I'm sorry for taking almost 2 months to update this. I was having major trouble with what to write. Here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy. Please R&R. Thanks!


Chapter 4: The Return

"Mom…"
"Just tell me! Is it?"
"There is no use in lying right now. Yes, it's true."
"Why didn't you tell me when I first asked it?"
"Because, as much as I want you and dad to get back together, you are happy with Yamcha and it wouldn't be fair to neither of you."
"But I deserve to know, don't I?"
"Yes you do. But I thought you wouldn't want to."
"Because of Yamcha mom! I just said it."
"I appreciate what you did, but you should have told me. Your father is coming back and I'd like to know."
"Alright. He won't come back for good I think, just for one day."
"One day??"
"I guess so."
Chi-Chi let out a sigh. She was happy Goku was returning but sad it was just for one day.
"Don't be sad."
"What?"
"You're obviously sad he'll be here for only one day."
Chi-Chi shook her had. "No I'm not."
"Okay then." Gohan yawned. "I'm going to bed. Night."
"Good night sweetie."

Chi-Chi went to her room. It was a very exhausting day, she wanted it end as fast as possible. On her way there she came across a picture of her and Yamcha. She looked at it for a while and then decided to pick up the phone. She didn't want to fight with him anymore. She carefully closed the door and sat on the bed. She hesitated at first but eventually gave in and dialed the numbers.
"Hey."
"Hey." The sleepy voice spoke on the other side.
"Are you sleeping?"
"Was. But I don't mind you calling me now."
"Okay."
"So what's up?"
"I was thinking. I don't want to fight with you Yamcha. I hate it."
"I don't want to either. But do you see where I stand on this?"
"I think so."
"I want you Chi-Chi. I need you. But until you're able to give me all your heart that won't happen."
Yamcha waited for a response, but all he heard was a long sob.
"I don't want you to cry. You have always been so strong. What happened to that Chi-Chi?"
"She's dead. I'm such a mess Yamcha."
"No, you're not. You're just going through a hard time."
"Well, I wish I didn't cause you so much pain you know?"
"Chi-Chi, I know you don't mean to. I guess I know how hard it must be for you."
"Yeah." She sighed. "Tomorrow I'm taking Goten to the park. If you want to show up, I'd be happy."
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay, see you then."
"I love you."
"Love you too."

In the following day, Chi-Chi took her youngest son to the park, as promised. Goten asked her if he could invite Trunks and she was okay with it. They were supposed to meet at 9:30am, but Goten overslept. He came downstairs rubbing his eyes.
"Good morning sweetie." Chi-Chi walked to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Did you sleep well?"
"What time is it?"
"10am."
"What? We're late for the park!"
"Don't worry. I already called Bulma and we're meeting later. So take your time."
"Alright."

Chi-Chi did her usual chores while Gohan and Goten practiced some fighting moves for the next martial arts world tournament. A little before 12:30pm, she called them to eat and get ready for their spare time with the Briefs family.
"Goten, let's go." She called from the stairs, in first floor. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting my toys so I can play with Trunks."
"How many toys are you taking? You have tons!"
"I'm coming."
"Finally! I hope you cleaned your room after taking all your toys off the trunk."
Goten sighed. "Yes mom, I did."
"Good, let's go. Bulma must be waiting for us by now."
"Are we flying?"
"No sweetie, we're driving."
"But you said Bulma must be there already, so why can't we go by flying?"
"Because mom can't fly."
"Gohan can take you."
"He's going to Videl's house, right Gohan?"
"Yeah, that's true."
"Oh you two are going to have sex?"
Both Chi-Chi and Gohan were bright red with Goten's question.
"Goten! I'm just going over to study. That's all."
"Alright then. I guess we have to drive to the park after all."

"Bulma!"
"Hey. I thought you weren't coming anymore. Why did you take so long?"
"Goten spent a lot of time separating his toys."
"I can see that. He brought two huge bags!"
"And I'm sure he won't use more than a quarter of it."
"Mom, can I go play now?"
"Yeah, sure honey. Go play with Trunks."
"But don't be too far away!"
"Okay!"

"So Chi-Chi, how's life going?"
"Good, good. The same old stuff. What about you?"
"It's good, thank you. It's just stressful taking care of two Saiyans."
"Tell me about it. I have three at home. Or used to."
"Yeah." Bulma sighed. "You know, I'm not good enough at getting into a specific subject so I'm going straight to the point. I think you know Goku is coming back, right? Or so I hope."
Chi-Chi took a deep breath. No matter how much she tried to run away from this subject, it always came after her.
"Yes I know it. I'm happy he's coming back. Goten will finally be able to meet him."
"Yeah but what about you? I mean, what are YOU gonna do about it?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. He doesn't know you are married to Yamcha. I'm sure he won't take that very well."
"Yes I know. But to be honest, he preferred to die over staying with us, Bulma. I think that says a lot."
"But you're missing the selfless of his decision. He knows the evil is always looking for him, so staying dead meant that they wouldn't do any harm in this world."
"Yes but family should came first, shouldn't it? When I married him, I was fully aware of where I was getting into. That didn't stop me. I knew what I wanted. I tried so hard to teach Goku the value of family but that didn't really work, did it?"
"Of course it did! He became a whole new person after you two got married. The old Goku would never get married in the first place, so it's a big change. And the way he is with Gohan also says a lot. He's a great man Chi-Chi. And I'm sure both Gohan and Goten will have the best role model ever for when they become adults."
"Yeah you may be right. But that still doesn't justify his decision of letting go of his family."
"But he didn't, Chi-Chi. If anything he was trying to protect it. He thought you guys would be safer he stayed in the other world."
"But he didn't even think we needed him. I wouldn't mind having evil forces chasing after my family as long as he was with us. I have been dealing with it almost all my life."
"I understand your point."
"So yeah I'm happy for Gohan and Goten. But I'm not sure how I feel yet. It's not that easy."
"Chi-Chi."
"I missed him so much when he died. The first months were hard. It got worse when I found out I was pregnant again. I needed him next to me, and I didn't want Goten to be raised without his father."
"I know."
"Everytime he saw a picture of Goku around the house, he would ask me or Gohan what he was like and we just didn't know what to say."
"I can't imagine how tough that must have been. I couldn't imagine going through something like that."
"Yeah so we just said he was very caring man, and father. And he would get all happy and say he'd love to meet him one day. Words cannot express his joy now that his wish finally came true."
"I bet he was. He's a good kid."
"Yes he is." Chi-Chi smiled proudly of her son. "He's a little naïve sometimes but he has a good heart, and a lot of energy."
"He is Goku's son after all."
"That's true."
Both Bulma and Chi-Chi laughed at it. After Goku died they stopped hanging out together. Goten and Trunks are really close friends and they do hang out a lot but their mothers were busy with their own lives so they lost contact. It felt good to know they could still have a close friendship after all these years. Over Chi-Chi's shoulder, Bulma saw him landing on the ground. She knew it was her cue to leave.
"I… uh… I'm gonna check on the kids." She said as she fixed her dress.
"Oh, ok."

As soon as Bulma left, Chi-Chi felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart stopped beating for some seconds. Couldn't it be him, could it? She turned around and was slightly disappointed. She quickly put a smile on her face.
"Hello you!" She jumped on Yamcha's neck. "I forgot you were coming."
"You forgot?"
There was a sad tone on his voice and she noticed it.
"Oh no. I didn't mean it like that. It was just that Goten took a really long time getting ready so we decided to come here now."
"I see. I thought something happened."
"Yeah. Who told you we were coming at this time?"
"Bulma. I stopped by after realizing you weren't going to show up in the morning."
"I'm sorry. I tried calling you but it wouldn't go through." She lied.
"Funny, I didn't get any missing calls messages."
Chi-Chi sat on the bench and sighed. "I really don't want to do this again Yamcha. I'm tired of it. We just fight, fight and fight. Will this ever stop?"
He sat down next to her. "Chi-Chi I love you. So much. But you need to stop lying to me."
"I'm sorry. I really am."
"Since we're being honest with each other I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"It's something I've been thinking about for sometime now but couldn't make up my mind."
"Tell me."
"Since Goku isn't coming back for good, I want to adopt Gohan and Goten."
"You what?"

"Kids, it's time to collect your toys and go home."
"Already?"
"Yeah, sorry. Do you want ice-cream?"
"Yes!" Both Goten and Trunks said together.
"Alright, I'll go buy them while you get your toys in the box."
As Bulma was walking towards the ice-cream man, she bumped into something.
"What the hell?"
She rubbed her eyes to see what she bumped into and was visibly surprised.
"G-Goku?"