5: Rebuke
Chi-Chi woke up to the smell of something wonderful. It made her stomach roll a little but she'd gotten used to the nausea that came with hunger. She didn't get up though. She didn't want to. For the first time in months she felt safe, warm and comfortable and the fatigue that weighed her down and dragged at her bones finally felt like it was diminishing. She didn't want to open her eyes to find she'd fallen asleep outside of a restaurant's vents again.
It was a light childish coo and a deeper smoother trill that got her to open her eyes. Gohan was on his stomach not too far from the bed. Goku was in the same position looking adoringly at their son, giving Gohan his fingers to play with and making sounds at him.
Chi-Chi never told Goku, and honestly she wasn't sure how to bring it up, but there was something unearthly about some of the noises he could make. Before everything horrible had happened she would try, whenever he was out of the house, to mimic some of those sounds in order to surprise him. She was always a little disappointed in herself that she could never get them to sound right; it was something important to Goku, even if he didn't know why, so she wanted to share that with him. That they were sometime cute and often times sexy was just a bonus really. Not to mention, the look on his face whenever she'd cooed at Gohan had filled her with so much joy she thought she'd burst. Just that look made it well worth any and all practice she'd put into it.
Regardless she couldn't even began to get close to mimicking most of his noises.
She'd tried her best when Gohan had first started making those same sounds. In part, like she said before, to give Gohan a little bit of familiarity with Goku, and in part because it soothed and calmed him down faster and more reliably than rocking or singing. However judging by his reaction to Goku, her efforts clearly weren't the same as the real thing.
It wasn't something she minded too much right now, not when it allowed her two favorite people in the world to bond with each other.
She must have made a sound because Goku suddenly looked up at her, chirping brightly and affectionately in greeting. On a whim she tried chirping back. It still didn't sound the same to her ears but it made Goku's face go bright red.
That was not what she'd expected. Chi-Chi had never actually managed to make him blush before, at least not without getting physical or blatantly suggesting physical things. She absolutely had to do that again.
She'd have to explore that more at a later time though. For now she sat up and tried to rub the fatigue out of her eyes. "Morning."
Still red-faced, Goku squeaked out something similar to what she'd said. She had to fight back a giggle, but she'd always found him to be so cute whenever he'd get flustered. That was probably why he'd always try to make her blush, come to think of it. Her eye caught sight of a small low table full of plates, reminding her of the delicious smells she'd been trying to ignore.
"Breakfast?"
"Mmhm," he hastily cleared his throat and his blush began to die down. "Yamcha and Krillin made it."
"Looks good," she stretched slowly and carefully before getting up. "Yamcha's here?"
"Puar and Bulma are here too." He picked Gohan up and cradled him against his chest. It warmed her heart to see them getting along so well so quickly. "And yeah, Yamcha is a pretty good cook. Not as good as you though."
She huffed, he always said she was a good cook, even when comparing her cooking to her dad's, who'd won cooking contests before. "You're a bit biased on that." She leaned forward to nuzzle her nose against Gohan's, giving a small chirp as she did so. It made Gohan giggle like crazy and she was more than close enough to hear Goku's pleased purr.
Chi-Chi moved up to kiss his cheek but he caught her lips instead. Even in the early days of their relationship, his kisses always made her feel warm and special. Like always she wanted to stay and bask in those feelings, but as usual she forced herself to break away first. Now wasn't the time to make out with her husband.
Goku had other ideas. With a sound that seemed to combine a whine and a growl he pulled her back in. Despite his aggressive action, his tongue was gentle as he silently asked for permission to go past her lips. That gentleness, more than anything, spurred her into escalating their little kissing session.
She doubted either of them were surprised at that. Goku wasn't ever rough or harsh in any sense of the word, yet him being so gentle and soft when they were intimate always got her heated more than it had any right to. Chi-Chi was sure he'd exploited that fact many times. Not that she minded.
It was only when she felt their son squirm against her that she managed to pull away for a second time. "Goku-ah!" He didn't pull her lips back to his this time, instead he focused on her jaw, nipping and licking at them with wonderful efficiency. "We-we should…mm…" Her legs felt like jelly and she wanted nothing more than to let him take her then and there. Chi-Chi couldn't even blame the time away for her desperation. Goku had always had a way of making her lose her self-control when it came to sex.
"Missed you," he rumbled out, moving his devastating lips to her neck. "Missed kissing you, missed tasting you." With each statement he performed that action, making her burn at the contact. He shifted a bit, making sure their son wasn't pressed between them before his free hand went to her hip, pulling her close and grinding her hip against his pelvis. He buried his face into the crook of her neck, nipping at it and breathing deeply. "Want you, Chi-Chi."
Given where his face was, she couldn't see his eyes, but she knew how they'd look. Coal dark yet burning hotter than Mt. Frypan ever could. All for her; only for her. Her own eyes fluttered shut, as she lost herself in the heated feelings he brought forth. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, "Goku…"
"Aobouau!" Hearing Gohan's voice so suddenly caused Chi-Chi to release Goku and back up a little. Their little boy was pouting up at the both of them and gave a sharp sounding click; a sound she hadn't known he was capable of making. It was adorable and made her feel a little guilty for not paying attention to him before. She gently took him back and cooed at him in apology.
The betrayed look Goku was giving their son, however, was hilarious.
Judging by the way that look transferred to her, she hadn't been able to stifle her laughter enough. "'s not funny." She just giggled and took her son back. That look turned into a genuine pout. "I really do want you, Chi-Chi."
Her amused smile turned shy. "I want you too." It felt weird admitting that in front of their son, but Goku didn't seem to care and it was unlikely Gohan would remember this later anyway. "But we should probably have breakfast before it gets too cold." It might be cold already; she honestly didn't know how long Goku had been waiting for her to get up.
Before she could blink Goku had them all seated at the small foldable table, Gohan was still in her arms and she herself somehow ended up in Goku's lap. Though judging by what was poking her butt, that was entirely on purpose. A part of her wanted to squirm and tease him a little, but that would probably take things too far too soon, especially with Gohan in the room. Besides, she really did need to eat.
Chi-Chi had to admit she was a little surprised at where her husband's hands were though. Normally Goku's arms would be wrapped firmly around her waist, but he seemed content, for now, to keep his hands on her hips.
"What would you like to eat?"
He buried his face into her hair. Not for the first time since getting up earlier she regretted giving herself a quick rub down rather than a shower last night. She'd been far too tired to do anything else. Not that she could have really washed her hair if she had taken longer, there hadn't been any shampoo as far as she'd seen. Goku had a sensitive nose and she couldn't imagine how bad her hair smelled right now. At least her dad would be bringing her toiletries. It'd been far too long since she'd had an actual shower.
"It's fine, I already ate."
She couldn't quite help the surprised noise she made. Goku never turned down food, even if he'd just finished a feast minutes before. "Do I really look that bad?" Chi-Chi held back a grimace; she hadn't meant to ask that out loud.
She also hadn't had the courage or the energy to look in the mirror last night. In all honesty it hadn't been her weight she'd been worried about. She actually thought she was around the same weight she'd been at when she'd been taken from home. Though, yes, she could see her ribs and she certainly had lost some muscle mass, but she wasn't skeletal. She'd just figured she'd lost her baby weight at odd places. Goku's reaction seemed to disagree with her though.
"When was the last time you ate?" She half wanted to pout at his answering question but what he was asking made her pause.
Between running, caring for Gohan, making sure he had food, putting together her desperate plan, and hiding; she couldn't actually recall having any food. At least not yesterday. But surely she'd had something. However Chi-Chi honestly couldn't remember eating anything the day before yesterday either.
Instead of answering her husband she reached around her son and grabbed a bowl of miso soup. Goku huffed at her non answer, but moved so that his chin was resting on her shoulder and shifted so that he could entertain their son while she ate.
Finishing the bowl didn't take long but she was hungry and it hadn't been a big bowl to start with. The rice went next, but it had been more of a struggle to finish, even though the size of the bowl was the same. The miso itself was more than what she'd been used to eating lately. She ended up stopping with about a third of the rice left.
"I think that's enough for me. Do you want the rest?"
"You barely ate anything." True, compared to what she'd eat before her kidnapping, her meal now was barely anything. But it had been more than what she'd eaten in the past week.
She closed her eyes and leaned against her husband's firm chest, too full to do anything else. "I can't eat anymore though. I'll feel sick."
"But Chi-Chi, you need to eat."
"I can't just…" she sighed, "I can't just go from eating a little to eating a lot. It doesn't work like that."
"Why not? If you haven't been eating enough then shouldn't you eat more to make up for it?"
"The stomach's like a muscle, Goku. If you're used to exercising it a certain amount than a little more or a little less of that exercise is fine. But if you stop for a while then try picking up where you left off, you'll get hurt." At his sound of understanding she continued. "It's the same with eating some kinds of foods. I haven't been able to get a lot of this kind of food in a while. Which is why I stuck to miso and rice." Rather than the omelet, which was honestly her preferred breakfast food. However, it was probably too rich for her right now. She turned and kissed his cheek. "I'll get better, I just have to build myself up first."
At her kiss he pulled her closer, pressing their lower bodies together. "Why- how did it get so bad?" She honestly appreciated him changing his question from why to how. Her father, when she'd called him had asked nothing but why questions for her. Questions that she'd been too tired to answer before and would have taken too long to explain. Questions that made her feel guilty for having to answer, like she should have done more, though that hadn't been her father's intent.
Chi-Chi idly rubbed her son's back as he squirmed in her lap. It was almost time to feed him again. "After Gohan was born I had to choose. Adults can tolerate being hungry far better than children can. And- and letting a child go hungry can really damage them in the long run." Words could not express how horrible of a failure she felt like when she had to deny Gohan his fill. She'd justified it, telling herself it was better for him to be a little hungry now rather than starving later. But she'd still felt like the worst person in the world, especially when he'd learned not to cry for more food.
It wasn't until Goku wiped some tears from her face that she realized she was crying. "It wasn't enough, I couldn't get enough food for him. He's still so small, I think he's underweight. I-" Chi-Chi couldn't hold back a sob this time. Because she was a horrible mother who couldn't even feed her baby. She'd tried giving everything she could to Gohan, but it hadn't been enough.
This wasn't a new feeling for her, but before she hadn't allowed herself to feel that way, she'd pushed those thoughts and emotions aside for later. There had been no time or space available to cry or even acknowledge those feelings then. All that had mattered was keeping Gohan alive and as safe as possible until she could get him to Goku, where it'd be guaranteed he'd be safe. And she herself was the only one she'd trusted to get Gohan to Goku.
Goku just held her while she cried. Crooning to her and distracting Gohan when he needed it. When her tears died down he wordlessly handed her a glass of water. Even as she drank, their son was starting to whimper for food again and she wordlessly stopped drinking to adjust her shirt for him to feed.
"Chi-Chi?"
"Mm?" She felt a bit better after crying, but it also left her feeling worn out and raw. But there was relief now that she could cry, that she had time to, that she'd be safe while doing so.
Goku gently turned her chin so he could meet her eyes. "You and Gohan will never go hungry again. I promise." His eyes were intense, Chi-Chi had never seem him so serious before. Not even when he was fighting for his life against Piccolo over a year ago.
She smiled and gave a small nod. "I know." She'd never once doubted his ability to provide food for them. The only reason she'd been so pushy for him to get a job was for the schooling of their, at the time, hypothetical future children. "Although speaking of food…"
"Yeah?"
"Could you finish up?" She gestured to the mostly full breakfast table, "a lot of it is probably too rich for me to eat and it'll go bad if it's left out."
Her husband chuckled in response. "Yeah, I think I could handle having seconds."