Chapter 2:

Two Buns in the Oven

Our doorbell rang the next morning in the midst of the sizzling sounds of our breakfast.

Chichi rushed to answer it after wiping her hands on her apron. "Papa! Come in! Breakfast is almost ready."

He grinned at me as Chichi went back into the kitchen to tend to the food. "Hey, Goku!"

I smiled back. "Mornin', Ox King!"

"Grandpa!" was Goten's delighted cry as he ran down the stares and nearly bulldozed the giant man to the floor – leaving him staggering to regain his balance.

Ox King chuckled. "Hey, Goten!"

Gohan came down next, smiling at him. "Good morning, Grandpa!"

"Good morning, Gohan! Mmm! I smell cinnamon buns!"

Chichi giggled and flashed me a nervous smile before announcing, "Breakfast is ready!"

The boys and Ox King took their seats while I helped Chichi carry the food to the table, making sure she didn't lift some of the heavier serving platters.

Her stomach growled and she glanced at me with wide eyes as she passed me with a pitcher of fresh orange juice. I glanced at Ox King, who hadn't seemed to notice – or at least didn't say anything about it.

She had made it clear that under no circumstances were we to spill the beans to Ox King until we were all seated. But her stomach didn't get the memo, unleashing another growl as we carried the last few dishes to the table and took our seats. With the two of us being at separate ends of the kitchen, she couldn't just blame it on me.

Ox King pointed out with a chuckle, "A growling stomach is usually Goku's role, Chichi. Made yourself hungry cooking all this, did you?"

She nodded with a nervous chuckle, a light flush on her cheeks. "I suppose I did."

My stomach growled a response of its own and Ox King laughed as Chichi announced we could dig in. So we did.

I grinned at Chichi as she reached for her third helpings of scrambled eggs and sausage. Used to their mother's newfound appetite, neither of the boys batted an eye.

But Ox King certainly did. He was openly gaping at her. "The last time I saw you eat like this, you were pregnant with Goten."

Chichi and I exchanged quick, knowing smiles.

And then he put it together – grinning from ear to ear. "YOU'RE PREGNANT!?"

Mirroring his wide smile, she nodded.

In his hurry to get to Chichi, his chair flew backwards and he nearly upended the table – prevented only by me steadying it. He scooped her up and pulled her in for a big – but gentle – bear hug and kissed her cheek.

One arm still around Chichi, his massive hand landed on my shoulder and I was dragged out of my chair and squeezed against him, too.

"Congratulations to you both! Grandbaby number three for me to spoil. This is wonderful news!" He finally set us on our feet and turned to the boys. "So you're going to be a big brother, Goten! What do you think of that? Are you excited?"

Goten grinned and nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh! I just hope the tw–"

Gohan lunged for Goten – his chair scraping against the floor – and clamped a hand over his brother's mouth.

I blew out a silent breath.

Ox King raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, but we were saved by the ding of the oven timer – signaling the other half of our announcement was ready. I used that momentary distraction to nod once at Gohan and his lightning quick Saiyan reflexes as Chichi ran to answer it.

She returned with a baking pan with two frosted steaming hot cinnamon buns each nearly as big as my head. She put the pan down in front of her father and waited quietly.

Catching her eye, I winked at her while Ox King's attention was on the two giant cinnamon buns in front of him.

He took a deep breath in through his nose and grinned up at her. "These smell delicious, Chichi! I hope you made enough for everyone!"

Chichi nodded and bit her lip. The boys and I exchanged looks – Goten's face an apologetic wince.

I smiled at him and winked as Ox King picked up his fork.

And then promptly dropped it – leaving his hand frozen in the air – and stuttered, "Wuh-wait just a minute… T-t-two!? Chichi… you just took two buns out of the oven. Are you telling me you're having…?"

Chichi giggled and finished his question with, "Twins? Yes, Papa. Isn't it wonderful?"

His jaw hit the floor. And then he was on his feet, sweeping her up into another big hug.

He set her on her feet and grabbed her hands, smiling at her with tears in his eyes. "Twins! Oh, how wonderful! You're going to get the big family you've always wanted, Chichi!"

Chichi giggled – a little teary eyed herself – and sighed. "Yeah… we are."

Ox King released her and she went to grab the rest of the huge, freshly baked cinnamon buns. She separated them onto plates when she returned and passed them around before sitting down next to me.

The way her dark eyes glistened when she smiled up at me made me lean down and kiss her before I was even aware of what I was doing. When it was over, I couldn't tear my gaze from hers if I tried.

"Mmm! This is super yummy!"

Chichi twitched and turned her attention to Goten obliviously inhaling his cinnamon bun across the table, her smile a little bit shy.

I still couldn't stop staring at her with my elbow propped on the table and my face settling into my palm.

Chichi giggled, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Your cinnamon bun is going to get cold, silly."

I looked down at it. "Oh…Right."

I ate it, but it never had my full attention.

"Chichi?" I asked.

She paused wiping down the countertop long enough to glance at me where I sat at the table.

"Now that Ox knows, think we can tell everyone else now?"

She wrung the rag over the kitchen sink and draped it over the faucet before turning to me with an agreeable smile on her pretty face. "Of course! Bulma is hosting a get-together in a couple of weeks, isn't she? Why not tell everyone then?"

I grinned. "That sounds great!"

A couple of hours later, lunch was ready. She ate just as much as she had at breakfast – which was three times her usual. Gohan left to go hang out with Videl again and I took Goten out of the house for an hour so she could clean in peace.

When we returned, she had succeeded in knocking herself out just like she had the day she told me she was pregnant. Only, she didn't make it to the couch. She was slumped over – and drooling on – the still damp kitchen table she had apparently just wiped down.

Goten skipped into the house and I waved frantically and pointed at Chichi before pressing a finger to my lips.

He looked absolutely panic stricken. But she only snorted cutely in her sleep.

He clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his giggle and I had to do the same.

Crossing my fingers I wasn't about to wake the sleeping dragon, I scooped her up with one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back. In one smooth motion I tugged her against me and lifted her out of the chair. She mumbled in her sleep and sighed before nuzzling into me.

I blew out a breath and Goten looked just as relieved as I was.

I carried her to the couch and got her situated while Goten grabbed a throw pillow and slipped it under her head. I carefully pulled the blanket over her and she snored again as she rolled over.

I caught Goten's eye and twitched my head toward the front door.

Once safely outside, Goten cast a concerned look toward the house. "She's been napping a lot. She's okay… right?"

I ruffled his hair and smiled. "She's just fine, Goten. She'll be resting a lot more from now on." I let my expression darken just a little bit, raising an eyebrow in warning. "If you value your life, don't ever tell your mother she snores."

He burst out laughing and so did I – remembering that little problem was going to get a lot louder.

Two weeks went by in much the same pattern. She ate and slept. And slept and ate. She did a lot more of both than I remembered her doing while she was pregnant with Gohan – but I'd never tell her that. I wanted to stay alive. Must have been something to do with having two babies in there instead of one.

She rolled over in her sleep, still snoring lightly and I chuckled.

Happy to let her sleep in, I slid out of bed and pulled on my usual gi – it was the easiest to reach, still piled on the chair next to our bed where I left it. I closed the bedroom door behind me – wincing is it creaked – and floated down the steps. She hated it when the boys and I used our powers in the house but she didn't have to know. It was a safer option than risking the creaking floorboards waking her up.

The house was quiet but the boys weren't in their rooms. Expanding my senses, I found them about a mile from the house in the direction of our giant apple tree and flew out to them.

Gohan smiled from his seat on a branch. "Good morning, Dad!"

"Mornin', son."

Goten floated over to me and stuck an apple in my face. "Hi, Dad! Gohan and I picked some apples! Want one?"

I chuckled and took it. "Sure, Goten. Thanks."

Gohan looked in the direction of the house, mildly concerned. "Man, it's half past nine. Mom is really sleeping in."

I nodded as I took a bite out of the huge apple. "She sure is." I smiled as I sensed her low but stable ki. "But she's just fine. We're all going to have to pitch in extra around here from now on. Especially after the babies are born."

They glanced at each other and nodded in agreement.

"But we can handle it, can't we?"

"Yep!" was Goten's happy reply while Gohan just nodded again with a grin on his face.

"Good!" My stomach rumbled and heat spread on my cheeks. "The only thing is… we're gonna need more than just apples for breakfast. What do you boys say we go fishing for breakfast and–"

"GOOOOKUUUU!"

My heart jumped into my throat as I locked onto her somewhat unstable energy and placed myself right in front of her. I grabbed her shoulders. "Chichi! What's–"

She jammed a finger into my chest. "Why didn't you wake me up!? It's nearly ten in the morning! And there's work to do! We have to be at Bulma's in only a few hours!" She pointed angrily to the clock on the wall, a vein pulsating on her forehead. "I should have been awake–"

But then her flushed cheeks turned green and a hand flew to her mouth.

"Uh-oh," I mumbled as she spun around and sprinted upstairs to the bathroom – taking the steps a couple at a time.

When I caught up to her, she was bent over the toilet, hurling whatever little bit of food she had nibbled on when she woke up. I got on my knees behind her and held her hair as the front door banged open below us.

"Mom!? Dad!?" called Gohan.

Oh. The boys.

"Your mother's fi–"

Chichi dry-heaved one last time and sagged against the cool porcelain of the tub next to her. She seemed done for the time being so I reached for the hand towel on the counter and gave it to her. She wiped her face as she caught her breath.

"Your mother's okay, boys."

"You sure, Dad? It sounds like she's super sick," called Goten from the foot of the stairs.

"She's fine, Goten. Pregnant women just… throw up sometimes. Something to do with those har… her–"

Chichi sighed and murmured, "Hormones, Goku."

I nodded. "Yeah. Those."

She pulled herself up with a hand on the counter and I steadied her at her elbows.

She patted one of my hands and turned to face me. "I'm fine now, Goku. I need to go get dressed." She frowned up at me, her hands on her hips. "We have a lot of work to do after you let me sleep in so late."

I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled nervously. "Heh… sorry, Babe. You just… looked like you needed it."

Her eyes narrowed further but then her frown melted away into a small smile and she shook her head as she brushed past me and headed to our room.

I smiled after her. "Just… let the boys and I take care of breakfast for you, Chichi."

She froze in our doorway and whirled on the spot with a full-blown glare on her pretty face – her energy spiking in warning. "You three stay out of my kitchen," she commanded – slicing her hand through the air for emphasis.

I automatically held my hands up as I slid a foot backwards. "B-but we don't need the kitchen. I'm just going to take the boys fishing and we're going to cook the fish over fire pits in the yard."

She sighed – the flare up dying away as her ki settled. "Okay. Thank you, Sweetheart. I'll make a few quick side dishes to go with the fish after I get dressed."

With that, she stepped into our room and closed the door behind her.

I headed downstairs. "Let's go fishing, boys."

Goten jumped up and down once. "Yay!"

Not too long after that, two giant fish from our nearby river were cleaned and roasted. I'd have to catch a lot more than that to feed a family with four hungry half Saiyan children. I smiled at the thought – and because I was happy to see Chichi able to eat. She really put it away. Must have been making up for being sick that morning. It was cute to see her eat like us for a change.