Helloooo everyone. Early update this week just because I felt like it. I am happy to say that I am only a few chapters away from finishing this story. I might have the proper sequel to A Thrilling Chase up by the time it's finished, as well, but there might be a little bit of a grace period, give or take. I'm making decent progress on that story, as well, so you can look forward to seeing that hopefully soon.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments, as usual - all feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Things quickly returned to their normal pace, in the Son family household. The extra Dragon Balls were kept in a locked case, hidden underneath some of the furniture. Goku gave the four-star ball to Gohan, settling to put it on a red hat that he always wore. Then, they all went back to their lives, without a care in the world. Piccolo thought it a bit reckless that they weren't giving the Dragon Balls much care, but he supposed that there wasn't anything else they could do. Without any wishes that needed granted, the best they could do was hold onto them, for the time being.
A few more weeks of the same old grind passed. Piccolo would spend most of the day meditating, occasionally joining Goku in training or Chi-Chi in running errands. Then, he'd join them for dinner, only saying a few words as they talked about their day. After a bit more evening peace, he'd turn in and sleep in his own bed. He hadn't found the routine mundane. It was actually a bit pleasant to have constants to expect every day. He had never been afforded that luxury, until now. He must have been going soft.
However, one night, his schedule was broken. When he came in, during the late afternoon, he usually expected to see Chi-Chi in the kitchen, working on getting dinner ready. He had actually begun joining her, in her preparations. Instead, the kitchen was empty. The dishes were all clean and taken care of, and there wasn't any sign that any kind of cooking was about to begin.
Even more questions were brought on, when Chi-Chi came running out from the back, dressed in a robe and six-inch heels. She grabbed a bag off of the end table, and started fishing around in it for something. She sighed, in relief, and quickly put it back down.
She was wearing more make-up than usual, with powdered blush on her cheeks and a deep red gloss on her lips. He could make out a hint of a gold dress underneath the white robe. He looked down at her tall shoes. How she was able to stand up straight in those things was a mystery, to him. Once again, he underestimated her strength and balancing skills.
"What's with the shoes," he finally asked.
Chi-Chi glanced at Piccolo. "Goku and I are going out, tonight," she said. "Finally, if you ask me – it's been way too long coming."
That explained it. It was far from the most extreme transformations he had seen women taken to impress their men: that was for sure. He looked down. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that.
"Oh, by the way," she said. "Are you staying here in the night? You wouldn't mind looking after Gohan, right?"
His jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. This was a strange thing to drop in his lap so suddenly. "What?!"
"You live with us, don't you? Then it's high time you start to pull your own weight around, caring for our son. It's only fair, don't you think?"
He tried to make a comeback, but she left the room, before he could. He stared at her retreating form, before groaning. He closed his eyes and ran his hand down his face.
Already, he could tell that this was going to be a long night.
"Gohan likes his carrots warm, but not too hot. If he gets fussy, try to hold him. He usually only likes being held by Goku, or me, but at least try it. He should be in bed by seven. Make sure there are no hard toys in his crib, and that he has at least one of his stuffed animals with him – he won't sleep without it. Stay with him until he falls asleep, and check up on him every ten minutes. If anything happens, we'll be at these places." She handed him a list of phone-numbers, complete with timestamps. "Call them, and as for me or the Sons. If there's an emergency, call the number, next to the phone. You've got all of that?"
"Crystal," he muttered. His head was spinning, trying to remember the novel's worth of information that she had just listed off to him. If she was so specific with how the brat was cared for, why was she still going out?
Goku put his hands on his wife's shoulders. He was dressed in a nice suit – something Piccolo never thought he would see him wear. "Don't worry so much, Chi-Chi. He'll be fine."
She sighed. "I know, I know…"
Gohan was sitting in his playpen, staring up at Piccolo. He kept glancing at him, hoping he'd avert his gaze. He had no idea how he was going to get through tonight.
Relief came when Goku knelt down in front of him, and patted his head. "Now, be good for Piccolo. Don't cause him too much trouble. Understand?" Gohan just smiled and laughed, as his hair was tossed.
"We should be back around nine. Remember, if you need," Chi-Chi stopped herself, and took a deep breath. "Just… just stay safe. We'll see you, in a bit."
Goku put his arm around Chi-Chi's waist. "Come on! Let's get going!" Chi-Chi covered her flushing face, as he led her out of the house. From outside, Nimbus flew down, and then flew off with the young couple sitting aboard.
Piccolo looked back down at Gohan, who had resumed staring at him. He was certainly watching the brat. What was he supposed to do, now?
Chi-Chi said something about carrots, in the fridge. He stood up, and walked into the kitchen. Before he could take two steps, Gohan started making noises. He was extending his stubby arms forward, and rocking himself in his direction. Piccolo sighed, turned around, walked back over to him, and picked him up, holding him under his arm. Gohan started giggling and kicking around.
He set Gohan down in his high chair, and walked over to the fridge. He grabbed the bag of baby carrots, and set it on the counter. Luckily, he had seen Chi-Chi prepare this several times, so he vaguely knew what to do. He pulled the blender on the kitchen countertop forward, and took off the top. Not knowing how much Gohan needed, he threw all of the carrots into the pitcher, and closed the top.
When he pressed the start button, the hard carrots knocked around the sides of the pitcher, and the top started coming off. Piccolo slammed his hand down on it, trying to keep it from coming off. Thankfully, violent shaking began to subside, and the carrots were smoothed into a thick mash. Piccolo grabbed a random plate sitting on the counter, scooped the mashed carrots out of the blender, and went back over to Gohan.
He sat the plate on the table of the high chair. "There you go," he said, moving to sit in another chair.
Gohan looked down at the carrots. He grabbed a fistful of the carrots and pressed it into his mouth, getting some of it on his cheeks. He looked over at Piccolo; he nodded and glanced down at the food. Gohan seemed to perk up, and started eating more of the carrots.
Piccolo cleared his throat, to get his attention; Gohan was getting a lot of his meal on his face. Piccolo brushed his pointer and middle finger from his cheek to the corner of his mouth. He repeated the gesture, and was surprised to find more food in his hands. He did the same on the other cheek, finding the same results. Piccolo let out a small chuckle – it was a little amusing to see him put two-and-two together, as he just did.
Soon, the plate was clean. Piccolo got up and took the dirty dish away from him, dumping it in the sink. He picked Gohan back up, and walked back over to the playpen. He set Gohan down, in the middle of a blanket. He turned back around, intended to sit on the couch and meditate. Gohan could entertain himself, for a while.
"Pikkoyo?"
He stopped, and looked over his shoulder. Gohan was holding onto a small book and holding it out towards him. He rocked himself forward, to emphasize his request.
Piccolo sighed, and walked back over to the playpen, taking the book from his hands. He opened the wooden book, and began to read the text.
"This is the fox," he said. "The fox is red. The fox likes to run and play." He raised a brow, and quickly thumbed through the rest of the book – the entire prose was written in this manner. He glanced down at Gohan. He was sitting quietly, with a smile on his face, waiting for him to continue. He sighed, once more, and continued reading.
Once he finished the book, he tossed it onto the carpet. Gohan was clapping and bouncing up and down. At least someone enjoyed that story. If that was what kids were being read, then it was a miracle that most of them were literate.
Then, Gohan's bouncing came to a stop. He accidentally fell onto his back. In a few seconds, he started crying.
Piccolo's eyes widened. What was he supposed to do? He brought his hand up to his head, trying to concentrate and block out the noise. His mind raced, trying to remember what Chi-Chi had told him to do, when he started crying.
"If Gohan starts crying, you check his diaper, first – I won't risk you leaving him to get a rash."
He groaned. He was really hoping he wouldn't have to do this. He stood back up, picked Gohan up, and carried him to his room. He continued to scream and cry right into his ear, making him wince. He could only grit his teeth and try to ignore it. It would be over soon enough.
Piccolo put him down into the changing table. He didn't know how to take the diaper off. As he tried to look for any tabs to pull on, he saw that something was pressing against the diaper. Great – so it was a full diaper. Eventually, he found a tab. As he braced himself for the worst, he pulled it off in one move. He closed his eyes and moved his head to the side.
Luckily, Gohan stopped crying immediately as the diaper was off. When Piccolo opened his eyes, he dropped the used diaper onto the floor, in shock. There was something stuck in there, to be sure, but it wasn't excrement.
Instead, Gohan had a brown, furry tail moving freely in the small of his back.
"What the hell…?" Piccolo just stared at the furry appendage. He blinked several times, to make sure he wasn't imagining it. This didn't make any sense. He didn't remember seeing Goku or Chi-Chi having tails. His mind raced, as he tried to piece together how this was possible.
Gohan yawned, and rolled onto his back, his tail wrapping around him. He rubbed his eyes with his fist. When Piccolo glanced at the window, he saw that it was already dark.
He sighed. He'd leave him without a new diaper, for now – having that tail contained clearly made him upset. Goku and Chi-Chi could handle it, later. He picked him up, carrying him over to his crib, setting him down gently. He immediately remembered what Chi-Chi told him, and grabbed a random stuffed animal off of the floor, tossing it in next to him. Gohan immediately held onto it, wrapping his tail around it and squeezing it tightly. He leaned his head against the plush monkey, and began to drift to sleep.
Piccolo began to move to the other side of the room – there was a rocking chair in the corner, where he could sit and watch over him. As he walked away, Gohan started babbling at him. Piccolo looked over his shoulder. He had rolled over, and was crawling towards the edge of the crib. He stuck his hands through the bars, pushing them forward. He looked tired, but he was still reaching for him.
He sighed, as he walked back over to the crib. He picked up him, and walked over to the rocking chair, sitting down in it. He tried to imitate how he'd seen Goku and Chi-Chi hold him; one arm supporting his head, while his hand held his legs. The chair rocked back and forth, as he shifted his weight in the seat.
Gohan smiled, before snuggling into his chest. Piccolo felt something wind around his arm. When he glanced down, he saw that his tail was wrapped around his forearm.
The corner of Piccolo's mouth turned up, slightly. "There was a time when I would have destroyed your home without hesitation," he said, quietly. "I guess I should be thankful you never knew me, then…"
Gohan didn't respond. He had finally fallen asleep. Piccolo looked back up at the crib. He could have moved him back there, without any trouble. However, something stopped him from standing up. Instead, he just continued to sit there, rocking gently in the chair, and holding the tiny, sleeping infant. He brought a finger to his cheek, and rubbed it, slightly. Gohan grimaced for a moment, but his face relaxed, again.
He had never known what peace truly was: not until this moment.
