Disclaimer: I don't own Legend Of Korra.

A Lovely Pain

Mako's pulse was racing. In the last week he had probably gotten six or seven hours of sleep, so Lin had insisted that he take at least a week off work for his health. It broke his heart and twisted his gut, hearing Korra scream in pain. He hated being the cause of her pain, but he hated even more that he was not allowed to see her. Of course, Mako had argued his case that he had every right to be in the room and to see his wife (they had been married for nearly a year) but the nurses were relentless.

Mako held his breath as a particularly harsh scream filled the air. Bolin and the children covered their ears and Tenzin, Pema, and Asami all cringed. Once the scream had passed, all was silent. Frighteningly so. Mako felt panic, assuming the worst. It might have been a only few minutes, but it felt like hours. As soon as the figure appeared in the doorway, Mako jumped to his feet. "How is she?"

"She's tired but fine. Everything went fine." said the Air Acolyte nun, smiling. "It's a beautiful-" Before she could get in another word, Mako was rushing out of the room and down the hall. He had to see her and more importantly, he had to be with his family.

Mako's heart pounded and filled with love and pride as he looked into the room. Korra was sitting up in a bed, and holding a bundle of soft blankets close to her. She smiled at him with love shinning from those beautiful blue eyes. The sun was just rising, making everything bright, warm and golden. The gold flecks in Korra's blue eyes were hypnotizing, just as they looked that wonderful morning nine months ago, which had been one of the main reasons he couldn't keep his hands off of her.

Mako took a deep breath and walked calmly to Korra's bed and sat on the side. He stroked her cheek with his thumb and kissed the top of her head. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, just tired." Korra said, also in a soft voice. Mako followed her glance to the blankets in her arms, seeing a tiny baby. His baby. A small pale face with wide amber eyes and a tuft of black hair. Mako's heart exploded in happiness when the baby smiled at him. He then realized that he'd rushed over here before the midwife could tell him what it was. As he admitted this to Korra, they shared a chuckle. "It's a boy." she told him.

Mako smiled and held out a finger. Gently as he could, he pressed it to the baby's – his son's – hand and five tiny fingers wrapped around it. "He's so beautiful." Mako whispered. He looked at Korra. "Just like you." he whispered and kissed her deeply.

"Hey." they recognized Bolin's voice and sure enough he was standing in the doorway, as was everyone else. "I wanna see my nephew. You guys feeling up to some visitors?"

"Sure, c'mon." Mako waved them in.

"So," Pema said, eying Korra smartly. "the next time I warn you about something, you'll take it seriously?" It was true. Pema had warned Korra of the pain but Korra had insisted that it would be a cake-walk with everything else in her life.

"Yeah." Korra laughed.

"What's his name?" Ikki asked.

"Zian." Mako said and Jinora's eyes shown with joy. He and Korra had agreed four months ago that this was what they would name their child if it was a boy. Jinora had suggested it (Zian was a main character from one of her favorite books) when they couldn't think of a good name and they both agreed that Zian was a perfect name.

"He's beautiful." Asami praised quietly.

Mako's eyes became heavy as he felt exhaustion crash down on him in a wave. Korra also looked like collapsing. Seeing Zian close his little eyes and snuggle to his mother, Bolin chuckled. "I'm really seein' a resemblance here."

Tenzin gently took the now sleeping baby from Korra. He handled the child with all the skill and care of an experienced father. "You both deserve a good rest. Get some sleep and we'll take him for now." Korra, now to tiered to speak, only smiled gratefully at Tenzin. Another thing Pema had warned her about was that they should get sleep while they can.

After they all filed out of the room, the new parents lay down on the bed and snuggled close to each other. Korra gripped Mako's cloths and hid her face in his chest as he lightly kissed her forhead. In the air hung those unspoken words of love between man and wife, both to drowsy to say, but they could both feel it. After all, living, breathing proof of their love was just in the other room.

For the first time in a week, Mako slept peacefully.

Most of these fics have Korra giving birth to a girl and I thought it was about time for her and Mako to have a son as their first child. He is certainly not the last, I seriously doubt Korra would want to stop at one. Review.