HERS
Shepard shifted awkwardly in bed. Her pregnancy was now in its late stages and rare was the moment when she could find a comfortable resting position. Kaidan, however, was soundly sleeping. Her eyes roamed over the gentle rise and fall of his chest, up to his tousled black curls on his head, and to the arm that draped over her side. That's when she noticed his hand. We never did get Kaidan his ring. Shepard's lips curled into a frown. He deserves something that's sentimental. Romantic sap that he is. Damn, I wish Liara were here. She's good at that stuff. Liara…wait.
She rolled toward her night stand and opened the top drawer. Inside were her dog tags. Liara had shined them when she gave them to her after helping her take down the Shadow Broker, but now they were again scratched and blackened from the horrors of war. A war that's over. She smiled as she clutched them to her chest.
Kaidan took a deep breath and his arm went around her again. "Can't sleep?" he said quietly into her back. Drop the tags. The tags fell quietly to the rug below.
"Pretty much. I've got a damn baby krogan inside, headbutting the hell out of my gut."
"And you blame me." He started placing kisses down her spine. She shivered.
"Hell yeah I do."
"And you will forever?" His lips lingered on the back of her neck. She let out a sigh.
"Yes, I will," she said, her voice not so resolute.
"Well," he said between kisses, "I suppose I can put up with your bitching as long as there's make-up sex afterward. So…" He rolled her over to face him. "Are you done bitching?" His hand smoothed down the side of her body.
"Yeah," she grinned.
x-X-x
After Kaidan had left for Alliance HQ, she pulled up his mom on vidcomm. "I need your help."
Emily Alenko smiled. "With what, dear?"
"I never got Kaidan a wedding ring. We just kind of ran out of time. I have an idea, but I don't know the area. Do you know any jewelers?"
"I think I can help."
HIS
Kaidan smiled sleepily. His little late night rendezvous ended up having him miss more sleep than expected. Middle of the night make-up sex…God, I am lame. Pouring himself another cup of coffee, he scratched his neck with his other hand. Where are my tags? He hadn't thought about them in months, not since before they had returned to Earth. I'm sure they came home with our effects from the hospital. Just lost in the shuffle.
Kaidan could see the sun was starting to set over the bay, so he knew he needed to wrap it up and head home. He looked back to his terminal. A message had just appeared.
From the Normandy…
He quickly opened the message. Rachel will be thrilled!
Hey Shepard and Alenko, or are you both Alenkos now…maybe Shepard-Alenko? Shit. Whatever you are…I hope to hell you guys are alive and reading this.
Liara is riding my ass about this message already, so I'll just be quick. My superb flying skills were put to good use, but I managed to get us safely to some backwater planet. EDI went completely offline, her body and all. Everyone else is fine, including Garrus. Not sure what to think about that.
We ended up in the Krogan DMZ when we finally figured out where we were. We've made it to Tuchanka, and are waiting on the relay to be repaired. When krogan aren't fighting, they are surprisingly resourceful. They've built the shit out of their planet already and Tali is beside herself holding all the krogan babies. I tried to once, damn thing broke my arm.
Oh, Chakwas is asking about Shepard and your spawn. I won't tell you that EDI told us that you knocked up the Commander, Alenko, but you know what a blabbermouth she was. Fuck, I miss her. Chakwas says we should expect to see three of you when we get back to Earth, which should be in about three weeks, based on the estimates we were given. That is, if you guys are there. News about Earth hasn't really circulated here. We just know that we can send messages.
Anyway, congratulations from all of us because I am not bringing the Normandy back to Earth without seeing her CO alive and well. I suppose it'll be ok to see you too, Alenko.
Joker
Kaidan loaded the message onto his omni-tool and hailed a skycar home. As he walked in the door, Shepard was sitting on the couch, her feet propped up on the coffee table. She had her hands on her belly and she was smiling.
"Hey! About time you came home…I was getting bored and about to go looking for somebody new."
Kaidan laughed and sat down beside her. "You would." He put his hand on her belly and got a swift kick from the baby in response. "I have some good news," he said.
"I have a surprise for you too. Let me go first please!" Shepard hopped up and walked quickly into the bedroom. She came out holding a small box. "It's for you."
Kaidan eyed his wife with a suspicious grin. "I didn't know you could do anything like this." He opened the box and saw a ring. He put it on his left hand and gave Shepard a quick peck. "You didn't have to do this."
"Well, actually, I did," Shepard explained. "Take it back off, and look on the inside."
On the inside surface of the ring were the words "Until the end of time…" Kaidan smiled and remembered saying that just before they struck the Illusive Man's base. "So you are trying to show me how sentimental you've become? I liked wearing our tags like we used to."
Shepard put the ring back on Kaidan's finger and played with his hand. "That's the thing…our tags were pretty beat up. I wanted to move on from war. I needed to, so I found a jeweler who melted down both of our tags and made this ring for you." Her gaze stayed down on his hand.
As Kaidan touched her arm, she looked up into his eyes. "I was freaking out on you last week about what to do with myself, and I'm still not sure, but I know that I don't want to the last few years be all that we remember about our lives. We've been tried by fire and it brought us closer together. So melting down the tags was just a physical way to show how our lives have been blended."
"You thought about this a long time, haven't you?"
"All day," she said proudly.
Then Kaidan sniffed the air. "Did you cook too?"
Shepard scoffed. "I'm not a miracle worker. That's take out. You're welcome. If I would have gotten too sentimental and cooked, we'd both be dead. So what was your news?"
Kaidan opened his omni-tool. "I think you'll want to read this."
Shepard leaned in, started reading and laughed. "1000 credits says Tali convinces Garrus to adopt a baby krogan."
A/N: Thanks again to all those who reviewed, followed and faved! Next chapter will be baby's birth!
