The lunch bell. Mako pulled off his mask and wiped sweat from his brow. He had been at work since before the sun had risen, but it was now midday. The heat outside combined with the work of at least a hundred fire benders made the plant sweltering. He hung up his apron and gloves along with the mask. There was a noodle stand right in front of the plant, and even though the food was never fantastic, it was cheap and close and where most of the workers got their meals. Mako was planning on heading that way when he heard a voice call out to him.
"Hey, there! Where do you think you're going?"
Korra was standing at the bottom of the steps, one hand holding a basket and the other cradling the baby bound to her chest. Mako instantly broke out into a sprint down to the sidewalk. He wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her forehead to his lips, then kissed the smaller head peering up at him from her sling. "What are you two doing here? Didn't you have some kind of big Avatar meeting?"
Korra gazed up to the sky guiltily, holding up the basket and waving it around. "I may or may not have ditched my big Avatar meeting." She then grinned and pulled Mako in for another kiss. "But I had a good reason."
"Which is?"
"Today's the first really sunny day of the year," she said. "And I wanted to have a picnic in the park with my two favorite people in Republic City."
They spread out a blanket near the fountain. Mako sat with his legs spread and Saska between them, trapping her in with his feet every time she tried to crawl away. She found it amusing, giggling every time his shoes closed in on her, and also when he grabbed her to tickle under her little arms.
"Sooner or later, she's going to stop finding that amusing," Korra said, pulling food out of the basket. "And then she's going to start crying. Let her explore the four corners of the blanket!"
"I just want to watch her," Mako said, eyes not leaving his baby girl. "I don't want her to- I don't know. Get bitten by a scorpion spider." Saska was now caught up in the laces of Mako's shoes. He smiled at he untangled them from around her chubby wrists.
"I don't think those are exactly indigenous to these parts, Mako." She handed him a plate, which he took with the raise of an eyebrow. "What?"
"Did you make this?"
"Of course not," Korra said with the slightest bit of horror. "I said I wanted a nice picnic in the park, not a case of food poisoning. I picked it up on the way here." She started to heap the steaming food from the cartons onto it, then handed him a pair of utensils.
"Good," Mako said, taking a bite. "Mmm, very good."
"I know," Korra said with a moan after taking her first bite as well. "It's so good that it's almost indecent. I was starving."
"Those noises you're making sure are indecent," Mako said. Korra poked him with a chopstick.
He smiled and picked up a rice ball, lowering it down to Saska's grabbing hands. She instantly put it to her mouth, sucking on it and squeezing until it half fell apart in her palms. Most of it fell to the ground, but she gummed on the bits that stuck to her hand.
"So, are you going to get in trouble for missing the meeting today?"
Korra shrugged, picking up another piece of meat and popping it into her mouth. "If they want me to always be everywhere they say on time, maybe they should start paying me. I'll go by after lunch. Say Saska was sick." She leaned down nose-to-nose with her daughter. "You'll lie for mama, won't you?"
"The council will love that," Mako's voice didn't do anything to disguise his slight anger. "They haven't exactly been polite about us having her now, have they?" He hadn't made any secret of his annoyance with the council lately. He wished he could tell them to take all of their, "The Avatar has enough responsibilities without adding a family to that," and shove it. Of course, Korra had done as much when she informed them of her pregnancy, but he still hated the thought of them giving her so much grief about it.
"Don't even get me started on that. I don't know what they're so peeved about," Korra said, taking Saska's hands and wiping off stray sticky rice. "It's not like I made an active decision to have a baby right now. It just happened."
"Is that so?" Mako leaned in next to his wife's ear and lowered his voice. "I seem to remember you saying something like, 'I don't care, I don't care, get me pregnant then, just don't stop."
"That was heat of the moment!" Korra said, mouth full. "It doesn't count!"
"Whatever it was, I don't regret it." Mako put his plate aside and pulled Saska onto his lap. She reached up, pulling his hat off his head. He laughed and put it on top of the baby's head, then laughed even more as it fell over her eyes.
"Look at you two. She's got you wrapped around her little finger."
"Does not."
"Oh, she so does. Don't even try to deny it, Daddy." A smile stretched out over Korra's face as her leaned against her husband as they people-watched under the shade of a large tree. He put an arm around her and pulled her close against his shoulder, which Korra gave a quick kiss. "I mean it, Mako. I've never seen you so happy. You were really meant to be a father."
"It- it's nice to have a full family. You, me, Saska. Bolin." His cheeks were turning a bit red, but Korra just leaned up and kissed them. Still flushed, Mako pulled up his shirt sleeve and looked at his watch. "I should really get going in a few minutes if I want to make it back to the plant on time."
"Shh," Korra said, pressed against his chest. She stroked the fine black hair that covered Saska's head. "Just five minutes. Let's lay back, enjoy the pretty day and not worry about going back to work or stuffy council meetings." Her voice sounded sleepy, and Mako knew that with the combination of a full stomach and sunshine, he was going to end up having to wake her up in five minutes. Still, a contented smile on his face, he closed his eyes, too.