Survivor

Epilogue

Shepard
  I sat on the beach watching Garrus play with our kids in the surf, both our daughter and son squealing and laughing.
  It still amazed me that we not only were able to have kids together, but had twins, conceived easier than I had expected.
  They looked so close together besides the gender difference that everyone could tell and only asked to confirm their beliefs.
  I still remembered the moment I had found out.

  I had been in the bathroom and waiting for the test, which wasn't a long wait at all, but still seemed to last a lifetime for me.
  When the test rang it's alert, I snatched it up and gasped in a mixture of shock, excitement and worry.
  "Garrus!" I had called, despite knowing he had been asleep. "Garrus!"
  I heard a loud thump and then his footsteps running to the bathroom.
  He hit the control pad and stood there in a mix of confusion from being torn from sleep and worry. "Sam? Are you okay? What's going on?"
  A smile broke out on my face and I turned the test so he could see the results.
  "I'm pregnant, Garrus."
  A grin broke out on his face and he scooped me up into his arms, leaving me to drop the test and laugh as he spun me in a circle.
  "I told you we could be parents," he murmured to me, pure joy written on his face.

  Even now I couldn't help but smile at the memory.
  The kids were three now, both learning quickly and taking to a tight knit relationship with each other.
  Next to me, Elias chuckled and I looked over with a raised brow. "What's so funny?"
  He turned to smile at me. "I just never knew I would get to see the day you had a whole family of your own is all. Husband, kids. It's nice."
  I smiled and nodded. "They've got an uncle working in C-Sec, a dad working undercover operations planning for both the military and C-Sec, and an honorably discharged mother from the Alliance Navy. I think they've got a strong base."
  "Do you ever miss it?"
  My brow furrowed in confusion and I cocked my head to the side. "Miss what?"
  "The Alliance."
  I took a deep breath and blew it out, thinking. "There's times I miss it more than I can bear. It's not just something that goes away, you know? I spent most of my life serving in the Alliance Navy and now? I'm a stay at home mom. It's hard to remember that."
  "I know," Elias said with a grin. "Don't think I haven't found out you source information and feed it to the Alliance from time to time. Nothing life threatening, but enough to give the Alliance good pull over the last bits of the Cerberus rebels calling themselves Overlords."
  I shuddered. "Don't remind me. Not only did they name themselves after that damn project I tore down but they still try experiments like that. I can't just let it happen if I have some information on it."
  "Liara is an invaluable asset in that, I'm guessing."
  "More than invaluable. Without her, some of that information would still only be nothing but bits and pieces of the trail. People would still be suffering."
  "Does Garrus know?"
  I shrugged. "I don't hide it from him but he doesn't say anything about it. I don't think he minds too much. Hell, he's planned some of the operations based off of information I've sent in to Alliance HQ."
  Elias smirked. "Still the perfect team, both in a couple and in the workplace."
  I laughed. "We're happily married for a reason, Elias."
  We both turned to watch the kids and Garrus again.
  Our daughter, Lark, squealed right before she fell face first down into the water, only to be pulled out by Garrus, laughing and coughing.
  I could see him roll his eyes from here, the worry and exasperation clear on his face.
  Our son, Liam, laughed and jumped at Garrus, clinging to his leg as Garrus still held Lark and now fought for balance under the weight of his children.
  "And that's my cue to go save my husband." I sighed dramatically, but tried to smother the laugh in my chest.
  Elias didn't even try to mask his. "Typical! You have to play knight in shining armor every time!"
  I tossed my arms up with my shoulders in a shrug as I walked backwards, then spun around, ran up and snatched Liam off of Garrus' leg with a laugh.
  Garrus couldn't look more relieved even as Lark managed to hang herself upside down in his arms to touch the water.
  "The water's too cold, momma," Liam murmured softly, his fingers making their way into his mouth again.
  "You were just laughing and having fun with your sister!" I laughed, knowing he only wanted back up into my arms because his sister was being held.
  "It's too cold now," he pouted.
  "The water's fun!" His sister cried out, grinning as she reached for it more.
  Garrus groaned and flipped her right side up then set her down, only to have Liam dive into his arms. "Up, daddy! Up!"
  Garrus complied and lifted him into his arms, rolling his eyes, though he had a smile on his face.
  "You spoil them too much," I laughed.
  "You're the one with them all day!" He shot back as Liam curled himself into a ball around Garrus' carapace.
  Lark jumped in the water, splashing both Garrus and I with the warm water and I laughed, kicking some back at her.
  "Hey!" She squealed before she sloshed more at me.
  "Your dad told me to do it!" I accused, grinning at Garrus.
  Immediately, Lark spun around and simultaneously sloshed water at Garrus, soaking him further.
  "Lark! I didn't tell your mom to soak you!"
  She spun around to me, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You lied?"
  I shrugged. "Not really, he probably would have told me to get you back for him if I hadn't beat him to it."
  She spun back around to face Garrus. "You would tell mommy to splash me?"
  Garrus shook his head immediately. "No, not at all!"
  She spun back around to face me and opened her mouth, only to be splashed by Liam jumping out of Garrus' arms and landing with a splash that thoroughly soaked us all.
  "Liam!" Lark shrieked, sending water flying his way and splashing Garrus in the process.
  Garrus groaned and glared at me, which only caused me to grin and move to stand next to him and watch the twins send water at each other.
  "Hey, you're the one who suggested we try for kids. You picked them out."
  "That's not the way it works! It's not like we went grocery shopping and just picked them up!"
  "Hey, if they start asking questions because you said that, you're the one going to have to find something to tell them besides the truth."
  Garrus sighed and rubbed his face, looking exasperated and amused. "Why do you always make me take care of stuff like that? Like you made me be the one to convince them that nose eating monsters aren't real."
  I laughed. "Because, if I would have been the one to try to convince them, I probably would have just expanded on the monster story instead of fixing it."
  Garrus shook his head. "You would scar our children for life like that..."
  I grinned. "Well think of it this way, at least you won't have to comfort them through another monster story tonight."
  "Oh yeah? Did you finally stop reading them monster stories after snack time?"
  I laughed and shook my head. "Hell no! They're just going to be too tired!"
  Garrus raised his brows as he watched them chase each other through the water, still using their hands and legs to send showers of water on each other. "Somehow I doubt it. It's like they have endless energy. I wish I still had that sometimes..."
  I laughed and nodded. "I know, right? Maybe then I could get everything done all day, every day and then some!"
  Garrus grunted his agreement and winced as more water hit him, making him grimace as he evaluated the damage.
  I grinned and kissed him, making him relax a little bit.
  "Trust me, they'll be tired and you'll thank me later."
  Garrus chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "I thank you every day. We have an amazing family."
  I smiled and rested my head against his chest and my eyes on our children. "We have an amazing life."

((A/N: So what do you guys think?! About the whole book in general and about the ending! They at least got to go live somewhere warm and tropical ;) I didn't describe the kids just to kinda let you guys fill in with your own imaginations what they would look like. I would love to hear how you imagine them! Do they look more Turian? More Human? Hair? A fringe? I wonder... lol so if you guys liked this ending, don't forget to leave a vote, and just a comment with your opinions! Thank you guys for sticking this out with me!!! Love you all!!! Keelah Se'Lai!!))