Garrus should have known the morning's too good to be true, the house too quiet. He learned long ago that 'quiet' meant the twins were up to trouble and, odds were, something in the house was in the process of being destroyed beyond any hope for repair. Yet, even knowing that, he can't force himself to get up out of bed, not after finally making it home from their latest job in the late hours of the night before. Jane laying against his chest also adds to the 'don't give a damn' feeling of this morning.
Now, if only the twins could read my mind and watch themselves for at least a few more hours.
When he feels the soft stirring against his scarred chest, Garrus purrs and uses his warmer hand to rub his mate's back. She mumbles something, yawning and burrowing her cold toes into his calfs. He's used to that feeling, but her doing it never ceases to make him jump and trill as he does now. "Damn…" he whispers, shivering, "How can your feet be so cold?"
Jane chuckles, voice thick with sleep. "You're not," she stops, yawning before continuing, "doing your job in warming me up."
He snorts and nuzzles her, chin caressing her hairline. "My apologies, Your Grace. How dare I fall slack in my duties to keep your unnaturally frozen toes warm." At that, she chuckles and her arm slung over his hip slides around his waist to pull herself against him. He purrs and returns the hug with his arm beneath her, free and artificial hand brushing the hair from across her brow. "How'd you sleep?"
She shrugs, her brows twitching in a tell-tale sign that her slumber didn't come with the rest she deserves. Yet, she doesn't admit to a repeat of nightmares and he doesn't push. Sometimes he can find himself in her dreams because of their Leviathan-imbued connection, able to help her without forcing her to admit what she sees as weakness, but, when the uncontrollable connection doesn't join their dreams, he can't get a word from her about what she had to face alone.
Psychological damage is not something new to his people. As a species so used to war, so ready to face hell for the cause, and damn the aftermath, but he knows no amount of education on the subject could prepare him for the nightly struggle the two of them go through. Jane, no matter what he tells her, will always carry the pain of losing so many, of what she believes to be her mistakes, and he can't do anything but hold her, listen, and soothe her pains. He learned long ago that the turian way of taking survivor's guilt was no consolation for her, no balm to her mental wounds.
"I fucking hate PTSD." Jane's voice is tired, her shoulders heaving in a heavy sigh. "Even with Elihu and Dr Forza's help, I just can't get rid of the shit."
The batarian doctor, Dr Forza, knew much about the psychological damages of war and stresses left from being the one to command soldiers to their deaths. She went through much to get to where she is, to learn how to help people despite her species and the prejudice associated, and, admittedly, learned much of what she now uses from her time in the Hegemony. After the war, however, she tried to move on from her destroyed people's old ways, to show she was more than the Hegemony's cultural and political views, but she didn't make it far in the galaxy. That's why, when the Wraiths learned through Shadow Broker channels that a doctor who could help those still suffering from hidden wounds earned in the war, they offered a deal, loyalty for a home, and all that comes with it. It wasn't hard for Dr Wyka Forza to accept and she has, so far, done a better job taking care of those like Jane far better than Elihu could with his limited studies in psychiatry.
"We'll get through it," he promises to himself just as much as his wife, laying his chin on her head and closing his eyes as her scent surrounds him. There are many nights where she wakes in tears and screaming, and he holds her through the pain, but he can tell she hasn't fallen that far into her thoughts this morning. With her current condition, a simple distraction and time away from her dreams will wash away the nightmare. "So," he begins, lifting from her head to smile down to her, "since the kids are out of school today, what are our plans?"
She chuckles, a soft smile at the corner of her lips. "I don't know. It's not really up to us to choose, now is it?"
As if summoned, Garrus hears the heavy sounds of feet pounding down the wooden floors as he hums in feigned consideration. Ever since the twins managed to form opinions of their own, Garrus and Jane have found themselves bending to Damocles and Cassia's will. Not that he can complain. Whatever the kids tend to pick, it doesn't often leave Jane or himself out of the fun and games.
The door slams open, Jane cringes, and Garrus imagines the damage a door thrown open with that amount of force could do. Luckily, he managed to think about such eventualities when building the home and reinforced said places of the worst wear and tear with the children always at the forefront of his mind. If this was to be the home he gives his wife for the rest of their lives, he was going to make damn sure it survived the two forces of nature they call their children. Especially if Arcanus is right - which he usually is - about them being biotics soon to start showing physical signs any day now. He shudders just thinking about the amount of destruction the two will be able to do once that happens.
"Mommy!" "Daddy!" Both scream in tandem, the sounds mixing into some intelligible shout of voice and trilling vocals. The heavy thumps of feet bounce off the smooth, wooden floors of the master bedroom. Garrus can hear the difference in tone as the twins run over the rug just before the bed and has just enough of a chance to brace himself and his mate just before the onslaught as he cups her head to his chest to shield it.
The children fly more than climb onto the bed and land on Garrus with the weight of a Mako. He grunts as the air rushes from his lungs and the twins giggle and grin, trying to pull the blankets away from his and Jane's head in attempt to make sure the two adults are wide awake. Normally, he'd be all for waking early and meeting the children before they could get impatient enough to dive into his bed, but, for just today, he wished they would magically sleep in, but, apparently, children do not live by the same schedule as two soldiers running on a bare three hours of sleep.
Jane groans and tugs the blanket back over her head. "Go away," she mumbles tiredly, curling up against Garrus as Damocles climbs over them to plop behind his mother's back. "Too early…"
"Come on, mommy." Cassia leans over Garrus and tries yanking on the blankets. "Wake up and come play."
"Yeah, come on, sleephead!" Damocles helps his sister tug the blanket from Jane, her hair mussed from sleep and eyes squinting against the sudden unveiling. "Wake up!" He starts to bounce.
Jane makes a wordless grumble of tired protest and Garrus chuckles, looking back to his daughter. "You're up early."
She shakes her head. "Uh-uh." Pulling up her omnitool, she opens the clock. "You said you want us to wake when it's at the eight," she explains, pointing at the time. "It's ten, dot, four and five."
Shocked, Garrus shifts to his back and pulls up his own tool. It's not like he doesn't trust the time keeping on Cassia's tool, but he just can't seem to believe he slept in so late - and that the house is still standing after however long it's been since the twins woke up without him or Jane. True to his daughter's words, though, it's fifteen minutes until eleven o'clock.
"Wow," is all he can really say, mind blank except for what in the galaxy is he waking up to outside of this master bedroom. Looking to his mate, he smiles to see she's at least awake enough to be playing with Damocles by trying to grab his hands when he moves to tug on the blankets over her shoulders.
Still, even occupied, Damocles' mind quickly changes gears as he pouts and sits flatly on his side of the bed. "I'm hungry."
"You?" he asks Cassia and she nods, mandibles perking at the prospect of filling her belly. "Then how about you and Damocles give us a second to get dressed and we'll all have something to eat."
"Okay!" she says happily, jumping off the bed and running out of the room. Her brother gives Jane's side of the blanket a last jerk before laughing at his supposed victory and rushing out to join.
"Bastards," Jane says, her voice soft and a smile on her lips. "How bad do you think it is outside?"
Garrus chuckles and stands, going to the door to gently close it so his wife can get dressed. Seeing him undressed is something the twins can understand since everything of his is hidden away, but trying to explain what unclothed breasts and human genitalia are to two four year olds of a different species is another matter. Last thing they really want to go into right now is anything close to a sex talk thanks to curiosity over why mommy looks different and if they will grow into the same shape when they hit puberty and their groin plates finally part. It's hard enough explaining to Cassia that, no, she will never grow the hair she envies on her mother.
Once she stands, Jane heads to their dresser and pulls out a pair of underwear, loose pants, and a sleeveless top. She dresses quickly as Garrus pulls on his own sleeping pants and heads out to see to the twins while she finishes up, always faster to dress without all the extra clothes to put on or chest bumps to cover. He's just as ready to go out about the house in just a pair of pants while she has to practically wear an entire closet.
The benefits of being a turian…
So far, walking through the living room, past the dining area, and into the open kitchen, he sees nothing destroyed or out of place. Now, what state the twin's bedrooms are in is a different matter, but, then again, their bedrooms are always a disaster zone on even a good day, so there wouldn't be much they could do besides blowing a hole in the wall. Perhaps, he thinks, the twins slept almost just as late as he and Jane did by the looks of things and lack of dirty breakfast dishes in the sink or on the table. More than clean their rooms, they'd never pick up their own dishes without mention from either himself or Jane.
Unable to reach the most likely target of their sugary cereals, the twins hop impatiently at the counter directly below the cabinets where their Blasto cereal is tucked away. Damocles has his hands flat on the countertop, trying to use it to lift himself up as Cassia merely watches Garrus enter, a grin on her face as her eyes cut towards the cabinets in silent urging. Chuckling, Garrus lays a hand on her head as he passes and goes to his son, laying a heavy hand on his shoulder to still him, smiling back at his son's grin of innocence.
"I'll get it. He motions the far counter. "Go grab your spoons," he says before grabbing their plastic bowls covered in cartoon characters from one of their favorite shows - something about a happy Elcor and his friends, Garrus thinks - and handing them to his son, "and take these to set the table."
"Okay, daddy." Cassia rushes over to the counter, pulls out the drawer, and grabs two spoons shaped for their little hands. Giving her brother a nod, she follows him to the sunny alcove where there small breakfast table sits with just enough chairs for the four of them. Just as she and Damocles are placing out their bowls and safety spoons, Jane shuffles in, hand to her mouth as she yawns loudly.
"How can you three be so awake?"
Garrus chuckles as he turns on the heating appliance beside the sink for the hot water she'll need to make her tea. When she comes to him, he purrs and leans down to receive a kiss on his plated cheek. "We're turians. We're built to be wide awake and aware the moment we wake up." He snorts at her eye roll and hands her the brightly colored box of cereal from the cabinet to save her the effort of stretching for it, even if he loves the things it does to her body.
"Hand me a bowl?"
He lifts a brow. "What are you going to eat?" When she shakes the box hard enough to make the crunchy pieces inside rattle against one another, he blinks in surprise and asks, "That?" He points to the box. "You're going to eat that for breakfast?"
"Why not?" She lifts her own brow and turns the box in her hand to look at the highly decorated cover. "If we let the twins eat it, why not us?"
"Because it tastes mostly like sugar?"
She laughs and swats his arm with the box. "Grab me a bowl, and might as well turn off the water steamer. I don't think tea goes with cereal."
He hums and watches her walk to the table and sit down, smiling as she listens to what must be a great story about something that happened while they were gone. That, or Jane is exaggerating her enthusiasm, but that's usually not like her. Never, with their children, does she lie about her feelings or emotions when it could ultimately hurt them, even if they never knew of her deceit.
Figuring why the hell not, Garrus grabs two bowls from the cabinet, two more spoons from the drawer, and the milk from the fridge. Heading to his family, he sits at the chair opposite his son and between his daughter and wife on each of his diagonals. Cassia and Damocles wear happy smiles as he hands Jane the box to pour for everyone, while he opens the carton for the - surprisingly - passable tasting synthesized milk.
Actual milk just wouldn't transport from whatever colonies that possess the creatures that produce it, but the synthetic equivalent Miranda had found did the job. Not that they'd know one way or the other when neither he nor Jane actually had real milk in their lives and the twins haven't known anything but this brand of syntho-milk.
Jane fills the bowl before Damocles first, placing it before Garrus to fill with milk, then offers her hand across the table in request for Cassia's. Pouring the syntho-milk into the bowls, he lets his wife gently hand their son his bowl to limit any spills before Garrus himself hands Cassia her breakfast bowl. He smiles and rumbles tenderly when he turns to Jane, swapping bowls to pour milk over the cereal before switching back to do that same to his own breakfast.
The children don't wait before digging into their meals like rabid varren and Garrus chuckles before taking his own bite of the fruity and sweet cereal. Jane snorts around her spoonful, but smiles over to him. It seems that, true to Arcanus' suspicions, the children are a perfect example of 'like mother, like child' as all three eat like it's their first meal in centuries. All the while, Garrus savors the sugary breakfast, eat bite rolling over his tongue before he tilts his head back and swallows.
"Daffy?" Damocles swallows his bite before using his spoon to lift and drop some of his food. "Can we go play outside today?"
"Of course. You don't need to ask to go outside," Garrus says, purring as he tilts his head. "Are you going to go play on your playhouse? Or practice your shooting?" When Damocles shakes his head to both, Garrus looks to his daughter. "Will you be playing with him?" She nods and he chuckles. "Then, do you mind giving your dad a hint?"
Cassia giggles and looks out at the edge of the water down the beach. "We wanna build sandcastles and play in the water." Her big eyes look over to him pleadingly. "Please?"
Normally, a shudder would run through Garrus at the mention of them doing anything close to the water without either himself or Jane, but something in the way the twins both look to him, then their mother, pulls at his heart. He glances to Jane and watches as the corner of her lips quirk up into a half grin as she says more to him than the twins, "I see no problem in that."
He knows she's trying to soothe his worries, but when she turns to the children, he can't seem to say no to their hopeful looks. Sure, the twins have been in the water up to their shins before, but it's always been under supervision and never, in all the time they've been going to the shore, have they wanted to actually play in the water. They've saved the galaxy, so taking their kids out to the shore shouldn't be a problem. Won't be a problem, he reminds himself because, dammit, he won't let his anxiousness get in the way of their fun.
She doesn't seem to notice his running thoughts as she looks to the twins. "How about that? We get some bathing suits on and sit in the waves right where the sand is wet and perfect to make shit?"
The twins giggle at her words, but nod. Rushing to eat their food, they practically lick the bowls when they tip them up to drink the milk just like they've learned from watching their mother. Even seeing it nearly everyday they eat cereal, it still makes Garrus laugh quietly, shoulders shaking as, not a moment later, his wife follows suit. She chuckles herself as she watches him eat politely, her eyes teasing.
"You planning on eating that same bowl for lunch, too?" He hums in mock thought, looking at his spoonful, and she chuckles. "Well, hurry your ass up." Getting up, she motions the twin's bowls. "Clean up the table, guys, and then we can go get dressed for the water."
Both children can't seem to nod fast enough as they hop down from their chairs, grab their empty bowls and spoons, and run to the sink. Practically tossing the dishes in the sink, Damocles and Cassia run out of the room, around the corner, and up the stairs, trilling and cooing in excitement all the way. That just leaves Garrus and Jane as he finishes up his cereal and stands to follow her in putting everything back where it belongs. With the box of cereal in the cabinet, Jane putting the milk in the fridge, and dirty bowls and spoons washed off and left in the sink, he takes her hand and walks with her to their bedroom so she can dress.
"So…" Jane waits until he closes the door before grabbing the hem of her shirt and yanking it up and off over her head. "You okay with this? With letting them play in the water?"
Garrus rumbles and unties the loose string holding up his pants. "I can't say I like it, but they'll have fun. And we'll be there to make sure they're safe."
"Of course." Her pants and panties go the way of her shirt as she tosses them across the room. "And when you're flailing around, I'll save you too." She smirks. "In fact, I think you're the one I need to worry about. The kids? They know how to stay on shore, but you? I have a feeling your ego gets the better of you."
He snorts as he pulls on a looser pair of shorts not really meant for a turian, but purchased special order. Strangely enough, he wasn't the only turian in the galaxy willing to challenge death. Well, death that didn't come from mercs or a giant Reaper. Compared to drowning when all his alien friends apparently knew how to float, fighting Reapers was child's play.
"Oh, to be fell by the seemingly peaceful waves of Virmire." He grunts and goes to the master bath for her protective cream. "What an embarrassing way to go. Make sure they don't put 'drowned because he thought he could float' in the Wraith annals."
He can hear her laugh as he grabs the sun cream from off the counter and comes back to her. Giving her a good up-down, he growls softly at the way her dark blue and white swimming suit accentuates her hips and waist in the way its divide rises to midwaist. Catching his sound, Jane looks to him with a smile and light brushing of pink to her cheeks, one she'd never admit nor let someone point out. Still, he can't help the warm chuckle at her continuing self-consciousness towards her beauty as he gestures towards the door.
She follows him out to the living room, still empty in sign that the twins are still getting dressed. He might as well take the opportunity to do something with his hands, so he pops open the tube of cream and squeezes some of the cold lotion onto his hands. He can stand the chill, he's become used to it, and warms it between his palms before coming to her.
She turns without direction and offers the uncovered expanse of her back. He lays his hands on her shoulders first and rumbles at the shiver and gasp she never ceases to hold back when they do this, no matter how often they perform this routine of protection. "Fuck, that's cold as shit."
"An inaccurate description, I hope," he says with a chuckle, smoothing the cream down from her shoulders to her hands where he links his fingers with hers for a single squeeze. Once her back is covered, he motions for her to turn around, but she quickly grabs the tube of cream from his hand. "Nope. This is my turn. I'm not an invalid, I can put sunscreen on my own chest and face."
"Shame." He smirks and runs the tip of his talon along the upper edge of her swimming suit, right above the roundness of her breasts.
She snorts and swats at his hand playfully, pushing him towards the entry way. "Go grab the kids some toys and I'll do this."
Knowing she's one to not accept help with something she sees as simple as this, Garrus does as she says and walks towards the entryway closet. Sometimes, when the other Normandy kids visit - or Gelta, as she now practically lives here on days - they would play in the waters, so the have plenty of toys and floatation devices for the twins. If they are so adamant about wanting to test out the water, then he's insists they wear at least one. Hearing the heavy footsteps of his children thumping down the stairs, he grabs four of the long beach towels and moves to join the rest of his family.
"Come on, daddy!" Cassia greets impatiently, waving a hand over in her little purple body suit, while her brother, clad in loose shorts, holds a bucket of sand digging toys. "Let's go play!"
"Slow your roll, love," Jane says with a chuckle, heading to the glass doors that'll lead out to the deck. "Ready, daddy?" Smirking over her shoulder, she adds, "We wouldn't want to kids to think you're slowing down their fun."
He snorts and lays his hand on his son's back to follow his sister as she leads the way out of Jane's open door. Handing her the stack of towels on the way out, he opens the air nozzle of the floating toys, When he tested them, they seemed too soft for his liking, so he takes the flat nozzle into his mouth, tightens his mandibles to his mouth to create a better seal, and blows air into the first toy. He inflates it on the way down the deck steps until it's firm in his hand and closes the clasp, doing the same to the smaller inflatable floating aids one of the twins will be able to wear on their arms.
Reaching the edge of the beach, the children give one last glance over their shoulder and, when they receive the go ahead in a nod, they break into a full out run towards the darker sand at the edge of the lapping water's shore. Garrus can't help but chuckle at their enthusiasm as they go, bumping his wife's shoulder as they approach at a much slower, controlled pace. They reach the shore just in time to watch the kids plop down and dig their tiny hands into the moist sand.
"This is the life," Jane says, looking out over the horizon and the water as far as Garrus can see. "Just sun, laughing kids, and maybe a nap."
Garrus chuckles and sets the floating toys aside to help her lay out two of the towels for them to relax on. Sitting down, he leans back on his hands and stretches out his legs to bask in the sun. "Just remember that when you have sand everywhere," he jokes, remembering how she has complained once about 'having sand in places she didn't know she had'. "Not to mention if you forget to use that cream and end up looking like one of those sherry fruits."
She laughs and lays on her own long towel, using the kids' towels as a pillow. "Cherry, Garrus, cherry." She closes her eyes and wiggles as if she needs to get comfortable. "And I already made a timer on my tool to remind me to put more on." One of her eyes cracks open and a smirk spreads on her lips. "Don't try and skimp out on helping me lotion up my back."
"I'd never think of it." He purrs and leans down over her to kiss her. He feels her warm breath puff against his plates as she chuckles near silently just before opening her lips and teasing her tongue against his mouth. Growling, he slides his tongue against hers for just a moment before pulling away. She makes a frustrated sound and he cups her cheek, smirking. "Later."
"Promises, promises." Chuckling, she closes her eyes and lays her head back down on her makeshift pillow. "Let me know how their castle comes out."
He raises a brow plate and looks out towards where the twins dig in the sand. "What? Sleeping and leaving me to watch them alone?"
"That's the idea." She smirks and shifts to lay a hand on his thigh. "Just five minutes."
"Five minutes mean until your omnitool sounds."
She shrugs. "Same difference."
He lets her rest, knowing she, as a human, needs more sleep than he does. Sure, his schedule has shifted over the years to match hers, but a turian still needs less sleep to function that a human and, at this rate, he's sure he'll get his chance to switch places when she wakes back up. Once she wakes, he's going to make sure to spend some time out here sunning to the sounds of his children playing and laughing as they are now.
He watches Damocles attempt to dig the biggest hole he can as Cassia tries to use their plastic pail to pile the wet sand he displaces into a large mountain. Sometimes, watching them like this, he wonders what they imagine and see in their games, in the stories they tell in their own special language. He's sure that, as a child, he, too, would get lost in his own head and left his parents wondering just as he is, but even considering a child's mind, his twins share a connection between just the two of them. He once heard that twins have a one-of-a-kind ability, but he never considered it true until his son and daughter. Whether it be because they are the only two of their hybrid genetics and, thus, the only two to know each other's lives or just because they spend so much time together, the almost supernatural bond is there.
Shame that he, nor any other turian, would ever have had the chance to know that sort of link.
"Daddy?" Damocles walks up the beach, sand covering his legs and hands. "Can we go into the water?"
Garrus trills in shock, his children never asking to go out into the dangerous waters, and his eyes widen because he knows that there's more to the question than just wanting to stand in the shallow water. "What?" is all that he seems able to say.
"I wanna go in the water," his son says again pointing back towards the waves, a pleading quiver to his mandibles when he looks back to Garrus. "Please?"
"I… Uh… I don't…" His words die at the look on Damocles' face and he swallows down any more protest. Glancing to his daughter silently approaching, he asks her, "Do you want that too?"
Cassia is more hesitant, but she nods. "Uh huh."
As he hums, heart speeding at the terrors of every worst case scenario, Jane speaks. "Sure," she says, shifting to sit up in much the same relaxed position that Garrus was just in before his children decided to try and give him a panic attack. "How about we take each of you and hold you while we walk into the deeper waters?"
Her glance his way proves that this is more aimed towards him than the children, but they accept the terms all the same with cheers of approval. Flicking his own mandibles, Garrus rumbles and lets his eyes move over her reassuring smile. Finally, with no intent to crush his children's curiosity, he purrs at the two little ones and nods, forcing a smile past his worry. "Sure. But you have to wear these." He grabs the floating toys and waves the children over. "I want Cassia to wear this one," he says as he slides the circular tube around her waist and snaps closed the back, "and Damocles will wear these." Next, he grabs the two smaller wraps for his upper arms and closes the clasps to secure it.
With one final tug to ensure the floating devices are on, he nods once and smiles at his children as some of the panic eases. Not completely, but enough to soothe the rapid pounding of his heart.
Gaining his acceptance, the children bounce on their feet in anticipation and practically pull Garrus and their mother to their feet with both hands taking their parents' much large one. He and his mate chuckle as they climb to their feet and he, as soon as he's up, grabs Cassia by her tiny waist and hefts her up to his hip, purring at her loud, joyous laugh. Jane has to crouch to pick up their son, but he shares his own happiness with her as Garrus hears his chattering trills and chirps of excitement.
Walking out to the sea, Garrus stops right beside the twin's sandcastle attempt to let his toes sink into the sand that exists in a state between a liquid and solid. The sensation is one he's never quite gotten used to and it still manages to amaze him, but now isn't the time to stop and relish the feeling of solid ground and bare touches of water at his toes. Taking a deep breath, he waits for Jane to join him at his side before moving in time with her out towards the deeper waters.
The feeling of the cold water rising up his legs sends pangs of panic up his spine, but he doesn't let it show, being the strength for his daughter. As the waves kick at his knees, then thighs, and finally hips, he suddenly hears Cassia's frantic yelps of vocals and her audible cry of fright. He stops immediately, eyes wide and fringe tingling in the secret sense of feeling someone staring at his back coming from Jane and Damocles closer to the shore due to her inability to go out as far because of her height.
Trilling once, Garrus quickly cups Cassia's head to his shoulder and whispers soothing, wordless noises. "Shh, shh. It's okay. We don't have to go any further. It's okay." Purring deeply, he leans back to be able to look in her wide eyes. "How about we go back?"
Ever a Vakarian child, Cassia juts her jaw in determination and shakes her head. "No."
"No?" Rumbling, he presses his forehead to hers. "Cassia, you don't need to be able to do everything. It's okay to say you're scared, to not do something because it makes you uncomfortable."
"I wanna do it." She looks over his shoulder and Garrus, curious, turns to watch Jane and Damocles up to his waist in the water.
Understanding strikes and he frowns, sighing softly. "Cassia," he says, eyes dropping to her. "You don't have to be able to do everything Damocles does. You can be your own person, be an individual with your own strengths."
"I wanna do it."
"Cassia-"
"I wanna do it!" Her tiny talons grip the edges of his plates tight and she looks to him, expression full of frustration, but also hope.
She truly is Jane's daughter. I remember seeing that look too many times during the war.
Relaxing his mandibles, Garrus gives in and nods once. "Okay, but, if you are scared, you tell me. Understood?" She smiles softly and nods, turning to the water kissing her feet.
With a final glance of reassurance over his shoulder to both calm his wife and himself, Garrus takes slow steps into the water while holding Cassia tighter to his chest in silent support. As he goes deeper and the water rises, he can feel her tense, but, with a pause in his movements, she eases. With time, her hand even reaches out to run over the surface of the water and, before long, it seems like she doesn't even notice when the water rests around her hips.
"You're my strong girl," Garrus whispers, smiling and purring in pride. "You know that?" When she looks to him in confusion, he decides not to frighten her with revealing how deep they are. Instead, he listens to Damocles and Jane laughing and splashing in the water around themselves for a moment before laying his hand in the water beside hers. "I got you. I always have you."
Cassia chirps and her mandibles spread in a smile as she hugs onto him, nuzzling his neck. Piece by piece, with each passing second, he feels her relax completely in his arms. It isn't until he watches her eyes go wide and a trill echo in her throat that he realizes she's seen how far out they are over his shoulder. Jerking in his arms, she looks down at her hips and gasps.
"I did it, daddy!"
Happy beyond words for her power to overcome her fear, Garrus nods and can't stop his mandibles from spreading in a wide grin. "Yeah," he says, voice a whisper as the breath breaks from his lungs, "You did it. I'm so proud of you."
She may not understand all of what he's saying, but she must feel the emotion in his harmonics as she grins and hugs him again. She doesn't speak, and she doesn't have to as he just holds her tight, singing to her without words. The only sounds are of his and her vocals and the calming rhythm of the waves around them.
"Daddy," she says after a time he can't put actual calculation to, "can I have ice cream?"
Not surprised by her every attempt to get the sweet, cold treat, Garrus nods. If ever there was a time she deserved it, it would be now. After all, she and her brother both overcame a fear that many turians would never dare challenge on their own free will. Sure, he had to perform water training in basic, as did every other turian, but only the insane would ever return to water without having a pack of wild klixen - or the like - chasing them. In that case, sometimes drowning is better.
He laughs and looks down to his daughter's light blue eyes. "Of course, princess. We'll get you and Damocles an ice cream." Heading back towards shore, he passes Jane and their son. "I'm going to go inside and get them some ice cream cones. As a celebration." He smiles to his surprised, but enthusiastic, son. "For doing so well." He huffs a laugh. "Better than me, even."
They twins giggle, Damocles asking, "You're afraid of water?"
"You kidding? Good thing Cassia was with me to cheer me on." Cassia flutters her mandibles shyly at that. "Did you have fun, Damocles?"
"Uh-huh."
Reaching the shore, he sets Cassia down and moves to head inside, but Jane stops him with a hand on his arm. "Stay out here with them and help them dry off? Have to go to the bathroom anyways."
He nods and watches the children rush to the towels on the beach. "Sure. I got it." Looking to her, he adds, "Bring out some water?"
Jane gives him a thumbs up before running back to the house. Just in time for him to catch the twins almost using the already thrown out, and completely sandy, towels to dry off.
"Guys, wait!" He walks over, making quick time with his large strides, and chuckles as he shakes his head. "You're going to get sand all over you if you use those. Here," he explains, handing them the folded towels, "At least you won't have as much sand on you."
"Daddy? Did you ever swim?"
Garrus hums at Cassia's question. "In the military training. I wasn't very good." He smiles and sits on his towel, not caring if it'll get soaked because he plans to let it dry along with himself in the sun. "My swimming entails a lot of flailing, followed by bouts of drowning."
They don't seem to understand, sharing a look between each other, but that's just as well. He's sure they'll understand well enough one day. That, and he's done well to teach them that, though they shouldn't outright fear the water, they must always be cautious when around it. One day, they'll be able to go alone to let the water lap at their plates, but that'll be a long way off.
He hopes.
When his wife returns with two cones of the kids' favorite crazily colored, blue ice cream with white fluffs of something sugary and two bottles of water, the twins can't get to her fast enough. Under the pretense of helping her, of course, but he knows better. He's even proven right when Damocles can't start eating fast enough. He chuckles as the three approach and takes the bottled waters so Jane can sit with free hands.
When the twins move to sit on the towels, Jane holds up a hand. "Oh, no. You have to eat that shit over the sand or it'll get all sticky." Laying back, she uses her elbows to hold herself up and watch the twins eat in their own way, Damocles taking huge bites while Cassia uses her tongue to takes swirls off the top. "Damocles, you're going to get a brain freeze. Eat slower." He mumbles with a full mouth as the melting ice cream drips onto his hands, but Jane seems to give up as she looks over to Garrus. "You did amazing out there." She huffs a laugh and smirks. "They're going to make you look like a fool soon when they're going out there on their own."
"Don't remind me." He sighs. "I can't believe they have more determination than I did at their age."
"Oh? What were you doing at their age, exactly?"
"The exact opposite," he responds, chuckling as he smiles to her. "While they're wanting to be in the water, I was off climbing trees…. And falling out of them."
She barks a laugh. "You? Falling out of trees?" Laughing, she sits up and nudges him. "Good thing you learned how to not fall on your ass while getting up onto sniper perches."
He chuckles and nods, looking over to their children and grunting in surprise at Damocles already done and licking his fingers. "Son, did you even enjoy it?" Their son looks to him, and the innocent question of 'huh' in his eyes wipes away any exasperation at him engulfing his food. Instead, Garrus shakes his head with a rumble of amusement. "Just don't go running around until it settles."
Cassia, looking from her cone to her brother, hums and steps closer to him. "Want some?"
Garrus can't justify telling her the lesson of savoring one's food, not when she so lovingly offered some of her own treat. To punish them with a reprimand will only ruin the moment of a celebration of their courage in the water. He can't do that to them no matter how much he wishes his daughter weren't so self-sacrificing, even to her brother, with something as simple as an ice cream cone.
What he doesn't quite expect out of his son, though, is Damocles taking a huge bite off the top of Cassia's cone in excitement. Even Cassia seems surprised at her brother's hunger and, though Garrus knows it was not out of malice and more over enthusiasm, he can't stop the sharp grunt of scolding that passes his mouth plates. Luckily for him - and for the light nature of today - Damocles doesn't take the short growl as anything negative beyond the guarantee that he's been caught 'red handed', as humans say.
Although, I'd say it's more like sticky blue handed.
Jane laughs from beside him. "Damocles, you little shit!" Sitting up, she wipes at her eye, sputtering out gasping chuckles. "You're such a bastard." She waves over their son and he grins, running over to sit between her legs. "When someone offers you something, you don't take a ton of it. You take a small bite."
"Okay, mommy," he responds, expression giving Garrus the idea that he's thinking the lesson over in his head.
"Apologize, Damocles." Garrus' tone is low enough to be heard and taken seriously, but not a promise of continued punishment once he does as told.
Damocles ducks his head, chirping once before picking at the fabric of the towel. "I'm sorry."
Looking to Cassia, Garrus smiles and gives her a nod in reassurance that they both aren't in trouble anymore. Purring, she returns the gesture and goes over to sit in the sand beside him, but he pats the towel in acceptance of whatever spills may come in return for being close to her.