Eighteen agreed with Chi-Chi more than she cared to admit.
Majin Buu was something no one could deal with, let alone a handful of children—extraordinary genes or not. Goten was only four years older than Marron, who was still mastering writing her own name, forget fighting for the future of the universe. Trunks was hardly better, only a year older than Goten. And they were still older than Gohan had been when he had first been thrust into it all.
"Krillin," she greeted her husband. He was home from work, a new job on the Satan City Police Force. Inspired by Videl, he realized that even if he couldn't defeat space tyrants, there were many smaller terrors that called for different kinds of heroes. She had never been more proud.
"Heya," he flashed a smile before pulling her into an embrace. "Marron napping?"
"Not for much longer, now that you're home".
Sure enough, the bedroom door cracked open an inch. Upon realizing that she had been discovered, the little girl threw the door open, shouting "daddy's home!" for all to hear. Krillin lifted her up over his head, and the laughter rolled across the beach.
"Papa, I missed you!" she declared. "Playing alone is boring".
Next year, Marron would start school. They had debated on renting an apartment in Satan City for the convenience of it. Most people weren't used to seeing people drop out of the sky still. Eighteen's reasoning wasn't too far off from Chi-Chi's for sending Gohan to school. Marron would make friends her own age. She would do normal childhood things and have normal childhood problems, even if her fears could never be normal childhood fears.
"Maybe we could invite Trunks or Goten over," Eighteen suggested.
"Hey!" Krillin exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "That's a great idea! I'll ring up Gohan, he should be home by now".
The unspoken agreement that it was going to be Goten or Trunks. Even before fusion was a thing, the two were practically one being when together, and Marron wouldn't have a playmate.
It took little convincing on Krillin's part. Gohan agreed to bring him by before class the following day.
"Now remember, squirt. Marron isn't Trunks, so you have to be careful, alright?" Gohan said as the two Son boys stood at the door to Kame House.
"Of course she isn't Trunks," Goten pouted. "Why would she be? Unless we used the dragon balls or somethin'".
Gohan laughed, and lifted his brother into a hug, which he happily returned.
"Oh, he'll be fine, Gohan," Krillin called from the window where he and Eighteen had been watching the exchange between the two. Color rose to Gohan's cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck, though he still grinned.
After saying their goodbyes, Gohan and Krillin took off towards Satan City. As they watched the two fade into tiny specks, Marron spoke up.
"My daddy's gone to save people! He's a p'leeseman," she declared proudly.
"Wow so he fights the bad guys, huh?!" Goten matched her excitement. "That's so cool! Gohan just goes and does boring stuff at school. Maybe someone should tell him he can get a job fighting bad guys". He squinted at the distance his brother had vanished into just moments ago.
Eighteen ushered the two inside, before Goten took off to do just that.
Since it had been so long since either of the boys had come by, Marron wasted no time in listing all the things they had to do. They had to play pretend and go swimming and color and play with Turtle and watch the Saiyaman Show and… If Goten was keeping up with the list, he was going to be disappointed when she changed it in five minutes. And again five after that.
Turtle came up on the beech halfway through their coloring session, and the two went swimming with him. Eighteen watched from the beach, knowing that if anything happened, Goten could fly Marron back over. Still. She kept watch just in case.
When the two came ashore, Marron was ready for her nap, and wasn't even put out by Goten saying naps were for little kids. Eighteen carried her daughter to her bedroom, and tucked her in.
"You sure you don't want to take a nap?" Eighteen asked when she returned to the living room.
Goten scowled, and went outside to fire kamehameha at the ocean.
It was only a few days later that they had Goten back, this time at his request. This time, Eighteen decided to treat the two kids.
The Satan City Amusement Park was the largest in the world, featuring motifs of the 'great' Mr. Satan across nearly every ride and attraction. No doubt the fool earned big bucks from it, while Goku had become a cabbage farmer or something in order to earn money.
"Mommy, I wanna ride that one!"
She pointed to the biggest rollercoaster, and one of the few not emblazoned with Mr. Satan's face. Cell's Revenge instead bore the colors of its namesake, complete with speakers that played a recording of his laughter. Eighteen's stomach turned a bit as they approached the queue.
"You must be this tall to ride," Marron read dutifully, looking up at the limit. "It's not fair!"
"Yeah!" Goten whined. "It's way less scary than jumping off the Lookout or Mr. Vegeta in a bad mood! Why do grown-ups gotta keep everything for theirselves?"
"I doubt even Krillin is tall enough to ride this one," Eighteen laughed. "So it's not about being grown-up at all. There are other rides. Let's go".
Despite the fact that Goten could soar through the clouds on his own, he still enjoyed the swing rides and the smaller rollercoaster. He got just a bit overexcited on the tilt-a-whirl, and nearly broke their cart. Eighteen almost wished he had, considering her nausea once getting off the damn thing.
When she asked what the kids wanted to do next, Goten replied with a pout.
"I still wanna ride Cell's Revenge. It's not fair! My big brother can fight Cell when he was my age, but I can't ride a rollercoaster?" Luckily, Goten was easy to distract. Though Eighteen might regret the cotton candy later.
On the flight home, Eighteen carried Marron. She had offered to carry Goten too, but he insisted he was a big boy, and flew himself. He amused himself doing loops and flips through the air, while Marron fell asleep.
Once home, Eighteen put her daughter to bed. Such a big day for her little girl; she might not even manage to wake when Krillin landed for the day.
Back in the living room, she found Goten yawning on the sofa.
"If you're tired, you should take a nap," she told him. "It's not childish if you're falling asleep already".
"Yeah but…" he looked around, as though someone else might hear him. "What if I have a bad dream?"
"Does that happen a lot?"
"Well…" Goten fidgeted where he sat, looking at his hands. "Gohan said I hadda be careful here because of Marron and at home once I went Super Saiyan when I hadda bad dream," he blurted without pause. "Daddy thought it was funny but Mommy got real mad. And Gohan was sad. I don't wanna make Gohan sad".
Eighteen sat on the other sofa. "What was it about, your nightmare?"
"You can't tell anyone, promise?" he said in the most serious tone a seven year-old could muster.
"Cross my heart," she agreed with her hand on her chest.
"Do you remember what dying felt like?"
She had expected the answer to be simply "Buu," not that question.
Goten continued on, either not noticing or ignoring her surprise. "Cuz I don't remember the world explodin' but I asked Gohan once and he got really sad… And I wasn't me when I died the first time. I think Buu killed us when he ate us, I dunno really. But I sorta remember it. I think it was like dying, but if it wasn't then I shouldn't be scared".
Goten's rambling struck a familiar chord in Eighteen, one she hadn't examined in years.
"Goten. Do you remember the story of Cell?" Eighteen asked. He perked up at that.
"That's when Gohan saved the world!" Stars in his eyes, even now.
"Well, Cell had a power similar to Buu's. In order to become the strongest he could, he had to absorb people—namely my brother and myself". She paused to organize her thoughts. "And I was scary, really scary for me. I didn't know what happened, I don't really remember it happening. But sometimes, I still get scared that he could come back".
"Really? You get scared too? But you're all grown up," Goten said suspiciously. "Trunks said that when we grow up we won't be scared of nothin'".
"Why do you think Gohan is sad when you talk to him about it?"
"I dunno. Gohan just gets sad sometime," Goten shrugged. "You think he's scared? What's Gohan got to be scared of?"
"Cell got to my older brother first," Eighteen continued her story. "I couldn't do anything to stop him. My idiot big brother, who was there for me. Even when everything worked out, I was sad about it". Maybe pissed off and angry at the world would have been a better description, but Krillin's kindness had damped that fire.
"Was he sad that you couldn't help him?" Goten asked in a small voice. Eighteen sighed and sat next to him. She put one hand on his head before continuing.
"No, he was sad that it had even happened. He didn't expect to ever run into something he couldn't handle, and it scared him that we did. Goten," she said, causing the boy to look up. "Buu was scary for all of us, even your dad and Gohan".
"So Gohan not sad that I didn't help him?"
Eighteen blinked. "Is that what you're afraid of?" Goten nodded while blushing furiously. She pulled him into a hug. "Oh Goten. I promise I won't tell anyone, but I bet if you talked to Gohan you'll feel better. In fact, I bet he'll feel a lot better too".
"Really?" Goten's eyes lit up. "Wow I'm gonna talk to him tonight then! Thanks Auntie Eighteen! You're the best!" He clung to her, hovering in excitement.
Maybe their children would have normal childhood fears, after all.