Thanks for all the reviews!
(Oh, and by mistake in the last chapter, I'm going to go through Sokka/Suki's SECOND child. They have a daughter named Niamne.)
The Zutara Family
Summary: Following the struggles of Katara and Zuko as they have a family (nine kids) and Zuko decides with his taking the throne...
Rating: K+ or T
Major Characters: Katara (27), Zuko (29), and kids (oldest to youngest as they'll come): Heishui, Little Zuko (Lil' Z as kids call him), Zarina and Zerifina, Jailia, Kaelea, Annalea, Kiki, and Heziah.
Pairings: Katara/Zuko, Toph/Aang, and Sokka/Suki and family relationships
P.O.V.: Third Person Omniscient
Oh, Baby...Another Baby (The Choices)
Katara sighed and put her hands on her forehead. She shouldn't be this nervous. She shouldn't...not since Heishui. Speaking of, the boy was currently hanging onto his mother's dark red skirt and trying to catch her attention without much success. "Mommy..."
"What if he doesn't want another one?" Katara pondered to herself again.
"Mommy," Heishui now raised his arms. "Mommy!" He raised his voice a notch, which was a trait of Zuko Katara hated the most.
Katara still didn't hear or take note of the boy. Her thoughts were swimming. "I mean, he hasn't even taken the Fire Lord spot yet! It's too soon already for another baby!"
"Mommmmy!" Heishui now tugged on Katara's hand, and this time, she looked down. "Sorry, Baby," she apologized, picking up the young Firebender. "Mommy's just thinking hard." She toyed with his dark brown ponytail and sighed. "I guess we should go find Daddy, hum?"
Heishui got a smile out of hearing Zuko's name mentioned and nodded, pointing a thin finger ahead of him. "Go, Mommy! Go Daddy!"
Katara smiled and laughed lightly. As much as Heishui loved her, he was definitely a Daddy's Boy. "Okay, let's go," she said, setting the boy on his feet and allowing him to take her finger.
He immediately led Katara out of the bedroom. "Come. On. Mommy!"
"I'm right here!" Katara laughed, following her son. "Daddy's in the study, Heishui."
"Wiff Auntie 'Zula?" Heishui asked hopefully.
Katara smiled and nodded. "Yep. Aunt Azula's with him, too." She admired the way he loved his whole family dearly. Every person had some sort of special connection with him...everybody but her she felt like. Heishui was a Daddy's Boy, loved Azula dearly, was almost always with Iroh, would go anywhere with Sokka and Suki and their daughter, Niamne, and even though they weren't family family, Heishui enjoyed the times he had with Aang and Toph and their kids.
The missing link, was Katara, his mother.
Katara felt like she didn't have anything special with her baby boy. When he had a bad dream, he ran to Zuko. When he was scared, he ran to Sokka or Aang. And when he needed something, he would run to his Aunt Suki or Azula. The only time he ever called to her was when he wanted to be picked up or to go someplace. She felt like she was disconnected from him.
When they entered the study, Heishui let go of Katara's finger and ran to Zuko. "Daddy!"
Katara sighed deeply. Apart from dealing with the feeling of being disconnected from her own son, she was still trying to find out a way to tell Zuko that she was pregnant again. She watched Zuko pick Heishui up and set him on his left arm, then he greeted her with a kiss.
She smiled. "Zuko, I have to talk to you," she said quietly. "Alone, please?"
Zuko looked worried for a split moment, then turned to his Azula. "Could you hang onto Heishui for me, please?" he set the boy down and he ran to his aunt.
Both Katara and Zuko stepped outside into the halls and Katara burst into tears. "I don't believe this," she cried, allowing Zuko to hug her warmly.
"What's wrong, Princess?" Zuko asked, laying his head on hers. "Why have you been so distant lately?"
Katara heaved a sigh. "I feel so confused."
"Why?" Zuko looked at his wife's teary face. "What's going on, Katara?"
Katara started to rant. "It's just that--that Heishui's got such a great relationship with everybody else but me, and I can't do anything about it! It breaks my heart and I hate it! And on top of that, I'm pregnant again and I don't even know if you care about that, and I just--"
"Woah, freeze, there, Baby," Zuko put a finger on her lips. "What did you just say?"
Katara felt her blood freeze. "Uhm...about Heishui?"
"No--after that."
She swallowed hard. "I'm pregnant again and I don't know if you care?"
Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that. What do you mean I wouldn't care?" He smiled. "That's great. We're going to have another baby. Why wouldn't I?"
Katara shrugged. "I don't know...I just..."
"And what's this relationship problem you have with our son?" Zuko cocked his head to one side. "What's the problem?"
Katara sighed. "He just seems to have a connection with everybody but me. I hate it," she mumbled, lookng away from her husband. "It hurts so much."
Zuko made her look at him. "Katara, what do you mean by that?"
"He loves you, loves Azula, loves my brother and Suki, plus Aang, Toph, and all their kids and Iroh, and I'm out of the picture completely!" Katara stomped her foot and sobbed, burying her face into Zuko's chest.
"When did you start that up?" Zuko asked, not sure whether this was true or hormones.
"When he ran into our bedroom that one night because of the nightmare and would only see you," Katara sighed, stopping her sobs. "He ran right to you and stayed with you. Never once--"
Zuko stopped her. "Look, Katara, I'm sorry about that, but you have NO idea what kind of a great relationship you have with Heishui."
"Yeah, right," Katara muttered. "The relationship of getting carried or picked up."
"Noooo," Zuko turned her head again to look at him. "Who does he always run to when he gets hurt?"
"Me," Katara said. "But one--"
"No, I'm not done," Zuko interrupted. "Who does he always go to when Niamne says something to him that hurts him?"
"Me," Katara saw no point in this. "But, Zuko..."
Zuko had more. "Who does he run to when I'm not around or when he can't find anybody else? When he gets lonely and scared?"
Katara saw it now. "Me," she smiled lightly. "But I feel like you and him have such a stronger bond than him and I do." She sighed. "What's wrong?"
"There's nothing wrong," Zuko said. "Especially with you. It's just that those certain times and things, he turns to other people."
"I guess," Katara shrugged. She really didn't feel like talking about it anymore. "Zuko, what about the new baby? And your--"
Zuko touched her lips again. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, I'm busy taking my rightful place as Fire Lord."
Katara broke into a smile and hugged his neck. "Really! Oh my..." She couldn't find words. It was just all too perfect. "I...really!"
"Really," Zuko smiled. "I thought about what you said before. I didn't mean to go behind your back about it." He gave her a light kiss. "If anything, it helped me."
Katara only smiled. "Thank you...you have no idea how much this means to me."
Zuko smirked. "I think I have an idea." He gently placed a hand on her belly, which, if you looked close, had swollen. "And this newest addition to the start of our family will be the one thing that'll keep me going."
"Me too?" Katara joked with a smile.
"Definitely."
JayJay!