For the next week or so, I spent a lot of time with Vegeta. Most of that time was spent having sex, but for a good portion of it, we talked.

I learned a lot about him in that short week. For one, he didn’t like it when I touched him without his permission first. He also didn’t like when I didn’t give him some control when we were alone together.

This was all of course behind our wives backs. I probably should have felt bad about it, but I was in love. Why should I have to suffer with someone else when the person I love is right there in front of me?

The two of us were out in the woods, cleaning off the dried sweat that had accumulated during certain ‘actives’.

We stood waist deep in the crystal clear water of a nearby river. It was sort of cold, but I was so hot I didn’t really care.

I put my hand over his stomach again for the third time that day.

I couldn’t help but touch his stomach every time he would let me. There was no evidence that he was pregnant, but it had become my own little secret obsession.

He sighed irritably. “Why do you keep doing that?”

I withdrew. “I’m sorry, I just can’t help it.”

He snorted and left the river to put his clothes back on.

I fallowed behind him more slowly. “Do you think… we should get a pregnancy test?”

“What for?” His eyes narrowed.

“You know… just so that we can be sure.”

“Do your retarded human pregnancy tests work on men too?”

I didn’t know the answer to that. “Probably not.” I said reluctantly.

He slipped his shirt on over his head.

“We could ask Bulma for an ultrasound.”

He gave me a look so fierce it could have disproved God.

“Okay, fine. We won’t ask Bulma.” I thought about it for a few moments more. “But if you are… you know… then she’s going to notice eventually.”

His seemed to disregard the statement.

I snapped my fingers. “Piccolo!”

“What about him?” that frown set deeper into his face.

“He already knows, right? And he can hear everything. So if we get him to listen to your stomach…” he cut me off.

“Forget it. Don’t say anything more. Just drop the subject.”

I sighed. “Vegeta this isn’t the kind of thing were you can just leave it alone and it will sort itself out. You’re going to have to face it eventually.”

He gave me a sidelong glance. I could see that he was thinking. His hand strayed to his stomach and touched it tentatively. Finally, he responded. “Fine. We’ll see the Namek.”

We made our way to the lookout. Vegeta must have been pretty worried about this thing to give in so easily.

When we got there, Dende and Mr. Popo were the only ones around.

“Uh… do you guys know where Piccolo went?” I asked.

“He just left. He’s probably going to his cave. You know, the one by the waterfall.”

I figured he wouldn’t go back there; he could probably still smell the sex that had taken place there.

“Okay, thanks.” I nodded and we left without another word.

We finally found him in the desert, meditating.

“What do you want?” he asked without opening his eyes. “If you’re going to mate, please tell me so I can leave.”

I laughed nervously. “We actually need a favor.”

He opened one eye and then the other. “What kind of favor?”

He couldn’t look us in the eye, probably too freaked out from last time still, even though that was over a week ago.

“We need you to listen to Vegeta’s stomach and tell us if he’s pregnant.”

Piccolo opened his mouth to respond, thought about it, and then shut his mouth again. After a few more seconds he decided to ask. “What?”

Piccolo pressed his hear to Vegeta’s stomach. It was kind of cute to watch, but you could tell they both wanted it over as soon as possible.

“I’m not sure what I’m listening for.” Piccolo announced and then fell silent again for a moment. “There’s a sound like…” he tapped on the ground rhythmically.

“His heart.” I explained.

“Wait, wait… hold your breath.”

Vegeta did as asked, trying to be as cooperative as possible.

Piccolo pulled away. “You can breath.” He pressed on his stomach. “Right here. There’s something right here.”

“So… you think…?”

“Yeah. I think so.” He said and stood up. “Can I go now? A dust storm’s kicking up.”

Vegeta put his shirt back on and came to stand beside me. “We’ll never speak of this, Namek.”

Piccolo waved it off. “Yeah, yeah. Just go away.”

“Thanks Piccolo.” We left to go back to the woods. Not to have sex, but to talk.

I was excited, even though I was terrified. “What do you think it’s going to be? I hope it’s a girl. I’ve never had a girl before.”

“Kakorot, try to focus. If there is a child to be expected, we have less than five months to prepare.”

“Five months? I thought babies took nine months before they’re born.”

“Not Saiyan cubs. They take far less time because they’re smaller and develop more quickly.”

I took a seat on the ground, pulling my knees up to my chest. “Only five months? That’s not enough time.”

“This could be even worst if there’s more than one.” He pointed out.

“More than one?”

He nodded. “Since this is my third rut, I’m far more likely to have more than one.”

“Like, how many? Would you guess?”

He sighed. “Anywhere between one and four.”

“Four! Four children all at once? That’s insane!”

“The most children humans normally have at once is one. On Vegeta, you’re far more likely to have two or three at once than just one.”

“Why?” I asked leaning back.

He shrugged. “To keep the population up, I guess.” He lay down on the ground next to me and yawned.

I slipped my hand under his shirt and felt his stomach. It was still a perfect washboard, but I imagined it growing out with children in due time. Up to four babies could grow in there all at once. If I had known that, I would have worn a condom.

Three days pasted of worry and regret. Now that the rut was over, I didn’t have a driven need to be with him all the time. It was also hard to figure out why I had given into sex in the first place, since it didn’t seem so obvious anymore.

I don’t think my love for him is dying; just being pushed back a little.

I didn’t want to spar with him, least I hurt him somehow. He seemed a little annoyed by this, but he didn’t argue that much.

One day we were together near a park late at night. The stars weren’t out yet, but if there had been a moon, it would have been out on its own.

I finally decided to ask him a question that had been nagging at me for some time now. “Vegeta,” He didn’t answer at first, and then he turned to look at me. “Will this be your first child? I mean besides Trunks.”

He looked like he wanted to say yes, but he told me the truth instead. “No.”

“How many before this one?”

“Just one.” He said this flatly, as if he had thus far pushed the thought from his mind.

“What happened to it?” I dreaded the answer, but I had to know.

“It died.” He looked away from me.

Goose flesh broke out across my skin. “How?”

He shrugged. “I was too young to have a child, didn’t know what I was doing, and it just… died.”

“But how?” I pressed on.

He was silent for a long time, and for a moment I didn’t think he was going to answer. “I was fifteen. She had been born six weeks early, and was less than a pound. That’s common with Saiyans during their first rut. The baby is too early and dies, usually killing the parent as well. Anyway, the doctors couldn’t save her. She died in my arms.”

Troubled by this, I pulled him into my arms. We lay together until the sun began to rise.