Chapter 15
Amelia
December 9th, 2190
"Gaius…," I said, cocking my head at my son.
Gaius sat in his seat at the counter in front of his plate of food, pushing the broccoli around with one miniature talon, "I don't wan it."
"I guess you don't want dessert then… Your sister gets dessert." I looked over at my daughter, who was noisily munching on the last piece of her broccoli. Gaius pouted, grumpily picking up a piece and eating it.
"How about me? Do I get dessert?" Garrus asked, gathering the empty plates from the table. I smiled, trying to think of something witty in response when my omnitool began to buzz. "Who is it?"
"It's James. I wonder what he wants?" I thought out loud, answering the call.
"Hey, Lola. Oh, hey, Scars."
"Hey, Vega. What's up?" I asked.
"The brass is sending me out to Palaven. I wanted to see if you guys were free tomorrow."
"Garrus will be at work, but I'll be free all day. Let me know when you're free, and I'll shoot you the address." I answered.
"Sounds good. See you then, Lola."
-0-
December 10th
"Nice place, Lola. Moving up in the world…," James commented as he entered the house, looking at the decorations that hung on the walls.
"Thanks," I said with a smile, "So what-"
"Mada! Mada! Look! Look!" Gaius ran into the atrium holding the datapad in his little hand, paying no mind to the new face in his home.
I couldn't help the beaming smile as she picked up my son, who excitedly pushed the datapad towards my face to show off his artistic prowess. The pad showed a finger-drawn image of four stick figures, depicting me, Garrus, him, and Octavia, all holding hands in a grassy field, all under a smiling sun. "I love it, Gaius," I gave a pecking kiss on his nose, "This is my friend, James. Can you say hi?"
"Hi," He said, wriggling in my arms to face the man.
"What's up, little man? Gimme a high five." As requested, Gaius planted his hand into James's before wriggling more and getting me to set him down, running away. James chuckled humorlessly, his mood turning dour, "Reminds me of my hermanita…,"
"What happened to her?"
"They were in San Diego when the Reapers hit…," He trailed off.
"My God, James. I'm so sorry."
He held a hand up, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, a friendly smile returning to his face, "It's fine. They're in a better place now. Enough of that, though; I came here to give you good news."
"Oh? Is the good news why you're here?"
"No, the brass just sent me to help train the turians going into the cross-species ships. The good news is… I asked Ashley to marry me, and she said yes."
"Oh my God," I exclaimed, hugging the man, "I'm so happy for you two!"
James returned the hug with one arm, chuckling, "Are you going soft in your old age, Lola?"
"That sounds like a challenge, James."
"I'm always game for a dance, you in?"
"Hell yea. Let's dance."