"What do you think, Garrus?" Shepard said, idly playing with the hem of the towel sitting just above her knee.

"I think that you've been agonizing over this all week, Shepard, but you don't want to tell anyone." He ran his talons through her hair, scratching her scalp lightly. "We can say no, you know. Liara wouldn't be offended."

"That's just it, I…" She sighed heavily. "Garrus, I don't see any other way we could possibly have a child of our own."

"What about adoption?" He finished brushing her hair, laid the brush aside, and settled his arms around her waist.

"I'd always be up for adoption, you know that. But… This is a chance for us to have a child that comes from us." She tilted her head down and took his hands in hers. "Like I said, I can't see that happening any other way."

"I'm not getting the feeling that you're very happy about that." He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Well… no. I'd like to…" She fell silent.

"You'd like to?"

"I'd…" She shook a little bit, the slightest convulsion: a silenced sob.

He held her the tiniest bit tighter and waited.

Shepard took a deep breath, then let it out. "You know I've never been the most romantic of people. I never really thought I'd have kids. My life growing up wasn't the most conducive to thoughts of a settled, planned-out life including parenthood." Another deep breath. "And then I met you, and… and all that changed. Garrus, if there was even the faintest chance that I could carry your child, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

He lowered his forehead to the back of her neck, nuzzling her soft skin gently. "Shepard…" It was almost a whisper.

"Garrus, I'd like to have our child. And… I'm still not quite ready to think that without trembling. Partially because I never thought I'd think that, and partially because…" Her breath hitched. "Partially because I can't."

He fluttered his mandibles against the back of her neck; the light touch made her shiver. "So, no, then? I'm okay with that, if you don't want to go ahead with this. It's just another option."

"I didn't say that. Hold on. I'm… this is really hard." Another deep breath. "Like I said before, this might be our only option to have a child that comes from us, in whatever way that works. And… that's really, really tempting. I think it's an incredible offer. I'm still stunned that Liara would… that…"

"That she'd be able to do it, considering her… history with you?" He knew she probably wouldn't have been able to say it. He'd couched it in the gentlest terms of which he could conceive. And still she flinched, oh-so-slightly.

"Yes. She… Garrus, how can I know she's telling the truth? How can I know that she doesn't just want to have my child – spend the next nine hundred years of her life living a fantasy where I loved her? I mean, oh—ugh, that's so mean. No. Liara's a kind soul. She's like my sister. She's the closest thing to a little sister I've ever had. She's awkward and funny and smart…" She slipped off his knees and sat beside him on the couch, head down.

Garrus leaned forward slightly to catch her eye. "Shepard, it sounds like either you believe and trust her, and have therefore already made your decision, or you don't, and you've still made your decision."

She laughed slightly. "That sounds awfully familiar. But I'm still…"

"Something else is bothering you?"

She was quiet for a moment. "Do you trust Liara? Do you believe she isn't doing this for her own gain?"

"I believe that she honestly wants to do this for us; I also believe she is entirely aware of her feelings for you, and how that could affect this. She's very smart: she is also a caring and compassionate person." He slipped his fingers in between Shepard's. "I believe that we can trust her. I don't think she would have offered us this chance if she didn't think she could handle the emotional consequences."

Shepard stayed silent.

"Shepard, do you trust Liara? Forget the issue of the child for a moment."

His mate closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "…Yes. She put her own life on the line to try to get me back; even when she was still a frightened young archaeologist, she went with me to Noveria; she stormed the base of the most powerful information broker in the galaxy to save someone she cared about. She's never let me down. She's never let us down. She's never been anything but friendly, and she's never overstepped the boundaries of our friendship – before or after I turned her advances down years ago. I think she's smart enough that she could make this about herself without us knowing, but—" she cut him off with a look as he opened his mouth to speak—"but I don't think she'd ever deceive you or me."

Garrus nodded. "I agree with you. Do you think we should go ahead with this, then?"

Shepard shook her head. "I don't know. Are we ready to start a family? We're both still extremely busy with post-war cleanup and reorganization. There's no saying when that will settle down, or, when it does, what we'll end up doing – where we'll be."

"Yes, that's true," he acquiesced. "On the flip side, we do know we'll be staying with the Normandy for the next several months, at least, and if Liara is going to carry our child, we should all be in the same place. In that way, we're relatively stable. Nonetheless, I do understand your concerns about stability, and I agree. Did you want to consider settling on a planet?"

"Not necessarily," Shepard responded. "I grew up on Alliance ships; it can be done quite well. On the Normandy, though, it's pretty cramped. And I do love my Normandy. I'm not sure I'd want to trade it in just yet."

"But if we start a family…"

"Exactly," she said. "A small ship, plus no set schedule – if I were to become pregnant, the Alliance might ground me, or shift me to a larger ship … and they would almost certainly relieve me of command."

"You wouldn't be pregnant, though," he countered.

"I'm sure as hell going to spend as much time with our unborn child as possible, though, so I may as well be. And we'll take care of the child once she's born. It wouldn't be fair to Liara otherwise, I think."

"That's fair, I suppose." He was quiet for a moment. "You're right; our current situation does not exactly lend itself well to starting a family. Should we ask Liara to wait? Or simply refuse?"

"I don't know," Shepard replied. "But I think we should talk to her again. Whenever we're going to go ahead with this, we need to know more of the details."

"Agreed." He flared his mandibles out in a smile. "Now, I believe you've been wearing that towel for far too long. Perhaps you need help getting dressed?" He raised his hands and made to touch her clavicle; she smacked at his hands playfully, smiling fully for the first time in days. The action made the towel slip, and she snatched it back up.

"I'm not so sure you're interested in getting me dressed, Garrus Vakarian." She grinned at him widely.

"Perhaps not," he said, rumbling softly. "But I'm not so sure you're interested in getting dressed, either."

They laughed and reached for each other. Talking could happen later.