Meanwhile at the Sons house….

It took a little bit of encouragement for Goten to hug his mother.  He finally whispered to Gohan that he would do it, if Gohan did it at the same time.  Taking his little brother firmly by the hand, Gohan hugged his mother hello, not bothering to rein in his tail’s expressiveness as he greeted her.  She didn’t seem to notice; but Gohan let nothing show on his face.  He knew his father had serious doubts about returning home, and he shared them.  But if kassan was for real, and really wanted to make this work, Gohan would find out.

He and Goten took their bags upstairs to the room they shared and began to put away the clean clothes (courtesy of the Briefs laundry bots) from their impromptu vacation away from home.

“I wonder if Trunks misses me yet,” sighed Goten.  “I miss him.”

“Aww, cheer up little brother, you’ll see him tomorrow,” replied Gohan, affectionately ruffling his brother’s rough, velvet spikes.  “Boy, Sage sure was mad, wasn’t he?” grinned Gohan, trying to cheer his niichan up.

Goten grinned back at him.  “Yeah, and did you see how strong he got?  Daddy couldn’t get him off his arm!”

“Did I see?  I tried to pull him off myself!”

‘Aw, come on Gohan, you weren’t really trying THAT hard, you can’t fool me,” accused Goten.

“Caught,” admitted the older boy.  “I admired what he was doing way too much.”  He was quiet for a moment.  “I bet he’s still screaming,” he said thoughtfully.

“Probably is,” said Goten, muted slightly.  “Sage can scream forever if he wants to.  Trunks told me that when Bulma-san got sick after he was born, Sage wouldn’t let ANYONE take care of him, ‘cept Vegeta-sama.  He screamed and screamed till Vegeta-sama took him”

“You know, I would have never figured Vegeta for the fatherly type, but Sage has him wrapped right around that little tail of his, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah.”  Pause.

“Gohan?”

“What is it chibi?”

“I miss Trunks.”

Gohan sighed.  “I know Goten, I know.”

Downstairs Goku put his few clothes away as well, wondering for the hundredth time if he was doing the right thing.  Chichi was his wife, after all, but he couldn’t shake a vague feeling of unease.  And after the way she had behaved at the dinner, well Goku wasn’t going to take anything for granted.  And that started with not leaving the boys alone with her, had to at least stay within shouting distance.  He knew he couldn’t very well hover over everything and anything she tried to do with the boys; and he was fairly sure the Gohan could take care of himself.  But Goten, Goten was only three.  Goku shook his head, his youngest was nearly four.  In just four days he would be four.  Regardless of his exact age though, Goten was his baby and by far the most vulnerable in this experiment.

Damnit, Goku thought to himself.  I should have just stayed at Capsule Corp.  And done what exactly, his brain retorted?  Thrown yourself at Vegeta?  He’s royalty baka, you’re the son of a third-class nobody.  Goku sighed and tucked away the last pair of faded orange gi pants in the bottom drawer.  He missed Vegeta, and briefly he wondered if the arrogant, handsome fiery prince missed him.

He sat for a moment, on the edge of the bed.  He hadn’t had the courage to tell Vegeta that Chichi still wouldn’t let him in the bed.  He knew it was a bad sign that she wouldn’t even simply sleep with him in the same room, but she had claimed that she was doing her best; she just needed more time, and some understanding.  Goku supposed he could understand, but it did hurt.

He started slightly at the sound of her voice, calling them to eat.  He got up and walked slowly to the kitchen.

Lunch was quiet, save for Chichi’s bubbling about how wonderful it was to have the family back together.  Goten was eating carefully, doing his best not to have his mother notice him  He finished his second helping, and wasn’t going to ask for more; he still had bad dreams about the last time he had eaten with kassan, when Gohan refilled his plate without him asking.  He looked gratefully at his older brother, and Gohan grinned and winked at him.

Goku ate rapidly in his usual manner, realizing briefly how strange it seemed to be able to eat with both hands.  He paused; missing the weight in his arms, the light velvet touch of a small tail, the sweet, distinctly sagey scent of Vegeta’s youngest.  He sighed, remembering the chibi’s tears at his leaving.

Gohan finished his own lunch, and looked at his family.  Goten was still eating carefully, probably feeling Chichi’s eagle glare on him.  His father seemed to be finished, he looked slightly depressed.  Hn…he knew how he could cheer him up.

“Hey Dad, I bet me and Goten can take you out,” said the grinning demi-Saiyjin.  Goten looked up from his noodles.

“What…two on one?” asked Goku, surprised?

“Sure, he spars with Trunks all the time, and he’s not a baby anymore.  C’mon, we can take you.”  Gohan smirked, enjoying the look of amazement, followed by a wide grin on his father’s face.

“Ok,” he replied.  “Goten, are you done with your lunch yet?”

Goten slurped the last of his noodles, and nodded.  “Yep, all done!”

“Great! Let’s go!”  The three Sons jumped to their feet and headed for the door.

“Where do you all think you are going?” Chichi’s voice froze them in their tracks.

“Gosh Chichi, we’re just going to spar,” replied Goku.

“You seem to have forgotten a few things,” said Chichi in a deceptively cheery voice.  “One: Gohan can’t spar, he needs to study.  Two: Goten is way too young to fight.  Three: there are things that need doing around here.”

Gohan looked at his father, who looked slightly deflated.  He turned to his mother.  “One: I don’t need to study, I study too much as it is.  Two: Goten is NOT too young to fight, and Three: we can do whatever you need done around the house later.  We’re Saiyjins, Kassan, we need to train.”  Lashing his tail, he took his younger brother by the hand and led him outside. 

Goku grinned at Chichi, one hand behind his head.  “We’ll be back in a little while Chichi,” he said.  And ignoring her glare, he followed his sons outside.

Chichi glowered to herself.  This was going to be harder than she had thought.  That tail of Gohan’s that must be it.  He had never before spoken to her in that manner.  There was something very different about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.  Oh well, she had time.  She would figure it out.  She smiled to herself as she began to clean the sparse remains of lunch up.

Evening found the Sons household quiet.  Goten had done well in the spar with his father and brother, dropping out early as both tousan and niichan went Super Saiyjin and took to the air.  He lay on his back, below the battle watching them with lazy and contented eyes, until he fell asleep in the warm sunshine.

Gohan and his father had sparred furiously, reveling in the sweat and blood of their fierce battle.  Gohan had never been as enamored with fighting as his father or Vegeta, but since the re-generation of his tail, he had discovered that he needed to fight, the more often, the better.  His Saiyjin and human selves, having been at war with each other for so long were finally coming to an agreement, as his mother’s conditioning lost its hold in favor of his hot, strong Saiyjin blood.  That didn’t mean that he was forgoing his academic prowess, but he certainly didn’t need to study as frantically as kassan seemed to think he did.

Goku could feel the increase in his son’s skills and ki both.  And he definitely seemed to enjoy himself more than he could remember his son doing.  When was the last time that Gohan had initiated a spar or training session, he wondered?  It didn’t matter, grinned Goku to himself.  Gohan’s Saiyjin side was showing itself most forcefully, and he had concentrated on beating his son.

Returning home, bloody, bruised and laughing, the two older Saiyjins had taken turns carrying Goten, tossing him back and forth between them to the little demi-Saiyjin’s delight.  Dinner was eaten with easy camaraderie, and even Chichi seemed to enjoy herself as all three Sons praised her cooking.  She had intended to bathe Goten herself after dinner, but her youngest balked, saying he wanted Daddy to give him his bath.  Chichi protested, but Goku deflected it, saying it was no trouble, he was used to it.

Gohan watched his mother sharply from where he was studying.  There was a glint in her eye that he didn’t like.  So help me kassan, you touch Goten out of turn and I swear I’ll remove your hands….painfully. 

Chichi felt the penetrating frown from her eldest, but when she turned around to confront him, he was apparently absorbed in his studies.  Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated her eldest.  He used to be such a good boy; he would be again.

Bedtime, and Chichi and Goku bid their sons good night, Chichi going into their room and kissing them both before she herself turned in.  Goku stood in the quiet dark of his home, feeling strangely empty.  He looked in on his sons, using his teleportation technique, smiling down at the two boys curled up together.  Goten had abandoned his own bed beside Gohan’s in favor of the older boy’s safe embrace.  Their spiky obsidian hair mingled together on the white sheets as Gohan nuzzled his younger brother in his sleep.

He teleported into his own room, looking down on his wife, a frown on his face.  Part of him wanted to insist that she allow him to sleep in his own bed; the other part of him was repelled at the very thought.  Without thinking, he teleported to the balcony outside Vegeta’s room. 

The door was open, and Goku pushed it open further, careful not to make any noise.  Sage was curled up on Vegeta’s chest, tail looped around the wrist that rested on his small back then wrapped around his preferred thumb sucking hand.  Trunks was snuggled close to his father, face pushed into Vegeta’s side, lavender tail draped across his brother and father, Vegeta’s arm snaked protectively around his eldest son.

Goku stared longingly at the scene before him, an inexpressible sense of belonging tugging at his heart.   He pressed a hand over his heart, fighting the urge to join the prince and his sons in sleep.  Sage stirred slightly on his father’s chest, and Vegeta’s hand tightened imperceptibly around his son’s small body.  Goku started, and instinctively teleported himself back to his sons’ room, where he lay down on Goten’s deserted bed.  Hands clasped behind his head, he stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.  Adjustments sure are difficult, he thought.

To be continued….

Email Talon @ talonsage@attbi.com