Shepard walked up to a blonde teenager, his hands in his pockets. He wore an overcoat and a black suit. He'd gotten Haku to announce that Shepard was, indeed, alive while he took care of a loose end.
"Hello Hannah." Shepard said. Hannah turned and looked Shepard over.
"Mr. Jack?" Hannah asked. She hadn't changed at all, even though she was rich from Shepard's gift. "You look...off."
"I'm John Shepard." Shepard said. "I had mental problems and another personality emerged. That was John Mason. That personality is gone, though."
Hannah nodded, taking what would seem like insanity to others well. In truth, it was unexplainable to describe what had happened within Shepard's head, as even he couldn't remember.
"I didn't kill Lynn. I loved her." Shepard said. "I'm terrified that you'll hate me, or try to get me arrested, but I'm telling the truth, and I couldn't live with myself until I told you what happened."
"No need." Hannah said. "The door was open, so when they checked the security cameras they would've seen that you killed that man in self-defense."
"Hm." Shepard said. "You're a smart girl, too. You probably know that I gave you all of those credits."
Hannah nodded, and stood, hugging the Commander. He put his hand on her back, patting her.
"I miss mom." Lynn said, and began crying.
"I miss her, too." Shepard said. "I've been thinking about it and, because you have no family, would you let me adopt you? I have another daughter, though. Rosaline. She's a child prodigy, truly."
Hannah smiled. "Sure. I'd like that. Though I think you're more not going to tell as many jokes as Mr. Jack did."
"I won't. But I'll try not to be moody as I used to be." Shepard said, smiling. He opened his omni-tool, and Haku smiled.
"Told you it'd go better than you thought." Haku said. "I listened to the whole thing."
Shepard's smile grew. "Could you do me a favor?"
"Sure, love." Haku said. She'd learned that Shepard liked her to call him things like 'love,' so she said little things like that often.
"Call your sister and get her to do the legal work. And to abandon the previous favor I asked her to do." Shepard said. "Miranda took care of it, surprisingly."
"I know. Looks like you really can't predict what others will always do." Haku smiled.
"Never said I could." Shepard said. "Love you."
"Love you too, big guy." Haku said, and then added "You should spend some time with Rosaline."
"I know." Shepard said.
A week later, Shepard stood, thinking of how best to introduce Rosaline to Hannah when Miranda opened the door.
"John." Miranda nodded.
"Miranda." Shepard said, then picked his daughter up, smiling. "You've grown, Rosie!"
Rosaline giggled. "You look good, Daddy. Getting more sleep?"
Hannah was surprised. Little girls usually didn't know about how sleep affected looks.
Rosaline saw Hannah and said "Blonde hair. That's pretty rare. I'm Rosaline."
"I'm Hannah," Hannah smiled.
"She's your big sister." Shepard smiled, putting Rosaline down.
"I know." Rosaline said, walking over to Hannah. Everyone in the room was surprised.
"How?" Haku asked.
"I use Mommy's computer." Rosaline said. "Her encrypted files are easy to access. She forgets I'm a genius."
Hannah got down on one knee and hugged Rosaline. "I won't. I hope we can be friends."
"Me too." Rosaline said, and hugged Hannah back.
"Wow." Michael said, strolling in the door as if he owned the place. "This is so sweet I'm going to die of diabetes."
"Oh, shut up." Haku smiled. "How's it going?"
"Good." Isabella said. "Aria's being a flirt, though."
"And she won't let me go to the meetings." Michael said, pouting.
"Just because I love you doesn't mean I'll let you help do business deals." Isabella said. "Especially after you said that Aria and I making out would be hot."
"You can't hate me for speaking the truth!" Michael said, then grabbed the remote. "What's on TV?"
"He's childish." Rosaline noted.
"Yep." Haku said, curling up to Shepard. "What are we going to do tomorrow?"
"Nothing, I hope." Shepard sighed, putting his hand around Haku's waist. "I'm too old to fight."
"You're barely forty. Suck it up." Haku smiled, then pecked Shepard on the cheek.