Chapter 21, Kisses.

His eyes are open a little bit, and he still feels a little sleepy, but he wants to drink something. Sometimes, he wakes up like this, still sleepy, but thirsty. And like he does sometimes, when this happens to him, he carelessly climbs out of his bed, and starts walking out of his room, to the kitchen.

Milk. He actually wants to drink milk.

His mom says that drinking water in the mornings is the best thing to do, that it's healthy, but water is so tasteless in the morning. For him, milk is better, because she adds honey into it. She thinks that he doesn't see her put a little bit of honey into his milk, but he does. He doesn't mind it, though, he actually likes it better that way.

To the kitchen, he says to himself in his mind, he has to go the kitchen for his milk. He bets that his mom is already in there. She always is. In the mornings, -and when he comes from school, and from playing with Trunks- his mom is always awake and in the kitchen. Sometimes, he wonders if his mom knows how to sleep.

He should ask her about that, Goten thinks as his short legs carelessly carry him out of his bedroom door, his feet making a shuffling sound on the floor while he walks to the kitchen. It helps a lot that after his mom says goodnight to him every night, she doesn't close his bedroom door. He doesn't know why, because he's a pretty strong guy, but when he wakes up in the mornings, he never has enough energy to open doors. Not his bedroom, not the bathroom door, and not the fridge door. He just finds it so hard to open doors, when his eyes are still sleepy.

But that's okay, because his mom is always awake and she leaves the doors open for him, and when he wants milk like he wants it now, she's always there to open the fridge for him. She also helps with warming his milk to drink. Ugh, he doesn't like any of that warming stuff. He can't do it by himself anyway. Even if he could, his mom always tells him to stay away from her stove –him and his dad, actually. He's just glad that his mom is always there for that.

Just like he knew that he would, he finds his mother in the kitchen. She always is, so he had no doubt about her being in here. On school days, after she wakes him up, she comes straight to the kitchen. On no-school days, she doesn't come to wake him up in the mornings, because she goes straight to the kitchen, to make him a really big breakfast. And for his dad, if his dad is at home with them. On days like that, when he doesn't have to go to school, he always has to wake himself up.

'Mom,' he calls for her, rubbing his eyes to take the sleepiness away.

'Morning, baby,' she greets him, turning away from her work to look at him.

Oops, he shyly thinks. He always forgets to greet her in the mornings. Each night, when she kisses him goodnight, he always tells himself that he'll remember to greet her first the next morning, but he always forgets.

'Morning, Mom,' he softly greets her back, showing her small smile.

'Did you pee?' she asks him.

Uh-oh, he thinks, freezing a little bit in his place. He forgot to do that too. But also, why does she always have to remind him to pee when he wakes up? And when he goes to bed? He's big enough to pee on his own!

'Mhm-hm,' he hums, shaking his head.

'Did you brush your teeth, and wash your face?' she asks.

'Mhm-hm,' he hums again.

'Are you at least wearing socks on your feet, Goten?'

Shaking his head, he hums, 'Mhm-hm,' but when he looks down at his feet to confirm this, he finds that one of his feet, does have a sock on them.

Oh! There's one sock on one foot.

He sharply looks up to see if his mom can see him and his one sock. If she wonders if he's lying to her, it's not his fault. He always goes to bed with socks on both of his feet, but he almost always wakes up with feet without socks. Sometimes, not so many times, he wakes up with one foot inside a sock, and the other with no sock.

This morning, it looks like one foot of his wanted a sock, while the other didn't want one. It's only a little embarrassing that he told his mom that he wasn't wearing socks, when he actually has one sock on.

'I have one sock, Mom,' he confesses, after embarrassed giggles. 'Can I have some milk now?'

He got one out of three, and at least, only one foot of his is touching the floor. That should be enough for him to get some milk, he thinks, but his mom only looks at him without saying anything. Her silence can only mean one thing, he tells himself, and that is that he forgot to use the most important word of all.

'Please,' he quickly corrects himself.

He really never means to forget what his mom tells him, but when the time comes, his brain just forgets the things that she keeps telling him over and over. It's not that he wants to be a bad child, who always makes his mom repeat everything to him, but... He doesn't know, he just forgets when he needs to remember the important things that she tells him to say and do, or not do.

'Tell you what,' she smiles at him, 'brush your teeth. Wash your face. Find your other sock, and wear it. Pee and wash your hands. Go to wake your father, and then, come for breakfast, and your milk.'

All that, he frowns a little, does he really have to? Why can't he just have milk first, and then do all that other stuff? He doesn't even have school today, so there's no need to do all that. But, he tells himself, if he thinks about it, there's one thing that she told him to do, that will be a lot of fun. If he has to go and wake up his dad without his mom there, that means one thing; he can jump on their bed. His dad will definitely let him do that, because his dad is the coolest!

'Okay, Mom,' he happily answers, excited by the thought of jumping on his parents' bed.

Not to waste any more time, he rushes back to his room to find his sock. He quickly finds it between his sheets, and just as quickly pulls it onto his empty foot. Okay, he knows that his mother gave him an order of things to do for a reason, and he even remembers that specific given order, but she won't know the difference. As long as he gets everything done while she is busy in the kitchen, it's fine.

The sock is on his foot, he mentally checks off one thing. Now, it's time for the bathroom, to wash his face, and then brush his teeth.

It's wrong, and if his mom finds out, she'll shake her head at him, but the thing is, this morning in the bathroom, he doesn't want to risk getting soap in his eyes. It's always so annoying when he has to run to his mom and have her wash it out for him, that he can't risk that today. Today, he wants, as soon as possible to wash his face and brush his teeth, and then go to jump on his parents' bed.

He quickly splashes water onto his face, before reaching for his toothbrush and the toothpaste. Of all the things that he has to do in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, is his favourite. He likes to hover in the air, like he's doing now, and look himself in the mirror as he runs the toothbrush over his teeth. His big brother taught him that it's not safe to brush his teeth in an up and down way, but nah... Up and down is fun.

Up and down creates more foam, and that way, he gets to make silly faces at himself in the mirror, with a foaming mouth. The foam is his favourite part of brushing his teeth. He likes the minty and sweet taste of toothpaste too, but it's the foam that's really, really, special to him. With the greenish foam coming from his mouth, and all around his mouth, he can't help it do something, like make silly faces at his reflection.

While doing his silly brushing, his brush pushes hard against his bottom front tooth. It's not painful, it's just that for days now, that tooth has been loose, and moving around too much. He didn't tell his mom, dad and big brother, not even Trunks, because he might get into trouble for getting his tooth loose. Until he remembers what he did to get it loose, he won't make it looser by brushing it too hard.

Thinking this, he rinses his mouth and is almost out of the bathroom door, when he remembers that he still has to pee. And wash his hands.

Maybe, this is why his mom always tells him to pee. He's so silly. Sometimes, he remembers to pee, but sometimes, when he's really excited, he forgets all about peeing, until it gets to be a bit too much for him, and he can't hold it in anymore. Quickly, he pees, washes his hands without soap, because his mom won't know anyway, and then he flies off to wake his dad.

'Hey, Daaaad,' he pulls the last word while pushing the door open.

His mom didn't completely close their bedroom door, which is why he's able to easily push it open. When he steps inside the room, he sees from the door, that his father is still asleep. Obviously, his mom wouldn't have sent him here if his dad was awake. Waking up his dad, is his special job from his mom, and then only can he jump and down on their bed as much as he likes.

'Dad,' he calls again when he goes over to his dad's side, 'wake up!'

It seems like his dad hears him, because he opens and closes his mouth like he took something in to chew it, but he doesn't wake up. He probably doesn't want to wake up yet, but his mom said that he should wake up, so Goten has no choice but to wake his dad. To properly wake his dad, he does the only thing that he thinks will work, and that is climbing on top of his sleeping dad.

'Wake up, Dad,' he tries again, using all of his might this time to shake his dad awake.

His shaking works, because his dad opens his eyes, closes them, and then opens them for a second time, saying a sleepy, 'Huh?'

'Wake up,' he says clearly for his dad to catch every word. 'Mom said I should wake you up.'

His dad begins to sit up in bed, which makes him slide down his dad's body, to his legs. Instead of feeling confused on how that happened, he finds it really fun, that he wants to do it again. It's only that his dad gets completely out of bed, that he doesn't get the chance to slide down like that anymore.

'Hey, Goten,' his dad blinks at him.

Yep, Goten decides, his dad is awake if he recognises him. That means, that he can ask his dad for the fun part, the part that brought him here in excitement.

'Hey, Dad,' he greets back, following it with his important question, 'Can I jump on your bed?'

Really, he likes his parents' bed. He likes that it's so much bigger than his, and that makes it better to jump on. His bed is small, and it doesn't make him spring at all when he jumps. His mom bought him a hard bed that doesn't move at all, so he doesn't even sink when he climbs into his bed. His mom says that beds like that are good for children to sleep on, though. But his parents' bed is different. It's soft and feels like a cushion when he lies on it, which he really, really like.

'Yeah, sure, Goten,' his dad smiles at him, and then drops his voice to warn him. 'Just don't let your mom hear you, okay. She'll kill us.'

'Yes!' he exclaims happily, already setting himself off to jumping.

This is so fun!

Jumping on their springy bed, is one of the fun things that he likes to do, which he's not really allowed to do. Sometimes, he thinks that he should not find it fun to jump on his parents' bed, when he can easily fly up into the air, and then criss-cross with styles in the air, but... Jumping is so much more fun, because he can do funny tricks while he's up in the air, just before he has to go back down, to jump up again. There are times when he misses to land properly, and he falls, but that's also fun for him to do.

He happily continues to jump using funny tricks, turning around this and that way, not paying attention to what his dad is doing, when suddenly hears his mom's voice call his name.

'Goten.'

High up in the air, close to the ceiling, the sound of his mom's voice frightens him so much, that he loses concentration of his jumping, to fall on the bed, onto his face and stomach. He won't even try to bring his face up from the sheets on the bed, because, uh-oh, he's in trouble now.

'Really, Goku,' he hears his mom say to his dad, 'would it kill you to discipline Goten just once?'

Maybe, he hopes, his mom will not get upset with him, only with his dad. It's not that he wants his dad to get into trouble, but if his mom gets upset with his dad, he may be saved from a long talk from his mom. His mom's talks are always long, and he doesn't like to listen to them.

'You know I can't do that, Chi-Chi,' his dad answers.

Because he feels curious to see if his mom has that 'You're-in-trouble,' look on her face for his dad, he lifts his face to spy on his parents. His spy plan doesn't work out well for him, because he finds his mom looking directly his way. He would've dived his face right back into the sheets, if she didn't point her finger at him, and speak to him.

'And you...'

Oops, he thinks, maybe he should apologize to her, and then she won't be upset with him.

'Your milk is ready...' his mom finishes, and he unfreezes a little bit. 'Now, both of you, go and have breakfast. I need to make up the beds.'

Safe, he thinks, glad to be getting off like this. Even his dad seems to think the same, because the way that his dad smiles at him, is something that he has seen before.

26Chapters

He loves this day. He loves it, he loves it.

When he sees Trunks the next time, he'll tell him all about this day and how much he loves it. He'll tell Trunks that first, he got to jump on his parents bed, and then after breakfast, he and his dad went outside to train a little bit, while his mom did the cleaning.

It was fun when they trained together, him and his dad. It was even more fun when they swam in the lake. He likes training and aiming to be as strong as his dad, but the splashes that he gets to make in the water, are better than training. It was even fun when they had to wait on the grass, out in the sun, for their hair to dry, because his mom wouldn't like it if they came home with their hair wet from their swim. It was all fun, what they did together, but now, they're hungry.

'What do you think Mom made, Dad?' he asks as they wash their hands at the outside tap.

'Something delicious,' his dad answers.

Obviously, he thinks. His dad gives really silly answers sometimes. Everyone knows that his mom always makes delicious food. He is asking his dad, only because he wants to imagine what she could've made, so that he can start anticipating the meal already.

Looking at his dad carefully, he wants to know, 'Like something baked?'

'I hope so,' his dad says. 'Come on, I'll race you to the kitchen, Goten.'

And then his dad just takes off like that, leaving him a little bit confused.

'Not fair, Dad,' he shouts after his dad.

He didn't even get a warning to start racing with his dad, and by the time that he stops being shocked, closes the tap and run to catch up and beat his dad in the race, he knows that he's already lost the race. When he reaches the kitchen, he feels cheated by his dad, but he forgets all about it when he sees his dad with his mom.

He can't help it and look at them from where he is. His mom wouldn't approve of him being in the kitchen with them and not letting them that he's in here with him, but it's not his fault that they don't know. They have their backs to him, so it's not his fault. His dad's arm is around his mom's back, but his hand is pressed on the counter next to his mom's body, like his dad is keeping his mom there, so that she doesn't move. His dad's chin is also on his mom's shoulder, which can only mean that they are busy together.

They look nice like that, he thinks.

They look close to each other, and that's a good thing in their house; they all like to be close to each other. He doesn't know what he will feel like, if they stop being close like this in their house. Trunks is his friend, but Trunks and his parents aren't like him and his parents. Even though Trunks and his parents have a lot of nice and big things, Trunks doesn't have fun with his dad, like he has with his dad here at home.

'No,' his mom says to his dad.

He knows that 'no,' from his mom. Smiling to himself, he can already tell that his dad is trying to get in food before the time to eat has come. His father is just like that, always bothering his mom like that. And his mom is just like that, always pretending that she doesn't like it. He sees her, though. When she thinks that no one is watching, when his dad is looking away, he always sees her smiling, which means that she likes him bothering him.

Smiling even more at his parents playing with each other like that, he watches as his dad lifts his chin off his mom's shoulder and whispers something in her ear.

'I said, no, Goku,' answers his mom. 'Just wait a little bit.'

Yep, he confirms, his dad definitely wants to eat before it's time, but his mom won't hear it. She's strict on that, but... Wait... He knows, if he helps his dad convince his mom, they might just get to eating earlier than she would usually allow.

'Mom,' he calls for, 'we want to eat, please.'

He didn't forget that important word this time, he proudly thinks. That should make his mom happy enough to listen to them begging her.

His mom, with his dad, when they hear his voice, both move like he scared them. It shouldn't, but it makes him smile even more to see that reaction from his parents. His mom is always the one surprising him, so it's really nice to know that he can surprise her too.

'Goten,' she scolds with a funny look on her face, 'don't sneak up on us like that!'

'Sorry, Mom,' he quickly apologises, only because he has to.

Most of the time, he only does things, because there's a reward in store for him if he does. The good thing is, he never forgets any promises that are made to him, and that motivates him to do things that he wouldn't normally want to do. Some other times, he does things because he wants to, because it would mean that his mom wouldn't get upset or sad with him. Right now, he won't accept that he snuck up on them, because he didn't. It's his parents who didn't hear him come in, but he has to apologise to make his mom happy, and get an early lunch with his dad.

'He only wants to eat,' his dad defends him.

'But lunch isn't ready,' she says, looking at the both of them.

'Aaaw,' he and his dad complain to her.

'Look,' she shows them a smile, 'if you really want to eat, you can get some fruit and biscuits, but that means no dessert after lunch today.'

No dessert after lunch? That's not fair. On no-school days, her desserts are always the best!

A little worried, he looks at his dad to help him out here. He has to know that fruit and biscuits are better than the dessert that she's making, before he agrees to it.

'What is dessert, Mom?'

'Hmpf,' she sounds. 'If you eat the fruit and biscuits, you'll never find out.'

That's so unfair, he wants to say to his mom. She can at least tell them about the dessert, so that they can know.

'But-' he starts to complain, but his dad shakes his head and stops him.

'Come on, Goten,' his dad tells him, sounding sad, 'let's go outside.'

26Chapters

He's glad that his mom is sitting down with them for dessert at least. It was just him and his dad for lunch, because she was busy, but now she's here. And he likes that. It's only that as she is sitting down to start her dessert, a voice sounds in the air.

'Hallo, Chi-Chi?'

Confused, he looks at his dad, but his dad is still eating his tart carefully. He looks at his mom, and she looks like she knows where the sound is coming from.

'Whis?' she speaks into a watch on her wrist, after she pushes her sleeve back.

'It's me,' he answers like he's singing. 'How are you?'

Oh, it's Whis, he thinks, stopping his eating for now. He likes Whis. Whis is nice and fun. Because he wants to see if his dad feels the same way about hearing Whis, he looks at him. It looks like his dad feels the same, he tells himself, otherwise he wouldn't have stopped his eating to look at his mother.

'I'm fine,' his mom answers with a smile. 'You?'

'Oh, you know. A day with Lord Beerus, is a day I'm Whis...'

Whis still sounds like he's singing his words, but he guesses, Whis is just like that. He can be silly like his dad sometimes.

'Don't I know what you mean?' his mom laughs.

He frowns at his mother's laugh, because he doesn't understand what that means. He understands the words, but what they mean together... He doesn't like that he can't understand what Whis and his mom are talking about, that is making her laugh.

It's at times like this, that he feels like a stupid baby. He goes to school, so he should be able to understand the adults talking to each other. Maybe, he can quietly ask his dad what his mom and Whis are talking about, so that they can all laugh together about it. He looks at his dad, but his dad doesn't look like he understands either. He looks too serious to look like he understands, so he just looks back at his mom.

'I'll bet,' Whis answers with his own quiet laugh. 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Chi-Chi, but I have a proposition for you.'

Proposition. What's that word?

He'll ask Trunks what that word means. No, he quickly changes his mind, he can't ask Trunks about it. Trunks will only laugh at him and call him a clueless baby, and then choose not to tell him anyway. He'll just have to remember to ask his big brother, because his mom wouldn't like to know that he has been listening to their conversation, instead of finishing his strawberry tart.

'What is it?' he hears his mom ask.

'Well,' Whis says, 'it was actually Bulma's idea. She communicated to me, that she'd like to apologise to me for that unpleasant day. If you ask me, I think she's just trying to bribe me into her good books, but oh well. Anyhow, she suggested a get together with all of us, and surprisingly, Lord Beerus agreed.'

Okay, wow, he's really interested to hear more, than to eat. He's a curious person, he wants to know what's going on, and even better if it involves his mom. And Whis, Whis is cool.

'Okay...' his mom agrees, sounding like she's telling him to go and tell him more.

'We settled on a friendly baseball game, with me as the referee, since it was sooooo much fun the last time, don't you think? And we've selected your home area, as the suitable place for this game. Actually,' Whis seems to giggle on the other end, 'that was Lord Beerus' suggestion.'

This surprises his mom, because she asks, 'Lord Beerus?'

'He'll never admit it,' Whis giggles again, 'but he liked your food from the other day, and he's only interested to eat more from your hand. Hence, his suggestion.'

'Whis!' a loud voice says from Whis' end. 'Keep my name from your lies!'

'Don't mind him,' Whis laughs as he tells his mom that.

Again, his mom joins Whis and laughs. And again, because he doesn't understand what they are laughing about, he looks at his dad for help. He didn't expect to find his father laughing along with his mom and Whis, but he didn't expect his father to look like this either. Watching his father closely, he's not sure how to say his dad is, because he's never really seen his father like this.

'So, what is this about a baseball game?' his mom asks Whis, which makes him turn away from his dad, back to her.

'It's supposed to be a match of reconciliation, according to Bulma,' Whis explains.

Whatever a match of reconciliation is, he's looking forward to it. With Whis there, it's sure to be fun, whatever it is. Maybe, he and Trunks will be allowed to play, and then they can compete with each other that way; to see who is better.

'Dad,' he turns back to his dad, 'are you excited for the game?'

He doesn't understand, it's like his dad is not excited at all. Isn't he listening to his mom and Whis? Didn't he hear what they said?

'Dad!' he calls again.

This second time, his father hears him, answering him with a confused, 'Huh?' but he doesn't look at him. His dad keeps his eyes on his mom.

'Are you excited for the baseball game?' Goten repeats for his dad.

His dad doesn't answer him, and because of the silence from his dad, he gets to hear what his mom says to Whis.

'Tomorrow afternoon is fine,' she says. 'I'll have plenty of time to prepare.'

'And I'll be sure to be there early for the construction of the whole thing,' Whis says back to her. 'It would be a good chance to spend time together, am I right?'

Even though he can hear his mom and Whis talking now that there's nothing come from his dad, he's still looking at his dad, to understand. He wants to know why his dad is looking at his mom with that face, that's not the usually happy one. And just now... How his dad opens his mouth like he's seeing something that he can't believe... Why is that?

'Dad!' he tries for his attention, which he doesn't get.

'Dad!' he insists for attention again, but his dad doesn't respond to him.

'Dad! Dad!' he continues to try.

Him calling for his father without receiving an answer, bothers his mother to leave the table immediately. He should be sorry for making his mom leave the table like that, but he's just trying to know what his dad is thinking. He's never really seen his father like this, and it's starting to make him a little sad.

'Dad!' he tries again, touching his dad's arm this time.

'What, Goten?!' his dad suddenly shouts at him.

But... What did he do?

The way his dad turned his head to him and then shouted at him, makes him want to start crying. His dad isn't like this. His dad doesn't shout at him, and get angry with him. His dad, is like Trunk's mom, and she always makes sure that they don't get in trouble with his mom and Trunk's dad. His Dad is always happy and smiling with. They are always playing together. His dad even said this morning, that he could never discipline him, but... His dad just shouted at him.

It doesn't feel nice to be shouted at like that. Not by his dad. If it had been his mom, he would've known that he did something to be shouted at, but his dad... What did he do?

'I'm sorry,' he says, hanging his head and feeling ready to cry.

He did something to his dad, he thinks. Just like he bothered his mom to leave the table, he bothered his dad to shout at him too. He doesn't feel good anymore. He just wants to cry.

'Goten... I'm sorry,' his dad apologises, 'I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I'm sorry, Son.'

If his dad is saying sorry to him, then maybe his dad isn't angry with him, so he brings his face up to look at his dad. He still doesn't feel good, but he wants to see if his dad means his sorry with a smiling face.

'You're not annoyed with me?' he wants to know, because there's no smile on his dad's face.

His dad shakes his head, 'No, I'm not annoyed with you. I just don't feel like eating anymore. I don't feel good anymore.'

So that's it, Goten identifies, his dad doesn't feel well.

That's okay, he thinks. Sometimes, when he feels sick, he never wants to eat or play with Trunks. He just wants to lie down, until he doesn't feel bad anymore. But when his mom makes him take yucky medicine, she takes care of him and gives him nice kisses all over his face-

'I know!' the idea comes to him. 'Mom can make you feel better! She gives me medicine when I feel sick. The medicine is bad, but she kisses me after, and I always feel better.'

'Her kisses make you feel better?' his dad asks.

He doesn't give him an answer quickly, because he has to think about it. His mom says it's the medicine that makes him better, but he thinks that it's her many kisses that make him feel better. Getting kisses all over his face just feels nice to him, that he just starts to feel better.

'They are nice,' he decides to tell his dad. 'I like them. But...'

His dad looks worried when he asks, 'What?'

'You have to promise to not tell Trunks that I like Mom's kisses,' he says. 'He'll laugh at me.'

Trunks can be mean sometimes, especially when he's laughing. He doesn't Trunks to know that he likes to get kisses from his mom. He doesn't want to look like a baby to his friend.

Lucky for him, his dad smiles and nods at him. 'I promise not to tell Trunks.'

That's good. And it's also good that his dad is smiling again. He likes that.

'Okay, I'll tell Mom to come and make you feel better,' he promises, just before he leaves the table to his mom, a little way from the table.

When he reaches his mom, she's still smiling, and she's still talking to Whis.

'Not that hard,' she says, 'I'll show you tomorrow.'

He knows better than to interrupt her while she's busy, but she has to stop talking to Whis. His dad needs help, and she's the only one who can help him. He just knows that with her kisses, his dad will feel better again.

'Mom,' he tugs on her free arm for her attention, and she looks down at him.

'Hmm?'

'Dad needs your kisses,' he explains to her. 'He's feeling sick, but you can him better with your kisses, Mom.'

He's sure of it. His mom is the best at everything. She's the best at cooking, and she's the best at making him feel better. She'll for sure be able to make his dad feel better again, and then his dad will be smiling and eating again.

His mom looks at him, and then she looks at the side where his dad is, like she doesn't believe him.

'Hurry, Mom,' he pleads.

She just needs to stop talking to Whis right now, and go to make his dad better. She can do that. He knows that can make him feel better, if she just stops talking to Whis.

Chapter 22, Keeping Score.