4: Dinner

That evening could not arrive fast enough for Alice. She managed to keep herself busy helping John look after Ashley, but her mind still occasionally wandered to Garrus. She knew that their fight had been stupid and she shouldn't have reacted that way but she had just gotten so angry when he accused her of not trusting him. How, after everything they'd been through he could think that she didn't trust him was beyond her.

Finally, the evening arrived and Alice worked with John to prepare dinner for their guests. John's cooking ability was on par with his dancing and driving skills and Ashley had a tendency to blow things up in the kitchen (Alice had a feeling that their kid would be eating a lot of frozen dinners in the future). Alice fortunately had learned fine New Orleans cuisine from her grandparents and, although she was far from a master chef, she could actually make a meal without destroying the kitchen. Therefore, John set the table and did other tasks that did not involve going anywhere near the kitchen lest he ruin Alice's hard work. About an hour before their guests were scheduled to arrive, Garrus showed up to cook the dexto dishes. He and Alice barely looked at one another as they worked side by side in the kitchen, a heavy silence looming over them.

The food was done and the table was set by the time the rest of the guests arrived. Introductions were made and they all sat down in the dining room. Alice and Garrus hesitantly sat next to each other, Alice noticing that Solana and Sidonis were as far away from them as possible. The conversation started out pleasantly enough; Alice and John's father, Carn asked Vakarian what he did for a living and their mother Hannah inquired as to how Ashley was doing. Before long, Minera joined in and Ashley was soon smothered in questions about human pregnancies. Vakarian and Carn became engaged in a riveting conversation about their respective careers and soon were trying to one-up each other with their stories. John tried to join in but was immediately shot down by his father who said that he had done things more impressive than anything he or Vakarian had ever done and it wouldn't be fair. Reluctantly, John acquiesced and let Carn and Vakarian continue their contest, a little pout on his face. Garrus merely sat there, silently eating his food and shooting harsh glares at Sidonis while Alice waited for John to make his move.

He never got the chance.

"So Solana," Hannah said, turning to her and Sidonis "How long have you and Lantar been together?"

Alice's eyes widened and Garrus tensed as Solana shot a brief glance at her brother. "Since the War."

Alice glared at John, mouthing: I thought you warned them!

John looked at her hopelessly, mouthing back: I thought you were going to!

"Really?" Hannah said, intrigued.

"Yes," Solana smiled "In fact he-"

"Sol, please." Sidonis said.

Solana looked at Sidonis "Why shouldn't I tell him, he's going to find out anyways eventually and we need to resolve this, if he's too much of a coward to face this issue like a grown man then-"

BANG!

All heads at the table turned and were shocked to see that it was not Garrus, or even Alice that had slammed their hands on the table and stood up in anger, but Ashley. "That's it!"

John's eyes widened "Uh oh, mood swing alert! Duck and cover!" With that he ducked down and hid under the table.

Ashley seemed oblivious to John's actions as she fixed Solana with her patented "Williams glare". "I don't care who you are, but nobody, and I mean nobody insults my friends! So shut your trap bitch!"

Sidonis jumped to his feet. "Now wait just a minute! I'll admit Solana was unnecessarily harsh but she's right!"

Garrus was next to stand "Are you of all people calling me a coward Sidonis? You?" Alice had to stand up to stop Garrus from charging Sidonis.

"She's right Garrus," Sidonis said "We need to resolve this."

"Alright then," Garrus growled "Stay the fuck away from my sister!"

"That's not going to happen!" Solana said, getting to her feet as well.

"It better happen or I'll-"

"Or you'll what?" Solana snapped, cutting off Garrus' threat "Face it Garrus, I'm a grown woman now who can make her own decisions about her life. You don't control me."

"He is responsible for the deaths of ten good men!" Garrus roared "And you're okay with that?"

"It's called forgiveness Garrus!" Solana shot back "Maybe you should try it sometime!"

Garrus snarled "I can't forgive him, not after what he did to me!"

"Really? Well then you better learn to forgive him because Lantar's staying!" Solana said sharply.

Garrus' eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

Solana straightened up "I'm saying I plan to marry Lantar."

This certainly was news to Sidonis "Y-You are?" he said, shocked but not unhappy.

"Damn right I am." Solana said, looking at Sidonis "I know the only reason you haven't asked me yet is because of my damn brother."

"YOU'RE WHAT?!" John had to climb out from under the table to help Alice keep Garrus from ripping Sidonis and Solana to shreds with his talons. So it was that he didn't notice Ashley's eyes widen as she grabbing hold of her rounded belly. "You can't be seriously considering marrying Sidonis?"

"Well I am." Solana said, turning back to her brother "And if you can't accept that then we have nothing more to discuss."

There was a foreboding silence before Garrus spoke, his voice cold "You are not my sister."

Minera gasped while Vakarian barked "Garrus!"

Garrus whirled on his parents "Don't you go scolding me! Sidonis nearly had me killed! Now Solana wants to bring him into the Spirits-damned FAMILY! And you don't even seem to care!"

"Garrus stop!" Alice said, seeing how he was upsetting his mother.

"And YOU!" he turned on Alice "You're protecting him! AGAIN! Why do you always protect him?!"

And just like that, Alice's full fury was ignited "I'm not protecting Sidonis you moron, I'm protecting YOU!"

The shocked silence that followed was interrupted by Ashley "Oh God… please not now…"

John finally seemed to notice Ashley's distress "Ash," he said, moving to his wife's side "What's wrong?"

Ashley's eyes snapped up. "'What's wrong?' 'What's wrong?' MY FUCKING WATER BROKE GODDAMNIT!"

John's eyes grew as wide as saucers "WHAT?! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!"

Ashley grabbed John's shirt and lifted him up off the ground "GET. THE. CAR! Oh God…" she dropped John and braced herself against the table "NOW!"

"Right!" John dashed from the room. Crashing could be heard coming from the kitchen "Where're my keys?! Where're my keys?! I CAN'T FIND MY KEYS!"

"Check the microwave cart!" Alice called

"Right! Ah ha, there you are!" John reappeared in the dining room "Alright Ash," he said calmly, having regained his cool "We're going to get in the car and take a quick drive to the hospital-"

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"SHUT UP AND GET MOVING!"

…

The Vakarians and the Shepards all sat around in the mess, listening to Ashley's cries. The docking bays being much closer to John and Ashley's apartment than Huerta Memorial Hospital, they had taken Ashley to the Normandy. Thankfully, Chakwas had been on the ship checking up on Joker (who had been adamantly refusing to take the ship on any missions unless under John's command and didn't want to find an apartment on the Citadel to stay in, choosing rather to stay with EDI on the ship).

Everyone's heads turned as they heard the elevator door open and Liara, Javik, Joker, EDI, and Miranda stepped out. Alice got to her feet and hugged Liara "I didn't think you and Javik would make it Liara. Weren't you supposed to be working on your research on Ilos?"

Liara smiled "I decided that we should come back to the Citadel with Ashley being so close to her delivery, we only arrived last night." At that moment a particularly loud scream erupted from the medbay, causing Liara to pale. "I-Is she alright?"

"That is just the sound of the miracle of birth." Hannah said with a smile from the table, causing Liara to pale further.

Javik spoke up "With my kind, the mother would carry several dozen fertilized eggs inside of her. When it was time for them to hatch, the larvae would eat the way out of the mother's body and feast on her flesh."

Liara glared at Javik "No they didn't, you're lying."

Javik fixed Liara with a hard stare "Am I?"

The poor asari's eyes widened "M-Maybe it's a good thing that Tali isn't here then…" she squeaked out "W-Wouldn't want to scare her…"

"How long do quarian pregnancies last anyways?" Joker asked.

"The average quarian pregnancy is measured around 15 months." EDI stated "However, because she was pregnant during the Reaper War and the stress it inflicted on her body, Tali's pregnancy will most likely last closer to 20."

"Have I ever mentioned how simultaneously creepy and awesome it is that you know almost everything?" Joker said.

"I do not know 'everything' Jeff; I merely have access to large amounts of data from the extra-net." EDI corrected

"Which is still freaking cool."

"Are Ashley's mother and sisters going to make it?" Hannah asked EDI.

"No, unfortunately they are currently on Earth helping rebuild and were going to come in a few days."

Alice turned to Miranda, who was wearing an elegant, form-fitting white gown instead of her normal catsuit. "I hope we didn't interrupt something important."

Miranda shook her head "The ambassador can wait; I'm not missing this for anything." She looked back at the elevator "Jacob said he and Brynn were coming. And Urdnot Wrex should be here with Councilor Bakara soon."

Sure enough, Jacob, Brynn, and their infant daughter Sabrina Shepard Taylor arrived, followed by Wrex and Bakara, carrying the bundle of blankets that hid the tiny form of little baby Mordin in her arms. Alice immediately went over to the krogan mother and the baby. She looked down at the tiny little krogan head that poked out from the blankets, his eyes closed as he slept. Once again, Alice was struck by how small Mordin was. He was already seven months old and had still yet to hit his first growth spurt; something very bad according to Bakara.

"How is he?" she asked.

Bakara shook her head "He's caught another fever, I'm afraid that I will not be able to take him back to Tuchanka if this persists."

Alice nodded sadly and stretched out a finger to stroke the baby's forehead; the hard crest still hadn't begun to take shape. Mordin stirred at her touch and opened his eyes to look at her. Alice smiled "Hey little guy," she said softly.

Several hours passed as they waited, listening to Ashley's cries and John's encouraging words (thankfully Chakwas had darkened the medbay windows so that they couldn't actually see inside). Once Joker asked how long it would take for the baby to be born and Hannah had responded by telling him that she had been in labor with John and Alice for almost a week. That caused poor Liara to rush to the bathroom.

"I think I just scared that poor girl out of becoming a mother." Hannah said regretfully.

"It's okay dear," Carn said, putting an arm around his wife "I'm sure that-"

Another loud scream cut him off, followed by John saying "Come one Ash, we're almost there! Just remember the breathing exercises, just remember the-"

SMACK!

A moment later, John emerged from the medbay, covering his cheek with a hand. "Chakwas said I should wait until it's almost time to come back in." he said at the confused looks everyone gave him. He sighed and walked over to the table, lowering his hand to reveal a large red mark on his cheek that was already bruising. "I'd forgotten how strong an arm Ash has…"

Garrus, who had spent the entire time sulking over by the kitchen snorted. John heard him and, without a moment's hesitation, headed over to him. "Hey, Garrus," He said "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Garrus shrugged and followed John a little ways down the hall to the main battery. "What's up?" he asked casually.

John immediately fixed Garrus with a hard glare, and it wasn't John anymore, now it was Commander Shepard. "That's all you can say after ruining a perfectly nice dinner with your parents and mine by starting a shouting match that probably sent Ash into labor ahead of schedule?"

Garrus winced "Sidonis started it."

Shepard's eyes narrowed "'Sidonis started it'? What are you, seven?!" Shepard sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Garrus I understand why you're not exactly happy that Sidonis is dating your sister but I think it's time you let it go."

Garrus growled "'Let it go'? Sidonis betrayed me! He's responsible for the deaths of-"

"-ten good men, I know. Stop sounding like a broken record." Shepard snapped, causing Garrus to recoil. "Have you ever considered that maybe there's a reason why Solana and your parents have forgiven Sidonis while you still haven't? That maybe you're missing part of the picture?"

Garrus had to admit that it had crossed his mind several times. Shepard looked down the hall at where everyone was seated, talking to pass the time. "Listen, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Alice told me something she learned from your father."

"What?" Garrus asked.

"Your father told her that Sidonis saved Solana's life on Palaven."

Garrus felt like he'd been struck. "What?"

Slowly, Shepard recounted how Sidonis had given up his seat on the evac shuttle for Solana, and how when the shuttle was shot down, he'd pulled her from the wreckage while Vakarian held back the Reaper forces with the survivors. When he was done talking, Shepard looked back at Garrus, and suddenly it was John again, not Commander Shepard. "Do you want to know why, after staying angry at you for so long when you shot Alice, I seemed to suddenly forgive you?"

Garrus blinked, taken by surprise. "I thought it was because we went to get Tali."

John shrugged "Well that's part of it, but I realized something."

"What?"

"That life is too short for me to remain angry with my best friend, and if I die tomorrow, I don't want him to think that I hated him to the very end."

Garrus snorted "You want me to forgive Sidonis because he was my friend?"

John shook his head "I'm not talking about Sidonis."

Garrus frowned "Then who…?" realization dawned on him "You want me to forgive Solana?"

John sighed "She's your sister Garrus, and I know she cares for you. You don't want to remain angry at her for the rest of your life. Just trust me on this okay?"

At that moment, EDI came up to them "Commander, Chakwas wishes me to tell you that it's almost time."

John nodded and flashed Garrus a grin "Wish me luck." He said before rushing toward the medbay.

Garrus looked over at where Sidonis and Solana were sitting together, slightly apart from everyone else. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Garrus walked over to the table, ready to finally resolve this issue.

A/N: It should be noted that I've never actually seen someone go into labor so I'm mostly relying on what I've learned from television and "The Miracle of Life" (god I hated that film). Also, Hannah being in labor for a week in based off of my mom being in labor for a week when she was giving birth to my older brother (I thankfully, only kept her in labor for a day).

…Was that too much information? Sorry.