Not In A Million Years

Chapter 38

Sleep is overrated when you're lying next to your mate under the stars all night. Indeed not a wink was slept between the two of us; but the time was spent in quiet mental conversation and the sensation of skin on skin, tail fur on tail fur, that I could never get enough of.

Kakarot seemed to think I'd fallen asleep because I sensed his surprise when I broke a long silence.

'I'm pregnant again.' Of course, I knew I would be. I didn't use or need a human contraption to tell me any such thing; but it seemed to have just hit me right then.

Kakarot shrugged slightly, 'Third time's a charm.'

I sighed. Now I had to explain to everyone again; and if I failed twice the effort would be for nothing.

'There's no hurry to tell anyone,' Kakarot said, sensing my thoughts; 'It can stay our secret for a while.'

I nodded, feeling better. They'd probably figure it out on their own anyway.

"Hey," my mate actually spoke with his voice this time, "It's no cause to be upset. I'm actually glad. This is a blessing; it was a blessing the first time, the second, and now."

I looked at him and wove our fingers together, "I know."

The skyline was paling as the sun peeked over the mountains; a beautiful sight, but also a reminder that Tess and the demis would be waking soon, and we couldn't just stay here. Kakarot got to his feet first, helping me up and teleporting us inside. Who needs a door when you can Instant Transmit?

As the two of us got dressed for the day, the sun divorced the horizon a little more every second. I was pulling on one of my boots and I paused to marvel at the fact that I no longer wore gloves. When had I stopped covering my hands? Strange that it slipped my mind so long; I wondered if Kakarot had noticed, and if so, when.

I could hear Goten and Trunks shoving each other playfully on the way downstairs, and could feel Tesserot's ki shifting as he woke. I think this was the first morning he hadn't announced his hunger immediately with an earsplitting wail. Maybe he actually was growing up.

Kakarot turned from threading his tail through the hole we'd both put in every pair of pants we had now - granting said tail its freedom - and pulled me flush against him to plant a kiss on my forehead. I rubbed my nose against the side of his neck affectionately and looped his tail with mine. The moment popped like a soap bubble when the telltale cry of a baby Saiyan demanding food could be heard. Kakarot sighed and released me reluctantly.

"Breakfast isn't going to make itself," he muttered, flicking me under the chin with his tail lightly in passing.

As I followed him down the stairs, I could hear the demis fighting over cereal in the usual way, and decided to take a leaf out of their book; so to speak. I skipped several steps in a jump and pushed Kakarot from behind teasingly, bolting out of range when he attempted to get me back. The action resulted in a stumbling race down the remaining stairs which ended in both of us falling head over tail to the floor in a heap with me sprawled slightly on top of my larger mate.

Kakarot laughed, "Either I was just imagining things, or you were actually being playful just now."

I growled teasingly and pecked a kiss on the side of his nose, "You were just imaging things."

"Whatever you say,"

His eyes didn't leave my face for a long moment; then he leaned up and closed his lips over mine.

I heard footsteps and disconnected the kiss to see Gohan standing over us with one hand on one hip, a look of either amusement or exasperation on his face, or both.

"I swear, one of these days you'll just be glued together by the mouth; you're like a couple of horny teenagers."

Kakarot chuckled, gently extricated himself from under me, and got to his feet, "Well, by Saiyan standards; technically we are still teenagers."

The demi smirked, "Yeah but you could go two seconds without constantly touching each other."

I returned the smirk, "I highly doubt that."

Tesserot gave another piercing cry from the other room, dissipating the conversation.

"Right, food, I forgot," Kakarot said quickly.

Gohan blinked, "You forgot about food? Who are you and what have you done with Dad?"

I rolled my eyes and walked into the kitchen, "With my luck, the real Kakarot is handcuffed and gagged in the basement and this is a clone bent on getting my hopes way too high and then ripping them away."

Kakarot seemed hurt by my words; I hadn't meant to say them out loud. It had been a long time since my dry humor had turned morbid like it had been back in the old days.

I apologized with my eyes and started getting Tesserot's oatmeal ready. You wouldn't believe the things I could do with oatmeal these days; Tess's fickle appetite called for creativity.

'Could you get him out of his crib and get him dressed? I can handle breakfast today.'

Kakarot nodded; I could tell he was still stung by the fact that I'd suggested he was just leading me up to destroy me. I resolved to make it up to him later. Words meant a lot where my mate was concerned and they hurt worse than punches now; I could relate.

A few minutes passed in which water boiled, oats were stirred, and a pair of demi-Saiyans scurried outside after finishing their much-fought-over breakfast. Before long, Tess came somewhat unsteadily into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes after sleep, shadowed by his father. I felt my heart swell with the emotion I had been unfamiliar with until recently but which now made up so much of my life – love – as I saw them both. My mate and my youngest son; two years ago I would never have guessed I'd have either.

"Morning Tӫtka," Tess smiled up at me.

I hid a smirk as I saw the mismatched clothes he had on, "Did you dress yourself, Tesserot?"

He blinked once; then nodded proudly, "All by myself."

I looked up at Kakarot and he shrugged, "He said he wanted to do it himself." 'I have a feeling he wanted to impress you, Your Highness.' He added mentally.

I cast around for something parental to say in the situation, "Well, that was very grown up of you," I said nervously, not sure what the one-year-old wanted to hear exactly. Who can fathom the mind of a child?

Immediately Tess broke into a huge smile and stood on his toes to see what I was cooking; his short black tail swinging to maintain his precarious balance.

Saiyan development never ceased to amaze me; he was barely a year old and he spoke and acted like he was three times his age.

I handed him his bowl of cereal, making sure it wasn't too hot or too heavy beforehand and that the bowl wasn't breakable. He liked to do things himself; even if he hadn't completely mastered the art of using a spoon yet.

I was aware of Kakarot's presence directly behind me. He leaned his chin on my shoulder and murmured in my ear, "Feeling okay?" I knew he was talking about my being pregnant again.

I shirked him off insouciantly, "It's only been six hours, Kakarot; relax."

He looked at me steadily.

"Still, if anything doesn't feel right; just let me know."

His concern wiped the sarcastic reply I had in mind from my conversational pallet.

Tesserot finished his oatmeal in a record of five minutes and handed the bowl back to me, "More?"

Kakarot smiled, "He eats like a Saiyan,"

I whacked my mate with my tail, "He is a Saiyan." I turned to my son and added, "Of course there's more, Tesserot; how much do you want?"

It did me good to see the child growing strong and healthy; a living, breathing testament that somewhere in my messed up life I'd done something right .

X

Trunks and Goten were at school and Gohan was watching Tesserot for a while. Kakarot had suggested we spar one more time before my ki started failing me; and of course I'd jumped at the chance. The weather was fair, and on an island in the middle of nowhere, senseless destruction ensued.

Granted Kakarot and I had had some spectacular sparring sessions back in the day; but this one was nothing short of epic. Before an hour was up, the island had been split into separate chunks floating in the ocean from the sheer force of recurrent collision. The very sky shook with each blow and the flashes of yellow ki rivaled the brightest fireworks. Both of us were at Ascended Super Saiyan, and though punches and kicks were landed like speeding freight trains; we were careful not to hurt each other. Kakarot especially seemed to hold back; aiming nowhere near my midsection and hitting the cliff sides more than he did me, mostly just to feel the layers of solid rock give way.

For the moment, I could almost put all the worries and changes and difficulties out of my mind. It was as if it was still two years ago and I was still the undisputed, powerful Saiyan prince I used to be. Not a mother. Not a liability. Just a warrior that solved problems by blowing them up.

My mate seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly as well; though his attacks rarely made contact with me. The physical activity and radiating power seemed to light him up and make him into something new. He didn't have to worry about his drastically changing personality out here, nor did he have to battle mood swings that cancelled out even my worst, or attempt to be a father to three, a devoted mate, and Earth's protector all at once. It all boiled down to the beat of a heart, the pull of laboring muscle, and the rush of wind stirring up the ocean spray around us.

After five hours, we returned; sweat-soaked, filthy, bruised, bleeding, and completely rejuvenated.

"We've got to do that more often," Kakarot muttered, "After this is all over, I mean."

I nodded, "I doubt Earth has enough islands to withstand that."

"Then we'll go to other planets."

I stretched languorously before opening the door to the house quietly. It looked and sounded like the kids were asleep, except Gohan. I'd have to remember to thank him for doing his job so well.

The adult demi-Saiyan looked up from reading as we entered the living room; his eyes roved over us once before he went back to his book.

"You guys need a shower," he said simply.

Kakarot shot me a glance; then we both cracked up.

"I guess so," I said.

"Keep it PG in there," he warned as we walked away, "The bathroom's right next to Goten's bedroom."

I glared at him, "What do you think we are, brainless perverts?"

His raised eyebrows answered for themselves.

TBC

((Okay I lied. This one wasn't even 2,000 words. I guess some chapter's will just be short; but c'mon, fillers are hard to write.))