Chapter Text
After Lin had gotten the pups bathed, fed and put to bed, she joined her wife in the nursery. Kya held their son to her breast as Lin moved to sit behind her on the futon. She adjusted herself without disturbing the baby, something she had plenty of practice doing. Leaning her head back on Lin shoulder, she looked at the side of her mate’s face. “We’re done after this.”
“I can’t make any promises.” Lin smirked.
“You better, or else you will never touch me again.” Lin could tell that she was joking, but she did agree that four children was enough for them.
“I’ll go to the market and get the ingredients for moon tea. You know I can’t resist you.”
There was tension in the room and it was most definitely coming from Lin. They sat together for a few minutes the only sound was coming from Zian suckling away.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Kya asked softly.
Lin didn’t answer for a while. Kya waited patiently for her mate to gather her thoughts. “He looked right through me. Didn’t even know who I was.”
“Well it has been twenty-seven years, Lin. I know that’s not an excuse but not everyone's memory is that great.”
“Kya, he birthed me. How can you give birth to a child and not even recognize your face in theirs? Or their scent for that matter.”
“Are you going to tell your sire?”
“I have to. There’s no way I can keep this from Toph of all people.” Lin sighed, “I can’t believe you talked me into agreeing to a playdate.”
“Well Kianna asked, and the pups seemed excited. I thought it would just be mean to say no.”
“Oh, so now we’re on a first name basis with the woman who doesn’t even know she’s my sister?” Lin laughed. Kya chuckled as she shifted to hand Zian to Lin to be burped. She fixed her shirt and smiled at the picture in front of her. Lin had Zian laying over her legs as she began giving gentle but firm taps on his back. He gave two big burps before Lin changed his diaper and laid him down for the night.
Lin woke the next morning to an empty bed. She furrowed her eyebrows as she sat up. The apartment was oddly quiet. She looked to the bedside table, 6:15. No one should be awake yet. Zian always woke around five am for a changing and then Kya would be back in bed with her, or vice versa. She got out of bed to relieve herself before walking down the hall. Kya wasn’t in the nursery and the pups were all in their beds. She went into the living room to see most of the furniture against the wall and her wife asleep on the newly positioned sofa. There was a cup of tea on the table next to her. Kya hadn’t been asleep for long if the temperature of the tea was any indication. Lin moved her wife’s hair out of her face, gently waking her.
Kya gave a tired smile, “Hi.”
“What are you doing out here alone, love?”
“Getting ready for the play date.”
“Why didn’t you wake me? I could’ve helped.”
“You do so much, I wanted you to be able to sleep in a bit.” Kya yawned as she sat up, “Are you ready for today?”
“Yeah, I’m not going to mention it with the pups here though. I don’t want to start anything that will end up scaring them.”
“You’re right.” Kya agreed. “It’s best to do it in private.”
“Come back to bed.” Lin spoke softly, “The children won’t be awake for another couple of hours.” She held out her hand for her wife to take as she led her back to the bedroom; the cup of tea forgotten on the table.
9am came and Lin and Kya reluctantly got out of bed. Lin went to wake the babies and Kya went to prepare their breakfast. It wasn’t until noon that their guests arrived for the playdate. Kanto and Kianna had brought the children, Arik and Oshi, over and they were having the time of their lives. The adults were enjoying tea in the kitchen while they watched them. They were holding a light conversation, occasionally stopping to speak to the pups, when someone suddenly entered the home. Kya suddenly became nervous, while Lin stiffened as she recognized the scent. Kianna was oblivious.
Kanto noticed the change in both of the women, “Is everything alright?”
“My sire is here.” Lin said, abandoning her tea as she left the kitchen. Going through the living room she met her sire at the door. “Uh hey Chief, what are you doing here?”
“I can’t spend my lunch break with my family?” Toph asked as if she was offended.
“No, I mean yes. You’re welcome here anytime. But we are in the middle of a playdate.”
“That explains why I feel more people here than usual.” Toph spoke as she began walking down the hall.
Lin followed as she frantically tried to stop her, “Sire there’s something I have to tell you. I was going to tell you later when I stopped by the station.”
Toph walked into the living room, “Spit it out Lin, your babbling is irritating.” She stopped when she noticed a familiar scent. She turned to her daughter and spoke in a low voice, a voice that scared Lin as a child. The voice that told her that she was in big trouble, “Lin, what did you do?”
“Sire I,” Lin started but was interrupted.
“Toph?”
“Kanto. Nice of you to show your face again after all these years. What are you doing here?”
“I was invited here. I brought my grandchildren for a playdate.”
“So, you decided to let someone else mount you then?”
“Please Sire, not here. Not with the pups.” Lin pleaded.
“What happened between us was a long time ago, I'm over it. Maybe you should just let it go.”
Lin looked at Kanto, a confused expression on her face. She could see Kya and Kianna gathering the children and ushering them into another room. She had to make sure to thank her wife for that later.
“I couldn’t ‘just let it go’ as you so carelessly put it.” The chief said, barely containing her anger.
“What kind of alpha are you? You know the child was too small and weak. It would have never survived. Get over it.”
“You still as dense as you were 28 years ago.” Toph turned to her daughter, “Lin, meet your poor excuse of a father.”
To say Kanto was shocked would be an understatement. Lin couldn’t be the child he had birthed so long ago. The child was born too early, too small and weak to survived. But as he got a closer in depth look at her, he could tell that she was. She looked like him in the face, and now that he was paying more attention, he could tell that his scent was mixed with hers. She smelled like him and Toph and he didn’t even notice. “Lin I’m sorry.”
Lin couldn’t look at him; Kanto had made her feel small again. He had left her when she was at her most vulnerable, when she needed him the most. All because he didn’t think she was strong enough to survive, but she did. She was a fighter, a survivor.
“Did you know?” That was a dumb question. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have gotten nervous when Toph arrived unexpectedly.
“Yeah, I did. As soon as we met, I knew that you were the man who didn’t want me. I didn’t know all of the details, only that you left shortly after my birth. But to hear the way you spoke about your own pup makes me sick to my stomach.” Lin finally looked at him, “I spent a lot of time upset that I only had one parent. My sire was right: I don’t need you. I never needed you.”
“Please Lin give me a chance.”
“Why?” Lin asked, anger in her eyes, “You didn’t give me one. I was ten days old when you left. You don’t deserve a chance and you don’t deserve to know me. After today, I don’t want you here. I don’t need your negativity around my family. Just be grateful you were able to meet them.”
Lin didn’t wait for Kanto to respond as she went down the hall in search of her family. She found them in the kid’s bedroom, Kya had retrieved Zian from his crib sometime during the argument. She held out her arms for her son, Kya delivering him to her. “Honey?”
“I’ll be okay.” Lin said, answering Kya’s unasked question. She didn’t take her eyes off of her son, “I just needed to hold him.”
“Kianna, my feelings toward Kanto don’t extend to you. I would like to get to know you, if you’ll let me. You are welcome here anytime.”
“Thank you, Lin.” Kianna smiled at her.