Mummies and Daddies
Part of the Maintaining/Quest universe
By Pixelgoddess

This was written for a Saiyan Secrets challenge. Yes, this has one of the required lines “There’s only one blanket.”
Warnings, commentary, notes, and advisories – Contains much sap and mush. Lots of disgusting cuteness. Sorry – I couldn’t help myself. *g* The smut will be in the next part – I’m working on it. This is part of the Maintaining/Quest universe, so if you’ve read that, you know who everyone is – if not – then why the hell not? *frowns* Anyway, Kakorr is Vegeta’s name for Kakarott (how he got that is a long story – 93 chapters worth.) Tamanegi is their daughter through an arrangement that is too complicated to explain – just suffice it to say there is no mpreg and no sex with the mother.) And of course I don't own it, because if I did, I'd make the series all yaoi and the animation Final Fantasy style.

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Vegeta smirked at the state of their kitchen. He had been training his students for only a few hours, but in that time his mate and their six-year-old daughter had managed to turn it into an arts and crafts nightmare.

The table had been shoved against a wall and the floor was covered in newspapers. That had been a good decision on Kakorr's part, seeing as clay, paste and paint were smeared everywhere. Both participants were dirty, although Kakorr's was limited to his hands and the tips of some of the longer spikes of hair that had escaped the tie at the back of his neck. Tamanegi, on the other hand, was filthy, her face striped with red, giving her a ferocious look as she scowled at the instructions, tail flicking through spilled paint.

"No Bidi," she insisted, tugging the ragged material from his hands, "Too big. Make the pieces smaller or there won't be enough. There’s only one blanket."

"Princess...I still think it would be better if we got some different material," Kakorr said, holding up a strip of the fuzzy material. "Are you sure you don’t want to use the gauze? There’s enough for two projects."

"No," she said stubbornly, "This is prettier – and softer," she said, rubbing her fingers over the blue and white blanket strip.

"This looks fun. What are you two up to?" Vegeta asked.

"Daga!" Tama cheered, flying up to greet him, curling her paint-splattered tail around his wrist.

"Little girl," he scowled playfully, glancing down at the perfect red hand imprint on his shirt, "You better not tell me you did that on purpose."

She scowled right back before giggling and hugging him tighter, getting him even dirtier.

He growled and sat down next to his mate, trying to eye her fiercely and failing miserably. It didn't help when she attempted to growl back between peals of laughter. ::You're not helping matters any,:: he told his laughing mate.

::She's managed to get paint right on the tip of your nose,:: Kakorr told him, reaching over to rub the offending mark away.

::I’m willing to bet she did it on purpose -– with your encouragement,:: he grinned. "I’m glad I don’t have to clean up this mess," Vegeta chuckled, brushing his hand through his daughter's silky black hair.

::I’m glad we have cleaning robots,:: Kakorr grinned, ::Things kind of got out of control.::

::So I see. It looks like she is wearing all of the supplies.::

"Are you going to help, Daga?"

"I might as well since you’ve already managed to get me dirty," Vegeta said, leaning over to kiss his grinning mate. He examined the fabric he took from Kakorr. "This better not be a good blanket."

"Mama gave it to me so I could make my mummy for school."

"A mummy?" Vegeta asked, "Like those bandaged monsters in the movies?" Kakorr and he had spent an entertaining evening with their children, watching old black and white movies, eating popcorn while they laughed and yelled advice to the characters. He smiled to himself at the happy memory of being surrounded by his family. "Maybe your Bidi is right about the gauze - I never saw a mummy wrapped in a blanket."

"No, Daga," Tama said stubbornly, "That stuff is all itchy -– that's how come the mummies can't sleep." She thrust a piece of blanket at him, "This is soft and warm, so they won’t wake up. 'Sides – it’s prettier."

Kakorr grinned at him. ::I wondered why she was being so stubborn about it.::

::She gets that twisted logic from you, you know.:: Vegeta smiled at his daughter, brushing a tiny unpainted spot on her face with his tail. "Then you should make your mummy comfortable so he doesn’t wake up."

::Sap. Prince Doting Daddy.::

He smirked. ::And why not?:: The longer he was with Kakorr, the easier it was for him to learn to be a 'daddy'.

::Don't stop on my account.– I like to watch you two together. I'm looking forward to more cubs someday.::

::It's your turn to find a dairi next, Kakorr.:: His mate still hadn't found a suitable surrogate mother - necessary since Chichi was no longer young enough to safely bear any more children.

::Someday,:: Kakorr said wistfully.

"It's scary for the mummies to wake up before their Mamas and Papas are alive again," Tama continued, unaware of their mental conversation. "That's why they make all those noises -– they don’t want anyone else to know how scared they are," she said seriously, crawling off Vegeta’s lap to sit between her fathers.

::Maybe we shouldn't watch those movies again…::

::She wasn't scared –- she's just trying to get a handle on the differences between myths, religions, stories and reality. I think it is sweet how worried she is about the so-called monster. When I was a kid, I made friends with a guy who looked like a Frankenstein monster. Everyone else was afraid of him but he was a really nice guy.::

Kakorr brushed his tail against his cheek, the tiny bell at the tip ringing from the motion. Vegeta smiled at him and listened to Tama's happy chatter about how her mummy wouldn’t be scared.

Somehow his life had transformed from torture and terror to...happiness. He had missed moments like this with Trunks. He hadn't been able - or ready - to be what he considered a good father to the boy, although once Freiza's influence was removed he began doing his best to make up for the lost years. But from the moment Tamanegi looked at him with her bright, trusting eyes he was lost. No one - not even his mate - looked at him with such adoration and it filled him with fear he would lose it someday. This fierce joy he felt - it couldn't be right. How was it possible he deserved it? Would someone try to take this happiness away from him? He was always afraid of failing Tama in some way so he tried everyday to be more of the person his daughter believed him to be.

::Just be yourself, Vegeta. Tama will love you no matter what. You don't have to feel guilty for being happy - you deserve it.::

Vegeta made a wry grin; Kakorr had caught him doubting himself again. Even after all of this time he sometimes questioned how perfect his life had become. ::Is that you or your Rouya training speaking?::

Kakorr chuckled. ::Both.::

::The hell with it then -– I never got to do anything like this with Trunks and it looks like fun.:: He picked up some of the clay and began to mold it; if he had been given the opportunity to be happy, he was going to wallow in it as long as possible.

::Sap,:: Kakorr smirked.

He grinned; he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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