The vidscreen in Charlotte Walker's home blared as she scurried around her living room. She picked up forgotten baby bottles, pacifiers, and little shoes that were thrown about the room. Her toppling thirteen-month-old, Livvy, followed in her footsteps with bare feet. A security camera placed in the corner of the ceiling tracked their movements.
She grabbed an extra pair of socks from the baby bag slung over her shoulder and struggled with her squirming baby. With all her might, Livvy fought against getting ready.
"Please Olivia, just work with me here." Charlotte pleaded only to receive giggles and more squirms from her daughter. They needed to leave soon, or they'd be late for lunch with her brother and nephews.
Charlotte thought of what else she needed; they would be going to the Aroch district's new aquarium after lunch, it would probably be chilly.
"Babe, could you get Livvy's jacket, the one with the monkeys? She looks so cute in it. I think it's in closet, maybe in her room?" Charlotte called to her wife, who was in the kitchen, toiling over dishes.
"The dancing pyjaks one? You got it!" Sarah sang as she hurried out of the kitchen. "Anything to make our baby extra cute, even though that's not possible, my pumpkin's already at max adorableness." She continued as she went up the stairs towards their bedrooms.
Charlotte smiled to herself; she loved her wife's chipper attitude and jokes at times. It helped to smooth over constant fretting that was so naturally to Charlotte.
The smile soon faded as she looked up and saw the cameras that monitored every second of her family's day. An Alliance officer was surveilling their every movement on the other side of it.
Security had increased ten folds in the past four months; the Alliance won't tell her why, but news broke soon after of breach on the Vancouver base, where her sister was being kept. They still wouldn't tell her if she was okay. God forbid Charlotte would lose her again.
The vidscreen continued to blare on with news reports of the Alliance and the Batarian government battling it out as Livvy battle the shoe onto her right foot. Charlotte was too distracted to notice Livvy had wormed her way out of it.
Every new organization projected the to the same images. A new empty part of the galaxy of exploding dust of violent purples and blues. With talking heads pointing the blame at Shepard as they called her. They only showed a woman in uniform with dark brown hair slicked back, steeled eyes, and burning scarrings across her face. Charlotte almost didn't recognize her.
Shepard this, Shepard that. But she would always be Olivia to her.
None of it made sense to her, just that she wouldn't be able to see sister anytime soon. It was not like she expected it. Until recently, her sister was gone to her; she had nothing left of Olivia other than the name her daughter carried.
And now with everything, Sarah wanted to change their daughter's name. Sarah wanted to minimize their connection with the name Shepard. With the woman who destroyed a colony of batarians, taking over three hundred thousand lives.
Frustratedly, Charlotte pulled up her omni-tool and turned off the screen. Livvy calmed and stopped fighting as she watched the orange glow of the tool. She eagerly patted her wrist, sighing to Charlotte that she wanted it. She gave her daughter a smile and small nod for no, not right now and finally got her shoes on. Her daughter's excitement, however, did not calm her from her thoughts.
Charlotte never had ties to the Shepard name, neither did their brother, they all had different fathers.
Still, she had taken Sarah's last name after marriage. The farther she got away from her father, the better. There was so much yelling and screaming during her childhood, while he never hit her, Olivia had unfortunately taken the brute of that anger.
By the time Charlotte was nine, Olivia had stopped coming home. Her father destroyed any remembrance of Olivia.
Alex took over as her guardian by the time she was ten. While still not completely settled in his career in medicine, he took her in, but he was always so busy and always working. He tried his best, though. It still wasn't a complete family; Olivia had been lost to them to the Reds. It was a lonely childhood.
If it wasn't the Reds, then it the Alliance that finally stole her sister away. It took their mother's fucking funeral for her to come back finally into their lives. But their relationship had got better after that. They talked more, sure she was on constant deployments, but vid calls and emails helped, for a short time they were a family again.
Olivia had even promised to be there for her wedding. Instead, Charlotte had to attend her funeral.
Charlotte absentminded stroked her hand through her daughter's hair. Livvy tried and failed to snatch at the hologram with her mother's distracted into her memories. A saved message sat on the interface of her omni-tool. Livvy continued to swat at the light. Charlotte sighed and pulled the message she already had memorized.
Alex and Charlotte:
I'm not really sure how to start this. I'm going to assume you've both heard the rumors. That I'm alive.
I haven't been in hiding. I've been in something like a coma for the past two years. Things have happened quickly since I've woken up. It's complicated, to say the least.
I haven't contacted because I thought that was best for both for you. I was obviously wrong. That shouldn't be so surprising though right?
I know you are both use to my excuses by now. And I am sorry for all of this, for everything that I've put both of you through. I wish things could have been different.
You're probably going to be hearing a lot of things about me in the news soon. I can't go into details over messaging.
But please just know that I love both of you. Remember that, please.
-Liv.
The heat rushed to her neck and face as she read it over again. Charlotte tried to hold back the anger at the words. She never liked the feeling; it reminded her too much of her father.
She huffed and tossed the omni-tool off. The glow of the tool disappeared as it landed at her feet. Livvy took use of her mother's distraction and snatched the loss tool and ran. Well as much of run a baby could manage, Livvy fell to crawl to moved faster.
Within seconds, Charlotte cooled as she watched the baby struggle to move. She let out a large roaring laugh with arms raised high. "I'm going to get you!"
"Ahhhhhh!" Livvy screamed and giggled as she quickly crawled with the tool in hand from her mother.
Finally with the jacket in hand, Sarah galloped down the stairs, ready to play. She got on her knees with arms wide open and called to their daughter. "Sweetie, come to mama, I'll save you!"
Livvy collapsed into Sarah, with a loud, happy scream and clutching tightly to the omni-tool.
"Crazy baby, crazy baby." Sarah pecked kisses on their daughter in between her words. "Just like her auntie." She joked in a high pitched voice.
The words pierced and screeched in Charlotte's ears. She felt the rush of blood again to her face and clenched back her teeth.
A datapad had laid out for a month after Olivia had been named the one responsible for the destruction of Bahak. A request document that waited for her signature to change Livvy's name.
Charlotte had heard every argument as to why they should go through with it. That maybe it would be best. She's only a few months old, now would be the best time. She could still have it as a middle name. It would be best to minimize our connection with her.
There would always be that connection to Olivia. To the girl who use to hid Charlotte from her father's anger. The girl who used pretend like it was a game, an adventure to stay crouched within their damp apartments vents system and pretend that everything was okay just to keep Charlotte safe.
"That's not funny," Charlotte said, trying to keep her voice low.
Sarah gave her confused look between the kisses. "Oh, come on. It was just a joke." Livvy laughed as her Sarah continued to play and dismissed Charlotte.
"It's a joke to you!" Charlotte loudly snapped, she regretted shouting immediately as their daughter's laughter died down and looked at her with fear. Charlotte gulped backed and took a breath before speaking again.
"With every joke, there is a kernel of truth. You obviously think my sister is insane, why don't you come out just say for once rather than hiding behind jokes?"
"And you don't?"
Charlotte honestly didn't know what she thought of it. She avoided answering it.
"That doesn't matter. But you keep being passive aggressive about it. I said already no a thousand times over; I'm not changing our daughter's name."
"Oh, come on, I didn't say anything about her name. I dropped that months ago."
"You obviously haven't, you haven't even called her by her name since this whole thing started. It's always sweetie or pumpkin or honey." Charlotte's throat ached as she spoke, tears began to form, but she continued with a level voice. "I already have the whole galaxy reminding me of what my sister did, I don't need that from you too."
Sarah's eye grew soft and cast them down their daughter. Livvy became oblivious to them and played on the omni-tool again, trying and failing to get the hologram to form.
Charlotte worked her toward them, keeping her voice level as she could. "Listen, I'm not up for this right now, I'm supposed to meet Alex, and we're already late."
Sarah handed Livvy and the jacket over wordlessly. Looking lost on how not to escalate anything to a fight. Charlotte snatched the coat from Sarah's hands and took the omni-tool from Livvy, sliding it back around her wrist. She placed Livvy on the ground and threw the baby bag to the side to get her jacket on.
Livvy fought against Charlotte. She whined as she slapped at Charlotte's wrist to get the omni-tool back. The little pyjaks look as if they were actually dancing as Livvy violently moved about.
Her wife looked on, pleading sorry in her eyes. A similar look she had given to Charlotte before when she stormed off over a dumb fight that she couldn't even remember years ago. The geth had filled the Citadel right after that. They invaded her home, destroyed part of their apartment, and hurt Sarah in the process.
She ended up the hospital, with cuts, scrapes and bruises during the attack. She could have the lost the woman that she loved. A woman who held and got her through sister's death when cried and collapsed. The love of Charlotte's life who saw her at weakest and kept her going.
Charlotte had made a vow to herself never to run off angry as who knows what could happen. They didn't see the geth attack coming, what was to stop something similar from happening again?
Charlotte exhaled forcefully to push out the anger and calmed herself, although that was a difficult stay at peace with the fussing baby.
"Olivia, stop it." Charlotte tried to sound stern, but the baby continued to struggle. Charlotte turned to her wife and gave her small smile. "You know, she's making this really difficult for me storm off on you."
Sarah grabbed the baby bag and pulled out a pacifier. "She's trying to give me enough time to work my charms," Sarah muttered as she popped the pacifier into Livvy's mouth.
The baby calmed as she sucked on the pacifier quickly. Her tears ceased to flow and allowed Charlotte to finish getting the coat on. She picked up Livvy and placed her on her hip
"Spoke too soon, can't believe that actually worked for once," Sarah cooed and looked over to her with a lost look in her eyes. "Listen, I haven't been handling this well. I know I've been acting like an ass on this and, shit, I don't want you feeling that way. I'm sorry."
Charlotte muttered a laugh as her wife looked at her helplessly. "Yes very much, you are an ass."
"But you love me." Sarah perked up with a smile.
"Well, where else would I get free babysitting from?"
"Oh, is that all I'm good for?" Sarah move towards them wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling them into a hug.
"Other things too." Charlotte pressed her forehead to her wife's. "I love you, but I'm still annoyed, we'll talk later."
"Got to keep me on the hook, don't you?"
"Don't push yourself." Charlotte pecked a kiss on her lips.
"Alright, alright, go have fun with your brother before I make it worse."
Sarah bent down and kissed the top of their daughter's head.
"Bye bye, Olivia, Mama loves you." Charlotte's heart leaped when she heard her actually call their daughter by full name for once. She mouthed a thank you as she left out the door. Livvy stretched out her hand and waved to Sarah. "Byyyye," Livvy called out just before the door closed.
Out of the apartment, the vast sky of the Citadel and constant afternoon sky Charlotte brushed her daughter's hair from her face. A deep dark brown, just like her sister's, just like their mother's. She pressed her face into her daughter scalp, just trying to breathe and move forward.
Another security camera tracked her as she left the apartment. She looked up, watching it move with her. Every single day, it was a constant reminder, something that always so close to her setting her off and letting anger boil over. Charlotte didn't want that for her family; she had enough of it to fill a lifetime as a child.