This chapter was hard to write, though I don't know why. Enjoy and review. (And LL, Aaron is NOT going to leave you at the altar! And even if he does, I'll kick his ass!)

I woke up the next morning and automatically wished that last night had been a dream, a horrible nightmare. Hell, I wished the past seven months had been a nightmare, and if I had my way, it would still be July, and I could take everything back.

Somehow I dragged myself out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen. My head was absolutely pounding and I was hungry and my eyes were itchy from crying so much.

I fished around in the cupboard for a bottle of aspirin for my head.

"Good morning Marron," I heard Grandpa Roshi's voice from the doorway.

I spun around. "Morning Grandpa," I mumbled. I popped two pills in my mouth and filled a glass of water.

"I suspect you did not sleep well, as I heard you tossing and turning through the night. I'll leave you with this piece of advice." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Though you messed up, Goten loves you enough to come back. And if he doesn't, then he never really loved you in the first place." He walked away.

I stood there for a moment, just thinking about what he'd said, when Daddy walked into the kitchen.

He smiled at me. "How'd you sleep baby girl? I hope it wasn't as bad as it sounded. Do you want some breakfast?"

I nodded. "I don't want to eat, but the baby does. She's so freakin' persistent." I put my hand on my stomach and felt as Goten's daughter kicked. "You wanna feel her Daddy? Give me your hand."

I watched his eyes soften as he moved his hand around my stomach. "A grandfather," Daddy said softly to himself. "It's nice to see a pregnant woman again. It's been too long. Listen Marron, I talked to Bulma last night after you fell asleep, and Trunks is going to stop by today. So why don't you go take a shower and freshen up."

"I should, but I don't have the energy to. Do I look all that terrible?" I asked, running a hand through my knotty hair.

He shook his head and I started back to bed. And there I sat, thinking about how everything had gone wrong. Isn't it ironic how when you do the right thing, you always end up hurting yourself and someone around you? Maybe if I had done the wrong thing, I'd be in bed next to 'Ten right now. But then, Piccolo would tell him, and I couldn't have that.

I ended up falling asleep for another hour or so from my pure exhausted-ness. And when I woke up, I ended up staring out the window and fiddling with my wedding ring; an annoying habit I inherited from my mother. Whenever she doesn't know what to do with herself, she twirls her wedding band around her finger.

I was snapped out of my daydreaming by a knock at the door, and I quickly rubbed my eyes before the person came in. It was Trunks with a grocery bag in his hand.

"I come bearing gifts," he smiled, leaning over to give me a kiss on the cheek. He reached into his bag. "Potato chips, chocolate bars, some soda, and I think you'll need these now, tissues."

I took them gratefully and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. "He left Trunks. Goten left me. What am I going to do?" I had a feeling I was going to need those tissues soon…

He sat down next to me. "He'll be back Maz, you know he will. And if it makes you feel any better, I told Kim this morning and she slapped me and told me she never wanted to see me again."

"Oh, Trunks, I'm so sorry. Was it really that bad?"

"Not really. That's not your problem, though. How was telling Goten?" he asked.

I groaned and reached for a tissue. "He cried. Goten was crying. And I know he's mad at you, and he wanted to know how I could take away the one thing he was sure about. I don't know how much of this I can take, Trunks. Look at me! Look what one night without Goten has done to me! How am I supposed to survive if this is going to become the rest of my life?" I asked, raising my voice slightly, hoping I wasn't going to wake my mother up.

Trunks knelt next to my bed and put his finger over his lips in a quiet motion. "Listen to me Marron, and listen carefully. You cannot take the loser way out. Think of what's coming your way. You're going to have this beautiful little girl in two months. You're going to have the most beautiful baby girl on this whole planet. If you're not going to survive for you, survive for her."

Why is it that everything you don't want to hear always makes sense? And since when had Trunks become the voice of wisdom? Damn him for making sense!

The phone rang and Mom appeared at my doorway. "Your husband's on the phone," she told me icily. I could see how pissed off she was.

"Goten's on the phone?" I asked hopefully. I grabbed the phone next to my bed. "Goten?" I whispered.

There was a pause. "Hey," he said softly.

I started crying all over again. "Oh Goten! I'm so sorry! If I could just explain myself a little better, I'm sure you would understand everything and I'm sure we could work things out--"

"That's what I called about," he interrupted with a sigh. "I'm sorry for walking out on you last night, it was just… so hard, you know? I want to work things out; I want to make things better. I need some time, though. I can't do this right away. So if you'd be willing to wait for a while, I think we may be able to save this."

I gave Trunks a full smile and my heart jumped. "Do you really mean that, Goten? Do you really want to work things out?"

"Yeah, I do. What we have Mar, it's really great. And even though I may never be able to forget what you did, I may be able to move on. Just give me a little bit of time, and we can talk about it," he said.

"Um, how much time?" I asked meekly.

Another pause. "I--I don't know. Just… trust me. I'll talk to you soon."

"Right. Soon," I repeated slowly, as if a child. Child. "What about the baby, Goten? What are we going to do then?"

"We'll get to that when we come to it. I have to go, um, my mother wants me to go and pick some things up for her," he stammered.

I swallowed and gripped the blanket next to me. "Don't let me keep you. Take care of yourself."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye." I cradled the phone in my hand for a moment. "I think, Trunks," I said, tearing up, "I think I've just ruined my marriage."

Trunks wrapped an arm around me and I cried.