AAHHH! Part 2 of the dinner. Jesus this is getting to be a workout. Expect comedy and disaster. Wow! Chapter 7! How far I've got. Nearly the end now! This has taken me 7 months so far! I do hope it's appreciated, I do like Bra Goten fics and I hope I'm inspiring people here because I need to read MORE! LOL, well, until the end of the chapter...I'll see you there!

Thanks to everyone reviewing! I do love you EVER so much! Xx

p.s. I have figured out how to allow anon. reviews so anyone who wanted to and couldn't; now you can!

7. After Dinner (AD)

"Oh, erm, hi Gohan, Videl, how are you?" She asked in the politest voice she could muster, whilst self consciously ruffling her curls.

"Hi Bra, we're good," Gohan answered, and they all air kissed. It's oddly formal, Bra thought to herself. Thankfully Pan and Trunks sensed the awkward atmosphere and took over while Bra retreated to the kitchen to put the food in the oven to keep it warm. After shoving the food into the oven she leaned heavily on the counter and took a deep breath. She felt funny; she needed Goten to help her out. Where was he? She poured herself a glass of water and returned to the living room.

"So, can I get you anything to drink Gohan, Videl?" She asked in a stagy voice.

"I'm ok, thanks Bra," Videl replied, smiling at the younger woman.

"I'm fine too," Gohan told her, winking.

Paranoid thoughts ran through Bra's mind. What was going on with her? She felt as if everyone was ganging up on her. Where was her family? She caught Trunks' eye and he immediately walked over to her and put his arm around her. "What's up?" he whispered, as Pan and her parents spoke.

"Do you think they hate me Trunks? For being horrible to Goten?"

"He's the horrible one," Trunks said immediately, glaring.

"They're acting too formal, we all used to chat rubbish and now it's all air kisses and politely refusing drinks. And where the hell is Goten?"

"Do you want me to get him?" Trunks asked.

"No, you can't leave me here by myself," Bra replied sacredly, clutching his arm.

"You've got Pan." He pointed out.

"She's their daughter!"

"Ok, Ok, go and call mum and dad, I'll hold fort."

Bra nodded and discreetly withdrew to her room. She texted her mum telling her to come as soon as possible and then called Goten. It rang for ages and then finally clicked onto voice mail.

"Hi, Goten it's Bra. Could you come quickly? It's nearly 8 and if you don't get your ass here quickly I will kill you. Bye!"

She sunk down onto her bed. Hopefully her parents would arrive early so she would stop feeling like the stranger in her own home. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face and braced herself to rejoin the crowd. She pasted a social smile on her face and inspected herself in the mirror before leaving the safe sanctuary of her room.

"Sorry about that, I just had to make a few phone calls," She said to everyone. "My parents will be here soon."

Everyone nodded and a brief silence descended on the group before Videl asked when the baby was due.

"Oh, quite soon actually, in about a month," Bra said cheerfully.

"Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl?" Videl asked.

"No, I wanted it to be a surprise, did you know about Pan?"

"No, but I had this feeling she would be a girl."

"Wow, I get this feeling that my baby's going to be a boy!" Bra said enthusiastically, finally getting into the swing of socialising with the Son crowd.

And from then on she and Videl talked more about babies. After all, Bra had said, they were both having a Son's child, and Pan would be her niece if she and Goten got married, and Videl would be Bra's baby's aunt. They conversed for a good fifteen minutes and would have gone on for longer if the doorbell hadn't rung. Bra excused herself and went to open the door. Please be Goten, she prayed.

She opened the door to….8 chairs?

She looked around. The lift was on the 12th floor. Then she twigged it. The furniture her mum was bringing. The rest of it was probably downstairs. She put a chair in front of the door to keep it open and picked up another and carried it inside.

"Trunks, Pan, can you help me please?" She asked as she made her way upstairs.

Everyone in the room picked up a chair or two and followed her. Bra left the chairs in any random order against the wall and went back downstairs followed by a curious crowd. They found a dining table. Gohan, Trunks and Pan took that upstairs. Bra and Videl watched intently, Videl curiously and Bra eagerly - she couldn't wait to see her parents. She watched as the display on the elevator moved from floor to floor, until it reached the 18th. Bra was unconsciously holding her breath. The doors opened and out came a cot filled with toys, a box and two people. Bulma and Vegeta.

"Mum! Dad!" Bra squealed happily and she flung herself at her parents. She hugged Bulma first and then she turned to face her dad.

"Are you going to let me hug you?" She asked him, hand on hip.

"No," he replied, before receiving an elbow in the ribs from Bulma. "Fine."

Bra hugged him tightly and laughed at him. "There you go, it wasn't so hard, was it?" She released him and turned back to her mum. "Thanks for the furniture; almost everyone said that my flat was empty today. Now come in, we're just waiting for Goku, Chi Chi and Goten."

"Goten's not here? Where is he?"

"With Paris, Oh yes, that reminds me dad, you are on your best behaviour; otherwise I'll never speak to you again. Ok? Ok!"

Bra showed her parents into the flat and Bulma looked around critically. "It is rather empty Bra; we should have brought more furniture with us." The she realised that more people were there. "Oh, hello all. Gohan, Videl! I haven't seen you for so long!"

Bra rolled her eyes. She hated it when her mum went posh. Hello all? Bra thought as she caught Trunks' eye and they both winced. Bra turned to her dad and raised her eyebrows, he replied by rolling his eyes. Bulma made her way over to the sofa and sat down; moving the cushion Goten had used to cover his stain. She spotted the stain Goten had made.

"Bra, sweetie, there's a stain on your couch."

Bra walked over to inspect it. "That Goten…I'm going to kill him…" She growled angrily, clenching her fists. "Where the hell is he?"

And then the doorbell rang. Bra stomped over to the door and yanked it open, ready to have a go at Goten. Chichi and Goku smiled back at her. "Oh…" she faltered. "Hi, how do you do?"

"Good, thank you Bra dear," Chichi replied cheerfully, walking past Bra into the room. Goku grinned at Bra and followed his wife.

Chichi was already gushing about the house and Goku had started up conversation with Gohan and Vegeta, Bulma was joining in with Chichi and Trunks and Pan were talking in a corner. Bra returned to talk to Videl.

"Do you want to come into the kitchen? I can make you a coffee?" Bra asked.

"I could kill for one right now," she replied, "I don't care if you're meant to drink coffee after your meal, meeting the family is stressful."

"Amen sister," Bra agreed, rolling her eyes, "you think you've got problems? You haven't tried to keep my dad from exploding."

"I suppose, but you've never had the embarrassing problem of sitting with a Saiyan chugging down 100 helpings of food."

"True, I'm always eating as much as they are."

"Even, then?" Videl asked.

"Even."

They grinned at each other. Videl wasn't like Pan, but Bra liked her, and was surprised that she hadn't taken the time to talk to her properly before. Bra had never been shy around her friends' parents but she had always had the impression that Videl hadn't been to keen on her. She had acted like a spoilt brat back in her teen and childhood years though. Getting a job, getting with Goten and, last but not least, getting pregnant had definitely moved her out of spoilt-brat-dom and into the real world. She supposed that Videl had seen this and had decided to take the time to talk to her.

- - - - -

Goten was still with Paris and Bra had given in waiting for him. It was half past 8 and all of the Saiyans were starving hungry and Trunks and Goku had started their 50th arm wrestling match (Goku winning 40-9), so Bra took the food out of the oven where she'd put it to heat it up and set the table. When she had returned to the kitchen to collect the food all of the Saiyans' attention was on her. When she walked up the stairs with the food a second later the Saiyans quietly (and probably unconsciously) followed the smell of it to the table. The humans followed at a steadier pace. They waited almost politely for the humans to sit down before taking a seat never for a second taking their eyes off the food. The silence was intense.

As the last Saiyan bum hit its chair there was a huge lunge towards the serving spoons and loud shout from Bulma and Chichi.

"PUT THE FOOD DOWN NOW GOKU!" Chichi yelled, fists raised. Gohan had managed to restrain himself from attacking the food and now he breathed a sigh of relief. He hated the 'wrath of Chichi' when she was angry.

"VEGETA! TRUNKS! IF EVEN ONE FORKFUL OF THAT FOOD GOES INTO YOUR MOUTHS YOU ARE LIVING ON THE STREETS! YOU HEAR?" The said Saiyans hastily scraped the food back into the dishes and sat down forlornly (Vegeta scowling).

Bra took her seat and smiled brightly around. "Erm…you can eat now." Again, but more warily, the Saiyans lunged for the food and started dishing it out like there was no tomorrow. Once they had put enough food on their plates the humans got their portion and dinner started.

Almost in synch, as everyone lifted their first forkfuls to their mouth, they heard a key in the lock and the door downstairs opened. Goku hurriedly shoved his fork into his mouth and then adopted the alert look that everyone at the table was wearing. There was a loud thud downstairs as whoever had opened the door tripped over the welcome mat and then a loud 'oops' followed. Bra looked fearfully around the table and noticed that Bulma and Chichi had the same scared look as her.

"God save our gorgeous Bra,

Long live our sexy Bra,

God save Princess Bra!

Send her victorious,

Filled with her gorgeousness!

Long to reign over me!

GOD SAVE PRINCESS BRA!"

Bra went into complete shock. She felt paralysed. Her father had heard Goten sing a stupid song about her. As some of her shock subsided she felt it become replaced by an embarrassed heat that was rising to cheeks from the very tips of her toes. She smiled bravely at everyone.

"I'm sorry, I think that Goten had a few drinks too many, please, do carry on eating.

She stood up delicately despite her pregnant belly and tip toed to the stairs. The guests watched in intrigued silence as she moved silently down the stairs. As her figure disappeared down the stairs they all got up and silently went towards the stairs to watch what would happen.

"Hello Bra!" Goten said in a playful voice, "did you like my song? It's a bit of a sorry present for being so late. Has everybody left already?" He must have been the only person in the world to not notice Bra's thunderous expression and cower.

Bra cocked her head to one side, and smiled up at him. It was not a pleasant smile. "Oh yes, you're late. But never mind eh? Sometimes, we just lose track of time, don't we?"

Goten was becoming nervous and he smiled broadly back at her. "Yeah, Paris kept making excuses every time I tried to leave…"

"Well then Goten, I guess you're lucky that my guests are always so polite and don't mind waiting for hours for their dinner. Now, go upstairs and greet them Goten." Goten looked at her pleadingly but couldn't find any sympathy in her expression so he made for the stairs, his heart beating faster than it had ever beat before. The spectator-guests had ran to the table upon hearing Bra's command and were eating and chatting as if they hadn't heard a thing. They all fell silent and turned as Goten reached the top of the stairs.

"Hi everyone," he said lamely. "Sorry for being so late… Erm, how have you all been…?" He tried to grin but it faltered under the glares he was receiving. Bra came up behind him and shoved him rather brutally towards the table.

"Sit down then Goten."

He looked around the table and his heart sunk even lower. The only seat was between Gohan and Vegeta and opposite Trunks. He walked slowly towards his seat, fully aware of the glares he was receiving. Trunks stuck out his foot as Goten walked past but Goten stepped over it. Vegeta gave him the filthiest look he could muster as he sat down but said nothing.

"Get yourself some food then." Bra snapped.

Goten did as he was told, and everyone watched in fascinated silence as if he was going to do something amazing. He sat back down again and started eating miserably, hardly hungry for once in his life. Slowly, everyone returned to their own food and conversation started once more. Trunks was talking to Pan and Goten watched them as he toyed with his food. Trunks kept kicking him under the table but Goten hardly felt them. He was in turmoil. What would happen once everyone left? Had he screwed up again? Undoubtedly he had, but was it bad enough to get him kicked out of Bra's life again, this time for good?

He felt someone nudge him and he looked up to see who it had been. Gohan grinned at him. "Don't worry about it, everybody found your song hilarious except for Trunks, Vegeta and Bra. And if you haven't done anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about."

Goten nodded and carried on picking at his food. He wasn't out of the dog house yet. He briefly looked up at Bra and saw that she wasn't talking much either. She looked almost as miserable as he did. This wasn't the Bra he knew, his Bra was angry at him when he did something wrong, not upset about it. This realisation did not make him feel any better, it made his stomach clench uncomfortably and it made him even more fearful of what was to happen later.

He returned to watching Pan and Trunks. His niece would never speak to him again if he split up with Bra ever again (even though according to Bra they weren't together). Trunks already hated him with a passion and Vegeta… he didn't even want to think what Vegeta would do. Trunks was whispering something to Pan and she turned pink. Goten wondered half heartedly what he had said to her. Then he noticed that Pan was glaring at him, still pink. Ah, he thought, that's what Trunks told her. His curiosity was definitely getting the better of him as far as the two people in front of him were concerned. He had told Trunks that Pan had had a crush on him, something that Pan had told him in confidence. This was the reason why Pan had sent him the glare. Would it be weird if his little niece married someone that hated him? He wouldn't be invited to the wedding if Trunks was in charge, that's for sure.

He was vaguely aware of someone taking his plate from him but he ignored it. He chanced another look at Bra and saw that she was the one out of her seat and over laden with plates. He got up, this time not bothered by any strange or nasty looks he was getting. These people couldn't be any better than he was if no one was helping her. He glared uncharacteristically at all of them before taking the plates and taking them downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen offered him the peace and quiet he so desperately needed after such a hectic day and he was reluctant to leave, so he started washing up. In that day he felt as if his mental age of 6 had aged to his body's age of 31.

He scrubbed wearily at each plate, not expecting anyone to have missed him upstairs. He had never been so unpopular before, even when everyone had found out about Paris. At least then some people had seen that it was an accident, not on purpose. He sighed morosely, looking up at the ceiling from where sounds of conversation were coming. He did not wish to be up there, but he missed being friends with Trunks, being in his parents' good books and he even missed being able to annoy Vegeta without the fear of being ripped to shreds. If things were different, this could have been a fun party, where I would have arrived on time, teased Pan and Trunks and pushed Vegeta into the pool, he thought gloomily to himself.

"Need any help?" Bra asked, looking at him from the doorway. He hadn't heard her coming.

"No, you go upstairs and have fun," he replied quietly, not looking at her.

She walked over anyway and nudged him sideways with her hip. She picked up another wash cloth and took a dirty plate from the pile.

"I know you didn't mean to arrive late," She told him as they washed up in silence.

Goten didn't reply, but his morale rose a fraction.

"I was angry because you arrived late when you knew they were coming. And because of that stupid song. But, I'm not angry anymore."

She lapsed into silence, and Goten glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed unsure of what to say next.

"In the back of my mind, all the way through tonight, I thought that maybe you loved Paris. That maybe you didn't want to stay with me, have a son or daughter by me. I didn't mean for this night to turn out so badly for you. I saw Trunks kicking you, but I didn't want to say anything because I was angry."

Goten still said nothing. He could feel that she had more to say. He focussed on the dishes before him and waited with hidden curiosity for what more she had to say.

"I've been an absolute cow to you, and you didn't deserve it, but Goten I-" she broke off thinking back on the months she had endured by herself, torturing herself with thoughts of Goten forgetting about her and her baby and living happily with Paris. "It hurt me so much. To know that Paris was having your baby, to be so proud that I could never think any differently than to what I had already accused you of doing. Never, not once, in all of those days, weeks, months that you weren't there, did I think that maybe you were feeling just as bad as I was. You lost your friends. I only lost you. And now that I think about how you must have felt, I feel so selfish. I'm sorry."

Goten's head snapped up and he finally turned to look at her. He had had a bad time, but he saw himself as the wrong party, not the wronged party. He felt as though he deserved to lose his friends.

"You don't have to apologise to me. You were right the first time; all of this is my fault."

"No, it's not your fault. You told me that it was an accident, but I didn't believe you. We could have worked this out a long time ago; it would have been hard but look at us now, we did it, we're talking to each other. You're living here, even if it is temporary. All I can think about is all the time we've lost, what a screwed up child we'll be bringing up – do you know what happens to children with split up parents? And I'm so young too." Bra was talking more to herself now than to him, but she did have a point, even if it was a paranoid one.

"Even if we don't live together like parents should, we won't have a bad relationship. We'd be just like your parents; they love each other – I think – but they hardly show a relationship model parents should have. Our baby is not going to grow up screwed up and I know you, you can handle anything, and of course I'll always be helping to look after it."

Bra looked up at him sharply and he flinched. Had he said something stupid? He wondered. She seemed to be struggling with herself. "What did you say about my parents?" She burst out viciously, fists clenching. In the two seconds that he had to think of something nice to say to her he puzzled over why she was in such a foul mood all of a sudden.

"Well?" She growled in a voice not unlike her father's.

"I didn't mean for it to sound rude. I meant that… they don't act like they're together. I wouldn't know it if I hadn't been told." It had sounded ok in his head but it looked like it wasn't ok out loud or to Bra.

"Your parents are hardly perfect though are they?" She asked coldly, eyes narrowed in anger.

"Far from it!" Goten laughed, thinking of all the times he had been hit heartily over the head with Chichi's frying pan or the countless times his father had done something stupid. Bra continued to regard him icily, hating everyone who criticised her parents but then she sighed and let it go. She couldn't be the spoilt princess anymore. She had to grow up and learn not pick petty fights with 'the lower class' just because her daddy acted the same way.

"Yeah…" she breathed, agreeing with something unknown to Goten. "I can be a good mum. You're right."

She slowly walked over to the kitchen table with her and on her bump and sat down heavily. "Do I have to go back upstairs?" She groaned, back to her normal self. Goten shrugged helplessly back.

"Whose idea was this dinner? Who wanted to have a quiet night in?" He asked, grinning.

"If only you weren't so obsessed with throwing parties eh?" Bra smiled tiredly, lazily drawing invisible pictures on the table with her finger.

"Don't try to pin the blame on me Bra. I'm only the dishwasher."

"A raving, party animal dishwasher?" Bra asked hopefully.

He shook his head mock-regretfully. "To tell you the truth I'm not sure if I can face 'socialising' with those people. Not for another fifty years or so when I'm not in disgrace leastways."

Bra heaved herself to her feet, holding the table dramatically to emphasise her tiredness. "I expect you up there as soon as you finish washing the dishes… speaking of which… Goten, you did say you were a dishwasher didn't you?"

"Yep, that's what I said." He replied cheerfully, bowing jokily.

"Well then, you couldn't be a washing machine could you?" She inquired sweetly.

"Of course I could."

"In that case, if you could fit a little favour into your over laden social calendar, would you get that damn stain off my couch!"

"Right away madam," Goten replied hastily, bowing again, and then winking at her. "Got any underwear I can wash?" He asked in his Master Roshi voice.

She stuck her tongue out at him before retreating back up the stairs to the 'party'.

- - - - -

Oh I'm awful aren't I? I didn't really like this chapter at all, but I did try, for all of you! I know it's not too interesting and I missed out Goten's return to the rest of the people and this was a bit of a pointless chapter but I'm only trying to build suspense people. Please, give me the best reviews you can and I'll try my best to amaze you with chapter 8, which I promise will be better than this (ooh I have a lot planned). Just wanted to remind you that I have finally allowed anonymous reviews, thanks to LunaBela – I promise a lot more Trunks/Pan later too (although it'll probably not be in the next chapter). I love you all! xxx