Right before leaving the ship, Shepard was forced back to the medbay to receive assistance with a dirty diaper.

None the less, she made it to the Shadow Broker Base with both herself and Echo in one piece.

"Shepard!" Liara greeted without turning around. "I heard you were able to rescue Project Mirror."

Frowning, Shepard walked Liara and the console she was studying. "What d'you know about the Project?"

"Very little, surprisingly. Were you able to discover anything?"

Echo chose that moment to let out a gurgle and a little giggle, startling Liara. "More than you can possibly image. Can you do me a favor and have Kaidan meet you somewhere- say, Illium?"

"Can I ask why?"

"I'm close to initiating my suicide mission and I need someone to watch over Echo."

Liara looked hurt. "I could always watch her."

"I'd like to give Kaidan the opportunity to take care of his daughter first.

"His…his-"

Shepard chuckled. "I should clarify by saying our daughter. Echo is Kaidan and my daughter."

"Give me ten minutes."


Thankfully there was a formula of milk that Echo could eat while they waited a little bit away from Liara on Illium, in a corner that wasn't easily visible from the entrance, nor from Liara's table.

When Kaidan entered, he zeroed in on Liara and sat down across from her without any sort of preamble. "You said this was important."

He hadn't changed in the five months since Horizon. He kind of looked a little more tired, but, otherwise, seemed perfectly fine.

Liara fiddled with her fingers. "I have news about Shepard- news that you might find interesting."

"I doubt that," he all but spat, shaking his head.

From her vantage point, she had watched as anger and distress rose onto his face. It seemed that her presence wasn't even required for those emotions to be present.

She wondered if this had to do with the fact that she hadn't messaged him back.

She knew that her messages were being monitored and didn't want to put him in anymore limelight than he already was in.

It was to protect him.

Standing slowly (so as not to wake Echo), she made her way over to Liara's table. "Kaidan," she murmured softly.

It was enough for him to shoot to his feet- sending his chair banging into the floor (and effectively waking the baby). "Kit-Kat-Shepard!"

His struggle with what to call her gave her a little hope.

"I asked Liara to call you," she admitted, rocking the baby and drawing his eyes to her.

She could practically see the questions flashing through his mind.

Whose baby is this?

Was she pregnant on Horizon?

Why does she have a baby?

What does she want from me?

"Who's this?" he demanded suspiciously.

"This is Echo Marie and I'm hoping you look after her until I'm done with my mission."

His expression turned pained. "Why me?"

"Because you deserve the option of getting to know your daughter," she explained as gently as possible.

Kaidan stared at her in shock, shaking his head- much as she had done when Chakwas told her. "That's impossible," he whispered. "She's too young."

Well, there was no easier way to put the next part.

"I was pregnant when I died, Kaidan. When I died, she died too. They brought her back and kept her in stasis. She was what would've kept me in Cerberus." Shepard looked at Kaidan earnestly. "She's our baby, Kaidan."