This is my submission for Day 3 for Gochi Fall event! This story has a little divergence in the canon timeline.
I hope you enjoy it. Reviews are appreciated.
I'm on twitter at sorato_fan, if you want to follow and/or talk to me in there.
Day 3: Leaves/Cold/Windy: Sunsets
"Gohan, Goku, let's go. It's getting late." Chi-Chi said from the stairs. "We won't get to see the sunset if you don't come down soon."
"Chi-Chi, I think this shirt is ridiculous. It's ugly." Goku said from their bedroom.
"It's not ugly, you're just used to your fighting outfit."
"I can wear other clothes, but this is just… hideous."
"I agree with dad."
"Why don't you come downstairs and I'll take a look?"
"Okay."
She turned to walk into the living room and almost fell down when she bumped into them. "Ugh, I hate it when you two teleport inside the house like that. I never know when to expect it."
"Sorry, mom."
"I'll try to be more careful next time."
"I'd really rather you not do it inside again. Let me see how you two look." Chi-Chi gave a couple steps back. "It's not that bad. I actually think it's cute that you two are matching shirts."
"I don't like these colors." Goku looked down at his clothing. "Orange and dark green together? It's a strange combination."
"They are autumn tones. You know, the same tones from the leaves that fall from the trees in this season." She looked at them and saw their bothered expressions. "But if they bother you so much, you can wear your black jackets over it and it should be fine."
"That'd be better."
"So are we settled?"
"I think so."
"Then let's go."
The wind in the top of the mountain messed Chi-Chi's long black hair and she felt a strong urge to tie it on a bun, but fought it. She looked at her right and saw both Goku and Gohan were lying down on the grass staring up at the sky that was painted in yellow, red and orange tones.
"You're right." She embraced her knees and smiled. "Seeing the sunset from here was amazing. If I could, I would come here everyday to see it."
"We could. This could be our tradition. You, me and Gohan watching the sunset together from here."
"I like it."
"Me too." She lied down next to him and snuggled close to his body. Goku wrapped his arm around her. "This feels good. I love living far from the city, it's so calm and peaceful."
"Yeah, and there's a lot of space for me and Gohan to train. Right, son?" He turned to Gohan, only to find him sleeping heavily.
"All that time he spent with Piccolo four years ago made easy for him to sleep anywhere."
"I don't even want to imagine everything he had to go through there. He was so little."
"Things turned out great in the end."
"Luckily." Chi-Chi yawned. "I think we should go home."
"Already? But it's so good in here."
"I know, but Gohan is sleeping and I don't want him to feel sore for sleeping on the ground."
"Okay." He sat up when she pulled away from him and picked their son up. "Let's go."
.
Goku was gathering the leaves that fell down from the trees near the house the day before and during the night and a large hill was made.
"Damn, gave me a lot of work." He wiped the sweat off his forehead and placed his arm on the rake. "Chi-Chi, where should I put the leaves now?"
"I don't know, wherever you want to put them is fine. Just don't bring them inside and take them away from our yard."
"Got it."
"Hey, dad." Gohan approached him. "Do you want to fight a little?"
"Right now?" Goku dropped the rake right away, already feeling excited about the idea of fighting with his son.
"Yes, just for a little. I haven't done that in a while."
"Alright, I'm in. Let me just change into my fighting suit." He placed two fingers on his forehead and teleported to his bedroom, returning about thirty seconds later and noticing Gohan had done the same thing. "You still like wearing this outfit, don't you?"
"It allows me to move freely and be faster." Gohan made a fighting pose. "Are you ready?"
Goku followed him suit. "Bring it on, son."
What was meant to be just fifteen or twenty minutes turned into an hour. Chi-Chi didn't mind it until she heard a scream followed by a noise that made clear to her that the leaves were spread all over the yard again.
"What is going on over here?" She appeared on the door with her hands on her hips. "Goku, I specifically told you to get the leaves together, without scattering them all again."
"I'm sorry, Chi-Chi." He immediately stood up and looked at her. "I did gather them, but Gohan and I started fighting and then…" He looked over his shoulder and let out a small laugh.
"It's my fault, mom." Gohan appeared from the mount of leaves and wiped some that got stuck on his outfit. "I asked dad if we could train and a little, but we got carried away."
"Well, I don't care who started it, but both of you will have to clean it up again or there won't be any lunch for you."
"That's mean, Chi-Chi."
"The faster you clean, the sooner you finish."
And with that, she went back inside.
.
By the end of the afternoon, Chi-Chi decided to go watch the sunset on the mountains on her own. Goku and Gohan were heavily sleeping and she didn't want to wake them up. If they complained about it, she could say she wasn't exactly alone.
"I guess it's just you and me this time, huh?" She lied down on the grass after letting her hair fall down over her shoulders and started rubbing her belly softly. "But pretty soon you're gonna be watching this beautiful sunset with us."
She had found out she was pregnant a couple of weeks ago. She was feeling pretty nauseous, but managed to hide it from her boys. It wasn't that difficult since they were always outside the house training and when they came back she was feeling much better. Part of her didn't reveal it sooner because she was afraid of how things would be in the future. She wasn't that against the idea of her giving birth to another boy and he'd follow Goku and Gohan's path and become a fighter, like she was with Gohan. If anything, she was even contemplating the idea of helping them training him herself.
Chi-Chi didn't know exactly when she fell asleep, but at some point she heard her name being called and slowly opened her eyes.
"Chi-Chi!"
"Mom!" Gohan looked up at Goku, who was on the kitoun, up in the sky. "Do you see her?"
"No." He looked down at his son for a moment and then up again. "Wait… I see her."
"Where?"
"Up in the mountain where we usually watch the sunset together."
"Go ahead. I'll catch up with you soon."
"Alright. Let's go, kitoun." Seconds later, he jumped out of it and gave a few steps towards her. "Chi-Chi, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I was bored and you and Gohan were sleeping, so I thought I'd come here to watch the sunset."
"Alone? It can be dangerous."
"Oh, I wasn't alone, trust me."
"Huh?" Goku raised an eyebrow with confusion.
"Mom!" Gohan jumped up the mountain and ran to her when he reached the top. "We were worried about you. We didn't see you in our house when we woke up."
"I'm sorry, darling. I came here to watch the sunset and ended up falling asleep without realizing."
"Well, do you want to go home now or do you want to stay here a little more?"
"I want to stay here a little more with my son." She grabbed his hand and then turned to her husband, doing the same. "And with my husband too. My two boys."
The small family was silently for a couple of minutes after that and a chilly breeze went through them. Chi-Chi shivered a little, which didn't go unnoticed by Goku. He immediately took his jacket off and threw it over her shoulders.
"Is that better?"
"It is." She looked at him with a smile. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She took a deep breath and decided it was time to tell them the news, so she gave a light squeeze on both hands and the two Saiyans looked at her. "Goku, Gohan, there's something I have to say to you."
"What is it?" Goku asked with curiosity.
"You're not sick, are you?"
"No, sweetie. I'm not. Well, not exactly."
"I don't understand it."
"You're going to be a big brother."
"What?!" Gohan could barely contain his excitement. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely."
"That's so great, mom!" He hugged her tight. "I'm so happy!"
"I'm glad to hear that."
"We're having another baby?"
"That's right." Chi-Chi nodded. "We are."
"When did that…?"
"A couple of months ago, when we…" She stopped talking as soon as she realized it would embarrass their oldest son. "Anyway, I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you, but being right here right now seemed the perfect moment."
"This is the best news ever!" Gohan cheered. "I can't wait to meet him already."
"Me either." Goku echoed his thoughts.
Chi-Chi looked down and smiled warmly. "I'm sure the baby can't either."
.
It was a cold November morning, but Chi-Chi still decided to go outside and spend some time by the river. She had a photo album in her hands, which was the first thing Gohan noticed when he approached her.
"Mom, where did you find this photo album?"
"Oh, it was hidden in the shelf in our living room." She looked at him for a brief moment and then back at it. "I haven't touched it in ages."
"Is this on the day you and dad got married?"
"It is." A smile appeared on her face. "This dress was actually from my mother. It was almost destroyed due to a fire in the castle I lived with my father your grandfather, but Goku saved it."
"Really? That's so like dad."
"I agree. And then we got married."
"It seems like it was a cool ceremony."
"It was beautiful." Chi-Chi said, reminiscing that moment in her mind. "Your father and I met when we were children."
"I didn't know that. That's so cool!"
"Back then he promised to marry me."
"When you were kids?"
"Yes. Having a family and a husband was always my dream. But we lost contact and didn't see each other for a few years. In the meantime I started training and signed up for the fight tournament. Guess who was my first opponent?"
"Dad. It's kind of obvious."
"I know." She couldn't help but laugh. "Turns out he had forgotten about his promise and thought getting married had something to do with food and I was beyond angry at him. But Goku has always been a man of words, so he said he would marry me and here we are."
"Is this me?" Gohan pointed to another picture where he was in his father's arms and she looked at him lovingly.
"That's you when you were only three months old. It took you a while to get used to being held by him, you always cried a lot."
"I wasn't that pretty of a baby."
"Don't say that. You were the prettiest baby ever."
"Of course he was. He's my child." Goku had the widest grin on his lips when he appeared behind them.
Both Chi-Chi and Gohan looked over their shoulders, towards him.
"See? Even your father agrees with me."
"I remember this moment." The child pointed to another picture, where he was in Goku's arms and had the red hat with the four-stars dragon ball at the top of it. "That was taken at the Kame's house."
"It was on the day where I took you there for the first time. I still remember everyone's surprise when I said you were my son."
"Yes, and Bulma thought I was a polite boy when she asked my age. I remember being scared of the turtle at first."
"But in the end you became friends with it." Goku ruffled his son's hair. "You're an amazing child, Gohan. I'm proud of you."
"Me too."
"Thanks." He blushed a little. "Do you think my brother or sister will be too?"
"Definitely!" Chi-Chi said firmly. "Who couldn't be proud of you, Gohan?"
"Exactly."
"Would you want the baby to be a boy or a girl?"
"A boy."
"A girl."
"Wait a second…" She turned to Goku surprised. "I thought you'd want another son."
"Well, I do. But I think you'd want a girl this time."
"Wouldn't you want to train with her too?"
"Girls can fight as well. Look at you. We met again at a fight tournament."
"You have a point." She smiled softly. "I do want a girl this time, but something tells me it's another boy. So you want a brother, huh?"
"I do." Gohan nodded. "But not because I wouldn't like to have a sister, but because I already chose his name."
"You chose his name?"
"Don't leave us hanging, Gohan. Tell us."
"What do you think of Goten?"
"It's a pretty name, but it also starts with Go."
"I love it!" Goku grinned. "If it's a boy, then the three of us will have names that start with that syllable. That's so cool!"
"How about a name that starts with C, to make things even in our family?"
"A boy's name?"
"A girl's."
"But you just said you feel like it's going to be another boy, mom."
"I know, but my intuition can be wrong too. So it's good to have a girl's name decided too, just in case."
"Gohan, can you help me over here?"
"Goku, what are you going to do with these?" Chi-Chi automatically gave a few steps back when she saw her husband was holding a handful of leaves on his hands and coming in her direction. "Don't you dare! They are dirty, you're not throwing them at me. You don't want to sleep in the couch, do you?"
"That's mean." He dropped them on the yard. "You won."
"Thank you." She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his large body, looking into his beautiful black eyes. "The name doesn't matter to me. In the end, what matters is that this kid is going to be so loved."
"Does that mean we can name him Goten?"
"If it's a boy, yes."
"Thank you, mom." Gohan ran to them and joined their hug.
"You're welcome, son." Chi-Chi stroked his black hair softly. "We're passing on the tradition. Your father named you after his grandfather and now you chose your brother's one."
"I hope he likes it."
"I have no doubt he will, sweetie."
