December 21, 2187
"Jane, do you have a moment?"
Shepard turned toward the door and smiled. "Of course, Dad. For you, always." She lifted her skirt a little so she wouldn't trip over it and turned away from the mirror to meet him as he entered. "I can't stop staring at myself." She laughed. "I'm not fully convinced it's actually my reflection."
Herros's mandibles fluttered. "You look lovely, Jane. My son is the luckiest of men." He approached her and held out his hands.
Shepard took them. "Thank you, but I think I'm getting the better end of the bargain." Taking a deep breath, she smiled. "You just checking in?"
"No." Releasing her hands, he reached into a pocket and withdrew a small brooch hung from an intricate chain like a pendant. "One year, when Garrus and Solana were small, they gave this to their mother. I was supposed to come home for a family event, but work got in the way. My wife was, understandably disappointed, so my children gathered up their pocket money and bought this to make her feel better." He took Shepard's hand and placed it in her palm.
Shepard held it up. It was a delicate disk of a silver nickel composite with a shimmering symbol inlaid in a deep blue stone. "It's beautiful."
"Loosely translated, the symbol means cherished one. My wife wore it always. She said it reminded her that the old adage was true, that sometimes the most valuable gift of all is knowing you're loved. Since she died, I've carried it with me, but more as a reminder of how my priorities led to my family's estrangement and bitterness. Of all the cycles that I wasted." He took her hands and leaned forward to touch his brow to hers. "You have given me back my family, so now I pass it to you, so that it becomes a symbol of love once more."
Shepard smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you so much, Dad. I'll treasure it." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "My people have a tradition that when a woman gets married, it's good fortune for her to be wearing something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. I was missing a couple, unless I count my face as the something blue." She pulled back, unclasped it and held it out. "Would you?"
He took it from her and placed it around her neck, did up the clasp, and then ran a gentle hand over her hair. "I will leave you to finish getting ready, my daughter."
"Thank you, Dad." Shepard watched after him until the door shut, then turned toward Liara and Traynor.
Liara stepped up and looked at the brooch. "It's a lovely gift."
Shepard walked over to the wall adjacent to Garrus's room and pressed her ear to the walnut panelling. Smiling, she listened as the door shut, and she heard the warm rumble of father and son talking.
"Spying is not at all seemly, Shepard," Liara said, her tone firm and scolding.
"Says the Shadow Broker," Traynor said and giggled.
"I'm not spying," Shepard whispered. "I can't hear what they're saying, just the tone." She closed her eyes, savouring the sounds of their voices, and the warm, safe feelings they engendered. Her heartbeat slowed, the nervous tremors easing a little. For the moment, all was right with the universe. "Listen. It's like ambrosia for your ears."
"Don't start crying," Liara admonished, pressing her ear to the wall as well. "I just finished your makeup." She smiled. "Oh! Yes, that is lovely."
Shepard opened her eyes and grinned. "No hitting on my father-in-law, T'Soni. He's almost half your age." Her grin widened at the indignant scowl that furrowed the asari's brow." Pushing away from the wall, Shepard straightened and walked back to the mirror. Swishing her skirt a little, she stared at the thin but obviously pregnant, pretty, red-headed bride who stared back. How could the person in the mirror be her? She'd always been the hard-edged, stern-faced redhead in the uniform.
Her smile saddened ever so slightly. That Jane Shepard had been a hell of a soldier and a hell of a woman. Time, life, and Garrus had painted this new, softer version over the old. "Who and what will you prove to be?" she whispered at her reflection.
"No crying," Liara scolded again.
Shepard sighed and glanced at the asari's reflection. "Who puts eye makeup on for an event pretty much guaranteed to have you crying the whole time?" she asked, laying her hands on the silk covered curve of her belly.
"I found the most waterproof mascara that I could." Liara sighed. "We can travel thousands of times the speed of light and still, no one can invent a tear-proof mascara, so carry tissues and blot, don't wipe."
Shepard folded down into one of the chairs. "Years from now, my kids will be looking back at the holos and ask, 'Mommy, why is your face all streaked with black?'" She chuckled. "Followed by, 'Mommy, isn't that the day Aunt Liara disappeared never to be heard from again?'"
Traynor laughed, but Liara just narrowed her eyes as her face flushed a deeper blue. "I just wanted you to be beautiful," she said, her voice an exasperated whine.
Shepard shrugged. "I thought I was pretty without it."
"You know what I mean." The Shadow Broker sighed.
"Okay. Okay. I'll stop teasing." Shepard winked.
Knuckles rapped at the door, then Solana stuck her head through. "Everyone just about ready?" She squeezed herself and a garment bag through the smallest opening she could manage and shut the door behind her. "Garrus has spies everywhere," she whispered, chuckling.
Grinning, Shepard stood. "Well, we're pretty darned ready here." She lifted her skirt and extended a leg, toe pointed. "Even have my garter. I really hope this little gift of Gabby's falls under something new, not something borrowed."
Sol sighed and shook her head. "Just for that, I won't tell you." Shepard's sister-in-law walked over, her eyes shining despite her teasing words. "You're absolutely gorgeous." She reached out and touched her mother's brooch.
"Sol." Shepard said, taking her sister's hand, feeling greedy for possessing that tiny, precious piece of Sol's memories.
The turian tilted her head, her mandibles pressing close to her face but fluttering softly. "I'm glad you have it. You're her daughter too. Besides, Twig picked it out. I was pretty little, so my contribution consisted mostly of, 'Oooo pretty.'"
She held up the garment bag and a small stasis pod nearly hidden in her hand underneath. "But, I come bearing gifts from afar to finish getting you ready." Careful hands hung the garment bag from the frame of the full-length mirror then held up the pod. "This is from Gira."
Shepard smiled, her eyes stinging a little. Blinking hard, she shot Liara a glare that made the asari go a deep blue. "Gira?"
"She wanted you to have a little piece of your new home and sent it back with Garrus." The moment Sol popped the seals on the container, the most wonderful scent burst out, filling the room.
"Rylamia," Shepard said, closing her eyes and breathing in the sweet, spicy fragrance.
Sol opened the container and slid out a sprig of leaves with a spray of the tiny white, star-shaped flowers along its length. She reached up, and placed it in Shepard's hair just above her left temple, the spiky leaves holding it in place like a comb. "There, lovely. Rylamia is good luck."
"Thanks, Sol." Shepard looked at herself in the mirror, planning to just turn back, but then stopped, her eyes locking onto the stranger reflecting back with the flowers in her hair. Where had the lines around her eyes come from? The deep ones around her mouth?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sol unzip the garment bag and remove something, but she couldn't take her eyes off the woman in the mirror.
"This was my mother's and her mother's, back so many generations that I can't even really tell you how many," Sol said, laying a coarsely woven, white mantle over Shepard's shoulders.
"Your mother's bonding robe?" Shepard asked. As Sol settled the mantle around her shoulders, Shepard watched the woman in the mirror complete her transformation. Where vestiges of Jane Shepard, N7 had remained moments before, the angry girl from Mindoir vanished, painted over by Admiral Jane Shepard, Garrus Vakarian's wife, Lenka and Mercy Vakarian's mother, Spectre and instructor. After a moment, she smiled and nodded, deciding she liked the change. Yeah, she liked it a lot.
She looked down at the bonding robe as Sol turned her around to start fastening thin chains made from soft grey links that glimmered like pearl. "What are these made from?" She ran her fingers over it. "It doesn't feel like metal."
"It's … hm … not sure how to translate it, but it is the hard casing from creatures that live in the sea. Each chain is carved as it is, already linked. Very delicate, exacting work, but also very strong."
Unlike Garrus's bonding robe, hers had no center panel in the front. Instead, the embroidery covered the two side panels. Sol held the right one up and showed Shepard the embroidery that had been done for her and Garrus.
"Sorry, I had the seamstress do it after Garrus sent me a holo of what you embroidered on his. Didn't really have time for you to do another."
Shepard smiled and shook her head as she ran her fingertips over the little gold Reaper, rifle, and citadel. "She did an amazing job. Way better than mine." Her smile turned to a wide grin as her hands flowed up over the material to the stiff, formed collar, which stood up off her neck and folded back to cover the rim of a cowl. "It's beautiful."
"Garrus is going to bust a plate," Sol chuckled. "I didn't tell him that Mom gave it to me. He thinks it was lost in the war."
Grabbing Sol's hands in hers, Shepard stilled their fussing and pulled her sister into a hug. "Thank you for all of this Sol. You took what we expected to be a great day and turned it into a dream. I'll never be able to thank you enough for doing this for us … for him."
Sol's eyes were glassy when she pulled back and squeezed Shepard's fingers. "You're welcome. It's been so worth it to watch the two of you and the little one."
Shepard frowned. "Speaking of … ."
"Dad's taking her up when Garrus goes. Don't worry, we've got her."
A fist banged on the door, and Joker called, "Hey! The menfolk have moved out, ladies. Get your butts in gear!"
"We're coming, stop shouting," Liara shouted back. She turned to Shepard and smiled. "It's time. You ready?"
Shepard nodded. "I must be, right? Dress is on, hair and makeup are presentable. Although I feel oddly at a loss without a gun."
Traynor laughed. "That would be a new bridal look. We could festoon your Mattock with ribbons. You could carry it instead of a bouquet."
"No!" Shepard shuddered. "Too horrible. It's just a rifle, Traynor. Show a little mercy. It could never bear the shame." She grinned and gave the specialist a wink.
"Hey, Shepard. Can we get on with this?" Joker called from the other side of the door. "Rule number one. Never give the groom enough time to change his mind."
Shepard opened the door, and glared at the pilot. "I'm ready. You promised to behave yourself. No repeats of yesterday."
Joker tugged at the collar of his tux. "This thing is choking me. It's reduced my hyoid bone to dust. Although … ." He dropped his voice and cocked an eyebrow. "Ladies, me in a bow tie. Come on, admit it, I'm rocking your world."
"Samantha, please hold me back. I can't control myself." Liara shook her head as she walked past.
"Maybe, if you behave yourself, I'll admit it," Sam said and chuckled.
"I'd lay good money on that not happening," the asari said and sighed.
Traynor gave Joker a little jab with her finger as she followed Liara. "This is Shepard's big day, don't mess it up."
"Have a little faith, ladies." Joker shook his head and turned around, holding out his elbow. "Well, come on, let's get this over with."
Shepard slipped her hand through his arm and started down the hall.
"Wait!" Sol hurried over behind them and gathered up the train of the dress, making sure nothing touched the ground. "I swear, you'd have just wrestled in the mud and then walked down the aisle if I wasn't here."
Shepard shrugged. "Probably." She grinned. "Are we ready to go?" When Sol nodded, she followed Joker out of the building. As they crossed the gravel driveway, the only sound was the slight mechanical noise of Joker's leg braces and the birds warbling from the other side of the compound. They stopped just out of sight, waiting for the music to start.
Shepard peered around the corner of the building and looked up the hill toward the mass of people assembled at the crest. "I think I'm nervous."
"I'm pretty sure that's a firm on the nervous, Shepard." Joker grunted and tugged at his arm a little. "You've broken my arm in thirty places, and we haven't even hit the end of the aisle."
She gave a shaky laugh and loosened the choke hold she had on his arm. "I don't suppose there's an invasion going on anywhere that needs my immediate attention."
"Yeah, I just came out of the men's room, so might not be up on the latest news, but I think you're stuck with the whole signing the rest of your life away thing." He grinned as the Alliance quartet began to play. "Come on, Admiral, they're playing your song."
Shepard took another shaky breath, but took one resolute step forward then another. "We should have just done this in front of Hackett. I should have worn my dress blues. I feel like an idiot."
"But, and I'll never admit saying this if you tell anyone, you look unbelievably beautiful. If I'd known you'd clean up like this, I don't know, I might have given Garrus a run for his money."
Shepard leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks." She shifted onto her toes as the heels of her shoes sank into the sod.
"Oh, come on, just because you're getting married doesn't mean you can go and get all sappy on me. Let's get this thing done." He led her up the hill, stopping at the end of the aisle. After a second, he leaned over and gave her a quick peck in return. "I'll deny that too, just so you know."
Shepard chuckled, but as she looked up and saw the torin waiting for her at the other end of the aisle, everything else faded into background noise. Her heart fluttered as if unable to catch its breath long enough to take a full beat, and the trembling in her belly warmed to something less nervous and more amorous. He struck a dashing figure in his black and gold tux, the bonding robe draped over it accentuating his height and already broad shoulders. Even from fifteen metres away, she could see him breathing deep and quick. It calmed her a little that he looked as nervous as she felt. She smiled as his eyes locked on hers, and he straightened.
She frowned. Something looked off, but she couldn't place it for a couple of seconds, then she laughed. No visor. It had been so long since she saw him outside of bed without it. He really was a beautiful torin.
Outside her bubble of concentration, she felt Sol fussing with her train. After a moment, the turian stepped around her, thrusting a small bouquet of lilies into her hand before walking down the aisle to stand with Liara and Traynor.
Shepard's breathing slowed, the sound of the air rushing in and out her nose oddly loud. When her eyes began to prickle, she realized that she hadn't blinked. She let out a soft, nervous chuckle and both blinked and swallowed. The music started, the low, melodic beauty of the cello and bass tugging at her heart and endangering Liara's makeup even before the thing started.
Joker set out, giving her a small tug when she didn't step forward with him. Half stumbling on her first step, she recovered in a couple of steps and managed to make it the rest of the way between the rows of chairs without falling on her face. Her eyes never left the torin waiting for her at the other end.
At the far end of the aisle, Joker pulled her to a stop in front of Admiral Hackett. He placed her hand in Garrus's then turned to join Tali at the groom's side.
"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Garrus said in a low, husky whisper. He reached up and ran a talon over the pendant. "My mother's."
Shepard smiled and nodded. "Dad gave it to me just a few minutes ago."
Garrus smiled and nodded, his eyes glassy. "I'm glad she's here." After a moment, his brow plates rose, then drew together, and he lifted his hand again to touch the collar of the bonding robe. Shepard smiled, her eyes misting to match his. His jaw trembled for a moment, and he drew his mandibles in tight. Squeezing his fingers, she just held his stare, both taking strength from the contact and offering it.
Admiral Hackett stepped forward. "We are gathered here today to witness the sharing of vows and trading of rings as two friends swear their lives to one another. No other duty I perform brings me as much joy, and today I consider myself blessed to unite Garrus Vakarian and Jane Shepard as life mates, husband and wife. Most of us have watched this relationship develop and have been both comforted and uplifted seeing such a strong light grow out of the darkness that threatened to engulf us all."
The admiral's voice faded to background noise as Shepard gazed into Garrus' eyes, the whole journey solidifying into a reality that both excited and terrified her. Electric chills raced over her skin, lifting into gooseflesh. Suddenly, she felt like shouting and crying and laughing all at the same time. They'd made it. So many obstacles had been thrown between them and that moment that sometimes it had seemed like it was just a beautiful, impossible dream to hang onto.
Hackett's voice intruded into her thoughts. "Jane, if you would speak your vows."
She nodded and smiled, squeezing Garrus' hands, her heart hammering in her chest. "I, Jane Elizabeth Shepard, take you, Garrus Vakarian, as my husband and lifelong mate, binding my soul to yours from this day until the end of time. I promise to love you above all others, giving my heart to you and only you in this life and beyond. I promise to share in your joys and your sorrows, care for you when you are ill, uplift you when you are down, and support you in all things. I promise to be your safe harbour, the one true thing upon which you can always depend, the person who speaks truth when it seems as though lies are all you can hear, the arms that will always hold you when you need to be reminded that you are cherished … " She turned a little and reached out a hand to Lenka. The child grinned and gripped it tight, taking Garrus' when he offered it as well. Shepard's eyes returned to his. "… the mother of your children, and your most faithful companion."
Garrus's mandibles fluttered, and he looked down, clearing his throat.
Hackett took a deep breath. "Garrus, if you would speak your vows."
Garrus took a deep breath, staring down at their joined hands for a moment before he cleared his throat again and looked up, the pale blue eyes she'd come to rely on as mirrors to her world staring into hers. "I, Garrus Vakarian," he said, his voice a gruff whisper, "take you, Jane Elizabeth Shepard, as my wife and lifelong mate, binding my soul to yours from this day until the end of time." As he said the words, a change came over him. He straightened a bit, his voice beginning to project, and yet she knew he intended the words for her ears only. "I promise to love you above all others, giving my heart to you and only you in this life and beyond. I promise to share in your joys and your sorrows, care for you when you are ill, uplift you when you are down, and support you in all things. I promise to be your safe harbour, the one, true thing upon which you can always depend, the person who speaks truth when it seems as though lies are all you can hear, the arms that will always hold you when you need to be reminded that you are cherished, the father of your children, and your most faithful companion."
Shepard smiled and took a deep breath, letting the joyful tears that leaked from her eyes roll down her cheeks undisturbed. He was already all of those things and so much more.
Hackett nodded to Liara.
The asari stepped away from Shepard's side, walking to the front to face the gathering. She gave Shepard and Garrus a wide smile and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Talk about a hard act to follow." She took a deep breath and raised a small book, opening it. "In my research into human wedding customs, I discovered that it was traditional for a loved one to read an inspirational or spiritual passage. Jeff and a couple of other people have informed me that my choice for this reading is somewhat trite. To them, I just have to say, I don't give a damn, and you can bite me."
Shepard let out a startled laugh as the asari held her head up in a cocky challenge.
"Hell yeah, girl. You tell 'em," Jack called from somewhere behind Shepard.
"Thank you, Jack." Liara gave Shepard a quick smile. "Anyway, I like it, and I think it's particularly appropriate here. So, without any more preamble, from William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116.
'Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove: O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken; it is the star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come; love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom . . ."
"Oh no, Liara!" Joker groaned.
The asari looked up from the book and planted a hand on her hip. "By the goddess, can't you behave yourself for five minutes?" Liara plucked a blossom out of the arrangement next to her and tossed it at him, bouncing it off his head.
"Well, then don't give them any ideas. These two take that stuff literally, and the rest of us have had enough doom to last us."
Shepard looked at Joker over Garrus' shoulder, giving him a half-hearted glare.
He shrugged. "What? You do."
Liara pinned the pilot with a pointed stare and threw another flower at him. "Jeff, shut up."
Shepard looked to her groom and grinned.
Garrus just shrugged. "They're your friends."
Shepard chuckled and squeezed his hand. She looked down at Lenka and gave the child a quick wink, swinging their joined hands a bit.
"May I finish?" Liara let out an exaggerated sigh. "'If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.'" She closed the book and returned to Shepard's side.
"If I may have the rings," Hackett asked, giving Lenka an encouraging smile.
Shepard released Lenka's hand and watched as the child stepped forward, holding up the small box, her expression solemn, her concentration adorably intense. Love and admiration welled up inside her. The child had come so far, fought back against the fear and despair of her past with such courage. She never ceased to be a revelation. Shepard looked up at Garrus, who was watching Lenka with an expression that mirrored what she'd been feeling. He watched her with wonder, as if not quite sure how he'd come to love her so intensely in such a short time.
"Thank you, Lenka." The admiral smiled.
"You're welcome, Admiral Hackett," Lenka replied, returning to her spot between them.
Shepard bent down and kissed the top of the child's head. "I luv yah," she whispered.
Lenka beamed and gave Shepard a peck on the cheek. "I luv yah," she whispered back.
Garrus caressed the child's cheek with the back of his talon and winked.
Hackett passed Shepard her father's ring. "Admiral?"
Shepard held it on the palm of her hand, suddenly feeling the presence of her father, mother and grandfather beside her. She smiled and nodded, turning her hand so that Garrus's laid in her palm. She placed the ring over the talon of his second finger and looked up into his eyes once again.
"I told you part of the history of this ring in a letter, but … ." She took a deep breath, fighting back against the lump in her throat so that she could speak. "I come from a long line of ministers: men and women of great faith. I also come from a long line of explorers and colonists, people who took their faith and their courage out to discover new lands. My great-grandfather six generations removed had this ring made for his son. He gave it to him at the dock just before he boarded a ship to immigrate to the colonies, which at the time was Canada. Three words were engraved on the band: Love, Loyalty, Selflessness. He told his son that those three things were all he ever needed to remember in order to live well."
She smiled and looked down at the ring for a moment, memories swelling up inside her with a potency that she hadn't felt in a long time. "When I was a little girl, I used to climb up on my grandfather's lap and play with this ring, asking him to recount story after story about the men who'd worn it before him. When it became apparent that my parents weren't going to have a son to inherit it, he took it off one day and placed it in my hand. He took me by the shoulders and said, 'Jane, the Shepard legacy falls to you. It's one of courage and honour and living according to the wisdom steeped into this band over many years and many lives.'" Her stare returned to meet Garrus's eyes. "He said that I had a choice. I could keep the ring and pass it to my sons when the time came, or I could give it to my husband when I found someone to become what he called a son-of-the-spirit."
She pushed it onto his finger as far as she could, the unyielding flesh of his talons not suited for wearing it. "My father's last act in this life was to press this ring into my hand, reminding me of the legacy from which I came, of the boundless courage and faith that they'd passed down to me." She smiled and reached up to press her palm to his face. "I can feel them here, with us today, and I know that they believe I could not have chosen, nor been chosen by, anyone more worthy of that legacy. I know they would have loved you as a son, and given this ring to you themselves had they been able."
She took a deep breath and gave a self conscious chuckle. "That was longer than I intended."
Their assembled friends chuckled, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw most of them reaching for tissues.
"Garrus Vakarian, with this ring, I take you as my husband. Wear it always as a reminder of the depth of my love, respect, and devotion."
Garrus leaned in as if to kiss her, but Joker cleared his throat behind him.
"Not yet," the pilot muttered under his breath.
"Seriously?" Garrus straightened. "A man's supposed to be able to resist kissing the woman who just said all that?"
"It's the rules."
"Well, the rules are stupid."
His declaration incited a wave of laughter and cries of support from their friends.
Hackett chuckled and held out Shepard's ring. "Give her this, then you can kiss her."
Garrus took the ring and held Shepard's hand in his. "Everyone and everything that means something to me is here, with me right now," he said. "This ring didn't come passed down through generations, but was found a couple days ago searching through the ruins of London's shopping district." He smiled. "It's appropriate, I suppose. A bit of beauty amidst the destruction, as you've been." He placed it on her finger. "Liara, Steve, Dad and I had been searching for hours, and I was just about to give up. It was getting dark, and I wasn't happy with any of the rings we'd found. After I rejected what must have been the thirtieth ring, Steve told me that with the world the way it was, I couldn't afford to be picky. He said you'd love whatever ring I gave you." He nodded and took a deep breath, his back straightening a little. "I knew he was right. You would accept and love whichever one I gave you, but right then I realized that my search was proving to be very much like my life."
Shepard smiled and squeezed his hand.
"I was lost in the dark when you found me. I thought at first that you'd appeared merely to light my path, help me find a way around what I saw as obstacles set up to thwart me." He chuckled. "Instead, you became the sun in my sky, illuminating an entirely new world and a new life." He shrugged. "I've never been someone given to fanciful ideas, but hell if right then the clouds didn't break and the setting sun glinted off something in the shadows. I figured it was just a chunk of broken glass, but it was this ring." He gently slid it onto her finger. "And it was perfect, exactly what I needed. Just like you."
Garrus leaned in close, but made no move to break the rules. "Jane Elizabeth Shepard, with this ring, I take you as my wife. Wear it always, knowing that it's not just a symbol of our mating and our love, but of a life you saved when you appeared in it. Every time you look at it, know that the soul of the torin who gave it to you is yours forever."
Shepard squeezed his hands. Heart pounding, light-headed, her entire body ached to kiss him just as he'd wanted to kiss her moments before. She reached up, her ring catching the light as she touched her fingertips to the top plate of his mouth.
Liara let out a heavy, dreamy sigh. "By the Goddess, if you want to kiss him, go ahead. I won't stop you, rules or no," she said. "Hell, I want to kiss him after that."
The asari's uncharacteristic curse turned both Shepard and Garrus around to gawk at her, surprised. Liara just shrugged.
"As these two people have sworn vows and traded rings, pledging their lives to one another and the family they will build around them, I hereby declare that if none can show good cause why it should not be so, this marriage is sealed." Hackett paused, but not long enough for an actual objection, then gave them a wide smile. "Using the power vested in me by the Earth Alliance, I hereby declare you husband and wife." He grinned at Garrus. "You may now kiss your bride."
Garrus stepped into Shepard, sweeping her up in his arms, lifting her feet off the ground as he pressed his mouth against her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss, her lips moving over his with joyful abandon, her tongue just teasing his. Her eyes closed as she lost herself in the moment, letting everything else in the universe dissolve and fade away but the scent and sound and feel of her husband's body against hers, the rough plates of his mouth against her lips.
Joker cleared his throat. "We're getting old here, guys. I can actually feel gravity crushing the bones in my legs."
Shepard felt Garrus's mandible brush her face as he chuckled. He lowered her feet back to the ground.
"Why did we invite him?" he whispered against her mouth.
Shepard kissed him and pulled back. "Because he's that one crusty old uncle that you have to invite just so that he can ruin the party." She reached up to caress his scars, smiling up into his eyes.
He pressed his brow to hers. "I love you."
"And I love you." Shepard leaned into him, not wanting the moment to end.
Admiral Hackett cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, friends and loved ones, if you would, please stand," he called out.
Shepard turned to face their friends, all the people who meant most to her in the galaxy, and smiled wide. Bending down, she kissed Lenka's cheek, then gave her a nod, sending her to Herros in the first row. Herros picked the child up, planting her on one hip.
"It gives me great pleasure to introduce for the first time, Mrs. Jane and Mr. Garrus Shepard-Vakarian," Hackett called, his hands coming up almost as if to thrust them out into their new life.
Shepard blushed hard and gripped Garrus's hand as he led her between the rows of chairs. Grinning so wide that her cheeks hurt, she reached out, squeezing the hands that reached out to her as their friends cheered.
Garrus let out a sharp sigh and a laugh as they reached the end of the aisle. "So, according to human customs, we're married now?"
She turned to face him, took his other hand. Beaming, she nodded and stared into his eyes. "Yep. It's official, you're stuck with me, Mr. Shepard-Vakarian."
He stared right back. "And you with me, Mrs. Shepard-Vakarian."
"Good." She wrapped her arm around his waist and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
"Oh, that was perfect" Traynor called. "But, I need to get an official sort of picture." She chuckled. "Shepard, in front a little." She took Shepard's hand and tugged on her. "Good. Now, Garrus, put your arms around her."
Shepard laughed and sidled in against Garrus' right side. When he slipped his arms around her waist, she laid her hands over his.
"Now smile." Traynor grinned and stepped off to the side. "Perfect. As you were."
