Vegeta took a deep breath and steeled himself as he approached Bulma in the employee dining room. She was next to the coffee machine fixing herself her morning cappuccino. Or two cappuccinos? He assumed the other must be for her father.
Her bright blue eyes looked up as he neared, and she graced him with a warm smile. "Hey, you." Vegeta was a little embarrassed by the way his heart fluttered, it felt like forever since they had been on good terms and she would greet him like this.
"Morning," he replied, giving her a soft smile despite the anxious beating of his heart. He was done with the games, he came over here to tell as much, he just hoped he wouldn't chicken out.
There was just the tiniest fear in the back of his mind, that she was going to tell him she regretted yesterday. That she said what she said in the heat of the moment and once she had time to think it through she decided he already blew his chance with her and she wasn't going to give him another.
Bulma raised her eyebrow at him, and Vegeta realized he had just been standing there staring during his internal spiral. "Are we going to talk about yesterday?" Bulma asked.
"I want to be with you, Bulma. I'm done pretending I don't," he blurted. Okay, not so eloquent but it was out there, no going back now.
A big grin spread across her lips as she glanced down at her coffee shyly. "Well good," Bulma said, looking back at him. "I want to be with you too." She reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a little squeeze. A wave of relief washed over him, but that was only step one.
"Would you want to go out with me on Friday?" Vegeta asked, emboldened by her reciprocation. He slipped his fingers in between hers.
"Vegeta Ouji, are you asking me on a real and proper date?" she smiled, and Vegeta's cheeks began to pinken.
"There's this, umm, art show that I was going to…"
"That sounds so fun!"
"I…uhh, know the artist."
"Ooh he's cultured and connected. Color me impressed," Bulma teased.
"She's... my mom."
Bulma's smile fell slightly and her eyes widened. "Your... mom?" she repeated, a little more than surprised. "I didn't realize… I mean... you've never talked about her before."
"Yeah… Well, she hasn't really been around the last few years, but we reconnected a few weeks ago. She lives here in town and we've been hanging out. I told her about...us...and yeah, she wanted to meet you." Bulma smiled at how shy Vegeta was acting, she could tell that this was important to him.
"Of course, if that's what you want. I'd love to meet her." Vegeta gave Bulma's hand another squeeze in silent thanks. "What's she like?"
Vegeta quickly let go of her hand, and started backing away. "I have to get back to my office, I have a project that I need to finish today."
"Wait! Seriously?!" Bulma protested with a laugh, "you're not going to give me anything?"
Vegeta walked backwards toward the exit, "She's basically the exact opposite of my dad."
Bulma giggled, "Well that's giving me an interesting mental image!"
"Friday night will definitely be interesting," he called before pushing out the door.
"Wait! His mom?!"
"Yes! Can you believe that?!"
"Like not to be rude, I just always thought his mom was dead," Chi Chi said.
"That's what I thought! He's never mentioned her before, like what else was I supposed to think?!" Bulma asked. Her cell phone sat on her night stand, Chi Chi's voice echoing out of the speaker, as she rummaged through her closet for something to wear on her date. "And he said she was the opposite of his dad, but I'm not even sure what he means by that. And it's an art show, but a meeting-the-mother type date, like what is the proper outfit for that combination!?" Bulma sighed as she dropped another dress onto the floor.
"I'm sorry, I'm still processing all this. His MOM!?"
"Like I'm not even joking when I say, I probably would have been just as surprised if he said we're going to Mr. Satan's party!" The girls both burst into laughter.
Vegeta was eating his lunch in the employee dining room, when he noticed Bulma and Dr. Briefs in line, in a seemingly heated debate. He observed quietly for several moments, the corner of his lips slowly curved up into a small smile. When they turned from the food toward the dining area, Bulma spotted him almost immediately. She said something to her father before the two parted ways, and she walked over to his table.
"Can I join you?" she asked sweetly. He was sitting alone at a four-person table.
"I was actually saving these all seats for my friends," Vegeta teased.
"Shut up," Bulma laughed as she sat down. She noticed the way he smiled as he looked down at his food. "What is it?"
He looked up like he didn't realize what he was doing. "Oh nothing, it's just... I'm happy for you." Bulma tilted her head surprised and a little confused. "I mean, I just remember you telling me about how you struggled to connect with your dad and how you just wanted to make him proud. I don't know, it seems like that isn't that much of an issue anymore."
A warm, happy feeling bloomed in Bulma's chest. "You're really sweet, you know that?"
"Whatever," Vegeta mumbled, looking back down at his lunch.
"So, are you going to tell me anything else about your mom before our date tonight, or do you just want me to be surprised," Bulma laughed.
"Oh gods, I really don't know where to start," Vegeta sighed, before deciding he had put it off long enough. He needed to unpack his history with his mother so things might actually start making sense for Bulma. She spent the entirety of lunch listening attentively, and it felt good to talk to someone about what reconnecting with such an important figure in his life was like. He had missed his mother so much, and seeing her again it was easy to make room in his heart to love her. But there were still some festering feelings of resentment and mistrust he knew he needed to work through.
"This is honestly so cool!" Bulma sang as she and a distracted Vegeta entered the elevator in his mom's building. "I haven't been to the Arts District much before, it's so chic and lively! Do you think I'm dressed okay?"
Vegeta refocused. "Yeah, no you look great," he replied, just giving her a quick glance. He watched anxiously as the elevator climbed the building, the numbers rising with each floor.
"Hey," Bulma smiled sweetly, throwing her arms around his neck to get his attention. "What are you so nervous about?"
"Nothing," he muttered, shaking his head. "I don't know."
Bulma placed a soft kiss on his lips, before whispering, "I think that we are going to have a great time, and your mother and I will get along really well, and you are worrying for nothing." She punctuated her pep talk with another kiss before the elevator dinged, and they exited into the vibrant room.
There were already about a dozen or so people ambling about the loft, socializing and drinking, as the music set a classy undertone to the room. The overhead lighting was dimmer than usual, allowing the spotlights to showcase all the art hanging on the walls. Bulma's blue eyes lit up as she surveyed the space. The city skyline was on full display through the huge windows against the far wall. Everyone was so stylish and sophisticated, she felt like a real West City socialite at a party like this.
Bulma felt Vegeta grab her hand and mumble, "okay, here we go." She wasn't quite sure if she was talking to her or himself, but he guided her through the room until they were beside a petite woman with long black hair talking animatedly to another guest about one of the paintings on the wall.
The moment she noticed Vegeta, her green eyes lit up. She excused herself from her conversation and made a beeline towards them. "There's my baby!" she sang, "I'm so glad you two could make it!"
"Hi, I'm Bulma," she greeted politely, sticking her hand out for a shake. But Vegeta's mother wrapped her in a hug instead, squeezing her tight.
"Oh my gods! You are even cuter than Veggie described! I'm so happy you're here! I'm Mushita, but you can call me Mushi," she said with a bright smile. It was funny, Vegeta and his father looked so similar, but there were subtleties about his mannerisms that were so his mother.
The three of them talked for some time before Vegeta's mom dismissed herself. "I have to go make another round and entertain my guests, but you kids have fun! There's appetizers on the table, and an open bar in the corner!"
"Mom," Vegeta grumbled. "We're seventeen."
"Have some sparkling cider, then!" his mother playfully rolled her eyes, before leaning toward Bulma. She shielded her mouth with her hand, but still spoke loud enough for him to hear, "my son, he's very serious you know!" Both Bulma and Vegeta's mother giggled at his annoyance.
Bulma watched Mushi glide away, drink in hand, as she greeted another guest with a kiss to both cheeks. "I know she's a little much," Vegeta muttered.
"What? I think she's fabulous!"
The pair made their way over to grab a drink, and Bulma could tell Vegeta was significantly less tense. They both ordered a cider, but the bartender poured them into champagne flutes at Bulma's request. "I at least want to feel fancy," Bulma told him as she raised her glass, Vegeta gave her an amused smirk.
"A toast, to relationship redos! For me and you, and you and your mom. I think both are looking really good." Vegeta clinked his glass against hers and they both took a sip.
"I sure hope you're right."
It was a few days until Vegeta returned to his mom's loft, excited to talk to her and hear about her first impression of Bulma. Bulma was amazing at the party, always so social and fun, he knew his mother would adore her, but hearing her approval was important to him.
When the elevator doors opened and he stepped out, his mother scrambled from around the corner to meet him at the door. "Veggie, baby, I wasn't expecting you so soon!" she said, and nervously glanced over her shoulder. Vegeta peeked down at his watch, this was the time he usually came over on Mondays.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, confused. She was clearly blocking his path into the loft for some reason. She glanced over her shoulder once more, "no! No! Don't be silly! Nothing is wrong! I just… have some company over."
Vegeta was puzzled at first, why would that have mattered? He met all of her friends at her art show just a few days ago. Unless… it was her boyfriend? Did his mom have a boyfriend?!
"Do you want me to come back later?" He asked, suddenly uncomfortable imagining what he may have just walked in on.
"No, no, please stay. Just… I'm sorry for not telling you that he was coming."
Vegeta timidly rounded the corner into the living room, unsure who he might find. Sitting on his mother's couch was the absolute last person he ever expected.
He sipped his coffee, before pulling the mug away from his lips. "So your mother tells me you think I've been too hard on you, is that right?" Vegeta Sr. said with a raised brow.
A/N: So I know there's a lot of different choices for Vegeta's mom's name. But I decided to name her Mushita, which is "steamed" in Japanese because I think it was funny for his parents to be "steamed vegetables". I do not know what the Japanese pronunciation is, but I like to read it moo-she, like rhymes with sushi. Hahaha I'd also be curious to know your headcanon momma Vegeta names are in the comments!
