3: Tension

"So how'd it go?" John asked over the vid call.

Alice sighed; she and Garrus had just returned to the apartment they shared after a long drive smothered in a heavy silence. "Oh fine. The good news is that his parents seem to like me and approve of our relationship. The bad news is that his sister Solana is dating Lantar Sidonis."

There was a brief pause before John burst out laughing. "Seriously?"

"It's not funny John…"

"It kind of is." John said before collapsing into another fit of laughter.

Alice sighed. Ever since the Reaper War had ended and John had learned he was going to be a father, he'd become much more vibrant. Not that Alice had minded at first; during the war her brother had lost that twinkle in his eyes that had been ever present since they were kids; a sign that, under the intimidating exterior of Commander Shepard there was a fun, caring man. Alice had been glad to see that part of her twin come to the surface again, but after eight months of "fun John" she was starting to get a little annoyed.

"Are you done?" She asked in exasperation.

"Not yet," John continued laughing for another minute at least before finally quieting down. "Okay…" John said between breaths "…now… I'm done…"

"Good." Alice relayed to John what had happened between Garrus and Solana and told him what Vakarian had revealed to her regarding Sidonis and how he'd saved Solana.

John seemed to digest this information for a moment before asking "So what do you want me to do?"

"Just use that silver tongue of yours if I can't get through to him." Alice said

John nodded "Sure, where's Garrus now?"

Alice shook her head "Beats me, he mentioned something about groceries before storming out."

John cocked an eyebrow "'Groceries'? Garrus?"

Alice frowned "You lost me."

John shook his head "Garrus just doesn't seem to me like one to go grocery shopping." He smirked "You two are going domestic."

Alice crossed her arms over her chest "You're one to talk."

"Yeah but I have an excuse." John replied, leaning back with a smug look on his face.

Alice rolled her eyes "You're a child."

"Yep." John quipped. Alice heard Ashley distantly yelling on John's end. John side "I think Ash is calling me. I'll talk to you soon Alice." With that he cut the connection, leaving Alice staring at a blank screen.

Garrus arrived back home roughly a half-hour later, carrying a half dozen bags in his arms. When Alice moved to help him he waved her off. "I thought I'd make you dinner tonight."

Alice cocked an eyebrow; normally they just made their own dinners, what with the whole different amino acids thing and all. "What's the occasion?"

Garrus grinned at her as he opened the refrigerator and started putting away the groceries. "How about to celebrate my father approving of our relationship?"

Alice smiled back; she had almost forgotten about that in the drama of Sidonis' appearance. "Well, I guess that is something to celebrate." She said slyly, flashing Garrus a mischievous glance as she reached past him, putting her body incredibly close to his, and stopped him from putting the ice cream in the fridge. Her face was mere centimeters from his own as she whispered in his ear "The ice cream goes in the freezer big guy. You don't want it to melt do you?"

She pulled back, smiling seductively and put the tub in his hands. Garrus' mandibles were fluttering so much that a small part of Alice wondered if they would fall off. Still smiling, Alice walked away, swaying her hips. "I'll let you get to work." She called back.

She chuckled a little as she heard Garrus groan "You're a cruel, cruel, woman."

Alice knew the real reason Garrus was making her dinner was because he wanted to get their minds off of the day's troubling events. She decided not to talk to him about Sidonis that night; she could always do that tomorrow. The dinner itself was alright, which when it comes to Garrus' cooking was practically a glowing review. What followed however, took her completely by surprise.

They were sitting across from one another at their little table, the lights dimmed for a more romantic atmosphere. They had both just finished their respective meals and were talking about nothing in particular when Garrus said "So… my mom got me thinking…"

"Anything in particular?" Alice asked light-heartedly, even though inside her heart had started to beat a mile a minute. Please tell me he's not doing what I think he's doing.

Garrus smiled faintly at her, oblivious to her internal distress. "Yeah… she got me thinking about… about us…" he reached across the table and took her hands, "You see, it's not exactly normal in turian culture for two people so… in love… that they're practically mates already to not be…" He glanced away "I… I guess what I'm asking is…"

"Garrus…" Alice started but he cut her off.

"Please, let me finish." Garrus locked his striking blue eyes with Alice's own. "Alice Shepard… will you marry me?"

Alice looked deeply into Garrus' eyes. She wanted to say yes. She wanted more than anything to say yes, and she could see in Garrus' eyes how much he wanted her to say yes too.

"No."

Garrus visibly deflated, his shoulder's sagging, his face falling from a hopeful expression to one of despair. "Why?" he asked.

Alice sighed and looked away, unable to meet the crushed look in Garrus' eyes. "It's… it's too soon. I'm not ready, we're not ready." She looked at their hands, still entwined in one another. "I'm sorry Garrus."

He sighed as he released her hands and stood up, taking their dishes to the sink. For several minutes, the only sound was the running of the water as he washed the plates. Finally, Garrus turned back to her, his expression rigid. "When?" he asked.

Alice frowned "Excuse me?"

"When will you be ready?" Garrus said "It's been eight months Alice; I don't want to wait until the universe ends for us get married."

Alice rested her head in her hand "Garrus, we can't rush this. There's a reason why fifty percent of human marriages end in divorce. People just jump into things without working out all their problems."

Garrus threw up his hands in frustration "Problems? What problems? I love you Alice! More than I've loved anything in my life!"

Alice snickered "Really? Even calibrations?"

Garrus glared at her "I know what you're doing and it won't work. Why are you so reluctant to go through with this? Don't you love me too?"

Alice stood up; her temper stroked now "Of course I love you! I just don't want to ruin this by going too fast!"

Garrus sighed "You know what? Forget it." With that he stormed off, leaving Alice in the kitchen, alone and with the foreboding feeling like she had just seen the beginnings of a rift between them.

…

They met Garrus' family at Apollo Café for lunch. Garrus and Alice had hardly spoken to one another all day and barely managed to put on a happy act when they met them. Unfortunately, Solana had dragged Sidonis to the lunch with her. Alice could instantly see that Garrus had not cooled overnight, and she hadn't had a chance to talk with him about it. Both elder Vakarians seemed to notice this and did their best to keep the tension from breaking. As they picked a larger table at the Café that overlooked the Presidium Alice was keenly aware of the stares they were getting, though whether this was because of the fact that she was the only human in the midst of a group of turians or because people recognized her and Garrus she had no clue.

"It seems we're getting a little attention." Minera noted as they sat down.

Alice sighed "Yeah… sorry about that."

Vakarian gave her a hard stare "You have nothing to apologize for. If they don't like seeing a human with a bunch of turians than that's their problem."

Alice smiled weakly "I think it's more-"

"Oh. My. Goddess!" Alice winced as she heard someone squeal. Turning around, she saw their waitress, a young asari woman with deep blue skin, had come over to take their order when she saw Alice.

"You're Alice Shepard!" she squeaked, her eyes as wide as saucers. When Alice nodded she turned to Garrus "Then you must be Garrus Vakarian!" Garrus mumbled out an affirmative. The waitress squealed again "Oh my Goddess, I can't believe it! Alice Shepard and Garrus Vakarian, and I'm your waitress!" she squealed, even louder than before.

"Oh sure, don't mind the rest of us here." Solana said with a little smirk.

Alice sighed "Could we please just order our food?"

"Oh sorry, of course!" the waitress said, taking out a holo-notepad. "What will you be having?"

Alice breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the menu "Alright, I guess I'll have the-"

"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" The waitress exclaimed, interrupting Alice "Do you think you could get me your brother's autograph? That would be so awesome!"

Alice's eye twitched; she was getting really annoyed now. "Sure, I'll get you an autograph." Alice said darkly, her voice dripping with venom. "Do you want anything else? A lock of his incredibly short hair perhaps?"

The waitress squealed "Really?! That would be great! I'm going to go tell all my friends right now!" Without a second to spare, the waitress was off, going to brag to her other stereotypical fangirl groupies.

Alice groaned as the waitress vanished in a blue blur. "Thank God that's over."

"Does that happen a lot?" Vakarian asked.

Alice put her head in her hands "You have no idea."

She heard chuckling and looked up to see Solana was the source "I'm sorry," She said once she had regained control of herself "But that's just too funny."

Alice's lips twitched in a smirk "If you think that's funny, you should see what happens when John's around."

"Let me guess," Sidonis said, speaking up for the first time that day "He gets mobbed with a horde of adoring fans and you have to fight your way out?"

Alice smiled and was about to reply with "Something like that" when Garrus growled.

"Don'tyou dare speak to her!" he snarled, causing Sidonis to recoil.

Alice glared at Garrus "I'm sorry, since when do you decide who I talk to?"

Garrus turned to her, anger burning in his eyes. "It's Sidonis! Why would you want to waste your time with that piece of shit? He's not worth the air he breathes!"

Alice's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to speak when Solana stood up. "That's too far!" She snapped "I get you have a problem with Lantar, but you have no right to insult him like that!"

Garrus whirled on Solana "Don't you ever defend him! I've been trying to understand what the hell you see in him and you know what? The only reason I can think of is that you're just doing it to spite me."

Solana laughed humorlessly "Oh yes, because of course everything revolves around you!"

"I never said that!" Garrus growled, getting to his feet.

"It sure sounds like it!" Solana snapped back, matching Garrus. "You think you're so great! That you're never to blame! Well I'll let you in on a secret bro: Lantar isn't the reason your men are dead, YOU are!"

Vakarian stood up "Garrus, Solana that is enough!"

Alice was keenly aware that they were drawing attention to themselves, but Garrus and Solana didn't seem to care. "What do you know? You weren't there!" Garrus raged.

"But Lantar was!" Solana countered "He told me how your men wanted to stop, to quit while they were ahead, and YOU wouldn't let them!"

"I wanted to make a difference!" Garrus shot back "I didn't know what would happen!"

Solana snorted "Oh yeah, that's a great excuse for getting your team killed!"

Garrus roared "Bitch!"

"Asshole!"

"Brat!"

"Coward!"

"Whore!"

"Drunk!"

A deathly silence fell over them and Alice's blood ran cold. Solana's eyes widened and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Alice looked at Garrus and saw that he was ridged, his talons clenching so much that they pierced his hand, drawing blood. The look in Garrus' eyes was something Alice had never seen before; it was burning, furious.

Feral.

"Garrus I-" Solana started to say but Garrus cut her off with a growl.

"You know what?" he said darkly "I was wrong; you two are perfect for each other." Without another word he stormed off.

Another moment of silence passed. Alice turned her gaze from Garrus' retreating back to give Solana an accusing glare. To her credit, the turian woman looked horrified at what she'd just done. "Oh Spirits… Alice I'm so sorry I shouldn't have… I was just so angry… it just slipped out."

"Save it," Alice said, forcing her tone to remain calm "I'm not the one you need to apologize to." Solana looked away, unable to meet Alice's gaze out of shame. Alice turned to Minera and Vakarian, both of whom were looking at their daughter in shock "Listen, I'll talk to Garrus, why don't you come over to my brother's house at 6 tomorrow night for dinner? My parents will be there and I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

Minera glanced at Solana who seemed to have broken and collapsed into her chair, fighting sobs as Sidonis comforted her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Alice nodded "Yeah, I'll talk to Garrus and if I can't get through to him, John will be able to sort this out."

Vakarian nodded "If you're sure…"

Alice sighed and rubbed her temples "I am, now if you'll excuse me, I have a very long talk coming up with Garrus." With that she turned to follow her angry boyfriend.

…

Alice was surprised to see when she got back to the car that Garrus wasn't there. He'd left a note that said he was going for a walk to clear his head and that Alice shouldn't wait up for him. Reluctantly, Alice decided to return to the apartment and wait for him there. She spent her time reading some poetry Ash had recommended to her but quickly grew bored. Not that she hated poetry or anything, but she didn't really have an appreciation for the art of words as much as the storytelling. She preferred something with a good narrative and characters one got attached to over themes and symbolism. Granted most of the stories she read had those things too but she never really paid attention to them. And if there was one thing she hated above all else in literature- besides dues ex machina- it was writers who thought they knew everything about human nature. She remembered how when she was younger, she had to read Lord of the Flies for school. Once they had finished with it, Alice took the book and her father's rifle down to the shooting range and promptly filled it with bullet holes.

She waited for several more hours for Garrus to come home. When it started getting late, Alice began to worry. It wasn't like Garrus to be gone for so long and not at least check in with her. Finally, she decided to call him. Her worry only grew when he didn't pick up. She sat around waiting for another few hours before finally deciding to go look for him. Leaving a note in case he came back while she was gone, Alice wandered around the Presidium near where they'd had lunch but she couldn't seem to find Garrus anywhere. She checked everywhere she thought Garrus could be and found nothing. She talked to anyone she could grab a hold of to ask if they'd seen Garrus; nobody had.

She was tempted to call John and ask for his help but she didn't want to bother him; he had enough on his plate looking after Ashley that she didn't need to add to his worries. So instead, she called Bailey. While she and the newly appointed Executor lacked the friendship he shared with her brother, they still were familiar enough with one another that she knew he could be counted on to find Garrus.

True enough, when she called him, Bailey answered almost immediately in his gruff voice "Alice Shepard? What can I do for you?"

"Hey Bailey," Alice said, pacing back and forth "I'm looking for Garrus, and I can't seem to find him. Anyways it's been almost eight hours and I'm getting worried do you think you could have some men keep an eye out for him."

She could practically hear Bailey cock an eyebrow. "You want me to use my authority as head of C-Sec for a personal favor? Have you considered what might happen while my men aren't at their posts? Someone could take advantage of the opportunity and-"

"Don't give me that bullshit Bailey." Alice snapped "I'm not asking you to start a manhunt; all I want is for you to tell your men to keep an eye out."

Bailey chuckled, "You're Commander Shepard's sister alright. I'll spread the word, if we see him, I'll let you know."

Alice said a quick "Thank you" before ending the call. As she continued her search, a horrible thought occurred to her and she immediately headed for the one place she had thought for certain that Garrus would never have gone: the bar.

She felt terrible for thinking it, but as she searched the bars of the Presidium Commons, she realized that it made sense. After all, yesterday combined with today's lunch had been unbelievably stressful for her. And if it was stressful for her, then it had to have been ten times worse for Garrus. Nobody could blame him if he sought to find comfort in the bottom of a bottle of turian liquor. Had it been anyone else, Alice probably wouldn't have reacted so badly but Garrus had been an alcoholic, she didn't want to risk him falling back into his addiction. She searched the bars for hours but still could not find him. She was starting to wonder if maybe she should go back to the apartment when her omni-tool beeped.

Her eyes widened when she saw it was from C-Sec. Her heart beating a mile a minute, she answered "Hello?"

"Alice Shepard?" a gruff turian voice said "You wished to know the whereabouts of Garrus Vakarian?"

Alice nodded "Did you find him?"

"Affirmative," the officer answered "He's at the Spectre shooting range."

Alice mentally kicked herself; of course he was at the shooting range, why didn't she think of that? "Thank you," She said, already moving to the nearest elevator that would take her to the embassies.

"No problem ma'am," the officer said before ending the call.

Alice impatiently road the elevator up to the embassies, anxious to talk to Garrus. She was out the elevator before the doors had opened fully and quickly headed toward the Spectre offices. Sure enough, Garrus was at the shooting range, firing at the targets with his Black Widow. He didn't turn when Alice opened the door, and waited for him to acknowledge her presence. Finally, only after he had blown the head off the target- which Alice noted had a holo of Sidonis on it- did Garrus lower his gun and turn to her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Alice crossed her arms over her chest, her temper starting to flare at his casual tone. "It's almost 1." She said sharply.

Garrus' shrugged "So?"

Alice's eyes narrowed "In the morning!"

Realization dawned on Garrus "Really?" when Alice nodded her groaned "Shit, I'm sorry Alice, I lost track of time."

Alice's temper was definitely burning now "You 'lost track of time'?!" she snarled, causing Garrus to wince "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I've been looking for you for hours!"

Garrus held up his hands "Alright, alright, I should have called, I'm sorry, but there was no need to be concerned, I can take care of myself Alice, you know that."

Alice's control snapped "That's not what I was worried about you idiot!" She yelled "I thought you were-" she stopped herself, immediately feeling her anger dim.

Garrus frowned "You thought I was what?" when Alice didn't answer him but merely looked away Garrus snarled "You thought I was drinking again didn't you?"

Alice nodded

Now it was Garrus' turn to be angry "Damnit Alice! I haven't had a single drop of alcohol in almost two years! Don't you trust me?"

Alice's temper came back with a vengeance at Garrus' accusation "Of course I trust you!" she shouted back.

"Really? Cause it doesn't sound like it to me!" Garrus roared.

"I was just worried! I know you've been under a lot of stress lately!" Alice countered.

"So you thought I couldn't handle a little stress and had to resort to drowning in liquor again?!" Garrus growled and turned his back on Alice "You know, I'm starting to wonder how this relationship can last if you don't trust me."

Alice bristled "And I'm starting to wonder how this relationship can last when you have your head stuck so far up your ass that you can't even hear me!" with that Alice turned on her heel and stormed off. As she left, she heard Garrus snarl and pick up his Widow, blowing a large hole through the target's bull's eye with a sharp bang.

When Garrus finally arrived back at the apartment, he found Alice packing a duffle full of clothes and toiletries. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I'm leaving." Alice said sharply, not looking up.

Garrus' eyes widened "What? Y-You can't just leave!"

"Then what do you call this?" Alice snapped, zipping the duffle shut and slinging its strap over her shoulder and heading toward the door.

Garrus moved to intercept her "Alice don't be irrational-"

Alice's biotics flared. "I'm leaving before one of us says something we'll both regret. Now get out of my way."

Garrus reluctantly moved aside, letting Alice pass without a single word. As soon as the door closed behind her, Garrus roared and kicked the wall as hard as he could. "Damnit!" Garrus swore, clutching his throbbing toes, even more furious now than he was before.

…

Ashley smiled as she and John strolled through the Presidium Gardens arm-in-arm. It was late; almost 2:00 am Earth time, but they both were having trouble sleeping and decided that a late-night stroll would do them good. Because it was also the Citadel's night cycle, the normally bright lights of the Presidium were dimmed and the simulated blue sky was replaced by a field of stars.

They sat down at a one of the benches lining the path through the trees to give Ashley a moment to rest. Smiling contently, Ashley rested her head on John's shoulder and they just enjoyed the scenery around them. The Presidium Gardens were absolutely beautiful at night. Every so often, there was a single white lamp that enveloped the surrounding flora in its glow, but for the most part, the trail was only lit by the luminescent moss and flowers from countless worlds that dotted the gardens. It was all so peaceful, so safe.

"Did you ever see yourself being here?" John asked in a soft whisper as he rested his cheek atop her head.

Ashley chuckled "You mean nine months pregnant in the most beautiful spot on the Presidium with the man I love holding me in his arms?"

"Yeah…"

"Nope." Ashley said lightly.

John cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Ashley smirked "Yeah, in my mind we were always in some shitty apartment with you catering to my every need."

John laughed "Well then, at least we got the 'me catering to your every need' part right."

Ashley lifted her head and looked her husband in his eyes, suddenly serious "Listen, John, I really am grateful to you for putting up with my behavior, I know I haven't been exactly… easy to deal with recently."

John chuckled "Only recently?"

Ashley punched his arm "Ass."

John laughed and leaned in for a kiss. Their lips were merely centimeters apart when Ashley suddenly stopped them. "Wait," she said, pulling back with a frown. "Do you hear something?"

John frowned and listened for a moment. "No."

Ash looked into the garden "It sounds like… crying." Without another word she stood, searching for the source. John followed Ashley as she led him off the main path and down one of the many side trails. Eventually, they emerged into a small clearing with dozens of flowers surrounding a pond, patches of luminescent algae floating on the surface of the placid water. There, sitting at the pool's edge, her knees drawn up to her chest, her head buried in her arms, and a duffle bag lying next to her, was Alice.

John and Ashley immediately moved to Alice's side. "Sis?" John asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Alice looked up and Ashley could immediately see the pain in John's eyes at the sight of her tear-streaked face. "J-John?" she said, trying to brush tears away. She looked and saw Ashley kneeling on the other side of her (no easy feat, considering her belly's bloated size.). "Ashley? W-What are you doing here?"

"We were taking a walk and thought we heard someone crying." John said "I didn't think it would be you though. What's wrong?"

Alice shook her head, looking out over the pond "I-It's nothing, Garrus and I just had a fight that's all."

John frowned "That's breaking rule number six." He muttered to himself.

Alice shot John a puzzled look "What?"

"Nothing!" John said quickly. Eager to change the topic, he asked "What was it about?"

Alice glanced back at the pond "Garrus stormed off during our lunch with his family when he and Solana got into an argument and she called him a drunk."

John's eyes widened at this. When Ashley shot him a puzzled look he mouthed: Later

Alice continued "He stayed out for a long time, and I started to worry that he was drinking again. Thankfully, when I found him he was at the shooting range not the bar. We… we got into an argument. Garrus accused me of not trusting him and I said he had his head stuck up his ass. I… I decided to leave and give him space before one of us said something we'd both regret. I came here to clear my head and I… and I just started crying and couldn't… couldn't stop…"

Ashley looked at John "Could you give us a minute?"

John frowned but nevertheless stood and walked pack down the trail, giving them some privacy. Ashley slowly lowered herself to the ground and sat down next to Alice. They remained there for a long time, staring out at the pond in silence.

Finally, when Ashley spoke, it was in a soft whisper. "Flower in the crannied wall,/ I pluck you out of the crannies,/ I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, / Little flower-but if I could understand/ What you are, root and all, all in all,/ I should know what God and man is."

Alice looked over at Ashley "Tennyson?"

Ashley nodded with a small smile "Yeah, 'Flower in a crannied wall'. Not the most original of titles I'll admit, but I still like it."

Alice looked back out over the pond "So what does that have to do with my situation?"

Ashley shook her head "Maybe nothing, I just mentioned it because of the flowers and because I like it more than his other poem 'The Flower'." She threw Alice a smile "What's your favorite flower?"

Alice was clearly caught off guard "Why do you ask?"

Ashley shrugged "Just curious. Mine's the Lily." She said, gesturing over to a tall stem with several white flowers sprouting from it "I like the red ones more though, especially the Morning Star Lily." She turned back to Alice "So? What's yours?

Alice hesitated before answering "The Berry Rose."

Ash cocked an eyebrow "Never heard of that one before."

Alice looked at her, surprised "Really? It's John's favorite flower too."

Ashley smirked "I didn't even know he had a favorite flower."

Alice grinned back "Yeah, when we were little our parents were stationed on Earth for a few years. The old lady who lived next door had these lovely Azalea bushes in her yard. My favorite was this one with rich pink petals spread like a star with a streak of yellow on the top one. The old lady called it a Berry Rose. John, the sweet little kid he was before discovering how much fun it was being a brat, decided to pick some for me one day when I was very sick to cheer me up."

"What did your neighbor think about him plucking flowers from her garden?" Ashley asked with a mischievous grin "Did she get furious and beat him with her cane?"

Alice laughed "Actually, she helped him pick the flowers. She would often watch us when our parents were working."

Ashley smiled "Well, I'm going to have to torment John with this cute little moment next time we- Ooof!" she clutched at her belly.

Alice's eyes widened, "Are you okay? Should I get John?"

Ashley shook her head "No, it's fine. The little tike just kicked me in the gut is all." With a grin, she took Alice's hand and placed it on her belly "See?"

Alice frowned "I don't- Oh!" she started as the baby kicked again. "Wow, kid's got a good leg."

Ashley winced "You're telling me, I'm starting to wonder if he won't kick his way out before it's time."

Alice blinked "He?"

"Didn't John tell you?" Ashley said "I went in for an ultra-sound a few months back and we were told the baby was a boy!"

"Really? That's wonderful!" Alice said, completely forgetting her troubles for the moment.

Ashley nodded "Yeah, I have no idea how they could tell though, to me it just looked like a grainy picture of a fetus. You'd think that they would have improved ultra-sound technology by now." She added thoughtfully.

"Have you decided on a name?" Alice asked

Ashley nodded, a soft smile touching her lips "Yeah, we were think of naming him David Anderson Shepard."

A silence fell over them in memory of the deceased mentor and friend. "I think he'd have liked that." Alice said.

Ashley nodded solemnly "Yeah… Help me up would you?"

Alice helped Ashley stand, supporting the pregnant woman. "Where are you staying?" Ashley asked.

Alice shrugged "I guess I was just going to find a motel to stay in until tomorrow's dinner- well I guess it's tonight's dinner now."

Ashley shook her head "Uh uh, no way. Why don't you stay with me and John until Garrus cools down?"

Alice looked hesitant "I don't know Ash; I don't want to be a burden, especially with you so close to delivery."

Ashley slung an arm over Alice's shoulders "Nonsense! You can help around the house. I'm sure John will appreciate the assistance," Ashley shook her head "God knows he won't let me do anything." She gave Alice's shoulders a squeeze, "Besides, it'll help keep your mind off of Garrus."

Alice sighed and gave Ashley a grateful smile. "Thanks Ashley."

"Hey," Ashley said as they headed back down the path "That's what sisters are for."

A/N: Most of the information I could find on the Berry Rose was very slim so please point it out if I got something wrong.