12th December 2187 – Crucible Pulse + 14 months

Shepard was downstairs in the gym when he got the message. He was in mid press up when the omni-tool on his arm buzzed, and at first he ignored it. But he recognised the rhythm of the buzz as a message marked urgent, so he finished his current press up to check the message.

8:42 M.L – GETUPSTAIRSNOW!

He frowned, Miranda never wrote in full capitals. And never, as she put it, misused the English language with incorrectly constructed sentences. Then his eyes widened. It was about the time after all. Shepard shot up, sprinting out of the gym, past the pool, and up the spiral staircase to the ground floor. He slowed as Miranda came down from the first floor, the pair meeting in front of the fish tank. Miranda was in her faux fur bath robe, and he noticed Miranda was sweating lightly with one hand clutched across her stomach.

"John, it's coming."

He wasn't really prepared for those words, Shepard had actually been dreading this day for the last few weeks. He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"You mean the baby?"

Miranda hissed back through clenched teeth. "No shit Sherlock."

"Oh god," Shepard placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing lightly. "OK then, lets not panic. We just have to get you to the hospital."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're the one panicking."

"Come on, we have to..." Shepard had a realisation. "Oh shit."

"What?"

He walked over to the front door, pulling it open. Outside the December weather was brutal, the last week had been nothing but blizzards. And the snow on the ground was piled high in huge drifts, so big that a large pile of snow fell inside the house as the door opened. Shepard wasn't worried about the snow on the ground though, he was more worried about the sky.

"The weather's horrific Miri, I don't know if it's safe to drive the skycar in this blizzard," He cursed again. "And I leant the fucking shuttle to Zaeed."

"Brilliant John, just brilliant." Shepard turned back to Miranda, forcing the door shut. He could hear the pain behind her voice, and that sent his mind into more of a panic.

"The emergency services can get to us though, they'll have vehicles that can get to us."

"I doubt it."

"Well I'll call them," He hurried over to Miranda. "Hang on Miri."

"It's not me that you have to tell that too."

He ignored her retort, opening up his omni-tool once more. Shepard dialled the number for the emergency services, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for someone on the other end to pick up. After a few seconds of the dialling tone the voice of a young woman could be heard.

"This is the emergency services, how can I help you?"

"Yeah, Hi. We need help quickly, my...erm...partner has gone into labour," Shepard was aware of just how hysterical he sounded. "But there's a snowstorm, we can't get from our house to the hospital."

"OK, keep calm Sir. Firstly, I need your address."

Shepard replied with the information, rattling it off rather quickly. His eyes were focused on Miranda however, she had sunk to the floor in front of the fish tank and was clutching her stomach once more. Her eyes were closed as he could see pain flicker across her face as she had another contraction.

"Right Sir, I can see why you have a problem the weather reports are horrific for the area and we are still rather stretched for resources from the war," There was a pause. "But I can get ground units to you however, don't worry. Can I also have a name please?"

"Yeah, my partner is Miranda Lawson. I'm John Shepard."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, Shepard cursed once more. Now was not the time for someone to break down in hysterics. He heard other voices on the other end of the line before the woman spoke to him again.

"Help is on it's way, though it may be a few hours."

"What, that's ridiculous," Shepard shook his head in disbelief. "If the owner of my local pizza place in the village can get to my house then why can't some MAKOs?"

"Well it's getting to the village that's the problem, the..."

Shepard took another glance back at Miranda, he really was worried about her and he interrupted the woman. "I really don't care, but please tell them to hurry. I have to get back to Miranda."

"Understood Sir. I'll be available on this extension whenever you need help," There was another pause. "And may I add, it's an honour..."

"Yeah yeah, thank you."

With that he closed his omni-tool, hurrying back over to Miranda. He knelt next to her, taking her hand gently.

"There are some medical teams on their way, in MAKOs."

"That's great, but the nearest base is about an hour from here in good weather," Miranda shook her head. "The woman's right, it'll take a while."

"Just..."

"John, listen to me," Miranda cupped his cheek with a hand, forcing their eyes to meet. "You have to help me until they arrive, possibly you'll have to deliver the baby."

He swallowed rather forcibly, this was his worst case scenario for the birth.

"Please John, I really need you now."

"Right," He nodded his resolve, taking her hands with his own. "Tell me what to do, I'll help you."

"Well I'm into Established Labour already, my waters went a few minutes ago. Surprisingly quickly actually," She grimaced again, looking away from him. "We'll need some supplies. Towels, water, snacks. And this could take anywhere up of of eight hours, I should try to keep busy."

"Right." He jumped up and bolted up the stairs, reaching one of the spare bathrooms on the first floor and grabbing a large pile of towels. Shepard sprinted back downstairs, tossing them down and rushing into the kitchen. He threw open the fridge, grabbing several bottles of water and rushing back to Miranda.

"Here we go."

"And the snacks?"

"Damn," He sprinted back into the kitchen, grabbing several packs of biscuits and crisps and returning to her. "Got em."

"OK," Miranda took several deep breaths, closing her eyes as she did so. "Don't panic now John, you have to keep calm OK?"

"Shouldn't it be me saying that to you?"

"Yes but you're hopeless in these situations, I am not."

"Right."

"Help me up," Shepard placed an arm around her back, pulling her up with his other hand. He helped steady her, rather tentatively. "I should try to keep moving and possibly distracted."

"Right, you said to do stuff yeah?" She nodded. "We could put the Christmas decorations up?"

"Don't be ridiculous," She rolled her eyes. "I can't really do that."

"You can order me about, tell me where to put stuff," At her disapproving gaze he shrugged. "Right, point taken, that's inappropriate. A film instead?"

XXXXXXXX

The next four hours passed rather slowly for them. Miranda's contractions began to increase in length and occurred more often, and she was clearly in an increasing amount of pain. Help had still not shown up and Shepard's anxiety had gone through the roof. Initially they had been able to distract themselves, but now it was impossible. The most worrying thing for Shepard was that Miranda had lost her initial calmness, and wasn't being particularly coherent. He was now in contact with Dr Walters, but that didn't make up for the fact that he was on video call and not present. In truth Shepard didn't trust that he was up to the task of delivering a baby without instructions from an expert that was present. All he knew was that he had to keep positive.

"Miri, you're doing great," Shepard rubbed her hand softly. "It'll be over soon, don't worry."

"You've been saying that for bloody hours, and where the bloody hell are those MAKOs?" Miranda hissed, glancing away from him once more. "John, you're gonna have to check how things are."

"With the medical teams?"

"No with the baby," She shook lightly. "You'll have to check how dilated I am."

"Can't Walters..."

"Are you seriously going to send him pictures of what's going on?" She scoffed. "Besides he won't be able to tell, you have to look."

His eyes widened, looking down there was something he had so far managed to avoid. It terrified him, and wasn't something he wanted to do. "Miri..."

Miranda practically shouted back in reply. "Shepard, grow a pair of balls and look."

That shut him up. He swallowed nervously, preparing himself mentally. He knew he had to do it, there was no other option. Miranda needed him, and that was that. Shepard peeled open her dressing gown, about to shift his eyes south. But he stopped as there was a rapid set of knocks at the door.

"Yes! Yes!" He leapt up, practically jumping for joy. "We're in here, it's unlocked."

There was a thump as the door opened, followed by rapid footsteps and Legion's barking. As the medical team entered the room Shepard could not have been more relieved, and a huge smile broke across his face. Miranda appeared much more relieved as well, her lips moving in a silent thanks.

Shepard stood back as the four members of the team began to unpack various pieces of equipment. Miranda waved her hand at him though, gesturing for him to come closer. He did, gripping her hand once more.

He looked at one of the team. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just hold her hand and try to keep her happy."

"Well," Miranda beat him to the reply. "At least he can bloody do that!"

XXXXXXXX

Shepard stood over the cot, just watching. They had decided to have the cot in their bedroom for at least the first few months, so they could keep a close eye on the baby. Elizabeth, as she was called. It was Miranda's idea and, though he had been reluctant at first, she had a point. It was lovely to have their child so close. Their perfect child.

Elizabeth Shepard was a beautiful baby, though all babies were probably like that in their parents eyes. She had the exact eyes of her mother, azure in colour and filled with curiosity and intelligence. Her skin was rather porcelain in colour, though not quite as pale as Miranda's. And he suspected that her hair would come through as raven black, she would likely be a mini Miranda in a few years time. But that wasn't a problem for him at all.

And then there was the look Elizabeth had about her. Miranda was fast asleep, tucked in bed and snoring lightly, but the baby was wide awake. Shepard had imagined she would sleep or cry, but she happily lay in the cot with her curious eyes constantly watching him. He sneaked another glance at Miranda, she was completely out for the count, and turned back to Elizabeth with a smile. He carefully wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up into his arms, making sure to support the head. She squirmed for a couple of seconds before settling, still watching him with those azure eyes. Quietly, he crept out of the room, heading downstairs with her in his arms.

Shepard took her down to the ground floor, wandering exactly what to do with her. He didn't know what people actually did with babies, other than talk to them in ridiculous voices. In his opinion, you should talk to a child normally.

"So..." His voice drew Elizabeth's attention once more. "This is your house Lizzie. Can I call you Lizzie?"

Elizabeth's eyes continued to stare at him, and he was sure he caught some eye rolling.

"Yeah, I guess I can," He reached the bottom of the stairs, stopping as Elizabeth made a cooing noise. Her gaze was off him and towards the bright blue of the fish tank, highly luminescent in the darkness. He took her over to the tank, angling her so she could see easily. "So you like fish eh? I do too, these ones are pretty cool. Look at that one, she's a Thessian dartfish. A particularly nice fish."

Lizzie flicked her gaze between the fish tank and his face, rather happily watching both. Shepard guessed that the fish were probably rather intriguing for a new born, what with all the vivid colours and the trickling sound of the pump. After a few minutes he moved away, heading into the living room and settling down on the sofa.

"What about some television?" He switched on the vid-screen, the channel still set onto the news. He was rather pleased to see Emily Wong was still doing well on the Citadel News Network. She was sat in the studio, finishing a report.

"...and that's how Gary the budgie learnt to snowboard."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, looking down at Elizabeth. "A snowboarding budgie? That's ridiculous don't you think?" His reply was another stare, though he was sure he caught a glimpse of a smirk at the edges of her mouth. He turned his attention back to the vid-screen.

"So, now back to our main story – have engineers reached a breakthrough on how to move the Citadel back to it's home in the Serpent Nebula?" Emily spun her chair to the right. "Well here with me is one of the engineers working on the project, Dr Chevos."

The camera panned to the right as well, showing a Salarian in the studio with Emily. He nodded and smiled at the camera, speaking in his races usual manner. "Thank you for having me Emily."

"That's a pleasure, so what can you tell our viewers?"

"Well we have been busy trying to work out whether we can safely transport the entire of the Citadel, with all of it's populace and contents, through the mass relays back to the Serpent Nebula."

"Surely if the Reapers managed to move it, we can too?"

"Unfortunately it isn't that simple. The Reapers were, as we all know, highly advanced and intelligent. They may have known just how to manipulate Prothean technologies like the Citadel and the Mass Relays in ways we just can't manage."

"The Reapers built it all!" Shepard exclaimed rather loudly at the vid-screen, momentarily forgetting about trying to keep Elizabeth in a peaceful state. He suddenly remembered and looked down to give her an apologetic look, receiving what was most definitely a cold glare in response. "Sorry, but it's ridiculous that they're still trying to keep that lie up. I'm getting the Council to reveal it."

"But now we have been giving both the Citadel and the Relays a closer study, checking their inner workings in ways we would never have thought of before the war. Now we..."

"Hold on a second Dr Chevos," The camera panned back to Emily as she interrupted him, she had a wide smile on her face as she spoke to the camera again. "We've had some breaking news just in."

Shepard shifted his hold on Elizabeth, leaning back into the sofa more comfortably. "Oh, wonder what's happened now eh?"

"We have heard from Alliance sources that a medical team in an all terrain MAKO were called out into a mountain range on Earth called the Alps. They were travelling to a rather hard to reach area in response to an emergency call made by Councillor John Shepard," A huge grin was now on her face. "I am pleased to announce that Miranda Lawson gave birth to their child some time this afternoon, though we don't know any other details at the moment. All of us here at Citadel News offer our congratulations to them."

Shepard's mouth dropped. "How the hell do they know? Oh god," He frowned, looking back down at Elizabeth. "Your grandmother is going to kill me, We really should have called her by now."

It was then that he realised Elizabeth was finally asleep. Shepard smiled, reaching carefully for the remote and turning the vid-screen off. Even more carefully he stood up, trying his best not to wake the baby, and slowly headed out of the room. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he stopped though, hearing the sound of a communication request on the QEC. The buzzing was accompanied with the Ride Of The Valkyries, and that meant only one person. His mother.

In the end Shepard decided he should probably face her, walking into the study and pressing a couple of buttons on the QEC. Then he stepped into the ring, being transported immediately from their house to the command deck of an Alliance dreadnought. His mother stood in front of the QEC with her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.

"John Shepard, why did it take a news report to..."

"Shh," He interrupted her, something he rarely had the nerve to do. "I've just got her off to sleep."

Hannah's expression immediately softened to a wondrous gaze as she noticed the sleeping baby in his arms, she walked as close as she could get to their holographic projection. "Oh John, she's beautiful."

"Her names Elizabeth."

"A lovely name John," His mother continued her inspection of the baby, completely ignoring the stares of her entire bridge crew. "How is Miranda?"

"Rather tired I guess, she's asleep upstairs," His mother nodded sympathetically. "But Christ, I thought I was gonna have to deliver her myself, the medical team only just arrived in time."

"Well you seem to have managed most of the labour it seems, unlike your father," His mother grinned. "He just passed out at the first sign of blood, almost missed your birth!"

"Heh, well it is pretty scary from our point of view. We have no idea what's happening."

"Suppose that's true," His mother began to examine Elizabeth once more. "I reckon you should probably take someone off to bed though, not that I'm trying to butt in or be an interfering grandmother already that is."

"Yeah right," Shepard grinned in reply. "I'll take her off now though, do you reckon you'll be able to get off duty to come and see her soon?"

"Hang on a second," She turned away from the QEC, barking across the command deck. "XO, get me another ship to take our place, I'm not sitting out on the fringes of the Terminus systems on bloody guard duty whilst my grandchild needs fussing over."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "Subtle as ever mother."

"Zip it you, get her off to bed," Hannah took a final glance at Elizabeth. "See you soon darlings, and give my love to Miranda."

"Will do mom." With that he stepped back from the QEC ring, returning back to the study in the house. Elizabeth was still fast asleep, surprising him with how relaxed she was about her surroundings, she hadn't even stirred. He headed out of the study and slowly up the stairs, taking care not to disturb the baby.

Eventually he reached their bedroom on the top floor, lowering Elizabeth into her cot next to Miranda's side of the bed. He pulled up the blanket she had kicked off sometime earlier from the bottom of the cot to cover the baby, tucking her in snugly. He also grabbed the plushy seal that was at the bottom of the mattress, placing it next to Elizabeth. He smiled, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and sat back on the bed, careful not to disturb Miranda. Clearly that care wasn't needed as he heard motion behind him before a pair of arms wrapped around his chest and Miranda leant her chin on his shoulder.

"Hope you aren't disturbing our baby John."

"Na, she's hardly slept so far," He turned his head to face her with a grin. "Unlike you."

"Hey I've worked today," Miranda placed a kiss on his cheek. "And so have you, I really couldn't have done this without you."

"Sure you could've," Shepard's smile disappeared. "However the media have already found out from someone who was involved with the medical team."

"What?" Miranda huffed. "That's ridiculous, only Oriana knows at the moment. What about telling our friends?"

"Well they'll all know after Emily Wong announced it to the galaxy," He rolled his eyes. "And I had a QEC call from mother literally seconds after the report, she wasn't best pleased to find out from a third party. Still, her attitude changed when she saw Lizzie."

Miranda raised both eyebrows in surprise. "You took our half day old daughter in a QEC?"

"She didn't even wake up," Shepard turned his gaze back to the cot. "Sleeping without a care, just like now. I thought she would cry, everyone says babies cry all the time."

"Oriana was like that when I rescued her, very quiet but very curious," Miranda removed her arms from around him, lying back down in bed. "Some babies are, others are really loud and cry a lot. I'm happy she's the former."

"Yeah, I agree," Shepard stood up, walking around to his side of the bed and discarding his top and jeans. He slid under the duvet, wrapping his arms around Miranda. "My mom is going to try and visit pretty soon, she's gonna get herself off duty pretty soon."

"That'll be nice for Lizzie," Miranda hummed lightly. "And I rather like that...Lizzie. It's got a ring to it."

"Yeah, she seemed to like it too," There was a few seconds of silence as the two lay there, watching the cot happily. "I love you Miri, and today's been just the best day ever."

"I agree, though I haven't felt pain like that for a hell of a long time. But it was worth it, most definitely. I think we deserve this don't you?" She paused, shifting in his arms and intertwining her hands with his own. "I love you too John."

Then they lapsed into silence, Miranda falling asleep first. Gradually Shepard closed his eyes as well, falling into a sleep filled with pleasant dreams for the first time in months.

A/N Hope there weren't too many medical/realism errors, please point them out if that's the case.

In response to one comment, there isn't really a definite plot line running throughout. This is just a series of one shots, focusing around family life. There are a couple, and will be many more, of mini plots running through chapters though.

As ever, let me know what you think so far guys.