Tales of Parenthood
Author's Note
Sequel to Coming of Age. Everyone except Goku and Doctor Briefs are alive, but Goku visits. Grand Tour happened and the dragon balls are gone. Ignores Dragon Ball Super.
Pan is 38
Bra is 40
Goten is 51
Trunks is 52
Henry is 21
Cora is 18
Maddox is 19
Litta is 15
Cami is 15
Bardock is 11
Vegeta Jr is 4
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any characters or variations of DBZ. I only own my OCs.
Chapter Thirty-Five: Board Meetings and Broken Legs
Bulma looked up from her current project surprised to find it wasn't one of her lab assistants.
"Harbor what are you doing down here?" she wiped off her greasy hands to give the man a hug.
"Playing the double agent as usual my dear," he had a twinkle in his eye despite his age.
'What's the board trying to do now?" Bulma let out an exasperated sigh dropping her head.
"They are trying to find ways to keep Henry from being appointed the vice president because that would land him a spot on the board," Harbor explained.
"And what are your thoughts to stop their plan?" she asked. The man looked appalled she would think he had a plan. "Come on I know you wouldn't have come to see me if you didn't have a plan."
"Oh alright, I think you and Trunks should make him start coming to the board meetings. You could say he is there since he owns such a high percentage of our stock," his smile widened as he explained his plan.
"And then they would want him appointed to vice president because he would have to listen more than he would as a material shareholder," Bulma laughed. Harbor had always been great at out smarting the other members of the board. He was loyal to the Briefs family not the old men on the board.
xxXXxx
"Henry, I was beyond excited when you picked me to go out with," the Blonde smiled tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah, I thought we should give it a try," he stated awkwardly. He had honestly forgotten her name. She has to be either Leslie or Charlotte, Henry thought to himself.
"We could be the next power couple you know. My mother is making me the vice president of operations!" she announced excitedly.
"That's great, what would you be doing?" he asked trying to make conversation.
"I don't know, but it sounds super important," she giggled. Henry had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
xxXXxx
"Remind me again why you can't just eat a senzu bean?" Cami asked annoyed with how slow Litta was moving on her crutches.
"Because the crash was too widely publicized, and everyone is already freaked out that no one died. I think they would start yelling aliens if my leg were to magically be healed over night," grunted Litta following after her.
"I wish you could just fly. It would be so much faster," whined Cami swaying side to side to keep herself entertained.
"So do I," huffed Litta more annoyed when they got to the stairs.
xxXXxx
"You missed your date with Charlotte," announced Ayumi walking into the lab. Since it was after hours, Henry was the only one working.
"I guess that date the other day was with Leslie, " Henry shrugged moving from the computer he was typing on.
"Well she's pissed and called me asking me where you were."
"And you said?" Henry was ninety percent sure she wouldn't have told her the truth.
"That I'm not your mother or your boss, so I had no clue," she walked over to look at his current project.
"Thank you! I'll call her tomorrow to reschedule," Henry moved to get a better look at the car.
"This is used," she observed.
"Yeah, it's from a crash. I'm looking into it," Henry replied climbing into the wreckage.
"This must be a special wreck. You don't do safety stuff… Don't give me that look. You told me that yourself," she rolled her eyes looking the car over closer. Then she saw the Orange Star High School Permit. "This is the wreck you sister and her friends were in," she stated loudly once she figured it out.
"Yes it is," Henry admitted.
xxXXxx
Litta glared from her spot next to Ms Ritz. Kira was on stage practicing the role of Anna.
"I'll be better before the show," grumbled Litta watching the senior flutter her eyelashes and over exaggerate her actions.
"That's the hope, but I would rather have a trained understudy than not," sighed Ms Ritz. That's enough for today ladies and gentle men," she announced leaving the students to mingle as they pleased.
"I really should have gotten this role to begin with. It is the lead after all," declared Kira flipping her hair.
"Litta got the part, because she is the best for it," Cami glared at the girl. She didn't like her attitude.
"Litta is a just another girl with a famous daddy. Oh wait that's you too!" she cackled.
"Shut up," snapped Litta crutching her way on to the stage.
"Trust me neither of you are worth a speck of attention… Though I suppose if you're in the show, your brother will come see it. He's dreamy," she was now in her own little daydream.
"Henry would never be interested in you," Litta growled.
"Oh does someone have a crush on him," she laughed again.
"No! She just knows my brother doesn't date trash," Cami spat back grabbing Litta before she lost control.
xxXXxx
Fleur was definitely the trashiest woman Henry had ever gone out with.
"Fleur it's been nice, but I think I should be going," Henry attempted to slide out of the booth.
"Really, we haven't even had dessert," she scooted closer.
"We just had cheesecake," Henry reminded her not catching her point until she ran her hand up his thigh. "I have an early meeting Fleur. Maybe another time," he slipped out of the booth quickly to avoid her touching him further.
xxXXxx
Pan read the letter making a mental note to hide it from Trunks.
"What's that?" Trunks asked looking over her shoulder.
"Just a health insurance thing," Pan attempted to hide the piece of mail.
"Is it about the car wreck?" he moved to grab it.
"Nope nothing about that," she kept it out of his reach.
"Then why won't you let me see it?" Trunks raised an eyebrow at his wife's odd behavior.
"Girl stuff," she answered.
"Uh huh?" he grab to letter quickly once she thought he had lost interest. He read through the letter.
"Trunks," she warned.
"I'll kill him," he growled.
"Stop it. Cora is old enough to make her own choices… Do you really think for a second Maddox could pressure her into anything?" Pan asked working to calm Trunks down.
"Why does she have to grow up?" Trunks whined letting his anger fade. It was true Maddox was not the one in charge between the couple.
"She's been grown up for a while. We just weren't for sure they were having sex… And technically she might have just decided to get birth control incase they decide to," she comforted him.
"I guess, I want her to be safe," grumbled Trunks taking a seat at the table.
Pan smiled moving to sit in his lap. "Besides I don't want her to have to change her plans due to pregnancy like we had to," she kissed his cheek.
"Do you regret it?" asked Trunks wrapping his arms around her.
"Not for a second," she kissed him.
xxXXxx
Cami and Litta were having a slumber party at Litta's house, and Bardock was being annoying as always.
"You know I like you being a gimp," Bardock stealing her crutches. Litta floated after him giving him a good punch in the arm.
"You can't get away with that at home," she yanked back her crutches.
"Mom Litta hit me!" he yelled running into the backyard where Goten and Rini were sparring.
"He's such a tattle tale," giggled Cami popping a movie into the player.
"Yeah, but he's fun to harass," shrugged Litta.
"I'm pretty sure your brother feels the same about you," chuckled Goten heading into the kitchen.
"Litta don't hit your brother," called Rini from her spot outside.
"Okay!" she yelled back. Goten laughed at how there was not real reaction to the siblings' torture of one another. It was just how they were.
xxXXxx
"Trunks I was thinking," Pan was pouring them some tea. They were having a quiet night in since the slumber party was at Goten's this weekend.
"About?" he removed his reading glasses to as he pulled his attention away from the article he was reading.
"Maybe we should talk to Cami about stuff," she blushed.
"Stuff what kind of stuff?" he wasn't catching on very quickly.
"Like the birds and the bees," Pan handed him a cup of tea.
"We've already had that talk with her," he was even more confused. They had explained sex and where babies come from a while ago.
"Yeah, but we didn't really cover safety or dating or what if she's already having sex," Pan rambled on.
"No way, my little angel isn't having sex. And if she was I would murder the boy that took advantage of her," Trunks stated firmly.
"That's the thing though. Maybe we need to have a talk with her to make sure some boy doesn't take advantage of her. It's like how you had a talk with Henry about being a ladies man," Pan explained.
"That talk didn't do a ton of good, he still went through women nearly as fast as Goten did," grumbled Trunks thinking about his son's track record.
"Hey, he stopped that. Now your mom is having to force him to date," Pan pointed out. Trunks shrugged. "Well I think we need to talk with Cami. She's too much like Grandpa Goku. She'll believe almost anything, and I don't want some boy using that against her."
xxXXxx
"You work weekends huh?" the older man observed Henry as he worked.
"I'm working on a side project," he patted the wreckage.
"Those are always good to keep you busy," chuckled Harbor.
"The real question is why are you here?" Henry knew who Harbor was, so what did a member of the Capsule Corp board want from him.
"Your grandmother and I have talked and feel that you should start attending board meetings," he explained knowing the young engineer wouldn't like the news.
"I don't exactly have a large interest in the business side things," Henry gave him a slight glare.
"Yes, but we both know as a material owner you have to care," Harbor pointed out. Henry groaned a little under his breath.
"So this is required of me, isn't it?" Henry asked already knowing the answer.
"I'll see you at the meeting next week," Habor chuckled waving as he left the lab.
After about a half hour, Henry had another visitor.
"I'm going to need you to start attending board meetings," Bulma announced coming into the lab. She started looking over the wreckage that Henry had requested to handle.
"Your old buddy was already here," he informed her for the most part ignoring her as he typed on his computer.
"So you'll be there then?" she asked leaning in front of him to get his attention.
"Yes," he sighed knowing he wouldn't be able to get away with not going.
"Great, now tell me what is so important about the girls' wreck," she started looking at what he was typing on.
"Litta broke her leg," he muttered. Bulma smiled, so he was upset that Litta was hurt in the wreck.
"And?" she prodded.
"The metal in the car isn't strong enough to break her leg," he continued.
"You sound sure about that?" Bulma raised an eyebrow at her grandson.
"I did a bone density test," he answered simply.
"You tested Litta's bone density?" she made a face.
"No, I tested my mom's. They are both twenty-five percent saiyan, so it should be roughly the same," Henry explained.
"If the car didn't break her leg how did it happen?" Bulma asked.
Henry motioned for her to follow him to the wreckage. There was no door and the car had to be cut in places to give him better access to the vehicle. "Sit in the drivers seat, and I'll show you," Henry motioned to the seat. He climbed in to the back seat behind the drivers seat.
"Do you think she was driving?" Bulma was confused as she took a seat in the wrecked car.
"The driver should have sustained more injuries since that is where the car was hit, but if I were to block the driver," Henry moved his leg so it was next to the seat right between where the door would have been and Bulma.
"She took the impact instead of the driver," Bulma looked shocked. Neither Litta or Cami had mentioned it.
"It's the only way there would have been enough force to break her leg. It also explains the drivers lack of serious injuries," Henry nodded.
"Did you ask her?" Bulma wondered.
"Early on, but she wouldn't tell me anything… That's why I went through all of this," he growled slightly. Bulma had to hold back a snicker.
xxXXxx
Ayumi was straightening Henry's tie. "Do I have to go?" whined Henry already knowing the answer.
"You just have to go, listen, give your opinion. You know business even if you don't like to admit it," she laughed.
"Can we go get drunk after this?" he asked knowing the next few hours would be hell.
"Not today, I have to meet with a client. You will have to entertain yourself tonight," Ayumi grabbed her oversized purse and headed toward the door.
"Fine desert me then," he huffed walking toward the office side of Capsule Corp. Once up to the conference room, everyone stared at him. "Henry what are you doing here?" Trunks asked entering the room after him.
"Well, I'm a material shareholder," he shrugged glancing over to Harbor. Apparently whatever his grammie and Harbor were up to his father didn't know about.
"That is true. I'm glad you're here," Trunks patted him on the back before moving to take a seat toward the head of the table.
"Mr Briefs junior you can sit next to me," Harbor wore a wide smirk.
xxXXxx
"My cast is coming off next week then I have to wear a boot for two weeks at the most," Litta explained to Ms Ritz.
"That's cutting it close," she bit her thumbnail looking between Kira and Litta. "You know the lines better than Kira, but it's the motions I'm worried about. I'll let you do a run down once you get your boot off. If you can't keep up, I'll be switching you to the understudy and giving Kira the part," she announced her decision before leaving the girls to talk.
"I hope you weren't very attached to the part," Kira shoved her before walking off.
Litta's nose twitched with anger until Cami return distracted her. "So why did you end up in the office?" she asked Cami.
"I got in trouble for a dress code violation," grumbled Cami she was now wearing a different blouse than she had been earlier. This one no longer had the shoulder cut outs like the last one.
"Did you have that shirt in your locker or?" Litta trailed off waiting for an explanation.
"Aunt Bra brought it to me," Cami sighed.
"It's fine. I might be loosing my part in the play if I mess up even once after getting my boot off," Litta filled her in on her bad news.
"At least today can't get any worse," Cami said giving her a genuine smile. Litta nodded in agreement.
xxXXxx
Harbor nudged him. "I don't like that," announced Henry, to be honest he was only half way paying attention. Harbor was helping him through it. Some things he really did have a problem with the rest was just to bother the board.
xxXXxx
Litta sighed plopping down on the couch to look over the script's stage directions that she would have to have down perfectly at her try out.
"Hey can I talk to you for a minute?" Rini asked already taking a seat beside her daughter.
"Sure, where's Bar?" she asked noticing there was a distinct lack of loud noises that usually signaled her brother.
"He's at Grandma Chi-Chi's. I was hoping we could have a little girl talk," Rini smiled awkwardly at her daughter.
"Okay…" her mother was acting odder than usual.
"So are there any boys you like?" Rini asked. Litta cringed, there was only one boy she liked, and there was no way she was saying it out loud. "Okay I'll take that as a no. Any girls?" Rini asked giving a laughed.
"Mommmm," she groaned.
"Okay, okay I was just asking," she laughed. "So you aren't planning on having sex yet then?" If Rini had thought Litta looked embarrassed before, she really looked mortified now.
"Why are you even asking!?" Litta yelped wishing she could just disappear.
"Well, I figured we should have the talk…" Rini tried to stroke her daughter hair only to have her pull back.
"We had the talk," she moaned trying to shrink away.
"Technically we only ever had what sex is and where babies come from," Rini pointed out. Litta glared, her mother was pulling her lawyer tricks. "We still need to have the safe sex talk."
"Technically you warned me about disease and pregnancy in the last talk," Litta replied hoping that this new talk could be avoided.
"I just want you to be safe," Rini tried to get her daughter to listen.
xxXXxx
"Why did my parents want to have a talk with Litta?" Bar asked. He was currently being spoiled at his Grandma Chi-Chi's. She looked her little Goku look a like grandson even if his personality is different than her husband's had been.
"They wanted to talk to her about boys," Chi-Chi smiled at the face he made. "Just wait, you fall for a girl, and it won't seem so gross then," she laughed.
"It just gross because it's Litta. I already like a girl her name Kory," he snickered.
"Oh I hope this Kory girl realizes how luck she is to have caught your eye," Chi-Chi told him scooping him out some more food.
xxXXxx
Henry was finally back at home. The sun had set, but it was not quite fully dark yet. He headed through the back garden choosing to avoid the main house all together the meeting had been way too long and way too dull. On his way through the garden, he was surprised to find a visitor.
"Litta what are you doing here?" he asked coming to stand beside where she was seated on the ground.
"You would come to laugh at me wouldn't you," she buried her face in her good knee while her other leg lay out.
"Why would I laugh at you?" he asked taking a seat beside her.
"Didn't someone send you out here to check on me?" she asked barely peeking up to look at him.
"No, want to tell me what's going on?" he was getting curious at this point.
"My parents think I'm having sex," Litta watched to see if really didn't know about the discussion she had just had with her parents.
"What!?" he yelped. He had to stop himself from asking whether they thought it was with him or how he was involved.
"Uh huh. And even better your parents are having the safe sex talk with Cami right now," she smiled thinking how awkward that conversation might be.
"Oh my god!" Henry groaned before letting out a little chuckle. "What brought all this on?"
"Your sister is having sex," she stated matter of factly. He raised an eyebrow assuming she was referring to Cami. "Cora not Cami," Litta elaborated.
"Well, she's eighteen and been dating Maddox forever. What did they expect?" Henry shrugged not bothered to hear that his little sister and one of his best friends were intimate.
"I guess they never thought about it. Cause your parents found out she got birth control, and I got and awkward sex talk from my parents," she grumbled loudly before flopping back onto the grass.
"Your parents? Not just your mom?"
"My dad was there for the end of the talk with a gift," she grabbed a roll of condoms from the pocket of her bag. Henry was now rolling around on the ground laughing so hard he was near tears. "Shut up! I bet you never got the stupid talk," she snapped.
"I got a different talk," he explained once he had caught his breath. "I got the please try not to be a complete man whore talk," he went on.
"You did go through a ton of girls in high school," Litta commented. Henry smiled happy she noticed things he did.
"Yeah, but I didn't sleep with a ton of girls," he countered back.
"Sure you didn't," she rolled her eyes.
Henry glared back. "Moving on… Why are you out here?" he asked hoping to change the subject.
"I was trying to find a quiet place to practice my part for the play. I have to try out again for my part when I get my cast and boot off," she explained the difficulties from earlier in the day.
"Want some one to practice with?" he offered. She nodded trying her best to hold back the grin that was trying to take over her face.
xxXXxx
"When did you first have sex?" Cami asked her parents. Trunks had just home from work to find that Pan had finished the talk.
"I was thirty," Trunks half lied. That was when he first had sex with Pan.
"So you were sixteen?" she asked looking at her mother.
"Yes, and I got pregnant because we didn't use protection," Pan reminded her of the point of the talk.
"But you got Henry out of it, and you got to be with Daddy," Cami pointed out.
"That was special circumstances. I should have waited till your mother was eighteen. I was in heat, and I made a poor decision. You are right though everything worked out for us," Trunks hoped she understood.
"Was Daddy the only man you ever had sex with?" Cami asked turning the conversation back to her mother. Trunks tried to slip away knowing what was coming next.
"Yes, I've only ever been with your father, and I love him," Pan turned to kiss Trunks to find him attempting to leave the room.
"Daddy how many women were you with before Mommy?" she asked before he could get away.
"A few," he muttered not wanting to even do the count up in his head.
"How old were you when you first slept with someone?" Cami wasn't letting him get away.
"I was sixteen," he answered thinking back. Pan made a face. She had never actually asked Trunks when he lost his virginity.
xxXXxx
"I could kiss you…" Henry read the line awkwardly. Litta smiled starting to lean over to kiss his cheek and say her line, only to have Henry stomp off. "You have to kiss someone in this play!" he shouted now pacing angrily.
"Yes, I have to kiss the guy who plays Kristoff. You know that you've seen the movie," she reminded him.
"Yeah, like a million times, but I didn't expect them to leave in that kiss at the end," he retorted continuing his pacing.
"It's pretty much the same as the movie… I'm not a big fan of kissing Todd, but I can for the play no biggie," she shrugged.
"Todd, that's the guy who you'll be falling in love with on stage," he fussed.
"Henry, it's a play. I just want to know if you think I know my lines?" she demanded growing tired of his little freak out.
"Yes, you know them all perfectly," he admitted. "Does my sister know hers?"
"Yeah, she knows the whole movie by heart, plus Elsa has less lines than Anna," Litta replied. "You should come to one of our rehearsals if I get to keep my part that is," she smiled shyly worried he might notice she had a crush on him. She was a little worried he had noticed her getting a little eager when the kiss part came around.
"I'll try… You fixing to head home?" he asked sitting back down next to her.
"No, I'm spending the night at Capsule Corp. Cami should be heading over once she gets done with her talk," Henry gave a snort at hearing mention of the talk again.
"I might crash you slumber party later then," he leaned over and gave her a half hug. He started to get up.
"Wait, you didn't tell me what you've been up to lately?" she grabbed his arm not wanting him to go.
"I was forced to go to my first board meeting today. It was awful! I have also been working on figuring out a wreck," he smirked deciding to mention wreck.
"I though you do testing not safety?" she made a face. He was surprised she remembered. Litta and Cami almost never came to his lab.
"Yeah, but this one caught my interest… You see someone broke their leg, and I know that the metal isn't strong enough to break her leg," he elaborated. Litta gulped.
"If you figure it out, what will you do?" she asked hopping he was stumped.
"Oh I already figured it out. The only way she could have broken her leg was if she blocked for the driver adding the force of the impact into the equation," he moved a hand to rest on her cast.
"Yeah, so why haven't you told on her?" she asked speaking about herself in the third person.
"Because she's already hurt, why would I want her in trouble with her parents too," she hugged him tight after hearing that. He smiled inhaling her scent. She smelled like a floral perfume that had mostly dissipated from the day and cherries. He smiled enjoying the scent before he realized he'd been holding her for too long. "Sorry," he muttered letting her go.
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