Nikki woke slowly, the faint pressure of a finger lightly tracing her arm raising her consciousness to the surface. She kept her eyes shut as the featherlight touch continued to roam, up to her shoulder and back down her body. It took tremendous willpower to stay still as it moved onto her left leg.

She hoped Trish was too focused on her actions to notice the twitch of her lips at the stroke behind her knee, certainly the finger didn't stop its movement as it continued on towards her ankle and Nikki mentally braced herself for the inevitable tickle as it reached the sole of her foot.

She was doing so well until the finger paused, the slightest moment's hesitation, a second later there was a twirl of movement around her little toe and her whole body stiffened involuntarily.

"Morning." Trish's cheerful voice greeted at the obvious sign of wakefulness.

"Morning." Nikki replied, opening her eyes to find her partner staring up at her. "Has it been a month already?"

Trish giggled at the reference to her comment the night before, but didn't stop fiddling with the soldier's toes.

"I don't remember you having a foot fetish?" Nikki attempted to keep her tone playful but her unease must have been obvious because Trish immediately stopped and crawled her way back up the bed to lie beside her.

"Sorry, I got carried away. It's a little odd having that toe back after all these years."

"Hmm that's one word for it." Nikki agreed with a scoff, causing Trish to tilt her head inquisitively.

"What word would you use?"

"Creepy."

Trish gave a supportive squeeze of the soldier's shoulder before cuddling up close and resting her head on it instead.

"I kind of like having it back." She offered softly and Nikki turned to look her in the eyes, trying to gauge the truth to her words.

"You know it's not actually the same toe right?"

"I know."

"How does that not freak you out?" Trish could only shrug in response to her partner's query. Admittedly it was rather... weird... but she had gotten used to having to relearn the soldier's body whenever she returned from extended deployment. Finding out the stories behind the new scars that Shepard turned up with, despite somehow having always been too busy being 'fine' over vid call to have ever theoretically acquired them.

Gaining a toe was certainly new, and definitely not normal, but somehow it seemed... unimportant in the larger scale of things. Trish wasn't quite sure how to explain that though.

"I know it's not the same but... You're not the only one who's body's different now you know?"

Nikki looked like she was barely holding back a comment, if it was about minuscule changes to weight not counting then Trish would have to hit her. She decided to press on before the soldier could say anything, lifting her pyjama top up and gesturing with her head to the revealed expanse of skin.

For a moment it looked like Nicola would ignore the invitation and continue sulking. Then she rolled over, straddling her partner's legs as she moved for a closer look. It wasn't hard to spot the blemish on her skin and Nikki's hands instantly started tracing the pattern.

"It looks like tiger bread." The food obsessed woman declared and Trish had to resist an eye roll as Nikki pressed her lips to the pregnancy stretch marks. "I love tiger bread."

"Lower than that." Nikki's eyes twinkled with delight as they briefly darted up to Trish's face before starting to trail a series of kisses down her body, mostly sticking to the path of stretch marks. She paused when she reached the waistband and despite slightly regretting her previous order Trish nodded, lifting her hips to help with removal.

The exact moment Nikki spotted what Trish was on about was obvious. Teasing vanishing in an instant and replaced with a look of horror as she stared entranced at the horizontal scar.

"That-... you..." Trish's heart plummeted as her marine struggled for words. "...Why didn't you say anything?"

"When? It's not exactly an easy thing to drop into conversation: 'hang on a moment Nicky's trying to colour in the wallpaper again. Oh, by the way, I had to have him via caesarean'. Besides... I didn't want you to look at me like that." Trish admitted despondently.

"Like what?" Confusion swept through the deep brown pools.

"You don't need to lie Nick, it obviously bothers you, I saw your face drop."

"Of course it did but not because-... What 'bothers' me is the fact you had to go through that, especially alone. It 'bothers' me I wasn't there for you. If I'm honest it rather 'bothers' me that you thought even for a moment this would change anything between us. Look at me Trish... I love you. I love our son. Now you're telling me the reason I've got you both is this little line in your flesh? I love every millimetre of this line."

She softly pressed her lips to the scar to prove her point, eyes never leaving the civilian's as her mouth worked its way to either side. One hand reached up in silent offer and Trish was quick to take it, entwining their fingers and receiving a gentle squeeze.

Once she was certain she had in fact covered every millimetre with proof of her love, Nikki crawled back up, never breaking their hands' connection as she wrapped her body around her wife's.

"It wasn't so much the scar I was worried about, not really." Trish admitted softly, drawing an uncomprehending look.

"Then what was?"

"You know..." She trailed off with a shrug and there was silence as Nikki scoured her brain for the answer, only to come up empty.

"Sorry, no. I think little Miss genius might have to spell it out to the thicko marine."

"...I didn't actually give birth. Not in the traditional sense. Sometimes I feel like... I guess I thought maybe you'd think it too... that I'm not... I'm not a proper mother."

Nikki was gobsmacked at the revelation. She was aware that this was big. A psychological minefield she was in no way trained or equipped to handle. She also knew staying silent or trying to brush this aside to deal with another time wouldn't help.

With no idea what the 'correct' response was, Nick just went with the first thing that entered her head.

"Ok, I take back my comment about you being a genius, that's the stupidest thing you've ever said! Why would you... I mean... even if we ignore the entire nine months you kept him safe and helped him grow inside you, there's still everything you've done since he's been on the outside. Of course you're a proper mother! Whether or not you gave the final push to bring him into this world is irrelevant. Hell, he could be adopted and you'd still be a proper mother because of what you do for him and how you feel toward him and... Is any of what I'm saying actually helping or am I just making this worse?"

"A little."

"A little what? A little better or a little worse?"

"Both. I get what you're trying to say and I know it makes sense but..."

"But there's a difference between knowing something and believing or accepting it." Somehow Nikki managed to put into words what Trish had been struggling to say.

"Yeah..."

The soldier sighed, stroking a hand through Trish's hair, desperately searching for the right comment to make. Nothing sprung to mind so she simply snuggled closer, hoping her support was tangible through the tight embrace.

This close it was almost impossible to resist the urge so she didn't, placing a gentle kiss on her partner's shoulder. When no objection was incoming she peppered several more across the ridge, plotting a trail towards the soft flesh of the civilian's neck.

"What are you doing?" Trish finally broke her silence.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Trying to distract me."

"Is it working?" That earned her a scoff, a halfhearted smile and disbelieving shake of the head. "Do you want me to stop? Or try harder?"

There was no verbal response but Trish tilted her head, exposing more bare skin in obvious invitation and Nikki had no problems yielding to the demand.

Before she could truly plaster her wife's body with love they were interrupted by the quiet chime of a notification from the baby monitoring VI system. Trish groaned in disappointment while Nikki cursed in frustration. The older woman immediately rolled out the bed and hurried towards their son's room, only pausing when a laugh sounded behind her.

"What you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just Miss 'I'm not a real mother' hurrying to put her son's whims before her own pleasure."

"Oh shush you." Still, she couldn't help the slight smile that traced her lips. A smile that vanished when her eyes landed on the empty crib in the room opposite.

A childish gurgle filled her with both relief and despair as she spotted Nicholas going through his toy box. She knew it would happen eventually, but she'd hoped she'd have another month or two before he'd start climbing out the crib on his own.

Life was about to get a lot more interesting and a lot less peaceful.