Half Brothers

Chapter 5: All in the Family

Notes: New original character and an NC couple.

"Nikki!" Bulma shouted into the backyard. "Trunks!" she yelled upstairs. "Did you see where Nikki went?"

"I think the squirt was playing in the back yard." he half-yelled back down.

"Damn it..." the blue-haired woman muttered. She went to the back door and was ready to call again when a girl appeared in the doorway, panting from the run to the house. "Took you long enough to get here, Nikki. Where the hell were you?"

"Sorry, mom! I was over at Cherry's, and I forgot about the time. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it...!" Her dark blue eyes were frantic, flicking about as though searching for an avenue of escape.

"Relax, Nikki." Bulma cut her off. "You're not in trouble." She ruffled the girl's thick and straight black hair, the naturally blue streaks showing through. "I just worry about you, ya know? You're my daughter, and the world's a scary place..."

Nikki laughed, her youth apparent in the openness of her laughter. Bulma couldn't help smiling, feeling a bit melancholy. As we grow older, we curb our laughter, making it a secretive thing rather than a true expression of how happy we are...

Nikki looked older than the mere fourteen that she was. Many asked if Bulma had been a very young mother. Nikki looked old enough to head into a bar without getting carded. Her hair was black and thick, hanging to the middle of her back. Somehow, she'd inherited her hair color from her mother and father, gaining blue streaks from her mother's side of the gene pool. She was tall, towering over her mother by half a foot, at least. She was busty, especially for a girl of fourteen, and she had long legs that even supermodels would envy. Her face was heartshaped and delicate seeming, although her lean and sculpted muscles belied the delicacy issue.

In Bulma's motherly opinion, the girl got too much attention from the boys. When she'd seen the hungry looks her daughter received, she'd demanded that her husband teach the girl to defend herself. Nikki had been doing extremely well, picking up on martial arts as if they were actually in her blood. She was constantly asking for more, wanting more challenging moves. Trunks had taken over the training a few months ago, seeing that Yamcha's knowledge was becoming quickly exhausted by the girl's eagerness. Trunks was a much more patient teacher, and he couldn't believe how deeply Nikki got into the fighting. There wasn't a drop of saiyan in her blood, but he was sure that she could give almost any normal human a run for their money.

"Mom, you know I don't have to worry about any boys getting the drop on me."

Bulma smiled then. "Yeah, honey, I know. You can head back over to Cherry's if you want, but be careful, alright? I wouldn't trust that boy farther than I could throw him."

Nikki smirked, seeming much more mature suddenly. "Then that means I can trust him a lot. You should see how far I can toss him..." Bulma and her daughter laughed, happy and on the same page for one shining moment. "I'm gonna go back over there, now. Do you want me to call if I stay there for dinner?"

"It would be appreciated."

"Alright, then." she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and dashed off, waving as she exited the back door. It closed firmly behind her and Bulma just shook her head.

"Kids..." she muttered.

"What kind of parents would name their son Cherry?" Trunks asked, appearing behind her and munching on a sandwich.

"Crazy ones. Or a mother hopped up on morphine..." Bulma replied.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned back against him with a smile. "Hi, hun."

"Whatcha up to?" Yamcha asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Uselessly warning our daughter about the dangers of the world." Bulma answered curtly, still worrying about the girl.

"She's a big girl, Bulma. You can't protect her forever. And besides, the girl can benchpress me. I don't think we have to worry about her, too much." he added, thinking of the day they'd run out of heavy enough weights and Nikki'd made Yamcha sit on the bar with all the weights.

"Geh... Could you two not be so mushy? I'm trying to eat here..." Trunks put in, gesturing to the sandwich he was eating at a nearly human pace. Bulma smirked and waved him away. He shrugged and downed the rest of the sandwich. "I'm gonna head over to Goten's. I'll see ya around dinnertime. Give a ring over there if it's gonna be late, okay?"

"Alright. Bye, Trunks."

"See ya." He left through the back door and took to the air.

Bulma turned to face Yamcha, draping her arms around his neck and leaning up to press a soft kiss to his lips. "I think we raised those two pretty well, don't you?" he asked.

She merely nodded, admitting that Yamcha had done a good job with the kids. He'd come into their life when she and Trunks had needed a man in the house. He'd merely been a friend at first, wanting to comfort someone he'd shared something with once. After almost a year, they finally admitted that they were in love again, and things progressed from there.

When Nikki was born, Trunks was completely accepting. He cared for the girl as if she were completely his sister, not the child of another man. It still made Bulma smile to think of how close the siblings were. But... she couldn't help wondering suddenly about Vegeta's life. Where was he, and how was he doing? Had he started a new family of his own? Surely he'd moved on and had children by the woman he'd left her for. What would those children be like? And who was the woman he'd run off with?

A/N- Don't kill me, everyone! Sorry it took so long to update, but things were crazy for a few months. Plus, I was working more on originals. I should be able to update more often, and I'm also going to try updating my other fanfics here in the next few days. Love you all, and sorry for the delay!!!