Raditz had only been out of incubation for about four months but he thought he had a pretty good idea of how things worked in his housing unit. Every morning just before sunrise he'd be roused from sleep by his mother in the bed that they shared so that they could make breakfast together. She'd show him several different meats and speak of how to prepare each one and what impact different spices and sauces would make. She'd show him how long to cook something and how to know it was ready. The two would then eat all the food they prepared and get some training in before she went to work. During this time, his mother would show him how to fight because they were a warrior race and fighting was in their blood. His mother was very careful not to hit him too hard and it was because of this that Raditz found it so bizarre she wanted him to hit her as hard as he could. She insisted she could take it but he couldn't find it in himself to even try to harm her, especially when she was so gentle with him.

His mother's name was Gine and she was the best mother he'd ever known, even if she was the only other Saiyan he'd ever met so far. When he'd look out the window he'd see other Saiyans and discovered they were much, much bigger than his own mother and when he asked her about it, she'd said she was small for a Saiyan and wasn't as tough as them. Raditz thought she was pretty tough and told her so, but she just laughed and said it was because he was only a baby. One day he'd be bigger and tougher than her too.

So Raditz figured if he was going to be into this fighting and warrior blood stuff, he'd do it so he could fight for her. He couldn't fight his mother to get stronger since he didn't want to hurt her. That meant he'd have to go fight the bigger and tougher Saiyans. Unfortunately, Gine wouldn't let him go outside and challenge them.

"You're not quite strong enough, Raditz," she'd said. "I don't want you going out there until you can show me how strong you are."

So while she was at work he'd stay in their unit alone, watching the time so he could make his lunch and occasionally doing 'workouts' he'd spotted Saiyans outside doing. Other times he'd run at high speeds around the unit, knocking things over and seeing how fast he could backtrack and keep them from touching the ground. Usually he failed at this but it was still a lot of fun just causing the chaos.

When Gine came home, Raditz would usually jump into her arms because waiting at home alone was boring and (as stated before) she was the best mother ever and greeting her like that would always make her laugh. The only time he wouldn't jump in her arms was when she was carrying dinner over her shoulder. When he asked where the food came from, she told him that she actually worked with food and he promptly asked if he could go to work with her but she said no because Raditz would undoubtedly eat her out of business.

When she got settled in and cleaned up whatever mess he made, they'd prepare dinner together and after eating, would train once again. It ended with Gine in bed, Raditz curled up at her side, warm and full of food.

All in all, Raditz considered this to be a pretty good, routine life.

It all changed when a bigger, stronger, male Saiyan walked through the door like he owned the place.


'I own this place,' Bardock thought to himself as he stood in front of the door to his housing unit. It'd been about eight months since he'd last been here and he happened to know he had a very, very attractive mate living in there now. Having someone to come home to was a feeling he'd never gotten used to over the years and though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was always nervous about it. 'Just walk in and act normal. There's no big party and no battle to prepare for. This is your home and honestly your mate is probably at work right now… Shit, should I do something for her when she comes home?'

Bardock huffed and brought a hand to his forehead. Gine. His Gine. They were mates, actual mates like the royal family. Never in a million years would Bardock have thought he'd give up random good fucks for one woman, yet here he was and he couldn't imagine life without her. She wasn't even a normal Saiyan! She couldn't fight, was fucking terrible at killing and he'd stuck his neck out for her so many times he had the scars to prove it. He'd never been hurt so badly so quickly before she'd joined his squad and fucked everything up by stirring some dormant protective instinct he had.

One could say he'd just felt sorry for her and mated with her so he'd have the power to force her to quit the squad and stay at his home but that wasn't true at all. Gine wasn't strong in battle but she was strong in spirit with more than enough room for compassion. Bardock may have gotten his ass handed to him when he'd save her but she'd always be there to lick his wounds for him. Not only him, either. Their entire squad. There was something about her healing the wounded and not harming anyone that was… charming. Was it honor? Bardock didn't know much about that, but if it came down to it he'd be forced to consider that soldiers took lives away while healers saved them and his mind and chest would become tight and tangled and only Gine could soothe it.

Good, pure, Gine.

'When the hell did I turn into such a fucking sap, just walk through the damn door already.'

Bardock pushed the door open and was immediately greeted with Gine's scent as well as something… not. His first, immediate, thought was that it was another male and almost punched himself for the brief pang in his chest. He shut the door behind him and inhaled the scent again. It was… familiar in a way, but he couldn't place it. The only Saiyans he hung around with were his squad and he knew they had no business being in his house.

"Hey, you can't be in here!"

Bardock jerked back at the young, unfamiliar voice and his eyes darted around for its source. The place was a mess which wouldn't be unusual if Bardock had been living there for the past few months but it had only been Gine and she usually kept things pretty organized. There was also what looked like a lunch being prepared on the countertop and he could see a small set of armor had been placed on a table as though it had just been cleaned. It was much too small to be Gine's and Bardock could feel something tickling the back of his mind.

He looked down.

In front of him, barely reaching his knees was a ball of hair with a Saiyan child attached to it.

"What the fuck?"

The child's tail was lashing behind him as he gave him a surprisingly venomous glare. "This is my home! Get out, now!"

Bardock continued to stare at him dumbly for a minute, then he shook his head to get his brain moving. He knew this child.

'This is my kid!'

Three years ago he learned Gine had gotten pregnant and had placed their child in incubation as she continued to fight in his squad. The two were still in the beginning stages of their relationship but pregnancies weren't really a big deal ever since they learned about keeping children in incubation until they could take care of themselves. There was no expectation attached to a Saiyan child. Bardock himself never knew his parents and had come out of it alone, forced to fight to survive since the beginning.

Gine, of course, was different. Her mother and father had claimed her and her father ended up raising her alone when her mother died in battle. While Bardock knew nothing about raising a family, Gine did and her incubating baby was a constant distraction. Bardock had to force her admit that she was worried for her baby and he had been anxious to know exactly what part she had expected him to play in it. Gine was quick to assure him that she didn't expect him to do anything and that she wanted to raise the child and train it like her father did for her. Bardock let her leave the squad and she took a job at Meat Distribution so she could provide for her child without leaving the planet.

The thought of Gine alone on Planet Vegeta became Bardock's own distraction. Rather than taking missions back to back until his body was too broken to fight as he'd always done, he found himself always returning between missions to see her, something his squad noticed and didn't understand at all. Gine was always happy to see him and revealed that she was saving her credits to buy her own home to raise her son since her father couldn't stand the thought of having a Saiyan child around.

Without thinking about it, Bardock contributed his own credits and purchased a home himself, insisting she live there while he was on missions. Knowing she had a dwelling that belonged to him gave him peace of mind and he was able to fully commit to missions again. Gine was delighted when he still visited and Bardock realized that owning a home was a pretty good deal with the shelter and privacy. At first he'd only linger on the roof but seeing the small, beautiful Saiyan asleep in bed all alone through the window encouraged him to join her so often he couldn't imagine bedding anyone else.

As time went on and Bardock went through missions to get stronger, Gine would speak of how soon she'd have a small, constant reminder of her time with him in the form of their child. At first, Bardock was confused as to why she spoke as if he was going to die until he realized she expected either Bardock to kick her and the brat out or for Bardock to leave and never come back. The thoughts had never crossed his mind and he was surprised with himself. He assured her that this was her place as much as his and it'd belong to their kid as well. He recalled how her parents had been bonded and lived together and couldn't see anything negative about it.

It was the middle of the night while they were in bed when he asked her to mate with him.

"Normal Saiyans don't do that," she reminded.

"You ain't normal," he said. "And I'm too badass to be considered normal. This mating shit sounds like a good deal."

"The baby… you'll be claiming he's yours as well."

Bardock tilted his head. That was true, he'd be coming home to a wailing brat as well as his hot mate. He was sure he'd be a terrible father but perhaps it was like fighting and he could train for it. He could teach the brat to fight and defend himself as well. Give him the head start that Bardock had been denied. He felt his tail brush against Gine's thigh as she stared at him with worried eyes.

"Brat could be a good sparring partner," he said, rolling on top of her but being sure to keep his full weight off.

Gine giggled into the base of his throat causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand straight. "All you think of is fighting."

"What's the brat's name, anyway?"

"I was thinking of Raditz," Gine said.

Bardock hummed. "Not bad. I think I could stand having one of those things if its named that."

"It's called a son, Bardock."

"Whatever."

His son, Raditz, was now right in front of him. Bardock counted the months in his mind and realized he must have been out for around four or five months now. He was a sturdy child, strong and well-fed with long spiky hair that went to his knees, he had limp, stringy bangs that he guessed would stiffen up as he got older and fierce eyes that still wouldn't stop glaring at him.

Bardock tapped the button on his scouter to get a reading on his power level.

94.

Not terrible, but nothing exactly impressive either.

"Get out!" Raditz shouted again. This time Bardock noticed his legs were trembling just a little. The brat had no idea who he was but must have identified him as a very powerful enemy and was terrified.

"No chance, this is my house," Bardock growled, taking a step forward to see how he'd respond.

Raditz blanched and stumbled back, falling on his ass and causing Bardock to grimace. He went forward to haul his kid back on his feet but Raditz hissed and snapped at his hand, teeth barely grazing Bardock's fingers.

"Stay away!" Raditz shouted, standing up on his own and lowering himself into a fighting position. "I'm warning you, I can fight!"

Bardock thought of Gine and huffed. "I doubt it."

Raditz launched himself forward, ramming his head directly into Bardock's chest. Surprised, he grunted and took a step back. The hit wasn't hard enough to cause any damage but he honestly hadn't expected the kid to actually try and attack. Raditz landed at his feet and darted between his legs. As Bardock made a move to turn around and see where he went, Raditz charged back at him, hitting right behind his knees. Had he been any stronger, Bardock would have fallen over. Instead he barely stumbled and instinctively turned on his heel and kicked Raditz in the stomach. The kid yelped and darted out of sight to another part of the unit.

"Little shit," Bardock mumbled. Satisfied that Raditz would probably stay out of sight for the rest of the evening until Gine returned, Bardock stepped into the kitchen. Raw meat was on the counter with a butcher's knife stuck into a chopping block next to it. Apparently Raditz could prepare food and had been in the middle of it when Bardock had entered. Not one to bother cooking his own food, Bardock grabbed the raw meat and snacked on it as he searched for anything else.

A few hours later he had emptied the pantry and was halfway through the icebox when his scouter blipped and he felt an icy glare on his back. Tail bushed up, he stood up straight and turned around to see Gine at the entrance of the unit, her own tail lashing in the air. Raditz scurried behind her legs from his hiding place under a chair and gave Bardock a smirk that made him want to punch his son in the face.

"Bardock, what do you think you're doing?" Gine asked sweetly.

Bardock couldn't answer since he currently had a fruit the size of a fist in his mouth. He'd been gone for eight months and doing what he'd normally do after a mission. Usually Gine was ecstatic to see him. What was going on?

"He's taking all the food, mama!" Raditz barked. He bowed his head a little and gave her a dejected look. "I tried to get him to leave but he beat me…"

"Beat you?"

Bardock swallowed the fruit whole and pointed at Raditz. "Oh, that's fucking bullshit, I only kicked him!"

"Kicked him?" Gine's glare darkened and she was now walking towards him, each step seemed to be surrounded by a malevolent aura Bardock never thought he'd associate with his mate.

'What the hell happened when I was gone?'

He stood his ground as if facing an opponent, not giving her an inch even when she grabbed the front of his armor. Gine may be special to him but there was no way in hell he was going to be pushed around by her.

"Bardock. That's Raditz. He's our son."

He scoffed. "I figured that out, Gine."

Her grip tightened and he thought he heard his armor creak from the force. For some reason that made his body warm and he leaned forward a little to glare back into Gine's eyes with a challenging smirk.

"You do not kick your children!"

"People would kick me all the time when I was a brat," Bardock said, rolling his eyes. "He's my breed, Gine, he can take it."

She looked ready to slap him but was distracted by Raditz's soft question,

"I'm his son?"

Gine's expression softened and she released Bardock, turning to their child. "Yes, dear heart, this is your papa, Bardock. He was on a mission for a while and now he's back."

Raditz squinted at Bardock for a minute and then snorted, turning away and crossing his pudgy arms. "I don't like him, he's an ass."

Bardock's eye twitched. "You attacked first, brat."

"You trespassed! That was a challenge! You challenged me!"

"The hell I did! Why the fuck would I challenge a ball of hair?"

"I'm not a ball of hair!"

"That's enough!" Gine shouted. "Raditz, hush now! Get ready for dinner. Bardock why are you picking a fight with a child? You should know better!"

Bardock gave her a disbelieving look. "Gine, what the hell, I wasn't picking a fight! I walked in and the kid attacked 'cause he didn't know who I was! He's lucky I didn't kill him for striking me!"

"Bardock!"

"Fuck, you know what I mean!" He paused and then shook his head. "We're Saiyans! We're supposed to fight anyway! Why the hell is this an argument? Hell, you should be proud he tried fighting me!"

"Are you proud?" she snapped. "Did you hit him because you were so proud of him or because all you think of is beating up people?"

Bardock's head was beginning to throb. He hated prolonged one-on-one social interactions of any kind and usually he could at least handle it with Gine but this argument was stupid and stupid was exhausting. He scowled at his mate and pushed past her to the door to leave.

"Bardock? Where are you going?" She sounded angry but there was also some worry in there.

Bardock put his hand on the doorknob and hesitated. He wasn't sure how much of Gine he could take if she was like this. He had no idea that having a brat would cause such a dramatic change in her behavior towards him. What he did know was that he definitely needed peace and quiet and he couldn't get that in his house right now. He glanced back at her, almost crumbling when he saw the panicked expression on her face.

"I'll be back," he sighed, opening the door and flying away.