First crack at writing fictions. Probably my last too. Just way to busy. Happy reading. All feedback appreciated

Varrick's Day Off

"Honey, I'd love to, but you know we can't just leave him alone."

"Well OBVIOUSLY. What do you take me for? A fool?"

"You don't want me to answer that" Zhu Li deadpanned.

"Look it'll be great! Dinner, a play, romance, the whole shebang! We'll even get one of those baby taker-carer-thingamajigs!" Varrick spoke with boundless energy and excitement as he usually did, convinced this plan was just as brilliant as the other genius ideas he was paid to come up with.

"…I don't know Varrick. We've never left Varrick Jr with a babysitter before." Zhu Li had grown accustomed to her husband's antics long before their marriage, however this seemed like one of his less brilliant ideas.

It had been several years since the fall Kuvira and the Earth Empire and things had more or less resumed to normal. That is, normal for everyone excluding Varrick and Zhu Li, who were still growing accustomed to their newly shared lives. More accurately, their daily routine hadn't changed much since before their marriage. Zhu Li still "did the thing" for Varrick on a regular basis and the two had already spent nearly every waking moment together, even before their marriage. The only difference was that now most private time primarily consisted of smooching and cuddling, much to Zhu Li's delight. Varrick could've swore she was some kind of vampire, attempting to draw every ounce of body heat from him via skin contact. Truth be told, he didn't mind at all.

The most recent development in the couple's life came in the form of a tiny human that would become known as Varrick Jr. Not even a year old, the tot had managed to monopolize every waking moment of his parents. As such, Varrick had shifted Zhu Li's responsibilities from being his assistant, to caring for their child while he continued to work during the day. Being accustomed to full time motherhood, Zhu Li was less than thrilled at the prospect of allowing another person to watch their son after months of doing it herself.

Zhu Li looked down at her son, sleeping in her arms, and smiled. Varrick always loved that look; an expression that simply oozed the warmth and love of a proud mother. His expression softened as he spoke "Look Zhu Li, I know I'm not a perfect father. I work all day while you stay home and look after our kid. But you deserve a break. And I want to be able to spend time with you without a diaper in one hand and a bottle in the other. Besides, maybe it'll be good to have Jr socialize with others for a bit."

Zhu Li's expression changed to one of contemplation as she kicked the idea around. "It would be fun to get out of the house for a bit." Maybe she did deserve a break. Then she paused; Varrick never made a move without a plan for every outcome. She knew if he came to her with this idea, he'd already thought of every possible solution to try and get his way. Her eyes became half lidded in annoyance at this realization "You already have a babysitter in mind. Don't you?"

Varrick flashed his trademark grin, brimming with arrogance "You know me too well, dear."

"-and THAT'S what you'll be doing Friday night! Questions!?"

Bolin stood there, mouth agape, attempting to process this new information he'd been given. "Awww but VARRICK! I was going to spend the night with Opal! We haven't been on a date in weeks!"

"Sorry kiddo! Decisions been made!"

Since the end of the Earth Empire, Bolin had been in search of a new place of employment. Of course Varrick was more than happy to offer him a position in Varrick Global Industries. However, much to Bolin's dismay, the position consisted of nothing more than glorified secretarial duties. Varrick simply brushed it off as Bolin resuming his usual work from when they both worked in Kuvira's army. Plus, he rationalized that this would be a good way to replace Zhu Li during her maternity leave.

"But why me? Get someone else to do it; a REAL babysitter."

"It has to be you! Zhu Li trusts you, and more importantly, I trust you."

Bolin's face lit up at this. He'd been hoping for an opportunity to move up. Maybe this was his chance to impress Varrick and work on getting a promotion.

"Wow. Do you really mean that, Varrick?"

"NOPE!" Varrick beamed as he said this. To say that it was disconcerting for Bolin would be an understatement.

"Be careful. You might overwhelm a guy with that level of encouragement." Bolin rubbed his temples. Like Zhu Li, he'd learned by now that arguing would be pointless. "…will I at least get paid time and a half?"

Varrick cackled at this "Bolin! Always with the jokes! Hahaha- no."

Opal beamed as her boyfriend entered their shared apartment. Well, technically it wasn't their apartment. Bolin and Mako had thought it'd be better to get separate places after the reconstruction of Republic City; and while Opal still lived at Air Temple Island, the amount of time she spent at Bolin's residence practically made them roommates. "Hi Bo!" She ran over to give her man a hug, only to notice the all too familiar pout on his face. She placed a hand on his cheek "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Her voice laced with concern.

Bolin nervously tapped his fingertips together "Opal, please don't be mad…"

Opal arched an eyebrow at this "Well that certainly doesn't bode well. What did you do?"

Bolin began to tearfully explain the situation while Opal sat and patiently listened to his frantic babbling. She always knew him to be a very emotional person who would often blow things out of proportion. After a few minutes he seemed to have concluded his explanation, while Opal simply sat and blinked at him, wondering at what point she was supposed to be mad. "…so…that's it?" she asked.

"Well, I- yeah that's it." Bolin winced, bracing himself for whatever beratement he was about to receive.

Opal smiled and kissed Bolin's cheek "It's alright Bo. I'm not exactly happy about it, but I understand it's a work thing."

Bolin's heart swelled as he pulled his girlfriend into a hug "Thanks for understanding Opal! But I feel bad leaving you alone tonight though."

"Well maybe I could come along. I'm sure Zhu Li wouldn't mind. She'd probably appreciate a feminine touch."

"Hey yeah. That's not a bad idea!" Bolin kissed Opal deeply, catching her by surprise. She then closed her eyes and hummed into his mouth as she returned the kiss in kind. They broke apart after a few minutes in an effort to get air. Even after all these years, Bolin was still able to leave her breathless. He then smiled at her "You're too good to me." To which she responded with a giggle.

"How the hell did we get ourselves into this?" Bolin gasped, flopping down on the couch next do Opal, exhausted from the task they had begun only one hour ago.

Opal was currently sitting, holding a crying Varrick Jr in her lap, an expression of absolute horror on her face. Her hair disheveled, and eyes wide like a platypus-deer in headlights, she muttered "It. Won't. Stop. Crying."

She didn't understand at all. She'd often watch her younger twin brothers growing up, however, they were only a little over a year younger than her, and she was only responsible for them by the time they were around 5 or 6. Looking after a toddler, this was a different beast entirely.

Opal had quickly scooped up Jr upon arriving at the home of everyone's favorite Water Tribe inventor, confident in her ability to care for the child. However that notion was quickly obliterated sometime after Jr had vomited over her shoulder. Now the little monster wouldn't stop screaming, and was quickly pushing Opal to her wits end.

"Here Opal, let me give it a go." Bolin had been a bit hesitant to give childcare a shot, but there was no way he could just sit there and watch his most precious air bender take any more of this torture. Opal let out a rather audible sigh and outstretched her arms, holding Jr like he had some sort of plague, as Bolin gently took the bundle of "joy" and hoisted him over his shoulder.

"There, there. It's okay, uncle Bolin has you now. Who's a widdle stinker? You are. Yes, you are." Bolin proceeded to talk to Jr in a tone of voice Opal never knew he could make. She'd never heard him baby talk before, but there had never really been a need; not even for Pabu.

"This is fine." Opal thought "All I need is a quick five minute break, then I'll be good to go." She looked at Bolin and smiled warmly. She'd always known him to be one of the warmest, kindest people in her life, but she'd never realized he was good with kids. She closed her eyes "Just some peace and quiet will be great- " suddenly her eyes snapped open. She gawked at Bolin "How did you do that?"

Bolin looked up from the child who's back he was currently rubbing slow circles on. "Do what?"

"He stopped crying!"

"OH! That? I dunno. You just hold him and…yeah I got nothin'. Maybe we should break for dinner and you can try again after?" Bolin suggested as he began to hum some sort of lullaby to comfort the little one.

Mildly annoyed, Opal stood and left for the kitchen, looking for some food and a bottle of formula Zhu Li had left prepared. She wasn't mad at anyone in particular, more so frustrated at the prospect that Jr might dislike her for no apparent reason. The last thing that she wanted was to find out she was no good with kids. The thought had left her feeling rather disappointed in herself. Upon returning, she and Bolin decided to share a quick meal before attempting to feed Jr, which was rather difficult since one of Bolin's arms was currently occupied with the now placated baby.

Now, Bolin was never the sharpest tool in the shed. That wasn't to say he was stupid, but Mako had certainly inherited the brains in the family. However, he could usually read people quite well, and it didn't take a genius to tell that his girlfriend was a little upset at how the evening had transpired thus far. He gave her a small nudge.

"Here. Take him."

Opal put her hands up defensively and stuttered out "C-c'mon Bo. That's a horrible idea. He's happy where he is now. I-I mean, don't fix what isn't broken, right?" She nervously laughed towards the end.

"You'll be fine. Just relax a little." Bolin leaned in and whispered "they can sense your fear." He held out Jr, eager for his girlfriend to have another shot at pseudo-motherhood.

Opal tentatively reached out and took the child in her arm as she offered a bottle with her other. To her surprise, Jr seemed quite content, eating eagerly while she lightly bobbed him up and down. She looked to Bolin with a small squeal of delight "I'm doing it. I'm doing it!"

"That's my girl." Bolin moved to position Opal in his lap while she continued to feed the little one.

The remainder of the evening seemed to go off without a hitch. Before they knew it, Jr had gone through a diaper change and was being tucked in for bed. Bolin gently brushed the toddler's forehead as the two quietly watched him sleep. Without looking up he asked "Feeling better babe?"

Opal shook her head as she realized he was talking to her "Huh?"

"You looked pretty down earlier. I didn't want you thinking you were no good at this kind of thing."

Opal blushed as she realized Bolin had seen right through her mild insecurities. "Oh yeah that. I just…I just thought it was something that would come naturally, but I guess I have to practice a bit more."

Bolin shrugged at this "Meh. I think you did great. But you should'a seen your face when he threw up on you. It was priceless."

This earned Bolin a quick but painful pinch in his side, courtesy of his recently sassed girlfriend.

"Ow. Babe that hurt." This statement was followed by Bolin's infamous pouty face.

"Still" Opal spoke up "I never realized you were so good with kids."

The two quietly turned the room light out as they returned to the kitchen, so as not to wake the baby.

"I had fun though" Opal continued to speak "and this will be good experience for whenever we have- " Opal immediately stopped and threw a hand over her mouth. Though they'd been dating for several years, she'd never actually discussed the subject with her boyfriend, and the last thing she wanted to do was spook him and scare him away, assuming his aversion to responsibility was similar to his older brother's. She slowly rotated her head, worried about what kind of face he'd be making.

Bolin simply stood there, arching an eyebrow inquisitively as he watched his girlfriend, hand covering her face and eyes dilated in what might be…fear? "What?"

Maybe he didn't hear her. She slowly removed her hand from her face "Huh?"

"You 'huh.' What was that about?"

Opal continued to speak cautiously, feeling as if she was treading on thin ice. "Y-you…did you hear what I said?"

Still confused, he gently prodded "…youuuuu mean about us having kids?"

She blinked, now finding herself more confused than he looked. "You're not freaking out? About, you know, us having kids?"

Then it clicked, and Bolin's look of befuddlement morphed into something much more warm and loving. "Of course not, Opal." He reached out and pulled his love in, resting his hand on the small of her back as the other cupped her cheek. "If I ever have kids, I thought it would be with you. I don't know when that will be; probably not sometime soon. But maybe one day. It's not like I've never thought about it. It's something that I know I'll want, as long as you want it too."

While he'd been talking, Opals blush had intensified 100 fold. Hearing him speak these words had forced tears to begin forming at the edge of her eyes. She tried her best to avoid bawling, so as to avoid waking Jr. She then grabbed the back of Bolin's head, the force of her pent up emotions evident in her haste. "Shut up and kiss me you idiot."

Bolin happily complied.