I do not own Dragonball Z or its affiliates.



Chapter 4: Papa Don't Preach

It took Bra a few days to get up the courage to go and talk to Goten. She didn't want to. She hadn't seen or talked to him in more than six months and she didn't know how he'd react to the news of his impending fatherhood. Especially considering the fact that he was about to be married to Paris, a fact that made Bra mad. She really couldn't stand the girl and for the life of her she didn't know what Goten saw in her. If it wasn't for Pan riding her ass everyday, she wouldn't even bother him about it. It was obvious to her that he didn't feel anything for her and has moved on. But Pan was instant and she knew that Goten had the right to know. Still, she had the distinct feeling that this wasn't going to go very well.

Her family was taking the news as expected, like they had a choice in the matter anyway. Her brother made it a point to tease her every day about how fat she was, which he knew really rialed her nerves. Her mother about burst into tears every time she saw her and was full of questions about the father. Bulma knew she was lying. Her father . . . well, Vegeta wouldn't even be in the same room as her, let alone speak to her. Even took to eating his meals in the gravity room, where he spent most of his day, training away the anger and frustration.

As she was driving to the apartment that Goten shared with his fiancee, her mind began to wonder. She wondered if he would be happy that she was carrying his child. Trunks had to have told him by now and she wondered if he was already planning on leaving Paris to raise their child together. His father was a noble man, surely Goten inherited that much from him too.

She pulled into a parking spot in the apartment complex located in Satan City and pulled out the piece of paper Pan had given her with his address on it. She told her that Paris should be at work by now and she hoped that she was right. It would be a little uncomfortable if she was there. Luckily, Bra didn't see her car anywhere in the parking lot, so she got out of the car and trudge the three stories to his door.

Bra stood nervously outside the door, trying to convince her hand to knock on it and hoping Goten was home, while at the same time hoping he was not. After taking several deep, calming breaths, she knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest when she heard movement coming from inside. A few moments later Goten answered.

He was frowning when he opened the door, but that soon melted into surprise when he took in the full measure of her body. After a few minutes of examination the frown returned and he invited her inside by opening the door wide and grunting. Bra didn't know what to make of his reaction, but she put on a small smile and went inside the tiny apartment.

She looked around the place, took in the over cluttered shelves and tacky furniture and knew that Paris must have decorated. The girl obviously had no taste what-so-ever. Goten had said nothing so far and she turned to him, wondering what he was thinking. His face betrayed nothing. Finally, he shook his head and spoke.

"You really are pregnant, B-chan." He said, smiling a little.

Bra smiled with him and nodded her head.

"I thought Trunks was kidding when he told me, but I can see plain as day that you are." He frowned a little again. "Couldn't even wait two weeks after you were there."

Bra looked at him weirdly for a few seconds, not understanding why he said that. "So, what are you going to tell Paris?" She asked timidly, wanting to get down to the point.

"What am I going to tell Paris about what?" He asked as he moved past her to a nearby chair.

"About me being pregnant. Surely you didn't already tell her." Bra said as she walked over to the chair and stood by him.

"Why would Paris care?" Goten asked not seeing what she was getting at.

"You mean Paris doesn't care that I'm going to have your kid?" Bra asked incredulously.

Goten shot forward in the chair and looked at her wide eyed. "What?" He squeaked out.

"Goten," Bra said slowly, "you do realize that I'm pregnant by you, right?"

He looked at her for a few minutes, then shook his head. "No. You aren't pregnant by me. You got knocked up by some American guy." He stated matter-of-fact-ly.

Bra's jaw dropped and they stared at each other for a moment or two, then she placed her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "You don't really believe that do you? Come on. I told my family that so daddy wouldn't come over here and wring your neck before you knew why." She said.

Silence reined between them for what seemed like eternity before Goten finally spoke. "That's not funny, Bra." He said in a low voice.

"Of course it's not funny!" Bra screeched. "Do you see me laughing? Do I look the slightest bit amused to you? Huh? Do I?!"

"Then what the hell are you doing over here? I know I didn't get you pregnant. I have a lot more control than that. Are you trying to break Paris and me up?" He questioned coldly.

"I don't give a damn about that skeez! I'm only trying to protect my interest, which right now includes me and the baby you helped make." She yelled at him.

"Trunks told me the whole story, Bra, so don't lie to me. So we slept together a couple of times. It didn't mean anything and I know for that fact that the kid isn't mine." He said harshly.

"It didn't mean anything! You told me you loved me, you son-of-a-bitch!" Bra cried, tears welling up in her blue eyes.

"Grow up, Bra. It was only lust. Caught up in the passion." He said coldly.

She sniffed and tried hard to keep herself from crying in front of him. "The fact that my pregnancy coincides with the last time we fucked doesn't say anything to you?" She asked angrily.

Goten's expression grew harder. "The only thing it says to me is that you'll open your legs for anybody."

SMACK! Then silence.

Bra held her stinging hand as she stared Goten down. The side of his face glowed red in the shape of her hand, but neither said anything nor made a move. Finally Bra spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

"What do you think I'm doing here if this child I'm carrying isn't yours?" She asked coldly. "And choose your words wisely."

Goten glared at her. "You really want to know what I think?" She nodded her head, eyes narrowed. "Fine, then I'll tell you. I think you knew that nothing would come from us sleeping together. I think you knew that I'd go back to Paris and that we were going to get married. So you found the first guy you could and got yourself pregnant so you could come home and say it's mine and ruin my life. That's what I think." He said venomously. "I don't believe you, Bra. I've known you your entire life and I know what a vindictive bitch you can be when you want something you know you can't have. I'm not falling for it. You forget that I've seen all your dirty little tricks and I know that this isn't above you." He finished and scowled at her, waiting for her reply.

Bra stood there dumbfound. Her body felt numb and paralyzed and she couldn't speak. She never thought something like that could come out of his mouth. The words were so hard and cold that they cut right through her and split her heart in two. It sounded more like something that would come from her father than the gentle, never-hurt-anyone Goten. Of all the things she imagined him saying on this day, what he said wasn't one of them and she was caught completely off-guard. No rebuttal came to mind so she simply said:

"I don't know what your problem is, Goten. I don't know what is making you say all these harsh and untrue things to me. I don't know why you want to hurt me, but so be it. You've dug your grave, now it's only a matter of time before you lie in it."

With that she ran to the open sliding glass door and out onto his balcony. Goten watched her wide-eyed and then began to move across the room toward her as she jumped up on the railing. With one last look back she jumped off and Goten's heart stopped beating for a full minute as he broke into an all out run for the balcony. Just as he made it to the doors she streaked by him, leaving a trail of angry blue energy in her wake.

Goten stood dumbly watching her leave while wondering when she learned to fly. Some small and hollow place inside of him throbbed and burned, telling him to go after her. It was the same place that had been telling him to shut up since the argument with Bra began. He was just about to take off after her and apologize profusely for his behavior when Paris' car pulled into the parking lot. She got out and when she saw him standing there she waved happily and ran for the building.

A few minutes later the beautiful brunette burst into the apartment wearing a smile he believed only for him. He ruthlessly suppressed the pain inside and returned her smile.

"Hey babe," He said, knowing the name she loved to be called. "What are you doing home so early?" He questioned as innocently as he could.

"They didn't need me, so I thought I'd come home and spend some time with you." She answered suggestively in the accent that he used to think was charming, but now found it to be annoying because he was comparing it to another, sweeter voice.

He smiled roguishly as she took his hand and led him into their bedroom, but his mind kept drifting back to the fight he had with Bra only a few minutes before. He knew he had been unfair to her and her last haunting words chilled him to the bone. Even if he chose to ignore it, deep down inside he knew she wasn't lying to him and that he had made a grave mistake in pushing her away the way he did. It wasn't because of who her father was and what the two of them were capable of. No, it was an inexplicable loss that he felt deep inside and knew that it was only the beginning.

He tried to forget the painful look in her teary blue eyes as he uttered the last hurtful words to her as he watched Paris undress. He tried to suppress it all as she climbed over him, but with every touch of her skillful little hands, the hollow burning feeling throbbed to life inside of him.

********************************

The moment Bra touched down in front of Capsule Corps., she broke into gut-wrenching sobs. The flight had been difficult, not being used to flying with a six-pound baby squirming around inside of her. It drained all of her energy but she somehow made it home without shedding a single tear. Now she lay on all fours in her front yard, body shaking from the force of her tears.

No one was home during this time of the day except for her father and she didn't have to worry about him because he wouldn't come near her anyway. Her mother was at work and Trunks was either at work or school, whichever he felt the need to go to today.

When her body stopped shaking enough for her to go into the house, she did so quietly, not wanting to draw her father's attention if he was in there. She went into the downstairs bathroom, where she lost her lunch. The baby was exceptionally restless, once again responding to his mother's moods, making her sick. She washed her face and tried to calm down for the sake of the life inside of her and her own.

æScrew Goten,' She thought bitterly, æI don't need him anyway. Let him be happy with his stupid little bitch. I'll make him pay for how he treated us.' She thought while rubbing her stomach.

The gentle rubbing soothed her child some and Bra smiled. It was times like these, just her and her baby, that she could care less what Goten or anybody else thought or did. She had her child and that was all that really mattered in the world. Glancing at her watch, she realized that her soaps were on and made her way to the livingroom to watch them.

Upon entering the room, she saw that her father was already sitting on the couch watching the t.v. She immediately tensed, not wanting to receive one of his hateful glares or his angry words after the fight and turned to leave when the baby kicked her with all its might. Bra lurched forward and dropped to her knees in pain, suddenly wishing she had trained more when she was younger so she could withstand the intense pain that the tiny sayian brought. As it resided and she came back to herself, she noticed that her father was at her side, the closest he'd been in days.

"Are you all right, brat?" He asked in his harsh voice, but there was underlying concern there, if one knew how to look for it.

She smiled weakly, trying to be strong in front of her father, who prided everything on his strength and stood up slowly. "Yes, I'm fine." She said pulling away from the hand he had wrapped around her arm to help her up. "He does that sometimes. I think he's going to be pretty strong."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. "So it seems." He said with a little more than suspicion in his voice.

Bra looked at him wondering what it was that he suspected, but he merely walked away from her and back to the couch. She watched him go, feeling more deserted and alone than she ever has before in her life. It seemed that everyone was turning away from her. Like it was her fault and hers alone that she was in this mess and that she must face it by herself without the support of even her family.

She felt disgraced and ashamed and so utterly alone and afraid that something snapped violently inside of her. Her eyes blurred with fresh tears and her hands fisted at her sides as her body began to tremble. She felt a raw, furious energy course through her like never before and her mind focused on one thing: destruction. She felt the need to destroy something or she was going to go insane. She stomped her foot down on the floor as hard as she could, making the floorboards beneath the carpet crack, the sound knocking Vegeta out of his complacency. The last thing she remembered was strong arms coming around her then all went black.

She awoke sometime later in her room. She opened her eyes slowly, confused and with a pounding headache. She caught movement to the side of her and turned to see her father sitting in a chair next to the bed scowling. He leaned over her when he saw that she was awake and his face hardened more.

"What the hell is wrong with you, brat? Are you trying to kill yourself or something? I don't know how to take care of pregnant women when they pass out." He said. It was something that he would only admit to her.

"Did you call mom?" Bra questioned quietly. He snorted. His answer for no. "Didn't you ever take care of mom when she was pregnant, even with me?" She asked again.

Vegeta shook his head. "No. I did the same thing as when I found out she was carrying Trunks. I left and went into space to train. Like I want to be around her when she's overly moody." He said with a hint of humor in his voice.

Bra laid there looking at her father and felt again the loneliness and despair that she had earlier. Trying to keep herself from crying again, she asked: "Where do you go when you go out there to train?" Her voice was choked and already she could feel them coming.

He looked at her for a moment before answering. "Old army bases." He said simply while he watched her.

For reasons completely unknown to Vegeta, Bra started bawling and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him as if he would disappear. He sat rigidly for a few seconds, not knowing what to do, then he gently wrapped his arms around her. He could feel the wetness already beginning to soak through his shirt and he wondered what her problem was. He had never seen her quite like this before. Between the breath stealing sobs he could hear her.

"I'm so sorry, daddy. I never meant to disappoint you or momma, but I can't do this on my own." She sobbed. "He-he won't help me. H-he s-said that it wasn't his kid and that he didn't want to have anything to do with me. But I swear, I swear that he's the only one I've been with. I thought that I loved him and that he loved me too." She finished burying her head in his shoulder and crying even harder.

Vegeta stiffened at the mention of her actually being with someone and almost pulled away from her out of disgust, but remembering her earlier outburst thought it was best to not upset her any more than she already was. So instead, he did what he used to do when she was a baby and nobody except him could calm her down; he gently stroked her blue hair and whispered into her ear.

"Tell me who it is, Bra and I swear I'll make him pay. He'll wish that he never laid eyes on you when I'm through with him. I'll make him hurt as you are hurting now." He whispered reassuringly over and over again.

Bra pulled away from him and looked into his black eyes. Her eyes were colored with pain and something farther from anger, more like rage and she nodded her head. "Yes, daddy. Please make him pay. Break every bone in his body." She said menacingly.

Vegeta looked intently at his daughter. "Just tell me his name and he will no longer have an existence on this planet." His own anger was beginning to build at the sight of his upset little girl.

She shook her head. "No. I don't want him dead. I want him to suffer. When this baby is born and he knows without a doubt that it is his, I want you to make him suffer." She whispered darkly.

He gave his acceptance with a nod of his head and she laid back down on her bed. Vegeta watched her until she drifted off to sleep. As her breathing became deep and even, he remembered one important fact that he seemed to have over looked since the scandal began: Bra was his daughter and no matter what she was his responsibility to protect. He felt a sudden pang of failure as he looked at her swollen belly and vowed to make the one responsible for it pay. He had been too lost in his own affairs to notice that his daughter was getting herself in trouble, a fact that he should have never overlooked.

As he left for the gravity room, he swore to be more conscientious of his children's affairs, so that he never found himself in this position again.

*********************************************

Pan came to see Bra a few days later. She found her in her lying on her bed in her room crying. Pan approached Bra cautiously, wondering what had upset her this time and hoping that it didn't have anything to do with her uncle. She sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for her to say something.

Bra opened her eyes slowly and looked at Pan, who was looking at her expectantly. She sighed and gave a small smile.

"I was watching a car commercial and for some reason I was thinking about how beautifully it was done and the next thing I knew I was laying here bawling!" She exclaimed then started laughing. "How ridiculous is that?! Damn hormones! I've never cried this much in my life!" She finished with a growl.

Pan laughed with her for a minute, then sobered and got to the reason she was there. "So how did it go with my uncle?" She asked.

Bra's face darken and she sat up. "Fuck that bastard." She growled.

Pan sucked in a breath. "What did he say?"

"Everything except what I wanted to hear." Bra said while crossing her arms over her chest. "He basically said that the kid wasn't his, he wasn't going to take responsibility for something that he didn't do, that I'm trying to break him and Paris up and ruin his life and that I'm a slut." She finished bitterly.

Pan exhaled in a huff, her eyes wide. "He said what?" She almost yelled. "You're exaggerating, Bra. Goten would never say something like that. He's been under a lot of pressure lately, but he would never speak that way to anyone."

Bra snorted. "Yeah, well, that's what I thought until I heard it come out of his mouth. That's exactly what he said, more or less." She said angrily.

Pan shook her head. "I don't believe it! What the hell is my uncle's problem? What are you going to do now?"

Bra looked at her. She couldn't very well tell her about the pact she made with her father, promising to be able to bring pain to Goten, so she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Bra," Pan said, "what's going to happen when the baby is born and everyone finds out that Goten is really the father?"

"I don't know." She lied. "I guess he'll get what's coming to him." She said darkly, while frowning.

Pan just stared at her and Bra stared back. There was something almost frightening in her eyes and Pan wasn't sure she liked it. She couldn't jump to her uncle's defense if he really said all of that, but still, he was blood and she feared for his safety. She could only imagine what kind of horror she had in-store for him. She looked away, then said:

"I'll go talk to him, Bra. I'm sure he didn't mean any of it."

Bra snorted again. "Whatever, Pan. Do what you want, but I doubt he'll say anything differently to you. Just let him figure it out on his own."

Pan stood to leave. "Just hold on Bra. He'll come around soon enough."

Bra gave a bitter, humorless laugh. "Who says I'll still want him after all that?" She said with a conspiratorial tone in her voice.

Pan frowned and left, wanting to go talk to her uncle as soon as possible. Something in her friend's voice made her uneasy and she knew that she was already plotting something.

*******************************************

Two months came and went. As she had expected, nothing came from Pan talking to Goten. Only him telling her that she was being mislead. Pan knew the truth though and every chance she got, she got on his case about it, hoping to get him to go and apologize before something really bad happened. Goten somehow managed to convince himself that the child wasn't his, even though every fiber in his body told him otherwise.

The wedding between Paris and Goten was delayed several months by Goten. He said that he didn't want to draw attention from the baby or have her go into labor during the ceremony, thereby drawing attention from that. But Bra knew differently. She knew that he delayed the wedding because he didn't want to get married and then find out that he was indeed a father.

The two of them avoided each other and he was about the only person that didn't come to see her. Pan was there almost every day, decorating the nursery she had added onto her room, going shopping or just being a friend. Maron didn't seem to be happy about the entire thing at all and seemed to take Bra's pregnancy personally, for reasons that only she knew. She and Trunks couldn't be in the same room together without getting into an argument so she stopped coming over all together.

Trunks was oddly supportive. Her brother, who had never given a damn about what she did before as long as she stayed out of his business, was now buying toys and clothes for the baby, taking her out to lunch or attending lamaze classes when Pan couldn't. It was a little more than unnerving.

Even though she and her father kind of made up, he still didn't like to be in the same room as her. Bulma explained that it was because he was unnerved by the double Ki she gave off. Bra didn't know if she bought it or not because it didn't seem to bother any of the other Ki sensing people, except Piccolo, who just thought the entire thing was gross anyway. She didn't let it bother her though, that was just the way her father was.

Finally the day came. Bra, Pan and Trunks were sitting in the livingroom playing Monopoly and, as always, Trunks was winning and being very ungraceful about it.

"Ha-ha!" Trunks shouted, throwing his hands in the air as Pan landed on one of his properties. "That's Park Place with a hotel and two houses. You owe me five grand, Pan! Pay up!"

Pan groaned. "Come on Trunks, you know I don't have that much money. Can't you just let me slid by this one time?" She whined.

Trunks shook his head. "No way. Pay up or quite the game, Panny-chan!"

"We've been friends forever and this is how you repay my friendship?!" She asked.

He rubbed in his chin, as if in thought. "Well, you could sell me all of your green property." He said slyly.

"What?! No way! That's the only property I own. I already had to sell all the houses on it!" She cried.

Trunks grinned maliciously. "Yeah, sell me the green property and . . . um mm . . . bow and call me master every time you see me for the next week and I'll let you slide this one time."

Pan yelled indignantly and threw a hand full of sharp, pointy little houses at him. He tried to dodge them but one hit him in the eye and he started whining. Bra laughed at the two and excused herself to the bathroom, knowing that it was going to take a while for them to settle down since they did it every time.

She came back a few minutes later, shaken. "Guys . . . " She called out frightened. They must not have heard her, because they didn't stop wrestling. "You guys . . . " She called a little bit louder, but they still didn't hear her. "GUYS!" She finally yelled, getting their attention.

They stopped immediately, ending up in a very compromising position and looked at her. "I think my water broke." She said in quivering voice.

Pan paled and Trunks looked confused. "What does that mean?" He asked.

"It means that she's going to have the baby!" Pan said as she shoved Trunks off of her and went to Bra.

Realization dawning on him, Trunks began to panic. He stood and looked wide eyed at his sister, whose face was contorted in pain and breathing heavily while leaning against the doorframe. Bra and Pan watched him amused as he ran back and forth in the livingroom screaming, "what do I do? What do I do?" After a couple of minutes it got annoying, so Pan clothes lined him, making him fall flat on his back.

Trunks rubbed his neck as Pan glared down at him. "Go get your parents." She said slowly as Bra moaned behind them.

Hearing his sister, Trunks immediately forgot about what Pan did and went to do what he was told. Pan went back to Bra and led her over to the couch, staying as calm as she could because it looked like Bra was going to lose it any minute now. "Let me go up stairs and get your bags." Pan said as she tried to pull away from her.

Bra held tight and shook her head. "No, please don't leave me, Pan. I don't want to be alone." She said, eyes filled with fear.

Pan obliged and a few minutes later Bulma came running up from the basement. "Sweetie, are you okay?" She asked as she stroked Bra's head.

Bra shook her head. "Mom, I'm scared." She said in a tiny frightened voice.

"I know, honey. It'll be ok. Mommy is here for you." Bulma soothed. She turned to Pan. "Go get her bags and meet us outside."

Pan nodded and ran off. Just then Trunks returned with Vegeta, both looking shaken. Without saying a word, Vegeta picked his daughter up and carried her outside where Bulma popped a capsule containing a small jet. They climbed inside and waited for Pan. As soon as she got inside they took off for the hospital and Pan called everyone to let them know.