Chapter 18: 13 days...
13 days to go...
It wasn't normal for Goten to feel so nervous, but the way Shalay eyed him from across the dining table made him nothing but uneasy. He wiggled his toes inside of his tube socks and shifted his eyes from his empty plate to Gohan. By the way Gohan looked, he had a lot eating at his mind as his eyes were glued to the silverware in front him.
Observing his sons on the opposite side of the table, it started to get to Goku. Apparently everyone knew something that he didn't. Goku didn't like that one bit. He tore his eyes away from his children to spare a glance at Shalay, who sat beside him. He signed internally. She didn't look much better. Maybe everyone was sick? The way she stared longingly at Goten made him shiver.
What had Chi-Chi done to them?!
Speaking of Chi-Chi, the house wife had just finished breakfast and was setting the table. As she set the table, no one rushed for their meals.
'Is something wrong?' Chi-Chi thought worryingly. Like the outspoken woman she was, she voiced her concern.
"Gohan, what's the matter?" His body went rigid and involuntarily took a deep breath. That's all Chi-Chi needed to read him like a book. She narrowed her eyes and sat down in the chair beside Shalay. Chi-Chi cleared her throat expectedly at Gohan.
"Tell me what you did, Gohan," she ground out, sweet enough to be poison. Gohan's cheeks flushed as he seemed to have a flashback. Chi-Chi suddenly became full of rage and slammed both fists on the table, rattling the dishes and his teeth. Her right eye twitched slightly and she glared with a sweet smile at Gohan.
"Y-you see, uh, I kind of..." Gohan stuttered over his words, he was usually so put together. At that moment from the way he was looking he reminded her of a nervous Krillin, all sweaty and frantic.
"Come on, son," Goku piped in heartedly. "It couldn't have been that bad, right?" He smiled at Gohan with all the kindness he could muster. Maybe that would help him out, Goku thought.
"V-videl and I, no well, Videl is- UGH!" He slammed his head on the table, knocking a bowl of links over in the process. He never finished his sentence, but apparently Chi-Chi didn't need him to because she jumped up out of her seat and embraced him.
"Oh, Gohan my lovely child!" Chi-Chi bellowed while kissing his cheeks and forehead in a never ending cycle. Gohan struggled a bit in her grasp before giving in and smiling with flushed cheeks. What had he been so worried about? Of course his mom wouldn't care about this.
Shalay looked at the spectacle quizzically. What did Chi-Chi have to be so happy about? She glanced over to Goten, whose eyebrow quirked at her as he nodded his head towards his mom. She shrugged and began gathering the links off the floor and stuffing it in her shirt, making a makeshift basket. She made a 'come on' motion with her hand towards Goten and he didn't move. She did it again and he looked scared to come, but slid off his chair slowly and followed her out the back door.
Shalay turned her head slightly to the right to peep at Goten. He was shuffling along the grass in a hesitant manner. He was never nervous around her before, this wasn't the boy she knew. She turned fully and dropped down on the grass in front of Goten, with her legs crossed. The sausages fell out her shirt and onto the ground as she petted the space in front of her for Goten to sit.
"Goten, we're friends right?" Shalay asked out of nowhere, jarring him faintly where he sat. She swiped a link off the ground and flicked it to get the dirt off. Her eyes danced at how off guard Goten was.
"Yeah, we are, but-" He began just to stop abruptly.
"But what?"
"Why do you keep staring at me with those weird eyes?" Shalay fell over onto her back, giggling hardily. He hated when she laughed at his questions, they were pretty reasonable to him.
"Because, you're a prince and we have to get married!"
"M-married? Like my mommy and daddy 'married'?" Shalay nodded swiftly with a sound of confirmation. Goten peeked over his shoulder into the kitchen window, he saw Gohan laughing with a red face and his mother and father jumping up and down like maniacs. He didn't want to act like that with Shalay.
He turned back to Shalay. "What if I don't want to get married?"
Shalay had been grinning but now her smile was lost and her tail went limp behind her. She pouted and huffed with a crossing of her arms.
"FINE! I just thought you loved me like in the fairy tale because Princes do those types of things!" She stood up, towering over Goten whose eyes were bugging out of his head. She stormed off in a heated sprint. Goten shuddered when the back door slammed.
10 days to go...
Videl had been sleeping in the Son home for the last couple of days, which was weird to Goten. She never stayed for more than one night, but even then she slept in Gohan's room and Gohan slept on the couch. The strange thing was Gohan hadn't been sleeping on the couch - he and Videl had been sharing the room. Maybe that was just a boyfriend/girlfriend thing he didn't understand yet.
"Goten, can you come here please?" Videl called up the stairs from the living room. Goten shook his head, registering someone had just called his name. He hopped out of his bed and ran to the top of the stairs.
"Yeah, Videl?"
"I want to talk to you," her voice was sweet and calm, as it usually was when talking to Goten. He ran down the stairs two at a time and stopped in front of her. She grabbed his hand and led him to the couch. "You know Gohan and I are together, right?"
Goten nodded promptly and she continued. "Well, now we're going to be together forever."
"Forever?" Goten asked while breathing the word out with awe. Videl nodded, and showed him the diamond ring on her left hand. She began to explain to him that she and Gohan were getting married and that she'd be living here for now on.
"You see, Goten, I'm pregnant. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted you to know that a baby would be joining the family," Videl explained in one breath. Goten made a 'hum' noise and blinked a few times.
"This is awesome! I get a little baby just like how Trunks is getting a little sister!" Videl grabbed Goten before he ran off.
"No, it won't be your brother or sister," Goten slumped, "But it will be your niece or nephew and you can still play with it." That's all the incentive he needed to run off and spread the news with everyone in the house.
6 days to go...
Shalay hadn't said a word to Goten since their falling out in the back yard and in all honesty, it was killing her. She couldn't just start talking to him again after she spazzed out over how he should act. In her defense though, he wasn't exactly acting the way a prince should behave. From what she learned some nights back, princes are royal and caring and fell in love easily, and besides the caring part, that wasn't Goten.
She had heard the news about Gohan getting married and that only fueled her fire. To think before she heard of these fairy tales she had nothing but a simple crush on Goten, now she wanted to get hitched. Life was boring to her now. She missed her friends.
She had thought about going to see Trunks, but he was too busy training for the aliens. Goku had started sparring more with Goten and Gohan. They were way out of her league. She tried to join in once or twice just to wake up a few hours later surrounded by worried faces. Today had to be the day she and Goten became friends again. Sure they weren't getting married, but you got to start somewhere.
Goten dragged himself through the front door with a towel around his neck. Goku walked passed him, rubbing his youngest son's hair and smiling down at him. "Good work out there, champ."
Goten sniggered bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. Gohan came in afterward and flopped down on the couch, drenched in sweat. He dabbed his towel on his forehead and began having a conversation with Goku. Meanwhile, Goten strolled off into the kitchen.
He opened the fridge for a bottle of water, only for it to be shut right in front of him. He looked up to see Shalay pull him into a big hug. She put her face in his shirt as she mumbled her apologies. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and chuckled a bit.
"It's okay. I wasn't even mad at you. I thought you were mad at me."
"I was but now I'm not, silly." He shrugged and pushed her playfully.
"Let's go play guns and robbers," he suggested happily.
"Totally."
3 days to go...
Trunks lunged out of his sleep and darted his head towards his bedroom window. He crept out of bed and after stumbling over a few forgotten toys, he made it to the window. He placed his hand on his window sill and starred up into the sky.
"I-I feel something," he whispered to himself. "Is this the aliens Goten and Shalay talked about?"
Trunks shivered at one energy above all else. This one made him want to crawl back in bed and pretend this was all a bad dream. This has to the guy seeking revenge.
Trunks opened his window only to see Vegeta out in the yard waiting for him.
"Well come on, boy. I know you felt it. I saw you in your window."
Trunks shuddered when he thought about how he was going to pretend not to have sensed it. His dad would have killed him. He jumped down into the yard and began to walk over to Vegeta, but stopped suddenly.
"Dad, what about mom, we just can't leave her-" Vegeta rolled his eyes.
"Who do you think I am, boy? I already dropped the woman off with the midget and the robot woman." Trunks translated that in his head as "At Krillin's and Eighteen's place." The two rose from the ground and shot off towards the Son's residence.
Two days to go...
"Oh, this is just tremendous!" Kuriza cried out, pacing the floor for the umpteenth that day. There were only two days left until they arrived at that blue speck in the distance. With his hand behind his back, he approached the huge glass window protruding in the center of the front of his ship. The stars shone in his deep eyes.
"Speed up the ship, dammit! We're almost there."
A/N: Thanks for all the continued support. Don't worry this story will continue until the very end..which I don't see coming anytime soon. Remember to review..love you guys! Btw aren't you guys happy that TFS is back
P.S. if you want to see how shalay looks go to my deviant art KrissyNGoten...you cant miss her!