This one takes place during Korra's first pregnancy, so it's not exactly dealing with their family…I guess. I still consider this family fic because Bolin and Korra are married, so they're each other's family.

Flutter

The first time Korra felt their baby move, she was only half-awake, and very nearly rolled off the edge of the bed.

The sensation of movement inside her sent such a shock through her system that for a moment she couldn't breathe. Gripping the gentle curve of her belly, she untangled herself from the sheets and got out of bed as quickly as she could without disturbing Bolin. Luckily, he was a pretty deep sleeper; he simply made a sound that somewhere between a grunt and a snore as her weight left the mattress. Korra crossed the room to the door and flung it open, stepping out onto the balcony that looked out over the city streets from their tiny apartment on Yue Bay Square. It didn't matter that she was probably giving some people an eyeful of the Avatar in a state of indecency; at that moment she just needed a gulp of fresh air.

She didn't realize she was trembling until her hand touched the cool railing. Korra took deep breaths through her nose and closed her eyes, forcing her heartbeat to return to normal. Just when some of the tension was beginning to melt from her body, she felt another flutter of movement within her belly, and her breath caught.

Their baby was in there, and it was alive.

Of course, at a little over five months pregnant, the changes in her body had made her more than aware that she really was having a baby. Her belly was visibly round now and was getting more difficult to hide, and even though the morning sickness stage had finally passed, she still got moody and was starting to ache in different places depending on the time of day. She had gotten used to looking at herself in the mirror and seeing the baby bump, and she had gotten used to hating all her favorite foods and loving combinations of foods she normally would never put together, and she had gotten used to Bolin resting his head against her stomach and whispering to it, even though the baby couldn't hear.

But prior to this moment, the baby had felt more like a sack of potatoes to Korra. It was extra weight that caused her to puke and eat like crazy. But now it was actually moving, and all of the initial fear she had felt at the beginning of the pregnancy came rushing back like a punch to the gut.

In four more months, she would be holding her own child in her arms.

She swallowed hard and sank to the ground, pressing her forehead to her raised knees. Just breathe, she told herself. Get it together. How long have you known about this now? You're having a baby – deal with it!

She felt terrible for that thought, because it wasn't that Korra despised her pregnancy. Under different circumstances, and if it wasn't Bolin she was having her child with, she might have struggled more. But Bolin was a family man; he had always wanted children. He had been able to admit to her that he hadn't planned on having them this soon, but he was happy nonetheless. And watching him over the past few months had only made Korra positive that he was going to be an amazing father. He doted on her constantly, fixing her whatever bizarre concoction she wanted with a cheerful smile; sometimes when they lay together at night he'd ask her about baby names; he was already starting to look for a bigger apartment for them to move in to for when the baby was born. And every time his eyes fell on her belly, the look on his face made Korra feel warm from head to toe. Bolin had made it much easier for her to adjust to the initial shock of the pregnancy.

He had been so happy when she told him. And Korra…Korra had been terrified.

Just like she was now.

She was starting to think that a meditation session might be a good idea when she suddenly heard Bolin's sleep-heavy voice from directly behind her. "Korra? You okay?"

A moment later, strong arms were slipping around her waist from behind, tugging her back against his lean form, and Korra took another deep breath. Her cheek brushed against the stubble on his jaw as she leaned her head back against his shoulder. "I'm fine," she lied. "I just thought we could use a little fresh air, since the air conditioner is still busted."

He nodded, dropping a kiss on her bare shoulder and giving her a little squeeze. "It is a little stuffy in there, I suppose. It explains how the blankets keep ending up on the floor when we wake up in the morning."

She regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Bo, those sheets end up on the floor no matter what the weather is." They were both restless sleepers, and tended to roll and wiggle all over the bed in their sleep, which was something they were both trying to work on now that Korra was pregnant. Bolin was terrified of accidentally kicking her in the middle of the night, but she had faith in him.

He chuckled and pushed some of her tangled hair behind her ear. "This is true. Well, I'm going to get in the shower…do you want to go first? Or…do you maybe want to join me?"

She laughed at the eyebrow waggle he gave her and shook her head. "No, you can go ahead. I'm going to go see if we have anything to eat."

Bolin nodded, gave her a quick and cheerful kiss, and headed off to the bathroom.

By the time he had finished his shower, and came downstairs smelling like her favorite soap and scrubbing a hand through his still-damp hair, Korra was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of rice that she had been staring at for a solid ten minutes. When he came into the kitchen, she hastily began to shovel food into her mouth, smiling around the mouthful when he caught her eyes. The smile must have looked a little forced, because he gave her a rather odd look as he went to the counter to fix his own breakfast.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, grabbing a carton of milk.

"I'm fine," she reassured him, but she couldn't say she really believed herself. And at this point in their relationship, Bolin knew her a little too well to be so easily fooled. He raised an eyebrow as he joined her at the table.

"You seem upset about something," he said. His feet bumped hers under the table and Korra rested her toes against his ankles. Sighing, she looked down at her bowl.

"I'm—" She cut herself off abruptly as she felt that flurry of movement once more inside her belly. This time it was a little more pronounced, and she caught her breath, pressing a hand there.

Bolin was instantly concerned. "What's wrong? Is it the baby? Should I call the doctor?"

"No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "Well – yes and no."

He blinked at her, still obviously on high alert.

She sighed heavily. "The baby's moving."

Bolin relaxed. "Oh, that baby's mov—the b-baby's moving?" The way his eyes bugged out of his head looked so absurd that Korra had to laugh. "Korra…when - ?"

"Just this morning," she told him, fiddling with her spoon. "I woke up and felt it…"

"Wow," he breathed, his eyes falling on her belly. "Do you mind if—can I feel…?"

Korra nodded, and he leaned across the table to lay both of his big hands over her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. "It's not very pronounced…I don't know if you'll be able to feel it."

Bolin frowned in concentration, sliding out of his chair and kneeling down in front of her. He leaned in and pressed his cheek against her bump, the way he often did before they went to sleep at night. Korra ran her fingers through his hair, already feeling calmer, even though he still didn't know what was wrong. He just had that effect on her.

After a long moment, he pulled back. "I can't feel anything."

She nodded. "It's…not moving right now."

He peered up into her face, brushing some of her loose hair behind her ear. "Korra? Talk to me…is this about the baby?"

She nodded slowly. "I don't know how to explain it…I thought I was over this, but when I felt it actually moving…Bo, I was terrified. The baby's actually alive in there and…" She gestured uselessly with her hands. "I know that sounds stupid. I've had five months to get used to this…but I guess I'm still not entirely adjusted to the idea of being a mother."

Bolin was silent for a long moment. This was a conversation he was familiar with, as they had had the very same one when Korra had first discovered she was pregnant. It had been a shock to them both, because they were being reasonably careful, despite how often they had rather spontaneous sexual encounters. And despite having been married for close to a year, the two of them still hadn't really had a discussion about children when the pregnancy came into the picture. Bolin had mentioned before that he wanted kids, of course, to which Korra had absently nodded and changed the subject. She hadn't really ever seen herself as a mother, and didn't think having kids was a good idea anyway considering her role as the Avatar. The first time she had brought up this point to Bolin, he had been slightly upset.

"But Aang had children," he had pointed out to her. "He had three of them. And look at how much he accomplished in his life!"

"Yeah, and Aang was also away from home a lot," Korra shot back. She actually knew a lot about her previous incarnation's life, since his wife had been her waterbending teacher. "He missed a lot of things with his kids." Of course, though Katara had often struggled with Aang's absence, the two of them had been able to make the distances work. And she knew Tenzin had a great deal of love and respect for his late father, so he must not have resented Aang for his absences either.

"We could make it work," Bolin insisted, and Korra had smiled a bit at how much he reminded her of her former master in that moment. "Once I move up a little further at the station, I would be able to –"

"No, Bolin," she cut in. "I wouldn't leave you to raise any kids of ours by yourself."

His face crumbled. "Korra…I thought you would consider the idea eventually."

"With the jobs we have, how are we ever going to find time to raise a family? It's just not a good idea, Bo."

That night, the two of them had fallen asleep on opposite sides of the bed, facing away from one another, and the discussion had kept them both fairly silent toward each other for a few days, even though it hadn't really been an argument.

And a few months later, she had gotten pregnant. Korra had heard that some of the past female Avatars had been able to sense they were pregnant before it was actually confirmed, but it had come as a total surprise to her. Maybe it had to do with her lack of spirituality. In any case, she had hid the truth from Bolin for several days before he finally got tired of her moods and demanded she tell him what was wrong. She had felt terribly guilty for sobbing in his arms when it was clear Bolin wanted to be happy about the situation. He deserved to be happy, and that was why Korra had tried her best to adjust to the idea quickly.

Finally, Bolin spoke again. "Korra…I'm sorry." He cupped her head in his hands and brought her forehead down to rest against his. "I'm…sorry that this had to happen before you were ready." From the look on his face, Korra could tell that he was thinking you might never be ready. "What do you want me to do? I'll give you whatever you need."

She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. "Bolin…I'm not saying that I still regret this happening. I don't."

He pulled back so that he could look at her properly, his green eyes slightly glassy. "You don't?"

"I don't," Korra repeated firmly, and was startled to realize that she was speaking the truth. "I don't regret the pregnancy…but that doesn't stop me from being afraid."

He pulled her out of her chair, down on the floor with him, and enveloped her in his arms. Korra could feel him dropping kiss after kiss into her hair. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her ear against his chest where she could hear his heart beating a strong rhythm. "Korra, you don't need to be afraid. We're going to get through this together, okay? I'll be with you for everything, and when the baby's born…feel free to break my hand if you want to."

She laughed shortly, tightening her grip on him. "Okay."

Korra was still terrified, and she suspected that fear wouldn't let up until she was finally holding her baby in her arms, but she couldn't bring herself to be truly upset anymore over the fact that they were starting a family sooner than expected. She hadn't thought she would ever have kids, but she also hadn't thought she would end up with Bolin when she first came to Republic City and couldn't see anyone but his brother. Life had given her plenty of surprises, and the waterbender in her had been able to adapt to them all. And just like the earthbenders that they both were, they could face this adventure head on – as long as they were together.