This is going to be a series of more of less closely connected one-shots. It's safe to say that there is going to be a lot of fluff involved since playing the games over and over again just doesn't nearly satisfy my need of Shenko-cuteness. All of these short glimpses are going to be post ME3, though ... I need my happily ever after. That being said, there are probably going to be spoilers at some point.

English is not my first language, so I hope you can forgive any mistakes I might have made. I'm also looking for a beta reader for future one-shots, so if anyone's interested, feel free to send me a message!

Everything Mass Effect related belongs to BioWare, even though I really wouldn't mind Kaidan ... but that's another story.

Background info on the Shepard in this story: Catherine Shepard, Soldier, Spacer, War Hero, Paragon, faithful to Kaidan through the time at Cerberus, light blond hair, blue eyes.

But enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy these little stories, let me know what you think! That review-button craves attention, after all ;)

9th August 2189

"Dada!" Little Jeremy Alenko was pawing at the picture of his father Catherine walked past on her way to the kitchen, her son settled on her right hip. However, hearing him call out for his father made her stop dead in her tracks. This was a first. Definitely a first.

Kaidan would be more than sorry to be away today of all days. He had already been gone when she woke up that morning, leaving a note on her nightstand that he had been called into Alliance HQ. He didn't say why, though, her best guess was that it had something to do with the training of biotic children. Their number was supposed to increase drastically over the next few years with all the women who were exposed to Element Zero during the war. Too many ships had gone down, their mass effect cores exploding. There was literally no way to avoid Eezo exposure, too much of it still remained in Earth's atmosphere. And since there were going to be a lot of biotic children, there had to be plans how to teach them. Which was were Kaidan came in. He was assigned as adviser on how the training of those future biotics should be approached. Jack had wrestled her way in, too, which hadn't really surprised Catherine. The woman still known as "the psychotic biotic" knew all too well what could happen if the wrong people got their hands on biotically gifted children. No way in hell would she let her history be reapted.

And usually, Kaidan appreciated the quiet job he got. A few years from now, he would probably even be teaching some of those kids. However, Catherine had a feeling that if her husband had known that their son would chose today of all days to voice something that at least resembled a real word, he would have told whoever called him in to go to hell. Oh, yeah, he was really going to hate to have missed this.

Catherine turned her head to look at her son who in turn looked up at her with his big eyes that had started to turn from their baby-blue to brown. She had known that they would. Jeremy was the spitting image of his father, which had caused Catherine's mother to joke about whether Catherine had even be involved in his conception.

"Geez, mom. I really should hope so, I mean … giving birth wasn't exactly fun, so I better have had the fun of making him in the first place", she had replied, mischief twinkling in her eyes. She hadn't been able to keep herself from laughing when she noticed the tip of Kaidan's ears going red at her comment. For a man of nearly forty years, he was still way too easy to fluster. Which Catherine took advantage of more often than not.

"Can you say that again? Who is that?" Catherine asked, her finger hovering over Kaidan's image.

It was a picture from their wedding. By far not the best there was, but without question one of her favorites. Kaidan's arms were wrapped around her from behind and she was leaning back, her head resting against his shoulder, matching smiles on their faces while they looked at something the camera hadn't captured. They had been watching Kaidan's parents who were slowly swaying to the music on the small dance floor.

"Think this is gonna be us in thirty years?" he whispered in her ear, causing her to turn her head and look at him.

"If we're lucky", she simply replied, still smiling when she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. She sighed contently when she felt his grip around her waist tighten the slightest bit. This was were she belonged.

"Dada!" Jeremy's excited voice brought her back to the present. Thank God. There was hope that Kaidan would actually hear the word once he got home.

"That's right little man, it's your daddy", she murmured softly into Jeremy's dark curls before pressing a soft kiss on the top of his head.

The beeping of the terminal in the living room caused her to sigh. Apparently, the moment she just had with her son over. A few quick steps took her to the offensive beeping sound, but the scowl that had settled on her face disappeared in favor of a smile when she saw who was calling.

While answering the call, she moved in front of the terminal, allowing Jeremy to be seen as well.

"Dada!" Jeremy exclaimed in recognition as soon as Kaidan's face appeared in front of him, tinged in orange light.

The man in question groaned, a hand rubbing over his face. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Well, hello to you, too. I'm fine, thanks for asking", Catherine quipped, putting on her best pout while fighting the smile that eventually won and lit up her face.

"Sorry, love, it's just … come on. Couldn't I have been home for this? This is just another evidence that the universe has a cruel sense of humor", Kaidan said, almost whining.

Catherine nodded in understanding. "When are you going to be home? Maybe he will still be awake", she asked.

Kaidan shook his head, regret etched onto his face. "I don't think so. Jack got into another shouting match with some of the Alliance brass and … let's just say that it wasn't pretty and it's gonna take a few more hours to smooth things over."

"Damn", Catherine sighed. Sure, Jack had come a long way since they first met on that prison ship, but the former convict was nowhere near of being called a mellow personality. Especially when the question of educating and training biotic children was concerned. "Want me to try to talk to her?" She asked.

"No, it's … under control. It was a misunderstanding, really, but it really set her off", Kaidan explained. There had been a lot of those already since the meetings on this matter started, keeping him at Alliance HQ when he wanted to go home and be with his family.

"That probably means that I shouldn't wait for you with dinner tonight, either?" Knowing Kaidan, he wouldn't leave before his conscience allowed him to.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll be home as soon as I can, but ..." he started.

"... but you don't know how long it's going to take to sort it all out", she finished, nodding slightly in understanding.

"Alenko, get your ass back in here!" A voice shouted in the background, causing Catherine to mockingly roll her eyes. It wasn't too hard to figure out that the voice calling out for Kaidan belonged to Jack.

"Tell Jack to leave your ass alone, this ring says it belongs to me. If she doesn't, she'll have to answer to me", Catherine said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth when she held her left hand up, her wedding ring clearly visible.

Kaidan groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. He should have known that this was coming. "Love, I'll never get your infatuation with my behind."

"Sure you don't. Don't think I haven't caught you staring at mine when you think I don't notice", she answered.

Kaidan nervously scratched the back of his head. Busted. "Yeah … right. Listen, I have to go, Cathy. I love you. Kiss Jeremy for me."

Catherine pressed a soft kiss on her son's head. "Done. I love you, too. See you later."

With a sigh, she ended the call before looking at her son. He was still staring at the terminal where the image of his father had been just a second ago. "Looks like it's just you and me for the rest of the day, little man", she said.

The little boy said something in his own language that sounded like gibberish to her but probably made perfect sense to him. One never knew with baby talk. "Yeah … we'll find something to keep us occupied. Teasing daddy all day is getting boring, anyway", Catherine answered. Most likely, her son would take on the task of keeping her occupied … but she wouldn't have it any other way.