Goten played with Bra most of the morning, mostly coloring with the odd board game thrown in. She was just about four now and every bit as intelligent as the other half Saiyans had been at that age. Trunks did pull-ups at the doorway to the hall. It wasn't much and it certainly wouldn't get him stronger when he was used to training in such gravity, but it was better than nothing.
Moreover, he refused to go anywhere near the main house until he was sure his parents had finished the beginning stages of the claim. They'd been together as long as he could remember, but his brain refused to see his parents as mates. There was no way his father had the capacity to care for his mother in the way he cared for Goten, he'd decided. To him they were just very close friends who occasionally had children.
Trunks had to admit he got a strange satisfaction from watching Goten play with Bra. His mate was five months along now, and you could see the bump that was their unborn child through most of his shirts. He'd taken to wearing baggier clothes and hoodies out in public to not draw suspicion, but Trunks much preferred when he wore his old wardrobe. He hated to admit it but Goten had been right when he accused Trunks of picturing him pregnant since the start of the claim; he'd just assumed it was an urge he'd have to suppress. There was just something so satisfying about seeing Goten walk carefully through the house in a tighter shirt, clearly carrying their child.
After a huge lunch between the three of them Bra had yawned and settled down for an afternoon nap in their bedroom. Trunks splayed out on the couch to watch television in the living room and Goten crawled on top of him soon after, resting his head under Trunks' chin and sinking into a deep sleep. Trunks absentmindedly reached down and stroked the distended skin while he flipped through channels.
There was a curt knock at the door and he hollered for them to come in. Chichi peeked her head into the room, at first seeing only Trunks. "Hello," she waved, "Bulma was supposed to come and see me today but she isn't answering her phone. Is she in the big house?"
Trunks snorted. "Yeah, but I wouldn't go in there if I were you. Come on in Miss Chichi, we're just resting."
As Chichi came around the couch she saw her son curled up on Trunks' chest fast asleep. She covered her mouth and apologized quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize he was here."
Trunks laughed loudly. "You can't wake Ten up by talking, you know that. Add the 'complacent warrior syndrome' and it would take an atom bomb to get his attention."
Chichi nodded and sat in a chair close to them, looking a little uncomfortable. "Is Bulma okay?"
Trunks snorted. "Dad kind of...claimed her this morning."
Chichi stared at him. "Now? After all this time? How?"
"Beats me," he shrugged. "She probably had something up her sleeve, she usually does. Bra's asleep in the bedroom, I guarantee she wakes up before Ten does."
Chichi smiled grimly. She was staring at the teen in Trunks' arms sadly, eyes flickering to his exposed belly.
"Something wrong, Miss Chichi?"
She paused. "I love my son."
"Me too," he said with a lopsided grin.
"Do you?"
The grin disappeared. "Of course I do. What is this about?"
She sighed. "He's so different. He's changed so much in the last year and a half."
"It's just hormones, he's not that off and he'll be back to normal soon."
"It's not just hormones. Just before your sixteenth birthday he asked me if he could stay up an extra half hour before bedtime. A week later he was sharing your bed. Do you understand how young he is? I know he's playing adult right now, but what if he wakes up one morning and he's done? The damage would already be unfixable."
Trunks fought the urge to growl. "We're not playing house. Goten is my mate. I will never leave him, and he would never leave me."
"You could force him to stay with just a sentence."
"I've never done that, ask him yourself when he wakes up. He is here of his own free will."
"I'm losing him," she said quietly.
"He's just getting older. That's normal."
There were tears in her eyes. "My Goten is a shy, quiet, responsible boy who loves to fight. He only ever got up to mischief with you. Now look at him. Pregnant at sixteen on purpose, that's the part that gets me. How could you just go along with it? My Goten is smarter than that, and he'd never give up fighting for almost a year. But he's not my Goten anymore, is he? He's your Ten."
"You're wrong," Trunks said simply. "He only acts differently around me because he knows he has the freedom to. You are his mother, of course he's more reserved around you, or at least he will be when he's back to normal. I spoil him, or at least I try to. He knows no matter what he ever wants or needs or asks for I'll give to him, but he still rarely ever asks. He's got this sweet little smile when he wants something and it just wrecks me. He finally asked me for something big, how could I say no? If having a baby makes him happy he can have a dozen."
She grimaced. "He gets that from Goku, that damn smile. Why does he want one though? Are you going to tell me that's not your fault for claiming him? That if you'd never picked him he'd be wanting to have a baby this young? I've grown to like you more. I don't mean any offense, Trunks, really, but why you? Why now? Why didn't he get to grow up and choose a life with someone? Why was it decided for him?"
"I don't have all the answers," he said with a shrug. "I've always cared about him, even before. Maybe we would have ended up together anyway, given some time."
"It's not just...you don't just own him? I mean you two get started in on that whole 'mine' business and I get to wondering if he understand he has options."
"Mine means I love you in Saiyan. Or at least it was as close a word as they had. It's my promise to protect him always. I love him, Chichi. How do I prove it to you?"
She thought a moment. "What do you love about him? Take out all the Saiyan garbage about heirs and bites and instinct and tell me what you like about him."
Trunks took a long moment to think, determined to take the task seriously. It took some effort to try and sort out what he'd felt before his whole brain rewired itself. "Goten is always kind, even when someone doesn't deserve it. When he cares about something or someone, he cares with everything he's got. He wants to make people happy, that's why he was working to go school anyway, for us. He's strong, but using his strength for anything but helping people never crosses his mind. When he does pick a goal he's determined as hell. Sometimes he sings in the shower when he thinks I'm not around. When he's watching something he likes his face lights up like fireworks."
Goten murmured in his sleep and readjusted himself against Trunks' chest until he was comfortable. He let out a content sigh and was out cold again.
"Okay he's also fucking adorable, there's that. You know our first kiss was months before my birthday? Actually it was July 16th at exactly 5:38pm, but don't tell him that. It wasn't as big a deal for him. We were pretending to be casual at the time and I don't want him to know I was already that...obsessed. I loved him before the way that teenagers love other teenagers. It just matured very quickly. Do you understand?"
Chichi reached a hand out towards Goten's stomach, pausing to make sure it wasn't putting Trunks on edge. He nodded to her and she slid her hand across the bump. "I think I do. I loved Goku when I was very young, but it was nothing like the way our relationship is now. It changes."
"Exactly."
She smiled weakly. "You had better treat him well, Trunks. I mean it. Super Saiyan or not I'll hunt you down and kill you if you hurt him. If something ever happened and he were to… You fighters live dangerous lives. If you've decided to protect him, I expect him to be safe no matter what."
"If Goten dies I die too," he said simply. She raised her eyebrows at him. "No, not like that, I wouldn't kill myself. I'd just die, right there on the spot. Dad didn't tell me that, but he didn't have to. I knew it immediately after the claim. If I were to die, Goten could go on, raise our baby, even find someone else in the future. But he's my reason for living. If he goes, my heart will just stop beating out of lack of necessity. Don't tell him that either, please, he'd just be upset and his moodswings have been bad lately. I know it looks like I'm in charge, but I'm really not. Goten owns me more than I own him. It's about trust," he smirked, echoing his father's words.
She used her other hand to squeeze Trunks' hand, smiling genuinely now. "Hello in there," she called to the bump. "This is Grandma! Can you hear me? Don't ignore me young man."
Goten jerked awake and Trunks gasped. Chichi held her hands up like she'd hurt him. "What did I do?" She asked.
Goten blinked sleepily. "Hey, Mom, I didn't know you were coming over. I think he heard you."
"His power level," Trunks explained, "it just shot up significantly. We've been sensing a low ki reading since he was three months, but it's never spiked before."
Goten beamed proudly. "And it shot up a lot. Holy crap, Trunks, did you feel it? It had to be over five thousand, and he's just a baby! A half cooked baby!"
"Well of course he's strong," Chichi said shrugging. "Did you expect anything less from a half Saiyan child of two wonderful fathers?"
Goten looked between his mate and his mother, suddenly convinced something important had happened while he was asleep. Why is my mom acting like she likes you again?
Because I'm charming as hell.
Whatever, just keep it up. It's nice to see. It's really nice to see… Goten put his hand up to his face and sobbed.
"Here we go," Trunks sighed, gently rubbing Goten's back. "Third day in a row. Yesterday he cried about trees."
"They never get to move even once their whole lives, Trunks! They're alive! It's sad!"
"Aw, come here," Chichi cooed, hugging her son. "This part sucks doesn't it?"
"Yes," he sobbed into her shoulder.
"Well then maybe next time Trunks tells you to use a goddamn condom you will."
Goten grumbled. I changed my mind, stop getting along with my Mom.