"Hey Bulma!"

The voice was familiar though the blue haired scientist was rather surprised to see him. Well, not completely surprised. After all, they were gathering for the party later that day. Much as she supposed she should have waited a little longer, she knew ChiChi was busting at the seams to find out. It seemed only fair to let her know as soon as she could!

So when Goku popped his head around the corner, she turned from her ordering of food for that afternoon and gave him a smile. "Well, if it isn't the proud Papa."

Goku laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yep. Always have been."

Shaking her head, she stood "What's up, Goku? We only have a few hours. Couldn't contain yourself?"

Goku shook his head. "Believe me, I've been trying to get over here for the past three days."

She cocked her head, "Three days? What took so long then?"

Goku grinned sheepishly. "Well, the first day, Gohan was insistent on spoiling ChiChi all day. So we were going on picnics, he was gathering fruit and meat for her and I think we went all over the globe gettin' her dinner."

Bulma gave a warm grin. "Did she cook?"

"Nope. Gohan and I did. With step by step instruction." He laughed. "We actually managed to not burn it and ChiChi was happy not to have to stand up for so long."

He went in after a brief pause "Then the next day, the little irrigation channel we made for that garden went all crazy and started flooding everything. I think we lost 'bout half of what we planted and Gohan and I spent all day fixin' and replantin.' Kiddo slept like a rock though."

Bulma shook her head "I'm surprised that mountain tries to mess with you anymore. But you got it fixed?"

"Yep. Gohan figured out how to harden the channel with our ki so now none of the Earth messes with it!" A look of pure pride took his face. "He's a smart kid."

Nodding in agreement, Bulma consented. "He is. I see it every time we meet up. So that was the first two days. I bet you were busy. So was I, shopping! So what happened yesterday then?"

Goku winced. "Pregnancy kicked ChiChi hard. She ain't had no mood swings or nothin' but yesterday she was getting all nauseous—poor Gohan thought it was his cookin'—and so we were just trying to make her feel better. I hadda tell Gohan that sometimes pregnancy does that." He half poured at Bulma. "Ain't fair though. You guys go through enough birthin' the baby."

"Isn't that the truth?" Bulma shook her head. "Is she better today?"

"Yep. All perky today. Well, except her ankles." A nostalgic look took his eyes, "Her ankles always hurt with Gohan and yesterday they started swellin' a storm so must just be a pregnancy thing with her."

Bulma sat back in her chair, letting it roll back a bit. "Well good! You should spoil her; carrying a half Saiyan kid is no picnic and has he even started to kick her yet?"

"Not yet. Squirmin' though!" He eyed Bulma. "That's why I came Bulma. 'Bout this party."

She stood again. "Oh, c'mon, it's for ChiChi and Gohan and you! You shoulda seen how excited she got when I opened that envelope! She's biting to know, Goku and I've got the perfect way to tell her!"

"What is it, Bulma?"

She set him with a look. "Really? I thought it was ChiChi that was gonna be all impatient."

"Bulma." Letting out a breath, he said, "ChiChi wants to be surprised but Gohan is still strugglin' with this. Lots more than I betcha is normal. But he ain't tellin' me why. I dunno if he can tell me why. He's gettin' better but...this weekend when I tried to get 'me on board for a brother, he started to panic, had trouble breathin' and all that."

Her face paled some. "Still? Even after workin' with him?" She frowned. "Thought he was more open minded than that."

Oh, the look she got could have withered a field. "My Gohan IS open minded. Usually. He's the sweetest boy I know. There's somethin' else goin' on Bulma." He eyed her, paced a bit. "He's afraid. I can't get out of him what for. But it's somethin' unusual. Somethin' deeper. Somethin' that's got him scared to death and it's somethin' about a brother not a sister."

Bulma nodded, said nothing.

"So, I want to be able to celebrate. I think showin' Gohan that being a big brother is something that he gets celebrated for because of who he is..I think that's real important, Bulma." He paused, faced her "But if it's a boy, I needa prepare him before we all come over today. I needa let him know."

Bulma gave a nod again. "I can move the gender reveal stuff aside for later. We can celebrate Gohan first then do something smaller for you guys for the baby. Because I know ChiChi still wants that."

Goku nodded "She does and she oughta have that. But I know that Gohan wouldn't be actin' like this for no reason. So I gotta help him too."

Amazing, the human woman thought. Who'd have thought Goku would grow up to be so wise? When he'd approached her about a therapist to help him work with Gohan—as much as they could—she'd been thrown for a loop. For all his failings, his paternal love was on point.

Taking a deep breath, Bulma locked eyes with him.

"It's a boy."

OOO

Goku's trip home was focused and deliberate. He knew they'd be leaving with the Ox King for the party in late afternoon so he might have just enough time to try and calm Gohan down before the party. His son wasn't selfish. It wasn't in his nature and even if he could be a little clingy sometimes...after everything his son had lived through, Goku felt that to be entirely justified. Heck, Gohan had tried, unsuccessfully, to keep all this to himself so that it didn't ruin their enjoyment of it. The idea that he had all these feelings and he'd willingly eat them all for someone else. Not a lot of people would do that.

Then there was...he'd said 'murderer' that night. Goku knew he'd heard him right and as much as he wanted to think it was some crazy nightmare, he knew it wasn't. But that didn't tell him a whole lot only that there were some dark things in his son's mind and he couldn't fix them.

Then there was also the obvious.

Another boy! He was gonna have a second son! Oh, what would this one be like? Like Gohan? Like ChiChi? Like him? Some weirdo mix or none of it?

Goku didn't care. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't resist a "woo-hoo!" and one or two loop de loops. If he hadn't needed time to plan his approach, he'd have instant transmitted but now he was glad he didn't. He wanted time to celebrate too so he didn't blab to ChiChi.

"Another boy! Alright! Me and Gohan are gonna have so much fun with him! And ChiChi too! Aw, man! So glad I came back!"

Oh, the things he would have missed if Gohan hadn't talked some sense into him. He didn't even want to really think about it!

He did want to think about what was to come. He could imagine the trouble two boys would get into but it made him smile all the same. He did miss Gohan being little so being able to have that again...

He might have squealed a little.

Goku!

Screeching to a stop in midair, it took him a moment to process. "King Kai?"

I need to talk to you now!

"Aw, can't it wait, King Kai? I'm a little busy today!"

Well, considering it's YOUR FAULT, no, it can't wait!

Goku groaned out loud but after a slight pause, focused on the deity's energy and vanished.

OOO

He reappeared on a large planet, must have been that Grand Kai's planet that he'd been told about. King Kai was standing right in front of him, sipping from a soda.

Channeling just a wee bit of his exhaustion the last few days, Goku mimicked his wife a bit, hands on his hips. "What?!"

The small blue man scoffed a little "Well, excuse me! Sorry to inconvenience you, Home Wrecker!"

Goku let out his breath through his teeth. "C'mon, I already said sorry! I gotta wait for the dragonballs to bring you back and bring your planet back!"

"And you didn't think to use the other wish on the Namekian dragonballs when you came back?!" He folded his arms with a snort.

"Uh...no? Sorry, wasn't thinkin' 'bout that."

A look bordering on offended glanced back at him.

"Look, King Kai, what is it? You said it was my fault and it was important so what is it? I got things to do tonight!"

That seemed to at least reorient him to the topic at hand. "When my planet blew up, Goku it blew a seal on something else."

Goku eyed him, cocked his head. "Your planet was a seal?"

"Not exactly but the gravity and position—" he blinked at Goku's dumbfounded face. "Let's just say yes, for all purposes, yes, it was a seal."

Scratching his head, Goku asked "So what came out?"

King Kai almost looked embarrassed. "A bit hard to say. It's been so long—"

"You don't even remember what you sealed away?!"

"Hey!" Came the protest. "We hafta monitor a lot of things. All we know is that it took multiple Kais and a lot of old warriors to seal them away! We're talking on par with Perfect Cell here, Goku! Maybe more!"

For perhaps one of the few times in his life, such a prospect did not ignite Goku's blood. "Really? Now?"

"Well, we're trying to figure out where they went off to..."

"And who they ARE?"

"...yes. That too. They definitely weren't sealed away for being the galaxy's best friend who brings cookies."

Goku glanced upward a moment. "My son saved the world from Cell. I died and came back. Before that, we had Freeza, Vegeta, the Androids. When I was a kid, there was that shrimpy blue emperor guy, the Red Ribbon Army, King Piccolo..."

King Kai eyed him. "Yeah, earth is appealing..."

"Look." Goku's tone was very heavy and even. "My wife's pregnant. My son is dealing with a lot of changes and emotional stuff right now. I'll keep my senses out for any weird ki or anything but..." Putting two fingers to his forehead, he all but snapped. "YOU'RE Lord of the Worlds. YOU all are the Kai. It's your job to handle these threats and stuff, right?"

"Well, yes but—"

"Then do your job." And with that, he was gone.

OOO

Reappearing outside his home, just by the forest edge, Goku heaved a sigh of relief. Felt a little bad about cutting King Kai off like he did but he had his own problems! Why was it his job to save the galaxy every single time? They had Kai to do that.

Besides, he had things he'd rather focus on right now.

Like...

"Gohan! ChiChi?"

Silence. No running feet. No shouting, no screaming about him being late. In fact, it had been the animal and land ki that had guided him home. He'd become so commonplace that he never bothered to think about what ki he was locking on.

As he walked inside though, he saw no signs of life aside from a note on the fridge.

Dad came and took us early. Will meet you at Bulma's.

"Crap."