Hey guys! I'm glad to hear that you liked my last one-shot, and with a suggestion that I really liked since I'm still on the canon-world thinking, I'm going to write one more one-shot before I get back to Rock On. Thank you CrueFan21 for suggesting this. Anyway, I hope you all are doing well. I'm praying that the Lord is with you and that He gives you peace. Stay safe everyone!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Aang couldn't help but smile as he looked upon his slumbering wife. Even after being pregnant for nearly nine months, she was still as beautiful to him as ever, if not more so. There was just a certain glow about her that made her already nearly flawless face radiate in the light of the rising sun.
He didn't usually watch his wife while she slept, but today he couldn't quite help it. When he had woken up, he had checked on her as per his usual to make sure that she was alright, but this time had been different. Why it had been different, he wasn't sure, but he was enjoying watching her sleep peacefully.
She looked so gentle and innocent when she was asleep, and seeing her completely worry-free was always nice for him. He didn't want her to feel any kind of pain whatsoever, but considering that she was this far along in her pregnancy and was almost ready to pop, he knew that there wasn't much he could do for her at the moment. Even if he really wished that he could do something to make it easier for her.
To her credit, she had taken the pain in stride very well, being far more excited to start a family of their own to allow the pain to get to her. Despite the fact that he was glad that she was as excited about having a child of their own as he was, he still couldn't help but feel guilty that she had to go through all of this. Then again, she had been the one on their wedding night who had practically dragged him to their room and… well…
At any rate, it was clear to him that she had been well aware of what she was doing then, and that she was more than fine with dealing with the pain to have their child. He just wished that he could somehow take the burden off of her. He would do so gladly if he could, and would even be okay with simply splitting the pain instead of letting her go through all of it on her own.
Although he knew that this wasn't possible, he had vowed that he would do whatever he could to help make things easier for her. Which, needless to say, had proved to be quite difficult at times. Not only were her hormones all over the place the longer the pregnancy went on, but the more unusual cravings she would have as their child grew inside of her. One particular craving still surprised him to this day, considering that she hated it.
Papaya. He knew many things about his wife, and one of the things he knew best about her was that she was usually no fan of that particular fruit. And yet, one day when he had gotten a day off from his work in Republic City, he had decided to spend the whole day with her, which had proven to be an… interesting day to say the least.
Flashback.
Katara had been mostly kind for the day, but she had been pretty far in her pregnancy, and her cravings and her hormones were at an all time worst. He had remembered clearly how they had been talking while he was giving her a massage, hoping to alleviate the pain that she was going through in any way he could. After a little while, she had seemed to feel much better, which had made him feel much better as well. Her happiness was his happiness, and her pain was his pain.
At any rate, she had been feeling much better after the massage, but her stomach had proven that she wasn't fully satisfied just yet when it voiced its concerns. Although Katara had been sheepish from this, Aang had just laughed and helped her get up from their bed, telling her that he would be there all day for whatever she needed.
He just hadn't expected her to ask for something that she had disliked since she was a kid.
Sure, he knew that the pregnancy had made her think and act differently than she normally would, but most of the time it wasn't enough to where she would ask for something that she didn't like. Usually he would go on little errands to get her whatever she and their baby were craving, but this trip proved to be unlike the others.
As he had brought her down to their little kitchen, he had helped her sit down on her usual seat and was preparing himself to make a quick dash to the nearest market to get whatever she would be wanting. They had food at their home of course, but her hormones rarely made her want anything that they had, which meant that Aang usually had many runs to make to satisfy his wife's constantly changing cravings.
And so, as he had made sure that she was comfortable and smiled down at their child who he could see moving in her belly, he looked back up to her and asked the question he had been asking for months. "What sounds good to you, Sweetie?"
He remembered as Katara had thought about it while rubbing her belly, clearly attempting to calm down their energetic baby as she thought about it, when her eyes had finally brightened as a smile came onto her face. "I'm dying for some good papaya."
A look of pure doubt had come onto Aang's face from this, along with a hint of surprise that he had even heard that word come out of her mouth. Her pregnancy must have really started getting to her, because she hated papaya. "Papaya," he had replied with just as much doubt in his voice, watching as she nodded her affirmation. "Are you sure, Sweetie? You hate-"
"Go get me papaya!" her voice suddenly rose as the baby's kicking increased, her pain and the hormones raging throughout her body making her suddenly and irrationally angry.
Knowing that the pregnancy was doing this and that he shouldn't take it personally, he put on a smile and said. "Okay! Be right back!" With that taken care of, he had turned around instantly and ran out the door, knowing that the sooner he got back with what his wife wanted, the sooner he could make her happy again. Though he found it a bit funny that the hormones from having a baby made her sometimes act like a little kid. Not that he blamed her for this of course, he just found it to be a bit ironic. Though, he felt it needless to say that he had never run so fast as he had to the market and back.
When he had made it back, he was not so surprised to find her exactly where he had left her, trying her best to ignore their child's constant kicks and her strong cravings. Taking a deep breath, he had then put on a smile and walked back up to her. "Here you go, Sweetie. One papaya, just like you asked for."
Placing the papaya on the table in front of her, he had not been so surprised to see that her face had taken on a look of disappointment, the beginnings of a frown growing on her face as she looked down at exactly what she had asked for. "Aw, I hate papaya," she muttered quietly, making Aang smile as he saw that his suspicions had been right.
Feeling a genuine smile coming onto his face, he then said. "Well, lucky for you, I thought that you might want something else." Reaching into the bag he had gotten for the papaya, he produced three moon peaches, making Katara's eyes widen as she gasped and looked at them. "And I came prepared."
Katara could only stare between the moon peaches and her husband for a few moments, her heart melting at how well he knew her and how he had gone through so much effort to make her life as comfortable as possible. Attempting to get up, she noticeably struggled and couldn't quite manage it. At least, she didn't manage it in time before her loving husband rushed over to her and forced her to sit back down.
"Easy there, Sweetie," he murmured to her as he crouched down in front of her with the moon peaches still in his hands. To his surprise, Katara took his face in her hands and brought him in for a kiss, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. Any excuse for a kiss with her was good enough for him, even if he didn't know what that excuse was at the moment.
After a few moments of responding, he forced himself away from her lips and looked at her curiously, a wide smile on his face that he couldn't keep from spreading as he looked at her. "What was that for?" he breathlessly asked, making Katara smile as she gave him another kiss.
"For you being such an amazing husband," she whispered, making his smile grow as she gave him another kiss. "I know this hasn't been easy for you."
"Katara-" Aang tried to object, unbelieving that she was even thinking about whatever he might have been going through while she was carrying their child and dealing with all that came with it, but she just put a finger to his lips and stopped him there.
"Please, just let me finish," she pleaded with him, watching as he reluctantly nodded despite wanting to say what was on his mind, but loving her enough to grant her request. "I know what you're going to say. 'You're in a lot of pain, Katara. If there's anything I can do to help that, I'm going to'," she attempted in her best impersonation of him, making him chuckle as she smiled down at him. "But that doesn't mean that you aren't going through anything. I know that I haven't been easy to deal with lately-" Seeing that he was going to argue again, she replaced her finger on his lips and made sure that he wasn't going to say anything before taking it away. "But you still are always there for me when I need you. And although I'm not proud that I can't walk everywhere on my own," she added with disgust as she recalled how Aang or someone else pretty much needed to guide her wherever she needed to go at this point in her pregnancy. "I'm so glad that I have you, Aang. You're everything to me, and I'm so happy that we're starting a family of our own."
Feeling tears in his eyes from this, he quickly wiped them away and stood up, wrapping his arms around his lovely wife as she readily accepted him into her arms. "I love you so much, Sweetie," he whispered in her ear, making her smile as she squeezed him tighter.
"I love you too, Sweetie," she whispered back, her stomach growling as she got a whiff of the moon peaches that were now sitting on the table, making him chuckle as he pulled back and looked at her sheepish smile.
Planting a loving kiss on her lips, his smile grew as he saw that it still affected her as much as it affected him and brought out the moon peaches. "Well, I think you've been waiting long enough. Enjoy, Sweetie." Within moments, his beautiful and crazy wife had devoured all of them, making him both surprised and amused at how quickly she had finished them off. But, it just made him love her more, as he could see that she was, for the moment at least, satisfied and at peace. Which, needless to say, was all that he really wanted.
A small chuckle escaped his lips as he remembered that day. Truly, her pregnancy had been one of the most interesting experiences of his life, but it appeared that they were coming to the end of it. Katara was very close to nine months, and he knew that any day now they would bring their child into the world, and finally start a family of their own.
Looking down at his beautiful wife, he couldn't quite help himself as he ran a hand through her hair, making her smile in her sleep as she enjoyed the feeling. He knew that this was risky, as he didn't want to wake her up if he didn't have to, but he couldn't quite help himself. Seeing her so at peace and the sleepy smile that had grown on her face from him stroking her hair was all the convincing he needed to continue with it.
After a little while of doing this, his hands drifted down her face as he started caressing her cheeks, making Katara sigh pleasantly in her sleep as he did so. Even in her sleep, all he wanted to do was to make her happy, and was more than happy to do so when he got the chance.
There was one problem with this, however. The more he softly caressed her beautiful face, the more likely she was going to wake up from his actions. Not that he would mind this of course, but he wanted to make sure that she got as much rest as she needed.
Unfortunately for him, his love's eyes soon fluttered open from his gentle caresses, a smile on her face as she looked up at him. "Goodmorning," she murmured softly, obviously still a bit tired as she leaned her face into his hand.
Despite being happy hearing her beautiful voice, Aang couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as well. "I'm sorry that I woke you up," he apologized, making her smile as she held the hand that was still on his face.
"It's okay, Aang. I've probably been sleeping for too long anyway," she told him as she turned on her side to look at him, flinching a little as she felt the baby start kicking in her stomach again. Aang wasn't sure what to do to soothe her, so he just laid back down with her and brought her into his arms, making her smile as she took a deep breath of his familiar scent. "So, what's on the menu for breakfast?" she playfully asked as her stomach reminded her that she needed twice the energy she normally would.
"Whatever you want," he murmured back to her as he stroked her head softly, making her sigh in contentment as she dug her face into his chest. "I'll run down to the market and bring it up here to you."
"I can eat at the table, Aang," she attempted to argue, but found that she was far too comfortable to want to go anywhere at the moment.
"I know," Aang admitted, even if he knew that his wife would certainly have a great difficulty getting there at the stage of pregnancy she was in. "But I think it's okay if my beautiful wife enjoys her breakfast in bed every once in a while."
Smiling as she heard this, she pulled back from his chest and gave him a kiss on the lips, making him smile as he kissed her back for a few moments before they pulled apart. "Okay. Well, since we're getting really close to having a family, let's have something that we all like for breakfast."
"And what would that be?" Aang asked curiously, making Katara smile as she saw that he was ready to get her whatever she wanted.
"I wouldn't mind some moon peaches, and I don't think the baby would either," she hinted, making Aang's eyes widen in realization. "Would you?"
His smile only growing, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Not at all. Hold tight. I'll be right back," he promised with another kiss before getting up from the bed, leaving his very pregnant wife there as she found herself missing him already. Whatever free time they had was spent together, but it still wasn't enough. She wanted to be with him wherever he went, but she felt content knowing that he would always come back to her.
Speaking of always coming back to me, she thought with a smile as she saw him come back in the room with three moon peaches, just as he had the time that she had asked for papaya. This time would be different, however. This time she was going to share them with her amazing husband instead of eating them all herself.
"Here you go," he said as he handed her the two biggest ones that he had in his hands, making her smile appreciatively at how thoughtful and caring he was. "Fresh from the market."
"Thank you," she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, making him smile as he watched her take her first bite of a moon peach. Before he knew it, however, the moon peaches in her hands were quickly devoured, making him laugh as he saw how hungry she must have been. "That was good," she informed him with a satisfied sigh.
Unable to keep himself from chuckling again, he leaned down and kissed her head, making her smile as he looked into her eyes. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." The two smiled at each other for a few moments, enjoying each other's presence as they enjoyed this alone time when a thought came to mind. "So, how are you feeling? Do you think we should go to the hospital soon?"
"No, no," she shook her head as she patted her swollen belly. "I don't think that they're… ready… yet…" Suddenly, she gasped loudly, making Aang start to worry as he saw her face contort in pain.
"Katara, are you okay?" he asked worriedly, not liking seeing her in any kind of pain whatsoever.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she grit through her teeth, clearly not being fine but trying to look like she was anyway. "I just-" Another gasp escaped her lips, making Aang's worry only skyrocket as he saw her trying to swallow the pain in her words. "Need… a minute…"
Then, just when Aang was about to strongly suggest that they go to the hospital, he noticed that her pants had suddenly got wet. And that meant only one thing.
"Okay, time to go, Sweetie," he told her politely but in a way that made sure that she knew this was not up for argument. He never wanted to do anything to make her unhappy with him, but her water had just broken. He wasn't going to leave this up for debate.
Katara, knowing that he was right and knowing that there was no time, allowed him to use some careful airbending to get her off the bed and onto the ground, feeling excitement start to enter her heart. It was finally time for them to have their baby.
A few hours later, Aang found himself pacing outside of the hospital room where his wife was currently fighting to bring their child into the world. He had been in there with her for quite some time with her, but it was taking a bit longer than they had been expecting. They had told him that they would summon him when Katara was ready to push.
This had been nerve wracking for him, as he wanted to be in there with her, but he understood that they needed to focus. And considering that his spontaneous airbending from how nervous he was had caused some problems, he figured that he could at least help them out with that.
"Avatar Aang?" one of the nurses poked her head out of the door, catching him by surprise as he turned around and waited to hear what they had to say. "She's ready."
Needing no more convincing, he quickly made his way back into the room and rushed over to his wife's side, taking her hand in his as he tried to console her. He hated seeing her in this much pain, but he knew that it was almost over.
"Aang," Katara breathed weakly, clearly struggling to catch her breath as she looked up at him.
"It's okay. You're almost done, Sweetie," Aang told her as he squeezed her hand. "All you've got to do is push, okay? I'll be right here with you. Okay?" She nodded weakly, clearly struggling to put all of her energy into pushing their child out. "Okay. Push on three. One, two, three!"
Not long later, Aang found himself holding their brand new baby boy, finding that he was unable to hold back his tears as he looked down at what they had created together. "He's so beautiful," he couldn't help but whisper hoarsely, wrought with emotion as he looked down at his son. He had dreamed about having a family with Katara for many years, and today his dreams were finally coming true.
Katara smiled lovingly at him as she watched him, seeing how in love he already was with their child from her bed. Had she not been so tired from having given birth to their son, she would have gotten up and joined him, but instead asked. "Do you mind if I see him, too? He is our son, after all."
Smiling sheepishly as he realized that he had been hogging their son, he moved back over to her and laid down with her, placing the small bundle between them as they both looked down in adoration at what they had created. "He really is beautiful," Katara smiled as she stroked the kid's small tuft of hair, making the baby smile in his sleep.
"What do you want to call him?" Aang decided to ask, knowing that they hadn't yet talked about this. Well, they had talked about possible baby names for some time now, but the only thing that they had decided on was that they would name their daughter Kya, after Katara's mother. They had not quite settled on a boy's name yet, however.
"Well, since it's not a girl," Katara began thoughtfully as she looked down at the product of their love with a smile. "I think we should name him after someone important to you."
If Aang hadn't been so happy from having their first child together, his smile might have dropped from remembering his old friend who had recently passed away. He knew that she was referring to him. aFter all, he had been his last friend from before the iceberg. It still amazed him to this day that Bumi had made it this long, but he couldn't have lasted forever.
Looking up at the beautiful sight of his wife smiling down at their son, he pushed down the pain he felt for his deceased friend and nodded. "Okay. Maybe we can call him Bumi?"
Katara smiled, glad to hear that he had caught her hint and took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "I think that's a great idea, Aang." Looking back to their son, she whispered. "Welcome to the world, Bumi. We love you very much."
"So much," Aang agreed with a smile, making Katara smile back at him as they enjoyed the feeling of all of them together. Finally, after what they both had been wanting for what felt like so long, they were finally a family. And they were grateful that after all that they had been through, they had managed to get to this point. This was where they belonged.
Then, just when things couldn't have been any calmer, Katara was not so surprised to see her brother come running into the room, panting heavily as he stooped over to catch his breath.
"Did I…?" he attempted to speak, but clearly had been winded from trying to run. "Did I miss it?"
At this, Katara couldn't help but chuckle, although she couldn't keep her voice from sounding a little weak. After all, she had just given birth. "Sorry, Sokka. The baby came a little earlier than we expected."
Sokka thought back to when they had been in the Earth Kingdom, travelling to Ba Sing Se where they had met those people who ended up having a baby of their own. He then remembered how he had walked in on the mother during her labor pains, and how he had promptly passed out. "You know what? It's okay," he finally said aloud. "These situations and me don't usually seem to agree."
Chuckling at this, the two lovers became surprised as they looked behind Sokka to see none other than Hakoda come walking into the room. "Dad!" Katara exclaimed excitedly, clearly not having expected to see him here. "What are you doing here?"
"What, you thought that I wouldn't be here for the birth of my grandchild?" he asked with a grin, making Katara smile appreciatively at him as he walked over and gave her a hug. "Though I see that I missed on the actual birth part of it."
"It's okay," Katara attempted to assure him. "You really didn't miss much."
"Yeah. Trust me, you don't want to see that," Sokka agreed with a hand to the side. "It's gross."
Hakoda couldn't help but chuckle at this, a look of clear amusement on his face as he looked at his son. "Sokka, I was there for both your and Katara's births. I know what happens there."
Unable to hold back a sheepish smile, Sokka rubbed his neck and laughed a bit nervously. "Oh yeah. Right. I forgot about that." Hakoda just laughed again and clapped his son on the back, a grin and a flash of amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"It's good to see you, son, but maybe we should go meet the newest member of our family?" he rhetorically asked, watching as Sokka smiled and nodded. Needing no more convincing, the two warriors made their way over to the bed and looked down at the baby laying between their family members, smiling as they saw the baby yawn. "What's his name?"
Smiling, Katara began stroking the top of her son's head and looked up at her father. "His name is Bumi."
"Named after my friend who died a few months ago," Aang supplied helpfully, making Sokka arch a brow at the two lovers.
"Why not name him 'Sokka Jr.'?" he asked with a grin, making Katara raise a brow while a frown covered her face.
But, knowing that he was probably just kidding, she replied. "You can name your kid that if you ever have one, but Bumi is ours."
Knowing that she was going to say that, Sokka just pretended to roll his eyes, even if he could tell that Katara saw right through him. "Whatever. Can I hold him?" he asked hopefully, prompting the new parents to share a look of doubt.
After a few moments, however, they both seemed to come to an agreement as Katara turned back to her brother. "Okay, but be careful, Sokka. He's fragile." Carefully grabbing her child, she slowly brought the small bundle of joy and gave him to her brother, making him smile as he held the baby in his arms.
"He's so… squishy-looking," Sokka commented, making Katara roll her eyes as she remembered how he had said that from what felt like so many years ago. Then, as if something had just hit him, his eyes widened and a look of excitement came onto his face. "I'm an uncle! I'm going to be the best uncle ever! Just you wait!"
"If you're an uncle, then I guess I'm officially a grandpa," Hakoda chuckled as he took the baby from his son's arms, smiling down at his grandchild while Aang and Katara smiled as well. It was nice having them all here.
Then, just when they thought that they were done with surprises for the day, Toph, Suki, Zuko, and Mai all came walking into the room.
"Congrats, guys!" Suki cheered as she came walking into the room and gave Katara a hug. "We just heard about it and had to come see you guys."
Toph smirked as she walked over to the bed where the baby was back with his parents and 'looked' down at him. "So, the goody-two shoes had a kid, who's probably going to be even more of a goody-two shoe than them. Yay."
If Katara hadn't known that Toph was kidding, she would have glared at her, but she could tell by the playful smirk on her face that she was. Besides, glaring wouldn't do anything anyway. Not only was Toph as stubborn as stone, but the glare would literally fall upon blind eyes.
"Congrats, buddy," Zuko smiled as he walked over to Aang and gave him a hug, which Aang returned and patted each other on the back before separating.
"Thanks, Uncle Zuko," Aang replied with a grin, making Zuko's eyes widen in surprise at this. He knew that Aang was his best friend, but he hadn't really thought that he would be called that. Despite his surprise, he couldn't help but be honored by this, and clasped Aang on the shoulder as he gave him a grateful smile.
And as the people gathered around to admire the product of their love, Aang and Katara couldn't help but share a loving smile as Katara laid her head on Aang's shoulder. Here, with their friends and family, and more importantly with their son, they were starting a new chapter in their life. One that would have its ups and downs, but they were looking forward to what the future had in store for them. After all, they were a family now, and that was really all they had ever wanted.