Bonus Chapter! An Untimely Interruption

I softly touched down in the front yard and cautiously eyed the dimly lit windows of our small house. I promised Mom I'd be back by curfew from my date with Videl after Bulma's party and I was.

Mostly.

Okay, maybe I was a few minutes late – literally three minutes – but I had lost track of time and then rushed home the moment I checked the clock and realized I would be late. I hoped Mom and Dad were asleep and wouldn't notice.

I did a quick sweep of the house with my senses. Goten was out cold in our room. Mom's and Dad's energies were pretty low but they were in the living room. I winced. I decided to fly up to check my window first – hoping I had left it open or at least unlocked – but no such luck. My window was shut tight.

With my parents being in the living room, another idea popped into my head: their window. I floated around the corner and tested it.

It was also shut tight. Oh. Great.

Maybe Mom and Dad fell asleep on the couch watching a movie or something and I can slip in unnoticed while they sleep.

I landed where I started and opened the front door as quietly as I could, wincing at the soft creak and stepped inside.

And then immediately wished I hadn't.

Breaking into my own room would have been way preferable to the sight that met me when I stepped into the living room: my parents lip-locked in a full blown snogging session on the couch with Dad almost on top of her and intermittently whispering and giggling more than a little bit sickeningly.

I immediately spun around and floated up the stairs, intent on getting out of there as fast as humanly – or Saiyanly – possible.

Since they're… busy… maybe I can get upstairs without Mom noticing after all, was my hopeful thought to myself as I flew up the stairs.

"Son Gohan. Come in here. Now."

I winced and froze in the air, hovering about halfway up the stairs. Or not. I'm so done for.

I landed silently on a step – being seen flying down the stairs definitely would not have helped my case – and dragged my feet down the stairs like I was on my way to the gallows. "Y-y-yes, Mom?"

Thankfully, she had gotten up and was smoothing her dress. "What did you promise before you left Bulma's party with Videl, Gohan?"

I shrank under my mother's intimidating, dangerous glare – subconsciously noting the remnants of tear stains on her cheeks – and tried to explain myself. "That I'd be back by curfew… but–"

"No buts, Young Man."

If the vein popping out of her forehead wasn't enough to tell me I was in deep doo-doo, the quickly brightening fire in her eyes, and her clenched, quivering fists were – all of that in addition to her tone, like she was just barely managing to hold back her yell knowing Goten was asleep just upstairs.

Before she could dish out my punishment, a quiet, weirdly knowing chuckle caught my attention and I glanced at Dad a little bit confusedly and then decided I'd rather not know.

My confused glance quickly became a pleading one. He was always lenient but even he was smart enough to know if he didn't tread very carefully, she'd really blow her top and only make things worse for everyone.

His eyes darted nervously between my tiny, irate mother and me and I could just see the gears turning in his head – not to mention the slight panic bubbling just beneath the surface, evident in the small beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face and his hands held up, palm out in what was obviously his must-calm-down-the-wife mode.

It only took him seconds to think of something to distract her and I was somewhere torn between being thankful and feeling queasy.

He grabbed my mother around the waist, spun her around to face him and kissed her hard as an obvious signal for me to get the heck outta Dodge so I did. I dashed up the stairs as fast and as silently as I could, which meant flying up the stairs – breaking Mom's big rule regarding the use of our power in or anywhere near the house.

Upon reaching the safety of the second floor, I stepped into the room I shared with Goten and I silently shut the door and blew out a small sigh of relief.

Just a few minutes later, my much too-sensitive hearing picked up their whispered conversations and giggles a floor below and I pulled my pillow over my head for a minute before deciding sticking earplugs in my ears was likely a wise decision. Goten could sleep through anything – and has done so before – but not me.

I pulled open a drawer in my nightstand, and withdrew the tiny package. I popped a pair in my ears and was instantly deaf to the nauseating sounds below – sounds that I was sure would only grow more nauseating as the night wore on.

I quickly said a prayer Mom would forget all about my tardiness – only the next morning would tell if I was indeed off scot-free – and drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning and cautiously made my way down to the kitchen for breakfast, I was in luck. She seemed to be in a better mood than usual, with no sign of her anger at me – not to mention the absence of tearstains on her cheeks – from the night before. There was even a slight spring in her step.

She beamed at me. "Good morning, Gohan! Here's your favorite apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast this morning! How does that sound, hmm?"

"Sounds… good! Um… thanks Mom!"

With that, she nodded and shoved a plate with a very tall, swaying stack of delicious smelling pancakes at me, stood on her tiptoes and pecked my cheek. "Love you, Gohan."

"Uh… love you, too, Mom."

Then, whirled around, humming a little tune as she flipped more pancakes in her frying pan. Those were chocolate chip by the smell of them and both Dad's and Goten's favorites.

The little glances Mom and Dad shared as she cooked their pancakes were a little too telling and I was very glad I thought of using earplugs that night. I tried to shrug off that unwanted knowledge, but at least Mom and Dad seemed to have worked through whatever problem they had last night and both seemed even happier than usual.

I glanced at my little brother and he was merely excited to have his favorite breakfast, blissfully ignorant of what I was sure led to Mom's good mood. I shuddered slightly as I sat down to eat my pancakes and fervently wished I could be so blissfully ignorant and simple as he.