Pre-word: This story will appear slightly AU, in that it would seem I'm taking a lot of liberties with the established game endings. I try to stay as true to the game universe as I can and there will be explanations as to why things worked out the way it did. You just have to be patient with me and the story as it unfolds. Please refer to my footnotes after initial reading, I hope they provide some insight and are appropriate without being overbearing.

At the same time, I couldn't have created this story without the inspiration of so many authors here on , including Tairis Deamhan, Calinstel, Sneaky Fox and 1054SS325MP – just to name a few. There are many, many others. Please look over their works and be sucked in like I was.

As always, happy reading and please review!

John Shepard stared idly out the starboard observation deck, watching the blue corona of FTL wash over and shear the surface of SSV Normandy. It was hypnotically calming for him and always a source of relaxation, despite having spent all his life on ships. It also never ceased to amaze him that he was more entranced with the magic of the blue shift than the fact that he was hurtling through the ether at relativistic speed. He took a lot of things for granted he supposed, living a life amongst the stars.

Things like gallivanting around in a glorified space canoe.

The commander scoffed to himself, lifting a snifter of brandy to his lips. He pondered the drink as it stung its way down his throat. He rarely imbibed anymore, not since his cybernetic implants had been installed. Oh, he understood their purpose - to a degree, but if he had had his drudgers, John probably would have asked Cerberus to tone down on the implants a bit.

At least let me get plastered once in a while, he thought with a smirk.

The tiny, lithe figure tucked in the crook of his opposite arm shifted a little, murmuring something half-khelish, half-asleep – all adorable. John Shepard was a man of reflexes: the navy had made them into his routine, ICT had made them his religion, and baptism by fire had made them his every next breath. So when his wife made a noise in her sleep, he did what he was reflexively taught to do: he made a soothing motion to her side and gently kissed her realk.

"You know," Tali said, not bothering to open her eyes, "You're just wasting Ash's alcohol budget – not like it's going to affect you, silly human."

"You know me, sweetheart," he said, inhaling the remaining breath of the amber liquor, "I like to keep up appearances – wouldn't want the old crew to think I'd been sober this whole entire time."

She made an amused noise as she burrowed closer. "Was that always before or after the missions, Commander Shepard?"

"First one, then the other."

Tali laughed and promptly hiccupped, which caused John to chuckle at the sight, resulting in her slapping his chest none too softly. The commander reflexively kissed the top of her helmet once again.

"It's not funny, you primate," she said, huffing a little even as she settled back down on his shoulder, "This is your child pushing up on my diaphragm – I can barely breathe normal when she's busy. ..probably bench pressing her umbilical cord or something."

He couldn't help but laugh at her little dilemma, reaching slightly with the arm holding her to caress her stomach.

"I always did know how to take your breath away, saera," John quipped, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

Tali covered her visor with her free hand. "Keelah, you're worse than those awful action movies you keep watching. At least they were paid to say those milky one-liners-"

"Cheesy."

"Whatever," she said dismissively, "The point is, get yourself a speech therapist or a script doctor, I don't care which, and then apologize for leaving your demon seed inside me! I demand satisfaction, John Shepard."

The commander rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Hmm..If only there was some way where I could satisfy you and still leave my seed inside you afterwards…"

"…John!"

He still made her blush and he knew it. Even after following him around the galaxy with an attachment of marines, krogan, Garrus and Jack, he still could do it. He obviously didn't need a speech writer, Tali knew, because he was masterful with words and always knew a hundred-and-two ways to turn everything she said into a segue about their sex life. What he really needed was a censor.

John, meanwhile, was quite amused with himself and reflexively kissed her to congratulate his egoism. "I'm sorry, my love, we just make too perfect a pair. Anyway, I didn't mean to wake you – you should be getting your rest, you need as much as you can squeeze in."

"Why are you up, my hesh'la?" she asked after some moments, reaching for his hand on her belly, "Are you anxious about tomorrow?"

"Not anxious, just wondering if it's necessary… You know how I hate these things, Tali, I never know what I'm supposed to be doing there. I mean, I barely know what to say when I get approached on Rannoch. And, yes, yes, I know what we're going to is a little more involved than just an after- party, so I should expect to deal with some fanfare. I just really wish it would stay a simple celebration and let that be that. Worst of all, I'm starting to suspect that they probably won't skip over me during the opening ceremony."

Tali craned her head to lightly touch his lips with her voice-light, something that took more practice to get right than either one would care to admit.

"People need to feel good, John. They need to get together and drink and yell and throw their arms up in the air. I know you've been dropped on your head a couple times since birth, but even you should remember: there was this little war that almost destroyed the whole entire galaxy. John, there was a time when people forgot what it was like to be able to celebrate anything, much less the spoils of war."

She disengaged her hand from his and wrapped her free arm around him, encapsulating her human.

"You may not remember it; you probably didn't even experience it. I know I didn't because of our separation after the Crucible was triggered. But think about the morale of the troops on the front, when it seemed we were all on the edge of oblivion. Then think how they must've felt when that weapon finally fired and all the sky just fell. I would've taken off my mask and let the heavens know how happy I was, hesh'la. And then there was you, you silly, wonderful, stubborn, heroic fool. You were there when life was at its lowest point and you were there when life was reborn in all of us. You can't separate Commander John Shepard from that event – keelah, John, they marked it down to the last one-hundredth of a second when the Crucible fired! That's why you're going tomorrow, my love. They'll need the symbol of John Shepard again. You're no less the reason for this galaxy's victory than the fact that this galaxy continues to exist today."

He beamed proudly at her, even if she didn't see the smile growing as she spoke. John tilted her head slightly, directing her chin until he could plant another reflexive kiss on the voice-light.

"You know, Admiral Tali'Zorah-Shepard hal Normandy, you're becoming quite the motivational speaker. Who taught you so well, anyway? Should I be jealous..?"

She scoffed audibly as she settled back down onto him, content to go back to sleep. "I know that mirror in our bathroom gets more looks than I do, Shepard, so unless you're somehow threatened by the handsome, dumb primates I tend to fall for, I think we'll be ok."

"Well," John said, rather pleased with himself as he flicked his hair dramatically, "I do what I can, y'know-"

Tali rolled her eyes as she smiled, listening to John banter on despite his words being lost in the swish of the opening doors behind them. She was almost tempted to crane her neck again, but decided she was far too comfortable with her pillow-lover.

"Commander," the stately, measured cadence of Karin Chakwas chimed from behind them. A moment later, she walked in revealing her arms full with a bundle of brown curls and blue eyes. A bundle that was too suspiciously awake for either Shepards to ignore.

"Mom," John nodded, a soft smile peeking from the stubble of his five-o'clock shadow.

He made sure to catch the eye of his old CMO before he addressed her as such. The commander knew she found the title quite endearing, though she would always tell everybody he was far too old to be her son. John would then disparage the fact that he only got his looks from the other side of the family. It was a running joke they had. Only he, Karin and Tali knew what the old dame truly meant to him since the loss of his father on Mindoir and his own mother to the line of duty. The people who had seen Commander John Shepard shed a tear were few and far between and the two women in the room now were the only two to have seen it happen more than once. That said, seeing Karin Chakwas hold his daughter like she had every right to do so, John suddenly found the lump in his throat difficult to swallow.

"How are both my girls?"

The doctor gave him a pointed look. "Nice try, Commander, but unlike the rest of the galaxy's women, I vaccinated myself against your silver tongue."

John seemed to contemplate that before reaching for a bottle of Serrice Ice, tucked conveniently out of view besides the couch. He winked once, knowingly, before he held up the snifter that had been warming in the palm of his hand.

"Well, you know what they say, mom, 'you can go to the doctor for the pills, but you go to the bartender for the medication'. I never bought into your whole science thing anyway, probably all snake oil, smoke and mirrors. Now, this charm, this is undeniable, this is bankable; in fact, you can probably see my aura – hey, why aren't you guys listening to this…?"

Karin rolled her eyes drolly as she sat down next to Tali, who immediately sat up when she saw her daughter and already had arms wide open.

"Maggie, my little ibiji," Tali murmured softly, practically engulfing the two-year old to her chest, "Were you good for your treta?"

The little human girl nodded enthusiastically, holding up both hands. "Mama, I got two tretas."

The three adults chuckled as they became enslaved by the little wonder, with Tali palming both her daughter's hands in agreement.

"Yes, sweetheart, you do," Tali said, giving John a cocked eyebrow which she knew he could see despite the visor, "And if your papa could turn off his insufferable charm for two seconds, we can keep the number of grandmas you have on one hand."

"One hand?" the girl asked, wiggling her mother's right hand, causing the doctor to muffle her laughter.

"No, ibiji, I only wish I were that lucky. Your papa is a very promiscuous and lewd man and I don't really know how he deserved me at all. Ancestors only know how many other aunts and uncles you have that I don't know about."

"Feel free to hop in anytime and defend my honor, ma."

"I'm only here to set your bones, John, and I'm quite out of practice since you left command, so please do not feel badly about fighting your own battles, " Karin said, eyeing the glass of brandy, "And, Commander, for the love of God, I'm on duty and it's an hour into first shift."

"…"

"I suppose I can indulge just this once," the older woman said, eagerly taking the snifter.

"Were either one of you sober at any point when I was on the Normandy?!"

"So, I said to Kasumi, I said-"

"Lookit," Lieutenant Moreau finally said, holding both his hands up in frustration, "I get that you guys suddenly feel I'm the coolest cat to be around, even though Space Jesus is one deck below, but you really don't need to keep me company the whole flight."

The turian to his left leaned back, raising a ridged crest above his eye and stared at the woman across the cockpit.

"Joker," Ashley said with a shake of her head, "I know you like your porn, but you can't possibly spend a twenty-six hour flight staring at Fornax – because I for damn sure know you're not actually flying the entire time."

"What the hell? Where did everyone get this impression that I'm some sort of sex-looney porn-monger?"

The SPECTRE leaned back, giving her nails a quick polish. "You know that as the commanding officer of this ship, I'm privy to all the data flow in and out of our network, right?"

"How…?" Joker started, looking unsure whether or not to confirm his suspicion or bite his tongue, "I mean, I got this one program from Garrus. He said it was a secure VPN and it would tunnel my browsing data and keep it secure. He said it's what all the SPECTREs used and…hmm...Fuck."

Both Ashley and Garrus bit their respective lips/beaks as the thought dawned on Joker. That is, how ridiculous the notion sounded that he wasn't the butt of another prank from the turian.

"Well, goddamnit, you overgrown bird – I knew I never should've trusted your kind."

"Turians?"

"Cops."

Ashley chuckled to his right as she shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Well, sorry, Joker," Garrus offered, not the least bit sorry, "but we can't bug Shepard when he's with the wife. I stayed with them for a couple weeks one night and it..it was traumatizing. The both of them are just all hands."

"Ew, gross.. I mean, how would they even go about at it? Y'know? Would there even be a vid of that or something? Not that I'm into that sort of thing, but, well maybe we should look it up.."

"Anyway!" Williams interrupted, holding up her palm, "So, you and Kasumi, eh, Garrus? Isn't that a little cliché – the thief and the cop?"

"Oh, you know me," Garrus said, kicking his feet back and waving one hand dismissively, "I'm always breaking new frontier: interspecies relations, treading the line between law and order, being so handsome that I transcend two cultures. I tell you, sometimes it's overwhelming.. But I'm a one woman man, Williams, so please try to control your raging urges around me."

"Pig."

"Oh, hard-to-get, eh..? Well, you won't win me over, even if you want to send naked pictures of yourself to my extranet account – gvakarian at citadel/spec/gov, so don't even try!"

"Delusional pig!" she exclaimed, grabbing Joker's cap off his head and throwing it at the turian, "How do you know Kasumi isn't around listening to you propositioning other women?"

"I always know when she's around," he chuckled, ducking the flying cap deftly, "and technically, it wouldn't be propositioning until I have the reassurance of receiving them. And by them, I mean naked pictures of you. I mean, I guess you could get me in trouble if you sent them to me – I'm sure she hacked into my account. So, y'know… that's really the only way you could incriminate me. By sending me pictures of yourself, you see."

"Enough!" the lieutenant-commander yelled, jumping out of her seat, "Freakin' hell, I thought I left this testosterone bullshit behind me when I left the corps.."

The woman stalked out of the cockpit, stomping her feet and muttering, letting the crew know for meters in advance that the CO was not in a good mood. Garrus and Joker just stared at each other for a brief moment before breaking into laughter.

"Oh, man, I really missed having you and Shepard rile her up like that," Joker said, wiping his eyes, "it's like having three really annoying brothers in addition to her three really annoying sisters."

Garrus only nodded, resting his cheek plate on one of his fists. "She's a good kid though. I'm glad the Normandy went to her after all this, they couldn't have gotten a better-"

The turian felt his breath nearly stolen from him as an invisible weight plopped itself unceremoniously onto his lap. Moments later, the air shimmered in front of him and a light scent of orchids filled his scent glands. Unlike all her other perfumes that he had become intimately familiar with, orchids somehow stayed non-offensive across the dextro-levo spectrum of smells. Kasumi shimmered into view then and, not for the first time since he knew her, Garrus found himself forgetting the words on the tip of his tongue.

"Oh, hi, there…"

Those lips that he had become so enamored with curled into a slight smirk and her eyes glinted from under that infernal hood. She had beautiful hair and he never liked that they hid under that hood. That was the entirety of her being though, everything soft and flowing, nothing like what he had ever known – nothing like a turian should be or want. The thin, little thing wrapped her arms around his neck and settled in. She was always comfortable like that, always comfortable like home.

"Well, hi, tall, dark and mysterious," Kasumi finally said, her voice soft for him, "What's up with Ash? She almost ran me over."

He sat a little dumbfounded for words, looking at her as she tilted her head expectantly. He'd tell her about the exchange he just had with Commander Williams and Joker, for he had no qualms about telling her anything. For a master thief, she was surprisingly honest with her words and as a turian, he was ok with that. No, Garrus never had a problem talking to her – except for when he had problems finding words around her. In the background, he could see Joker trembling with laughter, probably thinking Garrus Vakarian was just about to get his comeuppance. He spread one mandible in a turian smirk.

"You might want to settle in," he started, making sure he had the pilot's attention, "So, I said to Kasumi, I said.."

The sound of Joker slamming his forehead against the center console and releasing an explosive sigh was heard clear through the CIC.

"John," his wife said, tugging on the arm she had entwined, "Are you sure this is the right hotel? I mean, there were a lot of other ones we passed, all of them closer to the event center."

The Commander shifted Maggie in his other arm as he looked down the hall at the top level suite. "I'm pretty sure. Allers said this was the least conspicuous one she could find and the most out of the way."

"Hmmph," Tali grumbled, wrestling that arm closer, "And just why, exactly, did she want to interview you in a hotel in the middle of nowhere? Hmm?"

John smiled patiently, leaning down to tap her visor with his forehead. "Baby, don't be silly, her message said the interview was about our whole family-"

"I know exactly what this interview-"

He kissed her voice-light to interrupt her, which never failed to work. "-and I don't know about you, but if I can avoid a few fans, I'll accept a couple minutes' walk down an alley or two."

"A likely story."

By now they had reached the suite and before John could interject again, the door opened and Diana Allers, ANN correspondent, stood before them, smiling warmly.

"I thought I heard the two of you bickering," she said, drawing the both of them in for a hug, "I'm glad to see things haven't changed too much in three years."

"Not true," John said as he drew way and pointed towards Tali's stomach proudly, "Look what I did!"

The two women gave him pointed looks and Diana welcomed his wife into the room first before crossing her arms. "No, Commander Shepard, they haven't changed. One. Bit. That and this little doll you have are about the only things you did right. Hi, sweetheart, I'm Diana."

Normally, by this age, toddlers develop a sense of self, a sense of preservation that normally curbed the precociousness of their pre-vocabulary infant stage. It was this very same sense that would normally promote shyness in children. Maggie Shepard knew very little of this condition – at least, not when she was safe in the arms of her father. He provided her security, and a height advantage of no small consideration. Simply put, most people to her were quite puny this high up which helped to level the playing field. And, for whatever reason, watching her father shoot words out of his mouth and having people generally respond favorably to them made her bolder than she probably should've been. So, Maggie looked once at Diana and, not seeing her mom around, normally her fountain of knowledge, she turned to her dad with an inquisitive finger stuck in her mouth.

"Number three?"

Shepard almost doubled over in laughter, opting instead to just bury his face in Maggie's stomach, and waltz passed the confusion plastered all over the reporter.

"This is a nice place you booked, Allers," he said, looking appreciatively out at the cityscape, "Didn't know perks like this came with being a field reporter."

"You should know better, Commander," she replied bemusedly, heading over to activate the recording drones, "The only person more famous than the savior of the galaxy? Why, the person the galaxy sees on television with him."

"And here I thought you just kept me around for the frequent flyer miles."

"You always walk around with that smart mouth?"

"Nobody ever accused me otherwise," he said, finishing a quick glimpse of the corners before settling on Tali, "Besides, I reckon she has use for my smart mouth now and again."

His wife just stood frozen, her head held in her hands, 'keelah' half-muttered under her breath.

"Okay, hot-shot," Allers said, not the least bit perturbed, "Save the blooper reel for the interview, alright? Grab a seat, I just need to adjust the saturation on the drones and we can start."

John practically plopped himself down on the couch, making Maggie squeal a little from the thrill. Tali was convinced there was a little John Shepard deep in there who never got a chance to grow up. She never knew how to feel about the prospect of raising three children at the same time. After some thought, she entangled one of his arms again and relegated herself to her fate: that she loved being stuck where she was.

"So," Diana said finally, settling down on the couch opposite them and setting out waters for the group, "before we start, I just want to say that I'm pretty goddamn tired of the galaxy treating you like the next coming of the space pope. Honestly, I have no intention of making you look the slightest bit good in this interview. I only have one goal in mind this hour, John Shepard, and it's to take you down a peg."

To his credit, the man didn't seem the slightest bit fazed. In fact, he was almost amused at the thought. It was not, however, John Shepard who responded.

"Do you even understand the logistics of this, Diana?" Tali said, leaning forwards just a little, "Do you understand how out of control his ego is? It's a manifestation bred by trillions of people and then allowed to fester in this half-competent brain in my husband's thick skull. There's no stopping this. There's no escape for any of us. I've been bonded to him for three years; I've known him for twice that and loved him since I could remember. And each day I'm still crushed by the weight of narcissism so great that it's actually tangible. My only hope is that my children will one day grow strong enough to defeat him…"

The look on Allers face was priceless but John was far too busy trembling with laughter to notice.

"Um, I guess..I guess a lot has changed in three years, Tali'Zorah."

"Tali'Shepard," she corrected, chin up and quite proud of it.

"You've been practicing?" the Commander inquired, giving his wife an amused look.

"People ask a lot of questions about your character, John. I can't be bothered to remember what I did or didn't say."

Diana cleared her throat audibly. "Guys, the camera has been on this whole time. Look, I may want to make him seem more human, but I'm not actually here to humiliate the Commander – Tali, outstanding job, by the way. I just really want to dispel the mythos around John Shepard. I think the galaxy could stand to accept that the living legend is just a normal man – a normal man who wants to leave the legend behind."

Tali looked up at her human, eyes inquisitive, though only John could know what they held. He leaned back, seemingly in contemplation, before he spoke.

"I think… that's not a bad idea, Allers," he said finally, a gentle smile on his face.

"I didn't think so either," she answered, pleased with herself, "Even you have to hang up your guns sometimes, Commander. So, why don't you start at the beginning; tell the viewers what you've been up to since the war with the Reapers. You know, you've been quite the recluse since then."

"Oh, you can blame Tali for that," he said, nudging her shoulders gently, "She's got this crazy thing against me being on broadcast. I don't want to say it's because I have too many good sides, but…well, I honestly don't know how else to end that sentence."

Tali simply made a disgruntled noise and turned her head haughtily the other way. John couldn't help but notice her arm was still around his. This amused him greatly.

Diana Allers, post-production commentary: (Camera focusing in on Diana as she's laughing) "Oh, that was classic John Shepard. I expected no less. But the moment I heard it, I knew I'd be in for a long interview…He was always kind of a smart-ass, though, but I guess being able to think on your feet is a requirement in his line of work. What can I say? He's got a loud mouth and he's proud of it. I'm sure he could talk his way pass the gates of Saint Peter if he needed to.

That type of personality though, it attracts everyone to some extent, but the type of people that he tolerates to stick around him, that match him on that level – that's the caliber of his crew. You need to be quick, fast, intelligent, able and, most of all, deadly. That was his dirty dozen. Tali was always such a surprise, though. She was so quiet and timid on the ship; I almost couldn't believe she belonged with this group of…psychos. But you talk once or twice with the engineering crew, or even the bridge, and you know they worshiped the ground she walked on. She was just that good apparently.

Still, seeing them together is something else. You'd think two cultures separated by hundreds of thousands of light-years would have nothing in common. (She gestures to the replay of the interview) But there you are: harmony in plain view. She's nothing like who she is with everyone else. You see her fighting back, giving as good as she gets, putting him in his place now and again. If you'd had known Tali for even two seconds previous to all this, you'd have never pegged her as that type of personality. Unless, of course, you belonged to a super-squad of devil-may-cry heroes; I guess you'd see everything under the sun at that point.

And, John? Well, you'll see later in the interview how he is with his wife. There's no 'Commander' within a mile of that man. (She shakes her head) Watching the whole thing now, it's hard to believe he was the most dangerous threat to a race of super-intelligent, hyper-advanced galactic spider beings – who were called Reapers for Christ's sake! It's crazy. And, besides, any woman that can settle him down and make him reconsider charging head first into danger…well, he has to be head-over-heels to accept change like that."

Notes:

1. Saera (Calinstel): term used when speaking to one's lifemate. Literal translation: My soul's soul. Other meanings include, but are not limited to: Keeper of my soul and My soul's protector. Most commonly used word throughout the fleet by a quarian when speaking privately to their lifemate. Though unconfirmed by any quarian, there are implications that this word holds extreme intimacy as well as absolute trust. No single human word or phrase encompassed all that this one short word implies as it appears to contain both dominance and submissive traits.

2. Realk (Calinstel): cloth covering used by the quarians. It is used to describe not just the hood seen on most but any material adornment.

3. Hesh'la (Tairis Deamhan): slang term for captain (hesh'alan - honorary/formal term) but with more familiar connotation

4. Ibiji: "baby" for lack of better definition, a sweetheart term

5. Treta: this is common vernacular for "grandma", not a formal tense

6. Origin story: I took liberties with Shepard's origin story. He lost his father and sister on Mindoir, but his mother served in the Navy and was away at that time. The Shepards were survived by John and Hannah, but John lost her to the line of duty at some point. What incident specifically I haven't figured out just yet (still working on my head canon.)

7. Daughters: The subsequent chapters will reveal the origins of Shepard's girls. Relax, I didn't resort to space magic. I think the science of my explanations will suffice.

8. Ashley: In my head canon, Williams went on to keep her SPECTRE-hood and was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander. She was given the Normandy based on Shepard's recommendation.

9. Garrus/Kasumi:I just like this pairing, I can't explain why. I'm probably not going to ever flesh out their pairing, as other authors with greater ambitions have done a much better job than I ever could (see: Tairis Deamhan, elrey745.) Their romance does carry over from another fic that I have in the works, but its relevancy here is of little value.