Chapter 3

Shepard snapped her eyes open, fully awake from the nightmare. She felt the warmth of the man snuggled up to her back, his arm draped over her waist. She kept her sigh of frustration inside so she wouldn't wake Kaidan. She had hoped the happiness of the Normandy's return, the excitement of the party and the sheer bliss of being loved by Kaidan would've helped her sleep.

She carefully slipped out of bed and Kaidan gave a mumble before turning over and resuming his quiet snoring. She gazed at him in the low light of pre-dawn and wished she didn't still feel the weight of the darkness that had plagued her since the end of The War.

After pulling on some loose clothing, she curled up in a chair and simply looked at Kaidan as he slept. Her mind was busy running through everything that had happened since she first boarded the Normandy. She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there watching him – memorizing him, but the sun was fully up when he finally woke.

"Hey," he said groggily when he turned and saw her sitting there. "Can't sleep?"

Shepard smiled at his tousled appearance. "I guess I'm just used to getting up early."

Kaidan stretched slowly and Shepard hid her grin as it was obvious he was partially doing it for her. He walked over and gave her a long kiss. "Want to join me back in bed?" he whispered in a sultry tone.

Shepard felt a tremor of desire, but she ruthlessly ignored it. "You slept too long, lazy-ass, and now you need to get moving so you catch your shuttle."

Kaidan gave a dejected sigh and Shepard couldn't quite bury her chuckle at his dramatics. "Are you sure you won't come with me? Mom would love to have you and you'd love the B.C. interior."

Shepard ran her hand lightly down the side of his face. "We have three weeks of leave," she said softly. "Spend this first week with your mom and then we can have our time." Shepard got up and pushed Kaidan toward the bathroom. "Besides I have a few things to do before I can enjoy leave."

Kaidan turned around and gathered her into his arms. "The War's over, love. You can relax now, so don't spend a week of your leave working."

Shepard kissed him lightly. "It's not that kind of work. Don't worry about me, just spend some time with your mom. She needs you right now."

Kaidan hugged her tight and nuzzled her ear. "I love you," he whispered. "I don't want to spend even a day away from you."

Shepard hugged him tightly in return. "We'll be together soon. I love you, too."

Kaidan shambled into the kitchen to get some breakfast and saw his mom sitting at the breakfast nook. "Mornin'," he mumbled as he grabbed a cup of coffee and a muffin.

"Did you sleep well?" Amalah asked her son with a tender smile as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah," Kaidan smiled back as he looked out the window at the view. In the distance he could see the edge of the orchard. The Reaper's hadn't done much damage in this area and he could almost forget the war here.

These last five days had done him a world of good and he'd enjoyed spending time with his mother and cousins. Shepard would arrive in a couple more days and he couldn't wait to see her again and show her this little slice of normalcy. When they'd said good-bye Shepard had smiled and kept a light tone, but he'd been worried by the look in her eyes. He hoped spending a few days here would erase the worry she'd tried so hard to hide from him.

"What are you thinking about?" his mother asked quietly with a twinkle in her brown eyes that said she could guess.

"Shepard," Kaidan said without hesitation. "I think she'll like it here and she needs the quiet."

"I didn't get much of a chance to speak with her at the party. I'm looking forward to getting to know her," Amalah was quiet for a moment as she watched her son. "Do you two have any plans?"

"Plans?" Kaidan said in confusion.

Amalah rolled her eyes at her son. "For the future? It's obvious that you love her very much."

Kaidan's brow furrowed and he gave a nervous chuckle. "We haven't discussed it, but…yeah. I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Amalah chuckled and patted his arm. "I was hoping that was the case," she said and moved something over on the table. "If you like you can give her this."

Kaidan looked at his smiling mother and opened the small box. Inside was a ring. The gold band held an oval Rainbow Opal surrounded by small diamond chips. His breath caught and he turned a shocked look at his mother. "This is your wedding ring!"

"It was your great grandmother's," Amalah said softly. She still smiled, but her eyes became a little teary. "Your father and I picked out a new ring for our twentieth anniversary," she fingered the white gold band holding a sapphire on her hand and sighed. "We decided then that you should have the family ring when you found someone."

"Mom," Kaidan said sadly at the mention of his father. He placed his hand over hers.

Amalah wiped away a tear and smiled at Kaidan again. "I loved Kenneth very much and I miss him every day. But we had many great years together and I want that for you, Kaidan."

The moment was broken by Kaidan's oldest cousin, Rory and his two young children coming into the kitchen. Kaidan smiled at his mother and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, mom," he whispered.

The rest of the day Kaidan helped out in the orchard and enjoyed the fresh air, physical activity and the antics of his young cousins. The sun was low in the sky as they headed back to the house.

"Rory," Kaidan said as they watched the kids run ahead of them. "Thanks for letting mom stay here."

Rory slanted Kaidan a look and sighed. He was almost ten years older than Kaidan and his dark hair was already starting to grey. "Of course," he said gruffly. "I'm sorry about your Dad. The damn war took too many good people."

Kaidan just nodded. "Do you mind if mom stays a while longer? Vancouver isn't recovered enough. There's still water and utility problems. Not to mention the looting and gangs. I don't want her there alone yet."

"She can stay as long as she wants," Rory said with conviction. "Melissa and I were talking about building a small cottage on the property. She could live there, if she wanted."

Kaidan smiled. "I think that'd be good for her. I don't know how much I'll be around Earth over the next few years."

"Of course she won't stay once you and your lady have kids. She'll want to be near her own grandkids," Rory said with a laugh and then sobered when he saw Kaidan's stricken look.

"Uh, Dani can't have children," Kaidan said softly.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Kaidan. I didn't mean…" Rory stammered.

"It's alright. You didn't know," Kaidan said as they entered the house.

Amalah and Melissa were busy setting out dinner and Kaidan's mouth watered at the smell of it. He washed up and was just about to sit down when his omni-tool beeped. Kaidan saw who it was from and quickly moved toward the porch door.

"Sorry," he said over his shoulder. "I need to take this."

Kaidan answered the call as he went out the door. "Admiral Hackett," he said as the screen came up. "What can I do for you?"

"Major," Hackett said simply. His face was serious and Kaidan didn't like the worried look in the man's eyes. "Has Shepard been to see you?"

Kaidan frowned at the Admiral. He knew Shepard hadn't told the Admiral about them and he wasn't sure how much the man knew. "Uh, no, Sir. She was going to come out in a couple of days and get away from the city."

Hackett frowned and gave a sigh. "Have you had any contact from her since you left on leave?"

Kaidan felt his gut clench painfully at the implication of Hackett's question. "No, sir. What's wrong?"

"I received a request this morning from her account requesting an extended leave of absence. I haven't been able to get a hold of her." Hackett rubbed a hand over his forehead.

"Leave of absence? From the Alliance?" Kaidan couldn't seem to make sense of the words.

"Yes. My techs show she uploaded the request a week ago with an automatic send command for today," Hackett scowled. "I sent an officer to her quarters, but she wasn't there. She left her omni-tool and we haven't been able to locate her. We think she left the morning after the Normandy party."

"I'll try to contact her and I'm on my way back to headquarters," Kaidan said in a clipped tone. He was trying hard not to panic.

"Let me know if you hear from her, but I think you should stay there a couple of days to see if she shows up," Hackett's tone of voice showed that he didn't think her arrival was likely.

"Yes, sir," Kaidan said unhappily. "Please let me know if you find out any more information and I'll do the same."

"Of course, Major," Hackett said. "I'm sorry to ruin your leave with this news. Hackett out."

Kaidan immediately typed a message to Shepard's account.

Subject: URGENT: CALL ME!

Dani,

Call me now! Let me know you're alright.

Kaidan

Kaidan stood there staring at his omni-tool and jumped when a hand touched his arm. "Mom," he croaked as he looked down at the woman. He couldn't get anything else out.

"Honey," Amalah said quietly as she stroked her son's arm. "I'm sure there's an explanation."

Kaidan remembered the sad, haunted look in Shepard's eyes before he left. She'd said they'd be together soon, not that she'd see him in a few days. "Most of the relays are repaired," Kaidan mused aloud. "If she left right after I did she could be anywhere in the galaxy."

He gave a ragged sigh and rubbed his eyes. "We didn't even have a whole day together! What the hell is she doing? How could she just take off without a word? Damn it!"

"Kaidan," Amalah pleaded.

"I have to make some calls," Kaidan said brusquely and ran inside and up to the room he was using.

A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews. They really do help keep me writing and I appreciate your input. I hope you enjoy this chapter.