Elissa had cleared off the outside table while Kaidan was upstairs changing into his civilian clothes, when he came downstairs Elissa thought he was as sexy as ever, he was wearing a white tank-top and a pair of ripped up jeans with a fraying brown leather belt holding them around his waist, not to mention he was standing in a beat up pair of sneakers. She leaned against the kitchen sink and admired the man who was to be her husband, although she had seen him out of uniform before he looked different now, much less of a soldier and more of who Kaidan really was. He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and sauntered over to where Elissa was standing, wrapping his free arm around her very exposed waist, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"I'm gonna start on the yard work today," said Kaidan, "the orchard is in a terrible state and I feel bad that it has been neglected for so long. Care to join me?"
"You know I would, baby, but there is still some unpacking to do here." replied Elissa, kissing Kaidan's neck while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Not only that, but Tali and Liara will be here to go through the crap we don't want and get rid of it, then we're going shopping for more things for the house."
"Please, please, please don't spend more than our budget, I know how Liara gets about giving you the high life." begged Kaidan, a joking tone in his voice as he released his love.
"She's a good friend and wants everyone to share in the life she has," said Elissa, "anyway, I have a set limit at the store, they'll make sure we don't exceed the budget."
"Glad to see you're thinking ahead, I'll be back before dark," said Kaidan, giving his Ella one last kiss before heading outside to get started on repairing the grounds he had grown up on as a child.
Elissa sighed, it had been a long few months, this was the first period of normalcy that either of them had had since first signing on to the Normandy and she hoped that this relaxing time would last longer than the few months Kaidan had off before heading back to the Citadel. She was still on leave for an indefinite amount of time, until Admiral Hackett gave her an assignment or the Council summoned her back to resume her Spectre duties, she had been expecting to hear from them before now but this did not bother her she was enjoying her down time. Feeling like she should get something accomplished, she headed upstairs to her bedroom, grabbed a blue cotton T-shirt and a pair of grey jean shorts out of her dresser and went into the washroom for a hot shower. Afterwards she felt like a human again, put on her panties, bra, shirt, jean shorts and socks then went downstairs to find Liara and Tali standing in her living room doing what appeared to be taking measurements of the room. When they heard Elissa enter the room both turned around hastily, Tali was the first to speak.
"Lisa!" exclaimed Tali and she gave Elissa a huge hug, which she returned with equal enthusiasm.
"It's so good to see you again, Tali," said Elissa releasing Tali from the embrace then turning to Liara, whom she noticed had a leather-bound book, "don't worry Liara, I haven't forgotten you, what's with the book by the way?"
"Oh, just some design plans," said Liara, a bit flustered but Elissa walked over and hugged her tight too, "I'm glad to see you, Lisa."
"So, catch me up, how is everything beyond the borders of Vancouver?" asked Elissa after she had released Liara too and had walked over to a large stack of boxes, using a box cutter to unleash the contents of the container. Tali came over to help her while Liara continued to take measurements with her omni-tool.
"Well, the Migrant Fleet has continued to rebuild their ranks, and the ones that are still operational are out patrolling the borders near Reaper space," said Tali, examining a model spaceship she had pulled from one of the boxes. "Surprisingly, the Geth have been an even greater help with reinforcing our ships with new Geth technology, their know how has sped up the rebuilding process by several years. I should also have a house on Rannoch soon enough, I have a plot picked out and the designs are being made." Elissa smiled at her dear friend, she knew that this house on Rannoch would mean more to Tali than anything else in the galaxy, except maybe her father being there to see the Quarians living where they had before.
"I have been monitoring the progress of the Citadel's reconstruction," said Liara, her nose stuck in her book, "the Keepers have stopped working on certain areas, which is odd since when the Citadel was up and running they were making improvements everywhere all of the time. They are now working on the mass relays, they officially have three that are operational which has surprised everyone including the Quarian engineers."
"Must be great to be the Shadow Broker again, eh, Liara?" asked Elissa, putting some more knick-knacks on the built in shelves around the entertainment center.
"It has its benefits," said Liara flatly, she seemed more absorbed in the book than in having a conversation with either Tali or Elissa.
"Feron has been spending a great deal of time over there," said Tali quietly as possible so Liara could not hear what they were saying, "he has been asking everyday for her to marry him and she has refused until recently. She hasn't said a word to anyone but me about it, I just had to tell you though, you needed to know. Most of her great mind is occupied on flower colors and chair wraps, I didn't know that Asari had weddings like humans."
"Well, I guess weddings are in the air, Kaidan proposed to me this morning over breakfast." said Elissa, flashing her ring in Tali's direction, Tali squealed with delight.
"Oh wow, Lisa!" exclaimed Tali, clapping her hands and admiring the ring glistening on Elissa's left hand. "I won the bet!"
"Bet?" asked a puzzled Elissa, looking from Liara to Tali, "What bet?"
"The crew had a bet on when the Major would propose to you," said Liara, "ever since we went on the expedition to get the diamond for your ring."
"You knew he was going to propose and didn't even hint at it!?" exclaimed Elissa, floored that her two best friends had kept this huge secret from her for several weeks.
"He swore us to secrecy, Lisa!" said Tali. "We were all on the expedition with Kaidan to Tuchanka to find the diamond. Joker piloted with EDI and the rest of us scoured the wasteland for that diamond, Grunt was the one who actually found it and Wrex gave us his blessing over it, he said that it must be blessed since it was going to be a special present for you."
"During the flight back was when the bet idea came about and everyone jumped on board, the prize got to be over one hundred credits," said Liara, still calculating the measurements she had taken earlier.
"Glad you won, Tali," said Elissa smiling at her dearest friend, and for the next hour they unloaded several boxes, chatted about weddings, when they were done they got into Liara's car and headed towards the city. When they arrived there was hardly anyone about in town though there was the farmer's market going on about half a block from the furniture store, upon entering the store they were greeted by an older looking woman.
"Hello, Ms. Shepard," said the woman, "my assistant said that you would be coming into the store today, my name is Alana."
"Hi, Alana," said Elissa, outstretching her hand for Alana to shake which she did, "I was wondering if you could show me the furniture I was discussing with your assistant Irene, she said it was the more simple contemporary style that would go well with the farmhouse."
"Ah, yes, that would be over there near the back wall," said Alana and she went off to see the next group of people who had just entered the store while Elissa, Tali, and Liara went off to see the furniture they had been directed towards. When they saw the furniture, Elissa was in love with everything there, but remembering Kaidan's plea she decided to only stick to what she was supposed to be buying which was living room furniture. There was a lovely set of a couch, chair, and loveseat that was upholstered in a cream fabric and Tali found some colorful pillows that accented the color wonderfully. Elissa found some dark wood stained tables that she felt would tie the room together nicely and there were some glass lamps with pale blue shades that further matched the room. When they were done, Elissa paid Alana from the account she had set up the week before and set the delivery time for the later that afternoon, then the three of them headed down to the farmer's market.
"There are so many fruits and vegetables," commented Tali as she picked up a white onion and placed it in the basket she had grabbed, "how can humans grow food even after what happened?"
"Earth needs food, even more so in times of crisis," said Elissa, placing a couple of containers of strawberries in her own basket. "I am so glad we have this fresh food, it's so much better than that dried crap we used to eat on the Normandy."
"Yeah but there was food that all species could eat, not just humans," said Liara as she scrutinized a carrot, smelling it cautiously before putting it in her basket along with a few others.
"Kaidan's hoping the orchard will be able to produce fruit by next spring, there are peach trees, apple trees, cherry trees, you name it we're growing it." laughed Elissa, grabbing some jars of honey and some jars of raspberry jelly.
They came across a stand with some bread and they all tried a slice from various loaves before buying three, one picked by each girl, and with their groceries they headed back to the farmhouse. They brought the paper bags into the kitchen and placed them on the counter, the girls put the groceries away then Elissa started on making some sandwiches for lunch, while Tali made some very sweet iced tea. Liara sat at the counter on one of the barstools, still looking through her leather book that Elissa could on guess had wedding plans meticulously written down. She stopped reading enough to look up at Elissa with tears in her eyes.
"Liara, what's wrong?" asked Elissa, very concerned with her friend's wellbeing.
"I'm pregnant," said Liara, putting her head on her hands, tears rolling down her face. Tali and Elissa were quiet, neither knew what to say since Liara did not seem to be very happy about her situation.
"Feron is the father," said Liara quietly, "I don't know if I'm ready to be a mother yet."
"Liara," said Elissa, walking over and putting her arms around Liara's shoulders, "you're going to be an excellent mother, and your daughter is going to be so very loved by you, Feron, and the rest of the crew."
"I know that everything is going to be alright, I just don't think I'm in the maternal stage yet, there is still so much to do before I have daughters," said Liara, trying to mop up her tears with the corner of her sleeve, Elissa reached for some paper towels and Liara gladly accepted the help.
"No woman, human, Asari, or Quarian, is ever ready to become a mother," said Elissa, looking to Tali for support.
"It's true," said Tali quickly.
"I cannot believe that I let this happen," sighed Liara, "I'm usually so careful and responsible when it comes to being intimate with someone."
"Well, sometimes when you love someone, you let your defenses down and things like this happen," said Elissa, stroking Liara's shoulder, and Liara leaned her head on Elissa's shoulder.
"I knew something like that could happen to other species, but with Asari, this rarely happens," said Liara, her voice cracking with emotion. Elissa and Tali were at a loss for words, there was only so much they could say to console Liara right now, her mind was not willing to process the fact that these surprises could even happen to Asari.
"I'm going to go give Kaidan his lunch," said Elissa, she grabbed a bag she had filled with a couple of steak sandwiches and a thermos of sweet tea then went outside trying to find Kaidan in this immense orchard.
"Kaidan! Kaidan!" shouted Elissa several times before she heard a reply.
"I'm under the cherry tree, Ella!" shouted Kaidan and she walked over towards the sound of his voice. She saw him laying down on the green grass with his eyes closed beneath the cherry tree with his shirt off and the gardening tools were a few feet away from him, Elissa hovered over his head, her shadow blocking out the hot sun.
"Hey there," said Elissa, and Kaidan opened his eyes then sat up.
"Hey there, yourself," said Kaidan and Elissa handed him the bag of sandwiches and the thermos of tea. "Thanks for the food, Ella."
"You're welcome, hon," said Elissa and she sat on the ground next to him. They split the food and drink, having a small picnic out there in the orchard, Kaidan's arm wrapped around Elissa's shoulders.
"Liara's pregnant," said Elissa, and Kaidan looked a bit surprised but not much.
"Who's the father?" asked Kaidan.
"Feron is the father," said Elissa, "she's pretty upset actually, apparently surprises like these are very uncommon for the Asari. She also doesn't feel she's ready to be a mother since she hasn't entered the maternal stage of her life yet."
"No woman ever feels ready," said Kaidan, echoing what Elissa had already mentioned earlier. "I know that from listening to all of my mom's friends talking about their pregnancies, no matter how many kids they had they were still upset about having another one."
"I know I'll be a wreck when I find out I'm pregnant," laughed Elissa and Kaidan laughed too but not his usual laugh, and he got very quiet.
"You've thought about being a mother?" asked Kaidan, not making direct eye contact with Elissa. They had not had the "kids" talk directly, but both had already expressed the desire to maybe someday possibly have children though the number of children and when they would start to try for kids had yet to be discussed.
"Well, yeah, I guess so," said Elissa nervously, swishing the tea in her cup around, "I did a lot more after I had met you, I liked thinking that you'd be the father even though at the time we hadn't gotten that far in our relationship."
"You thought of me as a father when we weren't even together?" asked Kaidan, an amused tone in his voice. "How strange, I used to think about you as the mother to my children when I saw just a glimpse of you getting onto the Normandy that first day."
"Glad to know we were meant to be even then," laughed Elissa, leaning in closer to Kaidan and he kissed her forehead. They sat out in the bright sun for another few minutes before Elissa got back up with the trash from their picnic then headed back up towards the house while Kaidan got back to work with cleaning the tree beds. When she got back to the house, Elissa heard Tali and Liara talking to someone else in there and upon entering Elissa saw that it was the delivery man with the furniture. Her friends were arguing over where the furniture should go and Elissa smiled, she had not ever met two more independent people that got along as well as Liara and Tali, the fact the three of them could be as great of friends as they are amazed her every time.
"So have you two decided on how my living room should look?" asked Elissa loudly, catching the attention of Tali and Liara.
"Sorry, Lisa," said Tali, "why don't you tell us where you want us to put the furniture?"
"Okay, I want the couch underneath the set of windows, the love seat running horizontally from the couch's right side with a table between the two with a lamp on top," directed Elissa, feeling like a commander once again, "the chair can be in the far corner with the other table and lamp, then there's a rug upstairs that I want to put on the floor before the coffee table."
The three of them worked diligently for the next couple of hours, moving the furniture and then decorating the room with some of the stuff they had found in the attic, it was nearly dark out when they were done and Kaidan came back in to see the living room completely transformed. He decided that the best way to break it in was to go and flop right onto the inviting couch which he did to the dismay of the three women.
"Kaidan!" exclaimed Elissa, throwing her hands up in utter exasperation, "We just got this furniture and you got sweat and dirt all over it!"
"Sorry, Ella," said Kaidan looking up at Elissa playfully, "I'll go and shower before the others arrive."
"What should I do about the couch?" asked Elissa sharply, her arms crossed. "How do you expect me to clean it while making dinner?"
"I'll help you with both, is that reasonable, Commander?" asked Kaidan, his tone a hint sharper than before. They looked at each other for a second before Kaidan jumped up from the couch and headed towards the bathroom upstairs while Elissa went to the kitchen to start on dinner for their gathering tonight. Tali and Liara were already there waiting for her, they were both silent but helped her out nonetheless, trying to make small conversation until Kaidan came downstairs in jeans and a grey T-shirt he then motioned for Elissa to follow him into the living room.
"Look, Ella, I'm sorry for snapping at you and for getting the couch dirty just after you got it all clean," said Kaidan in a quiet voice, holding Elissa's hand as a gesture of sincerity.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you too, I shouldn't have overreacted like that," said Elissa, squeezing Kaidan's hand and they both smiled at each other, kissed and returned to the kitchen where they had a nice time talking and cooking with the others. Sometime before seven Garrus arrived with Joker and EDI in tow, Elissa dashed from the kitchen to get the door and hugged Garrus tightly, she hugged Joker gingerly though she wanted to squeeze him too then she hugged EDI who had learned to reciprocate the gesture without the bone crushing force she was capable of producing. Wrex and Grunt were there too, Elissa waved at them since they did not want any displays of human affection and there was also Jacob and James whom Elissa hugged tightly as well.
"Glad to see all of you again," said Elissa as she ushered her guests into the kitchen with the rest of the crew.
"Hey, Joker!" shouted Kaidan from the stove, he was grilling up some steaks and Joker walked over and sat in the barstool Elissa had pulled out for him and placed close to the stove so he could help Kaidan out with the steaks.
"Hey, Major, how's everything been?" said Joker, taking the beer Kaidan was offering. "Have you done it yet?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I have," said Kaidan smugly, glancing over at Elissa who was chopping up vegetables for a salad, her ring catching the light.
"So who won the bet?" asked Joker quietly, trying not bring attention to the topic.
"I did!" exclaimed Tali and Joker looked deflated.
"Yep, Tali said two weeks after our expedition, and it has been two weeks to the day," said Kaidan, "Give her the money, EDI."
"Of course, Major Alenko," said EDI and she reached into a compartment pulling out a small bundle of credits then handed the money over to Tali who pocketed her winnings quickly, returning to her task of buttering the bread. Liara was absentmindedly mixing a large pitcher of spiked lemonade that she had made, looking out of the window at the fireflies dancing around the windows.
"Liara's pregnant!" announced Elissa, sensing that Liara was still thinking about the growing life inside of her, and the room erupted into cheers. Liara blushed deeply which was saying something since red did not always show up on her lovely blue skin and everyone began to ask her rapid fire questions, mostly about who the father was.
"Feron is the father!" shouted Liara happily, and there was more cheering, Elissa could see that Liara's attitude about the situation had changed when most of the crew found out about her condition. Elissa could only guess that the worst part had been hiding the pregnancy from everyone that was important to her, having it out in the open had made Liara relax more and she now seemed more eager to discuss her daughter.
"I've been trying to think of names for her, something that can be a tribute to my two dearest friends," said Liara, looking at Elissa and Tali, "I was thinking about naming her Talissa, what do you think?"
"Sounds like a lovely name," said Tali, patting Liara on the shoulder. "I'm honored that you care enough to name your daughter after me."
"I agree," said Elissa, "I'm honored that you want to name your daughter after me."
"Congratulations to the Shadow Broker!" shouted a slightly tipsy Jacob.
"Congratulations!" shouted the rest of them.
"Congrats to the Major and Commander!" shouted Grunt and Wrex. The rest followed suit, shouting congratulations to every person they could think of earning the cheer. Someone knocked on the door and Elissa left the party to go and answer the door, still smiling at what a wonderful evening this was turning into. When she answered the door, a young man in an Alliance uniform was there waiting.
"Commander Shepard, I am Lieutenant Thomas," said Lt. Thomas, saluting. "I am here on official business from Admiral Hackett."
"Lieutenant," said Elissa, saluting the young man back and he handed her an envelope. "Inform the admiral that I have received his package and will respond to his message within twenty-four hours."
"Commander," said Lt. Thomas and he turned and left as Elissa closed the door behind him. She looked down at the package and walked slowly back into the kitchen, her whole body trembling with anticipation, she was hoping it would contain her papers saying she could return to active duty soon. Kaidan saw the package as Elissa walked back into the kitchen and put his arms around Elissa's waist when she stood at the counter.
"Who's it from, Ella?" asked Kaidan until he saw the official seal of Admiral Hackett. "Hackett? Does this mean you're going to return to duty?"
"I'm about to find out," said Elissa, somewhat breathless with anticipation. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath as Elissa slowly opened the envelope and pulled the papers out of the casing. Elissa read the papers then reread them, unable to comprehend what they were saying.
"Ella, what do they say?" asked Kaidan concerned.
"I've been decommissioned," said Elissa, anger rising in her voice, "I'm no longer in the military."