A/N: Another small time jump. The girls are probably four. After all that Shep/babies lovins, I figure it's about time for some mother/daughters bonding time, no?

Chapter 42

Liara had just settled in bed with a warm mug of Thessian herbal tea and a book when her Omni-tool began buzzing, informing her of an incoming call. She quickly opened the screen and smiled when Shepard's face appeared. Her wife was currently away on the Citadel, seeing to her ambassador duties. Usually Liara and their girls traveled with her and stayed in the apartment, but Liara decided to stay home this time and tend the garden with Falere. Some of her flowers were in a crucial stage of seeding, and they had plans to open their flower shop soon, so busy work was not in short supply.

"Hey Beautiful," Shepard purred, looking her over through the holo-display. Liara was wearing a sheer nightgown that covered precisely nothing.

Liara gave her a playfully seductive grin. "Hey yourself, Handsome. Miss you."

"Miss you more."

Liara purred her appreciation of the comment. "How are trade agreements with the salarians going?"

Shepard scowled. "Salarians are good at being a giant pain in my ass, but I'm starting to make some progress. Between me and Aethyta, I think the dalatrass is starting to feel a little haggard. We aren't letting her encroach on quarian space for recourses and she's getting a little irritated by the whole thing."

"How is Councilor Zaal'Koris responding to the dalatrass?"

"Quarians are many things, but I think they're still getting used to the idea of being politicians. They've been in a military-type environment for so long I think it's a little difficult for him to be patient with the dalatrasses. But he's doing better than I thought he would. He's been firmly and politely telling her to 'go to hell.'"

Liara grinned. "That's the best way to handle pushy dalatrasses. I think what they're really looking for is someone who can put them in their place. How is the krogan ambassador doing?"

"Kargesh?" Shepard asked with a chuckle. "The first thing he did as ambassador was to put in a requisition to have fish put in the Presidium lake, and the second thing he did as ambassador was to set up an appointment with Sha'ira. Back when I was working for Cerberus, I found out there weren't any fish in the lake and he was devastated. But he gave me a damn fair amount of credits to look into it for him."

Liara giggled. "And how did he end up ambassador?"

"Because he's probably the only krogan in his entire species who is polite and can sit still long enough to complete a decent trade negotiation without beating someone up in the process."

Liara giggled again. "Those are certainly good qualities for an ambassador."

"Miss you."

A flood of warmth pooled between Liara's legs just hearing the two simple words. It had only been three days since her bondmate went to the Citadel, and already her body was letting her know how much she craved her wife's touch.

"And if I didn't have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn," Shepard continued with a smirk, "I'd be more than a little tempted to have some seriously hot inter-galactic phone sex."

Liara blushed. She, too, was more than a little tempted to try a little femme fatale self-pleasuring to drive Shepard wild. But they were nothing if not responsible adults. Most of the time.

"You're off the hook this time, Commander," Liara replied with a wicked grin. "But all bets are off when you get home."

Shepard let out a groan of regret. "Sometimes being an adult is just no fun. Okay I need to go before I spend the next six hours doing irresponsible things with you. I hope the apartment still has ice. I love you. I miss you. I can't wait to see you again. Give our little ones lots of kisses for me. Love you."

Liara gave her wife an air kiss. "I love you, too."

Both of them reluctantly disconnected the call and Liara went back to reading her book on the history of a country on Earth called Egypt. Of all the civilizations to spring from Earth, Egypt had always fascinated her the most. And since her interest in Prothean history had waned significantly since meeting Javik, Liara turned to another planet to satisfy her need to study the past. She also wanted to teach her daughters about their father's homeworld when they were old enough to understand. She had already started reading them children's books from Earth such as "Pippi Longstocking" and "Winnie the Pooh." Those were also at Shepard's insistence.

About an hour or so passed, and just as she began to enter a light doze, a crack of thunder startled her awake. She was grateful she had finished her mug of tea because it tumbled off the side of the bed and onto the soft carpet. She grumbled when she realized she'd also lost her page in her book. This was why she preferred data pads, not books, but Shepard had talked her into getting a book "because it was apart of the Earth history experience." She set her book and mug on the nightstand and turned the lamp off. She began settling into the blankets when another crack of thunder rippled through the house.

A moment later she heard the patter of little feet, followed by the door bursting open. She saw two little figures scurry across the floor, and just as another crackle of thunder boomed across the sky, her two daughters flung themselves on the bed and into her arms with little cries of fright. As soon as they made contact with her skin, their little blue bodies glowed blue and they tumbled into her mind.

Liara winced slightly as a wave of fear crashed over her and their trembling bodies pressed up against her. Fortunately she'd been expecting it and had braced her mind accordingly. She pulled her precious daughters into her arms and kissed their crests.

'What has you so scared, my precious Little Ones?' she asked through the meld, helping them maintain it.

Tears streamed down their little faces when another crack of thunder rolled through the sky above.

'The big nasty storm monster!' Naiala cried through the meld.

Liara shielded the part of her mind that was smiling so hard she feared it would leak out to her lips. The whole adorable scenario was tugging hard at her heartstrings.

'You needn't fear the storm, Little Ones,' she soothed. 'Mama's here. Now what about the storm is so scary?'

'The storm monster is loud and she woke us up 'cause she's mad!' Elaria replied, sniffing loudly.

Liara used a biotic lift to bring a box of tissue to the bed, then offered them to her little daughters. 'Here, blow your noses and we'll get this all sorted.'

Her twins pressed themselves as closely to her as they possibly could while they blew their noses. When they finished, she helped them clean off anything they missed. She could feel their fear dissipating with every passing moment as they latched onto her calming energy and soothing words. It made her heart soar knowing she could offer them comfort, knowing they felt so very safe and loved in her arms. When thunder cracked again, she felt another spike of fear.

'Oh my sweet Little Ones. You needn't fear thunder. It is a thing of beauty. Let Mama show it to you through her eyes.'

She flooded their minds with a powerfully vivid, beautiful image. In it, she was standing on the precipice of a mountain, jagged and proud and dangerous. Her body glowed blue with biotics, and the sky above crackled angrily with thunder. It was reacting to her, feeding off her power and she fed off it. The roaring crash of thunder made her feel powerful as she stood defiant on the mountain top, daring the entire world to try and break her, to try and bring her down. She was the Goddess of the World in that moment, invigorated by the storm raging both within her and around her.

'What you fear can only make you stronger. It can only hurt you if you allow it to,' Liara explained when they stared, awestruck, at the moving image. 'Sometimes, when I was fighting really mean monsters with your Daddy called the Reapers, I would imagine myself standing on that mountain top, the very heart and power of the storm. Now every time I hear thunder, it is a reminder that I am powerful. The very sky above me is singing a terrifying and joyous anthem in my honor.'

When her short story came to an end, they were both staring up at her with nothing short of complete wonder in their eyes.

'Listen . . . can you hear it?' Liara said, pausing as she waited for another crack of thunder. A few moments later another rumble of thunder filled the air around them. Her twins flinched a little, but she didn't sense the overwhelming fear of before. 'Isn't it a beautiful sound? It is the sound of triumph! My brave little daughters have faced their fears! I am so very proud of you.'

Naiala and Elaria were beside themselves with happiness from hearing their mother's confession of pride. Naiala wrapped her little arm around Liara's waist and snuggled against her chest.

'I love you, Mama.'

She heard the words from both her daughters in unison as more a powerful feeling. Liara pulled the blankets up around them and settled down in the bed, crushing the two of them tightly against her. 'Oh my precious little daughters. I love you. So much more than you will ever know.'

"Can we seep wiff you tonight?" Elaria asked as the meld began to fade. Her eyelids were already drooping and she snuggled further into Liara's arms.

Smiling, Liara placed a series of kisses to both their little crests. "Of course you can my Little Ones. In fact, I insist."

Truth be told, she and Shepard probably would have slept with their daughters a lot more if they weren't "busy" doing other important things in bed at night. It was quite common among asari to sleep with family members well into adulthood, but typically asari were matrons when they had children, and not still-insatiable maidens.

But with them laying in her arms like this, it was starting to make her rethink her decision. She adored holding her daughters, waking up with them in the morning, feeling their little heartbeats and breath next to her. Perhaps they could arrange to do this a few times a week. But such things could be decided on the morrow. So instead, she happily snuggled her precious daughters against her and fell into a wonderful, contented sleep.