Hello again!

Big thanks for Guest1, Guest2 and KitsuneHime18x for reviewing! Your words mean the world for me. Now I know how irritating it is to wait for someone to review you w

Guest1,

Thank you for your information! I'll try hard to write less-ooc Iroh . This is my first time writing Iroh and I'm not good at writing a stiff character, so maybe you can guide me :3 However in my mind, I think even the stiffest person will get uncharacteristically hyped when served by a good news.. don't you think so? :"

Guest2,

Well actually this is not a one shot story so I will continue the story ;D

KitsuneHime18x,

Yeay! Of course he's happy! Who wouldn't! 3

I surfed the web for the pregnancy steps and syndromes and changes. However still, I'm not an expert! If you find something is weird or plain wrong about the pregnancy thing, please tell me immediately! Also nudge me if you find the characters are quite OOC, 'cause it still feels strange to move other's character.. I usually write my own . and because post the story via my ugly ass blackberry phone, it's hard to format the story. indonesia blocked the site and make it impossible to open the site from pc.

Anyway, enjoy!

The Bundle of Joy

-II-

Iroh went home sooner than expected. Probably—well, definitely—, the reason was the news that Asami told him nearly a week before.

Second after his ship arrived at the Harbor of Republic City, he went straight to the Sato Mansion. Cold wind of the night tickled his face because he let the car's window open, but he did not care. Iroh and Asami did marry at Fire Nation, using the traditional ceremony and all. Iroh's mother insisted that they stayed in the Fire Nation Palace. However, Iroh and Asami still obliged to the community and the factory in Republic City. It was not that easy for them to simply move out of the City and leave the life they have been doing for the last... Well, for all their lifetime.

Iroh did not tell Asami that he would come today, so Iroh expect nothing. It was not a shock when he saw his wife laid on their bed, off in her dreamland. He snorted a smile and walked towards her, decided to sit on the edge of the bed, directly next to Asami's feet.

Felt a pressure on the bed that was not hers, Asami opened her eyelids slowly. She groaned a little bit before she fully saw the person whose weight woke her up.

"Iroh..?"

He flashed her a faint yet slightly sorry smile. He leaned closer towards her and kissed her forehead. "I didn't mean to wake you up," he said in a low, husky voice, "How are you, 'Sami?"

Asami could not help but chuckle at the lazy nickname he gave her. "Ecstatic," she said, as she began to sit rather than lay around, "I've never been so nauseous, tired, and lazy before."

"I don't know you're a sarcastic kind of girl, 'Sami," Iroh gave her a smug look as he tried to help his wife get up; "I thought that was Bolin's specialty."

Asami gave her husband a sweet yet soft chuckle. When she finally up, she leaned closer to Iroh and used his chest to lean on. As a reflex, he put his arm around Asami's still-slim body. She did not realize how deep she missed the scent of her husband's, the soft material of his uniform, the board of his chest, and how comfortable she felt around his warm hug.

"What's in your mind?" Iroh asked, worry was caught easily in his tone. His fingers unconsciously played around the end of Asami's raven hair.

Asami did not answer to the question for some minutes, and Iroh did not press her to. Secretly, she felt thankful for that. Iroh knew that her emotions now were hard to describe by words only. He kept hugging her and gently placed his chin on top of her head.

"I don't know, Iroh," Asami finally let words escaped her red lips, "I think I'm frightened. But I'm also happy. But I'm also nervous. I don't think I'm thinking a very good thing. I keep picturing you as a father, and you easily fitting in. It's like you are born to be a father."

He nodded so she would know that he was listening.

"However when I picturing myself as a mother… I don't think the position is for me."

Iroh pursed his lips for a moment, trying to look for the best sentence to come with this kind of situation.

"Are you scared?" Iroh asked, gently broke the hug and looked directly to his wife's shinning emerald eyes.

"Are you not?"

"Well, I was," Iroh chuckled, "I don't think anyone's on their right mind is brave enough in this kind of situation! But what do you think made me change?"

Asami shook her head slowly.

"Thinking that I have somebody with me to go through this all the way long is making me brave enough to face it," Iroh's voice now slowly became a whisper, "It's okay to be scared, 'Sami. But you have me. You don't need to be scared alone. And you'll become a great mother. Anyone who can handle Meelo is certainly the best mother in the whole world."

He ended the sentence by planting a soft kiss on her lips, and did not break it for the next minute. When she pulled away, Iroh patted the crown of her head and smiled.

"Feel better now?" he asked. She answered with a nod.

"Better," Asami added, "I think I'm going back to sleep now, Iroh. Mind to join me?"

"Thought you'll never ask."