Author's note: This is a response to writing prompts ""How do you 'accidentally' adopt three dogs?" and "We are not going to steal someone's dog" for Shaynor.
Featuring default blonde FemShep -Maxima Alexis Shepard- Earthborn, sole survivor
Also, I don't know for certain that that's how asari reproduction works, I tried looking it up but, you know, it's the Internet, what kind of responses can you expect I got. So, if someone knows for sure either way, let me know. And if I'm completely wrong, then… artistic liberty for the plot, don't tell anyone, shh, shh…

Shepard woke up when she got rudely pushed on the bed until she slid over the edge and fell to the floor.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered irritably as she sat up and turned to glare at the three dogs Samantha had adopted and allowed on the bed.

The one who'd pushed Shepard off the bed was the large German Shepherd Samantha had decided to name Admiral because she'd thought it would be funny if Admiral Shepherd outranked Commander Shepard. At least the Dobermann named Krauser had some decency; he had claimed a spot at the foot of the bed where he'd remained, not disturbing the human.

"Et tu, Brute?" Shepard asked from the third and the smallest dog in the family, a chihuahua named Whiskey as he trotted along the side of the bed and went to lay on Shepard's pillow since it was now free.
"Remind me again why we need three dogs?" Shepard asked when she went downstairs and into the kitchen where Samantha was making breakfast.

"I didn't mean to adopt them all, it was an accident," Samantha said as she vigorously scrambled eggs in the pan.
"How do you 'accidentally' adopt three dogs?" Shepard insisted and went to grab her coffee mug. It was a custom mug, the words "Council tears" written on its side with bold black letters. A very much appreciated gift from Joker.

"By looking at their adorable faces and not being able to leave any single one of them behind!"
"Then, I suppose I should consider myself lucky they only had three dogs up for adoption when you went over to the shelter," Shepard mumbled into her mug before taking a long sip.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to project my motherly instincts on dogs if you'd put a baby in me already," Samantha smirked, plated the eggs and went to take a seat at the table, proceeding to smear a generous amount of lemon curd onto a piece of toast then.

"What, am I just a baby making-machine to you?" Shepard asked, exaggerating her pouty tone.
"Yes. At first, I was just using you for your shower, now I'm using you for your 'sperm'," Samantha confirmed with a smirk.

"Need I remind you it takes a bit more than just a five second orgasm from me to make that happen?" Shepard quirked an eyebrow and gripped Samantha's wrist to intercept her hand. She leaned in to shamelessly take a large bite out of the bread Samantha was holding.

"You don't, I know it's not that simple, but I also know you've been intentionally dilly-dallying about having your stem cells collected and converted," Samantha said and yanked the rest of the toast from Shepard's mouth.
"Would you believe me if I told you it's because I'm scared of needles?" Shepard asked and sat down as well.

"Not in a million years," Samantha rolled her eyes. "What's really going on, Shepard? I was under the impression that this was something you wanted too. Or, were you just saying that because everything was falling apart, and you weren't planning on actually living through it?"

"No!" Shepard denied immediately. "No. I meant what I said. I do want it."
"Then what's wrong?"

"I'm a little scared," Shepard confessed.
"Why?" Samantha frowned.

"Because we don't know anything about me. Nothing about my family's medical history for example. For all we know, I could be carrying some incredibly rare genetic illness that's just dormant in me but could manifest in our daughter. Or her children in the future."

"Shepard, that is a risk every future parent has to take."
"Yes, but not on this level. Most people have at least some idea. Just because no one's found anything in me up until now doesn't mean it can't be there. In the past, there were a lot of medical conditions that killed a lot of people, but no one just had names for them yet and that didn't make those illnesses any less lethal," Shepard muttered.

Samantha got up and went to her. Shepard wrapped her arms around Samantha's waist and pressed the side of her face against her abdomen as Samantha ran her fingers through Shepard's blonde hair and nuzzled the top of her head gently.

"My love, that… is… an incredibly lame excuse, and you know it," Samantha then mumbled into Shepard's hair, her words in contradiction with the gentle tone of her voice.
"It's not an—"

"Yes, it is," Samantha interrupted and softly slapped the back of Shepard's head before collecting her empty coffee mug and taking it into the dishwasher. "If you were really concerned about something like that, you could just ask Liara," she added over her shoulder, sounding a bit more venomous than she'd meant to.

Shepard grunted internally and sighed deeply. Samantha was right, Liara would know.

"Before you get angry at me over that, let me just remind you that she didn't ask for my opinion let alone my permission," Shepard defended herself and Samantha let out a deep exhale, her shoulders slumping a little as she did and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I'm not angry at you. I'm not even angry at Liara because frankly, if I'd had the option to just stash your genetic build away somewhere and later use it to impregnate myself with, I would've done it in a heartbeat, especially before you headed to Earth to face the reapers and there was no telling if you'd ever come back," Samantha muttered and turned to face Shepard, crossing her arms over her abdomen.

"And don't get me wrong, I enjoy being a stepmother to Janae, but you knew I wanted children of my own. It's been five years, Shepard. I'm going to need you to give me something."
"Samantha…"

"I'm going to walk the dogs," she interrupted, and Shepard understood that unless she was willing to say she'd make an appointment with the doctor to start the process, Samantha didn't want to hear it right now.

Krauser and Admiral walked obediently by Samantha's sides, but Whiskey was an energetic curious one, dashing off to chase the next interesting scent at a half a second's notice, his leash tight as he constantly scampered forward impatiently. Usually Samantha would've tried controlling him and teaching him to be more patient, but today her mind was wandering off, her thoughts darting from one thing to another, much like Whiskey was doing. And on top of it all, she was too busy feeling annoyed at Shepard.

During the first year and a half after the war, Samantha had understood perfectly why having children wasn't a priority; Shepard was still recovering from her injuries and the rebuilding of the planet was just getting started. But it had been nearly five years now and the excuses Shepard kept offering her were getting more ridiculous by the day.

Sometimes Samantha wondered if it was because Shepard already had a child; maybe Janae's birth had made Shepard realize she didn't actually want kids. The way Shepard interacted with her daughter and how happy she seemed to be every time Janae spent a week with her spoke volumes to the contrary though.

Shepard had insisted on being a part of the child's life and she'd wanted to share custody even after Liara had made it clear she wasn't expecting anything like that from Shepard; Samantha doubted Shepard would've done that just for show or out of feeling obligated despite Liara's assurances that she had no reason to feel that way.

Maybe she's worried I'll leave her if she admits she doesn't want any more children, Samantha mused. Truthfully, she didn't know what she would do if that turned out to be the reason Shepard was stalling. She'd never had to think about it before because up until now, she'd been convinced Shepard was on the same page with her when it came to having a family. She'd never had to stop and consider would Shepard not wanting children be a deal breaker for her, not until now.

She couldn't think of an answer to that.