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After the almost nightmare that six months ago was for him, Tenzin is happy that his family has only gotten closer since then. Lin being on maternity leave and him temporarily reducing his workload really allowed the six of them to bond in a way there just wasn’t time for before but all good things must come to an end. It's back to a Monday morning that he reads through his morning newspaper as he waits for his wife to finish her hair and get ready for the day ahead of her. When she enters their room in her work pants and tank top , he slides over on the couch so she can put on her boots. He notices one of the boots needs to be re-laced and kneels so he can get it done as she ties the other. When he finishes he looks up to see her smiling at him.
“Thanks,” Lin leans forward to kiss him briefly though Tenzin has other plans and deepens the kiss.
“Mom, dad if we don’t leave in the next fifteen we are going to be late!” Hakoda calls from the kitchen, causing his parents to break their kiss.
“Spirits I’m going to miss my mid-morning and mid-afternoon kisses,” Tenzin sighs against her lips.
“I am amenable to them still but you'll have to come get them,” Lin presses another kiss to his lips before standing. As Lin stretches to get her armour, Kazu begins crying.
“He probably needs to be changed. I’ve got him,” Tenzin kisses her knuckles before going over to the crib. Lin takes the time to pull on her armour and arm guards. She takes a look in the mirror before reaching for her satchel.
“He just wanted to wish mommy good luck on her first day back,” Tenzin walks back to Lin with Kazu in his arms and passes him to her before taking the satchel.
“Thank you my little miracle,” Lin presses a kiss to the baby’s forehead.
“Two minutes!” Hakoda calls again.
“That’s our cue,” Tenzin chuckles as he leaves the room. Lin returns a sleepy Kazu to his crib while Tenzin checks that the older kids are ready. She looks at her son as he doses off and finds herself reluctant to leave him for the whole day. The first day back was always hard but after everything that happened, this one was almost unbearable. She applied for an extra two months to ensure that everyone was getting adjusted to a baby in the house and just spend a little more time with her family. Her captains all happily stepped up when she decided she needed a little more time and her family was happy for the uninterrupted time.
“He is safe, he is healthy and he is well taken care of,” Lin reassures herself before heading to the kitchen where she finds Lu.
“He’ll be fine Lin,” Lu reassures her.
“Don’t hesitate to call me,” Lin reminds her.
“Of course,” Lu smiles.
“I fed him not too long ago and there are some jars in the icebox for later,” Lin shares before remembering, “well you know the routine already.”
“Uh huh,” Lu smiles, “we’ll be fine now, don't be late for your first day.”
“Right!” Lin agrees before heading to the courtyard where Tenzin and the children are already on Oogi. She quickly joins her children in the saddle and they set off for the city.
“So will you be home to help me with homework?” Aditi asks
“Maybe not, I have a lot to catch up on,” Lin informs her before adding, “but we are still on for dress shopping this weekend after your brother’s tournament.”
“Cool,” Aditi nods.
“And metalbending?” Jinora asks.
“I think we can squeeze in sessions on Wednesday and Friday mornings plus weekends but you have to go to bed early the nights before,” Lin figures.
“Of course,” the seven year old wraps her arms around Lin and snuggles into her side.
“Ko?” Lin checks.
“Are our Saturday morning sessions still on?” Hakoda checks.
“Of course,” Lin confirms.
“Great,” Hakoda smiles.
The family enjoys a comfortable silence for the rest of their trip to the city. They make it just in time for the bell so there is no time for more than a quick goodbye as they rush to their respective blocks. Lin takes the short flight to the station to focus on the day ahead. After being out of office for over seven months, Lin is unsure what to expect but she knows it won’t be business as usual. Saikhan was injured two weeks ago along with five officers so she knows there is a pile of paperwork waiting for her. As much as Chu and Himari took over the desk there was simply too much going on with the department and academy for them to cover everything. Tenzin lands on the department roof and climbs into the saddle.
“I know you'll remind them why you’re the best chief they’ve ever had,” Tenzin cups her cheek before capturing her lips.
“I’ll do my best. I love you,” Lin leans into his touch.
“I love you too,” Tenzin smiles, “have a great day.”
“You too,” Lin pecks his lips again before sliding down Oogi’s leg, “bye Oogs.”
Lin finds herself a little nervous to step onto the floor but shakes it off by the time she passes the first set of officers who she greets before heading to her office.
“Welcome back Lin!” Shun smiles, entering the room with a cup of coffee for Lin and a notebook.
“Thanks Shun, great to be back,” Lin accepts the coffee as she appraises her desk, “alright hit me.”
“Well,” Shun opens the notebook and takes a deep breathe, “Himari is running early morning patrols, Ty is at the academy for quarterly reviews and Chu is overseeing the security detail for the Earth Queen’s visit so the seniors are a little short staff but Himari should be back in time to help with some of the paperwork. You have a meeting in an hour with HR, there are some…issues they need to discuss with you about what has happened recently. Blue folder has some brief notes you can read so you have an idea of what it is. Accounting has been very helpful but they need you to look over the new budget to go to the council in three weeks. Academy progressions are coming up but Ty should have the assessments done by the time he comes back but you know Ty. Himari and Chu did the annual training exercises and it went well. The purple folder has summaries on that along with recommendations. We are nearing promotion day so the roundtable is on Friday. They wanted to wait for you to be back. Also this means you need to consider the deputy chief position and who will fill it. Special ops has an investigation going on for the events that led to the sting going through. Himari will brief you.”
“This time yesterday my biggest concern was tummy time,” Lin chuckles, already missing her baby boy.
“How’s our boy doing?” Shun checks.
“Good for the most part though he is a little cranky because he’s teething, he’s really enjoying the teething ring Aunty Shun got him,” Lin informs her assistant.
“Great. How-,” Shun begins but is cut off by a lieutenant running into the room.
“Downtown, emergency, Himari’s team needs back up. Team 4 is already dispatched but we need two others,” the lieutenant explains borderline incoherently.
“Back to reality,” Lin sighs to herself before quickly jumping into Chief mode, “Shun, push HR to 3 and tell Val in accounting to see me at 4. Seiji, get team 7 & 3 onto an airship and let’s roll.”
…
Tenzin walks towards his home for his standing Monday morning meeting. He knows he has a morning class in about an hour but that gives him just enough time. When he enters the family room he finds Lu watching Kazu who is relaxing on a blanket.
“Hey Lu, I think I will be taking him with me to class,” Tenzin informs the acolyte.
“Okay, so I will get him from you after. Should be around nap time,” Lu figures.
“Sounds good,” Tenzin nods as he takes a seat on the blanket near his son. He watches the baby play with a few toys and considers what they will do for the day. He notices Kazu reaching for him and lifts the baby onto his lap.
“Your grandfather loved this trick,” Tenzin shares with the baby as he spins a few marbles above his palm, “mom says you look a lot like him when he was a baby. What do you want to discuss at our meeting today? Your options for today are my first time ice fishing or your sister’s first boomerang.”
“You’re right, ice fishing with Uncle Sokka is always a classic,” Tenzin decides when the baby blinks at him. He begins regaling his son about the holiday to the South Pole and soon the time flies before the class. By the end of story time, Kazu is napping so Tenzin contemplates getting Lu to watch him during the class but Kazu has other plans and is wide awake by the time Tenzin is ready to leave the house. Kazu on his chest and a small pouch with essentials for his son hidden in his robes, he walks towards the pavilion for his third and final class of the day.
“So daddy has a meditation class right now. Will you be good for me?” Tenzin asks the baby who just yawns at him, “I can work with that.”
When he enters the pavilion, the group pauses and stares at him well, more like staring at the extra visitor to the class. When Lin was still on leave, Kazu would spend class time with her so now that he opted to carry him to class, he got three general reactions. Some of his class had not been on the island when his first three children were born so they were not aware of the possibility that Tenzin would carry his son to the classes. Others were just interested in seeing the baby not that Tenzin could blame them, afterall, he and Lin made the most adorable babies and his youngest was no exception to that rule. Then there were a few who simply disapproved of him carrying the baby to class at all, believing Tenzin was not focusing enough on his responsibilities and it was Lin who should be caring for Kazu throughout the day or even an acolyte since Lin insisted on working (also to their disapproval but the couple was past letting that bother them). Either way, his class would go off without a hitch and his son would get fresh air plus a good nap. And he is right, the class is like any other while Kazu is peacefully sleeping against his chest. He returns to the main house just to change Kazu and leave him with Lu for lunch before his meeting but the baby has other plans.
“Thanks Lu,” Tenzin attempts to remove Kazu from his sling but he begins crying, “I guess not.”
“He’s probably hungry,” Lu figures.
“I’ll feed him and then maybe after then he will be less fussy,” Tenzin continues their walk towards the kitchen.
“We will see but he might not want to stay. Aditi was like that on Lin’s first day back after her,” Lu points out, helping Tenzin with the jar for Kazu’s meal.
“Right, I had to keep her for most of the day,” Tenzin recalls as he prompts the baby to have some of the puree and he happily accepts.
“Since you’ll have him, I will be back before Jinora gets home,” Lu figures.
“She’ll be late today, she wanted to take the ferry like her siblings so she won’t be home til they finish,” Tenzin explains.
“Okay,” she nods, “need help with anything before I go?”
“We should be good, see you tomorrow,” Tenzin nods.
“Alrighty, bye Kazu,” she tickles the baby before waving to Tenzin.
After grabbing a quick bite for himself, Tenzin and Kazu set off for the council meeting. He knows it will be hard to work if Kazu is fussy but he also wouldn’t be able to concentrate if he knew his son was so unsettled at home. Kazu plays his part in their silent agreement and stops crying when Tenzin takes him along to the meeting. He half expects the baby to be sleeping before the meeting really gets going so he tries to keep clear of anything that would frighten Kazu. When he gets to the meeting room there are another set of mixed reactions but Tenzin just walks towards his seat.
“Master Tenzin, it’s good to see young Beifong looking well rested,” Yang smiles at the baby before asking, “you know if Lu can’t handle it I’m sure we can help you find someone else to help out with him so you don’t have to carry him to meetings while Chief is busy working.”
“Lu has been a tremendous help however I wanted to keep him today,” Tenzin answers shortly, not liking the implications in the man’s statement, “how about we begin the meeting?”
“Of course,” Yang nods.
The meeting is dreadfully boring even for what Tenzin is used to but maybe that’s best when he is hoping for Kazu to sleep through. Boring also meant no major issues and little reason to go over time so soon enough the two are back on their way home just in time to meet Hakoda, Aditi and Jinora when they get home from school. All three are definitely more interested in seeing Kazu than Tenzin but he can live with that.
…
“Good evening,” Lin enters their home office where she finds Tenzin sitting behind his desk working while their daughters are sitting at another table working on their assignments and on the couch,to her surprise, she sees Kazu sleeping in his bassinet beside Hakoda who is rocking it gently as he reads something.
“Mommy!” Jinora runs towards Lin.
“Hey sweetie,” Lin lifts her and kisses her cheek before putting her down to greet her older children.
“We are good,” Tenzin smiles, “how was your day?”
“Rough,” Lin sighs, taking Jinora’s empty seat who opts to sit in her lap, “right back in the middle of it not even ten minutes after you left.”
“I’m sure you kept those bad guys in check,” Hakoda decides.
“Something like that,” Lin shrugs before turning her attention to the homework in front of her, “good job Jin.”
“Thanks mommy,” Jinora yawns into her shoulder.
“Bedtime for you,” Lin decides, “I will be in in a few.”
“Yup,” Jinora nods, getting up to head to bed.
“I’m done,” Aditi announces.
“Great,” Lin smiles, “what are you up to for the next hour?”
“Reading maybe,” she begins packing her school bag for the next day before bidding her family good night.
“Ko you good?” Lin checks.
“Oh I was just reading one of the books gran gran left with me. She says there’s alot for me to learn when we come to visit during the school break,” Hakoda explains.
“You know if you want you can reach out to Kiri sometimes,” Lin suggests, “I know she would be more than happy to teach you as well.”
“Won’t that be weird?” Hakoda considers.
“Not really, the hospital always takes volunteers on the weekend,” Lin reminds him, “think it over before dismissing it completely.”
“I will,” Hakoda marks a page in his book.
“Thank you for helping with your brother. I will put him to sleep,” Lin ruffles his hair.
“No problem mom,” Hakoda gives her a small smile, “I think I’m going to Island’s Edge for a meditation session before bed. Night mom, night dad.”
“Night Ko,” the couple responds. Lin carries Kazu to their room and changes from her work clothes before returning to the office. She walks over to Tenzin and makes herself comfortable in his lap. The first day back was already so stressful and she needs a little time with her husband before she calls it a night.
“How was your day?” Lin asks quietly.
“Good, carried Kaz to my last class and then to the council meeting because he would not calm down unless I was holding him,” Tenzin informs her, “not that I minded the extra opportunity to hang out with our sweet boy.”
“That’s great to hear my love,” Lin smiles.
“How was yours?” Tenzin wonders.
“Well, it was rough and hectic but I made it through,” Lin smiles before adding, “I missed the different moments that I got used to while I was home. Being there when Hakoda and Aditi get home to hear about their days in depth or just hang out a little, picking up Jinora on early days for our bookstore visits, tummy time with Kazu and more time just being with you.”
“I missed you too,” Tenzin smiles at her, pulling her closer.
“Yeah?” Lin rests her head on his shoulder.
“Yeah, these past few months have made me a little clingy as you would call it,” Tenzin rests his hand on her thigh.
“You miss the post council meeting sex,” Lin smirks.
“I missed us having lunch together and spending more time throughout the day as well, it rarely fits into our schedules. I might just start coming to your office for both though,” he presses a kiss to her shoulder.
“Yeah right,” she rolls her eyes though she knows he isn’t being serious.
“Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it,” he smiles.
“Of course I have,” she confirms, “but I also want to look my officers in the eye and that won’t be possible since my office isn’t soundproof. Which is also why I only entertain the thought for a night.”
“Tell me more,” Tenzin prods.
“Well it depends on the kind of day it's been,” Lin starts, “I definitely think about you clearing my desk and having me right there after a particularly stressful day when we have to work late after.”
“Maybe I should give you a demonstration of how it would go,” Tenzin lifts her onto the desk and kneels in front of her but before they can get any further, Kazu begins crying.
“I’ve got him,” Lin decides.
“I changed him recently so I think he’s hungry,” Tenzin figures.
“I’ll go feed him while you finish up here,” Lin suggests, “I’ll be back.”
“Of course,” Tenzin stands and helps her off the desk.
“Hungry Kazy?” Lin softly strokes the baby’s cheek before walking towards their bedroom. Lin relaxes in the rocking chair so that she can feed Kazu while reflecting on the day past. Despite the challenging few months leading up to it, this felt like any other first day back.
Meanwhile, Tenzin is in his office finishing his work with a new found urgency hoping to be done when his wife finishes. He focuses on the things that need to go out in the next two days and before he knows it, he is on to things with due dates well into next week with no sign of Lin. Curious, he tidies his desk then heads to their room where he finds Kazu asleep in his crib and Lin fast asleep in their bed.
“Back to reality,” Tenzin smiles to himself before changing into his pajamas and wrapping his arms around her.