Chapter 95: Expecting
A heart attuned with two before it
A soul newly ignited
Treasured memories not yet born
A life growing within
"You're WHAT?!" Violet exploded with shock and delight the second the news was out.
While Violet was leaping to hug her sister in sheer elation, everyone else gathered on the crew deck to hear the news showed their own reactions. EDI seemed astonished yet processed the information remarkably quickly even for her. Joker seemed stunned speechless—Joker. Ashley was clearly grappling with several different emotions at once. Javik was blinking at them in wonder, silently contemplating how evolution could've taken this strange turn. Solana was bouncing between awe and attempting to take Violet's place in the hug.
And James was standing there, sputtering in confusion. "This…you…how?!"
"My gift," Liara smirked.
"…what?!"
"It's a long story. Mordin had a lot of unsuccessful or discarded experiments that he had managed to make a fair amount of progress on. When he found out about Garrus and Terra's relationship, he briefly considered how to devise a means of letting them conceive a child. I managed to recover what he had and run it by Dr. Chakwas. She put in her own ideas, then I gave the rest to a group of salarian and asari biologists. The end result was some gene therapy that allows acceptance of foreign cells—sort of the human equivalent of how asari accept alien genetic history."
Joker shook his head. "Great. Thanks a lot for making the rest of our presents look lame."
"Joker…" Terra warned.
"No, no hard feelings, commander. I'm really happy for you and Garrus. I wish you many happy years and lots of little mutant babies. Hope you don't mind laying an egg that big."
Terra wasn't sure whether to snap at him or patiently explain that turians might resemble birds but were still viviparous. She settled for giving him a sharp look and laying a protective hand on her abdomen.
Garrus shook his head. "Maybe we should just head up to the QEC and tell the rest of the gang."
Terra smirked. She looked forward to seeing Tali's reaction to the news especially, but she couldn't wait to see Wrex and Samara and Kasumi and the others reflect the shock she'd just witnessed.
As she and Garrus started to head up to the COMM room, she heard Liara start giving a more thorough explanation to sate Solana's curiosity. She noticed Garrus slowing down just enough to get the gist of it, though. She couldn't blame him for wanting to know just what had been involved in making their miracle, but she still signaled him to keep going and let her tell him the whole story later. It sounded worse than it was. The gene therapy had taken an artificial recombination well enough, after all, but prompting the treated DNA to spread had required forcibly regenerating cells in her reproductive organs, a delicate operation that had necessitated return trips to the lab on the Citadel every two weeks. Terra had been running out of excuses for the frequent returns by the time they had confirmed the treatments took. She had waited until she'd been given this go-ahead before attempting to make use of it, spending the whole night locked in her cabin with Garrus, and then waited until the lab had confirmed the conception through a long-distance blood test before giving the whole story to her mate. She would've told him earlier, but Liara had left that choice to her for a reason, the reason being the uncertainty of the treatments' effectiveness. If it turned out they worked, perfect, she could give him the best surprise of their lives. If it didn't, though, she figured it was better she hadn't gotten his hopes up. Things just happened to have worked out as the former, for which she couldn't be happier.
And for which Tali couldn't be happier.
Needless to say, the range of reactions that came over the QEC when they shared the news with each of their former squad-mates was nearly deafening. Samara, predictably, was the least vocal about it, offering a simple pleased and approving expression. Wrex, ironically, was the most vocal about it, offering congratulation and teasing in equal measure. Jacob was a recent father himself, so he was suitably congratulatory. Miranda, on the other hand, Terra couldn't help but notice seemed disappointed beneath her joy…or was that jealousy? Whatever the reason, it was something best discussed on a more private channel, one where, at the very least, Jack wasn't listening in and making cracks about their future parenthood status that Garrus quickly silenced by reminding her that she was one to talk. Grunt, Zaeed, and Kasumi each showed their excitement in their own personal way as well. But, as usual, it was Tali who stayed on the call the longest, wanting to know just how they'd pulled this off and what their plans were and if they knew the gender yet. Even as she answered with Liara's Mordin-produced gene therapy and not quite having a plan this early on and the decision that they wanted to be surprised, Terra couldn't help but beam at how Tali would inevitably fit into the family dynamic.
Now that she thought about it, she remembered Admiral Raan telling them how she had synched her suit with Tali's mother's so she could be there when Tali was born. They were going to have to do something similar for Tali herself.
Eventually, Tali was called away. She promised to stay in contact before she was forced to hang up. Terra didn't exactly doubt that, considering how often she already called and how they were about to have a lot more to talk about, but it was always nice to hear the assurance and know what an important fixture they were in her life even from so far away.
When they finally turned to leave the COMM room, Garrus took her by the hand. "You realize this is going to change everything, right?"
Terra smirked. "This kind of change? I don't mind."
October 22, 2187…
They made it nearly a month into the pregnancy before Terra was forced to step down from command. She was still commanding officer on the ship, of course, but Chakwas' insistence that she shouldn't be on the ground in her condition, coupled with concerned agreements from Garrus and Solana and Violet and Liara and even Ashley, had finally persuaded her to leave the fighting to the rest of the squad. She didn't like waiting on the ship while they ran off into danger without her, but she trusted Garrus to take charge in her stead. She wouldn't have named him her XO if she didn't.
Of course, there had been other factors in her decision to remain behind. For one thing, she eventually wouldn't be able to fit in her armor, and she'd like to avoid cornering herself in the position of being mocked for it (Violet was already observing a weight gain and making her grumble almost self-consciously about it, despite never feeling self-conscious in her life). However, her biggest concern had been about Garrus. He was defensive enough of his mate before she was carrying his child. She didn't want to see how he would react if things got ugly while they were on the ground together. She hadn't even bothered voicing that concern since she knew he would wave it off only to prove her right later. He couldn't exactly help it—the turian sense of smell was strong enough to notice infections or toxins or, indeed, the hormones associated with pregnancy, and the scent was like a gut-punch to the territorial instincts of a mate. She hadn't personally witnessed how this affected a turian father when his pregnant mate was threatened, but she had heard enough to know it was best not to risk it.
So when Solana caught an anomaly today, Terra had finally submitted to the collective pressure of her crewmates and sent the squad off without her under Garrus' command. She was now sitting in the mess hall, listening to Violet play, and trying not to worry.
Violet played a few notes before stopping to write something down. "You know, if you were just gonna mope about it, you might've kept your COMM on like I usually do."
Terra considered making the excuse that she didn't want to distract them, but she couldn't deny that she was also convinced it was just make the worrying worse if she could hear the gunfire and not see them withstanding. "Why didn't you do that today?"
"Frankly, because I know for a fact I'm going to be stopping like this and I didn't think they'd want to hear that."
The next question to ask would be why she was stopping so much, which Terra quickly realized the answer to. "Wait, are you composing?"
Violet was no more prone to self-consciousness that her sister, yet she still seemed to timidly guard her work when she saw Terra was onto her. "…yeah."
"Well, when can I hear it?"
"When it's done! Why do you think I'm being so careful about it?"
"Come on, Vi, Mom was always happy to share."
"This is my first one, Terra. I think she'd understand."
Terra smirked. "She would." She sighed. "So when will you be done, then?"
"That depends on how I feel when I play it back later. Besides, I'm still practicing that piece Tali sent me so it'll be ready when we next get to Rannoch."
"Garrus told me it sounded pretty much perfect."
"Well, it'll be the first time anyone's played it for an audience since before the Morning War, so you'll forgive me for wanting to achieve perfection."
"Even you always said that was unobtainable."
Violet smiled. "But worth trying nonetheless."
Terra couldn't argue with that. So she simply sat back and listened to Violet working in bits and pieces on her composition and returned to trying not to think about how her squad was faring without her.
It didn't take long to find out. EDI finally came over the PA to tell them both that the mission was a success and they were headed back to the ship. Terra quickly headed down to the shuttle bay to meet them and found them all coming back injury free. Good. Worrying would be the one case in which nothing coming of it was a positive outcome.
Garrus saw her and smiled, not even bothering to put his rifle away before coming over to catch her. "So how's it feel guarding the ship?"
She gave him a sharp look. "It's only payback the first few times. This time next month, you'll be owing me."
He simply wrapped his arms around her. "I find some way to make it up to you."
She smirked before returning his embrace and kissing him.
"Ugh," Solana scoffed as she put her weapons up in the armory, "You two are unbearable to live with."
Terra laughed as she turned to look at her and purposely didn't keep Garrus from nuzzling against her. "Get used to it, you're stuck with us."
"I'll say. You're holding my niece/nephew hostage."
Garrus couldn't help giving her a look as she headed to back to the nav station. Then, after she was gone, he turned his attention to the aforementioned niece/nephew. "Are you sure you're still OK?"
Terra fought the urge to glare at him. "Garrus, I'd know if something was wrong."
"And even if she didn't," Liara stepped in, "Chakwas and the team that made the treatments are monitoring the pregnancy for complications as best they can. You don't need to worry."
Garrus shook his head. "Yeah, well, this is my first time going through this and she's literally doing all the heavy lifting, so you'll forgive me for thinking all I can do is worry."
Terra nudged him. "You start doing the heavy lifting when the side effects kick in and I can barely walk." She was preparing for a retort when she noticed Ashley looking her over from the weapon lockers. "…what?"
Ashley smirked. "Violet's right, you do already have a bump."
"Shut up!" Terra snapped with a glare even as she pulled her top down over her waist.
Ashley withheld the desire to snicker.
Garrus, shaking his head, led Terra off for some time alone in their cabin. Their activities were slowly getting more and more restricted, but they never got tired of simply clinging to each other. After a few moments, Terra was curled up in Garrus' arms as he held his hand against her not-bump. Ironically, though they were both thinking of the future, Terra found herself briefly thinking of the past that had brought them to it.
Two weeks ago had been the first anniversary of the Reapers' defeat. The Council had seen fit to honor the occasion, asking everyone on the Normandy to be present on the Citadel for a commemoration and celebration. The entire galaxy was still enjoying the peace their victory had brought, so delegates from every race that was present for the final battle had attended. It hadn't seemed like enough at the time compared to the event it was marking, but it was a happy memory now. Joker had remarked later that he was surprised they didn't declare it the first galactic holiday and call it Shepard Day, which Terra quickly amended to Normandy Day. To her, it had been a celebration of the family the war brought her as much as a celebration of their victory. She had brought the whole galaxy together, brought the Normandy together, brought herself and Garrus a chance to have children. That was what she was really celebrating, the future the past had given them.
Garrus seemed to agree, smiling as he felt the small vibrations of the bun in her oven. "Should we be thinking of names?"
Terra smiled back, laying her hand over his. "I've got a few ideas."
November 4, 2187…
Rannoch had been a beautiful sight when they first landed on it. But when they returned now, over a year after the quarians and geth united to rebuild, it was beyond beautiful, beyond astonishing, beyond any other exceptional word in Terra's vast arsenal. The arid landscape was arrayed with plots of agriculture. The geth structures were accompanied by newly built but seemingly extravagant settlements for the quarian inhabitants. Terra watched the natural wonders she'd admired the first time they were here, beaming at the new wonders of organic-synthetic cooperation amidst it all. She could only imagine what it would be like in ten years, when unmasked quarian children would run with geth companions through cities of architecture like Haestrom's, watching that horizon fade from day to night through spires of rock and over vast fields of desert flowers.
It would be worthy of every poem she would ever write.
The second they touched down and started filing out of the ship, Tali rushed to meet them. Greetings were shorter than usual as Terra quickly occupied her attention. Or, more accurately, Terra's rapidly growing fetus. "Is it growing alright? Is it kicking yet? I know it's a big deal when they start kicking and everyone wants to feel and I was hoping since you were here—"
"Tali!" Terra quickly gestured for her to calm down, "The baby's only had feet for like two days. Pace yourself."
Tali shrunk back. "Right. Sorry."
"Besides, we came here to see you, so how about a tour?"
Tali smiled and obliged. She seemed absolutely proud of her new home-world and how her people had thrived as they rebuilt it. All of them agreed, awed not only at the sight of the new Rannoch but also at the sight of how easily the geth and the quarians were intermingling. After three centuries of separation and hatred, it was a feat none of them had thought possible. But with Terra, anything was.
Violet found herself inspired by the harmony. …inspired enough to know what she wanted to compose, what was missing from her work so far. But that could come later. Right now, she had something else to play. When the tour was over, she told Tali she was ready to perform the recreated quarian sonata and, while Tali brought together an audience, headed back to the ship to get her violin. Surprisingly, she drew a large crowd. Maybe her reputation on the extranet had spread even to here, but it was more likely Tali had let them know what exactly the prodigy was performing.
Violet took one brief moment to appreciate the anticipating looks of her audience. Then she set bow to string and played.
A haunting melody. An operatic, sweeping tone. It evoked ancient memories and emotions long forgotten, a single unmasked composer giving voice to an entire culture now slowly being restored. It was beautiful.
Terra was blown away by the performance, but she couldn't help watching the rest of the audience react to the piece Violet had so painstakingly found the notes for. It was safe to say all the practicing hadn't gone to waste. The rest of the crew was mystified, sure, but the quarians were downright enthralled. If the piece were being performed on a quarian instrument rather than a violin, she was pretty convinced they would all be in tears.
After it was over and the applause faded, Violet produced the sheet music she had reconstructed and gave it to Tali, telling her to give it to whichever quarian was willing to play it as it was meant to be played. Now that it had been brought home, Tali was sure there would be one out there that was ready to use some more geth records to recreate a quarian instrument and learn the song. Violet made sure to let her know that she wanted to see the first time a quarian performed the piece.
Now that the day was drawing to a close, Tali decided to take the chance to revisit the Normandy again. Everyone aboard was always happy to see her, so she had free reign of the place for a few hours before they had to set out again. In the meantime, Terra and Garrus returned to the cliff where she had beaten the Reaper and, sitting side by side on the edge together, watched the sunset. It meant they only had the chance to see Tali as she was leaving the ship and had a sadly truncated farewell, but since Terra didn't like farewells anyway, it was worth it.
That night, as they were getting ready to go to bed, Liara called Terra and Garrus down to her cabin. As they entered, she came over with a device in hand. "Terra, the lab sent over a portable sonogram imager."
Terra quickly saw where this was going. "Liara, we talked about this. We want to see our baby for the first time when it's born."
"I understand, but they still asked me to test the device before having Dr. Chakwas use it for a proper examination." She smiled. "You don't have to look, but you can hear. It can boost the heartbeat."
That was genuinely all they needed to hear. One quick exchange of glances let them know they both wanted that. So Terra sat down, Garrus taking her hand and staying beside her, and let Liara set to work.
In a moment, a precious sound filled the room, a gently thumping rhythm that, though small, was the most important sound in the galaxy to them both. Terra almost let joyful tears come over her as she clutched Garrus' hand tighter.
He smiled as he drew her closer. "And we thought Violet's performance was beautiful."
"A good sign, too," Liara said as she looked over the image on the device, "Everything looks healthy to m—" Suddenly, she froze, eyes going wide.
Terra responded with a concerned glance of her own. "What? What's wrong?"
"Uh…I know you said you wanted to be surprised, but I feel like you should be made aware of one small issue."
Terra looked at her in confusion, Garrus reflecting it.
Liara sighed and came out with it: "…you're having twins."
