A moment later, the door opens slowly.
"Can we come in?" Vienna asks, poking her head into the room.
"I'm naked," I warn.
"Well put some clothes on! We want to see the baby!" She says.
Kage goes to my room and grabs me some clothes that I pull on after I get cleaned up a bit. I lay down on the couch, ready to fall asleep.
After that, Vienna and my parents come back into the room.
"Baby!" Vienna cries excitedly. "What is it?"
"It's a girl," Kage answers, rocking her in his arms. "Want to hold her?" He asks.
Vienna nods, and carefully takes her into her arms. "She's so tiny,"
After her, it was Papa's turn to hold her. "Hey there, welcome to the family…" He coos to her and kisses her face. She makes a whining sound, and starts to cry.
I sit up, my instinct telling me I should do something.
Da beckons for Papa to hand her over. He holds her against his chest and purrs to her, and she quiets instantly. I remember he used to do that to make us stop crying when we were little. The sound never failed to make me very relaxed and sleepy.
Mom stands up from the floor and strips off her gloves. "Alrighty, Aizel, you've got yourself a baby now. I bet there are plenty of people to help you out, but if you have any questions, let me know ok?"
I nod. "You're leaving?"
She nods back. "Yeah, I think you guys need some bonding time. And besides, I have to tell everyone about the baby!" She says with a giggle.
I shake my head, amused. "Alright. Thank you so much, mom, I couldn't have done it without you."
She gives me a thumbs up. "Sure thing, sweetheart. Good luuuuck…" She sings the last word as Papa takes a moment to take her back home.
"Aizel." Da says flatly. "We need to have a talk; without Kakorot."
I nod reluctantly.
Papa returns, not hearing this part of the conversation.
"Wow, now I have two grandbabies!" He says, looking pleased with himself. I forget sometimes that Pan was his granddaughter too. She was just so close to my age, she was more like a cousin than a niece. But I guess Gohan was in his mid-thirties as it was.
I sense Lysander coming.
"Lysander's coming back," Vienna announces the obvious. "I told him the baby was coming, but I didn't think he would come back." She shrugs.
"Come on, Vienna," Papa says, leading her into the other room. "Leave your brothers alone for a little while." Da passes the baby back to me, and follows Papa into their bedroom. Vienna goes into her own room, but leaves the door open a crack to listen in.
I pass the baby to Kage, wary of what might happen when Lysander showed up.
The front door opens a few minutes later, and Lysander steps in from outside. It was still raining pretty hard, and he was soaked from head to toe.
Our identical eyes meet for a moment, and he looks at the baby in Kage's arms.
Then, without warning, he blunders towards me, startling me, and throws his arms around my neck. He begins to sob into my chest unexpectedly.
"I am so sorry," He says over and over. "I am so sorry; I take back everything I said about you not being my brother, and all of it, I take it all back, please forgive me!" He begs.
I throw my arms around him and we hug it out. I rub his back as he finishes off his fit of sobs. "I forgive you, I forgive you," I say each time he apologizes.
He pulls away and presses his forehead to mine and we look into each other's eyes. "We'll always be brothers. Nothing can change that."
I nod and grin up at him. "Nothing." I agree.
He pulls away and looks to Kage. "I… I'm sorry about what I said before."
Kage shrugs. "It's alright, man, I know you didn't mean it."
Lysander nods in agreement. "I was just being an asshole. I should have just been happy you were home."
"I shouldn't have left without saying anything to you." I say. "I'm sincerely sorry about that."
He punches my arm playfully, wiping away the rest of his tears. "No sweat, brother. I'm over it now." He looks back to the baby.
"You want to hold her?" I ask.
He nods and Kage passes her to him. He looks at her a moment. "She looks like you," He tells Kage. He comes to sit in front of the couch, his back against it so that I could look over his shoulder. "See? She has his ears."
I nod in agreement.
Then she suddenly yawns, and we all coo at how cute it is. Then she opens her eyes, and I can't help but gasp.
They are a bright crimson red; just like Kage's.