I do not own the Legend of Korra or anything Avatar related
Groaning as she stretched, Lin smiled as she felt fingers run up and down her spine. Turning over until she was facing him, Lin groggily looked into Tenzin's eyes.
"Good morning." Her voice husky from sleep, Lin leaned forward and lightly kissed his exposed collar bone.
Moving his hands from exploring her back, Tenzin rested his large palm on Lin's still flat stomach, brushing small circles into her skin with his thumb. "Good morning Lin," grinning a goofy smile, Tenzin leaned towards her stomach, "And good morning to you Jinora."
Lin reeled her head back in confusion. "Who?"
Pulling her into his chest, Tenzin rested his head upon hers. "Jinora. Our baby."
Chuckling, Lin rested her head on his pillow. "What?"
"I've always wanted to name my first born Jinora if it's a girl, and Meelo if it's a boy."
"So you think we're having a girl?"
"It would be nice, wouldn't it?"
Kissing his collar bone again before sliding out of bed, Lin smiled. "Yea, it would be." Reaching her arms above her head, stretching out her muscles once her feet hit the ground, Lin paused in her movements, a contemplative look on her face. A moment later, she bolted towards the bathroom, her hand over her mouth.
Quickly moving from his spot in the bed, Tenzin entered the bathroom to find Lin already kneeling in front of the toilet. Pulling her hair from her face, Tenzin whispered soft soothing words to her as she retched up the little in her stomach.
Resting back on her heels once she was finished, Lin groggily looked up at him. "I hate this."
Chuckling lightly at the put out look on her face, Tenzin helped her to her feet and turned on the sink pipe for her. "I know, but this will all be worth it in the end when we have our little baby running around."
Grunting noncommittally, Lin began getting ready for work. "Yea, it better be."
Dumping her things unceremoniously onto her desk once she arrived at the station, Lin dove head first into the paper work stacked high. The past week alone had seen two Triple Threat Triad attacks. Having been put in charge of the case along with Saikhan, Lin reviewed the files on her desk and tried to make some sense of it all. For years now, the group has been terrorizing Republic City. A leader hasn't stepped forward yet, and their objective was still unknown.
A hand tapped the corner of her desk, breaking Lin out of her concentration. Glancing at the clock in front of her, Lin was mildly surprised to see that nearly 4 hours have already gone by, and the hour was now approaching mid-day.
"What do you need Saikhan?"
"I finished my write ups for the attacks last week. Chief wants you to review them before submitting them to her."
Sighing at the new work being thrown at her, Lin nodded and gestured towards her desk. "Just put them down somewhere."
Dropping the files next to her already large pile, Saikhan took his leave. A few feet away from her desk, he paused and turned back around as if just remembering something. "Oh, and congratulations Lin." Before she could respond, he continued down the corridor and around the corner, out of her line of sight.
Briefly wondering what he could be talking about, seeing that she hasn't told anyone about her pregnancy, Lin let the thought go before pushing herself away from the desk and standing to her feet. Stretching her back, Lin slowly waked towards the back of the station towards the cafeteria.
Joining the line, voices called to her, offering their congratulations before continuing on their way. Highly intrigued and more than annoyed, Lin grabbed the first sandwich she could reach and headed to pay. Dropping a yuan onto the counter, Lin offered the aging woman on the other side of counter a small smile.
Counting out Lin's change, she dropped two coins into the palm of her hand. "Here you go Ms. Beifong, enjoy your meal, and congratulations by the way."
Pausing, Lin faced the woman again. "People have been congratulating me all morning, but I don't know why."
"But your baby of course! The news has been spreading like wildfire."
Blinking in shock, Lin numbly nodded her head before quickly making her way back to her desk. As she moved through the station, more voices called out their congratulations to the woman. Passing the slightly ajar door to the Chief's office, she paused as Toph's voice rang out to her.
"Beifong, a moment please."
Sandwich clutched tightly in her hand, Lin stopped in the doorway. "Chief?"
"Sit down." Sitting with her hands folded behind her head, Toph waited until Lin was perched on the edge of her chair. "Eat."
Rolling her eyes slightly, Lin obliged and bit into her sandwich. The only sound filling the office was the sound of her chewing.
"So is there something you wanted to share?"
Though she tried to keep her voice even, the slight hurt and betrayal was evident in Toph's voice.
Putting the half eaten sandwich down, Lin sat back in her seat. "I'm guessing you heard then."
"You're damn right I heard. And not from my own daughter, might I add."
Sighing, Lin nodded her head. "I'm sorry. Mom, I'm really sorry. I don't know how the news got out. I wanted to wait to tell everyone. Trust me, I wanted to tell you myself."
"Alright, I guess I can forgive you this time. But next time, I want to hear the news from you that I'm going to be a grandmother, not from some gossiping lily livers, got it?" Smiling a small smile, Toph rested a hand on top of Lin's.
"Next time? You only had one kid, maybe that's what I want too."
"Sure kid, if you say so. Why you would deny me the simple pleasure of having a brood grandchildren however, I will never understand." Smirking, Toph chuckled as Lin's heart rate increased a little faster.
Leaning her head against the back of her seat, her eyes closed, Lin was grateful for the rare moment of banter she could share with her mother.
"So how's Tenzin taking the news?"
"Oh he's ecstatic. He's probably the one that shared the news with everyone."
"You should probably take the rest of the day off."
Her eyes shooting open, Lin quickly sat back up. "What? Why?"
"Go find your father, you better hope that he hasn't heard yet. He'll never forgive you if you don't tell him yourself. And if he already did find out, it'll take a whole lot more than 'I'm sorry' to make it up to him."
Groaning, knowing that despite her teasing tone, Toph was right, Lin got to her feet. "Yeah, I should go find him. Maybe bring a bottle of cactus juice. Do you know where he is?"
"Air Temple Island, he's got the day off."
"Alright. So I'll see you tomorrow? Or I can come back in for the night shift."
"Get out of here Beifong. I don't want to see you around here until tomorrow, got it?"
Hand on the doorknob, Lin nodded. "Yes Chief."
Retrieving her things, Lin pushed the doors to the station open only to be momentarily blinded by bright bursts of light. Hollering her name, hoards of reporters followed after Lin as she bounded down the steps, her head low.
"Is it true?"
"Ms. Beifong, are you expecting?"
"Who's the father?"
"Do you think this baby will be the next air bender?"
"Will you name the baby after Avatar Aang?"
The barrage of questions came to a halt as Lin quickly opened and closed the large doors to the Justice Building behind her. Resting her head against the door, Lin took a deep breath before turning around. The people within her vicinity had fallen silent at the sight of the rattled Deputy of Police, but had enough sense not to comment. Startled under her scrutiny, they returned to work. Grateful that the Justice Building was only a few buildings down from the station, Lin fast walked towards Tenzin's office. Entering his office without knocking, Lin was satisfied when he jumped slightly in his chair of fright. Holding a finger up to her, he quickly put an end to the conversation he was having on the phone.
"Yes, yes, I understand… We must discuss this further at a later date, something has just come up… Yes, of course… Thank you sir… Yes, I will relay the message to Lin…Goodbye."
Hanging up the receiver, Tenzin hesitantly got to his feet. "Hi."
"You told."
Wincing even though her tone was calm, Tenzin rounded the desk and stood before her. "Yes I did, and I'm sorry, it was a mistake."
"And how was it a mistake may I ask?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Tenzin blushed under her harsh stare. "I don't know, it just slipped right out of my mouth."
Rolling her eyes, Lin through her hands up in frustration. "Fine. What's done is done. And now, you have to follow me to tell my father the news before he finds out from the papers." Turning on her heel, she strode out the door without waiting to see if he was following. "Get your stuff, let's go Arrowhead!"
Quickly gathering his things, Tenzin ran after Lin who was already standing by the doors, waiting for him. "There's a group of reporters out there, just remember that this is all your fault."
"Yes ma'am." Grabbing onto Lin's hand, the pair ran through the crowd and down to the docks, together.
Stepping off of the ferry, Lin held Tenzin back by grabbing onto his arm. "Listen, I sort of had an argument with your mom yesterday."
Furrowing his brow, Tenzin gave her a questioning look. "Why? What happened?"
Sighing, Lin quickly recapped the conversation. "I was in shock over the pregnancy, and I just snapped when she kept bringing up how much the world could use another airbender. I may have over reacted though."
"No, my mother shouldn't have meddled into our lives. She had no business saying what she did."
"Well, here she comes now, so try to act normal, please." Grasping hands again, Tenzin and Lin slowly made their way towards the house, where Katara was waiting for them on the porch.
"Tenzin, Lin, it's great to see you both, and so soon." Leaning forward, Katara planted a small kiss on both of their cheeks.
"Likewise Mother, we have some news to share, is everyone in?" Tenzin rested his free hand on top of his mother's shoulder.
"Oh yes, come in, everyone is in the living room. Make yourselves at home." Stepping back, Katara gestured that they enter first.
Pausing before she passed the woman, Lin gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry about yesterday Katara, I over reacted."
Shaking her head emphatically, Katara grasped Lin into a tight hug. "No, I was way out of line, and I truly am sorry. Forgive me?"
"There's nothing to forgive. Come, we're going to tell the family the news." Resting a hand on Katara's back, Lin steered her into the living room where Tenzin was chatting with his father and Sokka.
"There's my baby girl!" Arms wide, Sokka engulfed Lin into a tight hug. "How are you sweetheart? You look a lot better." Holding her out at arm's length, Sokka looked her over.
"Hey Daddy. I'm fine, really. More than fine actually." Moving from him after kissing him on the cheek, Lin quickly embraced Aang.
Moving towards the center of the room with Tenzin, he nodded for her to begin. Taking a deep breath, Lin looked towards her father. "Tenzin and I have some news." Elbowing him in the rib, Lin gestured for him to take it away.
"Lin and I are having a baby."
For a split second, the room was completely silent following the announcement. And then, all at once, whoops and hollers were heard coming from the two older men. Hugging each other, Aang and Sokka spoke loudly about being grandfathers before rushing towards the young couple. Joining the group hug, Katara cheered along, tears streaming down her face. A loud voice broke them up.
"What's all this about? I want to be a part of the group hug." Standing in the doorway, Bumi stood with his hands on his hips.
Stepping forward, Aang gestured towards the couple. "Tenzin and Lin just shared some marvelous news. They are going to be parents."
Silently regarding the pair, Bumi blinked a few times. Eyes hovering over Lin's abdomen, he watched as Tenzin snaked an arm around her waist, anchoring her to his side. Nodding his head once, he gave them a small smile.
"Congratulations you two." His voice quiet and a little somber, Bumi took a step back. "I was working on something, so I'll just um, get back to it." Turning, he quickly walked back towards the front door.
"Bumi wait, why don't you-" The sound of the door slamming cut Katara off mid-sentence.
Clearing his throat, Sokka clapped his hands once to diffuse the tension. "Well, I think a celebration is in order. Don't you?" Turning towards his sister, he gave her a knowing look.
"Of course!" Running into the kitchen, the clanging of pots and pans could be heard.
Aang and Sokka followed, and soon it was just Lin and Tenzin in the room. Squeezing her hand, Tenzin brought her out of her reverie.
"Lin? You coming?"
Blinking as if waking up from a deep sleep, Lin looked up at him. "Huh? What did you say?"
"I said, are you coming?"
Looking back towards the front door, Lin slowly turned towards the kitchen. "Yeah, I'm coming, I'll meet you there." Stopping in the entry way, Lin shot the front door one last hopeful look. Sighing when it didn't open, Lin took a deep breath and planted a large smile on her face before joining her family.
