AN: Mass Effect, its locations and characters are the property of Bioware.
Content Warning: This chapter deals with mature subjects, and should be read by mature people. If you are offended by the phrase "safe sex", just move along.
Now beta'd by Neutral Ground.
It was a pleasant spring afternoon on Mindoir when the school bus let Shepard off at the end of her country road. Dressed in school acceptable jeans and a black t-shirt, book bag over her shoulders, she started the kilometer long trek that would take her the rest of the way home. She knew that when she got home a list of chores would be waiting for her posted to the refrigerator; Pa would be out plowing for the spring planting, Mama would probably be doing the wash. Later in the evening, after supper, she'd sit down and do her homework. But for the quarter hour her walk would take, the time was her own.
Her feet knew the way from the bus stop to the farm better than she did herself. And as she walked, eyes skimming over the fallow fields, she let her mind wander. At first, her thoughts were occupied with the upcoming weekend and the plans she and her friends had to meet at the theatre to see that new drama movie. Mary and Celeste had crushes on the lead actor and, though the movie wasn't something she thought she'd be interested in, she had decided to go along. When track season started in a couple weeks, she wouldn't have time to go to the movies; her afternoon chores would all be postponed to the weekend. Even now, going to the movies meant she was going to have to get up a couple hours early to finish her Saturday chores, but it would be worth it if they ran into Sarah.
Sarah... The blonde cheerleader had become something of a crush for Shepard in the last few weeks. They shared sophomore English together, and it seemed to Shepard that she was spending more of her time looking at Sarah than she spent paying attention to their teacher. It wasn't helped by the fact that Shepard sat in the back corner, and Sarah was in the desk just in front and to the left of her. She'd get to class early so that she could watch Sarah come in and take her seat, shapely legs under the short cheerleader's skirt. And throughout class Shepard would watch Sarah brush her long blonde hair back behind her ear, trying to keep it out of her face. And every few minutes it would fall free and the ritual would repeat.
Shepard's reverie was interrupted as she found herself at the kitchen door sooner than she expected, a fantasy about helping Sarah braid her hair discarded as she let herself into the farmhouse. When the door opened, she felt her blood run cold at the sight in front of her.
"Mama? Pa?" Shepard asked through the icy fear she felt. Sometimes she'd come home and find Mama working in the kitchen, but never Pa. There were just too many things to do on the farm for him to be inside before sundown. And here they both were, just sitting a the table. "Wha- Why are you both here? Is everything alright?"
"Everything's all right, honey," Mama told her. "Your Pa and I just need to talk to you about a couple things. Why don't you go put your books in your room, and I'll fix you a sweet tea."
Her Mama's calm did nothing to put Shepard at ease. To her, it was the calm that Doctor's used when they told you that you were going to die. "Are you... Are you sure? Everything's all right?"
"You heard your Mama. What we need to talk about will wait until you get back," Pa said, his voice quiet and comforting.
Shepard's heart was thumping in her chest as she said, "Okay," and left the room to put up her books. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute. Were they behind on the loan? Would they lose the farm? Was Grandma sick? Maybe her parents had decided to get a divorce...
In her room, she put her book bag on the bed and took ten deep breaths, trying to still the shaking she felt in her hands and legs and chest. Then she took ten more. And when the deep breaths didn't help, she bit her bottom lip and walked back to the kitchen with her anxiety and fear.
As she walked into the kitchen, the anxiety she felt in her chest moved to her stomach. Pulling her chair at the table out, she saw her hand was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"What's going on?" she asked quietly when she was seated.
Pa took a slow sip of his own tea, as though he was stalling for time. Shepard couldn't ever remember him stalling. Pa had always been up front and direct to the point. After a moment he started, "Honey, you know Mama and I will always love you."
"Oh god! You can't! You can't be getting a divorce!" Shepard blurted out, remembering the story Celeste had told them all when her parents had gotten divorced. That awkward sit down conversation that had started with 'we'll always love you'.
Almost in unison, Mama and Pa sat back in their chairs, blinking with shock. "We're not getting divorced, honey," Mama said. "We just... We..."
Mama Shepard sighed and moved something from her lap to the table. "I found these when I was changing your sheets last week. Pa and I talked, and we want you to know it's alright and you don't have to hide yourself from us."
Shepard stared at the pair of magazines Mama had put on the table, and she felt her face heat with embarrassment. Mama and Pa had found the girly magazines she'd liberated from Celeste's brother a few months before. 'They know,' she thought, 'Oh god they know I like girls oh god oh god.'
"We'll support you whatever you do, whoever you are, honey," Pa picked up from Mama. "We don't care one way or t'other if you like boys or girls or both. We just want you to be comfortable with yourself."
"And we won't tell anyone if you don't want us to," Mama said. "Or we'll stand next to you if you want to come out in front of the whole town."
In the long pause after her parents said their peace, Shepard stared at the table in front of her, certain her face was redder than the hothouse tomatoes she'd picked yesterday. 'They already know. And they're not mad,' Shepard told herself, struggling to find something to say. "I, um," she started, "yeah. I like girls. I've, um, known for a few years."
She closed her eyes, her blush deepening as she talked, even though it felt good to know that she didn't have to hide from her parents anymore. "No one else really knows. Well, no one but Celeste. She, um, figured it out two years ago. Before her parents divorced. I wanted to tell you then, but then you gave me the talk about girls and boys and safe sex and condoms and I thought you wanted me to be straight and–" Shepard babbled, her thoughts all running into each other.
"It's okay, honey," Mama said as she got up and hugged her child, stroking her hair. "It's our fault for not asking you if you liked boys or girls or if you even knew yet. We just knew that you were being noticed by boys, and we gave you the talk."
Shepard sniffed and let her Mama hold her, relieved that she didn't have to lie to them anymore.