Rose had quite a night. When the Warrens arrived, Rose met her first turian. When Ezic stepped in, Roses eyes widened too the size of watermelons. If one were to look and Ezic's reaction, one might say the same. Rose leapt off the couch, hood flying of her scarlet head, and approached the old bird with astonishment. Nija and Lydia had not yet entered the house and Liara was out speaking with them. Shepard watched the meeting between Rose and Ezic from the kitchen trying not to laugh. Miranda watched from the couch. Rose stood at Ezic's feet and looked up at him, head tilted to the side.
"Woah..." Rose and Ezic said to each other. Rose touched the turian's hand.
"You tall mistah..." Rose commented. Ezic gave her a look.
"Thats... because i'm a turian," Ezic said. "What are you?"
"Rose!" Exclaimed the red girl, throwing her hands in the air, sleeves fapping. Ezic laughed.
"What's that?" Ezic asked. Shepard decided to enter.
"It's a flower from Earth. It is one of the most beautiful flowers, it represents love and affection," Shepard explained as she scooped up Rose, causing her to release a giggle. "It is also red. I love the name. Ezic this is Liara and I's daughter." Ezic nodded.
"Yeah I gathered that..." Ezic commented. Claire heard the others come into the house.
"Hi, Ezic!" Rose smiled at the turian.
"I'll explain everything to you, Ezic," Claire promised. "I thought it would be nice for the girls to meet." Ezic smiled a turian smile. Shocked as he was the chance for Lydia too get a friend got him excited. Lydia was home-schooled and didn't have any opportunities to make friends. The nearest school was over an hours drive away, and Nija had insisted on teaching the girl herself.
"Hey thats a great idea Shep," Ezic said. "I'll go get Lydia..." Ezic turned and headed to his family, who was standing on the front porch. Claire watched as Ezic whispered something to Nija and saw the asari smile. She hugged Liara and held her hands. Claire assumed Ezic told her Liara and her had a daughter. Liara nodded and smiled the smile Shepard couldn't get enough of. Nija bent over too Lydia and said something to her, and pointed inside. Claire heard Lydias gasp. Shepard laughed.
"Daddy? Who is dat?" Rose asked, pointing at Lydia.
"That is Lydia, love," Claire explained. "She is Ezics daughter and is the same age as you." Roses eyes widened once more and looked back at the little girl. Lydia turned and shyly walked inside, headed for the living room. Claire set Rose down.
"Go say hi, Rose," Claire encouraged. The other parents watched from the porch. When Nija caught her first glimpse of Rose, she placed a hand over her mouth. Ezic wrapped a hand around his wife and whispered some more in her ear. Lydia sees Rose and stops. Her eyes begin to widen as well. Rose steps in front of the blue girl.
"Hi." Rose says in a small voice. Lydia steps closer and peers at Rose.
"Hi." Lydia replied. Rose steps a tad closer, pulls her sleeve back and touches the little girls blue arm. Lydia is wearing a short sleeve shirt and does not recoil. Lydia is overcome with curiosity.
"Why your skin red?" Lydia asks. Rose looks her up and down.
"Why yours blue?" Rose asks in return.
"'cause I'm Asari, duh." Lydia says, surprised.
"So am I," Rose explains releasing Lydias arm. "Would yuh let me draw yuh?"
"D-draw me?" Lydia stammers. Rose nods.
"Yes, pease. You are very pretty." Rose compliments. Lydia blushes and nods. Rose smiles and takes her hand. Rose leads her to the living room and has her sit down in one of the chairs. Miranda stands and moves towards Shepard. Liara, Nija, and Ezic creep in and watch from the kitchen as Rose gets her paper and pencils and sits across from Lydia. Lydia blushes some more as Rose begins to draw.
"Come on guys let's eat and give them some privacy. Liara and I will explain everything." Shepard whispers and ushers everyone to the tables, filled with food. Everyone takes their respective seats.
"Alright, man where to start," Shepard thinks pouring wine in everyones glasses. "Liara?" Liara thinks for a moment.
"I think I will start with the day you became ill..."
Lydia isn't sure what to think of Rose. Lydia sits patiently while Rose draws her but can't help but feel a little frightened by the red asari. Lydia wondered where she came from, certainly not from Liara. Lydia doesn't even know her name, daddy didn't tell her.
"Um... wha' is your name?" Lydia asks tentatively. Rose looks up briefly, before returning too drawing.
"Rose." She answers. Lydia sees her smile into the paper, this makes Lydia ease up a bit.
"Do you... really thank I am pretty?" Lydia asks. Rose looks up again.
"Yeah... I wish I was tha' pretty..." Rose says, causing Lydia too blush again. Rose returns to drawing.
"You pretty too. I like your smile." Lydia says hurriedly. It was Roses turn to blush.
"Thank you. Would yuh smile for me?" Rose asked. Rose liked it when her mother asked her that. Lydia smiled slightly. Rose giggled and soon Lydia was too. After a time Rose stood and sat next to Lydia, handing her the finished picture. Lydia gasped at it. The picture showed Lydia sitting, hands in lap, in the armchair, a beautiful smile on her face. Lydia thought she was looking at a photograph for a second. Lydia looked at Rose and back to the picture.
"Where did yuh learn tuh draw like dis?" Lydia asked, astonished.
"Befoe I met mama, a lady called Nanna tuk care o' me. She taught may to draw."
"Wha' wah she like?" Lydia asked. Rose shrugged.
"I dun know... She had a pretty voice, buh she was a ball of blue," Rose admitted. "Do yuh like duh picture?" Rose looked hopeful, She really liked Lydia, and she really wanted a friend.
"I luv it! Thank you, Rose." Lydia then, too Roses surprise, gives the girl a hug, all fear gone. Rose hugs back, smiling to herself. Rose, feeling brave, looks at her intently.
"Are we... friends?" Rose asks. To her relief, Lydia smiles and nods.
"I thank so." Lydia smiled, and poked Roses stomach. Rose giggled and they got into a tickle war. Suddenly Lydia sprang up and ran.
"Bet yuh can't catch may!" Lydia squealed and sprinted down the hall. Rose laughed loudly and Ran after her. Rose had made a friend.
"Even her biotics are red?" Nija asked. Everyone could hear the girls laughing and the sound of feet pattering around which made everyone smile, even Miranda.
"Yes, and her power... it rivaled that of a Matriarch." Shepard says. There was a collective gasp between the guests.
"Was it her imprinted DNA?" Ezic asked. Liara nodded.
"That is what we believe." Liara said. For a moment everyone continued to eat, Ezic eating a special turian dish that Liara had made.
"Does she know how she was born?" Nija asked.
"She knows she had another mother once but she does not know she was cloned." Liara replied.
"Will you tell her?" Ezic inquired. Shepard decided to speak.
"If she asks we will tell her, otherwise she is our daughter and that is all she needs to know." Shepard said firmly. Nija and Ezic nodded. Liara put her hand over Claires and kissed her cheek.
"As of right now, we shall not worry. We are going to raise Rose the best we can and love her unconditionally." Liara said. Claire squeezed Liaras hand.
"No doubt here Liara." Nija replied.
"How have you guys been?" Shepard said. Nija smiled.
"My sister almost lost her bondmate." Nija said.
"And you're smiling?" Liara asked, horrified.
"I'm smiling because he fell 7500 feet in nothing but an alliance hard suit and survived with only a minor concussion." Nija said.
"Damn," Shepard says, obviously impressed. "how does that work?"
"I don't know but needless to say Lana was overjoyed," Nija says happily. "They will be visiting us in a few days, I hope you can find time to meet them."
"Of course we can," Liara said, but she caught herself. "Oh... My father will be here at the same time." Claire groaned.
"I completely forgot about that..."
"No one thought to tell me this?" Miranda asked, irritated.
"Bring her along." Ezic suggested.
"I don't know Ezic," Claire said. "She hates me and she'll probably try to seduce you like my mom." Ezic almost choked on his food.
"Now you have to bring her!" Ezic laughed, upon recovering. "I want to hear that story." Claire smiled sheepishly and looked down. Liara put her head in her hands, as Nija and Ezic begin to laugh and laugh. Miranda just thought about that day, and remembered Hannah Shepard wasn't the only one Aethyta tried to seduce...
"Thanks for coming guys." Claire said as the Warrens walked out. Lydia and Rose had protested but it was getting late. Rose was sad to see her new friend leave but Nija promised they would get a play date soon. Rose perked up a little but she still was disappointed. As the Warrens are leaving, Lydia runs back and hugs Rose tightly, Rose smiles and reciprocates. Then, to the surprise of everyone including Rose, Lydia kissed Rose on the cheek.
"Thank you fo' da picture Rose." She whispered and ran back to her parents. The warrens got into the skycar and flew away. Rose touched her cheek with her sleeve covered hand, eyes wide again. Claire smiled at her daughter and scooped her up.
"I'm glad you made a friend today." Claire whispered to her daughter. Rose smiled.
"Me too daddy..."
"Isn't she a little young for kissing?" Liara smiled.
"Aw she was just saying bye that's all." Claire said. "Their friends now." Rose nodded eagerly and was carried back inside. Liara shut the door and followed them into the Living room. Miranda was already seated there, on the couch with a datapad and a blanket.
"It is getting cold Shepard." Miranda commented.
"Yes, Claire which means..." Liara said, smile on her face.
"Snow..." Claire said. She looked too Rose and kissed her nose.
"Snow?" Rose asked with curiosity.
"It's this white stuff that falls from the sky," Claire explained. "And it's real cold."
"Wow..." Rose gasped.
"How about she tell us how she learned to draw?" Miranda asked, interrupting the moment. Claire and Liara sit glaring at the woman, and Miranda sets her datapad down.
"So Rose," Claire starts. "How did you learn to draw so good at your age?"
"Nanna teached me." Rose said simply. Claire looked at Liara with a puzzled look. Liara shook her head.
"Who is that, Love?" Liara asked. "I did not meet her..."
"She tuk care o' me befoe you, mama." Rose said.
"You mean the AI?" Miranda asked.
"Whas dat?" Rose asked, tilting her head.
"Can you tell us more about Nanna?" Liara asked. Rose shook her head.
"She had a pretty voice, but she didn't have a body, onde a shiny blue ball." Miranda gave her a look.
"Sounds like EDI." Claire commented. Miranda scoffed.
"EDI? Please Shepard," Miranda laughed. "How could she have been so far from the Normandy, much less teach Rose to draw?" Claire glared at her.
"Hey I was just thinking..." Claire said, but Liaras eyes lit up.
"Why don't we have EDI tell us? Can you call her?" Liara asked the two humans.
"Why? It can't be her." Miranda asked. Liara shook her head.
"I agree with Claire, Roses description of Nanna was identical to EDI's old form before she got her body." Miranda shook her head, but dialed the number with her omnitool.
"I'm telling you, it's not-" Miranda was interrupted by a pillow thrown at her head. She glared at them and waited. Just when they thought EDI wouldn't answer the line opened.
"Hello Ms. Lawson." EDI said, her synthesized voice sounded surprised. Rose gasped out loud.
"Nanna?!" Rose exclaimed. EDI's blue orb form projected out of the Omni-tool.
"Hello, Rose."
Miranda gasped the loudest. Claire and Liara looked at each other with open mouths.
"Nanna, Nanna, Nanna!" Rose said bouncing up and down in her seat.
"Yes, Rose. It is me, Nanna," EDI replied, her voice sounded warm.
"How?!" Miranda asked, the ice queen was not one to be proved wrong.
"You may wish to close your mouth Ms. Lawson," EDI says. "You may swallow a fly." Everyone was quiet.
"That was a joke."
"EDI how are your Roses Nanna?" Miranda asked, trying to remain calm.
"It is simple, Ms. Lawson." EDI says simply. "After Shepard woke from her coma after the wars end, Joker was flying the Normandy too port, in vancouver. Upon arriving I saw a young girl admiring the Normandy. I was... Intrigued by this child. She was very young and in tattered clothes. She must have been orphaned, for no one was with her. I watched her from a distance... hoping the childs parents would come and take her away. After an hour I approached her. When I asked her where her mother and father were, she began to cry. I did not know what to do, so I... picked the girl up and comforted her for a time. She did not seem to mind that I was an AI. When she had stopped crying I told her It would be alright. I felt... Human shepard. I liked to act as a mother. Unfortunately this was not my place. I gave her to alliance medical personnel. Upon returning to the ship I felt troubled. I did not understand. Without you to guide me Shepard I asked . She told me that I missed the little girl. I wanted to be a mother again. I ran programs and became an AI caretaker for Dr. Rangala. I do not believe she realized I was unshackled. I did not need to leave the Normandy because the AI in Roses room had its own source, I merely needed to send myself between the two points. It was not difficult. I took care of Rose from three months after she was born, to the day Liara came and took her away. I was surprised to see her, but was happy Rose got a real mother. I miss her but take pleasure in the memory that I taught her so much at such a young age." Liara and Shepard were speechless. Miranda kept trying to speak but could not get the words past her mouth. Rose just smiled.
"I miss you too Nanna," Rose said. EDI seemed to glow a little brighter at the words.
"When did you teach her to draw?" Claire finally asked.
"When Rose was around two She began to draw on the walls of her room. Using the arms I used to change her I taught her to draw. We would spend hours drawing endless pictures. A year later she could draw anything I showed her in perfect detail. I was very... proud of her." EDI says. "Shepard I should inform you. I told the Normandy crew of your daughter. Rose will receive gifts from everyone of them on Christmas."
"WHAT?!" Claire exclaimed.
"Yes, Shepard. I believe Garrus is going to send her-"
"EDI didn't I tell you gossiping is rude?" Liara said.
"Shall I inform the crew not to send gifts?" EDI asked. "I must also inform you they would send them anyway."
"How only the squad mates know our address?" Liara asked.
"Would it cause you displeasure if informed you I told the crew your address?" EDI asked.
"Oh EDI..." Shepard said. Rose laughed.
"If it wasn't me it would have been Garrus." EDI defended. Claire couldn't fathom the amount of wrapping paper she would be cleaning up come christmas time.
A/N: Faiths fangs that last part was for you. All of Roses aunties and Uncles will start having contests on who can get her the biggest gift!