poooOooo

Bulma ran her fingers across the silken sheets, her hand lingering in the empty space where he was not too long ago.

He must have gotten up in the middle of the night when she was lost in slumber. She frowned, clutching the sheets tighter to her naked body.

She looked down at the growing swell of her stomach and sighed. She was still early in her pregnancy, about three months in according to her doctor, and she couldn't submerge herself into the expectant motherly bliss that she had been promised.

"Oh baby, " she spoke to her growing child, "what kind of warped existence are your parents bringing you into?"

The androids were coming, according to the lavender haired teenager, and all of her friends were busy preparing for their fated arrival.

And of course that meant Vegeta.

She unwrapped herself from the sheets and walked to her bathroom, her body relaxing at the promise of a hot bath. Her mind betrayed her serenity, however, as it coursed through her various emotions surrounding the father of her child.

Vegeta had never declared that they were an item, or even that he cared for her outside of satisfying his own carnal desires. And when she told him she was pregnant, he had barely nodded before excusing himself to go train. She could have crumpled up in a heap of sadness at his reaction, but she brushed it off and continued on, like the independent woman she prided herself on being.

But that didn't stop him from coming to her bedroom every night. Nor did it stop him from glancing at her belly when he thought she wasn't looking. At times it made her feel safe, like he was giving her an unspoken promise of protection.

And at other times it scared her shit less, and she dreaded over if he would ask her to terminate the baby.

He hadn't, nor had he indicated that he wanted her to, and for that she was glad. But as she dipped her feet into the hot water, she couldn't help but marinate over one question:

Was all of this some sort of mistake? Karma even, for breaking Yamcha's heart?

She heard the door to the bedroom open, followed by heavy footsteps. From the bathroom door she could see his back, his blue spandex top drenched in sweat. She rest her chin on the too of her hands on the side of the tub and watched him, studying his calculated moves and his diversion of turning around.

"Vegeta," she said finally, "can you come here for a second?"

He tensed up at her voice, and for a second she wondered if he was going to bolt right out the door, but he turned around and strode in the bathroom, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. He burned his eyes into her, his lips pressing into a tight line.

She swallowed hard at his stern expression, reminding her that he was a dangerous man who not so long ago put the entire planet in danger. But here she was, naked and vulnerable in front of him, her belly bloated with his child.

Times sure change.

"Do you want to spend the afternoon together? Outside of this bedroom, " she said sharply, "and out into the real world?"

He remained silent, his face still stoic, and his eyes guarded. After several tense seconds, he responded with a, "Why would I want to do that?"

Because that's what normal people do when they're dating, Vegeta!"

"Dating?" he mocked her, a coy smile dancing on his lips, "what makes you think we're dating? I'm not that idiot that you freed your time of."

Her heart jumped down to her stomach and she scolded herself. Shouldn't she have expected this? Honestly she would have been more surprised if he had acknowledged that he wanted her exclusively. But still…

"I'm carrying your child, Vegeta! Do you really mean to tell me that you would be comfortable with me seeing another man?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

His jawline tensed, his eyes darkening, and he straightened his posture. "You wouldn't dare see another man in your…. condition," he planted his words firmly in the soil of his mouth, although Bulma could tell that the roots lying underneath sprouted with the truth. No, he would not want to see her with anyone else. The thought gave her mild satisfaction.

"Furthermore," he continued, "I have more important things to spend my time doing. Like saving your precious planet and proving to all of you that Kakarot is a sham." he looked over to the sink, his eyes dancing over everything except for her. "Dating is for children and for those who have no real goals. We're fine the way we are."

"We're not 'fine', Vegeta, " her voice choked with emotion, and she instantly hated the pregnancy hormones that clouded her senses," Fine is me enjoying my pregnancy while my partner helps me out. Fine is you rubbing my stomach and telling me how you can't wait to see your child. Fine is you being around for a lot longer than a quick fuck to aid you to sleep. We're anything but fine."

Vegera scoffed, and for a second it looked like his eyes displayed a hint of remorse as she called him out. But then it was gone, along with the moment, and she felt like the conversation had gotten nowhere.

"I don't know what you want from me, " he said bitterly, "but perhaps it was a mistake in thinking you wouldn't cling so heavily. I don't have time to play husband, I have things to do." He turned his back to her, at the right moment in Bulma's opinion, so that he wouldn't see the crystal tear that cascaded down her cheek.

"I'm leaving."

"Where are you going? " she choked out softly, her words tangling in the ladder of her throat.

"That's irrelevant. I'll be back when the androids arrive. If you have that baby by then, make sure to give it a good name." And then he left her as quickly as he had come, and she felt a piece of her go with him.

She wiped her cheek as if it was a magical elixir to her pain, and leaned against the back of the tub.

She should have known better. She should have listened to her father when he told her she had an eye for danger and unrelenting desire to dance in the fire. She should have walked away when she felt the familiar pull of darkness the first time she bedded him.

But she didn't, and she wasn't afraid to say that she enjoyed it. But now she had to pay the iron price. And her baby, too…

No, she thought determinedly. Her child should not have to suffer for the sins of the parents. She would not tolerate it if someone forced her to pay for any mistakes of he parents, and she would not pass it down to her child.

She would let the tears fall for now. She would let herself soak in the waters of her broken heart, for now. But when she was finished with her bath, and after she had scrubbed away all of her internal torment, she would rinse the dirty lather from her skin and start anew. She would become clean, a new Bulma.

And she would do it with or without Vegeta.

oooOooo