Unsure of what to do with the baby in my arms, I did the first thing that came to mind by instinct, as soon as someone else came into view.
I handed the baby to the closest person. Pepper, in this case. Due to having finished her second growth spurt over this past year, she looked a lot more natural holding a young child in her arms than I did.
She stared down at the baby in silence. Then back at me. Then at the baby. Then back at me again.
Only then, did she finally speak her opinion on the matter. "He's squishy. Tarble, I want a baby now."
"Nope!" I was not having that conversation.
"Did you really have to hurt him so badly, Tarble?" Lynn asked me, gesturing for Pepper to hand the baby over to her so that she could get a closer look at him.
Pepper held the baby closer to her chest protectively, refusing to give him up. Honestly, it didn't really surprise me that the excitable girl really liked babies.
Still, even if she'd actually understood what she was asking (which I was 100% certain she didn't, not fully), I did not want that girl diving anywhere near the 'birds and bees' line of thinking. She was already a menace. I couldn't imagine how worse it'd get if she realized that her obsession with me was a result of her own natural instincts responding to her recognition of my strength.
"He'll survive. We should take him home for now. Peps, give him to Lynn."
"I don't wanna…"
"Pepper, give Lynn the baby."
"..."
"..."
Pepper reluctantly gave Lynn the bleeding baby. The older girl reached for Zeck and had him take his jacket off, before swaddling the child with it, using it to cover the little Kakarot and staunch his bleeding forehead.
After that, Pepper and I grabbed Kakarot's ship and the broken satellite for analysis, and we flew back to the village, toddler in hand.
I got up the next morning to check up on Kakarot. Thanks to the same Celatian medical technology that'd healed me from the brink of death in just under three weeks once upon a time, Kakarot's head had completely healed overnight, but the technology couldn't do anything for what was inside the boy's head. Worst predictions had Kakarot sleeping for three weeks. Even the best predictions said that he'd be asleep for at least a couple days or so.
Pepper wanted to keep the toddler and raise him here, but I knew that wouldn't be the best thing for the little tyke. He needed to grow up human. Not Saiyan.
As such, by the time evening fell the day after his landing on Earth, I knew that it was time for Kakarot and his grandfather to finally meet.
…
That night, in the deepest depths of Mt. Paoz, the old Gohan had just laid down on his mat, ready for bed, when he heard a soft knocking on the door of his tiny old shack.
"I'm coming… I'm coming." He groaned, half-stumbling to the door, "Who comes this deep into the mountains at this time of night?" He wondered to himself as he opened the door.
To find a basket. A quick glance around showed no person around who could've dropped it off, just the basket itself. Inside was a sleeping little baby with wild, spiky black hair and a tail that curled in on itself as the child slept.
"What's this? Who left you, little one?" Gohan picked the baby up in his arms. It continued to sleep, not even seeming to register the fact that he'd been picked up. A small package fell from the baby's arms as he left the basket. "Hm… what's this?" Shuffling the toddler to one arm, Gohan examined the package. It was a small book. "Karing for Baby Kakarot. Things to Know to Raise a Saiyan Child. Vol I? What is this?"
Gohan brought the child inside and put him to sleep in a small constructed bed, before opening the book to skim it.
On the first page was an introduction. "If you're reading this book, then you've found yourself a Saiyan child to raise! Congratulations! But be wary. If your child was born with a monkey tail, then there are a few things you should know."
Chapter 1 was titled Nutrition
Chapter 2 was Basic Biology. Chapter 3 was titled Temperament. Chapter 4 was simply titled Oozaru. There were a few more chapters, too. On the book went, detailing exactly what Gohan needed to watch out for, were he to raise the boy as his grandson, such as Chapter 6: Advanced Biology, which went into detail about the S-Cells in a Saiyan's lower back, and the various functions that a Saiyan's tail had, in intricate detail. The prior Basic Biology chapter had dealt more with the healing factor and physical growth, going into minor detail about the 'smaller' things such as how sensitive a Saiyan's tail was and the ages during which it'd grow back and the various factors that influenced that regrowth, and the fact that a pureblood Saiyan's hair doesn't change.
Gohan was so terrified by some of the information that appeared in the book that he read the whole thing cover to cover four times that night.
Finally, he set the book down, open to the last page, which simply said "Good Luck!" and stared at the child sleeping beside him. "I suppose I have to take you in, huh, little one? If the information in here's true, then I can't just pawn you off on someone else… It's nice to meet you, little Kakarot. I'm your grandpa, Gohan."