A/N: This has been my favorite one to write so far. Let me just say, a lot of laughter went into it. It is a Kataang one-shot obviously, but you'll have to bear with me for a little bit. I hope it's as entertaining to you as it is to me. Song of the day is.....drum roll please........Ho Hey by The Lumineers! Ok! Yay! Happy reading! - G

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Katara POV:

"AHHH!! Bumi don't touch that! Sokka help!" Katara lunged toward her terrifyingly curious toddler. She grabbed him spun him away from Sokka's boomerang. 

Sokka snatched his weapon away, rolling his eyes. "ReLAX Katara, the kid's just got good taste. It's nice to see that I'm shaping young minds." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Why did you even have that lying around?!" Katara hissed at him, holding Bumi far away from him. "NO WEAPONS AROUND BABIES SOKKA! Do I have to tell you everything?!!"

But Sokka was already distracted. "Do you think we should give Bumi a warrior's wolf tail? Then we could match! Not that he doesn't have a great thing going right now."

"Sokka. Bumi. Is. Two." Katara growled. "What do you think the answer is?"

"Oh, Sokka, dearest of brothers, it would be my ultimate pleasure to hand over my child's hair to your impossibly professional hands?"

Katara stomped her heel on the top of Sokka's foot. "You're not very bright are you?"

Sokka's face twisted in pain. He made a noise that sounded uncannily like Momo before yanking his foot out from under hers, wincing. "I maybe deserved that."

Katara stormed out of the tent, (hut?) still holding a wriggling Bumi and taking a couple thick fur blankets with her. It wasn't as cold as it had been for the last couple of weeks, but Katara knew she wouldn't be able to keep her son out there for long. She sat down on a stool and sat Bumi on her lap. 

"MOMMY! DOWN!" Bumi whined, straining towards the snowy ground. Katara sighed and let him down slowly. Bumi face lit up with a grin....until he actually touched the snow. He shrieked when he felt the stinging cold of the snow on his hands. He launched himself back into his mother's arms.

Katara struggled for a moment to keep her balance. "Be careful with Mommy, silly boy."

"Otay Mommy!" Bumi obliged happily in an oddily high pitched voice Katara had never heard from him before. She snorted and gently played with his hair with one hand. Bumi scanned the snowy village with his baby vision, and spotted something that made his eyes widen. "MOMMY!"

"What is it?" Katara inquired, her voice thick with trapped laughter. 

"LOOK!" Bumi pointed his finger toward a little black and white creature a little ways outside the village. Bumi strained against her arms again towards the penguin, still pointing. 

Katara hauled him back onto her lap. "What is that?"

"PENGIN!" Bumi yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Shhh, don't scream Bumi. What sound does a penguin make?"

"HONK HONK HONK!!!" Bumi screamed, straining towards the penguin again.

Katara had to cover her mouth to keep from bursting into giggles. "Bumi, I said no screaming."

"Otay!" Bumi whispered loudly. His eyelids dropped a little bit. Katara smiled.

"Do you want to snuggle with Mommy for a little bit?"

Bumi nodded with a big smile, not suspecting her real nap-related intentions. Katara wrapped him up in one of the blankets she had brought outside and pulled him tight to her. She rocked him for a few minutes until the tired energy leaked out of his eyes and he began to fall asleep. He kept trying to shake himself awake. "Let's rest our eyes." Katara told him and he finally closed his eyes. They popped open right after though.

"When I wake up, will Daddy be here, Mommy?"

Katara brushed his hair back. "Maybe, love. Let's get some sleep."

Almost immediately, Bumi's little head lolled over to the side and he probably would've been snoring if he hadn't been a two-year-old. Katara closed her own eyes until she heard the tent flap flutter. She rolled her eyes at her brother and motioned at Bumi to let him know that her baby was sleeping. 

Sokka sat down on one of the blankets she wasn't using. "Any sign of Aang yet?"

Katara's annoyance was replaced with worry and disappointment. Well, maybe not replaced. The annoyance was definitely still there. "No." she answered blankly. 

"Ok." Sokka looked out at the wide cerulean sky like he was trying to will Appa into it. He looked over at Katara, clearly seeing through her nonchalant expression. "He'll be here, don't worry."

Katara sighed. "I know he'll try his best to be."

Aang was having a hard time getting away from his job lately. He'd promised to be home by that day, but if something came up, he'd have no choice but to delay his return ever further. Sokka had come early to stay with her and Bumi, which was sweet, but it also meant she got a lot of nostalgia from when it was just her, Sokka and Gran Gran. No Aang. No adventures. Just anxiety, annoyance and boredom. 

At least she had Bumi now, but even that was a curse along with a blessing. There were about a thousand new ways for him to get hurt there. Snow storms and cold nights and the freezing ocean and thin ice and hunting weapons laying around everywhere. That wasn't even including  choking hazards!

"If I know Aang, he'll find a way." Sokka reassured her.  "Especially today." 

Katara nodded gratefully, trying to suppress the anxious feeling simmering in her stomach. Aang was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Nothing was wrong. Nothing was going to go wrong. Katara lowered her gaze to her sleeping son's face. She would've worried just as much if Aang was a shopkeeper from Omashu.

"It's kind of crazy, y'know," Sokka commented, following Katara's gaze onto Bumi. "How much he looks like you and Aang."

Katara smiled at him out of the corner of her mouth somewhat sadly. "Really?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, smiling back at her. "It's like both of you smashed together into one person!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them as if to smush something between them. 

"Thank you?"

"Honestly, he's the best thing about you two being together. When you guys told me you were pregnant, you were like, "Hey Sokka! You want a free mini Sokka and get to be the fun uncle?" And I was like, "Heck yeah! And I don't even have to pay for shipping!""

Katara glared at him, digging her fingernails into her palms to keep her temper from flareing out. "I remember it differently."

Sokka shrugged. "To be real with you, I don't really remember it that much. Except that everybody was crying except me. Let me tell you, watching Zuko cry is unnerving."

If Katara had rolled her eyes any harder, they would've flown out the back of her head. "You don't say."

Sokka shuddered. "I do say."

Katara moved to get up, she had to get Bumi inside anyway.  His cheeks and nose were bright pink, and Katara wasn't interested in him having blue lips to match. 

"I bet Aang will be here any minute." Sokka said confidently. 

"Sokka, I really don't mind whether or not he gets here today as long as he gets here safe!" Katara snapped at him as she picked up the other blanket from  the ground and tucked if under her arm.

"He's going to be here." Sokka said again.

"Sokka!" Katara said, exasperated and defeated. "It's ok. It doesn't matter. Things come up, and stuff happens and there's nothing you can do about it! As long he gets here safely within the next couple days, I'm fine with it." She paused and turned away from her brother. "Even if I really really miss him."

"Can I hold Bumi?" Sokka blurted. 

Katara whipped her head back toward him. "Are you seriously asking to hold my child?"

"Please?" 

"No. He's asleep."

"I'll be really careful!"

Katara started at him in suspicion. "Fine. But if he wakes up, you have to play with him."

Super charged post-nap Bumi was not to be trifled with and Sokka knew it. He gulped. "I'll be really really careful."

"You better be." Katara said as she carefully handed Bumi over to Sokka. "I'm going for a walk."

"No, I think you'd better turn around." Sokka smirked. 

Katara crossed her arms. "You are an insufferable human."

"Just turn around Katara, jeez." 

Arms still crossed, Katara turned around, snarky comment already on her tongue for whatever met her eyes. Her mouth opened to expel it, but nothing came out. She flew into Aang's arms and let him hold her tight. His hands went into her hair and he kissed her. She kissed him back with equal enthusiasm. They finally broke off into a hug.

"Happy birthday, Sweetie." Aang whispered.

"I love you so much." Katara said, more than a little bit choked up. 

She could hear Aang's smile in his voice. "I love you too. I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Now this," said a whispering voice behind them. "Is called oogies. Everytime you see it, you say OOGIES really loudly. Ready? One, two, three... OOGIES!"

"OOGIES!!!!!!" Bumi screeched.

Katara and Aang turned around to face Sokka. Aang had his arm around Katara and her mood felt 1,000% improved. "Hey Sokka. And who's that?"

"Daddy it's meeeee!" Bumi sang.

Aang came closer and pretended to inspect Bumi. "You look really familiar."

Bumi threw his little arms around Aang's neck. "Daddy's home!"

Aang laughed and everyone within earshot had to smile. "Yeah buddy, Daddy's home." He leaned over to kiss Katara's forehead. "What did we say about when Daddy gets home? What do we say to Mommy?"

Bumi face scrunched up in confusion. Aang grinned and whispered in his ear. The two-year-old's eyes lit up. "Happy Birfday to youuuu!" he sang.

Sokka joined in. "Happy birthday to you!"

Aang looked into her eyes. "Happy birthday, Katara! Happy birthday to you!"

Katara laced their fingers together. "Thank you."

For the rest of the day Katara treasured every moment with Aang next to her. Every time Bumi made an excited baby noise. Even Sokka's jokes were more bearable now that Aang was back. It ended up being a good day. Nothing too special, but it was with people she loved, and that made all the difference.