Tokka Week 2011: Mother

Mother
From Sokka's POV

      "Come on, Toph, push!" urged Katara from her place at the foot of the bed.

      Toph took a deep breath, gripped my hand tighter, and pushed, releasing another stream of colorful words.  My hand was so purple that I was sure it would fall off any second; I heard my knuckles crack in Toph's hand, but I didn't try to loosen her grip.  Instead, I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on her lips, effectively cutting her off mid-swear.

      "Watch your mouth, beautiful," I said, earning myself a glare from my wife.

      "Next time," she panted, "I'll let you have the baby!"

      "Almost there, Toph!" Katara cried suddenly.  "I can see the baby's head!  One more big push!"

      "You can do it, Toph," I told her.  "I love you."

      "You sure you wanna see this, old lady?  Or did you forget what happened last time?"

      I laughed.  "No, I'll never forget, and I don't think you'll ever let me.  But I wouldn't miss this for the world."

      Toph nodded, pushed, and let out a scream that shook the room.

      A moment later, Toph collapsed back against the pillows, and the wail of a baby filled the room.  Katara turned her back to me and Toph to clean the baby, and I resisted the urge to get up and look over her shoulder.  I wanted Toph to see the baby at the same time.  Then I remembered that it was never going to happen that way.

      After a moment, Katara turned around, a green bundle in her arms.  She smiled, and walked to where I sat on the edge of the bed with my arms around my wife.

      "Open your arms, sweetheart," I said quietly to Toph.  She took a few deep breaths, pushed herself up a little more, and made a cradle with her small arms.

      Katara handed me the baby, and I gently laid it in Toph's arms.  I watched as her sensitive fingertips floated over the baby, "seeing" its head, face, toes, fingers.

      "Sokka," Toph breathed.  I knew the question she was about to ask.

      "He looks just like you, beautiful," I told her.  Our son was the mirror image of his mother.  He had the shaggiest black hair I had ever seen on a newborn (not that I'd seen that many... maybe 2?), so shaggy that a few locks fell to his eyebrows and the rest of it stuck up in various directions; his nose was small; even though he was only a few minutes old, he already had that "take-life-as-it-comes" look his mother always wore.

      "What color is his hair?" Toph asked, twirling a lock around her finger.

      "Black.  Black as a starless night," I said, kissing her temple.

      She smiled.  "And his eyes?"

      I was about to tell her that he hadn't opened them yet, but as I opened my mouth, our son lifted his eyelids and found his mother's face.

      "Blue," I said quietly.

      "As the ocean?"  Toph turned to me, catching my chin in her hand.  "Just like yours?"

      I grinned.  "Yeah.  Like mine."

      Toph kissed me, then turned back to our son.  "He still needs a name," she reminded me.

      "Sokka, Jr.?" I offered playfully.

      Toph punched me lightly in the arm.

      "I'm kidding."  We thought for a minute, then it hit me.  "Xan," I said.  "Short for Xander."

      "Xan."  Toph tested the name on her tongue.  "Good, strong name for an earthbender.  Oh, you know he's gonna be an earthbender."

      I laughed.  "He could be a waterbender like his Aunt Katara."  I looked behind me, but Katara had left.  "Xan is staring at you, mommy," I told Toph, and she smiled.

      "Hi, Xan," Toph said tenderly.  "I'm your mommy.  And the nutjob over here is your daddy."

      "Hey!" I protested, but Toph ignored me.

      "You are going to be a great bender, Xan.  I can feel it.  You're going to have your daddy's good looks, his charming stupidity, and his talent.  I just know it."

      "And you are going to have your mommy's kick-butt attitude that will someday tick me off, her powerful bending, and her big heart."

      The door creaked as Katara came back in.  She smiled at me with my wife and son.  "Sounds like the world better prepare itself," she said.  "If he turns out to be anything like you two, we're gonna need all the help we can get."