Chapter 9: Snapshots

"Well, I've drawn enough." Bulma withdrew the needle from an unconscious Goku. Picking up the small bag of his rich blood, she moved to put it in the cold storage drawer, along with other blood and tissue samples from the two last full-blooded Saiyans. Along with his semen and her eggs.

Vegeta nodded absently, her eyes fixed on her slumbering mate.

When Vegeta had discovered her pregnancy, she had came to Bulma, instructing her to start her research on Saiyan physiology and prepare any requisite medical supplies. Senzu beans were inordinately helpful, but it never hurts to be prepared. Taking samples from the normally fearless warrior had been a challenge at first since he normally runs at even the sight of needles, but Vegeta had taken the expedient method of simply rendering him unconscious with a well-placed chop to the base of his neck.

Bulma now took out the ultrasound scanner. "Since you are here, I might as well get a look at your twins."

Vegeta snorted a little, running her hands lightly over her swollen abdomen. "Kuso! I can't wait till they are out! I cannot train and I am bloated like a walragg! Babies are simply a nuisance." Her annoyed tone carried a faint fondness that belied the harsh statement.

Bulma shook her head in exasperation, not fooled by the oujo's complaining. She did not know what a walragg was but it was probably something big or fat. The petite oujo did really look ungainly, carrying twins on her small frame. Secretly, Bulma was a little envious. She was past thirty, and had started to feel the ticking of her own biological clock. Maybe Yamcha…

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"BAKA!" Goku winced in agony as Vegeta crushed his hand when another contraction hit. The nurse had pushed him in with Vegeta, assuring him that all women would want their husbands by their side when they give birth. Hold her hand, the nurse had instructed him. It would reassure her. When Goku had blabbered that his mate would pulverize his hand, she had clicked her tongue, assuring him that she had never seen a case of that happening even though the husband always felt that way. Hold her hand the nurse said. Goku hardly swore but he was rattling off a string of curses, most of them learnt from his very eloquent mate, at that baka nurse right now.

"Kuso! I am getting you neutered after this, do you hear me? Arrrgh!!" Even with the ki shield, he could feel the bones in his fingers give.

Feeling only slack pressure as the bones of his hands disintegrated, Vegeta growled and shifted her grip to his wrist. Goku whimpered in fear.

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Goku burped his youngest son Koch over his shoulder. The younger of the twins, Koch was his favorite mainly because he looked like a carbon copy of his proud father.

Vegeta was now breast-feeding Radin. The older twin had taken after their mother, his fine features a mirror of hers and his ebony hair already defying gravity with that trademark flame. Vegeta had proudly pointed out that such hair is a characteristic of the royal Vegeta line and Radin had quickly claimed a place in his mother's heart as her favorite.

The chibis also seem to have inherited some of their favorite parent' traits. Koch was easy-going while the smirk on Radin's chubby face now was pure Vegeta. However, while Radin has a slightly slimmer build, both chibis are otherwise exactly the same size. The twins also seem to share an extremely close bond, as far as their parents could tell when they peeked into their sons' minds. Their power levels are also extremely close, so similar it was hard to tell who was the stronger but the proud parents did not really care.

Gohan grinned happily. He couldn't wait until the twins were old enough to fight.

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Piccolo landed softly in the backyard. He could feel Gohan and the twins' ki inside, and Vegeta's and Goku's ki a distance away in their favorite sparring ground.

Gohan looked up from his homework as he felt his mentor's approach. "Piccolo-san!" Beside him, on the living room floor were two squabbling chibis. "I cannot train with you today… I got stuck watching the twins because 'tousan and 'kasaan wanted to spar again."

"Hmph. This will not do, you also need to train. Maybe you can ask Bulma to help watch them?" Piccolo turned a curious gaze onto the twins. "Do they always fight like that?"

"Yeah. At first, I used to spend all my time trying to break them up but now I just let them be. They don't really hurt each other." Gohan giggled. "And they remind me a lot of the way 'tousan and 'kasaan fight…"

The chibis rolled around on the ground, squawking and spitting until they hit the wall. Radin was knocked onto his back and Koch pounced heavily on his brother. Radin hissed angrily and squirmed frantically to throw the grinning chibi off. He placed two chubby hands to Koch's chest and with a bright flash, blasted Koch off.

Mentor and disciple blinked in shock. Did Radin just…? "Radin just learnt to… he has never done that before…" Gohan blabbered excitedly. Oblivious to the excitement he generated unknowingly, Radin had now lunged after a dazed Koch. Yanking on Koch's short furry brown tail, he elicited a wail of pain from the fallen chibi.

"That's enough!" Piccolo moved swiftly to separate the two. Gohan picked Koch up, rubbing him soothingly. Radin looked chagrined and a look of remorse crossed his countenance. Walking unsteadily to his brothers, he petted his crying twin tentatively. Koch gave one last sniffle, turning to hug his sorry twin. Both chirped happily as they hugged, their tails wrapping around their twin's waist or arm, their spat forgotten.

"Are they always so quick to make up?"

"Oh yeah. They fight, then make up and forget rapidly after that." Gohan smiled fondly at the energetic chibis, who were now tormenting some poor bug on the floor with their prodding fingers.

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"The chibis should be ready to start training soon." Goku said thoughtfully as they prepared for bed. Gohan had excitedly related how Radin had fired his first ki blast that afternoon during dinner.

Vegeta groaned as she crawled into bed. "After the androids threat has been dealt with." She rubbed her shoulder. "Today was a good spar. I'm bruised all over." Musing, she turned to look at the calendar. "Another month till the androids arrive…"

"I don't want to talk about the androids or chibis now…" Goku had a familiar gleam in his eyes. Reaching for his mate's tail, he raked his nails down the furry length, eliciting a different groan from the oujo who arched back, eyes rolling back in pleasure. "How about some … night training…"

The only reply was a loud purr.

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Goku and Vegeta landed on the cliff, each carrying one of their sons, their other hand holding onto Gohan. The others were already there. The mood should have been tense, waiting for the androids to attack, but the battle- hardened warriors were instead cooing over Bulma's baby.

Goku waved a finger at the lavender-haired tot in his best friend's arms. "Is he yours?" Yamcha beamed proudly, his arm around Bulma's shoulders.

The others now crowded around the Saiyan chibis. Radin wrapped his tail tightly around his mother's wrist as he scowled up at them but Koch smiled and chirped happily, holding his arms out to Krillen. The twins were almost two and it seems like Saiyan babies developed at a much faster rate for they were walking already. Koch was the more chatty of the two, though Radin had a more extensive vocabulary when he chose to utilize it.

Vegeta turned to their sons sternly. "Now, I want you both to stay with Bulma, do you hear me?" Her grim tone brook no argument and the two boys nodded solemnly. Goku ruffled their hair affectionately. "We'll be done before you know it."

"Now go." She pushed both boys towards Bulma, who started to walk them to her plane which was parked nearby. The blue-haired woman was chatting a little too airily as she sought to hide her nervousness from the chibis, though she wasn't the only one. The adults knew their prattling had been an edgy attempt at concealing their anxiety. They were all jittery and high- strung and once the plane had left, lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

An explosion nearby rocked them to their senses and the fighters scrambled to the air in the direction of the blasts.

End… For now.