Present: Pretty Down to Your Bones
Shepard turned back to face Ashley. "What do you mean; you don't want to be friends?"
"What do you think I mean?" The shy half-smile on Ashley's face made Shepard hold his breath for a moment.
"I—"
Kate ran up and placed her hands on Shepard's knees. "Dad, Artie's hungry. I think we should go."
Suddenly, Shepard was snapped back to reality. Talking with Ashley, he forgot that he was a single father, not just single. "I think you're interrupting," Shepard told his daughter. "What do you say?"
"Excuse me."
"That's better. Can you apologize to Lieutenant Williams?"
"It's Commander Williams, actually, Skipper."
Kate looked sharply at Ashley. "What did you say?"
"Um…" Ashley glanced at Shepard. "I told your dad that I'm a commander, not a—"
"Not that," Kate interrupted impatiently. "What did you call him?"
"I called him Skipper? It's a nickname for the officer in charge of a ship…."
"Were you in the marines with my dad?"
"I… yes?" Ashley turned to Shepard. "Does she always ask this many questions?"
He smiled. "You have no idea."
Kate grinned. "I knew I wasn't named after Uncle Jeff!"
"Uncle Jeff?" Ashley asked.
"Joker," Shepard explained. "Katydid, did Uncle Jeff tell you that you were named after him?"
"You told me that you were in the Alliance with the third Kate. I asked Uncle Jeff if he knew who called you 'Skipper,' and he wanted to know why, and I told him about mom-Kate, and the poem-Kate, and the third Kate you won't tell me about, and he told me that that was easy, you named me after him."
"Ah!" Shepard leapt to his feet as if he'd been electrocuted. "Kate, what were you saying about Artie being hungry?"
"I thought you wanted me to apologize."
"I—"
"You know," Ashley stood up, and Shepard looked everywhere except at her face, "it's getting pretty late. I should probably go."
"Oh." Shepard could have kicked himself for sounding disappointed. "You're leaving?"
"It looks that way."
Shepard hesitated. "Give me one minute, Ash?" he asked. "Arthur! Come here, Boy-o." Arthur grinned and ran towards Shepard, gleefully jumping into his arms. "Ugh," Shepard grunted as he lifted the boy. Crouching down, he pulled Kate towards him and spoke quietly with his children. At one point, Kate peered suspiciously around her father to examine Ashley.
After a moment, Shepard straightened. Arthur sat in the crook of one arm, and Shepard held Kate's shoulder with his free hand. "Um, Ash…. I, you…." Shepard coughed, and Kate rolled her eyes.
"Would you…. You wouldn't want to… come with us to get dinner… would you?"
"Actually, dinner sounds nice."
"That's what I—Wait, what? Really?"
Ashley smiled. "Really."