Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Vodka ❯ Babysitting ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: As I always get to mention at posting time, I do not own DBZ, as much as I might wish I could. The Weather Channel is also beyond my grasp as well. Oh well, back to the old drawing board, as they say.

A/N: I know it has been forever and I have been promising this fic for years, I just never really got around to writing it. Well, when I found the outline so nicely laid-out for me not too long ago, I just had to get started. I was going to write the entire story before posting the first chapter to avoid long delays on chapters, but this is getting underway early for a special occasion. Congratulations on the graduation, Jadedbest!! I hope you all enjoy.

I did want to point out that I tweaked Marron's age for story purposes. They are as follow: Pan 6, Bra 5, Marron 15, Goten 18 & Trunks 19.

Vodka

Chapter 1: Babysitting

“But Mommy! I don't wanna stay here! I wanna go with you!” Pan cried hysterically as she clung to her mother's leg, refusing to allow her parents to leave.

Years had pasted since Videl and Gohan, Pan's parents, had been afforded the opportunity to spend time with other adults without children tagging along. Needless to say, the young parents were thrilled for the opportunity given them by the recently gained maturity shown by Trunks, Goten and Marron. No force in heaven on or earth was going to prevent their night out with friends, much less a small, six-year-old girl.

“Sweetheart,” Videl spoke to her daughter with much more patience than she felt, “Mommy and Daddy have plans tonight. We're going to have dinner out with Bulma and Vegeta.”

“But I wanna go!” Pan insisted stubbornly. “What if I get hungry and you're not here? Who'll feed me?” As was typical among Saiyans, hunger was the child's chief concern. Only fighting can surpass hunger on a Saiyan's priority list.

“Darling,” Videl managed to pry her super strong daughter from her legs and squatted to the girl's level, “if you get hungry, just tell Goten, Trunks or Marron. Any one of them could get you some food.”

“Are you sure?” Pan questioned with concern.

Squatting alongside his wife, Gohan smiled and nodded his head in agreement. “Absolutely positive.”

Looking thoughtfully at her father, Pan finally nodded. “All right. I'll stay with Uncle Goten, but only if you promise to hurry back.”

“Deal,” Gohan agreed to his daughter's terms, extending his hand and shaking hers. “We'll be back to get you tomorrow morning. Now, you be sweet and behave, squirt.” Gohan affectionately ruffled the tomboy's hair before standing to leave.

“You two remember the rules!” Bulma was cautioning both Trunks and Goten with Vegeta's expression from beside his wife adding a certain sense of doom to the situation.

“Yes, Mom. I know where all the emergency numbers are, I have your cell number and all possible escape routes will be thoroughly blocked.” Trunks rolled his eyes. His mother really was too much of a worry wart.

“Okay, then.” Bulma smiled. “We'll be back. I love you both.” She bent to kiss her daughter, Bra, on the forehead as Vegeta snorted his disgust and led the way out of Capsule Corps, his residence while stuck on the back-water planet these humans called Earth.

Trunks moved to stand in the empty doorway where he watched the parents leave for their dinner at Gohan's college. Once the car was out of sight, he stepped inside, closed the door and looking at his best pal, Goten, gave a long sigh. “Am I ever glad they're gone.”

“What do you mean?” Marron asked from a short distance away, sitting with both Pan and Bra as the two chibis played a clapping game.

“Well,” Trunks grinned and stepped toward everyone, “before too much longer two little girls will be in bed, and then we'll have the rest of the night to ourselves.”

“But I'm not tired,” Bra protested.

“Tough cookies, sis. Eight is your bedtime,” Trunks grinned.

“My bedtime isn't `til nine,” Pan faced Trunks with her hands on her hips.

“Tough luck, kid.” Trunks smiled maliciously. “Tonight it's at eight.”

“I'm not going to bed until nine!” Pan screamed furiously.

As Trunks opened his mouth to reply, Goten cut him off. “Pan, sweetheart. You don't want to stay up past eight,” he gently spoke to the girl.

Pan simply frowned as she took the bait. “Why not?”

“Well,” Goten explained, “anyone who stays up past eight will have to watch The Weather Channel with all the adults.” Goten smiled, basking in his own genius.

“The Weather Channel?” Pan asked disbelievingly.

“That's what I said,” Goten continued to smile, “The Weather Channel.”

“Yuck!” Pan made a disgusted face.

“That's right,” Goten encouraged Pan to play right into his hands. “So, are you going to bed at eight or watching The Weather Channel for a whole hour?”

Frowning, Pan looked to Bra for guidance as Bra nodded her head a few times before yawning. With a sigh, Pan relented. “I'll go to at eight,” she mumbled under her breath. “But I won't like it!” she added forcefully.

“All right,” Marron accepted for all the teens. “Now, it's only a few minutes until eight, so you girls go get your pajamas on and brush your teeth, and I'll be there in a few minutes with glasses of water. Okay?” Marron laid out her game plan.

“All right,” Pan spoke as Bra nodded her agreement before both girls headed toward Bra's room, like lambs to the slaughter.

As soon as the chibis were out of earshot, Trunks began laughing. “Good one, `Ten! The Weather Channel?! How did you come up with that one on the spot? I know I was stuck!”

Goten simply grinned, soaking up the praise. “What can I say? I'm a genius.” He sat down in a recliner, trying his best to appear dignified.

“Genius, my foot!” Trucks laughed as he threw a chenille pillow at his best friend.

“Hey!” Goten yelled as Trunks's projectile hit him square on the nose.

Laughing at her two best friends, Marron rose from her spot on the rug. “You two have so many issues,” she proclaimed, shaking her head sadly. “I'm going to get those two some water and into bed so we can watch something other than The Weather Channel.” She shot Goten a meaningful look before looking at Trunks. “You did say you know the T.V.'s code, right?”

Trunks nodded. “Yep. `Gravity Room'. Mom had to pick something Dad could remember. I mean, how much easier could it be to guess?”

Shaking her head again and chuckling, Marron left the two older boys to themselves while she prepared the small glasses of water for the girls and took them to Bra's bedroom.

As she neared the bedroom door, Marron overheard Bra and Pan talking.

“Do you really think they're watching The Weather Channel?” Bra asked her best friend.

“No,” Pan stated. “It's boring! You know them.”

Before either girl could comment further, Marron pushed the door open and smiled. “Good news, girls! It's going to be a beautiful, sunny day tomorrow with a slight breeze and a high of eighty-six.”

Both girls wore identical expressions beginning with the “deer in the headlights” look and turning to excitement as they grinned at one another and leaping from their spot on the floor, crawled beneath the sheets of Bra's giant, pink bed.

“Thank you for the water, Marron,” Pan smiled sweetly as she and Bra sipped their cups.

“You're very welcome,” Marron smiled before taking the now empty cups from her wards and setting them to the side. “Now, you two close your eyes and get some sleep so you can enjoy that beautiful day tomorrow. Okay?” Marron smiled as she tucked each girl beneath the sheet and comforter.

“Okay,” Bra agreed sleepily, mid-yawn.

“G'night,” Pan snuggled lower beneath the blanket.

After smiling once more at the little girls, Marron gathered their drinking cups, clicked off the bedside table lamp and crossed to the room's door using the light from an outlet night light, making certain to close the door as she exited.

“They give you any trouble?” Goten asked curiously when Marron returned to the living room.

“Nope.” Marron smiled. “Not a one.”

“Praise, Dende!” Trunks exclaimed. “We can turn the channel!” He quickly reached for the remote.

“No so fast!” Marron's tone made Trunks freeze. “Give them long enough to actually go to sleep before you change that to something better.”

“Yeah,” Goten agreed unhappily. “Pan'll make us miserable if she catches us in a lie.”

“As would Bra,” Trunks muttered, replacing the remote. “I'll wait, but that doesn't mean I'll like it.”

“All right, then. We'll just wait a little longer to start having fun. We have almost all night, after all,” Marron smiled as she plopped down on the couch between her two friends and prepared to watch The Weather Channel.

A/N: It has been forever since I posted a DBZ story, and I have been looking forward to getting back to the fandom I love so much. Please, let me know what you thought by leaving a review. And, I'm sure JB won't mind some more congratulations on her graduation. Peace and Out, everyone!