The Moon and The Earth

The New Moon Pt. 4

Kya took her wife in her arms again and Lin rested her chin on the waterbender's shoulder. They stood holding each other in a loose hug when there was a knock on the door. The pair separated as the door opened but Lin kept a hand resting on the small of Kya's back.

"Excuse me, Master Kya, Chief Beifong." A man said as he stepped into the room. "You brought in the baby girl earlier, correct?"

"Just Kya and Lin is fine, Yao. But yes, Lin brought her in." Kya said with a small smile. Lin gave a nod in agreement with her wife.

"Well, Lin, it's nice to meet you. My name is Yao, and I'm a pediatrician. I've been working with the baby this evening, I know Kya looked her over quickly but I gave her a more in-depth evaluation of her health and development." Yao said, speaking directly to Lin before looking between them and continuing. "I thought I would come update you, if that's alright?"

Yao gestured to the chairs and Lin's forehead creased as she began to worry and the three of them sat. What if she wasn't okay, even though she had looked it?

"Has anyone reached out? I would like to talk to any relatives, if I could." Yao asked. Lin only shook her head, her thoughts only filled with increasingly worse scenarios involving the child's health.

"No, there isn't anything yet. Since she doesn't have anyone, we were talking about taking her in, if possible." Kya explained, speaking for her and her wife.

"Alright. I'm sure I can help arrange that after the baby's-"

"Neoma." Lin interrupted, then cleared her throat. "We've been calling her Neoma."

Yao smiled kindly at her and nodded.

"I can help arrange for you to have temporary custody with a social worker after Neoma's observation period. Anything beyond that will be up to the court and child services, though."

"Thank you. We appreciate that and everything you have already done for Neoma. Is she doing alright?" Kya replied.

"Yes, there were just a few things I wanted to discuss with you. Firstly, she is slightly anemic. However, this is entirely normal in infants and young children because their bodies are growing so quickly it can be hard for their red blood cells to keep up and she will most likely age out of it." Yao explained. "The other thing is Neoma's age. It's difficult to tell how old she is, I have an approximation but without any information about her birth we can't know for sure.

"Purely based on her size, we could assume that she is around one month old, but I'm concerned that she shows a few signs of malnutrition, making it entirely possible that she could be older. She may also just be small from being prematurely born, there's just not a good way to be sure unfortunately."

Yao paused to let all of this information sink in before he continued.

"I know this is a lot, and that you're not official guardians of Neoma, but I can assure you she is quite healthy. Not all surrendered children fare as well as she has. And she seems very happy with all the attention she has gotten today.

"To get her stabilized I'm going to prescribe a specific formula for a few days, just to make sure she's getting all of the nutrients she needs, and we'll start that in the nursery while she's here."

"So she'll be okay?" Kya asked plainly for confirmation and Yao nodded.

"She's okay." Lin said softly, squeezing her wife's hand.

"Well, it's getting late. I'll double check that Neoma is settled in for the night before I leave." Yao said as he stood. "Oh, and for what it's worth, I hope it all works out. I'm rooting for you."

The couple stood and thanked the pediatrician again as he left.

Kya smiled at Lin, fairly happy with the news they had just received. Her grin had even coaxed a hint of a smile onto her wife's face.

"Well, I'm here for the night. I'm sure there are plenty of patients needing a healer, but I'll check on Neoma as often as I possibly can. You, however, should go home and get some rest, babe. We've got a lot to figure out tomorrow night when the twenty-four hour observation period is over." Kya said as she held her wife's shoulders. "But before I get back to work and you go home, do you want to go see her? Say goodnight?"

The hand Lin had holding Kya's waist tightened and she nodded, her smile growing ever so slightly.

The couple moved through the hall and up to where the nursery was held. There were many cribs holding such cute babies, but the women's eyes were immediately drawn to the one that held little Neoma. They looked at her through the large window at the sleeping baby and Lin took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling fully.

"Goodnight, Neoma." Lin said quietly, mostly to herself. Kya watched her wife, smiling at the younger woman's happiness.

The women then exchanged goodnights and a quick peck of a kiss. Kya knew that leaving the hospital had to be hard for Lin, as the earthbender gave one last look through the nursery window, but nothing could be done until they were actual guardians of the child.

Since Mako had drove the Chief to the hospital, Lin walked home to the estate. She didn't mind though, even if it was farther than their apartment used to be, the temperature was perfect for a walk. As she journeyed home, she mulled over her feelings and began to really take into consideration what an undertaking having a child would truly be. She was a little frightened at the idea, however she couldn't help but be excited and happy.

The corner of Lin's lip quirked in a small smile and she looked up toward the night sky. She admired the stars, and the moon of course. Quicker than she realized, Lin stood at the door of the house. She gave a lingering look towards the moon and went inside.

Lin quickly moved through her nighttime routine, all the while making a mental to-do list for the morning. Laying in bed alone was bittersweet, though she was glad Kya was at the hospital for the night so that Neoma wasn't alone.

It would be a struggle for her to fall asleep, but eventually happy, hopeful imaginings of the future helped her drift off.