(When's the baby coming? The baby's coming now! Chapter ten, final chapter! (It only took me three years to write this... sheesh...)

10

Trunks stepped off of the bus and was finally back home, back in his city and his head felt clear for the first time in months. He felt like he could achieve anything and he felt like he'd never have to even think about heroin again. Life was finally back on track..

But he couldn't go back to his family. Not yet... He couldn't bear all the questions and yelling that his disappearance had surely caused... and yet how could he just let them continue to think that he was missing? He did have to go somewhere, he couldn't just sleep on the side of the road.

Sighing, Trunks swallowed his pride. They were his family, they were his friends... he shouldn't be afraid to go back to them. Things were better, he knew that for sure., so what was he really so scared of?

Most people thought of home as the one place you could go to and feel accepted. The one place where no matter how strange, or normal you were, there were people there who would always love you. There were people there who'd go to your funeral and cry their hearts out because they missed you so much. At that moment though, for Trunks, going home felt like going backwards.

Still he went, found the courage to want to go, and thought to himself that once he went back there, once he told everyone that everything was all right... then he would leave again, and he would set things straight with his life. He'd get his own apartment, get another job, and go to school.

Of course, before any hugging or smiles and laughter, his mother had immediately slapped him. He let that one slide, especially because right after she started hugging him and crying and saying how much she loved him.

Vegeta had stayed silent, though he always did whenever he was angry, and he did look very angry. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but for a moment it felt as though Vegeta was glad to see his son come home same and sound... that he was happy to have a son... though Trunks could never be entirely sure if that was true.

Everyone was there, friends, family, even Goku was there... everyone except for Goten, the one person he really wanted to see. It wasn't hard to figure out where he had gone. Once the house had settled down and everyone who was supposed to went home, Trunks found himself once again in his room looking at the window and wondering if he could jump out of it again without breaking his leg.

Vegeta was still in the living room, and he knew that if he walked by him there would be something said between them... which would most likely lead to an argument, because they really had nothing else to say to each other.

That, and the idea of sneaking out for a second time made him smile for some reason. Maybe because if he was going to move out, there was little time left for him to be able to sneak out of the window.

The one place he could always count on finding Goten, the one place he always went to whenever he was upset or troubled, the one place where he felt safe... Under the bridge.

He was there, without a doubt, though this time he wasn't smoking pot, and Trunks wondered if he ever would again. It wasn't a bad thing that, just different really. Different was ok at this point though.

Trunks sat down beside his best friend, but Goten didn't say a word, didn't even look up at him, just keep on staring straight ahead. Trunks almost smiled. It felt as though he were trying to comfort Goten... shouldn't it have been the other way around?

"...Goten?"

"What do you want?" Goten asked quietly.

"To talk... I guess. I mean, I thought we should talk."

"And what should we talk about?" Goten still wasn't looking at Trunks.

"About... about whatever you want to..." Trunks sat down beside him.

"I've got nothing to say..."

"I know something's wrong."

Goten paused. "Yeah? Well you are the smart one..."

"You left, nobody knew where you went."

"So they sent you?"

"Hell no, I'm sure they would have locked my back in my room if they heard I was going out again."

Goten paused, and almost looked over at Trunks. "You didn't... did you?"

"You mean... did I go get heroin and get really doped up and wander around the city?"

"..."

"No, I did not."

"Why leave?"

"Why stay?"

"Because people care about you and you can't..." Goten looked over at Trunks for the first time, tears brimming his eyes. "You can't just wander off like that when we care about you, and we're scared for you... and we... Fuck, we love you man."

Trunks smiled, almost laughed

"Oh fuck you," Goten rubbed his face in his hands. He was cold and hungry and was realizing it for the first time.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh... I just feel like I'm in a Hallmark movie all of the sudden."

"I don't recall Hallmark movies ever having heroin, rape, teen pregnancies and whatever other fucked up things have happened in the past few months."

Trunks felt his mood turn towards sombre once again. "So... is that why you left?"

"I guess."

"You sure?"

"Just forget about it man, it's not important."

"Of course it's important... it's you. You may possibly be, and don't let this get to your head, the most important person in my life."

"Then how come you never told me what was going on?"

"Because I didn't want anyone to know... especially you."

"I left because I was pissed of at you... pissed off at everything. Here I am, married, having a child, trying to work full time... and there you are, fucked up and seemingly beyond help. I felt like the world had been pulled out from my feet like a carpet."

"Didn't I do that to you when we were kids?"

"I guess I felt a little... overlooked."

"Like... you were jealous?"

"I wanted someone to tell me everything was going to be all right... but nobody thought they needed to say that to me. Especially not you, who probably could barely remember my name..."

"I could never forget your name."

"Ok, you're right, this is turning into a Hallmark movie."

Trunks smiled, and this time Goten smiled with him. It felt good, for the first time in what felt like ages, everything felt normal for a brief second.

"Can you just... do me one favour?"

"At this point, I probably owe you more than one favour."

"Just one."

"Ok, just one."

"Never do drugs again," Trunks rolled his eyes. "No seriously. Any drugs, ever again. If you do, I swear I will never talk to you again, and I hope our friendship is more important to you than drugs."

"I promise I will never even look at drugs again."

Goten nodded. "Good..."

"If this were a Hallmark movie, we'd be hugging right now."

Goten turned back to the tracks and smiled. "Don't push your luck."

It was strange to think of how small he was. His little fist could curl around Goten's finger so easily. His entire hand fit into the palm of his hand. Impossibly small and delicate, but here he was, Goten's son. All of his worries seemed so small and stupid as he looked down at him, smaller than even he was...

He wanted to pick him up, but he was so scared that he's hurt him. How could he not hurt something so small and precious when he was so much bigger and, let's face it, far too clumsy to hold a small child?

Ten months ago this seemed impossible and crazy, but now it seemed normal and fine. Everything seemed normal and fine now.

Trunks had gone to school in the new semester, and was at that very moment speeding down the road - undoubtedly at a very dangerous and unsafe speed - to meet him at the hospital. Things were going to work out for Trunks, he knew that much... and if they didn't, well, he hoped he'd be able to be around to help him out.

Marron was planning on going to University herself next fall, Bulma, Chichi and Marron's own mother had all offered their babysitting services during the day.

He himself was never cut out to go to post-secondary education, and he was just fine with that. As it would turn out, heading straight into the workforce like that wasn't as unbearable as he thought it would be... especially as he looked down at his son and smiled to himself.

I have a son, he thought giddily. Who would have though that I'd ever have a son? Not me...

"He's not going to disappear, he's real."

Goten looked over and saw Marron sitting up in the hospital bed. He smiled gently at her. She looked tired, unbelievably stressed out, and yet there was so much happiness her eyes at that moment. The same thought must have been going through her mind.

I have a son.

"I didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't, but we all need to wake up some time," she smiled. "Bring him over."

"Uh..." Goten looked down at the small beautiful baby boy. "Sure I won't hurt him?"

Marron laughed, she couldn't help herself. Her laughter was like music to his ears. "Of course you won't hurt him. He's not made of glass..." she looked more serious for a moment, "though you don't want to drop him."

"Drop him?" An entirely new fear entered his mind. How easy was it to drop a baby? He could slip through his arms, or wriggle his way out, or-

"Goten, it's all right to pick him up."

He nodded and smiled. "Ok," he reached down and put his hands under his son's back, trying to remember what the nurse had said about supporting the baby's head when he held him - what had started in his fear of holding his son if the first place. He held his breath and bit his lip and he lifted him up.

The baby didn't break, didn't cry and didn't magically fall to the ground. He just rested in his father's arms and looked up, a familiar confused look on his face.

Then he slowly walked over to Marron and - quite gladly - handed him over to Marron.

"Heh, he didn't break."

Marron smiled. "Of course he didn't break." She looked down at her son with content. "He's so perfect... and he doesn't even have a name."

"We probably should have thought about that before hand."

"Well somebody hated all my ideas."

"Well somebody's ideas sucked. Come on, Herbert?"

"A respectable name at best."

"And a ridiculous name at worst."

"Well you vetoed that one, so let it go."

Goten looked down at the floor for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I know what I want to name him... I just don't know if it's right."

"No harm in telling me what it is."

"I was thinking... maybe we could call him... Trunks..."

"Trunks..." Marron looked up at her husband. "It's not a bad name."

"I think… it's quite a nice name."

"Little baby Trunks?" She looked down at her son. "Ï think Trunks would throw a fit if he hear us say that."

Goten smiled. "All the more reason to name him that."

He reached out and brushed the hair off of her forehead, happier now than he had ever been before. This was his family, this was where he belonged, and he couldn't ask for anything else.

The End

(I realize that waiting around for me to write is quite similar to waiting around and, say, watching grass grow. So I do have a great amount of respect for those who do especially Rasqara, Qasur Zephlar Exlarr, Malevolent Angel, Forbidden Angelus, jedijunkie, Chloe-Wagner, Aoi Dragon, Tilea, Mr. Trunks Briefs and J.S., most whom all have me on their 'author alert watch list'. Well either way, this is the end of this specific fic, so here's some end-notes. I finally changed the rating on this fic. It was 'R' for a while, but only because I thought it should be '18A'... and there was no '18A' - is it a Canadian thing? Anyway, now has this thing where you don't see 'R' rated Fics - unless you ask - and that was pissing me off. So I said to myself: "Change it, it should have never been 'R' in the first place you dingbat." If any of you weak hearted Americans see this as a terrible sin, I'll change it later. Hm... part of me is sad that I won't be able to write this Fic anymore, and the other part - the part that started writing this Fic almost four years ago - barely remembers what this Fic is and is just pleased that I can take down another Unfinished notice. So I was going to put down the other quote from Trainspotting, but it didn't seem right anymore. Because I spent so much time finding it a whole five bloody minutes, it's after my comment and is currently summing up my life quite nicely at this moment I had to mention Hallmark movies, and I'll tell you why: I work at a Hallmark and the movies they make are so lame and retarded that I simply have to make fun of them. Oh man, it would have been so easy to make that scene very, very gay... But I resisted LOLBanky: You have one sick and evil little mind... My next project - another DBZ classic - 'Creeping Death'! The slightly successful sequel to 'Yume Mi'. Well, I hoped you enjoyed this Fic, I know I liked writing... maybe that's why it took me so long, because I just never wanted to finish it. But it's finished now, and that's all there is, there isn't any more)

I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm gonna be just like you. The job, the family, the fucking big television. The washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electric tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisure wear, luggage, three piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption clearing gutters, getting by, looking ahead, the day you die.