We're a Team
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Mako knew for a fact that this wasn't how he wanted to find out. To come home from a long day at work to see crumpled pieces of paper, scribbled writing, and pamphlets dealing with abortion—Agni…Korra's pregnant. Avatar Korra, his wife, is pregnant. Or Mako hoped she still was. Agni, this is not how Mako wanted to find out.
The small room was eerily quiet, save for the muffled sounds of the city's traffic five stories below. The firebender's guts twisted when he realized that his wife was nowhere to be seen or heard from in their tiny apartment.
"Korra?" No answer. "Korra!" Still no answer.
How long had she been gone?
The questioned echoed through Mako's mind, lacing with guilt and a memory just two weeks ago that related to the problem at hand.
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"How do you feel about having kids?" Korra had once asked quietly as they ate their dinner with content.
Mako dropped the chopstick in his hand and cleared his throat a considerable amount of times before answering.
"I-I haven't given much thought to it, Korra. We're still young and trying to stable ourselves. Kids will just make things more difficult."
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"Stupid!" The firebender groaned at his stupidity. The thought of having children with Korra was pure bliss, but they were still so young and new to the real world—or more so, Korra was. Mako had lived in the real world long enough to know what you need and don't need to survive.
Mako didn't mean to answer Korra's innocent question with such disinterest and resistance; he didn't mean it that way.
But it still didn't change the fact that Mako was staring stupidly at the abortion pamphlets. These pamphlets held the answer to an unwanted child. It certainly didn't change the fact that Korra was probably in an infirmary or Republic City Hospital getting ready to get rid of the unborn child, too. Their child; his and Korra's own blood and flesh.
Mako groaned again, feeling heat pulse through his veins out of anger. The firebender had done the one thing he vowed to never do; hurt Korra. His idiotic and ridiculous answer had hurt Korra, and he finally realized it. Mako shuddered at how late his realization kicked in; how many worried thoughts Korra had gone through before grabbing hold of one of these Spirits forsaken pamphlets?
And she didn't even tell him.
Mako's brows knitted together and his jaw clenched. Korra was planning to do something rather life altering without telling him? Spirits, Mako hated himself at the moment.
The sound of a key jingling and the knob turning caused Mako to face the apartment door at the speed of light, to where he saw his wife, Korra, enter their little apartment.
"Korra," Mako breathed a sigh of relief as he studied her figure—wondering if she had done the task, "Wh-why didn't you tell me?"
The avatar's face turned from confusion to total surprise then to timid, "I thought having a kid would be too much for us right now," she shifted in her place by the door, "so I didn't need to ask you twice on the subject."
Mako strode to Korra, and wrapped his arms around the shorter woman in a strong hug, "I didn't mean to say that. I didn't mean it like that. I'd love to have kids with you, no matter the situation."
Korra pulled away from Mako to look up at him. "You won't regret it?" Piercing blue eyes stared into gold, searching for a sign of lies or fear.
"No, I won't," Mako whispered, "I saw the…papers. Did you….?"
The young woman's brow knitted together before she realized what 'papers' her husband was talking about. Shaking her head, Korra answered, "No, I could never do anything like that without talking to you about it. I went to Tenzin's to train—I needed to clear my mind."
Korra's voice broke slightly at the end, and both knew it was suicidal to even mention the little slip up at the moment.
Mako cursed himself again; he had definitely hurt Korra. Collapsing on his knees, Mako gently pulled Korra close enough to where his face buried in the fabric that covered her currently toned stomach, hands gently rubbing the young woman's sides.
"I am so sorry, Korra," Mako breathed into the fabric, more so apologizing to his unborn child as well, "I didn't mean it, I swear. I'm happy we're having a kid; our own kid. No regrets. I promise I'll be a better husband, and I promise we'll work this out."
Korra shifted in Mako's gentle grasp, and her hand reached down to stroke her apologetic husband's hair. "You're already the best husband ever. We'll work this out, we always do. We're a team."
The firebender pulled away from Korra's stomach to stare up at his wife with worried golden eyes. The worry vanished all at once when the oh-so-familiar, confident, and trusting smirk of Korra's came into view. Mako's stood up and once again pulled Korra into a tight embrace, pressing kisses upon kisses at her brunette hair.
"Yea, we're a team."
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