Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of its affiliated characters or property.

No Lullabies for Ryders

Ch. 1 - Conception

Sara wrung her hands as she paced along the Hyperion deck, chestnut brows knit as tight as her nerves.

"Yeah, that's the look of a woman excited to see her new husband," her brother harassed, a familiar boyish simper in place.

"It's been months, we're not really newlyweds anymore."

"Ah, so, this is typical anxiety for your mature relationship?" Scott Ryder folded his arms, and leaned back on the rail. Only his eyes followed as her feet threatened to wear a trail in the floor.

Sara knew he enjoyed mocking her, but the way he said 'mature', laden with sarcasm, bore the weight of experience with Liam now. Since the twins' reunion, Scott had taken it upon himself to serve in place of their parents in 'checking him out'. Which might have been logical if Scott and Liam weren't both slightly-reckless adrenaline junkies who both desperately needed a brother. They got along just like little boys, leaving Sara the perplexed mother trying to control her urge to tame them.

Until she and Liam were alone anyway.

With his bait left hanging with zero acknowledgment, Scott's face twisted disapprovingly. "What is up with you, Sis? Are you on your per-"

"-Don't even say it!" She lifted her hand sharply, eyes glowing with irritation. "You've been using that same excuse for my attitude since we were kids, and it's almost never the reason. Sometimes, I am entitled to a little concern!"

"Okay, jeez!" Scott's shoulders perked defensively. But when she continued her pace, he mumbled an "...almost never" under his breath.

Sara heard, but again found herself too lost in thought to respond as sharply as she might have on a different day. The fact was, it wasn't her period that made her so anxious she wanted to climb the walls. It was a lack of one.

"SAM, how much longer until the transport arrives?"

"Mr. Kosta's vessel has entered Meridian space. He should be arriving in under ten minutes. Might I propose heading to the docking bay?"

"Thanks, SAM."

Sara brushed past her brother, SAM's mere suggestion more than enough reason to forgo any façade of patience. Scott followed, nearly jogging to keep up.

"Miss him that much, huh?" He called after her, long legs stretching to compensate.

"Yeah," she replied shortly. "I did."

Faces and uniforms blurred by as she made her way to the tram, her twin hot on her heels. Three months had been a long time to be without Liam, it was true. They'd experienced almost every day of Andromeda together. But a Pathfinder team was needed on Voeld for the thirty-second time, and Sara had been needed here. But the last month had definitely been the hardest.

Sara found herself on the docks before she remembered reaching the Tramway, auto-pilot driving her forward. She found a railing near the airlocks and squeezed as she rocked on her feet. She urged herself to calm, if not for Liam, for Scott, who hadn't stopped staring at her. She knew she couldn't hide her emotions from him anyway- he sensed them- but she certainly wasn't ready to talk about it. That would have to do for now.

It seemed to. He waited, silently at her side as they watched an Angaran fighter ship descend onto a round pad and the crew begin to disembark. She joined the small handful of people waiting, including a few Angara. She feared the search for his face in the group; she'd always hated it growing up. Searching, wondering, afraid with each wrong face the odds of the next one being the right one were going down, not up.

She should have known better.

Sara's lips into an uncontrollable smile as Liam dodged to the side of the exiting crew so he could run to the front and seek her. His warm brown face and eyes met her first, and she immediately felt a hundred times better. He dashed to her quickly and she found herself lifted off the floor and hugged into his arms as ecstatic kisses peppered her face.

"Gods, I missed you!"

Ugh, his accent. Thick and warm like honey, it was like coming home.

"I missed you, too!" She laughed and clung to him until he touched her toes back to the linoleum. She buried fingers in his unruly hair and pulled him in for a kiss before she stepped away.

"Aye, Liam, you've got a Pathfinder on your face!" Scott stalked up, hand already extended.

Liam beamed and grabbed the man's forearm, tugging him into a playful embrace with a couple claps on the back. "You should have been with me, brother. Plenty of action to be had."

"Another time. I doubt we'll run out of things to blow up together out here," Scott joked.

Sara rolled her eyes, but all in good fun. She loved their relationship, found herself even jealous of it sometimes. But Scott and Liam both needed it, and they were her family. Them being close could only mean good things.

Her husband's arm found its way around her shoulders and he began to steer them back off the docks, looking as relaxed and refreshed as ever.

Must not have been too dangerous then, Sara thought to herself.

Having him back eased her nerves by volumes. She still needed to tell him, but now that he'd returned, she could be a little more patient and just enjoy it.

Scott was happy to invite Liam to dominate the conversation, plying him with questions one after another about business. Sara listened idly for quite some time as the trio made their way to the restaurant market to get Liam some comfort food. She declined a cocktail in place of water and claimed she felt dehydrated when Scott quirked a brow. Liam didn't notice, his palm absently squeezing her thigh at the bar as he regaled the tale of the ancient city currently being uncovered in the deep Voeld ice- and how the Kett had increased their assaults since the project's groundbreaking. Sara, of course, cared enough to note that the situation seemed well in hand, thanks to some reinforcements from Kadara. Liam's team just needed to facilitate protection until it could be arranged.

After an hour or so of chatter, Scott excused himself, supplying some reason that honestly could have waited. Sara knew he was just being tactful for her. She'd have to remember to thank him later. She hugged him before he left, then returned to Liam's side, her hands finding his shoulder and chest.

"Well? Feel like going home?"

The warmth in Liam's smile nearly melted her, and he caught one of her hands to bring it to his mouth for a kiss. "A shower sounds lovely."

'Home' was still a loose term. They now shared an apartment on the Hyperion after its permanent descent to Meridian. But it was with the mutual understanding that eventually they'd need to decide where they wanted to settle permanently. They had ideas, but there were always reasons to consider elsewhere.

They walked hand in hand to their quarters, Sara eager to see him out of his gear, if only to let it sink in he was off-duty, and hers.

They fell into a comfortable silence until they reached their destination, and once inside, Sara fetched him a towel and proffered it to him with a kind smile.

"You're not joining me?" The half-smirk to his lips, so natural and hopeful, caused the flame of her focus to waiver for a moment, but her well-leashed stress prevailed.

"Mm, I'll be waiting out here for loves when you're done." She leaned in to kiss him, and reveled in how happy and constantly relieved he seemed with her. She loved that she could give that to him.

The steady rhythm of the shower spout eased her spine as she dressed down to a tank over her pants and curled onto one end of their couch. It was pleasant, knowing another was in the home. It had been much too quiet lately. She'd missed the sound of Liam's endless movies and video games, and had pilfered his music collection for company while he'd been away.

For a moment she wondered if her mother had ever done anything similar while Alec had served. But a hand absently rubbed her abdomen in anxiety at the notion. She hadn't wanted that for herself, she'd known it at a young age. This Voeld trip had been intended to be an isolated event, but now... she couldn't afford for it to be anything else. She could never be as strong her mother, raising children, or even one child, completely alone while wondering if it were truly temporary. She'd wished so badly she could talk to Ellen now. She'd even spent some time in Cryo Bay, trying to (in her head, lest someone overhear).

She'd never pictured her life with Liam that way. But, she'd never pictured herself a Pathfinder either. Or one of the most famous humans in Andromeda's young history.

Or, pregnant. At least not in any sense that wasn't in the far-off future.

"Love?"

Sara blinked away her startled reaction, her hand flying from her stomach before she had time to mitigate how suspicious it looked. Liam stood at the end of the sofa, freshly showered and shaved, skin and hair still damp, and a relaxed, simple grey sweater laying over his muscles. She allowed herself an unabashed gaze at his body for a moment before her eyes lifted to his.

"You've been quiet, you alright?"

She nodded and offered a soft smile. "I just missed you." She shifted to stretch for his hand, guiding him to sit with her so she could then cuddle into his side. But he easily dragged her the extra few inches into his lap, hugging her to him.

"It was weird, being out there without you."

"It was weird being here without you," she retorted against his jaw between soft kisses.

"Everything work out? With the Moshae and the others?" His calloused hands ran along her legs as they talked, keeping her content to stay tucked against him.

"I think so. Being a Pathfinder is a really popular idea right now. Trying to profile and train people who would make good ones will be a long screening process. I wish more of the original Pathfinders had made it. Maybe they'd have more insight into the project."

"I'd say we did pretty damn good with our rookies," he comforted, the childlike optimism still in his tone. She so badly didn't want to burden it. "At least you and Scott got some time together."

"Yeah, and Vetra came by a couple times. Kesh has her setting up some deals with Kadara."

"Good."

She felt his warm lips at her hairline, the both of them falling deeper and deeper into the calm intimacy they enjoyed so often. When it felt like just them in the galaxy, almost as if Heleus were crafted just for them two.

"Was Voeld really alright?"

"If it were messy I would have called you in. It was nothing we couldn't handle."

Fingers lovingly stroked her hair. She buried her face in his neck to delay the inevitable, but with each kind touch, she knew he let his guard down further. If she told him quickly it could be part of their 'debrief'. If she waited any longer, it would feel like she were hiding it. Like shame.

"Liam," she breathed. She had the sentence, she'd really had. But the words caught in her throat and she cleared it with a wince.

His hand in her hair slipped down her neck and angled her face up to see his eyes. Patience and concern both pooled behind chocolate depths, a perfect expression for a husband and father. She just hadn't seen it that way before.

"I... do you remember, after we found this place, and after we defeated the Archon, the conversation we had? About the future?"

"You mean the one that got us married?" He smirked and gently nuzzled her lips with his between her questions.

"Mm, no, the one about having a family."

He blinked, his smile still in place, if shifting in curiosity at her topic. "...Yes?"

"You really want to be a father, then? I mean, that's important to you?"

Uh, oh. She'd worried him. Perhaps that wasn't the right way to phrase it.

"I..." he carefully articulated. "I told you, yes. I want a future with you, Sara. I wouldn't have married you if I didn't."

"We could've had a future without kids."

The past-tense was lost on him in his east banter, as he continued easily with his reply. "And pass up the chance to find out what a Ryder-Kosta hybrid is like? When we have all this space to let them loose in?"

His attitude was infectious, and she found herself smiling, even as the pressure of telling him crept closer.

"Liam," she finally said, drawing his attention back to her. "I wanted to surprise you when you got back, but... before you left I went to see Jill... To see about getting off the hormone blockers."

Liam did, in fact, blink in surprise. He'd gotten off his own blockers once the pair had become truly serious, as he wasn't planning to be with anyone else and she'd stayed on them. "You, you think we're ready?"

Dear lord I hope so, Sara thought. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about it. There's good reasons to start soon, and to wait. I thought I'd switch to a more temporary contraceptive in the meanwhile..."

Her voice drifted with the thought. It was true, Jill had begrudgingly also provided other forms of protection for until they were ready, but they'd never gotten a chance to use them. She'd expected at least a month's delay until the hormone blockers were out of her body. Perhaps she didn't account for the physiology of an AI-integrated Pathfinder. However small a window, it clearly proved enough.

To her relief, Liam seemed pleased enough with idea, his brows raised in measured excitement as he recited his list of things he wanted prepared before the time came, including their long-term housing.

Before he could really rev himself up though, Sara cleared her throat again. "It's not just that, it's... Liam, I... we're pregnant."

She blurted the last two words out like they were a magic spell that swept their reality away into a hazy daydream of ever-changing uncertainty. They pulsed through the air of their small apartment, shrinking it further in the shadows of the space they'd soon need.

Liam sat breathless, and for a whole three seconds, like his brain had lagged. Then, all at once, his cheeks split into a disbelieving grin. "We're.. we're going to have a baby?!"

With a great wash of weight cascading off her at his smile, she nodded vigorously, clutching the front of his sweater. "SAM confirmed three weeks ago."

"SAM?" Liam raised his voice to the room, his arm cradling Sara's head to his chest possessively as his full reaction awaited, loaded into the chamber.

"Hormone levels and biological cycles confirm, Mr. Kosta. Congratulations."

Suddenly Sara felt herself hoisted from off the couch and into a swirling body by crushing arms. "This is incredible! How did this happen?!"

The Pathfinder resisted the inclination to start a facetious 'birds and bees' speech. "I guess your little swimmers were ready with drill bits and pickaxes when the blockers came off! It must have happened just before you left-!"

She was cut off by a forceful, truly joyous kiss, and a flurry of new emotions rushed over her into the vacuum her fear had left. She hadn't recalled ever being kissed so deeply and desperately out of delighted jubilance instead of lust.

"This is amazing!" He beamed, finally setting her down.

"I was so worried!" she confessed. "We don't have a home yet, there's no space here-"

"We have plenty of time to move."

"I'm a Pathfinder, I have obligations and responsibilities-"

"That you're already training others for. Plus we've got another Ryder now."

"And I don't want to either of us to be the type of parents our kids have to miss all the time."

"I think we've earned some leeway to design our own lives."

She huffed as he so quickly dismissed what she considered nigh-insurmountable obstacles. "You just have the answer to everything, don't you?"

"Crisis Response Specialist, 'member?"

She stood for a moment, hands on her hips, as he so neatly organized their immediate concerns into bite-sized digestible pieces.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"No you are." His face came achingly close to hers, a hand on either side of her cheeks as he kept her held close to him. "You're carrying our baby, Sara. You're going to be the mother of my child."

The daydream and reality collided violently at his words, sending her brain into lightheaded dizziness, but it settled in a single sobering and powerful calling that commanded her at a deeper level than Pathfinder.

"Oh my god," she breathed. "I'm going to be a mom."

Liam chuckled warmly, snaking arms around her to pull her close again. "There you go, Mum."

They quickly melted into kisses after that, though too excited by the sharing of the news for it not to escalate. Sara knew on some level that she still wasn't sure what the future looked like, at least not in the next year, but Liam had a way of filling her with confidence that it would be more than alright.

Perhaps helplessly, they fell into naked celebration for the next hour or so, and though Sara would have contently sentenced him to an evening in bed with her and his favorite musicals, her other half had other plans.

"Who else knows?" He asked later, hugging her to his bare form under the single sheet they'd pulled over themselves.

"Just you and SAM."

"You haven't told your brother yet?" Liam kissed her shoulder, her neck, his hands still tracing her to chase away her sleepiness.

"I thought about it, but it didn't seem right. You deserved to know first."

Her husband "mm"ed and trailed a fingertip over one of her scars. "You know who'll really flip?"

"-Suvi."

"-PeeBee."

They answered at the same time and laughed.

"We should have Lexi or Carlisle check you out," Liam added. "Not that I don't trust SAM. Just for the records."

"Harry..." Sara considered a moment. Harry had been close to her parents. Perhaps a little too close. He reminded her of them. And his approval and pride still meant a lot to her. What would he think? "Harry might be a little too close for clarity."

"Oh, and Lexi isn't going to over-fuss like a grandmum?" Liam batted back.

Sara groaned, but she was much too happy to be grumpy. Liam's adoring kisses on her skin kept her good mood secure.

"We should just tell 'em all at once, get it over with."

"You're going to get swarmed," he purred, amused as he tugged her tight into his chest and groin.

"If the baby can take it, so can I."

She only felt his grin as it spread along her temple.

Hey all! So I told you that it seemed a crime against nature to not touch on any ME: Andromeda. This just started pouring out, and I see a potential future in this (what was supposed to be a one-shot). I think there's more to this story, maybe? Is Liam really taking it all in stride or is he just showing strength and excitement for her benefit? Has it really hit either one of them yet? And what does it mean for their roles in the new galaxy- and the roles of the half-dozen new uncles and aunts to be made!?

But its continuation may depend on interest, so please, if you'd like to see more, drop a quick review so I know if it's worth my time!

(Also, just because the lemon stuff didn't go into any detail here, doesn't necessarily mean I won't in the future. In this instance, however, it didn't feel like the focus.)