"Daddy, why is today called Shepard Day?"

Leaning back into the soft grass on the hillside, Melanie Shepard took a long breath. "Because the Council wouldn't listen to me when I told them not to do it," wasn't quite the answer her daughter was looking for.

Fortunately, her bondmate was there to give her an assist. "Ashley dear, do you remember when your dad told you that she and your mom were in the big war?"

"Oh, yeah." Ashley T'Soni perks up, pleased at the chance to show off her knowledge. "She said that you were both on the Nerf… North…um, the Normandy and that was why Eric has action figures of you."

"That's right." Liara smiled proudly at her daughter. "Well, your dad was the biggest war hero of them all and this is to celebrate the day when she saved the whole galaxy."

"The whole galaxy?" Ashley's eyes went wide with surprise. "You saved the whole galaxy, dad?"

Melanie thought about it for a second. They'd put off telling their daughter too much about their exploits during the Reaper War, wanting her to have a normal childhood for as long as possible, but this holiday has pretty well put an end to that. "I did. But there were a lot of other heroes too, like your mom. She found the secret plans for the machine that won the war."

"Wow! You guys are so cool!"

"We're glad you think so." Melanie leaned over and gave her daughter a hug. Ashley was still at that age when she thought her parents were awesome. Give it another few decades and she'll be an adolescent who thinks that saving the galaxy doesn't stop the two of them from being terminally lame.

"Indeed." Liara put one arm around Melanie while she kept the other firmly wrapped around little Benezia. "You father is extremely special, even if she is modest about it."

A realization strikes Ashley. "You must have lots of great stories, Dad."

"Sure. But most of them will have to wait until you're older." How Shepard destroyed the Collector Base wasn't exactly a tale for a six year old. "Now, look up. The fireworks are about to begin."

Ashley's disappointment at missing out on hearing about her father's exploits was assuaged by the symphony of light erupting in the night sky. As red and white, blue and purple filled the air above them, their older daughter clapped her hands with glee and even Benezia squealed excitedly in her mother's arms. Melanie rubbed her younger daughter's head gently and as she did, Liara leaned over and whispered, "I've arranged for our daughters to stay at Garrus and Tali's house tonight. After the fireworks, please take them there and meet me at home." Shepard gave her a quizzical look, and Liara added in a low voice rich with unspoken promises, "It is the very first Shepard Day after all."

A few hours later, the two little asari were at their aunt and uncle's house, and Shepard was walking back into her own home. The house was dark, but when she came into the living room, the lights turned on and she was surprised to find an old Alliance uniform of hers on the couch and a suit of armor standing in the middle of the room. Pinned to the chest was a note, and when Shepard picked it up, she saw that it was in her wife's neat, precise handwriting.

Melanie,

While I understand that Shepard Day is supposed to be about celebrating your achievements, and they certainly are laudable, I thought that tonight we could instead correct a small mistake that you made. If you are interested, please put these on, and join me in the basement as soon as possible.

With Love and Anticipation,

Liara

The basement? That's where Liara kept her lab, where she and Shepard stored the Prothean artifacts that they've uncovered on the digs they go on together. She enjoyed those expeditions, but she couldn't quite figure out what the connection was between them and her old gear. Still, she trusted Liara; her wife's surprises were generally very enjoyable.

After changing into the uniform and armor, she opened the door to the basement and started making her way down the spiral staircase. From beneath her, she could hear a soft, seductive voice call out, "Uh, hello? Could somebody help me? Please."

For a second, she was startled, worried that Liara had gotten herself in trouble, but then she placed the words. A broad grin started to spread across her face and as she turned the corner, she could see that one of the force fields was active. Usually, it was used for protecting fragile relics, but right then it contained one Doctor Liara T'Soni.

"Can you hear me out there? I'm trapped. I need help." Her wife was dressed in a green and white jumpsuit, the very garment that she wore when they met back on Therum. Seeing her there, Shepard remembered the flush of unwanted attraction that she'd felt on that day, the interest in an asari that she'd worried might be an ally of Saren.

Wracking her brain, she tried to recall the words she'd said when she first saw Liara; her wife had a much better memory for those details than she did. "Liara T'Soni, I presume."

"Thank the Goddess!" Liara was keeping a remarkably straight face, projecting an air of relief at her appearance. "I did not think that anyone would come looking for me. Listen, this thing that I am in is a prothean security device. I cannot move so I need you to get me out of it, all right?"

Lacking a giant mining laser to use, Melanie headed over to the controls of the forcefield generator. With the press of a few buttons, she deactivated the glimmering energy screen and the lovely asari behind it stepped closer to her.

"Thank you so much," she beamed gratefully. "I do not know what I would have done if you had not found me."

Liara was starting to change the script a bit but Melanie didn't mind. "Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. I'm just glad I was able to help out."

"Well, I am immensely grateful." Liara moved next to her and Shepard was reminded just how nice that jumpsuit looked covering the asari's curves. She'd spent far too much time back on-board the SR-1 trying very hard not to think inappropriate thoughts about it, trying to avoid imagining peeling it slowly off of her luscious body…

Liara took another step forward, and her lips brushed feather light over Melanie's. Shepard felt a charge run through her at the contact; this fantasy was surprisingly engaging in spite of its silliness. "Perhaps I can find some way to repay you for your assistance."

Melanie found it hard to keep a hitch out of her breath. "You don't have to do that."

Blue hands ran over her shoulders and even though she was still wearing armor, her skin tingled with excitement. "That is kind of you, but I would very much like to do so. There is something about you, Commander Shepard…"

Dark blue lips pressed more firmly against hers, and this time Melanie responded to the kiss, parting her lips to let Liara's small tongue slip into her mouth, tangling playfully with her own. The asari started unbuckling the straps of her armor, removing first her gauntlets, and then the chest piece, tossing them to the ground before running her hands over Melanie's firm torso. "I am fortunate," Liara breathed, "To have such an impressive rescuer."

Shepard grinned, reaching down to stroke the asari's soft blue cheek. "And I'm lucky to have found such a beautiful maiden to rescue."

Liara's mouth sucked at the base of her throat and Shepard groaned, feeling a pull between her legs. Her hand stroked the back of the asari's crest, and Liara purred before saying meekly, "I have never though of myself as beautiful."

"God, you are." Melanie loved the confidant woman her wife had become but there was something adorable about the reminder of her earlier shyness. She trailed her hand around to Liara's face, and the asari kissed her palm when it came to rest on top of her lips. "Those big blue eyes." She teased her fingers over her cheek. "Those freckles." Liara cocked her head, letting the digits caress her face. "And that voice. The things it makes me think about." A mischievous smile covered Melanie's face. "It's only a shame you might be working for Saren."

"I am not," Liara protested, her feigned indignation totally charming. "Perhaps I can demonstrate that I am only interested in working with you."

"How do you propose to do..." Melanie didn't even have time to finish her sentence before Liara knelt in front of her, unfastening the lower part of her armor. She stepped out of it, and the asari undid her belt and pulled her dark blue uniform pants down to the ground, removing them along with her boots. Starting at Shepard's ankles she began kissing slowly up the former Spectre's tan, toned legs, switching back and forth between them, her tongue raising goose bumps along the bare flesh.

Shepard reached down, her hand resting on Liara's crest. "That's, ah, a pretty good argument."

Liara looked up, her blue eyes a mask of innocence with just a hint of her true desire hidden behind them. "I am not finished making my case."

"Please, ah, continue." Her words faded out as Liara's tongue reached her inner thighs. It teased at the edges of her plain, black underwear, tracing the border where the cloth covered her sensitive skin, and Shepard could only gasp, "More."

"Of course, my hero," she agreed softly, pulling down the damp panties and breathing in the scent of her lover. Melanie's hips pushed forward unconsciously, trying to get that delicious tongue on her and when Liara tilted her head up, flicking over her clit, she groaned with pleasure.

The asari slowed down her pace, running her tongue lovingly over every fold around Melanie's sex before darting inside for a moment, tasting her rich flavor. Shepard's knees felt wobbly, and she leaned back against the wall, letting it take some of her weight while Liara pressed a hand against her stomach, feeling the strong muscles there undulate as her tongue slid back out again. When it found Shepard's clit, pushing aside the hood and drawing the hard point into her mouth, Melanie felt her balance slipping away. She started to slide down the wall and Liara's hands gripped her thighs, holding her up as she kept suckling on the bud.

Melanie felt her body tightening, her skin flushed, her need a ragged edge as her lover kept working her with an expertise that the virginal Liara of 2183 had most definitely not possessed. She gripped the asari's crest more tightly, and when Liara looked up at her, her eyes bright and guileless while her mouth kept working, Melanie came hard, crying out as she found her release, her clit pulsing ecstatically. The asari didn't let up easily, her tongue slowing but not stopping, coaxing everything that Shepard had to give out of her, the human's first climax blending seamlessly into a second as Liara continued, the borders between them lost in her bliss.

Liara stood up alongside her, licking her lips clean, enjoying the taste of Shepard's release. Melanie looked up, the former Spectre's blue eyes blinking as she tried to clear her head enough to talk. "I hope that you are clear now where my allegiance lies," the asari offered.

Shepard exhaled, a satisfied smile still filling her face as she pulled herself back to her feet. "I am. But if you're going to join my crew, I will need to conduct a more thorough examination of your attributes."

"Naturally." Liara reached behind her crest and slowly unzipped her jumpsuit. Seductively, she began to peel it off of her body, gradually revealing inch after inch of her blue flesh to Shepard's hungry gaze. As the material moved below her ample blue breasts, the former Spectre could see that her nipples were little blue rocks, and when she slid the garment off of her hips, all that she was left in were a lacy red pair of panties.

"Very nice," Melanie teased. "I wonder who you were expecting down here in these mines wearing those?"

"I have found it is best to be prepared." Liara pulled off Melanie's uniform shirt and pressed her bare breasts against her lover's chest.

"Prepared for this?", Melanie asked with a laugh, running her hands up and down the asari's bare skin. She felt so warm and good, so alive and happy. Everything that Shepard wanted. Liara pulled into her arms, and Shepard could feel the urgency in the way she writhed against her, her desire clearly intense. "I take it that you enjoyed doing that, Doctor T'Soni."

"Yes, Commander," the asari purred into her ear, her wet tongue flicking over the ridge on its outside. Shepard moaned and Liara continued, "And I sense there's something that you would like to do as well."

"Indeed there is." She bent down and took first one breast and then the other in her mouth, rolling the hard nipples between her lips, feeling her lover's fingers tangle through her dark hair as she sucked on them. Liara moaned loudly and Melanie reached her hand inside the asari's panties. The scales between her legs were slick with her arousal and Shepard ran a finger across her opening. She dipped it inside Liara and the asari clenched around her. "Goddamn it," Melanie whispered, "You're tight. Have you ever done this before?"

"You," Liara gasped as a second digit slowly pushed past her gripping entrance, "Are the only one who ever made me want to." Her answer made Melanie smile and she thrust deeper inside the asari. Liara pushed her hips against Shepard, taking her deeper, and Melanie began fucking her with her hand, feeling her lover's wetness coat her fingers.

She withdrew her fingers for a moment, and though Liara gasped with disappointment at their loss, when Shepard brought the slick digits up to her swollen clit, the asari cried out. As Shepard stroked the bud, her other hand pulled Liara's soaked panties down her legs. Liara responded by moving her own hand between her lover's thighs, sliding easily inside her still-wet sex. Melanie moved back inside as well, letting her thumb rest on the asari's clit while her fingers searched along her inner walls. Pressing against the membrane, she found the sensitive spot she knew so well and Liara's eyes flecked with darkness.

"Go on," Shepard offered, keeping up the game just a little longer. "Join with me. Show me that I can trust you." The blackness filled her lover's eyes and Liara reached out, finding her mind easily.

Any pretense vanished as their thoughts merged, the truth of their relationship undeniable in the joining. "I love you," Melanie whispered across the bond.

"I love you, too," Liara replied, the depths of her feelings intense and yet wonderfully familiar. "I'm glad you are enjoying this."

"Very much," she sent back, "You're wonderful to me." She resumed the motion of her hand and Liara did too, their bodies in perfect synchronicity. She could feel Liara close to the edge, her every nerve on fire, her desire taken higher by Melanie's enjoyment of her surprise.

Shepard pushed again against that special spot, while her thumb traced a small circle over Liara's clit. Liara's hips started to buck, and when her fingers fluttered inside Melanie, the human shuddered with pleasure, her thumb rubbing along the length of her wife's clit. The asari collapsed against her, her body shaking with pleasure, and the burning delight Melanie felt took her along, her climax filling every crevice of her mind and body. There was nothing but them in that moment, and the perfect joy they were sharing.

Their orgasm ebbed gradually, and while their minds slowly slid apart, Shepard peppered the side of her bondmate's neck with kisses, making Liara sigh happily. "I think," Melanie laughed, "That you're going to make a wonderful member of my crew."

Later, lying in bed upstairs, her arms wrapped around her wife, a thought occurred to Melanie. "So, I get that I should have said 'yes,' the first time you asked me out, and I definitely enjoyed the chance to correct my mistake, but something about this still doesn't make sense."

"Mm, what's that, love?" Liara's purr is low and contented as she nuzzles backwards into Shepard.

"I'm pretty sure that," Melanie explained, running her hand along Liara's inner thigh, "Wasn't exactly on the menu when we first met."

"I suppose," Liara grinned, "But perhaps you aren't the only one who'd have done things a little differently if she got the chance. And," she added with a laugh, "If the rest of the team hadn't been there at the time."

"Fair enough." Melanie joined in her wife's laughter before pressing a kiss on the back of her crest. "All I can say is that I'm definitely warming up to the idea of Shepard Day."

Liara kissed the arms wrapped around her, and as her wife settled into her embrace, Melanie Shepard felt well and truly happy. Fourteen years to the day after the end of the Reaper War, she was at peace with her past, and she could now look forward to a future that was so much brighter than anything she could have imagined.

And that's the end of Home Life. I might have an idea for another story and add something at some point, but it's pretty much done for now. I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited, and followed the stories. If you did, you might consider trying out my other Melanie Shepard stories, The Long Way Home, and A Taste, or my other works.