One - Written by PhantomScribe72

Chapter 8

The next few weeks flew by. Bulma and Vegeta settled into a comfortable, if strange routine. He trained all day while she either worked in the lab or at the office at Capsule Corp. In the afternoon, they would meet in the garden to meditate and build up their mental walls. In the evenings they played cards or watched TV…and they argued about everything, but they always made up in bed. Vegeta made love to Bulma every night. Sometimes it was hot and wild. Other times it was slow and gentle. It was always good. Bulma was happy for the first time in her life, secure in her relationship with Vegeta. He never once told her that he loved her, but she knew that he was faithful and that he would never leave her. Every now and then, a small stab of doubt would puncture Bulma’s consciousness, but she pushed it out of her mind with strong determination.

One afternoon, Bulma came home from the office in a rotten mood. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she had felt depressed all day long. She had over slept and Vegeta was already out in the gravity room by the time she had gotten out of bed. She’d missed eating breakfast with him and it galled her that he had not even woken her up to kiss her goodbye.

She walked out to the spot in the flower garden where they met every afternoon to meditate. Of course, he was already there and she knew he was going to give her a tongue lashing for being late.

“Sorry,” she said when he spotted her and raised his eyebrows, “I got hung up at the office.”

Vegeta growled, but said nothing.

“Look,” Bulma said, “would it be OK with you if we skip the meditating today? I tired as hell and I have a monster of a headache.”

“Whatever,” Vegeta grumbled.

‘Well,” Bulma snapped, “you don’t have to get snippy about it.”

Vegeta shot her a withering glance, “I’m not getting snippy, but you did agree to take this seriously.”

“Oh, give me a break,” Bulma groaned. “I’ve been out here everyday and my mental wall is pretty damn strong…strong enough to keep you out of my head.”

“Really?” Vegeta asked calmly, “Is that a challenge?”

“No,” Bulma sighed tiredly, “please, just cut me some slack. I feel like shit.”

“OK,” Vegeta gave in, “you do look like hell.”

“Oh, thank you great prince,” Bulma smarted off as she turned to go.

“Woman,” Vegeta called after her.

Bulma turned to look at him, “Yes?”

Vegeta studied her for a moment. He looked as if he wanted to tell her something.

“Nothing,” he said finally, “go get some rest.”

“Thanks, I will,” Bulma said as she turned away. She went straight up to her room and lay down. She slept through dinner and the rest of the evening. When Vegeta went up to bed, he decided he’d better check in on her. He found her sound asleep, still in her clothes. He gently removed her dress, taking care not to wake her. He lifted her off the bed, dressed only in her slip, and tuned back the covers, then gently laid her back down. He pulled the covers up around her shoulders and stood back and studied her. She really did look bad, and Vegeta knew it was only going to get worse. He kissed her gently on the forehead and stroked her cheek with his fingers.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Then he left the room as silently as he had entered it.

The next morning, Bulma was shocked when she woke up and saw that it was already past nine thirty. She looked over and was not really surprised to find that she was alone…Vegeta would have been up for hours already. She struggled to recall the events of the night before and slowly realized that he hadn’t made love to her…she’d been asleep since early afternoon. She quickly threw the covers back and jumped out of bed only to fall right back in. She was incredibly nauseous. She felt like her head was going to explode. She slowly got up and walked to the bathroom where she spent the next thirty minutes puking. When she finally felt a little better, she got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen where she found her mother loading the dishwasher.

“Good morning, Sweetie,” Mrs. Briefs chimed, “I saved you some breakfast.”

Bulma nearly threw up again at the thought of food. “No thanks, Mom,” she muttered, “I’m a little queasy this morning. I think I must have some sort of a stomach virus.”

“Um hum,” Mrs. Briefs said with a knowing smile, “sure you do, Sweetie.”

Bulma turned around and faced Mrs. Briefs. The movement made her dizzy and she flopped down in a chair at the table, “What the hell are you smiling about?” she snapped, “does it make you happy to see your only daughter so sick that she thinks she might die?”

Mrs. Briefs couldn’t hide her shocked expression, “Honey, is it possible that you don’t know…that it hasn’t even occurred to you?”

Bulma was thoroughly irritated now, “What in Kami’s name are you babbling about?”

Mrs. Briefs walked over and sat down at the table in the chair directly across from Bulma. She reached out and gently took Bulma’s hands in hers. “Honey,” she began carefully, “when was the last time you…had your monthly flow?”

Bulma’s eyes grew as wide as saucers, “What the hell difference does that make? Why do you want to know? Have you lost your mind?”

“Well,” Mrs. Briefs said with amusement, “unless you and Vegeta are staying up all night talking every night, it just occurred to me that you might be, well, you know, going to have a baby.”

Bulma’s eyes grew even wider. She wanted to shout out a denial, to tell her mother that she was crazy…only she hadn’t had a period in a while. She took care of the birth control, and she was usually very careful, but there were a couple of times that Vegeta had surprised her. Once, he had come to see her in the lab about some modifications for the gravity room and one thing had led to another. And then there was that time when he had found her swimming in the pond in the garden. Bulma slowly realized that it was more than just possible that her mother was right, it was probable.

“Um, Mom,” Bulma said sheepishly, “I need to go to the drug store. I don’t feel like driving. Do you think you could take me?”

“Of course dear,” Mrs. Briefs said tenderly, “just let me get my coat.”

Bulma sat at the kitchen table in the dark. Her parents had gone to bed hours ago and she didn’t even notice that all the lights were off. She had been waiting for Vegeta to come in from the gravity chamber for hours, but he still hadn’t made an appearance. She had not talked to him in two days and he didn’t even seem to notice. She finally gave in to the urge to cry and buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Vegeta could hear her crying as he entered the house. He wasn’t really surprised. He knew that it was only a matter of time before she realized what had happened. He steeled himself for the emotional scene that he knew was coming and followed the sound of the sobs into the kitchen.

“Woman,” he said quietly to alert her to his presence in the room.

Bulma jerked her head off the table and turned to face him. “Vegeta,” she said in a small voice, “we need to talk.”

“Yes,” he said shortly and slid into the chair across from her.

“I…I don’t know how to tell you this,” she began shakily, “but I took a test today and…well…I’m pregnant.”

Vegeta looked at her expressionless, “And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?” he asked coldly.

Bulma sighed heavily. She hadn’t really expected a positive reaction from him. “Nothing.” She said firmly, “I just thought you should know.”

Vegeta studied her closely. He had expecting screaming and hysterics, demands of marriage and commitment. He was relieved that she seemed to be taking the news calmly, but he was also disturbed. She seemed completely calm, and that bothered Vegeta even more than an emotional outburst would have.

“I have known about the pregnancy for some time,” he finally said.

“How?!” Bulma asked in shock, “How it possible that you would know before me?”

Vegeta looked at her warily, “Well, for one thing, I can count,” he said sarcastically, “I know you haven’t had a period since we started sleeping together. And for another thing, I can feel the baby’s ki.”

Bulma breathed deeply. She wasn’t really surprised that he knew, nor was she surprised that he hadn’t told her. She was relieved that he hadn’t taken off as soon as he’d found out…maybe they could work this out after all.

“Are you going to kill it?” Vegeta asked suddenly.

“What?” Bulma’s head snapped around to face him, “what kind of question is that?”

“I know that sometimes human females kill their young, especially when the pregnancy is unplanned and the baby is unwanted,” he said quietly.

“You mean an abortion?” Bulma asked.

“Yes,” Vegeta replied.

“Well,” Bulma said after some thought, “I hadn’t really considered it. Do you want me to have an abortion, Vegeta?”

“It is your body,” he answered, “I won’t tell you what to do with it.”

Bulma was silent for a long while. It was true that she hadn’t planned on becoming pregnant, in fact, she considered it to be a huge mistake…but she didn’t want to have an abortion…she already knew that she would love this baby with all of her heart…just as she loved its father.

“No, Vegeta,” she said finally, “I won’t have an abortion. I want this baby.”

Vegeta tried to hide his relief, but he wasn’t quite successful. “You know I won’t marry you,” he said snidely.

“What makes you think I want you to?” Bulma asked with amusement.

Vegeta chuckled, “Well, this is some mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

“It’s not so bad,” Bulma said quietly. When Vegeta didn’t respond Bulma asked timidly, “Are you going to leave me now?”

Vegeta studied her face intently. “You are my mate,” he said finally, “I am bonded to you for all eternity. No, I won’t leave you.”

Bulma almost sagged with relief, “But,” Vegeta continued, “I won’t change who I am. The baby will be your problem. I won’t be bothered with your human ideals of fatherhood.”

“OK,” Bulma said, “I accept you for what you are because I love you Vegeta. I will take care of our baby…I promise to love it enough for both of us.”

Vegeta looked at her carefully. He suddenly was overwhelmed with a sense of pride…not for the baby, but for Bulma. He hadn’t expected her to understand. He had thought that she would hate him for not wanting to marry her or take an active part in the child’s life. He slowly realized that this woman would love him no matter what he did. He admitted to himself how lucky he was to have her. No one had ever cared for him before, but Bulma loved him with all of her soul. He slowly stood up and walked over to lean on the edge of the table right in front of her. He gently took her hands and lifted them to his mouth.

“It is a son,” he whispered while kissing her hands.

Bulma shivered and whispered back, “Vegeta, I’ve missed you so much.”

Vegeta smiled and bent to lift her in his arms. He tenderly caressed her cheek as he carried her to his room. “I have missed you to, Woman,” he said as his lips claimed hers.

Place and time slipped away from Bulma during Vegeta’s sensual assault on her mouth. Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself being laid gently on Vegeta’s bed. He made love to her with a tenderness that she had never before experienced. When it was over, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close against his body. Bulma lay awake in his embrace long after he had drifted off to sleep. She prayed with all of her soul that it would always be like this between them, but she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that her future held only loneliness and pain.

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