Chapter 7

Amelia
June 20th, 2190

I awoke abruptly to a relentless assault of miniature hands and feet as Gaius and Octavia crawled between Garrus and me on the bed, "Wake up!" A small voice demanded, "Mada! Pada! Wake uppppppppppp!"

I cracked an eye open, revealing a still-dark room as the hands continued poking and prodding at my exposed back. "Who is it? Who's there?" I asked, keeping my voice as even and measured as possible.

"It's Gaius! Wake up! It's my birthday!"

"No… It can't be Gaius's birthday. Gaius is like six days old." I replied deadpan, extracting a giggle from Octavia, who followed her brother in but sat calmly at the foot of the bed.

"No! I'm not six days old!"

"He's right, honey…," Garrus's gravelly, sleep-laden voice came from behind me, "Gaius is nine days old."

"No!" Gaius protested again, unable to keep the laugh from his voice.

"Ok… Maybe you are two years old, but do you know what happens to two-year-olds on their birthdays?" I waited a moment before flipping around as fast as possible to a kneeling position, surprising Gaius and pushing him down to the bed, using her biotic-enhanced fingers to tickle him, "They get tickled mercilessly!"

"Hahahahaha," Gaius squealed, "Mada, stop! Mada, stop!"

Octavia giggled, her mandibles splayed wide as she watched her brother's torment. "Don't get too comfortable, missy! You also turned two today!"

Octavia jumped off the bed with a shriek and ran out of the room, leaving a confused-looking Bailey at the door, wondering what the commotion was about. "Run, Baiwey, run!" Octavia shouted as she ran by.

Garrus
June 20th, 2190

"Pada! Put me up there, Pada!" Octavia asked, pointing to a nearby tree from where she sat on Garrus's neck.

"One second, honey," Amelia answered, grabbing Gaius from atop her neck and setting him on the ground before scrambling up the tree like the monkey she was. Once she sat on the branch, she leaned down, accepting Octavia from me.

"You make that look far too easy," I said, grabbing Gaius from the ground and handing him up.

"It was easy,"

"Turians can't climb!" I complained, splaying my mandibles wide with a chuckle.

"You aren't allowed to be good at everything. You gotta save some things for the rest of us."

I sighed exaggeratedly, "Fine…."

"Hey, can you take a picture of us? We look cute up here." She corralled the kids, "Gaius, Octavia, smile at Pada!" A moment later, I snapped the picture, forever saving an image of my mate's immaculate smile juxtaposed with his childrens' toothy, wide-mandible grins, Trebia shining its light through the small gaps in the leaf cover above them.