Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ For the Love of a Child ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 2 )

"For the Love of a Child"

Disclaimer: Man, these get really old. I never have, nor will I ever own DragonBall Z.

*Chapter 3*

Susan sat in her car and stared at the directions in her hand. Goten had not been exaggerating when he said he lived in a big house by the ocean. It had taken her two hours to drive here and now she found herself staring at a huge house that sat on a cliff over looking the sea. It was a large rambling house, with trees and flowers all around the outside. It was obvious Gohan Son liked his privacy because this house was as secluded as you could get.

"They must fly to school" she mused out loud, not realizing how accurate her statement was. "I never would have guessed Goten came from a rich family, he seems so down to earth..." with these thoughts in mind she got out of her car and headed over toward what she assumed was the front door. She had reached some large steps when she heard running feet and saw Goten come dashing around the side of the house covered in mud from head to foot, chasing what appeared to be a frog. He skidded to a halt when he saw her and waved his hand.

"Hi Mrs. Thomas! Are you here to see Daddy?" Seeing her nod he continued skipping in circles and waving his hands. "You can just knock on the door, I'm looking for worms!" Not waiting for the woman to follow his advice he ran up the steps and rang the doorbell. After a moment the door was opened by Gohan who stared down at the little boy, amusement flashing across his face, surprising Susan.

"Worm hunting?" He asked. Goten nodded and pulled out a large fat worm from the front pocket of his overalls, which also seemed to be filled with dirt.

"See this one Dad? Think it's a Night Crawler?" Gohan seemed to study the object closely and then nodded quite seriously.

"Yep, I'd say that's right."

The little boy nodded equally seriously and then stuffed the worm back in his pocket.

"Ok Dad, oh here's Mrs. Thomas." Running off, Susan watched him disappear through some trees and then turned back toward the man standing in the doorway.

"Active little boy isn't he?" She asked.

Gohan nodded and held the door wider so she could step inside. "Would you like something to drink? There's lemonade I believe."

Feeling uncomfortable, Susan nodded and followed him through the house and into a large bright kitchen. She watched him while he fetched glasses and poured the lemonade from the fridge. Her first assessment of his age couldn't be that far off. He looked even younger standing there barefoot in some faded blue jeans, a white long sleeve button up shirt untucked with the collar undone and the sleeves rolled up. It was obvious he was related to Goten, they had the same features and the same black messy hair.

"Um Mr. Son, if you don't mind..." She started but was interrupted when he handed her a glass.

"It's Gohan." Susan was startled by the sudden statement.

"Pardon?"

"It's Gohan." he repeated. "My name, Mr. Son sounds ridiculous, I don't even remember anyone calling my father that." His eyes seem to become even harder and Susan found herself shuddering nervously under their intensity. This young man may appear young but he certainly didn't act like any of the high school or college students she knew.

"I see." she swallowed and then continued, "Gohan, if you don't mind me asking, you seem awfully young to...."at this point she lost her nerve and trailed off. Gohan turned and picked his own glass up, beckoning her to follow him out into a garden. A hammock swung gently in the corner while he led her to a table with some chairs, the view was breath taking and she lost her train of thought for a moment as she stared out at the sea that stretched before her.

"I'm nineteen."

Susan swung her gaze back at the man, no boy in front of her shocked.

"You're nineteen? That means when Goten...you were..."

"Twelve. I've raised Goten since the day he was born."

Susan wasn't sure what to say, but decided she wanted to get some questions answered.

"I see, so do you live here with your parents then?" She fished, hoping he'd say yes they were just out shopping or something.

Gohan shook his head. "No, they died six years ago."

Susan sucked in her breath at the baldness of his statement and asked cautiously, "and Goten's mother?"

"She died in childbirth."

Susan was shocked. "Gohan, do you mean to tell me that you've been raising Goten by yourself since you were twelve years old? Since you were a child yourself?"

Gohan's face darkened and he glanced out at the ocean before turning back to the stunned teacher and saying sharply.

"There is one thing you can be sure of Mrs. Thomas, I may have been many things but a child is not one of them."

Susan wasn't sure what to make of that statement and decided to retreat for the moment.

"Well you've done a remarkable job with him in that case. He's a wonderful little boy, with an amazing imagination. He tells us wonderful stories about people who fly and riding on clouds and dragons..." she trailed off when she saw to her disbelief that Gohan seemed to be laughing.

"Did something I say amuse you?" she asked feeling slightly insulted.

"No." He didn't offer any other response. Susan was about to ask him what he did for a living when he stood up abruptly.

"I think Goten's ready to come in, excuse me for a moment." And strode off back into the house. Surprised Susan hesitated for a moment and then decided to follow. Gohan walked outside through a door in the kitchen while Susan watched through a window. Goten came running over, covered with even more mud if that was possible. Several of the windows were open and she could hear the conversation between the two.

"All done worm hunting Goten?" Gohan walked over and grabbed what appeared to be a garden hose hanging coiled on the side of the house.

"Yep. Is Mrs. Thomas still here Dad?" As he talked Goten was stripping out of his clothes until he stood in just his white underwear. Gohan chuckled.

"Yes, she has a lot of questions. She likes your stories that you tell at school." For some reason Goten seemed to find this as funny as his father had and giggled as Gohan turned on the hose.

"Ready?"

Goten nodded and held his arms out beside him.

"Ready!"

Susan watched in surprise as Gohan hosed Goten down with the water until he appeared to be rid of the majority of the mud.

"Ok, kiddo you can come in now. I'll go run you a bath and then come in to wash your hair. Don't forget to dump your clothes in the laundry room."

"I know, I know!" Goten scooped up his clothes and was dashing over toward the kitchen door while Susan hurried back to the patio where Gohan had left her.

She'd finished her lemonade and was watching the waves when Gohan came back fifteen minutes later.

"Sorry to leave you for so long. You probably wanted to talk to Goten as well, he'll be down in a few minutes, just needed to put some clean clothes on."

She smiled, "you must have made fast work of cleaning all that mud up then, he was hardly recognizable when I arrived."

Gohan didn't smile in return just gathered up the empty lemonade glasses.

"Well I've had lots of practice, and a little mud never hurt anyone." He sounded slightly bitter for some reason and without another word he walked back inside with the glasses. Susan had a feeling this interview was over. She stood up and followed him, stopping in the doorway when she heard a door slam and Gohan look up swearing softly.

Suddenly a woman who was probably in her thirties with blue hair came barging into the kitchen, stopping at the sight of Gohan. Susan thought she looked familiar but couldn't quite place where she'd seen her before. A muscular man with a scowl on his face and black hair similar to Gohan and Goten's stood behind her. Susan watched as Gohan's face seemed to become even harder, his eyes more cold as he nodded at the woman staring at him.

"Bulma." He looked over at the man and folded his arms in front of him leaning against the counter. "Vegeta. Nice of you to stop by." Susan was shocked when the woman suddenly stalked over and slapped Gohan in the face.

"Gohan Son! How dare you just leave like that without telling anyone. I promised Chi Chi I would look after you and Goten and then you just disappeared...we've all been worried sick!" Glaring up at the teenager in front of her she suddenly burst into tears and threw her arms around Gohan who looked down at her in amusement. Suddenly it clicked in Susan's mind where she'd seen this woman before.

Bulma? Bulma Brief, as in the head of Capsule Corporation and one of the most brilliant scientist minds of this day? Susan stared as the woman stepped back toward the man who seemed to be scowling even harder than previously, and studied Gohan still standing in front of her.

"My God Gohan, you're all grown up now. Look at you, you're so tall, Goku would be so proud of you."

The man behind her spoke finally. "Get a hold of yourself woman." Turning around to face the man, the woman glared and then looked back at Gohan smiling.

"Just ignore, Vegeta, he hasn't changed a bit."

Gohan shrugged obviously not caring and pointed at an empty glass on the counter.

"Well since you're here, do want anything to drink?"

The woman Bulma nodded and looked around the kitchen while Gohan poured her a glass of lemonade. Susan ducked around the door not wanting to interrupt, poking her head around again when she thought it was safe. Bulma seemed to be trying to convince Gohan to come home with her and the man Vegeta, while Gohan just stood there not saying anything.

"Gohan, please come for at least a visit, nobody has seen you in almost six years!" She seemed to become very angry again. "How could you just take off like that? I would have liked to see you grow up. And Goten, he has to be what five or six now? Nobody has even seen him! Don't you think you've moped long enough? Hiding yourself away isn't going to bring back Goku or Chi Chi. Gohan, it wasn't your fault!"

Gohan stiffened but before he could say anything in response, Goten came running into the room stopping at the doorway into the kitchen.

"Dad, why's that lady yelling at you?"

Bulma turned and saw the little boy standing by the door, she froze and dropped the glass she was holding, it shattered on the floor sounding like an explosion in the silence.

"Oh my God!" She covered her mouth with her hand and stared. "Goku?"

Suddenly the man was next to her, holding her arm as she seemed about to collapse on the ground herself.

Gohan walked over quickly and picked up Goten.

"Bulma, Vegeta...this is Goten." Bulma just stared in obvious shock while the man, Vegeta snorted. "Goten, this is Bulma and Vegeta, you remember I've told you about them right?"

Goten nodded his eyes wide and Gohan set him back down on the ground. Cautiously Goten walked over towards the two adults standing in the kitchen. Going up to Vegeta he tugged on his pants leg, forcing the man to crouch down to his level. Goten stared into his eyes and then up at his hair.

"You've got hair like me and Daddy. `Cause we're Saiyans he said and special. And he told me you're a prince." He studied Vegeta critically for a moment. "How come you're not a king yet? In all the stories if you're a prince you become a king when you're grown up."

Vegeta seemed unsure of what to say about that. Instead he asked gruffly, "How old are you?"

Goten straightened proudly and flashed five fingers. "I'm five years old but I'm going to be six next month! Right Dad?" He turned back towards Gohan who nodded. Goten then turned towards Bulma who had also dropped down to his level.

"Do you still make things like the Dragon Radar?" Wordlessly she nodded and reached out as if she wanted to touch him. Inching closer, Goten put his hand on her cheek.

"You're pretty." He whispered.

With a cry Bulma scooped him up in her arms, tears running down her face. Susan had no idea what was going on and was about to step into the room and demand an explanation when Bulma turned back to Gohan still clutching the small boy in her arms.

"Please Gohan" she begged. "Please come visit, even if it's for only a few days. We've lost so much time, we all just want to see you."

Gohan's hard expression didn't change but he sighed and nodded, obviously not pleased. Setting Goten down gently on the floor Bulma wiped her face and smiled.

"Goten, I have a son your age, Trunks, and I'm sure you boys will have lots of fun playing together." Going over to Gohan once again she hugged him. "Thank you Gohan. We'll see you this weekend then. We still live in the same place...chattering away she walked towards the front door with Gohan. For a moment the gruff voiced man, Vegeta stood alone in the room with Goten."

"Kakkarot's brat huh?" Shaking his head he walked out of the kitchen turning back once to look at Goten again. "See you later kid." With that he stalked out of the door.

Susan whipped into the room and practically ran over Goten who was still standing in the middle of the kitchen. Grabbing the child by his shoulders she crouched down and looked into his face.

"Goten tell me, who were those people?" He looked at her in surprise and was about to answer when a rough hard voice cut him off.

"What are you doing?"

Susan spun around and stared at Gohan who was glaring at her from the doorway.

"I want to know what is going on! Why was Bulma Briefs here and how do you know her? Are you hiding from someone? What did she mean about you running away with Goten?" She was working herself up into quite a fury when Gohan cut her off.

"It really isn't any of your business. Bulma is a very old family friend. She knew my parents. I left after they died but I haven't stayed in contact. That's all. I think you should leave now."

She stared at him speechlessly while he moved to walk her to the door. Goten waved at her from the kitchen.

As she started down the steps toward her car Gohan called out to her. "Oh, Goten will be gone from school for a few days, it shouldn't be more than a week." She started to protest but he nodded goodbye to her and shut the door.

In shock she walked to her car and got in. Shaking her head she stared at the large house up on the cliff one last time before pulling out of the driveway. Silently Susan Thomas promised herself she would have someone look further into the Son family situation.

TBC

*So we're off to Capsule Corp. I don't know if I want to introduce Videl into this story, I've never really liked her. Don't know why...let me know what you all think! And thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, you totally make my day when I check my email and see your comments. I tried to fix the text problem, making it less `dense' so to speak...hopefully this helps, if not let me know and I'll try something else. Oh and don't worry, I purposely made Gohan old enough so Social services can't take Goten away from him. *chuckle* Thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews, I hope you like this chapter!*