Autumn Love
Day Four: Sweater
It was the rise of Gohan's Ki that awakened Goku. His eyes opened to ChiChi sleeping beside him. ChiChi was a light sleeper. She had to be since she was always the first one up getting breakfast cooked and waking up the others to start their day. An alarm wouldn't do for ChiChi would wake up and be aware of what Goku was up to. He needed Gohan to be his alarm clock. Carefully, Goku got out of bed, grabbed the tote bag he had hidden and quietly left.
Goku followed Gohan to the family room. Gohan sat at the end of the sofa where he had a view of anyone coming from the bedrooms. Gohan opened the bag he brought from his room. He pulled out pairs of knitting needles, scissors and two yarn needles. He handed a set to Goku. "I got all we need." He dug into his bag again, pulled out a large ball of bulky yarn, and handed it to Goku. "I got enough to make a sweater. Is this soft enough?"
Goku felt the yarn and rubbed it against his face. "Yeah. This is good."
"I read a book in class and watched some videos. I think we can do this." Gohan wasn't sure how well they will be at it. He studied and memorized the steps but it didn't mean what they made would be any good. "Do you have Mom's measurements?"
It was Goku's turn to reveal his bag. "I tried to use the measurement tape you gave me but I couldn't find a good time to measure Mom. I tried last night and she woke up with me over her. So…. I distracted her."
Gohan was old enough to know what Goku did to distract her. He quickly moved on so that wasn't a topic for Goku to dread on. "If we don't have measurements, we can't do this, Dad."
"I know. I know. That's why I went into her drawer." Goku pulled out material he thought they could use. "I got this."
"Dad!" Gohan jumped from the sofa as if Goku released a bear on him. "That's Mom's bra!" Quickly, Gohan clamped a hand over his mouth. He was loud. He hoped he didn't wake anyone, especially ChiChi.
Goku innocently held ChiChi's black laced bra. "What's wrong?" It was undergarments and it was private but ChiChi wasn't wearing it. Besides, he needed ChiChi's measurements to be accurate. "It's clean."
"That's not the point!" Gohan whispered loudly. The material was so offensive. Gohan was old enough to know girls like Videl and women like his Mom wore one but he didn't need to see it! "Dad, we're making a sweater. Why did you get Mom's bra?"
"I wanted ChiChi's chest measurements to be perfect and her breasts look great in this."
Gohan turned away and threw his hands up. He's going to have nightmares. He's going to have nightmares for the rest of his life. "Please tell me you got something else."
Goku put the bra back in the bag and Gohan sat down relieved but remained on edge over what Goku will bring out next. It was a shirt. A shirt was good. A shirt was safe. A shirt wouldn't make him vomit. Gohan measured the shirt and calculated the adjustments for a smaller size. "Okay. I think I got everything. Let's begin."
Gohan teaching Goku how to knit in the middle of the night would be something no one, not Goku's friends, his enemies, and not even his family would expect of him but it was something Goku wanted to accomplish in this limited time spawned by an ordinary morning of breakfast two days ago.
Two Days Ago
It was amazing to ChiChi how quickly her family's routine returned to normal after Goku's return from the dead. There were a few complications explaining how Goku returned to life and scaring several people who thought Goku was a ghost but for ChiChi, life was wonderful again.
Over these months, Goku spent it catching up with his family. At ChiChi's insistence, Goku spent most of the time catching up with their sons. There were many hikes and camping trips for Goku to bond with his sons. There were sparring sessions and stories shared of Goku camping with young Gohan and teaching Goten wilderness survival while getting to know his youngest boy.
That's not to say ChiChi didn't have alone time with Goku. There were moments in the morning when Goku would be in the kitchen doing pushups. They'd talk and sometimes share tender hugs and kisses. Most of their connecting occurred at night while their sons slept. There were many long nights of talking and engaging in other activities. They had yet to have alone time for days and though Goku obeyed ChiChi's wishes and bonded with their sons first, he was getting restless and in certain ways let ChiChi know he longed to be with her alone for a few days. ChiChi felt that deep need, too, and made arrangements to do something about that.
"Bye, Mom! I'm off to school!" Gohan stood at the door with his bookbag slung over a shoulder.
ChiChi gathered Gohan's empty plates off the table. "Bye, Gohan. Have a good day!"
"Bye, Dad!" Gohan waved before leaving.
ChiChi turned to the entryway to see Goku walking in as he yawned. Some days he missed Gohan's early departure for school. He wasn't the only one. Goten did, too. "Morning, Sleepyhead." Seeing Goku's mouth open and uncovered, she stuffed a biscuit into it. "What have I told you about yawning with your mouth open?"
Goku swallowed the buttery bread after three bites. "Keep doing it so you can feed me?"
ChiChi slapped his stomach. "Sit down. I'll get your breakfast."
ChiChi placed Gohan's empty plates into the sink. She went over to the hot stove and began piling food on Goku's starter plate when she felt his strong arms circle her body and his face pressed against her neck. His nose brushed against her skin as he inhaled her scent. His teeth nipped her sensitive ear lobe before whispering.
"How much time do we have before Goten gets up?"
ChiChi checked the clock on the wall. "I don't know. Five? Ten?" She felt Goku's hands move up to cup her breasts. "Hey, we can't do that now. Goten will walk in on us." She scolded him but she didn't move his hands away. She didn't want to for she needed him, too. "I talked to Dad. He will watch Gohan and Goten this weekend while we have the house to ourselves." Goku's grip on her breasts slipped. It allowed ChiChi to turn around and stare into his wondrous face.
"The whole weekend? You and me?"
ChiChi confirmed Goku's dubiousness with a kiss. "Just us and I wanna give you a gift."
"A gift?" Goku held his hands out. "Can I have it now?"
"No." Giggling, ChiChi turned away from him and resumed fixing his plate. "You have to wait."
"Do I have to give you a gift?"
"You coming back is my gift."
It was enough for ChiChi so it should be enough for him but it wasn't. Coming back to life after seven years left Goku reflective of their marriage and the mistakes made by both. His was so much it amazed him ChiChi welcomed him back with open arms. This second chance made him more determined to make up for that; be more involved and show ChiChi he wanted a fresh start to make it right. "I wanna give you a gift, too," Goku offered.
"You don't have to do that, Goku."
"I want to. If you can do it, I can, too. Where did you buy it?" Goku asked. "I can buy something at that place, too." He'll take Gohan with him for help but he'll buy ChiChi something.
"I didn't buy it. It's…. made."
Made. It must be clothes. The only things ChiChi made were clothes and food. Making clothes was something Goku didn't know how to do but he would try.
But as soon as Goku thought of his plan he realized he needed help. When Goku needed help with anything that didn't involve fighting, Goku went to ChiChi but since he couldn't go to her, he went to Gohan. He lured Gohan away saying he wanted him to help get a fish for the family for dinner.
"You want me to teach you how to knit a sweater?" Gohan was incredulous. "Dad, I don't know how to do that!" They were dressing now after getting fishes from the lake. "And, Dad, it's impossible to knit Mom a sweater before this weekend."
"Mom could do it."
Gohan grabbed his fish. "You're not Mom." Gohan opened his mouth to lecture Goku on how this was a bad idea and a waste of time when he noticed Goku looking defeated and frustrated but not at Gohan but at himself. "Why a sweater?" Gohan asked. If he understood his father's motivation, maybe he can get behind this crazy idea.
"I know it's not easy making a sweater but that's why I wanna do it, Gohan. I figure if I really try at something I'm bad at, ChiChi will know how much I wanna do something nice for her. I haven't been the best husband for her. I'm lucky to come back to life and have her want me back. I wanna do this right this time with her, with you, with Goten. All of you."
You don't need to do that, Dad. Mom knows. So do I. So do Goten. But Gohan knew that wasn't what his Dad needed to hear. "We can't have a full-size sweater ready for Mom, but maybe we can make a small one to show Mom what you will make for her."
And so father and son worked four hours straight for three long nights making a sweater. It wasn't easy. The first night was used teaching Goku how to hold the knitting needles and loop the yarn on them. They went over this step several times to the point Gohan almost gave up on Goku getting it. By the last hour of the night, Gohan got Goku to make a pattern and practice it on the farm the next day. The next night, Gohan reviewed Goku's work and the two began work on the actual sweater. Groans from Goku bending needles to ruining the pattern and sighs from Gohan repeating steps over and over to Goku and bribing Goten's silence with treats and when he caught them knitting followed until the night before Goku and ChiChi's long weekend began.
Gyumao surprised them by showing up a day early. He figured his daughter and son-in-law would love that idea. Gohan and Goten were happy to leave early. Goten loved it since it was one extra night of being spoiled by Grandpa and Gohan was glad to not have another night of sweater knitting with his Dad.
Goku wasn't ready for it. The tiny sweater was complete but tonight was the night he and Gohan were gonna work on ChiChi's sweater.
"Bye! Love you!" ChiChi shouted one last time to Gohan and Goten before they disappeared in her father's car. "That was nice of Dad to get the boys early. I did talk to him so he knows how important this is for us."
"But he was early," Goku whined.
ChiChi didn't mind that but she wondered why Goku did. "Dad knows how excited I am to give you my gift. Let's do that now."
"You wanna open our gifts first?" Goku hoped they could eat dinner first. At least he could have ChiChi's yummy food before she was disappointed with his gift.
ChiChi sat on the sofa and patted a seat for Goku to sit on. "Yes. You go first," ChiChi encouraged. "I wanna see what you made for me."
"Maybe you should share your gift first. It's better."
"Don't delay," ChiChi gently ordered him. "Show me your gift. I promise to not get mad if that what's you're worried about."
Maybe not mad but ChiChi will be disappointed and that was the last thing he wanted to make her. "Okay," Goku gave in. He went into the hall closet where he hid his knitting behind a shelf of family board games.
"It's just a sample," Goku warned ChiChi as he sat down. "I'm not good at this and Gohan thought I should make a sample of what I will make for you."
"Gohan?" ChiChi didn't know Gohan helped but perhaps that explained his weirdness around her lately and the way Goten would suddenly break out in laughs around Goku and Gohan. It was as if they all had a big secret. Maybe this was it. "Does Goten know?"
"Oh, yeah." Goku would never forget seeing Goten sleepily stumble upon them knitting and falling over the floor in laughter. He would've sprinted to the bedroom to tell ChiChi if he hadn't stopped Gohan. "He's been laughing at us ever since."
Laughing? This made ChiChi even more curious. What was Goku working on that embarrassed Gohan and caused Goten to laugh at both of them? "You have to show it to me." ChiChi held her hands out. "I'm ready. Gimme. Gimme."
ChiChi's excitement would make Goku happy but it made him dread her reaction. Goku placed a small gift bag on the seat and gently pushed it to her. "You can't use it but it's just a sample."
Goku's usually confident in a happy way but he looked so nervous to ChiChi and was he sweating? Is he that worried I won't like it? ChiChi opened the bag. What she expected wasn't what she saw. She pulled out a small sweater. Guessing, she figured a child could wear it. It was white and very soft.
"You knit me a sweater? You knitted…. for me?" Touched didn't begin to describe ChiChi's feelings. Goku didn't knit. ChiChi didn't think Goku had the patience for it or the skill if she was truly honest but he did and he did it for her. "Oh, Goku." ChiChi threw her arms around him and peppered his face with kisses. "It's beautiful. I love it!"
"You do?"
"Of course, silly! Why did you think I wouldn't love it?" She squeezed the tiny gift against her chest emphasizing her love.
"I know there wasn't enough time to make a sweater for you so I made a small one as a sample and I was gonna show you what I made so far of the sweater I was gonna make for you but your Dad came and got the boys early and I didn't make it." The disappointment was evident in his voice. It overwhelmed and touched ChiChi how Goku felt about this sweater. "It ain't gonna be easy but I am gonna do it."
ChiChi cupped Goku's face and tenderly kissed him. It wasn't a heavy and lusty kiss. It was a kiss of love and emotion so potent Goku felt tears from ChiChi's eyes fall on his skin. The sudden wetness caused Goku to break from her. He didn't mean to make her cry but this was a different cry. She wasn't sad. She was happy.
"ChiChi?"
"I think it's time I give you my gift now." ChiChi picked up the tiny sweater. "I can't wear this but our baby will."
"Baby?" Goku's eyes dropped down to ChiChi's stomach. Her waist was still tiny; she wasn't eating as she had with Gohan but as he concentrated he felt it. A tiny Ki. A new life growing in ChiChi. "When?"
"The second. The fifth. The sixth. The tenth, eleventh and twelfth." ChiChi rattled off days of the previous month when the conception possibly happened. "Take your pick."
"A baby?" Goku said again as it sank in. "A baby!" Overjoyed, Goku pulled ChiChi into his arms again. "Are you sure? We get to have another one?"
"We do." Happy tears flowed from ChiChi's eyes again. "And this time, I hope it's a girl."
"Me, too," Goku agreed. Two boys were nice but even Goku felt, it was time for a girl in the family.
