"Why did you throw up an egg?" Gohan asked, blinking in confusion at the cracked egg in Piccolo's lap. He drew his thick eyebrows together and twisted his lips to the side in thought.

Equally baffled, Piccolo replied, "I…don't know. I didn't even know I could make one. Only Guru could, or so I thought." He looked at the cracks in the egg and noticed that they were leaking the same fluid that he'd been puking up before finally expelling the egg itself.

"What is going on out here?" Chichi asked sleepily from the doorway to the hall. She was wearing a purple bathrobe and matching slippers, and her eyes were still mostly shut. Her shiny sable hair had been put into some order, but a few loose strands were still sticking up a little.

"Mom! Piccolo had an egg!" Gohan jumped up, leaving Piccolo to grumble about kids and their big mouths.

"Oh, that's nice - " Chichi turned to go back down the hall, then what was just said seemed to register in her brain. Her eyes snapped wide open and she wheeled around to face Gohan again. "Nani!?!" She looked over at Piccolo and -sure enough- he was sitting on his knees, looking down at the egg on the floor in front of him. There was some kind of slime all over the floor around it, and she sighed mentally at the thought of the clean-up job that was going to be.

"Quiet!" Piccolo snapped, his large pointed ears pricked to a faint sound only he could hear. He watched the one crack split into several smaller ones. In a few minutes, the smooth off-white landscape of the egg's surface was covered in tiny canyons and valleys as the being within moved. Piccolo's onyx eyes blinked, then narrowed in confusion as he leaned his ear closer to see if he could hear anything inside.

"I think it's hatching." Gohan looked at Chichi and grinned, running a hand over his wild hair, despite the fact that it didn't do much to tame it.

"This isn't happening…" Chichi swayed drunkenly and wobbled down the hall to her room. "I'm going back to bed! This isn't happening…" The door clicked when she shut it.

Gohan sighed and shook his head, then went back over to Piccolo and squatted next to the egg, making sure he didn't get into any of the slime that was vomited up earlier. Strange as it seemed, the goo had turned into Jell-O…or at least something made of the same substance. Experimentally, Gohan poked at a small piece of it, watching it jiggle; it felt warm, almost alive. Then he glanced over at Piccolo's chest to see if the lump was gone. Sure enough, his teacher's powerful chest muscles were back to their normal shape, although a large purple bruise marked where the lump had been.

The silence was shattered by a creaking noise and a faint gasp from Piccolo. Indeed, even he was curious about why this had happened. He looked at Gohan and shrugged his large shoulders in response to his questioning look, then turned his attention back to the egg, his lips becoming a straight line across the lower part of his face. The cracking seemed to stop, and everything became deathly still for a time.

The pain from what had happened was starting to wear off, and Piccolo's cold side was starting to surface again. As if to complete his change back to "normal", the tall green figure assumed his usual cross-legged position, crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Gohan just blinked as another crack snaked its way around the egg. Piccolo's eyes snapped open again, and he turned to the egg just in time to see a hand burst through the largest crack, opening a crater in the egg's surface. Some of the shell clung to the wrinkled emerald skin as the hand withdrew once again. The egg did a half-roll as the hand poked out of the opening once again and started to push on the edge.

"Should we help it?" asked Gohan, almost unable to stand seeing the unborn Namek in distress.

"No." Piccolo replied sharply. "If he really wants out of there, he'll get out on his own." He turned his attention back to the egg once again. I had no help when I was born, and I didn't have anybody either. I was always alone… "Gohan! Don't even touch it!" He added on when he saw Gohan reaching towards the crack-featured surface of the egg.

"But Piccolo! I don't think he can get out!" Gohan protested, a sorrowful look crossing his face. His lower lip stuck out slightly, and Piccolo gritted his teeth because he hated that look.

"Yes he can. Just give him time."

Sighing, Gohan sat down next to the egg and tried to peek into the hole. He couldn't see anything, so he finally just sat back and waited. The egg started to move again after a short time, another set of fingers joining the first, pushing themselves through the jagged hole and pushing outwards. Very faint grunts could be heard as the little Namek struggled. It was a determined little thing, that was for sure, and Piccolo took note of that as the little hands widened the hole.

Yes, little one. I know you can do it. He thought as he watched the crack widen further. Gohan's eyes were threatening to pop right out of his head, the way they were open so wide. Piccolo just smirked for a moment, then watched the egg again.

The unborn Namek stopped moving for a moment, then the fingers started to work again, pushing the hard eggshell away. Before long, the baby's head popped out of the hole, his toothless mouth agape as he gasped for fresh air. Slime from the inside of the egg kept his eyes squeezed shut and plastered his miniature antennae to his forehead. Gohan fell over on his back in surprise because it happened so suddenly. Piccolo just watched the baby like a hawk, hardly even blinking. It was starting to dawn on him that this child was his. His son. His own flesh and blood. And he didn't want to miss a moment of this new life.

"He looks like you Piccolo." Gohan grinned after studying the baby Namek's features. He was right too. The infant seemed to be a miniature version of his father.

"I'm not surprised." Piccolo muttered as the little one stopped gasping and started to struggle to get the rest of his tiny body out of the confining prison.

With a lot of effort, the baby Namek managed to wriggle out of the egg, tumble end over end and land with a wet slapping sound in front of Piccolo. Gohan blinked and crawled over so he could see the baby better. Piccolo just reached down, curled his fingers around one of the newborn's tiny ankles and lifted him up, watching the egg-slime drain from his nose and mouth. When he was sure the child's airway was clear enough, he set him down again gently and used the back of his hand to wipe the rest of the goo off his face.

Piccolo had to press his lips together to hide a smile when the child tried to bite his fingers. The infant's dark eyes opened as he looked out at the world for the first time. The first face he saw was Piccolo's, and almost immediately, he started imprinting. Something Piccolo never got a chance to do when he was born.

"Wow! He's cute!" Gohan started to laugh, then got up, ran into his room and returned with a blanket.

It's like looking in the mirror…the older Namek thought as he looked at the younger one. He took the blanket and used it to clean the rest of the baby off, then wrapped him in it to keep him warm for the time being. Already, the child had fallen fast asleep.

"So what will you name him?" He asked, the excitement of his youth making it next to impossible to stay quiet for long.

Piccolo finally tore his gaze away from the baby to look at Gohan. For a second he looked at the little gold harp that had been embroidered onto his pajamas, then to his face. "I'll call him Tategoto." He bit his lip to keep from smiling openly again. Gohan just grinned and walked off to wake his mother up.
(Author's note: Tategoto is the Japanese word for "Harp")

SIX MONTHS LATER…
It was pretty sunny and hot out in the valley where Piccolo lived. There was little or no wind at all, so the only place to take refuge from the heat was near the waterfall. At least there, Piccolo could meditate and let the cool mist wash over him after a hard day's training.

The only difference was that now he had to keep an eye out for Tategoto. The little guy was starting to crawl around, and was into just about everything. And, unlike Gohan, Piccolo couldn't leave him out alone yet. He was just a baby after all, and Piccolo didn't want Tategoto to grow up without a father.

"Tategoto, get away from there!" Piccolo shouted when the child started crawling after a dangerous lizard. Tategoto ignored him, and just kept reaching for the fire-colored lizard on the rock. The lizard's back was arching, and Piccolo was just in time to grab the kid before the lizard could strike. Irritated, the Namekian man looked at his son and said, "Tategoto, don't ignore me!"

Tategoto looked up at Piccolo, and his antennae drooped slightly. He opened his mouth, leading Piccolo to think he was going to say his first words already, but instead, a childlike whine came out. Piccolo sighed and picked his child up. "Maybe Bulma would know about this…as much as I hate asking for help." He sighed again, "Or…Chichi. I don't want to go asking her about this kind of crap. Heh…she's scared enough of me as it is." With a final snort of amusement, Piccolo rose up into the sky and flew towards the Capsule Corporation building.

Bulma's blue hair shined in the sunlight coming through the kitchen window as she finished cleaning up after Vegeta. The door had just banged shut to signify his departure to the gravity room. Then someone started banging on the door again.

"What now!? Hold your freaking horses already!" Bulma slammed down the fork she was drying and stomped to the door, yanking it open, "Oh!" She gulped when she came face to face with a muscular chest that was covered by purple and white. Her eyes traveled upwards over a pointed chin, curving lips pressed into a straight line, a pointed nose and two dark onyx orbs. She met Piccolo's gaze and swallowed quickly. "Um…hi Piccolo…" She inched back a few steps and noticed the baby, dressed in a little white tunic and baggy pants, in the crook of his arm. "Who's baby is that?"

Piccolo's expression remained stoic as he spoke in his deep voice that, unless he was yelling, seemed to always come out in a whisper, "His name's Tategoto and he's my kid. I don't want a lot of crap about it either." His white cape fluttered as the wind's invisible fingers started to play about and caress it's light fabric.

"Well he's cute, aren't you, you little sweetie?" Bulma said the last half of the sentence to Tategoto. Just as he'd been ignoring everything Piccolo said, he ignored Bulma too. She cocked her head and glanced up at Piccolo with one slender eyebrow raised.

Piccolo snorted, "That's what I brought him here for. He ignores me"

Bulma thought for a moment, twirling a strand of her blue hair around her manicured fingernail. "You know…we should take him to a doctor." She watched a sneer start to crease the bridge of his nose. "Well, if he's sick…what can you do? You never know what can happen to the flu these days. You don't watch TV, so you have no idea what's on the news. There's a strain of encephalitis going around and…ah well…we should have him checked out anyway." She gulped

Tategoto wriggled in his father's strong grasp, snuggling to get closer. Piccolo unconsciously moved him closer as he said, "Fine. But if I have to sit for more then five minutes in there, I'm leaving. Got it?" He added the last words in a dangerously low tone, not even believing himself that he was doing this.

"Fine. I'll make the appointment." Bulma stated, grimacing as she turned away from the door and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment.

As if any idiot doctors would know a Namek's anatomy anyway…Piccolo thought to himself, looking down at Tategoto with no expression on his face. Tategoto raised his antennae out of his face so he could see his dad, then smiled. His fingers rippled like a wave, then he let his antennae fall in his face again.

"Ahem." Bulma cleared her throat to get Piccolo's attention. When he gave her his usual scowl, she continued while half-shielded by the door, "They said we can come right away."

"Whatever." Piccolo shifted Tategoto to his other arm and was ready to take off when Bulma stopped him again. "What now?!"

"Are you really going to walk in dressed like that?"

"Does it matter?" he growled back, starting to get a tad annoyed.

"Well, you stand out enough as it is…" Bulma trailed off and inched behind the door a little more.

Rolling his eyes, Piccolo pointed to his chest as a yellow light covered him. His gi, cape and turban all faded in the glare and were replaced a yellow T-shirt with a purple sweatshirt underneath, blue jeans, a blue baseball cap and white tennis shoes. The word POSTBOY was written across the front of the shirt in big purple letters. "Is this any better?" He snarled.

"Much." Bulma eased past him and towards her capsule car. She gripped the steering wheel tightly as Piccolo climbed in beside her, not exactly liking being this close to him. After all, he was so unpredictable that she didn't know what he'd do next.

"Let's just get on with this." Piccolo muttered, settling Tategoto in his lap and crossing his arms. Tategoto just gurgled quietly and looked around until he finally fell asleep.

Piccolo ignored the stares he got as he carried Tategoto into the stuffy waiting room. The room smelled of disinfectant and was relatively featureless. But the most annoying thing to his ears was the overhead lights. The constant buzz was a chainsaw to his brain.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. "Piccolo-san?" The nurse asked from the door.

Bulma stood up and gestured to Piccolo. "Over here."

"Ah yes. I'll just take your son to the back and we'll do a physical. You can wait here and you'll be called in shortly." The small blond-haired nurse said cheerily as she held her arms out to Tategoto.

"Hey! How come I can't go back there with my kid?" Piccolo retorted, reaching up to adjust his backwards baseball cap for the umpteenth time since he'd entered the place.

"Well, because he might cooperate better if he doesn't have a dad trying to tickle him and stuff…" The nurse cringed slightly, "It won't be long OK? Please, just stay here." She gulped quietly as the angry green man stared her down with his piercing black eyes.

"Ten minutes. Then I'm coming on my own." Piccolo growled, wishing he could just blow the roof off the place and take off. Social situations always made him a bit uncomfortable unless it was a fight. After all, he didn't exactly have social skills since he was pretty much a solitary person.

"O-OK." The nurse gently took Tategoto from Piccolo and carried him out of sight.

"Piccolo! Please don't do that again in here. You don't need a reputation." Bulma hissed.

"Shut up." Piccolo muttered, crossing his arms.

The ten minutes passed, and Piccolo was just starting to uncurl from the chair and charge back there when the nurse came walking back out.

"You can come in now. Doctor Tasho needs to talk to you anyway." She shrank back slightly and grimaced.

"Fine." Piccolo gestured towards the door, "Lead the way." When the nurse started to walk, he followed until he came to a room where a portly woman was just setting Tategoto down on the examination table to keep an eye on him.

The woman had a lot of curly red hair, and wasn't very attractive at all. Heh, humans are getting uglier and uglier these days. Piccolo thought as Dr. Tasho smiled and waved him into the room. She said a greeting in a voice that seemed awfully deep for a woman. Ignoring the scared little nurse, Piccolo strode into the room where Tategoto was waiting, clapping his hands together and wiggling around since he knew his father was with him again.

"Good afternoon Piccolo. The physical is complete…" Dr. Tasho started to babble on and on about how healthy and strong Tategoto was, but then she handed Piccolo a bunch of pamphlets as she started to talk medical babble about something else. He only caught the end of it: "…we've run some tests to determine that it's total."

Blinking at the multicolored pamphlets in his hands, Piccolo sneered and said in a cold, quiet tone that vibrated the small room, "What are you saying about my son? I didn't catch all of that."

"Piccolo, your son is deaf."