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Raph leaned into the fridge, looking carefully for ingredients.
“Wait, what am I looking for again?” Raph asks, looking back to his youngest sibling. Mikey looked back at him pulling down a bowl from the top shelf.
“Eggs, umm-” Mikey leans over his phone “two eggs! And the butter of course,” Mikey says, hopping off the stool he’d stood on to grab the bowl. Putting it on the island in the center of the kitchen.
It was Christmas eve, the two boys getting ready for their annual Christmas tradition. Baking Santa's cookies! Raph placed the milk and eggs on the counter, gently placing the two eggs inside the bowl Mikey had put down.
“Can you grab the sugar?” The box turtle asked, looking closely at the measuring cups in his hand, pulling the ones the recipe called for out onto the counter. Raph nodded, grabbing it from atop the fridge. Mikey glanced up at the ingredient “Oh, I think we need the brown sugar too,” he comments.
“I… don’t know if we have any,” Raph says, double checking the top of the fridge, nope. There was none there. Looking back at Mikey, who had started pulling out the pieces of the mixer. Mikey huffed, not in frustration, but in thought.
“Check the cupboard? If not check with the spices,” Mikey comments, standing straight up from his squatting position.
“With the spices?”
“Sometimes I have to hide stuff from Leo whenever he wants weird combos.”
“...Fair.”
“Oh, and while you're in the spices grab the vanilla extract please!” Mikey chirped grabbing the baking sheet and laying it across the island. Looking over the recipes needed ingredients. He was trying to avoid another mishap that would often happen whenever he and Raph tried to bake Christmas cookies.
He was keeping it simple this year, basic chocolate chips.
Hopefully, nothing would go wrong.
“Still no brown sugar,” Raph says, gently placing down the bottle of vanilla extract. Hands on hips as he awaited the next ingredient to grab. Mikey hums in thought.
“Well, lets just grab the other ingredients first! Can you get the baking soda and powder?” Mikey says, beginning to put together the mixer. Once it clicked into place he grabbed the sea salt from next to the microwave. Rereading the ingredients. Maybe he could just substitute the brown sugar? Mikey would prefer not to, but sometimes baking means compromising!
Raph put down the baking powder and baking soda, looking at all the ingredients.
“Uh… where’s the chocolate chips?”
“Oh! Should be in the cupboard, shoulda told you to grab that while you were looking for the brown sugar,” Mikey says with a small laugh as he begins measuring items to put in the bowl. Raph opens the cupboard again, with a small bag of brown sugar landing on his foot.
“Oh? That’s weird I swear I checked here,” Raph says to himself, picking up the small bag and grabbing the chocolate chips as well before closing it.
“Oh! And the flour we need flour!”
Raph sighs.
“Sorry!”
“Don’t be, I’ll just live in the cupboard now it’s fine.”
Mikey can’t help but laugh at his eldest brother's comment. Trying to be careful with the open bottle of vanilla extract in his hand.
Raph puts the last three ingredients on the counter. Throwing away the now empty egg shells.
Raph began putting away and cleaning up whatever Mikey didn’t need. Knowing it’d be worth it when there was no clean up after- aside from dishes of course. Mikey began mixing all the ingredients together, hips swaying back and forth almost as though he was dancing to an unheard rhythm inside the ingredients.
Raph set the oven to begin preheating as Mikey gently folded the chocolate chips into the dough. Being careful and taking his time. The oven eventually beeps ready to start the cooking process as soon as possible.
So they began putting the cookie dough into balls. Peaceful silence between them. Putting care into creating each ball with focus.
Once the sheet was filled with as many cookie balls it could fit. Mikey placed it into the oven. Raph snuck the small bit of left over cookie dough. Thinking he got away with it-
“Raph! That's not healthy!”
“Aw come on! It’s not even enough to be dangerous!”
“Still!” Mikey said one hand on his hip, the other on the stove clock, setting a timer for the cookies. Mikey was looking at Raph, glancing over to the stove every couple of seconds. Raph huffed a bit but nodded. Not like they didn’t have this conversation every time they made cookies. But Raph couldn’t resist the deliciousness that was cookie dough.
Eventually Mikey sat on the counter as Raph cleaned dishes as the cookies baked. The box turtle sipping on a nice cool glass of Apple juice. Raph glances over.
“Not hot chocolate?”
“Nah, Apple juice hits the spot.”
“So you’re not worried about Santa being offended?” Raph asks with a tiny smirk. He didn’t believe in Santa anymore, not after seeing Splinter put down the “Santa presents” by accident when he was 7. However, Mikey had a firm belief, if they existed, so could Santa! And Raph would never get rid of that.
Mikey coughed, choking a bit on the apple juice he was currently drinking.
“No-” Mikey whips his head to face Raph “no he wouldn’t right?” Mikey asks. Raph can’t help but laugh a bit at the box turtle's reaction. Shaking his head.
“No Mikey, I don’t think he’d care that much,” Raph says, putting another measuring cup into the dishwasher.
Eventually, Mikey let the cookies cool on the stove. Attracting the rest of the house to the smell.
Granted, that is why they made an entire tray full instead of just enough for Santa. Splinter was the first, followed quickly by April who’d just popped into the lair to say hi and drop off her presents for the boys. The twins were last, mostly from tripping each other down to get cookies before the other.
What was once peaceful silence filled with joyful conversation.
And just like that, it was a Hamato’s Christmas eve. Completed with Mikey stopping Splinter from eating the last few cookies for Santa. And Donnie once again debates with April that yes, Santa is real and I can prove it. And with Leo sneakily stealing Raph’s last cookie from out from under him.