Piccolo broke free of Gohan's hold as they entered the hallway, the hospital door banging shut behind them. He tore away his turban and cape in anger, throwing them on the tile floor, which cracked upon impact. Lindsey flinched and leaned in to Catie, who put her arm around her shoulders.

"Piccolo," Gohan said softly.

Piccolo grabbed his head, leaning over. "I can't help her!" Frustration and anger emanated from him. He dropped his hands and paced back and forth in front of the door. It was maddening, being that close to Jenny, knowing she was in trouble, and being completely helpless to fix it. He didn't understand what was happening; he didn't know what was going wrong. He thought she'd done incredibly well throughout her labor. She hadn't accepted any type of pain killers, hadn't had any complications… He felt like his chest was going to crack open and all the fear and worry just pour out of him. He leaned against the wall and slid down it, crossing his arms over the tops of his knees, dropping his forehead to his arms.

After a moment, Gohan asked, "Do you want someone to go tell everyone else? I think they're still in the waiting room."

Piccolo nodded.

"Catie, do you want to?"

"Yeah, I'll do it," Catie said. She dropped her arm from Lindsey's shoulders and headed down the hall.

"Do you need anything?" Gohan offered.

"Water," Piccolo said quietly. He suddenly realized he hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day.

"Stay with him?" Gohan asked Lindsey softly. She nodded and he hurried along the hallway the same direction Catie had gone.

Lindsey didn't know what to say to Piccolo. There was only one other time she could remember being one-on-one with him and that was the night he'd found her drinking on the porch. He looked so sad and scared, sitting on the opposite side of the hallway, completely alone and worrying over the girl he loved so much. Lindsey understood. She was worried and scared for Jenny, too. Without a word, she crossed the hallway, slid down the wall next to Piccolo, and took his hand in hers. Piccolo gently squeezed her fingers as they both sat and stared at the door to Jenny's room, waiting.

"Catie!" Trunks cried as she rounded the corner into the waiting room.

Everyone sat up straight and stared at Catie.

"Well, is the baby here yet?" Goku asked excitedly.

Catie nodded. "Baby's here and healthy!"

A cheer went up among the crowd gathered there, some of them breathing sighs of relief.

"How's Jenny?" Leelee asked.

Catie's expression turned serious. "I… I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Bulma screeched.

"She passed out, the alarm on the machine went off and they made us leave the room."

Bulma and Vegeta looked at each other in horror. He jumped to his feet and took his wife's hand. "Come on!" He pulled her quickly out of the room and down the hallway.

"They're not going to let you in!" Catie called after them.

"C'mere," Trunks said softly to Catie and reached for her, pulling her into his lap where she seemed to deflate. She was shaking. "It's okay," he whispered. "She's gonna be fine."

Catie nodded and rubbed at her stinging eyes. She leaned her head over on Trunks' shoulder and he hugged her close.

"So is it a boy or a girl?" Goku asked eagerly.

Catie blinked rapidly. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! It's a girl!"

"Wow," Goku breathed. "Piccolo has a daughter! Wow…"

Vegeta and Bulma found Lindsey and Piccolo sitting in the hallway, Gohan standing near the door to Jenny's room.

"What's going on?" Vegeta demanded.

"We don't know yet," Piccolo answered.

"Darn," Vegeta growled.

"Oh Vegeta, what do we do?" Bulma asked, her voice shaking.

Vegeta shook his head slightly and didn't answer. He and Piccolo stared at each other for a moment. Now they understood, if only by a fraction, how Gohan and Goku felt all those months ago.

Piccolo broke Vegeta's gaze and looked to Gohan. "How did you do it?"

Gohan looked at Piccolo, his expression questioning.

"When she was missing and then in the hospital, how did you do it?"

Gohan gave a short, soft laugh. "I dunno. I don't think I did it very well."

Lindsey drew her knees up to her chin and sat quietly. She was more interested to hear this than she should've been. She hadn't thought much about what Gohan had done while she was recovering from her attack.

"I guess," Gohan paused to think for a moment. "I guess I just held onto the hope that she'd be okay. I don't think there's much else you can do."

"I know how hard that was on you, Gohan," Bulma said kindly.

"Yeah," Gohan nodded. "Life… hasn't been easy lately."

"I think I understand how you felt now," Piccolo said.

"It's a scary place, isn't it?" Gohan asked.

Piccolo gave a nod.

The door to Jenny's room cracked open and the nurse stuck her head out the door, "We need you guys to go to the waiting room, okay?"

"Why?" Bulma demanded. "We want to make sure she's okay!"

The nurse, who had been incredibly kind to Jenny, suddenly turned harsh. "We may need to transfer her to another wing of the hospital and we can't have bystanders cluttering up the hallway! I know you're concerned. I will update you as soon as possible. Now please leave this hall!" And with that, she snapped the door shut again.

"We better do as she says," Gohan said, extending each hand to Piccolo and Lindsey, pulling them to their feet.

They returned to the rather noisy waiting room.

Goku jumped to his feet when he saw them. "Congratulations, Piccolo!"

Piccolo managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

"They didn't let you stay with Jenny?" Goku asked.

Piccolo shook his head.

Goku frowned. "That's not fair. They should have at least let you stay in the room."

"Let's go see baby," Catie announced, getting to her feet.

"I wanna come!" Leelee cried, jumping up. She linked elbows with Sabriena and pulled her up too.

Catie grabbed Lindsey's wrist and together, the four girls headed for the nursery window.

"Squeeeee!" Sabriena squealed when they reached the window. "They're so… so… squishy looking!"

"I thought you didn't like babies?" Leelee asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't like kids," Sabriena answered. "Babies can't talk back. Plus, they're fun to dress up!"

Leelee snickered.

"Which one is ours?" Sabriena asked, clasping her hands together and leaning closer to the glass.

Catie shook her head in an amused sort of way. "The green one."

"Green?" Sabriena blinked. "Oh! There she is!"

One of the nurses laid the tiny baby near the window, wrapped in a pink blanket. Baby was sound asleep.

"What are they gonna name her?" Leelee asked.

"I dunno," Catie answered.

Lindsey was standing with her hand pressed against the glass, staring at the new tiny person before her. Of course her opinion was biased, but she couldn't help thinking that Jenny's baby was the most beautiful out of all the babies there. A silent tear slid down her cheek. "Don't let her be like me," Lindsey whispered. "Don't let her be like me."

"Lins?" Catie asked, tipping her head to the side. "What'd you say?"

"Praying," Lindsey answered softly. "I just don't want her to grow up without a mother."

"Jenny will be fine," Catie said in a determined sort of way. "I'm not worried about her."

"You're not?" Sabriena asked in surprise.

Catie shook her head. "Nope. It's Piccolo I'm concerned about."

"Piccolo?" Leelee asked. "Why are you worried about him?"

"Not only does he have to live with Jenny and he's a new dad, but now he is going to have to deal with us being there twenty-four-seven, playing dress up with the baby," she grinned.

"Oh my god, now we can go shopping for baby dresses!" Sabriena exclaimed.

Lindsey finally smiled. "EVERYTHING WILL BE PINK!"

"For the love of all that is holy in this world, would you sit down, Namek?" Vegeta growled.

Piccolo ignored him and continued to pace.

"Uh, sir?" came a soft, female voice.

Piccolo spun on the spot to see the nurse who had been with Jenny throughout her labor.

"Yes?" Piccolo asked.

"Sorry, I never did catch your name," she said.

"How is she?" Piccolo asked.

"She had a major blood clot," the nurse said. "It was preventing blood flow."

Bulma and Vegeta had gotten to their feet.

"And?" Bulma breathed, barely daring to hope that Jenny was okay.

"She's fine," the nurse said. "She's resting now."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and Piccolo's knees actually buckled. He prevented himself from falling, but not so much that Tien didn't reach out and grab his arm to steady him.

"May I see her?" Piccolo asked.

"They're transferring her to a room and then I'll take you to her," the nurse answered kindly.

Piccolo's throat seemed to be closing off. His jaw clenched and his lips pressed hard together. His eyes burned. "Th-thank you," he managed to call to the nurse as she returned to the nurses' station. He stumbled to a chair, flopped into it, and leaned his head far back, covering his face with his hands.

The softly lit room was warm and inviting. Jenny was propped up with pillows, snuggling the soft pink bundle in her arms. Piccolo smiled and walked to her side.

"Daddy's here," Jenny crooned to the sleeping baby.

"Hmph," Piccolo smiled, "Never thought I'd hear someone refer to me that way."

Jenny leaned over and kissed Piccolo. "Did I scare ya?"

"More than you can imagine," he answered.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked.

"No," he answered, "Are you?"

"No," she laughed quietly. "Little late for having second thoughts now."

"I'm not having second thoughts," he said.

She smiled at him. "Neither am I."