A/N: Originally published on AO3, so if you're impatient and want to read it all, it's there. :)

...

Her day had started off so well, considering.

The big catering gig that Bulma hired her for at one of Capsule Corporation's satellite offices had gone off without a hitch. After a long stint as a housewife, Chi-Chi welcomed the challenge of running her own business.

Bulma was an early investor in IChiGo Catering. Chi-Chi, in order to prove her abilities, spent an entire week feeding Bulma's family as well as the entire research ward of Capsule Corporation their lunches. Bulma had been so impressed at how much Chi-Chi accomplished alongside Bulma's mother Panchy (who'd volunteered to be an assistant), that she'd immediately written a check right after.

Chi-Chi had gotten a round of business cards out of this event, and had been happily thinking about her good work when she saw a familiar dark figure out of the corner of her eye.

It shouldn't be an odd sight to see Bulma's husband out and about on Capsule Corp property; he was a board member, after all. However, he was notoriously private and loathed social functions. Vegeta was nothing but deliberate with his actions, so spotting him in public was not a good sign.

Worse still, he was making a beeline toward her.

"Mountain girl," he said, the most he could muster as polite greeting.

It didn't matter she was as 37-year-old divorcee with two kids, she was always going to be 'mountain girl' to him.

"What's going on? Goten—"

He lifted his hand. "Your spawn is fine, but at the hospital."

Chi-Chi's stomach dropped, her blood running cold. "Fine?! How can he be fine and at the hospital at the same time? What happened?"

He grimaced at her high pitch, plugging an ear with his hand. "Dende's balls. That's why I said he was fine first. He fell while playing with Trunks, broke his arm, that's all. Your man's already with him."

Chi-Chi started, disconcerted by the news, and also extremely annoyed at Vegeta's casual label of her very much ex-husband.

Goku was already there? Why the hell didn't her ex call her first?! She whipped out her cell, frantically trying to figure out how she was going to clean up—she still had to wrap up the catering job!—scream at Goku, while also trying to immediately figure out the fastest way to Wukong Hospital.

"Look, this is getting fucking old," Vegeta ground out impatiently, already walking away toward a confused looking Bulma on the other side of the hall. "This is the last time I'm playing messenger between you and that idiot."

She signaled her catering staff over and quickly relayed that she had a family emergency, apologizing that she couldn't help with the clean up at this time. She bolted toward the exit, waving to catch Bulma's gaze who gave her a shoo-ing motion—Vegeta was already by her side and probably conveyed the situation already.

She frantically plugged her phone into her car charger, pressing the speed dial and speaker at the same time so she could focus on getting to the hospital without also killing herself in the process.

"Chi-Chi, he's fine," Goku opened immediately, not even bothering with niceties.

"Why the hell didn't you phone me? You were supposed to be watching them! How could this happen?!" All the words came in rapid succession, her voice raising in pitch as her panic grew.

"You had that big catering gig!" he exclaimed. "I didn't want to bother you—"

"Are you kidding me?! My baby's hurt, who the hell cares about this gig?" Chi-Chi shouted.

"Chi-Chi… Cheech." He lowered his voice, the way he normally did when he had tried to calm her in the past. "Breathe. Please. He's fine. Everything's fine. Goten thinks the cast makes him look like a bad-ass."

At that last line, she gave a watery laugh, despite herself. Of course, her brave, little boy…

"He's good. I'll tell you how it all happened, okay? Get here soon." His voice was gentle and soothing, and dammit if it wasn't working.

"Okay, okay. Sorry for screaming," Chi-Chi added. It had taken a long while and a little bit of therapy, but she was trying to be more civil toward her ex.

"All good. See ya soon, sweetie," he said cheerfully, disconnecting before she could get another word in.

She blinked rapidly at the casually thrown out endearment.

Habit, she told herself. Not a big deal.

She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the road. Her baby needed her.

.

.

.

Her baby did not need her.

In fact, he was actively pushing her away with his free arm when she rushed to gather him in a relieved embrace. Despite the cast, he did look perfectly healthy.

"Mama," Goten exclaimed. "I'm okay."

A small chuckle went over her head. "See?"

Chi-Chi turned to take good look at her ex, who'd been hovering just behind her shoulder. His warm, dark eyes crinkled in amusement as he ran his hand through his hair, putting it in further disarray. He looked adorably disheveled. Heat rose in her cheeks and she crossed her arms—as if the gesture could act like physical protection from his handsome visage.

"Wipe that grin off your face," she said sharply, perhaps more harshly than she intended. She was a bit embarrassed that still, after all this time, she found the man exceedingly attractive. She pointed at her boy. "Explain this."

"Mama, it's not dad's fault, it's my fault," Goten said immediately, alarm in his tone. His doe-like eyes, so much like his father, bounced between his parents. Chi-Chi twinged at the guilt in Goten's expression. She knew he'd wrongly blamed himself for his parents separation.

She glanced at Goten, then back at her ex whose lips had dipped at their son's pleading tone. She sighed and nodded her head toward the exit. She wasn't going to have an argument in front of her kid.

"Let's talk outside."

"Don't worry, kiddo," Goku said, leaning over briefly to kiss him on the top of his head. "We're going to be right outside your door."

"Mama, really, it's my fault," Goten repeated. Chi-Chi nodded placatingly.

"Okay, okay, I just want to get the details from your father. Be back in a sec," she said, also leaning over to kiss the top of his head.

Once outside, the door firmly closed, Chi-Chi rubbed her eyebrow tiredly. "Kami help me."

"It was just a fluke accident," Goku said, rubbing the back of his neck. Chi-Chi noticed he seemed a little worn, too. She realized that while she had been out of her mind with worry, that despite appearances, Goku probably had been beside himself, too. She knew how much he hated hospitals, so even the journey probably had taken a toll. He always tried to mask his feelings in front of their kids, only ever dropping the facade with her.

"What happened?"

"You know, Trunks was over?" he angled his gaze, at if carefully gauging her reaction.

She nodded, urging him to go on.

"I was watching them chase each other around the yard, practicing their katas, normal stuff," Goku explained. "All of a sudden, Goten was going full speed at Trunks, who moved aside to avoid him. I think Goten tripped over his feet, and then..." he shrugged. "He fell pretty badly on the short, stone retaining wall… the one by the raspberry bushes?"

Chi-Chi closed her eyes briefly, then met Goku's, then nodded.

Goku waved his hand. "A freak accident. I noticed something was wrong right away, took him to emergency. I… I'm sorry."

At that last statement, Chi-Chi furrowed her brows. "Sorry for what? Like you said, it was a freak accident. There's nothing to be sorry about."

"I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner," he clarified.

Ah.

"No job is worth prioritizing over my family," Chi-Chi stated bluntly. Goku flinched, as if struck.

It only took a moment for Chi-Chi to realize how loaded her statement was, considering the reasons their marriage dissolved. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet. This was supposed to be water under the bridge. They'd been divorced seven years. Why was this still awkward?

She schooled her features to be neutral.

Goku sighed, ignoring her statement. "The doctors said that this was just a small fracture, something that's common in children. So he doesn't even need medication besides Children's Tylenol, which we both already have at home, and for him not to jostle his arm so much. We can go whenever we want. But I wanted to wait until you got here to give the go-ahead."

"I appreciate that, Goku," Chi-Chi said, touched that he wanted her approval before making a decision about their child's health. "I had a fracture when I was kid, and this sounds about right. If the doctors think we're good to go, I think we can leave. When does he get the cast off?"

"We have an appointment in a couple weeks for a check-up and then the doctor will decide then. I added it to our shared family calendar."

Chi-Chi reviewed her smartphone's calendar and saw the appointment pop up. "Okay, that's good to know. I'll have to move a few appointments but I think that works."

"And I can still have the kids for the rest of the weekend?"

It was Goku's turn, there was no reason for him to not have the kids and the entire drama was all just an accident.

"Yes, of course."

He flashed her a brilliant smile, causing Chi-Chi's heart to flutter. This man was a walking charm assault. It was unfair!

"Thanks, Chi!" Without warning, he bent down and kissed her cheek.

Her startled eyes flew up, her hand rising unbidden to her face. He'd already straightened and turned, not catching her gaze as he was already turning to go back to Goten's room.

She gaped mutely at the door as she heard her ex call: "C'mon kiddo, let's go home!"

.

.

.

What a day, Chi-Chi thought to herself, as she readied for bed. It had been an unexpected rollercoaster, with the highs of her professional success, the fright from her son's injury, and then the confusing signals she was getting—imagining?—from her ex. True, they were more friendly now than they'd ever been since the separation, and she was driving herself nuts trying to figure out not whether the signals were real, but also why she should even care.

She was not interested in a reconciliation! The reasons for ending their relationship had not changed.

As she towel-dried her hair with one hand, Chi-Chi heard a text notification ping her from her nightstand. Curiously, she leaned over to look at what it was.

Goku had sent taken a selfie with their boys sprawled on him dead asleep. It was made all the more sweet since Gohan was already a full-blown teen and would probably be mortified that this was being recorded. He'd been out all day with friends from school so had avoided all the drama from earlier, but now had his younger brother curled in his arms.

As for Goku, his eyes had a dancing quality, his finger on his lips as if saying, "Shhh."

Chi-Chi felt her heart begin to race.

Maybe she was just feeling melancholy and emotional... but without another thought, Chi-Chi sent Goku a solitary heart emoji.

Almost immediately after she did so, she panicked. That wasn't… she hadn't meant to… She suddenly saw three dots ominously flash on her screen, showing that Goku was texting her pretty quickly afterward. She racked her tired brain to think of something, anything, to make sure he didn't misinterpret the small message.

It was harmless, right? He wouldn't think anything of it?

Then just as suddenly as the three dots that signaled texting showed up, it disappeared.

Chi-Chi stared at her damn phone, waiting to see if a text would come through. After a few moments, she cursed her own stupidity and roughly shoved her smartphone into its charger. She was a grown woman, for god's sake. It was just an emoji, it wasn't a big deal.

As she closed her eyes, her mind drifted to cool nights and strong, warm arms.