Title's from the song from the live action Cinderella that came out back in 2015. I am fervently praying that the text convo portion stays formatted correctly when I post this chapter. We shall see.
Time Frame: March 5th-6th, Age 804 (Pan is 9 months pregnant and counting…)
Summary: Pan's in the last stages of her pregnancy and more than ready for it all to be over. Will she get her wish?
*~*S* Wednesday, March 5th: 7 am *S*~*
Pan luxuriated in the soft high thread count sheets; wavy blue-black locks splayed out over the pillows. Trunks smiled warmly at her as she turned her head this way and that, letting the sunlight coming through the window warm her face. The bulbous bump of her pregnant belly twitched minutely as their child shifted underneath her skin.
Kami, he could never get enough of her.
"Four days past my due date," Pan murmured, looking down at her belly with mild impatience, "and all I've got to show for it is back pain." She huffed and smoothed a hand over the side of her bump, smiling when the baby kicked fervently at the touch.
"They'll come when they're ready," Trunks soothed, a wry grin tugging at his lips, "isn't that what you tell your patients?"
"Well… yeah," the quarter saiyan used her arms to lever herself into a sitting position, "it might be true, but it means jack shit once you're in the back half of the third trimester. I'd pay top dollar for someone to coax gumdrop out of me."
"You're just gonna have to be patient," Trunks chuckled, "now, don't you need to get dressed so Bra can come pick you up?"
"Ugh, don't remind me," she groused, rolling over and swinging her legs over the side of the bed, "maybe I can fake going into labor so she'll leave me alone."
Trunks gave her a gentle push to get herself upright and smiled when she waddled into the bathroom. Pan was so cute when she waddled, he'd definitely miss it once she had the baby.
"I have work, but I'll cook breakfast before I go."
"I miss having work as an excuse for her to leave me alone."
"Please," the CC President snorted, "you've been loving having all this time off. Weird, since it was like pulling teeth getting you to take maternity leave."
Pan poked her head out of the bathroom, toothbrush hanging out of her mouth, to scowl, "you know what, I didn't ask for all this judgement this early in the morning." Her husband's laughter followed her back into the bathroom.
*~*S*~*S*~*
Trunks hummed to himself as he moved around the kitchen, cooking up a feast for him and his Pan-chan. He was already late, his mother was probably going to murder him, so he wasn't particularly in any kind of rush. He'd jumped in the shower while Pan was lamenting her oncoming torture at Bra's hands, and was already dressed for work, so all he had to do was eat and then he was out the door.
Pan waddled into the room, dressed in a pair of maternity jeans, a soft grey cotton v-neck, and a dark red, navy blue, and dark grey striped knit cardigan that hung open, framing her bump. She carried a pair of classic black and white checked Old Skool Vans and some black socks in her hands, and her purse was slung over her shoulder.
"Need help with your shoes?"
"Please?" Pan hopped up onto one of the stools at the breakfast nook and set her shoes and socks down on the stool next to her.
Trunks set both their plates down on the counter and gestured for her to start eating before he rounded the island to put her socks and shoes on for her. As he worked, he noticed her belly twitching under her shirt and smiled, "someone's active this morning."
"Yep," Pan smiled, "finally got out from beneath my ribs while I was in the shower. Still can't take a deep breath but it's better than last night." She huffed a bit, sliding a hand under her heavy belly to ease the tension in her lower back.
"Maybe you should wear the brace today," Trunks entreated, "you know how Bra can be when she's in shopaholic mode." He leaned into to press a kiss against her belly as he finished tying her laces.
"Can you grab it please?" Pan implored, "If I go back up those stairs I'm not coming back down." They shared a laugh before Trunks whizzed up the stairs, returning in a matter of seconds with the black piece of stretchy padded fabric in hand. His wife took it gratefully and set it aside to put on after she finished her meal.
"Alright," the demi saiyan glanced down at his watch, "I gotta eat and get out of here soon."
"Oh shit, you're late," Pan checked the time on her phone, "I'm sorry, did I hold you up?"
"You're the best kind of hold up," the lavender haired demi saiyan murmured, leaning in to peck her on the lips, "love you. I'll take my food with me and eat in my office. Tell Bra to try and take it easy on you."
"Telling her to take it easy at the mall is about as effective as taking cover in a paper mâché house during a category 5 hurricane."
"True," Trunks conceded, whizzing around the kitchen in a blur, packing his breakfast up so he could capsulate it and take it with him, "but it's worth a shot. I'll be home a—"
"A little after 5, I know," she forked some scrambled egg into her mouth, "relax, go to work and make a better capsule, I'll be fine. I love you." She smiled brightly around the mouthful of egg, swallowed, and grabbed him by the end of his tie to drag him in for another goodbye kiss.
*~*S* Around an Hour Later *S*~*
A ping at the back of Pan's head alerted her to the enemy's approach. The quarter saiyan's eyes went unfocused as she concentrated on the sinister ki, following its path as she waddled over to the sink to wash her breakfast dishes.
When the ki finally reached its destination, right outside of her home, Pan took a deep breath to steel herself, and pulled her shirt up to adjust her belly brace one last time before she went to face the threat head on.
"Here we go, gumdrop," Pan muttered to her belly, shouldering her bag and heading for the front hall, turning off lights as she went, "brace yourself." She paused, one hand on the doorknob, and took another stabilizing breath before setting the alarm and letting herself out of her safe haven.
A shrill voice made the pregnant brunette flinch as she locked the front door, "PANNY! TIME TO GO SHOPPING!"
"Dende take me now," Pan mumbled under her breath as she waddled down the walk to the bright red luxury aircar sitting at the curb, "Hey, Bra."
The bluenette climbed out of the driver's seat and scurried around the front end to open the passenger door for her sister in-love, "Hi, Panny," she smiled jubilantly, offering a hand to help Pan get into the car, "ready for some retail therapy?"
"Oh, I just can't wait to shop till I drop." Or until the baby drops OUT of me.
Pan slowly lowered herself to the soft taupe leather seat and swung her legs into the car. Bra shut the door behind her when she was settled, and she couldn't help but feel like she'd signed her death warrant.
"Oh, c'mon," Bra admonished, sliding back into the driver's seat, "I'm not gonna kill you. Walking's great for getting labor going, and I know you're ready for the baby to vacate the premises. Kami," she shuddered, recalling her own experience with the last month of pregnancy, "it feels like you've been pregnant for years during the 9th month, I swear."
"Oh, trust me, I know the feeling," Very VERY intimately, "Trunks told me to tell you to take it easy on me for his sake," and mine, "so can we please keep this trip short? I don't wanna stay at the mall long enough to go into labor."
"You know your definition of short and mine are two very different things, right?"
"Bra."
"Alright, alright, I got it," the saiyan Princess glanced at the time on the console, "we've got just over a half hour till the mall opens, so let's go get some coffee to kill time."
"Kami, I hate you."
"Why? What'd I do now?"
"You know I can't have caffeine," Pan growled, crossing her arms over her bulbous belly, definitely not pouting, "can't we just get bubble tea?" she could go for a Thai tea with lychee gel floaters, now that she thought about it.
"Alright, we'll get bubble tea. Tea House?"
"Of course. What are we, heathens?"
*~*S* At Capsule Corp *S*~*
Trunks worked his way through the small feast laid out on his desk, perusing through contracts and paperwork, reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He briefly toyed with the idea of getting contacts but cast the thought aside; he only needed the damn glasses for work and nothing else. Didn't change the fact that the damn things pinched the hell out of his nose.
Just get new frames then, smartass, the tiny voice in the back of his head, the one that sounded suspiciously like Pan, muttered.
As he grabbed his pen to sign off on a contract for the budget for the UK location, his cell phone chimed on the desk. Trunks put the pen to the side and grabbed his phone to look at the notification. It was a text from his wife.
Getting TH with Bra before delving into the depths of hell.
Feel free to swoop in and save me at any time.
-read at 8:44 am-
Trunks snorted with laughter and typed a quick reply.
Hmm, should I swoop in before or AFTER you finish
your XL Thai tea with extra lychee gel?
-read at 8:45 am-
The blinking text bubble popped up as Pan began to type her response, and Trunks took the moment to grab his pen, sign and initial the budget paperwork, and put it in the proper basket on the edge of his desk. His phone buzzed with a response. Before he could read it, the door opened just enough for his secretary, Ms. Nakiri, to poke her head in.
"Mr. Briefs, there's an emergency shareholder's meeting first thing Friday morning." The orange haired woman reported, "your mother just called to let you know, and she also said that attendance and punctuality are mandatory."
Haha Mom, very funny…
"Just plug it into my schedule, Ms. Nakiri. Thank you for the heads up." Trunks smiled politely, ignoring the way her cheeks flushed pink in response, and went back to his work and breakfast once the door was closed. His eyes went back to his phone, and he unlocked it again to read Pan's reply.
After, obviously. How's work?
-read at 8:51 am-
Do you honestly care?
-sent at 8:51 am-
Trunks chuckled softly to himself, making short work of finishing his breakfast and capsulating the empty dishes to be washed later. Taking a moment to wipe his desk to get rid of stray crumbs, his phone chimed again as he tossed the napkin into the trash. He flopped down in his leather chair and opened the conversation.
Do you honestly care?
-read at 8:54 am-
About the company stuff, no, but I care about you and
how you're doing, love. XP
-read at 8:55 am-
D'aww.
-read at 8:55-
Well it's TRUE.
We just pulled into the lot at the mall.
Your sister's EXTREMELY pleased that I came with because
she gets to use the "Expectant Mom" parking space close to
the front of the lot. A little TOO pleased imo.
-read at 8:56 am-
In that case, I'll leave you to your grisly fate.
I've got a pile of paperwork to get through.
Godspeed, my love.
-read at 8:57-
I'll need more than that to make it through this.
If I don't survive this dreadful ordeal, please close the
millions of tabs I have open in the internet browser
on my phone. Lol, I love you. Have a good day.
-read at 8:58 am-
I love you too, and I'll try if you
try to have some fun with Bra...
and you better not have our baby
at the mall or else.
-read at 8:58 am-
No promises. ;P
-read at 8:59 am-
*~*S* At the Mall, Just Past Noon *S*~*
So far the belly brace was doing its job and keeping Pan's back pain from escalating any further. It was a blessing considering Bra had dragged her from one end of the mall to the other… repeatedly. She was doing some shopping for a project she was working on for a high profile customer who she was being very tight lipped about. At this point, Pan was convinced the mystery customer was Beyoncé or someone at that level of fame, it was the only reason why she could see her sister in-love refusing to spill.
(A/N: I'm trying not to do these ANs anymore, they break up the flow of the fic. In regard to the Beyoncé thing, I have a cousin who performed with her at Coachella and he had to sign an NDA, or Non-Disclosure Agreement, and he couldn't tell anyone about it or his involvement until after the fact. Hence, Pan's suspicion that Bra's customer is really high profile.)
"Alright," Bra set the veritable pile of purchases she'd made, mainly swatches of fabric, some paint samples, and other interior design stuff that Pan wasn't aware could be bought outside of a home improvement store, down to capsulate them for easier transport, "I'm done, now," she placed the capsule in her "work" capsule case, "let's look at baby things."
"I thought you completely stocked the nursery," Pan deadpanned, raising a brow in question, "we've got prams, car seats, and all that jazz, why do we need to buy more stuff?"
"It never hurts to look," the bluenette linked arms with her pregnant sister in-love, "c'mon, you might be really stubborn about shopping for yourself, but my niece or nephew's not about to suffer fashion-wise due to your willful ignorance."
"Fine," Pan conceded, "let's go look. I saw a baby store a few storefronts back, we can look in there."
"Oh no," Bra shook her head, "we're not shopping somewhere basic like Baby and Me," she turned up her nose, "Boutique Bambino's about halfway to the other side of the mall and they have a much better selection."
"We've been back and forth all mid-morning shopping for your top secret client," the pregnant brunette whined, "why can't we go somewhere close? I'm 9 months pregnant," she hissed, "and just because I'm part saiyan," she whispered the last part, "does not mean I'm not suffering for it. Baby and Me or nothing."
Midnight blue met cerulean as the two women stared each other down.
"Alright, fine," Bra relented, "we'll go to Baby and Me."
Pan smiled brightly and the two women set off at a sedate pace. After a few paces, Bra leaned over, laying her head on her friend's shoulder, "I'm sorry for being so…"
"So "you"?"
"Yeah, that," the bluenette laughed, "so "me" or whatever. You know how I get."
"It's the Aunt Bulma in you," Pan shrugged, pecking her friend's forehead, "I get it, I'm just not about to get dragged across this mall again unless there's food involved."
"Oh shit, did I forget to feed you?"
"Relax, I'm not hungry yet," the brunette chuckled, "Trunks made me a pretty big breakfast, he knew you'd be preoccupied for a while. I could go for a snack, though."
"How does a pretzel sound?" Bra offered, "I know you're a sucker for those giant soft ones from Aunt Annie's. There's one just across the way from Baby and Me, we can grab one for you before we go in."
"Only if I get a blue raspberry lemonade to go with it."
"Deal."
*~*S*~*S*~*
Pan contently munched on her third giant pretzel, one of the ones with the melted cheese on top, as Bra led the way into the baby store. It was smaller than Boutique Bambino, she silently conceded, and it had less variety. None of this bothered her as much as it did her sister in-love, judging by the thinly veiled look of disappointment on her face.
"Welcome to Baby and Me, is there something I can… help you… ladies with?" a familiar voice inquired politely, distracting both saiyan women from their perusal of monogramed onesies. Pan and Bra exchanged a look before turning to face their former classmate.
"It's Lindsay, right?" Bra inquired, keeping her voice perfectly polite, "Gorgen?"
It'd been years since Pan thought about high school and the people she'd attended it with, but she was blindside by a very vivid memory involving Lindsay…
"Pan," Zeke said loudly, drawing attention from the entire cafeteria, "I'm so sorry that I have to turn down your desperate offer go to the prom with me!"
Marron choked on a gasp and nudged Pan, "is this why you didn't want to talk? Because of him?" Pan shook her head frantically, trying to tone down the gossip flying around the room, "No, Maz, I never -"
A cheerleader, Lindsay Gorgen, sauntered up to them, "Zeke, the man-girl asked you to prom? Maybe she really is as desperate for a date as I heard!" Pan stood up and stormed out of the room.
"Oh, how the mighty granddaughter of Hercule Satan has fallen!"
Pan stopped at the doors and turned around, a harsh glint in her eye, "No, I'm not a fan of flaunting every curve of my body, getting illegal surgery to look great, or whoring myself out to every guy on the football team, but at least I have more dignity than you'll ever dream of. Everyone kisses the ground you cheerleaders walk on, and for what? Because you're just as fake as the dolls that come out of a box, and your stomach's stapled up so tight you couldn't swallow a marble without bursting apart. And Zeke, if this was a ploy to get a round of pity sex out of me, then you did one bang up job. I wouldn't bed you if you were the last man on the planet. You probably have every STD under the sun from that bimbo!"
Lindsay screeched in outrage, "You bitch, take that back!"
Pan smirked haughtily, "but why, Lindsay? Isn't it true? You've bedded every guy on the football team more than once. Zeke mentioned your skills once or twice while he was trying to get in my pants. You give a nice blow job, no?" The cheer horde stepped away from Lindsay, staring at her like she was a foreigner, and she burst into tears, pushing past Pan to run out to escape the laughter…
A wave of shame and guilt crashed over Pan's head, and she found she no longer had an appetite for the pretzel. She remembered feeling embarrassed and ashamed of how she'd overreacted, though Bra told her she was well within her rights to. Zeke, Kami how long had it been since she'd last thought about that asshole, had been at fault, not Lindsay. And, to top it all off, she'd never apologized.
Kami, this is awkward as hell…
"It's Vidor now," Lindsay smiled cordially, though it didn't quite meet her eyes, "Hal and I got married last Spring."
"Oh, congratulations," Bra smiled wanly, "Panny here just tied the knot last Fall, and my big day's coming up this July."
"Oh, I saw," Lindsay shifted her gaze to Pan, who felt like shrinking under its weight, "the reception televised on pretty much every news station. Congrats, Mrs. Briefs. On the new husband and the baby."
"Thanks. Same to you… for the husband."
The tension between the three women ratcheted up a bit as the silence grew stale and awkward. In a stroke of luck, no other customers or employees were in the store at the moment. Lindsay drifted away to check some of the displays over, but it was clear that she was incredibly tense.
'Panny, you okay?' Bra's 'voice' nearly made Pan jump. She sent her sister in-love a pointed look in her peripheral vision.
'I'm fine,' she replied, 'can you give me a minute alone with Lindsay?'
'If this is about that whole prom thing, I swear to Dende—'
'Bra! Just a few minutes,' Pan stepped away from her best friend, 'if she tries to attack me or… I don't know, punch me in the stomach, you're more than welcome to kick her ass.'
'… alright,' the bluenette conceded, 'if she upsets you, I'm kicking her ass regardless.'
'B-chan…'
'You're in a delicate state, Panny. Stress isn't good for the baby.'
'I could go into labor any day now, woman. Maybe the stress will help trigger the damn labor. Calm down.'
Bra snorted aloud, caught off guard by the stress comment. Pan rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself before waddling over to Lindsay. The blonde woman tensed up further, having seen her approach in her peripheral vision.
"I never apologized for what I said to you," Pan admitted, "I could say I never got the opportunity, but we both know that's a lie." The truth is I completely forgot about it.
"You were too busy dating the world's former Most Eligible Bachelor to care about little old me," the former cheerleader said flatly, "not like you've got much time to think about us little people when you're in the big leagues, huh?" Ouch.
"Lindsay, I'm sorry," the pregnant quarter saiyan murmured, "I know you probably don't buy it, but I really am. I'm not trying to excuse what I did, but I was feeling cornered after what Zeke did to me and I lashed out. I should've just kept walking."
"School was kind of shitty for me after that," Lindsay admitted, "but it was high school. That shit's in the past. Thanks for apologizing, but we both know that if you hadn't come in here, you'd still be floating around in your little elitist bubble without a care in the world."
Pan barely kept herself from flinching. It was sadly true, she couldn't deny that, but it still stung like a slap in the face. And of course it was at this moment of all moments, her hormone driven tear ducts decided to well up, blurring her vision slightly.
"Panny…"
"You're right," Pan admitted, holding out a hand to deter Bra's approach, "if I hadn't walked in here and saw you, I wouldn't have remembered. But I did, so I figured why the hell not. Couldn't hurt." She blinked the tears back before they could fall.
"Well, you finally laid that guilty conscience of yours to rest, so if you're not planning on buying anything…" Lindsay nodded towards the entrance pointedly, "this was nice, or whatever, but I'm on the clock."
"Look, you insensitive—"
"Bra," Pan turned to look at her irate sister in-love pointedly, "let's go."
Bra bit her lip, clearly wanting to tear Lindsay a new one, but ultimately conceded and followed her out of the store. The bluenette was quietly seething as they made their way towards the middle of the mall, where the food court was located, grumbling under her breath the whole way.
"We're not complaining to her supervisor, we're not calling corporate, we're not doing anything to hurt her in any way," Pan grabbed Bra's arm and squeezed, tightly enough to get her point across, "seriously Bra, let it go."
"She was being a bitch," Bra growled, "all that 'it was high school' and 'it's in the past' shit and she's clearly still bitter about it."
"I embarrassed her in front of most if not the entire school," Pan replied calmly, "I think she's entitled to still be bitter."
"You told me I could kick her ass if she hurt you," Bra cast her an annoyed yet concerned glance, "she made you cry."
"Bra, I'm pregnant," Pan snorted bemusedly, "everything makes me cry. I cried last night because we ran out of the cinnamon pita chips I've been eating by the truckload. And I believe I said you could kick her ass if she attacked me, not if she said things that were hurtful because they were the truth."
"I just… you really expected me to just sit back and watch her make my bestie cry? Really?"
"You know if I wasn't pregnant I wouldn't have cried," Pan sniffed, affronted, "you know that. It was just my hormones ruining the day, as usual."
"Uh huh."
"They've been ruining my tough girl image for the past 9 months and I'm sick of it." Pan pursed her lips in thought, "d'you think we ended up going to Baby and Me because of divine intervention?"
"What, like Dende's decided to screw with us for funsies?" bra shook her head, "we're gonna ponder that later," the bluenette linked her arm with Pan's, "let's go to the food court so you can sit for a bit. We've been at it for a few hours."
*~*S* Three-ish Hours Later *S*~*
Pan's back was trying to kill her.
I'm hoping this means you're a little closer to vacating the premises, she thought to herself, glancing down at her belly with mild amusement. The baby shifted a bit, following the path of her fingers as she ran them along the side of her belly.
By the end of the shopping trip, the ache in Pan's back was a constant presence, her ankles had blown up, and the meager amount of energy she'd had earlier in the morning had dwindled away entirely, leaving her almost dead on her feet. Luckily, her sister in-love took mercy on her and brought the car around instead of making her walk through the lot.
"Alright, honey," Bra greeted warmly as the pregnant quarter saiyan slid into the passenger seat, "let's get you home." She glanced at the empty car seat in the backseat, "Aya-chan's over at Mom's, I need to go pick her up. Do you wanna head over there with me or do you want me to drop you off at yours first?"
"Back to mine," Pan sighed tiredly, "I need a shower, some food, and a nap... preferably in that order."
"I'll pick you up some grub on the way. Craving anything particular?"
"Pizza from Rizzo's? A stack of XL Mushroom Lover's with extra garlic and a pesto drizzle on thin crust." Pan licked her lips, eyes going starry just picturing the delicacy being in arm's reach. Bra turned to look at her friend briefly, snickering when she saw the look on her face.
"Call it in so we can be in and out, baby momma." Bra passed her cellphone over and pulled off into traffic.
*~*S*~*S*~*
Pan waved from the front stoop as Bra pulled away from the curb and took to the skies in her air car, ducking back into the house when she was no longer in sight. The beleaguered mother to-be rubbed at her aching back, not looking forward to the trip up the stairs but knowing she'd have to make it if she wanted to wash the day off and get comfortable.
First, Pan toed off her shoes in the foyer and waddled into the kitchen on socked feet. She put the hot pizzas in the oven to hold their temperature before making her way slowly upstairs to hers and Trunks' room. In the pocket of her jeans, her cellphone began to chime out her husband's personal ringtone.
"Hey, babe."
"Hey," Trunks greeted warmly, "just checking in to see if you made it home alright."
"I'm here in one piece," she put the call on speaker and placed the phone on the bed before starting to remove her belly brace and clothes, "Bra took good care of me. She even fed me." Her thoughts drifted back to the incident with Lindsay at Baby and Me, and she decided to wait till he got home to bring it up.
"That's good," the demi saiyan hummed, "well, you probably wanna shower and get comfy, I'll leave you to it."
"Alright, I'll see you soon. I love you."
"Love you too. Bye, princess."
"Bye Trunks-kun."
*~*S*~*S*~*
Pan was seated on the cushy sofa in the living room, pillows all around her for comfort, munching on her twelfth and final slice of her third mushroom-laden pizza while a movie played in the background. It was something she'd already seen before; she just wanted the background noise to fill the silence of the empty house.
By the time she'd polished off the crunchy garlicky crust, Pan's eyes were beginning to droop in earnest. Thanks to the wonderful hot spray of the shower, her back pain had lessened to a more manageable level, but falling asleep on the sofa was basically inviting it to worsen again.
"Can't win for losing," she mumbled, gathering her dishes and waddling into the kitchen to put them in the sink. She'd load the dishwasher, but it was too low down for her with her belly in the way. Besides, Trunks would handle them once he got home.
Pan huffed her way back up the stairs to the bedroom and slipped out of her comfy palazzo pants, preferring to sleep in just the oversized navy hoodie she wore and her panties. The drowsy pregnant woman slid under the sheets and was out before her head hit the pillow.
*~*S*~*S*~*
When Pan awoke from her "nap", the sun was beginning to set, and she could hear multiple voices coming from downstairs. Someone, Trunks, had been gracious enough to put all of her support pillows their proper places but, despite this, her back still ached.
With a huff, the quarter saiyan rolled out of bed and slipped back into her palazzo pants before making her way downstairs. She took the stairs slowly, one hand on the wall and other gripping the bannister as her belly threatened to drag her down faster than she was able.
To her surprise, when she entered the kitchen, she found Trunks and her parents talking animatedly while Chyna and Corra sat by quietly, not feeling the need to join the conversation.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," Videl was the first to acknowledge her presence, crossing the kitchen to wrap her eldest up in a hug, "we were on our way back from visiting your Grampa Hercule and thought we'd drop in."
"Hi Mama," Pan hummed cheerfully, "how's Gramps?"
"The same as usual." Videl rolled her eyes in exasperation. Pan snorted amusedly and waddled over to her father to greet him. As they embraced, the baby began to kick with renewed energy, as it did whenever Pan came into contact with someone with a high ki signature.
"Hi sweetheart," Gohan chuckled, looking down at her full belly with a wide grin, "and hello to you too, little one."
"Hey Papa." Pan pecked him on the cheek and turned to face the twins, who readily swarmed her the moment she opened her arms.
Pan kissed both of her younger sister's on the tops of their heads and squeezed them tightly before releasing them. Chyna stayed close to her side, a hand on her belly to feel the baby's movements.
"Are you all hungry?" Pan inquired, "did Trunks feed you?"
"I fed them, Pan-chan," Trunks murmured, coming up behind her and looping his arms around her middle, "I'm not a heathen." His wife snorted and settled into his hold.
"How're you feeling, hon?" Videl asked softly, "I know you're a few days over now..."
"I don't think it'll be too much longer," Pan surmised, "gumdrop's been dropped for almost a week and I've been having a lot of back and hip pain these last couple days." Her mucus plug had given way while she was in the shower two days back, but that was a little too graphic to share with her parents and sisters present.
"Why'd you let me sleep so late?" she turned to look over her shoulder at her husband, "it's almost sundown, I'm gonna be up all night."
"Bra told me she pushed you a little bit too far today, so I figured I'd let you get your rest," he responded, leaning down to kiss her temple, "and you won't be up all night, you're borderline narcoleptic lately."
Pan nodded, conceding his point. She was always tired since she'd hit the third trimester, dropping off into sleep at the drop of a hat. According to her husband, her snoring had also worsened over the past months, but it wasn't like she could gauge that since she was asleep when it happened. She noticed, belatedly, that her mother was speaking.
"Well, we just wanted to say hi, we don't wanna keep you," she smiled warmly, "we'll see you guys later."
"Oh… okay," Pan, recalling that she was supposed tell Trunks about the Lindsay thing, smiled and nodded, "alright, well, we love you guys."
"Hopefully the next time we're all together, it'll be because Panny finally had the baby," Trunks joked, "thanks for swinging by."
*~*S*~*S*~*
Later in the evening, Pan found herself back in bed, buffeted by pillows for comfort, while Trunks was in the bathroom, going through his nightly routine. She had the remote in hand, switching through channels while her mind was elsewhere, mulling over the encounter with Lindsay. She didn't realize how long she'd been lost in her own head until her husband was in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face.
"… Panny? Earth to Panny," Trunks chuckled, "what's going on in that beautiful mind of yours?"
"Something I want to talk about." she replied softly, scooting up so she was upright rather than reclining. Something in her tone washed the amusement from Trunks' face, and he crawled onto the bed, sitting cross legged in front of her.
"Bra texted me about something that happened at the mall, but she didn't give me any details," he hedged, searching her face for any clues, "is that what this is about?"
"Yeah," Pan admitted, inwardly thanking Bra for helping to break the ice, "I ran into an old classmate, and… do you remember that one time when I was still in high school, it was a few months before we started dating. We'd met up at Rizzo's and I was upset because I had an incident during lunch at school that day…"
Trunks blinked, thinking back to that time. Kami, he marveled, it's really weird to think about how we used to dance around each other because we were so oblivious. He focused on combing through his memories, searching for the day in mind.
"Oh yeah," he murmured, "that asshole Zack or whatever his name was told the whole school that you'd asked him to prom and that he'd turned you down," he tamped down the well of anger he felt, thinking about how subdued Pan had been that afternoon, "and he was bothering you at the pizzeria."
"Yes," Pan took his hand and squeezed gently, sensing where his thoughts had gone, "it's in the past, honey. But there was this girl who walked up right after it happened, and she said some things as I was walking out of the room, meaningless shit that I shouldn't have let get to me, but you know how I was back then…"
"Yeah," Trunks nodded, whistling in memory, "your temper was something else."
"Harhar. But she called me "desperate", "man girl", and said something like "oh how the granddaughter of the mighty Hercule Satan has fallen" and I just… it would've been different if Zeke hadn't blindsided me," she grit her teeth, "but I felt cornered and I lashed out at her. It should've been Zeke, not her. I tore her a new one and then some… Yes, she insulted me, but I took it too far. She ran out of the cafeteria crying. I remember feeling bad about it, but… I guess I just forgot about it."
"So I'm assuming the incident involved her?"
"She just so happened to be working at the baby store we stopped at," Pan shrugged, "I've never been there before, I just saw it when we passed by on our way to one of Bra's stops. She wanted to drag me clear across the mall to go to Boutique Bambino, but I was tired of walking all over creation, so I kinda twisted her arm and made her go to Baby and Me instead. So we walk in the door and start browsing, and she comes up behind us to greet us and I got slammed with that memory of that day in the cafeteria. I haven't thought about it in years, it took me completely by surprise."
"I'd bet," Trunks took both of her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over the backs soothingly, "what happened after that."
"I decided to apologize," Pan pressed her lips into a thin line, "she was… less than receptive. She didn't yell, didn't try to attack me, she just… she said some hurtful things, but they only hurt was because they were true."
"Panny—"
"I'll show you," she offered, cutting her husband off, "I think I might be able to project it telepathically. It'll be easier than re-telling the entire thing." Pan laced their fingers together and closed her eyes to concentrate on her task. Projecting images, much less memories, was a bit more difficult than simple words and thoughts.
Trunks closed his eyes to see the memories. He felt Pan's warm, sunny ki poking at his mind for entry, and it was next to nothing to relax and let her in. Her warm presence filled his mind, and he only a moment to revel in it before the memories of the encounter began to flow. It was as if he were Pan, seeing the encounter through her eyes…
"I never apologized for what I said to you," Pan admitted, "I could say I never got the opportunity, but we both know that's a lie." The truth is I completely forgot about it.
"You were too busy dating the world's former Most Eligible Bachelor to care about little old me," the former cheerleader said flatly, "not like you've got much time to think about us little people when you're in the big leagues, huh?" Ouch.
"Lindsay, I'm sorry," the pregnant quarter saiyan murmured, "I know you probably don't buy it, but I really am. I'm not trying to excuse what I did, but I was feeling cornered after what Zeke did to me and I lashed out. I should've just kept walking."
"School was kind of shitty for me after that," Lindsay admitted, "but it was high school. That shit's in the past. Thanks for apologizing, but we both know that if you hadn't come in here, you'd still be floating around in your little elitist bubble without a care in the world."
Pan barely kept herself from flinching. It was sadly true, she couldn't deny that, but it still stung like a slap in the face. And of course it was at this moment of all moments, her hormone driven tear ducts decided to well up, blurring her vision slightly.
"Panny…"
"You're right," Pan admitted, holding out a hand to deter Bra's approach, "if I hadn't walked in here and saw you, I wouldn't have remembered. But I did, so I figured why the hell not. Couldn't hurt." She blinked the tears back before they could fall.
"Well, you finally laid that guilty conscience of yours to rest, so if you're not planning on buying anything…" Lindsay nodded towards the entrance pointedly, "this was nice, or whatever, but I'm on the clock."
"Look, you insensitive—"
"Bra," Pan turned to look at her irate sister in-love pointedly, "let's go."
It was disorienting, experiencing Pan's memories firsthand. They'd never tried anything like this before, and Trunks had to take a moment to let his mind settle before he could begin processing what she'd shown him. Pan's warm presence hovered anxiously in the back of his head until he seemed settled enough, and then it retreated. He immediately missed the feeling, but it was easy to tamp down the yearning.
Trunks opened his eyes and found his wife's anxious midnight blue ones peering at his face with concern.
"That was… something else," he laughed shakily, "it was weird, like I was you. I could feel everything you were feeling; your emotions, your reactions... I could even feel the baby moving around inside you, your back pain, all of it," he shook himself, still the slightest bit entangled with the perspective change, "I owe you the world, by the way."
Pan snorted amusedly, "now you know how hard this whole child-bearing thing is, but that's not the point," she moved back to the subject with ease, "well, that happened it got me thinking…"
"You're not out of touch," Trunks murmured, "your parents raised you to be considerate and sympathetic to others, you've had shaky moments when you were younger, we all have, but you've outgrown them," he paused, grasping at something mentally, "if you were stuck in an "elitist bubble", you never would've gone through all the trouble you went through to bring the twins home. Baby, she doesn't know you, and she never will."
"That's different, the twins are family," Pan shook him off, "I just… I dunno. We do exist in a bubble, though. We might not be elitist, but there is separation between us and the "little people"."
"We're famous, hon," Trunks shrugged, "kinda comes with the territory. I'm not saying it's right, but it's been this way for years and it'll probably still be that way long after we're dead."
"I just don't get it," she frowned, "we're human… some of us more so than others," she pointedly ignored her husband's raised brow, "we bleed red just like they do, but we've ended up on pedestals like some kind of Kais."
"They really wouldn't think so highly of us if they saw what you look like first thing in the morning."
Pan flicked Trunks off, grumbling noncommittally about committing uxoricide under her breath as he busted up laughing at her. He recovered, taking her hands and bringing them up to his lips to kiss each one, "you're the most down to earth celebrity I know," he soothed, "she's just bitter about what you said to her all those years ago and saw that as an opportunity to get some payback. If it made her feel better, then at least you gave her that much. You and I know you were completely genuine and that's all that matters."
"But she wasright when she said I was just laying my guilty conscience to rest."
"The fact that you felt guilty enough to apologize speaks volumes about your character," the lavender haired Prince hummed, "you realized you were in the wrong, and tried to make it right. If she didn't realize that, then that's on her. We've got bigger things," he leaned down to kiss her bulbous tummy, "on our plates at the moment, we don't need to add this to it."
"I want to do something," Pan mumbled, smiling as her husband peppered her bump with kisses, "My name's on a few charities through Gramps, but I think I want something that's mine. Something that I created and can be hands on with."
"Okay," her husband nodded, "who would this hypothetical charity benefit? How's it going to be funded?"
"Not sure on the who just yet, but I know how I'm going to fund it," she smiled brightly, "my inheritance from Grampa Satan is sitting there, gathering dust and interest. I don't use it because it feels weird, so I might as well put it to good use. I'll wait until the baby's here before I start hammering out more details."
"I'm not trying to intrude on your potential charity, but what do you think about focusing on something like… the twins," Trunks offered, "they were abused and hurt, and they were going to be sold into the sex trade once they were old enough, maybe you can start there?"
Pan felt a wave of hatred towards the man who'd abused her little sisters swell in her gut, leaving a bitter taste at the back of her tongue. She knew the man was dead, but just thinking about what he'd done, what he'd planned to do to her sisters made the hate and rage surge.
"I'll think about it," she managed to spit, jaw clenched with residual anger, "but I think we need to put this to rest before I start thinking about finding a way to bring Chan back so I can kill him again." She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to banish the burning ember in her chest. The baby was starting to move around, agitated by her shift in mood, and the last thing she wanted was to be up all night feeling them kick and press against her poor squished organs.
"Alright," Trunks murmured, rubbing his hands in wide circles over her twitching belly, "I'm off work tomorrow, we can go do something together, just the two… err, three of us," he chuckled softly at his blunder, "anything you want, I'm game."
"Walking," Pan looked up at him imploringly, "we're going walking because I need this baby out of me asap."
*~*S* March 6th, 10 am *S*~*
There was a small park a few blocks over from their home. Pan wanted to walk the whole way, from the house to the park, but Trunks thought it was too strenuous for her at this stage of her pregnancy. Pan simply scowled at him and thrust her socks and tennis shoes at him so he could help her get them on.
The quarter saiyan wore a pair of navy blue activewear tights with a high waist that covered the lower half of her bulbous belly, a matching sports bra, and a pale orange t-shirt with artful triangular cutouts over her shoulder blades. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail with her old orange bandana tied around it to keep it in place.
"Walking's great for getting labor started," Pan told her husband matter-of-factly, "and since you refuse to have sex with me, which is also a great way to help things along, I guess we're taking the less fun route."
"The last time we had sex, you passed out because of your wacky blood pressure," Trunks admonished, "forgive me for being a concerned husband." Pan responded, ever so maturely, by sticking her tongue out at him and waddling a bit faster to put more space in between them. Her husband closed it in a few quick strides, slinging an arm around her middle to pull her to a stop.
"We've still got two blocks to go," she grumbled, squirming away, "I'd like to make it back to the house before dark so we can do something else today. You're going back to work tomorrow, and I'm gonna be stuck at home. We should really get a pet."
"We're going to have a baby soon, I think our hands'll be too full for a pet, Panny." Trunks grasped her hand, pulling her along the sidewalk at a more sedate pace.
"Fair," Pan conceded, "we should've gotten one before we got married. What do you think about rabbits? Marron has one and he's the cutest little thing."
"Don't they poop... like a lot?"
"Well yeah, but Fluffernutter's litter box trained so it's not a problem."
"..."
"What?"
"She named the rabbit... Fluffernutter?"
"Yes, what's wrong with that?" Pan inquired, cocking her head to the side, "I think it's cute."
Trunks shook his head and swung their joined hands between their bodies. It was nice to be able to get out of the house and do something romantic together. It'd probably be the last chance they'd get before the baby came.
After their babymoon/trip for Trunks' birthday in late January, spent in London as promised, he'd been working a lot more to compensate for the mess that was the UK location. In lieu of going back himself, he'd sent a team of his best and brightest to get it back into proper shape. Despite that, there was still a lot of work to be done on his end, signing off on contracts, re-hiring, etc. Since it was his idea to shut the location down, his mother refused to help him get it ready to re-open.
"You made this bed, so you get to lay in it sweetie."
"Hey," Pan nudged her husband's side, "where'd you go, babe? Your brow's doing that scrunchy accordion thing it does when you're thinking too hard."
Trunks blinked out of his reverie and glanced down into the twin pools of midnight blue gazing up at him imploringly, "nothing, just thinking about work is all… wait, what "scrunchy accordion" thing?"
"Stop bringing your work home with you," she gently admonished, smiling warmly, "this is Pan and Trunks time, not Mr. and Dr. Briefs time. Don't worry about it."
"Yes ma'am," he chuckled, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, "Pan and Trunks time."
*~*S*~*S*~*
Trunks and Pan ended up leaving the park a bit earlier than they'd intended, due to an increase in back pain that was erring on the side of debilitating on the pregnant quarter saiyan's part. At the moment, they were both in the shower, with a hot oscillating spray washing over Pan's back.
"How's it feeling now?"
"Better." Pan mumbled; voice muffled due to her face being pressed against his chest. Trunks ran his hands over her back in slow, soothing circuits and she melted against him, tension slowly leaching from her body.
"C'mon," he whispered, "let's get scrubbed up so I can rub your ankles and feet. I know they're swollen."
"You can say 'I told you so', I promise not to get mad." The quarter saiyan murmured, looking up at her husband through wet lashes.
"I think you're in enough of a pickle, sweetheart," Trunks leaned down to kiss her forehead, "now, what else did you want to do today?"
"Well…"
*~*S*~*S*~*
Pan shifted, trying to get comfortable for what seemed like the millionth time in the past half hour. An annoyed growl left her, unbidden, as she shifted in the bed, moving her pillows around for better comfort.
Trunks entered the room with a tray laden down with snacks for the movie they'd queued up on the TV in their bedroom. He raised a brow in silent question, watching his frustrated wife push and kick at the pillows around her.
Fed up, Pan kicked the pillows onto the floor and levered herself out of the bed, chest hot with the irrational anger she felt in that moment. The sound of a throat clearing cut through the haze of her furor, and she turned to look at her husband, some residual anger making her voice sharp, "what?"
"Having trouble getting comfortable?" Trunks set the tray down on the bureau by the door, gauging whether or not he should approach.
"Yes," Pan seethed, "No matter how I move these goddamn pillows, my back just hurts. Everything hurts." Her eyes went shiny as frustrated tears welled up, and she raked her fingers through her hair, a growl worthy of a full blooded saiyan spilling out of her lips, "gumdrop, not now." Her belly began to twitch and shift; her heightened emotions having a clear effect on the baby.
As she got further along in her pregnancy, the baby's movements became more uncomfortable and, in cases of particularly energetic moments, painful for Pan. She released a soft, punched breath and sat on the edge of the bed, laying a hand on the top of her bump where she could feel tiny feet pushing against her diaphragm.
"Do you want me to give you another massage?"
"I really don't want to be touched right now, baby," Pan whispered, tears spilling over, "I'm sorry." She wiped the tears away with jerky motions, agitated even further by their presence. Her belly jerked again with a particularly energetic move and she pushed herself up off of the bed and waddled into the bathroom, mumbling something about needing to pee.
Trunks sighed softly, wondering what had happened in the thirty minutes he'd been downstairs getting their snacks ready. As much as he didn't want to poke the bear, he knew he'd have to if he wanted Pan to feel a little better. True relief wouldn't come until their baby did, and there was only so much he could do to help her. The 9th month of pregnancy only seemed to have brought more pain and misery than anything for his poor Pan-chan.
The saiyan royal waited for a while, listening as Pan flushed the toilet and waddled over to the sink to wash her hands. Instead of the water coming on, he heard her breathing hitch as she began to sob quietly. He entered the bathroom at once, concerned and wanting to comfort her as best as he could.
Pan turned to look at her husband, face red, splotchy and wet with tears before turning away again and burying her face in her hands.
She was so sick of crying at the drop of a hat over the tiniest of inconveniences, and the fact that pregnancy hormones had wired her tear ducts to all of her emotions. Happy? Tears. Angry? Tears. Frustrated? Here, have some tears with that. Pan hated it. She'd cry and then get frustrated that she was crying, which only made her cry more, and so the cycle would continue until she was an absolute mess.
"Hey," Trunks soothed, coming up behind her, "it's okay, Pan-chan. Look at me." Pan shook her head jerkily, still covering her face with her hands. The demi saiyan bit his lip, wanting to hug her but not certain that his touch would be well received while she was in this state.
Throwing caution to the wind, Trunks wrapped his arms around from behind, pulling her back so her back was flush with his front. Pan fought him for a while, squirming and trying to get away, but he held firm until she exhausted her efforts. More cries left her, her shoulders jerking with each one.
"I'm tired of hurting all the time," she whispered, voice hoarse and watery, "just so tired, Trunks. I'm just not used to this, that's all."
"Constant pain is a foreign concept for us, huh?" Trunks murmured, "I know you're hurting, I'm sorry."
"Yeah," she turned to the side and pillowed her head against his bare chest, a few tears tracing warm paths down his torso, "I'm sorry for snapping. I just," she shook her head, "couldn't get comfortable and it was making me mad. You don't have to apologize, you didn't… huh." She trailed off with an amused snort.
"What?" Trunks rumbled, looking down at the top of her head, "what's so funny?"
"I was about to say, "you don't have to apologize, you didn't do this to me" but I guess you did," Pan looked up at him, shiny midnight blue eyes dancing with mirth, "pinned me up against that hotel room door in Hawaii and had your wicked way with little ole me."
"That was an amazing night," Trunks conceded, sighing nostalgically, "we're gonna have to go back soon."
"It'd be nice if we could have mind-blowing sex like that again," Pan muttered under her breath, and then, louder, "Pfft, like that's going to be an option once I finally pop this baby out," she grimaced with discomfort, "If it's all the same to you, I need to go lay back down. It's barely more comfortable than standing, but I'll take whatever I can get at this point."
"I heard that," Trunks murmured, "c'mon, let's get you settled. Do you want to watch the movie or are you ready to sleep?"
"Sleep, please," Pan cringed, "I'm sorry, I know you made the snacks…"
"It's fine, I've got to get up in the morning any way," he kissed the top of her head, "let's get you settled with your pillows and then I'll put the snacks in the fridge so we can go to bed."
*~*S*~*S*~*
When Trunks returned from downstairs, Pan was already snoring, buffered on all sides by all the support pillows she needed to get somewhat comfortable. He could tell, however, by the little pinch in her brow that she was still uncomfortable.
One of the sacrifices they'd had to make going into the last few months was that spooning was no longer possible, not if Pan wanted to be as comfortable as possible.
Trunks kicked his pajamas pants off and crawled into bed slowly, careful not to disturb his wife with his movements. The last thing he wanted was to see her off in any way. He leaned over to kiss her cheek, "sleep well, Pan-chan," before settling down and letting sleep take over.
Part II to follow.
*~*CloudSpires1295*~*