A/N – Seriously lolled at the spelling mistake I made in the previous chapter, about Vegeta wanting to conquer 'Plants'. Didn't you know he was an expert gardener as well as a warrior? Shame on you!

Italics = Flashback

Touching a Naked Flame

Chapter 21
Reflection

Bulma was staring intently at the large, moist mound in front of her, completely absorbed with thoughts about what was inside it. How could it be, that a tiny human being was sitting dormant inside of her, and she was completely responsible for its' wellbeing? Time had gone by so quickly that she hadn't had the right opportunity to marvel at the wonder of pregnancy; it really was a beautiful thing.

The bath water was beginning to chill a little bit and Bulma forced herself to get up and out before she shrivelled into a tiny raisin. But unfortunately, being seven months pregnant had taken its' toll on her and after several failed attempts of shuffling from side to side, gripping on to either side of the bath and trying to hoist herself up by thrusting her pelvis into the air, she gave up and retired back into the lukewarm water; hoping that maybe one of her parents would walk by and give her a hand.

Steadily, Bulma immersed deeper into the water, allowing her sore back some leverage. Carrying a half Saiyan baby was harder than she had expected; she now really understood why Chichi was so angry all the time. Now all she was doing was anticipating actually giving birth to her child, which she tended to look over because from what she'd heard, it wasn't a very pleasant experience at all. Gradually, she had grown to the idea of being a mother despite the obvious initial shock, and now she genuinely thought of it as a surprise rather than anything negative.

The past seven months had been difficult for her and extremely stressful, but she had come to terms with it and learnt how to cope with carrying an extremely heavy baby. There had been many a day when she would break down in tears and retreat to her bed for hours, only to be woken up by her overly enthusiastic mother and be told that she must eat a ridiculous amount of food, otherwise her baby won't get the right balance of nutrients and vitamins in its diet. It was tough. Sometimes she felt like she was doing it alone and at first that's exactly what she thought, but she had her family and friends and after only a couple of months, she became comfortable and happy with the idea that she, Bulma Briefs, was going to be a mom.

The warm water felt relatively nice on her tired skin and the room was peaceful and tranquil, just the way she wanted. Her mother was being exceptionally helpful (maybe a little too much), buying her neutral baby clothes, helping decorate the babies room, ordering the most expensive crib and all sorts of little toys, books and teddies. It was overwhelming to say the least. Her heart fluttered each time she took a step into the newly painted room, thinking about holding her new-born baby in her arms, knowing that she had created such a beautiful creature.

Bulma closed her eyes and concentrated on the movement from her unborn child, kicking delicately, which was a pleasant change from all the other times she would fall victim to a number of fierce kicks and punches; sending her into vicious spasms and sometimes rendering her unconscious. It was funny to think about how she reacted when she first found out that she was pregnant and how she didn't have the slightest clue what to do with herself. As a matter of fact, she still didn't know even now, but back then, that was an entirely different story…

"Bulma, dear. Can you just pass me a bunch of bananas? I'm thinking of making a fruit salad for desert." Bunny wandered in front, pushing a shopping cart with sheer speed as she scoured the produce section for an array of different tropical fruits.

Bulma stalked over to where the bananas were and yanked the first bunch off of the hooks from above; they may have been a bit green and bruised but she didn't really care as she mindlessly threw them into the cart from quite a lengthy distance.

It had been an entire month since Vegeta had disappeared off the face of the earth, literally and it was beginning to set in, that he was actually gone. She missed him, as much as she hated to admit. Yamcha was driving her crazy, rambling on about the same old crap and how he was actually looking forward to being a dad; she'd had enough of it. Ever since Vegeta had left, Bulma had placed herself into a foul mood with everyone. People were giving her quite a wide berth nowadays and she genuinely felt gracious for their respect, but Yamcha didn't seem to get the point.

A shopping trip with Bunny seemed to be the only option of escape for the day, but knowing Yamchas persistence, he'd probably be hiding down the cereal aisle or something.

Bulma suspected that Vegeta would be gone for a long time; otherwise he wouldn't have gone to all the hassle of getting a ship. Not that he actually went through any trouble, she and her father were the ones who nearly broke their backs for the prince, refurbishing and renovating an old ship to meet his satisfaction. Only, back then, Bulma was so besotted with the man that she would have done anything for him. Now she wasn't so sure. She was definitely still madly in love with the guy, but when she balanced it out with how much she hated him, she got a very neutral feeling; especially for the fact that he had vanished.

Following her mother around like a lost puppy, Bulma began to feel that pal of dizziness again, knowing all too well what was about to come, but she desperately tried to prevent it by exhaling and inhaling extremely slow and deep. Her head began to pound, beads of sweat were crawling on her skin, and her stomach was lurching, forcing her to lean forward and produce very unfeminine noises; thankfully, noises which she was able to cover up with a feigned chesty cough.

Bunny stopped, making Bulma automatically collide with the shopping cart, too absorbed with her rising nausea, and Bunny suddenly turned around with a full rack of ribs in her arms, practically shoving them under Bulmas nose. Bulmas eyes widened in horror from the pungent smell of raw meat in her face.

"How about we have these tonight?" Bunny sang, then immediately pulled the ribs away from her daughter when she saw how pale her face was, taking on a great look of concern before the inevitable happened.

A split second later, Bulma heaved and vomited on the floor beside the cart, causing a few passers-by to stop and grimace, before quickly averting their eyes and carrying on with their shopping.

Bunny wailed, as if in pain, pulling the shopping cart aside and running to her daughters' side and then rubbing her back for comfort. "Oh, sweetie, that's the third time today." She stepped back when Bulma stood up straight again, right after seeing the flash of a camera and groaning in humiliation.

Bunny continued, "How long have you been like this, dear?" She opened her eyes wide to see her daughter in an awful state.

Bulma wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her cardigan, oblivious to her mother's question and far too focused on the fact that the damn paparazzi were following her again. She did feel a little better, though, despite feeling the same after every other time she had thrown up this week.

"Shit. How embarrassing…" Her face flushed red and she turned to face her mother, gripping on to the shopping cart for support.

"How long have you been like this?" Bunny repeated, bringing Bulma back into reality again.

She sighed and let go of the cart, looking away from her mothers' suspecting stare. "I don't know. A couple days, I guess…" she mumbled, while looking around to see if any store workers were around to clean the mess up before a pensioner slips on it and breaks their neck.

For the first time, Bunny frowned, seriously thinking about Bulmas welfare. Her daughter hadn't been her usual self lately and Bunny was almost inclined to ask if she knew what was going on because

shesure did. "You haven't considered that you might be-"

"Mom, please." Bulma warned, frowning and placing her hand up to cease her mother's accusations.

"But honey, you have all the symptoms!" she said a little too confidently while scrutinising Bulma and motioning towards her stomach.

Bulma immediately turned to glare at Bunny from the other side of the shopping cart. She had all the symptoms? "What? What's that supposed to mean?" she shouted and placed both hands on her hips, ready to engage in a fierce staring competition with her mother.

The atmosphere had roused some of the other customers' attention, but they soon saw and smelt the sick, and so dispersed relatively quickly.

Bunny placed a hand over her heart and winced slightly at Bulmas tone, "You know what I mean, dear." Her voice dropped an octave for a more serious effect. "I really think you should take a test. Just to make sure." She nodded lightly and ushered her daughter to step out of the way when an employee arrived with a mop and bucket; rolling his eyes and cursing to himself for always getting the shit end of the stick. Bulmas face flushed red again and she apologised countless times to the boy, who took no notice as he slapped the mop on to the floor with teenage force.

When Bulma looked back, Bunny had sauntered off in the direction of the health and beauty section, so Bulma huffed and chased after her. The reality was, she had suspected that possibility too. She wasn't born yesterday and knew the symptoms, but getting herself to face the reality was excruciatingly difficult and it honestly petrified her. The reason why she didn't want to take a test was because she didn't want to know. Maybe if she didn't have the facts laid in front of her, she could pretend that it wasn't true and just a crazy nightmare, but then she'd have to wake up eventually.

The water was becoming irritatingly cold, but only so much if she moved. If she stayed perfectly still, her body easily adjusted to the temperature, allowing her to relax again. To be fair, she didn't really want to move. Being on her feet all day, still trying to keep up with work demands and helping her father in the head office, was taking a lot out of her. Plus, having to carry this bump around on top of everything; it was too much. When she arrived home that evening to find that her mother had already prepared a bubble bath for her, she was more than relieved and shimmied her way into the bathroom where her salvation laid.

Over the past few months Bunny had been a saint, tending to Bulmas every need. She guessed now that Vegeta had gone; Bunny was missing coddling someone, so she ultimately decided to tend to her pregnant daughter instead. No, Bunny was an angel and Bulma felt quite ashamed at the thought that she may have taken her mother for granted in the past, but now she appreciated her more than ever.

A soft knocking on the door stirred Bulma back into the real world.

"Bulma? Is everything ok in there, dear?" A worried Bunny asked in a shaky voice.

There it was, right before her eyes. A tiny smiley face. A tiny, patronising, smiley face, laughing at her for being so careless. Bulma sat on the bathroom floor after making sure the door was locked so Bunny couldn't barge her way through and make the situation ten times worse.

It was in her hands. The tiny little stick, which she peed on and then it told her she was due to have a baby in nine months' time. She couldn't think coherently, so she just sat there, staring at the smiley face and half expecting it to disappear; either that or she'd wake up.

A baby…

No, it couldn't be. She'd heard far too much about babies from Yamcha. Why would this happen to her now? Also, Vegeta had gone and it didn't look like he was coming back. This child would have to grow up without a father. This wasn't the way she had envisioned her first child to be brought into the world.

Bulma gulped and forced back the tears, before her mother asked again. "Honey?" Bulma twitched in irritation and blinked back to focus.

"Nuh-wha-?" She let go of the stick, letting it clatter to the floor, and she remained sitting amongst a whirlwind of thoughts.

"Are you ok, Bulma?" Bunny asked for the third time, growing rather impatient from her daughters' lack of response.

"It's positive." Bulma croaked while shrugging her shoulders in defeat.

"That one too? How many is that now?" Bunny's muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

Bulma looked down at the small pile of positive pregnancy tests and quickly counted them all, then lifted up her head to look at the door. "Fifteen…"

"And they're all positive, dear?" Bunny said, just be brutally certain.

Before Bulma could answer, she heard Bunny's hands clap together excitedly, "Well, I guess someone is going to be a mommy!" she chimed and quickly ran out of the room, presumably to tell Dr Briefs and the rest of the world.

Completely dazed, Bulma remained on the floor and stared at all the smiley faces, before she stuck her leg out and kicked them all in to different directions; if she could just get rid of those patronising smiles. Who do they think they are, laughing at a pregnant woman?

Damn you Vegeta. Why'd you have to be so selfish? She thought as tears trickled down her cheeks.

She stopped as her mother's words repeated over and over in her head.

'I guess someone is going to be a mommy…'

The realisation couldn't have smacked her any harder and she quietly admitted, "…I guess so."

Bulma snapped her eyes open, realising the bath water had dropped a couple of degrees and that sitting it in for too long might not be good for her baby. So very cautiously, she pushed herself up so that she was sitting up-right, placed her arms either side of the bath and carefully lifted her lower body up until she was standing straight. Leaning one hand against the wall for support and biting hard on her lip, she ever so cautiously lifted her right leg over the side of the bath and placed it on the spongy bath mat; sighing in relief.

Almost as soon as she placed her other foot on the floor, an overwhelming, shooting spasm in her stomach sent her to the floor in agony, keeling over and writhing in the intense pain that now felt like it was consuming her entire body. A small tear formed in the corner of her eye as she tried to overcome the pain, by rubbing her stomach delicately in a circular motion and whispering "there there", continuously.

"Everything alright in there?" The reassuring voice of her father sounded from beyond the door, instantly settling her mind, "I heard a bang. Are you ok, Bulma?"

Apart from the warm, tingling sensation all over her skin, Bulma was slowly coming back to focus and was able to realise she was in the foetal position, completely naked on the bathroom floor. What a sight she must have been. Good thing her father respected her privacy and chose not to come in, otherwise she probably would have died of embarrassment.

She sat up and laughed lightly, "Yeah, I'm fine…the baby kicked again." She smiled to herself and her father could practically feel her happiness from where he was standing.

"He's a little fighter, alright! Do you need anything, while I'm here?"

"No, I'm fine dad, honest!" She said while rocking methodically on her backside to try and ease the dull pain in her stomach.

Any other woman would have feared for their baby's life after taking a dive to the ground like she had. But it had happened countless times in the last few months and after attending many scans, the doctors confirmed that her baby was completely fine and uninjured, to her relief. It was strange, having to remember that her baby was half Saiyan and therefore could withstand quite a lot of pressure. Nevertheless, it was still a baby and she didn't like having to worry about it every time she collapsed in pain. Dealing with the pain was becoming easier each day. The first time it had happened, she thought she was dying, but now she had found a way to alleviate it, by talking to him or her.

It was happening far too often, though; especially over the last month or so. Every time the baby kicked, it almost paralysed her completely and it would happen at any given moment. Sometimes she wondered if her own baby was against her because it seemed to happen a lot in public, giving the paparazzi pure gold. Numerous times Bulma had flipped through the pages of a gossip magazine to land on a page with a photograph of her strewn out across the floor and a caption underneath it, reading : 'Bulma Briefs' wild night out' or 'Ditzy Briefs face plants the floor…again!'

It was a stressful ordeal, but her father would always be there to reassure her and her mother was there to comfort her.

She was pretty grateful to have them.

"Ah, yes. Before I go… Yamcha called and said he's on his way." Dr Briefs said joyfully.

Bulma fidgeted a bit before her bum became numb, "Oh, ok. Thanks dad." She sighed deeply as she heard her dad marching away, probably heading back to the lab again.

It was peculiar, sitting on the floor naked and listening to people come and go. Being pregnant for seven months really had opened Bulmas eyes to a lot of things. Keeping with her busy work schedule was tough, but she did have to cut it down to give herself a bit of time to relax and with that, she was able to watch other people go about their day. For one, she kept an eye on Bunny who, despite not having a job, would constantly run around like a headless chicken, trying to please anybody she came in to contact with. Then she'd eventually come and sit down to talk to Bulma and ask her when she and Vegeta were going to get married; ultimately provoking a much needed silence before she would eventually saunter away to resume scouring the building for someone else to harass. It was relatively entertaining.

Bulma had made her way through every single Disney film ever made. Yes, every one. And discovered that some of them were quite shit.

That was that fantasy out the window.

She also discovered coconut flavoured ice cream and nearly keeled over in ecstasy after taking one mouthful of the heavenly stuff. Trying new things had cemented itself into her agenda and keeping herself busy with little things, like knitting, which she found was difficult to take to and awfully boring, so after knitting half of a pink cardigan and realising that she could have a boy instead, she furiously lashed the thing in the bin; never to be seen again, but it was healthy and a good way of keeping her brain stimulated.

Walks were always on the agenda and Bulma discovered parts of West city which she had never seen before. That included finding a divine little coffee shop, where she managed to work on a few plans after sneakily retrieving them from the lab. Having time on her hands also gave her the opportunity to watch as the weather shifted through each season and the different colours surrounding the area mesmerised her and inspired her deeply.

But then she'd think about Vegeta. She'd think about him and feel angry, betrayed and abandoned. It had been seven months and he had yet to return and Bulma had pretty much settled with the idea that he wasn't actually coming back at all. Seven months was long enough to come to terms with that fact, but that didn't stop her from missing the arrogant prince.

Some nights she would wake up in tears after dreaming about his touch, only to realise she was alone. His presence had sunk into her skin and she couldn't just shake him off with the drop of a hat. No, it took her nearly half a year to realise that he had in fact gone. This time, for good.

A chill ran across Bulmas naked body and she shuddered, sat up straight and folded her arms across her chest. That's when an irritating thought came in to her mind. What had her father just told her? Oh right. Yamcha is coming round?

One thought merged into another and she closed her eyes; thinking about that day during Christmas, when Yamcha stormed in to the building.

It was two weeks until Christmas and Bunny had somehow managed to rope both Bulma and Dr Briefs in with helping her to decorate the house. Given the grand size of Capsule Corp, the job was no walk in the park and it had taken them almost an entire day, going round the buildings and throwing bits of tinsel around stair cases, balconies and wrapping it around lamp stands and coat hangers.

Bulma and her parents had only managed to get round to pitching the tree up in the sitting , in the late evening, when the doorbell rang, followed by the intercom.

"B, open the door." A wired voice said from outside.

The Briefs family dropped what they were doing and stared towards the front door, and then Bulmas parents looked to her, gaining a grunt of disapproval. Trudging to the door, Bulma fumed. Yamcha had been driving her towards the brink of suicide over the past few days. As far as she knew (because she had been told repeatedly by him), his and Emi's baby was due pretty close to this date, but if so, why was he calling now?

Yamcha had told her that he and Emi would never get back together because of 'trust issues', therefore he felt obliged to go to Bulma for advice about everything. But after he found out that Bulma was indeed pregnant, he backed off a little bit and she only assumed that it was because it was Vegetas child. If any other random guy was the father, she didn't think Yamcha would have been too bothered.

But Vegeta.

He wasn't pleased at all and she knew this because he completely ignored her for weeks: not answering her phone calls, emails or texts. Now she knew how he must have felt the majority of the time…

In the end he came to his senses and explained what she had already suspected. Telling her that he was just 'shocked', obviously not considering how she felt when she found out! He also explained that he felt responsible for Vegetas disappearance, saying that it was because he hung around too much and scared Vegeta off, but Bulma nearly choked on her laughter when she heard that.

Vegeta was only scared of a handful of things and Yamcha definitely wasn't one of them. If anything, Vegeta had left because of her, not Yamcha.

Ever since then, Yamcha had been helping out much more than he needed to, when he should have been taking care of the mother of his own unborn child. It felt as if he was over compensating because he wasn't actively involved with Emi anymore and it was starting to pinch Bulmas skin.

When she reached the door and lifted the latch, it swung open, knocking her back in to the wall. She winced in discomfort when Yamcha ran into the house, completely alert and shaking with rage. He scanned the room until he saw Bulma grasping on to her stomach in the corner, behind the door.

He panicked, scrambled towards her and placed his hand behind her back for support. "Shit…Sorry…You ok?" he said as he walked her into the kitchen, completely forgetting his moment of rage.

Bulma, on the other hand, was starting to feel more than pissed, now that Yamcha had kindly smacked the door into her tiny baby bump. She'd never let him live it down if her baby was harmed because of his irrational behaviour. She contemplated punching him in the stomach and seeing how he liked it, but then she gathered that like Vegeta, it probably wouldn't faze him in the slightest. So she bit her tongue and sat herself down at the kitchen table, watching as he paced back and forth in a mad frenzy.

"I'm fine. What's wrong with you?" she said instantaneously, trying to get him to stand still for one, God damn second.

He stopped. "Ha! You're not going to believe this!" Then he began pacing again, while Bulma sat there in disbelief and slight agitation as she awaited the dropping of a bomb shell.

Impatiently, she cleared her throat and thankfully he stopped after seeing the serious look on her face.

Noticeably, Yamcha was wearing a plain, white shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows and smart black pants, and he'd finally cut his hair and gelled it up right. He looked rather important and really handsome-

"Emi had her baby. He's a boy." He stated, emotionless.

Bulma instinctively rushed to her feet to hug her friend and congratulate him on his new baby boy. "Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" But as she hugged him and he stood rigid, she quickly derived that something was wrong; so she pulled away to examine him from a distance; her arms still precariously hanging on to his shirt.

He looked down at her with bleak exasperation in his eyes, then he lightly pushed her away from him and she sat back down, ready to brace herself for the news.

"It's not mine." He smeared his hands down his face and sighed.

"What do you mean it's not yours?" she almost spat at him in disbelief.

"The kid isn't mine, Bulma!" His dangerous gaze forced her to look elsewhere.

She scoffed. After all the time he pestered her and she generously gave her time up to help him, and now he was the one having a go at her? Unbelievable. This guy had some nerve, shouting at a pregnant woman and scaring her half to death.

Bulma got to her feet again and prodded him in the chest, earning a nervous flinch and ultimately calming him the hell down. "Now, calm down!" She shouted, "Jeez…" she sat back down in exhaustion and put her hand to her forehead, rubbing her temple with her thumb.. "How do you know this?"

Yamcha gawked for a moment, and then composed himself after recollecting Bulmas death threat.

"He's black."

Bulmas eyes widened and she slowly lifted her head to look at him in sheer amazement. "What? Are you sure? Sometimes that can happen with rare genetics-" Was she seriously hearing this?

"Don't give me that bullshit. The kids real dad turned up right after he was born…I looked like an ass in there, B. And guess what? It'll be all over the papers tomorrow, no doubt." He sighed and plonked himself down on the chair beside her. She swivelled her body round towards him, but couldn't think of anything to say.

The news was completely surreal and she had to process it carefully. A part of her wondered whether it was just Yamchas terrible sense of humour and she was merely anticipating the moment when he laughed and said 'nawh, it's mine really'. But he didn't and it was really real. He wasn't a dad after all. Everything he had been working towards had just been thrown out the window, only to be ran over, reversed over and then ran over again.

Then he smiled. "I should be looking on the bright side, huh?" his eyes met hers sheepishly. "At least I'm free." He laughed before stopping, catching Bulmas curious stare. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." He laughed nervously and looked away.

What was he apologising for?

Bulma cocked an eyebrow, swivelled around again, and placed her hands out flat on the table; letting her fingers dance on the wooden surface. "Oh, don't be. I'm kind of warming to this baby stuff now." She smiled.

"Well, you have had four months-"

"Hey. It's a pretty big deal, even more so 'cause it was such a shock…" she trailed off into the memory.

Yamcha had thought about asking Bulma about Vegeta for a couple of months. He saw it as a way to get some information out of her, so he could comprehend why the dirt bag Saiyan conveniently disappeared, when she happened to fall pregnant with his child. But then again, looking at her now and seeing how happy she was and how radiant she looked, he didn't want to put a downer on her mood; despite him already having done so.

"It is Vegetas, right?" he chortled.

Bulma scolded him, rapidly swiping her hand against the back of his head in one heated blow. She then spoke through gritted teeth, "Of course it is, jerk!" then crossed her arms and frowned.

"Oww…Ok ok. I believe you. I just don't want you to go through what I just have." He laughed casually and rubbed the back of his head where she had struck him.

Bulma rolled her eyes, "Oh, gee, thanks a lot, Yamcha." She chided, and then gave in to a small grin.

Smacking her lips together and tapping her fingers along the table top, Bulma had never been more aware of a silence in her life. She looked across to Yamcha, who seemed to be staring into outer space, and humming a tune she didn't recognise. Without taking the situation into much consideration, Bulma had yet to see how Yamcha felt about it. Clearly he wasn't too upset, due to his current lack of phase, but Bulma couldn't even to begin to imagine how she would have reacted if she were in his shoes right now.

"So…Are you ok, then?" she quizzed, bringing his gaze back down to her. Then a smirk played across his lips.

"I guess so. Gave that bitch a piece of my mind." He glanced away for a moment and sneered before turning back and smiling politely.

Bulma blinked, "Yamcha, she'd just given birth!"

"So what! The other guy turned up, so she must have known about it the entire time!" He threw his hands up in resignation. How could Bulma take Emi's side when the girl had lied to him for nine months? Nine months! He thought of all the possibilities and the effects it had taken on his training. What use would he be now? He had a limited time left to get some training down and was miles behind everyone else because some chick decided to lie to him about a baby. That wasn't cool and he wasn't just going to sit around and take it lying down. Oh, no. Right after he saw the other guy arrive in the delivery room and the sorrowful look in Emi's eyes, he had to do something drastic. So, he beat the guy to a pulp and shouted a few obscenities right in Emi's beetroot – red face; and then he was escorted out of the hospital, only to get straight into his car and turn up here.

Pumped with adrenalin and full of freedom.

Bulma gasped then scowled, thinking of all the things she'd like to say to Emi right now. "Well, in that case, you can wait 'til I give her a piece of my mind!" She slammed her fists down on the table and then wielded a coaster into the air, before Yamcha placed his hand over hers and lowered it back down to the table.

"No, don't." He laughed, "We don't want you to do any harm to the baby, now, do we?" Then Yamcha scraped his chair back and headed for the coffee machine.

Bulma snickered and rubbed her stomach mischievously. "No, this little guy is fine." Then she smiled knowingly, as if the baby had replied. Bulma may have only been four months pregnant, but she was certainly showing already. Unfortunately, she'd had to buy an entirely new set of clothes, which wasn't so bad, but she bought them, only to find out that several weeks later they were way too small again. The positive side was that she could keep going out to splurge on clothes every couple of weeks, but the bad side was, she was becoming more aware of how fat she was getting. No, not fat. Pregnant. She had to keep telling herself that every day, with a satisfied smile.

As Yamcha prepared the coffee for them both, he really began to realise how independent and strong Bulma actually was. There she was, sitting there, four months pregnant and as happy as ever. Regardless that the father was a pompous ass who had disappeared and wasn't coming back. Well, he didn't know that as of yet. It was the more likely outcome, though.

He carefully made his way back over to the table, with two piping hot cups of coffee, and then he placed one down in front of her, while he chose to stay standing; blowing on his coffee a bit.

"So, Mr high and mighty hasn't come back yet?" He knew he hadn't, of course.

Bulma rattled and tea spoon in her cup, watching the small whirl pool she was creating and with a very nonchalance 'tsk', she looked up and replied. "No, he hasn't. I don't blame him." She took her spoon out of the coffee and shook it several times, then placed it on the side, "When he does show his sorry ass, he'll forget about those androids 'cause he'll have me to deal with." A light sigh escaped her pursed lips.

To be honest, she hadn't decided what she'd do when or if Vegeta returns. What could she do? She could only tell him the facts and she really didn't care how he'd behave after hearing the news because she didn't expect anything from him anyway. It wouldn't surprise her if he blasted her to pieces for being a 'damn nuisance', as he'd always say. As long as he didn't harm the baby.

"Jeez. Ok, Bulma." Yamcha widened his eyes and took a sip of his coffee, swallowed, then looked back over at her. "Do you think he'll ever show his face again?"

"Urgh. I don't know... This is the longest he's been away." She pushed her coffee cup away and crossed her arms, "God knows where he is…I don't care either way, this is my baby." She said defensively.

"It's his too, B. Besides, the guy left before you could tell him the news-"

"I bet he knew somehow and that's why he hightailed it out of here-"

"Nah... Man, I don't like the guy, but I know he's no coward. He wouldn't run away from anything, Bulma." Yamcha took a mouth full of coffee, hating what he had just admitted to her, but he had a feeling about Vegeta. Hell, for him and Bulma to even get it together was a mystery, so he must care for her a little bit, right? And that guy was unstoppable. After venturing into the gravity capsule a while back and feeling how intense Vegetas training was, that's when Yamcha knew, that guy was something else alright. He had planned to fight the androids alongside the rest of the z-fighters but for what? What was he getting out of it? The kid from the future said he was going to die, yet he was still as determined as ever to fight them. He was still and inconsiderate ass, for leaving such a beautiful woman when he had knocked her up, but like Yamcha had said, the guy didn't even know.

Bulma frowned deeply and looked at her small bump, rubbing it again and sighing. "Hmm…We'll see."

That was three months ago. It was unbelievable how much her stomach had grown since then. Still sitting on the bathroom floor, Bulma watched her stomach in awe, staring at the way her belly button had popped out, making her look like a giant football.

Vegeta…Will he ever come back?

She missed him. It was difficult to admit after all this time and after the pain, the depression, the intense weight gain, the tears and the confusion. She missed him and she loved him.

At that moment, the bathroom door swung open and Yamcha appeared. Panic sickened, Bulma scrambled around on the floor, grasping on to the bath mat and trying to shield her dignity, until it became overly apparent that she had far surpassed the size of the mat and her coverage attempt had failed miserably. So she screamed. "Get out!"

Yamchas face turned bright red and his eyes darted round the room to anywhere but the naked and pregnant woman below him. "Woah, my bad-"

"Out! Get out!" She flapped her hands around frantically.

"Let me help you up-" He mumbled as he was bending down slightly, and putting his arms out for her to grab on to.

"No, I can do it myself." Her tone was a little lighter and despite her insisting she could cope on her own, it wasn't long until she grabbed onto his arm and he hoisted her up with ease.

"C'mon preggo…It's not like I haven't seen it before." He grinned at the woman who was latched on to his arm and growing increasingly red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. With Bulma still grabbing on to one arm, he used his spare arm to lean over to the side and grab a towel, throwing it over her quickly. "Ha. You look like a giant tomato." He continued to laugh slyly, feeling her nails digging in to the flesh on his forearm.

Rapidly wrapping herself up and letting go of Yamcha, she scolded him. "Shut up and pass me another towel for my hair…" she berated.

He cocked an eyebrow, "But your hair is dry-"

"Just pass me the God damn towel!"

"Sheesh… Someone sounded a lot like Vegeta, then…" He rolled his eyes and threw a towel on her head, which she quickly grabbed and began wrapping it round, purposely ignoring his last comment.

After a couple of seconds of Bulma waiting for Yamcha to leave her in peace, and she had finished wrapping her hair into her towel, Yamcha coughed lightly and looked at her sheepishly. "Have you calmed down now?" he asked, bracing himself for the inevitable explosion of the ear drums. This woman was insanely pissed during pregnancy.

Bulma merely shot daggers at her dumbfounded friend, letting him decide his own fate.

Yamcha laughed. "Well, good, 'cause I've brought this really awesome movie starring Liam Ne-"

"Just put it on." She sighed.

"Sweet" Yamcha clipped in excitement and then vanished out the room, leaving Bulma in peace.

Once fully clothed in her maternity pyjamas, Bulma sat on her bed and began rubbing her belly again, feeling exasperated even though she hadn't done anything remotely productive in hours. What was this baby doing to her?

"You need to hurry up and be born, kid. You're driving mommy crazy…Either that or it's your uncle Yamcha." She rolled her eyes as she whispered to her bump.

Looking back at the last seven months had shown Bulma that she was now ready to be a mother. Despite the few speed bumps on the way, she could now confirm that she was severely anticipating her baby's arrival and was excited to find out what the sex of the baby was. She'd had the opportunities to find out, but she wanted to wait until the birth; she felt it was more special that way.

A breeze blew in from the open window, and Bulma shuddered and whipped round, seeing the large open space in the centre of her room. Then she turned back and looked down at her bump again, "I wonder where your daddy is right now…" She sighed. "…And if he's ever coming back."