Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The First Day of the Rest of My Life ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ etc.

Chapter 8

Vegeta decided to make himself scarce when he heard the news that Bulma was in labor. He did not want to be any where near her when the baby came, and certainly did not want to go to the hospital.

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, on the other hand, would not leave poor Bulma alone. Dr. Briefs found a stopwatch and began timing her contractions. They were very irregular at first and not real strong, but as the hours passed, they got much stronger. When they got to be 5 minutes apart, they decided to go to the hospital.

Vegeta first went to his room to change into his training clothes. He then went to the gravity pod. He had not trained all day and needed to. The image of Bulma in her white dress kept popping into his head. She was beautiful. During his period away from her, he had never forgotten their time together. He tried numerous times to forget her; and thought that being away from her would help him forget. He was never able to completely free his mind of her. She has a fiery temper, yet capable of so much passion. He never thought it was possible that such a woman existed; a woman much like the women from his home planet. No matter how cruel he was to her, she never backed down from him. She could fire of a sarcastic comeback just as quick as he could.

There was another side to her though, that was not like the women from his planet. It was her compassionate side. The way she understood what was important to him and accepted it. The way she took care of that stupid dog. The way she was with her father.

Now they are married. Vegeta was not sure why he felt such a strong urge to mate with the woman. Perhaps the boy from the future is what sealed it for him. This boy was strong and powerful. He had been raised only by the woman because in his future Vegeta did not exist. He wanted to be a part of the boy's life, but he was not sure how he could do that. The only role models he has are his own father and Bulma's father. These were two complete opposite ends of the spectrum. He remembered bits and pieces from his childhood. Freiza had ruined that. Vegeta had been a killing machine. Thinking back to all the beings he had conquered and killed for that bastard sickened him. He had a chance now to turn things around. He had been given a second chance when he was wished back to life by the Dragonballs. He wasn't sure he could change who he was, but being with this woman, this earthling, had made life a little bit bearable for him.

After several hours of intense training, he went back to the house to get a drink of water. He was alone in the house. He went up to Bulma's room. After making Shadow get off her bed, he laid down. He did not like to sleep. In the last few months his dreams had become so intense that he often woke up covered in sweat and shouting obscenities. The dreams were often of his father, relentless in his criticism of what Vegeta had become; reminding him of every shortcoming. "You let that imbecile get stronger than you. He became a super Saiyan and defeated Freiza, not you. You are pathetic." He would hear every time he fell asleep. He could not stop sleep from overcoming him. He tried to just meditate to relax his mind, but he could not stay awake. The dreams would come as they did every night. It always happened that way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

At the hospital, Bulma was in intense labor. They had done everything short of laying out the red carpet for the royal family of West City. In her state of mind, Bulma could not appreciate it. She was screaming and swearing that she would never let a man touch her again. Her mother tried everything to comfort her. Her father decided to wait this one out in the hospital cafeteria.

"Bulma, everything is going to be just fine. Take deep breaths."

"Mom, I love you, but SHUT THE HELL UP!" said Bulma to her mother. This was much worse than she ever could have imagined.

At that moment the doctor came in to check her. She was finally dilated to 5 centimeters and he could give her an epidural. She remembered discussing an epidural with her doctor during one of their appointments. She had been sure she could handle it without the drugs. Now she knew better.

Many hours later she was finally dilated and began to push. After several attempts to push Trunks through her birth canal, it became apparent to the doctor that they were going to have to perform an emergency Cesarean section. Trunks heart tones were very irregular and often fell to dangerously low levels when she was pushing. They rushed her to a different room and there Trunks was born.

"He is a big one!" said one of the nurses. Bulma watched as they took him over to weigh and clean him up. He was crying at the top of his lungs. She was just glad he was OK. When he was all cleaned up, they brought the baby over to her. She looked at him, amazed at what she had created. He was so tiny and looked so fragile, but she knew better. He stopped crying when he was given to Bulma.

"He is adorable!" said Mrs. Briefs. "You must be so proud."

Bulma looked at her mom and tears came to her eyes. Her mom was crying, too. Bulma really wished that Vegeta had been here to see this, but she understood why he had stayed away. "I will tell him dear." Said her mom.

Most of the delivery personnel had left the room and only one nurse was left. "Do you want to breast feed him before we take him to the nursery?" said the nurse. Bulma nodded. The nurse helped her get Trunks in the right position. He eagerly breast-fed and soon fell asleep. "I will take him now so that we can get you settled in your room." Bulma hadn't even realized that they had sewn her up and gotten her all cleaned up as well. Her eyes hadn't left her little baby since he had been born. Mrs. Briefs went to find her husband and Bulma was taken to her room.

"Can I get something to eat?" said Bulma to the nurse. She realized it had been almost 24 hours since she had eaten. It had also been a whole day since she had gotten married. It almost seemed like a dream.

"I'll have a tray brought right up to you." Said the nurse.

Bulma's parents made it to her room, after they stopped at the nursery to see their grandson. They stayed with her for another hour until Bulma said to her Dr. Briefs, "Dad, take mom home. She needs to get some sleep." He nodded his head and led his wife out of the room, but not before stopping one more time to see their perfect grandson.

The nurse brought Trunks in for another feeding. She stayed with Bulma as she fed her new bundle of joy. "Do you want to get some sleep, Bulma?" asked the nurse. "I can take him back to the nursery or leave him with you."

"I am pretty tired." She replied to the nurse. "Can you bring him back when I wake up?"

"Don't worry, you will have plenty of time to spend with him." The nurse smiled at the new mother.

Even though there were a hundred thoughts running through her head, she fell right to sleep right after the nurse left. Her last thought was of her husband and the faint hope that he would come to the hospital and see her soon.

~*~*~*~*~*

In the days that followed, Bulma got many visitors. One of her first visitors was Shadow's former owner. She had really gotten her life together. She had taken the money Bulma gave her for Shadow and invested it in Capsule Corporation stock. She had also gotten a job at Capsule Corporation and had managed to save enough money to buy a new house. It had a huge back yard and she was thinking of getting another dog. "Do you want to take Shadow back?" said Bulma.

"I couldn't do that. He is so happy with you."

"But with the baby, I don't know if I can handle him anymore. I am going to be taking care of the baby by myself. You could bring him to work with you, that way I could still see him. Besides, you are the one that trained him." Bulma knew in her heart this was the right thing to do. She loved Shadow, but she knew his first owner loved him more.

After another ten minutes of protest, she finally agreed to take Shadow back. Bulma wanted her to take him before she got home from the hospital. It would be easier for him that way. Bulma had a new male in her life now that was going to take up all her free time.

Goku, Chi-Chi, and Gohan came to the hospital to see her as well. "Oh Bulma, he is so cute." Said Chi-Chi when they came into the room. He was sleeping in the bassinette next to Bulma's bed. "Goku, we need to have another child."

"OK!" said Goku, excited at the prospect of conceiving the child, and not so much having the child.

Bulma rolled her eyes in disgust as she watched them doing the things that people in love do. "Take it somewhere else, PLEASE." She still thought of Goku as that little boy she had first met and seeing him with his wife still freaked her out.

She had many more visitors, flowers, cards, but not the one person she really wanted to see. She still held a faint hope that he would come to see her. On the day before she was discharged, she wrote Vegeta a letter. The letter was not long, because she knew she would not be able to keep his interest. She wasn't even sure he knew how to read this language, but she did it anyway. Maybe he would let mom read it to him if he couldn't read it. There was a lot she didn't know about her husband, but she knew enough that he was the only one she wanted to see.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mrs. Briefs delivered the letter. Vegeta took it from her. He did know how to read their language. It had been a requirement by Freiza that they learn everything about a planet before destroying the inhabitants. That way they could steal all their secrets as well as killing the native population. He took the letter up to Bulma's room and sat on the bed. He unfolded the paper and read:

Vegeta,

I know you are busy training, but I would really like to see you. I am getting out of the hospital tomorrow and will see you then, but I don't know if I can wait that long for you to see our child. He is perfect.

I eagerly await your visit, but if not, I will see you tomorrow for sure. Just know either way that I love you and am proud to be your wife.

Bulma

She had said the words. Those three words that no one had ever said to him before. I am a cold heartless bastard he thought. How could she love me? How could she expect me to settle into a life with her and this child? I am a great warrior, and that is all I know.

Vegeta tried everything to get his mind off of the letter. It was a futile effort. He decided to go to the hospital to see her, but only to ask her a question. After asking Mrs. Briefs what room she was in, he flew over West City looking for the hospital. He was not in any great hurry to get there, so he took his time looking. When he found what he thought must be the hospital he went in. It was a big place, but there was no way he was going to ask for help. He could find it himself.

Bulma was feeding baby Trunks when Vegeta finally found her. She did not notice him coming into the room. She was fascinated at the small child in her arms. She took notes in her mind of every detail of his features. Vegeta watched her with the child. He could not help but be mesmerized at the encounter between mother and son. She was such a caring being.

He slowly walked closer to her bed. He was careful not to disturb the interaction between them. As he got closer, Bulma picked up his familiar scent and turned her head, startled that he was standing so close and that she had not noticed him before. "You're here." Was all she could manage to say.

Vegeta looked at her. She was still just as beautiful. "Cover yourself up, woman." He said.

Bulma coiled her lips into a sneer. "Why? Don't you like looking at my breasts?"

"I thoroughly enjoy looking at your breasts, but not here in this place." He said with his trademark smirk across his face.

Trunks turned his head at the sound of his father's voice. Bulma looked down at him, surprised that he had stopped feeding. She held him up for Vegeta to see. "He looks like you." She said to her husband.

Vegeta looked at the baby. He had actually never been this close to a baby before and he did not like the feelings that they evoked within him. He was uncomfortable at the sight of something so small and helpless. He looked at Bulma. "I came here only to ask you a question, not for any other reason."

Bulma knew better, but she played along with the Prince. "OK, ask your question." She said smiling at him.

"When can we have sex again?"

She was silent for a moment, contemplating what her answer would be and how to break the news to him.

"Well?" he said impatiently. The longer he was there, the more uncomfortable he felt.

"Sorry to break it to you, but I have to wait till my 6 week check-up." She grinned from ear to ear, knowing that was not the answer he wanted to hear. "There are other ways, besides the actual act, that can be done before the 6 weeks though."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?" he said softly as he got closer to her. "Tell me more."

"Not in this place." She said and pushed him away. He pretended that she had pushed him hard and he stumbled backward in a dramatic fashion. Trunks had been following his fathers voice since he had first spoken. He seemed fascinated with the sound of it. Bulma pulled him close to her and snuggled with him. "I think he likes you. Babies don't know very much though." She said to Vegeta when he came back over to the bed. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Certainly not!" said Vegeta. "I must get back to training. I have no time for this."

Bulma looked at him, pleading with her eyes for him to stay. "You don't have to go yet. Please stay with me for a little while longer."

"As long as you don't ask me to hold him, I will stay." He said.

Bulma smiled. She got up from the bed and put Trunks in his bassinette. Then she walked over to the Prince of Saiyans and put her arms around him. He returned the gesture. She brought her lips to his and they kissed.

Trunks decided at that moment that he didn't like not being the center of attention and began to cry. Bulma pulled away from Vegeta and went over to him. She picked him up and brought him back over to her bed. She sat down and held him. She never wanted to hear him cry. She never thought it was possible to love something so much, but she loved this little bundle of joy with every cell in her body. Vegeta came over and sat next to her on her bed. He whispered in her ear, "You are spoiling him."

She looked up at him and gave him an evil look. "I am not. I just don't like to hear him cry."

He folded his arms over his chest and let out a grunt of disgust.

"He is three days old. I am not spoiling him. Do you want me to pay attention to you?" she said in a baby voice to him.

"Now I am definitely leaving." He said. He stood up and began to walk out of the room.

"Vegeta." Said Bulma as he was leaving.

He turned and looked at her.

"I love you." She said. She had wanted to say it so many times before, but now was the time when it really felt right.

His mouth curled into a smirk as he gazed into her eyes. She has such beautiful eyes, he thought. He turned and walked out of the room.

Bulma settled back into her hospital bed with Trunks in her arms. Tomorrow she would be going home. Then the fun starts, she thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It took me a while to write this chapter. I found it very hard, and I still don't know if I like it. Let me know what you think!!!