Disclaimer: I don't own DragonBallZ.
Well, to those expectant people who have read some of my other works, I hope I will not fail to do a good job on my first attempt at a story like this one...first time trying, but I'm doing my best! Also, since I'm a bit of an 'as I go along' writer, I've worked hard to plan this out so that nothing is out of place.
And, reviews are always greatly appreciated, as you well know! I have made it my new policy to reply to every review I receive, due to how much I'm grateful for them! I like to hear what you all think! Thank you!
To anyone new reading, you might find it a good idea to just quickly glance at the first few chapters of my 'With Nothing Left' story in order to understand who some of the characters are...
With that said, I will begin...
Vegeta simply couldn't believe how demanding his young daughter was. Bulma, ever busy with repairing the hose in their shower, had ordered Vegeta to assume the parental responsibilities.
Vegeta held the tiny plastic spoon at his daughter's mouth. She refused to accept the serving of her puree rice cereal Bulma had mixed up for her.
"Come on, eat," he snapped. "It's healthy...I think. Open your mouth."
Chain refused to do so. The five-month old wouldn't budge and kept her mouth shut tight.
Vegeta growled and moved the spoon closer to her mouth, deciding to force it in. Chain shook her head back and forth in protest, whimpering.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Aren't you hungry? You have to be, you're part-Saiyan! Don't you like your food?"
Vegeta stared at the spoon he held in his hand, examining it, wondering if perhaps he had figured out just what Chain's problem was. He put it into his mouth to try it, experimenting with the taste and texture of this 'food.' He almost immediately spit it out. "What is she giving you?" he coughed. "Poison? No wonder you refuse to eat."
Chain stared up at her father.
"Never mind. I have a solution for you."
Bulma was still busy upstairs trying to fix the faucet of the shower. She tightened the bolt that held the end of the hose where it drew the water.
"That should be good enough," Bulma said. She stepped out of the shower, and set her wrench down upon the counter. "Okay, let's see."
She turned the water on and was disappointed to find that it squirted out everywhere in the shower, and very little of the flow was directed to the faucet itself. Bulma sighed in her frustration. "What do I have to do? I have to fix everything around here, and on top of that raise children!" She stomped her foot upon the tiled floor. "Speaking of which, I wonder how well Vegeta is doing with Chain."
Vegeta held the spoon towards his daughter's mouth and she happily opened it to receive her next bite. "See?" he grinned. "Ice cream and soda are happier when mixed."
Bulma came downstairs. "Well, it looks like you two are doing well," she said, until she fully discovered just what it was Vegeta was giving their daughter. "Vegeta!"
"What? She's eating, isn't she? I couldn't get her to eat that other stuff at all! Not that I blame her. I tried it and it was revolting! How could you feed a Saiyan that stuff?"
"It's better than ice cream floats, I can tell you that! That stuff you gave her is not good for babies!" she shouted, picking Chain up in a rather protective manner.
"How can ice cream not be good for the kid? Everyone likes ice cream!"
"It's not healthy! It has too much sugar in it, babies aren't supposed to have stuff like that!" Bulma scolded.
"You're just overreacting," he told her.
Bulma snorted in her disapproval. "I should have known better than to trust you to take care of her. I'll feed her."
"Whatever you say," he smiled.
Just when Bulma set Chain back in her highchair, the phone caught their attention.
Bra entered the kitchen. "I'll get it." She picked it up while Bulma was busy in the back searching for a few dozen jars of puree food for Chain.
Vegeta sat back, wondering what to do with the remainder of the ice cream float.
"Hello, Bra speaking. Oh, hi, Goten. No, he isn't here right now, I don't know where he went. Oh. Yeah. Okay, when he gets back, I'll let him know you called. Bye." Bra returned the cordless phone to its hook. "Just for Trunks," she told them.
"Where is he, anyway?" Bulma wondered.
"I don't know."
Bulma groaned. "That boy. He never tells anyone where he's going. Vegeta..."
Vegeta stared at the bowl of ice cream and soda. The creamy, cool, melting top layer of the vanilla ice cream and foamy, sweet taste of root beer mixed in. But the kid had eaten from it...
"Vegeta, could you please see where Trunks is?"
Vegeta immediately broke from his pondering over the ice cream and found his son's Ki. "He's in the city someplace. Seems to be the university."
"Oh," Bra caught on. "I guess he went to visit Demi."
"Yeah." Bulma opened a jar of puree carrots, and looked up at Vegeta. "Are you going to eat that, or what? That's a waste of ice cream and soda, you know. And you prepared it..."
"Yes, but...the baby ate from it..."
Bulma shook her head in frustrated pity.
. . . . . .
"Did you get a hold of him?" Chi-Chi asked from within in the kitchen where she washed off the plates and bowls her family had recently eaten from for lunch.
"No. Bra said she didn't know where he is," Goten replied.
"Hm. Well, if you're not too busy, could you please help me dry some of these?" she asked.
"Sure, Mom." Goten went into the kitchen, picked up a towel, and proceeded to dry off the cups first.
"Okay, Chi-Chi!" Goku called from the doorway. "I'm going to train with Pan and Gohan, now!"
"Be back in time for dinner! Remember, I'm making your favorite, tonight!" She smiled.
Goku grinned the trademark Son grin in delight. "Got it. See you, guys!"
Chi-Chi smiled. Everything was much better, now. They were finally able to spend time together as a family. Some nights, Gohan, Videl, and Pan would come over for dinner, and despite how she had to make a surplus amount for everyone, it was nice to eat together.
Goten stacked the dry cups in the cabinets and continued with drying the plates.
"Mom, as soon as I'm done, I think I might go and train a bit, too."
"Sure, Goten. Your father would be happy about that." Chi-Chi smiled.
"And after that, I think I might pay a visit to Capsule Corporation to see what's up. Maybe Trunks will be back by then."
"You should call to make sure before you leave, just in case," his mother told him, stacking another plate on the towel that lay over the counter.
"That's okay. It'd be nice to say hi to Bulma and Vegeta even if he's not there."
"Tell them 'Hello' for me when you do."
"Sure. I'll also let you know about Chain. Last time I talked to Trunks, he said she was getting to be real handful." Goten grinned.
"I'll bet," she laughed.
. . . . . .
"Ow! Dad, that's no fair!" Pan called.
"How so?" Gohan asked, and blocked his daughter's attempt to hit him.
"Gohan, go easy," Videl told him from where she sat on the hill, watching.
"I always do," he smiled and lightly kicked at Pan to send her back.
"Come on, Pan! Beat him up so we can go ahead and spar!" Goku called.
"No way I'll lose to you this time, Dad," Pan mocked.
"Oh, really?" He flash-appeared before his daughter and, taking every precaution not to actually hurt her, knocked her back.
She countered his strike with more endeavored hits in a speed-attack. Gohan blocked each of them with ease and finally kicked at her so that she fell to the ground She was defeated this round, she knew, as she picked herself up and leaned back on her arms.
"Oh, Gohan, can't you be a bit more cautious?" Videl asked him, crossing her arms.
"Aw, come on, Videl," he said. "I didn't hurt her."
"No," Pan smiled. "But I'm going to get you next time, Dad! You watch. I'm going to train harder than ever and beat you!"
"That's the spirit, Pan!" Goku beamed with pride. "Well, looks like I get the honor, huh, son?"
"Looks like it," Gohan agreed. "Okay, Dad. Give me everything you got." Gohan entered his fighting stance.
"Right." Goku took to the air and was about to hit, when his attention was turned.
"Hey, guys. How's it going?"
"Hey, Goten!" Gohan waved to him from where he hovered in midair.
"Goten!" Goku greeted him cheerfully. "You going to spar with us?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I think I'd like to. Not for too long, though. I'm planning on paying a visit to the Briefs."
"Oh, that'd be nice," Videl smiled to him. "Tell them I said 'Hi,' will you? And let me know how Chain's doing."
"Sure thing. I told my mom I'd let her know about it, as well."
"Chain's growing pretty fast, I hear," Gohan remarked.
"Yeah. Well, let's have at it, then, guys!"
. . . . . .
"Hey, there, Professor."
Demi looked up from her book and grinned at Trunks with her silent hello.
"How are you doing?" he asked her.
"Fine. You?"
"I'm okay. So...you busy with your job, then?"
"Yeah, a little," she told him, setting her philosophy book down on her desk. "I've been studying very hard lately." She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on her hand, then smiled, glancing at Trunks from the corner of her eye. "Never thought I was much of an intellectual, did you?"
"I wasn't surprised," he grinned. "You're very smart."
"Thanks." She sighed. "All this work, though...it's stressing."
"I can imagine," he replied, and put his hands in his pockets. "It's getting pretty difficult. We haven't found much time to discuss the weeks or even months ahead like we used to."
"Well, being the president of Capsule Corporation must be really of hard," Demi understandingly answered.
"How about being a professor and talking about all of these philosophical theories?" Trunks inquired.
"It's not so bad," she said. "Anyway, you were saying..."
"Yeah, just that with what's happening."
"I see. To tell you the truth, I don't know what's happening from now on. I've pretty much been playing it by ear. I have so much work...I want to get it all done, but I can't find the time to clear my head to actually do just that."
Trunks nodded. How stressful! He and Demi had always discussed the situation subtly, and when he thought she knew what he was talking about, he was rather excited. But both of them were so busy, and now they weren't even certain that they had enough time to think about it. Trunks was very disappointed...
I've done chapter one, then. Hope it was good. Review!
Well, to those expectant people who have read some of my other works, I hope I will not fail to do a good job on my first attempt at a story like this one...first time trying, but I'm doing my best! Also, since I'm a bit of an 'as I go along' writer, I've worked hard to plan this out so that nothing is out of place.
And, reviews are always greatly appreciated, as you well know! I have made it my new policy to reply to every review I receive, due to how much I'm grateful for them! I like to hear what you all think! Thank you!
To anyone new reading, you might find it a good idea to just quickly glance at the first few chapters of my 'With Nothing Left' story in order to understand who some of the characters are...
With that said, I will begin...
Vegeta simply couldn't believe how demanding his young daughter was. Bulma, ever busy with repairing the hose in their shower, had ordered Vegeta to assume the parental responsibilities.
Vegeta held the tiny plastic spoon at his daughter's mouth. She refused to accept the serving of her puree rice cereal Bulma had mixed up for her.
"Come on, eat," he snapped. "It's healthy...I think. Open your mouth."
Chain refused to do so. The five-month old wouldn't budge and kept her mouth shut tight.
Vegeta growled and moved the spoon closer to her mouth, deciding to force it in. Chain shook her head back and forth in protest, whimpering.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Aren't you hungry? You have to be, you're part-Saiyan! Don't you like your food?"
Vegeta stared at the spoon he held in his hand, examining it, wondering if perhaps he had figured out just what Chain's problem was. He put it into his mouth to try it, experimenting with the taste and texture of this 'food.' He almost immediately spit it out. "What is she giving you?" he coughed. "Poison? No wonder you refuse to eat."
Chain stared up at her father.
"Never mind. I have a solution for you."
Bulma was still busy upstairs trying to fix the faucet of the shower. She tightened the bolt that held the end of the hose where it drew the water.
"That should be good enough," Bulma said. She stepped out of the shower, and set her wrench down upon the counter. "Okay, let's see."
She turned the water on and was disappointed to find that it squirted out everywhere in the shower, and very little of the flow was directed to the faucet itself. Bulma sighed in her frustration. "What do I have to do? I have to fix everything around here, and on top of that raise children!" She stomped her foot upon the tiled floor. "Speaking of which, I wonder how well Vegeta is doing with Chain."
Vegeta held the spoon towards his daughter's mouth and she happily opened it to receive her next bite. "See?" he grinned. "Ice cream and soda are happier when mixed."
Bulma came downstairs. "Well, it looks like you two are doing well," she said, until she fully discovered just what it was Vegeta was giving their daughter. "Vegeta!"
"What? She's eating, isn't she? I couldn't get her to eat that other stuff at all! Not that I blame her. I tried it and it was revolting! How could you feed a Saiyan that stuff?"
"It's better than ice cream floats, I can tell you that! That stuff you gave her is not good for babies!" she shouted, picking Chain up in a rather protective manner.
"How can ice cream not be good for the kid? Everyone likes ice cream!"
"It's not healthy! It has too much sugar in it, babies aren't supposed to have stuff like that!" Bulma scolded.
"You're just overreacting," he told her.
Bulma snorted in her disapproval. "I should have known better than to trust you to take care of her. I'll feed her."
"Whatever you say," he smiled.
Just when Bulma set Chain back in her highchair, the phone caught their attention.
Bra entered the kitchen. "I'll get it." She picked it up while Bulma was busy in the back searching for a few dozen jars of puree food for Chain.
Vegeta sat back, wondering what to do with the remainder of the ice cream float.
"Hello, Bra speaking. Oh, hi, Goten. No, he isn't here right now, I don't know where he went. Oh. Yeah. Okay, when he gets back, I'll let him know you called. Bye." Bra returned the cordless phone to its hook. "Just for Trunks," she told them.
"Where is he, anyway?" Bulma wondered.
"I don't know."
Bulma groaned. "That boy. He never tells anyone where he's going. Vegeta..."
Vegeta stared at the bowl of ice cream and soda. The creamy, cool, melting top layer of the vanilla ice cream and foamy, sweet taste of root beer mixed in. But the kid had eaten from it...
"Vegeta, could you please see where Trunks is?"
Vegeta immediately broke from his pondering over the ice cream and found his son's Ki. "He's in the city someplace. Seems to be the university."
"Oh," Bra caught on. "I guess he went to visit Demi."
"Yeah." Bulma opened a jar of puree carrots, and looked up at Vegeta. "Are you going to eat that, or what? That's a waste of ice cream and soda, you know. And you prepared it..."
"Yes, but...the baby ate from it..."
Bulma shook her head in frustrated pity.
. . . . . .
"Did you get a hold of him?" Chi-Chi asked from within in the kitchen where she washed off the plates and bowls her family had recently eaten from for lunch.
"No. Bra said she didn't know where he is," Goten replied.
"Hm. Well, if you're not too busy, could you please help me dry some of these?" she asked.
"Sure, Mom." Goten went into the kitchen, picked up a towel, and proceeded to dry off the cups first.
"Okay, Chi-Chi!" Goku called from the doorway. "I'm going to train with Pan and Gohan, now!"
"Be back in time for dinner! Remember, I'm making your favorite, tonight!" She smiled.
Goku grinned the trademark Son grin in delight. "Got it. See you, guys!"
Chi-Chi smiled. Everything was much better, now. They were finally able to spend time together as a family. Some nights, Gohan, Videl, and Pan would come over for dinner, and despite how she had to make a surplus amount for everyone, it was nice to eat together.
Goten stacked the dry cups in the cabinets and continued with drying the plates.
"Mom, as soon as I'm done, I think I might go and train a bit, too."
"Sure, Goten. Your father would be happy about that." Chi-Chi smiled.
"And after that, I think I might pay a visit to Capsule Corporation to see what's up. Maybe Trunks will be back by then."
"You should call to make sure before you leave, just in case," his mother told him, stacking another plate on the towel that lay over the counter.
"That's okay. It'd be nice to say hi to Bulma and Vegeta even if he's not there."
"Tell them 'Hello' for me when you do."
"Sure. I'll also let you know about Chain. Last time I talked to Trunks, he said she was getting to be real handful." Goten grinned.
"I'll bet," she laughed.
. . . . . .
"Ow! Dad, that's no fair!" Pan called.
"How so?" Gohan asked, and blocked his daughter's attempt to hit him.
"Gohan, go easy," Videl told him from where she sat on the hill, watching.
"I always do," he smiled and lightly kicked at Pan to send her back.
"Come on, Pan! Beat him up so we can go ahead and spar!" Goku called.
"No way I'll lose to you this time, Dad," Pan mocked.
"Oh, really?" He flash-appeared before his daughter and, taking every precaution not to actually hurt her, knocked her back.
She countered his strike with more endeavored hits in a speed-attack. Gohan blocked each of them with ease and finally kicked at her so that she fell to the ground She was defeated this round, she knew, as she picked herself up and leaned back on her arms.
"Oh, Gohan, can't you be a bit more cautious?" Videl asked him, crossing her arms.
"Aw, come on, Videl," he said. "I didn't hurt her."
"No," Pan smiled. "But I'm going to get you next time, Dad! You watch. I'm going to train harder than ever and beat you!"
"That's the spirit, Pan!" Goku beamed with pride. "Well, looks like I get the honor, huh, son?"
"Looks like it," Gohan agreed. "Okay, Dad. Give me everything you got." Gohan entered his fighting stance.
"Right." Goku took to the air and was about to hit, when his attention was turned.
"Hey, guys. How's it going?"
"Hey, Goten!" Gohan waved to him from where he hovered in midair.
"Goten!" Goku greeted him cheerfully. "You going to spar with us?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I think I'd like to. Not for too long, though. I'm planning on paying a visit to the Briefs."
"Oh, that'd be nice," Videl smiled to him. "Tell them I said 'Hi,' will you? And let me know how Chain's doing."
"Sure thing. I told my mom I'd let her know about it, as well."
"Chain's growing pretty fast, I hear," Gohan remarked.
"Yeah. Well, let's have at it, then, guys!"
. . . . . .
"Hey, there, Professor."
Demi looked up from her book and grinned at Trunks with her silent hello.
"How are you doing?" he asked her.
"Fine. You?"
"I'm okay. So...you busy with your job, then?"
"Yeah, a little," she told him, setting her philosophy book down on her desk. "I've been studying very hard lately." She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on her hand, then smiled, glancing at Trunks from the corner of her eye. "Never thought I was much of an intellectual, did you?"
"I wasn't surprised," he grinned. "You're very smart."
"Thanks." She sighed. "All this work, though...it's stressing."
"I can imagine," he replied, and put his hands in his pockets. "It's getting pretty difficult. We haven't found much time to discuss the weeks or even months ahead like we used to."
"Well, being the president of Capsule Corporation must be really of hard," Demi understandingly answered.
"How about being a professor and talking about all of these philosophical theories?" Trunks inquired.
"It's not so bad," she said. "Anyway, you were saying..."
"Yeah, just that with what's happening."
"I see. To tell you the truth, I don't know what's happening from now on. I've pretty much been playing it by ear. I have so much work...I want to get it all done, but I can't find the time to clear my head to actually do just that."
Trunks nodded. How stressful! He and Demi had always discussed the situation subtly, and when he thought she knew what he was talking about, he was rather excited. But both of them were so busy, and now they weren't even certain that they had enough time to think about it. Trunks was very disappointed...
I've done chapter one, then. Hope it was good. Review!