March 17th, Ba Sing Se

Aang had been holding Katara's hand ever since they walked inside the Middle Ring Hospital. As it was the first doctor's appointment of the entire pregnancy, both were a pile of nerves.

Katara squeezed his hand harder while she bounced her leg in anxiety. Aang was terrified too but managed to hide it better, in an attempt to be strong for the both of them.

He remembered a quote from one of his parenting books: A woman goes through a lot during pregnancy, so it's your job as a partner to be supportive, at all times. Aang sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. It was being hard, very hard.

He had been a pile of nerves these past months. Aang felt so insecure about his parenting abilities. It felt like there was a little monster whispering on his head, making him feel incapable of raising a child.

Aang always tried his best to keep the monster quiet. He read the books in a marathon, sometimes two a day, to make himself learn at all costs. However, he didn't feel secure at all, and the damned monster kept coming back. He tried to distract himself with work and friends too, but it didn't make much of a difference. Every time he laid in bed, ready for sleep, the monster's whispers became louder. To sugar-coat it, he was exhausted.

He looked around, repressing a huff, a little disturbed by the medical environment. The doctors rushed through the hallways, which smelled like antiseptics, and that was a little unsettling. Aang had never met up with Katara at her workplace, so the only time he had been in that hospital was when Sokka broke his nose, the previous month. He cringed at the bad memory, hoping that, after that appointment, he would get nicer ones at the place.

Aang checked the clock on the waiting room's wall. He flinched a little when it turned to 5 PM exactly, the time of the appointment. Doctors were always a little bit late, but still, it was nerve-racking. Trying to focus on his breathing, like Gyatso taught him, he turned to his side and looked at his girlfriend.

He thought she looked very cute when nervous. Katara's eyebrows were scrunched up together and she bit her lower lip, pouting a little. Her big blue eyes were staring at the floor with much fervor. Aang brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, which softened her features a little, and consequently, helped ease himself too.

It was hard living with that big pile of uncertainties that he had. Let alone pretend he wasn't feeling nervous at all. But he kept trying, in hopes it would at least make Katara feel less unburdened. It was all worth it.

Suddenly, he felt her clench his hand and stand up, inhaling sharply. He followed her eyes and saw a doctor, standing with a clipboard on her hands.

"Katara, you can come in."

Katara saw patient's butts every day at work, because of the hospital clothes, which were open on the back. So it felt unsettling to be the one wearing it, and not the one laughing at it.

They had run many check-up exams on her already.

She was aware of what was going to happen in the appointment, and what kind of medical procedures it would involve. She had even picked one of her trusted co-workers, a woman named Song to be her obstetrician. However, she was still very nervous.

After her meltdown at the Middle Ring Park, the previous weekend, she started taking the pregnancy more seriously. As it turned out, she had felt it was a lot easier to process things when she talked to Aang. But it wasn't that she was nervous about that moment.

Katara had spent the entire day remembering some disturbing pictures of a pediatric medical book, much to her displeasure. She knew of every single one of the things that could go wrong in this stage of the pregnancy, and it scared her in such a way that she wished she had never gotten her degree at all. It was best to stay in ignorance than feel that freaked out.

Aang stood beside her at all times, which she found a little unsettling. She did feel self-conscious about the hospital gown at first but brushed it away very quickly. Even though he respectfully looked away every time she stood up, he had seen it all before anyway. It weirded her out to have him there at all times during medical procedures, after all, they weren't that intimate, but she didn't have the guts to ask him to leave.

His shoulders were very tense, and she could tell something was wrong with him. However, every time she was caught staring at him, preoccupied, he would give her a reassuring smile. It didn't convince Katara, though.

Aang's eyes flickered through the obstetrician's clinic, just like they had done over every other exam room she had gone through. He stared fiercely at a uterus figure, that held a plastic baby inside, and poked the fake child, making the whole organ display fall from the table. He blushed and put the pieces together again, quickly. Just as he did so, Dr. Song walked into the room. Katara drew a sharp breath but managed to smile at her doctor.

There was a pre-examination moment, as she had expected. They talked a little about some of the things that she wasn't allowed to do- like drinking, doing heavy exercise, having caffeine-, the vitamin complements she could take, and the general recommendations for the first trimester. She already knew many of those things, as she worked in the medical field, but she was still a little relieved to have a real obstetrician, someone else to give her a medical opinion.

Dr. Song suggested, also, many preparatory classes that would come in handy in the future. She handed both of them flyers of first-aid, breastfeeding, and labor classes. Seeing the pictures in the latter flyer, Aang's eyes almost popped out of their orbits, but he managed to keep it cool. Or he thought so. He cooled out a little when they got into a deep conversation about Mommy & Daddy Yoga classes, as he was really into spiritual practices like this. Then, as Song prepared her tools for the ultrasound, he talked excitedly about the Air Nomadic tradition of yoga.

"Did you know that there are records of up to three thousand years old proving that the eastern Air Nomads practiced yoga? They were found in one of the temples just a few years ago. The historical community went crazy over it!" His eyes gleamed, behind all of his worries.

Katara smiled, but the yoga talk hadn't relaxed her. She kept staring apprehensively at the obstetrician and the machine in front of her as she laid down in the hospital bed. She pulled Aang's hand close to her and held onto his arm. He kept talking about the cultural significance of something- she didn't listen-, and stopped as Song started her examination.

What if she was having one of the abnormal conditions in her pregnancy? What if the baby wasn't developing as it should be? She groaned, wanting to get rid of these disturbing thoughts.

When Dr. Song put the cold gel on Katara's belly, she flinched a little. It was colder than she had expected.

The ultrasound screen made a weird, bubbly noise. If Katara hadn't been trained to have a specialist's eye, she wouldn't have understood what she was seeing. Aang probably didn't, as he had a confused expression on his face. It appeared to be just a bad quality image, with a bunch of black and white smudges.

But it wasn't.

There was a tiny little dot that could be distinguished on the screen. The image flickered in the ultrasound as the doctor examined it, with a smile.

Katara gulped. She shot a look at the woman, breathless.

"Is it...?" She asked.

"Yes, there it is." Song confirmed, grinning at the couple's reactions.

She couldn't believe her eyes, and she couldn't take them off the picture. It was hypnotizing. She only realized she had stared at it for too long when Aang tugged at her hand.

"Uh... Where is it?" Aang asked. He had his eyebrows scrunched up together. "All I see is a bunch of blobs."

"T-There, Sweetie. It's that bigger one, in the middle." Katara pointed to it, gluing her eyes to the screen again, and Song confirmed it.

A big smile was formed on Aang's face, and in his eyes, the confused gaze had disappeared, leaving room for tears of joy. He kissed Katara's forehead and started laughing in excitement.

"I'm this blob's father." He whispered, and it seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

Song continued examining the womb with the ultrasound equipment, and Aang couldn't stop grinning. Katara smiled too, though less bright, as her face also became wet from the tears. She kissed his knuckles as he dried some of his tears off his face.

"Doctor, is there any way you can print this picture? I want to keep it forever, seriously. I'm going to make thousands of copies and glue them around my apartment. Maybe I'll tattoo it on my arm." Aang started scrambling words together, excitedly. As he spoke, Katara patted her cheeks dry and took a deep breath, to calm herself down, and zoned out for a moment.

The little blob was so tiny, and she thought it was the cutest thing in the world. Her worries washed away at the sight of her baby. Looking at it, she felt surprisingly calm.

That is until the obstetrician spoke again.

"Oh, here it is. Found the heartbeat."

To say the least, Katara hadn't been ready for this. It was usually uncommon for a heartbeat to be heard this early on.

Her eyes opened wide, and she quieted down, as her boyfriend laughed out loud, overjoyed.

"Oh, Spirits, this is the best day of my life!" He grinned at the screen.

They heard a small, low beat.

It was her child's heartbeat.

It was all real, very real.

Oh, no.

Her memories of the day she found out she was pregnant seemed to fade away too. That feeling of fear and anxiousness had been nothing compared to this.

No, she definitely wasn't prepared for this.

The heartbeat echoed in her ears, in a sweet melody. There was a life inside of her. Her child. A baby. It was such a precious thing...

She couldn't mess this up. At all.

She had lost her mother very young. Katara didn't have a mother figure to look up to, besides her Gran-Gran. What if she was unable to be a good mother?

Suddenly, her bubble of thought popped when she heard Aang call her name, many times.

"Katara... Are you listening?" He inquired, with a grin on his lips, that was fading away every second she stayed quiet, in her shock.

"Uh..."

Oh, Aang. There was also the Aang situation.

Their relationship was rushed, that's for sure. She loved spending time with him. To be honest, she loved him, but she didn't feel ready to say it yet. It was all moving too fast. Now, she was bound to him forever.

She wished they could just enjoy time together, taking things slow. She wished they could date and have fun, before getting too serious. That they could celebrate many anniversaries, many special occasions together before they got engaged and married. Only then would they think about babies, and starting their family.

That was what Katara dreamed of. That she could have a picture-perfect life, according to the plan.

But the Spirits loved messing with her, right?

As she stared blankly at his face, she couldn't help but think he was a bit of a stranger. She had only met him in January. Katara had known him for just three months. Although they had spent a lot of time together after that, she still felt like she didn't even know him. She didn't know his family, his friends, his little quirks, and manners.

She was having a child with a man she didn't know yet. And it became a little too much for her to take.

Her breathing became sharper, but she shrugged it off, going back to reality. Get it together, Katara, She thought.

"Uh... sorry, Sweetie. What did you say?"

"That we should print the sonogram picture and hang it on the wall." He had a preoccupied face, as he put a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, sure." She smiled faintly, which she hoped would convince him, but it only deepened the frown on his face.

"Katara, are you okay?" He asked in a whisper. His stormy gray eyes stared at her with a lot of compassion and hurt.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Her face said otherwise. No, she wasn't okay. Katara gulped, feeling a knot in her throat as she held his palm with both her hands.

After the appointment, they sat down at a table, at a coffee shop next to the hospital, ordering hot chocolate. Katara avoided his gaze unable to look at his face, stirring her cup with concentration. Aang brushed her hand with his thumb, making her flinch a little.

That threw him off. He knew something was wrong.

He had just experienced one of the best things in his life. He saw and heard his child. It felt precious, and he thought the feeling would last forever.

But, looking at Katara's reaction, he felt disappointed. Why did she not feel that way too?

"Katara, what's wrong?" He asked once more, hoping she would share it.

She took a long breath and closed her eyes.

"I'm a mother." She whispered.

"I know. That's amazing, right?"

"It is. But it's a lot." She finally looked at his eyes, and he could see tears on her face. Aang put a hand on her shoulder, as she continued. "And... Everything's a little unsure to me. Like... us."

"Us?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Our relationship. I have known you for only two months. And I know we've spent a lot of time together within these few months, but I... I feel like I don't know you that well." She shot him a regretful look. As she saw the disappointment in his eyes grow, she continued. "I-I mean, I know you are an amazing person, but I don't know trivial stuff about the father of my child, you know? Like, what's your favorite color? Or your favorite pie flavor? These are things I should know, but I don't."

He sipped his hot chocolate with caution.

"You're worried about not knowing me?"

"Yes."

The coffee shop was getting empty as the sky turned pink, welcoming the night. Some of the waiters talked behind the counter.

"My favorite color is yellow, and I love apple pie." He grinned. "Shoot the next question."

Katara was confused. She raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... What?"

"Let's do a quiz. Ask me anything, and I have to answer it."

She chuckled, feeling a weight lift off her chest.

A lightning round of questions began to be asked and quickly answered.

"Alright. What's your favorite vacation spot?"

"Ember Island."

"Least favorite typical food?"

"Stewed sea prunes, sorry." Katara scoffed, dramatically, at his response.

"What did you want to be when you were small?"

"A monk, like Gyatso."

"What made you give up?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty girls."

They laughed together. Katara was already feeling a lot better, just from asking those few questions, but it still wasn't enough. She looked down and asked another one, in a quieter tone.

"Are you scared of being a parent too?"

"I'm terrified." He took her hands from across the table, kissing her knuckles.

Aang's eyes shimmered at the sight of her. In times like that, when he acted all cute and sweet, Katara felt inebriated by him too. She suddenly had the urge of running her hands through his short hair and pulling him in for a kiss, but she had to control herself because after all, they were in a public space.

"I love you" Katara spluttered.

His eyes opened wide and he stopped smiling. Did he hear it right?

"What?"

"I know that's not a question but..." She blushed as she tried to explain.

"You love me? Like... Love me?"

"Yes." She smiled. "Very much so."

A big grin was formed on his face. He blushed and started laughing, just like he had done earlier, at the hospital.

"This is literally the best day of my life." He said as he pulled her in for a kiss over the table. "I love you too, Sweetie."

Aang spent the rest of the evening with Katara at the coffee shop, playing the quiz game and staring at her beautiful red lips, her rosy cheeks, and her eyes. Her big, blue, shiny eyes, which hypnotized him.

That tone of blue reminded him of something with the same color and brightness. Something he had hidden in his sock drawer at home, afraid it would be a too big step. The blue diamond of the ring beamed as bright as her eyes in his mind.

She loved him.

So maybe...