Chapter 30: Family

When the Normandy was fully equipped and ready to leave the Citadel, Shepard contacted her crew and friends. She told them all that she and Garrus were planning to leave the Citadel for the remainder of their shore leave. She let everyone know that if they wanted to go some place, she would gladly take them there. She also let them know that if anyone wished to extend their leave indefinitely, she would not mind it.

In the following hour, Shepard needed to sift through the hundreds of messages she received from her crew alone. A few of her crew wanted to extend their leave, all of them wanted to return to families that they had left to join her and her mission. Some of them asked to be dropped off at different planets and Shepard agreed to stop at each of them.

At the end of the day, Shepard and the Normandy left the Citadel with only Joker, Ken, Gabby, and Chakwas for crew. Amongst the ground team, Miranda and Jacob left the crew entirely, Kasumi stayed on the Citadel to see if she couldn't help pull some strings to get more people prepared for the Reapers (at least in the underbelly of society). The others asked to be dropped off at their various home systems.

By the time the Normandy reached Sur'kesh to both drop off Mordin and for Garrus and Shepard to visit Garrus' mother, they had dropped off the rest of the ground team. They dropped Grunt off on Tuchanka with the Urdnot Clan, Tali with the Migrant fleet, and Legion at the edge of Geth space. Shepard also made a fast stop near Arcturus Station, but only long enough for Rah to burn out of the cargo bay and head to the station.

Shepard wished all of her friends the best of luck with their endeavors and only let her tears flow when she was being held in Garrus' arms in their room. To her, it felt like she was saying goodbye to her family forever. It felt like the last time she would see the people that had become not only her brothers and sisters, but also her children. Garrus was a miracle worker in soothing her and chasing those fears away.

The day after they landed on Sur'kesh, Garrus told her that his sister let him know about his mother. She was doing better thanks to the Salarians and was asking for Garrus. With butterflies in her stomach, Shepard watched Garrus type a reply to his sister, saying that he and Shepard would like to go and see his mother.

Only minutes later, Garrus' sister told him to go the next day, and that his mother would love to meet his commanding officer.


Shepard had never been good with meeting parents. When she was with her mother on her various assignments, it wasn't as big a deal, but it became an issue when she went into the Ascension Program and started dating and then later after becoming a squad leader. Shepard wouldn't even start on how nerve racking it was when she became a commissioned officer. The nervousness that she felt compared to nothing like she had felt before.

Would Garrus' mother like her? Would she be fine with Garrus dating a human? Would she hate Shepard for stealing her son's heart? Shepard would rather fight a Reaper with nothing not even with her biotics right now, but that wasn't an option.

The way that Garrus sat next to her for the entire shuttle ride to the hospital somehow eased her fears, but they were still there. She had to spend the time composing herself so as to not look like the nervous girlfriend going to meet her lover's mother she was, but to look the part of Garrus' CO.

Sooner than Shepard would have liked, they arrived at the hospital. Shepard followed Garrus in, using all of her concentration to maintain her Commander face.

"Garrus!" A female Turian called out to them when they entered the hospital's lobby.

Shepard watched a Turian woman with plates lighter than Garrus' and a much slimmer build walk to them. Shepard couldn't help but notice how similar the markings on the Turian's face were to the ones she had only just recently got. Shepard had to wonder how it was that Rah's friend knew enough about what the markings were to look like to do them on her.

"Sol." Garrus greeted the other Turian warmly. The two of them embraced and Shepard had to keep her face calm at seeing how it was that the siblings greeted each other. They brushed their mandibles together, almost reminding Shepard of when humans would kiss each others cheeks.

"Spirits! What happened to your face?!" Garrus' sister exclaimed when they pulled away from one another. "You know you just shot your chances with any suitable Turian down the drain now right?"

The way that Garrus' sister changed topics from one of concern to one of scolding forced Shepard to bite in her laughter. Now she knew that Garrus' attitude was blood related and not just him.

"You mean he wasn't always this ugly?" Shepard piped up before she could stop her mouth from working.

Shepard drew the gaze of both Vakarians to herself. Shepard knew that by Turian standards (and always hers) that he had always been rather handsome, for shepard the scars enhanced it. With Garrus' sister, she could see an unamused look that also held curiosity to it. The look Garrus sent her made her hope that her shiver that ran down her spine didn't show, he was promising retribution with that quick and heated glance.

"You must be Commander Shepard." Garrus' sister spoke to her, her voice more professional than the tone she'd used with Garrus. "I'm Solana Vakarian, Garrus' sister."

"It's good to meet you." Shepard replied and held out her hand with a warm smile. Solana took Shepard's hand and shook it firmly.

"Mom's been itching to see you." Solana told Garrus, eyeing his scared mandible. "You know she'll freak when she sees that right?"

"I know, but mom's been understanding in the past." Garrus replied, a smug look to his face.

"I'll wait here Garrus." Shepard told her lover. "Send me a message when your mom is ready to meet me." She tried to hold the nervousness out of her voice, but something tipped her off to Garrus. He placed a soothing hand on her shoulder and nodded.

Solana looked at the odd exchange before leading Garrus away from her. Shepard found an open seat and collapsed in it, wishing again that she was fighting a Reaper and not doing this.


Garrus waited patiently outside his mother's room. Sol had gone in first and he was just waiting for her to pull him in. To say he was afraid would be a huge understandment. He was both afraid that his mother would be too sick to remember him or that she would meet Shepard and hate her.

Garrus' attention snapped to his mother's door when it opened. Sol peeked out into the hall and motioned for him to come in.

"Garrus!" The musical voice of his mother rang out in the small brightly lit room.

Garrus felt himself shrink in size at seeing his mother. She was laying in a bed, covers over her legs, and her plates and skin were severely lighter than they had been the last time he saw her. She looked sick, but at the same time, she radiated warmth and health and above all love.

"Mom." He spoke softly, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

"I'm alright Garrus." His mother laughed, her eyes bright with joy at seeing him. He gaze snapped to his scared mandible. "Unlike you I see." She clicked disapprovingly. "Come here."

Garrus did as his mother ordered and sat on the bed next to her, she lightly took his chin in her hands and turned his head to give her a better view.

"When did this happen? How could you let someone do this to your beautiful face?" His mother spoke, her subvocals crying for him.

"I made a mistake, and good men died because of it." Garrus told her, feeling his mother trace the scars, just like Shepard would sometimes. "I nearly died for that mistake too."

"As long as you're safe and sound, I can live with it." His mother told him, pulling him in to hug her. Garrus returned the embrace, squeezing her tight, letting his grief for not being there for her out in that one gesture.

"It's alright Garrus." His mother soothed him. "I'm fine, and so are you. That's all that matters."

"How are your treatments going? Are you being taken care of alright?" Garrus asked when they finally parted.

"The Salarians have been working magic Garrus." His mother smiled to him. "I've felt better since I came here, and better than I've felt in years."

"You know what this means don't you?" She asked him, playfully tugging on his scared mandible. Garrus chuckled slightly, remembering that he used to do the same thing when he was little.

"Enlighten me." Garrus chuckled, seeing the mirth in his mothers eyes.

"Means that your father and I will need to work harder to find you a suitable mate." His mother joked. Between the two of them, they both knew that Garrus couldn't be set up with someone and find love, he would find it in someone of his choosing.

"Actually mom." Garrus spoke, feeling nervous. "You won't need to."

Garrus could feel the eyes of both his sister and mother on him. He wished for nothing more than to be an insect right now.

"Oh? Who? Do I know her? Is she pretty? Can she cook?" His mother blurted out. giddy for this sort of news. Garrus grinned at her reaction and immediately thought of Kasumi. The thief and his mother would have gotten along better than anyone else in the 'verse.

"You do know her, or at least of her." Garrus replied, keeping his answers cryptic. "To me, she's the most gorgeous woman in the galaxy. And I don't know if she can cook or not yet."

"How can you not know?" His mother gapped. To her, it was the most important thing in a relationship for a person to have good cooking and Garrus certainly couldn't cook.

"We've never needed to cook for ourselves. She and I served together, and someone else always cooked." Garrus replied. He heard a rumble emanate from his stomach just thinking about Rah's cooking. He didn't know how, but that man could make varrin shit taste like something from the heavens.

"I have a question." Sol piped up. Garrus didn't like the smirk in her voice, she knew something or thought she did. "Is she bare faced?"

"SOL!" Their mother yelled at his sister. "Things like that do not matter!"

Ever since they were kids, their mother had thought them that as long as their heart felt right with the person they decided to be with, they would have her support. To their mother, it didn't matter who they chose for mates, so long as they were happy with them.

"Yes and no." Garrus smirked back, earning an interesting look from both his mother and his sister. Neither of them had expected his answer, for Turians it was one or the other.

"Well anyways, as long as you're happy with her I will be happy for you." Their mother told Garrus warmly. Garrus smiled to her, thankful that she wouldn't push the issue any farther.

"Now." His mother spoke, her voice still full of energy. "Sol said that Commander Shepard wanted to meet me as well?"

"She does." Garrus replied, an interesting light came to his mother's eyes.

"So it really is her? She didn't die like the media said she did?" HIs mother asked. When Garrus had been on the first Normandy he had written to his mother often about their mission and Shepard. The way that his mother spoke told him that she knew that he had grieved for his CO.

"I'll let her answer that." Garrus replied. He pulled up his omni-tool and sent Shepard the ok to come up along with the room number.

"So tell me, what caused this?" His mother asked, touching his scars again. "I want the truth, not something cryptic."

"Up until about seven months ago, I was on Omega." Garrus sighed out. Both his sister and mother were looking at him with wide eyes when he told them his story.

He told them everything. He told them about leaving the Citadel and C-Sec. He told them about his squad, about his death wish. He told them about how his squad had become a second family to him, his way of honoring Shepard's memory. He told them about his failure, about Sidonus' betrayal. When a knock was heard at the door, he'd just finished telling of how Shepard came in to save him, then saved Sidonus' life and Garrus' spirit.

Sol opened the door and let in Shepard. The heavy thoughts that hung in the air dissipated when his mother smiled up at his lover warmly.

"Mom." Garrus spoke, his voice warm, it was impossible for it to not be when Shepard was around. "This is Commander Katherine Shepard. My friend and commanding officer on both Normandy's."

"A pleasure to meet you dear." His mother smiled warmly to Shepard, holding out her hand. "I'm Avani Vakarian."

"Glad to finally meet you Misses Vakarian." Shepard replied, a warm smile of her own. Garrus however could still feel that Shepard was nervous.

"Please, call me Avani, or mom if you prefer." His mother replied, a laugh in her subvocals. "Sol." His mother spoke to his sister. "Would you mind giving me some space to meet Garrus' commanding officer? I think she'd feel less tense if it was just the three of us."

Garrus felt himself stiffen. There was no way that his mother could have picked up on how tense Shepard was already.

"Sure mom." Sol replied, sending a wary look to both him and Shepard. "I'll be right outside."

"Thank you dear." Avani replied, smiling while Sol left.

"So Commander." Avani began, a mischievous glint in her eye that Garrus knew all too well.

"Please, call me Shepard or Kat, all of my friends do and so should the mother of my friend." Shepard interrupted. Garrus caught the ever so slight shift of Shepard's weight, it seemed that she caught on to his mother's look as well.

"Fair enough. Shepard, I must ask you." His mother began again, the glint only increasing. "What plans do you have for my son?"

"I beg your pardon?" Shepard asked, clearly stunned.

"It's a simple question. I just want to know what it is that my son's lover has in store for him." Avani smirked, clearly knowing that she had the upper hand.

"How-how….." Shepard and Garrus both stammered.

"Really?" Avani looked between the two of them as if they were children with their hands caught in the cookie jar. "You more than anyone else should have guess how I knew Garrus."

"I'm sorry. What?!" Shepard exclaimed, flabbergasted. Garrus however knew exactly what his mother was talking about.

"I noticed that you smelled different Garrus. You smelled very…. Human." Avani smirked to her son. "At first I thought it simply that it was a side effect from being on a mostly human ship. Human women are notorious for wearly too much perfume. But when Shepard walked in, smelling like roses, the same scent that you are covered in, there was no mistaking it."

"Sol didn't notice." Garrus shrugged.

"She wouldn't." His mother smirked. "Never had the family ability for putting two and two together to get seven." Garrus chuckled, but he still could feel Shepard and how tense she was.

"So you don't mind?' Garrus asked, knowing the question on his mate's mind.

"Mind? No. So long as you two are happy together, I will support you." His mother replied, looking warmly between Shepard and Garrus. "And I promise not to tell your father."

"That's all I can ask." Garrus sighed in relief.

"You still never answered my question Shepard." Avani pressed Shepard. "What are your plans for my son?"

"Other than dragging him along with me to cover my ass in a firefight?" Shepard asked, Garrus could tell that Shepard had picked up already where it was that he got his personality.

"And on suicide missions." Garrus pointed out. His mother knew about Ilos and the suicide mission that had been. She also knew about the dozen or so that he'd come out of unscathed from during his military service.

"Of course." Avani chuckled.

"I hadn't considered much." Shepard replied in earnest. Neither of them had really thought about their future much after the Reapers. "All I can say is that if I have a future when the galaxy is done needing to be saved, I can't see it without Garrus being with me."

Garrus felt his heart swell at Shepard's words. He knew that she loved him, she even told him as much. To hear her tell his mother this, in front of him no less, he'd have fallen hopelessly in love with her on the spot if he wasn't already.

"So long as you keep it that way." Avani told her, her voice light but the note of cold in there could be felt even still.

"With everything that I can do in my power Avani, I will make it true." Shepard told his mother.

"This is disappointing however." Avani sighed in mock defeat. "Now I need to wait for Sol to settle down before I'll have any grandchildren."

"Not necessarily." Both he and Shepard replied automatically. Garrus was a little surprised, but Shepard grinned to him.

"Something I should know about? Hmmm?" Avani probed, curiosity in her eyes.

"While they may not be blood related.' Shepard began after Garrus gave her a nod. "We could always adopt."

"And I suppose you know how to raise a Turian child?" Avani asked, her face twisted in mirth. "A human child would be easier for you, but Turian children are more rewarding."

"I could deal with both." Shepard replied, crossing her arms over her chest. She shifted her weight to a posture that Garrus knew all too well. Shepard knew that his mother was getting at, even though he didn't, and was playing into her trap on purpose.

"I don't know.' Avani hummed, thoughtful. "Turian children require a lot of work."

"And isn't that what grandparents are for? Helping to raise a child when their own need the help?" Shepard asked with a smirk.

"I'm glad we have an understanding Shepard." Avani replied, a smirk on her face.

Garrus was completely lost. He had no idea what just happened. To his brain, all he could work out was that Shepard wanted children and that his mother wanted grandchildren. Other than that, Garrus was at a complete loss.

Shepard seemed to pick up on this and shot him a glance saying that she'd fill him in later.

"So what did you mean Garrus?' Avani asked, turning to her son. "About her being both barefaced and not at the same time?"

"I think he meant this." Shepard replied and pulled her collar to the side. She came closer and bent down so that his mother could see the bite mark on her neck.

"Garrus told me that this means he and I are, for all spiritual purposes, bounded." Shepard supplied.

"It's true." Avani replied. "But only if he has one in turn."

Garrus turned his head and pointed out the smaller mark that SHepard had made on him. It was harder to see, but it was there none the less.

"I couldn't approve of your choice more Garrus." Avani told him warmly.

"Now, tell me about yourself Shepard. It's only fitting that I know about my future daughter before it happens.

"Where you you want me to begin?" Shepard replied in a chuckle.

"Where ever you want to start." Avani told her, making room for Shepard to sit next to her Garrus on the bed.


A/N: And there we are folks! So since there is no name for Garrus' mother (not that I found, please correct me if I'm wrong) I made up a name for her. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the "Meeting the In-law" chapter! I enjoyed writing it and hope you enjoyed reading it!

Let me know what you thought! Once more, thank you all for supporting me and this story!

Until next time!