Chapter Two:
"Come on, Shepard. Think you can open those dark, dashing eyes for me this time?"
The Commander groaned, squinting up into the false, sterile white light that she had become accustomed to. A beautiful, familiar face hovered above her, but although Miranda Lawson was a welcome sight, Shepard did not appreciate being woken up before her body was ready. "Ugh... Miranda."
"Ugh? After everything we've been through together, all you have to say to me is 'ugh'?" The ex-Cerberus operative clutched the place above her left breast, pretending to be wounded. Such exaggerated gestures were not usually Miranda's style, but she seemed to be in a cheerful mood.
"Was sleeping," Shepard explained, blinking the sleep from her eyes. "Liara? Where's Liara?"
Miranda sighed. "I guess I don't even rate a 'hello, thanks for fixing me up'. Your bondmate is guarding the door. You've got other visitors waiting outside. A lot of them."
Slowly, and with a good deal of effort, Shepard began to lift herself into a sitting position. Noticing what her former Commander was doing, Miranda hurried to help. "Here, use the pillow. Take it easy, that body isn't ready for anything strenuous yet."
"Who is waiting outside?" Shepard asked.
"The Suicide Squad – or what's left of us. We've stuck together as much as we could since the defeat of the Reapers. Tali is handling some business on the Flotilla, she'll be down to visit in another hour or two." Miranda paused, her thoughts obviously weighed down by heavy emotions she couldn't express easily. "Ashley isn't happy that I've been hanging around. I think she's jealous of me, actually... she isn't used to sharing you with another human woman."
Shepard burst out laughing. "What? I'm surrounded by female squadmembers, and if Ashley were to be jealous of anyone, wouldn't it be Liara? Tali? Even Jack or Garrus..." Her throat constricted as she remembered that Garrus wasn't with them anymore – she still did not want to admit that he was probably dead.
"I represent her mistake in not trusting you after Horizon. She's worried I'll steal you away again, just like I did before."
Deciding that Ashley's dislike of Miranda was a problem for later, Shepard leaned back against the pillow behind her. Arching one eyebrow, she glanced towards the closed door. She had to admit that it would be nice to see her room full of friends instead of doctors for a change. "Well?"
Miranda started towards the door, but stopped when she saw it open from the other side, revealing a smiling Liara. "There are several visitors out here who wish to see you, Shepard. Shall I let them in?"
"Move, T'soni! You're blocking my view! I wanna see if Shepard has any new scars." His bulky frame nearly filling the doorway, Urdnot Grunt lumbered into the room, followed by a trail of familiar figures. Jack, Kasumi, Jacob, Zaeed, and Samara were all there. Even though Garrus's absence stung and she wished she did not have to wait until later to see Tali, Shepard's smile grew wider as she recognized each face. They all crowded around her, and she felt a warm hand grip her shoulder.
"Thought you'd enjoy this," Miranda said, giving the shoulder she was touching a squeeze. "Your doctors made a fuss over it, but luckily, I'm the project director. I can do whatever the hell I want." On the other side of her bed, Liara began a light massage along the back of Shepard's neck. The asari didn't seem to mind that Miranda was also touching Shepard, she was happy to see her bondmate happy. Their minds brushed briefly, acknowledging each other's presence and their connection.
"All right, time for hugs," Shepard said. "Just try not to break anything."
"They'd better not," Miranda muttered. "Your body's worth a fortune now, almost as much as mine... probably more, now that I think about it, since you're a hero and all."
"A big goddamn hero," Zaeed crowed, grabbing one of the empty chairs near the bed and turning it around backwards, positioning it near the edge of Shepard's bed and straddling it. "I thought you were out of your bloody mind when you started this whole thing, but you saw it through. Damned impressive."
"I was out of my mind when you started this whole thing," Jack said. Shepard couldn't help noticing that the powerful biotic seemed much more somber than usual. Instead of her usual aggressive, confrontational attitude, her body language seemed almost... defeated. "I blew up a lot of stuff under your watch."
"I remember," Shepard said. "We're lucky it was mostly bad guys. Hey, Jack... Liara told me. About your kids."
"That little shit Rodriguez made it out mostly in one piece. Prangley didn't. Son of a bitch went down hard. Took out more of those mutated Turian things than I could count." For a split second, Shepard thought she saw Jack blink back tears, but decided not to draw attention to it. For her friend's sake, she glanced around for something else to focus her attention on.
"Kasumi, what are you doing?"
The thief, who had seemed as pleased as everyone else to see Shepard on her arrival, was currently lounging against one wall near the top of the line life support machines Shepard no longer needed. "What?" she asked, feeling the eyes of everyone else on her. "Habit. What kind of thief would I be if I didn't stand near the most expensive things in the room?"
"The kind that wants to make a new start after her complete pardon by the Alliance," Liara pointed out. She noticed that Samara was watching Kasumi closely, and she wanted to avoid an altercation. "Your work on the Crucible got you a blank check, Kasumi, but that doesn't mean you should steal from hospitals."
"I'm not that immoral," the thief grumbled. "Credits and tech are different than life saving medical equipment, even if it isn't being used anymore..."
"Thank God for that," Jacob said. He had hung back at first, a little unsure of himself around the others, but felt his confidence return as he saw Shepard conscious, stable, and interacting with her former squadmates – and, as impossible as it seemed, alive. "I saw you after you first came in... You looked like death, Shepard. I thought you were going to fall into a hundred pieces."
"She was dead," Miranda said. "Multiple times. We resuscitated her."
Liara's hand tightened almost painfully on the back of her neck, and Shepard flinched. Miranda might have been stating facts, but they weren't facts that her pregnant, upset bondmate needed to hear aloud. "Can we forget that part for now?" Shepard asked, a note of pleading in her voice.
Jacob shuddered. "I'll never forget it. I don't think any of us will ever forget what happened that day."
"Jacob, you are upsetting Liara," Samara pointed out gently. "It is not good for the child."
That got the group's attention. Everyone in the room except for the Justicar stared at Liara with the same wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression. Even Miranda abandoned her usual air of dignity. Then, as a unit, they all turned to look at Shepard. The Commander resisted the impulse to hold her hands up in a defensive posture.
"You," Miranda pointed at Shepard, "got her," he pointed at Liara, "pregnant in the middle of a Reaper invasion?"
Jack smirked, resuming a little of her old bravado. "Couldn't keep it in your pants, huh, Shep?"
"I didn't know!" Shepard said, trying to defend herself.
"How do you not know something like that?" Jacob asked, still reeling from shock. His own child with Brynn was due in a few months, and from what he could remember about how he or she was conceived, he had definitely been an active participant.
"And I thought krogan were obsessed with making babies no matter what the cost," Grunt muttered.
"Do not blame Shepard," Liara said. "The pregnancy was my responsibility and my choice. She only just found out a day and a half ago."
Samara gave the younger asari a look that spoke volumes. Obviously, she understood far more about the situation than the others, being an asari herself, and could guess why Liara had chosen to imprint Shepard's genetic material before the final battle. "You will need to be monitored closely, since you are only one hundred and nine. Most asari don't even consider reproducing until their matron stage."
"Most asari only pursue casual relationships until their matron stage, or don't pursue them at all. I am in a unique position. The stages are arbitrary anyway..."
"How long until mini-Shepard is running around and kicking ass?" Jack asked, looking slightly more cheerful. "Considering who her parents are, I bet she'll be one hell of a talented biotic."
Shepard groaned slightly as she remembered just how long asari pregnancies lasted relative to human ones. "Not any time soon," she said. "Apparently, asari babies take a while."
"Don't say anything to anyone else," Liara urged, glancing around at the dumbfounded and excited group. "I am given to understand that, for all their professions of emotional detachment, soldiers are terrible gossips, and earth is currently home to a lot of them."
"Not by choice," Grunt muttered darkly. "Wrex is already having trouble controlling some of his warriors. They know the genophage is cured and want to get back to Tuchanka, Mass Relays or no Mass Relays."
Zaeed rolled his eyes. "Horny bastards. Even at FTL speeds, it'd take ages."
"I sympathize," Samara said quietly. "Not all of Thessia was lost to the Reapers. If the Mass Relays were functional, I would have gone to help with the rebuilding effort."
Liara abandoned her seat on the edge of Shepard's bed. "The Mass Relays will be rebuilt. The salarians are already working on a solution, but for the time being, all the species confined to the Sol system will have to make the best of it. I want our daughter to see Thessia someday."
As the shock of Liara's news began to wear off, everyone started asking questions at once.
"Thought of any names yet?"
"Maybe she'll be a Huntress or a Commando?"
"She's an asari, but considering who her father is, maybe she'll be the first to join the Alliance Navy?"
"Not the Navy. Bunch of goody two-shoes," Zaeed muttered.
"Better than Cerberus," Jacob pointed out.
Shepard sighed. "Why are you so convinced she'll be a warrior? I'd prefer another archaeologist in the family."
That made Liara smile. Her hand returned to the back of Shepard's neck. "I have to admit that a nice, quiet, studious daughter might be preferable, but somehow I doubt we will be so lucky." She exchanged a glance with her bondmate. "I will be proud of her either way."
"Mothers hang many hopes on their daughters," Samara offered. "Those hopes can be a source of great pain and great joy."
Absentmindedly, Liara draped a hand over her stomach. There was no distinguishable swell yet, but she knew that the shape would change soon. "You miss Falere," she said, keeping her voice low.
"I miss all three of my daughters. I worry about Falere more, since Rila and Mirala have found peace in the embrace of the Goddess."
Shepard sighed. "Let's pray that no more mothers will outlive their children now that this war is over."
. . .
"Shepard!" Tali crowed as she ran into the room, throwing her arms around the bedridden human and hugging her for all she was worth. Miranda kept a watchful eye over her patient, but knew that trying to stop the quarian was useless. She was content to remain leaning against the wall, a silent sentinel.
"Shh," Shepard said, trying not to show any pain as her friend squeezed her. "Liara's asleep."
Tali immediately lowered her voice and turned the mask of her envirosuit towards the sleeping asari, who was curled up like a cat in the seat of a large, comfortable chair that she had purloined from another building. If she was going to watch over Shepard during her recovery, Liara had stated, she deserved a comfortable chair, especially after helping to save the universe.
"I hear she's expecting? What is wrong with you, Shepard? Giving birth is dangerous enough without conceiving in the middle of a Reaper invasion."
Shepard knew a fair bit about alien physiology, and she remembered that quarian births were particularly traumatic. It was one reason that the one-child law was not too much of a hardship. "Who told you that?" she asked. "It's true, but don't spread it around. The last thing we need on top of all our other problems is gossip about the baby."
"Grunt, believe it or not. I ran in to him on the way into the hospital. She doesn't look pregnant yet," the quarian noted, examining Liara while she slept.
"Oh, she's pregnant all right," Shepard mumbled, remembering the vivid way in which Liara had allowed her to experience their daughter's existence.
"You would know, wouldn't you?" Tali teased.
The Commander blushed. "I'm sure Shepard didn't mean it like that," Miranda whispered. She too cast a glance at the still slumbering asari. "She definitely doesn't look one hundred and nine, either. I'm given to understand that she is awfully young to be having a child," she observed.
"I'm excited about it," Tali said. "Do you hear that, little one?" she asked in Liara's general direction, amusing Shepard with her cheerful, maternal instinct. "Aunty Tali is going to teach you all sorts of things... How to build an engine, how to program an attack drone, how to hack into any system in the galaxy... I'll be her favorite."
Miranda smiled. "I guess that leaves Aunt Miranda to teach her how to be perfect. God knows you'll be useless at that, Shepard."
"I shudder to think what the others will teach her," Shepard said. She felt her lover stir within her mind, and could tell that Liara was waking up.
"Jack will be the one to teach her how to swear, of that I'm sure," the still sleepy Shadow Broker said as she lifted her arms above her head in a luxurious stretch. Shepard's eyes could not tear themselves away from her breasts no matter how hard she tried.
"And possibly how to womanize," Miranda mumbled. For a moment, Shepard wondered exactly what the relationship between the ex-Cerberus operative and the former convict was, but decided not to ask.
Tali gave Miranda a sideways look. "Shepard, there is something I need to speak with you about..." The Commander raised her eyebrows and lifted herself up slightly from her seated position on the bed. "They have still not recovered Garrus's body. Joker, Javik, EDI, and the rest of the crew are also missing."
"I don't want to give you any false hope, Tali," Shepard said. "I saw that Reaper beam come down on us... I was sure it had blown my team apart when I went up to the Citadel. I'm shocked it didn't kill Liara or..." She didn't even want to think about the possibility of losing their daughter before she was even born.
She couldn't be sure because of the visor of her suit, but Shepard sensed a flash of pain in Tali's eyes. "Before the final battle, Garrus and I... well, you know. You saw." The quarian sighed. "I know he might be dead. We didn't even get a chance to really explore what might have been. I thought he was in love with you for so long... Keelah, I was half in love with you myself. I think most of your crew was... even the Justicar had a soft spot for you." She shot a nervous glance at Liara, who only smiled and rubbed her abdomen contentedly.
"It's all right, Tali. I might be slightly awkward in social situations, but I am not completely oblivious. I am aware that Shepard is... intriguing to almost everyone she meets. I'm flattered she chose me."
Miranda blushed. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she had to concede – if only to herself – that she had a somewhat uncomfortable attraction to Shepard. The woman was almost like an asari. Everyone she met, no matter the species, seemed to show an interest. Then, Miranda's personal life had become even more complicated with the introduction of another, much crazier woman that she still wasn't entirely sure how to handle.
"If there is any chance that he is alive, I have to try and find him, find all of them," Tali continued. "We need to try and make contact with other systems anyway if we are going to survive. The turians and quarians will run out of digestible food eventually."
Shepard squeezed the lower half of Tali's arm through her suit. "Do you think you can wait a little while? I'd like to go with you. I'm still the Commander of the Normandy, after all. It's my job to make sure all my people get safely home."
"What about..." Miranda aimed a glance at Liara's midsection.
"I have a feeling Liara will want to come along... We'll talk about it later," she added silently within her lover's mind.
"Yes, we will," Liara sent back. She was slightly annoyed, but not surprised by Shepard's desire to leave the hospital and go out searching for her crew. Hopefully, she could convince her lover that her body was nowhere near ready for space travel or command of a ship. Perhaps she could sweet-talk Shepard into coordinating Tali's mission from Earth. If Shepard was determined to go, however, Liara knew that she wouldn't want to be anywhere else but by her side.
"I'm staying out of this one," Tali said, holding up her hands. "I just wanted to let you know what my plans were."
Miranda frowned. "You've got a lot more resting to do before you can fly anywhere, Shepard. It's a good idea, though, Tali. If Joker managed to get the rest of the crew to safety, we need to find them."
. . .
"We still need a name for baby blue, you know," Shepard said once they were alone, one arm wrapped around Liara's shoulders. The asari's head was resting on her chest, careful to avoid most of the bandages. She had only been coaxed into that position after much pleading from Shepard. Then again, Shepard was very good at coaxing her into any position she wanted, Liara recalled with a smirk.
"I hope you are over Aria, Shepard. Of all the people to name our child after, Aria T'Loak is possibly the last ally of ours I would pick."
Shepard rolled her eyes above Liara's head. The Shadow Broker had never been fond of Omega's pirate queen, even though she had revealed the location of Shepard's body to Liara after the destruction of the first Normandy and spared her from the Collectors. "I told you, it has nothing to do with her. I just like the sound of the name. What about Benezia?"
"I appreciate your attempts to accommodate me, Shepard, but I am not sure I wish to name our first daughter after my mother. I know it has been almost three years now, but the memories are still too... raw. Maybe the next one."
The Spectre swallowed nervously to work some moisture into her suddenly dry mouth. She was still getting used to the idea of having a child at all – thinking about more when the first one wasn't even born yet was a little too much to handle at once. "Well, we can't name her after a member of our crew," Shepard said.
"Why not?"
"Well, because Kaidan, Thane, and... and Garrus are terrible names for an asari. No way could I pick Ashley, Miranda, Jack, or Tali, because whichever one I picked would upset the others. I don't really want to name her after Jack anyway, no need to encourage bad behavior."
Liara lifted her head just enough to brush a kiss beneath Shepard's chin. "You don't know that Garrus is dead yet. He is very resourceful. Perhaps he made it onto the Normandy as Tali hoped."
"We don't even know if the Normandy survived..."
"If Joker got it out of the Sol system before the Mass Relay exploded, he survived. That man can land anywhere."
Shepard sighed. "I have to go look for them, Liara. You know that. I would rather you didn't come with me, because I don't want to put you or our daughter in any kind of danger, but I also know I can't stop you."
"I believe there is yet another relevant passage in the human Bible... from the Book of Ruth. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me."
"I'm impressed. That's the second time you've quoted Scripture to me. You been talking to Ashley?"
Liara smiled. "Yes, but not about the beliefs of various sentient species. Aside from Siari and the various human religions, I am also familiar with the turian spirits, and the ancestor worship of the quarians. I consider myself to be something of an amateur anthropologist as well as an archaeologist. Studying dead religions inspired me to learn more about the surviving ones. I must admit that, after meeting Javik, I find myself viewing the hanar religion in a different light."
"You're not amateur at anything, Liara. By the way, since we're talking about Ashley –"
"- since you brought up Ashley several sentences ago," Liara corrected.
"- Since I mentioned Ashley, when can I go visit her? What are we going to do about her and Miranda? I should probably tell her we're going to have a daughter before Grunt spills the beans again."
The asari sat up on the hospital bed, missing the warmth of Shepard's body, but needing to stretch. "Spills the... oh, another human idiom. I assume you mean before he lets Ashley in on the secret. Not that it's really a secret anymore. If the Mass Relay buoys weren't shut down, I would expect the news to be all over the extranet by now. I admit that when I imagined what it would be like to have a bondmate and a child growing up, I never expected my partner or my reproductive choices to be of any interest to the galactic community at large."
Shepard groaned. "For now, it's bad enough having the rest of my squad sticking their noses in our business..."
"Be honest, Shepard. You wouldn't have it any other way." Liara looked down at her stomach. "This child is going to have more non-biologically related "relatives" than any young asari I've ever seen."
"I can picture it. Not that I want our daughter to be a soldier, but I'm sure Ashley will be teaching her how to use a "boomstick" as soon as she's old enough."
Liara appeared horrified. "Perhaps it is a good thing that asari pregnancies are relatively long... at least it gives me a few years to get used to the idea. I don't like the idea of her holding a gun."
"Would you rather have her not know how to use one, Miss Lift 'Em Up And Shoot 'Em?"
"No," Liara sighed. "I suppose it isn't all that different from training her to use her biotic abilities. That will be my job, I think, unless Samara wants to help."
"What will I teach her, then? If you teach her biotics, Ashley teaches her how to shoot, Grunt teaches her how to smash things, Tali teaches her how to hack systems, and Jack shows her how to blow things up, what's left for me?"
Liara stood up, bending over to kiss the top of Shepard's head. "That's easy, Shepard," she said, caressing the side of the human's right arm affectionately. "You'll teach her how not to die in impossible situations. You're a master at that. Isn't there a relevant human idiom about cats and nine lives?"
"I thought you didn't like idioms."
"They are... colorful. Try and get some rest, love. I'm going to see if Miranda can arrange for you to visit with Ashley later today." The doctor did a quick check of her clothes to make sure that they were not wrinkled or out of place, and headed towards the door. Shepard took a moment to admire the view.
"Ask her about conjugal visits while you're at it!" the Commander called after her.
Liara simply laughed and shook her head. "Wishful thinking, Shepard."
. . .
