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Today was one of those days; baby Tuk sleeping peacefully on your chest inside her carrier, the children are running around the old Avatar compound, your mates are out on a hunt, and you’re busy gardening. By all accounts today was nothing out of the ordinary.
Even at only three months Tuk is already the size of a small toddler. Although you’ve already carried three Na’vi babies in a baby carrier, it’s still incredibly difficult to carry them. But you remember that they’re just babies and still deserve to be carried by their mama even if they’re so big to you. Neytiri has often offered to take the babies while she’s on the hunt for smaller game but you’d rather keep them away from that even though you know it’s common for Na’vi mothers to take their babies on hunts.
“Mama! Mama! Lo’ak isn’t sharing the ikran!” Neteyam runs over to where you’re crouching with Lo’ak trailing behind him. “I had it first! Teyam was playing with the pa’li! I just got the ikran!” Your sons swarm you both of them yelling over each other. You bring your hands down to cover her ears so that a she doesn’t wake up from the noise.
“MaMe’itan, lower your voices or else you’ll wake Tuk up.” You gently scold
“Sorry mama.” The boys say in unison with their ears falling with their tails tucking between their legs. “Now tell me what is the problem. Neteyam you go first.” You bring a little as you move to sit on the grass.
“Lo’ak is hogging the toy ikran, I want to play with it too. You say that sharing is caring but Lo’ak isn’t sharing!” Neteyam huffs as he points at the toy ikran in his brothers hand. “And what do you have to say?” You turn to your youngest.
“Neteyam put down the ikran to play with the pa’li. He only wanted it again when I started to play with it!” You can only sigh at the situation. Na’vi or human, children are children. “Is this true Neteyam?”
“…I guess…but I want to play with the ikran!” The boy whines and stomps his feet.
“Now Neteyam, you can’t take something back just because someone else has it. You’ll have to wait for your turn just like Lo’ak did. Do you understand?” Neteyam lowers his head and nods. “Yes, mama.”
“Now you two go play together. I’m almost done here and then I’ll make us a snack.” The boys perk up at the mention of snacks before running off and you get back to tending the garden.
You didn’t come to Pandora as a botanist, it wasn’t something you cared about in comparison to learning about The People and their language. You didn’t feel much of a connection to the garden in the compound until after the war. Grace took meticulous care of the garden and now that she’s with Eywa, you want to keep her legacy alive. She left you with two things, this garden and Kiri, you’ll do everything you can to care for them.
“There you are Y/N. I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” You turn around to see Norm walking up to you, in his Avatar form wearing a baby carrier just like you; although it looks much more proportional on him compared to you. You wave at the man as he squats down next to you, carefully supporting the baby’s head as he does. You turn your attention to said baby who happens to be wide awake unlike your daughter.
“Hi Popiti~ You’re getting so big now. Are you having fun with your daddy?” The baby gives you a big toothless grin as if she understood everything you just said. “How is Aväe doing?” “She’s doing great! It’s fascinating seeing how fast the Na’vi recover from birth. She’s amazing, truly amazing.” You can’t help but smile seeing Norms love struck face as he admires his daughter while talking about his wife: he reminds you of Jake when Neteyam was first born. “You guys took so long to have her, but I’m glad you had her when you did, now my little Tuk will have a friend her age to play with!”
“Me and Aväe wanted to court each other properly before mating. It was important to wait especially since I go back and forth between being Na’vi and human. We wanted to be patient unlike a certain poly couple I know.”
You roll your eyes at Norm’s playful jab. “In my defense I knew Neytiri for a little over a year before we mated, I didn’t rush things.” “She got pregnant that night!” Norm counters. “I didn’t get her pregnant, I don’t have the equipment.” Norm chuckles as you gesture to your body. “It’s a miracle your Avatar didn’t get pregnant too.”
“Eywa has already blessed us with a child born from an unconscious Avatar, we didn’t need a second one. Four kids is enough.”
“You already have Na’vi-Avatar children, why not try for Avatar-human children?” Norm laughs at his bad joke; he knows as well as you do that even though Avatars have human DNA, it’s not enough to reproduce with a human. “I’ll have you know that it’s not from a lack of trying on Jake’s part. Everytime he goes into rut he convinces himself that he can get me pregnant.”
“I’m sure there’s potential for it to happen, probably not the traditional way but maybe through something like IVF.”
“Even if it was possible, it wouldn’t be right. That kid would have too much human DNA, what if they couldn’t breathe the air here?”
“Surely we’d be able to select for the genes that would make breathing Pandoran air if IVF is a possibility.”
“Four kids is enough.” You state firmly but gently as you bounce Tuk a little since she started to stir a little in her sleep. “Anyways, you mentioned Jake’s ruts earlier, what are those like?” You stare at the scientist with wide eyes, Norm has certainly gotten much more comfortable with you as you’ve grown closer. “Jesus fuck Norm! What’s with the interest in my sex life?” You ask in utter bewilderment. “Get your mind out of the gutter, I want to know about it on a scientific level. We thought Avatars didn’t have heat and rut cycles like the Na’vi, but Jake behaves like a Na’vi in that regard. Why do you think that is?”
This wasn’t something you ever thought about before. Truthfully you forget about Jake’s rut until the random days where he decides that he gets really touchy; well more touchy than usual, and then you remember that the Na’vi go through heat and rut cycles. “I’m not sure. Maybe it has to do with the fact that he’s permanently living in his Avatar body.” Norm nods his head as he’s deep in thought. “Yeah, perhaps going back and forth in the link suppresses the cycle.” The two of you continue to hypothesize for a while before you feel Tuk start to stir before crying.
“Are you hungry Tuk?” You already know the answer to your rhetorical question. Lately, anytime she’s hungry, Tuk starts to lick her lips and gums in anticipation for food. At the sound of her sister crying, Kiri comes running to you along with Spider.
“Sa’nu, is my sister hungry?” You nod your head. “Yes she is, can you bring me the things in the lab so I can make her a bottle?” “Yes! Come on Monkey boy!” Kiri immediately runs off to go inside of the lab.
Baby formula isn’t a thing on Pandora, even if it was Neytiri would be staunchly against it since it’s not The Way. She’d much rather breastfeed her babies herself. It took a lot of persuasion to get her to use a manual pump when Neteyam was born so that you could also feed the children. She reluctantly agreed to do it, but only when she’d be gone for long periods time such as when she went hunting. Because of that you keep a small stash of milk in a mini fridge in the lab so that you can make bottles. Normally you’d get the stuff by yourself, but you try to avoid going in the lab with the babies, they’re too small for a mask and even though the Na’vi can breathe Earth air for a while, it’s probably best to avoid having a baby breathe Earth air.
You bounce Tuk a little in hopes to calm her down a bit even though it’s tiring but it doesn’t work. Tuk’s crying seems to have triggered Popiti to start crying as well. “I think Tuk crying from hunger reminded Pop that she’s hungry.” Norm jokes as he stands up prepared to leave. “I’m gonna go, seems like someone needs her mommy.” As you wave goodbye to Norm, Kiri and Spider come over to you with a bottle in hand. “I even warmed it up.” Kiri states with pride as she hands you the bottle. You raise your eyebrow at her, she’s not supposed to be messing with hot things inside the lab. Kiri senses your silent question and quickly clarifies. “I didn’t touch anything! Max poured some hot water in a bowl so I could warm up the bottle.”
You give your daughter a smile and a soft “Thank you” as you place the bottle’s nipple in Tuk’s awaiting mouth. Instead of running off to continue playing, Kiri and Spider decide to sit next to you. Spider leans over to look intently at Tuk eating.
“Wow, she eats so much even though she’s so little.” Spiders stares in astonishment at the fact that Tuk is nearly half way done with her bottle. “I wouldn’t call her small, she’s as big as you were when you were around two years old.” Spider huffs at your joke.
The short peaceful silence is briefly interrupted by Tuk’s occasional loud gulps. She reminds you so much of Neteyam when he was first born. That boy was always so hungry and greedy that even Neytiri was glad you convinced her to occasionally pump so that she could get a break from constantly feeding him. He always drank so much and was always hungry that you were all so worried about his health that you went to Mo’at who said that he’s just greedy. Tuk’s not nearly as hungry as Neteyam was, but she’s still greedy; if she could chew food you’re sure she could eat a whole basket of fruit and still wash it down with a gallon of milk.
Even with Tuk’s loud drinking, you can still hear Spider’s stomach growling. He tries to hide the sound but fails miserably when it gets even louder. You chuckle at his attempt to remain stoic. “Spider, you can grab the Spartan fruit next to me to eat. Just remember to take small bites everytime you lift your mask up.” It’s almost comical how fast he reaches over to the Spartan Fruit bush to take a large bite out of the fruit the moment he lifts up his mask. “Thank you, Mrs.Sully.” Even with a mouthful of food you still manage to understand him perfectly.
“I’ve told you before that you don’t have to call me Mrs.Sully.”
The boy swallows although it’s a little difficult since he didn’t listen to you when you said to take small bites. “But Neytiri-” “I am not Neytiri.” You interrupt the boy. “You can call me by my name or even auntie. Either one is fine.”Spider nods enthusiastically before taking another big bite.
It’s not long before Tuk finishes her bottle and you have to burp her. This is probably one of your least favorite things to do as a parent; changing diapers is probably the only thing that tops it. Na’vi babies are really heavy for a human but they are still babies so they need to be burped. Your arm is quickly growing tired, but like Lo’ak, Tuk takes a while to burp.
“Sa’nu, can I try?” Kiri has always been in tune with other people’s emotions and she’s always had a maternal side to her. Even with a nearly 8 year age gap, you can see that the two sisters have an incredibly close and loving bond. It only takes Kiri one minute to get Tuk to burp which for some reason causes the infant to start laughing uncontrollably. “I think I might have to put you on burping duty.” It’s a light joke, although you’re sure Kiri wouldn’t mind it, you don’t want to give the responsibilities you have as a parent to her. When you look up you realize that it’s getting late. Jake and Neytiri should be back anytime now and you need to get the children ready for dinner.
“Lo’ak! Neteyam! Come on, we’re heading home.” You stand up and look at Spider, “You’re more than welcome to join us for dinner.” Spider’s eyes light up at the offer before dimming just as quickly, his shoulders slumped. “I want to but I can’t. They want me here for dinner.” The boy clearly isn’t happy about it. The McCosker’s adopted Spider after the war. They were a little traditional and tried to eat as a family, honestly they’re similar to the Na’vi in that regard. “Maybe another time Spider.”
The village isn’t far from Hell’s Gate, in fact many maruis are right at the fence. The proximity is convenient for you since you have to make frequent trips to Hell’s Gate, but even after all these years it still breaks your heart that HomeTree was destroyed; you’d rather trek through the forest daily if it meant the Na’vi had their ancestral home back.
It’s not long into your walk back home that you hear the sound of a horn blaring you letting you know that the hunting party is back. “Mama, is mommy and daddy back?” Neteyam asks as he takes hold of your hand. “Yes, let’s hurry and meet them, I’m sure they’re excited to see you all.” The children leave you behind as they excitedly run to see their other parents. Even though they’re about your height, their much younger and agile bodies means that they run faster than you. Parents are usually faster than their children when they’re this young but that’s not the case for you and your na’vi children. You try to speed up some so you’re not too far from them but it’s ultimately pointless, they’re already with their parents and you’re completely out of breath. Before you can catch your breath you feel yourself being lifted up off the ground. Instinctively you tighten your hold on Tuk.
“I missed you, my love!” You look down to see Jake giving you a bright and wide smile. “MaJake, you can’t just lift me like that! What if I dropped Tuk!” Your protests are muffled when Jake smashes his lips onto yours after he lifted your mask. You melt into the kiss. You hate how much you love him and his touch at times. He almost makes you forget what you were yelling at him; almost. “I’m serious, Jake. What if I dropped Tuk because you scared me?” He kisses your pouting lips before putting your mask back on. “You’re an amazing mommy, baby.” He kisses your forehead. “You’d never drop our baby.” He kisses your neck. “Besides she’s in her baby carrier.” He places one final kiss on your exposed collarbone. “You’re impossible. How was the hunt?” You ask when you realize he’s not putting you down anytime soon.
“It was so hard.” Jake whines childishly. “The animals were too smart today. We barely got enough meat to last the week.”
You hear a small giggle come from behind Jake. Your wife makes her way up to you with the children following behind her. “MaJake, you’re Olo’eyktan yet you whine like a child.” Neytiri teases him before lifting your mask and placing a gentle and soft kiss on your lips. “Is it a crime for a man to complain to his wife after a tiring day. Your hands make their way to Jake’s face so you can squish his cheeks. “You’re such a big baby.” “No I’m not.” He’s pouting so much, his tail is thumping grumpily behind him. “What is wrong, my love?” Before Jake could reply to Neytiri, Jake yelps when Kiri pulls on his tail. “Come on daddy! You said we would go look at the pretty flowers after the hunt! Come on it’s getting late!”
Reluctantly, Jake puts you down before he’s dragged away by the children leaving both you and Neytiri incredibly confused. “What just happened?” Neytiri just shrugs, a habit she’s picked up from you and Jake. “Come on, let’s get ready for dinner. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
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Dinner wasn’t out of the ordinary, well except for the fact that you weren’t sitting between Jake’s legs. Instead he’s sitting with the children but he’s practically staring holes into you. Every time you make eye contact he swiftly looks away like a schoolboy getting caught staring at his crush.
“MaTiri, did something happen on the hunt? Jake has been staring at me like he wants to tell me something since he got back.” You ask as you plop your last piece of teylu into your mouth. Neytiri looks over to your shared husband, to anyone else Jake looked like a normal father finishing his dinner with his children. But Neytiri can clearly see that something is on his mind with the way his ears occasionally twitch and his tail swishing behind him anxiously.
“I do not know. I will go check on him.” Neytiri walks up to Jake before you can say anything. You don’t know why but you feel a little anxious watching them talk. What’s wrong with Jake? Did you do something to upset him? Your anxiety spikes a little when you see Neytiri leave with the children and Jake walking up to you.
“Y/N, can we talk?”
Oh no. You definitely did something to upset him. Why else would he call you by your name instead of one of the many nicknames he has for you?
“O-oh, yea we can.”
Much to you surprise Jake picks you up and carries you bridal style. You try your best to ignore the stares of the Omatikaya as your mind races with many thoughts. If he’s carrying you like this then does that mean he’s not mad at you? The two of you walk in silence as Jake leads you out of the village. Where is he taking you?
“I was thinking we could wash up in the spring…just us.” His voice is uncharacteristically soft and you feel your heart skip a beat. Damn, even after seven years of marriage Jake still manages to make you feel like a teenager experiencing her first crush. Why are you getting so flustered over such a simple statement? It’s not like you haven’t bathed with him before. You’re married for fucks sake! So why is your heart beating out of control? You hope he can’t hear how loud your heart is beating. “I’d like to that.” You whisper softly as you hide your face in the crook of his neck in a futile attempt to conceal your embarrassment.
This spring is peaceful at this time of day. Most of the Omatikaya prefer bathing at a different spring so it’s just you and Jake. It’s peaceful. The only sounds present are the ambient noises of the forest.
“Are you going to get undressed?”
Jake’s question snaps you out of your trance and you realize that he’s already started undressing the little clothing he wears. You hastily rush to take off your clothes. As you undress you take a peak at Jake who’s slowly slipping into the water. Years of heavily physical activity plus his human DNA has lead him to bulk up more than the average Na’vi. Soon you notice Jake catching you staring and you swiftly looks away as you feel heat rising up your face. It’s not long before you’re naked and make your way to the edge of the spring. Jake reaches a hand out which you graciously accept and he places you in between his legs. The heat radiating off of his large blue body contrasts against the coolness of the water. His body practically envelopes your body. It’s comforting. You can’t remember the last time you’ve been this close to Jake especially with just the two of you. When was the last time you two spent time together alone?
“MaJake, is something on your mind?” The question has been festering in your mind since Jake returned from the hunt. He startles you a little when he wraps his arms around your waist and burying his face in the crook of your neck.
“I’ve missed you…so much.” His voice is so husky and gentle. “I feel like I’ve been neglecting you.” Jake’s confession causes you to turn around so you’re facing him while you’re on your knees so you’re closer in eye level. “You haven’t been neglecting me Jake, you’re Olo’eyktan, you’re gonna be busy.” Jake shakes his head at you’re attempt to console him.
“I’m with Neytiri all the time and when I’m not with her I’m busy with the children or villagers. But I haven’t spent anytime with you in so long. I miss you.”
You stare into Jake’s big beautiful eyes in pure awe. You’ve missed him too. Sure you understand that he has responsibilities as Olo’eyktan and caring for 4 children is also a challenge, but you do miss spending time with him. You hate to admit that you’re sometimes jealous with the time Neytiri gets to spend with Jake since she’s able to accompany him on hunts unlike you. “I’ve missed you too.”
Jake pulls you closer into his embrace and places a kiss on the top of your head as he takes in your scent. “I don’t know when I’ll have free time again so I want to spend the night with you. Neytiri said she will watch the kids tonight so we don’t have to worry about them.”
“I’d love that.”
Jake seems very pleased with your response since you can hear his tail happily splashing in the water. The tiredness has completely vanished from his face and is instead replaced with pure joy.
“Can we have a movie night like we used to?” You chuckle at Jake’s hopeful tone. “You just want to be in my room so you can smother my face in kisses.”
“Can you blame me baby? It’s taking everything out of me to not take your mask off and kiss you till you’re blue in the face.”
“Well lets hurry up and was up so you can get what you want.”
Even though Jake is eager to hurry and take you to your room, he’s still thorough as he helps you bathe. His hands feel nice as they wash the daily grime that’s covering your body. Not wanting to leave him neglected, you also make attempt to help him bathe. It’s nice taking your time appreciating each others bodies.
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Unsurprisingly, your personal room in Hell’s Gate isn’t meant for a Na’vi to exist in. The ceiling is far too low and the layout is quite narrow, but Jake is perfectly content with it since it means he can be around you without your mask. Even though you don’t spend that much time in your room anymore, you’ve made a few changes so you can make your mates more comfortable. One of those changes being getting rid of your bed frame and just having your mattress on the floor so Jake and Neytiri don’t have to worry about breaking the bed with their weight.
“Baby~ hurry and pick a movie, your husband is dying from a lack of cuddles and kisses.” Jake whines while taking a few sips of air from his mask. You can’t help but giggle at Jake’s unapologetic neediness as you finish booting up your old projector. Truthfully neither of you really care about the movie itself, you both have already seen all the ones you brought to Pandora probably hundreds of times now. It’s more about tradition and doing something together. Even when you were both incredibly busy learning the ways of the Omatikaya, you still made an attempt to watch a movie every other day.
The movie you chose is an old cheesy romcom. Jake eagerly pulls you into his embrace the nanosecond you get near him. Even though he could easily engulf your entire body, he decides to lay his head on the top of your chest to hear your heartbeat and his arms are wrapped around your waist firmly; it was definitely a good idea to go to the bathroom before you played the movie because there’s no way you’re getting out of Jake’s embrace without a fight.
“Baby?”
“Yes, my love.”
“Can you play with my hair like you used to?”
“You’re feeling quite nostalgic tonight.” You tease him a bit but you still do just as he asked. Jake has always enjoyed you massaging his scalp. He claims it helps the stress melt away . You don’t mind doing it for him especially since he rewards your efforts by purring unconsciously. As always, you’re careful anytime your hands are near his kuru. Eventually Jake shuffles his way so he can place several kisses alongside your face before doing the same to your lips.
“I promise that I’ll find some time to take you on a proper date. You deserve nothing less.” Jake takes a break from kissing you to take a moment to breathe in some CO2 from his mask. “I’ll hold you to that promise.” You give Jake’s forehead a kiss.
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.”
The movie is long forgotten as the two of you exchange kisses in each others embrace, basking in your love for each other. Its been so long since you’ve been able to do this, you never want it to end. Eventually, drowsiness overtakes you as you fall asleep in your lovers arms.