It had been a relatively quiet three weeks since Vegeta had returned. Relatively being the key word. The two of them fought, made up, fought, had sex, and fought some more. All in the small moments when the Saiyan wasn't training for hours on end.

Bulma smiled almost wistfully as she watched her Saiyan mate scowl at the flowers adorning the breakfast table. "And what type of flowers are these? Where's the food?"

"Oh dear, the pancakes are ready!" Bulma's mother bustled into the room carrying a tray filled with bunny, kitty, and what looked like misshapen bird pancakes. All had powdered sugar and fresh fruit all over them.

"Begonias." Bulma crinkled her nose. "I think. I don't really know for sure."

Dr. Briefs wandered into the room while reading some papers. He absently sat down at the table at his usual place and picked up his fork. His daughter watched, bemused, as the man tried to spear some food onto the utensil and bring it to his mouth. She smiled when she saw the dawning confusion on her father's face as he realized there was nothing on his fork.

"What happened to my breakfast?" Dr. Briefs looked confused as he stared at where his plate SHOULD be.

His wife smiled and handed Vegeta the syrup, which he poured all over his huge stack of animal-shaped pancakes.

The good doctor groaned as he saw all the food in front of the Saiyan. He looked over at his daughter with a sad face. "Did you get any breakfast at least?"

Bulma silently showed him her half-empty bowl of oatmeal. She hated oatmeal.

Both father and daughter turned to watch as the Saiyan finished off the first humongous stack of pancakes as a certain blonde swept the plate away only to replace it with one filled with eggs, bacon and toast.

Dr. Brief's mouth watered, and the small black kitty riding on his right shoulder 'meowed' plaintively for good measure. The man sighed and then blinked at the jungle of flowers crowding the table. He looked over at his daughter and shrugged, as if giving up.

Bulma straightened up and waved her hands in the air to get her mother's attention. "What's with the flowers?" Her mother didn't usually hang on to an idea with this much tenacity. "Did you empty the nursery?"

The pretty blonde smiled winningly and clapped her hands. "Oh, they are to FILL the nursery!" Then she fairly ran from the room to get Vegeta some more food.

"Fill the nursery?" Bulma laughed and took a bite of her oatmeal. "She probably bought out all the nurseries in town by now."

Dr. Briefs looked longingly at the disappearing food on Vegeta's plate and shook his head. "Darling, I think your mother is trying to fill a more traditional nursery."

"Huh?" Bulma looked confused.

"Have you seen your mother's craft room lately?" Dr. Briefs got up and went over to the sideboard to pick up an apple. "Drat. It's plastic."

"No." Bulma shook her head, making a face at her oatmeal. "All mother tells me is that this stuff is good for me!"

Dr. Briefs nodded as he headed for the kitchen, just as his wife came out with a fresh tray. The hungry man was able to snitch a single pancake off the top before she was able to get it to the table. He waved the purloined piece of food like a trophy.

"Your mother is trying to get you and your husband to have a baby. THAT type of nursery." Dr. Briefs rolled up the pancake and ate it with relish as his poor daughter suddenly choked on her oatmeal.

Bulma, red in the face, slapped her hands palms down on the table. Vegeta didn't even pause while eating. The turquoise-haired woman yelled and then took a deep breath. "Flowers won't work! I'm not having a baby before I'm ready! And it doesn't matter what kind of flowers you bring into the house, they won't change my mind!"

Her mother, blonde curls perfectly coiffed despite her running around, blinked rapidly. "Flowers won't work? Are you absolutely sure, dear? Not even daisies?"

Bulma grimaced. "I can't stay here. I'm going out to do some shopping. This is a poisonous environment!"

Dr. Briefs chuckled as he watched his daughter flounce off. "Oh dear." The small black kitty purred on his shoulder and he absently reached up to pet it. "See? Kitty agrees too."

.III

Thirty hours later, the next morning, Vegeta was in a foul mood. He'd broken all the small bots used in the gravity chamber. He was tired. He was hungry. And he didn't want to stop training. But the servos were overheating and all the bots needed major repairs.

He'd been training in 400x Earth gravity and every muscle in his body was beyond hurting. Damn it! He should be stronger by now! Three weeks. Three weeks training in the updated and improved gravity chamber and he wasn't yet a Super Saiyan! What the hell would it take?

When he could get back in the chamber, he'd up the difficulty rating. Sweat trickled into his left eye and he growled as he wiped it away carelessly. Perhaps some food, a shower and a nap. A smile ticked up the right side of his mouth. And perhaps a lively fight with his mate. She was infuriating, but also invigorating. Trading barbs with her would put him in a better mood.

Sex would work too.

Vegeta grinned darkly.

"Hello handsome." The sensual slide of the voice made Vegeta grit his teeth.

He spun and spied the woman in the curve-hugging dress. The Saiyan frowned. She wasn't his mate, and he'd not realized she was there. Sensing her power, he snorted. No wonder. There was pitiful little to sense in the first place.

The strange woman straightened up and held out her hand, palm down. "Guma Shinten. We met nearly a month ago." She licked her lips. "And aren't you the strong, handsome, silent type?"

Bulma was coming around the corner to confront Vegeta in the gravity chamber. How dare he disconnect the communication system in there just because he thought she was 'pestering' him! She was only looking out for his best interests! And she was not a shrew, no matter what he'd said in that last conversation!

"I love a man who knows how to work up a good sweat." She dropped her hand when the handsome half-naked brute didn't take the cue.

Bulma skidded to a stop, mouth agape. She watched as Guma Shinten, her long-time rival, came on to Vegeta. Her heart sank as she saw him staring at the other woman's impressive cleavage. Sudden memories poured in of Yamcha looking at other women. Not that he'd ever cheated, but he'd looked. He'd always looked. Bile rose up in her throat.

Guma faked surprise. "Oh Bulma, darling! My dear friend. I came to borrow a cup of sugar."

Bulma gritted her teeth, her stomach rolled with nausea. "You live ten miles away."

"A cup of plasma infused coils?" Guma shrugged, making her top lower a bit.

Bulma groaned as Vegeta's eyes followed the cloth as it dropped. "VEGETA!"

Guma grinned, sensing a small victory. She did a small hair-flip and batted her eyelashes.

The Saiyan looked up. "Her breasts don't move." He looked puzzled.

Bulma choked for a second, and needed a moment to regain her composure. Then she gave a real smile. "That's because they're fake."

Guma's face went red. This wasn't right!

"Fake?" Vegeta sneered. "What's the point?"

Bulma leaned against the wall, her earlier hurt fading away. Nausea gave way to near euphoria. "To make an inadequate figure more enticing to men."

Dark eyes widened. "Earth men are attracted to plastic bumps that don't move?"

Surreptitiously Guma tugged her top back up in a vain effort to hide her cleavage. Bulma just hoped the other woman didn't start to wonder why Vegeta had used the term 'Earth men'.

"That's nonsense. You are attempting to make a joke." Vegeta tossed his sweat soaked towel to Guma, who caught it automatically, then cringed at the odor. She dropped it to the ground and made gagging noises. The Saiyan turned and stared at her. "I thought you said you liked sweat."

"She lied." Bulma pursed her lips together, hard. It was really difficult not to laugh right now.

Vegeta walked into the house, his muscular buttocks clearly defined by the skin-tight work-out shorts. "Lying with her mouth and her body. Again I ask, what's the point?" He sounded so bored and so disgusted Bulma could have kissed him on the spot!

Instead, she turned to watch Guma Shinten try and salvage the situation.

"He has no manners. At the table or when talking to a lady!"

Bulma shrugged. "When was he talking to a lady? I thought that was just you he was speaking with."

Guma stamped one foot and Bulma giggled as she watched. "He's right! I never noticed before but when you stamp your foot like that? Your boobs don't move!"

"In ten years your breasts will be to your waist!" Guma shouted like a fishwife.

Bulma shrugged. "I'll deal with that then. For right now? I have all the plasma coils. I have the handsome husband. And I have a real figure." She paused and laughed for a moment. "And I have the company that will be first to present the new polymer to the market. You can forget about trying to seduce Vegeta into telling you anything."

"H ...husband?" Guma looked shocked. Then she laughed nastily. "You married a brute with no manners at all? How undignified! How ...desperate of you!"

Bulma straighted up. "You'd better leave before I sic the bots on you." She turned to head into the house and then looked back. "He's a prince, by the way. And he's mine. Hand's off, or you'll lose them."

She went into the house and shut the door on a stuttering rival.

Vegeta was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He grinned mockingly at her. "Your prince wants you to wash his back."

Bulma raised one eyebrow and then smiled. "Do I get to do more than that?"

His grin widened as his mood improved drastically.

.III

It was past mid-afternoon when Bulma opened her eyes, then stretched, feeling all the lovely aches and pains of really good sex. She grinned as she felt the sting along the skin of her neck. She was going to have to invest in a lot of scarves if her Saiyan kept biting her like that.

Thinking of her Saiyan, Bulma turned over and saw him staring up a the ceiling. His hands were behind his head and he did not look happy.

Bulma's good mood faded around the edges. "What are you thinking about?" She asked gently.

"Kakarot." He snapped out the name like a curse.

The turquoise-haired woman sighed and sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Why do you do this to yourself? You will kill yourself training like this! All to beat Goku? Your rivalry has no point."

Vegeta sneered and cut his eyes to look over at her. "Oh? Like your rivalry with that fake bosomed woman has a point?" He laughed roughly. "I am of the warrior caste. I have the royal blood. How could he reach Super Saiyan before me?"

Bulma frowned. "It's not the same." She protested, though she had a feeling she was wrong. "Okay fine. But you'll kill yourself training like you do!"

The Saiyan shrugged. "So?"

The young woman sat up, appalled. "What the hell do you mean by 'so' you idiot?"

Vegeta grabbed her and rolled her onto her back, staring into her face. "Don't call me an idiot, you idiotic woman!"

"You are so frustrating!" She screamed into his face.

He scowled down at her. "I have nothing if I am not the best!"

Bulma's big blue eyes blinked several times as she fought not to tear up. And here she'd felt so good about their relationship earlier. "I'm nothing?"

Vegeta drew back. "Don't put words in my mouth, woman! You are my mate! And I would take you into battle any day! So don't say you are nothing!"

Bulma let out a loud screech and slapped his chest with her palm. "Why should I have a baby with a man trying to kill himself?"

But if she was expecting a reaction, she was disappointed. Vegeta had suddenly gone completely still.

Bulma took advantage and shoved him, more than a bit surprised when he didn't resist and let her scramble out of bed and onto her feet. She grabbed her robe and wrapped it around herself, then spun and pointed her finger in his face.

She opened her mouth, but couldn't think of a thing to say. So she shut her mouth again and spun on her heels to run into the bathroom. Vegeta watched her slam the door. Then she immediately opened it again and marched back over to him, again putting her finger in his face.

"And another thing! If you kill yourself, I won't cry at the funeral!" She spun back around and stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door again.

Vegeta dropped back onto the bed and scowled at the ceiling. Then he gave a wry grin. Not cry at his funeral? To a Saiyan it would be more insulting to cry than not to cry! Silly woman. Crying showed that there were regrets, that the warrior hadn't left his all on the battlefield. His woman didn't realize she'd not insulted him with that one.

His grin faded. Just like she had no idea what he'd told her. The words had slipped out of him from no where. Take her into battle? Laughable. Only, the phrase wasn't meant to be taken literally. To a Saiyan that phrase was the highest of honors, even when it wasn't literally true. It meant ... it meant ...

Vegeta groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. It meant that he was in trouble.

.IIII

Bulma's mother looked from one sour expression to the other and threw up her hands in despair. "I shouldn't have gotten rid of the orders for more flowers!"

Dr. Briefs patted her shoulder in order to comfort her. "Dear, I told you ...flowers won't influence their relationship." He looked ruefully around the room, sighing at the number of vases. "And I think we still have quite a few flowers around here."

But the pretty blonde wasn't so sure. "But without more flowers they ...they are becoming more miserable!"

Bulma shook her head as she bent over one of the damaged bots from the gravity chamber. "Would you tell Mr. Vegeta that his constant looking over my shoulder won't get these things fixed any faster?"

The Saiyan growled, not liking the way she was addressing him at all. "And would you explain to my wife that I think she's sabotaging the bots on purpose to keep me from training?"

Neither Dr. Briefs or his wife spoke, knowing the two combatants could hear each other perfectly well without an intermediary.

"Well, you can tell that nasty old warrior that I won't be bringing his child into this world, if he doesn't learn how to treat people with respect!" The young woman soldered the wrong piece and screamed, making everyone jump.

"Old? Tell your precious daughter that she will give me a son before she turns OLD and unable to fight!" Vegeta fumed.

Bulma whipped off the protective glasses she was wearing. "That insult doesn't even make sense!"

"It would if you were Saiyan!" He growled at her.

"You mean if I were perfect!" She screamed back.

Bulma's mother suddenly put a tray down between the two. "Chocolate cream puffs? Tea? Tart?"

Vegeta gave a nasty grin and leaned back. "No thank you, I'm already married to a tart."

Bulma's blue eyes bulged with temper and she grabbed a cream puff and threw it at him. It missed by a mile. A small bot scurried out from under a couch and began to tidy up the small mess.

"I am not a floozy!" Bulma shrieked. "And I don't cheat!"

Vegeta frowned sharply. "I thought it just meant you were sour by nature."

Bulma panted for a moment and then nodded. "Okay then."

Dr. Briefs looked over at his wife. "Perhaps we should leave the children to their argument."

But Bulma's mom looked worried as she wrung her hands. Then she brightened. "I've got it!"

Everyone looked over at the blonde as she smiled. "It's the atmosphere! It is poisoned!"

"By too many flowers." Vegeta mumbled, and Bulma nodded.

"True love and a full nursery can not bloom in a place like this! It must change!"

Dr. Briefs smiled. "Yes dear." Then he sputtered as she snagged his ever present cigarette and tossed it in Bulma's untouched tea.

"Mom?" Bulma looked alarmed.

Vegeta stared. "Is she having a fit? Do we need a medical kit?"

"No more smoking! It's bad for the health of their relationship!" Bulma's mother scurried over to the tray of goodies. "And these are full of fats and preserves!"

"Do you mean preservatives?" Bulma asked weakly.

Dr. Briefs pulled out a package of cigarettes. Vegeta grinned when Bulma's mother grabbed them and tossed them to a cleaning bot. "Burn those!"

"I'll burn them for you, dear. One at a time ..." Dr. Briefs looked at his wife hopefully. But she was already moving to the window. "Dear?"

Bulma's eyes were huge as she watched her mother toss vase after vase of expensive flowers out the window. "Mom? What are you doing?"

"Don't stop her. We can be flower-free soon." Vegeta hissed at her.

"I'm still mad at you." Bulma said without heat.

"I know." Vegeta smiled. "And you're still an idiot."

Bulma's mother looked around the room, but saw no more vases. Everyone relaxed, until she grabbed the small black kitty that Dr. Briefs carried around with him everywhere.

'Meow?'

"Cats can cause allergies and poison the atmosphere." The blonde looked unsure.

Dr. Briefs looked like he was in shock.

Vegeta started laughing.

Bulma rushed to her mother and took the small cat back. "Not this one. This is a special allergy free kitty." Carefully she returned the small creature to her grateful father.

Vegeta wandered over to hear and leaned in to whisper, "you lied to your mother."

The young woman nodded. "At least my curves are all real."

"Indeed."

There was a large amount of heat in his voice. Bulma looked askance at him. "You called me an idiot."

Vegeta snagged her hand and pulled her into his body, wrapping his arms around her. "You called me one too." He reminded her.

Bulma leaned in and rested her head on his muscular chest.

"You train too much."

"You talk too much." He retorted without rancor.

"Still want to take me into battle?" She teased.

Vegeta deliberately didn't answer THAT particular question. "Let's go make a son." He changed the subject.

"What if it's a daughter?" Bulma suggested.

He squeezed her in protest. "Woman, you will give me a son!"

She leaned back and looked him in the eyes. "That's not something even the almighty Saiyan Prince can control."

He scowled and she laughed.

Bulma's mother watched happily while Dr. Briefs tried to unsuccessfully rescue his cigarettes from the household bots he himself had created.

.III

Another chapter! It might be a few days before I can update again, possibly the weekend. Hope you enjoyed though!