A/N: I am terribly sorry for my long absence but it seems like I needed a break, plus this chapter was giving me quite a hard time and thus held up all the following chapters...
Anyway, thanks a lot for all your reviews, likes, follows, etc. in the meantime, I haven't forgotten about you all... :)
Oh, almost forgot: a huuuuge "thank you" to Ines for keeping me company in those dull, unproductive months, thanks a lot for your help! So she's basically responsible (in a good way) for every future chapter 'cause I probably wouldn't have uploaded them without her encouragement... :)
So for all of you who're still following this, I'll upload a few more chapters, and how about a short glimpse at what the future brings? id: 8951245 (or just search my stories for "Shepard Charm") ... Enjoy :)
"I like to know where I fit in the world."
.
Oriana's skeptical eyes remained on her sister for a little while longer. Miranda's turned head was indicating that she was back to watching the vid, but the wide grin her sister had on her face ever since Oriana had mentioned Shepard's birthday proved that she wasn't actually following the scenes on the terminal in front of them...
Still, her sister's silence told Oriana it would be hopeless to try and ask her about the grin's origin... she would just pretend she couldn't hear her – like she'd done for the last five minutes already...
So, with a sigh, Oriana let the topic go and instead asked a question that had been nagging her ever since she'd inspected the bookshelf at the far side of the room...
"Miri, who's Hannah Miller?"
Miranda's grin faded and she slowly turned her head back to her sister.
"Where did you get that name?" It wasn't an accusation and Miranda's raised eyebrow spoke simply of surprise, which made Oriana decide to go on. She nodded towards the bookshelf.
"There's a holo-pic of you, Shepard and a woman on your bookshelf, signed 'Hope to see you again soon, Hannah Miller'..."
Miranda nodded in thought. I knew I should have hidden it better... Ugh, I should have known not every person stays away from those books like Shepard does...
"She's..." Biting her lip, Miranda lowered her eyes to Emily who'd fallen asleep again between the two sisters, clutching her plush volus. "She's our mother," she mumbled, still evading her sister's eyes which immediately widened at her words.
"Our mother?"
"Well, one of them anyway..." Miranda hurriedly added, grimacing guiltily as she met Oriana's eyes.
"How did you... Why didn't you..." Oriana shook her head in confusion.
"I was going to tell you," Miranda placed a soothing hand on her sister's arm, "Had it went well..."
Oriana's eyes shot up. "It didn't?"
Her sister shrugged. "Well, she's... not what I'd expected..."
"Oh wow, please tell me you're not that shallow, Miri..."
Miranda winced. "Well... you've seen the picture... I just assumed..."
"She's our mother!"
"One of them," Miri corrected, her eyes narrowing as they shot an accusing glare towards the bookshelf...
. . .
"The others will be a bit harder to find, I'm afraid..." Liara's holographic image furrowed its brows. "Hannah Miller was one of the first, I can only assume they kept the names better hidden in the following years. Maybe because Mr. Lawson's requirements for possible donors changed over time and the women were wealthier, which means they'll have paid a great amount of money to keep their identities hidden, maybe they even made anonymous donations... maybe he stole the DNA... but I'll see what I can do... if she's still interested after today, that is..."
Now it was Shepard's turn to furrow her brows as she looked at her friend's image on her omni-tool. "Of course she'll be. Why wouldn't she?"
"Just... see for yourself..."
With an apologetic smile and a short nodd, Liara ended the call, leaving a confused Shepard standing alone in the living room of their house. She didn't have much time to contemplate the asari's words however, as the sound of Miranda's heels coming down the stairs rang out into their living room right that moment.
The former commander raised her head and smiled as she spotted a nervous Miranda clutching their daughter to her chest.
"She's not here yet, is she?" The raven-haired woman shot a quick glance towards the closed front door. "I heard voices and I thought..." She trailed off, her eyes darting around the room until they settled on the baby in her arm as if only now noticing Emily's presence. "I wasn't sure if I should bring Emily down, it might be a bit much to take in on the first meeting, but I couldn't just leave her alone upstairs, she might wake up and-"
With two quick steps, Shepard was standing in front of the rambling woman and placed her hands on either side of Miranda's waist, smiling at her. "I was just talking to Liara," she explained – in case Miranda suspected her of hiding her mother somewhere in the room, "And I think your mother should meet every member of our family, especially when they're as adorable as this little one here..." She lightly nuzzled Emily's cheek with her nose which elicited a giggle from the baby before she placed a kiss on Miranda's forehead. "It'll be fine, don't worry..."
Miranda released a shuddering breath but immediately tensed again when the door bell rang only seconds later. An excited Cal shot past the couple and Shepard's hands on her hips were the only thing saving the former operative from loosing her balance. Cal had meanwhile reached the door and was excitedly bouncing in front of it, turning his head back to them expectantly. Shepard shot a quick glance over her shoulder, her eyebrow raised as she eyed the varren skeptically. "Well, maybe not necessarily every member of our family..." she stated before turning back to the paralyzed woman in her arms.
"You okay?"
"Is it too late to pretend we're not home?"
Smiling, Shepard shook her head and gently led Miranda towards the door. "To a visit we invited her in the first place? Definitely." She shot Miranda a mischievous smirk. "Besides, I'm sure she's already heard your squeal before..."
As expected, Miranda's posture immediately regained her trademark grace and she set her narrowed eyes on Shepard. "I did not squeal," she simply stated before activating the door controls with newfound confidence... just to freeze once again when her eyes fell on their visitor...
"I'm glad you could make the time." Shepard shot the woman sitting opposite of her another warm smile.
Hannah Miller was in her late fifties, wearing jeans and a plain grey shirt that seemed to be just a bit too tight around her midsection. As she nodded, long strands of blond hair fell into her face which she quickly tucked behind her ears, oblivious to Miranda's unmoving gaze on her from across the table.
Blond hair, I don't have blond hair! I don't have brown eyes either! We don't even share the same physique... What if we share the same intellect? Her attire could be a disguise... Oh god, please let it be a disguise! Is that a food stain on her shirt?
Oblivious to Miranda's inner turmoil, Hannah waved her hand dismissively as she took another large gulp from her coffee cup before placing it back on the table and running the back of her hand over her mouth to catch the few drops of coffee that had gathered at the corner there. This simple act alone caused Miranda to raise a disapproving eyebrow while she remained silent, sitting on a chair next to Shepard, her eyes still fixed in disbelief on their guest.
It could be a simple mistake, I'm sure there are lots of Hannah Millers in the galaxy, maybe it's the wrong one... even Liara can be wrong sometimes... God, there's still coffee on her hand, doesn't she see that?
Hannah meanwhile beamed at Shepard. "Of course, dear. I hadn't much else to do anyway, I was glad you called. Although I have to admit, it came as a surprise after such a long time..." Hannah slightly leaned forward on the table. "How did you even find me? Did Mr. Lawson tell you about me?"
Shepard shook her head, smiling politely. "We had a little help from a friend," she answered vaguely, which seemed to satisfy Hannah. The blond woman nodded and smiled absent-mindedly.
"He was such a nice man..." she mused and Shepard could feel the woman next to her tense and quickly placed a soothing hand on Miranda's thigh. "What's he doing nowadays?"
"He... passed away a few years ago..."
Both Hanna's and Shepard's head whipped around at the unexpected answer coming from Miranda who had been silent this entire time up until now.
Hannah's eyes widened. "Oh, you poor child. You must have been crushed..." Without warning, her hand shot out and tried to close itself around Miranda's, who quickly pulled hers away with a panicked expression.
The short silence that followed was soon interrupted by Shepard clearing her throat to drown out the sound of her kicking Miranda under the table. Miranda's head immediately whipped around and her narrowed eyes dueled with Shepard's for a second before her jaw clenched and she guiltily placed her hand back on the table, allowing Hannah to place hers over it in a soothing gesture.
"What happened?"
Miranda cleared her throat, forcing her eyes away from the coffee stain on the back of Hannah's hand. "He... fell..."
"He fell?"
"Yes." Miranda nodded eagerly. "He was... working in his lab and... tripped..." ...over his big ego, that bastard...
"Terrible," Hannah muttered. "He was so full of life..." She released Miranda's hand after another gentle pat and emptied the rest of her coffee with one last – and to Miranda's great displeasure loud – gulp. "Mr. Lawson was such a charming man, it's a shame he's gone..." she declared, placing the empty cup down on the table with a sad sigh.
Shepard's eyes immediately widened and her head shot to the woman sitting next to her. That was definitely not a good topic for a relaxed afternoon get-together... As if to confirm Shepard's fear, Miranda's lips had thinned and the previously neatly clasped hands in her lap balled into fists, a hint of blue already surrounding them. Before Shepard could open her mouth to try and lighten the mood though, Hannah had already continued – surprising both Shepard and Miranda with her next words.
"And his beautiful and intelligent daughter already has a family of her own..."
"So?" Shepard propped her chin in the palm of her hand as she turned to Miranda lying in bed next to her.
The raven-haired woman groaned and turned away from her, her back now facing Shepard's grin. "Could we just never ever talk about this day again, please?"
Shepard's brows furrowed and she reached out, gently running her hand down Miranda's arm. "Why not?"
The soft tone in her voice caused Miranda to groan once more and turn on her back again, evading Shepard's eyes and instead staring at the ceiling. After a moment of contemplation, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders.
"I was hoping to find some closure by meeting her, just like I had been hoping to find closure when I faced my father at Sanctuary, but just like then, it didn't help..." Shrugging once more, she added quietly, "It didn't change anything. I don't feel any different..."
Shepard took Miranda's right hand in hers and intertwined their fingers, raising them to her lips and kissing the back of Miranda's hand before she inched closer to her, wrapping her arm around the other woman's waist.
"You already have a family, you don't need to try and fill those spots with strangers," she whispered sleepily, closing her eyes as she nestled her head against Miranda's neck.
In the darkness of their bedroom, with Shepard's soon deep and even breathing against her neck, for the first time that day Miranda relaxed and a satisfied smile spread across her face before she, too, closed her eyes to drift off into sleep.
. . .
"She's our mother..." Oriana whispered, still in awe.
Miranda nodded and sighed, running a hand over her forehead. "I know. Hard to believe..."
"Did she... I mean, did she know why..."
Miranda shook her head and Oriana nodded in understanding. "Guess we'll never know..."
"Or understand why he did it, even if he could still tell us," Miranda added with a serious expression.
"She sounds like such a nice person," Oriana went on, her eyes still distant. "Make sure you invite me to your next get-together..."
Miranda's head whipped around. "Did you hear what I just told you? That woman is irritating and possesses an infuriating need to touch and hug everyone around her!"
A grin spread across Oriana's face as she inched closer – making sure she didn't wake Emily – and wrapped her arms around her sister. "Like this?" she challenged.
Miranda huffed in annoyance. "You're my sister, you're allowed to do that."
"She's your mother!"
Miranda rolled her eyes and freed herself from the embrace, shaking her head. "Now you sound like Shepard..."
At that, Oriana's eyes lit up. She hadn't expected it so soon, but this was her chance! With her most convincing innocent smile, she purred, "Speaking of Shepard..."
Miranda's head immediately shot back to the terminal and her fingers flew over her activated omni-tool, turning up the volume while she declared, "Well, I'd say we've talked long enough now, don't you think? We've missed an entire half hour of the storyline already..."
Oriana groaned. Chance blown...
