Just One Week

XIII.

Well, life went on just like it always did. One day past, followed by one week, followed by one month. It was just one big cycle, turning round and round and it never seemed to stop, no matter how much you wanted it to.

Goten and Trunks became their normal selves again, but I suppose that's reasonable; after all, they are still young. They heal quicker in every aspect. Gohan however…began to have a different demeanor around me. Ever since that night when Vegeta came, I noticed the new look Gohan had for me. Before, he looked thankful and pleased that I was always there for him and his brother and for taking them in as though they were my own. He always gave me this knowing look that I would be a great influence on all of them. Now, he looked at me with nothing but sorrow and shame.

And believe me, nothing makes you feel lower than when a sixteen-year-old looks at you, a full grown adult, in such a way. I can't blame him, however. I feel that I did let him down. I was no better than Vegeta was. I thought Gohan would get over it eventually though…after all, like I said, life goes on.

But after about a month and a half went by, instead of the situation getting better, it seemed to have gotten worse. Gohan wasn't just looking at me with eyes showing all that humiliation and remorse, but his eyes took on a new emotion: fear. And that's when the brand new nightmare began.

Literally. After the first couple of days I saw Gohan doing that, it began to haunt me in my sleep. Why was he looking at me like that? I swear, I would spend hours on end looking at myself in the mirror and wondering what it was that he saw that I didn't seem to catch. Sure, I wasn't looking my best…I began to get dark circles under my eyes again, my blue eyes weren't so bright anymore, and I saw a few wrinkles forming at the side of my mouth. But that's what came with age, I suppose…and after everything, I can't say I don't deserve it all.

I began having to wake up some time in the middle of the night or early in the morning to puke my guts out. He was just having me so worried, lack of sleep and stress was catching up to me. I wanted to confront Gohan about it, I really did, but every time I tried to have a "nice" conversation with him, he would say no more than a couple words before he declared he should go check on the boys.

Until finally, one day, Gohan broke down just as I did…

* * * * * * * *

Bulma stood in the kitchen, leaning against one of the counters while she tried to decide what to make for lunch. It was a Saturday, and she usually tried to make something a bit bigger since the boys liked to go out and train afterwards. As she looked around the kitchen, however, she couldn't find anything worth it. Sure, there was tons of food every which way, but nothing that seemed to catch her interest. She sighed; maybe she should just order pizza.

When that was finally decided, she walked the short distance over to the phone, feeling weak when she felt that was a great challenge. Bulma put her hand to her forehead, realizing how dizzy and hot she felt. Maybe she was coming down with something…

Picking up the phone on the wall with her free hand, she pressed the button that was labeled 'Pizza' to connect with the pizza parlor that they all seemed to like best. She heard the ten-digit number being pressed in automatically, waiting for a second before she heard that annoying busy signal.

She hung up the phone simply, deciding to wait a couple more minutes. She agreed in her head that it was Saturday and pizza places seemed to be the busiest on the weekend.

While she waited, she decided to grab a tablet that was sitting on the counter and write down what she wanted to order. That way, she wouldn't have to think of anything right off the top of her head. Of course, she would order what she always ordered when getting pizza, but right then, she felt as though she didn't know what she would say if she had to speak off the top of her head.

Bulma picked up the phone and pressed the button again after a few minutes, sighing a bit heavily from frustration when she heard that the line was still busy.

"Couldn't that place get more than one phone?" she said loudly before hanging the phone back up rather roughly.

Not knowing what else to do, she leaned against the wall beside the phone, her arms wrapped protectively around her abdomen. She had her hair up in a ponytail and was able to feel the coolness of the kitchen wall on the back of her neck. Closing her eyes, she hoped the feeling would travel to the rest of her body, but was disappointed when the wall seemed to heat up from her body heat rather quickly.

She felt like beating the crap out of the wall for doing that.

"Damn hormones…" she commented in a mumble before turning to the side and once again repeating the process to call the pizza parlor. And once again, there was nothing but that annoying, continuous beep…beep…beep…beep…

Without even thinking about it, Bulma screamed through clenched teeth and slammed the phone down hard enough to make it echo throughout the kitchen for moments to come. She stomped her foot on the kitchen floor a couple of times, feeling all the more frustrated that the childish act wasn't doing anything to help matters.

"Kami, why can't they just—?!"

"Bulma?"

She stopped in mid-sentence, turning around one hundred and eighty degrees too quickly for her own good. She had to put her foot out to keep her balance and wait a good second or two before her vision stopped spinning, "What do you want!?"

She stopped again when she saw that it was Gohan who called her name, standing awkwardly in the doorway. The young man looked a bit hurt that she snapped at him like that, but showed no sign of turning away and leaving her to finish her temper tantrum.

Sucking in a deep breath, Bulma closed her eyes for a moment before opening them back up to give Gohan a more calm look, "I'm sorry, Gohan…did you need something?"

Gohan didn't answer, nor did he move. He only stared at her…stared at her in that certain way that made Bulma shiver. No, it held no hatred or wanting to harm, it held something that clenched her heart.

Quite surprised when he began taking a few steps towards her, she was even more shocked when she found that she couldn't take a few steps back. She wished nothing more than to turn away from him right then, for the closer he got, the further she fell.

The shame and sorrow from his eyes were long gone. Now, his watery glance held nothing but that fearfulness. Her eyes widened at this realization, subconsciously clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides. She suddenly wondered how deep they were getting without even speaking a word. Her question was soon answered when Gohan made one single movement of falling down on his knees, his arms going around her waist to hold her close. Bulma looked down at the boy in bewilderment, especially when he laid his head against her flat stomach.

"Go-Gohan?" she questioned, her voice choked up from panic. Her hands instinctively found their way to rest on his shoulders, feeling how he shook underneath her hands. And though he was just as tall, if not taller, than her when he stood to his full height, right now, he looked as though he were nothing more than a child needing to be released of his fears.

Bulma felt a single tear slide down her cheek as her hands then came in contact with his soft, spiky hair, running her fingers back through his mane, "Gohan…" she barely heard herself whisper his name, not sure what else her voice may reveal as she went on, "what's wrong? What happened?"

"Why didn't you listen to me?" Gohan finally spoke after a couple of minutes of unsure silence. He turned his head forehead so he was able to press his face right into her stomach before looking up at her. That's when she saw that he wasn't crying, but how much he wanted to. Her shirt that she wore rubbed on his eyes, making them more red and puffy from all the pressure he was holding inside of them.

"Why didn't you just trust me?" He asked again before feeling too pitiful to look up at her any longer. It was his turn to suck in a deep breath, trying his hardest to reclaim himself as he stood up again.

Bulma looked at him, her eyes shaking uncontrollably, attempting to find out what he was talking about by looking in his eyes, but to no avail, "I…I don't know what you're talking abou—."

"Yes, you do!" Gohan suddenly screamed, making them both jump in surprise. He raised his hands to grip her shoulders roughly and shake her once. He saw that he may have been holding her a bit too tight, for she winced; but he just had to get through to her!

"Bulma, four years isn't that long ago! Don't you remember what happened? My mother died! And don't you remember why she died?" Gohan still never shed a tear, though his eyes began to feel quite heavy from all the pressure. He was determined, "I won't let history repeat itself!"

Her eyes widened once more as she stared at Gohan with a blank gaze. No…please let me be assuming wrong…all wrong…

She was brought forward when Gohan wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her body roughly to his. Her arms hung limply at her sides as her eyes continued to stare into nothingness, her mind forgetting to tell her to blink.

However, she was aware enough to hear what Gohan then whispered in her ear:

"Bulma…I can feel it…you're pregnant."

~*~

What was I supposed to do? Jump up and down for joy or go out and kill myself? Well, unfortunately and fortunately, I didn't do either. In fact, I hardly remember doing anything. Gohan continued to hold me and, quite truthfully, I didn't have a single word to say. After he told me, however, he kept letting me know that he would be there for me through and through, so I didn't have to do anything rash.

Oh dear Kami…what in the world was I putting this poor boy through? He must have felt the baby growing inside of me for awhile now and that's where the fear came from. Gohan must have thought I would end up like Chi-Chi. And now…I know why Chi-Chi wanted to give up. Knowing that the father was gone for good and leaving you with nothing but a child…it was a scary thing.

Sure, Vegeta left when Trunks was no more than a year old, but at least I already had him. I didn't have to go through the labor and everything alone. No, Vegeta wasn't right beside me when I was having Trunks, but it got me through it well enough just knowing that Vegeta wasn't too far away…maybe just on the other side of the Earth.

I guess I scared Gohan when I didn't say a single word about the pregnancy after he told me…not a word of pity, nor a word of hope. It felt like I was just…there. With another child growing inside of me. And even when Gohan pulled me away gently and looked into my eyes, there was nothing I could say, except…

"Who's is it?"

What a dumb thing to say out of everything! Seriously, out of all the bad things I could have said, I think I said one of the worst. Who's is it…how pathetic.

I could tell the question threw Gohan off guard, but he answered me simply and truthfully…

"I don't know. That's beyond my ability."

Great…I was now left wondering who's child I was carrying. I told Gohan I was fine after I snapped myself out of whatever I was in and told him I needed some time alone. He understood and left me standing in the middle of the kitchen. I didn't even remember why I was there in the first place…shouldn't I have been doing something else?

Of course! I knew what I could do!

* * * * * * * *

Running out of the kitchen, Bulma made her way to her lab in record time. She opened the cabinet that was ceiling length on the far side of the room, rummaging through it as though her life depended on it. In a way, she felt that it did.

"Come on…come on! Where is it! I know it has to be here somewhere…" she spoke loudly to herself, throwing useless things to the ground without a second thought. She heard some breakable things shatter and hard things clatter. But for one reason or another, she heard a certain clatter that caught her attention.

Stopping her attack on the cabinet, she slowly looked down to the floor, paying no attention to a lot of the glass that laid around the area. In the middle of all the shattered pieces was a long, rectangular object that she recognized instantly. For once in a great while, she felt her eyes light up.

"Bingo!" Bulma bent down and picked up the object, examining it closely to make sure it was all right. It looked technical, with a metal bottom that was crystalline to make out all the wires and gadgets inside. A long, tunnel like piece of metal lay over the platform, a screen on top with five small slots going through the middle. A cord hung off the back on the device, dragging along the floor as Bulma carried it over to her computer.

It was an invention of her father's, something he liked to call "DNA Counterpart." Dr. Briefs created it a long time ago when he thought it would be good for Capsule Corp. business, that is, until he found out the hard way that it was a complete failure when it came to his organization. Right then, Bulma found it to be her lifesaver.

She set it down beside her computer, turning on the monitor and averting her attention to the DNAC to figure out how it worked as the computer loaded. For starters, she pulled the cord towards her, plugging in the opposite end into the computer. Bulma watched as the small parts inside of it began turning, all the red lights illuminating to show power.

"So far so good."

She looked to the computer, seeing as how it automatically brought up everything that was needed to work the DNAC. She was quite thrilled to see that even though the invention was a failure, her father didn't erase anything on it.

Using her mouse, she left clicked the little blue word that said "Instructions," hoping they were simple and to the point so she wouldn't have to waste anymore time on figuring it out herself.

They were. She was happy to see only a small paragraph and read it aloud:

"Deoxyribonucleic Acid Counterpart (DNAC) is a fast and simple way to match genes. To work this device, simply plug in the cord to your monitor and it will come on automatically."

"Okay, well I already did that…" Bulma said under her breath, then seeing some categories to go to for what she wanted. She clicked on the one that said "Fetuses."

"If you are a woman who wants to know who the father of your unborn child is, the solution is simple. Get a strand of hair from each of the suspected fathers (can match up to five at a time) and put these on the glass on the Uppermost Constituent. This will bring the strands to your computer screen where you can watch as they are signaled. In the drawer found in the Conclusive Constituent, there is a safety needle that the mother will very gently stick in the side of her lower stomach, bringing out the needed blood for this device to work properly. If your product does not come with this needle or if you find that your needle is unclean for any reason, please call 62- blah, blah, blah…"

Bulma skimmed through the short section that she didn't find necessary and continued on to the last part.

"Finally, drop the blood into the container that is found right above the Uppermost Constituent. The device will scan this immediately, thus coming up on your computer screen. Once the match is done, the strand of hair that is matched with the blood will come up, eliminating the incorrect strand."

Bulma sulked back in her seat. Simple enough. One problem, however: neither of the father choices were here at the moment to get strands of their hair. She was planning on just getting a strand of hair from Trunks and then either Gohan or Goten…she just hoped the DNAC was able to find the answer from an indirect source.

"Oh well…it's worth trying."

She got up from her chair and exited her lab, going on her search to find the boys. She was quite relieved when she found that she didn't have to go too far, for she found both Trunks and Goten sitting on the couch, watching one of their favorite Saturday cartoons.

Bulma walked up behind the couch, looking down at both of them. They seemed too intrigued from the cartoon to notice that she was standing behind them, so it was simple enough. She directly reached down and pulled a strand of hair out of each of their heads, not being able to hold back a small grin when they both jumped from surprise and reached up to hold their heads.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" Trunks asked, rubbing his scalp with his right hand and looking up at her.

"Yeah, that hurt!" Goten added, holding his head with both hands to prevent her from doing it again.

"It was the only way to get your attention," she half lied, knowing that probably would have been the solution if she really did want their attention, "go find Gohan and tell him to order us some pizza."

The two young boys soon forgot about their pain, and their cartoon, as they jumped from the couch and ran to go find their big brother, "Okay!"

She watched them run off before looking down at her hands. In her left was a light strand of hair, and in her right was a dark strand. She closed her hands to hold onto the hair so they didn't magically disappear somewhere into the air.

Entering back into her lab, she went over and sat the strands of hair where she was supposed to on the DNAC, watching in slight amazement as some beeps were heard before Trunks and Goten's hair was on the screen. Sighing lowly, she then took out the needle from the bottom compartment, glad to see that there were also some cotton swabs and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"He just thought of everything, didn't he?" she asked the air as she pulled up her shirt far enough to see the side of her stomach. She dabbed some alcohol onto the cotton and rubbed the area in which would be penetrated and quickly stuck the needle in, pulling up on the knob to draw some of her blood. Once she saw that it was full, she pulled it out and wiped the cotton over the area again, cleaning it and wiping away the excess blood.

The simple thought of how Goku would have passed out at that moment brought a small smile to her face. She didn't know why she was doing this silly thing now…she knew it was Goku's child growing inside of her. She had that knowing feeling deep in her gut.

However, she decided to finish what she started, emptying the blood into the little box where she was told. Again, the computer made more beeping sounds as it clarified the information given. She sat there very still and silent, watching as the screen flashed to the blood and then to the hairs.

"It's Goku's…it has to be Goku's…"

A small smile lit up her face as she continued to stare at the screen.

"It's Goku's…"

Just then, the computer seemed to freeze for a moment. Then she saw her blood appear on the left side of the screen, followed by an arrow that was pointing to the right, then the strand of hair that it matched closest to.

Her smile faded.

It was the light strand of hair.

"It's Vegeta's…"

_______________

Wow…I didn't think the last chapter would give a lot of you so many clues. O.O; Guess there was too much foreshadowing there, eh? Oh well…

Well, as a Christmas present, I decided to hurry it up and get another chapter up instead of waiting for a whole month to update like I've been doing lately. Hope you enjoyed it…though it wasn't the happiest of chapters. ^^;

Merry Christmas!