A/N: So, I lied. Last chapter wasn't the last; I had this wonderful epilogue to publish as well. You didn't think I would end the story at the last chapter, did you?
This is the final chapter. The story is now officially complete.
Thanks again to everyone!
I hope you enjoy the final installment in Phoenix.
She was in a daze. She could only watch as a seemingly endless expanse of white ceiling passed over her head. The drugs in her system to counteract the pain and nearly knock her out were fading, albeit slowly. Her mind refused to process what had happened in the past couple of hours.
She vaguely remembered being wheeled into the operating room amidst a horrible bout of pain. After having to leave Kaidan, she had felt an overwhelming feeling of fear. What was to happen, nobody knew.
She closed her eyes as the bed she was being wheeled on passed through the hospital hallways. She was feeling dizzy. She didn't know how much time had passed since the last time she was conscious; time was an extremely relative figure at this point.
The rolling bed eventually came to a gentle stop in a dimly lit room. She heard voices, but didn't have the energy to make out the whispered words. The door, and a voice she recognized sounded through the room. Through her limp fingers intertwined the slightly larger fingers of Kaidan.
"Can you hear me?" His voice was wavering.
Shepard groaned softly as she slowly opened her eyes. As the medicine lessened in intensity, a distinct soreness was appearing in the area of her abdomen.
His face swam into view, and when her eyes opened, he reached over to move a hair out of her face. Shepard knew that her appearance was probably awful, but didn't care at the moment. As far as she knew, she had had one hell of a surgery.
Something was missing, something was off, but she couldn't place her finger on it.
"The baby," she suddenly gasped, her fingers flew to her abdomen, which she found to be swathed in bandages and painful to the touch. There was not the distinct swell of the child she had been carrying for the past nine months, "Where?" she breathed.
The look in Kaidan's eyes frightened her, "She's alive," Kaidan's mouth formed into a half-smile, "they did an emergency c-section. I was hoping that you knew where she is or," he let out a puff of air, "how she is."
"I've been unconscious."
"I know. I'm just," he sat on the side of her bed, "I'm frightened for her, Dali."
Shepard closed her eyes painfully; Kaidan looked down at her, concerned, "You're shaking. You feeling alright?"
"Where is she, Kaidan? I need to see her." The strength of her own voice surprised her.
"I'll ask." He rose from his position at her bedside and ventured out into the hallway. Shepard heard his voice distantly as he asked a passing nurse. She felt like shit.
"Neonatal Intensive Care," Kaidan said as he reentered the room, "best place for at-risk infants to go."
"At-risk?" She asked softly, her mind not comprehending that something was wrong with her newborn child.
"Dali, the injuries you sustained during the war were enough to kill a person. The doctors are surprised you were able to carry the baby full term." At the look on her face he walked over and kissed her forehead, sitting next to her on the hard bed, "They're making sure she is healthy and ready to come back to us. She'll make it."
"Promise?"
"I can't promise anything, but I hope to God that is the case."
Shepard gave a short, breathy laugh, "Now you're the one who has to stay strong for me."
He gave her that smirk that she loved so much, "I'm doing my best. She's my daughter too, you know."
They stayed in a comfortable silence for minutes as they listened to the monotonous sound of the heart monitor.
The door to the room opened, and a frazzled looking nurse popped her head in the opening, "Ma'am, the baby's body temperature is stable and she is ready to see her parents!" The nurse smiled, "To get her to bond with you, we are going to do skin-to-skin contact. Are you feeling able to perform this?"
"Yes." Shepard said immediately.
The nurse nodded, cast an expert eye over Dali's vitals, then turned a baleful eye on Kaidan, "Sir, you aren't supposed to be sitting on the patient's bed. You can move the chairs in the room to her bedside, if you please." And with that she closed the door. The sound of her heels against the floor echoed through the room as she walked down the hallway.
Kaidan sighed as he stood and dragged a chair to her bedside; she watched him, "Kaidan, help prop me up the pillows."
He nodded and piled the pillows to support her comfortably before plopping into the chair unceremoniously. "While you were in surgery, the Asari Matriarch messaged your omnitool to say that there is a report you haven't filed. I didn't respond."
"Don't," Shepard muttered, her hatred for the council obvious in the tone of her voice, "I'm a little busy right now. Her damn reports can wait."
Kaidan smirked, "Never one to give in to political bullshit."
Shepard shook her head and gave him a wan smile. The two waited for their infant daughter to be brought to them.
"I notified our parents and your brother. Your mother is already here, but they aren't letting her come in. Only the father of the baby is allowed in until the doc says otherwise."
Before she could reply a team of nurses arrived to prep her. Kaidan was ushered to the back of the room so he wouldn't get in the way.
Adalia watched in anticipation as a nurse unbuttoned the top buttons of her hospital gown and gently pushed them the gown aside, exposing the skin between her breasts. The nurse from earlier backed through the door, rolling a glass container bearing the resemblance of a crib.
Shepard's breath stopped.
The tiny figure was pink in color, barely bigger than Dali's forearm. She was breathing in quick breaths-made evident by the small movements of her chest. The nurse lifted the small being lying still in the crib and transferred her ever so carefully to the body of her mother. They placed the baby on her stomach so her heartbeat would be near that of Shepard's. Shepard made a small noise in the back of her throat when she felt her daughter's smooth skin come in contact with her own. She could feel the tiny movements of the baby's heart and lungs against her own body.
Shepard immediately was flooded with a sense of love for the child she had carried in her womb for those long months. She would do whatever it took to keep her daughter safe.
"There are nurses in the immediate area of this room if you sense any trouble. We have increased the temperature in the room to help you provide heat for the baby. It'll get very warm, but it is necessary." Dali nodded shakily, "I'll be back for the baby in half an hour. It should be enough time to get the bond going with your daughter" The nurse grinned, "Congratulations! If you have family in the waiting room I'll let them come in here in a few minutes-to give you two time to get to know your little girl!" The nurse's enthusiasm slightly annoying, but appreciated at the same time.
The nurses left the room to leave Kaidan and Shepard alone with their new baby.
Kaidan was quickly at Shepard's side, looking in awe at the product of their love. "Sh-she's..." He was at a loss for words.
Shepard's fingers were shaking as she slowly reached a hand up to touch the pink body lying on her chest. The skin felt raw, and the baby was clothed in a small diaper. Shepard was scared to touch her. Kaidan gently reached over also stroked the baby. After a few moments of their admiration of their child, Shepard met Kaidan's eyes, her own awed expression mirrored on his face. He leaned over and kissed her temple.
"You made her." he whispered against her head.
"We did," Shepard murmured looking down at the baby, "and she survived the Reaper war."
"She's like her mom," Kaidan smiled, "stubborn and strong."
"She has two Spectres for parents-we'll have to make sure she doesn't try to go off and save the galaxy." Shepard felt incredibly happy to be sitting with Kaidan and the baby-her family-and talking about the future. The future was something that she had been sure wouldn't exist when she was fighting the Reapers. She found she was glad to have such a future in store for her and Kaidan.
He laughed, "It'll be an interesting experience to raise her."
Dali smiled, "We've faced down Reapers, raising a kid can't be that bad."
"If you say so." He kissed Shepard on the lips, "I love you, both of you." He looked at their daughter, smiling, "You're my two favorite people in the world."
Shepard raised her eyes from the baby to meet Kaidan's warm, brown ones. "We're a family now."
"That we are." He rested his head on the pillow, leaning against Shepard's while they both marveled at the child they had brought to life. Kaidan was holding one of her hands and resting his other so it was barely touching the baby.
"What are we going to name her?" He thought aloud.
Shepard frowned, thinking. They hadn't thought about naming their unborn daughter-something that they had silently agreed to postpone until they weren't busy with mundane post-war tasks. However, nothing ever went according to plan when it came to the galaxy's first human Spectres. "Ashley."
"Ashley?"
Shepard nodded, "Named after a friend who would have loved to see each and every reaper hit the ground dead."
Kaidan looked back down at the baby, smiling at the memory of the soldier, "Ashley it is then."
"Ashley." Shepard whispered and lightly touched the baby's head, "She's perfect."
"I'm going to call her Sunny as a nickname."
Shepard raised her eyebrows, "Sunny?"
He nodded, "She survived the largest battle in the history of the galaxy. She was alive when we were in our darkest hour and during the process of defeating our greatest enemy. She represents the hope that the galaxy needed to win the war." He smiled, "Sunny."
