A/N – here it is - the final part of Reflections. I want to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy lives and joining me on this journey and for your love and encouragement along the way… And I want to take a moment to say thank you to all the lovely people of Bioware for giving us such a rich wonderful world to play in and write about~ oh, and I hope Buffy fans will forgive me for blatantly stealing one my favorite lines - it just fit so well...

A special thank you to the people who have followed, favorited, reviewed and beta-read me, your efforts are greatly appreciated. I'd also like to thank my middle son, who is just as much as an ME fan as me and got so tired of hearing me tell him about how "my Shepard" would do things he finally said "Mom you should just write that." You have him to thank for Reflections :-)

A very special thank you to StoneburstHeart for your time and help, and most of all, for finding a new friend in an unexpected place… this lovely Shenko moment is dedicated to you!

One year later

Kaidan glanced up, distracted by the reports he was perusing, unhappy with the results of some of his underclassmen on their first assessments, to see his wife enter the front door, still dressed in dirty armor that looked like it had seen combat just moments before. Old habit – and memories – had panic rising in his chest until his eyes studied her for any injury and found none. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was surprised to see her, he hadn't expected her back on planet until the day after tomorrow, and if he knew her at all, she wasn't in a good mood. In fact, she was looking decidedly grumpy. Still, he smiled at her warmly; glad to see her in any mood.

She began the long process of removing her armor pieces, right there in the foyer, allowing them to fall where they lay. Still stewing, she didn't even bother to greet him. Kaidan got up, set his datapads aside, and went over to help her. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked her quietly, unbuckling and unstrapping as he did.

"That just sucked," she grumbled, letting him do the work, too tired and grumpy to bother, "beyond the telling of it."

Kaidan raised a brow, wondering what could possibly have put her in this mood. "Something go bad with the assessment?" He questioned, knowing that she had been off planet to lead a promising group of N7 candidates through a relatively simple raid of a rogue Blue Suns' encampment. By her account, before she left, it would be a simple in and out mission, just enough combat to test her students in a live theatre, not enough to pose any real threat, especially not under the command of an experienced vanguard.

"Not really - unless you count the commanding officer - their instructor - vomiting on her own armor," Shepard growled, grimacing.

Kaidan took a moment to wonder if she meant the armor he was currently handling, bare handed, and decided that it was a question best not asked. He figured she could pay him back later for conduct above and beyond and continued his work, while questioning her, "You got sick? Are you ok?"

He watched the emotions fly over her face – irritation, frustration, and he thought with surprise, some chagrin – then she cast her eyes down and stared at a spot on the floor. "Kaidan," she said quietly, "when you said you wanted normal, did you mean it?"

Used to her seemingly-out-of-left-field non sequiturs, he didn't pause a moment before he answered the question as she asked it, "Of course, Kat, and it's been good, right?"

She nodded, still refusing to meet his eyes. "Yeah, but what if it changed?"

Kaidan tilted her chin up so he could search her eyes, and finding no clue there; not sure how to interpret what he saw; he queried, "Changed how?"

She took a deep breath and gathered herself to share the news that had been ringing in her ears since Chakwas had relayed it, in her typically cool and crisp doctor's tones, then surprised Kat more than she could remember by following it with a kiss to her cheek, "I'm pregnant."

Kaidan stared, shocked, at his wife. It took him a full minute to decide if he had heard her correctly, then he felt the joy and love wash over him and he touched her cheek in amazement. "You're pregnant? As in with a baby? But… how?" The last he asked in confusion, knowing that she had continued her birth control regimen religiously as she had from the beginning of their relationship. He knew that he wanted children but he hadn't wanted to push her, wanted to give her time to adjust to their new lives together before pressing the issue.

"Yes, that's sincerely what I hope it is, and I'm sure you remember how – you were there," his wife responded to his questions in order.

He smirked at her and gave her a quick kiss then swatted her ass for her cheekiness. "That's not what I meant."

"Apparently they failed to warn me that antibiotics interfere with birth control," she told him with some disgust, "so we can blame the slash Rogers gave me with her omni-blade two months ago. I'm so gonna bust her ass – again – for this," she finished on a growl.

Kaidan smiled, thinking that he would send Rogers a gift basket of her favorite cheeses instead, and studied the woman in his arms again. A thought finally occurred to him and he barked out in surprise before his brain had a chance to filter it, "Wait, you went into combat while you're pregnant?"

"I didn't know I was pregnant before I went into combat. That fact wasn't revealed until my stomach contents decided to make a repeat appearance," she informed him irritably, "but Chakwas says I'm fine, we're fine. Does that mean you're happy about this? You want this?" she asked him, trepidation clear in her voice.

"Captain Alenko," he said gravely, "I thought on the day you became my wife you had made me the happiest man alive, but you just topped yourself." He smiled and kissed her softly, "I'm thrilled. I know it's unexpected, but I'm completely happy about it."

She smiled at him then, returning his kiss and relaxed in his arms, "Good, Major Alenko, and I hope you remember that when I'm screaming at you in labor."

Kaidan figured it would be just another time to practice the restraint he had worked all his life to perfect, but that since that event was months away yet, he had time to earn enough points to prevent the worst of it. He picked his wife up in his arms and carried her to their bedroom to start earning those points in his favorite way.