Author's Note: Thanks to Garowyn, TorankusuGohan, Cappucine, Thomas Drovin, and InuSaiyan007 for reviewing! You're all totally wonderful!
Hm. Let's see. I've decided to make Goten, Trunks, and Marron a bit younger than shown in the DBZ timeline; that way, the Goten/Bra pairing shouldn't have that much of an age gap. I think that'll be all for now.
Chapter 6: Oh, What Tangled Webs We Weave
Instead of listening to Goku's pleads, as he and even Vegeta subtly hoped, every person in the room began to panic in his or her own special way.
Trunks began to mutter, "We've practiced this before, I shouldn't panic, I shouldn't panic..."
Goten stood in a corner, mentally arguing with himself. Should he stick with his mother, who possessed a grand knowledge about 'weird' things, or should he follow his father's orders?
"Can we get her to the hospital on time?" asked Gohan, still by Bulma's side. Even he hadn't heeded his father's pleads, and he now grasped his friend's trembling hand, grimacing ever so slightly.
"I don't know. I'll be a little uneasy if she delivers right here," Krillin commented, giving an ephemeral glance at Bulma's rotund stomach.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God..." Videl repeated over and over again, pacing around fretfully. This was horrible! She had never had the displeasure of actually seeing someone in labor, and now, she was about to witness it firsthand-
"Everyone, calm down!" The room fell silent in response to Goku's sudden cry, with the exception of Marron's and Bulma's frightened and pained screams.
"Now, look, panicking isn't going to help Bulma deliver this baby," he continued rather seriously. "I can only think of one way that we can take her to the hospital as quickly as possible, and that's Instant Transmission. So, everyone, get connected!"
They all immediately obliged, touching one another's shoulders or hands in an attempt to become somehow connected to Goku. Gohan helped Bulma up, and together, they slowly made their way up to the nearby group. Trunks hesitantly placed a hand to his mother's belly, as if touching it might bring her unnecessary pain, and his father nodded silently to Goku.
"So, we're ready," abovementioned Saiyan affirmed. When no one replied, he placed two fingers upon his forehead, undoubtedly searching for West City Hospital.
"What's taking so long? Just try to sense a large concentration of people!" Chi-Chi demanded, an unwanted sense of anxiety finally settling in. She uneasily glanced over as Bulma continued to sob dreadfully.
"It's not that easy! I might take us to a grocery store, or an amusement park... or... Yes! Found it!" Goku exclaimed. Before anyone could say another word, they all vanished into thin air.
Many minutes later...
Two hours later, they were all forced to sit in a nearest waiting room by the maternal wing of the hospital. Bulma, of course, was admitted into one of those patient rooms. Vegeta, naturally, had accompanied her, and half-dragged a reluctant Goku along with him.
Goten tried to take in his surroundings as quickly as possible. The small waiting room in which a nurse had directed them to was quite quaint in nature, and provided a comfortable air, so as to have its occupants feel more relaxed about the upcoming birth. He immediately selected the farthest seat from the doorway as possible. He didn't want anything to do with whatever was coming next, if worst came to worst.
Trunks took a seat by him, and the two boys said nothing. In a few minutes, Gohan and Krillin grabbed the two seats beside them. No one uttered a word. Each one seemed to be anticipating something. Some were anticipating the worst, while others, ironically, didn't know what to anticipate...
"Where's Mom?" Goten finally wondered. Giving a fleeting glance towards Krillin, he added, "And where's Videl and-"
"Your mom went downstairs, probably to the gift shop," Trunks murmured sleepily. He leaned back into the comforting chair, sighing deeply. "I think Eighteen and Marron went with her..."
'Most likely, she secretly wanted to go,' Krillin thought slyly. He reminded himself never to let his wife hear him say that aloud ever.
"Videl went to the bathroom, I think," Gohan muttered. He turned to the waiting room door, which showed no signs of letting in an extremely anxious young woman. "What's taking her so long?"
"Didn't she go just an hour ago?" Krillin wondered. "It's not like she had anything extra to drink, or something..."
Gohan said nothing. As nervous as he was for Bulma's sake, he definitely had no doubt in his mind that Videl was okay.
Or so he thought.
In the ladies' restroom, Videl knelt for the fourth time before the toilet bowl, emptying another stomach-full into the toilet. She groaned slightly and wiped at her mouth, thoroughly disgusted. As a young child, she'd known that she had had a weak stomach for gory things, but never in her life had she ever vomited so much.
What was going on? Why was she so nervous over Bulma's giving birth? It wasn't like she was the one going through labor. Thank God for that.
She leaned over once more to regurgitate the remaining food she had eaten from Bulma's baby shower.
"That sounds positively revolting..."
"Who's there?" Quickly wiping her mouth again, she rose to her feet and flushed the toilet. A bit embarrassed, she left her stall to meet a middle-aged nurse, who tapped her foot against the tile floor rather impatiently.
"Are you a visitor?"
"Y-Yes. I'm here because my husband's friend-"
The nurse shook her head. "You should be a patient, with all this vomiting and what not. You know how long you've been at it? You want to take some antacids, or something?"
Videl promptly refused. She couldn't possibly be that ill. "It's just that I'm a bit nervous about my friend giving birth. It's nothing really."
"I'm sure." The nurse, cracking the chewing gum in her mouth loudly, grabbed Videl's arm. Paying no mind to the young adult's protests, she continued, "I'm just going to run a few tests. We'll just see if there's 'nothing really' wrong with you."
In the Gifts Shop...
"Wouldn't this be nice?" Chi-Chi placed a collection of pink bibs in Eighteen's arms. "Of course, we'll get blue with that, as well... You never know."
Eighteen merely grunted. This woman was absurd! How dare she pile toys upon toys, blankets upon blankets, books upon books, balloons upon balloons, into her arms like nothing was the matter? She had only agreed to go to the gift shop in the hopes of somehow finding Bulma something thoughtful for the baby. "You have money for all of this?" she finally asked through clenched teeth.
Chi-Chi tried not to seem annoyed. "Of course I do... Why else would I pick all of these?" 'Seriously... Is she always this concerned with money? It's no wonder... She was evil before Krillin actually met her! Love does some crazy things sometimes-'
"Can't you carry your own things yourself?" Eighteen finally got out her request, struggling to balance a squirming Marron as well as numerous toys in her grip.
Chi-Chi sighed. "Okay. Hand them over." 'People can be so...'
'Chi-Chi's incredibly...'
'Annoying.' The two women forced smiles, grinning a little too widely as Marron refused to let go of a pink stuffed bunny.
In the nurse's office...
The nurse was incredibly blunt. "Whether you like it or not, it's true."
Videl shook her head defiantly, tuning out the nurse's comments. "It can't be. You're obviously mistaken. I'm not-"
"Oh, you most certainly are, my dear. And don't even think about hiding it. Your husband will know sooner or later... Besides, it wouldn't be fair to him or to her," she said, pointing her pen at Videl's belly. "I think you'd want to let the father know as soon as possible to get preparations for the-"
Videl bit at the clear polish on her thumbnail. This nurse needed to stay out of her business. How was she so certain, anyway? All she did was put some equipment on her stomach... Technology these days.
But even if it was true, Videl wasn't planning on telling Gohan just yet. She didn't want any more strange reactions. Plus, the way Gohan was behaving at the baby shower gave her reason to believe that he would more than likely freak out. It was always one mood or another with him these days... Or maybe it was because he already knew...?
The nurse finished writing on her chart. "Okay, hun, here's your appointment card. Come back and see me in a month. Your next appointment is the twenty-second. Be good."
"Okay, I guess." She read her card. 'Videl Son (2 months) has an appointment at the West City Hospital, Maternal Wing on February 22.' Lifting herself from the metal chair, she left the office without so much as a 'thank-you' escaping her mouth. There was no thanks to be given to that nurse at all.
Because she always had her loose training gi on, Videl was showing only a little, but she could feel the difference. Not sleeping well, feeling cranky and irritable, readier than ever to train, even before it was time to eat breakfast.
Training. This wasn't good at all. Gohan was almost certainly going to wonder why she ceased training if she ever did, for that matter. If what the nurse said was true, then she was most undoubtedly going to have to.
She sighed, hesitantly heading back to the waiting room.
Back at the waiting room...
Krillin checked the clock on the wall, and was not at all surprised when it read 3:54 A.M. He glowered at the peaceful sights of Trunks and Goten snoozing peacefully. Even Videl had come back, and was now sitting beside Gohan, her head involuntarily resting soundly upon his shoulder. Chi-Chi and Eighteen had long returned, with bags upon bags of baby goods, and had fallen asleep as well.
This wasn't fair. How was it, that at the end of the day, everyone but him could resort to simply sleeping off their worries? He chuckled slightly in his resentment. Chi-Chi had never seemed to worry in the first place - she seemed to be relatively happier that Bulma was about to deliver.
"Looks like everyone's doing fine..." A voice from the doorway caused Krillin to look up.
"Oh. Goku... How is she?"
Aforesaid Saiyan sighed exhaustedly, taking a seat beside his friend. "I can honestly say... that I will never, ever be in the same room with a woman having 'contractions'..."
Krillin shuddered in agreement. "How far is the baby, then?"
"The doctor said it'll be born in a few more hours, but sheesh!" Goku shivered as he recalled everything that had happened in the past few hours. "I think Vegeta was keeping me there for no apparent reason! Believe me, I had no intention of seeing that wet spot on Bulma's dress... or seeing the doctor slip some needles into her... I think it was called IV... Whatever it was, I'm definitely not going to be there when she actually goes through labor. Chi-Chi giving birth to Gohan was enough for me-"
"It wasn't that bad," Chi-Chi murmured in her defense unconsciously. "You can be such a baby, Goku..."
"Baby, baby, baby! I don't want to hear that word ever again!" he exclaimed childishly.
Krillin struggled not to snicker - the word was beginning to become quite trite in his and his friends' vocabulary...
Little did he know that he would be hearing that word a little too much for his liking, for another person very close to him was pregnant...
In Bulma's room...
Vegeta stood by his wife's frail figure, never uttering a word. She slept uncomfortably, often twisting and turning in her thin bed. Her dirty, sweat-stained dress lay on a nearby chair, as she had changed into a lavender hospital gown upon arriving.
Finally, she spoke. "Vegeta..."
"Yes?" He stared at his wife, who still hadn't opened her eyes.
"Go check on Trunks. He needs to know that I'm all right. Please..."
Wondering whether or not she was sleep-talking, he complied, returning to the waiting room in order to alert the others of Bulma's wellbeing.
Author's Note: July 4, 2009: This chapter was edited a bit! Just little grammatical things, though. Cheers!