When the sobbing female runs past him, he does nothing.

She's already on the hospital steps and nearly tripping down them by the time it takes him to realize it had been Chi-Chi, and then he's outside and catching her before she can do anything. He doesn't hold her to be comforting and he doesn't do it to try and make her stop crying. Maybe if it had been another day, any other day before this one, he would have said something to make her back straighten and glare at him, if only because seeing her like this makes him uncomfortable, but today he holds her because she is hysterical and some pivotal part of him has completely shut down and he's suddenly doing what he never had done before, deciding to send rationality to the moon and have a tea party with panic.

He doesn't care what she has or what she thinks she has, or what he thinks she might have. He cares that he's going to shove a handful of seeds down her throat if he has to force his arm all the way to her stomach for it. Whatever she has needs to get better, even if he has to overdose her on healing seeds and whatever trick Mr. Popo can pull from his metaphorical sleeves, because Goku is gone for now, but Chi-Chi has always been there, and if she isn't, he can't-

"I'm pregnant," she says.

What he answers to that hardly can account as sensitive, but thankfully for him, Piccolo has never exactly been the type.

"That's all?"

She looks up at him from the circle of his arms, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Well, excuse me for thinking something as petty as me having another child might be worthy of your attention!" she half-sobs, half laughs at him, and he glares at her.

"I thought you were sick!"

"I am. Babies make women sick."

Piccolo takes a small moment to contemplate the wonders of human reproduction and ponder that if their young make the carrying parents this sick to show its presence, it's no wonder humans are a race that invariably end up fighting against each other.

"… Aren't you supposed to be happy about it?" His knowledge on the matter is limited, but weren't all pregnant women supposed to be ecstatic about reproducing?

"Yes I… yes. I am happy."

"You don't look it."

"And you don't look like someone that 'possibly' might be interested in fucking my husband, and yet here we are."

He just stares back at her, slowly letting go.

He knows her and he understands that the comment was said to put him on the defensive again, but he can't understand what she's talking about, and so he can't feel humiliated by it. Both are too different, and neither can really understand something as simple as sexual want or lack of thereof. Yet somehow, the bind is still the same. Chi-Chi just looks slightly disappointed about his lack of care and reaches up to lace an arm around his, her hand tightening slightly over the slight ridges on his skin.

"… Sometimes I feel like if the only part of him I can ever have is through our children," she says. She's stopped crying, but her eyes are large and wet, and her smile is cynical enough to rival him at his best. "Does that make me selfish?"

He would like to answer to her. Yes, no, maybe, I don't care, I don't know, any kind of answer at all, but he can't bring himself to, because he does care and he does know.

And her words make him feel sick to his stomach, which is rather funny, considering Namekians don't eat.

"Are you going to help me?" she asks. Her voice is soft and even. Polite. He admires the way that any inflection is carefully kept out of her voice, making her sound like if she doesn't care about his answer.

"What. No mind games? No subtle manipulation?" he asks in a slightly desiderative tone.

"…I think we are past that by now."

Trust Chi-Chi not to take the bait when he offered them both an easy way out of this conversation that neither wants to have.

"Why are you asking me?"

She doesn't answer. They walk to the car and get in, neither of them saying anything for some time. This time the silence is broken by him.

"Why did we have to start talking about this?"

The dark haired woman turns to him, her pink lips curling lightly into a half-smile.

"Who else would we tell of this?"

Who else could they have, really? Piccolo couldn't imagine himself even contemplating any of the things he had already lengthily been exposed to, both mentally and verbally. Piccolo had too many new things in his mind to ponder, much more than he ever wanted to be aware of, and if he had told anyone else, they wouldn't have known what he talking about, or what he meant.

"He asphyxiates me." It´s a statement not devoid of some dark humor. The monkey would be horrified if he knew of any of this.

Goku is everywhere, in everything that surrounds him... And it's not bad to have it there, but when the awareness of it hits, there is just not enough air. Not for him, not for Chi-Chi, and if after that day Gohan slowly started to drown along, he wouldn`t be surprised at all. And damn her, she is thinking the same things he is, because there's a worried expression in her face and her eyes are watering again.

"And me…?"

He turns to stare at her, and after several seconds, he smiles, nothing cynical or biting about it.

"No. You just drive me insane."

Chi-Chi looks shocked for a second or two before letting out an unladylike snort of laughter and punching him squarely in the jaw, and by that point, he's feeling affectionate enough as not to dodge it.

******* TBF *******

There you have it guys… this is the canon ending to this story. I'm still working on an epilogue, but I really can't promise you how it will go, as I haven't worked in this story for so long I'm kind of afraid of ruining it if I want to pick it up. I can only promise to try my best.

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed this story and left such nice and meaningful comments… I was very indecisive about uploading this story, but I'm very glad I did now. I can't thank you enough for all the nice words. I hope you have enjoyed the ride so far :3