Chapter 1

Some News

Garrus let out a huff.

The heat at the spaceport in the Cipritine outskirts was even more oppressive than usual.

He sat waiting for Shepard's ship to arrive with Gaius sitting beside him quietly. He turned his head to look down at the little face that was staring out into space. His son had stayed with him for three weeks while his mother had a mission somewhere in the Verge.

The first two weeks were spent with no contact from Shepard which caused quite a large amount of distress to both Gaius and himself. Gaius was the luckier of the two – he could at least express it publicly, although to Perdita's distaste, - while Garrus had to hold it all inside.

A familiar ship finally descended into the dock. He smiled before he stood up. He held out his hand to his son.

"Come on, Gaius. Your mother has returned."

Shepard was waiting at the dock, her ship in the background being worked on. Gaius, upon seeing her, bolted as fast as his legs could go to her. His little arms reached out as his mom caught him and spun him around with a big grin on her face.

She stopped and held him close. "Hey little bird! I have missed you! Not as much fun when you are not around." Jane kissed his forehead and let the little boy cling to her.

His father coughed and slowly approached. "Hello Jane."

A look of sadness flickered across her face before it was replaced by a half-smile. "Hello Garrus. I hope the family is well."

"Yeah. They are good. How are you? Looks like some burn there on the shielding..."

"Oh that. Yeah, just had a run in with some wannabe pirates. Nothing I couldn't handle."

She turned to her boy who was clinging to her pants leg. "Tell you what, you go inside and get all your stuff put away. I'm gonna talk to your dad." Gaius nodded and tottered off.

"Are you not going to say goodbye, Gaius?" shouted Garrus after his son.

The little boy jumped as if shocked before he ran back and gave his father a quick hug.

"Bye, Daddy."

"I'll see you in a few weeks on the Citadel. Behave for your mother."

Gaius looked up at him with those big baby blues and nodded sombrely before he turned and ran to the ship.

His parents stood and watched him climb in.

Shepard turned to face Garrus. "I have some news."

"Okay..."

"Remember how I told you I was dating this human merchant on the Citadel?"

"Yeah. I remember. I thought that had fizzled out."

Shepard rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Not quite. It has gone on a bit longer than I thought it would."

Garrus kept his face as emotion-free as possible.

She continued. "Sooo... I am thinking of introducing him to Gaius."

Garrus blinked. "What?"

"I mean I know it is a big step..."

"You said you would only introduce someone to Gaius if it was serious. Is this serious, Shepard?"

They stood staring at each other. Shepard flickered her eyes away.

"Yeah. It is."

"How serious?"

"Heh. Well, enough for me to be informing you that I am thinking of letting Gaius met him."

"No."

Shepard looked at Garrus confused. "What?"

"I said no. Unless you are going to go and marry this guy then no. I don't want Gaius meeting him."

"Garrus, you can't be serious. You know I wouldn't mess around with something as important as this. I really like Mark. I... sort of... love him..."

Garrus's jaw dropped. "You... love him?"

"Yeah. Kinda. I mean it is definitely a strong feeling."

The look on Garrus's face tugged at Shepard's unwilling heart.

"Or it could just be all the hormones," she quickly added. "Either way, I think it is time."

The turian blinked rapidly, his mind racing through a thousand possibilities. His gaze refocused on the human in front of him. Shepard's red hair was longer and she had haphazardly thrown it into a ponytail. Loose strands framed her face and softened it while making her green eyes seem even bigger and brighter than before.

"Send me his details."

Her brow furrowed. "Details?"

"Full name, date and place of birth, current address... You know, details. I will let you know when I visit the Citadel on whether he can meet Gaius."

"You know I am only telling you out of courtsey right? I mean what would you do if I said I was marrying him?"

He just stared at her, his mandibles clicking slowly and deliberately against his face.

"Fine. I will send them on to you. There is no rush I suppose."

He nodded slowly. "I just don't want Gaius to get attached to someone only for them to be taken away."

"I know, Garrus."

"Perhaps I can meet him before we bring Gaius into this."

Shepard tilted her head at the turian. "You want to meet Mark?"

"If you want to introduce him to our son then yes, I do."

She shrugged. "All right. I don't see any reason not to."

"Good. There is something I have meant to ask you."

"Fire away."

Garrus swallowed nervously. "My usual residence on the Citadel is being refurbished. Perdita has decided that the place needs to be overhauled for some reason. I would normally stay at a hotel but I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to spend some real time with Gaius. I was hoping I might be able to impose on you for the two weeks."

Shepard stared at him for a moment before she nodded.

"If Perdita doesn't mind you staying with your ex then sure. Gaius would love it and it would be nice to have someone else around."

He gave a quick smile.

"Great. I'll see you then."

"Goodbye, Garrus. Safe trip home. Give my regards to the family."

"Safe trip back to the Citadel, Shepard. Please... message me to let me know you both got back okay."

Shepard grinned.

"I will."

Garrus stood and watched the vessel take off. He stayed until it finally disappeared from view. A scowl formed on his face as his omnitool beeped. He opened the message.

To GV,

His name is Mark Jones. In the attached file is all the details you wanted.
Gaius says that he forgot to take the model dreadnought you bought him so if you could
bring it with you when you visit? Also he loves you very much. :)

See you soon.
J & G

He closed the message before he headed home. He was going to be doing some research.