Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Confessions Of A Believer: II ❯ The Unexpected ( Chapter 7 )

"Here," Bulma reached across me as I sat on a blue and pink blanket on the living room floor, Chikara wriggling around with my hand on his stomach, to hand me a fresh diaper. She was making googly-eyes at my son to keep his attention on her and not on being changed. He hated the act of being changed, but his little features softened once the offending mess was taken care of. "Thanks," I said, busy cleaning the child up.

Changing a baby is harder than it looks and dressing one can make it seem like they've sudddenly morphed into a tiny octopus! All arms and legs moving at once! It took some practice, that's for sure. Shielding myself with one hand over his tiny member, (I had gotten sprayed several times before while changing him), I reached for the clean artical of baby clothing that was laying beside me.

Bulma had, before I'd shown up, cut holes into the backs of all Chikara's diapers so that his tail could fit easily though as well as any clothing that covered his behind. I redressed him a simple one-peice that snapped down the sides, what my sister fondly called 'A Onesy" and lifted him up from the floor, holding him to my chest so that his head rested on my shoulder. His wild black hair tickled my chin.

It had been a week since Vegeta had forced me and our son back into his world. I had no way of getting home. I tried not to dwell on it and spent most of my time with my baby, delighting in his rapid growth as proudly as any new mother who thinks her child is God's gift to mankind. I think my pride in my son riveled Vegeta's own in himself at times.

I wore myself out taking care of him. One night, around two in the morning, I heard his cry and stumbled from the bed they had told me I could use, my hair was such a mess I looked part-saiyan myself, and walked in a bleary-eyed fashion toward's his crib that was still set up in the living room.

Vegeta was there before me. Through sleep-crusted eyes, (I hadn't slept more than two hours a night for the past week), I saw his shadowy form as he reached down and picked up the baby. Chikara had been eating a mixture of breast milk and formula recently and he was taking the formula more often than my own milk now. I walked up behind him and said, sleepily; "I'll take him."

Vegeta looked at me and raised his eyebrow. "You can't even stand up," He said, holding our son in one arm. He looked so tiny there, "Go back to bed before you kill yourself."

I reached out, but he had taken Chikara and was walking swiftly away. I was too tired to follow. Stumbling back to my room, I caught sight of myself in the mirror on the hallway wall and almost screamed. As I said before, my dark brownish-red hair was complete chaos, my skin was paler than it's ever been and I have very pale skin, almost transparent. Dark circles beneath my eyes made them look sunken and dead. I couldn't go on like this. I felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown almost all the time. Everything got to me. Vegeta's harsh tone when he'd told me to go back to bed had put tears in my eyes. I knew it was just exhaustion making me this way...

I paused in my reflection to hear muffled voices coming from the floor upstairs. Curious, I sneaked around and up the stairs until I was right outside Vegeta and Bulma's bedroom. The door was closed, but I could still hear their voices. I couldn't hear Chikara and that meant he was either eating or sleeping. Bulma's voice piped up; "But she won't let me help her with him, Vegeta! She thinks I'm gonna break him or something! I swear! I've had two of them myself, she should trust me!"

"Don't worry about it." Came Vegeta's scratchy voice, he was probably tired, training all day in the gravity room and then having to come in and listen to Bulma would be exhausting, "Here, take him back to his crib."

I hurried away from thier door and back down the stairs and into my own room, just in time to see Bulma's pink slippered feet on the stairwell. After that, I don't remember much, I think I must have tried to climb back into bed, but didn't quite make it that far. I wasn't sure how long it was when I woke up to feel someone lift me up from the floor next to the bed. I smelled the musky oder of sweat and some type of colongne, and whoever was holding me laid me down on the bed and pulled the blankets up to my chin. Murmering something about not wanting to miss anyone's birthday, I snuggled down and curled myself up into the fetal position. I heard a snort above me and then footsteps fading away.

I woke up to the sun pouring into the room through the blinds that someone, probably Mrs. Breifs, had opened. I was right, a moment later she came bustling in, her blue hair pulled into a headband on the top of her head, a pink frilly apron around her blue stretch pants and pink tubetop. I could see where Bulma got her sense of style. She smiled at me through half-moon shaped eyes and held out a tray. "Well, Good morning, dear! I've fixed you some breakfast! Dig in!" She laid the tray down on my knees when I sat up and rubbed at my eyes. How long was I alseep? I felt a hundred percent better. Isn't it funny how just a few hours of rest can work miracles?

"Where's Chikara?" I asked as I stabbed my fork into a waffle and smeared it around in the syrup, "What time is it?"

"It's four o'clock, dear," Mrs. Briefs smiled, "You slept for four days. Chikara is training with Vegeta right now."

I choked and she had to pat me on the back. I spit out the biteful of waffle and coughed until my face turned red, gaining control of myself, I sputtered; "What are you talking about? He's just a baby!"

"Oh, No dear," Mrs. Briefs kept grinning that blank-grin that made me want to smack her, "Vegeta thought it was a good idea to make use of the time chamber so that he could start his training sooner. He made Bulma and Bra stay in there with him...."

I felt sick, and cheated. I felt very, very cheated. I had slept for only four days but in that time my son had left his babyhood behind and of all the stupid things it was the Bulma and Bra who got to see him do it and be with him, not me! With a shaking voice, I asked Bulma's mother hold old, exactly, my son was now.

"He looks to be about five years old now," Mrs. Briefs smiled, "Such a darling too! Looks just like a tiny Vegeta!"

I didn't say anything. What could I say? Shoving the tray aside, (I was no longer hungry), I stood up and headed for the bathroom. Mrs. Briefs, busy dusting, hummed under her breath and seemed to forget all about me. I stayed under the hot spray longer than nessesary, letting my tears mix with the water coursing down my body, washed my hair and shaved my legs and armpits. By the time I'd gotten out of the shower, I had decided that I would just have to accept this unexpected turn of events and make the best of it. Chikara wasn't fully grown yet, there was still time to work on a relationship with him. I hoped.

I decided to wear my ankle length silvery skirt that day, the blouse I had didn't really match and it looked funny with my white sketchers, but I didn't care. What were clothes anyway but a means of protection from the elements and a show of modesty? I pulled my hair back and clipped it behind my head so that the long part fell down my back as it dried. I didn't feel like messing with a braid at the moment.

I walked outside to the sound of yelling, grunts and cursing. I looked up and saw Vegeta and someone who looked like minature version of himself exchanging a series of kicks and punches so fast I could hardly make out where one ended and another began. They were flying all over the sky above me, engaged in thier activity. I heard Vegeta growl; "Your not trying hard enough, son! Focus! Come at me again!"

"I am too, Dad!" Chikara yelled, launching his small form at Vegeta, "I'm just too small!"

"Stop saying that!" Vegeta yelled, "You're never going to get better if you keep putting yourself down! Now do it right, this time!"

This went on for some time. I stared upwards, sheilding my eyes from the sun, watching until they finally stopped and lowered themselves to the ground. Well, actually, Vegeta landed fine right in front of me. Chikara kinda stumbled a bit on his landing, but picked himself up and dusted off his dark blue gi. He saw me and frowned, walking over to me to look up into my face.

"Are you my mother?" He asked, arms folded across his chest in a perfect imitation of Vegeta, who was standing slightly behind him and waiting. "Are you?"

"Yes, I am," I smiled, wanting so much to kneel down and cuddle him, "Chikara."

"I'm hungry!" He said, glaring, "Get me some food!"

I caught Vegeta's smirk and thought, darkly, talk about your bad influences! I looked down at the small boy who was trying so hard to be tough like his father and said, my voice dripping honey, "If your hungry, Chikara, go fix yourself something to eat. I'm sure a bowl of cereal or a sandwich is an easy task for such a strong warrior like yourself."

I walked back into the house amid Chikara's cries of outrage. Vegeta, I thought, as I sat down on a stool in the kitchen and picked up the newspaper, He's your son, you deal with him.

I flipped to the comics, not looking up when both my son and his father stepped through the door. I heard Bulma's voice somewhere in the house, probably in her lab. Let me just say, it was more than an awkward situation living there with both her and Vegeta. I know, even though she tried to be nice to me, that she still saw me as competition somehow, even though I knew Vegeta would never love me as he did her. Our attraction, for the most part, had been purely physical. It still was, to a degree, I hadn't stopped admiring his body from afar even though it had been ages since he'd come to me.

But he did seem to have a small fraction of respect for me since I'd given him Chikara. I continued to read, snickering softly at something the Foxtrot family did and heard the refridgerator door open and close, dishes clang and silverwear being pulled noisily from the drawer as Vegeta and my son fixed themselves something to eat. I jumped off the stool, my skirt rustling, and went into the living room. My breasts were still sore, but I could tell the milk was all ready starting to dry up. I stood in the living room, hands on my hips. I spied the stereo in the corner and smiled. Music always helped me clear my head.

I looked through Bulma's CDs and selected a mixed CD by Faith Hill. After I'd figured out the stereo I sat down on the floor next to a speaker, my back against the wall, legs crossed indian style and closed my eyes as the music drifted from the speaker next to my ear and into my head. I sang along with Faith's This Kiss and Wild One, losing all track of myself in the music.

I did not sing very well, but I didn't care, as far as I was concerned, when I got lost in the melody and words of a song, I was no longer in my body or even on Earth. I was far away where nothing could touch me, nothing could hurt me. I guess you could say it was a form of meditation, it was the way I relaxed and cleared my head and often went over events and tried to find answers to my problems. Drifting in a starless void, music flowing all around, my voice mingled with Faith Hill's as The Way You Love Me wove a feeling of bliss around my heart.

"Has she gone crazy?" I heard the voice, young, but it seemed so far away, I knew it belonged to someone important to me, but I couldn't remember who, "Dad?"

"Leave her alone," I heard Vegeta say, he was walking away so his voice was muffled, "That girl the namek brought here, Cyndi, she did the same thing...weirdo..."

I didn't know if he were talking about me or Cyndi.

After that I listened to the entire CD and sang along with almost every song, ignoring Bulma and Mrs. Briefs when they wandered into the living room a few times. Sighing when the CD ended, I fell back into myself and reached up to click the stereo off. I blinked and looked around, feeling as if I'd just come out of a very deep trance. I couldn't remember where I was for a moment.

That sometimes happened to me after I'd gotten so wrapped up in something, especially a song I loved. I've driven Shawn crazy listening to the same song over and over and singing along with it before. He hates when people sing along to the music. He always says; "If they'd needed another singer, they would have hired one." Pooh! Didn't he know the best thing about listening to the radio or a CD was singing along with it?!

I have a very odd way of dealing with stress, most of the time, I either go completely ballistic and cry and scream, whine and pout, or I focus on something else, something that will make me forget, even for just a little while, that which is upsetting me. I forced my hurt feelings over not being asked if I wanted my son stuck away in the time chamber so that he seemed to grow up faster deep down into the pit of my stomach and chased it from my mind, saying over and over to myself that it was probably for the best. After all, wasn't I just complaining back in my own world how I wasn't really ready for an infant?

Having nothing to do, I told Bulma's mother, who was cleaning up Vegeta and Chikara's mess in the kitchen, (Mess was a very tame word for what they left behind, I noticed), that I needed some fresh air and was going to take a walk. I wanted to explore a little bit. I just hoped that Vegeta wouldn't mind. But, it wasn't like I could get back home without one of the little dragonballs.

Mrs. Briefs smiled and nodded at me and I left, leaving the house and wandering outside. The anime world is so much more colorful than the 'real' world, let me just say that right now. Not only were the colors brighter, but the outlines of cliffs in the distance, the city lights beyond and even a flock of some of prehistorical bird flying and honking overhead all seemed sharper to the eye.

As I walked, I began to daydream, as I often did, losing track of time and where I was going. I have the worst sense of direction on the planet. I have no clue how to tell East from South or West from North.

I didn't think about how I would find my way back once I started and, finally, pausing to look around, I realized that I was, indeed, lost. "I'm so stupid!" I said to myself, the wind had picked up and goosebumps coursed down my arms and legs. My long, thick hair whipped back into my face. I looked around at the surrounding high cliffs and large boulders. The ground beneath my feet was hard, brown and had many cracks and crevices criss-crossing along it's expanse.

"Now what?" I whispered, scared, I was in an unfamilar place with no idea which was to go and the sun was slowly sinking on the horizon. I heard the sound of some animal in the distance and shivered. I walked for a little while, trying hard to remember if anything looked the smallest bit familar. Nothing. After passing the same outcropping four times I realized I was walking in a large circle. Stars twinkled overhead and a moon like a knife slash through velvet shone down on me. Not knowing what else to do, I saw the mouth of a cave and started towards it.

I had just stepped the entrance of the cave when I heard it. Low, rumbling. Coming from within the cave. I couldn't see much in the darkness of the cave's maw, so you can imagine my scream when the monster, who was more teeth than anything else lunged out at me. Stumbling backwards, the creature was large enough that my entire body would have been just a small morsel for it, not really enough to whet it's appetite. Closing my eyes and raising my arms to block my face reflectivally as the creature's saliva dripped upon my head, I felt myself being pulled away by my waist and into the air. A split second before the creature's jaws snapped on empty air.

"Don't you have enough brains not to go wandering around after dark!?" Vegeta's voice boomed in my ear, over my head. He was holding me with one arm under my stomach so that I was draped across it and against his side like a sack of potatos. The way he was holding me made it hard to breath. I gasped but couldn't take in enough breath to form words. I was just thankful to be away from that horrible beast down there. "It's lucky for you I could sense your ki, weak as it is...I had to waste my time coming out here to fetch you."

"Sorry." I said, my voice small, I wish he'd stop and put me down so I could breaath.

"You don't know how dangerous this place is, Ami!" He yelled at me, I began to tune him out, the same way I did anyone who started to yell at me, "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

I didn't reply and he squeezed my sides, hurting my ribs to break me from my dreaming. "Pay attention!" He said, bitingly, "I can't stand that spacing out thing you do!"

He made me promise not to go wandering around on my own again and flew me back to Capsule Corp. Bulma and Chikara were there to greet me and, as I told them what happened, Vegeta stomped off to his gravity room, probably still fuming over being interrupted to go and bring me back. I felt Chikara's hand in mine as the boy started telling me about the training he and his father had been doing and how much stronger he was getting. His tail wagged like a happy puppy's as he spoke. Except for the happy-puppy-tail, I thought, he looks and sounds so much like Vegeta.