"Children Always Ask the Important Questions"
"Wow, not even a hello, for your old man?" Garrus' voice flanged as he let out a short laugh. He managed to run a hand down his son, David's, fringe, as the small turian boy clambered past.
Garrus heard a quick "Sorry dad!" come from somewhere at the back of their home. Garrus guessed the kitchen. This was becoming a habit of David's.
Garrus' gaze moved up to meet Shepard's, a mandible flaring out in a smirk. "think he's hungry?" Jane Shepard quickened her pace into their home, letting the door swish shut. Her eyes didn't leave his as her warm smile dropped. She took a deep breath and let all of her weight fall to one hip and rested there. Garrus peered around the corner to see that their son was out of sight, and no-doubtly digging through the kitchen for his dextro-amino snacks. He returned his gaze to Shepard with every intention of giving her a 'welcome home-kiss' but she was only looking at her feet, biting her upper lip. Something was bothering Shepard.
She let out a heavy sigh and looked up into Garrus' blue eyes.
"Garrus, we have to talk," she swallowed hard. Shepard was nervous.
Commander Shepard didn't get nervous.
He decided quickly he would try and make light of the situation. "I really don't think its anything to worry about-when I was his age, I used to eat all the time," Garrus bantered, eyeing Shepard with a smirk. She let a small smirk slip through her stern expression. She looked away to gain her serious composure again. Garrus lightly took one of Shepard's hands and walked back to the couch.
"Garrus, I mean it," Shepard warned. "Its about David," she sat down next to Garrus on the sofa anyway. He put his arm around her playfully, nuzzling her neck as Shepard let out a laugh and pushed him away. "Damn it, Vakarian!"
"I mean it too! You know, my father used to tell me that if I ate like a Krogan, I would turn into one,"
Shepard didn't laugh, but threw him the look. He simply looked at her and flared a mandible. "Garrus,"
"I think the fear of turning into a Krogan actually followed me longer than he intended-"
"I think we're going to have to talk to him about being adopted."
Garrus stopped mid sentence.
Garrus scanned her eyes for answers. Her last sentences echoed in his head again. But why now? He wondered.
Shepard stared at him with an intensity that he hadn't seen in years. Garrus let out the breath he had been holding. "Spirits, Shepard," Garrus grabbed one of her hands.
He let a moment pass, as he struggled for the right words. "Are you sure this is the right time? I mean he's only seven," he breathed in deeply and leaned forward so that his forehead rested lightly against hers. He felt her warm breath on his face as she released the breath she had been holding. Even now, Shepard was so strong. She had always been the strongest person he had ever known. For something to really be bothering her, it had to be big. Saren? No problem. Collectors? Cake. Reapers? Easy. But this? Parenting? Shepard and Garrus both definitely felt out of their league.
But they were making it work. And they were doing things their way. After taking so many lives-they had to give something back. And this little life-this was theirs.
Garrus reclaimed his cool and leaned back. "So, tell me what's going on, Shepard," he said calmly, attentively. "What brought this up?"
She took a deep breath and pushed a lock of crimson hair behind her ear. She sat up straight. "Today, David saw Feya's father-"
"That's the little turian girl, right?" Garrus interrupted. Shepard quickly nodded, and continued.
"Well David saw her father and mother," her breathing staggered. "together. They picked Feya up from school today."
Garrus nodded in response. Their son was a smart kid. Garrus assumed he would have put the pieces together.
"And he just looked at them, Garrus. He just kept looking at her father. This perfect picture of turian family, and then he looked up at me-and I was holding his hand-and he just gripped it tighter, like he knew," Shepard forced her hands out of Garrus' and rubbed her temples roughly. "He looked up at me and asked, 'Mom, can I ask you something?'," she breathed out, emerald eyes fluttering under her dark lashes. "I totally panicked. I wanted to talk about it with you first. . . . and I just said, 'let's wait until we get home and see your dad," the last bit was almost a whisper. Garrus played with some of her hair. Shepard always liked that.
"So you think he's going to ask why we don't look like them?" Garrus said bluntly, wanting her to get it out in the open. She always dealt with things better that way.
"Or why I don't like him," Shepard snapped. Garrus' breath hitched.
There was a moment when neither of them spoke. They heard some more commotion in the kitchen and Garrus let out a chuckle.
"Smart kid." He stated.
"I blame you," Shepard bantered back.
"Shepard, we're in this together. Always," he nuzzled her again, and she looked into those crystal blue eyes she loved so, and her heart fluttered. "We'll do this together," he said smoothly, running a hand through her hair. His flang rose in pitch suddenly. "But," he started, mandibles flaring out again, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't prepared for this. I knew it was bound to happen sooner than later," Garrus said confidently. Shepard smirked. She figured he was bluffing, but if he wanted to lead this, then she wasn't going to stop him. And as if on cue their son, David, rushed out of the kitchen to come grab his bag. "Why don't you let me handle this one?"
Garrus gave Shepard a wink.
"David," Garrus announced getting up. "Your mother and I would like to talk with you,"
"But, dad, I gotta do all this work," David protested picking up his bag. Garrus made his way over to his son.
"Aaaaaaall, right, big guy," Garrus said picking him up and slinging him on a hip. "How about we talk first, and then I can work on that with you," Garrus said, his voice oddly suspicious. "And then, idunno, we could watch Blasto?" he purred walking back to the couch to sit beside Shepard.
"Really?! Awwww, yeah! Blasto!" David exclaimed squirming out of Garrus' grip and clambering onto the couch next to his mother.
Shepard gaped. "you can't just bribe our kid with 'Blasto,'" Shepard teased and tickled David behind his fringe. "I'm not sure if action movies are good for him at this age. He's awfully impressionable," She said slyly.
"But, mom!" David exclaimed. His mandibles flared. Just like his father's. "Dad'll only let me watch a few minutes! I promise I'll do my homework!"
Garrus beamed and sat down so that David was between he and Shepard. "Don't worry," Garrus seemed nostalgic for a moment. "I won't be getting him his first rifle until he's at least eight," he said nearly absent-mindedly until Shepard cleared her throat.
Garrus gave a long "hum" as a response. ". . . so David, your mom was telling me about how you had a big question earlier," he rested his head on his knuckles and rested his arms on his knees so that he was hunched over, nearly eye-level with David.
David looked up and thought for a minute. Shepard could hear her heart thump. She shouldn't be worried about this.
"Well, today at school I saw Feya's dad," David started, looking down. Shepard rubbed her hand up and down his back, absently, comforting him. She loved him with all of her heart. And he knew that. He wouldn't feel any different about her, would he? She was nervous. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt like this. She and Garrus decided long ago that they would deal with this when it came up, but she never thought it would be so soon.
"What happened to dad's face?"
Garrus' eyes snapped wide and all Jane Shepard could do was gasp. She blushed furiously trying to control her urge to burst into laughter. "What happened to dad's face?"
What happened to dad's face?
Their son was most certainly a smart kid.
"Oh, boy," Shepard recovered quickly, with a huge grin plastered to her face. She reached under David's arms and hauled him into her lap. Garrus covered his face with his hands and Shepard took a minute to giggle to herself. "You mean to tell me that I've never told you the story of how dad became so handsome?" She asked, beaming down at David. He grinned back up at her.
"No."
"No?"
"No! Feya's dad doesn't look like him. Dad's got holes in his face,"
Shepard didn't even hide her laughter now and she laughed wonderfully into her little boy's fringe and squeezed him tight. She risked a glance at Garrus who looked at her, wide-eyed-and terrified.
" . . . and holes in his mandibibble," David whispered. He wasn't very good at whispering.
"Why don't you let me handle this one?" Shepard teased and winked at her other half who responded by rising to his feet and making his way to the smaller bar-area of their home.
Garrus hesitated for a moment, collecting himself before he spoke. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to make myself a drink. Want anything, Shepard?" He spoke slowly, languidly rubbing his temples as Shepard shook her head "no" as a response and laughed again.
David looked between the two and was obviously confused. Jane Shepard certainly didn't want to start the story out with him frustrated.
"So, I'm going to let you in on a little secret, okay, sweetie?" She said very quietly to David who squirmed closer to hear her better.
"Yeah? Is it about Dad?"
Shepard nodded. "Oh, its about your dad alright," She beamed, not taking her eyes off of Garrus. "It's about the great 'Archangel,'" She grinned and looked back down into David's peering blue eyes. "Have I ever told you that your dad is a superhero?"
David gasped. His eyes widened. "A superhero?" he whispered.
Shepard nodded with a big grin. "A superhero." she glanced back over at Garrus who was taking the first swig of his drink.
David tugged on his mothers shoulder so she would lean down even closer for a whisper.
"like Blasto?"
" . . . I'm not even going to pretend that this isn't my fault." Garrus grumbled just loud enough to hear.