A/N: Finally, the one-shot I promised sooooo long ago. Sorry, guys...
Tali's mobile
.
2194 CE
[Subjects' body temperature: normal / Environmental Scan: No viral threat detected / Room temperature: 2% above recommended level – further monitoring initiated]
"...and it was there that the young quarian met a human commander-"
"A very attractive and talented one at that..."
"Shhh." Miranda turned her head and shot Shepard her fourth disapproving look that day.
"I like mommy's version," the young child between them chimed in, causing Miranda's features to soften almost instantly.
"I know you do, sweetheart, but Helena hasn't heard the original version yet."
As if to emphasize her mother's words, the small baby resting on top of Miranda gurgled, starting to make jerky movements with her arms and upper body and thus almost rolling off of her.
Just like Emily, Helena had been Shepard's idea. Miranda had to admit that she hadn't given much thought to their daughters' names beforehand – until a few years ago she hadn't even believed it would be possible for her to have children. But, luckily for her, Shepard had been able to provide a rather long list of names from all the illustrous people she'd met during her missions. And even though the former commander hadn't been able to explain to Miranda why they should name their daughter after a criminal who now probably still worked for Aria – even with Shepard's argument that the woman, unlike almost everyone else she had met, had kept her word and let her and her crew live all those years ago – the name itself sounded a lot nicer than many of the other names on Shepard's list, including Avina, Ereba, Daro'Xen, Mira or Alestia.
The four of them were lying on a now far too small blanket and listened to one of Tali's tales. It was the most played one of the mobile and even though Emily knew it by heart, she listened attentively, giggling occasionally at Shepard's additions – which were mostly used to "clarify" the described commander's, in Shepard's opinion vastly understated, heroics...
"...an audio file the quarian had come across during her Pilgrimage that finally led the team to the Artemis Tau cluster. Once they had found their destination, the commander and two of her companions, including the young quarian and the turian, set out to find Matriarch Benezia's daughter in the Mako... Trying to prevent the small group of three to reach the mine, the geth attacked the already hard to navigate vehicle relentlessly, which concluded in the commander to simply ram their remaining enemies at full speed..."
Miranda's head turned back to Shepard, her eyebrow arched in surprise. "You..."
Unfazed by her partner's disbelief, Shepard just shrugged, grinning proudly. "Yeah. It's actually not that hard once you have enough speed and hit them at just the right angle..." She sighed. "Good times..."
There was a short pause before Shepard turned to Emily, her daughter's eyes gleaming in admiration for her parent. She lightly ran her hand through Emily's hair and winked. "You know, one day I could-"
"Absolutely not!"
. . .
2198 CE
[Both Subjects' growth: normal – according to saved data on human anatomy / Daily check #6: Scan shows no signs of viral infections / Heartrate of subject 2 slightly above average – further monitoring initiated]
"Son of a- whose Normandy is this?"
"It's Helena's!"
"No, it's Emily's!"
The two girls started giggling, unimpressed by her mother's accusing glare while the former commander rubbed her foot, pulling a sharp-edged part of the now destroyed Normandy replica out of it. A third chuckle made Shepard's head shoot up only to find Miranda sitting in a chair a few feet away from their daughters, reading a datapad. Noticing Shepard's not you too-look, she simply shrugged before turning back to her datapad.
Shepard huffed. "Fine, whosever it was, it's broken now."
"Oh please..." Miranda rolled her eyes. "As if you didn't have an entire stash of them hidden away somewhere..."
"Maybe..." Shepard crossed her arms defiantly, "But I'll save those for children who'll actually cherish them and not let them lie around on the floor... like Tali and Garrus' kids maybe... or Wrex'..."
"Shhh, mommy, we're listening to the story!" Young Emily shot her mother a reproachful look before she lay back on the blanket next to her sister, both of them watching intently while the mobile's holographic images above them changed according to the story being told.
"...they now knew where the conduit was, but even now, the Council refused to listen and offer the commander the help she needed and instead grounded her and her entire crew. Speculations aboard the Normandy soon arose, claiming the Council members were simply punishing the human for cutting the connection during almost all of their previous video calls..."
Realizing this must have been another part of Tali's stories she had missed so far – probably due to the many times her fellow listeners had developed a sudden thirst or hunger which they, Shepard included, proclaimed loudly until the former operative arose with a sigh, heading for the kitchen – Miranda's head shot up from the digital copy of Joker's autobiography in her hands and her eyes bore into Shepard's before the woman had time to flee.
"You hung up on the Council?"
Shepard shrugged nervously. "Well, I..."
Miranda had grown accustomed to Shepard's seemingly randomly changing moral perspectives throughout the years, but – having always taken pride in her own discipline and value for Cerberus – the former commander's lack of respect for authorities had always been a reason for conflict between the two of them.
Both Emily's and Helena's eyes were now flicking between their parents, sensing the delicate shift in the atmosphere... As much as they loved both their parents, they knew how unwise it would be to take sides in this conflict right now, so they remained silent, trying to make as little noise as possible...
Miranda shook her head in disbelief. "Let me rephrase my question: You ignored the ultimate authority in Citadel space?"
"Well, if you put it like that-"
"The three representatives of each member species that gave you your Spectre rank to help you on your mission in the first place?"
"I... Anyone interested in cake?"
. . .
2204 CE
[System: malfunctioning]
"...a petulant, young child named Emily-"
"What the- Hel, what are you doing back there?"
The redhead turned away from her omni-tool and grinned mischievously. "Hm?"
"You heard me." Emily crossed her arms in front of her chest, eyeing her sister accusingly. "What was that about just now?"
With a few commands, Helena turned her omni-tool off, still grinning. "Just adding a few additions to Tali's mobile, that's all..."
"How did you even manage to hack that thing? It's as highly encrypted as Mom's weapon stash..." Noticing her sister's grin, Emily's eyes widened. "You didn't..."
The younger Shepard/Lawson child shrugged her shoulders in feigned indifference. "No, but I could... It's not as hard as it seems..." She rolled her eyes at Emily's pleading eyes and shook her head. "Nope, not a chance."
"But they're gone, they won't eve notice... I'll put it all back before they return from the restaurant, I promise... Please?"
"Hacking Tali's mobile is one thing, but hacking Mom's weapon stash..." Helena shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hidden alarm added later on once Mom found out about it and I'm not willing to risk setting that off..."
"Ugh, fine..." Emily threw her hands up in exasperation and stomped off to the kitchen where she checked on her scrambled eggs/mac and cheese-creation sizzling in a pan – their parents' absence being the only chance she got to work on her cooking skills nowadays...
Testingly poking her meal with a spoon, she turned her head back to the living room. "And what was that thing about Tali's mobile?"
"As I said: I just thought it's time to add a few more stories for the time my children get to hear them," came her sister's repsonse.
Emily gave a short laugh. "Who says you get to keep the mobile? I'm the older one, you know..."
"Having spent most of her young life sulking in her room every time her parents forbid her a present – such as the fluffy, pink unicorn she wanted for her eleventh birthday – young Emily had developed a rather unhealthy white skin tone, along with wrinkles around her mouth that left her unable to hide her sour persona..."
"I heard that!"