pushed him away.
Mikey lightly slapped his brother’s leg, though it didn’t carry much strength and was instead more of a tap. “What did Dad say about lying?”
“Not to…?”
“Thank you, Orange.” Splinter came up from behind them, his tail giving him a “thwap!” on his head, though it didn’t do much through the plastic fishbowl he had on his head. His tone quickly turned harsh as he addressed the blue-banded turtle. “Blue! What did I tell you about lying?”
“April! Don’t run off like that!” An unfamiliar voice called out. They turned around to see a woman stalking towards them.
“Mommmm,” she whined, “I can take care of myself! You don’t have to keep following me!”
“And what will I do when you suddenly disappear?” Her mother tapped her forehead and inspected the disguised turtles. “And are these your friends?”
“Yes Mom,” April rolled her eyes, “I told you I have friends, you just don’t believe me!”
Raph peered up sheepishly from under his dinosaur costume, giving a shy wave to the stranger. Mikey held no such reservations, unabashedly greeting her with a beaming smile and a loud “Hello!”
“Apologies madam,” Splinter cut in, “I didn’t teach my boys to be so rude, Blue! Purple! Where are your manners!”
“Um... hi?” Leo acknowledged, nudging the silent purple-banded brother in his mad scientist lab coat dragging across the ground. He stuttered, stumbling over his words, ultimately the words were so soft that only Leo could hear his whispers.
“You guys can’t hear it but he says ‘hello’,” Leo announced. Splinter resisted the urge to slap his hand on his face, muttering something along the lines of ‘I swear I taught them better than this.”
April’s mother only laughed, “How respectful! April, did you remember to greet their father as well?”
She nodded though she didn’t actually say anything to address Splinter’s presence. To be fair, she hadn’t really known what to say to greet him either, Uncle? Mr Splinter? Mr… what even was their last name? It could have also exposed their identity, she thought, though it was more of an excuse than a reason, it felt weird to greet him. Normally she’d just greet the boys, and the rare times she went back to the boys’ lair, he would be asleep or watching the television…
Splinter let it slide, not really caring for any greetings, but he had standards to keep up, especially with his Japanese heritage. He looked at his sons playing peek-a-boo around the adults, running rounds around their legs, he supposed that he could allow them to have some fun.
“How about me and Miss…” He trailed off, not sure of her name, the children turned their heads towards him, stopping their play. “Please, call me Carol.”
“Miss Carol and I can go have a nice chat while you play.” Splinter suggested, “Only if you stay within our sights and tell us where you’re going beforehand.” He reminded, patting Mikey’s head affectionately. “Can’t have you running off now, can we?”
Hope sparkled in their eyes, looking at Carol expectantly, knowing that her permission was the only thing between them and the fun of Trick or Treating.
“That’s a great idea,” she consented, the children hoorayed loudly, Mikey clapped his hands together, the sound muffled from the green gloves. Raph punched the air, celebrating their temporary freedom, though it was still with its limits.
“We’ll be following right behind you.”
A dinosaur, an astronaut, a scientist, a witch and a fairy ran off ahead of the two adults, hooting loudly for the haunting night that had only just begun.
Splinter looked fondly at his sons and daughter running down the street, rattling an excited rhythm on the nearest door they saw. With Orange’s irresistible puppy eyes, they were sure to get buckets full of candy that could last them a week at least.
“So, what do I owe the pleasure of meeting the father of my daughter’s friends?” Carol asked.
Splinter coughed, “It sounds so much more complicated when you say it like that. I take it April didn’t tell you about my boys?”
“No… she did,” Carol admitted, “I’m just to busy at work I don’t really have the chance to pick her up from school, and from what I hear from her teachers, she isn’t really the most… friendly at school, so forgive me for being a little bit suspicious when she says that she does have friends.”
“No, that’s perfectly fine,” Splinter waved, easily coming up with a lie to cover the fact that they couldn’t go to the surface at all. “My boys go to different schools so sometimes they meet up after school. At least I know why she’s always around instead of going home.”
“I was scared that she may have found herself some bad company for a while, New York isn’t exactly the safest place in the world.” She sighed, stress more evident now that their kids weren’t paying attention. “She’d come home smiling every day though, so I didn’t know what to think either, I was scared that if she was… I wouldn’t know what to do either, I didn’t want to sacrifice her happiness.”
“Same goes for my boys. I can’t bear to let them out of their sight, I’m scared that they’d get picked on by other kids.” The children were laughing loudly, bouncing around the empty street, lit up by candles and spooky decorations. Orange had climbed onto Red’s shoulders, stretching it out to feel the gentle breeze sweeping the streets of New York that night.
“Still..” She continued, “I’m glad that April has good friends like them, it’s good to know that she isn’t lonely when I’m not at home.”
“I think it’s the other way around.” Splinter added, “My boys are lucky to have April.”
Blue and Purple peered into each other’s half-filled buckets, comparing the sweets they’d gotten. They lifted their heads, Blue clearly was about to start an argument, the smug face and parental instincts can’t lie, Splinter could tell even from how he was from the boys. April stepped in before he could get anything out though, putting her index finger on top of his mouth.
“They’re good for each other.”
April recalled her hand as he reluctantly closed his jaws. She took a handful of sweets from her bucket and deposited it into the noisy turtle’s, then repeated the same action for the aspiring scientist. He could see her mouth move, but any snarky remark died in Blue’s mouth after hearing whatever she said.
Carol chuckled from beside him, and he had to agree, “That they are.”
=================
“We’re heading out now,” Raph called out to his father, slouched comfortably on his couch. “Want anything in particular?”
“No, ‘Nardo, do not touch my costume.” Donnie slapped Leo’s arm away.
“You know at this old age I can’t eat too much sugary stuff,” Splinter dismissed him with a wave, “You boys keep it for yourself.”
“You too ‘Angelo,” He glared at the youngest brother.
“Cut it out Donnie, it’s just a costume.” Raph sighed tiredly, starting to usher them towards the drain cover.
“Just a costume? The gall of you!” Donnie put a hand to his chest with mock offence. “Excuse you! I spent a week on this, you’re not getting any of your grubby hands onto my-”
“Bye Dad!” Mikey called, following after Raph. “We won’t be out long, we promise!”
“C’mon guys, we can’t leave April hanging like that.”
Splinter could see Purple mutter something under his breath as Leo was already halfway out to the streets.
His sons, it reminded him of all those years ago when he first accompanied them for Halloween. He wondered if he could…
“Actually, mind if I join you?” Splinter hopped down off his beloved chair. Stretching his stiff back and weak knees, the more he complained about the junk food he indulged in the worse his body got. He should go out more often, maybe Purple could build him a treadmill, though some fresh air did sound nice right about now.
The brothers were visibly surprised, he hadn’t joined them for trick or treating for a few years now.
“Sure?” Blue answered for them.
The Halloween special playing on television abruptly shuttered off with a click of a button, leaving the lair silent. The family clambered out of the sewers one after another into the warm orange glow on the haunted streets of New York.