Title: Baby Duty
Word Count: 812
Summary: [Late in the night, Mako and Korra begin the age-old debate all parents face – "No, it's your turn." | Sim!Makorra. Makorra Family.]
A/N: I don't think I'll ever be able to write any other kind of modern / domestic Makorra thanks to the SimKorra blog on tumblr. (Not that I mind. ^^)
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be-the-peaf · Prompt 045 – duty
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Most nights never went as planned – Iroh and Asami would arrive unexpectedly for dinner, Bolin would bring Nutuk to play (even if it was way past his bedtime). And then, if nobody was actually over, it would be their kids – crying and wailing all sorts of demands for attention and nurturing. Korra would spend most nights trying to get Atka to sleep and Mako, just getting home from his shift, would have the job of locating Aruna, who crawled around the floor of their apartment with the speed a gophermole would burrowing into its hole.
Needless to say, they never seemed to catch a break.
But there were some nights, some rare, rare nights that there would be no uninvited guests, Atka and Aruna would be sleeping soundly in their room and the house would be overcome with an air of silence and after spending the last hours of the night relaxing the tiring day away, they'd finally be able to get a full night's sleep together, warm under their soft maroon covers.
The hours seem to pass by in an instant, but when Mako lifts his head to see the blaring red glow from the clock on Korra's nightstand he's both relieved and frustrated that it's only passing 3am. He settles back into bed, trying to find the spot in the flattened pillow his head was in before. With luck he'd be able to get back to sleep without any interruptions, but there was a creeping feeling in his gut as he finally found the spot. Atka and Aruna were being too quiet for this time of night – usually one of them was up before now, filling the baby monitor set behind him with static-filled cries.
He tries not to think about it, lest he jinx the one full-night's sleep he could get this month, and instead he rests his arm in front of his face, pressing the back of his thumb softly into his head, as if to clear all thoughts from it, so he'd go back to sleep. Korra's breathe, a warm wind tickling the hairs of his arm, fill his senses and he lifts his arm, staring at her through the near pitch-black room.
Half her head is slumping off the edge of the pillow but she still sleeps soundly, almost dead to the world. He smiles and brings his hand against the hair that's laid across her face and he's about to tuck it behind her ear where it belongs when suddenly she rolls over to face her back to him. His hand hovers over her right shoulder and, after waiting a beat to see if she'd move again, he wraps the arm over her shoulder and shifts closer to her body–
–and the shrieking wail on the baby monitor causes him to tighten his arm around her. It's not much, but it's enough to wake her up and a soft snort passes her nose as her breathing changes from the jolting sound being thrown around the room. It takes a few moments for her to recognize the noise and a low groan runs to her closed mouth as she nuzzles her head into his chin.
"Who is it this time?" she asks, not bothering to open her eyes.
"Sounds like Atka."
"Are you going to get him?"
"I thought it was your turn."
"You sound more awake than I am." She says, pulling his arm away from her. "Besides, I got him to sleep tonight. Now, it's your turn."
Mako sighs and sits up, knowing there was no point in arguing about it, one of them would have to get up to stop the crying.
"Fine." he says, pulling the covers from his legs. As he crosses the foot of the bed, he catches a glimpse of the smug smile that's crept over Korra's face as she rolls over once again, and his mind hatches an idea. He should really be getting to the kid's room, but that didn't mean he couldn't have some "fun" before he left.
Carefully and quietly, Mako creeps over the floor to Korra's side of the bed and leans over his wife, placing his hands a ways from her body as not to disturb her, bending his body over until his face is right next to hers. Then, turning his cheek towards her, he rubs his thin line of stubble lightly against her face. Turning around, she sits up on the bed with a hand pressed on his cheek. She's not amused, but he can't help but grin anyway and her eyes roll as she pushes him away from the bed.
"Go." She says, throwing her head back to the pillow. "You're on baby duty."
He leans down one more time to put his lips to hers, and she smiles as she pushes him a little too hard towards the door.
:Fin:
I was going to write baby shenanigans after Mako actually went to check on the kids but this seemed like a good enough spot to end it (for now – I could always try that scenario in the future)