(Finally getting around to posting my work from AO3 over here...this was originally written and posted in 2015. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you!)

The tiny hospital room was packed almost to overflowing, but the hospital staff were loath to evict any of its occupants. Videl, daughter of the World Champion Hercule Satan, had given birth not 24 hours ago, and ever since then the room had a steady stream of family and friends going in and out. Most of them looked like they could break even the heartiest of the hospital staff in half, and Hercule himself had demanded that they all be allowed to stay, and who was going to argue with the saviour of Earth?

Inside, Videl was steadily getting more and more exasperated as her father fussed over her, her mother-in-law fussed over baby Pan, and her husband fussed over both of them. Being surrounded by her friends and loved ones was great, but exhausting, and all the fussing was even more tiring. She grabbed Gohan's sleeve as he came back over to check on her after leaving Pan with Chi-Chi. "Hon, why don't you see if someone else wants to hold Pan for a few minutes?" she asked. She glanced past him to see Goku and her dad playing peekaboo with her daughter. "Our parents have been hogging them, and I'm sure everyone else wants a turn."

Gohan nodded. "Right. Okay. Yeah. You sure you don't need anything?"

She squeezed his hand. "I'm fine, Gohan. Tired, but fine."

"Do you want me to start clearing people out? I know it's mostly my side; I can—"

"Gohan," she said, looking him in the eyes, "I'm fine. Go rescue Pan from our parents before they try to start training her or something." She was only half joking.

Gohan squeezed her hand and went to take Pan from Chi-Chi. After promising her that she could hold her granddaughter more again later, he held Pan to his chest and looked around the room for someone to hold her.

"Piccolo, what about it? Do you want to hold her?"

Piccolo had been standing in one corner of the room the whole time, arms folded, obviously uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. When Gohan held Pan out to him, his awkward grimace deepened and he physically recoiled from the infant. "No, thank you," he said through gritted teeth.

Gohan frowned. He knew Piccolo hated large groups of people, preferring to interact with people one on one or, barring that, in small groups. He appreciated Piccolo pushing past his dislike of people to be present for an event that he knew was important to Gohan. But he wasn't letting Piccolo get away with just showing up and standing in a corner without talking to anyone or even holding Pan. He and all the others were there to see a newborn, and Piccolo was going to engage in "mushy human stuff" whether he liked it or not.

Smiling, he held Pan out at Piccolo. "She won't bite, you know." Pan gurgled happily.

Piccolo shifted slightly, the only outward sign he gave that he was uncomfortable. "I said, no thank you." Others were starting to look over at them now, and Piccolo's ears were beginning to turn purple. "I don't like children."

Across the room, Goku laughed. "Well that's not true! You've always liked Gohan, even when he was a kid!"

Piccolo was growing more and more agitated. "I'm not holding her, Gohan."

"Why not?"

"Because—!" Instead of finishing his outburst, he quickly slipped past Gohan and stormed into the hallway, cape fluttering behind him. Blinking in confusion, Gohan turned to Videl, who shrugged and gestured after him. He nodded and quickly handed Pan to Krillin, who immediately started cooing over her with 18, and scurried into the hall after Piccolo.

Piccolo hadn't gone far, just down the hall to the waiting room. He was sitting with his arms and legs folded, floating a foot off the ground instead of sitting in one of the too-small chairs. He glowered at Gohan when they made eye contact, then looked away, still scowling. Gingerly, Gohan sat in one of the chairs next to him. "Is everything okay?" he asked quietly.

"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" Piccolo's voice had a bitter edge to it. Most people would back off when Piccolo was like this, but most people hadn't known Piccolo and looked up to him like a second father since they were five. He knew Piccolo well enough to know that something was going on and Piccolo needed to deal with it, but didn't want to.

Gohan put a hand on Piccolo's shoulder and felt him tense up. Piccolo still wasn't looking at him, but Gohan could see that the ends of his pointy ears were still faintly purple.

Whatever was going on, it was embarrassing to him. "Come on, Piccolo," Gohan said, "we both know that something's bothering you. Is it just so many people in such a small space?"

There was silence and stillness from his companion for what seemed like a long time before Piccolo finally shook his head slightly. It was a movement that most people would have missed—but again, Gohan wasn't most people.

"Well what, then? It's not like you've never seen human babies before."

"Yes but—" Piccolo started, then abruptly cut himself off again. He finally turned to look at Gohan, shrugging Gohan's hand off his shoulder, his scowl deeper than ever. With a deep breath, he muttered, "It's never been yours before."

Gohan blinked owlishly at him through his glasses. "What? Why does that matter?"

Piccolo fidgeted and looked away again. "Your daughter…she's so small, Gohan. I have muscles bigger than she is. If she could stand—and she can't, because most of her body doesn't even work yet—she wouldn't even reach my knees. She's tiny, and weak, and powerless right now, and sure maybe I can feel that she has a pretty large ki for a newborn, and a mostly human one at that, but that doesn't change the fact that she is so breakable." He paused. "And I have claws, Gohan."

There was an uncomfortable silence. "Are you saying you're afraid of hurting her?" Gohan asked.

"She's so small," Piccolo repeated. "It would be so easy to hurt her, even if I didn't mean to. I have no idea how your father is so calm about the whole thing."

"Dad's always been pretty good with babies, surprisingly," Gohan said with a shrug. "He likes them. He told me once that the thing he regretted most about staying dead all those years was missing out on Goten's baby years."

Piccolo snorted. "And here I thought your mother was the baby one." He sighed. "Gohan…human children and mushy things make no sense to me. But I know that being here and interacting on a day that's important to you makes you happy. I want to hold her, I do, but…if something were to happen to your child…and it was because of me…" He locked eyes with Gohan. "I'd never be able to forgive myself."

Gohan clasped his hands in his lap and looked down. "I never thought about that."

Piccolo shrugged. "I didn't really expect you to. You know how I am, though, and why I didn't want to bring it up. I figured just being here would be enough."

"It's not, though," Gohan said, "not really." He looked back at Piccolo. "I know this isn't something you ever…experienced, dealt with, whatever. But on Earth, for humans, a newborn baby is generally something to be celebrated. It's a new life, a new addition to a family, even if it's as patchwork a family as mine and Videl's." He clapped a hand on Piccolo's shoulder again, and took some pride in the fact that Piccolo didn't get tense this time. "And we want you to share in all of it, even the parts that you've never had to deal with before."

They sat in silence for another minute before Gohan squeezed Piccolo's shoulder and stood up. "I'm gonna get back. I don't want Mom trying to monopolize Pan again, and I should really start clearing people out so Videl can get some sleep." He looked back at Piccolo, but he was steadfastly looking at the ground. "Take your time, but I'll see you back in the room, right?" He didn't wait for a response and headed back down the hallway to his wife's room.

When he arrived, Pan had been passed from Krillin and 18 to Goten, who was receiving strict instructions from Chi-Chi on how to hold a baby properly. Gohan headed over to Videl's bedside. Hercule handed her a glass of water as Gohan took her other hand. She smiled at them, but she was clearly exhausted. "Do you want us to start clearing people out?" Gohan asked quietly.

She hesitated, but nodded. Gohan and Hercule stood and quickly but quietly started ushering the well-wishers out. After promising Chi-Chi and Goku about eight times each that they could come back tomorrow after Videl had gotten some sleep, everyone had cleared out and it was just Videl, Gohan, and Pan for the first time since that morning. Pan slept in Videl's arms while Gohan leaned on the side of the bed, staring. "We made that," he said quietly. "She's ours now."

Videl giggled and held her out to Gohan. "You are such a dork."

He took Pan and kissed his wife on the cheek. "The happiest, luckiest dork in the world. Get some sleep, hon."

There was an awkward clearing of the throat from the door.

Turning, Gohan saw Piccolo standing in the doorway, not meeting anyone's gaze and still faintly purple. "If it's okay, I'd like to hold her now," he said gruffly.

Gohan glanced back at Videl, but she'd dropped off to sleep almost immediately after Gohan took Pan from her. He looked back at Piccolo and nodded, holding a finger to his lips and pointing at the sleeping baby and mother. Piccolo nodded back, stepping softly into the room. Gohan held Pan out to Piccolo, and this time Piccolo reached out and gingerly held Pan. She was absolutely dwarfed against him, even more so than when Goku had held her, and Gohan understood why Piccolo had been so hesitant to hold such a tiny child.

Still, his heart swelled with pride to see this giant green alien who had become a second father to him holding his firstborn. He was so happy he felt lightheaded, like he was walking on clouds, and unlike most people on Earth he actually had the experience to compare it to. Piccolo still looked uncertain, but he cradled the tiny baby to his chest, murmuring something to her in a language Gohan didn't recognize—probably Namekian—and holding perfectly still so he wouldn't wake her.

Gohan sat down, the strength going out of his legs as he sagged in the uncomfortable chair. The four of them stayed that way for a long time.

When Piccolo handed Pan back to Gohan, they left Videl to sleep while they took Pan back to the nursery. "So what exactly were you saying to her in there?" Gohan asked. Piccolo remained silent. "Come on, I know it was in Namekian and I picked up enough of it to ask Dende later if I have to."

Piccolo eyed him. "Don't lie; you can't speak a single word of Namekian. You wouldn't even know how to form a word of it."

Gohan shrugged as well as he could with an armful of baby. "Well, what were you saying, then?"

He visibly deflated. "I just told her what a loser nerd her dad is, how he needs to train more often, and that she should hope she takes after her mother."

"And?"

"…And that her family may be 'patchwork,' as you put it, but it is a close one, and that she will come to understand that with time." He raised his head to look forward again. "And that her parents are crazy if they think they can get me to babysit anytime soon."

Gohan laughed and nudged Piccolo with his shoulder. "You're a jerk."

"Please tell me you're not just figuring that out now."

When they got to the nursery, Gohan was still smiling. Piccolo waved goodbye to Pan when he thought Gohan wasn't looking.