Lost and Found:

Epilogue

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The Alliance thought Commander Shepard was gone. They were right. They expected to find a corpse. They were wrong. Do our memories make us who we are? Shepard/Garrus, post ME3.

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Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to Bioware.

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Shepard looked up from the crib as Garrus walked into the room. "What was all that commotion about?" she asked quietly.

Garrus couldn't suppress a small chuckle. "Mordin told Cass that his new sister is too squishy. They started headbutting each other and Titus tried to get between them…" He trailed off and shrugged. "Total chaos."

"Nobody's hurt, I hope?" she asked.

"All the kids are fine," he assured her. "Miranda's not too happy since the scene made Aurora cry, but honestly that child would cry over anything." He shook his head, bewildered.

"Miranda's overprotective," Shepard replied. "It was so hard for her to have Aurora that she smothers the poor girl. I've been hoping she'd let her stay with us for a week or two but…"

Garrus snorted. "Not after this."

She sighed. "It was worth a shot."

"Sound asleep?" he asked, nodding his head towards the crib.

"Yeah, she has been for a while, I just…" She trailed off.

Garrus smiled. "I know. You're like this with all of them when they first come home."

She shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I can't help it! They're so sweet when they sleep."

His smile softened as he rubbed her arms gently. "I know. As soon as you started working with the war orphans I could tell it wouldn't be long before you asked to bring one home."

"Or three. Good thing you were so receptive," she said, eyes sparkling. She glanced at the doorway. "I suppose we should get back to our guests."

"Or at least check on the boys to make sure there are no further incidents," Garrus agreed. "They're always twice as wild when Wrex brings one of his kids." They closed the door softly behind them as they left the room and headed down the hallway.

"Hey," Garrus said suddenly, just before they reached the stairs. "I love you."

Shepard pulled him close and kissed him. "I love you too. Thank you for making me so happy."

"You're the one who's made me happy. Every single day," he said. They stood there smiling dreamily at each other until a crashing sound broke them out of it.

Shepard sighed. "The boys again?"

"The boys," Garrus agreed.

And they marched downstairs.

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Garrus and Shepard lived a long, happy life together with their adopted children: Titus (turian), Cassian (krogan), and Lilith (human).Shepard ran a charity that first focused on orphans of the reaper war but then grew to support orphans from a multitude of causes. Garrus remained a top advisor to the primarch for all of his life. They continued to invite their friends and family to parties and visits at their lake house until they had to build a guest house to hold everyone. They spent their free time dabbling in various hobbies. Shepard learned to cook and grew the vegetables and fruits for many of their meals. Garrus finally learned to paint. They continued their shooting contests on the beach. Most importantly of all, they found peace.

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A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! If you liked it, please drop me a line and let me know. I appreciate all of your reviews, follows, and favorites more than you can know! It means the world to know you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it.

If you're sad to see this story ending and you'd like more Shepard and Garrus, please keep an eye on my page. I have more Shepard/Garrus stories in the works!