Four
“Tony? Baby, what-”
“Shhhhh!” he quiets his mom, waving her behind him so she won’t interrupt. He has a camcorder in his hands, one of his Christmas presents. Sandy is standing in front of the TV in her Star Wars pajamas, swaying in place as she waits for her video to rewind.
And then-
“TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!”
He hears Mom choke on a laugh behind him, and he has to keep his composure because he needs the camera to stay steady. Sandy is doing some mixture of interpretive dance and karate as she bellows the theme song at the top of her lungs.
“I didn’t know she could be that loud,” Mom stage whispers to him, voice trembling with humor. Tony grins back at her.
“I know, right? Isn’t it great?”
Because right now, like this, Sandy is just a normal kid. No trace of the night terrors she woke up screaming from just this morning, no tears in her eyes from when Mom and Dad kept talking over each other at breakfast. Just bright smiles and flailing attempts at ninjutsu.
The theme song ends, and Sandy goes to pick the remote back up and hit rewind again when she catches sight of him. Her smile gets bigger when she does, and she runs up to him, dragging him forward with her to the TV.
Quickly, he hands Mom the camcorder so he doesn’t drop it and lets Sandy manhandle him in front of the TV with her. She grabs the remote, rewinds the VHS, and starts singing again, making karate-dance moves at him instead of the TV.
Tony smiles down at her, and karate-dances right back.