Here I am, once again... I can say that my life is starting to be consumed by The Legend of Korra... Don't know if I should be happy or sad.
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
It was an early morning when Korra had just walked out of her room. The peace that she could feel in the atmosphere was almost palpable. She took a deep breath and let it all out as she could smell the breakfast and her stomach grumbled.
She made it to the dinning room and saw that her plate had been served and the only one left there was Mako, and he was already getting up to take the plates to the kitchen and rinse them.
"Good morning, sleepy head," he whispered as he leaned close to her and kissed her temple. "Breakfast is ready, as you see." He moved and collected the remainder of the plates and glasses.
"So they left you to do all the dirty job, huh?" She wondered as she sat down and started to eat her food and he walked through the door of the kitchen and within a couple of seconds made it back to the table carrying a tea kettle and placing it next to his girlfriend's food.
"That's green tea," He said as she eyed it suspiciously, "There's nothing else to drink, so that'll have to do." He said as he sat at the other end of the table and opened his newspaper and took a sip of the tea.
After a couple of minutes after Korra had to mimic all of her boyfriend's actions from not long ago. "Where is everyone else?" She asked as Mako quirked an eyebrow and looked up from the newspaper.
"Tenzin left for a council meeting, Pema left with the girls to get some groceries, Meelo and Bolin left for a run with Naga... and that's about it." Didn't you see the note by your plate?" He motioned with his chin to the little piece of paper as an air acolyte bust through the door with a hysteric baby Rohan in his hands.
"Avatar Korra! Why would you leave the baby by himself in your room?" He yelled as a wide eyed Korra just stood there and Mako smiled.
"Oh, this is going to be fun." He said as he got up stretching and looked at Korra. "So? What are you waiting for? He's hungry, you need to feed him." Mako said as he took the baby and nodded the acolyte to go back to his errands. "Here. I have to go get some food for Pabu, I should be back in about an hour or so." And with that Mako handed the baby to Korra and kissing her forehead. "Try to not let him starve."
And thus Korra was left with a hysteric Rohan between her arms before her brain could process what just happened. "M-Mako?" She said but he was already long gone.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" She yelled to herself as she looked into the flushed pink cheeks of the frustrated baby, frantically looking around for a bottle.
She spotted one, and stiffly made her way to it, both of her arms cradling the baby as she squat close to it and clutched it in her hand. Slowly she proceeded to sit down and stiffly moved her arm out of the baby's back, moving it so that she could start feeding him.
Rohan's mouth opened in a desperate attempt to catch the bottle and just then Korra brought it closer to his lips and with one hard suck, the bottle was secured between the two toothless gums and the baby's cries were replaced by desperate moans of satisfaction from feeding.
Korra sighed and wrinkled her nose away from the baby.
"How do I handle this?" She said as she quirked an eyebrow, Rohan's eyes looking up at her and his tiny little hands tugging at the sleeves of her air bending uniform. "Who's great idea of a sick joke was this?"
Her eyes fixated onto the meditation gazebo she could see from the window and she sighed. She had to go meditate, but how would she be doing that with this baby left on her care, and just then she saw a dash of red and felt something crawling and settling in her neck. "Really, Pabu? Not you too!" The Avatar couldn't feel more helpless today.
The little fire ferret sat on her neck, eyeing down the baby and then looking at her face before tugging on her hair as a frown made it to her face.
"AH! What is wrong with this day?" She yelled as she looked down and saw that Rohan was done with the bottle. She took it away and placed it on top of the table. She moved her hand back to the back of baby Rohan and stood up.
Stiffly she made it to the living room, where she saw there were two meditation mats on the floor. She proceeded to, awkwardly, grab a cushion and place it on top of one of the mats, settling on the one next to it and then stiffly placed Rohan down on it. It was awkward, she did not know how to let go of the baby, so she slowly removed the arm that held the baby in place and moved her free hand to his head, supporting it and then bringing the small and limp head to rest on the cushion as Pabu climbed off her shoulders and settled next to the cushion, propping himself up, curiously, to eye the baby.
"Stay away from him, Pabu." She said as Pabu perked his ears up and gently settled next to the cushion.
Korra smiled, finally, it was quiet, and it had also been 15 minutes since her boyfriend had left. She could just meditate for the time being and by the time he got back he would most definitely help her with the baby.
So she closed her eyes and meditated. Quiet and serenity. Peaceful. She breathed.
And just then a terrible scream broke her meditation. For how long had she been meditating? She looked at the clock, it had been about 50 minutes already. She looked around frantically looking for help, afraid of picking up the crying baby once again, but she did.
She picked him up and rocked him up and down, up and down, shushing him, trying to comfort him to no avail. The baby kept on crying, and she kept on trying to shush him. Nothing worked. His cry full of desperation and heartbreaking. She looked at Pabu who only cocked his head to one side.
"Oh for the love of Spirits, why did it have to be me?" She screamed as she could hear footsteps and suddenly her world lit up.
She saw the jet black hair and the red scarf and she found herself thankful to all her predecessors and the spirits they had gotten in contact with throughout their lifetime.
Mako looked at her as Pabu ran and skipped through his shoulders, "Here you go, Pabu." He said handing him a small piece of dried fruit as the fire ferret took it and ran away with it, disappearing into who knows what corner of the temple residences.
"Having fun yet?" He asked as he sat down besides her, spreading his legs and arms wide open in the couch.
"I don't know why he's crying!" She said, her tone one that pleaded for help. "I- He just woke up and it was like this. He's been hysterical since he woke up. What- How-"
Mako looked at her and shot a small smile to her as he eyed Rohan, picking him from her arms, comfortably, placing him between his arms, "Did you try patting his back for gases?" He asked as she just gave him a clueless look. "Figures." He said as he shifted the baby in his arms and placed his tummy over one of his knees, patting his back as he held his head firmly between one of his big hands.
Korra stared awestruck at her boyfriend. "Who knew you'd be so good at this?" She muttered as Mako looked up to her with a grin.
"And who knew you could be so clueless." He barked back at her only to receive a pout. "Babies cry for four reasons: hunger, drowsiness, they need a change of diaper or are in pain..." He paused and frowned as he looked down at Rohan who burped and puked his trousers.
"Ewww," Korra said as Mako's stare was still on the child.
"And this one here was in a lot of pain..." His frown deepened as he looked up at his girlfriend. "After you feed them, you should always do this. It prevents acid reflux." Mako finished as he handed the baby over to her. "Here, I need to go clean this."
Korra received the quiet baby in stiff arms, and in a matter of seconds he started to cry again. "What now, Mr. Hat Trick?" She yelled her boyfriend's way as he made it to the bathroom and she could hear the water running.
"First of relax. He feels the tension in your body, so he doesn't feel comfortable... He doesn't trust you." He said from the bathroom as Korra did as she was told. "Now place one hand on his head and another one on his back, bring him out towards your legs and rest your arms there, it supports them in place and it's not as tiring." He said as the water continued running, and Korra remained silent, he took that as if she was already done doing as she was told, but Rohan's cries didn't stop. "Now coo him. Talk to him, anything so he can get familiar with you and gets used to your smell and your voice. He's too small to see anything, so voice and smell will have to do for now."
"Ah, what am I going to talk to you about?" Korra added as she stared at the baby with a pout. "I could tell you that you have a very strict father, and that I feel sorry for you... your older brother is nuts and so is your uncle..." She added as she felt a weight next to her in the sofa, but she didn't dare to turn away since the baby was now starting to quiet down.
Mako smiled at the sight and sighed, leaning his head back into the sofa, running sleek fingers through his black hair, smile still on his face as Korra shot a glance his way from the corner of her eye.
She continued her idle chatter and eventually the baby fell asleep, she let out a sigh of relief. "What were you smiling about just not long ago?" She added as he opened one of his eyes and looked at her, shaking his head.
"Nothing." He said with a small shrug.
"You'd better not be getting any ideas."
"Awe," he added with a smile as she smiled back at him. "Out of joke, I think we're too young for kids... but it's nice to see you like this. Practice I guess." He added as he tugged at her robes.
Mako grabbed the baby and got up, bringing out an arm for her to get up as well. "Let's go to the gazebo."
He said as they made their way out there. She lied down on the floor covered of tatamas as he sat down besides her with the baby between his arms as Korra lied her head on his legs, closing her eyes and falling asleep.
"I guess it's nap time," He whispered as the baby cooed back and he closed his eyes, leaning his back to the railing of the gazebo.
After a couple of minutes they heard the footsteps and the child laughter as Mako slowly opened wary eyes and rubbed them awake with his free hand, he could see the airbenders closing in, so he nudged Korra on the shoulder, softly. "Wake up." He whispered as he smiled when he saw her face.
"Well this is quite the picture," Pema said as she stared at her son, which laid spread on the firebender's chest and the Avatar on his legs.
Korra sat down with a slight blush on her face, "Don't ever, ever, leave me alone with that baby again, Pema!" She yelled as Pema chuckled and reached down for her baby.
"It doesn't look like you did that bad. Practice makes perfect." She teased as she winked at her and walked away. "Thank you, Korra, you too, Mako!" She said as she waved to the couple and left them alone in the gazebo.
"You were really good, thanks." She said as she kissed his cheek.
"You're welcome."
"How can I ever repay you, City Boy?" She asked as she kissed the corner of his lips.
Mako smiled mischievously at her, cupping her face as she quirked her eyebrow in question. "Now what do you say we go practice at our skills, yes?" He asked teasingly as she smiled at him, locking her lips with his, breaking the moment with a cheesy grin and nodding like a little kid standing up and giving him a hand before venturing on to their 'secret place.'