Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

Quick update before I leave town today. Enjoy!

"I guess this has been long overdue," Bulma sighed as she sat down across from her brother at the dining room table. She looked over to Vegeta in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Her mother was upstairs with Trunks, having come over to see how he was doing. "I don't even know where to begin or what to say."

"Well," Tarble breathed out, "I'm assuming that dad and Bunny weren't just together for a night, huh?"

Bulma's expression soured. "I honestly didn't think Launch would say that to you, but that's what dad told her. I've tried very hard to ignore her when she says that or that mom wouldn't let him be a father to me. Truthfully, it was his choice to leave, and the courts wanted us to have supervised visitation. They asked mom who she felt comfortable with in his family, so she chose our grandparents. If not for that, it would have been a court appointed official who wouldn't have let dad go off places alone with me like our grandparents would."

Tarble took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Well, that couldn't be helped," he stated. "Alright, continue."

"Dad didn't like having any supervisor and told our grandparents to back off. He wanted to see me alone to 'establish a relationship' with him before anyone else in the family, but they lived so close and I wanted to see them, so mom arranged visitation with them, too," Bulma explained. "One time I was there, it was for one of our cousin's Communion. Dad's brother mentioned the family picnic in passing, and so I wanted to go to that."

"F…Family picnic?" Tarble questioned.

"You were young at the time, and you maybe went to one when you were seven," Bulma explained. "It's a yearly thing if you ever want to go, but since it's around the time Launch and dad got married, you've been with her each time."

"I see," Tarble remarked. "So dad didn't want you to go?"

"No," Bulma answered. "He told me we couldn't go, and when I asked why he said it was because you guys hadn't moved there yet and were focused on the move, so grandma said they'd bring me. I told him it was okay and that I'd go with them and then turned off my phone for the night. When I woke up, he had sent many messages saying that I was a manipulative child and if I went we were done. I chose to go, and then dad stopped talking to me which is why I didn't see you until senior year when you all came to one of my school events, one of the only times he was ever there."

Tarble softened and reached out to take his sister's hand. She jumped, startled from her thoughts. He could tell how hard it was for her to tell him it all. She was forcing herself from her body, just speaking as if she was reporting something that happened to someone else. "I now understand what you meant when you said you understood," Tarble murmured. "You understood why I felt shorted at dad not being there for my high school and college graduation. Dad never went to yours."

Tears pricked Bulma's eyes. She pulled her hand away and just covered up her eyes, shaking to try to stop the tears. Tarble sighed and got up from the table, moving to hug the woman. She clung to him tightly as if she was waiting for him to pull away and abandon her. Tarble felt his heart ache for her. Is that how she felt about their father? Is that why it had taken her so long to meet someone? Was she afraid to be abandoned?

"Tarble, I didn't want you to know this stuff," Bulma argued. "Please, let's just forget about it. I can't…I can't go back to that time."

"It wasn't the worst of it," her brother figured. "It got worse after you graduated, didn't it? During that time, I didn't see you at all. I remember dad telling us what you guys talked about on his drive home from work. To be honest, he never said anything bad about you ever. I just figured you were busy living your life."

"Dad was making me feel like shit and criticized everything about me," Bulma admitted. "I became very stressed out, a perfectionist. Remember your First Communion?" Tarble nodded. "I said I had gotten two low grades in front of everyone, and dad and Launch said it was fine and everything. Yet I still felt like a failure because of things dad had said to me before. If you don't mind, I'd like to keep that to myself. There are some who know, but all I am willing to say right now is that it was bad and I questioned whether or not dad even loved me. I couldn't even call him dad until he died, and at first only when I was around you. He came to me in a dream and I felt his love, but I didn't believe it when he was alive. He placed all the blame on me for all the drama in his life even though I tried everything."

Her voice cracked, finally unable to hold back her emotion. She started crying, and Tarble could feel his sister's pain and heartache. "I really tried, Tarble. I wanted things to work out. I wanted to be there for you so much. I'd send letters with gifts I thought you'd like. I couldn't talk to you, so I wanted to make sure you knew I cared. I was afraid one day you'd ask questions and they'd lie about me. I would constantly picture us having this moment, but you would always wind up not believing me and hating me, leaving me there. I was always afraid you'd hate me."

"I don't hate you," Tarble assured her, his voice full of compassion. "It's a lot to take in, Bulma. I can't even imagine dad doing something like that. I'm sorry you went through that. I can't hate dad…"

"I don't want you to hate him," Bulma responded. "I don't even hate him." She smiled weakly, her tears still wetting her cheeks. "We had good memories too, but the bad always took root in my mind because they kept happening. Me…his family…we all begged him to just let it go and move on with us. I would have been fine having never received an apology as long as he promised to just end it. We never had to talk about any of it. I would have been fine with that, as long as the hurtful words and pain stopped.

"When he died, I felt destroyed," she admitted. "I had such severe night terrors that I needed to take sleeping pills. It pains me that we'll never be able to make things work out. That was one of my greatest fears."

"Bulma," Tarble murmured.

"Yeah?"

It took the young man time to think of a suitable response that wouldn't upset his sister. "I…I won't involve myself in it. I love you, and I understand and feel for you, and if you need to talk, I'll listen." He took a shaky breath. "But I know my mom wants to talk to you about dad. I never knew what about, but now it makes sense. I won't tell you what to do. I won't even give you my opinion on whether or not you should hear her out. I know you. You look at the positives and negatives of everything, to mentally prepare for the worst. Now I know why. Anyway, what I'm saying is…I know you've had this debate many times before and you've made your choice. I support whatever you think is best for you. I won't tell mom I know, but with that I can't get her to back down."

"Tarble, I wouldn't want you to," Bulma told him, smiling as she wiped her tears away. "To be honest, I wish you didn't know, but it was only a matter of time. It gets to Trunks sometimes, because he feels that dad should have been there for me."

"Dad should have been there for you," Tarble urged, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I'll never understand why he did all that, and I won't deny that it was wrong of him. But…and I hope he'd forgive me for saying this, I'm not him. You don't have to be afraid of me or feel like you have to keep secrets. We're adults, and we can make out own decisions. After everything you've done for me, even Trunks, I'd be a total jerk if I were to turn against you. Whatever dad said to you before, he was wrong, because the only Bulma I've ever seen is a strong, independent, loving sister. Nothing will change that."

Bulma's breath hitched before she cast him a relieved smile. "You have no idea how much it means to hear that, little bro."

Tarble laughed and blushed at her term of endearment. "I do know, sis. That's why I said it. Now, why don't you go check on Trunks? We'll get dinner on the table."

"Alright," Bulma agreed. "Thanks."

Bulma stood up from the table, her body feeling heavy from emotional and physical exhaustion from the whole day. She made her way up the stairs finding Trunks and her mother in the teenager's room. "Are you sure you don't want me to read you a bedtime story?" Bunny teased warmly.

Trunks chuckled and blushed. "Gramma," he whined. "I'm not a little kid anymore, and it's not bedtime. I've been sleeping all day." He noticed his mother in the doorway and mouthed the words, "Help me."

Managing not to laugh, the mother entered and placed her hand on Bunny's shoulder. "I think he needs to get downstairs for dinner. Thanks for coming to check on him."

"Oh, of course!" Bunny chimed. "And it looks like you remember all that I've taught you over the years for dealing with colds. Of course, you forgot the zinc cough drops."

"I don't have a sour throat," Trunks deadpanned. "I'm just congested. Mom already gave me something for that."

"Well, that's fine then," Bunny adulated. "Now, I'm going to get going. I hear it's been quite the intense day for all of you."

"Mom, you could stay for dinner," Bulma offered.

"No, that's fine. My coworkers are meeting out tonight and I said I'd go. I can't go back on my word."

"Okay, then, have fun." Bulma brought her mother out of the room giving Trunks time to check his phone. His eyes widened from all the messages he received, all from Mai, even a voicemail.

Slowly, he reached for the phone, and he began reading them all.

Mai had felt awful after Trunks had left the school. When she tried to ask Goten what happened, he wouldn't answer. He stayed quiet as he helped her with her wrists before leaving her to herself. She wondered what Trunks had said to Goten. After math class, Goten waited until they were the last in the room. He walked over to her looking highly displeased. "Mai, you got a second?"

Fear. That's all she felt in that moment. Goten wasn't Trunks, and she was only starting to get to know him. "S-Sure," she stammered.

Goten sighed when he heard her anxiety. "Look, Mai, it may not seem like it, but Trunks has it rough whether it seems like it or not. He's my best friend, and even though he's admitted he knows I have things worse than he does, he's told me stuff that made me realize that no one's life is perfect. Trunks has always said he would rather take on half my pain so that my stress was more manageable and that he could handle the other half. He basically does, to be honest. I stress him out all the time even when I'm okay because he's always going to worry that I'm not okay and it scares him, just like it scares me if he and Valese aren't okay. Mai…he won't say thing to you because you're the one suffering, but the reason he's so insistent is because he's afraid to lose you."

Mai was stunned by Goten's words, especially when he abruptly left after them. Immediately, she took out her phone and texted Trunks. Hey…I'm sorry about earlier. Please text me back. I didn't mean it.

She didn't get a response right away. It was possible he was in trouble for cutting school, or maybe he just didn't want to look at his phone. Maybe that would change after school.

Trying to focus on the rest of the day wasn't helpful. At lunch, she barely ate despite the scolding of Valese and Videl. Goten tried to prompt her to eat, but Mai shook her head and then went off somewhere in the school alone.

Well, almost alone.

"Well, well, well," Paigen's voice cut through her. "If it isn't Mai Tai. You know, your little fuck buddy was smart to go to that new counselor, but it doesn't matter now I guess anyway. Rumor has it the two of you broke up this morning. I should have known he wouldn't put up with you for too long. I hope he was a good lay. Maybe now he'll be more receptive to me."

Her heart ached, but her anger flared and all she wanted to do for the first time in her life was fight back and defend herself and her friend. "You wish," she scoffed, her voice even and cold. "Trunks isn't an object, Paigen, and we not that it's any of your business, but we never slept together. He is and always will be my friend, and I won't let some fake dye orange-haired 'redhead' degrade him. So what if we argued? It has nothing to do with you, so why don't you get a life? Your life must be so damn boring if you need to amuse yourself with ours."

Paigen appeared affronted. She could not believe that Mai had talked down to her like that. This girl was a nothing, a nobody, just an obedient follower that had no future ahead of her. Where did all that fight and confidence come from? "Humph," the girl grumbled. "Why would I want anything to do with the likes of you? Your life isn't that great, anyway."

Mai smiled sadly at that. "You're right," she agreed. "That's about to change."

The dark-haired girl walked away feeling lighter than she had, all because she had channeled Trunks's optimism and fighting spirit. He had no doubt that she would finally get out of her hellhole. She had to trust in that.

Once again, she texted her friend, and once again she was ignored, but she refused to let that bother her. Just wanted to let you know that you were right, about everything. I'm ready to talk whenever you're willing to listen. I'm really sorry if you're still upset about earlier. Please, be okay.

At the end of the day, Mai hurried home to find that Zarbon was already waiting for her at the door. She cautiously eyed him, trying to gage his emotion to see what would happen. The sunlight glistened exposing a knife in a holster on his belt. Mai gulped, but she shifted her bag on her shoulder and confidently strode in the house.

"You made it home earlier than the last couple days," Zarbon pointed out.

Mai shrugged nonchalantly. "The packet was handed in today. Next week, though, Trunks is my partner in science. We're going to be working late after school to come up with some ideas and to do the research."

"Did the teacher pair you this time?" Zarbon scoffed. "Or are you using the project as a way to spend time with him?"

Turning to face him with defiant eyes, Mai shot back with, "What's the difference? No matter what I say, you're still going to do whatever you want to me. Stop trying to use me 'lying' as an excuse."

Zarbon was clearly unamused by the scathing, disrespectful taunt. He approached her slowly, yet she held her ground. This girl standing in front of him was defiant, nothing like the girl he had broken over the years. "I think we need our little obedience tools."

Mai grinned maliciously, ripping off her sweatshirt, before she held out her bandaged wrists to him. "Go ahead," she challenged. "See what happens. If I can't write or if these burns get worse and I can't hide them, I guess we're changing schools again and you'll have to find a new house with secret compartments and close to Cold Enterprises. Do you really want to keep playing this game?"

"I don't how this attitude of yours has arisen, however I am not pleased," Zarbon growled. "You have a five minute reprieve, but after that you're going to regret the manner in which you spoke to me."

"Whatever," Mai grunted before she grabbed her back and ran up to the room. She didn't know what the hell happened to her, but she felt determined and not the least bit afraid. In moments, though, her determination would no longer be of use. For now, she texted Trunks again. Thinking of the boy gave her strength, and she needed every ounce of it. Standing up to Paigen and Zarbon felt good. She wanted to fight.

If you don't hear from me later, I sort of got myself into trouble again. I'll be okay, but I don't want you to worry. I'll be fine.

She was not fine by the time Zarbon dragged her back up the stairs to her room. She had lost this confident resolve she had and Zarbon had teased her over it. He tried to convince her it was all an act, that her mind was playing tricks on her. She wasn't her own person. She belonged to him.

Beside herself, she had cried and screamed after he started barreling into her. He pulled no punches with her, using his own fists to cause damage. Surely she had some broken bones. Well, maybe she didn't. The pain could be coming from the internal bleeding evident by the bruises that littered her body.

"Here," Zarbon jeered tossing Mai's phone onto her bed. "I'll give you this little reprieve. Let me guess. 'Lavender' knows, right? As long as he tells no one, maybe, just maybe I'll allow you this one friend."

Zarbon laughed cruelly as he left her room, closing her door behind him. It would have bothered Mai that Zarbon figured out that Trunks knew, but she knew the man was not an idiot. He suspected Trunks knew. She gave him no verbal confirmation. Still, he had scathingly said he would let her see Trunks. Despite the pain she was in, she smiled slightly and weakly reached for her phone. She could barely move to type on the phone, so she pressed the button and put it on speaker.

"Hey, this is Trunks. You know what to do."

She grinned. Even his voicemail was quirky. After the beep sounded, she spoke, her voice light and airy. "Hey, Trunks. I…can't text right now. To be honest, he really did a number on me tonight, but it's not the worst it's been. I…I stood up to him. It hurts, but I stood up to him. You're right. I can do this. As long as I have you by my side, I can. Just…please forgive me. I was scared. I didn't mean what I said. Well…in case I don't talk to you…"

"Have a good night."

Trunks held the phone to his ear, his hand as well as his body shaking. Mai had really thought about him all throughout the day? She was sorry? He chuckled bitterly. She was the one who was hurt. "That…that bastard," he growled. "Mai…"

"Trunks?"

Trunks looked to his mother observing him, studying him. He smiled forlornly and said, "I'll be down in a minute. I just need to make a call."

"Okay, but hurry down. Vegeta made soup for all of us," Bulma informed.

Her son nodded to her, so Bulma gave him some privacy. The teenager quickly chose Mai's number and heard it ring multiple times before it picked up. "H-Hello?" a sleepy voice spoke.

"Mai…" Trunks breathed out, relieved.

"Trunks?"

"Yeah, it's me. Did I wake you?"

He heard a yawn on the other end which he found endearing. "Maybe," she answered. "Did you get my message?"

"Of course I did," Trunks assured her. "Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I…it was a rough afternoon." To prove his point, his body tensed taking him by surprise as he started hacking away.

Mai sounded more awake and alert the next time she spoke. "T-Trunks! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "I just did something stupid and gave myself a cold. Never walk home from school in the rain…or go out and sulk in it for an hour."

"Trunks, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It wasn't just you, Mai," he soothed. "There were some other things going on when I got home, and I was being an idiot. Don't worry about me. I'm going to stay in this weekend. Mom has me covered, and Gramma came over to check me out. I just need to rest and all that stuff."

"Oh Trunks," Mai chided. "Still, I'm really-"

Trunks stopped her again, refusing to let her apologize. "No, Mai. We were both scared, you most of all. It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. It was just a misunderstanding."

There was silence for a moment before he heard a soft, "Thank you."

He grinned, feeling a lot better now that things between him and Mai were cleared up. His demeanor altered, though, when he thought of something else. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Mai promised. "I…I'm too exhausted tonight. I'll be okay, though. I'm just really sore."

He did not like that answer, but it was one step in the right direction. Honestly, he was glad Mai was resting, so he wasn't going to push her. Not tonight, and not in the future. She already knew what she needed to do, and somehow she had gotten herself to fight back. Hopefully, he could nurture that. She needed to be willing to fight.

Trunks placed his phone back on the nightstand and went to leave his room. He paused in the doorway, looking back and out the window and grimaced.

This storm needed to end.

Bulma went up to her room after dinner to call Goku and fill him in on everything that had happened that day. At first, she was going to do the dishes, but Vegeta sent her upstairs to rest. Trunks was already in bed, passed out once more. It was a good thing it was the weekend. That meant he had a couple days to recover from this.

"Hey, Bulma, everything okay?"

She laughed at the irony. "Yeah, for the most part. They found out today, about my father."

"They?" her friend questioned. "Uh, who's they, B?"

"Vegeta and Tarble."

There was a momentary lapse in silence. "Holy shit, B. Are you okay?"

"Strangely enough, I am. Tarble accepts the truth, but he's agreed to stay out of the whole situation. You were right all along, Goku. He doesn't hate me. I've never felt this relieved other than when we found Trunks today. He was so upset, Goku. He and Mai had a bit of a disagreement, and then he overheard Vegeta say something positive about my father."

Unbeknownst to the woman, Vegeta was outside her door frozen when he heard her say his name. He had no idea what more she was going to say about him to her friend, Raditz's brother and her ex. She chuckled, confusing him. "Yeah, he was surprised, but he understands. He's really amazing Goku, I can't even begin to tell you. I'm truly lucky to have met him."

"I'm so happy for you, Bulma," Goku chimed. "I told you that you'd meet the right guy. By now, he probably knows everything."

"Surprisingly, yeah, at least all I can think of," Bulma replied. "He knows about my family's condition and the surgery, and about how Trunks was conceived. He knows about you and Yamcha. I had been telling him all along stuff about my father. We had a date the day my former boss said that disgusting thing about my son. I was such a mess. To be honest, we can both agree if Yamcha came in on that, he and I would have ended so much earlier."

Both she and her friend laughed, and Vegeta's brow quirked as if he missed an inside joke. "Yeah, I understand. To be fair to him, though, he just didn't know how to deal with women or emotions. He wasn't right for you. I had hoped he'd change, though."

"Yeah, well, I'm happy how things have turned out," Bulma murmured contently making the eavesdropper smirk. "Goku, it's so weird how fast this is happening, but at the same time it feels so right. I…I think I'm really falling for him."

Her words startled Vegeta, his smirk falling as he became dazed by those seven words. And apparently it wasn't over. "Definitely. He's amazing with Trunks, and Trunks really looks up to him. You remember that time we were all out at that fair and that guy came up to me thinking I was just tagging along with you and your family?" She laughed. "Yeah, I know. He was so stupid telling me to drop you and your kids, and then when he realized Trunks was mine he turned tail. But Vegeta isn't like that. He's put in as much time trying to get to know Trunks as he has with me…" She leaned back against her pillows, a dreamy look in her eyes. "Yeah, he really is. I think you two would really get along. We have a conference the week after this, but maybe after we get back we can all go out for dinner or something."

"I think I really would like him. Dinner sounds good. Talk to him about it, and we can set something up. After all, he may end up being the uncle of my kids, after all."

"Oh stop it, you're making me blush," she said to the man. "I can't think that far in the future. We're already moving so fast, I wouldn't want to scare him off with the idea of marriage or anything, so until we're ready for that, your kids are just going to have to make do with their aunt. Speaking of, how is Goten's new medication working out."

"Only time will tell, but so far so good. We've been on him about taking it, so he hasn't missed a dose, and now that it's in his system, he seems lighter. I still can't get over the drama they were dealing with in school. I mean, I know we had drama, but this is nuts."

"Yeah, high school bs. Well, next year, maybe it'll be like my school. Everyone will be so focused on their own lives and futures, they won't go out of their way to trash someone else's," Bulma huffed. "I'm glad Trunks was able to think of a way out."

"You're his mother after all. He gets it from you."

"Thanks," Bulma replied. "Anyway, we're gonna stay in this weekend now that Trunks is sick, but if you need anything, just call."

"Thanks, B. Get some rest, okay? You need it, too."

"Yeah, yeah. Jeez, you sound like Vegeta. The two of you are going to be tag teaming me in the future, I just know it… Yeah, don't worry. He's already forcing me to rest, so don't worry about me. Just keep that focus on you guys. We need you to be okay, too… Alright, have a good night. I'll text you sometime tomorrow."

Bulma hung up the phone and let it drop to her mattress as she happily sighed. She couldn't believe how easy it was to admit to her friend that she was falling hard for Vegeta. How could she not? He was everything she had always hoped she'd find, and he treated her with respect and care. When she had her emotional outbursts, the ones that she and her father had always hated, he just took it unlike her ex who had always run away from that kind of pain. For the longest time, she had felt something was wrong with her, but when she was with Vegeta she felt normal and that behavior wasn't the most horrid thing in the world.

Moments later, Vegeta finally decided to make his presence known. Bulma smiled at him, and after hearing what she confided in her friend her eyes shone with love. It wasn't that she was looking at him differently, so Vegeta was reeling over the fact that he hadn't seen it before. Nothing changed between them, for he felt the same, and she clearly hadn't wanted to pressure him into anything so it was business as usual.

Still, he couldn't ignore her words. She was falling for him? He was pretty sure he had been falling for her all along. It was why he could accept everything she said at face value even when she was still being secretive. Never once had she lied to him, and she had always been open about wanting to tell him one day. Sure, she hadn't told him herself, but he had respected her decision. It didn't affect their relationship in the slightest. He was getting to know Bulma, and just Bulma. He wasn't in it to get to know Dr. Briefs's daughter.

"Hey," she greeted, to which he answered with a grunt. "Thank you, for today I mean. I don't think I would have been able to handle it without you."

"S'what I'm here for," he murmured quietly as he dropped himself to the bed. His eyes peered over his shoulder to find Bulma still grinning at him, his lips quirking up in a coy smirk. He lied down next to the woman, pulling her close. It felt incredibly peaceful just being there with her. The silence was welcome.

"So, what did you overhear?" Vegeta tensed for a minute. How could he have been caught? Had she said all those things knowing he was there? "You know, with me and my brother."

Immediately, he relaxed. She was speaking of earlier when he was cooking and within earshot of the two siblings. He hadn't really meant to listen in on their conversation, but that was difficult when they sat right there. "I heard enough. You really thought he'd hate you?"

"I never knew what they told him about me," Bulma reminded both him and herself.

"Stop that," Vegeta chided.

Bulma sat up abruptly. "Stop what?"

"Stop going back there," he ordered. "I could see it in your eyes, Bulma. It's all over now, and all these things you feared did not come to pass. I now see the reason you couldn't get closure. You never let go of any of your fears. I know, because I did it too, and now I'm finally starting to deal with it. Thanks to you."

"Hm…so what did you and Trunks talk about earlier?"

"Bulma, you might want to contact your friend again," Vegeta suggested, grimacing.

Bulma's light demeanor faltered. "What happened?"

"He shocked her," Vegeta informed her. "I know you don't want to break her trust, but it's getting out of hand. At least tell her to start investigating the guy."

"What time is it?"

"Late," Vegeta told her.

"Then I'll call in the morning. What time would you like to get up?"

"Don't set an alarm," Vegeta stated. "I'll get us up."

The woman looked to his questioningly. "Okay? I'm holding you to that."

Vegeta smirked and reached over the woman's shoulder to turn off her lamp. As he pulled away, he felt Bulma's hand on his arm as it glided under her fingertips. In response, Vegeta grasped hers in his guiding it to his back and then releasing her to run his hand through her blue tresses. Their eyes met, a tired smile pulling at the corners of Bulma's mouth. She cuddled against him, moving closer to absorb his warmth. Strangely enough, she was still cold. That fact caused Vegeta to frown. He pulled her tousled quilt over them, slightly amused that the woman hadn't made her bed. He was used to making sure everything was neat and tidy before he went about his day. It was something that had been instilled in him as a boy.

Today had been a day, certainly unexpected. If anyone had told him that he would be playing house later, he'd have thought them crazy yet there he was. It felt odd yet satisfying, and he looked up at the ceiling remembering his high school sweetheart. Bulma had talked to her, and he had too slightly. Still, he hadn't said what he really wanted. He couldn't in front of Bulma. "You were right," he whispered into the night as he was lulled to sleep by Bulma's soft snores. Maybe this was exactly what he needed.