Summary: Chichi dies while giving birth to Gohan. Goku has no clue how to raise a child, and in an effort to help Goku, Bulma invites him to live over at Capsule Corp. with her. That's when the love starts.

Author's note: This story is inspired by a request made by Keemsaiyan. He gave the idea and specific pointers in the plot. Enjoy!

The beta for this fic is PianoxForte -thank you so much- and she has rewritten some parts. So I'd rather say it is kind of co-written.

Mother of My Child
Prologue

"AAAHHHH!!! Make it stop!! Please make it stop!!" a woman's shrill scream reverberated around the entire hospital complex.
It was currently five o' clock in the morning. ChiChi had gone into labor around 10:30 pm the previous day, and Goku had rushed her to the hospital as fast as he could on kinto'un. The second they landed, he sprinted inside via the front doors, holding her bridal style, and exclaiming that his wife desperately needed help.

She was rushed into the maternity ward within minutes, and ever since that moment, every second that ticked by had been agonizing to Goku. The maternal department was situated on the sixth floor of the building. Goku sat silently in the near-empty waiting room, his eyes glued to the door that separated him from his wife.

It started off like any other delivery would, a nurse and a doctor waiting on his wife hand and foot. They checked to see if this was indeed, real labor, quickly affirming that it was. They only needed to see that all was progressing normally, and then they could continue with the operation at hand.
Unfortunately, all was not well for Son ChiChi. She was having continual contractions, there was practically no rest between them, they were sporadic, and painful. Sweat glistened on every inch of her skin, her face was flushed a deep crimson, and with every passing moment, she clenched her teeth, trying to force herself not to scream out in renewed anguish.

The doctor was baffled; there was no reason for this birth to be putting so much strain on the young woman. The child was perfectly healthy. He was in the correct birthing position. According to her records, she'd taken all of the prenatal precautions available. She was a thriving, vibrant, young, woman, with an equally as healthy baby. There was no reason for the complications this birth was causing!

Within a matter of minutes, Goku witnessed the relatively quiet maternity ward turn into complete and utter chaos. The doctor that was assigned to his wife had rushed out of her room with an extremely worried and frustrated look upon his face. He returned with a team of straight-faced doctors. They were speaking silently to each other, ushering the nurse to bring in some more help.
Within a couple of minutes, doctors and nurses were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Just one thing occurred to Goku, every single one of them was currently busy trying to help a woman give birth to her child, his wife.
The personnel were so concentrated on the task at hand, that none of them noticed Goku get out of his seat, and begin pacing up and down the hallway nervously in anticipation.

"AAAHHH!!! Please!!! AAAHH!!! It hurtssss!!!" she wailed.
With every scream of pain, Goku winced. It was as if he could physically feel the pain his wife was going through. "For Kami's sake!" shouted the lead doctor, "Someone give the poor woman an epidural!"
"Get that thing away from me!" the woman screamed with painstaking effort. Goku paused his long stride, glancing at the door. He clenched his fists in frustration, 'What are they doing to her?!?'
"It will relieve some of your pain," came the muffled reply of a doctor. "If I'm -" she began, being abruptly cut off from a new spurt of pain, "- drugged, the baby will be drugged… ahhh… the baby will be drugged too!"
"It's perfectly safe!"
"To hell with your perfectly safe!" she hissed. "AHHHHHHHH!"

Goku approached the door to ChiChi's room nervously. His pitch-black onyx eyes gazed at the door with a renewed intensity. He needed to see her! He knew that if he didn't he'd regret it. It was quite clear to him now that something was wrong. Goku stopped the next nurse that emerged from behind the accursed closed door, "Please, ma'am, I need to see her!"
She softly put his hand in hers, pity radiating off of her delicate countenance. "Mr. Son, we're doing all we can. There have been some complications with the birth. Doctor Kyoya is certain that he can deliver the baby safely. Unfortunately, your presence will make it very difficult on the hospital staff; I urge you to stay seated and wait for any further updates on your wife's status."
'What's that supposed to mean? What type of complications? Deliver the baby safely? Is something wrong with our baby?!?' thought Goku, raking his fingers through his wild hair.

He never had the chance to ask the nurse any of the questions that were buzzing through his mind like a storm. She had already left, the second she had finished talking. She left him feeling invisible, utterly unimportant. Goku stood still for a moment, twiddling his thumbs together nervously, and racking his brain for possible answers that weren't to be found. He continued staring at the door. He flinched slightly as he heard a click. The door opened, revealing yet another busy nurse bustling out of the room in order to complete a task. Goku glanced inside the room, desperate to see his wife, but the nurse's body blocked his view. "Excuse me, but could you tell me wha -" began Goku, his hand reaching out toward the nurse slightly out of desperation.
The nurse was too busy to pay any attention to Goku, and swiftly passed him by before he could even finish his inquiry. Goku sighed in slight defeat. 'If I'd only asked what was going on earlier, before it got this crazy, maybe then I could get a straight answer from one of them…'

He had been sitting patiently in the waiting room since roughly 11:00 pm yesterday, and he still hadn't found out what was wrong with his wife, ChiChi, or his soon to be son or daughter. He remembered how panicked he had been when his wife had fallen down and had started to convulse. They had been fighting. No, that was wrong. His wife had been yelling at him, like she always did. He couldn't quite remember why she had been angry at him. But he could still see in his mind how she had suddenly collapsed and started screaming in pain.
He hadn't wasted a minute and had hurried her to the hospital. Once there, the medical assistants had immediately ushered his wife through the doors of the delivery room and now they were six hours further and none the wiser. He glanced back at the door, aware that his wife was suffering behind them.
He hoped with all of his heart that she would be alright, and that this was all just a misunderstanding. She was currently eight months pregnant; the baby was being born prematurely. What if the complications the nurse had been talking about had something to with the baby? Maybe the baby wasn't developed enough. Though, the baby wasn't born yet, how would they know?

He leaned his body against the wall, slowly allowing his backside to slide into a sitting position on the cool tile floor. He was just too tired for this. He was losing his nerve. He closed his eyes; they stung slightly from the continual contact with his eyelids. They'd been wide open for too long.
He had been ecstatic when Chichi had announced to him that she was pregnant. He didn't know what to think at first. It seemed hardly possible to him. He was going to be a daddy! He smiled slightly from the happiness of that nostalgia. Though, his smile disappeared as horrifying thoughts began to enter his doubtful mind. What if their baby died? What if something was wrong with it? He would never forgive himself if something happened to the baby, never.
For the umpteenth time, the door opened, and yet another nurse strode past him. This time, he didn't even try to stop her. The act of it would be fruitless.

Three hours passed, and still the doctors were busy with her. He wondered how much longer it would take. He couldn't stand the screams knowing they were hers. He started pacing again, up and down, up and down. Something else was bothering him, the screams; they were turning into weak moans. ChiChi was still in so much excruciating pain, but she was so exhausted, that she couldn't find her voice any longer.
It was unusual for him to wait without knowing something of the situation at hand. He always knew what to do when it came to fighting evildoers, but this time, he didn't have a clue. Never before had he had felt as useless as he did right now.

A nurse returned with towels and a bag of blood meant for an IV. Goku suddenly felt sick, as if he were going to throw up. He began trembling. 'Why do they need blood?' He tried to shake off the unnerving feeling that his aforementioned suspicions had been true. That blood was either for ChiChi, or it was for their baby.
Why? Why would something go wrong with ChiChi's pregnancy? She had been really angry at him when she had collapsed. Maybe it was his fault she was now in pain. If he hadn't made her angry then this would have never happened. What if the stress he had caused her sent her into premature labor? What if he had been the root of this problem?

She was always angry at him for one reason or another. He didn't have a license, he didn't have a job, and he ate too much. Heck, she even said that he was a dumb monkey once. Yes, she insulted him and degraded him, but she was still his wife. He had agreed to marry her. He had fallen in love with her. His grandpa Gohan had taught him to treat women with the utmost respect and tender care, as if they were a very precious and fragile, yet beautiful flower.
He couldn't help but wonder if she would be angry at him when the baby was born. If there was something wrong with it, he would take the blame for sure. Everything was always his fault.

Goku paused his pacing as he detected three ki signatures that he recognized moving toward him. Their impending presence caused him to smile regardless of how horrible he felt at the moment. Three of his close friends had come to see him. In a matter of minutes, his best friend Krillin rounded the corner of the hallway. He was followed closely by Bulma and Yamcha.
"Hey Goku, how is she doing?" questioned Krillin, his facial features etched with concern.
Goku only sighed and glanced at the door, it just stood there, silent and unmoving, mocking him. He couldn't bring himself to say what was on his mind. He couldn't tell them there was something wrong, because then he would be forcing himself to believe it too. He couldn't handle that right now.

"I take it that there isn't news yet. Don't worry, everything will be fine," reassured Krillin.

"Yeah," Yamcha piped up, "you'll see, Goku. It's your kid, so he or she must be strong!"

Yamcha's voice boomed louder as he spoke. The crescendo gained him some annoyed looks from a few of the passing personnel. Bulma's face turned red. 'Yeah, Yamcha, your reassurance is great and all, but the whole world doesn't have to know about it,' she thought in slight annoyance. Bulma gained his attention, and brought her index finger up to her lips, gesturing for him to quiet it down a little.
Yamcha leaned against a wall casually, a sheepish grin adorning his handsome face. Meanwhile, Krillin rolled his eyes at Yamcha, and chose to sit down in one of the chairs. Goku continued his pacing. He stopped abruptly when he felt a soft hand tug on his arm.
He glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. Bulma stood staring back at him, a gentle look of sympathy on her delicate features. Goku couldn't help, but smile at her.

"Goku, just so you know, whatever happens, we will be there for you and Chichi," stated Bulma, squeezing his arm gently in reassurance.

Goku's smile broadened, "I know you will, Bulma. Thank you."

He kept smiling at her, but when she turned away from him in order to say something to Yamcha, it disappeared. Sometimes it was just way too hard to be the happy-go-lucky guy everyone thought he was. Well, usually it wasn't hard, but right now, it felt like one of the most difficult things he'd ever done. He couldn't have a genuine smile on his face while his wife was suffering only a matter of feet away from him. He couldn't smile while he was in the dark about what was going on with her and his baby.

Goku continued pacing while the others tried to lighten up the depressing mood that hung so thickly in the air. Unfortunately, nothing could make Goku feel any better at the moment. Nothing could relieve the overwhelming feeling of angst that overtook him. His wife hadn't made a peep in over 30 minutes. He dreaded what may be happening.

Two hours later and none the wiser, the door opened and out came a doctor followed by a nurse who held a small bundle in her arms. Everyone stood up and Goku stopped pacing around the room.

"Doc! What was wrong? Is Chichi and the baby alright?" he questioned, his muscles tensed.

The doctor attempted at giving Goku a reassuring smile, but his mind was elsewhere, thinking about what he had just witnessed. They say you eventually become numb to such things over time. In reality, nobody could ever dissuade the thoughts of impending tragedy.
Bulma and the others frowned at the sudden change in the doctor's expression. It was very clear now that something had gone awry. Goku, however, was completely oblivious to this as he finally caught sight of what lay in the nurse's arms.

He walked over to her and glanced down at the small blue bundle, wondering what it could be. He peeked over the blanket in curiosity. A small baby stared back at him in wonder. Goku smiled widely and reached over, silently asking to hold the baby. The nurse gave the baby to him. He held the infant as if he were holding the most fragile and precious thing in the universe. He was terrified he might crush it. His awe overcame him, this baby was utterly perfect! He tenderly reached up to touch a small hand.

"It's a boy!" he exclaimed, completely overjoyed. A boy! He was a father! He couldn't believe it! "What did ChiChi decide to name him?" he asked.

He glanced up at the doctor and nurse in confusion when he received no answer. The doctor and the nurse were watching him with a compassionate look on their faces.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Son Goku, but he doesn't have a name. Your wife died shortly after she gave birth to him. We're all very sorry for your loss," muttered the doctor, staring at the floor in shame. Goku's heart skipped a beat. No, this was impossible! It was as if all of the wind was punched out of him. Chichi was dead… He frantically tried to feel for her ki, and when he realized that it was truly gone, he broke down crying. His friends looked at each other with a shocked expression on their faces. ChiChi was dead!

It was understandable that Goku would react like this. Still, it felt so odd to witness him crying like a baby. He was always so sure of the situation and laughing at anything and everything. He was so optimistic. He was their rock to hold onto when there was nothing left. He was their hero! It was miserable to see him degraded to such a state.
Hesitantly, Bulma walked over to Goku, and took the infant from his shaky arms. She then looked at the tear-streaked face of Goku. Her own heart felt as if it were about to burst.

"You know we will be there for you, right Goku?" she mumbled, unsure if she should really be speaking at a moment such as this.

Goku sniffled, wiping his runny nose with his forearm. He gave a small nod in affirmation.

"So how about you give him a name? He needs one, you know," she suggested.

He knew, he was aware that the baby, his son, needed a name. Right now he couldn't think straight. Yamcha and Krillin shared a look and started to guide their friend out of the hospital. It wouldn't be good for him if he saw his wife's body being brought out.
Quickly, Bulma handled the paperwork, and she ushered Goku and the others into a hovercar. "Now, Goku, how about you come with us to Capsule Corp. for today. If you have calmed down enough you can go home," Bulma suggested as they drove to her house.

It was dead silent from that point onward. There were no words to be said. Goku needed to grieve. He needed silence. He wanted to picture his beautiful wife's face with the utmost of clarity for the last time. He needed to, because whether he liked it or not, time fades our memories. He knew that all too well. There were some days when he wanted to just break down and cry because he could no-longer picture his grandpa Gohan's smiling face.

The next day Goku stood in front of his house on Mount Paozu. He looked at the baby in his arms and smiled. He and Gohan would be fine.

"Gohan," he spoke the baby's name with the utmost of pride. It had been Bulma who had suggested that he honor his grandfather by naming his son after him. He was glad he had. As he walked inside he thought that eventually everything would work out just fine. Yeah, everything was going to be alright.

Author's notes: So what do you think? Is it worth continuing or not? Tell me! Review