Disclaimer: Here's what I'm gonna do...this disclaimer is for EVERY CHAPTER...cuz I'm seriously sick of writing them for every chapter...so this is the only one. I don't own any of the turtles or characters originally associated with the TMNT universe. I only own Gwen, Angie, and the bad guys.
Author's Note: I quote Mikey both times when I say "We are BACK dudes!" along with "Yes dudes and dudettes, major league butt-kickin' is back in town!" CUZ HERE I AM!!! Back with a new and exciting story full of suspence, drama, excitement, with a little hint of romance (but not much...sadly). So...I hope you all continue to love and charish this story as much as you did "My Prince Charming"! Well what are you waiting for? Dive in!
Prologue:: "At the Beginning"
::Gwen's POV::
It's hard to believe it's been two years since I left Illinois for my adventure to New York. It had been a scary yet exciting time, even if Angie kept trying to talk her way out of it. Now though I'm sure she's glad she came along. I mean, if she hadn't, she never would have –heh heh- been knocked off her feet by Raph.
So caught up in watching her best friend, she didn't notice when a shadow slipped up behind her and knocked her feet out from under her.
"What the?!" Raph glared down at her as he pinned her to the ground.
"Who are you? How'd you find us? Second thought…I've never been one for questions first…"
"I'm Gwen's friend! Let go of me you big oaf!" Raphael continued to stare at her for a moment before he finally pulled back and let her stand. As he did though, he almost wished he could have knocked her out just to keep from having her lay into him about the way he snuck up on her and nearly killed her.
That had been an interesting evening. I gotta say I was a little caught off guard by Mike's brothers. True they were everything he said they were and then some…it's probably the "then some" that threw me off. Raph spent a lot of the night avoiding Angie at all costs just so he didn't have to listen to her rant, though I could tell he kinda found a strange interest in her. Probably the same strange interest Mike had in pissing him off. It was something to do and at the time it was fun.
Donatello stayed quiet most of the night, except to ask us each some little questions or to stick in his two cents about a subject. I took a liking to Don right away. He's really a sweet guy if not a little too shy at times. He didn't really stick around us too much that night. I later found out that he probably had gone off to work. I never thought before that just because the voice on the other end of the phone when I'd call to complain about my computer sounded human didn't mean it was. Luckily I don't think I ever got hold of any Donnie's when I'd call.
And then there was Leo. Oh boy was he a trip. They all may have been 21, but he acted just as stuffy and up-tight as my Great-Grandpa Edward. Kind of scared me a little. He certainly didn't look all too thrilled to see me or Angie standing there in their living room. And he seemed even less excited to hear me say we were staying with them. After things had some what settled down, he dug in on the third degree. What was my background? Did I have any ties to anything that could potentially harm him or his brothers? Was I planning on getting a topside job? If so how would I explain my lack of an address? I felt like I was getting worked over by the feds! It's one thing to be protective, but truth be told, I think Leo's overly paranoid!
The following morning I got to meet Splinter. Even though I'd seen a picture of him and Mike had told me he was a rat, it still surprised the hell out of me to wake up all nice and cozy up with Mikey, then look over and see a giant rat standing there looking at me in confusion. He had just returned from some meditation retreat and I guess wasn't expecting to find his "youngest" sleeping on the couch with a girl curled up in his arms. Heh heh, thinking back, that was kind of funny actually. Apparently, Splinter knew I was coming, he just didn't think I'd be there that soon (or that I'd make myself so comfortable with his son so quickly). After Mike and I had woken up enough, I properly introduced myself and things went smooth from there. I was scared for a while though that he wasn't going to like me or was going to make us leave. Thankfully he's a very kind hearted old rat.
Even though I had sold my house and moved from the only place I'd ever known, I was still scared to death that someone was going to get me. Guess Leo wasn't the only overly paranoid one. I didn't even like running topside to get my things out of my truck. Angela and Raph had to go with me and even then I moved quick as lightening to get everything and get back down to Mikey. I would break out into cold sweats of panic if Don's alarm would go off for no reason they could figure out and a lot of nights I woke up freaking out because of nightmares. Thankfully though, I had Mike through it all. I really felt bad if he'd been out all night on patrol and then come home to me flippin' out in my sleep because then he'd spend the whole rest of the night trying to calm me down and get me back to sleep. Most nights when that would happen, I doubt he got much sleep at all himself.
I did finally get a job 'topside' only because I don't like feeling like a bum and moocher. Angie even went so far as to rent out an apartment with me just so we both would have an actual address to put on our applications and things. I can't say working full-time a warehouse is my idea of a good time, but it sure does beat cranky customers and total boredom. The pay isn't too shabby either; in fact, it's the best pay I've ever gotten for working only eight hours a day. Seven a.m. to three p.m. and I get to spend the whole rest of the day and (maybe more importantly) the night with Mikey, now that's a good deal.
In the two years Mike and I have been together, I've grown to love him in a way I've never loved anyone else before. I no longer see him as a turtle, instead I see a wonderfully sweet guy who only wants to make everyone around him happy and to have fun. In fact, I don't even give it a second thought any more when he and I make love—I'll spare you the details, don't worry…all I'll say is, yes, it is possible. It's a really good thing I managed to fall even more in love with him, since two months ago we officially got "married".
"I am scared out of my mind…why am I scared out of my mind? I should not be this scared right now."
"Relax Gwen…you'll be fine. Remember, it's just you and Mikey standing up there in front of me, April, Casey and the others. It's not even like it's a big thing right now." Angela said soothingly as she attempted to straighten Gwen's dress in the back as she paced back and forth in the dojo. Gwen whimpered for the hundredth time and rang her hands together nervously. Tugging at the front of her dress, she made a face and turned to look at Angela. She hated how nice her best friend looked with her blond hair pulled up and styled in soft ringlets and her make-up made her already angelic face appear even more flawless. Dressed in a soft pink strapless spring dress, Gwen was sure Raph was already imagining the many different ways in which he could get Angie out of it.
"My dress doesn't fit right. I could have sworn when I picked it out that it fit just fine and dandy. Now I look like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon or…or an orange disco ball." She lamented, turning to look at the mirror they had brought in with them when they were getting ready.
Gwen had saved her money for months in order to buy the perfect dress for the wedding and when she and Angie went into the local dress shop she instantly fell in love with one in particular. It was a thin strap and sleeveless number with the skirt just barely coming to her ankles. Glitter sewn into the cloth made it shimmer and sparkle when the light hit it. And she couldn't have asked for a more beautiful shade of pale peach-ish/orange. From the moment she saw it to the second she felt the cool, silky fabric slide over her skin she knew that was the dress she was getting married in.
As she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt as if she'd made a mistake in getting it. Somehow it just didn't look as good on her then as it did when she picked it up. Of course, she also didn't think she looked nearly as pretty as Angie did. Her hair had merely been washed and attempted to be curled. When that failed, they merely left it hang loosely around her face and rest on her shoulders. Gwen also felt that her make-up wasn't as great as it possibly could have been either. Not that she was really one for make up but for some reason she felt as if it had actually made her look worse instead of better. She sniffled softly and looked down at her feet in the mirror. Until that moment she never realized how blocky and stout her ankles were and had quickly begun scolding herself for choosing sandals that only made them all the more obvious.
"Now Gwen, knock that off. Yeah ok, if I were you woulda spent a little less time porkin' down pizzas and chocolate covered peanuts and a little more time working out these last couple of weeks, but that's me. You though, look absolutely beautiful. The dress looks fine. Now don't start crying, you'll smudge your make-up." Angela answered as she came up to give Gwen a hug. Biting down hard on her lip, Gwen forced herself not to cry.
"If you're trying to make me feel better, you're failing, miserably."
"Oh Gwen…c'mon! This is your wedding day! You're supposed to be happy!"
"I am happy…"
"Then why are you freaking out and crying like you aren't? Jesus, I swear Gwen, you're about as moody as a pregnant woman." Angie watched in the mirror as Gwen's bottom lip began to tremble and her eyes weld up with tears. Angie knew she had to apologize and as she opened her mouth to do so, Gwen pulled from her arms and rushed off to the nearest room and shoved the door closed. She knew she shouldn't have said anything to upset her anymore and truthfully, Angela wasn't sure why she said what she did to begin with. As she stepped near the door, she could hear Gwen's sniffles and choked up sobs.
"Gweny…I'm sorry Gwen. Come on…everyone's out there waiting. You aren't gonna stand Mikey up are you? Leave him waiting up there for you? Please come out. I'll redo your make up real quick and then we'll go and get you married off." She called thru the door, praying she could get her to come out.
"N-no! W-why don't y-you g-go m-ma-marry R-R-Ra-ph s-since y-y-ou look m-more l-li-like a b-br-bride an-ee-wa-hay." Came the choked up sobbed reply.
"What? Me go marry Raph? Gweny c'mon now…I mean sure I sleep with him but…neither one of us are much of the marrying type." She answered before she could think once again which resulted in even louder sobs. Smacking her forehead against the door, she cringed and sighed heavily.
Angela frowned as she pushed herself away from the door and walked out into the living room that had been cleaned and cleared for the wedding. Despite it all, she couldn't help but smile at the rag-tag group she saw just lounging around waiting for them. April and Casey were sitting by the kitchen door both dressed in the nicest casual clothes they had. Her unofficial boyfriend (though blatantly obvious lover) Raphael was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed over his plastron and a none-too-thrill look on his face. Looking off to her left, Angie saw the other four family members standing near each other. It looked as though Leonardo, Donatello, and Splinter were trying to calm some of the nervous and fidgeting fears going through Michelangelo. She laughed softly as she saw that Mikey had gone through with his proclamation of getting dressed up for their wedding also. She wasn't sure how or when, but he had managed to come up with a pair of very nice looking khaki pants and an appropriate soft orange button up shirt. He cleaned up well, in a goofy looking sort of way.
When Angie had been spotted, everyone instantly looked at her in concern. She could see the worry in Mikey's blue eyes and felt even worse for making Gwen go into hiding. Slipping her arm around Raph's shell, she sighed and looked around at everyone. They had been expecting her to come out when Gwen was ready and to give them the signal to get things started. Instead she came out and merely shrugged.
"I should not be allowed to talk sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" Raphael questioned, raising an eye ridge at her as he slipped an arm around her waist as well. Angela's head shot up and she gave him the fiercest look she could before looking back at the others.
"Um…wh-where's Gwen?"
"I opened my big mouth and sent her sobbing into that closet that's just off the dojo. I tried to apologize and get her to come out but uh…heh…she won't listen to me anymore." Angela answered her cheeks a soft shade of red as she blushed. Raph groaned and rolled his eyes as he pulled back from her and turned off towards a wall again. Shoulders shrugged up, she raised her arms up in questioning.
"Hey, I'm sorry alright? I have impeccable timing for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time! This is proof of it."
"Yeah, well for your sake I hope it nevah happens while you're with me."
"Keep up that attitude and you won't have to worry about it, Raphael. Now how are we gonna get her out here? I feel horrible about this!"
"Well one of us should go try to talk to her." Leonardo stated as he glanced back and forth between his brothers, father, and their friends.
"Well don't look at me. I'll only fudge things up more. And Raph will only get pissed off. Mikey you can't cuz you aren't allowed to see the bride before the wedding…it's bad luck."
Mikey scoffed softly as he hung his head. He was already nervous enough as it was and having his bride-to-be lock herself up in a broom closet to cry only made his nerves itch more.
"Can't get much worse than it already is." He answered softly. Splinter placed a gentle hand on his arm and gave him a small reassuring smile.
"I will go and see if I can bring her out. You and the others wait here."
It's a very good thing Splinter came to get me out of that closet because had it have been anyone else and I would have stayed there. He always seemed to know just the right things to say to calm me down and help me think straight again. Within a short amount of time he was able to persuade me out of my hiding place, wipe my eyes and face clear of my then ruined make-up, and head out into the living room where everyone was waiting.
I was truly amazed at how nice they managed to clean the place up. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was still a mass improvement from what it had been only hours before. I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. For some reason Mike had decided to make Raph his best man while Leo was his groomsman and Don opted to be our 'official' photographer/videographer. Which I supposed worked out nicely since Angie was my maid of honor and I didn't really have a bridesmaid. And of course Splinter walked me down the aisle. When we originally started planning the wedding, I was a little scared as to how it was going to happen since Mikey couldn't really go topside. Luckily though, Casey's cousin Sam (who just happened to be a priest and just happened to owe Casey a favor) said he would take care of it for us. Turns out good ol' Father Samuel's eyesight wasn't the best…that seemed to put everyone at ease a little more.
The wedding itself is still a total blur to me, the only things I remember are walking towards Mikey, hearing Father Samuel talking, and then our vows. You'd be amazed at how incredibly sweet Mikey can be (though I still think he got help from Leo and Donnie).
Mikey nervously took Gwen's hand and gulped as he faintly heard Father Samuel's voice instruct them it was time to read the vows they had written for each other. Michelangelo had worked his hardest to memorize his vows, and thought he had them down pat, but standing there facing Gwen and feeling his heart flying a mile a minute, he couldn't for the lift of him remember. Gulping again, he chuckled as he pulled one hand away and dug around in his pockets for the note card they were written on. It wasn't anything much, but it was straight from the heart.
"Um…G-Gwen? Y-you were there for me when I needed you most and you took care of me when I was sick and hurt. You also didn't flip out when you found out what I was the first time." He paused and smiled at Gwen as she giggled and blushed. She was truly so stunning that he nearly forgot where he was and had to give a small cough to cover for his nervousness.
"It may not have been love at first sight but I know it was pretty close to it. You left your whole life behind to come be with me and trust me, if I could, I'd do the same for you. I uh, I just want you to know that I promise I'm gonna take the best care of you that I can for as long as we're both alive and I swear not to let anything bad happen to you too. Oh yeah, also that I love you more than anything else…uh…heh…even pizza."
Once our actual wedding was finished, we had a sort of make-shift reception before April drove us to upstate New York where Casey's then deceased grandmother's farm house still stood. I don't know when or how, but someway everyone chipped in to get the place fixed up so that Mikey and I could use it as our 'honeymoon get away'. It was actually very nice. Stocked up on food, movies, blankets—ya know, all the important stuff. It was also far enough off the road and hidden pretty well that we didn't have to worry about people seeing us, more importantly, seeing him (not that we went out much anyways heh heh).
When we reluctantly returned home after a couple of weeks out in the fresh air, we were surprised to find that everyone had come together to make us a somewhat bigger bedroom and a bed that both of us could actually sleep on. Not saying we both didn't fit on his old one, but I guess the guys thought since we were now married it might be a better idea for us to have a little bit bigger bed…not to mention a little closer to the ground. I admit, it could get pretty scary sleeping six or seven feet off the ground in the middle of night with a turtle who likes to roll in his sleep and with no protective guard rail around any of the sides. Everyone did a very nice job at making our little sewer bedroom seem a little more homey like instead of it's typical cold brown stone floors and walls.
Of course that wasn't the only surprise they had set up for us or at least for me anyways. I was finally allowed into a room they discovered some months before not far from the lair. For some reason I could never figure out, Leo and Donnie would never let me go with them to clean it out and fix it up into what I thought was going to be another dojo. After having been blindfolded and led down the small tunnel into the room, I found out why I wasn't allowed in. I really wish I knew how those guys came up with things because I was completely blown away when I opened my eyes to see wall to wall green plants, heat lights, and timed automatic arrogation system. It was probably the biggest and most wonderful surprise I'd ever gotten, and as far as I can remember, the only good surprise to make me cry…that is, until yesterday.