Lin shares an afternoon with Sokka.
"Hello Beifong family!" Toph called out as she opened the door.
Lin watched in amusement as her children perked up from their spots in the living room, where they had all been having reading time. Tarlo was first to dash off towards the front door, followed closely by Tayen. Both let out an excited, "Grandma!"
Toph walked into the room with both kids hoisted under her arms, who in turn were giggling madly. Sokka trailed after them with a fond smile on his face.
"Who's ready to go bug Sugar Queen to make us cookies?"
"Do you think she knows how to make seaweed cookies like Mama?" Amaruq asked as he approached his grandma.
"You betcha, who'd you think taught her? I can assure you it wasn't me." Toph snickered, before letting down the younger too. She reached out and chucked Amaruq under his chin. He grinned and dove in for a hug too, which she accepted happily.
Kya walked into the room with all the kids' coats. "Alright, let's get these on. We've got a ferry to catch."
Nuna got up and greeted her grandma too, before receiving her coat with a smile of thanks to Kya.
Lin huffed a little as she got up, waving off Kya's look of concern. Yes, she may be very uncomfortable, but she still could get up and see her children off for the afternoon.
"Alright you lot, go get your shoes on, we'll be there in a minute." Kya said, ushering them out of the living room after Lin received hugs from them all. "Are you sure you want to have some alone time, Linny? I don't mind staying."
"Kya, I will be fine. I promise." Lin said, meeting the waterbender's eyes. They'd already gone over this conversation many times that morning.
"Oh you want to be alone? I was kinda hoping we could hang out a bit, but that's okay." Sokka said with a sheepish smile. "Everyone deserves some alone time."
Lin bit her lip, blushing a bit. "I would… I would actually really like that." She glanced up at him shyly.
The smile that lit Sokka's face warmed Lin's heart, especially when he let out an excited squeal.
"Oh can it Snoozles, you sound like a teenage girl."
"You're just jealous that Lin wants to spend time with me." Sokka retorted, teasingly.
Toph just elbowed him in the gut. "Lin can spend her days with whoever she pleases. Even if it includes the likes of you." She glanced in Lin's direction. "You sure you wanna put up with him all afternoon?"
"We'll be fine." Lin assured, approaching her mother.
Toph pulled Lin into a hug, running her hand down her daughter's tightly braided, long hair. Lin melted into her mother's embrace, allowing herself to just enjoy the comfort of her mother's arms. The baby however, wanted to be included too, and promptly kicked swiftly against Lin's upper part of her belly.
Toph could feel the thump against her, and let out a chuckle. "Soon Little Badgermole, then you can have hugs too." She said tenderly, patting the exact spot the movement came from. She received a kick to her hand for her troubles, causing her to laugh and Lin to smile in amusement.
Toph leaned forward and kissed Lin's forehead. "See ya later Badgermole. The kids and I will have a great day bugging Katara."
"I'm sure you will." Lin replied with a smile.
Kya rested her hand on Lin's arm as Toph moved to join the kids at the front door. "We're only a call away if you need anything, the direct number is written right below the phone."
"I know Kya, I promise I haven't forgotten the many times you have shown it to me." Lin replied softly, but with a teasing lilt to her voice.
Kya stuck her tongue out at Lin, before squeezing her arm gently in goodbye.
Soon enough it was just Lin and Sokka. He followed her waddling form to the kitchen where she set about making tea.
"I can do that, Linny." He said, not wanting her to strain herself. He could already see how swollen her ankles were, even with thick socks and slippers on.
Lin gave him a side-eyed look. "Last I can remember, you were never any good making tea."
Sokka blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "It was one time I put the wrong herb in the pot!"
"That happened more than once, and another time you lit the kettle on fire… I still haven't figured out how you managed that."
"Okay, okay, make the tea, oh master tea bender." He said with a bow.
Lin bit her lip to hold back a laugh, but Sokka's heart felt warm at seeing the deep amusement in her eyes. How he had missed that look.
Once the tea was ready, Sokka insisted on carrying it and the bowl of plums Lin insisted on - she already was munching on one as they made their way back to the living room.
Lin let out a sigh of relief as she sat back down on the couch, happy to be off her feet again.
Sokka meanwhile, placed Lin's tea cup within arms reach for her, before sitting on the opposite side of the couch from her. After a sip from his own steaming cup, he placed it aside and turned to her. "Here, put your feet up." He patted his lap.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course." Once she did as he said, he gave her a fond smile. "You know I would sit with your mom a lot during both her pregnancies with you girls."
"I remember with Su, but didn't realize you had when she was expecting me." Lin replied, surprise in her eyes.
Sokka nodded, patting her sock-covered foot. "She was really demanding, wanting foot rubs and all the dumplings. How did you think you got your nickname? Well besides being such a round, healthy baby." His eyes crinkled as he grinned at her.
Lin blushed. "Tayen got it from me then. She had such chubby cheeks, even when just born. And her rolls, had rolls." She let out a soft chuckle. "I will have to show you the pictures later. They are in one of the photo albums over there." She gestured to one of the bookcases on the far side of the room.
"I look forward to it." He said excitedly.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, sipping on their tea and just enjoying the time together. Lin, however, couldn't help but wonder what it was like while she was gone. She had seen the worn faces of her mother and Sokka, of even her sister - who was much too young to have such bags under her eyes when Lin had first arrived back home. She bit her lip though, as she did not want to upset Sokka.
But she should have known that he would notice, he always had known when something was troubling her.
"What's running around in that head of yours?"
Lin swallowed, but knew that Sokka could be very stubborn and wouldn't drop the subject easily. "What… What was it like?" She asked softly, hesitatingly as she knew it would be a touchy subject.
"What was what like?" He asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"What was it like while I was… when I was gone?"
Lin watched as his face took on a pinched expression. "Oh," was all that escaped his lips. When nothing but silence met her for the next few minutes, Lin backtracked. "I-I'm sorry, I… just f-forget I asked." She said quickly, stuttering over her words as she didn't want to offend him.
This seemed to shake Sokka enough that his wet eyes met her slightly panicked ones. He squeezed her foot softly, shaking his head a little. "No, no. You deserve to know." He cleared his throat and worked his mouth a little. "All my life, I thought the hardest blow I had been dealt was the death of my mother." He paused to swallow, his voice having gotten rough from emotion. "But nothing… Nothing can prepare you for the pain of losing a child.
"You have always been a daughter to me, Lin. I know that Su is mine biologically, but you have always been my chosen daughter." Tears now streamed freely down his face, he reached out to hold her hand that rested on the swell of her belly. "Your disappearance and not knowing what happened to you, weighed on your mother and I heavily. On everyone really. Having to accept that you had been murdered… It had been so difficult. We had no body to bury, nothing concrete except that letter and picture."
He took a breath, and closed his eyes. "I moved back in with your mom and sister; Toph needed me, but so did Suyin. Those first few months are still a blur to me now. The whole family barely slept, we were out looking for you every chance we could. Your grandfather hired private investigators, and we followed up on every lead." He sighed. "Everything led to a dead end. Eventually, it was Iroh who sat us down and helped us to make the decision to hold a funeral. He said that if you had died, that we needed to let your spirit cross over to the spirit world.
"I think I spoke to Iroh during his last couple years more than I had ever done before. He understood the pain of losing a child."
Lin turned her hand over and clasped his hand that rested over her own. "I'm sorry that you all mourned for me. I can't imagine losing any of my children." She pulled her feet off his lap and he helped her to sit up. Immediately she scooted over and initiated a hug between them. "I've always viewed you as my dad, and I always wished you were mine." She said, with a small sniffle, trying to hold back her own tears.
"Oh Dumpling, blood doesn't always make a family. You've always been my daughter in my heart."
"I know… Dad." Lin said, hesitatingly. She bit her lip nervously and shifted back to look up at him.
What she found was a brilliant smile and tears streaming unchecked down his cheek. "Oh my little Linny." He then pulled her into his strong arms and they just held each other close.
After a while of just holding each other close, Sokka told her more about the time she was gone. About how the family changed for the better, but also how they all struggled with their own grief over her disappearance and supposed death.
Lin was in a reclined sitting position on the bed. An open book was resting on her belly while she finished off a plum she had retrieved from the kitchen not long ago.
The door to the ensuite bathroom opened, steam billowing out as Kya came out in her nightgown as she bent the water from her hair. "The baby is going to come out looking like a plum with the amount you are eating." She teased with a gentle smile as she flicked the water back into the bathroom, presumably to the sink drain.
Lin blushed a little, but had gotten more comfortable again with the way Kya, Bumi, and even her mother were known for. "Ha ha, very funny." She mocked back as she flipped the page after setting the pit into the bowl on the nightstand.
Kya sat down beside her and rested her chin on her shoulder, peering down at the book. "What are you looking at?"
"A book of baby names. I… I am having trouble finding a name."
"Well, do you want it to be a Water Tribe name to match the other kids?"
Lin sighed. "No. I would like to pick one that I have more control over, one that is more of an Earth Nation name. But I would like for it to match the others." She leaned her head on Kya's. "I have never had this much free reign with names before. He at least let me choose my children's names, they just had to be tribal names and ones he approved of."
"I know you said you didn't want to know the gender, but that was many months ago. Would you like to know now? It may help you narrow down a name." Kya asked as she scanned the page of names.
Lin bit her lip as she thought about it. "No, I… It was always the one thing I could control. He always left the decision up to me, and I liked the idea of not knowing until they arrived. I would like to do that one last time."
Kya nodded. "That's understandable, and many do not want to know, so it's okay." She reached up to finger the page. "Would you like help?" She asked, sitting up so that she could meet Lin's eyes.
Lin glanced up at her and nodded. "Sure, that would be nice, thank you."
"Do you have any in mind yet?"
"Well for a boy I was thinking…"
The next morning, an unexpected knock came from the front door. Kya answered it and once again found her uncle and aunt. "Uncle Sokka, Aunt Toph, we weren't expecting you today. Were we?"
"No, no, but Snoozles here was determined to come over with this." She hiked her thumb behind her.
Kya gaped when she saw what was behind them, tears springing to her eyes. "Come in then. The kids are having quiet time in their rooms, but Lin and I were just having tea in the living room." She ushered them in.
"Hey kiddo," Toph started, "someone here has something for you, and he couldn't wait till we saw you tomorrow." If someone didn't know Toph, they would think she was exasperated by her partner, but Lin and Kya could hear the fondness in her voice, and the way her mouth twitched with amusement.
"Hey, I'm sorry for being excited, jeez. She enjoyed watching me make this and is just as eager for your reaction." Sokka said, coming over and placing a kiss on Lin's head. "Heya Dumpling, how are you two doing today?"
Lin gave him a smile. "We're doing good today… Dad." She blushed a little at using the title in front of her mother and Kya, but a quick glance at them told her that they were not upset by the title change. In fact, both of them looked suspiciously misty-eyed.
"Good, good." He himself was grinning widely as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Ready for your surprise?"
Lin nodded, despite being confused. Sokka stood and went back into the hallway. "Close your eyes!" He called from where he was just out of view. Lin did so, feeling slightly anxious, but she reminded herself these were her parents and Kya; nothing bad will happen. She could hear him shuffle into the room and something was placed near her on the ground.
"Okay, open."
Lin opened her eyes and then gasped. In front of her was the most beautiful bassinet she had ever seen. Carved into the wood were little symbols and animals. The legs were made of a beautiful granite, which contrasted nicely with the rich coloured wood.
"It's," tears had sprung to her eyes. "It's so beautiful." She said softly, reaching out a hand to touch the detailed etchings.
"I started working on it about a week after you came home. There is a symbol here for everyone in the family. My thought was that the baby would be surrounded by love at all times."
Tears streamed down Lin's face. "It's perfect, thank you!" She said, before a sob ripped from her throat. She didn't know why she was sobbing, when she was so happy. But she quickly cuddled into Sokka's arms when he sat beside her, pulling her into his chest. "It's perfect." She repeated softly.
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What are your name guesses? I already have a name picked out, but I would love to see if anyone can guess Baby Girl's name correctly.