Chapter 12 - Matrimony
Amelia
June 21st, 2187
As soon as I hung up with Karin, I walked to the nearest rapid transit station and grabbed a cab to her private practice. Whatever she found, she wouldn't tell me until I arrived, and my curiosity was piqued.
Arriving at the small office on the city's outskirts, I walked inside. Karin was waiting in the lobby for me, and standing next to her was Padok Wiks, one of Mordin's proteges who helped him cure the Genophage. "Ame." The aging doctor greeted me, embracing her most annoying patient.
"Hey, Doc," I say, returning the hug, "What's up?"
Padok stepped forward now, and they exchanged greetings. I didn't know him all that well, which I regretted, since any friend of Mordin's, especially one who convinced him to cure the Genophage, something I tried to do herself and failed, was a friend of mine.
"Got message from someone unexpected yesterday, had to verify with Chakwas before telling you." Padok shot off. I just raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Come." He said, motioning a still-smiling Chakwas and me into an exam room. He moved to the terminal, bringing it to life and queuing up the message.
Mordin's face appeared on the screen, and I took a surprised breath, "Hello, Shepard." The video Mordin greeted, but I could tell it was something pre-recorded, not live, as I could see Eve sitting on the bed of the Normandy's medbay in the background. "If you hear this, I died fixing my greatest mistake on Tuchanka. Don't mourn, had to be me. Someone else would've gotten it wrong. Would've never realized mistake if not for you. Thank you." Mordin spoke in his clipped way, saving precious seconds from irrelevant fluff words trimmed off his sentences.
"Set omnitool to send message to Padok one year after Tuchanka. Had side project while curing Genophage. Thought I'd bring joy to good friend." Mordin paused for a minute, "Took egg samples. Experimented. Developed. Created hybridization template. Can create hybrid offspring." He paused, idly scratching the top of his broken horn, "Wish I could see results. Thank you, Shepard, for everything."
I let out a choked sob, covering my mouth with a hand. I had always wanted to have kids. Ever since I was a girl, I dreamed of a future life with a husband I love and a few children I adore above all else.
When I lost my family on Mindoir, those thoughts retreated, only to be pulled out nearly two decades later by Garrus. I had accepted that having a child wasn't biologically possible, but I was willing to forgo that want to be with him, but now (I was told that I didn't need to sacrifice that want.
I can have children with the man I love. With the man who stood beside me through thick and thin, through life and death, through the good times and the bad. I can't think of anything I want more. My tears flowed freely now.
"Karin… Is this even possible?"
Chakwas nodded, "I don't know how he did it, but he did." She paused for a moment while I gathered myself, "He left detailed steps on the procedure of editing eggs of a human female to accept genetic material from a turian male. The first step is extracting eggs, which is no issue. After that, we'd have to edit the genome in the lab, fertilize the egg, and reinsert the embryo. Mordin simulated the entire process, but there are still risks involved." I nodded.
"Two things. First, your body might identify the embryo as a foreign substance and trigger an immune response. To prevent that, your immune system will need to be suppressed, at least until we know you are pregnant, but probably the entire time. Less risky that way. Second, you'll need daily checkups for the entire pregnancy. We still don't know how long it will last or if you can even carry the child to term. According to Mordin's simulations, it will work, but this is the bleeding edge of science. I don't want to take any chances."
I became slightly troubled at the words, deflating some of the happiness I had been feeling the moment prior. I hadn't been as active as I was in the navy, but I couldn't imagine myself bedridden for an extended period. "Who would give me the daily checkups?"
"I would." The older British woman answered immediately.
"I can't be away from Garrus for that long-"
"I know. Go home, talk to him about this. When you make a decision, let me know, I will come there."
A concerned look crossed my face, "Doc… I don't want to put that burden on you. You have a life here-"
Chawkas cut me off with a flick of her wrist, "Nonsense. I'd be happy to do it."
-0-
June 24th, 2187
I am nervous for the first time since I moved to Palaven seven months prior. I hadn't spoken to Garrus since before visiting Chakwas, other than a quick text telling him when I'd be home and that I had something important to show him. He had replied, asking if everything was ok, and I told him it was, but it was better to talk about it in person.
Now I sat in the waiting area outside his office, my flight back to Palaven landing sooner than expected, and I couldn't wait any longer to tell him. His assistant, Sentia, had told me that he was in a meeting that should be over shortly, so I sat down and pulled out my omnitool.
About fifteen later, the door to the office swung open, and Garrus and a turian I'd never seen before walked out, laughing like old friends. Garrus spotted me pretty quickly, his face turning dour, quickly facing his companion and saying, "Macenus, it was great to see you again," The two men grabbed each other's wrists, and Macenus walked to the elevator.
As soon as the doors closed, Garrus turned towards Sentia, "Sentia, why didn't you tell me my mate was here?" His voice was stern, and his subharmonics carried a clear note of annoyance.
The young turian woman, no older than twenty-five, frowned, "Sorry, sir. You said you didn't want to be disturbed…"
Garrus sighed, pinching his brow plates, "I've told you before, she is an exception to that rule-"
"It's ok, Garrus," I said, walking up to him and interlacing my hand into his free one. "I'm a big girl; I can wait." I smiled up at him, and the look defused him immediately. I flashed a smile over at Sentia, which seemed to calm the young woman's nerves.
Garrus released his brow plates, "Thank you, Sentia. I'm sorry." Quickly retreating into his office, dragging me behind him and closing the door. He bent down to just the right height to kiss me. Once it ended, he straightened, "You said you had something important to show me?"
I nodded, opening my omnitool and sending the video file to the larger screen mounted on the wall. Mordin appeared, delivering his message to Garrus. He watched in stunned silence, a silence that extended past the end of the file. I glanced up at him, waiting to see what he would say.
After a moment, he spoke, "This is something you want?" His voice had a worried tone, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he waited for me to respond.
"Only if you do," I say quietly, my lips quivering slightly, the butterflies very active in my stomach now, making me almost sick in anticipation. I watched as his left mandible rubbed along his cheek plate, a movement, I had discovered, that he did when he was thinking.
Garrus noticed my nervousness and placed his rough, leathery hands on my cheeks, lowering his forehead to rest on mine. The soft smell of sun-warmed metal and gun oil filled my lungs, immediately calming me. "Amelia… Nothing would make me happier than raising a child with you but don't think you have to do it for me. Only do it if it's something you want."
I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in a sigh of relief, giving a slight chuckle, "I've always dreamed of having kids, but after Mindoir… I gave up that dream. But now I have it back… And I want it," The last few words came out as just a whisper.
He wrapped me in a hug, "Then we do it."
Garrus
July 17th, 2187
The next three weeks went by without much fuss as Amelia and I prepared the last few items for the wedding. The ceremony would take place behind my family's residence, in the beautiful gazebo my mother had built so many years before, surrounded by the garden she spent hours each day tending to before she fell ill.
I stood in the gazebo now, pushing a nervous finger down my collar, pulling it away from my throat slightly. It was just a minute or two before the ceremony would start, and I was extremely anxious. I looked over the crowd of our mutual friends and acquaintances, touched that they all came. After another minute of nervously shifting from foot to foot, I tapped Joker on the shoulder, alerting my best man. "You don't think she changed her mind, right?" I tried to pass it off as humor, but the worry in my voice was pretty clear, at least to the other turians around.
"Yea, she is the type to leave people on the altar," Joker said, his voice lilting in its usual sarcastic tone. "Don't worry, Big Guy. She'll be here." The man turned back around and played with his tie. Despite being dressed in a suit, Joker was still wearing his hat. I was nearly convinced that it had become part of his body.
"Shhh!" Miranda whisper-yelled at them from where she stood on the opposite side of the gazebo, smoothing out her dress before returning to her formal pose with her arms folded in front of her waist.
I looked over at the woman, wearing the same sky blue chiffon dress as Tali and Traynor, the other bridesmaids. The dress cinched at her waist, flowing down to the floor in a simple and elegant fashion. I had never been particularly attracted to any non-turian other than Amelia. Still, I had to admit, the dresses the three were wearing could knock almost anyone on their ass.
A moment later, soft music started playing, and Kahlee Sanders walked out, escorting Amelia down the small lane between the chairs in the yard. Kahlee wore the same dress as the other three women on the altar, but Amelia made my jaw drop. It took him a moment to realize the soft growling sound was coming from me.
The dress she was wearing hooked daintily behind her neck, exposing the expanse of soft skin around her shoulders. The front dipped low, exposing the center of her chest, the fabric resting tightly around her breasts to her waist. The remainder of the material gathered just below her waist before gracefully falling to the floor in a waterfall of Vakarian blue fabric. A simple gold belt rested just above the pooled fabric, giving a beautiful contrast of color and accentuating her body perfectly. As she walked down the aisle, the light caught loose pieces of the material, tiny jewels embedded in it, refracting light in all directions like an evanescent spirit.
Her hair was tousled and wavy around her face, the soft curls gently accenting the blue colony paint on her face, still as neat and perfect as the day I first put it on her seven months ago. The parts of her face that didn't have the paint had been dabbed with a light, skin-tone makeup, making it glow in the sunlight. Her soft, pale green eyes looked into mine; nothing but unadulterated love poured from their depths. I could still see the small scar interrupting her left eyebrow, somehow making her face even more perfect. My heart melted at the sight. This was my mate, my wife, my love, and she was marrying me.
She made her way to the altar, gracefully walking up the steps in her tall, dainty heels. Kahlee released her arm and joined the other bridesmaids standing below them on the steps. She took my hands in hers, looking up into my eyes, smirking up at me before whispering, "Hey, Big Guy, breathe." I realized I had been holding my breath, letting it out slowly while she squeezed my hands lightly. "You ready?" At my nod, she turned to the officiant.
"Welcome, family, friends, loved ones." He called out to the crowd, "We are gathered today to join Amelia and Garrus in matrimony." He turned his attention to me, "Say your vows when you are ready, Sir."
I steadied myself, "Amelia, when we met, I was nothing but a washed-up cop on the Citadel with a distorted view of the world. You were a force of nature, and you swept me up in your winds." I paused, swallowing the lump that formed in my throat. I looked down at my feet, not wanting to meet her eyes, "The things I learned from you shaped who I became now. I love who I am with you. I want it all with you. A life. A family. Children. I am yours, from now until the day I die." I squeezed her hands again before looking up. She was misty-eyed, trying to stop herself from inevitably crying before she had to say her vows.
Amelia
I am not going to cry, dammit. Not yet at least… I thought as I blinked the tears from my eyes. Goddammit, that was beautiful.
"Ma'am, whenever you're ready." The officiant said, taking a step back and waiting patiently.
I blinked away the last of the tears and swallowed before beginning, "Garrus, you have stood beside me since the day we met. No matter what happened or what I did, you never left my side. You've always had my six, no matter what. You helped me face down everything the galaxy has thrown at us. You have saved my life more times than I can count. Being with you has made me a better person, and all I know is that I never want to go back." I could hear the subharmonic purr from him, "I could never describe what you mean to me in words. Instead, I want to show you every day for the rest of my life. Wherever you go, I will be by your side."
I could no longer stop the tears from escaping my eyes, freely rolling down my cheeks, but dammit, I won't get choked up. Not here in front of all our friends, on my wedding day.
The officiant stepped forward again, looking to Garrus, "Do you, Garrus Vakarian, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love, comfort, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." Garrus agreed wholeheartedly, not a second of hesitation.
Now the officiant looked to me, "Do you, Amelia Shepard, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love, comfort, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"
My mouth trembled almost uncontrollably as I spoke the words, "I do."