A little tender moment between Lin and her babies.

A/N: And we are back with this weeks update!

I added the beginning scene yesterday when I realized that the chapter would have been waaay to short. I think it turned out so cute. Maybe a little too sweet in some spots, but I feel like Lin deserves to have some tooth rotting cuteness to balance out what I have put her through in this.

2 months later; Mid Autumn,146 AG

"Mama?"

Lin looked up to see Tayen in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Yes, little moon?" Lin wiped her hands on a towel as she turned to her youngest daughter.

Tayen walked forward and hugged her mother, before pulling back to pat the small bump she was now sporting.

Lin could tell that she was processing some questions in her head. She brushed some stray hairs from her little forehead. "What's going on in that little head of yours?"

"How did the baby get in there? Why are we getting a new brother or sister? When are they coming? How long will it take? Can it be a sister? I want a little sister."

Lin's head spun a little at the spew of questions. While startled, she was not surprised. Her young waterbender was a feisty little thing, not one to let people tell her she couldn't do something. She was smart too, frequently outwitting her classmates and bending teachers. Tayen reminded her of a mixture of her mother and Katara - which always sent a pang through her heart whenever she saw them in her.

"Slow down there, kiddo." Lin put the towel on the counter and made sure dinner would be fine to simmer. "Let's go sit and chat."

Tayen grabbed her hand and dragged her to the couch. Lin could hear the boys playing in their room, while she knew that Nuna was reading in hers. She felt her lips quirking into a smile as her young daughter urged her to sit, before climbing up and sitting beside her. Lin wrapped an arm around her daughter to bring her closer to her side.

"Alright, first off, we don't know what the baby will be. Your father and I have decided not to find out. Some surprises are worth the wait. But I'm sure you will be a good big sister to either a sister or a brother."

Tayen nodded eagerly, despite being disappointed in not knowing. "Yes, I will! I'll be the bestest sister!"

Lin chuckled. "Of course you will, my moon." She chucked the girl's chin, causing her to giggle. "As for how they got in here," Lin ran a hand over her baby bump; Tayen followed suit and patted her bump again as well. Lin decided to be upfront with her daughter, just like Katara and her mother had been with her and the others when they had had questions when younger. "Well you've noticed that your brothers have different body parts to you and Nuna right? Well, when boys grow up into a man, they use their penis and put it in the woman's vagina. A baby is sometimes a result of that." Lin was grateful for already having gone through these questions with her other two when she had been pregnant with Tarlo.

"As for how long the baby is in my belly, it takes over 9 months. So we still have about 4 months or so before the baby arrives."

"That's so long Mama." Tayen pouted. "Can't they come next week?"

"Sorry, little one, but they would be too small. We want them to be healthy don't we?"

Tayen scrunched up her nose as she contemplated the question, before she nodded. She leant over and placed both of her hands on Lin's belly. "You have to grow big and strong baby. I'm gonna be the best big sister to you." She then placed a kiss on the bump, followed by nuzzling her cheek into it.

Lin swallowed to hold back her tears at her sweet child. Suddenly a distant memory came to her.

A little hand was splayed across her mother's distended belly. Suddenly, a thump was felt against the palm. A startled gasp left Lin's little mouth, which formed a shocked o, her eyes widening in awe. "Mama was that sissy?"

Toph smirked from where she laid with her head lying on her pillows, her inky black hair fanned out on the green pillowcase. "Yeah your little sister is saying hi to you." She said, running her hand through Lin's soft curls.

Lin smiled widely, despite her mother not being able to see it. She hugged her mother's belly, where her sister was growing and nuzzled her cheek where her palm had rested a moment before. Another thump hit her cheek, causing the 5 year old Lin to giggle.

"I can't wait to be a big sister." Young Lin declared.

"You, my little badgermole, are going to be a great big sister. You are a Beifong, afterall, and we never do anything lightly." Toph moved her hand from Lin's ebony locks and glided it softly across her round cheeks, before lightly teasing the little nose.

Lin scrunched her little nose. "Mama," she whined as another giggle left her.

Toph chuckled and gently continued tracing Lin's features. Lin loved when her mother did this, it was her mom's way of saying 'I love you' - as Toph didn't say the words often, but she said it with her touch.

"I love you, Mama." Lin said softly. She nuzzled her cheek against her mothers belly again, receiving another bump to her cheek. "I love you too sissy. I promise to protect you like Bumi protects Kya and Tenny."

Lin glanced up and saw her mom's clouded gaze facing towards the ceiling above. She had a soft smile on her face, while a single tear slipped from her left eye. Lin scoots up the bed and snuggles into her mothers side, head resting on her shoulder. The young earthbender fell asleep with a smile on her face and a heart full of love for their small family. Confident in the thought that the three Beifong's would face the world head-on together once her little sister made her appearance.

Lin was startled from her memory when a couple more bodies joined their snuggle on the couch. She glanced down to find Amaruq cuddled into her side, while Tarlo climbed onto her lap and leant forward to cuddle in.

She smiled at them and wrapped her arms around the three. "I love each of you so much." Lin said softly. She made a point to try and tell her children often, just in case something should happen; she never wanted them to doubt her feelings for them.

"Love you too, Mama!" The three happily replied, snuggling into her arms further.

A little while later, Nuna came out and pouted slightly at missing out on a cuddle. Lin saw her and motioned her forward. "Come here, pebble."

Nuna snuggled in on Lin's side where Tayen had been. The younger girl had migrated to her lap as well, each of the younger two taking a knee.

Lin leant down and placed a kiss on Nuna's head. "I love you, my little pebble."

The 9 year old smiled as she looked up at her mother, their matching green eyes meeting. "Love you too." She replied, before resting her head on her mother's shoulder.

Lin closed her eyes, taking a moment to enjoy this moment of peace with her babies. She was unsure how the future would play out, the older the kids got, the more nervous she became that they would be taken from her to start their full training for the Red Lotus. She was most worried about Nuna, who would most likely be sent to the Earth Kingdom to train; the thought of this filled Lin with dread as she didn't want to be separated from her family again.

A tear slipped from her left cheek, just as it had on her mother's face in her memory. But unlike her mother at the time, she faced the reality that they were not safe, and likely never would be. She gently squeezed her babies closer to her, trying to repress her anxiety of the future.

1 week later

Lin sat beside her son as he shivered in his bed. She applied a damp cloth to his head, but this fever was still going strong. She didn't know what to do. None of her kids had ever gotten this sick before.

She stood and went to the old radio transmitter that was a direct line to her husband's office only. She had already tried a few times to call, but he must have been busy. Thankfully he answered finally.

"What is it?"

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt, but Tarlo seems to be getting worse. I can't carry him to the clinic, he's too heavy for me right now. Could you please get someone to come to the house from the clinic? Please Tulok." She begged. She hated to, but Tarlo needed her right now, and if that meant pleading with her husband to get care for him, then she would do it every time.

"Okay, I will call the clinic. Let me know if no one arrives in the next 30 minutes and I will come myself."

"Thank you."

"He's a strong boy. He'll be fine."

"I know."

Lin took a moment to lean against the wall. The small bit of hope that had lit itself when she had seen Kya for the first time a couple months ago had fizzled out. She had seen nothing in all her appointments to tell her the older woman had recognized her. Kya was always very professional. Lin shook her head to clear her thoughts.

She went through the rest of the empty house and filled a pitcher with cool water, also grabbing two glasses and carrying them back to the boys room.

Istas had taken the other children yesterday evening as Lin was worried the others would get sick if they were around Tarlo.

She set the pitcher and glasses on the side table and poured a small glass. She coaxed Tarlo awake. "Come on love, you need to stay hydrated. Your father is having a healer come to the house. They'll be here soon, okay?"

Tarlo just bleary looked at her and allowed her to help him sip the water. "Mama." Was all he said when done, and she pulled him into her side, his feverish head resting on her chest.

"It's okay little cub. Mama's got you."

It was about 20 minutes later when an urgent knocking came at the door. Lin shifted the sleeping Tarlo off her onto his pillow before heading to the door.

Another knock came as she approached the door. She opened the door to peek out a little to see who was there, and recognized the healer. Lin opened the door wider. "Healer Kya, thank you for coming on such short notice." She said softly.

Kya stepped through the door and Lin took her coat for her and offered a pair of spare slippers they kept just in case.

"Thank you, Meriwa. Your husband said one of your children was ill? Can you please take me to them?"

Lin nodded and led her to Tarlo. "This is Tarlo, he is three. He was feeling ill all yesterday too, and around mid-afternoon yesterday it seemed to get a little worse, so the other kids are at my husband's family to make sure they stay healthy. But something felt off this morning, so I asked him to call the clinic as I can't carry him right now." She stopped herself from continuing to ramble, hand resting on her baby bump.

"You did well." Lin felt a little relieved at the words, but she felt a knot in her chest as she stared at her baby. Soon he wouldn't be the baby of the family anymore, and Lin had to admit it made her a little sad. She was broken from her new thoughts as Kya continued speaking. "Let's see what's going on."

Lin watched as Kya bent water from her skeins on her hips, and guided the glowing water over Tarlo.

After a little while Kya bent the water back into the pouches. "Okay, he should do better now. He had a bit of a gastro infection. I've healed it as best I can, but he will need some antibiotics. Would you like me to run and get them for you? Or I can stay while you go? He should have the first dose soon."

Lin didn't particularly like leaving the house. She really only left for groceries and her healer appointments these days, and to take the children to their bending lessons. Over the years, there were a few times she needed to run out where it was out of her control, but Tulok punished her for being out if it wasn't planned ahead with his approval. While she thinks this wouldn't be one of those occasions, as he knew Tarlo was ill, she would rather not leave him.

"If it's alright, I would prefer to stay with him. I could make tea though?"

"That sounds lovely Meriwa. Okay I will be back in a jiffy." Lin watched as the woman breezed through the room and left down the hall.

Lin took an extra moment to smooth her son's curls off his face, happily noting his fever had reduced a little. She kissed his head before heading to the kitchen.

She decided to make jasmine tea. It was much more common in the Earth Kingdom than the Northern Water Tribe, but it was one of the only things she self indulged in when grocery shopping, and Tulok had never said anything about it even though he knew.

She allowed herself to focus solely on preparing the tea at this moment. Many days this was her only moment of escape. It had always calmed her and it was one of the only things that felt like her old life. In this moment she could picture she was 13 again beside Uncle Iroh as they prepared tea for the whole family. Lin allowed herself a moment to close her eyes and get lost in a memory, before the whistle of the kettle pulled her from it and she set about pouring the hot water over the tea leaves and jasmine blossoms.

Now she just needed to wait for Kya to return.

A/N: Next chapter is Kya's POV again (will kinda just be flipping back and forth for the next bit)

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