Shepard walked the halls of the Flotilla in a full bio-suit. Tali and Garrus would meet her in engineering. She was curious why the Neema had requested Garrus instead of her, but at the time she had other things on her mind.

The old, battered doors of engineering hissed open. She could see the two of them hovering over a console arguing over some manifold or something. She wasn't the techy. Another reason she liked having Garrus around. Sure she could hack a security system, but anything mechanical more complicated than how to hot wire a car was better left to others.

"What are you two fighting about now?" Shepard said as she came up behind them.

"Shepard! It's good to see you!" Tali exclaimed as she turned and hugged the captain. "I'm so glad you're here. These new upgrades, if we can manage them, should at least put us on a level playing field with the Reapers. I guess it was a good thing we kept the base?"

"In hind sight, yes. At the time my reasons were... more personal." Shepard said.

"Of course. I didn't mean to... Well, let's get to the task at hand, shall we? Garrus seems to think we should use a ..."

"I don't think. I know." Garrus rudely interrupted. His facial expressions were hidden by his helmet, but Shepard could picture them pretty well according to his muffled tone of voice..

"If you used that piece of junk," He pointed angrily at the display, "you're going to short out your power relays and be dead in the water. DEAD! Understand? Or does that not translate into quarian?"

"Now you listen to me, you bosh'tet, I've been working on this ship for just as long as you've been on the Normandy. I think I know my ship!"

Garrus started to say something that would probably be much more insulting when Shepard decided it was a good time to interrupt.

"Okay, okay... I think everybody needs a break. Let's go get some lunch or something."

"Yeah, that sounds appetizing, watching her shove a straw of gray matter into her suit and listening to her slurp up her liquid dietary requirements. I'm starving!" Garrus stated sarcastically and crossed his arms.

"What the hell do you eat? They look like giant bugs!" Tali shot back.

"And they're so good too. Nice and hot and crunchy, mmmmmmmm!" Garrus teased.

"You two better quit or I'm going to think you're flirting!" Shepard said with a smirk and crossed her own arms to make a point.

Garrus immediately stood a little straiter.

"Bosh'tet." Tali quipped.

"You too, please." Shepard raised a brow at her friend.

"Fine." Tali sighed.

"You know, I'd hoped that you two could learn to get along. You're certainly old enough to figure out how to stop acting like children." Shepard teased.

"Yeah, yeah, okay... you've made your point. Where do we go for bugs and paste?" Garrus grumbled.

It took months for all the upgrades to be completed. Constantly on the move to avoid being discovered by the Reapers slowed progress and made it difficult to complete outer hull reinforcement. After much debate and deliberation, Shepard and Anderson convinced the Flotilla to relinquish one of their ships for the Council, their guards and soldiers, and the survivors they'd found so far. The ship was small, but would accommodate the requisition, and was well armed and shielded in the case of an attack. Another moon or astroid would need to be found. The Council could not stay within the militant body and risk destruction. The night before the members to be transported, Rya delivered Thane Atmin Krios. Atmin meaning 'in memory of' or 'in honor of' Thane. Kolyat had asked the Captain to share the birth with his family because she had been important to his father. Shepard had the honor of giving the baby to Rya after he had been cleaned and examined for health. She almost couldn't give up the little bundle. He cooed at her with his tiny mouth. His scales were so small, like diamond dust on his skin. His coloring was pale green, but would darken over then next year. He looked so much like his grandfather with similar markings to his mother. Sonya wondered if she was holding the rekindling of the Thane she knew. Gingerly handing the baby over to his parents, Shepard found another reason that was hers to fight. A few days latter a flutter in her belly would remind her of one closer to home than any other.

The armada was building. After the up grades had been completed, the fleets of ships moved out in search of their enemy. Instead they found the geth and the rachni. They were working together and had suffered many casualties as had the Alliance and the Council races. It took some convincing, mostly of the Flotilla, to join forces with the geth. Shepard had hope of meeting Legion, but since he returned to his people after rewriting the heretics, his programs and information gathered by him had been shared. When she asked about him they would answer; 'We are geth', 'We are Legion'. The one that she knew was now all of them. She understood, but she didn't. The human in her wanted to cling to a single identity, a single individual. Among the geth, this was not a concept. They understood it, but did not share it. Even though they all had his memories, she felt as though she had lost a friend.

She was far enough along in the pregnancy that she was starting to show. She could still pull off the 'bloated' excuse when asked. Garrus didn't know. Nihlus was beginning to suggest that he be told soon, and she would agree then offer a reason not to. She just didn't have the heart. He was her best friend, but he had also been her mate for a time. Uncertainty of how he would handle the news kept her tight lipped. She didn't tell anyone or risk communication with the Council to tell Anderson. Nihlus would accept the child because it was hers, but she wondered how other turians would react or if they child would even look turian. She had to many questions to count. Chakwas did her best to provide answers with scans and an ultrasound. Most indicators pointed to a perfect blend. Accepted by both in theory, accepted by neither more likely.

As she lay beside her mate that night, her finger trailed over the white markings on his rust colored metallic carapace. His bright eyes had long been sheathed behind dark lids. He purred lightly in his sleep. He never made a sound when he slept alone. She grinned at his breath's betrayal of his deeper emotions for her. Eventually she gave in to sleep curled in his arms. Early the next morning, Shepard rose to go see Doctor Chakwas and a salarian doctor that was working in Mordin's old lab. Dr. Jeron specialized in the study of interspecies relations. It was a coincidence that Shepard didn't trust, but she needed his knowledge if her child was going to survive. Her biggest concern at the moment was the difference in her amino-acid make up and the child's. So far there had been no detectable problems, so no counter measures had been taken. The further the pregnancy continued, the closer Chakwas monitored her. Her palms were sweaty and her fingers flexed nervously. Nihlus insisted on going with her despite her protests that she would be fine.

"I'm going because I want to." He told her. "It's not just you this has happened to."

So she relented. As the two of them entered the med-bay the salarian looked up from his vials and tubes.

"Ah! There you are Captain."

Dr. Jeron greeted her with a wave of a blue three fingered hand. Dr. Chakwas sat calmly at her desk.

"Good morning, Captain. How are you feeling this morning?" Chakwas asked her as she turned toward her in her chair.

"I'm feeling a little queazy, but nothing sever." Sonya answered.

She took a seat across from the doctor on one of the beds. Her stomach fluttered and she thought she might vomit, but she didn't.

"Looking a bit pale." The salarian noted. "It is to be expected. As this is your first child, I would normally offer advice on what to expect, but no way to know under the circumstances. Which news would you prefer to hear first?"

He reminded Sonya of a blue, speckled Mordin with both horns. His bronze ringed eyes seemed excited. She felt like she was some sort of fascinating experiment for him. It helped to have Chakwas there with her as a humanizing element, and Nihlus, of course.

"The good news." Sonya smirked.

The salarian blinked at her.

"There is no bad news, Captain." Chakwas told her. "We have a few concerns, naturally. Yours is a very unusual pregnancy to say the least."

"I understand." Sonya nodded. "Well, let's start with why I've got a bun in the oven to begin with. Any more progress on that?"

"One should never leave cooking food unattended, Shepard!" Dr. Jeron exclaimed.

Sonya laughed. "Not literally. It's a figure of speech humans sometimes use when addressing pregnancy."

"Ah, yes... should have realized." Dr. Jeron muttered and busied his hands with his omni-tool running scans over her midsection.

"Well, Captain, I can tell you that the child seems to be developing along turian genealogy. The fascinating part is that the nano technology Cerberus used to help put you back together has been suppling the fetus with the proper amino acids. As long as they continue to do so, we shouldn't have to worry about that. There is some risk that you may go into annaphylactic shock."

Nihlus glanced to Chakwas then to Jeron with stern concern.

"But it is a very low risk. If you were going to have a reaction it's likely that it would have already happened." Chakwas explained.

"You may begin experiencing strange carvings, beyond what a human may ordinarily experience." Jeron added. "Do you wish to know the gender of the child?"

His omni-tool paused over one side of her abdomen.

"That part wouldn't be developed yet, would it?" Sonya asked, surprised.

"Can tell you based on genetic sampling, not by visual confirmation." Jeron explained.

"Okay, sure." Sonya shrugged. "I mean, do you want to know?"

Sonya looked up at Nihlus as he stood beside her with the question. He nodded.

"He is a health boy." Jeron grinned at her and then the turian.

She grinned back. Salarian smiles always made her uneasy. They didn't look quite natural.

"That's great news." She told him. "So, not that I'm unhappy,exactly, but how did this happen?

"How indeed." Chakwas said with a knowing grin.

"The preliminary studies the research teams have done on the moss samples they collected are inconclusive. We don't know anything for sure. All we know is you and your husband were exposed during intercourse, you've conceived, and the child bears DNA from both of you. He may be the first turian to have hair or brown eyes or more than three fingers. The implications are unknowable until we see the development." Jeron explained.

"Spirits..." Sonya breathed. Now she understood why Jeron was so giddy.

Doctor Chakwas smiled at her. She seemed genuinely happy about the situation. But she wasn't the one growing a freak inside of her.

"Thank you doctors... I... I have to go."

Nihlus helped Sonya off the bed and they left. The pregnant mother grabbed an apple on her way up to her cabin. She threw the empty core away in the trash receptor when she walked through to doors. She was still tired, more than she should have been, but the new information throbbed in her mind. She drank some water and checked her messages. There was a heavily encrypted one from Anderson.

D.S. S.

We are safe.

L. D.A.

D.S.S.; Dearest, Sonya Shepard. L. D. A.; Love, David (daddy) Anderson. It was his way. Simple, safe and let her know what she needed to know. She wouldn't be able to respond or tell him about his 'grandchild', but she hoped that he would get to hold the baby when he was born without hiding in a cave on some god forsaken rock. A warm, taloned hand eased onto her shoulder. She pulled her eyes from the screen and looked up into the strong face of the Spectre who had done more than train her for the honor of joining his elite group.

"It's a boy." She smiled.

His mandibles spread wide in a smile.

"He's yours..." She told him. His smile widened. "He's ours."

"Of course he is. We're a family."

Nihlus knelt by her chair and looked up at her. He ran a hand lovingly through her hair.

"It's okay. Whatever happens, we'll get through it." Nihlus assumed her.

She grinned at his tender heart, but she doubted he would be so understanding or gentle with those who spit on their son for being what he was.

"You're starting to really show, my love." Nihlus kept eye contact as he placed a hand on her swell. "Don't you think it's time we told our friends the truth?"

Sonya nodded, her eyes fell to where his hand rested against her. It was a very distinct shape. If someone still believed she was gaining weight or bloated then there was some denial going on. She had a feeling she'd know just where she might find some.