Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Precious Glimpse ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ and never will. -_- But I do own this fic. ^_~

Author's Note:How is life for Vegeta months after the Cell Games? This fic tries to illustrate how life might be for him as he takes on his responsibilities. It's far from angsty and really just a feel good warm ficcy. So enjoy!

A Precious Glimpse

Chapter 1

"Moshi Moshi," Bulma said as she put the phone to her ear and tried to balance it between that and her shoulder while she held Trunks in her arms. The baby was fussing but there was nothing she could do about it.

Chi Chi looked over her shoulder as she deftly tended to four steaming pots over the stove and whatever else was in the oven.

"What?!" Bulma exclaimed, trying to balance her baby on her left hip.

"What's wrong?" Chi Chi asked.

As an answer blue haired woman rolled her eyes in annoyance to whatever was told to her over the phone, and shook her head with disdain. "No, no, it's okay. I'll take care of it."

Just then, a sweaty Saiya-jin no Ouji walked into the compound, his training clothes torn in places, blood seeping through various cuts and abrasions. Bulma glanced at the clock on the wall. It was after two and she realized he didn't come in for lunch earlier.

Chi Chi momentarily stopped what she was doing and wiped her hands on a dish cloth, as she eyed the Saiyajin with derision. He paid her no mine whatsoever. And she was slightly glad of it, but it didn't stop her from rubbing her swollen belly and backing closer to the sink. It was not that she feared him; she was just cautious.

"Well, how much is affected?" Bulma bounced the boy on her hip, giving him some motion and help calm him down.

The Saiyajin made his way to the fridge, which was close to where the brunet was standing, and took out a bottle of water. He observed his mate as he took several swigs.

"It's really no big deal, Alex! We were just preparing for our little get together…!"

At her yelling, Vegeta's left eyebrow quirked up in confusion.

"No, don't be sorry. I'm the only one who knows those schematics inside out… Yeah, yeah. See you in a few." The phone was slammed onto its cradle.

"So what has happened now?" he sneered while walking over to her.

"Stupid techies! I'm not paying them to screw up my inventions." She thrust Trunks onto Vegeta. But he put up his hands to ward her off.

"You can't honestly want me to touch him?" He eyed himself to emphasize how dirty he was.

"He's your son!" Chi Chi exclaimed, not having realized anything other than the fact that the prince seem to not want anything to do with Trunks.

"Was I talking to you?" he growled.

"Chi, it's alright," Bulma said as she continued to hold the boy against his chest. "Veg, don't worry. Trunks is filthy, too. I was just about to give him a bath."

Vegeta put down the bottle of water, wiped his hands on his black spandex shorts, and took the squirming boy.

"I can watch him, Bulma," Chi Chi offered, "if he doesn't want to."

"No, you're cooking. You don't want anything to burn, do you?"

The scathing glare Vegeta gave the pregnant woman was enough to make Chi Chi want to revile him, but she kept quiet. Was the woman insane? To give Trunks to him?! The brunet could not believe it. But Bulma's parents were out of town because of some business venture and there was really no one else to watch the baby.

Vegeta's eyes darted back to Bulma as his son squirmed in his arms and fussed about. "How long do you think you will be gone?"

She brushed her fingers through her hair and put her hands at her waist. "I don't know. It all depends on how much damage I'll have to repair. But then knowing me, I'll get too obsessive until everything is perfect."

Trunks grabbed onto his father's bloody, white shirt collar, trying to climb up onto his shoulder. "What about the idiots that are coming over?"

Chi Chi huffed at that.

He paid her no mind as Trunks climbed higher. His destination was Vegeta's hair and the prince knew it. So he held him out of reach, but to his disdain the boy protested with his high pitched voice. "Aren't you going to cancel?"

"As much as I know you would love that I'm not." With his annoyed look, she added, "It's kind of too late to cancel anyway."

The loud wail from the baby got Vegeta's attention. The boy's hands were outstretched towards the table… and the bottle sitting there with milk in it.

"I just feed him," she said matter-of-factly, as she watched Vegeta stick the nipple in the boy's mouth.

"Then a few bottles more should do."

"Yeah, but I have to get going," she said looking around as though she might be forgetting something. "And don't worry about my friends. Chi Chi will tend to them, right?"

"That's what half the food's for," the brunet answered calmly, although she looked like she wanted to swipe Trunks from his father.

"Good, then I'll be elsewhere," he spoke with his eyes on his mate.

"As always," Bulma said quirking her lips in a smile as she leaned over to kiss his cheek and then Trunks. "See you all later. Have fun."

And with that she was out the door. He looked towards the eyes that were attempting to burn holes through him. His own eyes narrowed in response but he didn't have words to waste on her. He only had distance to put between them as he made his way out the kitchen.

~*~

The food was all but ready. The rest of Z Gang would be there any minute since Krillin and Gohan were already in the living room. All she had to worry about were the biscuits in the oven, and that would be finished in no more than 15 minutes. While she had the time, though, she decided to check on Trunks. Who knew what Vegeta was doing to him?

"How long is Bulma going to be in the lab?" Krillin asked as she entered the huge living room. He sat in the middle of the room with Gohan at the couches that surrounded the sixty inch plasma screen TV, watching some action movie she didn't recognize.

"I don't know. It might be a while," she said as she smoothed her son's hair over. "Have you seen Vegeta?"

Piccolo who sat in a corner on some pillows perked up at the unusual question.

"Why would you want to know where he is?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah?" the bold headed monk added in confusion.

"Well I want to check on Trunks," Chi Chi said in annoyance. "Can you believe Bulma gave him over to Vegeta, of all people?"

"Well he is his father," Gohan muttered but added so that his mother could hear, "but I can't sense his ki anyway." He wouldn't mention that he could smell him close by or that he could sense him with his mind; he didn't want to let his mother in on that little secret. He knew she hated Vegeta…with good reason, he supposed. The fact that his late father had made peace with the Saiya-jin prince didn't exactly make sense why his mother could not. But that didn't mean he wanted her anywhere near Vegeta so she could overreact and cause a catastrophe.

"He must be masking it," Krillin put in.

"Well that's just great," Chi Chi said crossing her arms as she left the room.

Down the hall, after peeking in the study, she heard faint sounds of the baby shrieking in the next room. What in the world could that sick man be doing? She got her pregnant self to the ajar door as fast as possible. She decided to peer in first since she did not want her abruptness to cause any harm to the child if Vegeta was just inches away from doing something dastardly.

And there they were, on the floor: Trunks cleaned up and sitting in fresh diapers while Vegeta likewise laid on his belly only in a pair of navy shorts and white socks. Several empty bottles lied near them. Odd thing was that there was nothing threatening that he was doing to the child. Did she hear wrong?

She must have.

It was then that she realized the room they were in. It was carpeted in plush beige and filled with hug tan and brown pillows strewn about around father and son as they were in its center. The whole room had a sort of woodsy ambiance as most things were decorated in earth-tones, from the fireplace to the different paintings on the walls, the little shelves and various knickknacks. In fact, she had never seen this room before.

Was this Vegeta's personal room? Something about it screamed Saiyajin, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Suddenly her gaze was arrested by his pointed finger that was several inches away from Trunks's nose. And those huge innocent eyes looked at the digit with the utmost wonder, so much so, his eyes were almost crossed. A second later the tip of that finger glowed yellow.

Her heart stopped - along with her breathing. He wouldn't dare! But this was Vegeta.

A tiny ki ball formed, barely the size of Trunks's fists and it was slowly released. The boy's hands stretched out. She stepped forward in some hopes of saving the child. But Trunks grabbed it. And shrieked. But not in pain. The boy was laughing. His shrieks became bubbly giggles.

Soon the child realized that the little ki ball squeezed from his grasp, floating in the air. He tried to grab it again. But every time it would just slip away.

The throaty chuckle brought her gaze from Trunks. The prince rested his left cheek in his palm. The finger that dispelled the ball of ki, was twirling around, making loops in the air. Was he was controlling the motion of the ki ball Trunks was trying to capture?

It was so odd, but it seemed the Saiyajin was enjoying himself.

The ball popped, dissipating itself into nothingness. Trunks looked like he was about to have a fit. Vegeta grumbled some words, which did not seem to be in any language that she recognized, and the boy instantly giggled and clasped his hands in anticipation.

Raising his finger again, he let out another tiny ki ball, in fact several were formed in various colors and they swirled around the boy, who giggled and tried to catch them to his heart's content.

Her eyes softened.

Vegeta was entertaining his son.

She would have never thought he was capable of such a thing, perhaps he might have imagined it beneath him. But there he was, seemingly quite amused by his son's reaction as he made the tiny colorful ki balls swirl about just out of reach when Trunks thought he had them. Maybe she was wrong about the surly Saiyajin… She had no idea that he was like this with his son. It was just so heart warming to see.

"Hey wench!"

She gasped as she realized he would have known she was spying. She was about to retort something when he beat her to the punch.

"Your biscuits are burning."

~*~