Earth – Alenko Orchard

Kaidan got out of the cab and turned to duck his head back in. "So, this is the part where you get out."

"Um, give me a minute, please?" She pleaded.

"Of course, take your time." He replied before closing the door.

"Okay, Lex. You can do this. For Kaidan." She said to herself, but didn't make any move to open the door. She looked out the window towards the house just in time to see the front door open and a woman in what Lex would guess was her mid-fifties walk out. The woman, who had to be Kaidan's mother looked just like she'd expected her to. Sweet and motherly. If she'd ever said a curse word in her life, Lex would be shocked. Five minutes in the city and she'd be toast. Basically everything that Lex's mother was not.

Then behind her a man stepped out and if she'd ever wondered what Kaidan would look like in twenty-something years, Lex had her answer. Kaidan looked so much like his father. He always seemed to have a serious look on his face when he wasn't speaking to you or focusing on anything in particular, and she saw that same look on his father's face. Hopefully, he wasn't always that serious, it was a bit more intimidating on the older man than she'd ever seen it on Kaidan's.

She watched as Kaidan walked up to his parents and his mother wrapped her arms around him, a look of both joy and relief on her face. She'd been worried about him. Because that's what real mothers do. They worry, they care. Kaidan's father walked up behind them, hugging them both and Lex was looking at a bona fide group hug. She turned away, somehow feeling like she was intruding on a moment she had no right to share. The driver's door opened as he got back in to the cab.

"I'll give you a million credits right now if you'll drive me as far away as possible from here and don't tell a soul where you left me." She said. Only half-jokingly.

The driver laughed. "He said you'd try something like that. Threatened to hunt me down if I did it. Sorry lady, you're on your own."

"Shit." She turned back to the window and Kaidan was looking her way, a knowing smile on his face. "Bastard." She mumbled as she reached for the door and let herself out. The small perfect family was walking her way. They reached her as she closed the door. Kaidan stepped next to her and slid his arm around her waist.

"Mom, dad I'd like to introduce you to Lex Shepard." He said with a smile on his face. He turned to her and added "My girlfriend."

The urge to run hit her and he must have sensed it because she felt his grip tighten around her waist. She took a deep breath and put her hand out to no one in particular. "Mr. and Mrs. Alenko, it's a pleasure to meet you. Kaidan's told me so much about you."

Kaidan's father reached over and took her hand, giving it a firm shake before quickly releasing it. With the barest of smiles he said "Good to meet you, Commander."

"Oh, please sir, I'm just Lex, no need for the Commander bit." She replied nervously.

"Oh for goodness sakes!" Mrs. Alenko muttered and moved forward to grab Lex and give her a big hug. Lex just sort of hung there in shock for a moment before awkwardly giving the older woman a pat on the back. "It's wonderful to meet you, Lex dear. Kaidan hasn't told us nearly enough about you and I'm so looking forward to getting to know you!"

Lex looked back at Kaidan and fought the urge to hit him as he unsuccessfully tried to hide his amusement at what must have been the horrified shock on her face.

When Kaidan's mother finally let go, he reached for her and pulled her back beside him once again taking hold of her waist. He leaned over and whispered. "See that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She turned her head to whisper in his ear. "I'm going to kill you. Slowly. You're enjoying this way too much."

He chuckled. "Come on, let's go inside. Mom, we've been travelling non-stop since the station and I think we're both about ready to drop. I hope you don't mind, but we could really use a few hours to rest before you make your attack."

It was Lex's turn to laugh when Mrs. Alenko laid a not so gentle slap on Kaidan's shoulder. "Oh hush you." She replied as she turned towards the house. "Alright, follow me and I'll show you to your room. Martyn, grab their bags."

"Mom, I know where my room is." Kaidan said.

Lex took a step towards the bags and added. "Oh I can get my bag."

Kaidan's mom turned to point at her son first "You will let me be a good host." And then turning to Lex "And you will do no such thing, you're a guest."

"Yes, ma'am." They replied in unison.

Mrs. Alenko led them up the porch steps and into the house, holding the door open for them as they made their way inside. "Consider yourself at home while you're here, Lex."

"Thank you, ma'am." Lex replied in a whisper as she looked around the living room. It was perfect. Big, but not too big. The furniture was simple and comfortable looking. It looked like a home.

"Follow me upstairs to your room and you two can rest for a bit before lunch." She continued as she led them up the stairs. When she reached the first door on the right she stopped and opened the door for them. "Here you go, just like you left it sweetheart."

"Thanks, mom." Kaidan said as he leaned over and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before she went back downstairs.

Lex poked her head into the room and then looked back down the hall. "Um, what about me?"

Kaidan laughed. "What about you?"

"They're just going to let me stay in here with you?" She asked, unable to hide her shock.

He rolled his eyes as he pulled her into the room closing the door behind them. "Lex, I'm in my 30's I think my parents have come to terms with the fact that I have sex."

"Shhh, don't say that."

"Lex, really?" He asked.

"Well, I just thought…well aren't parents really strict about things like that?" She had been expecting to be put in a room on the other side of the house.

"Yeah, with their teenagers. Come here." He wrapped his arms around her and taking the back of her neck in one hand pulled her in for a nice deep, slow kiss. He rested his arms around her hips and asked. "So, that wasn't so bad was it?"

"Mmm, not at all." She said with a lazy smile.

"Not the kiss, you goof." He chuckled. "Meeting my parents."

"Well we're only five minutes in to the visit, but yeah, it wasn't so bad." She replied. She lifted her arms to place them on his shoulders and winced.

"What's wrong?" Kaidan asked, suddenly worried.

"Ugh, my neck." Lex brought her hand to the back of her neck and tried rubbing out the pain.

"Turn around." Kaidan ordered and he started massaging her shoulder. "Geez Lex, you're all knots back here. Take your shirt off and get on the bed."

"Sir, yes sir!" She joked while she did as she was told. Once on the bed she settled herself on her stomach in the middle. She felt the bed shift when Kaidan joined her and then she felt him put one leg on each side of her and settle his weight right under her rear.

"This goes too." He said and with that he undid her bra so that her whole back was bare and started giving her the most amazing massage.

"Oh god." She said with a moan.

"Feels good?" He asked, and she could practically hear the grin.

"Amazing, but if you are trying to seduce me, I'm afraid I'm way too tired and this feels so good I don't think I'll be able to stay awake for long." She yawned, feeling her lids already too heavy to keep open.

Kaidan bent down and kissed a trail up from her shoulder to right under her ear. "Don't worry, we have plenty of time for that later. Sweet dreams, beautiful."

When Lex woke up a couple of hours later she was alone in Kaidan's room. She stretched out on the bed while taking a look around. Of course, it was perfectly neat and orderly. She got up to take a closer look at the wall of trophies he had. They were a mix of academic and athletic which wasn't at all surprising. There were a couple of bookshelves and a few posters. Basically what she imagined a typical teens room would look like. She took a moment to freshen herself up and change, and then headed downstairs to find him.

"Mom, I just really wish you would have let me know before we came out here." She stopped at the bottom of the stairs when she heard Kaidan speak. He didn't sound happy.

"Oh I don't see what the big deal is, sweetheart. It's just the same old cook out we have every year. We postponed it during all this mess with the geth, but now that we know you're safe we thought it would be the perfect time to get everyone together." Mrs. Alenko replied. The hint of annoyance in her voice made Lex believe they'd been at this for a while.

"I know mom, it's just that we wanted to relax and I was hoping we'd all take some time together so you could get to know each other." Kaidan replied.

Lex heard his mother sigh. "Oh, we'll have plenty of time, plus this will give her a chance to get to know your friends too."

"That's the thing, Lex won't know anyone and I don't want her to be uncomfortable. And we're trying to…"

"Kaidan?" Lex called out to him. She could hear how much he hated to ask his mother to call off their party and she didn't want to be the source of any problems while they were here.

"We're in the kitchen, just follow my voice." He replied.

She made her way to the back of the house and to what was, of course, the perfect country kitchen. It even had one of those big windows with the seat that overlooked the bay. I could almost swear we're in some classic family vid.

"Hi." She said. Kaidan was sitting at the kitchen counter and she took the seat next to him. "I'm sorry if I didn't say it earlier ma'am, but you have a beautiful home."

Mrs. Alenko smiled. "Why thank you dear, but please stop calling me ma'am, you're making me feel old."

Lex panicked. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to …"

Kaidan's mother reached over the counter and put her hand over Lex's. "Relax, dear I was just joking with you."

Lex closed her eyes to try and hide her embarrassment. "Of course, sorry. I'm just not use to, this is just…sorry." She heard Kaidan chuckle next to her and opened her eyes to sneer at him. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, actually. I've never seen you sweat." He replied, laughing. "Ouch!" He gasped, suddenly rubbing his shoulder where his mother had just swatted him with a dish towel.

"Be nice!"

"Yes, mom, sorry." He replied and it was Lex's turn to laugh.

"Good. Now Lex dear, as I was saying please call me Cathy." She said, reaching over to give Lex's hand a squeeze.

"Yes ma…Cathy. Thank you."

Cathy smiled and gave her hand one last pat before moving back towards the food she had been prepping earlier when Lex had walked in. "Great. Now I was just talking to my son about a small, tiny, little get together we're having tonight. Nothing fancy, just a cook out we have every year with a few close friends."

"Oh, that sounds nice." Lex said and tried not to react to the gasp of surprise from the man sitting next to her.

"Really?" Kaidan asked.

"Of course. I'd really like to meet some of your friends." She replied, trying to keep her voice steady for Kaidan's mom. She knew Kaidan would see right through her, though.

"Okay, we'll come back to that later. The thing is, it's going to be all current and ex-military, Lex." He said warily, knowing she would understand.

"Oh." Lex hadn't thought about that, but it made sense. Kaidan had spent his whole life surrounded by the military. His father had served. Of course most of their friends would also be military.

"I don't see why that makes a difference, sweetheart. I'd think it would make things easier, wouldn't it?" Cathy asked. She looked at each of them, a look of confusion on her face. "You'll all have so much in common."

"Mom, the thing is Lex and I…" Kaidan hesitated, not sure how to explain it to his mother.

"Our son is worried about what people will say when they realize he's breaking regs and dating his CO, dear." Kaidan's father said as he walked into the kitchen. Lex and Kaidan both turned to see him. "Our son's a rule breaker now."

Lex's heart sank. "Sir, I -."

Martyn Alenko held up his hand to stop her. "No, don't say a word. Honestly it's about time my son broke a rule or two, I was getting worried."