Disclaimer: Ninja Turtles are not mine but Chloe and her grandparents are. Please do not sue and no flames.

Separation and Thankfulness

The 2 year old turtles were playing in the living room. Just then, Splinter entered the room.

"I have a special treat for all of you," Splinter said. "I have decided to take you on your first outing."

The turtles ran over to Splinter and leaped into his arms. Splinter wrapped his arms around the turtles and they released each other a couple minutes later.

"Can we go now?" Leo asked.

"I want to go, too," Donny said.

"Same with me," Raph said.

"Let's go now," Mikey said.

"All right, my sons," Splinter said. "I need you to stay with me at all times."

The turtles nodded in agreement. Then Splinter and the turtles left the lair.

The turtles were walking through the sewers with Splinter. They were gathering food and supplies.

"This wasn't the kind of outing I was expecting," Donny said.

"This is a boring outing," Raph said.

"I want to go home," Mikey said.

"I think we all do," Leo said.

Splinter was gathering some food. Just then, the turtles spotted a round white ball with different colored stars all over it.

"A bouncy ball!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Very colorful and round," Donny said.

"Let's play with it," Raph suggested.

"Good thinking," Leo said.

The turtles started playing with the bouncy ball. They chased after it when the ball got away from them.

The turtles ran after the ball for a while before they managed to catch it. When they did, they looked around and noticed that Splinter wasn't there.

In another part of the sewer, Splinter finished putting some food into a bag. He turned to check on the turtles and was shocked to see that they weren't there.

Splinter started using his sense of smell to track down the turtles. He hoped that nothing would happen to the 2 year old turtles.

"Where's Splinter?" Raph demanded.

"We lost him when we chased the ball," Leo replied.

"You think he'll find us?" Donny asked.

"I want Splinter," Mikey said, the floodgates opening.

Donny gathered Mikey in his arms and his brother returned the gesture and broke down completely. Donny gently rubbed his younger brother's shell and rocked him back and forth.

Several minutes later, Mikey had fallen asleep in Donny's arms. Raph and Leo were impressed.

"Donny, that's amazing," Leo said.

"I wish I could calm Mikey down like that," Raph said.

Donny tightened his hold on Mikey. He wondered why he was able to calm Mikey down when something upset him but Raph and Leo couldn't.

Leo picked up the bouncy ball. He went over to Raph and the two of them started playing with it. Just then, Donny and Mikey released each other and went over to Raph and Leo. The four of them started tossing the ball in a circle.

Several minutes later, the turtles dropped the ball when they saw Splinter coming towards them. The turtles rushed into Splinter's arms and all of them broke down completely. They held each other for a very long time. After they released each other, Splinter checked for injuries and was relieved that there weren't any.

"We're really sorry, Splinter," Leo said.

"We should've stayed with you," Donny said.

"We thought we'd never see you again," Mikey said.

"We never should've chased that ball," Raph said.

"The important thing is that we are all safe," Splinter said.

Splinter gathered the turtles in his arms. The turtles latched onto Splinter not wanting to let go.

Fifteen years later…

Splinter and the turtles were hanging out in the Calls' living room. Ten year old Chloe Calls and her grandparents were putting food on the table.

A few minutes later, Chloe entered the living and told Splinter and the turtles that dinner was ready. All of them headed right for the dining room, where Chloe's grandparents were already seated, and sat down.

On the table was wineglasses, sparkling grape juice, succotash, sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls with butter, black olives that tasted like saltwater, cranberry sauce, gravy, and a Thanksgiving turkey. Everyone passed the food around so they could all get what they wanted and then the wineglasses were filled with sparkling grape juice.

"I wanted to mention how thankful I am that able to spend Thanksgiving with all of you," Splinter said. "Especially my sons."

"We're thankful to have Chloe living with us," Grandma Calls said.

"We're thankful that our late son and late daughter-in-law gave us a wonderful granddaughter," Grandpa Calls said.

"I'm thankful to have such wonderful friends and grandparents," Chloe said.

"I'm thankful to have a wonderful family," Leo said.

"I'm thankful to be able to have a meal in a house," Raph said.

"I'm thankful to have a great friend like Chloe," Donny said.

"I'm thankful for this turkey," Mikey said while putting some turkey on his plate.

Everyone continued to chat while they ate. All of them cleaned up when they were done.

Later on, the turtles and Splinter entered the lair. Splinter headed for his room and came out with a white bouncy ball with different colored stars.

"Any of you remember this?" Splinter asked.

"That's the bouncy ball we chased after on our first outing," Leo replied.

"We got separated from you when we chased after it," Donny said.

"We thought we'd never see you again," Mikey told Splinter.

"We learned to stick with you on outings until we were old enough to go on our own," Raph said.

Splinter nodded in agreement and then headed for his room to meditate and go to bed. The turtles tossed the ball in a circle and retired to their rooms several minutes later.

The End