Vegeta entered the room with a scowl.

Bulma spotted him immediately and skirted the dance floor, beaming. "I'm so glad you remembered and could come!"

The Saiyan mumbled under his breath and gave her a sharp look. "Remembered?" He shook his head at her. "You rigged alarms to go off in the training pod every 15 minutes for two hours before I needed to get ready. And in case I missed it? You rigged the entire system to 'crash' and refuse to restart until tomorrow."

Bulma smiled gently and straightened the lapel on his dark suit jacket. "You look handsome." She ignored his griping. Not mentioning that she'd picked out his clothing and had left it out for him.

"Woman ..." He drew out the word more like a warning than an endearment.

"Well, you do." Bulma announced and brushed non-existent lint from his broad shoulders. "Dance with me."

Vegeta eyed the dancers spinning in their colorful clothing. He sneered and refused.

The turquoise-haired woman at his side laughed and nodded, she'd expected that.

The Saiyan warrior looked over at the buffet tables and shook his head. "You left out a ton of food for me to eat before coming over here. Why? They have food here."

"And cake." Bulma's smile turned crafty. She'd deliberately made sure that her mate had eaten BEFORE the party so as not to get embarrassed at his eating habits.

Beside her, her Saiyan mate stiffened. He growled. He actually growled. Bulma could almost 'feel' the rising tide of anger within him. "Vegeta? Man? My man?" She tried to turn his attention to her. "What is it?"

"Why is he here?" The hardness in his voice was making her nerves twinge painfully.

"No fighting. Not at the party. Please?" Bulma put her hand on Vegeta's arm. "And of course Goku is here, he's my friend. And it's my party."

"No. HIM." Vegeta pointed rudely and Bulma looked in that direction and winced. "Oh, Yamcha."

"You invited ..."

"No." Bulma sighed and shook her head. "I didn't invite him." Though she'd considered it, after all he'd been her friend for a very long time. Still, she had not sent him an invitation. "He came as a ...a ...friend's date."

Dark eyes narrowed on his perceived rival. There was a woman hanging off his arm, one that Vegeta had even met before. He frowned sharply. "Hardly a friend. You don't even like her."

"Guma Shinten? You are correct, sir! I do not like her at all." Bulma sniffed, holding her mouth as if she had caught wind of something rotten.

"So why invite her to your party?" Vegeta continued to glare at his mate's former lover. And, sensing the attention, Yamcha turned to look at them. The Saiyan stiffened even further.

Bulma sighed. "No choice, really. She invited me to her birthday party a few months ago." She decided not to go into details about being business rivals as well as personal ones. It was a long story.

Vegeta gritted his teeth as he saw Yamcha look over at the pretty turquoise-haired woman who was HIS mate. Then stilled as the young Earth warrior looked away again, as if dismissing Bulma.

Now Bulma stiffened instead. Vegeta looked at her, unsure of the emotions involved here. "If you didn't go to her party, why invite her to yours?" He asked simply.

"I did go."

Vegeta shook his head. He hadn't gone. He hadn't known about it.

"You were training." Bulma pointed out.

"You didn't badger me with invitations and 'little reminders' like you did for this one." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. Had Yamcha been at that other party? Had his mate been seeing the other man behind his back? "You didn't want me to go." It wasn't that he'd wanted to be nagged into a frivolous party, but he didn't like being kept in the dark about it either.

As if reading his mind, Bulma tightened her grip on her mate's forearm. "She had a different date then. And I went by myself." Her words hid the hurt she'd felt being seen without her Saiyan. Guma Shinten had made a big deal about Bulma attending alone. Thus her badgering Vegeta to be here tonight, at her party.

Only now Guma had spotted them, and was gloating as she glided along on Yamcha's arm. To his credit, the Z-fighter looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Oh Bulma darling, you DO have a ...toy, after all." Guma Shinten was still stinging over the insults that Vegeta had offered her at their last meeting. "Still no ring? Tsk. And your son almost a year old now?"

Yamcha choked a moment and cleared his throat, but didn't speak.

Guma smiled brighter. "Have you met the star of our local baseball team?" Fake smile, fake intake of shocked breath. "Oh, I forgot. You two used to be an item! How could I? My bad."

"Nice to see you Yamcha." Bulma spoke as evenly as possible, digging her fingers into Vegeta's arm until they were white with effort. She prayed he was getting the message not to start a fight, not at her party.

The young man nodded, clearly uncomfortable. "I just knew it was Guma's friend's birthday, I didn't know it was yours."

Bulma nodded, relieved that Yamcha hadn't come here to make her feel badly about how they'd ended.

"Oh! I didn't mean to embarrass you about the lack of rings." Guma tutted her tongue in a chiding manner. "If you want to live so ...commonly, that is of course your prerogative. Not for me, you understand. I could never stand the shame."

Vegeta looked at Yamcha, glowering enough to make the Earth-born man start to sweat a bit. "Leave."

Yamcha nodded, knowing he was getting off lucky.

"Not until I get my dance!" Guma grabbed his arm and led him off, futilely protesting, to the dance floor.

The Saiyan Prince watched them a moment, scowling.

Bulma leaned into him. "No sex tonight or all week if you start a fight at my birthday party."

"Do not threaten me woman, and I'll fight when and where I want." Grouched the Saiyan.

Bulma nodded and tried to re-direct the conversation. "I just hope they brought me a kick-ass present. Look at the mounds of loot!"

Vegeta cut his eyes to the side and eyed the laden table. He frowned. "Presents."

"To celebrate my birthday."

Bulma grinned up at him. "Lots and lots of presents, I think I'm in heaven."

Suddenly unsettled, Vegeta eyed the gifts. Then looked down into the laughing eyes of his mate. He sighed as he realized the truth. "And what kick-ass present did I get you?" He asked.

Bulma's smile grew even bigger. She touched the line of her plunging dress and Vegeta looked down into some very impressive cleavage. His mouth twitched. He immediately spotted the pretty diamond and ruby pendant on the gold chain. "I picked that out, I assume."

"You have marvelous taste in jewelry it seems." She whispered, crossing her eyes teasingly at him. "You even had it designed and hand-made especially for me."

Vegeta grunted and looked at her, glowing with happiness beside him. His mood lightened. He looked down at her hand, still resting on his forearm though no longer trying to hold him back.

His mate was a marvel. She wanted him at a party, she got him. She wanted no fighting, there was no fighting. She wanted a pretty necklace, and she got one. So what if she made everyone think it came from him? Still ...he eyed her hand and his expression stilled.

What had the silly woman with the fake chest said? No rings.

Vegeta eyed the other party goers around him, all chatting and having a good time. What his mate wanted, she bullied and nagged until she got it for the most part. And ...if she wanted his rings, he'd know, she'd not let him know peace until he did what she wanted. He'd dragged her to the stupid Earth temple twice and she'd not said 'yes' to any of the men. She didn't want his rings.

By Saiyan standards, she was his mate. Wife. Spouse. End of story. Only ...she didn't see it that way. And neither did any one else here on this silly planet.

Feeling off-kilter, Vegeta scowled, making a near-by waiter stumble and spill wine over some older woman. The woman jumped back, tripping over her own stupid shoes and fell into the dancers.

Vegeta scowled again as he realized that Bulma had been to a party ...without him. When he was off training, she was still ...she went out, she did things! He'd known that, of course. But he'd not considered what it meant to have her out and about and appearing to be unclaimed! Unacceptable!

Bulma covered her mouth in horror as the older woman knocked one of the dancing couples into another couple. The young man stepped on the long maxi dress of the other couple, and ... it was Guma Shinten. Yamcha was quick enough to get out of the way. But Guma's dress was still being stood on and when she moved, it got pulled down and showed her pink strapless bra.

Guma shrieked and pulled on her dress, making the man standing on the hem flail. Striking the champagne glass out of the hand of a young woman, and soaking one of Bulma's school friends.

Chaos and shrieking. Bulma turned huge eyes over to Vegeta, only to find him glaring at her as if she'd done something terrible. "Huh?" Was all she could manage.

Vegeta glared at her. "This is all your fault, woman!" And then he stalked out of the room.

Bulma gaped after him, then looked around her party with shocked eyes as everyone tried to fix what had happened. Though Guma was still wailing, she was at least covered back up again.

Bulma couldn't help herself. "Oh, shut up Gummy. You manage to flash your breasts at every party you attend. What's the difference now?"

Guma Shinten did not look amused as her face turned a mottled red, even as everyone around her nodded in agreement.

Turning back to look at the exit, Bulma wondered what Vegeta had meant? "How was this all my fault?"

o.o.o.o.o

Two months. Two damned months since her birthday party. No Vegeta.

Bulma scowled. Where was her dratted Saiyan? She took off her borrowed gardening hat and glared over at her mother, who somehow still looked fresh despite the heat.

Not Bulma, no. She had to have sweat dripping off her nose and her turquoise hair damp and soaked to her skin. Pink skin. "I need more sun screen ..."

There was a 'whoosh' of sound, like a quick gust of wind. Then nothing.

Bulma's mother looked up and saw her daughter was gone. "Oh, she must have gone to get more sun screen. That's nice." And went back to puttering in her garden.

o.o.o.o.o

Bulma had one hand clamped onto her hat to keep it on her head, and another clinging tightly to Vegeta. Not that she could SEE it was her Saiyan. But she'd been in his arms enough to know.

Finally she gave up on the hat, and let the wind take it, only to feel it catch on the ribbons and hang from her neck. She scowled. Vegeta didn't even spare her a glance.

"VEGETA!" She shrieked. He ignored her. She yelled again. Same response.

She punched him, then howled as she knew it had hurt her hand more than it had hurt him. But it did get him to look at her. She caught her breath. She couldn't read him. He looked ...determined.

Bulma sighed, she had no choice but to wait and ...she swallowed back a curse as the two of them dropped suddenly, then slowed to touch the ground gently. "What the hell?"

"Here."

The turquoise-haired woman took the box into her hands automatically, still somewhat in shock. "You kidnapped me."

"This way."

The Saiyan took her hand and led her inside. Inside what? Bulma blinked at the sudden dimness of the lights after being out in the bright sun. She pushed back her sweaty hair and blinked. "Temple?" She deducted, then squeaked in protest as Vegeta pushed her up toward the man waiting for them.

"Begin."

Bulma's mind was having a hard time catching up. Then she stared at the temple priest, who was staring back at her. "Wait a moment ..."

The elderly priest looked confused. "I thought you said you two wanted to get married?"

"Married?" Bulma's jaw dropped. She touched her sweaty hair and her eyes went wide. "I can't get married like this!"

"You will tell the man 'yes' this time, woman." Vegeta gave her a long, arrogant look.

"I will?" She couldn't seem to grasp what was going on around her.

"That's a yes." Vegeta pointed out to the temple priest, who was looking decidedly unsure.

Bulma was shocked, but not stupid. She was catching on. "Now wait a minute! I did not say yes!"

Vegeta took her aside, ignoring the sputtering priest. "Why?"

Bulma shook her head. "I look a mess!"

"It's just me and you." He pointed out, reasonably enough in his mind.

"And the priest and the witnesses." Bulma wailed, waving an arm at two ladies arranging flowers and eavesdropping the best they could.

Vegeta frowned. "Do you want me to get rid of them?"

Bulma took a deep breath. "No, No ...I just want to wait to get married when I look nice and my parents can be there and Trunks of course."

Vegeta shook his head. "Excuses. You have refused me in front of the marriage man twice now. You have accepted that we are mated, but you continue to refuse me by your standards. I am done waiting."

Her mouth dropped. "YOU? YOU are done waiting? You arrogant ass! I'm the one who had to wait so you could train on another damned planet! I'm the one who was left pregnant and waiting for you! What the hell have you been waiting for?"

"For you to wear my rings and say yes!" Vegeta roared back at her.

"Ring?"

Vegeta lifted her hand and Bulma was shocked to realize she was still holding a box. A box he'd shoved into her hands.

"They are very nice rings." A shaky voice intruded.

Bulma turned to see an elderly gentleman and his wife beaming at her. She was suddenly sure she had horrid sweat marks under her arms. "Who are they?"

Vegeta nodded to the couple and turned back to Bulma. "He made the rings."

She couldn't help it. Curiosity would always be her undoing. It had led her to the dragon balls, to Namek, and to kissing Vegeta ...now it ... "Oh my goodness." She whispered as she opened the box to see a beautiful set of gold rings.

One masculine and perfect. One delicate and engraved. And one with a perfect princess cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds, just as beautiful.

"You didn't, how did you ..."

The jeweler walked up to her, peering proudly at his work. "The young man came in with a hunk of raw gold. Traded the extra gold for the diamonds. Picked out the cut himself. Took two months working almost around the clock. I wanted to trade the raw gold for something already on hand, but he wanted it to be from the gold he'd brought me."

Bulma suddenly had tears in her eyes. Vegeta sounded worried as she leaned into him. "Woman?"

"I look awful!" Wailed the woman in his arms. "And I stink!"

The priest coughed, "Perhaps another time would be best?"

"No." Vegeta's expression darkened. "Not again. Now."

The jeweler's wife smiled and pulled a pretty enameled pin from her hair. "How's this for something borrowed?"

One of the ladies arranging flowers grinned and grabbed some blue flowers. "These will work for something blue. But what about something old?"

Without looking up, Bulma held up her sweat soaked hat. "It's my mother's gardening hat, she's had it forever."

Everyone looked at each other and then smiled. "Good enough." The jeweler's wife said. "And the rings are new."

"Woman?"

The turquoise-haired woman looked up, wiping at the tear tracks on her face. She smiled at Vegeta and he blinked. "I'll say yes, you damned man. But you have to promise me one thing."

Vegeta eyed his mate cautiously.

She grinned. "If you want me to say yes, here and now. You have to agree to let me bite you tonight."

"Bite?" The jeweler and his wife both blushed. The priest blushed. The two young women laughed with delight.

Vegeta eyed her like she was a huge spirit bomb about to explode. He knew what she meant. She was talking about oral sex. Something he was very much against, for cultural reasons.

"I'll say yes, if you prove you trust me." She said in a sing-song voice, knowing there was an even chance he'd change his mind about this whole thing. "Well? What's it going to be?"

o.o.o.o.o

Another 'whoosh' of air had Bulma's mother looking up. She smiled as she looked at her daughter and her young man. "Oh, hello there! Did you get the sun screen, darling?"

Bulma blinked, looking stunned. "No, er ...no I didn't."

Vegeta looked smug as he glanced down at her hand, and the rings positioned on her finger. Finally.

His mate looked up at his arrogant expression and her own smile turned evil. "Just you wait."

The Saiyan's smile fumbled a bit as he grunted, wondering if he could talk her out of this whole trust issue.

"Just you wait."

Vegeta took a deep breath. No. No he was going to have to go through with it after all. Damn.

o.o.o.o.o

Maybe one more chapter. We'll see. Hope you enjoyed!