Just One Week
XVI.
The next few months were interesting, that's for sure. Videl moved in with me three days after Gohan told me the big news and, needless to say, she was a sweetheart. Though it seemed like she acted tough in the cities (what with all that fighting), she was as nice as can be out of public. She insisted on helping out around the house wherever she could and didn't mind playing with Goten and Trunks when they asked. It was very obvious that she loved Gohan with all her heart despite her age, and above all else, it was nice to have another girl in the house.
Videl would always come to me when she had a question, whether it be about her pregnancy and her baby or just about Gohan. It was nice to have someone to talk to and it made me feel commendable that I could help out Videl. I knew Goku would be proud of me and for some reason, it made me want to help out all the more.
Also, Gohan and Videl were still attending high school, which of course was also great. Videl wasn't showing all that much, even when she was a little into her sixth month. About time she was ready to deliver, it would be the summer and she wouldn't have to worry about school.
I do have to admit, however, that I was a bit jealous of her. I tried not to be, really I did, but I guess its just part of human nature. I'm sure in time I'll get over it…
* * * * * * * *
It was late in the evening, around six o'clock, getting to be the downtime of the Capsule Corp. household. Goten and Trunks were upstairs in their room playing some kind of game, Gohan was in his room finishing up the last of his homework, and Bulma and Videl were in the kitchen fixing supper.
"Bulma, what do they like best, French or Italian?" Videl held up two bottles of salad dressing to Bulma, a big bowl of salad on the counter. While Bulma kept to the actual cooking part, Videl went with the easier things. Videl tried to cook before, but ended up burning a lot of the meal. Bulma made her practice every now and then, but decided to give the girl a break for today.
Looking up from having just put the mashed potatoes under the mixers, she pointed to Videl's right hand, which held the French. Nodding, Videl put the Italian back in the refrigerator and took off the top for the French to pour a little bit in the salad for flavoring, then mixed it in.
Videl put one of her short strands that fell in her eye behind her ear when she paused. Awhile back, Bulma had to admit that the girl did have nice hair when she put it down and didn't have it in low pigtails. And Bulma even had to admit that she found it as the funniest thing when Videl tried to cut her own hair to try to impress Gohan. She gave her credit for trying, but told her that working with hair was just not her hobby.
Overtime, Videl's hair grew out again, but Bulma told her that it would be best if she had short hair the first few years after she had the baby. Helping her out, Bulma gave Videl the kind of cut she had when she first had Trunks: the straight, right above the shoulders look. It fit Videl nicely.
Bulma turned back to the potatoes to make sure they were doing all right before turning back to Videl, "Everything should be done in about ten more minutes."
Something happened to catch Bulma's eye out of the corner and when she turned her head to look, she saw Gohan standing in the doorway to the kitchen. About to say hi, she was shushed when he held up his index finger to his lips. She pursed her lips shut tightly as she watched Gohan quietly, yet quickly, make his way through the kitchen and behind Videl. He waited a moment before resting his hands on her hips, Videl tensing for just a moment from surprise.
She soon relaxed, however, as a small smile played over her lips, her hands continuing to move the salad spoons up and down to toss it, "What are you doing, Gohan?"
"Nothing, just came to see how things were going in here," Gohan answered, sliding his hands up her sides, then going to her back for a moment to rest them on her shoulders. He gave her blades a light squeeze before going into a massage.
"Well…" Videl began, adding a little bit more dressing before tossing some more, "since I was left with the easy stuff, everything is going well. And Bulma just told me that supper should be ready in ten minutes, right?" Videl looked slightly to the side for a response.
"…What? Oh! Right, yes…about ten minutes," Bulma finally answered after having been silent for a moment. Shaking her head, she finally shut off the blenders and took the large bowl of mashed potatoes out from under them, putting another large chunk of butter in to rest on the top. She took it over to the table and set it down, looking over her shoulder slowly and sneakily.
Gohan and Videl could be heard talking lowly to each other. Bulma assumed they were talking about nothing important, but it was still one of those conversations that lovers liked to keep between themselves.
Subconsciously, Bulma gripped the back of the chair tightly, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. She turned her head back to look down at the set table, her eyes lowering a bit with sadness. She tried not to act like this, and she hated herself for it, but she just couldn't help but feel a little depressed when she saw Gohan and Videl acting like they were.
Yes, Bulma Briefs was jealous. At first, she tried to ignore the feeling, but everything just kept building up. She wanted to be held, to be talked to, and to be loved like Videl. She was very envious of Videl for being able to have someone completely like Gohan and wished she had the same luck.
Not only was it that, but it was the mere fact that Videl had Gohan. As in, he spent a good portion of his time with her now. Bulma always had to mentally scold herself when that thought came about. Why wouldn't he spend his time with her? She was only pregnant with his child after all. And though Bulma was completely sure that she would be very happy when Videl moved in, it really only made her feel like the odd-one-out.
Goten and Trunks had each other, they always did and could hardly be separated. And even though she heard Gohan saying a lot about how much he needed her, in all truth, Bulma needed him all the same. She didn't realize just how much she missed talking to him until she couldn't do it just any old time. Bulma had to laugh scornfully at herself. All because it lead right back to the beginning detail…
She was jealous.
Bulma was sure she was due to have her baby any time now. Great, she'll have someone beside her twenty-four seven again. And then what? Videl will have her baby and about time their kids reach even a little over one, they'll be playing with each like crazy.
Once again, the odd-one-out.
"Bulma, are you okay?"
Suddenly feeling a hand on her shoulder, she got jolted from her thoughts and shot her head to the side. She saw Gohan looking at her with concern and curiosity in his eyes and she could feel Videl on the other side of her, probably having the same expression.
"I'm fine," she answered, surprised that she heard and felt her voice crack. That's when she felt how heavy her eyes were and, wouldn't you know it, that's when a small tear escaped out of the corner of her eye.
Groaning in frustration, she managed to let out a small laugh and turn away from them to get the meat out of the oven, "Damn hormones."
Ah yes, her answer to everything.
Gohan sill looked a little confused, but Videl laughed also, going over to set the salad on the table, "I know what you're saying."
**********
Three and a half-hours came and went, and before Bulma knew it, it was a little after nine-thirty. Goten and Trunks were just put to bed, Gohan was upstairs taking a shower, and Videl could be heard eating some ice cream in the kitchen. Bulma was relaxing on the couch, needing to get off her feet after having been up and around almost all day. She laid her head against the back of the couch; both of her hands slowly gliding across her swollen stomach. This was the part of the pregnancy that she hated the most, for everything on her body felt like a deadly bee had stung it thirty times or more.
"Hey, Bulma," Videl said as she entered the living room, her left arm being able to rest over her stomach comfortably.
Bulma lifted her head and gave the younger woman a small smile, "Hey, to you too." She tried to sit up a little straighter, "Planning on going to bed soon?"
Videl nodded, "In a couple minutes…" Biting her bottom lip, Videl slowly made her way over to the couch Bulma was on to sit next to her. She stared down at the floor for a moment, leaving Bulma to raise a skeptical eyebrow.
Turning towards her quickly, Videl put her hands on her lap, "Listen, Bulma…I really don't know what you're going through…what with losing the father of your baby and all…but I just have to tell you that I think you're very brave."
Blinking twice, Bulma cocked her head to the side. After what Videl said fully registered, she simply shook her head and laughed, "Believe me, Videl…I'm far from brave."
"Don't say that," Videl said softly, her eyes becoming understanding, "to tell you the truth, I don't think I would know what to do first if I lost Gohan now…and…" Videl looked down again, "and it breaks my heart just thinking about it. But I do know that I wouldn't be half as brave as you, Bulma."
Sighing quietly, Bulma glanced down to her stomach, "At your age, it's understandable. But once you reach my age, well…instinct just kicks in and you become a mother and a father." Pausing for a moment, Bulma allowed herself a smile again, "But I do appreciate you telling me that, Videl."
Videl nodded and blushed a little after not knowing what else to say, "Well, I just wanted to tell you that. I'm off to bed now, goodnight."
After hearing Bulma reply, Videl got up and walked towards the stairs, surprised when she saw Gohan standing at the bottom.
When she reached him, he simply told her, "I'll be up in a couple minutes, Videl."
Nodding in agreement, Videl stood on her tiptoes to give him a small kiss on the side of his mouth before heading up the steps. Gohan watched her go for a moment before looking back to Bulma. Walking around the couch and sitting down next to her where Videl had been without a single word, he saw that Bulma was hypnotized in watching her hands run over her stomach.
Clearing his throat, he felt bad for having to interrupt her, "Bulma, is there something you want to talk a—."
"The baby's kicking!" Bulma suddenly exclaimed, pressing her left hand to the middle of her stomach. She gave a toothy smile as she looked over to Gohan, grabbing his closest hand to put over the spot she had just been touching; "Do you feel it?"
Gohan held his breath for a moment, as though trying to feel and hear the baby. Sure enough, he felt a little pressure underneath his hand, mimicking Bulma's expression, "Yeah, that's really cool. Videl likes me to feel our baby kicking a lot, too," he laughed quietly and pulled his hand away so Bulma could feel again, "she says when I'm not right next to her, the baby kicks harder and it hurts."
"Yeah, surprisingly enough, baby's know when their daddy's are around and when they're not," she explained, feeling the baby calming down, "it's said that they feel what the mother is feeling, that's why I've been trying my best to be happy as much as I can."
"Trying your best?" Gohan questioned, sitting back further on the couch sideways to face her, "Shouldn't that just come naturally?"
"That's what I meant…" Bulma said quickly, not wanting to even get started on one of those emotional talks. She sighed loudly and plopped each of her hands to her sides, "Well, as far as what I can tell, I should be having the baby in about three weeks. Isn't that exciting?"
Gohan stared at her seriously for a moment, but quickly put on a smile for her, "Sure is, and then not too long after that, Videl will be going through the joys of delivering."
Bulma laughed at this, "She's gonna love that. Do you know what you guys are having?"
He nodded, "Yeah, we found out that we're going to have a girl."
She couldn't help but burst into giggles like a young girl, "Oh, won't that be adorable?" Reaching up, she pinched his cheek until he drew back with a blush on his cheeks, "Gohan with a little girl…you'll be all protective of her and then when she finally wants to date, you'll ask the guy a million of questions and set tons of rules and—."
"Okay, okay," Gohan held up his hands to make her stop, a deeper blush now apparent, "I get the idea of you making her out to be a 'Daddy's Little Girl'."
Bulma giggled one last time, for some reason remembering back when he was only twelve years old. She always found it so precious when she knew kids all their life and then even being there when they have kids of their own. "I actually still don't know what I'm going to have," she went on, "I like to keep it a surprise. I did the same thing when I was pregnant with Trunks."
Gohan's blush went away as he smiled, "Really? The suspense got to both of us and we just had to find out."
"Were you hoping for a girl?"
"To tell you the truth, it really didn't matter what we were going to have. But after I found out it was a girl, I was really happy about that."
Smiling more, Bulma once again reached over to pinch his cheek, "'Cause you wanted a 'Daddy's Little Girl'."
Gohan pulled away again and put a hand up to his cheek so she couldn't do that again, "No! It's just…just…"
"Ah-ha! Gotcha…" She smirked proudly, staring at him in the certain way that obviously said "Go on…admit it!"
He saw this and couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh, his head shaking and his hand lowering, "Okay, okay…you're right."
"I knew it," Bulma commented, her smirk never leaving. Her head was turned so she could see straight in front of her, but her eyes kept glancing over to Gohan. He didn't know it, and she wasn't about to tell him, but he just made her happier than she had been since Goku was around for that week. It always seemed that every time something was bothering her, rather it be big or small, Gohan subconsciously knew what was wrong and did his best to help her out. And she felt her own heart become overwhelmed from his kindness.
Gohan turned so he was sitting right on the couch, his form slumping a bit so his neck rested comfortably against the back. His hand reached out to slick through his still damp hair. He looked over to her, feeling and knowing that he was being watched, "Well, I'm off the bed, Bulma. Tomorrow's Friday and then the weekend again." He stood up from the couch and went around to head towards the stairs.
"All right then, I enjoyed talking to you again," she replied, cautiously turning to her side to watch him go, "Goodnight, Gohan," she paused and then said the first thing to came to mind, "I love you."
His foot just went on the second step when she said this, making him stop and turn towards her. She said that to him before, but it had been quite awhile; usually she saved all her 'I love you 's" for Trunks and Goten. He smiled genuinely at her. But it was still nice to hear sometimes, "Ditto." Then he was gone.
Her smile continued to linger on her lips even minutes after. She once again looked down to her stomach, then up to the ceiling, though she seemed to see right past the barrier.
"I love you, too, Goku…"
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Sorry for taking longer to get this one out, I kinda disappeared for a week.
And I can explain this chapter…I think. . See…some people have been e-mailing me or whatnot saying about how they wanted to see a little bit of Gohan/Bulma…stuff. O.O; Well, I kept trying to say that this wasn't a Gh/B, but…I finally decided to maybe ease their minds a little bit. Erm…even though I really don't see romance there. And for you others that maybe thought something weird of this chapter…eh…don't worry about it. I promise that the next chapter will once again get things moving along quickly. Until then, please review! Thanks!