tale's corner: I just really needed some cheesy daddy!Bolin, okay? ;_;

"I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU, YOU STUPID EARTHBENDING IDIOT!" Korra shrieked.

Bolin recoiled with a tiny "Eep!" and almost hid behind a nurse, who frowned and pushed the twenty-four year old back to his wife. "Um, K-Korra, just...calm down, okay? This'll be over s—"

"'CALM DOWN'?" she bellowed. "I WILL 'CALM DOWN' WHEN THIS THING IS OUT OF MY BODY AND WHEN YOU ARE A PILE OF BONES ON THE FLOOR! SHINY CLEAN WHITE DEAD BONES!"

Sweet spirits, please don't let her go all Avatar State on me like this, he silently begged.

"Korra, you're breathing fire," Mako broke in, eliciting a series of "Thankyouthankyou"s from his brother. "It's not good for the baby. Focus on getting that out, and then you have my permission to kill Bolin." ("W-whaaaat?")

The Avatar gritted her teeth, the billowing flames fizzling down to sparks. "Easy for you to say, Mr. Hat Trick," she snarled. Angry as his wife still was, Bolin noticed with no small amount of relief that she had at least quieted down. He had never been so grateful that his brother had gotten married to Asami.

Pema just sighed and rolled her eyes.

A small, meek-looking nurse entered at that point. "Um... Excuse me...your...Avatar-ness...ma'am," she coughed. "Um, we need you to start pushing now... That is, if it's not too much of a problem..." Korra glared at her, and the nurse shuddered. "Ahem. Yes. You need to push." She didn't seem quite comfortable with telling the physical embodiment of the earth's spirit what to do, Bolin noted, able to understand where she was coming from.

"Well, then... Everyone who isn't family should exit now." She glanced around the room.

"Husband," Bolin said meekly, raising his hand.

"Brother in law," Mako added.

"Daughter in law," Pema deadpanned.

"...Oh. O-okay."

"HELLO! ANGRY PREGNANT WOMAN HERE WHO WILL BURN YOU ALL TO A CRISP IF YOU DO NOT GET OVER HERE NOW!"

Bolin steeled himself and rushed to Korra's side, gripping her hand. "It's okay, Korra, we're here. Is there anything you need right now?"

"THIS BABY. OUT OF ME. GET. WORKING."

"That's your job, dear," Pema reminded her, taking her other hand. "Now, when we say to, start pushing. Trust me, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have."

Bolin's brain blocked off the next few minutes due to sheer fright. Pregnant women were SCARY.

"Okay, Korra, you're doing great! Just one more! And...now!"

Korra let out an unearthly, bloodcurdling scream, throwing Bolin back to when he was six and Mako was eight, and—

firefireeverywherescreaming wherearemommyanddaddy slowdownmakoimscared—

"Stop!" he pleaded, anguished. "Something's wrong!"

"She's fine, Bolin," Pema said calmly. "There's nothing wrong."

"Bro."

Bolin whirled to his brother. Mako stared back, and he could see the same memory, the same pain in his eyes. "Bolin. She's fine."

"But—"

His response was quickly cut off by a loud wailing. "It's a girl!" the nurse announced over the crying infant.

Mako clasped his younger brother's shoulder and offered a rare smile. "Congrats." Then in a low voice so only he could hear, "You know, if you want to talk about Mom and Dad..."

"Thanks," Bolin said sincerely. "I know."

"Bolin..." Korra murmured wearily from her bed. "Get yer butt over here."

He gulped. "Yes, ma'am." (Mako smirked.)

Korra was cradling the baby girl in her arms with a tenderness that Bolin had never seen in her before. "Look at her," she sighed happily. The baby had Korra's dark skin, with a tangle of Bolin's black hair. Her hands were clenched into fists no bigger than Bolin's eyes. "She's great."

"Yeah," Bolin agreed, grinning like a dork. "She'll be just as beautiful as you one day."

Korra blushed and punched him in the arm playfully. Apparently, childbirth hadn't taken as much energy as Bolin had thought, because "Ow."

"Do you wanna hold her?" Korra suggested, holding the baby out to Bolin.

"How do I know you won't make good on your promise to kill me if I come any closer?" he asked suspiciously, still rubbing his arm.

She rolled her eyes. "Geez, Bolin, just take her."

"All right, fine," he laughed. Korra carefully leaned forward and placed the squirming infant into Bolin's arms. He immediately shifted to accommodate the baby, making sure to support her neck.

The baby had quieted down significantly in the past few minutes (babies were weird like that; too bad he didn't have an inkling of how much worse it would get) and was breathing quietly. Bolin subconsciously pulled the baby's body close to his chest and started gently rocking her in his arms. His face softened as the baby gave a tiny yawn and wriggled her arms. "Look at us," he murmured to Korra, sitting in a chair next to her bed. "We're a proper family now." The two nuzzled each other's noses. "You'll be a fantastic mother to her."

"And you'll be an even better father," Korra whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. But before he could answer, he was chagrined to hear her snoring in his ear.

He hummed to himself for a moment, Mako and Pema quietly clearing out of the room to give the family their privacy.

"Who's the luckiest guy on earth?" he said to himself. "This guy, Bolin."