Then He Kissed Her

IX.

To say the least, Vegeta was kept up all night. For two small reasons.

Okay, so maybe these reasons weren't small, at least not to him. If anything, they were pretty big. Big enough for him to forget anything else that he had ever thought of before…becoming Super Saiyan, beating Kakarot, becoming immortal, taking over the whole galaxy…this was something he did, but never tried to make it a goal.

Moving his hand all around her stomach, making sure it wasn't just a mistake he picked up, he soon realized that it wasn't. Vegeta never made a mistake on feeling a certain ki, and this was certainly no exception, for he knew Bulma's ki, and this was not hers. Which only led to one conclusion:

Bulma was pregnant.

Abandoning her abdomen for the moment, watching in the dark as his hand traveled up her side, up her arm, then to the place between her neck and shoulder. Vegeta ran his fingers lightly over the marking he gave her, the marking he could never take back. He could feel the deep scar on her clear skin, noticing that there was still some un-dried blood that rested in the middle of the wound. And this was proven as something also:

Bulma was his mate.

The more he thought about it, the more he illuminated the fact that he was up for two reasons, down to one. To put it simply…

Vegeta got his mate pregnant.

There, that wasn't such a big deal. Was it?

He growled at himself for thinking that. Of course it was a big deal! He just made the woman sleeping next to him his mate! The human woman. Now he was to be stuck with her for life…not that he minded it as much as he would like to think, but it was still the fact of it.

Then again…Vegeta could always act like it never happened. After all, Bulma doesn't know what that bite mark on her meant and what she didn't know, couldn't hurt her.

But could he really go back on his heritage? When Saiyan males mark a woman, they automatically become mates. Period. And it would be better to call her that now…since he impregnated her and all.

Vegeta shook his head to stop his mind.

'I got to stop thinking so much,' he told himself, looking over Bulma to notice that the clock said 2:48 AM. Vegeta pressed his head hard to the pillow then, trying to force himself to sleep. The task was unsuccessful.

He sighed almost too loudly, making Bulma shift in her sleep. Looking as her face went back to being relaxed, he unwrapped his arm from around her and slowly sat up, putting his feet to the floor. Vegeta tried to stand up from the bed slowly also, but every little move he made, made the bed squeak at one end or the other. Finally, he got tired of trying not to disturb her and just stood up quickly, crossing the room to get his usual clothing he wore when training. He walked to the door.

"Mm, Vegeta," Bulma suddenly said.

Vegeta froze his hand on the doorknob. He didn't want her to wake up, she'd ask too many questions, such as "Why are you going to train at three in the morning?" and he didn't feel like talking at the precise moment.

He turned around, about to tell her to go back to sleep, when he realized that she was asleep anyway. Bulma must have been dreaming about him.

He smirked, feeling a little flattered before twisting the knob and exiting the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Vegeta walked down the hall, ready to train in the gravity room to catch up on the valuable training he missed.

**********

Bulma awoke the next morning from reaching over to Vegeta, only to find an empty bed. Her hand felt everywhere on the opposite side of the bed, finding nothing but blankets and pillows.

Drowsily, she opened her one eye to see the blurry image of the bare bed. She closed her eye again, flipping over to her back, groaning as she bit back a yawn.

"I need a shower," she said out loud to herself, forcing her legs over the side and to walk into the bathroom.

Still almost as if in a daydream, she stripped down from Vegeta's clothes and stepped into the shower. Bulma yawned again, turning the handle that was marked 'H' fully. Water shot out of the overhead faucet. Her eyes immediately went wide as the hard spraying water fell onto her shoulder, feeling the pain rush throughout her body, making her screech in surprise and jump back, out of the way of the shooting water.

Her hand covered her shoulder, her eyes narrowed from confusion, she slowly removed her hand to look down to her side, clearly seeing a deep bite mark. Bulma noticed the dark redness of the scar, indicating that it was new.

"What did he do to me…" she asked, running her hand over it lightly. She shook her head, trying to forget about it as she stepped up to the shower again, wincing when the water hit her scar directly.

About a half-hour later, Bulma came down the stairs and into the kitchen to get something to eat, surprised Vegeta didn't start yelling at her for his breakfast. She went to the door, looking out the window to see the gravity room on and Vegeta moving quickly past the GR window.

Bulma opened the door and headed towards the gravity stimulator, going to ask Vegeta what he wanted. She approached it, turning off the machine from outside, then opening the door in time to see Vegeta hit the ground hard, not expecting the gravity to go back down.

She saw this and had a hard time holding back a giggle, "Oops, sorry Vegeta."

Vegeta stood up as fast as possible and glared at her, "Woman, you know better than to just shut off this machine when I'm in here! I'm in the middle of training, what could you possibly want?!"

Bulma rolled her eyes, used to these greetings, "Good morning to you too, Vegeta. I was just going to ask you what you wanted for breakfast. I was gonna make waffles for myself, but if you want something el—."

"I don't want anything! I already ate!" Vegeta yelled to interrupt her, "Now go away!"

She put her hands on her hips, "Vegeta, just because you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, doesn't mean you have to take it out on me!"

"Feh," he spat, crossing his arms and turning away from her, "Well, I have no choice on what side of the bed I wake up on since you're hogging up the other."

If it was possible, there could be steam coming out of Bulma's ears, "It's just an expression! But…if you don't want me to make you anything, it's your choice," she finished, exiting the gravity room.

Once she was gone, Vegeta shook his head and looked down, "She can be the most annoying—."

Before he could get anything else out, Bulma made sure to do him the "favor" of turning the gravity back on, causing him to fall flat on the floor again.

Needless to say, that was how the day started, went on, and ended. Since they weren't around each other, Bulma decided to get caught up in her work as Vegeta continued to get up-to-date on his training. At the end of the day, Bulma shut the machine off on him again, asking if he was going to bed. He completely ignored her, shoving her out of the room and closing her out, giving the hint of the answer being no.

It wasn't only that day…it lasted a whole two months. Two months for Bulma to suffer, not knowing why Vegeta was ignoring her so much. Sure, she knew that he had to train for when the androids came, but he didn't have to do it 24/7.

Of course, this situation only bugged her more when she went to the doctors and found out she was pregnant. Bulma was shocked beyond belief but overly joyed about it. She wasn't expecting to get pregnant just from one time, but so did a lot of teenage girls. Yet, it happened and on her way home, all she could think about was how to tell Vegeta. She had to laugh to herself just thinking about the shocked expression he'd give.

Bulma reached Capsule Corp. to, of course, see that Vegeta was training hard in the gravity room. Still not learning her lesson of warning him before she decided to barge in on him, she opened the door, automatically shutting off the gravity.

Vegeta never turned around to look at her, "What do you want now?"

"I have some big news to tell you," she stated simply, rocking on her heels, smiling widely behind his back.

He sighed out loud, 'Guess she found out she's pregnant," he said in his mind, turning around for her to tell him the news he already knew.

Yet, as he stood there, waiting for her to go on, she didn't say anything, just smiled at him.

"Well? Go on with it!" he yelled, getting impatient.

Bulma laughed, "Well…I went to the doctors today to check out something since I realized I was late for my period and…" she grinned, knowing that he knew by now, but was just waiting for her to say it, "I'm pregnant."

Vegeta nodded, glad she finally said it, "Okay, you can go now," he said before turning away from her, yet still seeing her out of the corner of his eye.

And from what he saw, her face dropped as quickly as she shuts the gravity off on him.

"O-okay?" she asked in a whisper, almost not believing that he took it that lightly. Yeah, she knew that Vegeta wouldn't start hopping around everywhere like a happy-go-lucky bunny or anything, but she was expecting more than "Okay, you can go now."

Bulma stepped forward, anger suddenly visible in her eyes, "What the hell do you mean by 'okay'?! Don't you have anything more to say about it?!"

Vegeta turned back to her, "What do you want me to say? So you're pregnant…congratulations. Is that what you want to hear?"

She clenched her fists tightly together, digging her nails sharply into her palms. It was all she could do from jumping on him to rip him apart, "No, actually I was expecting more of a "That's great, Bulma" and possibly something more, but noooo! All I get it an 'okay'!"

He only shrugged, "Guess you shouldn't expect things too much then, huh?"

"Vegeta!" she screamed out of frustration, taking another step towards him, "Don't you even care that I'm pregnant with your child?!"

Once again, he shrugged, "Is it a boy or girl?"

Bulma's body relaxed for a moment as she thought about the question, "I dunno, I didn't even bother to ask, why?"

"It'll only be useful if it's a boy," he said simply.

Upon hearing this, her anger returned like before, "What's that supposed to mean?! Useful for what?!"

Vegeta looked at her like she was stupid, "Useful to train, of course."

"Is that all you can think about?" Bulma asked softly, having hurt cross over her eyes, "Are you saying that if I have a girl, you're not going to give a damn about it?"

He narrowed his eyes, knowing that what he was about to say was not the truth at all, "I really don't give a damn either way."

Her eyes widened, her body feeling weak as she stared at him with pain struck eyes, "I can almost hardly believe that even you truly mean that, Vegeta. But either way, it hurts." Bulma swallowed what would have been a sob, "I…I thought you loved me and—."

"Haven't you figured out yet that I don't love? The closest way I come to that is a temporary passion infatuation, but that's all."

Bulma shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was hearing, "Well…I just want you to know that I loved you. And the funny thing is…" she forced a breathy laugh, "is that I still do."

Vegeta was shocked, but was too proud to show it. To tell the truth, he didn't even know why he was telling Bulma all these lies. Maybe it was because he was scared. Not exactly physically, but emotionally. He had so much to worry about, what with the androids and all, that he didn't think he would be up to his best ability to raise and worry about a child.

He snapped out of his thoughts quickly after hearing the machines door slam from Bulma running out. Vegeta sighed, knowing that he should get back to his training.

Bulma ran up to her room, slamming the door shut as hard as she could, making everything in her room shake. She fell on her bed, burying her face in her pillow. Yet…she wouldn't cry. For some reason, when Vegeta told her that crying was for the weak, she believed him to the fullest and did not want to let her tears fall. She had to be strong. To prove to herself, to Vegeta, and to her baby, that she could last through anything that was thrown at her and take it as calmly as possible…but not so calmly as to just say 'okay'.

Thinking about what he said to her made her blood boil all over again and she felt her nose sting from trying to hold back her tears. Eventually, her eyes hurt so much from all the water threatening to spill, that she made herself fall asleep, hoping she would feel better when she woke up.

***********

Later, around nine at night, Bulma awoke, only feeling like crap more than when she fell asleep, feeling nauseous from the pit of her stomach. She quickly hopped out of bed and ran into her bathroom, reaching the toilet just in time to throw up hard.

She coughed and, not wanting to leave the toilet for fear she would have to throw up all over again, but also, being next to it, the smell picked up in her nose, making her sick to her stomach even more.

After throwing up three more times, she sat away from the toilet, leaning against the cool tile next to the tub, leaning her head back. Her throat hurt enormously and her face felt like it was on fire. She closed her eyes, hoping that her body settled down after she rested there for awhile.

"Don't you know it's not healthy to sleep on the bathroom floor?" she heard from the doorway a few moments later.

Bulma didn't even bother to open her eyes, "Go away."

Vegeta snorted, "I would, but since that's what you want, I won't," he smirked.

She still didn't open her eyes, "I don't care then." She said, not feeling well enough to fight with him.

Sitting there, she thought he left like she requested, only to feel herself being lifted by strong arms. She opened her eyes to see Vegeta carrying her like a baby into her bedroom and laying her down lightly on her bed.

"Vegeta?" she inquired, a confused look on her face.

"Just rest now," he said, getting the blankets at the end of her bed and covering her up with two of them. After that gesture, he walked towards her door again.

"Sleep with me tonight," she told him, lifting herself up with an elbow slowly.

Vegeta shook his head, now in the doorway, "You'll be fine by yourself."

"Yeah, but—." Before she could say anymore, Vegeta was out the door and down the hallway to his room.

She lowered herself back down to her pillows, looking up at the ceiling.

'What was that whole thing for?' she asked herself, 'Was that Vegeta's apology for what he said earlier?'

Not finding an answer, she shrugged mentally and closed her eyes, feeling tired again from all her throwing up.

She'd think about it later.

Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter took so much longer, but I've been kinda busy. I hope this chapter was worth the wait enough that you don't kill me for the delay lol. In my opinion, though, this isn't exactly my best work, maybe 'cause I was hurrying to get it done for all of you. ::shrugs:: Oh well, but also…I think this story is coming to an end pretty soon…very soon…expect this as almost a last chapter.

Please review and tell me what you think!