CHAPTER EIGHT

3 months later

Bulma drummed her finger on the desk, deep in thought, her other hand subconsciously running itself over her slightly bulging stomach. The new battle droids that her father had manufactured were malfunctioning, and Bulma knew better than anyone that a grumpy Saiyan Prince made for an unhappy household.

Vegeta had become more and more unruly these days, and although he actually interacted with Bulma much more than before, she still hadn't been able to find the courage and inform him of her pregnancy. It was cowardly of her, she knew that, but it still couldn't push her to just blurt it out to the warrior. Her parents were the only ones who knew beside her, and they weren't about to risk their lives to tell Vegeta anything that could make him unstable.

She rose from her seat, clutching the chair as she did so. Bulma was aware that over the next few months moving around would become much more difficult as her stomach grew, and even now she needed help getting up from sitting. She considered ringing Chi-Chi, the only other woman who had been pregnant with and given birth to a half-saiyan child for useful information, but that would mean other people being aware of her current situation.

Bulma made her way into the kitchen, pulling the fridge open and getting out a large pitcher of ice-cold water before letting the door close. Finding a glass, she poured the water into it before taking a large drink, feeling almost instantly refreshed. As she went to take a second sip, the doorbell rang. Bulma set the glass down, preparing to answer the door, but it seemed that someone else beat her to it.

As she went to return the pitcher to the fridge, Bulma looked up to see her mother come bustling into the kitchen, a wide smile on her beaming face. "Oh look Bulma, you have a visitor!" she exclaimed brightly, and as if on cue, Yamcha entered the room, a warm smile across his lips. "Oh Bulma, your daddy and I are going out for dinner, so you two be good now!" Bunny winked at Yamcha, who's cheeks went instantly crimson, before the blond woman left the room.

Yamcha turned his attention on Bulma. "Hey." he greeted her, moving closer. "Hey." she echoed, closing the fridge door that had been hiding her body as she did so, revealing her stomach to her guest. The result was almost instantaneous, Yamcha's eyes almost bulged out of his head as they made their way to her belly. Seeing his reaction, Bulma quickly covered her stomach with her arms, but it was too late. "Bulma, are you... pregnant?"

Bulma knew that Yamcha was much too clever to be fooled, so she merely nodded her head. Yamcha moved over to her, placing a hand gently on her belly. "I'm not..." he began, and Bulma felt a twinge of guilt. "Oh Yamcha, I'm sorry." she replied sadly, but the tanned warrior shook his head. "It's alright, I mean, I wouldn't be cut out to be a father anyways." He stepped away from her, and sat down on the nearest chair, and Bulma saw the hurt that crossed his face. "It's his, isn't it?"

Fear gripped Bulma's heart as she instantaneously glanced out the window at the gravity chamber, where Vegeta was undoubtedly training away. Her eyes flickered back to Yamcha. Did he know the truth behind her unborn child's father? "Who's?" she asked nervously, wringing her hands together. "The guy you've been seeing." Yamcha answered, raising an eyebrow, before his face fell. "Unless there's another..." Bulma held up a hand to interrupt him. "No, you're right, it's his."

Yamcha sat back in the chair, obviously trying to take in that his ex-girlfriend had somehow managed to get herself pregnant to another man shortly after ending their relationship. Bulma could feel the guilt and betrayal seeping into her skin, she felt dirty. But she had never planned on any of it happening, becoming intimate with Vegeta, becoming pregnant with his child, and certainly not falling in love... she shook her head. No, there was no way she could have such strong feelings for the Saiyan Prince.

"Does he know?" Yamcha inquired, breaking Bulma away from his thoughts. Bulma let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the counter. "No, and I have no idea how I'm going to tell him." she answered softly, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling. "Are you still seeing him?" Bulma's lowered her head once more to look at her ex-boyfriend. "I...I don't know." came the honest answer, as she closed her eyes. The relationship between her and Vegeta had changed after they had slept together, and once again in the past few months.

They had been intimate one more time, a few days after she had learned of her pregnancy. She had been in the gravity chamber, making a few adjustments and taking full advantage of Vegeta being in the kitchen, eating Kami-knew what. She hadn't expected him to return so soon, and he made his presence known, throwing insults left, right and centre at her until she finally stood up and went to make her way outside.

Vegeta stopped her before she could leave, his arms wrapping around her waist as Bulma turned to look at him, seeing the familiar lust in his dark eyes. She wanted to say no, to stop anything before it could happen, but once again her own feelings took control, and she gave into him. But that had been the last time, afterwards he had almost thrown her out of the chamber, before returning to his training as if nothing had happened.

Since then they had returned to the way things had been before the first encounter, he was as rude and selfish as ever, and Bulma had regained her stubbornness when it came to him. But every time she saw Vegeta, she had fought with the urge to tell him about her pregnancy, and her growing feelings for him. The truth was, she enjoyed their verbal spars, and knew that he did too. But over time it was everything that drew her to him, the proud smirk that often graced his face, the way he stood too still and straight, the sad loneliness that appeared in his eyes ever so often.

Bulma returned her thoughts to the present, returning to her glass of water and taking a large sip of the cool liquid to parch her dry throat. She didn't want to think about it anymore, it seemed to be all she thought about these days. She turned back to Yamcha, trying her best to give him a smile. "So, what about you? Seeing anyone these days?" she asked, trying to make light conversation, and steer the focus away from her and her... situation.

Meanwhile, Vegeta turned the gravity chamber off, his thoughts disturbing him. The weakling was in the compound, no doubt pursuing the woman again. Vegeta had no idea why it irked him so much, it was not like the woman was his. Sure, he had had his way with her a few times, but that did not mean that she was to be his mate. Sex was sex, that was all there was to it. No feelings had to be involved, and that was they way he liked it. Vegeta was in no way attracted to the female, he was merely giving into the needs he had quashed for so long.

But he had other things on his mind, first being to drive the weakling off the property, and then to have the woman make him a vast amount of food, he was getting rather hungry quite quickly. He made his way into the main building quietly, making sure to keep his ki low and not alert the male human that he was on his way. He finally made his way to the kitchen entry, pressing himself up against the wall. Vegeta wasn't sure why he was eavesdropping again, merely it was his curiosity that was making him give in to such pathetic human mannerisms, nothing else. He fought back the voices in his head that told him what he was doing was foolish and beneath him, he was interested in what the weak man and irritating woman were conversing about.

He heard the weakling laugh, nervousness in his voice. "No-one at the moment." he spoke, obviously an answer to a question the female had asked him, possibly about him finding a potential mate? "I guess there's no girl that can measure up to you, Bulma." he added, and Vegeta's blood began to boil. The human was in no way of worthy of speaking the woman's name, let alone saying such a thing to her. Unfortunately, Vegeta was so lost in his anger that he forgot to keep his ki lowered, and winced when Yamcha's own spiked up, signalling that he was aware of the Saiyan Prince's presence.

Bulma's eyes turned to the entryway into the room as Vegeta appeared, and she froze. The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't too happy, obviously he had heard some of the conversation between Yamcha and herself. But how much had he heard? Had he learned of her pregnancy? No, she told herself, if he knew of the pregnancy, he wouldn't have waited so long to make himself known. "Vegeta." she spoke his name, and two pairs of dark eyes made their way to her. "What's up?" she asked him casually, trying to keep her tone light and shift the obvious tension in the room.

Vegeta eyes narrowed as he turned his head ever so slightly in Yamcha's direction, ignoring her question. "Why is the weakling here again? I hope he hasn't tried to proposition you once more." Yamcha's cheeks flushed pink as his eyes trailed down to the table. "Oh no, not in her current state." he replied nervously, Bulma's heart almost stopping with fear as Vegeta ran his dark eyes up and down her body. "I must say, you are getting – how do you humans say it? Fat, woman." Yamcha stood up quickly, his eyebrows narrowing, anger crossing his face. "She's not fat, she's pregnant you idiot."

Vegeta froze. The woman was with child? How could that be? He turned to face her once more, his eyes widening as he felt it. Yes, there was another ki, intertwined with the female's. But that was not the only thing that shocked him, it was that the ki was familiar, and seemed to be linked with his own. Vegeta stumbled back, his mouth agape slightly. The child the woman was carrying was his, there was no denying it.

Bulma stepped forward, trying not to startle the already shocked Prince. "Vegeta?" she said softly, raising a hand towards him. Vegeta regained his composure, standing up straight and turning his steel gaze to her face. Bulma felt the fear creep up under her skin, she had never seen him so furious before. "When were you going to inform me of this?" he hissed at her, his voice deep and low. "I've been trying to for months now." Bulma replied, tears beginning to build up in her eyes.

Vegeta scoffed. He doubted that she was ever going to tell him, that she planned to have his child and he would never have been aware of it. "Trying is never good enough. Are you planning to keep it?" he asked, trying to steady himself as the rage began to boil within him. If he lost control, he knew that the woman would be the first to die, probably within seconds. And as furious as he was with her, there was still a small part of him that wished for her to stay alive.

The tears finally spilt down Bulma's cheeks as she nodded to Vegeta's question. "Yes." she told him swiftly, trying to ignore the sob that resided in the back of her throat. She hated being weak, and she knew that Vegeta loathed it even more. If there was one thing she never wished to do again, it was to cry in front of Vegeta. And yet she wasn't strong enough at that point to keep a handle on her emotions.

Vegeta took in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. He couldn't look at her anymore, there were too many emotions that clouded him when he did. Anger, fear, rage, betrayal, hurt – it was too much for him to bear. "I see." he said softly, turning away from her, clutching his fists tightly as he reopened his eyes and swiftly removed himself from the room, making his way out to the lawn and to the Gravity Chamber, determined to rid himself of his thoughts and focus on other things that weren't the woman and his child. But no matter how far away he went, he could still hear her screaming his name.

"VEGETA!"

Bulma collapsed in loud sobs, covering her tear-stricken face with her hands. Vegeta was enraged, and no doubt hurt by the sudden news that she was pregnant with his child. She could see the loathing in his onyx eyes, and had no doubt that if he hadn't been so in control of himself, that she would be dead right now. Nothing could compare to the hurt in her heart, she had never felt so wounded.

Warm hands placed themselves on her shuddering shoulders, and Bulma remembered that Yamcha was still in the room with her – and that he had witnessed the whole thing. Another stab of guilt pierced her heart as she inclined her head upwards to meet his eyes, and she was shocked to see no anger there, instead his face was warm and comforting, even if there was a slight hint of pity. More tears came to her eyes, and Bulma swiftly stood up and buried her face in Yamcha's chest as he ran a hand gently up and down her back.

Finally with one last sniff, Bulma pulled away, rubbing the tears from her eyes and her cheeks, knowing that she looked a sight, her eyes most likely puffy and swollen. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried so much and so hard, and felt disgusted within herself for being so fragile. She looked up at Yamcha, guilt seeping into her skin as he smiled gently down at her. "I am so, so sorry." she whispered, afraid to touch him again.

Yamcha sighed before sitting down in a nearby chair. She could see him fighting with his thoughts and emotions, and was aware that this was a lot for him to take in. "You and Vegeta, then?" he asked, looking up at her, his eyes shining with hope that he was mistaken. Bulma nodded her head, and his hope was shattered. "Right."

Bulma approached him, pulling a chair opposite his and sitting down, covering her stomach with both hands. "It wasn't planned, not at all. It kind of just...happened." she began to explain, wanting Yamcha to know all the details. They had been together for so long, and yet she had done something horrible, especially as she knew Yamcha still loved her – at least he deserved to know everything. "It was just sex, nothing more. I know Vegeta doesn't have feelings for me, or any feelings for that matter, but.." she trailed off, her eyes falling to the ground, unsure of how to continue.

"You love him." Yamcha spoke, more a statement than a question, the bitterness apparent in his voice. Bulma's head snapped up. "I... think I do, but... I don't know why, or how." Her hands flew to her forehead. "It makes no sense. He annoys me so much, to the point where I want to kill him, and yet, if anything happened to him..." she looked up at Yamcha, a small smile crossing her lips. "...I don't know what I'd do."

"Well, I'm not going to pretend that I like it, but if he's what you want..." Yamcha stood up, picking up his jacket. "Anyway, I'd better be off. I came over here in my car and you know I hate driving in the dark." he told Bulma, and she could hear the slight waver in his voice. "Oh." she replied, standing up with him, and following him as he made his way to the front door. Opening it, he turned to Bulma, a sad smile growing on his face. "You take care now. And remember that no matter what, I'm always here for you." Tears gathered in Bulma's eyes at his words, and she threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. "Thank you." she whispered into his neck, as he wrapped his strong arms around her, trying to be careful of her stomach.

They finally broke apart, Bulma giving Yamcha her best smile. "I don't deserve to have a friend like you." she told him earnestly, patting his arm gently. "Yeah, I know." he replied, giving Bulma her favourite smile. "You'll make a girl so happy one day." she added, and the smile disappeared slightly. "Yeah." he answered, his voice thick with emotion, catching Bulma off-guard before he leant forward and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He then made his way outside, giving her a last wave before she closed the door.

Little did she know that as she crumpled against the door, sobbing loudly, Yamcha made his way to his car, entering quickly before swiftly collapsing into tears behind the wheel.

Author's Note: So you've probably noticed by now that unlike a few V/B fanfics out there, I haven't done any Yamcha bashing. That's because he's one of my most favourite characters, and not to mention sexy. :P Besides, I thought I might give him a chance to be nice and understanding.