The first Christmas Xandi Sue Shepard ever gave a damn about
Xandi Shepard had no difficult carrying her precious burden as she browsed through one of Eden Prime's shopping malls, although due to where most of the colonists on this part of the planet came from it was called a shopping centre instead. The gaudy decorations hung from the ceiling and were on prominent display in every store window. Her precious burden looked around trying to take everything in. Her little Mira, the new life she had bought into the world with the love of her life Liara T'soni. The first of what they hoped to be many blue children was the primary reason they had relocated from the backwater worlds Liara had been digging up for the past few years since the end of the Reaper War. Here Liara could continue her work on Prothean ruins while they were close to the facilities every parent needed to raise a child.
Xandi noticed her baby daughter staring intently at a Christmas card depicting a representation of the historical saint Nicholas that was part of a display promoting products involving the religious side of the holiday.
"Taking after Momma and want to learn all about history hey," she said smiling down at her child. "I think I can help there and in fact I need a refresher course myself."
She adjusted the straps on the baby carrier (they always seemed to make and area in her shoulder sore, possibly rubbing one of her cybernetic parts the wrong way) she went inside and purchased a book called a "Child's history of Christmas and other Earth holidays."
After leaving the store Xandi wandered towards the stand that sold inexpensive jewellery. She talked to little Mira as they went.
"You know I never really celebrated Christmas before," Xandi said.
Little Mira babbled at her for a bit.
"That's right I was an orphan," she explained to the baby who probably didn't understand her. "I didn't really have much to celebrate anyway but I promise that won't be the case for you because Mommy and I love you so very much. I promise you'll look forward to every single one."
Xandi browsed through the jewellery but was disappointed she could not find anything that would look magnificent on Liara's blue skin. She berated herself as it is hard to find perfect accessories for perfection itself. She was delighted at the giggle Mira had when she heard the jingle jangle of an over laden charm bracelet. It was only Shepard's finely honed reflexes that prevented Mira from putting it in her mouth and swallowing one of the smaller pieces.
"Right so when I buy Christmas decorations I'm definitely going to have to keep that in mind.," Xandi sighed. "Not everything is tasty you know."
Mira just smiled up at her flustered parent.
"Okay so we need to buy a tree," Xandi said. "A medium size one I think, Artificial and non-toxic so it lasts and some one doesn't get sick when she tries to eat it. Large baubles so some one can't swallow them and tinsel. How the heck can tinsel be baby proofed?"
Mira gurgled.
"That's no help," Xandi said. "Now do we go with Angel or star?"
This time Mira's cooing response seemed to go bu.
"Both?" Xandi said as she herself was considering it. "I did find my place out here didn't I among the stars but I also found an angel. I wonder If you can get an asari Christmas Tree angel on Eden Prime? I know what I definitely have to get, mistletoe. One for the house and one for Mommy's office."
Mira frowned and got a grumpy look.
"Either you know mommy and I'll eventually get you a little sister because of the mistletoe or..."
Xandi removed her daughter from the carrier and checked the back of her diaper.
One quick yet harrowing visit to the parents room later both parent and child were in the variety store. Xandi preferred it to the department store at the other end of the mall as it wasn't steeped in tradition, didn't stock clothes at ludicrous prices or ever feel the customer service staff was judging her all the time. It also helped that the place stocked both her and Liara's favourite pancake syrup in the sweets and candy isle. Every where else on Eden prime usual stocked one but not the other. The Christmas products were right at the front of the store, so it was fairly easy to pick a tree and thanks to both her Alliance training and Cerberus upgrades she was easily able to carry it in the crook of her arm.
The baubles and other trimmings however were perplexing her. Should she get the ones that reminded her of Liara's beautiful eyes or the ones that shared the exact some colour scheme as the armour she had worn during the reaper war. A little blue finger pointed at the shelf.
"What's that Mira?" Xandi asked as she picked up the packet her daughter was pointing out. She was surprised to find official N7 baubles coloured shiny black, red and white. The packet proudly proclaimed that a portion of the proceeds would go to the on going efforts to rebuild the still ravaged earth. She decided to buy them and the ones in alliance ship colours by the same people for a start. She would however get her wife to ask Feron about whether the companies claims were above board. If not, well she had good reasons to hold onto her spectre status despite putting dig site assistant as her primary employment on her last four tax forms. She eventually decide to get the one's that reminded her of Liara's eyes and one more set that closely matched the colour of her own hair as no doubt Liara would like that.
After seeing the tinsel she decided it was too much of a risk if it got in some one's little blue hands and subsequently her cute little mouth. A quarian girl wearing the stores uniform shirt over her own environmental suit came by and asked Shepard if she needed any assistance. Seeing as since the beginning of the retail industry on earth this has also meant please leave the store shop lifter, the girl did look taken aback that the heavily scarred scary woman answered that she did need help. The asari child babbled ta, ta a few times at the store employee.
"Now now Mira," Xandi said to her daughter. "You know your Aunty Tali only needs a breathing filter now, but this nice lady is quarrian like Tali. Sorry about that, as I was saying I do need help. Do you have any asari Christmas Tree angels?"
"Oh I just personally sold the last one this morning," the girl said. "We do have the latest in 3d fabricators set up in the photo lab. For a few credits more you can use a picture of a loved one to create ornaments using our holiday patterns."
An idea popped into Xandi's head.
"Can I use more than one image?"
"Of course Ma'am," the Quarian said.
"Okay, there is a healthy tip in it it for you if you talk me through the process. I'm kind of hopeless with technology unless I can talk to it person to person like the geth."
"Very well ma'am," the girl said as she lead Xandi to the photo lab.
Xandi could at least use the camera on her omni-tool and the girl was able to sync it to the on site computer. Xandi found the picture she wanted to use. Liara holding little Mira a few months after the little one was born. Xandi thought her soul mate would appreciate that it was the one she said she felt herself again after the potential difficulty of being a pregnant maiden and the exhaustion on 1:30 am feedings. The other was a colour corrected image of a blue star near Therum were she and Liara had first met and as they found out later, both fallen in love.
"Okay," the Quarian said as she pressed the start button once Xandi was satisfied with the preview. "That will take about twelve minutes."
"Thank you for all your help," Xandi said as she transferred credits to the girl. "I can also give you the contact details of the geth that are helping quarian's become less dependant on suits if you want."
"Thank you," the girl said. Xandi's comm link beeped. Considering which channel the call was coming on it could only be one person.
"Hey sexy! what are you wearing?" she asked.
"Hot sweaty dig gear that I need you to slowly pull off me as we both make our way to the shower."
"Mmm how many layers?"
"You'll be surprised," Liara said suggestively. "What about you?"
Just cargo's and a tank top," Xandi said. "Oh and baby carrier for our wonderful daughter. My hair smells a little bit of the milk she squirted into it when she was telling me a story in her coos and babbles at breakfast."
"I want you so much right now," Liara moaned, she had found she had a thing for when Xandi was being maternal.
"Sorry we can't," Xandi said. "No trusted baby sitters for Mira on planet this week. Besides we're out shopping, can you meet us for lunch?"
"You just want to see me squirm! getting me in the mood like that," Liara huffed. "But I think I can come have lunch. The place were we want to expand our dig to is close to a water purification plant. So we can't do anything until the planet planning commission comes back from holidays."
Xandi heard some cranky grumbling as if some one was talking to Liara at the other end of the link.
"Tell Javik I said Hi," Xandi said with a smirk. "And met us at the food court in fifteen minutes."
"I'll pay for lunch today," Liara said with a laugh in her voice. "No doubt you spent your pittance of an assistants salaryalready."
Liara found her girls in the lush green climate controlled park at the centre of the shopping complex that with the eateries that ringed it comprised the food court. Xandi Shepard was using her biotics to float a newly purchased plush Santa in front of their daughter. To the delight of both parents their daughter seemed to be making the motions that would aid her own biotic abilities when she was a bit older. Liara gave Xandi a kiss on the check as she sat down, it must have been a very good day as the scars were barely noticeable on her wife's face.
"So what's for lunch honey?"
"Burgers for me and you," Liara said. "A kids meal with the fruit for Mira, I just had to get it when I saw the toy."
Liara set down a miniature plastic version of Commander Shepard. The tiny version was in full armour and appeared to be crushing a reaper eye under boot. It had a loop so that it could be hung in a Christmas tree.
"Really?" Xandi asked.
"I think its cute," Liara said. Both parents were managing to keep it away from their daughter's mouth while they spoke.
"Not as cute as this one I made for you," Xandi said as she pulled out the asari star angel out of her shopping bags.
"Is that...?" Liara asked. "And I'm holding Mira."
"I know we've never done much beyond mistletoe before," Xandi explained. "But I finally have a reason to celebrate holidays and this is one from my culture I want to share with my family."
"Then we already have two family traditions," Liara declared as she help her Commander Shepard ornament and the custom tree angel. "These ornaments should always be as close to each other as possible and we shall always spend the season where there isn't any chance of snowing."
"Yeah I agree," Xandi replied. "Noveria was a sad..."
"I'm more thinking along the lines of how my wife nearly frozen to death on a white Christmas before she could get off earth and out of the slums."
"You remember that?" Xandi said.
"Of course that's why we're also making a Christmas donation to the charities that work with the children still in that situation."
"Can we make on to a Thessia based charity as well?"
"Anything for my Wife and Daughter's first real Christmas," Liara said.
Those traditions continued in the Shepard-T'soni family for many generations. Although the time their great-great-great-great granddaughter created the tradition ornament in space station size using an actual salvaged reaper eye was considered in slightly poor taste by the galactic community.