The Moon and The Earth

The New Moon Pt. 7

The couple rode to the hospital in a comfortable silence with easy smiles.

Kya had been woken up by the sound of Lin's after work shower and had slipped in to join her wife. After a while of soft kisses and gentle touches while the pair showered, they had dressed, eaten a quick meal, and left the house.

As they walked into the building, Kya talked about how her shift went and her check-ins with Neoma in an attempt to calm the growing nerves of both herself and her wife. Approaching the nursery, they saw Yao, the pediatrician that looked after the baby when she arrived, step from behind the desk outside. He gave them a friendly smile and gestured for the couple to join him in a private room.

Yao talked them through the paperwork he held on his clipboard. Forms about this and that, but however boring and somewhat confusing all of the legal jargon was, it meant that the women had been approved to foster the child while the investigation continued.

After what seemed to be an eternity of forms and signatures, they finally came upon the last page. Kya sighed in relief and looked toward her wife.

Kya could tell that her partner was slightly relieved as well when Yao left to give Neoma one last checkup and bring her out from the nursery. The healer could almost feel Lin's thoughts churning through the woman's head while they sat in a loud silence holding hands. The earthbender grew more tense by the second until finally,

"Neoma, meet your new, official, foster parents. They'll be taking care of you for a while." Yao spoke mostly to the couple and smiled broadly at them. Lin brought a hand to her lips as the pediatrician spoke.

Parents.

It echoed in the younger woman's mind and she fought the tears that immediately sprung to her eyes when hearing the word.

Kya smiled and moved to take the child from Yao. She looked over her shoulder at Lin and tilted her head wanting her to come closer. The earthbender stepped close behind her wife.

"Hi again, Neoma." Kya spoke gently, "We're very excited to be your parents and to take you home."

Lin smiled softly as she placed a careful hand on the girl's head. Kya was grinning as she turned to kiss Lin's cheek.

---

Yao cleared his throat as he stepped back inside the room after giving the couple a moment by themselves with the child, his arms full of various items.

"Here I have a diaper bag with all of the necessities, Neoma's special formula I prescribed, a bag of a few other things I thought might be handy, and a collapsible crib. I figured since the little one just came into your lives only yesterday you wouldn't have much."

Lin moved to take the things from his arms with a slight nod, "Thank you, we haven't had much time to prepare."

"My pleasure. We keep a few of everything on hand for situations with quick turnarounds like this or families in need. Some families donate them when they're no longer needed, and I'm happy to see that they're going home with you and Neoma.

"We have her set up for a check-up next week, just to make sure she's adjusting well to the formula or if we need to change it up at all. Please feel free to reach out if you need anything."

The couple expressed their gratitude for Yao and his help before gathering Neoma and all of their new belongings. After buckling the baby into her new satomobile-seat, the family headed home where they would spend most of the evening settling Neoma in. 

---

Both Kya and Lin had a hard time sleeping that night. Not because the baby was awake or fussy, but because they had a baby.  The women were elated that they were approved to foster Neoma, and now that she was here in their home and had time to absorb all of their feelings, the couple tried not to worry about all of the things to come.

Instead of voicing their fears and since they were still awake, Lin and Kya made a list of all of the baby supplies they still needed and even talked about how they would turn one of the rooms into a nursery for Neoma and how they might decorate it for the girl.