It had been one year since coming back from the search for the Black Star Dragon Balls, one year since Goten had adopted Ruuss, a young saiyan girl that he met on his adventures through the galaxy, and one year since he married his long-time girlfriend, Valese. And although it took a long time for Ruuss to adapt to the way people on earth worked and for Valese's stuck-up parents to accept her decision, life was as happy and as normal as such an obscure, make-shift family could ask to be. It was on one day, however, when Goten's adoptive daughter raised a question he never expected to hear,
"Daddy, where did I come from?" Goten blinked at her.
"You came from Neo Vega, remember?" He said blankly, not sure why Ruuss would ask such a question.
"No, that is not what I mean." said Ruuss, thinking carefully how to ask her question. "Um, what I mean is, how did my life start? How was I born?" Now that he understood what Ruuss was asking, Goten blushed.
"Oh. Okay, well…." he started, but then he scratched his head sheepishly, trying to think of how best to explain the facts of life to Ruuss, who already had a very curious nature, even for her age. "Well, it starts when, uh… When, uh… You were made by your mother." he knew the moment the words came from his mouth that Ruuss wouldn't understand in the slightest.
"But how can mommy make me?" She asked, her saiyan tail forming a question mark shape, as it normally did when she was confused or especially curious. "Mommy has only been my mommy for one year."
"No, I don't mean this mommy. I mean your mommy that you had before you were adopted." Goten struggled to explain. He always had issues trying to explain things, and there were times that Ruuss fried his brain as he tried to explain some things to her, and this was just one of those things. "Uh, I mean that uh… Well, you should ask mommy about it. She can explain better than me."
Ruuss looked confused and disappointed as Goten slipped out of the room to avoid any further questioning. She would have looked for her mother to question next, but as her mother was out buying groceries at the moment and she had some problems learning to fly, so she looked for the next best person at the Son Homestead.
"How was I born, Aunty?" It was Videl's turn to be embarrassed at this question. And as with Goten, she couldn't think for the life of her how to answer Ruuss' innocent curiosity.
"Uh, that's not something that someone you need to know about yet." Videl answered awkwardly. "That's not something you learn about until you're a little older."
"Why?" Ruuss asked.
"Well, it's because, uh…" Videl thought hard about her answer. "Uh, Gohan? Could you give me a hand here?"
"Well, actually, mom told me about it when I was about her age." said Gohan.
"Not helping." said Videl, sighing. Ruuss' tail made its familiar question mark shape and she tilted her head questioningly.
"Hey, Ruuss. You want to go exploring?" Pan asked, coming into the room. Ruuss looked torn between staying with Videl and Gohan for her answer and playing with Pan. In the end, she decided on the latter.
Ruuss was right at home on Mount Paozu, not just because she had the best parents and family she could ask for, but because the jungle terrain was just like that of her home world, Neo Vega. She had taken to exploring the jungles very enthusiastically every day, and she had made good friends with Pan, so she sometimes brought her along too.
"So what were you talking to my parents about, Ruuss?" Pan asked as they jumped through the trees.
"I wanted to know how I was born." answered Ruuss, plucking an apple from a branch and munching into it. "Do you know how?"
"No." Pan sighed. "My parents still won't tell me. Every time, they always say 'not until you're older.'"
"How much older?" Ruuss asked. Pan shrugged. Ruuss saw a bird's nest nearby and pondered. "Do you think that we were born from eggs? Like those birds?" Pan amused herself for a moment with the thought of her parents sitting on a small pile of eggs, but then came back to reality and said,
"No, I don't think so."
"Then how could people be born?" Ruuss asked, so confused she could practically fall out of the tree.
"You know, Ruuss brought up a really uh, awkward question today." Goten told his wife as they were going to bed.
"Oh? What's that?" asked Valese.
"Well, she basically asked where babies come from." Goten replied. "But I just couldn't think of how to answer her. I mean, she's so young, and so naïve, and so…"
"What did you tell her?" Valese asked. She was much more calm and composed than her verbal mess of a husband.
"I told her that her that… uh… well I tried to tell her about it, but the best I could get out was that 'her mommy made her.'" said Goten awkwardly, blushing. Valese giggled.
"Why didn't you ask for her to wait until she was older?" she asked. Goten sank. It was such an obvious choice, now that he thought about it!
"I didn't think of that." He sighed. "I told her to ask you."
"Well, I suppose I could tell her." said Valese thoughtfully. "My mother told me when I was about that age."
"Seriously? My mom didn't tell me until I was fourteen. But then again, I guess I never thought to ask." said Goten. "But would that be such a wise thing to do?"
"It wouldn't hurt for her to know just a little." Valese reasoned. She giggled at Goten's unsure expression. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Until then, 'night." They embraced and kissed, but Goten froze as he held her. He could sense something very faint, but noticeable. He put a hand on Valese's stomach and concentrated. He could just barely feel the presence of something else within her.
"It looks like our timing for 'the talk' couldn't be better." he said, smiling brightly.
The next morning, Ruuss awoke and ate breakfast as usual, but she stopped halfway through eating, as her ears gave a slight twitch.
"Who is there?" She asked, turning her head and trying to listen, directing her left ear, which bore a fanged earring, searching for the unfamiliar presence. She came upon her mother, who looked amused by her actions. Ruuss gasped. "Mommy! There is a monster inside you!"
"No, silly. It's a baby." Valese giggled. Ruuss blinked.
"Huh?" She asked blankly, her tail taking its usual confused shape.
"Your mom's trying to say, well…" Goten said awkwardly. "She's having a baby. You're going to be a big sister." Ruuss was caught between being very happy and very perplexed.
"So… that is not a monster in mommy's belly?" She blinked. "It is my oto?"
"No, it's not a monster." Valese smiled. "And what's an oto?"
"A younger sister or brother." said Goten. He was familiar with a few of the words from the archaic saiyan language Ruuss occasionally used. "And so, we've decided that since you're so curious, and since you have a new oto on the way, we think you should know just a little bit about how your oto will be born." Even though he said this in his calmest voice possible, he was red-faced and even sweating a bit.
"You see Ruuss," Valese began. "When two parents love each other very much…."
For those of you unfamiliar with my series, Dragon Ball GT Remastered, Ruuss is a young girl who Goten rescued on a new saiyan homeworld, known as Neo Vega. They had taken such a shine to one another, that after their search for the Black Star Dragon Balls, Goten adopted her ^_^ Anyway, this is a possible look some time after those events that I couldn't think of how to work into GT Remastered itself. Well, anyway, I just kind of felt like writing something cute. I hope you enjoyed it!