Title: Shakarian Drabbles

Author: Ryoko Metallium

Author Notes: I'm back! Seven years absence and I'm back from the dead! I promise' the urge to write again will come back to me in full one day soon. This started out as a Tumblr short that I ended up liking a lot. Takes places some time after the events of Mass Effect 3 where Shepard is alive and well (because that's how it should have ended and to hell with anyone saying anything different) and married to Garrus.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is the property of Bioware and EA Inc. I do not own these characters. I am only borrowing the characters. I promise that I will give them back.

Chapter Three: Nesting

"You know, when I asked you to help me get things ready for the baby…this wasn't exactly what I had in mind, Vakarian."

Shepard tried to maintain her cool composure as she stood stunned in the doorway of what looked liked her former apartment. She tried not get too worked up over the ungodly amount of holes her walls, reminding herself that she was seven-months pregnant and having just come back from a check-up, her doctor had specifically warned her that any unneeded stress wasn't good for her. Still, looking at the considerable number of "home improvements" that her turian husband had made to their apartment in just short amount of time she was gone, she could definitely feel the urge to yell. Or shoot something.

At the moment, the latter sounded way more satisfying.

"I guess this is what I get for leaving him by himself for more than two minutes…' she sighed to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Shepard, you're back," said Garrus, suddenly appearing at the top of the stairs. "How did everything go?"

"Everything is fine, Garrus, which is more than I can say about our apartment." She carefully stepped over the clutter that was littering her floor, mindful to find her footing which was almost impossible to do with the amount of crap everywhere. "You know, the Normandy didn't look half this bad even after the Collectors got through with it. At least then I had Cerberus to put it back together. I probably should have called them or Miranda to get things in order."

"Relax Shepard. No need to get hateful on us," said Zaeed out from somewhere with a soldering iron in hand, amongst a pile of oversized wires and wall insulation. Shepard haven't even noticed him when she walked in. Figures Garrus would call him. The two of them had been itching to get their hands dirty on upgrading the apartment ever since the now infamous party. "We did what you asked and got that nursery of yours all settled nice like. Even put together that goddamn crib, for what bit of trouble it was...damn instructions."

"Uh-huh. And then you guys figured since you finished early, hey, why not do a complete tear-down while you're at it? Seriously, what do you guy do to the place? Or do I even want to know?

"Just some minor installations I thought we might need just in case " said Garrus as he came down the stairs, wiping his oil covered hands on a rag. Shepard didn't even want to know where that was from. "Can't be too careful when it comes to family safety you know. Thanks again Zaeed for helping out on the rigging in the master bedroom. A pressurized gas release were definitely the way to go."

"Anytime mate. Hope you remember control panel does what though. It'll really ruin your day when you roll over to turn off an alarm clock and end up choking in your sleep."

"W..wait-what? Pressurized what?" Shepard gaped.

"Pressurized gas installed into the wall paneling," Zaeed explained as he climbed out of the wire pile. "Picked up this nasty concoction on my last trip to Omega. Smells a lot unbathed krogan in the summer and kills twice as fast. It was either that or an attack varren."

Shepard could only glare at both the mercenary and her husband while she wondered where was the last place she left her pistol. The urge to use it was growing by the second. Garrus, recognizing his wife's death glare, quickly intervened.

"Go have a beer Zaeed. I can take it from here."

"Right. Marital problems. Don't let me stop you then."

As the mercenary went to raid their liquor supply, Garrus take his fuming mate aside in an effort to explain himself. He walked her over to the living room which was thankfully not ground zero, gently held her by her arms, calmly rubbing them up and down. "I know you're mad."

"That's putting it mildly" said Shepard with a heavily sigh. "So what happened? Calibrating got away from you I take it."

"You could say that" he said chuckling. "I know you're going to say I'm being paranoid again, and yeah, I probably am, but I just got to thinking. We've made plenty of enemies over the years, Shepard. Even more so after the war. Not a lot of people happy with the way things have been lately."

Shepard was more than aware of that fact. Even with the Reapers gone, the universe was far from perfect. On daily basis, she was reminded on how people were still struggling to get to sense of normalcy. Tensions were high as they could be with people wanting an easy and quick fix to their problems. People wanted somebody to blame, and since she was the one who ended the war, Shepard tended to be at the top of everyone's hit list.

Garrus had a good point. It seemed like to Shepard that she ended up making more enemies after everything she done. Added on top with the reality of her being a mother, it was an everyday concern how she was ever going to find the strength to handle it all.

It was at that moment that she suddenly felt Garrus' hands on her belly, affectionately stroking small circles around the area where she felt the baby was pressing against. It was habit that he had development since she told him she was pregnant. Garrus seemed to be enjoying her pregnancy more than she was. He loved it whenever the baby was active. According to him, he found it strangely fascinating that their child was within her, as if he needed reminding that the two of them were going to be parents soon.

"I started thinking about your safety, and the baby's safety. I thought about all the things that could happen to the both of you" he continued, "I thought about all the hell we went through just to get to this point. And there are lot of people out there who are just waiting to take it all away from us. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let that happen."

The sub-vocals in his tone suddenly became serious and almost menacing. The look in his eyes was so primal; it scared her. There was also genuine fear, which broke her heart. She reached up her hand to cup the back of his head, bringing him forward so their foreheads could meet. "I just don't want anything to happen you or the baby."

"And nothing will," she said, kissing his scarred cheek. "Not while you're watching my six. So…is the weapons stash in the oven or the dish washer?"

Garrus smirked. "Diaper bag."