A/N: Finally an update! I wish I had more free time, but at least this chapter did not take as long as my last. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others and probably not all that entertaining. It's meant more to set up for the upcoming events.

I love Vegeta, and if it were possible to marry a cartoon character, he would be the one... of many.

Thanks to all who have read/reviewed/etc!

Camping

Chapter 3: Unpreparedness

Just as the sun began to fall below the horizon, dark clouds could be seen rolling in not far in the distance, but Bulma paid no mind to them as she sat in a collapsible chair just outside the camper, poking and prodding at a small circuit board lying on a fold-out table before her. She had removed the board from the backup generator earlier in the day after discovering that it had somehow managed to stop working. After all the problems she had experienced on this supposedly fun event, she was dead set on never leaving home again, at least not without a full stock of capsules containing multiple generators and her mother's delicious cakes and sweets.

"Mom," Trunks called out as he came running around the side of the camper.

"What is it Trunks?" Bulma replied without removing her attention from the malfunctioning circuit board.

"I really think we should head up that hill to higher ground. There is a storm rolling in, and we're in a valley. Not to mention, the lake is already close to flooding over, despite dad's crater-sized addition. Goku and his family left for higher ground a few hours ago."

"I already told you Trunks, we'll be fine. Goku and his family don't have a high tech camper like we do. They chose to 'rough it' even more than we did. Besides, if it starts to flood, you and your sister are welcome in the camper with me and your father."

Trunks rolled his eyes, something he would never let his mother witness him doing, but she was still so enthralled in the electronics, her was certain she hadn't noticed, even as he stood just on the other side of the table she was working at.

"Mom, I wouldn't quite call what you and father are doing 'roughing it', seeing as you have a fully air-conditioned home on wheels with every appliance, and then some, standard to a home, and a bed large enough to sleep our family and Goku's."

"What air-conditioning? What appliances? You mean the crap that's not working because our site doesn't have the electricity we asked for?" Bulma replied sarcastically.

Trunks could see his mother was starting to get irritated. He knew it really was hard for her to leave behind all her beloved electronics, so he decided to leave their conversation at that, and just silently pray that the heavens did not open up and rain hell upon he and his little sister as they tried to sleep in their tent that night.

Vegeta groaned loudly, over-exaggerating on how uncomfortable he was in bed. Bulma had been unsuccessful in repairing the circuit board for the generator, seeing as she hadn't brought along any spare parts, and thus no power meant no air-conditioning. Though the sun had been hidden by the clouds for most of the day, it was late summer and the humidity was ridiculous, making their sweaty skin stick to the blankets.

Vegeta violently kicked the remainder of the sheets off his body and onto the floor at the side of the bed, disregarding the fact that his mate may have preferred they remain on her body. "This is ridiculous woman! Can you not do anything about this blasted heat?"

"Sure thing your highness," Bulma started in a derisive tone, sitting up in bed and waving her head around mockingly, "How about I sit at the edge of the bed and fan you all night whilst feeding you grapes straight from the vines!"

Vegeta sat up, turning to his mate with a proud smirk on his face, which Bulma only caught glimpse of as not-so distant lightning lit the room momentarily. "I suppose that would do," he quipped.

Bulma rolled her eyes. She knew he was only pulling her leg, trying to make her fume with anger. He was such a sadistic prick.

Another bolt of lighting struck down, apparently less than a mile from the camper, because a terribly loud crash of thunder followed immediately after, startling Bulma out of her infuriation. She turned to the small window just above the head of the bed just as the clouds began to release a fury of rain in an instant downpour. "Great…" she murmured, knowing full well that her son had been right, and not only would it likely mean they would be flooded out, she knew her daughter would be bawling the entire night in fear of the storm. There really wasn't much she could have done anyway, seeing as the camper was not designed, what with it's massive size and weight, to climb steep hills or rough terrain, and she certainly was not about to take just a tent up the hill to sleep in. She released a long sigh and closed her eyes, trying hard to imagine herself at home in her quiet lab, working on one of her newest state-of-the-art hovercraft or submarine designs.

Despite the eruption outside, and Bulma's sudden loss of interest in him, Vegeta's eyes remained on his mate's physical outline in the darkness. He was in the mood for some play, and the mating ritual that was sure to follow. Bulma, however, did not feel the same.

"Vegeta!" Bulma hollered as her husband suddenly pounced on her, sending her toppling backwards on the bed. Vegeta hovered over her, his knees at the side of her hips, and his hands pressing her shoulders firmly against the bed, with an all too familiar glint in his eyes. "Get off of me!" she screeched as she 'accidentally' jabbed her knee into his nether regions in an attempt to escape.

Saiyan or not, a shot in that sensitive of an area was enough to get Vegeta to roll off and lie in the fetal position, groaning for several moments in pain.

"Sorry Vegeta, but if we start anything, you know our children will be running in here while we're in mid-swing, and I will not have our daughter being scarred for life as our son is," Bulma chided, rolling her eyes at how pathetic her 'big, bad Saiyan prince' could be at times.

Sorely defeated, Vegeta slumped back into his spot on the bed, his back to his mate like a spoiled child giving the silent treatment when not given what they wanted. He didn't give a damn how childish he looked, he is a prince, though of a mostly dead race, a prince nonetheless, and he was tired of his little brats stealing what he would claim to be the little excitement he could find in his mate.

Bulma released a heavy sigh and returned to her place on the bed and closed her eyes, but she knew it would be foolish to think she would fall back asleep. Any minute now, her kids would be entering the camper, her son wearing that 'I told you so' look on his face. Sure enough, that was exactly what happened.

Bulma and Vegeta quickly arose, startled when the door to the camper opened and closed abruptly. Vegeta immediately sat up in bed, fully alert and with a hand pointed in the direction of the offending intruder in the darkness.

"Vegeta!" Bulma hollered, catching sight of his glowing hand as he formed a small sphere of ki.

Lightning flashed just outside, lighting up the inside of the camper long enough to reveal a rather damp Trunks with his younger sister cradled safely in his arms.

Vegeta dropped his hand, the ki quickly diminishing. "Damn it boy! Do you have a death wish?" he barked.

Ignoring his father's temperamental outburst, Trunks removed a hand from his sister's underside to flip on the small battery-powered light sitting on the small table beside him. He stepped further into the camper, stopping at the foot of the bed and turned his gaze to his mother, with the expected look. "The ground is completely flooded out there, and the water made it into the tent. Looks like we'll be sleeping in here tonight."

Bulma silently cursed herself for not bringing the hover craft rather than the terrain vehicle, despite how hard she was trying to avoid any attention being drawn to their already press-worthy family. "That's fine," she forced through another long sigh.

Trunks set his sister down to her feet, and she rubbed her eyes wearily, obviously just woken up. He gave her a gentle nudge towards the bed, and she obligingly crawled onto the bed and up to the pillow lying between her parents.

Vegeta scowled at his son with a look that would likely send any other young man to his knees in fear, but Trunks had grown 'used to' his father's poor social behaviors and merely trudged off to the booth at the other end of the camper, pushing a button on the wall which released a latch on the side on the bench, allowing him to fold it out, revealing a decently sized cushioned bed. After turning off the dim light, he flopped down on the bed, face first, and prayed to Kami he would fall asleep and wake up the next morning to a normal family.

Bulma and Vegeta laid back down, both equally exhausted. Bulma moved closer to her daughter, lying on her side to give Bra, who was apparently already asleep, a gentle kiss on the side of her forehead. Bulma, too, found herself quickly drifting off as well.

Morning came all too soon, but thankfully for both Vegeta and Bulma, Bra had actually slept quietly through the night, despite the relentless storm raging outside.

Bulma's lids slowly fluttered open, revealing a rather surprising picture. Her husband lay on his side, facing her and their daughter, his arm wrapped protectively over Bra, his hand resting on Bulma's waist. An amused smile spread across Bulma's face, but was short lived as Vegeta's eyes opened and his demeanor instantly changed.

"When are we going home?" Vegeta grumbled, quick to remove his hand from any contact with his wife or daughter.

Bulma sighed inwardly, and sat up, startled to find her son standing at the foot of the bed, staring at her with a look that just screamed the damned 'I told you so', which only meant one thing.

"Mom, there's water out there at least a foot deep, and I really doubt this camper is going to be able to make it out of the valley."

Bra stirred from her slumber, rubbing her eyes wearily as she snuggled closer to her father, burying her face in his stomach.

"We'll see about that," Bulma replied stubbornly. She was certain her inventions could get them out of anything, even if the camper was a very old design. Not caring that her appearance may be somewhat inappropriate for the public, she slipped into some slippers and strolled towards the door, adorned in only her tiny red camisole and matching panties. Her stride took a quick halt, however, when she opened the door to find just how right her son had been. The water was all the way up to the top step that descended from the camper. She lifted her head towards the sky, ready to curse Kami, only to find that heavens apparently had much more in store for her that day. Though the rain had stopped, there were gray clouds easily visible in the distance, slowly creeping towards her and the defenseless camper. With no hope in sight for getting out of this any other way, Bulma slowly turned to face her family, a feign smile plastered on her face. "Well, it looks like we're going hiking today!"