Chapter 12 – Welcome, Trunks

Bulma held her breath, concentrating intently on her latest project. She forced her hand to remain unnaturally still as she fought to ensure precision in her work. The light reflected off the silver surface of the object as she lowered it down towards its destination.

Successful at last, Bulma clapped her hands excitedly, surveying her work.

A large, highly decorated cake sat on the kitchen surface in front of her. Around the edges were small sculptures, made of icing, showing items such as baby's woollen booties, toy rattles and teddy bears. In the middle of the cake was a photograph, professionally copied onto icing, showing her newborn baby son on the day of his birth. Underneath the photograph were the words "Welcome, Trunks" in silver sugar letters, which Bulma had just finished lowering onto the cake.

"Ooh! Cake!" Bulma jumped as Vegeta's voice rang out from behind her, and she playfully slapped his hand away as he reached for the cake.

"No!" She scolded, holding up a large knife and shaking it in his direction. "Keep away from the cake or I will cut off the one body part you really care about!"

Vegeta winced, and Bulma smiled victoriously, putting the knife in the dishwasher before turning around to face her fiancée. "No," she said, grinning mischievously. "I have plans for when you'll be allowed to eat this cake."

Vegeta looked up as Bulma walked out onto the patio, and his eyes widened. She was wearing a pale blue summer dress, which reached to just above her knees – and which showed off just enough of her chest to be eye-catching without bordering on tarty. She wore her hair loose, so that the blue locks moved with the breeze; and she was wearing subtle make-up, with mascara tinted with blue to highlight the sapphire sparkle of her eyes. Around her neck and in her ears, she also wore sapphires.

Smiling politely at guests, sometimes pausing for brief greetings or small-talk, she made her way over towards Vegeta, her eyes twinkling in his direction as she appreciatively eyed his navy blue shirt and black jeans combo, pausing for an extra second on the hint of his chest muscles that were revealed by the three open top buttons. Vegeta just smirked as a cheeky smiled graced her features.

"See something you like, Onna?" Vegeta flashed his trademark smirk, looked her favourably up and down once more, just for effect.

"Yeah, actually." Bulma sighed, looking round at the party. She hesitated for a moment before grinning wickedly and continuing. "That buffet looks to die for!"

Vegeta snorted. "I was actually talking about me."

"Yeah, well, that ego of yours doesn't need inflating any more."

Vegeta opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by a screech as Chichi seemed to appear from thin air, running to hug a squealing Bulma.

"Oh! Congratulations!" Chichi cried, grabbing both Bulma and Vegeta by the hand and physically dragging them over to the basket where Trunks lay sleeping. "He's gorgeous! Definitely gets it from his mommy!"

Vegeta frowned, slightly put out, trying to decide whether he should be insulted or relieved. "He does have her eyes." He commented, one of the rare times when he actually spoke civilly to Bulma's friends (most of whom had now gathered around the family). "Although their shape is more similar to my own mother's. And I think his face resembles my own."

"Wow! Vegeta!" Krillen looked positively stunned at Vegeta's observations. "You had a mother!"

There was a mass rolling of eyes as everybody exchanged incredulous looks at Krillen's stupidity.

"Yes, cue ball!" Vegeta snapped after a moment. "Contrary to popular mythology, Saiyans are not hatched from snakes' eggs under a full moon!"

The rest of the party passed with ease, everybody simply enjoying themselves, cooing over baby Trunks, congratulating an ecstatic Bulma and a silent, apparently impassive Vegeta.

Finally, as night began to fall, Bulma pushed sleeping Trunks into a startled Vegeta's arms, before standing, tapping a spoon on a glass to get everybody's attention. She winced as she kit it too hard, and the crystal shattered.

"Oops!" She looked at the waiter apologetically as he hurried to clear up the mess. With that done, she turned to address the guests. "Anyway," she said, smiling at them all. "I just have a little announcement to make. Obviously, I'd like to welcome my new little boy, Trunks, to the gang."

Her eyes fell upon one guest, and she faltered. His blue eyes sparkled in the candle-light, and their shape looked oddly familiar. Her lips fell open as she recognized his chin – his whole face, really – bore an uncanny resemblance to Vegeta. Except, of course, for the straight, long, lilac hair. Bulma blinked, shaking herself as he noticed her staring at him and looked away sharply.

"Also," Bulma continued hesitantly, looking down at her shaking hands as she spoke. "I want to apologise for what I put you all through." For the first time that night, the garden was absolutely silent, as Bulma gathered her wits together. "When I ran away, I was feeling lost, confused, angry and scared. But I'm better now. I've sorted things out with Vegeta, we have a beautiful son, and I couldn't be prouder or happier. I'm in bliss twenty-four hours a day.

"And," Bulma smiled widely, trying to lighten the tone of the moment. "That leads me onto the last part, before this little announcement turns into a fully blown speech." Vegeta chuckled deeply at the phrase 'fully blown', but Bulma just rolled her eyes, muttering affectionately under her breath 'dirty-minded or what', before continuing. "Anyway, I just wanted to announce, that, since our son was born, Vegeta and I have decided to get married."

Everybody's jaw dropped.

A/N: Since there's been such a long wait for this chapter, I just wanted to thank vegetasprincess1, TrunksGurl, Brittany and wraithgirl for their reviews. Really encouraged me to keep writing until I got through the evil demon writer's block.

Thanks guys – only a couple more chapters left now!