Chapter 23

"We should go tell our fathers" Mirai said as he stood.

"In a minute" Gohan replied, pulling him back down next to him. He looked a little confused, but he would always hear his mate out on anything.

"What's going on love?" he said with concern.

"I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant" Gohan informed him. Shit. Kings were not supposed to pass out, Mirai thought vaguely as his vision returned and he found himself on the kitchen floor.

"Please, Trunks, please don't leave me alone again" Gohan uttered in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Mirai Trunks sat slowly, and pulled Gohan into his arms.

"I will never leave you again Gohan, I never want to be without you. I want to take you back to my world with me eventually, hopefully we can raise our children there, but I don't want you to feel any pressure – it's up to your timing, ok?" Mirai smiled from ear to ear as he laid a hand on Gohan's abdomen, feeling the tiny life that had sprung up within him overnight. They kissed and petted on the floor of the kitchen for a good 15 minutes before finally breaking away.

"Ok, you go to your brother, this will be good practice for you, and I'll go tell our fathers' so they know what's going on. Also, if you could convince the other Trunks that I'm not a threat to his mate, I'd love to see the how the birth goes too, but I know that might be pushing it..." Mirai said.

"Yeah, probably would be, but you'll be able to see it through my eyes later" Gohan reminded him. Mirai grinned at him again, stroking his cheek.

"You're right, don't bother with it then, let's not add any undo stress on either of them" Mirai recanted.

"Ok"

"Let me know when it's ok to come down then, I'm off to round up some Saiyans"

"Careful," Gohan said with a wink as Mirai was leaving, "just so you know, if they're 'training' in the GR, that's actually code for 'getting some'... so be warned." Mirai shook his head and grinned, it was going to take him more than just 24 hrs to get used to Vegeta and Goku being a couple – he guessed it was one of those, "Thin line between love and hate" things... And of course when he sought out their ki a moment later, that's where they were... His human curiosity got the best of him, and he couldn't help but glance in the window... Goku looked like he was getting the fuck of his life against the wall of the chamber, his hands scrambling to hold onto the small lip of the metal walls above him as Vegeta drove into him relentlessly. Well, he thought, turning away quickly, of course his father would be on top. Never one to bow to any sort of power, that man would try to dominate a supernova, he was sure. He chuckled to himself at the image – his Dad would probably win that battle too...

Mirai found himself back inside Gohan's pretty much destroyed room. The bed was a twisted heap, and the wall it was against was cracked all the way up to the ceiling. Bits of plaster were scattered on the floor, and the door to the bathroom was laying in two pieces off to the side. Apparently the crack in the adjoining wall had shifted the structure enough that it was wedged firmly in the frame when they tried to use it the next morning. Gohan had looked at the rest of the damage around them, and just ripped it from it's hinges. Mirai figured the least he could do was clean up their mess while he waited. He finished that rather quickly, taking everything viable out of the room while he was at it, then inspected and started demo on the impaired sections. Bulma and Yamucha came home and investigated the noise, and found him cutting 2x4's with little precision ki blasts. He looked up and smiled at them, giving a wave.

"Oh Trunks," Bulma said, pulling him away from the construction project, "leave that for the help – I've already called in a crew, they'll be here in a few hours." (Mirai smiled to himself – she would never change)

"Since when are you a contractor anyway man?" Yamucha punched his arm with a laugh.

"I've rebuilt these walls so many times I could do it in my sleep" he responded more seriously than he had really meant to. He shook his head to clear away the memories, looked at them purposefully.

"Didn't anyone call you?" he asked, "Goten went into labor a couple hours ago – Trunks and Gohan are with him, but when I went to tell Dad and Goku, they were 'busy'," he focused his ki for a moment and found them still in the GR, "and they still are..." he trailed off. Bulma rolled her eyes and headed down to the med bay, calling over he shoulder,

"You could have you know."

"I don't have your number" he replied sass-ily. Yamucha snorted once she was gone,

"I can't believe you got away with that" he said with a grin.

"Oh, I know where the line is, trust me, it's just in a different spot for me than most" he grinned back. Yamucha wasn't to keen on the whole "birthing" thing, so he elected to hang out with Mirai Trunks until it was over.

When Bulma entered the room they had set up for the birth, it was dark and humid – the thickness of the air making her choke at first. She quickly closed the door behind her, and moved through the curtain. Goten was laying on the mattress they had set on the floor. It was protected by a rubber sheet, but then mounded with soft blankets and pillows. He had burrowed himself into them until only his feet, tail, and one arm that was wrapped around Trunks' calf were exposed – one chunk of thick black hair stuck out from between the two pillows that covered his head. Gohan was sitting on the floor, rubbing his brother's feet. The pile squirmed a little as Goten moaned with another contraction. Trunks timed it and wrote down the info on a clipboard. He didn't get up from his chair as his mom came in, knowing it would disturb Goten, so he just motioned her over to him.

"Here, I've been keeping track of them – he seems to be progressing slowly, but steady – I'd guess he won't be ready to throw off those covers for another few hours though, from what Dad said." Since full blooded Saiyans abandoned their children right after birth, the 'nesting' instinct had been subverted into a part of the birthing process eons ago... Trunks was sure that Goten would have a healthy interest in their son once he was born, being half human, but the hormones of the pregnancy were making Goten a creature of little more than instinct right now. They monitored and hovered until Vegeta and Goku tried to enter the room. Trunks jumped to his feet; a growl that was warning, threat, and death sentence all in one filling the room. Vegeta grabbed Goku's arm and unceremoniously shoved him back out the door. The growling continued for a minute, but was lowering in intensity. They opted to wait with Mirai and Yamucha.

"He growled at you?" Yamucha said in disbelief... Goku nodded his head as if to say "Yeah, aren't kids just the darnedest things?"

"At both of us" Vegeta interjected, "Saiyan's don't usually react to their own kin like that during a birth – they did let Gohan and Bulma near them, but apparently the see us as some sort of threat..."

"Maybe it's the smell" Mirai ventured, receiving a scowl from Vegeta and a blush from Goku.

"I meant, you guys are full blooded Saiyans, Gohan and Bulma's smells are more like theirs' than yours' are...Gohan's is almost identical to Goten's, and Bulma's got that human/mother thing going for her..." he couldn't resist adding at the end though, "I didn't mean the sex smell, I'm sure they're used to that by now." Goku coughed a little as his throat constricted with the power of his blush – he excused him self to get a glass of water. Vegeta gave a huff.

"We took a shower – They'll just have to deal to deal with it."

Several hours later, Goten sat up from his nest, panting heavily as blood began oozing from his navel in a line that went all the way down his swollen belly. Gohan stared pulling blankets and pillows away as Trunks knelt against his mates back. Bulma knelt in front of them, arranging a few sterile towel beneath him just in time. Goten pulled his legs under him so he was kneeling as he arched against Trunks with a scream. The skin split, and a rush of fluid and blood poured out of him. A spiky haired baby began to slip out of the opening, obviously pissed as hell. Goten's tail had a mind of it's own, slipping around the child's middle as he fell, holding him up off the floor. Gohan traded Trunks' spot at Goten's back now that he had passed out, keeping him upright until the placenta could work it's way out. Once everything was ready, Trunks cut his son's umbilical cord with a look of awe on his face.

His hair was just like his grandpa Vegeta's dark spikes, but with one streak of blue that shot up from above his left eye. His tail was dark and thrashing angrily as he howled, his little fists clenched tight. Instinctively, Trunks raised his ki, not far enough to transform, but it definitely got his son's attention. The wailing stopped, and dark baby orbs drilled into his, wanting to accept the challenge. Trunks chuckled softly, and stroked his little chest. Those hostile eyes fluttered as Trunks snuggled him close, and he noticed his son's attempt to feed on his abdomen. Goten had woken instantly when the crying stopped, but just sat watching his son and mate.

"Can I be the first to feed him?" he asked quietly.

"Of course" Trunks said, handing him over. They had a special concoction ready to go since Goten had never developed any milk – it was really just formula with a little of their own blood mixed in it, as per Vegeta's instructions. Their son sucked at it greedily, wrapping both arms and tail around his mothers hand. Tears streamed down Goten's face, there was no joy in the world that could compare to this.