Shepard blinked and rubbed her eyes to get the words on her console to stop blurring. She was tired, but there was still so much to do. She pushed away from the desk, stretching as she rose. Maybe a short break would help.

She made her way up the steps in her cabin over to where the giant built-in fish tanks made up part of the wall. She'd had her doubts originally upon first seeing them there – such luxuries were hardly a part of Alliance ships. But it was relaxing to watch the tanks' inhabitants swim within and they had swiftly become a secret passion of hers. She had combed the living systems for fish to fill them with – it was a nice small distraction from the Reapers and they needed all of those they could get. And no one had commented much on her little hobby, despite the money she sometimes blew on it. A girl could only spend so much on artillery and armor, after all. And even Anderson had left the tanks in place, so he hadn't thought them completely useless in the Normandy refitting.

The play of light through the rippling water was quite soothing and Shepard let it lure her into something of a trance. If only everything could be this peaceful – but that was exactly what she was fighting so hard for.

The quiet moment was shattered when Joker's voice sounded over the intercom. "Commander, we need you down on deck 3. There's a…situation you need to address."
Shepard sighed. It was always something.

"What kind of 'situation'?"

"Just come down," he replied. "You'll see."

It wasn't a good sign when Joker was being enigmatic. Shepard pushed away from the aquariums and headed for the door. "I'll be right down."

It was dark when the elevator opened onto the crew deck. Dark and eerily quiet. The possible scenarios raced through Shepard's mind. Had something gone wrong with EDI again, something to do with her new body? There'd been no trouble so far but perhaps Cerberus still had something up their sleeves. But why wouldn't Joker just say that, unless somehow he had been compromised too?

Her firearms were down in the armory but she didn't need extra equipment for a fight. With just a touch of concentration she readied her biotics, forming up a barrier, using the glow to help light her way as she moved cautiously around the corner towards the med-bay and EDI's AI hardware, preparing her abilities to use something more offensive if the situation warranted it.

She froze upon hearing a muttered curse, then blinked when she was momentarily blinded as the lights flicked back on. Kaidan's voice came around the wall where the elevator shaft met the Normandy's mess hall. "Shepard, you can stand down. We're, ah, not under attack."

She cautiously lowered the barrier. "Kaidan?"

The major stepped out from behind the partition in the mess, hands help up in a universal gesture of please don't hit me. "Yeah, it's me," he said sheepishly. "I should have realized trying to throw a surprise party during a war for a soldier would be a bad idea. Especially a biotic soldier," he added ruefully. "You think I'd know better."

"A party?" Shepard replied, puzzled. What cause could they possibly have for a party now?

Kaidan frowned in concern. "Have you been working so hard that you forgot your own birthday?"

Shepard blinked. "My birthday?" she repeated in confusion. She had forgotten. "To be honest, I had no idea," she admitted. He stared at her as if the idea of forgetting one's birthday was a completely foreign concept to him. To be fair though, to most people, it would be strange. "My 'birthday's' just a date on a piece of paper," she reminded him. "I grew up on the streets, I have no idea when I was born. We just put something down so I'd have a legal birthday to enlist under."

"I'd forgotten that," he admitted. "But still, can't we take one day to say we're happy you were born?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow at that. "We? Who else is here?"

"We all are, Shepard," came Liara's melodic voice as the asari woman stepped out from behind the partition, a broad smile on her face. At Kaidan's encouraging nod, Shepard moved around the divider herself to see her crew, all of her friends, gathered there. Everyone was here except apparently for the skeleton crew required to man the Normandy.

"You're all here for me?" Shepard asked, touched. They were all busy, all stressed with war preparations and the hell their homes and people were undergoing at Reaper hands. That they would all take even a little moment out of their days to gather together for her – it was more than she could have asked for.

"Of course we are, Shepard," Tali replied. "You've done so much for all of us. The least we could do is be here for you for one little party."

"You didn't really think I'd miss a chance to drink you under the table, did you?" Garrus asked, grinning.

James crossed him arms in challenge. "Not if I do it first," he declared. "No way I'm letting a scrawny little thing like Lola outdrink me."

Garrus laughed. "Don't count on it, James. She's tougher than she looks."

"Indeed," Dr. Chakwas said. "I've only tried the once and that was quite enough for me. I won't make that mistake again."

The elevator door opened again and Joker's voice could be heard from around the bend. "Alright, alright, I'm here. Let the real party begin!"

"Joker!" Garrus fumed. "Shepard came down here expecting a war zone!"

"What?" the pilot protested. "You told me to get Shepard down here and I did. What else was I supposed to say? Besides, it's not like she was going to shoot someone."

"Shepard doesn't need a gun," Liara reminded him with the patient tone she might have used on a toddler. "What if we had startled her into actually using her biotics?Someone could have been seriously injured or worse!"

"And if you're still having trouble with that idea, just think what a singularity could do to your precious ship," James pitched in with a grin.

That one seemed to give Joker pause. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Don't mess with Shepard the walking weapon," he muttered. "But so help me, if I sneeze and you blow a hole in the Normandy..."

"Come on, Joker," Gabby interrupted him. "You're stealing the spotlight from the commander!"

"Yes, when it's your party, you can rant all you want," Ken chimed in.

"So? Let's get this party started!" James shouted. "I've got the cards, cerveza's over there, what else do we need?"

Shepard eyed the amount of alcohol sitting in the kitchen. "How exactly did you get that much on the ship? There are still regs…"

"I'm not Alliance," Garrus pointed out smugly, grabbing a bottle. "And Liara's not even military. This is a celebration and you deserve a little time off. So we're going to see to it that you get it."

Shepard held up her hands in acquiescence, a smile forming on her face. "If you all went through so much trouble for me, how can I say no?"

"That's the spirit," Garrus said approvingly. "Just don't eat the stash over there." The turian indicated a collection of packages off to one side. "That's for Tali and me. We wouldn't want to send you to the medbay on your birthday."

"So what are we waiting for?" James asked, passing drinks around. "Let's get this party started!"

Kaidan raised his bottle in a toast. "To Commander Shepard!"

"To Shepard!"

-~0~-

Quite a bit later that evening, Kaidan came up with her to her cabin to help carry up all the presents, mostly an assortment of weaponry, armor, ammo, and modifications. They piled the packages on the coffee table in her quarters.

"Sit tight," Kaidan said, waving a hand at her couch as he headed towards the steps. "I've got one more thing for you."

Curious, Shepard sat and poured wine into a pair of glasses for them. She wondered what Kaidan had in mind - surely nothing could top the first real birthday celebration she'd ever really had.

She heard the door slide open and shut again. "Close your eyes," Kaidan instructed. A few moments later, he guided her hands to a cool plastic baggy. "Okay, open them."

"A baby hanar!" she exclaimed. Soldiers of Shepard's caliber did not squeal like little girls, but this once, she came fairly close. She held the baggy up to better view its occupant.

"Um, Shepard, it's just a baby jellyfish," Kaidan said, a touch of concern in his voice. "I'm pretty sure the Council would frown on us enslaving the hanar as pets."

"I know that," she laughed. "But you have to admit, this is probably what baby hanar look like." He chuckled and shook his head in response. "I have looked everywhere for one of these," she said as she rose to put the little guy in the tank so his water temperature could equalize. "Where did you get him?"

Kaidan grinned. "I asked Cortez to keep an eye out when he did his requisitions." He stood to move next to her, wrapping one arm around her waist and laying a kiss along the curve of her neck. "I'm glad you like him. Happy birthday, Shepard."

She leaned into him a little, watching the little jellyfish bob up and down in its bag while some of the other fish swam up to investigate. The Reapers would come and the Reapers would go, but right now, she had her fish, her "baby hanar", good friends, and the love of a good man who would be all hers for the rest of the night, at the very least.

A contented smile crossed her face. "It was."