A/N: After a message over on Tumblr the other day, I was inspired to write this. It's just a lil vignette between 17 and 18, not much, but it's sweet and honest and down to earth and reminds me of the conversations I have with my own twin brother. I hope you like it.

This story briefly mentions 17's wife and his kids (who, since as of the time of posting this, we haven't met yet, are currently OC's of mine). If you would like to ready the other entry in the prompt collection that is about them, skip back to Chapter 13, titled, The Night Before.

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Little Moments

"That's the last of them gone," 17 said, his voice thick with relief as he walked into the kitchen, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Who would have known twenty 7 year olds would be such a handful."

He had just closed the door on last straggling guest of his oldest son, Onyx, 7th birthday party. He'd cheerfully waved goodbye as he watched the boy and his mother wander off down the driveway, party bag and balloon clutched firmly in hand. He felt kind of guilty, sending that child home hopped up to his eyeballs on sugar, but the guilt was short lived, birthday parties we meant to be fun-filled sugar trips.

"Literally everyone, 17" 18, who was seated at the table in the centre of the kitchen, nursing a mug of rapidly cooling tea, replied. "Literally everyone knows that. Why do you think I only have one?"

"You should give Marron a brother or sister." 17 said offhandedly, as he began the arduous task of putting his house back together post child-birthday-party-chaos. "It'd be good for her."

"Hmmm," 18 stood up from the table and reached for an empty garbage bag. She moved about the kitchen, filling it with plastic plates and cups, deflated balloons and discarded wrapping paper. "Maybe," she mused. "I'd be lying if I said we hadn't thought about it. The timing never seems quite right though, and Marron was such a fussy baby, I don't know if I have it in me to go back to the baby stage and do all that again. It's so nice that she's older and more independent now."

"Of course you could do it again!" 17 said as he pushed furniture around the room, putting things back as they were meant to be. "You're a great mum. Mare-bear is lucky to have you. Does she miss that old lump of sand you used to call home?"

"Hey," 18's brow crinkled as she only half-feigned hurt. "We all liked that lump of sand. A lot of good things happened to us there."

"I know, I know, I'm kidding," 17 teased "It was a fine sandbank."

"Shut up," 18 laughed. "You're no better, all the way out here in the middle of nowhere." She knew 17 was just trying to rile her up, that was just what brothers, especially hers, did. It didn't matter how many years passed, or that he was now a husband, a father and a well-respected conservationist, he was an eternal man-child at heart. It was no wonder he got along with Goku so well.

"She doesn't seem to miss it too much these days," 18 said, bringing their conversation back on track. "It's been what," she paused to quickly do the math, "three years now since Krillin joined the force, three and a half almost. She'll always be an ocean girl at heart, but she's happy in the city. It was the best thing we could've done for her really."

Having filled the rubbish bag as much as she could, 18 tied a knot at the top, and placed it beside the side door, ready for disposal outside later, before turning her attention to the pile of dishes stacked up precariously beside the sink.

"You don't have to do those," 17 stepped in, but his sister was having none of it.

"Don't be silly," she replied whilst squirting a generous amount of dish soap into the sink and silently patting herself on the back for buying a house with a dishwasher. "You and Amya hosted us all day, the least I can do is help tidy up. Tell you what, I'll wash, you dry."

"Deal," 17 smiled. It was so rare to get to spend any sort of quality time with his sister these days, they were both so busy and their schedules always seemed to clash, so he would happily take whatever he could get, even if it was as mundane as standing together at his kitchen sink, washing dishes.

They stood quietly together for a moment, silently passing wet plates and glasses between themselves. From where they stood, they could look out into 17's lush, tree filled yard, where Krillin was running around like an absolute mad-man, laughing and shouting with Marron and her three cousins. His love and exuberance never ceased to amaze 18. He was going to be forty soon, and yet there he was, after spending an entire afternoon entertaining a gaggle of under-10's, still going, giving even more of himself to those kids out there, each of whom he loved more than anything else in this world – except maybe for her.

"He's a good guy, Krillin," 17 broke the quiet with an observation, "You chose well with him."

"I know," 18 smiled smugly. She liked hearing that she was right. "But you've certainly changed your tune over the years."

It was far from a secret that 17 hadn't exactly been a fan of Krillin in the beginning. As a suitor for his sister, it just didn't seem to fit. Why would he, of all people, be interested in her when he knew what he did about how, and why, she had come to be in this world? 17 was convinced that he must have had some nefarious ulterior motive.

"What can I say" he shrugged, "I'm a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong. He's a good guy."

"He's the best" 18 smiled as her eyes followed her husband across the yard.
"Ugh," 17 groaned "You're still in puppy-love with him after all this time. Get a room, my god, yuck."
"As if you can talk!" 18 shot back, trying desperately to hide her embarrassment. "I see the way you look at Amya. You're completely smitten with her!"
"Of course I am!" 17 boasted proudly. "I mean, have you seen her?! She's a solid ten outta ten. And she's smart as hell, and she puts up with my shit on the daily. Every day I wonder how the hell I ever convinced her to marry me!"
"She's certainly way out of your league, that's for sure."
"Ouch, that hurts sis"
"Oh, don't be such a baby," 18 grinned and flicked soapy water in her brother's direction.

A high pitched squeal from the garden caught the twins' attention, ending their mild bullying of each other. They both snapped their heads up to inspect the situation and their respective children, looking for any obvious signs of hurt or injury, and to see which kid it was exactly, that was getting out of hand. It could have been any one of them really, given the unfettered access to sugar they had had this afternoon.
"They'll be right," 18 said, confident no bones were broken out there, as she resumed washing the dishes in the sink. "Krillin is more than capable of keeping the four of them under control."

17 shook his head and laughed, "I think you're seriously under-estimating how rowdy my lot can be. They just seem to leech energy off each other. They never stop!"
"He deals with criminals every day, I think he can handle a couple of kids."
"Whatever you say, sis," 17 mumbled and shrugged his shoulders. "Personally, I'd take the crooks over those terrors any day of the week."

As she handed her brother another clean dish, 18 asked. "No more for you guys either then, I'm guessing? It seems like you have your hands full."
"I wouldn't say that," 17 replied. "They're a lot of fun, and Am would definitely be down for more, but it's hard enough with the three of them with my schedule, and her research. I don't know how she manages with them by herself while I'm away."
"It's probably easier without you here riling them up all day" 18 joked
"You kid, but let's be real, you're probably right!" 17 had to agree. "I'm basically her fourth child. I'm sure her life is much less chaotic when I'm not around."
"She loves the chaos, I'm sure."

Handing 17 the last clean dish, 18 pulled the plug from the sink and watched the water gurgle down the drain. She wiped down the basin and dried her hands before flicking the kettle on to make herself another cup of tea. She pulled down two clean mugs and poured one for 17 too. He smiled and gladly took it from her as they sat down together at the table.

"If we did have more, we'd definitely adopt again," 17 picked up his train of thought as he sipped his tea. "It was so rewarding giving River and Storm a second chance. I'd like to do that again if I could."

The story of how the now 4 year old twins River and Storm had found their way into 17 and Amya's life was nothing short of remarkable. 17 had found them, abandoned as infants, less than six months old, in the nature park where he worked. He had taken them in, and taken them home. Much to his wife's surprise, he had walked through the door one day, carrying an infant in each arm, and just like that, 17 and Amya had become parents to three kids under the age of three.

"And you know, getting as many kids out of the system as possible can only be a good thing. Stop them ending up, like, y'know…" he faulted for a moment "like us." He stopped, waiting for his sister to respond, but she didn't, she just sat, staring at her hands, not even able to look him in the eye. "Do you ever wonder if there is anyone out there missing us?"

"Don't" 18 quickly interjected, her voice soft and wistful. "I can't. I have to think that we weren't wanted." She stopped to sip her tea and think about what she wanted to say next. "The alternative, as a mother, is so much worse. Having your child ripped away from you, I can't even comprehend it."

That was, deep down, the real reason why Marron was an only child. 18 was so protective of her daughter, and the thought of having to split that devotion between two children, was terrifying. She knew that she wouldn't be able to constantly have eyes on two children. Tying herself up with the demands of a newborn would surely mean having to accept the fact that there would be times that Marron would need to be left alone and that scared 18 to her core. She would never, ever forgive herself if anything happened to her precious child.

"How do you do it?" 18 asked, "How do you leave them without being terrified of all the things that could happen to them? That happened to us?"
"You've just gotta back yourself in, sis" 17 leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms over his head. "Your job as a parent is to slowly back yourself out of your kid's life and let them work it out on their own."

At that moment, the side door swung open and a barrage of kid sized arms and legs tumbled though, followed by an exhausted looking Krillin. "It's starting to get cold out there," he exclaimed, shutting the door behind him. The kids quickly disappeared into the living room, to undoubtedly rip into, and probably break, all of Onyx's gifts from the party. Much to their dismay though, they had already been safely packed away by Amya, who was just walking into the kitchen as the kids rushed out. "They are going to be completely feral when that sugar wears off. Hey, you guys didn't have to tidy up in here." She smiled as she noticed that her kitchen was once again sparkling clean.

"It was no bother," 18 said with a smile. She truly loved Amya, she was such a kind and compassionate person, she was reasonable and level headed and truly balanced out 17's more impulsive tendencies. She was so glad they had found each other.

She watched Krillin as he moved through the kitchen, towards her. He planted a kiss on top of her head before taking a seat beside her at the table. She smiled at him in return and rested her hand on his thigh. The afternoon had been hectic, with all four adults being pulled in different directions, supervising kids, cooking food, running party games, taking pictures, making sure no one ate anything they were allergic to, or tried to drink water from the dog bowls. 18 had hardly seen her husband all afternoon and she quickly realised she'd missed him.

Once upon a time, a moment like this would have seemed all but impossible to 18. She looked across at 17 and saw her thoughts mirrored back in his eyes. He was content and happy and soaking in every detail. He caught 18 looking at him and shared a smile back, he knew they were thinking the same thing.

While the big, grand gestures of life were amazing, it was the inconspicuous little moments that meant the most to them. Cosy afternoons in with family. Quiet conversations about nothing. A passing smile or I love you. This was one of those moments, unassuming and meek, but something they had both fought so hard to obtain. A swell of emotion rose up into 18's throat and for a moment she almost felt overwhelmed with warmth and happiness. She was truly grateful to be alive to experience this moment. This completely normal, utterly mundane, human moment.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! I'm really happy with the way it's come out. Covid has meant I'm spending a lot more time at home this year than I'm used to and I'm filling that time with writing, so please, come visit me over on Tumblr (link in bio) and let's talk K/18, dragonball or whatever you'd like, and if you have any cute K/18 idea's for me, I'll write them for you.

As always, reviews are deeply appreciated, and always warmly welcomed

Big Love, Stay Safe
~D.B