Chapter Twelve | Surprise, Surprise

'We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up.' – Phyllis Diller

In so many ways, the days in the next year were the happiest of Jake and Neytiri's lives. Young Tom kept them incredibly busy, especially when he started to crawl around, and then started walking at ten months. He was growing too fast for his loving parents to keep up. Neytiri had started calling Jake 'daddy' around Tom a few months before, and he did the opposite for her, hoping that these would be his first words. Unfortunately, the plan backfired; Tom's first word wasn't 'mama' or 'dada', but 'Jakey'. Jake tried not to take offense. "No, no, no, pal! It's 'dada'! Can you say, 'dada'?" Jake asked Tom as he bounced his little boy on his knee. Tom cocked his head to the side as he heard Jake speak. He gave his father a huge smile and said, "Jakey!"

Jake groaned in exasperation. "I swear he's doing this just to tick me off," he said to his wife at one point when Tom had called him 'Jakey', and Tom laughed.

After Tom's arrival, everyone in the clan – with the exception of Norm, Max, Mo'at and Dieln – assumed Jake and Neytiri were having more children. Na'vi generally have two to three children, but sometimes the hierarchy stretch this limit a bit. With the bloodlines of Jake and Neytiri, everyone was praying for dozens of little Sullys. Neytiri and Jake were happy with their new life with Tom; he defined their life now, and while parts of them missed lazy afternoons and romantic strolls through the forest, they found new pleasures in life with the soft symphony of his feet padding down the hallway at dawn and finger prints on the walls. Even on the worst days, Jake and Neytiri found something to smile about. Tom served as a constant, in-your-face time piece, marking the way through Jake and Neytiri's lives that might seem an infinite sea of minutes, hours, days and years. Jake and Neytiri both cherised him, knowing by now what every parent figures out – the wondrous days of early parenthood are all but a brief flash in a lifetime.
Both of them had rolled their eyes when Mo'at clucked at them, "Enjoy him now because he will be an adult before you know it." Even though it was a well worn cliché, Jake and Neytiri started to realise that it was steeped in truth. Tom was growing up fast, and each week closed a chapter that could never be revisited. One day Jake and Norm told Tom the classic story of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Tom promptly took it on board that he was the Chosen One. He got his mother to make him a little cape, and then he went racing around the clan with the stick as a wand, yelling, "Expelliarmus!" at the top of his lungs. Max always meant to get it on video tape, but one day Tom realised that he would never get a broomstick, and focused his dreams of flying on ikrans instead. He dropped the wand and that was that. Jake really wanted more children, but he knew as well as Neytiri did that wasn't possible for them, so they treasured the little one they had.

Neytiri awoke with a start one morning. A terrible headache throbbed in her head, and a wave of nausea came over her suddenly. She blinked and massaged her head, trying to will it to go away, but to no avail. Just at that moment, Tom came racing into her and Jake's section and jumped on his parents. "Wake up! Wake up! It is morning time!" He sang joyfully.

Jake groaned. "We have got to teach Tom about Saturdays..." He murmured.

"It is Monday," Neytiri pointed out.

"Whatever," Jake groaned, turning over.

Tom smiled and continued to jump. Neytiri groaned as the headache worsened with each jump. "Oh... No, sweetie, please... Mummy has a headache..." Neytiri told him. Tom looked at his mother and then collapsed onto the bed, snuggling between his parents.

"What wrong with mummy?" He asked his dad, looking at Neytiri.

Jake turned around to look at his mate. Her skin had turned to a very pale blue. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern.

"I do not know..." Neytiri said slowly. Jake frowned and felt her forehead; her temperature seemed fine.

Tom looked at his mother. "Mummy..." He said sadly, his ears drooping a little.

Jake got up and scooped Tom up as well. "Come on, son. Let's let mama rest for a bit," Jake said, taking Tom downstairs so Neytiri could sleep for a little while longer.

· · ·

Within half an hour, Neytiri felt just fine. She chalked it up to the fact she was just overly tired. Even though Tom was growing up, he still kept Jake and her on high alert. She went on with her day, even though certain scents made her a little nauseous. The next morning, the same thing happened. She wondered if this was some bug going around. Her questions were answered one morning when she awoke after a vivid dream, almost a vision.

Later that day, Jake was in his and Neytiri's section of Hometree. Since she had been feeling ill, Jake had gone and picked some of her favourite flowers that grew freely in the meadows where wild Pa'li grazed. Jake could never remember the name, but they sort of reminded him of the fabled honeysuckle on earth in the scientific drawings they had in RDA. They carried the sweetest aroma, almost like honey in fact, and another sniff after that would give you a strange urge frolic in the Pa'li fields. Jake wondered if that was the best present to give Neytiri, thinking about how she had been ill, when she came in. "Hey honey!" He said, kissing her gently. "I got these for you since you've been ill these past few days." Neytiri didn't say anything as she stared at the flowers dubiously, as if she were waiting for them to sprout wings and fly off. Jake looked at her oddly. "What? They're your favourite." He sniffed them a little. "You love their scent!" Neytiri continued to stay silent. Jake took in her frozen expression. "What's wrong?"

Neytiri's eyes narrowed at the sight of the flowers. Already from about a foot away she could smell their strong perfume. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "I am pregnant."

Jake almost dropped the flowers. "W-what? With a baby?"

Neytiri brought her eyes up to Jake's with a concerned expression. "How long have you been sniffing those flowers for? Yes, with a baby!"

"But... B-b-but! How? When? T-that's not possible for us!" Jake exclaimed, feeling his voice go about two pitches higher than usual.

"I had a vision from Eywa last night... And no, it is not impossible. Just much, much harder," Neytiri said, sitting down.

Jake paused for a moment, trying to get over the shock. "Do you think we should be more excited about this?"

Neytiri nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, I do," she said. She thought for a moment before getting up and going out of their section. She came back two seconds later and said in a joyful tone, "Hey honey. Guess what?"

Jake looked up. "What?"

Neytiri smiled. "I am pregnant!"

Jake gasped and got up, hugging and kissing Neytiri. "Well done, you clever girl," he said joyfully. "Clever me!" Neytiri laughed and hugged him.