Oh, I bet everyone was just royally peeved when they read that last chapter. I asked whether you all wanted the pg Saiyan version or not… I didn't ever ask which one you wanted pregnant! I'll find out Wednesday… remind me to count how many times I get called evil, too. I'm going to start keeping a record.

Tatoosh: Almost any? *blinks* Hmmm… I've ghosted Goku? *thinks about that* You mean because he was so caring at first and now he's kind of a side character instead of a main one?

Lady Sakura-chan: No, there is no waiting with that. Is Gohan really skipped? *makes note to think about a Gohan fic…* I can think of one where he definitely wasn't, but it's been on hold entirely too long. I still haven't gotten to find out if he gets who he went after or not. *mopes*

RHSG: Angst and humor don't exactly go hand in hand, do they? Ah! Okay. End of ch. 7: Goten went home. Vegeta couldn't get him to stay, couldn't make himself ask Goten to stay, and was suffering for it. That help?

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"I spent an entire week in your bed! You even agreed to help me through my change!" Goten cried as Trunks stalked away. "Why does it matter that your father was the only one home? That it was him instead of you?"

Trunks stopped, but didn't turn around. "It doesn't," he answered harshly. "That week means nothing. Uncontrollable. You chose this, Goten. You chose to fuck him. I don't want anything to do with you." He started away.

"Yes… I did choose him." Huge black eyes filled with tears. Goten slumped to the floor. "I chose… it's my fault," he whispered. "I took advantage of his fears and his weakness, his illness… and now, I haven't even got him. Only our baby."

"What?!" Trunks spun. "What did you say?"

Goten curled up on himself. "He didn't choose me. He left me… us… How could he? He said he wanted this child!" He couldn't fight the tears any longer. They fell.

Trunks went to the phone, called Chi-Chi. His face paled as they talked, and he slammed the phone down. Stalking back over to Goten, he hauled the younger boy up by the front of his shirt. "How far along are you?" Receiving only sobs in reply, he shook the boy, then slapped him. "Answer me!"

"Ei… Eight months."

"Does my mother know?"

"I do… don't know. She never came to see… how he was. Never at… meals… when he got better."

Goten wasn't making any attempt to stand on his own. "Stand up. And stop sniveling." As soon as Goten got his feet under him, Trunks let him go. "Who does know?"

"My… fam… father. His wife and her son, his family. Your father, you, and me."

My family. He'd started to say his family, and changed it. So, that was why they'd stopped coming. Not because Goten was… euphemism, he really didn't want the images with the proper term… playing doctor with his father, (that euphemism sure didn't help!) but because they knew he was pregnant! No, wait. Goku still came. "Your father doesn't know?"

"My father is a true Saiyan." Eyes still glittering with tears met Trunks'. "He has his memory back. He knows, but for a tr…" his voice broke, and continued shakily, "a true Saiyan, it's perfectly normal. An… any Saiyan can have a child. He knows that."

A true Saiyan. Trunks' jaw clenched. He'd heard that far, far too many times growing up. He sighed, shook his head. "I'm sorry, Goten. I've been a real jerk. Come on." The astonished gratitude in his friend's eyes made Trunks truly aware of just how big a jerk he'd been. He knew Saiyans and humans were different, after all, he was half Saiyan himself! He'd been through the change, knew what it was like. And Goten had been sleeping with his dad even before his change, and after, because of the nightmares. "A real jerk," he repeated.

He slung an arm over the younger boy's shoulder, guiding him through the house to his room. They settled on the bed, Trunks holding Goten rather awkwardly as he cried. As soon as the bout seemed to be ending, Trunks requested, "Please tell me. All of it."

Goten leaned against his friend, his own strength spent. "I knew it would happen… I've known a long time. I just… I didn't expect it to be so soon…."

"Shh, there. Start at the beginning, okay? Tell me why… I don't understand why. I mean, he's my father!"

"Remember when we were little, watching your dad fighting Majin Buu? And he was caught by the flab rope? You told me he'd been a prince, once."

"I remember." Trunks frowned. Goten had been seven!

"Call it hero worship. A former prince… who'd fought a bad man to save me. I looked up to your dad for the longest time, even though he wasn't very nice." A shudder ran through the slender form. Trunks tightened his hold on the other involuntarily. "And then Dad brought him home, after he blew up Capsule Corp. Terrified, wounded. He would wake us all up with his screaming, the nightmares. Dad could always calm him down, and I look a lot like Dad."

Trunks snorted. "You're your dad in miniature, and you know it."

A weak chuckle. "Yeah. The third night, I followed Dad when he went to calm your dad down. I watched them. And what I saw… I felt so sorry for your dad. And I thought I might be able to help. So, after Dad went back to bed, I snuck back down to Vegeta's room." Goten lifted a hand, let it drop back into his lap.

"He was awake, had all the lights on. I shut off all of them but the nightlight… you should have seen him, Trunks. Your dad… It was like he'd lost his soul, and there was nothing left of him but his body and the fear. I walked right up to him and told him I'd stay with him if he'd just scoot over a bit. And he did."

Goten was silent for a time. "It was like with you," he said finally. "Curling up together, and how desperately he needed me to be there. He couldn't stand to be alone at night, and I didn't leave him. I liked sleeping with him, Trunks. Especially since… since you weren't even talking to me then. Because of that week at your house. I don't know, maybe I was trying to substitute him for you. Except for that first night, I'd enjoyed it. You."

Trunks blinked. Tried to think of something to say. "Oh."

Goten laughed, a short little gasp. "I thought there was something wrong with me. I mean, my moth… mother… things like that weren't supposed to feel good. I was supposed to like girls. But…" a helpless shrug, "when I got a girlfriend, I knew it wasn't the same. I just didn't feel the same with her as with you. Or your dad, and we weren't doing anything. And then she met…. It didn't matter anymore, because your dad remembered his nightmares, and told me what they were."

From the way Goten was trembling, he didn't want to know about those nightmares, Trunks decided. "And what happened?"

"Nothing. Everything. He told me about the Saiyans, like he always does my dad, only I was interested enough to ask questions. That's how I found out about the change. And he told me bits and pieces of his life, trying to understand why he wasn't healing and getting over what had happened to him.

"And then my mom started thinking I loved him. And Dad went to talk to him." Goten's whole body grew stiff in Trunks' awkward embrace. "I was coming back from the shower… I heard them. That was the night his tail tried to regenerate, the night Gohan spent over seven hours trying to repair the damage that woman caused. He bled… so much, in such pain… but all I could think of was what he'd told my dad."

His voice dropped, becoming introspective. "I never realized until then that was what I wanted. It hurt… so badly. I'd thought he cared about me, too, from the way he acted, but… I found out the truth. Not in time, but I found out."

"You love my dad."

"Yes." Goten rubbed tears from his eyes. "He went home. I came to see you one day, and your mom sent you on errands. So I decided to hit the pool until you came back. And there was your dad, too dizzy and weak to stay standing, getting ready to go swimming. I made him go inside, got him something to eat, and then put him to bed. A few days later, my change hit, and Dad brought me here cause you'd promised to help. Except, you were gone. And your dad was home. The rest, you know."

"Eight months ago," Trunks said quietly. "But it was your change." He'd confronted his father about the change shortly after he'd come home. What his father had said didn't in the least agree with Goten getting pregnant.

"I know. I… insisted," Goten admitted. "Begged. I… wanted him… to love me. In… spite of what he said."

What he said? Oh, to Goku. And somehow, Trunks didn't think Goten meant physical love. "Goten, what was it my dad said?"

"I wouldn't mate… with your spawn. Said with all the disgust toward my dad that he'd had before, and with the an expression of absolute revulsion. He meant it… but… when I came here, when he was so sick… he was so glad I was there. I thought, maybe that… I thought… I was wrong."

"Oh." What else could he say? Trunks knew better than anyone that Vegeta had been happy to see Goten, and overjoyed that he stayed. He'd treated Goten with all the caring Trunks had wished for growing up, been both protective and possessive. And passionate, Trunks added with a twisted grin, remembering when he'd walked in on them. And now? "But, are you sure? I mean, I didn't want to have anything to do with either of you after, ah, that one day, but it sure didn't seem like he didn't care."

"He told my father to take me home. Or if he couldn't, he'd provide a Capsule house for me. Dad asked him why. He doesn't want me here." The brief conversation raged in his head.

"Kakarot, take your brat home. He doesn't need to be here."

"Vegeta? Why? Are you sure?"

"I don't want him here any longer. If necessary, I will give you a Capsule house for him, but he is not to be here in the morning."

"It will be done, my Prince."

"Goten? Hey? You alright?" Trunks shook his head. "That's a dumb question."

"He said he didn't want me, that I didn't need to be here." Goten met Trunks' eyes, glittering tears on his lashes. "He hates me."

"How about thirty minutes of oblivion?" Trunks suggested. "Let Gotenks be pregnant for awhile."

"Gotenks?" It had been so many years. "Um, sure. Why not?"

"Oh, man! What was I thinking?" the purple and black haired boy asked. "This was really stupid! I think I need to be sick." He was, several times. "And thirty minutes? If I could beat myselves, I would!"

Someone knocked on the door. "Trunks? Goten? Are either of you… GOTENKS!" The door crashed open. Goku stared open-mouthed at the fused half-breed. "ARE YOU INSANE?"

"No. I'm sick." Gotenks promptly proved it.

"Oh, Kami. Vegeta is not going to like this. Not at all. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I didn't do it!" Gotenks protested. "They did. You think I'm enj…" He was sick again. "ENJOYING this!?"

"Well, no." Goku approached the boy. "Is the baby alright?"

"Oh, he's fine. Kicking like mad," the blended voice complained. "But you promise me something, Goku. You promise me you'll beat some sense into myselves. They aren't to do this to me again!" Another spell of illness. "Ever!"

"Uh, right. How long have you been fused?"

Gotenks looked up at the clock. "Not nearly long enough. A whole fifteen minutes."

Goku looked at the teen, then back at the door. Vegeta stood there, his face chalky white, staring at Gotenks. Gotenks followed his gaze.

"You… this is your fault!"

"Now, Gotenks!" Goku tried placating him, "How can the boys deciding to fuse be his fault?"

"Because I wanted to forget! Thirty minutes of oblivion. He hates me!" The blended voice sounded at first like Goten, then Trunks, and then the normally cocky Gotenks blend.

Vegeta turned, left.

"Uh, Vegeta? Hey! Wait!" Goku followed him.

"Well, that went really well."

Hands and knees, gagging violently. Trunks looked across at Goten. "That was not a good idea."

"No. It wasn't like last time." Goten clutched his middle. "Oh, I hurt!"

"The baby?"

"I don't know. Aghh!" Goten curled up, fetal position. Trunks moved to him, holding his hands out over the other boy. He concentrated, spreading a soothing bluish-green glow of energy over his friend's midsection. Goten continued to pant, trying to focus on the warmth and not the pain. A sudden, sharp surge of pain made him cry out, half sitting up, eyes wide.

"What? What is it?"

"It hurrrtsss!" Goten moaned. "So bad. It hurts!"

"Hang on. I have a senzu, someplace." Trunks trashed the room, hunting for the small bean he'd thought was in the nightstand drawer. He finally found it, hidden under a stack of papers on his desk. "Here. Take this."

Goten chewed the bean, swallowed. Trunks watched, but Goten didn't seem to be getting any relief from the nearly magical beans. If anything, he seemed to be in greater pain. As if to prove it, Goten screamed.

"Goten!" Trunks was frantic, now. Senzu beans were supposed to take care of anything! Gohan had even recovered from a broken neck.

"Make it stop, Trunks!" the younger boy cried. "Make it stop!"

"I… I'll get my mom. She'll know what to do." Trunks dashed at top speed to his mother's lab, returning less than two minutes later, his mother in tow. Goten wasn't even trying to stop his screams now.

"What happened? Exact sequence, please." Bulma bent over Goten, who was curled up again. Trunks told her.

"He's WHAT!!!!" Bulma looked up from her examination, then stared back down at the half-Saiyan teen. Her eyes went to her watch.

"What's wrong with Goten?"

"I don't know, Goku. I thought Mom might be able to help…" Trunks said helplessly.

"He's in labor," Bulma said calmly. "I expect the fusion brought it on. Goku, bring him down to the med bay, will you?"

"Okay." He picked up his son and followed the blue-haired woman to the room she wanted. Goku laid Goten carefully on the small bed. "Should I sta….." He bolted from the room when Bulma turned, holding a long needle.

"Goten, this is a pain killer. I'm going to inject it in your back, it should block some of the pain. Or make you feel floaty so that the pain doesn't bother you." Since her only answer was another scream, she administered it.

The little Saiyan was born two hours later, screaming as loudly as his father had. Mother? Bulma wiped the boy down, counted fingers and toes, then laid him on Goten's stomach. To her shock, a long brown tail wrapped around the squalling infant, who quieted immediately, his own little reddish tail curling tightly around the larger one.

"A fine boy, Goten. And with the requisite Saiyan hairstyle." The baby's long hair, black with reddish tinges, spiked out even more wildly than his father's. Mother's? "And are you father or mother?"

"Both." Goten sat up carefully, examining his young son. "My tail!" he exclaimed when he finally noticed what he held the baby with.

"Yes, your tail is back. Trunks said you were eight months along?"

"Uh-hu. He's small."

"Small, but healthy." Bulma finished putting away the instruments she'd used to examine them both. "For being premature, he's in remarkably good shape. Now, how about feeding him?"

Goten looked at her blankly. "Feeding?"

"Oh dear." She helped Goten reposition the baby. "I have no idea if it works the same for male mothers as it does female ones, but it's worth a shot. Oh, there. Yes, that does seem to do it."

"Ow! That hurts!"

"It does at first. Now, do you mind telling me just how you wound up pregnant? I'm fairly sure I can guess who the father is."

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Awww… the baby's here… such a little cutie. *cuddles baby Saiyan*