Disclaimer: Mass Effect doesn't belong to me, nor do I intend to profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: This has all my feels. Thanks again to eternalshiva for translating for me.
Shepard stared out the car window; it had many, many years since she'd last stepped foot on Earth. So, for her first trip back to be during the middle of winter? She was not amused.
She had allotted a few days for this expedition, if only because it had taken some arranging as they couldn't bring the Normandy anywhere close to the planet. They'd had to hop a shuttle into Vancouver and rent a car to make the trip. Miranda had frowned when Shepard told her the plan, but had produced unmarked clothes for her when she'd asked with a gruff warning to be careful.
She glanced up as they parked in front of a well maintained home, on a block of well-manicured lawns. He climbed out of the car, and came around to offer her a hand, pulling her close to him, his hand skimming down the curve of her spine to rest splayed across the small of her back.
She nearly licked her lips as she took on his low-slung, worn-in jeans; the form fitting cotton tee, over which he wore an unbuttoned plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, showing off his muscular arms. A pair of ass-kicking combat boots completed the outfit, and she longed to rip his clothes from him and ravish him.
"C'est une mauvaise idée," he muttered to himself, relieved when she fell easily in step with him as they headed towards the back door.
She tilted her head to look at him, "You don't have to do this."
He shook his head, and knocked on the back door, surprised at how awkward it felt knocking on his own parents' door. At his own home. "Non, mais je crois que j'ai besoin de le faire." He exhaled quietly; this had stopped being home many years ago. He blinked when he realized he felt most at home with this woman at his side, no matter where they were. "Chère..."
He was cut off when the door was quietly opened and his mother stood before him, staring. He and his mother stared at each other in silence. Shepard blinked rapidly when they both broke into a rapid string of French, her translator only picking up one word in five.
"Ou étais-tu?" Mrs. Alenko shouted at her son. "Quelle raison as-tu pour revenir soudain comme cela après toute ses années? Pourquoi as-tu attendu si longtemps?" She rounded on Shepard, who just blinked, not understanding a word the older woman was saying, His mother gesticulated wildly as she hurried on, "Qui est cette femme, pourquoi l'as-tu amener avec toi? Elle n'est pas enceinte, j'espère?" Her eyes slanted narrowly.
Shepard watched Kaidan as a slow smile spread across his lips, what she would have termed a shit-eating grin. "Maman, je suis de retour." He placed his hands on her shoulders, and pulled her into a warm embrace.
Shepard felt out of place, awkward in the jeans and t-shirt she wore, shivering in the cold. Kaidan's mother was tall and willow slim, with sparkling brown eyes, Kaidan's eyes. Her son hadn't inherited many other physical traits from his mother, that was certain. There was an innate grace about the older woman, and her face was still attractive despite her weeping.
Her jaw dropped when Kaidan's father turned the corner, "Woman, what's all that racket?" he muttered gruffly, but the gentle look in his eyes as he watched his wife belied his tone. Shepard was stunned; she now knew exactly what Kaidan would look like in 25 to 30 years. His hair was silver, with small traces of black, and there was evidence on his brow that laughter and humor was a big part of his life from the lines etched there. She couldn't help but wonder if it was of the sarcastic, dry-witted variety like his son.
Kaidan's expression hardened almost imperceptibly, and his mother frowned as he stiffened and pulled away from her to stand next to Shepard, his hand automatically going to the small of her back. "Hey Dad."
His dad cleared his throat, "Hey son. Who's your friend?"
The two men stared awkwardly at each other, neither willing to make the first move. Shepard wrapped an arm around Kaidan, and unceremoniously pushed him towards his dad, biting back a grin as he stumbled a bit. A small smile crossed the older man's face, and he pulled his son in for a tight hug.
Shepard waited quietly as Kaidan opened his arm and pulled his mother into the embrace as well. He stepped away, and grabbed Shepard's hand. "Dad, Maman, this is Commander Shepard. She's the reason I came back. Shepard, this is my mother, Eleanore Alenko, and my father, Richard Alenko."
Richard stared hard at her, "The Commander Shepard? With the Alliance? I thought you were dead."
"I get that a lot," she muttered, "It a long story. But it's nice to meet you both," she extended her hand to both of his parents.
"Nice to meet you, too, Commander," Richard said, curiosity evident on his face as he studied her. He was clearly curious how his son had come to be associated with an Alliance marine.
"Come in to the kitchen, we'll have coffee. As-tu faim, j'allais faire a dinner," Eleanore prattled happily, and pulled Shepard into the kitchen after her, leaving Kaidan and his dad to deal with the small overnight bags they'd each brought. "You didn't dress very seasonally," she observed as Shepard shivered a little from the cold. "We're expecting snow tonight, it's good you got here when you did."
"Snow?" Shepard groaned. She hated the cold, and snow was even worse.
Eleanore smiled, "It shouldn't be too bad, only a couple of inches." She looked up as Kaidan and Richard entered the room, "Kaidan, show Shepard to the guest bedroom, it's still in the same place. Your room hasn't changed much either."
Kaidan cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed, "Uh, Shepard is actually going to stay with me," he muttered.
Shepard's face turned bright red, and his dad's eyebrows flew up as he realized just what that meant. "You mean you're..." he waggled his fingers, a move Kaidan sometimes did, and she nearly laughed. "How did-"
Kaidan snapped at his dad, exasperated, "Well, we insert rod A into slot B until there's enough friction to create an explosion. Is that helpful?"
"Kaidan," she murmured to him, embarrassed as she pressed a placating palm on his arm. "I hired Kaidan for an important mission, and I think we both got more than we bargained for in the process," Shepard explained softly, smiling at his parents. She could already see how Kaidan and his father had fallen out with each other. Their temperaments were nearly identical.
Eleanore frowned at her husband, "Go ahead and show Shepard upstairs. I'll have lunch ready in a bit." She shooed them out of the kitchen.
Shepard grabbed her bag, and followed Kaidan up the stairs, hearing Eleanore speaking to Richard in her rapid French, and his low, gravelly reply.
She stifled a shriek as his hand fisted in her shirt, dragging her into his room, and pressing her back against the closed door. " T'es si belle, je pourrais te manger," he rumbled, his lips crushing down on hers.
"I think I like your parents," she murmured against his lips, trying not to be distracted. "But I'll thank you not to embarrass me anymore," she moaned softly as his hand snuck under her shirt, kneading her breasts as his lips brushed against her throat.
" J'essayerais," he murmured against her skin, slipping a knee between her thighs, rubbing against her heated center. He groaned in frustration when a soft knock sounded on his door.
His mother stood on the other side of the door, with a soft smile on her lips. She took in their flushed features and kiss-reddened lips. " Est-ce que je peux avoir quelques instant avec mon fils?" she asked softly, her voice lilting musically as she tilted her head to study them.
Shepard smoothed her hands over her hips, checking that her clothes were in order, and nodded, "Sure. No problem." She pressed a kiss to Kaidan's cheek, "I'll be in the kitchen," she murmured, and moved by his mother, heading back down the stairs.
She glanced up as Richard pushed a steaming mug of coffee across the island in the middle of the kitchen with a thoughtful smile, "I assume you take yours black like most marines."
"Hell yeah," she grinned, and savored the first sip as it warmed her belly.
His dad sighed, looking hard into his mug, as though debating what he should say next. "How does the first human Spectre hook up with a mercenary operating out of the Terminus Systems?"
Shepard chuckled, "I meet a lot of people as a Spectre. Some good, some bad. Kaidan happens to be one of the good ones. He just doesn't believe it yet." She moved around to stand in front of the older man, "I don't know what you and he fought over, and to be frank, I don't care. If you haven't forgiven him yet, you need to."
He nodded gravely, "You have a way about you for making peace, don't you?"
She shook her head, and laid a hand on his shoulder, "It's not that. Kaidan's ready to forgive and forget, or he wouldn't be here. So move on, and try to be proud of your son."
"You're already gone in love with him, aren't you?" he chuckled, and at her stricken look, he continued on languidly, making her more uncomfortable, "My boy is lucky to have found such a woman to set him on the straight and narrow."
"Not so straight and narrow," she muttered under her breath, thinking of Cerberus and the Illusive Man.
"Well, whatever mission you're on, it must be important. Just try to bring him back to us at the end of it."
Shepard bit her lip, not sure what to tell his father, "I'll do my best."
Kaidan and Shepard sat out on the enclosed balcony off the living room, having built up a massive fire in the fireplace out there for just that purpose. It was still a little chilly, and Shepard had several fluffy blankets tucked around her. She sipped at a glass of whiskey his dad had pressed into her hands, watching the snow fall.
"So, are you and your dad good now?" she asked softly, rubbing her palm over the back of the hand that rested on her thigh.
He grinned as her hand pulled his closer to her hot center, and wiggled his fingers against her through her jeans. "Oui, je crois bien," he took her glass out of her hand and placed it on the coffee table. "Merci, ma chérie." He pushed her back into the cushions of the sofa, covering her torso with his warm bulk. "Je crois, dans sa propre façon, il est fière de moi," he murmured, his lips whispering against hers.
"Kaidan, he's your dad, of course he's proud of you. And any idiot can see that the two of you are too alike for your own good."
"Yeah, Maman was always telling us that after we had a fight," his hands buffed gently against her arms.
Her back arched beneath him, "Smart woman, your mom." She sighed as his hands tugged at the fly of her jeans, slipping them down her hips. "I've wanted you all day," she murmured against his throat, moaning as his fingers found her slick center.
"Et bien alors, laisse moi t'aimer," came his sultry reply, his breath hot against the sensitive lobe of her ear. His fingers pressed against her smooth folds, stroking her into a frenzy as she tossed her head against the cushions, groaning as his fingers pressed into her hot core.
"Kaidan," she gasped, clutching at his shoulders, "Your parents."
"Nous sommes tous les deux des adultes, chère, ont fait ce que l'ont veux," he mumbled against shoulder. She moaned as her orgasm built up within her, and a strangled groan caught in her throat as she tumbled over the edge of her release. Her fingers struggled with his belt, her desperation to have him buried within her nearly palpable, her aura flaring dangerously.
"Ah, ah, chère," he murmured, his fingers still fondling and stroking her over-sensitized flesh. "La patience est une vertu."
"Not one I've ever had," she bit out, sighing with satisfaction as she successfully navigated the fly of his jeans, and wrapped her hand around his thick erection. "I want you, now," she practically whimpered into his ear. Her chest heaved as his silky tip parted her slick folds, pressing hotly against her tight entrance, piercing her slowly as she panted beneath him.
She cried out with need as his hips slowly pumped in and out, drawing out each stroke to make her moan and buck against him. She took matters into her own hands when she wrapped her long legs around his waist, holding him close, her pelvis tilted up to allow him deeper access.
He groaned as her release ripped through her a second time, urging him to a faster pace with each jerk of her hips. A groan rumbled from deep in his chest, and his own climax swept through him, and he slumped against her, sweaty and spent.
They lay together in the aftermath of their loving, matching smiles on their lips, and with a groan, he sat up, pulling her into his lap, arranging the blankets around her shoulders to keep her warm.
"Shepard, merci de m'avoir amené," he murmured, his warm brown eyes holding her gaze. "I didn't realize how much I've missed having my parents in my life."
She smiled at him and said nothing.
He sighed, "It's made me think, about the things missing in my life. Je ne réalisais pas ce que je manquais." He pressed a heated kiss to her brow, "You, Shepard. It's always been you. I guess being here, seeing my parents again, made me realize it. Je l'aurais découvert éventuellement…" he frowned slightly as she shifted uncomfortably in his lap. "Ma chérie, je t'aime, since the day I first saw you," he picked up her hands, and laced his fingers through hers, "Shepard, je veux ta main en mariage," he murmured against her lips.
She stared at him in disbelief, "What did you just say?" She shoved hard against the hard wall of his chest, not trusting her ears.
"I just asked you to marry me, tu es pas mal entêté," he frowned at her, proposing hadn't really been part of his plans, and to have her freak out, well, that was throwing him even more off his game. His arms held her firmly in his lap as she struggled against him, trying to stand.
"No, this isn't happening. No, N7's don't get married. Spectres' don't get married. We die young and in a blaze of glory and with no regrets," she was panicking, and she knew it, and she swallowed hard against the knot forming in her throat. "You don't want to marry me."
"Oui, je veux. I want to grow old with you, argue with you, and make love to you for the rest of our natural or unnatural lives. Bon dieu, chère, pourquoi est-ce que tu rends tout si difficile?" He was trying hard not to feel despair at her rejection. To say it stung was putting it mildly. "Ont peut pas en parler?"
"There is nothing to say. I didn't start a fling with you to fall in love with you, and I certainly didn't start this to find a husband. I'm Commander Fucking Shepard, I don't need this. I don't need you!" she was practically shouting, her fury nearly tangible as she hopped around on one foot attempting to re-dress herself.
He stood and got in her face, his palms wrapping firmly around her shoulders to hold her in place, "If there is anything being with you has shown me, it's that everyone needs someone. J'ai besoin de toi. Tu as besoins de moi. C'est quoi la raison de s'obstiner?"
"Because I don't want to break your heart!" she shouted at him. Stunned, he released her as she shoved hard against his chest once more, making him stumble a few steps back as she rushed past him. He stood blinking, trying to make sense of what had just happened, springing into action when he heard the back door slam, and the sound of the car engine turning over. He sprinted across the house and out the back door, skidding to a halt as the tail lights winked out of view in the swirling snow.
He turned back towards the house, and found his parents standing in the doorway. He trudged through the snow and stood in front of them, the sorrow on his face enough to break his mother's heart. "We heard shouting," she said softly, concern evident in her voice.
"Elle m'a quitté," he said sadly, not resisting as his mother steered him inside. "J'ai proposé, et elle m'a quitté."
His father shook his head, "Well, son, I had to propose to your mother five times before she finally agreed. I know it doesn't help, but we Alenko men are stubborn sons-of-bitches."
Kaidan's head snapped up to look at his mother, and her mischievous nod confirmed his father's statement.
"Get your bag, I'll take you to the shuttle station. If I'm going to have a daughter-in-law, I couldn't ask for a better one than Commander Shepard. You better fight like hell to bring her back."
"Thanks, Dad, I will."