Chapter 2: The Nursery
Shepard walked through the door of the Nursery Home. It was even weirder than she imagined! There was a quiet boy who sat in a corner staring blankly at the floor, another boy leaning against the wall, a weird blue girl coloring with the crayons and colored pencils, and one human girl reading one of the holo-books. Shepard tightened her grasp on her mother's arm, which she was already buried into.
"Alice, honey, this is where you'll be staying until I come back from my meeting with the Council, okay?" She said as she smoothed the hair out Ali's face. Shepard looked into the Nursery then back at her mother with pleading eyes.
"You sure I can't come with you? Because I can just fit right into your-"
"Ali, I'm not going to have this talk with you. You have to stay here and that's the end of it!" Hannah said strictly.
"Bag… Okay mom." Shepard finally gave in and walked into the Nursery.
"Ahh, you must Alice! It's very nice to meet you. Come on in." The lady who Shepard guessed was in charge. Shepard hid behind her mother, trying not to look at the lady. Her mother chuckled.
"I guess she's just nervous! This is her first time actually out on the Presidium." Her mother said squeezing Shepard's hand tightly, as if she wasn't ready to let her go just yet. Hannah Shepard looked at her beautiful daughter, smiling proudly.
"Well she's absolutely adorable!" the lady said.
Hannah knelt down beside her daughter, playing with her red hair.
"Now, if you ever need anything -and I mean anything- just call me." Shepard's mother said. Shepard smiled and hugged her mom.
"I will mom. I love you." She said, tightening her hug.
"I love you too, Sweetie." Her mother said as she walked out the door. Shepard ran after her a few steps and stopped when then doors closed. Shepard hung her head and sighed. She felt a hand on her left shoulder; it was the lady who was in charge.
"Come on, honey. Let's go." She said as she lead Shepard into the Nursery.
When Shepard walked into the Nursery everyone in there looked at her. Well, everyone except the girl with her nose stuck in whatever holo-book she was reading and the Salarian child. Each child exchanging looks and whispers of opinions.
"...at's she doing here...I've never seen her before…" The kids asked each other. They just shrugged and went back to doing what they were doing before she walked in.
Shepard made her way to the back of the room, not making eye contact with anyone, and sat down at the drawing table on the opposite side of the blue girl, a few feet away. The boy who sat in the corner kept staring at her, like he was about to attack her, curiosity and suspicion hiding in his light-brown eyes.
"Excuse me, are you using those?" said a calming voice said, each word was pronounced perfectly and neatly. Shepard looked to her left to see the blue girl pointing at the colored pencils sitting beside her.
"Uh, yes, but you can use them for a bit." Shepard replied, picking up the colorful bundle and handing them to the girl.
"Thank you." Was the last thing she said, then for a while things were silent.
"I'm Liara. What's your name?" The blue girl asked finally.
"Nice to meet you Liara, I'm Shepard." She said, moving closer to the strange alien girl as she progressed in trust. Shepard and Liara talked for a while then it was time for her to go home.
"Bye, Shepard! I look forward to seeing you again!" She yelled over her shoulder as she ran towards another older Assari, wearing a yellow, expensive looking, dress. "Bye! Liara…" Shepard yelled back.
A few hours later Shepard assumed the boy in the corner was okay. She'd been drawing a picture of him for a few minutes and decided to give it to him. She built up the courage to talk to him and walked over to the corner he was hunched in. Shepard's breath came in shaky and out shaky.
"H-hi…" Shepard said, nervously. Her hands were all sweaty and she was shaking like a leaf!
"Hi… You're that new kid right? What was your name, Sh- Shia, Shiloh, something?" The boy said. He had hair as black as space and light brown eyes than made Shepard all squishy inside. But he'd forgotten her name!
"It's Shepard!" She announced. The the other boy who was leaning against the wall basically popped into her view, blocking her view of the boy she was intending to talk to!
"Cool name!" A boy shouted, making Shepard cringe with pain. God, he was loud, louder than she'd ever expected.
"Thank you, if you'll excuse me." Shepard said, sliding to the side to get to the other boy. She handed the boy the picture she'd drawn.
"Thanks. I'm Kaidan Alenko." He said, looking down shyly.
"I'm James Vega!" the other boy said, leaning against the wall and grinning. The two boys looked at each other exchanging smiles.
"Hey, wanna play with us? We can play hide and seek." They asked in unison. Shepard looked at the two boy, they looked nice enough.
"Sure," she replied.