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A Merry Christmas

By Starr

Krillin looked at the piece of paper in his hands. It was a list. A Christmas list. For 18. He wanted to give her something special; it was their first Christmas as a married couple. The phone rang and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Kame House," he answered.

"Krillin, its Bulma. We're having a Christmas party on Christmas Eve, and I was wondering if you and 18 wanted to come," Bulma's voice came from the other line.

"I'm not sure Bulma. 18's not home now, but I'll ask her about it when she gets home," he replied, looking around.

Bulma chuckled. "Sure, call me later. Chi-Chi's going to be there, and she's bringing little Goten," she said. "Hope you'll come."

"Yeah, me too. Well, I'll call you after 18 gets home. Bye," he said, hanging up the phone.

The door opened and 18 walked in, with a bunch of shopping bags in her hands. Krillin cringed at the sight of all the bags, but shook it off. "Hey babe," he greeted her.

"Hey Krillin. I got all my Christmas shopping done," she said, setting down the bags.

"Who'd you buy for, the whole planet?" Krillin joked.

"Very funny," 18 glared at him. "I bought presents for all your friends, even Vegeta."

Krillin stared at her in disbelief. "Vegeta? Why'd you buy him anything? He hates you and me, and you hate him."

18 tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "I know, but I got into the Christmas spirit, and I have you to blame for that," she smirked.

Krillin smiled. "No need to thank me," he said. "But, speaking of Vegeta, Bulma's having a party on Christmas Eve. Want to go?"

18 smirked at him. "I'll need a new dress if we're going out," she said hopefully.

Krillin laughed. "Fine, I'll buy you a new dress. But only on one condition," he said.

"Oh?" 18 questioned. "And what would that be?"

"It has to be blue."

"Blue? Why blue?"

Krillin smiled. "So it'll match your eyes."

18 blushed slightly and smacked him playfully on the head. "Fine, I'll wear blue. But we should go shopping now so all the blue dresses aren't gone."

"But you just got home from shopping," Krillin reminded her.

"Oh, I know. Does that mean I can't go again?"

Krillin sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."

"How about this one?" 18 asked, stepping out of the dressing room at the Deb at the Satan City Mall. She was wearing a dark blue dress that reached her ankles. It was covered in sequins, and sparkled in the light. It showed off her delicate figure and her curves.

Krillin stood with his eyes wide. "You look amazing. That dress is perfect for you," he said sincerely.

18 smirked. "You think so?"

Krillin nodded. "It brings out your eyes. You'll be the hit of the party."

She blushed and turned back into the dressing room. A minute later, she came out in her jeans and tank top, the elegant dress in her hand. "Bulma better be having a formal party, or I'll have to kick you in the mud," she threatened.

"Bulma's parties usually are," Krillin assured her, hoping he was right. "But you wouldn't kick your husband in the mud would you?"

18 smirked. "You never know," she said, taking his wallet from him.

Ten minutes before the party, Krillin sat in a kitchen chair, waiting for 18 to finish getting ready. He looked at the clock and sighed. They'd just have to make a dramatic entrance, wouldn't they?

Krillin heard footsteps and looked toward the stairs. 18 started to walk downstairs. 'She looks amazing,' Krillin thought. She had on the blue dress, and half her hair was pulled back in a barrette that matched the dress. She had blue eye shadow over her eyes, and mauve lipstick over her lips. She was wearing black heels on under the dress, but you could only see the very bottom of the shoes, for the dress went down to her ankles.

"Do I look okay?" 18 asked, stepping off the last step.

Krillin stared at her. "You look unbelievable," he assured her, and held out his arm. She took it, and they walked out the door.

Bulma answered the door in a stunning black dress. "Hi you guys. 18, you look amazing," she complimented, eyeing her dress.

"Thanks Bulma," 18 replied, stepping in the Capsule Corp. mansion. The main room was decorated in red and green, with gold trimming everywhere.

Chi-Chi was sitting at one of the little tables toward the left of the room with her dad. Little Goten was sitting at her feet, along with Trunks, playing with some plastic red cups. Gohan was at another table, talking with Piccolo, who'd Gohan convinced to come. Yamcha sat at the table with the two of them, and Vegeta stood in the corner, scowling.

Krillin and 18 walked in elegantly and went over to say hi to Chi- Chi. "Hi, Chi-Chi," Krillin said.

Chi-Chi smiled. "Hi Krillin, 18. You look beautiful," she greeted them.

18 blushed. "Thanks Chi-Chi. How've you been?" she asked politely.

"I've been okay, Goten keeps me busy most of the time."

The two of them continued their conversation until Goten and Trunks decided they were hungry, and Chi-Chi and Bulma took them to the food table. Krillin looked at 18.

"Do you want anything to eat?" he asked.

18 shook her head. "To tell you the truth, I don't really feel that well," she said. "I haven't felt that well for the past couple of days."

Krillin put his hand to her forehead. "You want to go home? You should rest if you don't feel good," he directed.

18 laughed. "I'm fine. You don't need to tuck me into bed because I don't feel well."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for, babe," he said, grinning a goofy grin.

18 smiled, then felt her own forehead. "Can I get fevers?" she asked, with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm not sure," Krillin said, "I don't really know that much about medical stuff, but I don't think you can."

"Oh, well, its just a little upset stomach," 18 scoffed, brushing it off. "Wow, I haven't seen all these people in years."

Krillin looked around. "Yeah, I know. It's kind of weird now, without Goku here. I mean, he was always at all these little get- togethers."

"I wonder how Chi-Chi does it," she murmured.

"What do you mean?" Krillin asked.

"Stand to be around all these people. Goku's friends. It has to be such a reminder that he's gone."

"You're right. She's a pretty strong woman." Krillin eyed 18. She was sitting there, hands in lap, staring into space.

Then, the dance floor opened up, and some soft Christmas music came on. "Wanna dance?" Krillin asked.

18 looked at him in a funny way. "I'm not such a good dancer, but I guess I can wing it," she said, standing up.

Krillin took her hand, and together they walked out onto the dance floor, the funny-looking couple they were. 18's stomach lurched as they danced, but she shook it off quickly. Halfway through the dance, 18's stomach lurched again, and she bent over, holding her stomach.

"Babe, what happened? 18?" Krillin exclaimed in a worried tone.

Bulma ran over, and helped Krillin catch 18. She quickly lost conciousness and went limp in Krillin's arms. "18!" he yelled.

"Vegeta, call 911!" Bulma yelled.

"What's the number woman?" Vegeta asked stupidly.

"Yamcha, call 911!" Bulma yelled.

"Ok!" Yamcha ran out of the room to the phone.

"Forget 911! I'll fly her there!" Krillin yelled fiercely, starting to take off through the roof.

Krillin ran up to the front desk at the hospital. "My wife collapsed," he gasped, out of breath.

"Hold on sir," the receptionist said. "Before we can put your wife in the emergency room, you'll need to fill out these papers." She handed Krillin a stack of papers.

"I don't have time for this! She's in really bad shape and she needs help!" he yelled, slamming a fist on the table.

"I'll take care of the papers, Krillin. You get 18 some help," Bulma's voice came from behind Krillin.

"Thanks Bulma. Now where can I take her?" he asked the receptionist.

"Over there, down that hall and to the right," she said, pointing.

Krillin ran down to the emergency room.

A doctor in a white doctor's coat stood in the doorway of the ER. "Excuse me, sir. Can I ask what you're doing here?"

"My wife collapsed at a Christmas party. She needs help," Krillin replied, trying not to scream with frustration.

"Bring her in here," the doctor beckoned, walking in the room. Krillin followed him with 18 in his arms, like he had her at the Cell Games. He couldn't help smiling at the fond memory. But he shook it off as he concentrated on getting her to safety.

"Lay her down on this bed, and we'll see what we can do for her," the doctor directed. Krillin lay 18 on the hospital bed gently. "We'll need to hook her up to some machines and check her heart rate."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Krillin asked worriedly. He looked away from 18's unconcious body.

The doctor took a deep breath and looked up from his work. "That all depends. It could be something as trivial as a stomachache or something as serious as an organ problem," he stated. He turned back to hooking up the machines. In the middle of the setup, 18 regained consciousness.

"Krillin?" she asked weakly. When she saw where she was, she screamed. "Get me out of here!"

Krillin ran over to the bed and grabbed 18's hand tightly. "Shhh. It's okay 18. Just calm down," he soothed, stroking her hair.

"Why am I here?" she asked fiercely. "What happened?"

Krillin kissed her hand gently. "Its okay. Calm down. Don't you remember? We were dancing at Bulma's Christmas party, and you collapsed?"

18 looked at him, confused. "Dancing?.Dancing! I remember now. I didn't feel good, but I danced with you anyway," she recalled, laying her head calmly on the pillow.

"Yeah, and now we're going to find out what's wrong with you," he said softly. "But you need to stay calm and let the doctors do their jobs."

"Krillin, you know I don't do very well with doctors. Or did it slip your mind?" she whispered angrily.

"18, I know, but this is very important. You need to forget that awful person ever existed. You have to trust me."

She glared at him. "You're going to owe me a big one," she sighed.

The doctor finished his work and looked up. "Hello, I see you're awake. My name is Dr. Plikae. Now I've hooked up some machines to you, and they should be activating shortly. But until then, I'll need to go and gather your papers, so if you'll just sit tight for a moment, I can begin the examination," he said politely. He walked out of the room and 18 squeezed Krillin's hand as tight as she could.

"Oww! Babe, what'd you to that for?" he asked, rubbing his throbbing hand. "Babe, I'm not trying to you, can't you see that? If I had left you on the dance floor, unconscious, it wouldn't have been any better, would it? Now stop, Dr. Gero is gone, and you know that."

18 looked down. "I guess you're right. I just don't feel comfortable by any kind of doctor," she mumbled.

"I know," Krillin said, kissing her forehead.

Dr. Plikae strode into the room with a stack of papers in his hand. "These were filled out by a Ms. Bulma Briefs. What kind of relation do you have with her?" he asked, scanning the papers.

"Bulma's one of my oldest and best friends," Krillin replied. "Now, are the machines working yet?"

Dr. Plikae glanced over at the machines. "Yeah, but Miss 18, we have some strange readings."

"They're all correct, all the circuitry should be there," 18 interrupted.

"Uh-huh. Well then from what I can see, the only problem is that you're pregnant," he said simply.

Krillin's jaw dropped and 18's eyes widened. "I can't get pregnant," she said. "I'm partially a cyborg. Cyborgs don't get pregnant."

"Apparently you only have few cyborg parts, and all your reproductive organs are there and in tact," Dr. P. explained.

"How far along am I?" 18 asked.

"Two and a half months."

Krillin stared at the doctor. "Two and a half months? Why didn't I fell this before?" he muttered to himself.

"Well I couldn't feel it or detect it Krillin, so don't feel bad. But is there a specialist I could go to who could handle my. cyborg insides?" 18 asked the doctor.

"Maybe. You said you knew Bulma Briefs, right? I'm almost positive that she and her father could help you with your monthly check-ups. But I want you to come and see me for delivery," Dr. Plikae explained.

"One thing: can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?" 18 asked.

"Yup. It's a little girl."

Krillin smiled. "A little girl." He put his hand on 18's stomach. "Merry Christmas my little firefly."



A/N: So...what'd you think? Was it good? Bad? Just plain awful? Tell me in your review, and I just might make a sequel! Well, I was thinking about it. Review and tell me please!!!!!!!!!!!