Birth of Goten
Disclaimer: Another story following the same sypnosis as Driving with Vegeta, Enjoy
In the early hours of the morning, within the wards of West City hospital, Trunks slept peacefully in his mother's arms as Bulma frantically paced up and down the waiting room.
"What could be taking so long?" she asked to no-one in particular. Only the tension in the waiting room could answer her question.
She walked over to the receptionist for what had to be at least the twentieth time and asking the exact same thing.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but we since you aren't family we can't allow you to be in with the patient, we'll let you know as soon as we can," the receptionist now sounded like a tape recorder having repeated the same line, nineteen times prior.
"I guess we'll just have to wait Bulma," Krillin responded, surprisingly cool and calm. "Besides, what could go wrong?" he asked ignorantly.
"WHAT COULD GO WRONG? HAVE YOU EVER HAD A BABY? HAVE YOU? ANYTHING CAN GO WRONG!" Bulma's stern reply woke Trunks from his peaceful sleep into a cry of tears.
"NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" she retaliated, whilst trying to cradle and pat her son back to sleep
Krillin, along with the rest of the room was silent; everyone had come to welcome the new arrival: Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, Yamcha & Piccolo, except Vegeta. Although it had nearly been a year since the final battle with Cell, Vegeta's appearances were still far and few between.
"We'll just have to wait," Piccolo's stern voice calmed the tension amidst the brief commotion.
"Hey… Bul…ma," Krillin's fear of being setting off what was clearly a ticking time bomb waiting to happen just managed to stutter out his words.
"WHAT IS IT!"
"I was just wondering, where is Vegeta at these days?" the question had been pondered for a while with no one really having enough courage to ask.
"That jerk, when he's not lying around sulking, he's off somewhere complaining. I'd be surprised if he even remembers he has a son, isn't that right Trunks?" her response made it clear Vegeta's lack of presence had become a regular arrangement.
**Meanwhile**
Nurses stood back as Chi-Chi gripping Gohan's hand in one hand and her bed sheet in the other was letting the whole hospital know what was going on.
"Now come on, just push a bit more," a middle-aged doctor wearing small spectacles encouraged a less than pleased Chi-chi who looked to be in agonizing pain.
"Keep going mum, you can do it! AAHHHHH," Gohan's words of encouragement were swiftly drowned out by his screams of pain as his mother clenched his hand like never before.
Gohan, the strongest fighter on Earth, who had taken on his alien-uncle Raditz at the age of four, travelled across the galaxy and come up against the most feared galactic tyrant Frieza, saved the Earth from a reign of destruction by the android Cell and most recently defeated the space pirate Bojack had never experienced a pain quite like this.
"Come on Chi-Chi, just a little more honey," The Ox-King encouraging his daughter whilst at the same time trying to stay out of her line of fire.
So far two doctors have been replaced due to fear of their own health and safety.
The constant screams of "UUGHHHH","AGGHHHH," & "GRRRRR," echoed through the corridors.
"That's it just one more big push," the doctor looking appearing more frightened than helpful.
Chi-Chi, still in intense pain, took one deep breath, puffing and panting in the process:
", GOD DAMMIT GOKU!" her pain could only be matched by Gohan, who at this point was using every fibre in his body to stop himself from screaming at the site of his hand becoming rather pale.
The pain was gone…followed by the cries of an innocent baby taking its first breaths in this new world.
"There we go," a relieved doctor said.
Chi-chi, tired and sweaty from her last ten hours of ordeal, moved slowly upright peering over the covers.
"Would you like to hold your son?" the doctor asked
Too tired to respond, she nodded as the baby boy was placed into her arms. She took one look at him and closed her eyes peacefully…
"Oh woah," cheered a delighted Gohan.
Chi-chi opened her eyes to the sight of Bulma and the rest running in, their faces said it all, it seemed only Gohan had found the strength to utter words. Piccolo ushered a gentle smile as he looked over at the baby lying peacefully in his mother's arms.
"Chi-chi…" The Ox-king could only find enough strength silently mutter his daughters name.
At last Bulma broke the silence…
"He looks just like him…" her words spoke for everyone there, as Chi-chi lay there holding in her arms, a spitting image of the husband she had lost, ushered a smile as a teardrop streamed down the side of her face. A peaceful silence followed, each person having their own little memory of Goku and his past heroics.
The silence finally broken…
"So, what's his name?" asking the doctor without realizing he had ruined the moment.
"Huh?" Everyone looked up in unison and immediately began to ponder the exact same question, then all eyes were on Chi-Chi.
"Goten, his name is Goten," her smile could not be hidden as she held the infant up in her harms who suddenly burst into tears. This seemed to lighten the mood as everyone except Piccolo ushered a cheery giggle as if to say, "that's definitely Goku's son,".
"Gohan, would you like to hold your baby brother?" Chi-chi passed a crying Goten into Gohan's arms, "Hi," Gohan said gently cradling his baby brother.
Goten's closed eyes seemed to open as he stared up into his big brother's face, and the crying slowly died down until his mouth ushered a smile.
Chi-chi looked upon her two boys, thinking about Goku. The days following the heartbreaking news that he had died, she couldn't stop herself from crying, and then topped off when she found she was actually pregnant. It seemed now, looking upon the sight of Gohan and Goten allowed her to finally come to terms and make peace with Goku's decision to stay in the otherworld.
The sight of Gohan & Goten together seemed to bring about everyone's emotions— Piccolo had a bigger smile than usual, whilst Yamcha and Bulma both shed a tear of joy. This was followed by a charade of comical facades by the Z-fighters, Puar and Oolong trying to make Goten laugh by transforming into objects unimaginable whilst Yamcha and the Ox-king made funny faces. Inside the hospital as the antics continued, outside on the cold rooftops of the hospital, under the light of the moon, a proud and silent warrior sat silent and still. With his arms folded tightly against his chest and his face emotionless as always, the saiyan prince closed his eyes and titled his head.
After a minute of silence he lifted his head, opening his eyes simultaneously; looking beyond the night sky…
"Kakarot…," a remark for no one else but himself and the night to hear.
The silence of the night then took over, as a shadowy figure paced slowly towards Vegeta.
"What are you doing here?" in his usual tone, without moving an inch, "shouldn't you be celebrating the birth of another clown?"
Piccolo finally spoke up
"You weren't the only one who lost something Vegeta. When Goku, died everyone in that room lost something, Bulma & Krillin lost their best friend, Chi-chi lost her husband and Gohan lost his dad. However, more importantly, that baby-boy in there lost the chance to ever meet his father and discover truly, what a great man he was…" Piccolo's harsh words pierced Vegeta's cold exterior.
"Uugghh," the grunt was all too familiar, although he'd never admit, his mannerism showed that deep down he knew Piccolo was right. "Anyway, it's good that you came," as Piccolo walked backed down into the hospital his words continue to ring loudly in Vegeta's mind.
Like a continuous cycle the words continued to flow through, as the saiyan since sat there, thinking about the past experiences he and Goku shared; from their first meeting and encounter to both sharing a common goal on Namek of defeating Frieza & finally Goku's noble sacrifice against Cell.
Among all these thoughts, only one memory stood out in his mind; he had a chance to destroy Cell before he could absorb android 18 but had allowed the monster to live on. The anger he had within, caused him to unfold his arms, his fists tightening more and more until finally
"Kakarot… I'm sorry…," just for him and the night to hear.