Chapter 8, Draw Me Close.


'Goten, what's wrong with your father?' Chi-Chi finally asks when she can't take it anymore.

Now that Goku's left the dinner table prematurely, without so much as a word to her, her worry for him has surpassed its usual place.

Goten, for his part, only freezes, stopping his fork mid-way to his mouth, while his eyes enlarge a little, but just enough for her to see right through him. Her son may only be seven years old, but for his age he's too ahead in thought processes.

'What is it?' she peers at Goten, trying to get him to push past his hesitance. 'Did he lose a fight with someone?'

Clearly, if Goten is hesitant to tell her what happened, it must be because he believes that if he tells her, his father will get in trouble for it. While it is thoughtful of him not to want to get his father in trouble, she really does need to know what's wrong with him, because until she does, her worry for Goku won't go away.

Earlier in the day, he wouldn't accept to remain calm when he found Whis in their home. Then much later, he returned home with Goten from only they know where, and he didn't say more than a greeting to her. And to make things worse, not too long ago when they all sat down at the table, he hardly touched his food, before mumbling his request to be excused and disappearing altogether. Behaviour like that, isn't typical of her Goku.

'Goten,' she tries again, softening her tone to reassure him that she has no intention of getting angry, 'tell me, what is it? Did he lose a fight with someone?'

Slowly shaking his head, her son replies with a quiet, 'No.'

Something's not right, she thinks to herself, feeling her stomach turn a little at the thought. It's not like Goku to behave like that, unless… He can't be sick, she desperately wonders, can he?

'Then why is he like that?' she presses. 'Is he sick?'

'I don't think so,' Goten replies, bowing his head, 'but Gohan says that he's jealous of Whis.'

Goku? She involuntarily frowns. Jealous? She feels her frown deepen. Of Whis? Huh?

'Goten…' she softly starts.

What she wants to ask, is if he's sure of what he's saying, because the idea of Goku actually being jealous of Whis, is just well, ridiculous. She wants to ask Goten to repeat what he said, and be sure of what he said, except, she can't make her mind form the words to ask her baby that.

When Goku was restless about Whis earlier on, she didn't think that it would get as far as him being jealous of Whis. Sure, she saw that he wasn't comfortable with the idea of Whis being in their house without him, but she tried to assure him that he had nothing to worry about, so she easily assumed that he got over it when he left to see Bulma.

'He doesn't want Whis to be your friend,' Goten tells her, as though testing for her reaction.

Unceremoniously, she snaps out of her thoughts, to glare at Goten.

'What?' she half demands, more than asks out of surprise.

Cowering slightly, Goten answers with, 'We went to see Whis, and Dad didn't even smile at him. He told Whis that he doesn't want him to be your friend.'

Goku did what? Of all of the things that she would've believed her husband capable of, she wouldn't have believed that he went as far as telling Whis to not be her friend. It's uncharacteristic of him, she ponders, because while she did notice his unease earlier on, she didn't think that it would amount to anything serious. Apparently, she doesn't know her husband as well as she should.

'Do you really think Dad's jealous, Mom?' Goten's curious voice brings her back to the present again.

Chi-Chi focuses her eyes on her little baby, to find him with an innocently curious expression, that's almost begging her to scoop him up in her arms and cradle him against her. With Goten, even the most confusing of things transform into adorability. Goten really is the carbon copy of his father.

To be honest, she hadn't really decided on how to feel about the whole Goku and Whis thing, until Goten asked her about his father's jealousy. Somehow, that innocently curious question, tapped open a private part in her heart, making her decide right there how she feels about this new situation.

'I'll have to talk to him to know,' she tells Goten with a thankful smile. 'Finish eating and then it's off to bed for you.'

'Awww, but, Mom…' he tries to protest.

Her baby's adorable, Chi-Chi thinks. He's even more adorable when he tries to get out of doing something that he doesn't want to do, but the fact remains that she is his mother, and as his mother, she has to lay down rules for him to follow. He's only a child, and since he travelled do far as to where Whis lives with Goku, his body must be tired.

'You have school tomorrow, Goten,' she reminds him, refraining from mentioning the trip to Whis' place.

'Okay,' he agrees with a sulk, going back to eating his food.

It'll only be second before he forgets all about sulking and looks up at her with a sweet smile, Chi-Chi watches him fondly. Really, her little Goten is too much like his father.


26Chapters


'Goku?' she calls, closing the bathroom door. 'What's going on with you?'

She had to wait for Goten to finish his food and then go to bed before coming to look for her husband. Fortunately, it didn't take Goten that long to clear his plate and then run off to sleep. She wouldn't have liked it if she'd taken longer and found him asleep in their bed, because then she would've had to wake him up to talk to him.

Turning off the shower water, Goku looks at her with a somewhat forlorn expression on his face, something like she's never really seen on him before, which produces a small pang in her heart. Well, that expression and the fact that he's in the shower instead of the bathtub.

Goku usually doesn't like to shower, unless there's something bothering him and he can just stand under the shower to let the water run down his body, while he keeps his eyes closed and his mind on the thoughts bothering him.

This Whis thing must really be bothering him, she concludes.

'I didn't like today, Chi-Chi,' he confesses, his face all set up in a deep frown. 'I don't like today. I want it to be the next day.'

First reaching for a towel, she silently beckons for him to come out of the shower. While it is true that she's never dealt with her husband in this type of jealous situation before, and therefore doesn't know how to start attacking the problem in a way that's effective for him, she has dealt with all types of situations with him, and from that, she'll borrow a strategy from.

Goku obediently steps out of the curtainless shower, coming to stop in front of her. She silently begins to use the towel to wipe him off, because any word that she may speak, might redirect him from telling her how he really feels. It's important that she doesn't say anything, and rather let him feel like he's in control, so that he won't have a problem opening up to her; past experiences have taught her that.

Just as she's finishing his upper part, she feels his hand take hold of either wrists of hers, causing her to look at him in the eyes.

'I know we did it yesterday,' he starts in a low tome, 'but could we… could you wash my hair again? It always relaxes me.'

His begging eyes bore into hers, making it impossible for her to say no, even if she wanted to. Nodding to him, she folds up the towel and then goes to start the bath. Normally, when she would wash his hair twice a week, she would have him in chair, with his head tilted back over the laundry tubs, but today, she has the feeling that he won't like that.

'Get in,' she tells him, pointing to the tub.

Goku easily walks over to the tub and climbs in, while she brings the shampoo and conditioner from the small cabinet in the bathroom. Next, she takes off her clothes, neatly folding them, to place them atop the towel on the closed toilet pot, before climbing in the bath with the hair products in her hands.

She takes her place behind her husband, opening her legs to make space for him in her bosom and immediately wraps her arms around him, letting the shampoo and conditioner fall into the tub. She'll soon have to ask him to turn off the water, but for now, she only gently brings her face to touch the side of his neck.

'Goten tells me that you're jealous of Whis?' she brings up her question, using this intimate moment to talk to him.

'I like Whis, Chi-Chi,' he replies, a small whine detectable in his voice, 'I really do, but I don't like him with you.'

He says it, she notes, as if it's the absolute finality in the world. He says that, like there's no room for change or to go around it, and that, well, it's something of a shocker to her.

'I don't want him to talk to you,' he continues, the whine fading to be replaced by a slight darkness, 'or look at you, but he says that he wants to be your friend. He can be 18 or Bulma's friend. Promise me that you'll not be his friend, Chi-Chi,' he asks darkly.

She can almost see the dark expression that he has on his face as he says that, even though she doesn't have the right angle of view to see it from. His tone alone, suggests a picture of his expression, that's almost incredibly clear in her mind.

It's really this serious, is it? Back with Goten, she found it hopelessly endearing that someone as great as her husband can be jealous of something harmless, but now, she's starting to understand that Goku is taking this thing with Whis extremely seriously.

Wow, she didn't even know that Goku had it in him.

'Goku,' softly leaves her mouth, hoping that his name alone from her mouth, will caress his unease away.

As though in response to being called, Goku maneuvers his arms, so that her right arm is hooked with his left, and his left hand threads through the spaces between her right hand's fingers.

'It makes me uneasy to think of you and Whis, I don't know why,' he tells her in a lighter tone, a tone closer to being whiny than dark.

Squeezing the hand in hers, she tells him, 'You have nothing to worry about.'

'It doesn't feel like it,' he mumbles with a little darkness.

'I promise you, Goku,' she gently rubs her face on his neck, 'you have nothing to worry about. Not concerning Whis anyway. Close the tap, please.'

It doesn't look like she will get to wash his hair tonight after all, she muses when Goku reaches his free hand to turn off the water. Maybe washing his hair would've relaxed him like it usually does after a long day's work, but now she realises that he only needed to have her close. When she has that alone time with her thoughts, she'll try to figure out why he's bothered by the idea of her being Whis' friend, but for now, she'll just be close to him like his soul is begging for her to be.

'And Monaka?' he curiously wonders, snuggling his back into her.

'Monaka?'

Where is this Monaka talk coming from? She understands Whis, because he found them together, but Monaka?

'The ideal man,' leaves his mouth somewhat sourly. 'A strong man with a job.'

Who in the world told him that, she wonders with an amused smile, who would take some light-hearted joke and turn it into something that it isn't?

'Honey,' she tries to keep a laugh from her voice, 'Oolong, the world's greatest coward is stronger than Monaka. He was just motivation that Beerus wanted to set for you.'

Turning his head sharply, he asks an excited, 'Really?'

Although he disrupted her position on his neck, she doesn't mind. In fact, she plants a soft kiss on his cheek to assure him, 'I want you, and only you.'

An even stronger man than Goku could show up, and he could have three jobs if he did, and still she wouldn't look at him. Her eyes and her heart, are only for the man that's sitting with her in this bathtub of theirs. If she were to wish for even the slightest change in Goku, that would be negating the man that she fell in love with in the first place. She loves him just the way he is, exactly the way he is; not more or less than what and who he is, because then he wouldn't be her Goku.

'But you gave Whis your food to eat,' he says after the short silence.

Really, she thought that she'd appeased him somehow, but apparently they are back to the Whis issue again? Oh dear…

'I don't like to share you, Chi-Chi,' he tells her, his hand gripping hers much tighter than before. 'You're not Bulma that everyone has access to whenever they want.'

Wow, a gust like sensation strikes her stomach. He's never, not once in his life said that to her before, and so, she didn't know that he felt this way about her. Wow…

'You're mine alone, and I don't want to share you!'

There's that absolute tinge in his tone again, she observes, still recovering from the sensation in her stomach. She appreciates the sentiment especially now that she knows this new thing, however, she feels like she does want a friend. Honestly speaking, she can't really call his friends her friends, so when she thinks about it, it would be nice to have a friend. For now, though, she only has to appease him, otherwise he will never sleep.

'But Goku,' she tries, 'you have plenty of friends, some of them women, but I never get jealous. Do you know why?'

Whether on purpose or not, he remains silent, not giving her an answer.

'Because I have your heart and I know that,' she decides to tell him despite his lack of response. 'I can't imagine the countless women you might have met, but I've always known that I have your heart in my hand. You should know that you have my heart too, Honey. There's no reason for you to be jealous.'

'Hmm,' he seems to be thinking about it, 'I don't know…'

Sometimes –and she adores this about him- her husband can really be a child that needs coddling and affection. Sometimes he gets home, and all he wants to do, is lie in her arms to his heart's content. The rest of the world could be on fire for all he knew at those times, and he wouldn't want to move even a decimal out of her affection until he's had his fill.

Right now, in this bathtub, it appears that they're in one of those needy times of his.

'Trust me, Goku,' she tells him in a half whisper. 'How many people can say that they're married to me? How many people can say that they've kissed me? And how many people can say that they've done this?' squeezing their intertwined hands between her front and his back under the water, she makes their hands touch her on a very vulnerable part of her body.

'Only me?' he sounds with glossy pride.

'Only you,' she agrees, loving that she stroked his ego so much like that.

The same applies for her, she spares a second to think. No matter how many women have seen him without a shirt on, and that cocky air he gets about him when he's fighting, and so lusted for him, none of them can say they've done anything other than see, let alone brag that they have his heart.

'I'm yours, Goku,' she purrs in his ear. 'Only yours.'

She hopes that puts his unease at rest, because like she told him, he really has no reason to be worried.

'Chi-Chi?' breaks through the quietly short silence.

'Hmm?'

'I love you,' he delivers, completely catching her off guard.

Drawing in a sharp breath, she feels her stomach churn in a good way, consequently filling her lungs with fresher air than before. Wow, he's just full of surprises today, isn't he?

'I love you,' she returns, completely beaming with said love for this husband of hers. 'Now come on, we need to get out of this water before we become pruny.'

'Only if you promise to cuddle in bed with me,' he bargains, his neediness resurfacing again.

Ha, cuddle! As if she'll believe that!

Yes, he does like to cuddle, and it usually starts off as cuddling, but then his hands always stray until suddenly, she finds herself biting down hard on whatever part of him that she can find, so that she doesn't scream loud enough for her sweet little Goten to hear her.

Cuddle her toes!

'I promise,' she agrees nonetheless, releasing his hand and standing from the tub, 'now come on.'

At least, she can promise to cuddle with him, because she has no intention of promising to not be Whis' friend, she reasons as she climbs out and then waits for him to do the same.

Goku gets up, however, he doesn't step out of the bathtub, instead, he gets a pensive look on his face

'I bet Whis wouldn't like it if I trained with Vados instead of him,' he mumbles darkly.

Again with Whis, just what will it take to get Whis out of his system tonight?

'Let it go, Honey,' she advises.

From the way he looks at her, a look resembling sulking on his face, she can tell that he's debating with himself on whether to do what she says not.

Apparently, he chooses not to listen to her, because he thoughtfully mutters, 'Maybe I should ask Vados to train me.'

'Goku…' shakily leaves her mouth.

Really, this man can really be a petty child when he wants to be, she thinks. She can tell that a 'But,' similar to Goten's earlier, is on his tongue, but her serious expression is apparently stronger, because his eyes enlarge enough to make her see that he'll heed her words.

'Fine,' he accepts, but then he changes his way of looking at her, to a way that has her thinking that he is thinking of something.

She doesn't ask what is on his mind now, because she doesn't want to know just yet. Besides, she doesn't want to talk about Whis anymore. Whis isn't her husband, he is, and right now, she would just like to be his wife.


Chapter 9, Everything Good.