A/N: Better late than never, right?

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Be gentle; hold your arms like this. Support his neck."

The Avatar's eyes were filled with concern as he passed his newborn son to Sokka.

"You act like I've never held a baby before!"

Katara swatted at her brother, "Keep your voice down, he's finally sleeping."

The new uncle held his nephew close to his chest and Aang stood by his side with a nervous look in his eyes. Katara watched with tired eyes and a smile on her face as her husband worried over their son as if he were an egg precariously perched on the countertop; him being the nervous cook pulling it away from the edge. While she had plenty of experience with babies and small children, this was the first time Aang had really been in charge of care for a newborn.

She rested a hand on his shoulder, "He's not gonna break."

He gave her an uneasy smile. "He's just so small and soft and terrifying."

She laughed. "He's the Avatar's son, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Not to mention, he's MY nephew," Sokka boasted. "He'll be tiger seal hunting with me in no time!" Aang gave him a disgusted look. "Okay, maybe not."

Days went by and more and more family members arrived to meet the Avatar's first born son. Each pair of hands outreached wanting to hold, kiss, and snuggle made Aang that much more anxious. By the end of the week, he found solace in finally being alone with Bumi.

His wife knocked on the open door to their shared room, "He asleep?"

Aang gave her a nod and a weak smile. "I'm sure he's exhausted from all the excitement."

She laughed. "Doesn't seem like he's the only one."

"I don't think I've been this stressed since the Fire Lord was trying to kill me," He sighed. "People weren't kidding when they said being a parent was hard."

Katara took their son from his arms, "It's definitely not easy."

Aang wrapped his hand around her waist and leaned his head into her. "Do you think I'm being over protective?"

"Just a little," She smiled. "But that's normal."

"But you're not out there policing everyone that even so much as looks at him," Aang pointed out. "How are you so calm?"

"Sweetheart," She started. "I am a nervous wreck. But I'm entirely too exhausted to do or say much of anything. Plus, I think you've got us covered when it comes to worried, new parent syndrome."

He lifted his to look at her. "Are you trying to say I'm hogging all the stress?"

"Pretty much," She teased.

"I guess we have a lifetime of stress and worry ahead of us, huh?"

Katara nods. "Yes, but it'll lessen over time when he gets old enough to care for himself. But it'll never go away for good."

"Might as well enjoy it while it lasts," Aang said jokingly as he placed a kiss on her lips.

~.~.~.~.~.~

As Bumi grew older, he became a very rambunctious young boy. When he was a toddler, it seemed as though there was never a moment that Aang didn't spend chasing him through the Air Temple. The Avatar's son would laugh as his father tirelessly ran after him.

"Bumi!" He shouted. "Get back here! It's time for bed!"

The sun was setting on the horizon as Bumi ran into the sky bison stables. Aang followed him in to find him stirring up a mess of trouble with the baby bison.

"Hey, hey," Aang put his hand on his son's shoulder. "You have to be careful."

Bumi dropped his head, "I'm sorry, Dad."

"It's okay." He guided Bumi over to the back of the stable. "See this one right here? He was born just last week. He's just a baby like you were once."

"I'm not a baby," Bumi said proudly.

"I know you're not, but you used to be," Aang crouched down next to the bison. "And when you were a baby, you were so small and fragile just like this bison. So, anybody that held you had to be extra careful and that's what we have to do with this baby bison."

His son looked up at him. "Until he grows into a big boy, like me?"

Aang laughed. "That's right!"

He gently stroked the top of the bison's head and watched as Bumi did the same. One by one, the rest of the baby bison started to join, pushing their way through to get their heads rubbed. Aang watched as his son laughed and hugging the animals and couldn't help but smile.

"Seems like you two are having a good time."

At the sound of Katara's voice in the doorway, the two looked up, startled knowing that they had been caught out passed Bumi's bedtime.

"I can explain," Aang gave her his signature lopsided grin.

"Can't you always?" She laughed.

Aang sighed and stood up, "Come on Bumi, time for bed."

"Can't we stay just a little while longer?" Bumi looked up at his parents with big eyes and his lips poked out. "Please Mom?"

"Yeah, please mom?" Aang gave his wife the exact same look.

Katara tried her hardest to remain stern. "This is entirely unfair." The Avatar and his son whimpered a little for added effect. "I guess I'm out numbered. Five more minutes and then I expect both of you to be in bed."

"Deal."

The very pregnant waterbender waddled out of the stable leaving her husband and son alone to play with the baby bison. They stayed there for another half hour before Aang was forced to pull Bumi away from his new fluffy friends and join Katara in bed.

"You don't play fair," His wife complained as he crawled under the sheets beside him.

He gave her a large smile and wrapped his arms around her. "You know it's hard for me to say no to that kid! I mean look at his cute face!"

"Well, now you're making it harder for me to say no," she teased. "You should have never taught him your secret trick."

Aang laughed, "Secret trick?

Katara gave him a knowing look. "The sad polar puppy eyes, the whimper. It's all part of your 'I'm cute, so give me what I want' look."

"I know of no such look that does no such thing."

"Deny it all you want," she narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm onto you Mr. Avatar."

He smiled, "Oh so now I'm 'Mr. Avatar?'"

She hummed in agreement, but was squealing moments later as Aang began tickling her sides. The two laughed and kissed for a moment before returning to their place under the blankets to get some much needed rest.

It was only a few hours later that Katara awoke to the sheets soaking wet beneath her. She grabbed her husband's shoulder and shook him awake. He shot up out of bed and began racing around the room, half asleep and completely devoid of any clear motivation.

"Get the midwife!"

The Avatar scurried out of the room at his wife's words, returning momentarily with the midwife and a handful of acolytes in tow. He stood by her side through the gruelingly beautiful miracle of childbirth. He was with her through the tears and the shouts of pain leading up to the moment that their newborn's cries were the only thing to be heard throughout the halls of the temple.

"It's a girl."

At the midwife's words, Katara began to tear up as she reached for her daughter. Aang wrapped his arms around the two of them and they shared a moment of silence as they looked at their child in complete awe. The midwife left momentarily to collect more towels and blankets, leaving the Avatar and his wife a moment alone to discuss a very important topic.

"Now comes the hard part," Aang started. "What's her name?"

"Kya," Katara said without missing a beat.

Aang smiled and kissed his wife. "A brave name after a brave woman; I think it's perfect."

Tiny little footsteps resonate from down the hall and moments later, there's a knock at the door. Aang moves across the room and pulls on the doorknob, looking down at his son's over excited face trying to pear around his legs at his newborn sister.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Aang teased before collecting his son into his arms. "Come on, buddy."

Bumi's eyes lit up as his father placed him on the side of the bed. "It's so squishy."

Katara and her husband shared a laugh. "Yes she is."

"Her name is Kya," Aang explained.

"She's a baby so we have to be gentle, right Daddy?"

"That's right," the Avatar smiled. "Cause she's so little."

"Like the baby bison?"

"Exactly."

The midwife returned shortly thereafter and collected Kya from their arms to clean her up and wrap her in more blankets. Upon her return, she found the new mother and her family nestled into bed sound asleep. She placed the newborn into the recently crafted basin by the bed and took a seat in a rocking chair across the room, keeping a close eye on the Avatar and his family.

The days, weeks and months following Kya's birth past by in an instance. As she grew up right before their very eyes, Katara and Aang beam in pride as she took her first steps and spoke her first words. They smiled and cried as their son and daughter learned side by side over the years. And when Tenzin finally came into the world, they taught Kya and Bumi how to hold him and how to care for him as well.

While the three didn't always get along, Aang always managed to remind them that they're family and in the end, family is all you've got. And in the many years following their Father's death, the three still bickered on occasion and rough housed quite a bit. But they still remembered to love one another through thick and then. Because if there was one quality they all shared, it was their Father's gentle heart.

~.~.~.~.~.~

A/N: Wow, it's been quite a while. I can't make any promises that I will post something for every prompt as work keeps me pretty busy, but I have missed the fandom and couldn't resist writing a little something. Reviews are always welcome! : )