They ate an early supper of fried fish and potatoes, then spent the rest of the evening light setting off brightly colored smoke bombs which the little ones enjoyed running through and shooting pop-bottle rockets at each other, from which no one was safe. Chichi had to finally call that one off after Lindsey had aimed several rockets at Catie and missed; one accidentally exploded under Chichi's feet.
Piccolo had been concerned about the loud firecrackers going off around Paige, but the little Namek simply cooed and blinked in wonder at the activity, never fussing at all. And she was more than delighted when Leelee placed a popper in her hand and showed her how to throw it on the ground to make it snap. Piccolo wanted to strangle Leelee when Paige dumped the little packet of sawdust all over his lap, but Paige was so happy, he just sat there tolerantly until Jenny finally came over and carried Paige out into the yard.
The last light was disappearing behind the horizon when Gohan set off across the yard towards the platform he and Trunks had built. Lindsey hurried after him, her eyes dancing.
"So, what do we start with?" he asked, looking into a box.
Lindsey squeezed between him and the box, bending far over to reach inside it, pressing her butt against him.
"Stoppit," he hissed, backing up a couple steps. She'd been doing that all day. She would wink at him and run her tongue over her lips or bend way down in front of him in those daisy-duke shorts and glance back over her shoulder. She'd walk by and discreetly brush her hand against the front of his pants and once even grabbed his butt and whispered in his ear, "I like your ass."
"What's wrong?" she asked now, standing up straight and blinking innocently at him.
"You are driving me nuts!" he whispered back through clenched teeth, but couldn't keep the ornery smile from his face. "If you don't stop, I will drag you upstairs and throw you on the bed right now!"
She winked at him again. "Don't threaten me with a good time."
"You gotta stop," he whined. "My parents are here!"
She stepped closer to him, pressing the curves of her chest against him. "Don't you like it?"
He had to swallow hard. "Y-Yes. Of course I do. But you're the one who said we had to wait until after the party."
"I'm just making sure you don't forget," she grinned, running her nails up the front of his thigh.
Gohan gasped as goosebumps erupted over his skin. He slid his hands down her bare back and into the back pockets of her shorts, squeezing her firm flesh. He captured her mouth with his, pulling her closer against him.
"Let's blow some shit up!" Seventeen cried, running up on the platform as Lindsey and Gohan quickly broke apart. "Gimme something, Gohan."
Gohan gently pushed his wife aside and selected a big tube from the box and handed it to Seventeen.
"Give me your lighter, Lindsey," Seventeen said.
"I… uh… I don't have one," she stammered. Dammit. She hadn't thought about cigarettes all day and now that he mentioned it, she wanted one really bad.
Seventeen cocked an eyebrow. "You don't have one?" He paused to laugh. "You smoke like a chimney!"
"She quit," Gohan grinned.
"Oh!" Seventeen said. "Well, do we have a lighter anywhere still? These things aren't going to blow themselves up."
"Yeah, there's one in the kitchen drawer," Lindsey said and hurried across the yard.
"Any particular reason she quit?" Seventeen asked as he and Gohan watched her go.
"She got tired of me complaining about it," Gohan lied casually. As excited as he had been about the party tonight, now he couldn't wait for it to be over.
Everyone wandered out into the yard to sit in lawn chairs or spread out on blankets tossed in the grass. The day had been so hot that the yard had dried quickly. Catie sat on a blanket with Jenny and Piccolo, cuddling baby Paige as Paige grabbed at Catie's face, cooing, "Tee-tee! Tee-tee!"
"CAAA-tie," Catie said slowly, looking Paige in the eye. "CAAA-tie."
"Tee-tee!" Paige squealed.
"Close enough," Catie sighed.
Jenny laughed. "She calls Gohan 'Go-go.' It could be worse."
Catie giggled.
"Hey!" Jenny said to Lindsey, who was walking by with a soda in her hand. "Come sit with us!"
Lindsey smiled and paused, but her smile faded when she saw Catie sitting there. "Thanks, Jen, but your blanket looks a little crowded." And she strode away to flop into a lawn chair next to Leelee.
Catie had her head down, staring intently at Paige. Paige cocked her head to the side. "Tee-tee?"
Catie managed a small smile for the little girl in her lap.
Paige snuggled tightly against Catie's neck and slapped her tiny hand against Catie's back. "Tee-tee," she said sadly as though she was trying to comfort her mother's friend.
"Stubborn," Piccolo growled quietly at Lindsey.
Gohan, Seventeen, and Trunks took it upon themselves to put on the fireworks display, taking turns selecting the different fireworks, lighting them and running away as fast as they could as the wicks behind them crackled before ear-shattering booms issued from the tubes. Goku had wanted to help out, but for some reason they just didn't trust Goku with explosives and he walked back across the yard, pouting. He had just about sat down in a lawn chair next to Chichi and Bulma, when he noticed he couldn't see Vegeta anywhere.
"Where's Vegeta?" he asked.
"Oh, sulking in the shadows somewhere, if I know him," Bulma answered.
"Hmm. I'll go find him," Goku said, picking up the lawn chair and walking towards the house. Sure enough, Vegeta was sitting in a lawn chair of his own near a corner of the house, tucked back in the darkness. "What're you doing over here?"
"Enjoying some time to myself," Vegeta answered gruffly.
"Good idea! I'll join you," Goku grinned and plunked his chair down next to Vegeta's.
"Clown," Vegeta muttered under his breath.
They sat quietly for awhile, watching the huge fireworks erupting in the darkened sky, the brightly colored sparks raining down as everyone in the yard oohed and ahhhed appreciatively.
"How's Catie doing?" Goku asked.
"She's fine," Vegeta answered. "She's training hard. She has the mindset of a true warrior."
Goku had to smile. Vegeta's own competitiveness was spilling over into Catie; he wasn't fooling anyone. Goku's eyes scanned over everyone in the yard and he couldn't help but notice the division between them. Lindsey and Leelee were sitting far away from Jenny and Catie, while Trunks and Gohan were at the edge of the yard, setting off the fireworks. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed again as he looked at his son and daughter-in-law. Gohan hadn't elaborated on his discussion with Lindsey, but Goku was pretty certain Gohan had finally seen Lindsey's point of view and had accepted it. He sighed. Oh well. There was always Goten when he grew up.
At least that was one issue taken care of. Now for Trunks and Catie to work out their differences. And for Catie and Lindsey to work out theirs.
"There's too much division here," Goku said aloud.
Vegeta looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "What are you babbling about now?"
Goku was lost in thought for a moment. "We aren't going to be able to fight this war if these kids don't get their act together."
Vegeta quickly raised his eyebrows once. "You're right, Kakarot."
"I just don't know how to fix it," Goku said.
"Nor I. At this point, I'm not entirely sure we can do anything."
"You've never taken that stance before."
"This is a battle we've never fought before," Vegeta countered. "That girl of yours needs to realize that Catie made a genuine mistake. A very foolish mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. And Catie needs to realize the same thing in Trunks."
"They're going to have to work that out on their own," Goku sighed, staring up at the fireworks overhead as Jenny and Catie sang a loud chorus of "The Star Spangled Banner."
"Silly American holiday," Vegeta grumbled.
"Ah, it's fun for them," Goku said. "It's still a part of them, even if they call this place home now. You can understand that."
Vegeta crossed his arms and didn't respond.
"These kids of ours," Goku sighed. "I don't know what we're gonna do with 'em, Vegeta."
Vegeta snorted. "I don't suppose there's a return policy on them, is there?"
Goku laughed. "You'd miss 'em and you know it."
Vegeta snorted again. "Why do you think I push them so hard? This war is upon us, Kakarot. It's coming faster than you think."
Goku sat up in his chair and blinked at Vegeta. "What makes you say that?"
Vegeta shrugged. "Call it a hunch."
"I don't know where you're getting that from," Goku said thoughtfully, "but if that's the way you really feel, maybe I should step up my training."
"About time you took this seriously," Vegeta said.
"But how can we fight them?" Goku asked, staring at the ground, his mind racing. "With their magick, our energy attacks just glance off. There's gotta be something we're missing."
"You said yourself that the girls are the key to winning this war."
"But we can't let them do it alone. We have to figure out something for ourselves."
Vegeta considered Goku's words. He put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Jennifer did it the other day."
"Did what?" Goku asked.
"She created an attack that was a combination of energy and magick. If we could learn to do the same…"
"Us use magick?" Goku breathed. "How are we supposed to learn to do that?"
"I don't know!" Vegeta snapped. "I'm still working on it! I don't see you contributing anything here."
"Sorry!" Goku said, holding his hands up. "I though maybe you had an idea!"
"Baka," Vegeta muttered.
Goku rolled his eyes, but said, "We'll figure this out."
Vegeta huffed and gave a nod, then sat back in his chair to stare up at the sky, never paying any attention to the fireworks as he tried to figure it all out.
Leelee and Lindsey had abandoned their lawn chairs and were laying flat on their backs in the grass, their heads close together as they gazed up at the fireworks.
"Do you ever think about them, Lindsey?" Leelee whispered. "About what Sigourney's followers might be doing or where they are?"
"All the time," Lindsey answered in a quiet voice.
"Are you scared?"
"Yes."
Leelee chewed her lip. "I've been thinking lately… About what Verdandi said? About not wasting my gift. But I don't know how to use it on command. When I had that vision, it just came to me. I couldn't do something like that again if I tried."
"Well," Lindsey said slowly, "I've been reading about the Old Ways lately. About the Fates and the old beliefs. The old religion. It all makes a lot of sense to me."
"Yeah?" Leelee asked.
Lindsey nodded, still staring up at the sky. "Gohan bought me a shit-ton of book about it. You should come over and check 'em out sometime this week. I have books about protective spells and divination and all sorts of stuff. I think we should learn it."
"Oh my god, yes!" Leelee cried in a loud whisper and turned to look at Lindsey, her eyes dancing.
"Just make me a promise," Lindsey said.
"What's that?" Leelee asked.
"No more fucking Ouija boards."
Leelee giggled. "Deal."
"There they are," came Seventeen's voice.
The girls looked up to see Gohan and Seventeen leaning over them. Yamcha and Krillin had decided they wanted to try their hand at setting off the fireworks, so Gohan and Seventeen took a break. Goku had cried, "Hey, no fair!" and run across the yard to join them.
"Well, doesn't this look familiar?" Seventeen grinned, staring down at the two girls laying side-by-side.
Leelee giggled.
"Familiar?" Gohan asked. "What do you mean?"
"The pictures, Gohan," Seventeen answered in an exasperated voice. "Don't tell me you could've forgotten those pictures."
Lindsey's eyes went wide as Gohan said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I forgot to give them to you!" Lindsey giggled. "Oh my gosh. With Trunks showing up here, I completely forgot about them!"
Leelee rolled over to look at Lindsey. "How could you forget that?!"
The boys sat down in the grass beside them.
"What's going on?" Gohan asked suspiciously.
"We got naked and took pictures for you!" Leelee cried.
Gohan gasped. "You did what?!"
Lindsey blushed and screwed up her face. "Mebbe."
"Oh yes, they did," Seventeen grinned. He winked at Lindsey. "Lookin' good, girl."
Gohan looked murderous.
"I didn't get naked for the pictures he saw!" Lindsey cried, sitting up suddenly.
Gohan narrowed his eyes. "But he saw pictures of you? In what?"
"Lingerie," Leelee answered, sitting up. "We took pictures together. Don't worry, Gohan. You'll see all the same pictures that Seventeen saw of us together."
"And Jenny," Seventeen said, sitting back and pulling a package of sunflower seeds out of his pocket and dumped some into his mouth. He worked them around, shoving them to the inside of his cheek. "They're good pictures, too. Look professional."
"Who took these pictures?" Gohan asked.
"Leelee won't tell me," Seventeen answered and spat a shell on the ground.
It was Leelee's turn to look sheepish.
Lindsey leaned over and whispered in Gohan's ear, "It was Eighteen."
Gohan's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Where are these pictures?"
"Ummm… upstairs somewhere," Lindsey answered. She shot him an ornery grin. "Maybe I'll show them to you later," she said seductively.
A nervous excitement sprung up in Gohan's stomach and his shock about the pictures faded away. He could barely notice the fireworks, his mind was so preoccupied with what he may see when Lindsey finally shared the photos with him. He was so distracted, in fact, that he barely heard his father's shout of surprise when the tip of his hair caught fire and Jenny had to run across the yard to douse him in water again.