A few days had passed and Gohan noticed that his mother had nothing but starry eyes and seemed very happy. She also continued to wear the same unknown sweater every once and a while.

"Mom, is that you're sweater?" Gohan asked.

She looked down and recognized that she was still wearing Yamcha's sweater.

"I guess not. I'll have to return it to Yamcha later. Meanwhile, I know you haven't taken a bath in quite a while. I'll prepare a bath for you."

"But mom," Gohan pleaded.

"No buts mister, you're taking a bath," she said mother-like. Gohan sighed in defeat and walked away from the table. "By the way, you're staying at Bulma's tonight!"

Gohan stopped in his tracks at his mother's words. What? He thought to himself.

"I thought you could use some training," she smiled. "You've done plenty of studying for the past couple of days. You don't want to get too rusty."

Gohan's eyes were practically bulging out of his sockets. He could not believe what she was saying!

"O-okay, mom," he barely said. No sense in arguing.

~*~

This is the fourth day that Yamcha decided that he wouldn't go to work, but compared to everyone and everything going on in his life, work did not seem important anymore.

Yamcha proceeded to warm a TV dinner and sat down in front of the TV set. Bored out of his wits he turned it off and reclined in his chair. Why could he not get Chichi off of his mind? For Kami's sake… she was his best friend's wife! But he knew why he was having feelings for her, it's not like this hadn't happened before. Chichi was at a very vulnerable point in her life. Goku passed away for the second time and she was left with all of the grief. Bulma must have felt this way when he died when he fought Vegeta and Nappa. It was not easy to get over anyone, especially someone he loved as deeply as he did her, but he knew they both had to move on.

A smile approached his lips as he took a stroll down memory lane. The first time he had met Chichi was a disaster. She was so young and mesmerized by little Goku, and he had his own problems with Bulma.

"Those were the days," he said to himself. He never once thought of what his life would be like if he hadn't met Goku and his friends… that would not be a life he would enjoy.

However, not even Chichi would find him the least bit needed in her life, and every attempt to get close to her would be in vain.

No, he thought, I've settled down from the man I used to be, and I know what I'm feeling.

The ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Um…" replied the voice.

"Who is this?" he asked impatiently.

"It's Chichi," she warily answered. How did she get my number? he thought.

"Hi. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Everything's okay, but I was just calling to ask you if…" she shied away from finishing the sentence.

"If…"

"Would you like to come over for dinner?" she asked very quickly. They seemed to just have fun in stunning each other with their actions.

Yamcha wondered about how he should answer her question. He glanced down to his not-so-warm TV dinner and smiled.

"Sure. I'll be over at 5:00."

Chichi felt like she could breathe again. Of course she had no idea why in any world she would ask Yamcha over for dinner. What ever happens, happens, she thought to herself.

~*~

After preparing food large enough for an army, she decided to clean herself up and change into some clothes more suitable for this occasion.

I feel like a little girl! She thought to herself once again. Little thoughts of dating again flew continuously, which made her blush. After all, Goku had not been around for ages now. The ten days before the Cell games or even the three years before the androids was not enough to make up for him leaving her the countless times before. She remembered him kissing her just once throughout those 10 days.

"Enough thinking about Goku, he doesn't want to come home," she said confidently pulling her favorite violet kimono over her head. Chichi let her hair down for the first time for someone other than Goku. "That stupid bun adds about ten years."

She brushed her hair out and giggled. She never felt so young, but maybe it was the surge of feelings that she felt every time she thought of Yamcha. Whatever it was, she knew that she would never feel like this again.

"Food smells great," said a voice from behind her. Chichi spun around and smiled as she looked at Yamcha.

"Thanks, I cooked all day," she replied sarcastically. "I'll be there in a sec, okay?"

Yamcha nodded as he walked back to the dining room. Chichi took one last look into the mirror, sighed, and proceeded toward the dining room as well.

During dinner, there was a frequent silence for a few reasons. One mainly because Yamcha was so engulfed in her food that if he spoke, he would have definitely choked. Another reason was because they would often catch each other staring at one another.

Chichi and Yamcha felt very comfortable in each other's presence that the conversation just seemed to flow, and what made her feel even better: not once was Goku mentioned.

Yamcha was always a well-dressed man, so she couldn't tell if he was dressed nicely to see her or not. Either way, he looked very attractive, in a rugged type of way. He was dressed in khaki pleated pants and a white button-up shirt, his hair as unruly as usual. There was just an essence about him that made Chichi want to blush.

While she sat and thought about him, Yamcha was doing the same. He couldn't help but be consumed with her looks. With her hair down, she was like a totally different woman, not the slave-driving one he often saw. Her eyes were much softer lately and shone with a brilliance of a truly happy person. He definitely put her under the 'sexy' category, which was strange because she was Chichi for Kami's sake! But he couldn't help himself.

As soon as dinner was finished, Chichi began to clear the table. She was thankful that there were no leftovers so she could just do the dishes.

"You can watch TV if you want, I'll be out in a bit," Chichi said. Yamcha nodded, but didn't budge as she took the dirty dishes off of the table.

He quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin and followed Chichi into the kitchen area.

"Do you need any help?" he asked. Chichi raised an eyebrow at him and didn't reply.

Rather stunned, he continued to approach her and helped put away some extra food that she didn't bring out to the table.

"That was an amazing meal," Yamcha said breaking the silence.

"Thank you," she replied while she scrubbed at the pile of dirty pots and pans. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Yamcha walked toward Chichi watching and observing what she was doing. "I can get those for you."

"Don't be silly," she said with a giggle. "I'm fine, this isn't that stressful."

"No, really," he insisted.

Yamcha raised his arms to her shoulders and began to massage lightly. Trying to seem uninterested so she could finish the dishes, she tried not to give in. Noticing that his tactics were not working, he slowly lowered his hands down her arms and to her hands. He took a small step forward and pressed himself against her back and proceeded to rest his head in the crook of her neck while he helped her scrub the dishes.

He could feel her heart rate increase dramatically, which made him smile. The scent of sweet vanilla filled his senses as he closed his eyes and began to plant small kisses on her neck.

"Yamcha," she murmured. "I'm so confused."

He stopped for a moment and let what she said sink in.

"So am I," he whispered in her ear. "But I'm not confused about this. Chichi… I think I…"

"Shhh…" She quickly rinsed her hands off and brought her finger up to his lips to silence him. "That's not what I'm talking about. Believe it or not, I've thought about this for so many nights, and I know this is right and I know what I feel. Don't prove me wrong."

Without a word or hesitation his arms wrapped around her waist and guided her to the small table in the center of the kitchen.

As he lifted her onto the table he whispered, "Don't let me prove you wrong."

~*~

The next morning Chichi woke up with a rather large smile on her face. While peeking around the room she looked at the quaint clock on her wall and her eyes bulged.

"Yamcha!" she said exasperatedly, "I completely forgot to pick up Gohan!"

Yamcha woke violently and squinted until Chichi's face became clear.

"He's a bright boy, I think he knows when he should come home," he remarked with a yawn.

"And find us like this?" she asked with a sour face. At first he didn't notice what she was so upset about until he looked at the (very naked) two of them.

"I guess you're right, but first…" He leaned over and cupped her jaw and pulled her close. Never had a kiss left her so breathless in her life. She bit her bottom lip and smirked a little.

Meanwhile, Gohan was preoccupied with Trunks and Bulma a little worried about his mother not being there yet.

"Bulma, can I talk to you about something?" Gohan asked nervously.

"Of course, you can always talk to me about anything," she replied, kneeling down to eyelevel with him.

"Well, lately mom's been acting a little weird. It's like I don't even know her anymore," he confided.

"What do you mean?"

"She's been really happy lately," he said, dropping his eyes to the ground.

"Why does that bother you? That's great!"

"I think she's moved on, you know, from dad."

"Well, that's a sign of progress, you don't want to see her moping around anymore, do you?"

"Of course not, but it's the guy she's seeing," he murmured. "I like him, but it just isn't right!"

"Who is it?"

"It's Yam…"

Suddenly the front door opened and Chichi walked in followed by Yamcha. Bulma's eyes grew as she stared at Gohan, not moving her head. He only nodded and faked a smile as he ran to his mother. Bulma had to hit herself in order to start breathing again.

"W-well, what a s-surprise you two!" Bulma said with a very nervous laugh. They looked at her like she was crazy, in which she was about to be. "I was just about to drop Gohan off, but I guess I waited too long."

"I hope that he wasn't a hassle for you, Bulma," Chichi said while patting Gohan on the head.

"Right, if you want a problem child, you can have Trunks!" she joked. "Anyway, I've got to get back to work, big project that I'm… uh, Yamcha! I have something for you!"

Yamcha raised his eyebrows and walked toward her.

"Well, I'll see you around I guess," Chichi said to no particular person.

"Bye," answered Bulma and Yamcha at the same time, earning a strange look from each other.

As soon as Chichi left, Bulma grabbed Yamcha by the ear and pulled him to her lab ignoring his screams of pain.

"What's this all about Bulma?" Yamcha whined while rubbing his aching ear.

"You know damn well. I'm giving you one minute to explain."

"Wha..?"

"Starting now!" she growled.

"Fine, but I don't know why you're pissed about it. I sort of kind of like Chichi, okay? Is that all?"

Bulma looked at him with a very sour face and pointed to her watch.

"It started out as me being a friend, in which I was, so don't…" he sighed and continued. "Anyway, I started to have feelings for her that I couldn't hide anymore and obviously she has the same feelings. It'll be a while before she gets over Goku, but at least I'll be there to console her."

"You know, Gohan's a little more than worried, and so am I," she finally said. "Maybe you should think about everyone else in her life before you go and…"

"I hope you know that it's more than a sexual attraction, Bulma," he snarled. "It isn't how we were."

"What?" she asked rather shocked.

"You know what I'm talking about. You found someone who you could be with," he pointed out, evidently talking about her and Vegeta. "I'm happy for you, why can't you be happy for me?"

"Damn it Yamcha! This isn't about 'us' anymore! The 'us' died a long time ago," she shouted. "I just don't want you to hurt Chichi like you…"

"Bulma, I'm sorry, but I'm in love with her and there's nothing you can do to change that. I know her pain," he said quietly.

Bulma paused and then laughed sarcastically obviously a little more than angry at this point.

"You know her pain? You know her god damned pain?! How dare you say that to me!" she screamed.

All the commotion in her lab caught the attention of her baby along with Vegeta. He held his son and stood at the door, cautious about not interrupting them.

"You want to talk about pain? Here's the pain I've dealt with while you were out having fun, Yamcha," she continued while wiping the tears off of her cheeks. "You're obviously forgetting one *minor* detail about our relationship. Maybe it was about the sex, but when things started going right, what happened?"

"No…" he murmured.

"You remember? Good! I've had to live with it while you went around the block a couple times," she heaved out. Vegeta began to listen more carefully now. "Pain is what I went through when I found out I was pregnant with your child Yamcha."

Now Yamcha had a small amount of tears building in his eyes.

"And what did you do? You were out the door in a matter of seconds! Said you weren't ready to settle down yet," she cried. "And now you think that you're going to do that to a friend of mine? To hell with you!"

"But I've changed Bulma," he reasoned. "I'm not the man I was then."

"No one changes their spots over night Yamcha, and I know for one that you can never love like that."

Bulma collapsed to the floor and began to cry lightly. Yamcha wanted to make this right, but there's no way that he could.

"You should leave now," a deep voice from behind him stated.

Yamcha stood and left her house with his head hanging. On his walk home tears rolled down his face. He never wanted to remember that incident, even he knew he was a jerk for leaving her like that. She lost that child because she was so depressed about him leaving her.

Maybe Bulma was right; he didn't know his own motives for being with Chichi. Maybe he was just taking advantage of her just because they both happened to be single at the time, but even he knew that wasn't right. He definitely knew one thing was for sure, he needed to talk to Chichi and her son.