She woke up with a nauseous stomach; as if she had swallowed a bunch of butterflies and they were all fluttering around in their new environment. Asami had been waking up with this feeling every morning for a while now. Bolin urged her to go see a doctor, but she refused. It was all because of work, and every morning she woke up with dread to go into the office. She was sure of it.
But nothing about work could explain her new eating habits.
Asami felt that she was always hungry; nothing could fill up her stomach. She'd eat three bowls of noodles or dumplings and she'd be stuffing chocolate cake in her face two minutes after. Then there were those odd cravings, like pickled toads feet and platypus bear eggs; food she would never touch in her life. But, Asami would always tell her worried husband it was stress related. Being the head of Future Industries was stressful. It would pass.
Bolin was awake now, kissing her neck and shoulder. His arms snaked around her waist as he moved to kiss her breasts, her stomach… "Bolin," Asami muttered. "Not now…" She rolled back over, clutching her stomach. "Sorry to disappoint." Her stomach churned and she felt like she was going to be sick. "Spirits…" she gasped, covering her mouth as she rushed to the bathroom. Slamming the door behind her, Asami made sure she locked the knob and made her way to the toilet. As she got sick, she held her hair back, trying to think up more excuses to tell Bolin. Her stomach wasn't agreeing with her, she ate some bad eggs last night. Something to reassure him that she was perfectly fine.
Feeling relieved, Asami brushed her teeth and took some medication in hopes that it would settle her stomach. No breakfast today. She thought, emerging out of the bathroom. Bolin had already moved to the kitchen, cooking breakfast for her. He was such a dear; she hated seeing him pout when she left without eating her breakfast. Asami sighed as she pulled on her clothes and went back to the bathroom to apply her make-up. After putting her lipstick on, she felt her stomach churn again. "Not again…" she muttered before getting sick, Coughing, she pushed down the toilet handle and sighed. This stomach flu of stress of whatever it was, was getting out of hand.
Asami turned to see Bolin standing in the doorway, watching her. She rinsed off her toothbrush and squirted some toothpaste on it and began scrubbing at her teeth. "Asami, I called the doctor." Bolin said. Spitting out her toothpaste, she glared at him.
"Why?!" she snapped.
"Because you're obviously really sick!" he shouted back. His face softened as he watched her re-apply her lipstick. "You're been like this for two weeks straight. I'm worried, Asami."
"It's stress, Bolin. I told you that." she said.
"It's something more than that." he added. Asami sighed with frustration and pushed passed him out of the bathroom. "You have a doctor's appointment at one o'clock today." Asami grabbed her purse from the living room and headed for the door. "What about breakfast?"
"I've been throwing up this morning, Bolin. I think breakfast would be a mistake." she said.
"Then why don't you stay home?" Bolin suggested. "Maybe all you need is some rest." Asami shook her head.
"It's the end of the month, and you know how much I have to do." she reassured, kissing his cheek. "Have a good day at the station, Bo. I'll see you at dinner." She closed the door behind her and climbed into the car.
The end of the month. Didn't she usually get a certain visitor at the end of the month?
Bolin sighed as he slid Asami's breakfast onto his plate. Someone had to eat it; it wasn't just going to sit in the garbage. Food wasn't something to be wasted in his eyes. Asami had been acting so strange over the past few weeks. He had watched her eat so much food; going for seconds and thirds and even fourths sometimes. She even ate food that she didn't even like; she ordered Elephant Koi fish eggs the other night at Quang's Cuisine. She hated odd foods, and yet, she ate those fish eggs like they meant the world to her. She even had dessert and made instant noodles once they got home.
Then there were those mood swings. They just came out of nowhere half the time. One minute, Asami was happy, the next, she was crying and depressed. She'd yell at Bolin for leaving the light on or for misplacing something. She'd be all over him, getting him all excited and then would push him away, claiming she 'just wasn't in the mood'.
It was official; Asami wasn't herself.
Bolin hated how she would just deny it; blaming her odd behaviors on her work load while she knew for a fact this had never happened before. They both knew it. "The doctor will tell her what's wrong." Bolin told himself, washing the plates. "I just want her to be okay."
Asami probably had to stop three times before arriving at work. Her nausea had gotten worse over the weeks. She couldn't go on like this. So much for the medication. She thought, finally sitting down in her office. She closed her eyes, hoping her stomach would settle down so she could focus. The secretary came in, holding the files that needed to be looked at and organized today.
"How are you today, Mrs. Sato?" she asked. Asami smiled and nodded.
"I'm okay." she replied.
"Good. Here are the files for today. By the way, Cabbage corps is asking for…" As she rambled on, Asami felt sick again. She simply nodded as the secretary spoke, fighting to push her sickness down. Eventually, she couldn't handle it anymore.
"Excuse me but…I don't mean to be rude…but could you…leave for a few minutes?" Asami asked, pacing herself as she spoke. The secretary left, giving her an odd look and Asami grabbed the nearest trashcan. With the feeling gone, she buried her face in her hands. "Spirits, what is wrong with me?"
A few hours later, she was starving. Frustrated with herself, Asami left early for lunch and went to the nearest noodles stand. She stuffed three helpings of water tribe noodles down and sat back down in her car.
She was still hungry.
She drove to the bakery and bought a few cupcakes and cookies. Believing she was content, she drove back to work. As soon as she was back in her office, she craved for fire flakes. "I hate those things." She muttered, grabbing her purse and heading for the nearest vending machine. By the time she left for the doctor's, Asami had eaten enough food to feed a starving village. "If this doesn't stop….I'm going to be the size of the moon." she said to herself.
Checking in with one of the nurses at the doctor's, Asami cringed. Both her and Bolin hated going in for checkups. The doctors were so nosy; asking so many questions, too many personal questions. Though, both of them pressured each other to go to the doctor's if they were really sick. Like today; Bolin was concerned about Asami and forced her to see the doctor. Asami would do the same for him.
"Asami Sato?" the nurse called. Asami stood up and followed her in the back. "The doctor will be with you in a few moments."
"Thank you." she said as the nurse left. Her stomach growled. "Again?" she mumbled. A few minutes passed and the door opened.
"So, Mrs. Sato, your husband tells me you've been extremely sick the past two weeks. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked. Asami laughed. It was so like Bolin to exaggerate.
"I wouldn't say I've been extremely sick, but I've been nauseated and been um…throwing up." she corrected.
"Mmhmm, and your eating habits? He informed me you've been eating a lot as well?" She'd have to kill him for this later.
"I suppose…" Asami said.
"Mrs. Sato, the next few questions I'm about to ask you are going to be a little personal." Of course. They always were. "So please do not be alarmed, okay?" Asami sighed and nodded. "When was the last time you menstruated?" Asami felt her shoulders tense up.
"Last month, I suppose." She replied.
"Is it usually regular?" he asked.
"Yes."
"When do you usually menstruate?"
"At the end of the month." She rolled her eyes. Such silly questions. She wanted it to be over so she could grab some more fire flakes on the way home.
"Around this time, then? Are you currently menstruating?" he asked.
"Doctor, I don't see what this has to do with my eating habits and nausea." she said. "I'm just stressed from work."
"Answer the question, Mrs. Sato." he insisted. Asami sighed impatiently.
"No." she muttered. This was ridiculous.
"Okay, then. Have you recently had sexual intercourse?" Asami felt her face grow hot from embarrassment. What an odd question! But she sat there, thinking about a few weeks back. She and Bolin had celebrated their second anniversary, and Bolin surprised her with a week-long vacation. It was just the two of them, near a spa, living in a small cottage in the mountains. She remembered how much they couldn't keep their hands off of each other; everyday they had sex. The bedroom, the shower, the kitchen…they just couldn't stop touching each other. They probably had done it enough times to not have to worry about exercise for a month. "Mrs. Sato?"
"Erm…yes." she finally answered, still blushing. The doctor nodded.
"Well, Mrs. Sato, I don't think you have anything to really worry about. It sounds to me that you're pregnant. Congratulations!" he said, smiling. Asami's eyes widened. Pregnant?! Asami felt her fingers twisting around each other, nervously. Hadn't she been on the pill? Maybe she hadn't; she and Bolin hadn't even discussed about having children. But, didn't Bolin wear a…? She could've sworn he had. Maybe it broke. But surely Bolin would've told her? Asami didn't mind having a child, but what if Bolin wasn't ready? Would they even have enough to support a child? Were they even mature enough?
Through all of her thoughts, Asami managed to smile brightly and touch her stomach. "That certainly explains a lot, then." she whispered. She sighed. "Thank you." she added, hopping off of the examination table.
She couldn't wait to tell her husband.
It was his lunch break, and Bolin decided that he would invite his brother to have lunch with him. Being a rookie in the metalbending police force meant that you were lonely and didn't have any friends yet. After eating so much food, Bolin looked across the table at his brother who was wiping off his daughter's face. "Did I tell you that Asami's been acting funny lately?" he asked. Mako narrowed his eyes.
"…no." he replied. "How so?" Bolin threw his napkin on his plate.
"Well, for one, she's sick every morning. Throwing up and everything! She doesn't even eat breakfast anymore." Bolin started. "And then, she eats all day. Like me, bro! Three bowls of dumplings last night. Three bowls!"
"But Bolin, don't you usually eat four bowls?" Mako asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. But, Asami usually only eats one bowl! I only eat four because someone has to eat it all! I had two bowls because someone has to eat it all! I had one and half bowls last night! Our roles were practically switched!" he shouted.
"Maybe she just wants to eat more." Mako said, shrugging.
"I'm not finished! Then, there's these mood swings." Bolin added.
"Mood swings?"
"Yeah! I had no idea she could be so nasty, bro! I mean, the other night, I put the garbage bag next to the door so I could take it out in the morning and she flips out on me! I didn't even do anything!" Mako smirked.
"Bo, those sound a lot like the things Korra did when she found out she was pregnant with Kira. Has it occurred to you that Asami might be pregnant?" he asked. Bolin thought for a moment.
"Nnno." He replied.
"'Cause it really sounds like to me that she's pregnant." Mako added. "Congrats, little bro. You're a dad." Bolin sighed.
"She can't be pregnant; we haven't even talked about having kids yet." he said.
"Bolin, that's not how it works. Two weeks ago, it was your anniversary. Did you two do it?" Mako asked, perturbed. Bolin blushed.
"What?"
"Did you do it?" Bolin scratched the back of his head.
"I mean…well…a few times, I guess." he admitted. Mako laughed.
"Well then, there you go." he said, laughing. "You've got yourself a baby."
Asami was cooking stir fry, occasionally patting her stomach. Did you hear that mom? You're going to be a grandmother. She heard the door open and turned to see Bolin step in. "You're home!" she called, smiling. She couldn't wait to tell him. He smiled back at her.
"Yep! I'm home!" he replied. She certainly seemed to be in a better mood now then she was in this morning. He slowly took off his metalbending uniform off. "How was the doctor's?" Asami's smile widened as she gave Bolin a big hug. "What?"
"Well, I have some news." she said, pulling back to look at him. She took his wrists and slowly placed his hands on her stomach. "In a few months, we're going to have a little addition to our family." Stunned, Bolin blinked and glanced down at her stomach and grinned.
"You mean," His eyes sparkled. "I'm going to be a daddy?!" He then pulled her close, squeezing her in for a hug. "This is fantastic!" Asami laughed.
"I know! Can you believe it?" she said. She froze when she thought she heard whimpering. She pulled away to see tears running down Bolin's face. "Are you…are you crying?" Bolin laughed as he wiped his tears away.
"I'm just so happy!" he said, pulling her back towards him. "This is the happiest day of my life! Next to marrying you, of course!" Asami laughed.
"All this time, I thought I was super stressed from work." she mumbled. "I didn't even stop to think about it." Bolin pulled away from her.
"We've gotta get a house. We can't stay in this apartment!" he said. "And we've got to get toys! Our baby needs toys! And maybe a little fire ferret for a pet." Asami giggled.
"I think a crib and some clothes and bottles would be important too." She said. "I think we can wait for the fire ferret." Bolin grinned.
"Can we name the baby Pabu?" he joked. Asami sighed; ever since Bolin lost Pabu, he'd missed him and would talk about him from time to time.
"I don't think so." she said, still laughing. "How about Jin? It can be a girl's name or a boy's name." Bolin rubbed his chin and nodded.
"Perfect! My daughter's name is Jin!" he said. Asami shook her head. She was about to tell him that she didn't even know what the gender of the baby was yet. They wouldn't find out until the baby was born. But, she didn't want to squash his hope having a little girl; even though somewhere deep down she was sure it was a boy. She was just glad to see Bolin cheerful about becoming a father and that she was perfectly fine.
