. O .
Gohan's mother had sorely needed the break that arrived in the form of a last-minute invite to some sort of spa retreat with Bulma and her mother, but the only way she'd agree to joining was if Gohan promised that he'd watch the boys and keep up with his schoolwork. He understood that Vegeta was Vegeta and Dr. Briefs was on the flighty side so close to another breakthrough in his work. Gohan didn't mind playing babysitter. His brother still took enough naps that the time he had two active babies to tend to was minimal.
While he studied, Gohan kept one eye on on Goten, currently asleep in the playpen, and another on Trunks as the boy played with Dende-knew-what random assortment of parts and tools Bulma thought appropriate as toys. These first few hours were probably a good indicator of how the rest of the week was going to play out, with Vegeta holed up in the gravity room and Dr. Briefs wandering in and out of his lab with no discernible rhyme or reason.
He felt the gravity room's dampeners power down and Vegeta passed through a few minutes later. The den opened up to the kitchen and while the prince didn't overtly ignore him, not a word was exchanged between them. Trunks abandoned his toys to follow the sounds as Vegeta fixed himself a snack, toddling on fairly balanced steps towards the kitchen.
Vegeta gingerly set Trunks in his high chair so he wasn't underfoot while he assembled a plate of sandwiches. Only slightly alarmed, Gohan set his book down when Vegeta placed half a sandwich in front of his son before taking a seat and starting in on his meal. But Trunks seemed to know what to do, picking apart the sandwich to eat alternating bites of bread and meat. Father and son shared the exact same expression as they focused on their meals, which amused Gohan to no end.
. O .
"Okay, Lana will tie up the heiress and her mother as blackmail collateral while we infiltrate the main stronghold…" Ray summarized as Archer pulled up into the sprawling entry area of an ornate hotel that put Tuntmore Towers to shame. He watched his partners ogle the architecture, gather up Lana's things, and generally ignore him, and sighed.
"Lana, this hotel has pretty good reviews for their private nannies," Archer said as he popped the trunk.
"How do you know-"
"I prepaid for one for AJ. Seriously, Lana, you better take advantage of the spa while you're here."
"Thanks, Archer, that was actually kind of thoughtful," Lana said, opening up the baby stroller Archer handed her before pulling out her bags.
"Abbiejean's going to get her first mani-pedi, isn't she?" Ray cooed to the baby as he extricated her from her car seat and handed her over to Lana.
"Thanks, Ray."
"Sherbet is this season's 'in' color. It'll look great with her skin tone," he advised before giving Lana the once over. "You'd look smoking hot with creamsicle."
"Don't get yourselves killed," Lana said with a grin.
"Call us if anything goes wrong!" Archer said, but she had already turned away to walk inside.
. O .
Not having Bulma around as a buffer brought an unfamiliar sort of calculated indifference to Vegeta. Gohan guessed it had something to do with the prince not wanting to lose face, while simultaneously not wanting to even appear that he cared. Polite wasn't the word, but his motions suggested he knew he was being watched. And Gohan couldn't help but take what was probably a bit too much enjoyment in doing exactly that as Vegeta went about dropping his plates in the sink with just the slightest hesitation before flicking on the water to not only rinse them but load them into the Briefs' giant dishwasher. He then proceeded to clean up Trunks and his mess, too, before picking up the boy and bringing him back to the den.
Gohan averted his gaze away from the rather unsettling actions of Vegeta in domesticity and back to his brother, who was waking up from a nap. The baby giggled and, spotting Gohan across the room, brightened with a smile. He pulled himself up a bit unsteadily, holding onto the thinnest sliver of a lip on the top of the playpen. Gohan noticed Vegeta's inaction, momentarily captivated by the sight in the playpen as well.
"Just wait," Gohan murmured, when it looked like Vegeta was going to actually stoop to asking a question.
With a couple of well placed swinging hits, Goten generated enough momentum to get the whole playpen to tilt, then rock, more and more until it pitched over on its side, taking the boy down with it. He emitted a gurgled cry of delight, crawled out, then got a tiny foot under the side to kick the pen upright once more. Free of his confines, Goten made a quick beeline to Gohan, eager to be picked up. Obliging, Gohan hefted his brother to his side, mirroring his bright smile.
"He doesn't do it when Mom's around," Gohan divulged at Vegeta's impressed grunt. "Grandpa said I used to do it, too."
Gohan caught a whiff of dirty diaper and headed for Trunks' nursery. He heard Vegeta follow, and for one moment he wondered if this was going to turn into a pissing contest for who could outdo the other in diaper changing. He was hoping to avoid any sort of pissing contests with Vegeta while he was here. But the prince simply watched Gohan clean up his brother, before doing the same to Trunks with more proficiency than he ever expected to see.
Post-diapering, Vegeta handed Trunks over to Gohan. After making sure he had a handle on both boys, Vegeta nodded once. "When they're asleep for the evening, we spar."
It wasn't quite a statement, but most definitely not a question. Gohan winced as Trunks grabbed a fist of his hair and coughed to keep from smiling before agreeing. "Sure, Vegeta."
And with his evening plans set, Vegeta returned to the gravity room. Gohan brought both boys back to the den, wondering how much trouble they'd get into together while he made dinner.
. O .