As I Grow

Chapter 9: Dreams and Birthdays

I darted up out of bed. I looked around me. Mama was in her bed, and Papa was in his. Breathing heavily, I looked at my phone. Given the time difference, here it was 3 am, but in Japan it was noon. I dialed a number and waited for her to answer. "Hello?" a voice asked from the other line.

"Bulla? I had that dream again," I said, grumbling. I was seventeen, and I had been away from home for two years. My family and I traveled to Wisconsin in America for a vacation (a long one at that).

"Pan, I assure you; I'm not married to Goten, we never mated, and we don't have kids," she said.

"Okay," I said as I let out the breath I realized I was holding. I had this crazy dream the day before I left. Bulla and I talked about her boyfriend James for the next hour. After we said our goodbyes and hung up, I grabbed some clean clothes and headed for the bathroom. I took a shower, and then I proceeded to dry my hair when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Panny? I'm coming in," Papa said before he entered.

"Umm....Papa? Next time you should ask if I'm dressed before coming in. You got lucky this time," I said, looking up at him. He smiled and knelt down in front of me, taking my hands in his.

"Are you okay?" he asked me. I smiled softly. I heard my twin siblings in the other room crying. They were a year and a half old. I have a little sister and a little brother. Jayden and Hayden (Jayden is my sister; Hayden is my brother). They meant the world to the other three of us in the family. I sighed as I looked into Papa's eyes.

"I don't know. I keep having this really weird dream. In my dream, Uncle Goten married Bulla. Bulla becomes my aunt and Trunks my uncle. It saddens me," I told Papa.

"It makes you sad because you love him, right?" Papa asked, giving a soft smile. I nodded and I felt as a few tears ran down my face. He brought me in his arms and held onto me tightly. "I've known that since the day they came to see you. You loved him; he loved you. The minute he walked in the door and looked in your eyes, you quit crying. When he was sad, and then he saw you, he was the happiest person. Panny, I couldn't be mad at you two years ago, because I knew this would happen," Papa said, holding onto me tightly as I cried.

"Thank you, Papa," I said after finally calming down. We exited the bathroom, and I took Hayden from Mama. My brother seemed to like me better than my sister did. Jayden favored Mama. Both of them loved the hell out of Papa.

"Panny?" Mama asked as I fed Hayden.

"Yes Mama?" I asked, looking over to her.

"Happy eighteenth birthday," she said, smiling. As my birthday present, we were flying back home. We packed everything up, and we departed at 6 am. It was 3 in the afternoon in Japan, and it was a twenty minute flight home.

"Can I stay with Bulla to celebrate my birthday?" I asked Mama and Papa as we flew.

"Yeah, sure," Mama said, and Papa nodded in agreement. I would have to do a little shopping first. I needed a new swimsuit for swimming, and I wanted to buy a dress. Yes, I did just say I was going to buy a dress. We arrived home, and I unpacked then decided to go shopping. I walked in the store and went to the swimsuits first. I picked out a sky blue bikini. The only difference between this one and the one in my dream is that this one was sparkly.

After I tried the swimsuit on and made sure the top was big enough to hold my chest, which it sucked that it grew so much, I headed over to the dresses. Bulma and I had planned a secret party for my birthday. Everyone was asked to come for a get together, like we did a lot. I wanted to show off my new looks, mostly to the man of my dreams. Bulma told me that he was in an on-again-off-again sort of relationship, and he never heard about the party.

I looked around, until I found what I wanted. It was a silver dress. Strapless. Knee-length. Skin tight. If this didn't make Trunks drool, than I don't know what will. I tried it on to make sure it fit, then I decided to get myself a new pair of shoes. I didn't believe in makeup, I liked my all-natural look. My raven-colored hair which went a little past my breasts and had a slight curve to it, and my coal black eyes. The silver would make them stand out.

After I got my knee-high heel boots, I headed to the check-out. On the way there, I saw a flower headband, and I decided to get it. I paid for everything and checked my phone. I had a missed call from Bulla and decided to call her back as I flew home to pack. "Pan!" she yelled after answering the phone.

"Hey Bulla. I'm sorry I didn't answer, I was busy," I said, remembering her mother never told Bulla I was home.

"Busy not telling me you came home? My mom just told me!" she screamed at me.

"I'm sorry Bulla," I said as I focused on flying. "But hey, I'm heading back to my house then I'm coming to yours for the night."

"Really? Yay!" she squealed then we said our goodbyes. I finished the flight home, and I packed what I needed. I went to the kitchen where Mama was helping Papa feed the twins.

"See you guys later," I told them as I hugged and kissed everyone goodbye.

"Panny," Papa said, coming out to the living room.

"Yeah Papa?" I asked, turning to him. He held his hands out with a gift.

"I want you to open this one now," he said.

"Okay," I said, setting my stuff down. I opened it and pulled out a camera and a scrapbook. There was also a note. I opened it and started reading:

Dear Panny,

Your mother and I are slowly watching you from the sidelines of your life. We went from being everything you needed, to being something you only need every once and a while. Watching you grow up, I realized you are so much like me, whether you want to believe it or not. You have my smile, my secret power. I never told you, but it's true. You have a power hidden within you as I did when I was born. I could tell you would grow to be a strong, independent woman. I'm so proud of you. I love you, Mama, and the twins with all my heart. The only thing that saddens me about your eighteenth birthday is that you won't need me here with you anymore. You going to find a man who loves you and wants to be your world, and I'm going to become nothing but a memory. I'm afraid that one day, you aren't going to call me Papa, you're not going to need me, and then I'll hold on to your memory as you hang on to mine.

Please, just promise I will always be apart of everything you do.

Love,

Papa

p.s. remember your memories with this book and camera :)

I folded the letter back up. I was bawling my eyes out. I walked over to my father and threw my arms around him. "I'm always going to need you Papa. I'm always going to want you there. After all, I can't help it. I'm Daddy's Girl," I said as I held onto my father for dear life.