Next chapter is up! Enjoy!
P.S. No offense intended in this chapter. Daiko's mom is the alpha female, she's not intended to look evil or violent or anything, just a very dominating wife. Lol. No offense guys.
Delilah's POV (Daiko's mother)
Pulling off my oven mitts, I head to the door. My husband, Soren, follows a step behind as we head out to call in Daiko and his new friends for dinner.
And I do mean new friends. They may not technically know Daiko yet, but my son has a way of worming into your heart.
They may not be friends yet, but they will be.
Now standing outside and with a clear view of my son and the heroes, I see why my husband was so amused.
The heroes, now recovered from the force of the barrier breaking, have not yet regained face from witnessing the unstoppable force that is my son. None of them have taken their eyes off Daiko, not even to acknowledge my and Soren's presence. They all seem content to stare at Daiko as if, with enough time, they may be able to understand what they just witnessed.
...I can see what my husband meant. The Flash has probably swallowed quite a few bugs with his mouth open like that.
And my son is, of course, completely oblivious to the attention he is garnering from the heroes. No. He is far more focused on watching me with those wide, excited eyes, waiting to hear some of his favorite words.
Resigned, but fond, I say what he is anxiously waiting to hear.
"Dinner is ready, sweetie."
That's all it takes. As if he didn't just defeat a clone of Superman, stun a good chunk of the Justice League and their protégés, and completely ignore said heroes gawping at him, he perks up like an overenthusiastic puppy and blurs into the air, heading for the door.
Not a chance.
Whipping a hand out, Daiko skids to a stop in a panic, stopping just before my arm and directing his sad puppy eyes at me.
I narrow my eyes in response.
"None of that, Daiko. I've taught you better; what do we do before we have dinner after a fight?"
My son pouts sulkily at me, but still replies obediently.
"Always clean up after I'm done. But moooom-"
"No butts, young man. We have guests and I will not have my son disheveled in front of company at the dinner table."
Aaaaand here come the water works. Lord knows my son is adorable, and I love him very much, but as a mother, I cannot give in to his whining. My husband is utterly wrapped around Daiko's finger; someone needs to be the man of the house.
(And as much as I love Soren, we both know who the boss is. He lost that title when he let Daiko eat ten tubs of ice cream. I was only gone for five minutes!)
There Daiko goes now, looking at his father with those kicked puppy eyes. I can literally see him cracking.
He's going.... he's going....
"Honey, maybe just this once..."
And he's gone.
Daiko may have power over his father, but I'm Soren's wife. I own him.
All it takes is one look from me, and my husband's face goes stoic again.
"Listen to your mother, Daiko."
My son gives his father a betrayed look, but his tail silently droops in defeat.
"Fine," he huffs dramatically, before placing his right index and middle finger on his forehead. He disappears with a *shing. *
I feel a vein pop on my forehead.
"DAIKO! NO INSTANT TRANSMISSION IN THE HOUSE!"
"I WASN'T IN THE HOUSE! I WAS OUTSIDE!"
Soren tries to hide his quiet chuckles as our son yells back at me testily from inside the house.
Once again, I silence my husband with a look, before yelling back at my petulant son.
"Watch that attitude, young man! I'm not afraid to turn you over my knee in front of company!"
Everyone can hear the frantic scrambling and the start of the shower from inside.
Content with the fact my son is doing as told, I turn my attention to the heroes grouped together in front of me. They seemed to have been watching, if the amused smiles on a few of their faces is anything to go by. Wonder Woman looks especially amused, looking up in the direction Daiko's telling came from. Superman appears nostalgic, and Batman looks contemplative.
The younger heroes look gobsmacked. Hah. After seeing how strong my son is, they must be surprised seeing him listening to me. But that is simply ridiculous; I'm his mother! Strong or not he better listen to me!
Putting on a polite smile, I address the group of heroes.
"Would you all like to come in and join us for dinner? I assure you, there is plenty of food for everyone."
The Leaguers make eye contact with each other, while the teenagers watch their mentors. After a moment, Superman smiles back at me.
"If you wouldn't mind, we'd love to."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Still Delilah's POV)
By the time Daiko comes down from his shower, everyone is seated at the table waiting for him.
A few of the heroes are eyeing the copious amounts of food on the table in shock and eagerness, mainly Kid Flash and his mentor. It's evident though that they are all surprised at the amount of food on the table.
"Were you expecting guests before we arrived?" Wonder Woman inquires.
"Oh no!" I laugh, "you see, we make this much food every day. It's for our son," I explain at their questioning looks.
To my surprise, the present Green Lantern meets my eyes seriously. "So, I take it you know what he is."
I take great pride in how he reels back under my glare.
"Yes, I know what, and who my son is, thank you very much. His name is Daiko; he is not of this planet. Daiko is a Saiyan, and strong as he may be, he is my little boy. My husband and I raised him, and we have watched as he has grown into the caring, brave, headstrong boy he is today. So do not, for even a second, suggest my son is anything less than a who."
The heroes appear taken aback, and I feel Soren rest a hand gently on mine. He turns to face our guests, but his appearance is no less stern than mine.
"Apologies, but we do not appreciate our son being referred to as a 'what.' He may not be from this planet, but he is just as human as anyone else. And considering he just saved all your lives, I suggest you treat him with consideration when he gets down here."
Right at that moment, light thumping is heard coming from the stairs.
"Ah," Soren's face immediately softens into a smile. "Speak of the devil."
Everyone turns as Daiko makes his way into the kitchen, instantly diving for his usual seat.
"Hello, sweetie." Smiling, I introduce my son.
"I don't think we had a formal introduction yet; this is my family. My name is Delilah, this softy over here is Soren,""hey!""and this is our son, Daiko."
Daiko, taking this as his que, faces our guests and gives them his signature grin.
"Nice to meet you! Sorry about the trouble earlier, but you were on our property without permission."
"Daiko!"
He panics, "sorry mom."
A few of the Leaguers chuckle quietly as my son ducks his head and pouts. I sigh exasperatedly.
As the heroes introduce themselves, I notice a few of them watching Daiko intently. Mainly, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the protégés. I frown.
I understand their interest in my son; he's from another planet, exceptionally strong, and he is likely the last of his race.
But the fact is, he is just a child. Batman can study him all he wants, but if he lays a hand on my son, Dark Knight or not I'll kill him. My son is not an experiment, nor is he an object to study. He is a child and if anyone tries to study or 'keep tabs' on him I'll show them just how scary a mother can be.
I always knew that Muay Thai training would come in handy.
"Well," I say faux cheerfully, hiding my dark thoughts, "let's eat. I think I've made Daiko wait long enough."
Sure enough, until this moment Daiko was drooling. Not even a second after the words leave my mouth, Daiko is inhaling his food.
Now, for me and my husband, Daiko's eating pace and humongous appetite has become the norm. However, for a group of heroes who have never seen a growing Saiyan eat, well...
Let's just say they're spending more time staring than eating.
While Soren and I eat at a sedate pace, out of the corner of our eyes we see our guests' heads remained turned to watch Daiko devour his food.
"You may want to get some of that food on your plates," I warn teasingly. "Otherwise, Daiko may just eat all of it."
Our company takes my words to heart and begin putting food on their plates, Kid Flash and his mentor more frantically than the others.
Despite this, my son still manages to finish his mountain of food before the heroes are even able to fill their plates.
"Whew," my son blows out a breath, leaning back in his chair with a content smile. "I'm stuffed."
You could hear a pin drop; even the speedsters are quiet, looking at Daiko's plate in horror.
"How," Kid Flash whimpers out.
"And I thought no one could out eat a speedster," Green Arrow says in good humor.
Martian Manhunter is the first to address my son directly.
"Young Saiyan, to your knowledge, is this typical for one of your kind?"
"Hm?" Daiko looks up, blinking at realizing the Martian was speaking to him, but nods gamely.
"Yeah, I think it's pretty normal. I was really young when I was sent here, but from what I remember everyone always ate a lot because we use up so much energy fighting and stuff."
Martian Manhunter nods in understanding, but a concerned look has come over his face. "And how old were you when you arrived on this planet?"
The room is silent now, our guests listening attentively for Daiko's answer.
"Uhm," Daiko looks down sadly, humming softly. "I think five? I'm twelve now, so it's been about seven years."
The heroes look shocked, and the protégés are staring at Daiko with wide eyes. I can't say I'm surprised, Daiko looks even younger than Robin after all.
"I'm sorry," Wonder Woman apologizes softly. "You must miss your old home."
The small smile Daiko sends her breaks my heart.
"It's okay. Like I said, I don't really remember it much."
Daiko looks down at his lap, and I can tell my son is downcast from the topic of conversation.
"Daiko, why don't you go up and prepare for bed." I say gently, "you're going to have a long night tomorrow."
Soren meets my eyes knowingly, before getting up to help Daiko get ready for bed.
Once the two are gone, I direct my attention back to the heroes, who had been observing our interaction intently.
"My apologies," Martian Manhunter apologizes. "I was inconsiderate of the sensitive nature of the conversation."
I find myself sighing again. "It's alright, I expected you all to be curious. The extraterrestrial origins of my son are of interest to many; you are only doing your duty to protect people by wanting to get to know Daiko."
"What did you mean earlier? You explicitly mentioned tomorrow being a long night for Daiko." Batman gets right to the point, expression impassive. However, I notice Green Lantern gain a look of realization as he turns to me.
"Tomorrow is a full moon."
I nod. His eyes grow wide.
"What do you normally do for this? He has been with you for seven years, so obviously you found a way to handle these situations."
"What situations?" Superman questions.
"Green Lantern," Batman says sternly.
Before the Dark Knight can chew out the poor man, I intervene.
"As you know Daiko is a Saiyan, and with his race comes much strength. One of these strengths is at its peak at the full moon, but it can be a bit...inconvenient. However, before I explain everything, I need your word. Daiko is my son, and Soren and I love and take care of him as such. For all these years Daiko has grown, and he has worked incredibly hard to control his strength so that he can protect without doing harm to the innocent. If you insist on knowing more about Daiko, you will treat him as a human. You will treat him with all the consideration and respect you would one of your protégés. And if any of you think for even a moment of harming Daiko, or taking him away against his will," I glare at the heroes. "I will make sure you regret it. Do you understand?"
Batman doesn't miss a beat.
"We understand. We are not here to harm him."
I make eye contact with the man and stare. He does the same.
I smile.
"Then let me explain..."
Just, kudos to all mothers. They have to deal with a lot. Empower Delilah this chapter, lol. Hope everyone enjoyed.
Sincerely,
Writer-san.