A/N: Hey everybody! Today is the big day. The next entry in the Mass Effect series has arrived. In celebration of Mass Effect: Andromeda's release, the amazingly talented Berserker79 and myself have teamed up to tell you all a previously untold story that could have happened during the events of Mass Effect 3. With this new story by me and cover art created by Berserker79, we will witness the moment when Shepard formally meets Ashley's sister Sarah.
Before reading this story however, head over to Berserker79's deviantart account to see his original image titled "Mass Effect - A Sister's Blessing." Included with the picture is a series of dialogue between Ashley and Sarah that serves as a prologue and helps to set up the events that take place in this story. While you're visiting Berserker79's gallery, be sure to check out his other Mass Effect related pictures. They are amazing!
With all that said, sit back, relax and enjoy "Mass Effect - A Sister's Blessing".
Disclaimer: The universe and the characters in this story are the creation and property of Bioware and EA games.
Rain Check
From: Ashley Williams
Skipper,
Sorry again that our contest was interrupted by those jerks (even though getting in a bar-fight with you was kind of fun). You put up a good fight during the contest but I guess we'll have to settle which of us is the real Spectre some other time.
I know you're probably busy getting ready for the big party and fielding requests from our friends for some one-on-one time but I wanted to see if you wanted to cash in that rain check. I thought maybe we could get together for dinner. If you want, I could even pick up food on my way and we can eat at your new place.
Now before you start thinking about setting up a romantic candle-lit dinner for us, there's actually another reason I want to do this. During my girl's night with Sarah, she expressed an interest in meeting you. Apparently she's dying to meet her big sister's boyfriend. She even pulled the "I helped bring you two together" card when she asked me. I realize this is a big thing to ask you but with everything that's happened to Sarah recently, this might be just what she needs.
Let me know what you think.
Ash
"Let's see how you did Commander."
In the kitchen of his apartment in the Tiberius Towers building on the Citadel, Commander Mark Shepard angled his omni-tool so that it was pointing at the spread of food that was laid out on the kitchen counter. The video he was capturing was then sent to the person he was having a vid-call with, former Normandy Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner. Rupert's face was displayed on the monitor hanging on the wall by the refrigerator. He smiled as he looked at the video Shepard was sending him.
"Well now," he chuckled, "nice to see that you can follow orders as well as you can give them. Looks to me like the food came out nicely."
"Very funny Rupert," Shepard replied, "but I'll have to admit, the food probably wouldn't have come out nearly as good if I didn't have one of the best chefs teaching me how to cook."
"Hey, I owe you Commander. Between saving me from the Collectors and helping me get my job with the Fifth Fleet, giving you cooking lessons is the least I could do. So do you think you're ready?"
Shepard let out a nervous sigh, "I hope so but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. This is kind of a big step for Ashley and me."
"Oh you'll do fine Commander. I have the upmost confidence in you that you'll make a good impression on Commander Williams' sister."
"Thanks Rupert. I should go, they'll be here any minute and you probably have to get back to work. You be safe out there Rupert."
"You too Commander and good luck tonight."
Rupert's face vanished from the monitor. As soon as Rupert was gone, Shepard started grabbing dishes of food and placing them on the dining room table. He carefully examined each plate as he brought them over to make sure everything looked neat and delicious. When everything was in place, Shepard checked the time and breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was ready with minutes to spare.
With nothing more to do until Ashley and Sarah arrived, Shepard entered the living room and took a seat on the sofa. He thought about turning on the TV but decided there was no point since he wouldn't have much time to watch anything. His eyes then wandered over to the bar area. He wasn't a drinking man except for special occasions but he was starting to feel like he really needed a drink. Fortunately he was able to get the thought out of his head when he turned to look at the fireplace behind the sofa. He smiled as an idea came to him.
Getting up from sofa, Shepard moved over to the other side of the living room and took a seat in the sofa that faced the fireplace. He couldn't explain it but something made sitting and looking at the fire relaxing. As he sat and watched the fire, Shepard began convincing himself that everything was going to be fine. If Ashley didn't think that Shepard was ready to meet Sarah, she wouldn't have suggested the get together. Besides it wasn't like he was meeting Ashley's mother. True that was likely going to come later if he and Ashley stayed together but at least meeting Sarah could serve as a practice run for the main event. Still the fact that Ashley's whole family was important to her made just meeting her sister a high pressure situation. Shepard quickly shook the thought out of his head. He was trying to relax before Ashley and Sarah arrived and he wasn't going to be relaxed if he kept reminding himself about the pressure that was attached to the dinner.
(RING)
The doorbell rang just as Shepard was able to get himself relaxed. It was good thing that was the case because he likely would have jumped out of his seat when he heard the bell. Instead he simply stood up and headed for the main door. Before opening it, he glanced at the nearby monitor. Normally it was used to see who was on the other side of the door but Shepard didn't need to since he already knew who it was. Instead he was using the reflection to make sure his appearance was alright. Convinced he looked as good as he was going to, Shepard opened the door and smiled.
"Hello ladies," he said, "come on in."
Ashley and Sarah did as Shepard said and entered the apartment. While Ashley had already been inside Shepard's apartment before, this was Sarah's first visit and it showed by the expression on her face. Not that Shepard or Ashley could blame her. Between the large size of the place and the unusual artwork, it wasn't exactly the kind of apartment people would picture a bachelor soldier living in. Of course the reason Shepard was able to get the apartment was because it was given to him by his friend and mentor, Admiral David Anderson.
When Shepard was first offered the place, he didn't know how to react. Growing up an orphan on Earth, Shepard never really had what could be considered a 'home". He spent most of his childhood wandering the streets of Earth's many major cities picking up odd jobs while earning his high school diploma via the extranet. Joining the Alliance military when he turned eighteen got him off the streets but he still couldn't settle down in one place due to his deployments. The different ships he served on were the closest things he had to a home with his ship the Normandy being the latest. For the longest time Shepard didn't know if he was even capable of settling down somewhere. After his initial shock at Anderson's offer wore off, Shepard realized that Anderson was giving him one of the things he would need to do that, a place to call home. It was that realization that ultimately made Shepard accept the offer.
Since Shepard got the place, the apartment had seen a lot of activity. Several of Shepard's past and present crew had come to visit for one reason or another. Plus the party Shepard was going to be throwing later would serve not just as the finale for his shore leave but also as a sort of housewarming party for him. However, of all the events that Shepard had or was going to have happen before his leave was over, Ashley and Sarah's visit was the one he was the most excited about.
When Sarah had recovered from being surprised by the size of the apartment, Ashley proceeded to make the introductions, "Shepard, this is my sister Sarah. Sarah, this is Commander Shepard, my boyfriend."
"Pleased to finally meet you in person Commander Shepard," Sarah said as she shook Shepard's hand.
"Likewise Sarah," said Shepard, "and please, just Shepard is fine."
"So Shepard," Ashley said, "you didn't ask me to pick up any food on the way here. Does that mean we're going out to eat instead of eating here?"
A sly smile appeared on Shepard's face, "actually Ash, I didn't ask you to pick anything up because I thought I would cook something for us."
Ashley was about to laugh at what she thought was a joke when she noticed a pleasing scent coming from the dining room area. She and Sarah followed Shepard towards the smell and this time both of them were surprised by the sight that greeted them. Shepard couldn't help but smile at their reactions. Ashley turned to Shepard while pointing to the food as a way to silently ask if he really did make the food himself to which Shepard nodded in response.
"No offense Shepard but when did you learn to cook?" Ashley asked.
Shepard chuckled, "well technically I'm still learning. My former Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner has been giving me lessons. Believe it or not this is my first successful attempt at making a meal for more than one person. It probably helped that this time I had Rupert talk me through it step by step via vid-comm."
"Even so," said Sarah, "the fact that you made this yourself is impressive Shepard. Just looking at this food is making me hungry."
"In that case, what do you ladies say we sit down and eat."
With that said, the trio each took a seat around the table. Shepard sat at one end of the table with Ashley at his right and Sarah at his left. Once they were seated, Shepard held out his hands. Ashley and Sara were both slightly confused by the gesture.
"Aren't we going to say a prayer before we eat?" Shepard asked.
The question made Ashley smile while Sarah appeared to be surprised. Ashley picked up on Sarah's expression and answered the question Sarah was likely thinking.
"Sorry Sarah, I forgot I never told you that Shepard believes in God too. After he overheard me listening to that vid message you sent me…"
"You mean the vid message I sent that helped bring you two together?" Sarah said teasingly.
Ashley rolled her eyes and turned to Shepard, "that's the very card she pulled when she asked me to set this up. She just will not let me forget that."
Shepard smiled and took Ashley's hand before turning to Sarah, "well I personally won't be forgetting it Sarah and I want to say thank you for the part you played in bringing Ashley and me together."
Sarah began to blush and giggled, "you're welcome."
"Now what were you saying Ash?" Shepard said prompting Ashley to continue her story.
"After he overheard the message," Ashley said, "Shepard and I started talking about you guys and Mom and Dad. At one point I mentioned how Dad had passed away but was probably still watching. I said that to kind of teasingly tell Shepard he needed to behave when we were alone together but he figured out I was implying that I believed Dad was watching us from the afterlife. I asked him if it was a problem for him that I believed in God…(sniffle) and I will never forget what he said next."
Sensing Ashley was on the brink of tears, Shepard finished the story, "you know that old saw 'there's never an atheist in a foxhole'? I've been in a lot of foxholes."
"Wow," Sarah said in awe, "that's amazing. You know Ash, I remember all the times you talked about how you met people who were weirded out whenever you brought up your faith. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you to not only meet someone who had the same faith but to have it be your commanding officer as well."
"Yeah," Ashley replied, "I also remember that I wrapped up our conversation pretty quick by telling him I needed to get back to my duties and that I was sorry for taking up so much of his time. Part of it was true but the other reason I did that was because I was so overwhelmed by how much Shepard and I had in common that I didn't want to risk saying something embarrassing. Inside though, I realized at that point that I wanted to get to know Shepard even more, even if it meant breaking fraternization regs."
"Now I'm really impressed Shepard. You turned my sister into a rule breaker."
Shepard started rubbing his chin like he was trying to think of something, "well I wouldn't say she was breaking any rules. What is it everyone says? 'All's fair in love and war?'"
"Good lord," Ashley groaned, "there you go Sarah. You just heard for yourself an example of one of Shepard's famous cheesy lines."
Sarah chuckled at Ashley's joke before returning to a serious tone, "so Shepard, would you mind telling me how you came to be a man of faith?"
"I would love to Sarah," Shepard replied, "but first we should probably pray so that we can start eating while the food is still warm."
Shepard held out his hands again. This time Ashley and Sarah each took one. The trio then closed their eyes and bowed their heads as Shepard began the prayer.
Within an hour, all the food that Shepard had prepared was gone. He smiled as he watched Ashley and Sarah wipe the last of the crumbs from their lips. By all appearances, it looked as if the dinner was a success. Still he needed to hear an approval from Ashley and Sarah before he could call it that.
"Well I have to admit Shepard," Ashley finally said, "that was an amazing dinner. I'm sorry I doubted you."
Shepard's sly smile returned, "I'm sorry I doubted you…?"
Ashley sighed. She knew what Shepard was waiting for and it almost pained her that she was going to have to comply with him. Still he was her superior officer and making her call him "sir" was just another way for him to teasingly remind her of that. The last time he did it was when he stopped to visit her in her room on the Normandy and found her sprawled out on the floor with an empty liquor bottle nearby. Any other superior officer might have scolded her for being hungover and she would have been okay with that. Shepard however found the situation funny and proceeded to torture her by talking about testing the Normandy's fire alarm and even offered to have Joker, the Normandy's helmsman, sing to her over the intercom. Merely imagining what those things would sound like made Ashley's headache worse. She told Shepard she hated him to which Shepard responded by doing what he was doing now, repeating what she said in order to get her to finish the sentence by calling him "sir". With both Shepard and Sarah watching her now, Ashley knew she had to say the word Shepard was waiting for…
….or did she? Suddenly an idea came to Ashley. Using a little word play and some help from Sarah, there was a way she could turn this situation in her favor. First she had to subtly get Sarah on board with her plan. Thankfully the seating arrangement helped with that. Turning her head towards Sarah and, using her right eye which was now hidden from Shepard's view, Ashley winked. To anyone else, Ashley's winking would have been strange. To Sarah however, she quickly realized Ashley was giving her a silent signal to play along with whatever she said. Sarah subtly nodded to tell Ashley she got the message. With Sarah now on board, Ashley turned back towards Shepard and crossed her arms.
"What if I don't want to finish that statement?" she said teasingly.
The answer was not what Shepard expected and it showed by the stunned expression on his face. If it wasn't for the playful tone in Ashley's voice, he would have thought she was seriously challenging him. Deciding to keep the playful teasing going, he quickly worked on thinking of a comeback. Looking down at the table gave him an idea.
"If you don't," he said, "then you are going to be washing these dishes."
Shepard beamed with pride as he thought he had given Ashley the perfect comeback. Ashley looked down at the mess of dishes on the table. It did look like it would take a while to wash them all and normally she wouldn't be looking forward to doing it. Unknown to Shepard however, that was exactly what she wanted him to suggest she do. To Shepard's surprise, Ashley got up and started gathering up some of the dishes. Shepard was speechless for a moment then he suddenly started laughing.
"Wow," he chuckled, "it would really hurt your pride so much to call me 'sir' that you would rather wash dishes? I don't know whether to be proud of you for standing up to me or disappointed that you would stoop yourself so low."
"Very funny," Ashley said sarcastically, "and I'm about to stoop lower too."
Ashley then turned to Sarah and spoke in a motherly tone, "Sarah would you be a dear and help me with these?"
Sarah rolled her eyes as she began picking up the remaining dishes, "glad to see you haven't lost your mom impression sis. She got Abby, Lynn and me to do whatever she wanted with that impression Shepard."
The joke made Shepard laugh again, "I can imagine. Well if you ladies are going to be taking care of the dishes, I'm going to go quickly reply to an email that I received early today. Let me know when you two are done and then we can have drinks in the living room."
With that said, Shepard excused himself from the dining room leaving Ashley and Sarah to begin work on the dishes. Once he entered the office room which was immediately to his right as he left the dining room, he powered up the terminal on the desk and sat in the chair. The terminal lit up and Shepard clicked on an icon labeled "photos". Scrolling through the images that appeared, he found the one he was looking for and clicked on it causing the photo to open in full screen mode. The screen was now filled with an image of Ashley. It was the same photo that Shepard had in his cabin on the Normandy during his mission against the Collectors. Shepard smiled as he looked at the photo. Whether in a photo or in person, seeing Ashley always made him happy.
As Shepard continued looking at Ashley's picture, he started thinking about the real reason he came into the office. It was true there were some emails he could be responding to but none of them actually required his immediate attention. Instead Shepard wanted to be in the office to think about something that had been on his mind since shortly after he accepted the apartment from Anderson. With Ashley and Sarah busy in the kitchen, he now had the privacy he needed to do it. When Shepard explored the apartment for the first time after wrapping his call with Anderson, the first observation he made was that it was a huge apartment. There was an expression that said "a man's home is his castle" and Shepard felt like that's just what he had, a castle. Unfortunately castles can be a very lonely place if there was only one person living in it. If Shepard wanted to be happy living in the apartment, he was going to need someone to live in it with him.
The thought prompted Shepard to return his attention to Ashley's picture. All in all, Shepard felt like he was making a good impression on Sarah. If he could make that same impression on the rest of Ashley's family and if he and Ashley continued getting closer, he could see himself living in the apartment with her. Before he could suggest that to her though, he was going to need to ask her a different question first. With that thought in mind, Shepard opened a web page he had saved the last time he used the terminal. The page was an order form for a store located near Shepard's building. All the information was filled out and all Shepard needed to do to place the order was hit the "confirm purchase" button. But just like the previous time, Shepard couldn't make himself do it. He really wanted to but a small bit of doubt was making him wonder if it was the right time to buy the item…or even if he should at all. When he had to make decisions in battle, Shepard always had the opinions of his friends and squadmates to help him. Sadly he didn't think this was a situation they would be able to help him with. This was a situation he was going to have to handle on his own….or did he?
Unknown to all but Ashley and his closest friends, whenever Shepard had a decision to make that even his friends couldn't help him with, he would go someplace where he could be alone and pray. It may not have seemed like a lot but Shepard had found over the years that praying helped give him the peace he needed to make the best decisions he could. With his head bowed and eyes closed, Shepard said a quick prayer asking God to give him some kind of a sign to show him if buying the item was a good idea. He had just finished his prayer when he heard a voice coming from the hallway.
"Knock, knock."
"Come in," Shepard said while he minimized all the opened windows on his terminal.
It was Sarah who entered the office. Shepard looked for Ashley but was surprised to see that she wasn't with Sarah. He was about to ask Sarah where Ashley was but stopped when he noticed Sarah appeared to be on the brink of tears. Instinctively he got up from his chair and moved towards Sarah to find out was wrong. Before he could get a word out however, he suddenly found himself being hugged by Sarah. Several thoughts went through Shepard's head as he tried to figure out what to do. He thought about calling for Ashley to come in but decided it should be a last resort. Instead he hugged Sarah back.
"Is everything alright Sarah?" he asked.
Sarah nodded, "this is the real reason I wanted Ashley to let me meet you."
"Because you wanted to give me a hug?"
"Because I wanted to thank you," Sarah said as the hug broke, "a hug seemed like the best way to do it."
"Thank me for what?"
Sarah walked over towards the wall of decorations behind Shepard's desk as she continued, "Shepard, for as long as I can remember, Ashley has always been looking out for Abby, Lynn and me. She did whatever she could to keep us safe and happy. Unfortunately between helping with us and later trying to restore our family name in the Alliance, she was never able to do the same for herself. Since she's met you, Ashley has been the happiest I've ever seen her. Seeing you two together tonight has helped me see why. I asked for Ashley to let me meet you because I wanted to personally thank you for taking care of my big sister."
Now it was Shepard who was on the brink of tears as he smiled and hugged Sarah again, "anytime kiddo. Your sister is an incredible woman and she makes me happy too."
"Can I ask you something?" Sarah asked when the hug broke.
"Sure," Shepard replied.
"Do you love Ashley?"
The question caught Shepard off guard but he was still to able answer her question quickly and with confidence, "I do, more than anything."
The answer seemed to satisfy Sarah as evidenced by her smile. She asked Shepard to follow her and walked out of the office. Upon exiting, Sarah led Shepard past the kitchen and living room towards the main door. This confused Shepard as it seemed that Sarah was getting ready to leave even though he had said he was going to have drinks with Sarah and Ashley after they finished the dishes. It was then Shepard realized that Ashley wasn't in the kitchen. He wondered where she could have gone. Before he could think about the question further, Sarah finally stopped and spoke.
"Thanks so much for dinner Shepard," she said, "I'm sorry I can't stay for drinks but I have a busy day tomorrow and I need to rest up. Before I go though, I want you to know something. I think you and Ashley are great together and someday I would be proud to have you as a brother-in-law. Of course you'll still need to get our mother's blessing but I don't think that will be hard to do. Especially when I tell her how great you are. So long Shepard. Tell Ashley I'll be back to pick her up late tomorrow morning."
After saying her last statement, Sarah walked out the door. Shepard was left standing alone feeling all kinds of emotions. It sounded to him that Sarah had just given him her blessing to marry Ashley. His goal for the evening was just to make a good impression on Sarah. Based on Sarah's final words, he made a good impression and then some. As happy as he was that the night went better than he expected, Sarah's last words also puzzled Shepard. Why did she tell him to let Ashley know she would be coming back to pick her up? Unless….?
"Ash!" Shepard called out, "are you still here?!"
"I'm upstairs Skipper!" Ashley replied.
"What are you doing up there?" Shepard asked even though he already had a strong feeling what the answer was going to be.
"You didn't really think I was going to let our rain check just be dinner with Sarah did you? We still need to settle which of us is the real Spectre and as I recall, you said you had a few other ways to test my endurance."
Shepard ran to the stairs but stopped before he took the first step. Looking towards the office, a thought popped into his head that made him smile. He then looked up and mouthed "thank you." After telling Ashley he would be up in a second, to which Ashley jokingly asked if he was trying to test her patience as well as her endurance, Shepard ran to the office and pulled up the window on his terminal that had the order form he was looking at before he talked to Sarah. He double checked to make sure the information he filled out was correct and clicked on the "Confirm Purchase" button. Without waiting for a confirmation message to appear, Shepard ran out of the office and up the stairs to spend the rest of the night with Ashley. Shortly after he left, a message popped up on the terminal. The message confirmed that Shepard's order had been placed. The purchased item listed was a diamond engagement ring.