GoChi Vacation
Chapter 3
Before I had time to get too worried about him, Goku materialized in front of me, soaked to the bone, and covered in little bits of plant material and debris. He was grinning, his wild hair weighed down by water and dripping all over the place.
He wiped some soggy hair out of his eyes. "Heh… Hey, babe! Sorry about that," he said, scratching the back of his head.
I blew out a relieved breath and then noticed he wasn't wearing his shirt. "Goku… why are you holding your…?"
A quiet whimper drew my gaze to the little t-shirt-wrapped bundle cradled in one of his bare arms. The bundle was shivering. It wriggled and part of Goku's shirt fell away, revealing a head of long blond hair.
I gasped and ran to them. "Oh! A child! Oh, Goku!" I gently tugged the poor, shaking girl out of his arms and held her against me. I rubbed her back and crooned, "It's okay, sweetie. You're safe now."
I did my best to dry her off but Goku's shirt was already soaked through. If I didn't do something, the poor girl was going to catch a cold in that cool, drafty cave!
"Let me," Goku said as he wrapped his arms around us.
Heat radiated out of him, drying the three of us off in minutes. The little girl stopped shivering. Big green eyes blinked up at me as tears rolled down her cheeks. My heart fell to pieces.
"How did you find her, Goku?" I asked as I looked at him. "Wait… is she why you disappeared?"
He nodded. "Yeah… I heard a child crying while we were trying to get out of the storm. I made sure you were safe first and then went back for her. Got to her just in time, too."
I stared down at the adorable, scared little girl, happy my husband was in the right place at the right time.
Goku asked around the cave full of people seeking shelter from the storm if any of them were missing a little girl. No one claimed her.
She seemed to realize as much, a fresh wave of tears falling down her cheeks with a loud wail. I looked at Goku, feeling my eyes start to sting. I did the next thing that came to mind, and sang to her the same lullaby I comforted Gohan and Goten with when they were little.
Little by little, her tears stopped falling as she stared up at me, entranced. The storm raged outside. I smiled down at her, singing and swaying to the song. She smiled tremulously back.
After I sang the last note of the lullaby, I asked, "What's your name, sweetie?"
"Rainee," she replied in a precious little voice.
"My name is Chichi and he–" I nodded at Goku and she looked at him "–is my husband, Goku."
Goku made a silly face, puffing his cheeks out with air and crossing his eyes. Rainee's tear-stained face brightened into a wide, genuine smile. She even giggled. I smiled at Goku and he grinned back.
A clap of thunder rent the air as intense light flashed outside the cave's entrance. Rainee cringed into me, whimpering. I rubbed her back and sang to her some more as Goku watched us with a tender smile.
As I finished the next lullaby, Goku touched her back, getting her attention. "Want to play a game?"
She stared at him a moment, unsure.
When she nodded, I set her on the ground and looked pointedly at Goku. "You be careful, now."
I didn't have to say anymore than that. He knew what I was referring to.
He grinned. "Don't worry, babe."
In minutes, they had quite the spirited game of tag going. Goku was careful to move at a human pace, letting her catch him sometimes and acting like she was too fast for him when he was 'it'. Soon, the three other children lucky enough to be sheltering with their families joined in the game. Laughter and relaxed smiles abounded as the storm raged on.
One by one, the kids tired and went back to their parents, rubbing their eyes and settled in with their families for a nap. Rainee was slumped in Goku's arms, her head lolling on his shoulder. A precious little content smile lingered on her lips as she slept.
When Goku sat down by me, I whispered an offer to take her so he could have a break. He refused with a shake of his head and smiled tenderly down at her. In that moment, I couldn't help but picture him with another one of our own.
Rainee napped through to the end of the storm, through loud claps of thunder and intense flashes of light. She only came to when we emerged from the cave and bright sunlight touched her face.
She lifted her head off Goku's shoulder, blinking and squinting in the bright light. "Is the storm all gone?"
"Looks that way to me, Rainee!" replied Goku. "Now, how about we find your parents?"
Rainee nodded.
With his free hand, Goku took mine and we started down the path together with everyone else from the cave. Thickets of broken branches and entire uprooted trees hid the trail but the distant shouts floating to us from the village ahead kept us going in overall the right direction.
At the edge of the village, Goku lifted Rainee onto his broad shoulders—ensuring she had a good view. In the village square, reunions happened all around us as families and friends separated by the storm joyously greeted each other but there was no sign of a couple missing a beautiful little girl. Minutes crept by. Goku glanced at me and I saw a flicker of concern in his slightly narrowed eyes that was then quickly masked under a reassuring smile for Rainee's sake as he looked up at her.
"Where's Mommy and Daddy?" she asked, tears gathering in her big eyes.
Goku patted her back—the motion made awkward with her perched on his shoulders. "Don't you worry, Rainee. They'll be here."
She sniffled. "Really?"
I reached up and patted her back, too. "That's right, and this is the best place to find them."
Rainee's parents had to be there, yet there was no sign in the growing crowd as groups of people retuned from wherever they sought shelter from the storm. We waited anxiously in the busy, debris-strewn square.
A woman screamed a name over the cacophony of shouts and debris being moved by manpower and machine and a man's voice joined hers. I gasped.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Rainee cried, almost falling off Goku's shoulders in her haste to find her parents.
Goku glanced at me and took off toward the calls, easily bounding over the debris and fallen trees. I was just barely able to keep pace with him but I didn't want to ask him to slow down. I knew a mother's terror when her children were in danger all too well.
When we slid to a stop in front of a weeping young woman and a wide-eyed, pale-faced young man, I was breathless. Goku set Rainee on the ground and she ran to the young couple as fast as her little legs could carry her. The sobbing blond-haired woman—Rainee's mother—fell to her knees, her gaze on her little girl. The young man I assumed to be Rainee's father ran to meet Rainee and scooped her off the ground, sobbing her name. He carried Rainee to her joyfully weeping mother and wrapped his arms around them both.
When I wiped a few tears away, warm hands stroked my arms and I leaned back into Goku's comforting touch.
Rainee turned to look at Goku, grinning. She squirmed free of her parents' tight embrace. Her mother reached for her as Rainee ran out of reach and straight toward Goku, giggling the whole way. He kneeled on the ground and held his arms out wide. When she dove into his broad chest, Goku spun her around once with a light laugh. She wrapped her short little arms around his neck in the biggest hug she could manage.
My heart melted and judging by Goku's tender smile as he looked down at her, his did, too.
Rainee's parents approached us, joyous tears still rolling down their cheeks.
Rainee grinned at them as she exclaimed, "Mommy! Daddy! He saved me! I was so scared! But he saved me!"
Rainee's dad extended his hand toward Goku who shook it in return. "My name is Lee and this is my wife Deni. We can't begin to thank you enough for rescuing our little girl."
"I'm Goku and she–" he put his free arm around my shoulders "–is my wife Chichi! And I'm just glad I was in the right place at the right time."
Rainee reached for Deni. "Mr. Goku has super powers, Mommy!"
"Is that so?" she asked.
Rainee nodded emphatically. "Uh-huh! I was outside and all wet and he wasn't there! And then he was! And then! And then! Were in a big cave!" she said as she threw her arms out wide. "They kept me warm! And Mrs. Chichi sang me a song!"
I giggled and so did Goku.
Lee nodded at Goku and then looked at Rainee. "He teleported, did he?"
"Yeah!" confirmed Rainee. "He teleforted!"
Goku snorted into his hand. I was fighting against my own laugh, too.
After more warm words of gratitude to my sweet husband, the young family left.
"Really, daddy! I saw it!"
"Well, I'm not too sure about that, sweetie," her mother said as they left earshot.
Rainee stared at Goku as her parents carried her away. I glanced at him just in time to see him wink at her. Rainee smiled like he just handed her the moon as her family walked out of sight.
"Well, it looks ok," Goku said as he poked around inside our cabin.
I nodded. "All things considered, it does."
It was in only slight disarray. The shutters had blown open and the floor was damp with rain. Our suitcase remained on the bed where we left it and all of our things were accounted for—albeit blown around the floor. As Goku helped me clean up as best we could, my thoughts drifted to Rainee and how sweet he was with her. I knew Goku would be a wonderful daddy to another one of our own.
"Chichi?"
I hummed as I glanced at him, drying little bits of standing water here and there with towels.
"What are you smiling about?"
I glanced at him. "Oh… I'm smiling…?"
He nodded, still looking at me with an eyebrow raised in mild concern. "Are you okay?"
I hummed and murmured, "I want another one."
Goku's eyebrow lifted higher as concern shifted into cute confusion. He cocked his head to one side. "Huh? Another what?"
I looked at him through my eyelashes and held my lower lip in my teeth.
His dark eyes sparked with understanding. "Oh."
Where there was cute confusion before, his handsome face took on a smirk that never failed to make a shiver of anticipation run up my spine. His lips were on mine faster than I could blink, hungry and insistent. I felt gentle fingers pull out my hair tie and thread through my long hair as his other hand skimmed down my back, tugging me into his lap.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, still locked in our desperate kiss. So lost was I, the cool, soft—and dry—fabric of our bedspread was a pleasant surprise. Goku hiked up my dirty sundress and then pulled it over my head and made quick work of my bra.
I ground my pelvis into his with a tiny, teasing movement. He involuntarily jerked against me, thrusting his hips up to meet mine with a soft grunt and clenched teeth. He was reaching that point. The point where he lost control and began–
He ripped his shirt clean off the moment I tried to remove it the proper way. I gave him a reproving glare as he discarded the tattered rags on the floor but forgot all about it when his insistent lips found mine again. Before his swim shorts met the same fate as his shirt, I pulled them off, sliding them down his thighs. He kicked them off and we rolled gracefully back. We made love well into the night, hoping new life would take root within me.
