Cherry: Due to my overwhelming amount of schoolwork that has been so rudely piled upon me as of late, there will be no little opening skit-thing. Just the disclaimer; nothing special.

Kuro: Feh, work indeed. You're just too lazy.

Cherry: Writer's block! I have writer's block!!!

Kuro: That's just a cheap way of saying you're too lazy to do any proper writing.

Cherry: Hey, I got the next three chapters finished and uploaded!

Kuro: Yeah, whatever. You gonna read the disclaimer or not?

Cherry: Righto. I do not own DBZ or any of the characters, nor do I own my independant thought process.

Kuro: Oro?

Cherry: Yeah, I sold it on e-Bay for a wad of cash! ^-^

Kuro: ... Let's just get on with the story.......

*Three months later*

Bulma lay in bed, weak as a kitten. She had felt like crap pretty much the entire day. It had been the same yesterday, too. And the week before. She groaned and held her stomach, curling up in a ball. It was 7:00am and all week all she had done as soon as she got up was hobble off to the bathroom, with all the grace and agility of a pregnant cow, only to puke her guts out. She didn't think much of it, though. A flu bug was going around, so she figured that was what she must have. To make things worse, both Trunks and Bra had caught it and were home sick and Vegeta hadn't lifted a finger to help. All he did was lumber off and train. Her days consisted of hobbling off to the bathroom, hobbling back to her room, hobbling off down the hall to the kid's room, then hobbling back to her bedroom. She lay facedown on her bed, exhausted before the day had even began. Then, she recalled a conversation she had with Chi-chi not too long ago. 'If you're sick, you shouldn't have to do a thing. You should just take a break and have some time for yourself. Let them figure things out for themselves' she had said. And she was damn right. Today was going to be Bulma's day only.

*

Bulma lay face up on her bed, a wet cloth draped over her forehead. A few saltine crackers and a bowl of almonds sat on her nightstand, next to a pitcher of pineapple-banana tropical fruit juice. She had a tape of dolphins chirping on in the background. It was supposed to be a soothing relaxant, but she didn't see what was so damn soothing about it. All the tapes were was just a bunch of dolphins going squeak, squeak squeaky. But she was just too lazy to get up and change the tape. She reached over and grabbed a handful of almonds and poured them directly into her mouth. Lately, she had such an unexplainable craving for almonds. She hadn't craved almond since she was pregnant with Trunks and then with Bra. Suddenly, a horrid thought struck her mind. She sat up bolt upright, flinging the cloth to her feet. She threw herself out of bed and got dressed hastily. She bounded downstairs, grabbing her keys of the table.

"Goingtothedrugstorebebacksoonbye!" she blurted as she flew out the door to anyone who happened to be listening. Which was pretty much no one.

She hopped into the car and started it up. Fuck being sick, she could worry about it later. She made a speedy trip to the drugstore and got back to the house, sprinting up to the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her. Fifteen minutes later, a blood-curtling scream ripped free of her throat. She looked down at the EPT home pregnancy test in horror. The two lines of doom leered up at her. She snapped the test in two and slammed it into the trashcan. She felt her nausea come roaring back. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and hurled until her sides hurt. She slammed the cover back down and flushed the toilet. She wheezed heavily and laid her head on the cover.

"No....It's not true...it can't be...I'm too old to be having kids..." she whined.

She leapt back up and ran back downstairs. She seized up the phone and hastily dialed up a certain someone's number.

"Yamcha, wanted sex god at your service."

"Yamcha! Stop fucking around, it's Bulma. Look, you need to come over, NOW." she said.

"Hmmm? Okay. Wait...Vegeta isn't around is he?" he asked nervously.

"No. He's off training...I think." she answered.

"Um...well, okay. I made a promise to be there for you." he said.

"You still remember that?" she said in disbelief.

"Yep. Never forget a promise I make to a pretty face." he laughed.

"Fine." she sighed, "Just get down here."

"'Kay! Bye!"

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and sat on the couch to wait. Lo and behold, it took him little less than five minutes to get there. He sauntered in and sat down next to Bulma and looked over at her.

"Hey sexy mama...whatcha want?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have to hit you. But I feel like crap, so I won't. But this is serious. I needed someone to talk to about...something." she said, lowering her eyes.

"Like what?" he asked, suddenly feeling his heart beat speeding up.

She took a deep breath. "I'm...pregnant."

Yamcha's mouth dropped open and his eyes went huge. He stared at her like a goldfish, not even blinking once. Bulma looked at him.

"Yamcha?"

Nothing.

"Yamcha?"

Still nothing.

Bulma sighed and picked up her favorite novel and started reading. "When you're ready..." she muttered.

*Three hours later*

Bulma looked up at Yamcha, who was still just staring with the same stunned expression.

"Do...you want a glass of water or something?" she asked, setting down her book.

"No...no I'm fine..." he finally muttered. He sighed, letting out a low whistle and leaned back. "Preggers? Again? Man, you just keep poppin' them kids out. Guess this is to rub salt in the ol' wounds, huh?" he said, looking away.

"What? No... I'm not like that. I just...needed to talk and... and..." She broke off, tears forming. "I just can't take the stress. Just...talk to me. Oh, man...another kid. Damn Vegeta all to hell!!!" she screamed, leaning into Yamcha's chest and giving it a good pound.

"How d'ya know it's his?" he asked, disregarding the muffled thump Bulma's fist made as it connected with his chest. he'd have a nice bruise tomorrow, but for now there were more important things to worry about.

Bulma froze. The cherry grove.... that night.... Oh, Kami...No....

Yamcha laughed, pulling her closer. "I'm jus' kidding! Who else could it be? The milkman's?"

"Yamcha, stop and think. Do you remember that night in the orchard?"

"...Yeah." he grinned, a smile playing about his face.

"Well? Do you know what this means?"

Yamcha gaped, adopting the blank look he had a few hours ago. Bulma snapped her fingers in front of his face, snapping him out of the trance. He blinked a bit before speaking.

"C'mon...you can't think that I...I knocked you up? C'mon...it makes no sense." he uttered.

"Yeah it does. There is a good chance, genetically speaking that..." she began, launching into a detailed explaination of genetics and the art of conception. Yamcha just stared blankly.

Blah, blah, blah. All this sciency stuff is confusing me...Why does she have to use such big words? Man, I lost her back at 'genetically speaking' and she's still going on..., he thought.

"Uh, Bulma?"

"Yes?"

"Um...I'm really confused-like. Can you...um..."

"Right. There's a fifty-fifty chance it is yours. Simple genetics."

"Simple?"

There was a long silence before Yamcha spoke up.

"If it's such a problem, then why don't you just, you know, 'get rid of it'?" he suggested.

"Yamcha...I can't. It's just, after having two kids, I can't." she murmured in a low voice.

"Give it up for adoption as soon as ya pop it out." he fired again.

"Imagine you carried a kid around nine months. Your two lives are connected! You can't just...barter it away like it meant nothing." she snapped.

"But...chicks have babies and guys don't. And, um, I'm a guy." he pointed out.

"Ugh..." she groaned. A little kitten wandered out and mewled up at her. She grinned and picked up the kitten, a brilliant idea striking her on the spot. "Here. Let me explain this in terms you will understand. Let's say this kitten represents a baby. Follow me?" she started. "Now, I'm going to show you how much it hurts to give up something you raised."

"No, no, no! I get it, I get it! Don't hurt the kitten!" he said, reaching out for the baby cat.

"No. Look, I'm not going to hurt the kitten. Here. Hold this." she said, handing him the kitten. "Pretend you are given this kitten to take care of for nine months and ---"

"Look at the kitten!" he squealed, snuggling the baby cat.

"Er...yes. Anyways, after the end of nine months, let's say you have to give the kitten away..."

"Who's a cute kitten? You are! And yer so fuzzy, and lovable..." he went on. Yamcha didn't respond to Bulma at all as he was obsessed with snuggling the tiny kitty. He wasn't even paying attention to anything she had to say.

"You know, maybe I should have explained this before I gave you the kitten..."

"Yeah probably." he muttered. He went back to huggling the kitten; completely forgetting about what Bulma was trying to point out. She sighed in an annoyed sort of way and grabbed the tiny cat away.

"Aaaah! Don't hurt the kitten!" Yamcha yelped, holding out his hands.

"I'm not gonna hurt the damn kitten! Look, you can't even go five minutes without the kitten. How would you feel after nurturing and growing up with the kitten...only to have it be...lost..." she broke off, looking down, tears of anger and frustration forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Look...maybe I was wrong but...there is a chance that it is Vegeta's whelp, right?" he consoled, taking back the kitten and stroking it softly.

She sniffed and looked up. "Yeah...we can only hope for the best..." she whispered.

Yamcha set down the kitten, holding Bulma and nuzzling her slightly. He wished he could stay there forever...but if Vegeta came in and saw this, it would be his end. And a painful one at that. He sighed, sliding away.

"I gotta get goin' now. Y'understand, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Hey...whenever you need it, I'm here."

He smiled back at her, turning away and heading out the door.

****

Cherry: I think I've done it! I do believe I've writen a chapter that doesn't make Vegeta look like an abusive ass!

Kuro: But Vegeta wasn't in this chapter....

Cherry: Exactly!

Kuro: Why me.....?

:: And so ends another chapter. Now I must go get the red dye out of my hair from school spirit day. Oh, and I have to do my homework too. See ya next time! Reviews are much loved, BTW...::