The only people I own are Zahira and her children with Bumi! Please enjoy!
Lin woke up in a tangle of sheets and limbs. After she and Tenzin had retired to bed she had tossed fitfully through the night; her unborn children were being particularly rambunctious, and at 34 weeks of pregnancy it was hard to find any position that was comfortable, much less one that would get her to sleep. Still, the sunlight streaming through the windows showed that she had indeed gotten some much-needed shuteye. She attempted to turn over when she noticed that her arm was pinned down by a slumbering Korra. Lin reached over and caressed the young girls cheek. Korra was a 'firecracker,' as Azula affectionately called her. She was all energy, darting from place to place as her family members tried desperately to catch up with her. It was hard to keep her focused for more than five minutes unless she was practicing waterbending, and even then her attention would be held for maybe 15 minutes before she got antsy. If Katara wasn't trying to get her to practice, then Korra could be found running through the halls with her clumsy polar bear puppy Naga at her side. It took all of Lin's energy and then some to keep up with her, but now, seeing her sleeping, it was all worth it. She wished this moment could last forever.
Korra's eyes fluttered open. "G'mornin, mama," she mumbled sleepily. Lin's heart felt so full she thought it could burst.
"Morning, water lily," the metal bender said softly, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Korra's forehead. "Did you sleep well?"
Korra yawned and nodded before snuggling close to Lin's side. At that moment a fully dressed Tenzin bounced into the room, smiling broadly at the scene before him. Upon seeing her father, Korra grinned and reached up to hug Tenzin's neck.
"Hi my sweet girl," Tenzin said as he kissed Korra's cheek. "Did you sleep well?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Good, because Naga is already downstairs waiting to play with you. If you ask nicely, Bumi's kids might even join you too."
With a squeal, Korra clambered out of bed and ran down the stairs. Soon excited barks rang through the halls, as did the sound of clanging metal. Tenzin and Lin chuckled and shook their heads at the soundtrack of their lives before Tenzin leaned over and kissed Lin.
"Morning my love," Tenzin said, gently brushing Lin's hair away from her face. "I'm glad you finally got some sleep."
"You and me both. You look rather awake, what time is it?"
"It's 9 but most of the house has been up since 6. Your mom called all of the aunts and uncles in—apparently while we were sleeping Bumi had some sort of epiphany last night involving Uncle Zuko's dragon of all things. So we've been convening in the dining room for the past couple of hours."
"That's probably because he still wants to ride that thing," Toph smirked, but grew serious. "How is everything looking?"
"Good, surprisingly enough. I'm glad we decided to call in the rest of the family, they have been incredibly helpful. We're just finalizing battle plans now."
"That's very good to hear," Lin said as she sat up. Suddenly, a lightning bolt of pain shot through her lower back and she bent over in pain. She waved back an alarmed Tenzin. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she huffed. "I just wish your children wouldn't use me as a personal punching bag."
"In three weeks time, that won't be the case," Tenzin soothed, gently rubbing her stomach. Suki's voice could be heard calling faintly for Tenzin. He sighed. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Go, go," she said, waving him off. "I'll be fine. I'm going to rest for a bit, my back is aching thanks to those kids of yours."
Tenzin nodded, pecked her on the cheek, and headed downstairs to where the rest of the group was assembled. He hated leaving her, especially when she was so close to delivering, but if it meant keeping her safe it was worth it.
Inviting the aunts and uncles had indeed been a wise decision. Sokka and Suki had come up with a near-perfect plan to prevent the bugmen from infiltrating the city by discreetly stationing the Metal Clan at the entrances to the city. Since the hostile ships were stationed outside Air Temple Island, the United Forces fleet would blockade the ports and cut off their access to Republic City. The only issue left to discuss was Zaheer and his three bending friends.
"So now that we have the strategy straightened out, we need to factor in Zaheer," Sokka said. "They're going to attack, it's just a matter of when and where."
"What makes you so sure?" Ty Lee asked.
"They've already let the Avatar slip through their fingers once," Zuko observed. "They're not likely to do it again. And the invasion of the Bugmen is the perfect opportunity for them. They'll assume that we'll be so distracted that we won't notice them slipping through until it's too late."
"I bet you anything they're in the city now," Azula said. Everyone assembled turned to look at her. "It makes sense. If Zaheer has been busting his friends out by pretending to be one of the bugmen sent to capture them, then who's to say that he and his friends haven't been camping out in the city this entire time? If he was with the bugmen long enough, he probably knew that they were coming long before we did. It's like how Ty Lee, Mai, and I took down Ba Sing Se from the inside. We pretended to be Kyoshi warriors, and by the time anyone realized it was too late—we took the walled city hook, line, and sinker." Suki rolled her eyes. Though decades had passed and the women had made amends, the retired head Kyoshi warrior was still bitter about the event.
"Then how are we going to get Lin and the children out?" Tenzin asked, panic seeping into his voice.
"Carefully," Bumi said thoughtfully. "If there's an earth bender with them, he'll be able to sense when there's a large group leaving. So if anything, we're going to need to stagger the leaving times so that we don't attract too much attention. And if we're going by going by air bison, then we should go at night as it's harder to be seen."
Suyin nodded and used her seismic sense to take count of who would need to leave. There was Junior and Huan drawing in the study with Bumi's oldest daughter Melati; Opal, Korra, and Bumi's twins Meili and Liwei were outside, playing with Naga while Katara looked on; Wei and Wing were sleeping in the bedroom; and Lin—
Suyin tapped out a slightly stronger signal signal. Lin was propped up in bed, and her breathing and heart rate were slightly raised. The triplets' heartbeats were, thankfully, strong and healthy. Suyin almost took her foot off the floor when she felt it: a strong pulsing. Which was odd, considering that Lin was—oh. OH.
The younger Beifong hid her surprise and turned to find her mother staring in her general direction. So she felt it too, Suyin thought. "Tenzin, where is that daughter of mine?" Toph asked.
"She's upstairs resting. The triplets kept her up all night, and they kicked her back really hard this morning as well. I told her she should stay in bed unless absolutely necessary."
Toph nodded. "Kya, Suyin, could you take some tea and soup upstairs to Linny? She should rest as much as possible."
Kya stole a furtive glance at Suyin and Toph. Suyin had an uncharacteristically blank face as she set up a tray with hot miso soup and green tea. Toph looked the same as she ever did, but her aura was changing from its normal verdant green to a muddy color. Whatever was going on, it couldn't be good.
Once they exited the dining room, Kya gracefully swiped the tray from Suyin's grasp without dropping a single drop of liquid. "Alright, spill," she said accusingly. "Something's up, and you can't tell me differently."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Suyin replied innocently. Kya rolled her eyes. As hard as Suyin tried, she couldn't fool Kya. Kya considered Suyin her kid sister, and had spent enough time with the woman as children and as a member of her dance troupe to know when she was lying. Even if she hadn't, the master healer could tell from the woman's clouded aura that something was amiss. "What, I don't!" Kya arched an eyebrow and stared her down before the Metal Clan matriarch's innocent demeanor broke. "Alright, fine. I was using seismic sense to figure out where my children were, and I felt a pulse."
"Isn't feeling pulses part of being a seismic sensor?" Kya asked confusedly.
"Yes, but this wasn't a heartbeat pulse, this was different." Suyin stopped walking just out of earshot of Lin's room and pulled her future sister-in-law closer. "Kya, I think Lin's in labor."
Kya almost dropped the tray she was holding but caught herself at the last moment. "WHAT?" She whisper-shouted before collecting herself. "What makes you so sure? She's three weeks out!"
"I was three weeks out when my twins decided to make their appearance. My second-oldest was even born six weeks early. Plus, Tenzin said that the babies kept her up all night and that she has really bad back pain."
"Well, for Lin's sake I hope that you misinterpreted a signal," Kya said as they began walking towards Lin's door. "The last thing she needs on top of all of this is to go into labor."
Suyin opened the door to find a sweat-soaked Lin. "Hey, the two people I wanted to see the most," she said breathlessly, cracking a hesitant smile. "My water just broke."
As soon as Kya came downstairs, Toph knew. "Alright, everyone, now that we have this bugman nonsense sorted out, why don't we move to the sitting room?" Toph said.
"Sure, but why?" Mai asked, her arm casually resting on her husband's shoulder.
"Because it's arguably the comfiest place to wait for Lin's children to be born, unless you want to spend hours sitting in these wooden chairs?" Everyone gasped out of delight and clapped Tenzin on the back as he and Kya rushed to Lin's room. From there they took their tea and lazily spread out on Toph's sofas to wait, much like they did in their youth.
"I hear something!" Korra announced excitedly after a few hours. After Tenzin and Kya had left Toph had gone outside to tell Korra of her siblings' impending arrival. Korra and Opal, who had become fast friends in the time that they had known each other, shrieked in glee and ran around the children's garden with Naga gently nipping at their heels. Katara laughed at their joy and quickly ducked out towards Lin, where she had been helping with the delivery ever since. Korra had faked them out a couple times before, so Suki was inclined to disregard it when she too heard a noise.
"I'll check it out," Suki replied as she absentmindedly ruffled Korra's hair. She jumped off the couch and strode down the hallways toward where Korra had heard the noise and excitedly shoved open the door.
Turns out, Tenzin was the source of the noise.
"Quit being a baby, airhead," Lin grunted, sweat beading her brow as Kya healed her brother's broken hand. "Last time I checked, you're not the one who's been in labor since last night."
"I know, but did you have to grip it so tight?"
"How's it going?" Suki asked, eager to hear updates she could feed to the adults waiting.
"You came just in time. The first one's just been born," Katara said proudly as she gestured to the small but squirmy bundle a teary-eyed Suyin was gently holding. "It's a boy."
"He looks just like Aang," Suyin whispered, in awe of the tiny creature in her arms. She genuinely thought she would never see the day that Lin would become a mother; to be here, in the Beifong house, holding her beloved sister's firstborn son was truly an emotional experience. She gently kissed the forehead of her nephew, who she already loved as fiercely as her own children.
"Spirits, that hurts!" Lin muttered, her jaw clenching as she rode out another contraction.
"I'll leave you all to carry on. Thank you Katara," Suki said as she rushed out of the delivery room and into living room where a multitude of eyes waited for her to speak.
After the joyous news, the adults settled down into waiting mode again, but this time in much better spirits. Toph and Zahira watched Korra play outside with Suyin and Bumi's children while Sokka and Suki cuddled on the couch. Bumi decided that he would read a book, only to be reminded by his choice of reading material why he disliked the activity so much. Zuko, Ty Lee, and Mai had sat down for a few rounds of pai sho, but eventually lost interest and went to join the others outside. An hour later, Azula checked on the couple and came back with news that a second child had been born, this one a boy as well. On that happy note the group moved to the dining room for dinner, chattering away excitedly over Sokka's surprisingly delicious dinner of steamed dumplings and seaweed noodles. Soon after, Korra and her cousins ran outside to play in the children's section of the gardens.
"Do you think Mama's okay?" Korra asked as she cartwheeled around.
"I don't know," Zahira's daughter Meili mused. "I think Auntie Lin's fine, though. But I just really want to meet the babies!"
"Me too!" squealed Korra as she jumped up and down. "When do you think they'll let us see them? Do you think we can see them now? Let's go see them now!" With that the two little girls happily bounded up the porch and into Zahira, who accompanied them to the practice room where they reluctantly practiced their bending.
Lin was surprised she hadn't passed out yet.
"Just so you know Tenzin, we are never sleeping in the same bed ever again," Lin fumed. Tenzin simply paled and vigorously nodded. Suyin, rocking both of her sister's children, had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She had said the same thing to Bataar when she was in labor with their firstborn; 10 years later and she was now the mother to his five children. Still, the way Lin's eyes gleamed she couldn't help but wonder if there was any truth behind that statement.
"Another contraction came, and Lin grit her teeth to keep from crying out. All things considered, she had been in labor for almost an entire day. Night was falling quickly, and so were her spirits. She was so tired, and yet the only way out was through.
"Keep pushing, you're almost done," Kya encouraged.
Lin felt like she was being split in two, and then-
Nothing.
The metalbender fell back onto the pillows, chest heaving from exertion. Tenzin, tears freely falling down his face, gently draped an arm around his exhausted wife. An angry wail could be heard, and Kya moved quickly to wash and swaddle the newest addition to the family.
"The last one," Katara said sweetly as she handed the infant off to its mother. "It's a girl."
"A girl?" Lin's voice hitched in her chest, and the metalbender brought the infant closer to her chest. Sensing the small movement, she opened her eyes to reveal clear eyes the color of storm clouds. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself buried deep in her fiancé's embrace. Tenzin sweetly kissed Lin on the forehead, his happy tears running into her hair. Tears shone in Lin's eyes as she looked up at the love of her life, now also the father of her children.
They had done it. They had really and truly brought three healthy lives into this messy, chaotic, and wonderful world.
"Do you want to hold them all?" Katara asked, shaking them out of their reverie. Tenzin eagerly nodded, and with the help of Suyin and Katara the couple lovingly cradled their newborns. Lin's smile was so big Suyin swore it took up half her face.
"Congratulations, little brother," Kya said, affectionately rubbing Tenzin's shoulder. "Did you ever come up with names that weren't Guru Laghima for my nephews and niece?"
"We did, actually." Tenzin cleared his throat. "Kya, Suyin, Mother, I present to you without further fanfare in order of their birth Rinchen, Sonam, and Tashi Beifong."
Suyin beamed and leaned over to kiss her sister's cheek. Lin looked deeply into her eyes, no verbal communication needed to show how grateful she was for her sister's presence during one of the most important days of her life.
"Now that they are born, who is going to announce them?" Katara asked as she cleaned up.
"Actually Mother, I was hoping that you all would," Tenzin said. "It's only fair that the women who helped bring them into this world announce their birth."
With teary smiles, the women departed for to visit those who were waiting downstairs. Katara watched the others leave before facing her son. "Aang would be so happy for you right now," she said tearily before departing as well. Lin sighed contentedly into Tenzin's chest, preparing herself for the onslaught of relatives that were to follow.
No matter what happened next, she knew they were going to be okay.
