A/N: First off, I just want to say a Big Thank You to all you glorious, wonderful people. Your reviews are inspiring and are what keep me going. And as for all the suggestions you've given me in regards to the wedding, I could probably write a comprehensive list of quarian culture with all the info I got, so another Big Thank You for that.

Warning. There are some lemons in this chapter. Not porn or anything, but still. But who am I kidding? You'll love it.

And I'm sorry Tali, but I had to.

**Chapter 10: Big Feet**

There was somebody lying on him.

His eyes opened lazily, brain still drugged with sleep. He raised his head off of the pillow to see Tali half-laying on him, snoring slightly, which made him grin. Memories of the night before made his grin widen, and he trailed his fingers along her back, remembering.

She was going to be his wife now. The statement seemed alien and strange, even in the secret confines of his own mind; he hadn't really ever pictured himself with a wife and children, living in some white-picket fence house with a big lawn. Not until he met Tali, anyway.

Now all they had to do was get married and build a house on Rannoch, which made him frown. The most complicated thing he'd ever built was one of those stupid bird houses in shop class when he'd gone to school as a kid. He supposed he could just build a really big birdhouse for them to live in, but he suspected that Tali likely wouldn't be very pleased with the idea.

He watched the clouds go by through the small window over the bed, mind idly wandering. A headache began to spread across his forehead, reminding that he had not yet had any caffeine this morning.

Trying to be as careful as possible, he began to shift out from under an unconscious Tali, inching his way towards the edge of the bed.

She made a small snuffling sound and buried her face in his chest, blinking as she began to wake up. She yawned and stretched, then wrapped her arms around him.

"Where're you going?" she said, voice muffled in his chest.

"Getting some breakfast."

"No." she squeezed him more tightly, kissing his collarbone. "You're staying here."

He chuckled, playing with her hair. "As you command, wife."

Her head jerked up and she looked at him nervously, looking more alert. "What are we going to tell everyone? About the wedding, I mean?"

"Maybe that we're getting married?" she smacked his chest and he laughed. "Whatever you want to, Tali." he said, sobering a little. "I know that if you tell Kasumi she'll go crazy, and Garrus will probably bug the shit out of me."

"Do you... I mean, I'm not ashamed or—but I don't want to..." she almost sounded like she was having a conversation with herself the way she kept trailing off and interrupting her previous sentence.

"Tali, I don't care if we don't tell anyone. You don't even have to wear the ring if you don't want. I even asked my mother to keep it hushed. The last thing we need is the media getting a hold of it."

"Your mother knows? Is... is she okay with it?"

"No, she's locking me up in a closet right now so that I can't marry you."

"Shepard, I'm serious! Is she okay with it?" she seemed anxious, and he smiled at her, tugging on a strand of her hair.

"Of course she is. Why wouldn't she be?"

"Just well, because I'm..." she trailed off, gesturing to herself.

"A woman?"

She gave him a dirty look. "A quarian, you bosh'tet! Isn't she concerned that you're marrying an alien?"

Realization dawned in his mind, and he suddenly knew why Tali seemed so surprised that his mother was okay with the marriage. Tali had told him straight up that her father likely would've hated him had he figured out that Shepard was sleeping with his daughter. After all, he was just some germy human. It was only natural that Tali was shocked at the news of a parent not going bat-shit crazy over an inter-species relationship.

"Tali, why don't you talk to her? I know she wants to get to know you better. That might put your mind at ease."

She brightened a little, the mention of a plan calming her. "Okay. I'll do that."

He kissed her. "Good. Now let's go get some breakfast."

"What the heck are they still doing up there?" Kasumi complained, head resting on her hands, elbows on the mess table. She wanted to talk to both Shepard and Tali, but apparently they were too horny to come down and socialize with people.

Hannah patted her arm. "Let them do what they want. They've only spent two days together—they're probably still getting over the shock of seeing one another."

Kasumi huffed but said nothing, making Hannah smile. The thief—Lord knows how—had figured out that John had proposed to Tali last night, and wanted to speak to the both of them. Kasumi had also decided the best course of action would be to tell the entire crew of the Normandy, something that made Hannah smile guiltily. Her son hated being in the limelight, but she couldn't deny that she was looking forward to his reaction. Especially when most of the crew had set up camp in the mess hall, wanting to see his reaction as well.

She saw John appear from the short hallway that led to the elevator, walking over towards the fridge.

"Shepard!" Kasumi squeaked, jumping up from her chair.

He looked over at her. "Hi, Kasumi. Good to see you too." he said, expression slightly confused.

Kasumi walked over and draped herself casually on the counter, studying her nails. "Get a good sleep?"

"Yeah." he said, sounding like he was only half-paying attention. He was rummaging through the fridge, in search of food.

"Where's Tali?"

"Upstairs. She's just getting dressed. She'll be down in a minute. "

Kasumi made a sound of acknowledgment, still studying her nails. "Sooo, when's the wedding?"

Hannah heard a thump and saw that her son had slammed his head into the roof of fridge.

"Fuck," he muttered, rubbing at the back of his head and setting his food down on the counter, closing the refrigerator door with a foot.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." he said casually.

Kasumi snorted. "You're terrible at lying, Shep. Come on, tell me!"

He shot a glare over to his mother. You told her?

She put her hands up in mock surrender. Not a soul, she replied silently.

He switched his glare back to Kasumi. "How the hell do you know?"

Kasumi snorted. "You were acting funny all day yesterday; I hacked your omni-tool when you two went to bed last night. I wanted to see if you were gonna do anything like propose. And you did!"

The look he gave her could have frozen fire. "You eavesdropped on our *private* conversation?"

She waved a hand. "Not like I haven't done it before. You really need better security on your electronics, Shep." his eyes flared and she hastily continued. "It's not that bad! Besides, I stopped watching as soon as you guys started doing the dirty. I don't wanna see any of that."

His face reddened. "Goto, I swear to God—"

"Hey Tali! How was your sleep?" Kasumi said, a little too loudly,

turning away from a fuming John to see Tali standing there looking worried at all the people staring at her.

"All right," she said warily.

"Just all right?" Jack chimed in, propping her feet up on the table. "Might want to amp it up there, Shepard. Shouldn't leave your girlfriend unsatisfied. Or should I say fiancée?"

His face darkened and he glowered at anyone laughing, which just happened to be everyone in the room.

"They know?" Tali said, looking slightly alarmed.

John sighed. "Yes, everyone knows. Yell at Kasumi for that one."

The thief gave her an innocent smile, who glared at her. "You two are probably the sulkiest couple I've seen. Who cares if people know?"

"I do." John said, making the thief turn. "If the media catches wind of this they'll go crazy. And with you being the biggest blabber-mouth on the ship, telling you is not a good idea."

She looked insulted. "I am not—"

"We won't tell anyone, Shepard." Garrus interrupted. "The last thing you'll want is cameras at your wedding."

"Maybe you could invite that Khalisah Bin-blah-blah-whatever reporter chick to your wedding. You two always hit it off in interviews." Kasumi suggested, grinning.

"If you invite her I'll toss you out of the airlock."

"Use that gun, and it'll blow your arm off." Shepard commented, taking the Widow Rifle from the man's grip, who glared at him.

"I've seen you use it." the man insisted.

"That's because I have about fifteen kilos worth of tech in me. Use the Black Widow instead; recoil is a bitch but at least it won't shatter your arm."

The soldier studied him for a moment, as of he were sizing Shepard up. "Saying I'm weak?"

Shepard sighed. "No, I'm saying that even top N7 operatives can't use this. The only ones who can fire this thing are krogan and ge—synthetics." he corrected himself, eyes darkening for a moment. Do we deserve death? Legion's voice echoed in his mind, and he shoved it away.

The man gave him a superior look. "I'm tough." he grabbed the gun from Shepard's hand. "I can use it."

"Idiot! You'll kill your shoulder!" he called to the man, who was striding over to the targets. Shepard sighed again. Fine. Let the arrogant dumb ass destroy his arm. It would teach him a lesson.

His eyes flicked around the big warehouse they were using as a training facility, watching his crew teach people of all races and gender about tech, guns, and biotics.

After a ridiculous amount of congratulations by the crew to both him and Tali, he relayed the conversation he'd had with Hackett about training soldiers with the crew as they ate, who all seemed enthusiastic about it. Now, instead of sitting around the ship, they could all be doing something productive as the Normandy was fixed up.

They'd separated everyone into three groups—the techies, the biotics, and the soldiers—and had all set up what equipment they could find to help train everyone.

He heard a loud bang, followed by a howl, and looked over to see the soldier he'd been speaking to earlier clutching his arm to his body and rolling on the ground, the Widow lying beside him.

Garrus walked over to him, studying the man. "He know that was going to happen?" Garrus asked as they approached the man.

"Yeah. Did it anyway." they bent down and hauled the soldier to his feet, the man still favoring his shattered arm, teeth gritted with the effort not to pass out or vomit from the pain.

Shepard didn't say anything to the man as they lead him out the door and towards a nearby clinic, figuring that everyone staring at him as he'd blown his arm was humiliating enough.

"You know, you should listen to the Commander more often. This may be a shock to you, but he actually knows what he's doing." Garrus commented, taloned hand under the soldier's good elbow.

The man said nothing, the only indication that he'd heard Garrus being a deep scowl.

"Even if he isn't the best shot." Garrus added, mandibles spread in amusement.

Tali watched Shepard and Garrus take the soldier away, shaking her head. The man's ego was so big it made him hard of hearing, it seemed.

"God, that man is gorgeous." she heard a woman whisper to her friend, both of them staring at her boyfri—no, fiancé.

The other woman nodded, hands lying idly on the mock-bomb they were being taught how to defuse. "I wonder if he has a girlfriend. God, I hope he isn't gay. With genes like that, it would be an insult to Humanity if he didn't reproduce."

"And he fills out those jeans so well." the first woman added, and they both snickered at their clever word-play. "He's got a great ass. I wonder what else he's got going on downstairs?"

"I bet he's proportioned. He's got big feet. And big feet means a big—"

"How are you coming along with the defusing?" Tali asked, not wanting to hear any more of the women's conversation.

They both looked up, looking slightly alarmed at getting caught. "Uh, good, good. 'Bout half-way done." the first woman said, looking down at the piece of tech they sat beside.

They weren't at all close to finished, but Tali didn't say anything. The other woman looked up at her conspiratorially. "Hey, you hang out with the Commander. Do you know if he's dating anyone?"

"If he isn't, do you think you could put in a word for us?"

Tali made a conscious effort not a clench her fists, and kept her tone calm. "He's dating someone already. It's pretty serious."

The two women looked disappointed. "Really? Who?" one asked, looking interested.

"Me. Now finish defusing that bomb." she said, walking away with a satisfied grin on her face as she saw the surprised expression of the two women.

She walked past Kasumi, nodding to her as the tiny thief showed a couple of asari the basics of hacking, overlooking the rest of their 'students'.

As she watched them, some struggling and some showing signs of real talent, her mind floated back to the conversation she'd overheard.

With genes like that, it would be an insult to Humanity if he didn't reproduce.

That sentence played over and over in her head, making her chest feel tighter each time she silently repeated it.

He could've dated any woman in the galaxy, could've reproduced with anyone he damn well pleased, but instead he chose her. A quarian that could never give him children.

Shepard decided that the first day of training had been a success. Besides that idiot soldier who'd shattered his arm, there hadn't been any accidents. He hoped to keep it that way.

Now the crew was cleaning up, pushing the small training equipment into storage rooms near the back. He absently rubbed at his leg, wincing at the pain. Even just standing around supervising with occasional boughts of demonstration had left his bad knee throbbing, and his crippled hand was cramped and sore from holding a variety of weapons.

"That was fun." Garrus commented, standing beside him.

"Yeah. I can see why Jack likes being a teacher so much." he said honestly. He found that he enjoyed teaching others, watching that flash of realization across their features when something clicked inside their brain and they suddenly understood what was being taught.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a blood-curdling scream and his hand flew to the non-existent pistol at his hip, before he ran towards the back, recognizing who the scream had belonged to, Garrus close on his heels.

She pushed the last of the equipment into the small storage room, dusting her hands off. As Tali turned to close the door, she saw a piece of equipment fall and crash to the floor, and she sighed. Opening the door all the way, she climbed over a big punching bag and went to retrieve the fallen piece, placing it back on its original perch, making sure it wouldn't fall again.

Something appeared at the top of her visor and she curiously looked up. At first the blur on her faceplate was unfocused, but when her eyes trained on it, she froze. Her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out.

It was a spider. A really big one. On her helmet.

Her lungs suddenly worked and she let out a screech, flailing her arms and stumbling backwards. Her calves hit the punching back and she tumbled over it, falling to the floor in a tangle of limbs, still screaming.

"Tali!" She heard Shepard run over to her, sliding to her side.

"What—" his eyes found the spider and a giant grin spread on his face.

"Get it off!" she screeched, heading ducking into the back of her helmet as far as possible.

He coaxed the spider off with a hand, it's long legs stepping onto his palm.

She scrambled away, back to the wall and eyes wide. "Don't touch it!"

"Tali, it's harmless. It's just a daddy long-legs." he said, studying it as it slowly crawled up his arm.

"It's disgusting!" she watched it with malevolent eyes. "Ew! It's moving up your arm!" she said, pointing a shaking finger at it.

He let it crawl onto his crippled hand and walked over to one of the warehouse's big windows, shoving the pane open and gently placing it on the window sill outside. He closed the window and walked over to her. "It's gone." he held up both palms. "See?"

"Are there any more on me?" she asked frantically, hands patting herself down.

"No. You're clean." he slid down the wall, blowing out a breath. "Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. Don't scream like that."

"There was a spider on me! I hate them!" She retorted, glaring at him.

He laughed, and she picked up a boxing glove and threw at him. "It isn't funny."

"You're right. It's hilarious."

Tali walked back to the Normandy with Shepard, her arm in his. The rest of the crew had left them to walk on their own, allowing them what privacy they could. She saw John wince occasionally from the pain in his knee, but she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to say anything.

The conversation between the two women she'd overheard this morning kept replaying itself inside her head, ruining any peace of mind she could have had with being so close to Shepard.

During the war, every moment they'd spent together has been precious, the looming threat of death hindering any thoughts of the future, forcing the both of them to live in the present. Now though, with the Reapers gone and the galaxy in a state of peace, more or less, she had to think about the future, their future.

They'd live on Rannoch, a place far away from Shepard's own people and on a planet whose food he couldn't even eat. He'd be trapped by her immune systems limitations; he wouldn't be able to make love to her without first administering medication and sanitizing himself. He wouldn't be able to see her face most of the time. He wouldn't be able to have children with her.

Even with all the sacrifices he'd made, still he would have to give up more. Because of her.

"That went well." he commented as they walked on, limping slightly. "The training, I mean."

She made an absent sound of agreement, bitter thoughts closing her throat and making it hard to speak.

He looked down at her tense form. "Something wrong?"

"No." she managed to get out, chest tight. Just looking at him hurt.

He came to a stop, pulling her with him. He turned to face her. "What's the matter?" he asked quietly, hands on her arms. She shook her head, feeling tears sting her eyes. She didn't want to talk to him, not now.

"Tali," he shook her gently. "Tell me. Please."

"Why did you pick me?" she whispered finally.

"What?"

She looked up into his blue eyes, his gaze worried. "Why did you pick me? You could've had anyone, could've had babies with them and be able to eat their food and kiss them whenever you wanted—"

"Tali, don't do this." he interrupted, shaking her again. "I've already told you—"

"That was before! I always thought we'd be dead after the war! Now we have our whole lives in front of us, and look at yours! You're with some frail quarian that sneezes every time you touch her! Whose food you can't eat, someone who can't ever start a family with you!"

A smile broke on his face. "I wasn't aware my life was so shitty."

"Stop joking! I'm serious! I—you... you deserve better—"

"What would happen," he began, sounding angry. "If you left me right now and married another quarian and had a dozen kids with him on Rannoch. Would you be happy?"

"No, but that's not the poi—"

"Yes it is! I'd be miserable I wasn't with you! Jesus, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I don't give a damn about how many fertile women are out there. I want to be with you."

"But it won't ever be easy! You'll be married to a woman that would die if she wasn't in an envirosuit!"

He laughed incredulously. "God, you think I care? You think if I was with someone else that my life wouldn't have obstacles? I would have to deal with just as many problems, just as many ups and downs, with a human woman, or asari, or whatever! They'd only be different issues. The only difference is that I want to make that commitment to you. Not anyone else, not matter how many babies they could have."

"I..." she trailed off, looking at him. His words had drained all her anger, all her doubt, the pressure in her chest finally lifting. His azure gaze was was bright in the setting sun, shadows casting a dark light on his features, and something inside her suddenly snapped. With her bitterness gone, something far more demanding replaced it, something that would not be bottled up.

She tore her mask off and slammed into him, mouth mating with his. They fell to the ground but she barely registered it, caught up in the taste of him.

"Ta—" she heard his weak protest and silenced it, grabbing either side of his head. His arms came around to circle her waist, mouth pressing hard into hers. He made a small noise in the back of his throat and she went crazy, tongue playing with his and hands roaming down his chest.

He rolled, pressing her into the spiky gravel, his knee pushing her legs apart. She moaned, the feel of his hard thigh against hers making her belly ache with need.

"We need... to get back... to the ship." he said, pulling away and breathing hard, but she didn't really hear him. The hard press of his body on top of hers and the heat of his skin through her suit made her squirm under him, thoughts muddled. Her hands tugged on the hem of his shirt and ran up the smooth muscle of his stomach.

"Tali..." he knew that she was going to get really sick if they stayed here, but her soft body squirming under him made it hard to think. Her hands roamed around, up his ribs, over his shoulders, down his back, her gloves creating a maddening friction. She bit his lip, pulling him down and kissing him again, legs nudging further apart and cradling his hips between her thighs.

He ran his tongue over her lip, hand sliding up her suit and arriving at her breast, squeezing. She moaned, legs rising to wrap around his waist—

"Shepard! Hey, Shepard!"

He tore away from her, landing rather ungracefully on his ass beside her, taking shuddering breaths.

Fuck. He knew who the voice belonged to. He grabbed Tali's mask and shoved it into her hands, which rose shakily to connect it back onto the rest of her helmet.

"Shepard!" the tiny voice was quite close now, to his left. He looked over to see Maddy running over to him, grin on her face.

"Hey, sir!"

"Hi... Maddy." he said, trying—and failing—to control his breathing.

"Why're ye on the ground? An' who's tha'?"

He took a deep breath, scrubbing at his face and shifting his leg to tactfully hide his aroused state.

"We... uh, fell." Technically not a lie. "And this is Tali." he said, gesturing over to her. She was sitting across from him, hands behind her and chest heaving. "Hello." she said breathlessly.

Maddy eyed the two for a moment, gaze suspicious. "What's amiss with the pair of ye? We're ye running?"

Shepard laughed. "Something like that. What is that you wanted, Maddy?"

"I just—" her eyes widened, and she looked over at Tali again. "Wait, I remember who ye are now!" she glanced over at Shepard. "She's your sweetheart, isn't she?"

He grinned. "Yeah, she is."

"I knew it! Ye're the woman from the picture! Ye're verra pretty."

Tali looked a little stunned at the compliment. "Thank you," she said nervously.

Maddy beamed, teeth white against rosy, freckled cheeks. "Anyway, I heard tha' the Normandy showed up a couple o' days ago an' I wanted tae see if ye'd gotten any o' yer friends back." the excitement in her voice made her accent thicker, and he saw Tali's head cock in confusion as her translator tried to keep up with the Irish girl's rapid brogue.

"Well," he gestured over to Tali. "I—"

"Can I see the Normandy?" she blurted, eyes widening and toes bouncing on the ground. "Please please please please!"

His eyes flicked over to Tali, their heated session far from forgotten. The look she gave him through her mask made his blood boil, and he swallowed.

"How about tomorrow, Maddy? I'm pretty tired. I'll give you a full tour then. I promise." he said, keeping his tone neutral.

Her shoulders fell a little in disappointment, but her smile didn't falter. "Okay. But I want to see everythin'!"

He grinned. "Deal."

Maddy beamed again and have him a brief hug. "I'm goin' hame noo. I'll see ye tomorrow mornin'!"

She skipped off towards her house, and when she was out of sight he fell onto the concrete, laughing.

Tali crawled over to him, giggling, pent up lust making them both giddy.

"Keelah, she's adorable. I can't understand what she says though."

"Her accent is pretty thick." he agreed. "Then again, so is yours."

She shifted, chin resting on his chest as she lay beside him. "Mmmm." her hands trailed down his chest, and he caught them before his brain stopped working.

"Are we clear, then? We'll move to Rannoch and adopt a dozen hypo-allergenic kids."

She laughed again, nodding. "Yes, we're clear. I won't bring it up again."

He kissed one of her palms. "Good. You're the only woman I'll ever be with, Tali. Now, let's get back to the ship before I tear your suit off."

About Shepard's butt. No, I don't care if you don't like hearing about sexy man buns, just sit down listen for a minute. I find it insulting that all the female characters of the ME universe have big booties and super-curves, and the guys all are left with flat asses.

But, if you're garbage at modding (like me) and play on console so you can't download mods for better butts (like me) and want Shepard's behind to look glorious, I suggest putting Armax Arsenal legs on him for his armor—his butt looks like a dream in them. I swear I downed half a dozen times the first time he wore it, I was so distracted.

Trust me. It's a good investment.