And here would be 17. I apologize for Goten's behavior. As Asanra put it, he was simply being a prick. Enjoy.

I didn't talk to Goten for the next five months. I figured if he needed his space, I would give him his space. So I attempted to raise Kira on my own.

When Goten left, so did the money Chi-Chi was supplying us with from the stash she had. Ever since she had been fighting in tournaments, and then the boys, she had been putting money away, along with the money her father was giving her.

My parents helped out as much as they could, but there was no way that I could support myself and Kira with no money. So my parents offered to watch Kira while I worked.

"Are you sure Mom?" I asked I got in the car to go to my first day of work. I had got a job at this coffee place downtown.

"Yes, I'm positive. Now go before you're late on your first day," she said with her arms crossed.

Daddy smiled as he waved Kira's hand. "This isn't the first time we've had a baby, you know. We raised you, and look how you turned out."

"Okay. Bye Kira, Mommy loves you," I blew her a kiss before shutting the door and leaving. It had been the first time I had ever been away from her, and it was tearing me apart. Five solid months of never leaving her side for more than a few hours did not exactly prepare me for this.

The place I was working at was called Morning Start, and it was this little coffee house near Satan City General, not too far from Capsule Corp. Trunks had wanted me to work with him, but I knew I couldn't do that.

"Trunks, how I am I ever supposed to support myself and my daughter still mooching off your money? I'm never going to meet people who aren't children of my father's friends if I don't take this job and get out on my own! I have to show Goten I don't need him. I need to prove that I can take care of myself. I'm twenty-five years old for Dende's sake!" I had shouted at him.

So I made my journey out into the world of business and commerce, with my hair in a really cute ponytail and my heart breaking over leaving my daughter behind. But I trusted my parents. Very much so.

Driving wasn't a problem for me anymore. I figured if I could give birth, I could really do anything. I love Kira with all my heart, she is my world, but she has a big head. It's a Son head. I have no idea how Chi-Chi did it twice.

But enough about heads.

When I got to Morning Start, I took a deep breath and smiled. This was the new Marron. Marron the mother. Marron the responsible woman who was ready to take responsibility for her actions. Marron who didn't need Goten, no matter how much her mind screamed it. Marron who was going to do this.

I pulled the glass door open and smiled at the girl behind the counter I had met a few days before. Her name was Mia, and she was really pretty; tall, with short brown hair and dark eyes.

"Hi Marron, how are you this morning?" she asked in a very perky voice. I guess when you work in a coffee house for long enough, you just become naturally perky.

"I'm good, thanks. So where do I start?"

~

After nine straight hours of making coffee, wiping counters, and punching numbers into the cash register, I was unbelievably exhausted.

"Okay Mia, I'm out of here. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Marron."

I poured myself a cup of coffee in one of those Styrofoam cups and left. Day one in the life of a moneymaking woman results: success, I thought as I started the car.

~

I slowly crept into Kame House and made my way to the kitchen. Mom was feeding Kira and Daddy was cooking dinner. "Kira!" I squealed, lifting her out of her high chair and holding her close to me. I had baby food smeared on my shirt, but I didn't care. "Oh Mommy missed you today, sweetie."

"How was work, Mar?" Daddy asked, fishing another plate out of the cupboard.

I rocked Kira around the kitchen. "I've poured about six thousand cups of coffee, wiped counters, and pretty much wanted to leave all day. Work sucks," I said, sitting down and setting Kira on the kitchen table.

"You know, I was feeding her before you came in," Mom muttered. "And I think she wants to finish."

"Fine. Here you go, baby. Back to Grandma." I sniffed the air. "Smells really good, Daddy. You're cooking dinner for me?"

Mom and Daddy exchanged a look. "Marron, something happened today we think you should know about."

Never a good thing. I swallowed hard. "Is Kira okay?"

"Kira's fine," Daddy said. "Goten called over here looking for you. He said he needed to talk to you. Maybe you should go call him."

I managed a weak smile. "You know what?" I asked softly. "I think we should get going home. It's been a long day for the both of us. Thanks, you two are a big help." I stood up and gave my parents each a kiss on the cheek. I lifted Kira up and grabbed the nearby diaper bag off the floor. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Mom ran a paper towel over the table. "Don't give in, whatever you do. Make him come back to you, not the other way around."

I nodded slowly as I left.

~

Why would he just call out of the blue after five months of nothing? Did he honestly think I did nothing except sit on my ass and wait for him? Well, I did, but still.

So I sat down on the bed, Kira lying next to me, the phone in my hands, and sat there. "Kira, if you were me, would you call him?" I asked.

She giggled and rolled over.

"I'll take that as a yes." I tapped out Goten's cell number and motioned for the laughing baby to be quiet. It rang three times before I got an answer.

"Marron?"

"That's me. What's going on? My dad told me you called," I said, silently wondering where my voice was coming from. Even if Goten only said one word, my heart still thumped out of my chest.

"Nothing really. I just wanted to see how you and Kira were doing. I bet she's getting big. Is she there? Can I talk to her for a second?"

I smiled. "Yeah, hold on one second. I'll tell you when to start." I wrapped my hand over the mouthpiece. "Alright Kira, your daddy's on the phone. Make sure you let him know how much we love him and want him to come home." I turned the volume button on the phone all the way up and held the phone a little way away from Kira's ear, so (one) the volume wouldn't hurt her and (two) so I could hear what Goten was saying. "Okay 'Ten."

"Hi Kira. How're you doing, baby? I bet you're getting so big now. You're probably really pretty like your mommy. I just wanted to let you know something. Even though I'm not there, I'm thinking about you here, and so are your grandparents. And your aunt and uncle, they can't wait to see you again. Maybe your mommy will bring you here for your cousin Pan's birthday. You'll love Pan. I love you a lot, baby girl. And I promise, I'll come visit you soon. I know your stubborn mother is listening, (Kira giggled) so give the phone back to her now. I'll talk to you soon Kira. Bye baby girl."

Kira placed her hands on the phone and tried to bring it to her mouth, as if to kiss it.

I took the phone away from her. "Goten, what are we doing? When I told you I'd give you time, I didn't mean seven months. Now. I want an answer now. Are you going to come back to me, or are you going to end it?" Tears squeezed out the edge of my eyes.

"I love you," he whispered.

"But?"

"But you hurt me. And you were the one person that I knew would never do that to me. If I can't trust you, Marron, who can I trust? I've been thinking, yes, for seven months now, and part of me wants to just say screw it, and run home to you. But the other part keeps bringing back the pain. I think if you had slept with some random guy off the street, it would hurt less. It hurts more with Trunks because he's Trunks. I put his happiness before ours. And now, to have this, I just don't know," he said gently.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell at him for abandoning me when I needed him most, for abandoning our daughter. I wanted to hit him repeatedly on the arm. But I didn't. "You don't want to come home if you can't say you do," I stated calmly. "It's over. I can tell you want to end it. Trust me; I know you better than anyone. I'm not mad. I'd rather we do it calmly than yelling and screaming at each other."

"No Marron. Don't say those things. I love you," he choked. He must have been crying.

I smiled sadly at our daughter, who was looking up at me with a puzzled look on her face. "I've realized, Goten, that if you love me as much as you did when we got married, you wouldn't be saying you didn't know if you wanted to come back or not. If you love me that much, you'd be here right now. You'd be able to forgive me for whatever I did. Things have changed. I'm okay with that. It's okay," I whispered.

"If you-- if you think this is the way to go, I can-- handle that. But I will always, always love you, Marron. My Marron."

"And I will always love you, my Goten. Thank you for the best year I could have ever imagined. And thank you for my little hope, my Kira," I struggled through tears.

"Goodbye Marron."

"G-Goodbye Goten." I hung up the phone and cried.