Baby Sitting

"I will destroy this planet and reduce it to a floating pile of space dust! I swear to you, I will not be mocked! Do not test me, I have taken countless lives with a mere thought! Continue this and my vengeance shall be swift and merciless!"

Vegeta stopped ranting for a moment to check he was still being listened to. Sweat ran down his back under his blue shirt, his blue leggings sticking to him in the heat of the kitchen.

His wife placed her hands on her hips and, infuriatingly, started to giggle..

"A little nervous to be left with Trunks on your own, huh?" Bulma asked. .

Vegeta made an angry noise at the back of his throat and moved closer to the amused woman. "I am a warrior, I do not 'baby sit'."

"You are his father and my husband, so guess what? You do."

"Fine. I will watch him for one hour and in exchange you will provide me with new training equipment."

"You will watch him until eleven and I will continue to provide you with a place to stay and a loving family."

The Prince glared in response but this was met with a passive look. The Saiyan sensed defeat.

A few hours later his eight year old, Trunks, entered the room. Dressed in a hooded top and holding a bag of chips, he regarded his father cautiously.

"Hi, Papa. Where's Mom?"

The Saiyan shifted on the couch uncomfortably and folded his arms across his chest.

"She has a meeting. She's… out." Vegeta glanced at the child in the doorway and waited for the realisation to slot into the boy's mind.

Trunks' eyes widened slightly as the thought occurred to him. "So… you're looking after me tonight? On your own? Just you?"

Vegeta sniffed but made no further reply. He pushed down the feeling of inadequacy and stood up. "We are going to train, then we will eat, then we will meditate before you go to bed. That is our plan for the evening so I suggest you put those chips down and get your combat suit on."

Trunks appeared unimpressed and placed his hand back in the bag before raising a handful of chips to his mouth. The uncomfortable silence was suddenly filled by crunching sounds until he swallowed and shugged.

"I was gonna watch Ultron with Goten," the boy replied dismissively. When he saw the mist of confusion descend over his father's expression, Trunks added: "It's a show. Cartoons."

Vegeta immediately clenched his hands into fists and dropped his arms to his sides.

"Cartoons?" He barked. "You wish to waste your time watching cartoons instead of training?!"

The man felt shocked; all Saiyans lived for battle yet his own child seemed more and more disinterested as his age increased. Vegeta's rage grew as his question was met with another shrug and mouthful of chips.

"Now you listen to me, boy-" he began but stopped when he realized Goten, his son's best friend, had appeared beside his son in the doorway.

"Hi, Mister Vegeta," Goten greeted cheerfully, "isn't Ultron starting soon, Trunks?"

"Trunks is to train, so go home to your mother-" Vegeta began again, yet the boys walked straight past him and positioned themselves on the couch. A bright and flashy cartoon lit up the television screen and the boys started shouting and whooping with glee. Vegeta stood and watched them, slightly numb. I have commanded legions of soldiers! Laid waste to all who stood in my path! I'm one of the most feared beings in the universe yet I can not control two children? Hmph. Some battles are best avoided.

He tutted and stalked out of the room.

An hour later, the Saiyan prince stood in the middle of the kitchen, blind with rage and covered in mashed potatoes.

"Where are you going with that? Sit down and stop flying in the house! I said stop that and sit! Get out of the fridge, your dinner is here!"

The children whizzed around the kitchen cackling and completely ignoring him. His temper tipped over and Vegeta found himself yelling at the top of his lungs and raising his power level.

The boys stopped abruptly in the air and blinked in shock.

The Saiyan calmed himself and rubbed his temples.

"Good. That's better," he sighed, "sit down and eat the rest of your dinner."

Trunks smirked and looked over to Goten. "Wanna go outside? Mom got me a new playset, it's awesome!"

"Yeah!" Goten answered. He followed his friend out of the window and into the darkness of the yard outside. Vegeta watched their auras vanish into the night and sniffed angrily before he gave up and turned back to the devastation the children had left behind them. He growled and started picking up, muttering to himself about how he wasn't a maid and they needed to hire a nanny.

Bedtime was as much of a disaster as the rest of the evening had been. Vegeta resigned himself to sitting on a hard chair out on the balcony while the children wore themselves out indoors. The occasional crash and hollering didn't even register anymore. Hurry up and get to eleven already! Bulma can deal with this mess and I can finally have some peace.

Then Vegeta noticed it had gone quiet in the house and this bothered him more than the noise had.

"What're they up to now…?" He wondered and went to investigate. They weren't in the living room, nor the kitchen. He focused on Trunks' energy and slowly walked upstairs, following his son's tracks. He opened Trunks' door and was astonished to find both of the boys snoring softly on the floor of the room.

Vegeta took a moment to watch them sleep, enjoying the warm feeling of relief which crept over him before he scooped them up and tucked them into bed.

He plodded downstairs and had just finished straightening the rooms when Bulma walked through the door. She smiled at him and kicked off her heels.

"Well, look at this place! It's usually trashed by the end of the day," she exclaimed, and looked in awe at the tidy kitchen. Vegeta shifted, slightly uncomfortable, but stayed silent. He watched Bulma walk past him and into the living room. He followed after a minute and took her coat as she handed it to him.

"And he's in bed?" Bulma asked, her expression surprised.

"Yes, he and Goten have gone to sleep."

" Goten? "

"He's here too."

Bulma clutched her forehead and smiled up at him. "Wow, you must have had your hands full! How did you do it?"

Vegeta debated his answer and decided on lying.

"Well, Bulma, honestly you just need to have a firm hand, I'm always telling you you're too soft with Trunks. I just told them what to do and they did it, end of story." He flicked his hands dismissively and squared his stance arrogantly.

Bulma's expression slipped into a knowing smile and mischief glinted in her eyes. "Oh is that so? In that case I think we should make this a regular thing! I mean, you can handle it, right?"

Vegeta swallowed thickly and tried to ignore the horror at the thought of reliving the evening.

"Arg-I mean-I…" Thelook of triumph on his wife's face was too much. "Of course I can!" He stated with faked confidence.

"Great!" Bulma said with a grin, "I'm gonna make myself a sandwich, I'm starved."

And with that she left the shell shocked man to come to terms with what he had agreed to.

End