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Morning found them snuggled up together. Shepard woke Garrus with a kiss. "I'm going to go send the party invitations."
"Are you sure about this?"
"No … but it'll be fun anyway." She grinned at him.
He had just come down for breakfast when the door chimed. "Oh, no, who is it this time?"
Shepard buzzed the intercom. He couldn't hear her conversation from the kitchen, but she came in after a minute, her eyes shining. "It's my mother!"
"Your mother? The famed Hannah Shepard?" He tried to stifle the brief sting of jealousy that she was going to see her mother and he didn't even know where his family was, but Shepard saw it anyway, coming to him and holding him.
"We'll find them. I promise."
He took that for the good intention that it was. "Your mother's coming up right now?"
"Any second."
"How long has it been since you've seen her?"
"Since before I found the Prothean beacon, all that time ago."
"No kidding."
"No kidding." She turned at the sound of a knock on the door, hurrying to open it. "Mom!"
"Zia, darling! It's so good to see you!" They embraced, and then Hannah Shepard held her daughter at arm's length. "Let me look at you. Have you been eating enough?"
Shepard laughed. "I'm on shore leave—I don't think I've ever eaten this much before."
"Well, it looks good on you." Hannah Shepard caught sight of Garrus over Zia's shoulder, and her eyes narrowed. She looked so much like her daughter at that moment that Garrus felt right at home with her. "And this is the man who thinks he's good enough for my little girl?"
Shaking her head, Shepard said, "Ignore her. She's pretending to be a typical mom."
"I'm showing him the Shepard women are nothing to be trifled with."
"Oh, trust me, I've learned that lesson."
"He's a smart-ass, Mom. Hannah Shepard, Garrus Vakarian."
"Unless I miss my guess, you also went by another name on Omega."
"All in the past," he assured her.
"Those were in his rogue days, running and gunning outside the law."
The door chimed again, and Shepard turned to frown at it. "Whoever that is, I'm telling them to go entertain themselves."
Hannah Shepard smiled. "A place like this, I can imagine all your crew wants to visit."
"And they have," Garrus told her. "Would you like the tour?"
"Promise we won't get lost?"
"I'll leave a trail of breadcrumbs." He looked at Shepard over her mother's head. "Who is it?"
"Dr. Chakwas." Shepard shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't exactly tell her to go away."
"Karin! I haven't seen her in ages!" Hannah Shepard exclaimed.
There was something in her tone that made Garrus wonder exactly how well she knew the doctor. He led her up the stairs, showing her the extra bedroom and the small sitting area while Shepard went to the door and waited for Dr. Chakwas.
When Garrus and Hannah Shepard came down the main stairs, the door was just opening, and the way both women's faces brightened when they saw each other told him everything he hadn't asked about their previous relationship.
"Hannah? I didn't expect to see you here."
"I had a brief layover and thought I'd take the chance to see my girl here. I admit, I didn't expect to find you all on shore leave," she added, and Garrus saw in her the Alliance career woman Shepard had described so often.
"The Normandy was ordered into dry dock for repairs. We left Earth in the middle of her refit, and there were some things that needed to be finished," Shepard explained.
"I had forgotten you were on Earth. How is David Anderson?"
"He was well the last time I heard from him. He has a difficult job."
"No harder than yours, Commander," Dr. Chakwas told her.
"Well …" Shepard never did like praise, and she seemed particularly uncomfortable with it in front of her mother.
"You know, I've become an old hand at ordering in levo food," Garrus said. "Why don't you let me take care of lunch and the three of you go catch up?"
"Oh, I couldn't," Dr. Chakwas insisted, but it was clear enough that she wanted to stay—and that Shepard's mother wanted her to—so Garrus convinced her to do so.
He ordered lunch, and took the precaution of also ordering food and drinks to be delivered later for tonight's party, so Shepard didn't have to think about it. By the time the food arrived, the three women were talking eagerly.
It was a long lunch, full of laughter, and Garrus found himself liking Shepard's mother very much. He wouldn't have wanted to get on her bad side, to be sure, and he wasn't sure he would have enjoyed serving under her, but as a mother and a person she was delightful and funny and clearly justifiably proud of Shepard.
At last Hannah Shepard glanced at the clock and stood up with a sigh. "This is the loveliest lunch I've had in a long time, but I'm afraid duty calls."
"Mine, too," Dr. Chakwas agreed. "I'll walk down with you."
"Will you? That will be nice," Hannah Shepard said softly, looking just a bit flustered. Chakwas was completely serene, entirely mistress of the situation, as usual. Garrus had never seen her ruffled.
At the door, Hannah Shepard embraced her daughter, as Chakwas waited just a bit down the hall to give them some privacy.
"I think about you every day, darling. I try not to worry."
"No point in worrying, Mom," Shepard told her. "Besides, Garrus has my back."
"Good. You bring her home safe," Hannah Shepard ordered.
"I'll do my best."
With her hands on Shepard's shoulders, Hannah Shepard said, "Do you remember the bedtime stories we used to make up? You had your own ship and crew. The stories were always filled with adventure and danger."
Shepard smiled. "Huh. Haven't thought about those in a while."
"Me, neither, but I got to thinking about it the other day. You'd always swoop in to punish the bad guys to save the day. Even when you were little, you dreamed of the life you have now. And I just want you to know how proud I am of you, honey. So proud."
"Thank you, Mom. Please take care of yourself."
"I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"I'll try not to."
With a last hug, Hannah Shepard walked down the hall to join Dr. Chakwas. As they watched the two women go, Garrus observed, "They seemed happy to see one another."
"Yeah …" Shepard frowned. "And while I'm happy to see my mother showing an interest in someone worthy of her, I think I'd rather not think about it any further. I really, really don't want those images in my head while I'm trying to talk to my ship's doctor."
"Fair enough," Garrus agreed. "Fair enough."
