Pre Author's Note: To provide some context for Fanfiction readers who don't live in North America, up here in the Northeastern United States it's been really fricken cold and we've been getting a lot of fricken snow. This idea for this story popped into my head whilst throwing out my back shoveling my driveway, and I wouldn't allow myself to let it pass by.

For those of you who read my other story, this can be viewed to be within the same time line as Soldiers, only much further in the future. Fear not, as you do not have to read Soldiers in order to enjoy this one-shot. However, it would be nice if you checked out my other story as well.

I've wasted enough of your time. Now, on with the show!

Mass Effect and its characters are owned and operated by Bioware and Electronic Arts

Winter Woes

Location: Buffalo, New York, United States of America, Earth, Sol System

Time Period: Several years after the defeat of the Reapers

Ashley Madeline Williams Shepard grunted as she hefted another clump of snow with her shovel. She'd been out here for half an hour already, and Ash was only done with a little more than three quarters of the driveway. The snow was especially bad today. The storm front had moved in from the North, picking up moisture from the Great Lakes. Now the snowflakes falling from the sky were fat, heavy, and liked to clump together.

Ashley never regretted retiring with John and buying a permanent house to raise their child. Dealing with some snow this far up north was to be expected with the location. It only sucked when it came down in in huge down blankets.

She could have been done in half the time, but mister Lived-On-Ships-His-Whole-Life would spend all of five minutes complaining about how cold it was then retreat into the warmth indoors. Ashley shook her head. Her husband may have had a bigger kill count than Attila the Hun, but take the man out of a constantly monitored environment and he turned into a giant pansy.

Great puffs of warm air spouted from her face as she continued to shovel snow onto where their front lawn should be. The fatigue was starting to set in to her limbs, and Ash could already feel blisters starting to form between her fingers. As soon as she was done, Ash was going to have John make her a big cup of coco and plant he butt down in front of the fireplace.

Ash heard a noise, quiet at first, and then it grew into a loud rumble. She realized the source, and Ashley's heart plummeted. She turned around in time to see a city snow plow come barreling down their street, pushing along snow in a great tidal wave. True to form, it plowed past their driveway and deposited a wall of fresh, impenetrable snow. Ashley scowled as she ran to the end of her previously cleared driveway.

"Self-righteous jack hole!" she yelled after the plow. "That is the second time today! What the hell did I ever do you?"

She stood there, fuming, as she stared at the pile of crap she had to shovel now too. And it wasn't even just snow. Most of it was the slosh that accumulated on the side of the road from cars constantly driving over it. Ad in chunks of ice, bits of rock, and whatever else got caught in the path of the giant shovel, and you got one large, pain in the ass blob of cold mush.

Ashley whined pitifully as she stared at it. The only silver lining to take away from this was how the sudden spike of anger significantly warmed up her body.

Her Omni Tool pinged, and Ashley saw she was getting a voice message from her husband. Sighing, she transferred it to her earpiece.

"You okay out there?" John asked her. "I heard yelling."

"You hear yelling, and instead of coming outside to see what's wrong, you call me from inside?"

"…It's cold out there," he replied glumly.

Ashley sighed. "Everything's fine. The jerk driving the snow plow came by again and boxed us in."

"Ah, that's too bad. Oh, hold on." Ashley heard some fumbling in the background and Kaidan's tiny squeals. She guessed John might be feeding their baby while he talked to her. "You're not going to be out for too much longer, are you? It's getting bad out there."

Ash hefted the shovel and started on the mound. "You know," she said between shovel fulls, "this could go… a lot faster… if you actually came out… and helped."

"Oooh, you know I'd love to. But Kaidan needs to be fed right now, and after that I need to clean the kitchen, then I have to start making dinner…"

You are so full of shit. Ash could practically hear the bashful smile in his voice as he listed off excuses. She smirked as she continued to shovel. "No, no, I get it. Someone has to stay with Kaidan and play the good little housewife."

John was silent as her words sunk in. "That's very emasculating, you know."

Ashley laughed. "John, if we're serious about raising kids here you're going to have to get used to winters like this. It's going to be colder this time of year. So you're just going to have to suck it up and be a man."

"Wow. And here I thought Miranda was the only ice queen."

"Oh shut up." Ash dropped the shovel for a moment to bend down and pick up a particularly large sheet of ice from the road. With a primal grunt, she flung it as far as she could into the middle of their snow covered lawn. Picking up the shovel and starting on the barrier once more, she said, "You know, for once it would be nice if you came out here and froze your ass off instead of making me do it every time."

"You know I'm only messing with you," he soothed quietly. "And believe me, I really do appreciate you doing this. And if one day you feel especially cruddy, I'll have no qualms about shoveling the driveway."

Ash paused in her work, and closed her eyes. "Thanks." A particularly bad gust of wind snaked up her back and Ash tried to suppress a shiver. "Just keep in mind that won't give you free reign to call me from outside and constantly complain about how cold it is."

"I make no promises," he responded cheekily. "Besides, I thought of a way to help warm you up."

"And what would that be?"

"Turn around," he said simply.

Shrugging, Ash did as he asked, and the sight she found made the coldness seeping into her chest melt away. Standing in the large window on the front of the house, her husband was helping their son Kaidan to stand on the ledge by holding his sides. John sported a huge smile, and Kaidan was bouncing happily as he looked upon the winter wonderland covered in white snow. Ashley couldn't help breaking out into a big smile, and she felt a few tears of happiness break through as well. She had the sense of mind to wipe them away with the back of her glove lest they freeze on her cheeks.

"Look!" John said excitedly to his son. "Do you see mommy out there? Wave hi to mommy."

Her breath hitched as her son locked his blue eyes with hers, and she laughed at his big toothless grin. Kaidan shook one chubby fist in the semblance of a wave hello, and his mother sent a small wave back.

"Tell mommy how much you love her." John told Kaidan. "Tell her how much you love staying warm and cozy indoors while she's outside in the cold and snow for us."

The garbled gibberish Ash heard could hardly be counted as a language, but she loved the sentiment all the same. Ash kissed the palm of her hand, then turned it around and 'threw' the kiss to John. He caught it, but instead of keeping for himself, pressed it to the head of their child.

"Feeling better?" John asked her.

"Much." Her body now felt significantly warmer and the fatigue from before seemed to vanish. Reinvigorated, Ash picked the shovel back up. "Alright, you boys stay warm in there while I finish up out here. I'll be back inside after a bit."

"We'll be waiting." John replied warmly.

Standing in front of her garage, Ashley placed the scoop of the shovel on the ground and rested her hands on the handle. She stood there for a few moments, gazing out over her now thoroughly cleared driveway. Even the mound at the end from the snow plow was gone. Smiling proudly to herself, Ash stowed the shovel in their garage, locked it up, and retreated into her house through the door way.

Ash hung up her jacket and discarded her hat, gloves, and boots. Still clad in her undershirt and pants, Ash began to head upstairs to hit the shower, but a quiet call from her husband derailed that thought. She followed the sound to the living room and found John sitting on the couch, looking up at her with an expectant gaze. She also noted the electric fireplace was turned on, and two steaming mugs sat on the coffee table.

"What's all this?" she asked as she sat down next to him. She scooted close and rested into his side as John looped an arm around her shoulders.

"I was thinking about our talk earlier, and it does feel like you pick up a lot more slack than me. So, I thought I'd show you just how much I appreciate it." To emphasize his point, he placed a long kiss on her cheek, causing Ash to grin.

She turned her head and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Alright. But where exactly is Kaidan right now?"

"Put the little guy down for a nap. I figure we have a couple of hours before he wakes up again."

"I give it an hour and a half." Ashley leaned forward and picked up her mug. Breathing in the fragrance, she could smell the chocolaty richness of coco. She took a cautious sip, relishing the feeling of the warm liquid passing down her throat. "Thank you for the drink. You know exactly how make me happy."

John gave her a serious look. "If I can't make you happy than I'm not much good for anything."

"Stop that," she admonished, shoving his chest playfully. "You're good for plenty of things. Especially taking up the housewife slack when the housewife can't actually get to them."

John smiled coyly. "Yes, I am a man of many talents. Speaking of which, lean forward."

"Um, alright." Warily, Ashley sat on the edge of the couch, leaned forward, and placed her mug back on the table. She could feel John sifting his position as well, until he was kneeling on the cushion behind her.

Ash was about to ask what he was doing, but she then felt his magic fingers work their way around her shoulder blades, and any words she might have uttered morphed into a long, drawn out moan of pleasure. Ashley relaxed into complete bliss as John alternated working on her arms, shoulders, and upper back. Had he not become a soldier, Ash knew John could have made a more metaphorical killing as a masseuse. His hands instinctively honed in on the muscles in need of attention, first kneading them with dexterous fingers, then massaging them into blubber with the rough palms of his hands.

"Yes," she finally agreed after a while, her words coming out sensual and slow. "That is definitely a talent you are very good at."

John answered in a deep, husky timber. "It helps that I have such great motivation to keep practicing for." Ashley bit back a gasp as his hands suddenly trailed down the sides of her body, an area he knew full well was sensitive for Ash. She closed her eyes as he started trailing soft, warm kisses up her shoulder. Eagerly, she brushed aside her hair, giving him full invitation to her exposed neck, which John readily accepted. He attacked her neck with deeper wet kisses as he continued his physical ministrations to her body, all the while with Ash's breathing steadily becoming more ragged as the arousal built up in her core.

"I can show you another talent of mine." John whispered hungrily into her ear before nibbling on the lobe.

Ash couldn't fight the stupid grin from spreading. "We have seriously got to improve your cheesy pickup lines."

John started kissing his way around her cheek. "You know you'd only miss them," he said mischievously.

When she couldn't take anymore, Ashley titled her head back and trapped John's head with a hand as she locked their lips together. He let out a low, rumbling moan as their kiss deepened, their tongues dancing and battling for dominance.

Breaking their kiss but remaining in his grasp, Ashley turned herself around so that she now straddled his lap. She grabbed either side of his face and pulled him back into their heated embrace of lips, and John secured her in place with his hand on her hips.

Ashley pulled away, her dark brown eyes filled to the brim with emotion. "I love you," she said breathlessly.

John gave her a large, adoring smile. "I love you so much more."