Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters
Hey everyone, it's been a while. Some of you have probably seen this same A/N in my other stories, but I've been dealing with quite a bit. Back in April, after finding out I got accepted to graduate school, my estranged father passed away, and the day after I got a call that a summer internship was waiting for me. I ended up having to pack up and move, then deal with a very emotional wake and funeral, not to mention just being on fast forward. The good news is that I was able to write a lot during my hiatus, and I have chapters lying in wait to be posted, including another chapter for this story in addition to this update. I'm updating slowly to give myself time to write in between all of the craziness. There are just sometimes where I cannot get myself to write.
Another thing I wanted you all to know is that this will be the last chapter where I respond to reviews before the chapter. Instead, I will return to my old answering process, by PM and then publicly thanking guests for their reviews. It'll just be easier for me.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and you can be sure that there will be more updates in the near future.
Vegeta ki Deewani: I don't know if her mother is going to have a role again, but she may in the future. I've only thought a few chapters ahead.
Guest23: I'm glad you liked the chapter. My relative is hanging in there, but I've recently lost my father and pretty much went on hiatus.
Cornichon92: Glad you liked it, but I can't make any promises.
KimiruMai: Yes, I love my foreshadowing :)
VB enforcer: Doing my best
SaiyanOfWine: Things have gotten both good and bad in my family. What was the last chapter you read, so I know what to sum up? Bardock's not really hiding something; he's just shy. And I like writing huggable Vegeta ;)
xSapphirexRosesxFanx: Yeah, it is.
The spring semester was going by swimmingly, though coordinating everyone was still a fulltime job. No one minded, though, since they were happy. Summer would be there in about a month, and everyone was doing well in their classes. Then they would have a couple of months off.
Vegeta knew his father was waiting with baited breath for his exam results. So far, before the finals, Vegeta was acing all of his classes. He had expected to have some difficulty in the business classes, but he took to them pretty quickly. It was actually pretty fulfilling being able to do work like this. If he ever decided not to take over for his father, he felt he could coordinate a very successful psychiatric practice, but for now, baby steps.
When the two of them had discussed his courses, Vegeta had finally told his father exactly what he wanted to hear. "Because I placed so high up on the entrance exams," Vegeta had explained, "There were only a few courses I needed to take to get my business degree in addition to the courses I had already taken. I will graduate as a business major next year and then just take the last few psychology classes online and get my psychology degree the year after."
His father didn't care about his psychology degree, but he was thrilled about the business degree. Vegeta knew that he would throw him into the business that final year, which is why he discussed with the school taking online courses. That way he would be able to keep up and work on it when there was nothing going on at the office.
Half of his and Bulma's room became a mini office for the both of them since they had to get more organized with the court and adoption documents. They each kept a shelf on the desk for their textbooks and binders. They had gotten a computer which they used for class assignments, and Vegeta used for early business transactions his father wanted him to be a part of.
Everything seemed to change since Vegeta had made the decision to sneak them out through the night. His father was still angry over his decision, but he would still occasionally ask about his son's bride and daughter. He would grumble out the question, but he did actually seem to care. It looked like whatever plans he had had for the girl were put on hold. Yamcha, thankfully, was also in the clear, evident by the fact that his father's cousin paid him a phone call to let him know he was okay.
"Are you ready for our trip this weekend?" Bulma asked her husband as she entered their room. Vegeta was working on a project for one of his classes at the time.
He looked over to her and smiled. Of course he was excited. They had quite an extended break for Easter, so Vegeta, along with the Swifts and Bardock, planned a family trip to a beach town south of them. They were all going to spend the trip together as a family. Chi Chi was even going with them. The trip was all anyone could talk about over the last few weeks.
"I am," Vegeta replied sitting Bulma on his lap and holding her close. "I'm sure Sara and Tarble will both enjoy the beach."
Bulma nodded, nuzzling against Vegeta's neck as she did. "I'm really glad," she whispered in his ear. He tilted his head, waiting for her to continue. "I'm glad we get to do all of this together. I never would have imagined…"
Vegeta pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly as she trailed off. He knew exactly what she meant. He hadn't really done anything like this, either. He didn't count the times he went with his dad to the beach house to spend time with his family. He barely even counted the few camping trips he went on with his parents since it was really only him and his mom doing things together while his father remained in the trailer the majority of the day on his phone.
This was an actual family vacation: no school, no work, and no business.
He knew his father would hate that.
"Wow!" Tarble said in amazement as she stared out the window of Vegeta's car.
Vegeta smirked when he heard his amazement. He had been thrilled when Tarble asked to go in his car with him, Bulma, and Sara. The drive had been very entertaining with the ten year old commenting on new things he was seeing. Kakarot and Chi Chi had gone with Bardock in his car while the Swifts took their own car. They had been more than willing to let Tarble go with his brother. Bonding time for the brothers was something Ronda and Robert encouraged and felt they both needed, and Vegeta was grateful for any time.
"It's so big!" Tarble commented as he looked at the ocean. "And there's so many people. Do you think there'll be kids my age there?"
Vegeta and Bulma both chuckled at his enthusiasm. "There should be," Vegeta assured him. "This is perfect vacation time. There are probably many families celebrating their kids' breaks around here."
Vegeta could see, using his mirror, the excited gleam in Tarble's eyes. He couldn't get over how good it felt to see his brother happy. Years before he would have never imagined being anywhere near him. He couldn't find him, at all. To have him in his daily life was so much more of a blessing. Having all of these people in his life was a blessing. It made dealing with his father bearable, and that was definitely not an easy feat.
"So, where exactly are we staying?" Bulma asked Vegeta. Vegeta had taken the reins on organizing the trip, though everyone had put money forth to pay for it. She didn't think they were staying at a beach house, but Vegeta had been pretty cryptic.
Her husband smirked. "It's a new hotel," he told her. "We're staying in a four room suite with a kitchenette, and it also has its own water park."
"Really?" Tarble asked in eagerness while Bulma almost whispered in astonishment.
"Don't act so surprised, Bulma," Vegeta teased. "That one was actually your father's idea. I just knew what to look for. Besides, one of my father's business partners owed me for helping him get a better deal. My father doesn't know about that yet, though he'll find out pretty soon."
"Will you get in trouble?" Bulma said quietly, not wanting Tarble to hear the question.
Vegeta simply shrugged. "He would have lost the man as a client if I didn't intervene. You can only hold onto clients so much with dirty tactics. Someone had to make an honest offer." Bulma nodded in agreement, though she still looked worried. "Hey," Vegeta called softly, taking her hand. "Don't worry about me. My father won't do anything, because I've actually been helping keep the business afloat, and he can never deny that."
Bulma sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I know that, Vegeta, and I'm proud of you for everything you've been doing, but I also worry about you. You've always said your father is involved in illegal dealings. We already knew that. I just don't want him to hurt you."
Vegeta was relieved that Tarble was too absorbed in the scenery to hear their quiet conversation. It gave him the space he needed to think of how to word everything to Bulma. He had not yet told her about the real reason he wanted to leave that night, and now seemed as good a time as any, but not to concern her. "If he was going to do something, he would have done it already, and he would have used you to get to me," he murmured. "That night when we left the beach house, I had been given a warning by one of the others that he was planning to hurt you somehow."
He snapped his eyes to Bulma quickly to gage her reaction and saw her smiling. "I figured that was the real reason," Bulma told him making his eyes widen. He quickly looked back to the road thinking of how she could have possibly figured it out. "You seemed more fearful than contemplating marriage, but you didn't want to tell me yet and I didn't want to pressure you. I'm not opposed to how everything turned out. Even if I had known back then with one-hundred percent certainty, I would have still said 'yes.' I didn't expect it to take this long for you to tell me, though."
"You are too perceptive," he retorted. "And it took me a while to tell you because I didn't want to worry you and the person who warned me had yet to contact me."
Bulma frowned at the insinuation. "He threatened whoever it was, didn't he?"
Vegeta glanced in the mirror and saw that Tarble was playing with Sara, who had just woken up, in the back. He only nodded once and Bulma shook her head in disbelief. The people in that beach house were his family. She couldn't imagine anyone threatening any member of their family just because they knew his plans. A new wave of concern consumed her for her husband as she thought of him having to deal with the man all of his life. Vegeta noticed Bulma's shift in mood and took hold of her hand squeezing it reassuringly. "Don't worry about him, Bulma," he said softly, though more forcefully. "I mean it. He won't do anything, not right now. We'll worry about it if he tries something in the future. He won't do anything to sink his precious business or force me to rebel against him once again. We're in the clear."
A grin formed on his wife's face, and relief flooded him once again. He returned her smile with a smirk of his own. This was their vacation with their family and he wasn't going to let anything ruin it for either of them.
After checking into the suite and unpacking, the group went out for lunch on the beachfront. The weather was beautiful, so they all decided a day at the beach was well needed. They all got ready quickly after returning from lunch and walked to the beach together.
Once at the beach, Kakarot ran with Tarble to the water to go swimming. Ronda called out to the teenager to watch Tarble and Kakarot assured her he would. Vegeta rolled his eyes, but had a smile on his face that revealed he wasn't truly annoyed. He watched as Bulma and Chi Chi played with Sara in the sand while Bardock, Ronda, and Robert chatted about random things. Never had Vegeta felt so at ease. Slipping down from a beach chair to sit on the blanket, he watched with a genuine smile as Bulma helped Sara build a small sand castle. Eyes on them, Vegeta allowed himself to fully relax.
They all remained at the beach for hours that day, eating a light picnic lunch prior to dinner. Conversation was light and full of joy as they discussed dinner plans and plans for the next few days. While Vegeta gave some of his input, Kakarot stole some food off of his plate which did not escape the older teen's notice.
"Kakarot, that was mine!" Vegeta snapped at him.
"Sorry," Kakarot remarked jovially. "I was hungry."
"Then take more from the basket!"
Bulma covered her mouth to conceal her laughter, though she ended up chortling with the others as her father started laughing boisterously. It became even more of a spectacle when Vegeta and Kakarot started wrestling like children. Ronda found it amusing, especially when Tarble joined in trying to help his brother. He toppled over the two teens causing them to stop fighting and join in their own round of laughter. Vegeta let go of Kakarot to hug his little brother in a big bear hug. The child snickered as wrapped his small arms around his brother's.
"You have got to be kidding me," an irate man growled out as he watched the childish display.
A tall, blonde woman placed her dainty hands on the man's shoulders. "What's wrong, sweetie?" She looked over to the laughing boys. "Is everything okay?"
"No," the man bit out as he shook himself free of his latest conquest.
Vegeta's laughing was the first to end when he saw his father heading his way. A look that mixed hate and confusion appeared on his face. Kakarot noticed and was the first to attempt to voice, "Vegeta, what's u-"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Vegeta Sr. questioned darkly.
Bulma's mouth dropped open, as did those of the Swifts. She looked over to them and saw how angry Robert looked while Ronda seemed to be debating on whether or not she should run to her son.
Vegeta took Tarble and nearly pushed the kid behind him, Kakarot staying close. Tarble, though blocked off from Vegeta Sr., managed to look between him and his brother. It was easy to tell who the man was. His parents had said that Vegeta had looked like their father. No one ever seemed to like to talk about the man much, though.
"It is not your concern," Vegeta stated calmly, though he was raging inside. He was not expecting his father to be there, especially not around the Swifts or Tarble. Vegeta had hoped to keep his relationship with them a secret but, when his father looked over his shoulder and glared at the couple, Vegeta knew that that could no longer happen.
"Vegeta," Bulma called out hesitantly. Vegeta Sr.'s glare snapped directly to her, instantly shutting her up.
Vegeta Sr. ignored her and looked back over to the Swifts, and then down to the boy hiding behind Vegeta's leg. It was no doubt that the kid was his kid, especially when he noted the hair and facial features. He appeared to have much softer features as Colleen had had, but he resembled his older brother when he had been younger. The elder Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the boy before turning his gaze to the Swifts.
"You're very lucky the paperwork went through before I found out you poisoned my elder son," he remarked.
"They didn't poison me, father," Vegeta retorted scoffing at the ridiculousness of his statement. "You did that ten years ago when mother was pregnant. Don't think for a second I've forgotten that."
"Let it go, brat," his father countered. "It's been a decade. This is why you shouldn't get attached. Again I ask, what the hell are you doing here when you should be working?"
"He can't work twenty-four seven," Kakarot stated awkwardly gaining his friend's father's attention. This is the first time he was meeting the man and he could understand now why Vegeta never invited him over when his father was around. "This is his first break in months."
The elder Vegeta cast his gaze over to Bulma once more. "I highly doubt that when he has his whore distracting him."
Vegeta couldn't stop himself when he punched his father square in the jaw. The elder gasped out in pain, holding his jaw for a second before attempting to hit his son. Bardock grabbed his arm instantly having had quick reflexes from being on the force. He pushed the older man away and got in between him and his son-in-law. "Though he shouldn't have hit you, I don't blame him after what you said about my daughter," said the palm tree-haired man. "Know your audience. That's no way to talk in front of children nor the family and husband of the one you're attacking."
"Save it," Vegeta Sr. remarked. "I don't care who my audience is. It doesn't change what she is." Both Bardock and Kakarot glared at the offender.
Bulma didn't react to the insult, but she did stand up with Sara and move to soothe Vegeta who was still seething. "Ignore him," she said quietly. "I'm okay."
Vegeta was about to react when the sight of a blonde woman running up to them caught his eye. "Vegeta," the woman called out as she ran to his father, the older man continuing to glower at his eldest son. "I was so worried with you running off like that." She snapped angry eyes over to Vegeta. "How dare you hit him?"
Vegeta narrowed his eyes, looking between his father and the woman. "So you come here to reprimand me for my choices and insult my wife when you are here with yet another one night stand," he grumbled. "You're a disgrace."
"And who are you to talk to him that way?" the woman asked.
Everyone looked to the woman like she was crazy. Vegeta snapped disbelieving eyes over to his father. "Does the woman not see our resemblance?" he asked genuinely. The woman was about to angrily retort before she started looking back and forth between Vegeta and his father.
"OH!" she exclaimed before grinning. "You never told me you had a son!"
Bulma, Bardock, and Kakarot looked over to the woman in surprise. If they hadn't known any better, they could have sworn the woman reminded them of Bunny, or the Bunny they had known before she showed her true colors. The siblings looked to each other, their minds questioning this. Bulma then handed Sara off to Chi Chi and walked over to Vegeta and his father.
"You actually cared about my mom, didn't you?" Bulma questioned stunning everyone into silence. She looked over to the blonde woman. Though she didn't resemble her mother one bit, she could tell that this woman was acting as a replacement in the elder Vegeta's mind. "She acts just like mom used to."
Vegeta saw the irate gleam in his father's eyes and moved in front of Bulma. "It doesn't matter," her husband growled. "You and that woman can go now and do whatever the hell you have planned. My family and I are going to return to our vacation. We can discuss your newest business conquest when I come in on Wednesday."
"What business conquest?" Vegeta Sr. spat.
Bulma's blood ran cold when Vegeta blatantly admitted the deal he made. She had been so worried earlier, though Vegeta hadn't been. Still, the look on his father's face spoke volumes. "One of your clients was about to withdraw," Vegeta stated nonchalantly. "I gave him an offer he couldn't refuse."
Vegeta Sr. was both irritated that he had been undermined, yet proud that his son had actually hung onto a client. He mentally smirked thinking Vegeta was finally taking his role as a business man seriously. "I'm not going to ask how you managed it," Vegeta Sr. replied, "but…decent work."
Vegeta had to do a double take. "Come again?"
A frown formed on Vegeta Sr.'s face. "Don't make a habit of it, boy," he scolded. "I'll let it slide once, but next time you undermine me," his eyes flashed to Bulma, "I will not take it lightly. I expect to see you early on Wednesday. I know you have classes in the afternoon so you better be ready to get a full day's work into a few hours." He looked over to his temporary girlfriend. "We're leaving."
After the two left, Bardock breathed out, "The hell just happened?"
"Believe it or not," Vegeta murmured, "personal growth."
Robert scoffed. "If that was growth, I'd really hate to know how he treated you all your life."
"Heh," Vegeta chuckled bitterly, "let's just say I'm glad Tarble grew up with you two then with him."
Tarble latched himself onto Vegeta's leg, which shocked the teen. He hadn't expected that from his brother, but he gently placed his hand on his head. "You okay?" his little brother asked.
Vegeta grinned at him. "Yeah, kid, I'm fine," he assured him before looking over to Bulma. "I'm not the one he insulted. Are you sure you're okay?"
Bulma smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was more concerned about your big reveal. I thought for sure he'd be pissed."
"He was," Vegeta told her, "but it was a surefire way to shut him up. He's too busy tearing me to shreds for not living and breathing his company, yet I can handle the work just fine."
"Hey, Bulma," Chi Chi said, "what did you mean when you said he actually cared about your mom? What's up with that?"
Bulma looked over to her father and brother, the three of them nodding to each other before Bulma began her explanation. "You weren't with us at the restaurant when mom told us what she did," Bulma explained. "You had taken Tarble away and only briefly heard what happened, but anyways… Mom and Vegeta's father were friends in college, and I assume they were together at some point. Eventually he married Vegeta's mom and she married dad, but they still kept in touch and had some weird thing going on between them. When she and dad were getting divorced she had Vegeta's father help her fake a paternity test for me and that's how she got full custody. That woman he was with now acted just like mom always did…ditzy, overly excited about the small things, something that changed over the years."
"I'd say my father's bad habits rubbed off on her," Vegeta growled. "Thank God that didn't happen to my mother."
"You know," Ronda spoke up after being unusually quiet, "why don't we head back to the hotel and hit the water park? We shouldn't let a bad encounter ruin the rest of our trip. Besides, he's gone now and we're together. That's all that really matters."
Bardock smirked and agreed. "Yeah, you're right, Ronda. I for one don't plan to let it interfere with the good time we had today."
"Come on, Veggie! We can go on the water coaster!"
Vegeta chuckled slightly while pulling his brother into a hug. He also heard Sara's laugher and felt Bulma nuzzle against his neck. "You know what…you're right," he replied with a smile. It came as a surprise to him, but his father really didn't hold as much power over him as he once thought. For all the years he had been with his father without his mother, he had let himself sink into depression and felt anger constantly, but things changed after he met Bulma, found Tarble, and accepted all of these people as his family. Dealing with his father still made him feel angry, but the anger always faded away instantly. All he had to do was be with Bulma, spend an afternoon with Tarble, watch his best friend and brother-in-law make a fool of himself, hold Sara, talk to the Swifts, remember that Bardock treated him like a son…so many things he never had before that he never knew he needed. A competitive grin broke out on his face as he looked down to his little brother. "Last one there's a rotten egg."
That night, after a game was played and Sara was put to bed, the suite was pretty quiet. Everyone was watching random movies on TV, just enjoying the company. Tarble was playing a videogame, sitting on the floor between his parents, and eventually shut the system off and said goodnight to everyone before retreating to his room.
The adults started following suit leaving the teens together, though Kakarot and Chi Chi fell asleep cuddling together on the couch. Bulma smiled slightly at the two so happy that her brother had found someone she knew was good for him. As an older sister, that's all she really wanted for him. It was hard to believe that a year ago, she would have never been able to see her brother fall in love. That thought made her frown as she thought back to the day's events.
"What's on your mind?" Vegeta whispered so as not to wake the others. "Not what my father said, I hope."
Bulma laughed under her breath before shaking her head. "Vegeta, Michael called me much worse when he was angry at me. I told you I was fine." She then grimaced. "It's the fact that…don't you think it's weird. The thing about your father dating someone that just seemed so much like my mom?"
"I'd rather not think about it," Vegeta muttered, a look of disgust on his face. He didn't like thinking about how unfaithful his father had been towards his mother, and was even more disgusted that his affection, if that was even what you could call it, was wasted on his wife's mother. The whole thing just left a vile taste in his mouth.
"I know," Bulma said sympathetically, "but it just strikes me as odd that all of this time he's been giving you grief about forming attachments when he seems to have a lasting thing for my mom. It makes me wonder…did he do all of that stuff for her because he thought it would win her over? Do you think maybe he hates me because of her? That I would do to you whatever it was my mom must have done to him?"
Vegeta hated to admit it, but every single question Bulma posed made sense. His father had expressed that attachments made a person weak, desperate to hold onto them. He knew that he believed Bulma would destroy him and leave him a mess. He had said it was okay to have a wallflower but not someone he actually cared about because it would only blow up in his face. If he was in fact using personal experience, it only made sense that he would associate Bulma with her mother, but that was another thing.
He was not his father, and Bulma was not her mother.
Still, this would be something he could look into, and maybe he could get his father off of his case for good. "Don't worry about it," he said to Bulma, though it was now something that would be on his own mind for quite a while. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I don't care if my father is trying to use strange women to fulfil unmet desires. If I stay out of his business, maybe…just maybe, he will stay out of mine now that I'm finally meeting his approval." He pulled her close to him and rested his chin on top of her head. "Just do me a favor and stay off of his radar. I have a feeling he won't forget you calling him out on it."
Bulma nodded and closed her eyes, allowing herself to feel peace again. "I'll stay out of it," she promised. "Last thing I want is for him to get pissed at me all over again."
Unfortunately, it was a little late for that.