"Jenny."
No answer.
"Jenny."
Still, there was silence.
"Dammit, Jenny, wake up."
Drowsily, Jenny jumped and rolled over, her eyes half open. "Huh?"
"The baby's up," he answered, looking thoroughly exhausted.
"But I just –" Jenny paused to yawn, "just fed her."
From the room across the hall, the infant gave an even louder howl.
Jenny groaned. "Can you bring her to me?"
Piccolo heaved a sigh and got out of bed. No one had warned him about this. The sleepless nights, the moody girlfriend, the constant laundry from baby spit-up, diaper changes, rocking, rocking, rocking that baby to sleep and then feeling your nerves fry as she screams out again the moment you lay her in the crib. It was pure exhaustion, plain and simple. And yet, he now couldn't picture his life without the tiny, screaming, drooling, giggling, demanding little person he'd helped bring into this world. He opened the door to the nursery and the sound of the wailing intensified. He always woke before Jenny did – his hearing was so much more sensitive than hers.
Laying in her crib, four-month-old Paige ceased her screaming for a moment to gaze up at her father. Her big blue eyes blinked at him; her brightly colored curls, which were now turning a decidedly shocking hot pink color instead of the original lavender she'd been born with, were disheveled and plastered to her forehead in tangles. She stuffed a fat little fist in her mouth and giggled.
"You just want to be held again," he muttered, scooping her up and laying her against his shoulder. She squirmed a bit and made little gurgling sounds, drooling down her father's bicep. He sighed again.
Returning to his room, he carefully crawled back into bed, reaching over to shake Jenny awake again and lying the baby on the bed next to her. Jenny rolled to her side, pulling the baby closer. Paige nuzzled against her mother's chest. "Ow!" Jenny cried. "Ease up, you little vampire."
Silence fell once again as Piccolo sunk back against his pillows, closing his eyes and yawning. "How much longer until she sleeps through the night?"
Jenny yawned as well, rubbing at her eyes. "I dunno."
He turned his head to look at her and smiled. Even with the dark circles under her eyes and her hair sticking out at odd angles with a baby latched to her, he thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life. Her head sunk deeper into the pillow and she closed her eyes, falling almost instantly back to sleep.
He shifted closer to her, reaching out for her in the darkness of the bedroom, his hand coming to a rest on her hip. He stretched his legs and relaxed, slowly drifting back to sleep in the blissful quiet of the lookout.
"I'm sorry, babe, we just can't make it today," Jenny said into the phone a few hours later, bouncing the baby in her arms, tossing soiled shirts into a washing machine.
"But it's been months," her friend Lindsey whined into the phone. "You guys still haven't come to see the new house."
Jenny sighed. "I know. I'm just so tired. Paige still isn't sleeping through the night."
"You need to give that kid some benadryl."
"DON'T. TEMPT. ME."
Lindsey laughed. "Okay, well, maybe later this week we can do dinner or something? Maybe breakfast wasn't the greatest idea right now."
"Sure, hon. Just call me later, okay?" Jenny answered, thankful that Lindsey wasn't mad, but knowing she probably wouldn't make the dinner date either.
"All right. Talk to ya later."
"Bye."
Lindsey tapped at the screen of her phone and sat back miserably at the end of her dining room table. Towers of pancakes covered its surface; there were mountains of eggs, toast, and bacon on platters, warm maple syrup sat in a crystal jug, pitchers of coffee and milk and juice gleamed brightly in the early morning light streaming through the high windows. She rolled her eyes and blinked at the tears – she hated the way her eyes would tear up when she was frustrated. She pushed herself out of the chair and walked into the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder, and pulled a cigarette out of the pack she'd hidden in her purse. She moved to stand beside the sliding glass doors of the kitchen, dragging deeply on the smoke and exhaling out the door into the warm spring air.
She was starting to get antsy. She missed her friends and was becoming rather anxious for them to return. Jenny, of course, was already in Japan, living at the lookout with Piccolo. Catie and Trunks, however, were still spending time with Catie's family in Southern California. And judging from the most recent postcard, Leelee and Seventeen were in or somewhere near Barcelona.
She dragged deeply on the cigarette again. What was she doing with her life? She needed something to do. There was only so much she could clean the house, only so much food she could prepare in a day that wouldn't spoil. And while she enjoyed spending time with her husband quietly reading books or cuddling up to watch a movie, she felt like she was wasting her time.
"Wow! Something smells good!"
The sound of her husband's voice made her jump; she quickly flicked the half-smoked cigarette out into the yard and waved her arms wildly to clear any smoke as he walked into the kitchen.
"What are you doing?"
"Get out of here, you nasty squirrels!" she shouted out the door, then snapped it shut and looked up at him.
"Squirrels?" Gohan asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Nasty things," she muttered. She pushed her red curls out of her face and smiled. "Hungry?"
"Always," he answered with a laugh as they headed back to the dining room. "Wow! You really went all out this morning!" he said appreciatively as he sat down at the table. "I didn't forget a special occasion or something, did I?"
She shook her head and sat to his right. "Jenny and Piccolo were supposed to come for breakfast, but they're too tired."
"Oh, that's right. Sorry, babe," he said, reaching over and rubbing her back. "Maybe next time."
She shrugged and reached for a slice of bacon. She snapped it between her teeth and said, "No one has time for me anymore."
"Hey. Come on now. Everybody's just enjoying their alone time. None of us have had this before, ya know?" he said, piling food on his plate. "What's the matter? Aren't I enough for you?"
"Of course you are," she said. "It's just so… quiet… around here."
"Yeah, I know. It's nice."
She sighed, pulling one knee up under her chin.
"You need a hobby," he told her as he dug into his breakfast.
"Maybe you're right," she said in an airy, sullen voice. Still staring blankly at the table, she snapped another piece of bacon between her teeth.
"CATIE! OW! Can't we – OW – give it a rest?!" Trunks cried.
"NEVER!" she shouted back, dropping to the ground and sweeping Trunks' feet out from under him. He landed hard on his back in the sand.
She stood triumphantly over him, her hands on her hips.
"You suck," he groaned.
"You're just mad," she said, dropping to her knees to straddle his hips, "cause you're getting soft." She poked at his bare abs.
"You're as bad as my dad," he said.
"That's who I'm worried about!" she answered. "Do you know how much crap I'll catch from him if I don't keep training?"
"I know, I know," Trunks said, pushing himself up on his elbows. "Come on, then. It's my turn to kick your ass." He bucked his hips, tossing her sideways into the sand, where she rolled and jumped to her feet.
"That's the spirit!" she grinned, raising her fists. "Put yer dukes up."
He rolled his eyes as he got to his feet, dropping into a defensive stance.
"Now don't hold back on me this time!" she ordered, lunging at him once more.
Leelee drifted along the top of the brilliant turquoise water, her eyes wide at the beautiful marine life surrounding her. Jewel-toned fish zipped by in schools, darting in and out among the coral. She glanced to her right and watched as Seventeen flipped in the water, diving under and floating back to the surface. She giggled through the mouthpiece of her snorkel. He caught her eye and pointed up and she nodded.
They surfaced, spitting the rubber tubing from their mouths and slicking their goggles to the tops of their heads.
"Wow!" Leelee breathed. "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life!"
Seventeen grinned. "I have," he answered, swimming closer to her.
"Oh, stoppit," she giggled as he reached for her.
"C'mere," he said and wrapped his arms around her waist. She barely had time to draw a breath before he yanked her under the water. He pressed his lips to hers, sending a chill up her spine. She smiled against his kiss, holding her breath, kicking her legs slowly in the deep water. She jumped suddenly as something brushed her foot and broke the kiss, kicking wildly for the surface again.
She sucked in a lungful of air and glanced wildly around.
"What happened?" Seventeen asked in an irritated sort of way.
"Something hit my foot! Oh my god, it's a shark! We're gonna die!" she cried.
Seventeen threw his head back and laughed. "Oh my god, Leelee, it wasn't a shark."
"How do you know?" she demanded.
He was laughing, his sunburned shoulders shaking.
"It's not funny," she whined and reached out to slap at him. "Quit laughing at me!"
Dark clouds started to roll overhead, darkening the sky. The wind picked up, sending strong ripples across the surface of the water.
Leelee turned to look up at the sky. "Is that a storm rolling in?"
"Kind'a looks like it," Seventeen said, all laughter in his voice gone. "We should get out of the water."
"Yeah," Leelee breathed, staring at the rolling black clouds which seemed to move unnaturally fast across the sky. They turned and swam for the shore, thunder rumbling overhead. The wind blew stronger, whipping saltwater into their faces as they swam, waves picking up and pushing them along in their tow.
They soon reached the beach and ran across the white sand, stopping to scoop up their beach towels.
"I don't like this," Seventeen said in a concerned voice.
Leelee looked at him questioningly.
"Something doesn't feel right," he added in a quiet voice as they watched the storm clouds gathering. "You feel it?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, sensing the air around her. He was right. There was an eerie feeling permeating the air, chilling her to the bone. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised to see that the brilliantly blue water had turned a steely gray and everything around her seemed to have lost its color.
"We should go," Seventeen said. He took Leelee by the wrist and pulled her along with him as they made their way back to the road that would lead them into town. Even as they hurried across the pavement, their bare feet slapping the ground painfully as they went, Leelee could only think of the knots twisting in her stomach. She couldn't explain it, but something bad was coming and she knew it. She hated premonitions like this and it worried her that she was so far separated from her friends. She'd slacked off on her training and was now regretting that decision, too.
Lightning flashed across the skies, a booming crack of thunder sounded moments later, vibrating the very air around them. They were nearing the city now and Leelee wrapped her arms around herself against the wind. They broke into a jog, seeing the old world hostel come into view. Another clap of thunder rang in their ears and the sky let loose a torrent of rain.
They threw themselves inside the building, staring back out into the street as the storm raged outside.
"Well," Seventeen chuckled, "that escalated quickly."
Leelee nodded and rung the water from her hair. The clouds churned and spiraled overhead, darker than any clouds she'd ever seen before. She and Seventeen turned and made their way across the common room where other backpackers were playing pool and speaking loudly in a language she didn't understand.
Once dried and dressed, Leelee had hoped the eerie feeling of the storm outside would subside. She was disappointed, however, to find the feeling growing stronger as the storm continued.
"This is bad, Seventeen," she said, staring out the tiny, dirty window.
He was sitting on the bed, pulling on his shoes, his expression one of deep concentration. He didn't like the way the storm felt either. There was a haunting quality to it, something old and primal as if the storm itself were alive and vengeful. It nagged at him as he tied his shoelaces.
"Seventeen?"
He turned to look at her. "It's just a storm," he lied.
"Don't give me that crap," she spat back at him. "You suck at lying."
He shook his head, getting to his feet, and pulled on a long-sleeved shirt. "It'll be all right. C'mon. Let's go see if we can grab a bite to eat."
"I'm not hungry," she said quietly, turning back to stare out the rain-spattered windowpane. She had the sudden urge to flee the hostel and jump on the first flight she could get back to Japan. She was terribly frightened for the other girls.
"Look, if it is something bad…"
"It is, "she insisted.
"We'll know soon enough. And we'll go wherever we're needed, okay?"
She looked at him again, then nodded. "Okay."
"Now come on," Seventeen said, opening the door, "I'm famished."
Rubbing her arms to chase away the lingering chill, Leelee stepped through the door with Seventeen, who grabbed an umbrella, and ventured out into the storm to find a place to eat.
Author's note: This is the fifth in a series I've been writing – if you have a hard time keeping track of what's going on, it may help to read those stories. However, I don't think it will be too difficult for someone to just jump in on this one, but I just thought I'd mention that. Please review! Thanks so much!