"I'm not a baby!" Shepard said to her father.

"I guess you're not," Pierce laughed. "Okay, fine. You can go riding horses with B as soon as we are no longer grounded. Now get back to your job!"

Hannah was at church teaching the Thursday night Bible class while her daughter was mixing drinks and serving beer for her husband and his three closest friends. Pierce held a weekly "Poker & Cigar Night" in the Shepard garage and his daughter served as bartender until a half hour before the pastor's time to come home. Pierce knew that if his wife found out it would mean the doghouse but he loved seeing his kid grin ear to ear as she hung out with his gang. Or the "unrepentant four", as Hannah called them. The four would play poker, smoke cigars, drink and laugh until the wee hours. The friends were Rowan O'Hara the owner of the O'Hara Pub, Stu Aasen the local butcher at Rurik's Grocer and Pierce's former lover and now best friend, Birgit Hallestrøm, who had just been promoted as the Sheriff over Somerset County, while also playing drums in the 'Live Sprockets'.

Rowan downed a shot of whiskey, "How did you get the pastor to approve our night? I thought that you were grounded?"

"On a technicality, really my dear friend," Pierce leaned his chair back and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "We are grounded at the house, but nothing says that we can't have friends over." Pierce smiled.

"Uh-uh." Stu shook his head, "The truth old man."

Shepard dropped his chair down, "I have to attend church the next month of Sundays and play the guitar."

The unrepentant three laughed at him as Shepard put more pretzels in a dish as she moved her little butt around to X Offender by Blondie.

"Speaking of guitar, now that Eli is grown up, maybe she can play in our band?" Birgit winked as she lit her cigar.

"Could I?" Shepard asked as she went over to the bar and began making her father's martini.

Pierce frowned at Birgit and looked at his daughter, "Eli, your mother would never let you play in my band … so get that thought out of your head."

"But dad, I'm almost grown up now."

As everyone laughed at that comment, Shepard frowned and handed her father his drink. "Eli, you are far from grown up, thank god! You still have many years left of school, exams, summer vacations, spankings …"

"Daddy!" Shepard pouted as she placed her hand over his mouth.

Birgit stopped laughing, took a drink of Brännvin and pulled Shepard to her, "Men, what do they know. We women age faster … and I bet none of them ever took on a krogan battlemaster!"

"Is that what he was?" Pierce asked as he patted his daughter on the behind, "My kid was crawling all over a krogan battlemaster? What was he doing here?"

"He was here to pick up a piece of shit," Birgit stopped to take another drink of Brännvin, "The old guy is a bounty hunter and I was hoping to meet him at the airport quick like so there were no troubles. Krogans aren't known for having patience with others and I've heard that this one has even killed a thresher maw." Shepard handed a bowl of pretzels to Stu and smiled at him as she slid one of his chips in her pocket.

"Thresher maw?" Rowan gasped.

"Crazy shit! That's how frickin' nuts and battle hungry those things are. Anyone willing to fight a thresher maw has got to be pure insane!" Stu added.

Birgit agreed as she softly punched Shepard. "But I got delayed in this crazy traffic. I swear it's starting to feel like I never left Earth with all these new arrivals."

"Isn't that the truth!" Rowan seconded. "But since it means my bar is getting more crowded everday ..." he raised his glass, "well, I'll drink to crowded!"

"Traitor!" Pierce bit down on his cigar. "Is that krogan still here?"

"Nej," she shook her head. "Once I handed off the prisoner to him he caught the next flight out."

"You were nice to Beast, right?" Shepard asked as she poured a beer for Rowan.

"Beast?" Birgit asked.

"That's what she called him … Beast." Pierce shook his head and began shuffling the cards.

"To his face?" Rowan asked as Stu whistled.

"You sure you're not a boy?" Stu laughed.

"Boy?" Birgit scoffed. "Hell, it takes ovaries not balls to be a real bad ass! By the time I was sixteen, I had been on my own for over two years. I was living on the streets, fighting every day, or fuckin' to stay alive."

"Fuckin'?" Stu prodded.

"Hell, once when I was 19, I was with this bartender in Västerås, oh what was his name? Kettil. That bastard had a 13 inch cock and thick as your fist. Couldn't walk for a week after our first time. And then in Stockholm there was this poet Saskia, she was-"

"Okay," Pierce cut in, "Birgit are you trying to get our weekly poker cancelled?" Birgit made the zipper gesture over her lips as she looked over at Shepard who had missed the whole exchange. She had her head in the garage fridge clanking bottles around trying to find a bottle of Guinness.

"What did Saskia look like?" Stu asked as he picked up his cards. "And what did you two do?"

Pierce threw chips at Stu who laughed as he tried to dodge them.

As Shepard placed the cold Guinness next to Stu, "Aunt B, did daddy tell you about the pretty women with the tall shoes at the port?"

Birgit looked at Pierce who mouthed whores. "Oh, the gals down at the mine … shit, between the protests scheduled this weekend and them trying to get a permit to bring asari out here. It's all fucked up."

"Asari?" Stu smiled.

"Put your pecker back in its place," Birgit flicked her cigar at him. "That ain't gonna happen and if I hear that any one of you idiots are over there … especially you Pierce ... No one cheats on my woman. Shit! If I can't have her, you best believe that I'll shoot your dick off if it strays!"

Pierce laughed nervously as he shot a look at his kid, who was now running the blender. "Birgit! The kid!"

"Just remember my words. I may be your best friend, but you know I'm madly in love with your wife! And no one is going to hurt her or our kid. Not even you!" Pierce laughed as they clinked glasses and took a shot together.

As the adults continued their game, Shepard looked at Birgit who was making the grown men blush, laugh and even made Stu spit his beer everywhere. Birgit was the best marksman in the town and had taken young Shepard to the shooting range on occasion to let her watch. She had just recently started letting Shepard fire the sniper rifle and Shepard not only loved it but she had the gift. "Daddy, that scope sure does bring things close!" Shepard had told her dad when she got home after that first time. Shepard looked up to Birgit and wished that she was older just so she could hang out with her at the pub and even go chase chicks with her. She didn't really understand why Aunt B was chasing chicks ... you couldn't eat them. They were too little ... she would have to ask her mom later why Aunt B chases chicks. Shepard's mind then started thinking about what B had previously said and after using her fingers to calculate ... she asked, "Aunt B, you were on your own at 14?" Birgit nodded yes as she dropped a few chips on the table. Shepard seemed to think hard on this, "But Aunt B, where was your parents?"

Birgit put her cards down, pulled Shepard close to her and softly said, "Butterfly, I wish that I had your parents. They love you so much and would never let anyone hurt you. That is a gift! But not all of us had that gift growing up. My parents were not nice people ... so I ran away."

"But weren't you scared?" Shepard asked, not believing that anyone would leave their parents.

"Very. But I was more afraid to stay." Birgit answered. Shepard started to tear up thinking of her aunt alone as a little girl and it touched Birgit. She hugged Shepard to her and slowly wiped away the tears, "Don't cry, butterfly … I have you to take care of me now. You, your dad, these two fools -"

"Hey, you be nice woman!" Rowan cut her off. "Or you will lose a fool!" Stu laughed and took a drink of the Guinness … "Why do you drink that crappy beer?"

"What?" Stu laughed, "And you an Irishman! This is an Irish beer!"

"No! This is an Irish beer!" he responded as he grabbed a Jameson whiskey bottle.

"I thought that was Irish wine?" Stu retorted.

"Butterfly," Birgit laughed, "Why don't you play us something while I take these bastards money?"

Shepard smiled, ran into the living room where her dad's guitar was cradled and returned with it as her father shut off the music. "What do you wanna hear?"

"Oh," Stu responded before anyone else "how about 'The Skies of Shanxi' to start?" Shepard spent the next hour playing music on the guitar as the adults gambled, drank, smoked and bullshit.

As Shepard started playing a song that she was just learning for her mom ... Il Me Dit Que Je Suis Belle, Hannah quietly walked up the driveway and stopped in the shadows. Hannah would have loved to just walk in, sit down and listen to her daughter, but she knew that her presence would make the party uncomfortable. So she stood back in the shadows and smiled at her little girl singing in her native tongue ... "You are beautiful, my baby," she whispered.

Everyone saw Hannah Shepard as some kind of saint, a woman who had never said a swear word, ever been improper or done anything lewd … but she had secrets. The secrets started with her birth to a whore, Ophelie Levasseur, in Paris and rolled into even darker secrets. Her mother, Ophelie was an angry, hate-filled and very violent woman who loved only money, drugs, alcohol and her man, Brice Reinard. He came from the same gutter of selfishness and they seem to take great pleasure in abusing, Marguex. By the time Marguex, as Hannah was called then, was ten she was being prostituted out. Throughout the years the young girl was beaten, used, torn down and despite the multiple times she ran away, Ophelie always found her, lied to her to get her back and then the cycle would start over. Her life would have been a bad romance novel, but there was no white knight that saved her. She lived through it all without anyone breaking down the door or rescuing her at the last minute. She just lived through it.

As her daughter finished playing, Hannah smiled and then slipped into the house and as the kitchen light came on, Pierce put down his cigar and excused himself. He instructed Shepard to say her goodnights and then go in the house as he opened the back screen door to the kitchen.

Hannah was putting on a kettle for her tea as he walked in. She smiled and started slicing a lemon, "Are you having a nice time?" Pierce smiled and went to kiss her. She smelled the smoke and alcohol on him and gently pushed him away, "Pierce, go play with your friends. All I want is a nice cup of tea and quiet to work on my sermon for Sunday."

"Eli should be in shortly," Pierce said a little dejected. Hannah always seemed to push him away when he had been smoking or drinking, "She's a preacher," Birgit would remind him, "She don't want you when you smell like sin. But hell, if she were my woman I would wax off all of my hair if it meant she would make love to me." Pierce figured that his friend was right, well about the sin not the waxing. The truth was much darker; it reminded her of the countless men that would pay for her when she was young. Filthy sheets, stale smoke, alcohol, unwashed bodies, bad breath, unshaven faces, just a few things that brought back bad memories. If Hannah could have had it her way, she would never have sex again, but she cared about her husband. He was always gentle and kind when they were together. And. She loved him.

Before him, Hannah in her new life had seen many admirers but her early years made her shy away from sexual situations. She was very distrustful of men, having seen the darker side of them and she didn't think that she could handle another man on top of her, inside of her. When Pierce showed up out of nowhere with his guitar she was amused by his smile and impressed by his musical ability. But she also knew that he was thinking of her in a way that made her uncomfortable. As the days went on, he would show up at public places with his smile and easy charm. She slowly began to open up to him and when he was upfront about his atheism; she couldn't help but respect his honesty. She needed a faith. He didn't.

Pierce didn't try and kiss her until they were on their 3rd date and when she informed him that she would not have sex until after she was married, she hoped he would run. He stayed. She had expected at some point he would try. That she would have to fight him off. But as the months went by, Pierce was a perfect gentleman, honoring her wishes and keeping his word.

On their honeymoon night in a beautiful bed & breakfast called The Gastonian in Savannah, he tried being a Don Juan in the bed but he had waited so long that when he finally had her, saw her stripped and naked ... touched her in places previously off-limits, felt her touch him back ... tasted her … Premature ejaculation was the word. He was embarrassed, while she was relieved.

Sometimes Marguex and the past would peek out and her dark secrets would bring pain, guilt, remorse … memories that sliced at Hannah. It would leave her emotionally cold from those around her momentarily as she tried to disconnect again from the past. She would look at her daughter and feel unworthy to touch her ... as if her old sins were a disease that would kill her child. Shepard not knowing would see her mother looking out the window and as she went over to give her a hug would be told to go away. She would push her husband away during those hours as well, leaving both confused, but she couldn't tell either what the darkness was. She couldn't tell anyone about her past. Pierce didn't push back … it was enough for him to know that she loved him, married him and gave him his daughter and Shepard just saw it as her mother's moody day.

"Hi Mom!" Shepard yelled as she raced through the kitchen to the living room holding the guitar over her head as she went.

"Elizabeth Whisper Shepard!" Hannah called after her, "No running in the house!"

Pierce was still looking dejected at his wife, bottom lip unconsciously pouting as he collected the trash.

"Sorry Mom!" Shepard responded as she stuck her head in the room. Hannah couldn't help but laugh at her daughter who was also sticking out her bottom lip but in a playful pout.

"Dear Lord, I have to deal with two pouting Shepards!" Hannah noted as she looked at her husband and daughter. Pierce looked up, realized his pout and looked embarrassed. He then stepped out the back door with the trash to continue his poker party after stopping at the trash can. Shepard then grinned and danced into the kitchen towards her mother. "You are a little mess, missy." Hannah laughed as she pulled her daughter to her in a warm hug. "You must be feeling better."

Shepard nodded her head as she pulled away from Hannah and picked up a slice of lemon off the counter. As she held it in her hand she looked up with a frown, "Momma, did you know that Aunt B was on her own when she was only 14 years old?" Hannah looked at her daughter, nodded as the kettle began to whistle. Hannah removed it from the flame and began making her cup of tea as Shepard continued, "How could someone be on their own without family or friends?"

Hannah thought back to her life at 14, pushed it away quickly and then looked down at her daughter, "Baby that is something that you won't ever have to worry about. I promise. Your daddy and I will always be here." Hannah tilted her daughter's face up, lemon peel over teeth in her mouth, laughed, bent and kissed her nose, "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you!" Then Hannah removed the peel from her daughter's mouth, kissed her on the lips, turned her around and as she gave her a swat on the behind, instructed her to "go take your bath and get ready for bed."

"Always, 'go take your bath' with you," Shepard grumbled.

"Elizabeth," Hannah scolded. "Don't act smart with me."

"No, ma'am." Shepard stood in between the kitchen and living room, "Did daddy tell you that I made a new friend today?"

"I heard," Hannah said. "A krogan?"

"Yes, ma'am … A krogan battlewaxer! I call him Beast though!" Shepard started twisting her shirt and moving closer to her mother, "He was so awesome looking mommy! And he had these cool looking things on his wrists. I hope that he comes back one day to visit, cause I invited him to dinner. I think that you would like him. He's a little grumpy, but I can tell he's really good. If he comes back I'll even teach him to swim!"

"Swim, huh?" Hannah laughed at the thought of her daughter teaching a krogan to swim, "Well, if you invited him to dinner … I'll have to look up what krogans eat." Hannah smiled and turned around to place lemon peels in the trash compactor.

As she heard her daughter singing, "His name was Beast, came from the East, his eyes were red, his enemies dead!" she laughed and remembered her daughter as a newborn, lying defenseless in her arms. Hannah had cried; something that her husband had never seen her do until the birth of their daughter. She vowed that no one would ever hurt her daughter, no one. She then said a silent prayer that God would keep watch over her child and that he would send someone into her life that would love her, protect her and care for her just as much as her parents. When she confided her prayer to Pierce later he laughed. "Honey, she has years before she is even old enough to date and already you have her married?"

After today, she couldn't help but laugh to herself … If my daughter is already making friends with a krogan, I'm afraid to see who she brings home to marry. As Hannah continued to laugh while she prepared to work on her sermon, her daughter was lost in bubbles as her song continued, "Beast my friend, till the end, by my side, till I die!" As Shepard jerked with her tune and played with the soap, it slipped from her hands and on to the floor. "Momma! I lost the soap!"

Hannah came into the bathroom and located the soap behind the door. As she rinsed it off in the sink she looked at her daughter, "Do you want me to wash your back?"

"Yes, please" Shepard was playing with her Aqua Girl doll, making her dive in and out of the bubbles. Hannah asked Shepard if she wanted music as well and Shepard gave out a loud YES! Hannah laughed, turned music on causing Shepard to start dancing on her butt in the tub as Little Richard was bopping out a tune. Hannah gave a short scream as water and bubbles splashed everywhere, putting out her hands to protect herself from the water. She then put her hand on top of Shepard's head to hold her still as she reached over and changed the radio to the local station that played classical.

"Settle down, now" Hannah laughed. "Your back will stay dirty if you don't stop splashing!"

Shepard giggled as she calmed down, squinted at her mom then kissed her on the nose.

Hannah laughed, "What was that?"

"I don't know," Shepard shrugged as she closed one eye, "Just love ya mommy."

And with that Shepard went back to her Aqua Girl while Hannah smiled at her odd daughter and began washing her back.

The sound of Chopin began to creep through the house while the sound of laughter spilled on top of it as the unrepentant four continued their night of revelry out in the garage.