*Although the following material is technically a "Oneshot" (I use the term loosely), it follows a storyline that is already in place, and will bridge an important gap between Unbreakable, and my next fic that will be released after Christmas, Redemption. I adore Christmas, and I've wanted to do a story like this one for a long time. This one kind of takes a different direction than my others, as it steers away from cliff-hangers and complications. They need a break at some point, don't they? Trust me, the meat of Redemption is done, and it has plenty to make up the difference.

Reunions is dedicated in the memory of the person who inspired it to begin with, my mother Rebecca who died when I was nine years old. Maybe it's partially because I lost her at a young age, but I can't tell you how many crazy day-dreams I've had about what it would be like to catch up with her again on Earth. Those unrealistic ponderings helped birth this portrayal. It seems appropriate too, because she loved Christmas...and she was born on December 25th. I kid you not.

I own nothing related to the TMNT...But I sure have fun playing in their world. Big thanks to my awesome betas, Mikell, and Jadedolphin. All your help and input means the world to me.

I'm beginning a day early, but I'm almost shocked I made it this far without posting. Merry Christmas everyone...amidst everything you have to do...remember to enjoy this season.

Donatello hummed absent-mindedly along with the strains of Christmas music, as he finished up transferring some hand-written notes into the journal on his laptop. Work like that was usually reserved for his desk in the Lab, but it was too easy to get distracted by other technical matters inside the room, and he'd already promised the others that he wouldn't get bogged down today.

But no one else is even awake yet, so I don't see why I can't at least finish these pages up.

Donatello had just hit the "save" button with a flourish, when a low groan greeted him from the hallway.

"Y'know, just because it's December 1st doesn't mean you gotta break out the Christmas music already."

Donny cast a glance over his shoulder at the red-masked turtle, and shook his head. "It only comes once a year, Raph. Can't we at least enjoy it while it lasts?"

"I'd enjoy it more if I didn't have to listen to this junk," Raphael grumbled, and gave the purple-masked turtle a sharp look when he saw the laptop. "Donny..." he said warningly.

"I'm not really working, Raph. Your wife's medical notes were backing up on me, and I'm just trying to stay on top of it. Is she still asleep?"

"Asleep? Nah, she's been awake since like 5. It's been all I could do to keep her in bed."

Donatello stifled a chuckle at the thought of his mountain of a brother struggling to keep his seven-month pregnant wife from getting up.

"How's she feeling?"

Raphael shrugged. "I don't know how honest she's being with me half the time. I know she's happy, and I guess that's the most important thing. I wish she didn't have to suffer through it though, it's hard to see when I can't do anything." The red-masked turtle hesitated for a moment, rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead. "I'm still worried about what this could do to her, Donny, physically I mean. She wasn't made to carry something like this."

Donatello swallowed and nodded. "I understand it's frightening, Raph - none of us know what's going to happen. But you know the docs and I are keeping a close eye on her and the baby, and she's come this far without any major disasters. We just have to hold on awhile longer."

"Yeah..." he said tightly, clenching his fists in an anxious gesture. "I couldn't stand for anything to happen to her, Donny. She shouldn't have to carry this burden." Raphael stared at the floor for a few seconds more, and then shrugged again. "She won't hardly complain about anything though - she acts like this is the best thing that could have happened."

"And you don't agree," Donny said quietly.

"It ain't that I don't want a kid, Donny, I'm just not...I don't know how to say it. I want her to be okay. Period."

"No one can say what the last trimester will bring, Raph. There's nothing we can do except wait and hope, so let's try to be positive in the meantime, and you keep supporting her the best that you can."

"Uh huh," Raphael said a little faintly, and shot another look at Donatello's computer. "But you'd better lose that thing, before I go wake your wife up on you."

"Cut me a break will you? I'm almost-" Donatello cut off suddenly, at the sight of a flashing indicator on his tool bar. "What...? Aw, shell."

"What is it, Genius?"

"Someone's getting ready to post." He groaned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember I wrote that program, Raph? It's supposed to alert me whenever one of the Authors from the Black List uploads files to the Document Manager."

"Who, Donny?"

"I thought you wanted me to get off this thing."

"You get your shell on that website, and find out what's going on!"

The turtle's fingers flew nimbly across the keyboard as he logged onto the internet, and searched for the source of the new chapters. Donatello scrolled through a short list, until a single username stood out to him.

"No..." he said softly under his breath. "She didn't even warn us! I knew it'd been too quiet around here."

"Who?" Raphael demanded, and Donatello maneuvered the screen around so that he could see it too. "She can't let us have a holiday in peace, can she?" the red-masked turtle seethed. "One of these days..."

"Raph, let me handle this. I'm supposed to be her favorite after all," Donatello couldn't resist adding.

"Like that's done you any good before?"

"Do me a favor, okay? Go put the coffee-maker on, and get some water going for tea. We can wake everybody up in a few minutes, but I want to try and reason with her first."

Raphael growled something unrepeatable, but then stalked toward the kitchen. Donatello set his laptop down on the coffee-table, and swapped it out for his cell-phone. He held his breath slightly as it rang a couple of times, and someone answered hurriedly.

"Hello?"

"Sarah, what are you trying to do to us?" he asked without any precursor.

"Who is this?"

"One of the guys whose lives you enjoy throwing into chaos!"

"Donny? This is a surprise."

"Is it really? What are you up to?"

"Right now, I'm trying to finish getting dressed, so I can get out the door for work."

"Is that all you were doing?"

"Donny, could you call me back in like ten minutes? Let me finish up a few things here, and then I can talk to you."

"Sure, fine," Donatello said a little stiffly, and hung up the phone.

He nearly jumped out of his shell when he realized Leonardo had come up behind him. "Geesh, Leo, give me a heart-attack why don't you!" the purple-masked turtle complained.

"What's going on? I thought I felt a disturbance in the Force."

"Did you really feel something, Leo?"

"No, I just heard part of what you were saying. Who were you talking to?"

"An impossible Author."

"Are we going to be in trouble shortly?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out, Leo. I have to call her back, she's busy getting ready for work or something."

Leonardo craned his neck from side to side, and glanced down the hall. "Guess I'll go loosen up. No sense in standing around waiting for the impending doom to start."

Donatello settled back against the couch as he left, and listened for sounds that anyone else was stirring. He was surprised Jenna hadn't noticed that he was gone by now, but not surprised to hear nothing from upstairs. Mikey loved sleeping a little later when he got the chance, and Rebecca and Calley rarely went to sleep in their shared room without trying to solve the world's problems first.

A smiled crossed his face as he recalled dinner from the night before, and how happy Mike and Rebecca had looked. It felt like the young woman had been with them much longer than the five months she really had. Despite her naturally shy inclination, Donatello was positive he'd never heard anyone laugh louder with the orange-masked turtle.

Calley seemed to have found an extremely close friend in her in that short amount of time too. The two often shared meaningful looks that only they seemed to understand. The only one who had the power to get Calley relaxed faster than Becky was the blue-masked turtle. Leonardo and Calley still kept most of their affection for each other behind closed doors, but everyone knew how close the two actually were.

Donatello glanced at his watch, waiting for the digital numbers to move. Even the smell of coffee brewing wasn't enough to get him off his perch on the couch. When Raphael ducked out of the kitchen, Donny shook his head at him.

"I don't know anything yet."

"Whatever; I'm stealing Mike's Sugar Bombs. If we're about to be tortured, I'm going in on a full stomach at least. Do you want coffee, Donny?"

"I'm going to hold off until I talk to her - just keep it hot please."

"Talk to who, Donny?" a lilting Australian accent carried from the hallway. "It'd better be good. I gave you more than enough time to get your shell back to bed."

Donatello turned to give the raven-haired woman a sheepish smile. "I was trying to finish something up, and then I got...sidetracked."

"Donatello, you promised!" she said accusingly.

"I know, I'm sorry. I have to get to the bottom of this issue now."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"Who do you have to talk to?"

"It's just someone getting ready to post, and I'm hoping to delay it a little."

The young woman sighed as she dropped into the recliner. "It would be nice to enjoy the quiet for awhile longer. Do what you've got to, but no more computer!"

"Cross my heart. It's probably been long enough now, I'm going to try and call her again."

Donatello dialed the number a second time, and tapped his hand repetitively on the back of the couch while he waited for an answer.

"Thanks for calling me back, Donny, I'm good to go now."

"Good to go where, Sarah?"

"I told you, I have to go work. Why are you acting so weird?"

"You're on the verge of posting, and you have to ask me that question?"

"How do you even know that?"

"I have my sources. Look, Sarah, I know you mean well, even if everyone else might not agree with me. With everything going on with Karina and the baby...well, I was kind of hoping you could cut us some slack. Just give us this month, one holiday without complications, please?"

"Donny, it's not what you think. You're going to be really glad I wrote this one."

"I don't want to have to send Raph all the way there to persuade you, Sarah."

"No, you don't understand! This isn't going to be like the others; no complications, no cliff-hangers. I'm doing this for you guys, kind of like a gift."

"A gift," he said skeptically. "And you didn't give us a heads up because..."

"It's a good surprise, Donny, and I want it to stay that way."

"If you want any cooperation whatsoever, you'll tell me what this is about. Don't make me do something drastic."

"Like what, Donatello?"

"Oh, I don't know. Servers go down all the time, don't they?"

"You wouldn't."

"I might. Spill."

A heavy sigh met him from the other end.

"Fine, I don't want you screwing with anyone else's ability to post, just so you can take me out. You're going to be getting some visitors soon."

"What kind of visitors? They're coming here? Haven't you created enough OC's yet, Sarah?"

"Yeah, too many I'm sure. Do you want me to start getting rid of them?"

"Don't joke about that, it isn't funny!" Donatello said indignantly.

"They're not new characters Donny, you already know them...two out of the three anyway. I'm applying some of the magic of the holidays to operate outside of the normal realm of reality."

"And that means what exactly?"

"It means you're going to see a couple of people that are out of your normal reach. It'll be worth it, Donny, please tell everyone to play along with me."

"How is this going to work?"

"Over the course of the next few days, you can expect three guests. The first one will be by tomorrow night, so you might want to make sure everybody else is around."

"Don't forget, you promised no complications."

"None. At least not for now."

"Sarah!"

"I mean, not for this fic. In January, all bets are off."

"You had to go and ruin it." He sighed.

"What did she say exactly?" Leonardo asked with a serious edge.

"She promised nothing bad, Leo," Donatello replied.

"Does she know how to write anything else?" Raphael had to ask.

"That's not really fair," Michelangelo pointed out. "Think about all the nice stuff that makes it in there."

His blue-eyed gaze was focused on Rebecca, one hand lightly playing with one of her curls.

She gave him a beautiful smile, and leaned contentedly against the orange-masked turtle.

"He makes a valid point," Karina agreed. "You could be going a little hard on her."

Raphael shook his head. "And she didn't say who was coming?"

"Nope - just that we know them...and they shouldn't actually be here." Donatello shrugged.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Calley asked.

"We're going to find out," Donatello answered. "In the meantime, we could try to enjoy the rest of the day that we have."

"Hang on, Genius, you didn't tell us what she said about January," Raphael interjected.

"If she'd told me anything else, I already would have mentioned it," Donatello said dismissively. "She wanted us to make sure that everyone else will be here, so we've got a couple phone calls to make."

"If we're gonna have guests, we've gotta do better than this," Michelangelo suggested. "We need to get this place into shape."

"What happened to the music?" Rebecca asked suddenly.

"Nothing. Was there music?" Raphael asked innocently.

"Raph, where's my mp3 player?" Donatello demanded, motioning to the empty dock.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you took it!"

"I can't take a whole month of these Christmas songs, Donny."

"Go get it!" Donatello said more fiercely.

"Fine. But if I have to hear that chipmunk song one time, I swear it'll disappear for good!"

"Raph, I deleted that thing from my playlist. Now give it back!"

The red-masked turtle trotted out of the room, and Michelangelo snickered under his breath. "He only thinks that song is gone. I still have a hard copy on CD."

"Mike, don't torture him, okay?" Leonardo sounded exasperated. "Can we keep the peace for a couple more days at least?"

"What you're saying is, I can't have any fun."

"Not at his expense. You know he doesn't like this stuff as much as you do."

"There has to be a couple other ways to have fun," Rebecca offered. "What about getting this place in shape like you already said?"

"You wanna get a load of our Christmas stash Becky?"

"I thought you'd never ask - I've been ready since Thanksgiving," she bubbled over with enthusiasm. "Do you know how long it's been since I had a good Christmas?"

"Nope, but this one will be the best ever, I'll make sure of it," Mike told her.

"I already know it's going to be, because I'm with you." She smiled happily.

They left the room as Raphael was returning, and the red-masked turtle rolled his eyes.

"Those two are too darn excited for their own good."

"I think it's adorable." Jenna grinned. "Let them be happy, Raph. Just because you're grumpy, doesn't mean everyone else has to be."

Raphael held out the music player for Donatello to take, and the younger turtle gave him a dark look.

"What? I didn't hurt it or nothin'."

"Don't touch it again."

"Or what, Donny?"

"Don't tempt me, Raph. You really don't want to do that."