Jane
"Remind me again where you learned how to cook?"
"Extranet?" Jane grins at Miranda's incredulous glare, pretty sure the pregnant woman is internally contemplating taking over the task of cooking for the group of herself, Jane's small family, and her mate's visiting sister and father. Of course, as much as she jump at the idea of Lawson wearing this - obnoxiously - puffy, flower covered apron that her lovely sister-in-law so graciously blessed her with, Jane didn't think cooking would be healthy for the raven haired woman who looked ready to pop at even the slightest sneeze.
Solana titters a vocal sound of amusement, saying, "Be sure to remind me to let Garrus do the taste testing." Jane's retort is said well enough by Cassia tossing a handful of dried cereal treats from her highchair and onto the floor of the cramped, prefab kitchen. "Those would do better in your mouth than on the floor, young lady." Cassia merely grins, kicking her feet with chirps of happiness, and her brother - not one to miss out on any sort of fun or attention - follows suit with his own snacks being thrown to the floor. "You're doing that on purpose!"
Jane laughs at the twins and double checks the underside of some slab of meat to make sure it isn't burning in the pan. If she's to impress the in-laws, the first step is to not give them a charred briquette of a dinner. While Garrus would probably grin and bear it - only to spit it out when she's not looking - she's pretty sure serving his father and sister 'food' comparable to the bricks they're building their soon to be beach home is not the best way to impress and instill the confidence that the band of Shepard and Vakarian misfits will grow up eating anything beyond MREs and rations - and perhaps some premade, ready to heat and serve meals.
On the other hand is the human food she's currently trying to both not ignore completely, but not constantly check in the oven. Chicken, Miranda had told her, can either be raw - which is very bad, Shepard. No shit, Miranda. - overly dry, or just right, and Jane hasn't felt that kind of pressure since the Reaper War's end over a year ago. Where she'd rather give over a dinner made of sawdust over something still ready to cluck and jump off the plate to start pecking for seeds - and putting her pregnant friend at risk of getting seriously sick - she's determined to make sure she can accomplish that middle ground. She was Commander Fucking Shepard, dammit, so she will not be beaten by a dead chicken or dead Xemna.
Let's not get started on the sides…
"I still don't know why you didn't let me help." Sol's huff of frustration at picking up the discarded food, only to find more thrown over in a new game the laughing twins just devised. "I could've shown you how to make Xemna better than any extranet link."
"And I could have cooked a better chicken-"
"Yes, yes." Jane waves at them to shut it. "Everyone's a critic. I swear, even Garrus doesn't bitch at me so much and he's eaten my food since the beginning."
"And is somehow still alive," Miranda adds and gets a narrow eyed look that only makes her chuckle.
Jane simply rolls her eyes. "Keep that up and I won't tell you the secrets of surviving the nightmare that is no sleep a la newborn." The woman merely rolls her eyes and Jane speaks over her shoulder as she starts to stir something that looks like purple spinach on the stove. "And, trust me, no amount of perfect genes are going to keep you sane after nights and nights of no sleep, aching tits, and the nagging feeling of 'I should really work off this baby stomach, but I'm so damn tired'." She gestures with the spoon at the two women. "You have it easy, Sol, because you don't know the pain of any of it, and you," she motions Miranda, "have only seen the beginning with pregnancy pains."
"Shepard, you had two babies. And hybrids that take after their turian father, at that. That's vastly different." At Jane's flippant wave off, Miranda continues. "And I've made sure when I implanted Alexia that any difficulties would be anticipated and did what I deemed possible to correct them before they presented without harming or altering the embryo herself."
"Wait." Solana hums from behind and Jane glances over to see her address Miranda on what is still something she has to commend Miranda on. After all, finding a way to make yourself fertile when even your unique nature said otherwise with a giant, glaring 'no'. "Implanted? As in in vitro?"
"Exactly. It wasn't exactly logical to become pregnant during the war, even if I wasn't directly in the front lines. I saved samples from… my partner." Jane can sense the frown in that pause and stills over her cooking when the memory of cradling a sobbing and broken Miranda on the dead Citadel rushes forth. Sol emits an understanding rumble as Lawson takes a moment to collect herself, to focus on the good that came from her relationship with Margo. "I have Shepard to thank for Alexia, actually."
"Whoa, now. I don't know that much of biology, but I'm pretty sure I had no involvement in that."
Miranda chuckles slightly. "Not directly, but when Mordin found that you were pregnant, he took samples and correlated data he took from your pregnancy and my own infertility. While interesting, I didn't think of it until during the war, when it was almost too late." Jane looks back to see the woman look away from her gaze, a shroud of shame over her shoulders not unlike the very same as when Lawson once told her of the control chip so insistently wanted to install within the redhead's brain. "I'm still sorry about performing the implantation of the tech without your assent, but I can't be sorry for what came of it."
Figuring it'll be okay to leave the food alone for at least a few moments, Jane goes to the woman and lays a hand on her shoulder. "Neither am I. Without that tech, I wouldn't have the twins, you wouldn't have the chance to have your daughter, the krogan wouldn't be having babies right now, and - more seriously - we'd probably have lost the fucking war." She smiles and looks to her kids still giving their aunt a run for her money after her insistence of watching them when she couldn't cook. "Thanks for that little invasion of privacy and violation of my lady parts."
Miranda chuckles and stands up, hugging her as best as she can with her large belly. Jane has to stretch her arms, but she manages to lay her hands over Miranda's shoulder blades in their warm embrace. Sol purrs at the gesture so unusual for turians, but one she's slowly growing accustomed to by experience with the nearly two year old twins' demands for physical affection from everyone in their presence. Her vocal sound is cut off, though, with a soft sniffle. "Is something burning?"
"Shit!"
Garrus
The overall construction of the Wraith compound in the past months blossomed ever since he and his family made Virmire their unconventional home. Protected on the north by tall, rocky cliffs and on the south by an outcropping that breaks up when it hits the sandy shore and into a field of differently shaped stones, boulders, and islands peppered throughout the sea to the west. A dense and almost unnavigable jungle lay in the east of the compound, creating both a cover for the collection of prefab homes for the Wraiths' men and their families and a natural wall against any attack from between the trees.
The largest structure was their operations outpost against the southern boundary of the compound. It was massive and comparable to most Hierarchy and Alliance tactical bases Garrus had seen before and held everything needed to actually run such a large mercenary company as the one they were building. It was large enough to sport a large dock that could hold the Normandy and at least two similarly sized vessels along with numerous gunships ready for deployment.
A comm tower coordinated with the groundside ships and handful of orbiting Wraith vessels 'obtained' through means Garrus wasn't really willing to question - but was assured didn't come illegally - as well as housed their QEC systems. Located on each unprotected corner of the compound were AA towers powered by highly advanced VIs thanks to Legacy and Rym's interest in developing tech with what they managed to salvage from EDI - who they were sure was only weeks away from revival - and geth data.
In order to support the vast amount of people now under their command and looking to them for a safe haven, the Wraiths employed non-combative settlers into their service - one of their most important contributions the large farm where they could supply both food and means of trading for livestock offworld. Each was just as loyal to them as those fighting for their credits as this compound presented a way to get away from structured society without becoming violent criminals. In a large way, these people reminded Garrus of the team he failed on Omega, each becoming a 'misfit' to the civilized world without crossing that a thin line into corruption the word 'mercenary' often invoked.
There was still something missing, however, and he was determined to fix that. He made a promise to build his family a home and, Spirits damn it, he would give them that, and build it with his own hands.
Using his knowledge in mathematics in a way he never thought he'd need, Garrus had worked alongside his wife to design the blueprints for a house that would fit perfectly with their hopes of a future on a tropical beach. They already had the beach and tropical part down, so the next step called for him to put down his weapons - for now, at least - and, much to his denial, pick up a hammer.
His father's rumble draws him from his work of laying and securing bricks in a slowly growing perimeter of the outer wall and he looks up to see his father's eyes scanning the bustling compound. "I'm proud of you, son." Chuckling, he looks back down to his son. "I know I never envisioned this when raising you, but I can't see you doing anything else."
"Even if this isn't the 'right way'?"
A frown flickers over his father's face before he sighs and shakes his head. "After seeing the things you and Jane have done, the way you had to do it, I see that not everything is as black and white. If you both had followed the rules and done things by the book, we'd all be dead." He comes over to sit beside where Garrus works on a crate of supplies and starts handing him bricks when needed. "There is still a need for people to follow protocol, but I see now that there must be those willing to go beyond the law. It's… not something easy to consider after so long. But it's something I know you can do without becoming blinded by the power that comes from being your own law."
Garrus hums as he smooths mortar over the layer of brick further down the wall he's working on. "I don't know if I could guarantee that before. I can admit I wasn't exactly ready for something like this even a few years ago, but everything that's happened? Being with Jane both as she is and her as a Commander? Starting a family of my own?" New brick in hand, he stops and starts at the sand-colored stone. "The galaxy needs people willing to do the dirty work in order to clean up the messes due process can't. I will ensure the Wraiths never forget that, never ignore our goal to not be just like any other mercenary."
"And the Council?"
Growling, he slams the brick down hard enough to emit a soft splat of mortar against his already dirty coveralls. "Damn the Council. We weren't lying when we told them that anyone they send is dead." He looks to his father, ready to defend his stance, but only seeing a reluctant understanding. Whoever his father once was has been worn down by the last few years into a more yielding and understanding man. "I know it's not what you would want, but I have to protect my family now. I can't follow the rules of a galaxy when even my own children have defied those very laws of possibility. People get afraid of what they don't understand, of what they thought impossible, and I can't let my children suffer that."
His father raises a hand before offering another brick with the other. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, Garrus." His mandibles flick as he looks away with a saddened hum. "I wasn't really the model of a good father, so I can't judge you for wanting to do whatever it costs to protect your own children."
"Dad-"
"You don't need to put comforting me on your shoulders. I know what I did, but I'm trying to fix it while I still can. I want to prove to you that I can be a better father, a better man, by being there for you and yours in any way possible." A soft smile spreads his mandibles as he lays the next brick on the line himself. "I hope you can someday forgive me for all I've done - or didn't do."
Garrus returns the smile. "I've forgiven you long ago."
"Hey!" Solana's voice reverberates over the sandy beach as she leans out of the small prefab Garrus is ashamed to make his small family live in. He takes at least some relief in that he doesn't have to share with his father and sister like they once had to on Earth after the war. With their home on Palaven and helping their people rebuild, Garrus and Jane can at least breathe in what will be their home until the time he and Jane can finish their home. "Food's ready!"
"Sounds like Jane hasn't burnt the prefab down," he says with a chuckle and lays the last brick for now before brushing off his hands. Following his father towards the house, he smiles at Cassia slowly stomping out to meet him. "There's my little princess." Using human endearments for their children has definitely grown on him, even if it still confuses the hell out of any aliens in earshot still not used to it. After so long apart, his family is among them. Chuckling, he shrugs in response to his dad's confused head tilt and bends down to hoist up his daughter.
"Human thing, I assume?"
"Pretty much." He nuzzles Cassia, smelling the clean scent of cleansing wipes on her that explains just why she's running around when she should be in her feeding chair and ready for dinner. "Aunt Sol saved me from having to change you? I must have done something really good for the Spirits to bless me from that."
"Daddy, no," she declares with a slight push away from his chest and scrunched up face.
"No?" He snorts and sets her into her high chair, turning to his wife passing by with a platter of Xemna, Pourka, and slightly burnt Vaegi to pull her into a tender kiss. "Your daughter doesn't like me anymore."
She chuckles and pushes him to the sink, saying, "Good. More cuddles for me."
Snorting, he washes his hands and grabs the last plate of a human 'chicken' that looks like it's already been cut into from the counter and joins his family sitting around the table. "Where's Miranda?"
"She headed over to see Elihu." Jane takes the platter and sets it down before her place between his own seat and Damocles' highchair so that Sol can sit between the two twins and share her food. "She's a bit nervous about her labor being induced tomorrow, and you know how she is."
"Wanting to control every aspect of the delivery?" She snorts and nudges him with her hip as she serves his sister with extra food for the twins. "It smells amazing, Jane." Getting an incredulous look, he rumbles and smirks innocently before adding, "Well, except for the lingering scent of burning Vaegi."
"Just eat your purple spinach, smart ass." Giving herself a portion of her own food. "Sol? Do you want me to get you a separate plate for the twin's levo food?"
She waves it off. "I'm not allergic to any levo food, so just stuff it somewhere on my plate."
"Do they like levo?"
Garrus shrugs at his father's question, offering a good portion of Xemna to where he sits at his left. "They eat it. We don't know what it tastes like to them, but they don't shove it away." At that, Damocles throws a piece of food onto his mother's plate with a growl. "Well, they still throw food."
"Hey!" Jane scowls and grabs the piece of purple vegetables between her fingers and props her arm on her elbow, pointing this in their son's face. "You better eat this."
"No!" He giggles and Cassia grins around her own handful of juicy Xemna.
Sighing, Jane looks to him. "Can you believe this asshole? Throwing food at me and then not eating - Look!" She quickly points up and above, making their twins snap their heads up to look. It gives her the perfect chance to drop a small piece of the offending vaegi into their son's mouth and he purrs, grinning at the dinner he apparently likes, but can't seem to keep from making a mess of. "Ah ha! Take that, smart ass."
And here my wife argues and does everything to fool our son into eating his vegetables. Garrus can't seem to argue with her tactics, and laughs at his father's completely flabbergasted stare. "Never seen that done before?"
"Spirits, no. Your mother used to hum and sing to you."
Jane snorts. "Fuck that. These two little shits would never fall for it."
