My birthday is on Christmas Eve in real life so I made Claudette Shepard's birthday the same as mine. A lot of people forget about it and stuff so I wanted to add that in there with one of my many Shepards.

One of the two gifts he gives her is just because I saw they had replicas on ebay and amazon and was all like OMGIWANTITCAUSEITSSPARKLY! So I added it in the fic lol

Claudette Shepard is a bit more girly than my other Shepards, not including the male Shepards.

Don't like, don't read.

Review if you like it!

Shepard rubbed her eyes while she opened the door to her cabin. Everyone on the Normandy had celebrated Christmas and given each other gifts, now Shepard was ready to see James and give him his gift in private. It was only Christmas Eve, but they had decided to give gifts tonight then have a huge dinner tomorrow on Christmas day. Even though they were traveling through space, they were going by Earth time since it was a huge holiday for the humans.

Shepard had taken her coat off, leaving her in her slip on shoes with her blue jeans and white tank top. She had been freezing and should have known better than to wear such summery clothes but she just didn't care.

"Lola."

James' voice reached her ears and she looked up and saw him leaning against the fish tanks.

"James! I was going to call you up." Shepard reached over her desk area and grabbed a box and handed it to him.

He opened his first and smirked when he saw a rather fancy pocket knife. "Nice."

"It comes with a chain to wear around your neck and the areas on the sides open."

Curiously, James looked at the area on the knife she was speaking of and clicked it open to reveal a picture of everyone on the Normandy the day they defeated the reapers. Everyone, of course, except for-

"There is another one on the other side."

He closed it, turned it over and opened it once more to reveal a picture of him and Shepard. It was the picture Cortez had taken while they were on the Citadel. They were at Purgatory, staring into each other's eyes longingly.

"A deadly locket, how manly! This is awesome. Thank you, Lola." He smiled, it really was great. He'd probably never take it off. Her arms were around him in a second but he pushed her away, "Whoa, now. You still need to open yours."

"You gave me mine already. The gun, down there."

"That was your Christmas gift. This is your birthday gift." James laughed at Shepard's expression, "What, you thought I didn't know your birthdate? Come on, Lola!"

"But… No one ever remembers my birthday…"

"I'll always remember, love."

She gave him a pout but shrugged it off and untied the ribbon. James inched behind her and held her from behind while she done so, her back against his chest and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Oh-! James? Is this…?"

"Thought you'd like it." He pressed his lips to her neck, "I know you love the ocean all. I saw it and knew it was for you."

"You-! B-but-! How much was it?"

"Everyone knows you aren't supposed to tell a person how much their gift was." He was laughing at her reaction, "I remember when we were playing 20 Questions. Along with one of your favorite things being the ocean, your favorite movie was Titanic."

No one had ever actually listened to her before. She found it a bit hard that James remembered everything she had told him about her.

"Joker thought it was hilarious, though. I didn't tell him what your favorite movie was but there were a lot of jokes when he saw it."

Shepard looked down at the sapphire blue heart in her hands. It was smaller than the one the old lady chucked into the water at the end of the movie but it was still beautiful. His strong hands took it from her and placed it around her neck, hooking it in the back.

"Matches your eyes."

Shepard's pale hands reached up and pulled his face to hers, kissing him long and hard. "Thank you."

"I still just don't get it…"

"What?"

"In the movie, why'd she throw it in the ocean? Sale that shit, you old bitch!"

"I know, right?! She was crazy not to!"

James was never one for chic flicks; he'd only seen the movie for the titties and the ship sinking.

"So." He said with his lips against hers, "I can't draw you naked but I can think of something else I can do that involves no clothing."

Meanwhile, Joker was piloting the ship with EDI propped on his lap between his legs with her back to his chest. He was explaining the very movie the other two were talking about to EDI, telling it in his words.

"So bitch is like, 'Oh! I'll never let go!' and lets his ass go!"

"I do believe she was speaking of not letting go of the promise she had made to the man she loved."

"I wouldn't let you go, EDI."

"I know you wouldn't, Jeff. No one else would be able to tolerate you."

With those words, Joker picked up the bottle of fancy rum beside of him and down the entire thing. He was smiling when he finally responded to her in a jokingly manner, "Merry fuckin' Christmas to you, too."