Kai sat in the lotus position, letting the calming nature of the meditation pavilion clear his mind when he felt a chain fall over his head and around his neck.
"Happy Father's Day." He heard the words whispered in his ear before feeling a kiss pressed to his cheek.
"Aren't you always the one to scold me whenever I distract you during your meditation?" He said jokingly as his eyes remained closed.
"Well, you're never one to focus that well anyway. I'll just consider it payback."
Kai opened his eyes to see his pregnant wife struggling to sit down beside him. He quickly got to his feet and took hold of her arm with one hand while allowing the other to rest gently on her back.
"Oh Raava. Jinora, you need to be more careful. I don't want you hurting yourself."
"Oh hush. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not completely helpless. Which is surprising since I'm only seven months into this pregnancy, and I can already tell that your daughter is about as high maintenance as you."
"Fine, I'm sorry. And I don't think you're helpless, I – "
"Just want to make sure everyone is safe. I know. Don't worry so much, sweetie. We're all fine, thanks to your oh so endearing paranoia."
Kai looked down sheepishly at Jinora's comment, and he was reminded of the necklace when he noticed the sun's light reflecting off it. He lifted the pendent that hung from its end and observed it.
"It's a locket," Jinora explained as Kai ran his thumb over the engraved swirls of the airbending symbol, "We'll have a picture for it soon."
"Thank you Jinora, it's amazing," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.
"So what's wrong?" Jinora looked at him with the understanding smile that always caused him to spill out his secrets ever since he was a scruffy twelve year old boy.
"What do you mean?" There was really no use in pretending he didn't know. Her motherly instinct that already kicked in made it even harder to hide things from her, not that it was ever easy.
"Kai, you've been an airbender for almost fifteen years, and I still need to drag you out of bed every morning to meditate. Unless you're playing another game of hide and seek with Lefty, I don't think you're here for a good time."
Jinora expected him to laugh, as he always did whenever she managed to bring up his trusty partner in crime, but he only kept a solemn smile.
"Two months," he said as he rested a hand on her stomach, "I only have two more months to prepare to be something I know nothing about. I don't think I'm ready."
Jinora placed her hand on Kai's cheek and directed his face so that he looked into her eyes.
"And you think I am?" She said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Of course you are. You're smart and caring, and you've grown up with two great parents while helping raise your own siblings," the smile melted from his face as he continued, "My parents didn't even want to deal with me, so they gave me up before they had to. What a great example to work off of."
"Kai, you're the smartest and most caring person I know. You're loyal, brave, and strong; and if I had any fear that you wouldn't be the most loving person that I could have as the father of my child, then you wouldn't be the man I chose to spend my life with."
Jinora took both of his hands in hers and held them tightly, and she could see small tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"And don't forget – my family is yours, too. If you deny it, I'll tell my mom, and the next time you see her she'll be waiting with a shoe to hit you with," Jinora teased with a hint of amusement in her eyes. This time, she did make him laugh.
"No, no. I'm not denying it. I've gotten enough pinched ears from those times I played air ball with Rohan in the temple."
"See? You're great with kids. I remember you being the one to get Rohan to take his first steps, and pretending it never happened so my dad wouldn't feel bad after trying for so long."
"What? It took me being shot out of the sky for Tenzin to be okay us being together. I didn't need him to start hating me because one of his other kids liked me better than him," he joked as his cheerful demeanor returned.
Jinora lowered her voice and brought her face close to his, "Kai, you're going to be a great father. Nothing will stop this child from thinking that you're anything less than the most amazing man that's ever been in her life. So just look forward to the day when you can finally hold her in your arms and make up for all of the moments you wish you had."
"Just two more months," he smiled.
"Two more months," Jinora whispered as she closed the distance between them.