It's the 24th and 01:30 in Denmark, and I've just finished this chapter. I might reread it to find grammarerrors and so on later, but now I just want to publish it. I'm not sure I will manage to sit down with my laptop tomorrow, so I need to get it uploaded now.
I hope you will like this last instalment of Christmas at Capsule Corp – I enjoyed writing it.
"Take in a deep breath," Mrs. Brief said and put her hands at Bulma's shoulder. "Calm down. You look fabulous, the table is pretty and the food is almost done. Tonight will be great, darling, make sure to enjoy it!"
Bulma exhaled deeply and smiled at her mother. She was right; Bulma did look fabulous (after spending two and a half hour on hair and make-up she would be damned if she didn't), the table had been set and decorated days ago and after lot of planning and several hours in the kitchen the dinner was almost ready. She looked at the clock. The guests could be arriving any minute now.
Bra came running down the stairs and opened the front door enthusiastically, probably because she had felt Pan's ki before Videl had managed to use the doorbell. The two girls were quickly in the living room while Videl and Gohan said hello to Bulma, Mrs. and Dr. Brief. The front door wasn't closed again before all guests had arrived; Bulma managed to greet all of them and send them into the living room where some drinks and snacks were prepared in case they had to wait for some to arrive.
Chi-Chi, Goku and Gohan had picked the Ox-king up at their way; the giant man had a bit of a rough time getting into the house but once inside there was plenty of room for him. Trunks had come downstairs when they had arrived and had send his mother a scowl like his father would have when she told him to tell Vegeta to come downstairs.
Krillin and 18 had borrowed a plane from Bulma – Krillin had called her a week ago and asked her for a favor even though it had been clear he didn't like it. Bulma had taken the capsule with her when she delivered the letter, and the no-longer bald monk had been overwhelming thankful. He and 18 had needed it; they had to bring their daughter, Master Roshi and Oolong. Normally they flew by themselves or used their mini-plane when shopping, but it couldn't carry 5 people.
Yamcha, Tien and Chaozu had met up beforehand and went to the party together. Yamcha had brought a tiny bouquet – it had only consisted seven flowers or so – as a present for Bulma as well as to show his appreciation of the party she had planned. When he had seen the look Vegeta send his way he had regretted it; the saiyan prince and Yamcha were never going to be great friends…
Yajirobe had picked Dende and Mister Popo up. The tiny but heavy built man had made sure to always have at least two people between himself and Vegeta until he got into the living room. He was afraid the spiky-haired man still held a grudge against him for cutting his tail off and therefore would snap – hopefully not his neck – any moment and beat him up.
Piccolo had suddenly stood in the middle of the hall like he had appeared out of thin air. Gohan had eagerly greeted his former teacher. The namekian had scowled but followed the happy half-saiyan into the living room where the other z-fighters had greeted him happily, making his scowl deepen.
Mister Satan and Buu were the last to arrive. They had driven around and argued how to find Capsule Corp; Buu had told Satan he should park and then they could fly, but the world-champion would hear no word of it. Instead he had used several minutes taking various detours through the complicated streets of West City before he finally found the correct road.
Bulma caught her guests' attention and said: "Please follow me into the dining room, dinner will be served in a few minutes."
Even the saiyans were nearly full when the dessert was served. There were four flavors of ice cream, three different cakes and rice-pudding.
"Wow Bulma, you and Mrs. Brief must sure have used a lot of time on all of this food," Goku said before stuffing his mouth once again. The other guests praised the food as well. There were a few moments of silence where everybody had food in their mouth.
Bulma looked around and enjoyed the moment. All of her friends and family were gathered and had a great time; this was indeed what Christmas was about. December might have been filled with ups and downs, but it was worth it!
She looked at Bra, who had just gotten down from her chair and was now going to her. She pulled at Bulma's sleeve and had her bent down to her. "Can I give Daddy his present now? I can't wait any longer." By the look of it half of the people in the room could head Bra even though she whispered. They looked at the blue-haired girl and Vegeta a time or two before turning their attention to their food or conversation. Bulma nodded and smiled at her daughter when she made a tiny squeak of happiness.
She looked down and tried to remove a fold in her wine-red dress so she wouldn't look too much at Vegeta when Bra reached him. He was without a doubt already fuming on the inside by being at the party it wouldn't heighten his mood to be the center of it…
Goku, who was sitting at her right, nudge her with his elbow. When she looked at him he pointed to her left with his head without looking at her. Bulma turned her head and saw Vegeta sitting with a deep fold around his mouth, showing his irritation. She grabbed his hand beneath the table and gave it a squeeze, making him look at her from the corner of his eyes.
After a few seconds Bulma looked at Bra. "Why don't you go into the hall darling?" she said quietly. "Then the gift won't get smudged by food," she added when she saw the somewhat disappointed look in her daughter's face.
Bra took a few steps away and Vegeta got out of his chair to follow her out of the dining room. As soon as the door closed behind them Bulma felt yet another nudge at her arm.
"What has Bra got for him?" Goku whispered, probably so not everyone would hear him.
"You'll have to wait and see," Bulma said and winked at him.
"Come on, Bulma, you know he won't show it to anyone…" Goku popped a piece of cake into his mouth and sent her a goofy smile.
Bulma leaned closer to her childhood-friend and whispered: "She's bought a necklace of leather with a blue stone-crown."
Goku nodded and swallowed the cake. "That sounds like a great gift." He turned around when Chi-Chi began to talk to him and Bulma turned to look at the door again.
Bra and Vegeta came into the dining room a few moments later; Bra looked overjoyed and Vegeta's scowl didn't seem to have deepened, which she took as a great sign. Vegeta sat down next to her and grabbed the nearest tray of cake to get some. Bulma smiled and turned away when he looked at her again from the corner of his eye.
Bulma whispered a goodbye to Videl and Gohan as they left. Pan hadn't slept all too well the night before, and she was fast asleep now in her mother's arms. She closed the door when she had waved at the car and walked into the living room where Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu were sitting as the last guests.
Krillin and 18 had taken off as the first; Master Roshi and Oolong had gotten pretty drunk and Maron had started to feel sick after eating too much. Mister Satan and Buu had excused themselves not so long after, saying they needed to walk Bee.
Yajirobe – and therefore Mr. Popo and Dende – had taken off when they had gone into the living room and sat down in the couches. Bulma suspected he got too close to Vegeta for his own comfort. Piccolo had said his goodbyes when the three others had left and took off himself.
Chi-Chi, her father, Goku and Goten had left minutes before Videl, Gohan and Pan. They had taken Trunks with them because the boys had asked at least a hundred times if they could do so…
Bulma sat down beside Vegeta and put her hand at his knee before slowly leaning close to him. "Why don't you go upstairs and check up on Bra? You don't need to stay down here until they go." He nodded and stood up without saying anything.
He was almost at the door when Yamcha, a bit too drunk called: "Hey Vegeta, do you dare leave your beautiful wife alone with three men?" He laughed so hard he almost bent over, but his laughter was cut off by Vegeta's hand at his throat.
"Get the fuck out of my house," the agitated saiyan snarled and threw the shocked Yamcha at the floor.
Bulma grabbed her husband's arm and looked at Tien. "Thanks for tonight, Tien. I hope you enjoyed yourself, you too Chiaotzu, but I think we should call it a night."
The three eye man nodded and helped his friend of the ground. "Sorry about that, Vegeta," he said and bowed towards the still huffing man. "Come on now, we're leaving," he mumbled and dragged Yamcha out of the living room.
Bulma sighed and shook her head. "He was only joking."
Vegeta growled but averted her gaze. "I know," he huffed.
"I know you know, and I know you only reacted because I've dragged you through tonight." She laid her hand at his chin and he let her move his head so they locked eyes. "Thank you, Vegeta."
Their lips had just touched when Vegeta pulled his head away and growled. "Oh did I interrupt something?" Mrs. Brief chippered and gasped when she looked at the couch. "Have Yamcha and the others left?"
"Yeah, Yamcha had a bit too much to drink," Bulma said before Vegeta managed to tell her mother what had truly happened.
"How sad," her mother said and shook her head. "Well then, we better call it a night," she said while yawning. "I've been up way too long, your father has even chosen to go to bed now; I just wanted to be a proper hostess." She walked to her daughter and dragged her into an embrace. "I hope you had a great night, sweetheart."
"I did, mom. It was just as fantastic as I thought it would be." She kissed her mother's cheek. "Thank you and goodnight mom. We all deserve a great night of sleep." Mrs. Brief nodded and left the living room.
Bulma sighed relieved when she got out of her dress and bra. Indeed she needed a full night's rest. She pulled a nightgown over her head and decided to check on her daughter before going to bed. Vegeta should be doing the same and she thought this might be one of the few times they stood with an arm around each other while looking at their daughter's beautiful sleeping face; those moments were some of her happiest.
When she was outside the room she stopped. She could hear voices through the nearly closed door.
"I don't want to get into my nightgown, I want to sleep in the princess-dress grandma and grandpa gave me!"
"Even your nightgown is a princess' dress." Bulma smiled like a fool by the care she could hear in her husband's voice.
"Because it's my dress?"
"Exactly."
There was a few seconds of silence before Bra said thoughtfully: "Then this is a king's crown because Daddy wears it!"
Bulma knocked when a couple of moments had passed in silence. She walked into the room and to her daughter's bedside. "Aren't you sleeping yet?" She embraced her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Remember you agreed on playing with Pan tomorrow, you can't sleep the whole day."
"I know mommy," Bra said and hugged her. "Good night." The little girl got under her blanket and closed her eyes.
Vegeta and Bulma got up from the bed and walked to the door. Bulma was about to close it when they heard Bra say: "Mommy, daddy?" They stopped and looked at their daughter, wondering what she might want to say now. "I love you. And Trunks and grandma and grandpa too."
"We love you too darling," Bulma said and blew a kiss at her daughter before closing the door.
When they got into their room Vegeta grabbed her arm and made her look at him. "You know you can't eavesdrop in this house, right?"
"I wasn't eavesdropping, I just happened to wait outside the room for a long time before I entered." She smiled at him and he shook her head before letting go of her. He took off his shirt and trousers and was on his way to the bathroom when she stopped him by putting her hand at his back. He looked at her with question in his eyes when he turned around. Bulma put her hand at the necklace and smiled fondly. "She found it herself; she was very proud when she showed it to me."
Vegeta put his hands on top of hers and looked into her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly. When he was about to go she said: "I haven't given you your present yet." He raised a brow. "You know, I think the two of us need some time away from all of it. Especially after this month. So I've booked a trip for two weeks in the end of January."
He sent her a smirk. "I hoped your gift would be no Christmas next year," he said playfully. She tried not to show him his surprise. "And may I ask how we should kill time during those two weeks?"
"Well, what do you suggest?" she asked seductively and put her arms around his neck.
"Hmmm," he hummed and kissed her lightly. "We could try to make that third brat you wish for."
Bulma tried to get out of his arms to look at him from a distance, but he didn't let her go. "Did mom tell you?" she asked fouriously. She was too shocked by his words to actually let the joy fill her.
"Have you forgotten how great a sense of hearing saiyans' got?" he said and looked at her like she was stupid.
"No not at all, it's just…" Then it hit her. A third child. He actually suggested they tried to get a child more! "Are… are you sure?" she stammered. "You hated it when Bra was a baby. You said…"
"It might be different this time, or else we will figure it out like you mother said." He seemed serious.
"But… but…"
"If you don't want to then…"
"NO! I want to try, I do. It's just – overwhelming!" She could feel a tear form in the corner of her eye. "I love you, Vegeta."
They stood in each other's embrace in complete silence a long time, just enjoying the other's presence. "Merry Christmas, Vegeta," she mumbled into his neck.
"Merry Christmas, Bulma."
A very merry Christmas; And a happy New Year; Let's hope it's a good one; Without any fear.
Merry Christmas to all of you! Thanks for all your response and support for this calendar, I have enjoyed every moment I've spent writing it and I hope you have enjoyed reading it.
If I don't manage to make a chapter to ADW before the end of December I want to wish you a happy new year, see you in 2014.