-Jane-
Sleeping curled up with a warm turian she loved certainly wasn't the worst position Jane could have ever woken up to. Granted, she was a bit blurry about the end of the night and just how and when they got up here in the master bedroom, but it didn't really matter, the babies were asleep so they were cared for and she didn't have a pounding headache probably thanks to taking something before bed.
Right, 'bed', she thinks with a smirk and snort, looking over at the peaceful look on her mate's face. Despite all the crazy shit he was getting himself into last night, she can't seem to find reason to really complain. He was only doing as a good, loving father should, tending to the safety of his family. Even if that father also happened to be Archangel and the Hierarchy's Reaper Advisor.
Reaching out to him, she caresses his face from brow to jaw with the soft backside of her hand. His is a beauty that came not from looks alone - because he certainly is sex on two feet for her - but from the friendship that came so easily between them, grew into the deepest love she's ever felt for anyone. Before him, she was just living for herself, seeing days one at a time, but now? Now she has a partner through it all to lean on and carry in turn and two tiny treasures that was only possible thanks to him.
She scoots her body closer to his and smiles when he unconsciously pulls her even closer, purring in her sleep as he nuzzles his chin over the top of her head. She'd never be able to tell him, but he's absolutely adorable when he cuddles and clings to her in sleep, instincts or not.
All is nice and cute, that is, until she feels something very telling against her that makes her smirk deviously. Who would, in all actuality, complain at what she's about to do? And it's not like they're going to have to make someone sleep in dirty sheets with everyone but his father and sister heading their own ways or following them back to the Normandy.
Mind made up, she gently urges him onto his back, ignoring his sleepy grumble. She climbs up onto him and feels that she's at least half-woken him from his slumber when his hand lazily grip her thighs, but he doesn't move much more than that.
Grinding against him, she sighs as the ridges of his erection rub against her clit, sending little jolts down to her toes and up to the tips of her fingers as they grip over his cowl. She hears him growl in his sleep as his hands twitch, a sure sign that her 'good morning' won't last long before he wakes, so she decides to skip the teasing foreplay.
Jane lifts onto her knees and reaches down to take blue length in hand, stroking once for that guilty pleasure she's always had at touching his fluids and playing her hands over his cock. Once they two sexes that nature never intended would come together line up, she gently lowers down over him, biting back her moan at the near painful stretch of being filled and spread to accommodate, even after so long of taking him - and only him, in the case of her new body. He, too, groans deep in his throat as the muscles in his stomach clench under her hand and she takes it as a win that, even in sleep, she has that control over him in this moment.
She lifts and looks down, watching him appear from between her legs, before she lowers at the same steady pace with a sighing moan, grinding when they come flush to get another sort of stimulation from him. When she lifts to start again, his hands tighten as a deep growl rumbles through him, through their connection, and into her through her sensitive vaginal walls. It makes her moan loud, but it isn't what wakes him, not when she looks down and sees those dark, hungry eyes and smirk to tell her it was all on purpose.
"Fuck… you… you smug bastard." She pants as he thrusts up into her once before letting her go to have control. "This was supposed to be me riding you."
"What can I say?" She starts to move, faster this time and takes a smug kind of delight in his mandibles falling slack in pleasure. "You feel so good, Jane," he whispers, losing his train of thought, as his hands caress over her thighs, upward thrusts urging her to move faster, harder.
Not needing more than that as request, she moves harder over him, impaling herself with moans and pants, as she stares down into his near black eyes. He stares right back at her in challenge, growling and raising a hand to tangling in her hair as he jerks her head back.
That force, that control even when under her, takes her breath away and sets the coil in her belly aflame and she whines as her walls spasm around him. Feeling that, he rolls them, thrusting into her constricted walls a few more times before pulling out to spurt onto the bed sheets, curling over her to kiss her deeply.
Tongues battle and tangle for a time before he pulls back, chuckling and rumbling low. "That was quite the wake-up call."
She snorts and smirks up at him, playfully tugging his mandible. "In that case, don't expect it too often."
Flicking his tugged mandible in what she can best describe as an exasperated eye roll for his species, she kisses her cheek and slowly climbs from the bed, searching for his clothes. "I guess I can always repay the favor one on of the many mornings up awake before you," he trails off.
"You better." A groan from the bathroom snaps their heads to the room and she leans over on the bed to get a look. "What the fuck was that?"
"Commander…"
"Javik," they both say at that groaned call, going to the bathroom without a care for their state of undress. He is, after all, in their bathroom, in their bedroom.
"You… primitives…" His head lolls, sign of his hangover. When he got into their bedroom in the night, they have no clue. "What are you doing in my stasis pod? … Is this is a horrendous stasis dream?"
Chuckling, she looks to her mate and smirks. "Why, yes. Only in your nightmares would primitives rule the galaxy."
He sighs in relief and closes all of his eyes slowly, keeping them closed as he says, "no more Liara."
They both snort at that, Garrus rumbling in humor as he shakes his head and moves to finish dressing. She leaves Javik and follows him to the pile of clothes on the floor, detangling her underwear from her pants before pulling them on. Next is her bra, shirt, and relaxing jacket and then she's all ready to head out to see how everyone else is faring.
Most everyone seems to still be asleep, the hour and ungodly one for most who hadn't taken anything ahead of time for their state of drunkenness and its resulting morning after. Liara is already awake and working, which isn't all that surprising, with a mug of something steaming in hand.
"I see your relaxation didn't last long."
The asari smiles and looks up from her datapad. "Now, Shepard. I enjoy my work. All the information at my fingertips? It's exhilarating and something I don't mind getting lost in."
"Right. Because that's all we need is a recluse that knows everything there ever is to know about everyone," Garrus adds with a raised brow.
Jane snorts and chuckles before relaxing on the couch for a moment, asking, "Who else is up?"
"Doctors Chakwas and Michel have already left to assist at Huerta before we leave, but I believe Arcanus is awake."
"Working, probably." She sighs and stands. "Well, time to wake everyone up."
"Shepard," she admonishes in that soft voice of hers, but they are already heading downstairs, stepping over the sleeping krogan on the floor. How Wrex and Grunt could find the floor of the small balcony with the strange artwork comfortable is a mystery, but she won't wake them just yet.
Heading into the main sitting room, they find Arcanus just finishing up a conversation over his comm - most likely with his men either here on the Citadel or out fighting the Reapers - and he turns at the sounds of their footsteps. It isn't all that surprising that all that happened, and was said, last night doesn't come up in his face, but what is fascinating is that Garrus doesn't automatically go into defensive husband mode. Could it be that, in the way he said it, that Garrus doesn't feel threatened in his claim over me?
Whatever it is, the conversation is in the past as Garrus rumbles and motions towards the bottle of something on the piano and a mix match set of four glasses. "Drinking again, Arcanus? Didn't have enough last night?"
"Actually, I was hoping to catch the two of you alone for this." Curious, they approach the piano as he starts to pour a small amount into each glass. "I want to propose a small toast. Do not worry, it is only an amount needed for the gesture."
He hands them both a glass of something strong smelling, yet fragrant. Probably that drink he likes so much, Nilli Suc-blah blah. One goes to each, but the fourth is set on the piano, strangely enough. She wants to ask, but figures he will explain as he raises his glass.
"I do not know when I may next see you-"
"Wait. You're not coming with us?" She scowls and sets her glass down, but tries to keep her voice down to not wake the others in the room. "You're going to split the second I tell you everything about Saren but the color of his panties? We had a deal. We need you on the Normandy."
He hums and shakes his head slightly. "I have confidence it is quite the opposite. You are more than capable to accomplish anything this war will bring before you. I, unfortunately, find myself drawn from your service so that I may also aid you."
"By leading the Blue Suns personally," Garrus supplies and the man nods.
She sighs heavily and rubs her forehead, seeing how the older man offers the glass again and wishing she could knock it back in his face. Now, of all times to lose a man.
"Please, Shepard. I know you are angry, but I believe there is a human saying about parting on negative terms. I am truly sorry that circumstances interfere with our deal, but I will be of greater use to you here, coordinating my men personally."
"So this toast is, what, a goodbye and go fuck yourself?" She glares at the glass before snatching it from his hand. "Gee, thanks."
"Jane," her mate hums and tilts his head in silent 'be nice'. Damn him, that only wants to make her pout angrily even more.
Sighing, she nods and drops her head. "Fuck. Yeah, you're right. Great fucking timing, though."
"Indeed," the older man agrees with a hum. "It is why I feel the need to do this now for I do not know when we shall meet again." He holds up his glass, once again. "I propose a toast. To the end of the war and, more importantly, the Reapers." Both turians growl at that in determination to prove that true and she smirks in 'damn right' as the two lift their glasses.
"To you, Shepard, and you, Garrus." Arcanus looks to the untouched glass with a rumble. "And to my good friend, Saren, who, without his, albeit, misguided attempt, we would not know of the Reapers before it was too late."
She frowns and looks at the glass. "You know, before all the conversations about him, I used to think he was a complete prick. But, while he may still have been one, he was fucked by the Reapers. Even an asshole like him didn't deserve their brain in a blender."
"You gave him a chance to redeem himself, Jane." Garrus hums and leans against the piano. "I may not have liked the way he worked, but, in taking his life, he absolved himself of his crimes." He looks to her and, seeing her confused look, explains, "Turians don't punish the dead and forgive the past when one sacrifices themselves in order to repair the damage."
Nodding in understanding, she lifts a glass to the empty place. True, she would do it all over because it's her job, but even she isn't cold hearted enough to fool herself into thinking that talking down she had done was just because she didn't want to fight. She had actually wanted to try and talk through the haze from the Reapers to get to the man beneath and she had, and he even thanked her for it.
They all three down the single gulp of drinks and set the glasses down. "Thank you," Arcanus says with a rumble. "Perhaps at the end of this war we may have a proper toast."
She chuckles and nods, offering a hand, despite it being a very human gesture, and smiles when he takes it, shaking it firmly. Instead of an out-of-character shake between he and her mate, the two say something with rumbles and clicks and give a low duck of their heads.
Arcanus leaves with that in passing, head held high and regal as he steps from the sleeping apartment and down the hall to take the lift. Where his quest in this war takes him, she doesn't know, but she hopes the war doesn't grind him underfoot like what seems the norm for her.
Garrus is the first to break the silence with a thoughtful hum. "Looks like we're racking up the after-war meetings." He chuckles and looks down at her, adding, "I wonder what they'll all say when they find out we're going into hiding the moment the Reapers are destroyed?"
Jane snorts and smirks. "Retirement, Garrus? You think you can handle that?"
Shrugging, he steps back into the apartment, whispering so they do not wake the occupants of the couches. "We won't know until we try it."
"I want to contact Thane and make sure our wild party didn't cramp his solitary, quiet assassin vibe," she says as she motions him to go on ahead and opens her tool when he nods, the apartment doors closing behind his back.
It is only a few moments before Thane answers, coughing before actually speaking and Jane can't help the frown at his condition. Hell, she might have made it worse asking him if he wanted to join them, knowing he'd say yes because of his utter hatred for hospitals.
"Hello, Shepard," he says weakly, his voice hoarse. Damn. He sounds like complete shit.
"I wanted to check up on you. You three snuck out right after the picture." She chuckles. "Sleeping arrangements weren't that bad."
He chuckles weakly, smiling. "You say that because you and Garrus had a room to yourselves and your children."
Snorting, she shakes her head. "Actually, Javik snuck in at some time. Pretty sure he probably touched them in the middle of the night trying to figure out how the hell they were born again." At another cough, she frowns again. "Hell, you sound like shit, Thane."
After having spent time with her, he understands to shrug it off as he takes a drink of something from offscreen. "Please, Shepard. I have made peace with my condition, but I will not sit idle. I enjoyed my time at your apartment last night and I feel that it was good for Kolyat, as well. It is good to know he will have others when I go."
"Damn…" She huffs a weak laugh. "You know how to lighten the mood."
"I apologize. But you should not worry about me. You have other matters of greater concern."
"The Reapers."
"Your family," he corrects with a cough.
"I fight for them, Thane. I haven't forgotten." Sighing, she runs a hand through her hair. "But I know what you meant about getting too wrapped up in your work to be able to spend it with your family. Even with them right there, we spend less and less time with our kids because of this damn war."
"That… is why… you win it," he says between coughs.
Frowning, she waits until he finishes before speaking. "I really shouldn't force you to speak with all… that." He waves it off, but she stays firm. "Get some rest, Thane. We will talk later."
Nodding in understanding and parting, he reaches forward and closes the call. Alone in the hall, Jane leans her back against the wall and thinks over the fact that this morning may be the last time she sees many of her friends. Once they part, almost everyone will spread out to their place in the galaxy, prepare and fight in the biggest fight of their lives.
She is almost frozen with that and other, similar, thoughts of the war before she pulls herself together, stands up straight, and heads back inside. There still hasn't been any change in the sleepy guests, but at least EDI is 'up' from wherever she was, beside Joker most like, and calmly looks out of the windows down on the Silversun Strip.
"Good morning, Shepard."
"Morning, EDI. Everyone still asleep?"
"It would seem so. Garrus is currently feeding the babies in the kitchen," she says as she points towards the back of the kitchen to the dining area where her mate quietly feeds one baby while the other sleeps their portable bassinet, a gift from his sister after she saw their near complete lack of supplies. "He has already fed Damocles and is now feeding Cassia."
Jane chuckles at EDI's overabundance of observations, the insight of an AI that sees all sometimes unnecessarily revealing in most times - like the gift she recently bought them on her shopping trip that Jane hasn't yet found the perfect time to show her mate. "Thanks for the info," she says as she sits at the piano, turning it on over the apartment.
"Shepard. Playing now would wake the apartment."
"That's the idea," she responds with a chuckle, starting to play a soft pattern of keys.
Sounds of soft groans fill her ears, but she doesn't slow, needing to wake her sleeping team before they manage to sleep the day away. Fun as that sounds, they need to get back to the reality, but, for now, she'll have her fun.
"Company," she starts. "Always on the run. Destiny with the rising sun. Oh. I was born, six-gun in my hand. Behind the gun I'll make my final stand. That's why they call me." Knowing it'll wake the whole apartment, she hits the keys faster, playing the chorus. "Bad company-"
"Shut the fuck up, Shepard!"
"-And I can't deny. Bad Company-"
"That's no lullaby," Wrex groans. "How can you be so cheery?"
"Rebel souls," she continues - now calm again - through their complaining, watching as bodies start to move, knowing she won't give up. "Deserters we are called. Chose a gun, and threw away the sun. Now these towns, they all know our name." Looking over at her approaching husband, humor on his face as he carries the bassinet over, she nods in greeting. "Six-gun sound is our claim to fame. I can hear them say."
"Dios." James walks towards the kitchen. "Mercy, Lola."
"Bad, bad company! Till the day I die-"
Titus, obviously not one to have had too many drinks, comes over and sits on one of the free couches, offering to take one of the babies. Cassia is handed over as her mate takes out their son, holding him to his shoulder as he smiles at her and takes a seat beside her as she sings the last, repeating choruses.
Just as she's finishing up her 'wake-up call', she sees Kaidan heading towards them with a confused look on his face as he stares down at a small, recognizable jar in his hand. If he'd just look up, he'd have the answer he's probably not expecting.
"Hey, Shepard, Garrus, why are there…" He trails off as he looks up and eyes widen to the size of saucers at seeing the baby on Garrus' shoulder. "Holy shit."
Jane snorts and laughs loud at his slip of language, flicking off the piano as she spins to face him, laughs turning into chuckles. "Never seen a baby before?"
Kaidan shakes it off, blinking rapidly. "Uh… why do you have a baby?"
"Two babies," she corrects with a smirk and motions her daughter. "And they're ours." A loud shatter makes her lean to look around him to see Williams in almost the exact same state, only her mug of what looks like coffee is all over her feet. "Oh, wonderful! Now I won't have to repeat. These are our babies."
"What?" Ash asks, still lost. "Whose?"
"Ours. Mine and Garrus'"
"Shepard, please tell me you didn't steal babies," Alenko deadpans and both parents and grandparent chuckle.
"Now would I do that?" He shrugs, still concerned at where two babies came from. "Remember the news on Earth talking about me being pregnant?" Both of them nod and she smirks, pointing a thumb to her husband. "I certainly wasn't knocked up by anyone but this asshole." That gets her a snort from her husband. "Scientific shit that you can ask Garrus for, they're hybrids."
Garrus rumbles and turns Damocles to show them his five fingered hand, the fingers do tiny against his single, large forefinger. Their mouths fall open as he soon growls in threat, demanding, "This stays between crew and only between the crew. No one must know of them outside this apartment. Are we clear?"
She really hopes they understand the trust they are putting in them, really hopes it doesn't bite them in the ass. As it is, they only have the nods of understanding to believe, but she hopes that, after all the bitching and arguing, she will have earned some true understanding and support from the two. If not, she's sure it won't just be a mated pair hunting them down, but the entire apartment's occupants at their backs.
"Sh… Shepard," Kaidan starts, clearing his throat before trying again. "You've had babies with you all this time. On the Normandy?" She nods and his eyes widen a bit before he asks, "Why suddenly trust us?"
"Because it has to start somewhere-"
"And we couldn't just deny it when you see us holding them right here," Garrus adds and she nods in agreement.
"Damn," Ashley says with a slight huff of a laugh. "You've been fighting and playing parents. Remind me not to ever compare to you two."
Jane chuckles and smiles, glad that the air is starting to clear between them. It only took us all getting shit faced together. Go figure. "Just know that, if you're on the Normandy, there's no way you're getting out of babysitting duty."
Kaidan shakes his head a bit, holding his hands up in front of his body. "Whoa. I barely managed to hold onto their food just now. Let's not rush the 'hybrid babysitting' duties."
"And I don't even know if Hackett is going to give me a post on the Fleet yet," Williams adds with a chuckle as she takes a towel James offers and starts to clean up her mess with her foot. "So I might be able to get out of it." She smiles up at the couple, a warm gesture that helps Jane believe it when she says, "And, don't worry, I won't say a thing."
"Neither will I," Alenko agrees. "My lips are sealed."
Garrus nods in thanks as Jane smiles and watches the two return to the kitchen, Kaidan to probably go back to raiding their fridge as Ash cleans up her mess. That leaves the two of them somewhat alone at the piano as the crew starts to mill about the apartment, waking up and trying to catch their breath.
As she takes his free hand and squeezes, Margo approaches with a smile, holding out his hands in 'gimme, gimme'. Garrus chuckles and gently hands over the baby, the man falling immediately in love with the twins the moment he saw them.
"I just wanted to come say goodbye before Miri and I head down to the Docks." McKnight smiles and softly rocks Damocles in his arms. "She is leaving soon and I want to see her off." Using the tip of his finger, he tickles the baby on the nose, watching the boy twitch his mandibles with a chirp and chuckling.
After a few more playful tickles, he offers the baby back and Jane gratefully takes her son to her chest. Margo smiles as Miranda comes, holding a mug of something that doesn't inherently smell of coffee, so much be tea.
"Did you two enjoy yourselves?" Garrus asks with a knowing rumble and Miranda chuckles.
"I won't acknowledge that with an answer." She smirks softly and sips from her mug before setting it down and taking Margo's hand. "It was nice to unwind, to live, if just for a few days, like a normal human being."
"Of turian in my case," Jane's mate adds with a chuckle. "After this war, I think we've all earned an early retirement."
Wrex snorts as he passes. "It'd never last."
"Either way," Lawson says with a smile as they turn to leave. "I think we deserve something after all this."
"This time at your place," Jane calls out as they head out of the apartment. Chuckling, she turns to her husband with a smile. "This was something we all needed."
He rumbles and presses his forehead to hers. "I haven't seen you so completely at ease in three years. I'm starting to remember what that was like."
She huffs a soft laugh and kisses his mandible. "When this is over, you, me, and the twins are going to know what that feeling is again."
"I'll make sure of it," he agrees with a deep thrum as he kisses her softly.