A/N Just a small chapter here, but it's necessary. I tried not to make it sickly sweet but you guys will be the judge of that. The next chapters will get back to more serious stuff though so stick with me on this guys!
25th December 2186 – Crucible Pulse + 3 months
Miranda woke to a strange sensation on her face. At first she though it was Shepard, showering her with light kisses. But then she realised it couldn't be him, firstly they were less like kisses and more like miniature licks – and he had never exactly licked her face before. Secondly there was pressure on her chest, four small points of pressure to be exact and they were far too light to be him. And finally she heard a chuckling from the other side of the room, clearly John's. She opened her eyes, seeing the perpetrator on her chest.
She raised an eyebrow. "A puppy?"
"Merry Christmas!" Shepard took a seat on the bed next to her, giving her a small kiss and picking up the tiny dog in his arms. It squealed slightly as he did so, waving it's paws in the air. "Isn't he cute?"
Miranda sat up in the bed, regarding the dog closely. It was very round, the body of it with plenty of puppy fat. It was mainly white but with some brown patches along it's flanks and back, it's stubby tail also being of both colours. It had similar brown markings on either side of it's face, divided by a white strip between it's white forehead and muzzle. Rounded, floppy, brown ears were continuously moving around as the puppy eagerly took in the sounds of it's surroundings. It was also looking around, curious blue eyes darting from right to left. In fact it bore rather similar eyes to the man currently petting it. Perhaps dogs really do reflect their owners, Miranda mused. Though she didn't know that much about dogs, she was pretty sure of what this one was.
"It's a St Bernard right?"
"Yep," Shepard placed the dog back on Miranda, setting it down on her lap. It looked up to her with those eyes, a pink tongue lolling out to one side of it's mouth rather comically. "And he's all ours!"
"You do know how big these grow right?" Miranda looked at him, trying to look serious. His enthusiasm was infectious however, and she couldn't keep a straight face at all. "It'll be like a small bear in a year."
"I know that, but we have space," He shrugged, rubbing it behind the ears. "And we live in the mountains, this is a mountain dog."
Miranda tried to fix him a glare. "It'll drool everywhere."
"That's not the end of the world," He gave her a grin. "I know someone who drools just a little in their sleep."
"I don't bloody drool." She lowered her tone, now managing to hold a glare.
"I'm only joking Miri, but back to the dog. Watch this," He moved properly onto the bed, lying next to her. He picked up the puppy and placed it standing on his own lap before speaking. "Sit."
The dog didn't do exactly as commanded though. Instead of sitting down it just flopped onto it's back, legs flying up into the air. Then it lay still, staring up at the pair of them and panting wildly. It was perhaps the most pathetic yet adorable thing Miranda had ever seen, prompting her to pout slightly.
"That is just..." A sudden realisation hit her. "That's what you've been hiding away in the garage doing isn't it, it was in the box."
"Yeah he was. I've been trying to train him but...you saw," Miranda placed a hand on the puppy's stomach as Shepard talked, scratching it's fuzzy belly. It's paws flailed in the air in response, a slight whine escaping it's snout. "To be honest he's still very young, only ten weeks old."
"Naw, he is very cute I will admit," She placed her other hand under it's back, lifting the puppy up and holding it at arms length in front of her. It yawned, stretching it's mouth obscenely wide and succeeding to make itself look cuter. "And I suppose it would be nice to have a dog."
"Exactly, I..."
"But you're training him," She placed it back on her chest, the puppy resuming it's exploration of the bed and sniffing happily. "And what's he called?"
"Have a guess."
Miranda whistled to get it's attention, the puppy immediately flipping it's gaze to her. It watched her with a cocked head, it's body standing stock still. The only thing that moved was it's ears, constantly shifting around it's head like little flaps whilst it's eyes remained trained on her. That in itself provided the clue, reminding her of someone that acted in the exact same manner.
"Legion."
XXXXXXXX
Downstairs the three humans were together, sitting around the large Christmas tree in the hallway. Legion was there as well, but he was busy running around in circles and yapping for attention from the three of them. Oriana had immediately taken to him, though Miranda was sure she had been in on the plan to begin with.
There was a whole cluster of presents under the tree, though Miranda wasn't exactly sure where the majority of them had mysteriously come from. Oriana grabbed and pressed one of them into her hands with a smile, Miranda swapping it for a present for her sister – a rather new and advanced Omni-tool.
She ripped open the packaging to reveal a luxurious bath robe. The outside was fawn in colour and made of a silky material. The inside was faux fur, white in colour and soft to the touch. Miranda stood and walked quickly into the living room, not being particularly keen on stripping in front of her sister, to remove John's borrowed shirt and placing on the robe instead. It was a perfect fit for her, snug around her waist and chest and cutting off a few inches down her thighs.
"It's lovely Ori," Miranda smiled at her twin as she walked back into the room, receiving a smile in return and an approving grin from Shepard. "Much more suitable attire than that this old shirt."
She threw the shirt at Shepard before kneeling beside the tree, fetching the present she had hurriedly managed to get for John. It was a big item, right at the back of the pile. She managed to slide it out though, hefting it over to him.
"Wow, that's big," He tore at the wrapping, revealing a black hard case. Shepard undid the clasps on the side, opening up the box. He looked over at her. "A guitar?"
"Well, you wanted something to do – why not learn a musical instrument?"
"Thank you Miri," He inspected the instrument closely before looking at her again, this time with a puzzled expression. "But I'm not at all musical. Honestly, I'll be a disaster."
"Everyone has to have a hobby Shepard," Oriana looked up from her new Omni-tool, smiling at them. "Maybe you could play and Randa could sing along?"
"In your dreams Ori," She rolled her eyes at her little sister, turning back to John. He had produced another package, square in shape and rather thin. He had to wave Legion away, the pup seemed rather interested in the package. "What's this?"
"I looked for ages for these, so we both had something to play," She took the package from him, her breath catching in her throat as she slid open the wrapping. "They're really rare."
"I bet they are," The items were three records, all from the middle of the twentieth century. One was a compilation of Mozart's most popular works, another of Bach's choral masterpieces, and the third was of Beethoven's most famous piano sonatas. They were the exact same records that she had once seen in collections, that had been many years ago in glass cabinets in her fathers mansion. Now they were here in her hands however, she could play them to her hearts content and she would. Miranda leaned forwards to give him a long kiss, pulling away at Oriana's sniggering. "Thank you John."
XXXXXXXX
"That was a really enjoyable day John, thank you," He smiled at Miranda from the bed, he was lying with Legion spread eagled across his chest. It turned out that the dog seemed to sleep on it's back, unlike any sensible dog, with it's legs sticking out in the most random of directions. She sat on the bed, rubbing Legion's belly in circles. "And you are great too Legion."
The dog whined happily in reply, rolling it's head to look at her and then back again. She laughed at it's reaction, giving it another pat on the head. They had had a brilliant day, the presents being followed by a rather tasty lunch that John had slaved over all morning. The afternoon had been relaxing as well, a couple of hours in the snow with Legion before relaxing in the living room whilst Shepard tried – he really did try – to begin to learn his guitar. But now it was time for something she had been putting off for the last two days, she swung her legs onto the bed whilst giving Shepard a look.
"There's something we have to discuss John."
"What?" He suddenly looked alarmed, sitting bolt upright with a concerned look. Legion got a shock and jumped off his chest, scampering to the bottom of the bed and plopping himself down there. "What's wrong?"
"Don't be so concerned John," She patted him on the arm lightly. "But it's about my infertility."
"Yeah?" She noticed there was some relief on his face, but still with a lingering trace of concern.
"Yeah. We've worked out how to cure it."
"Really?" A massive grin broke out across his face now, now he looked rather happy indeed. "That's amazing!"
"It is, but I need to have an operation first," Again a look of concern became visible on his features. "We're gonna do it in February."
"Right," He furrowed his eyebrows. "What does that entail of then?"
Miranda smiled as she turned, reaching into her bedside cabinet. She had spent the past two days creating a set of diagrams especially for Shepard, ready for this moment. She didn't want him to worry so much so the best way to do that was to explain exactly what was going to happen. Medical diagrams would be confusing though, so she had produced her own 'Shepard diagrams' for him. She handed him the data-pad, removing her new bath robe at the same time.
"Look here John," She got his attention, placing a finger low on her naked body and tracing a line downwards under her belly button. "They'll cut here first, that's this cut on the diagram."
"Right." He sounded rather dubious as he watched her explain.
"Then it's the simple part. They remove that mass, it's the actual tumour," She pointed to a grey mass on the scan. "The trickiest part is repairing whatever damage there is to the walls of the fallopian tube and uterus, but we won't know the extent until they open me up and take it out."
"OK."
"And then they close me up, it's really simple you see?" She smiled sadly at the expression on his face. "You still aren't convinced are you?"
"I'm just dubious, that's all."
"Don't be, trust me," She cupped his chin gently, stroking his stubble. "Then team is really good, and Walters is an expert. You reckon that I'd let any old doctor near me with a surgical knife?"
"Suppose not."
"Exactly," She kissed him lightly. "And I'll be under local anaesthetic the whole time so I can still boss them about."
"I want to be there," He swallowed nervously. "With you."
"If you want you can be there," It was unexpected to her, Miranda had thought that he would want to stay well away from any operating theatre. "But you might not like it in there."
"I'll stomach it for you."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling both of them down onto the bed. Shepard placed the data-pad on his bedside cabinet as Miranda snuggled into him, burying her head into his shoulder.
"I love you John," She ran a hand down his chest, tracing his defined abs. "And Merry Christmas."
"Love you too Miri."
Miranda closed her eyes as a kiss was pressed to her temple, both of them relaxing into each other.
The peace didn't last for long though, Legion was clearly feeling left out of the scene. He padded up the bed, walking straight over Shepard, and settling himself down in front of her own head. There was quiet for about half a minute before the snoring began, an incredible noise for such a small puppy.
"You could have bought a dog that doesn't snore."
"It adds to his charm."
"Hmm, we'll see."