[Book Four] Chapter 21: Like father, Like daughterChapter 21: Like father, Like daughter
Jane gave birth to Matthew David Shepard in the middle of April. The little guy, just like his sister, had no hair at birth on his head, but Jane told Rick that he would be blond with her green eyes. He didn’t care one bit. What he cared about was having a son with the second woman he loved the most.
It has been a miracle that Hannah stayed outside the room and not barged in to have a look at her grandson and steal him from her parents. It was pure luck for her to be on the Citadel that day. She had decided to take a day off and she was glad she did.
The other children of the family had entered school for the oldest. Meaning Adam and Sandra. Already the latter was sneakily creating trouble, with Laura as an accomplice and Adam cleaning up the mess behind her. JJ was now four and was beginning to learn the alphabet a few years in advance via some games. TK and AJ were on their way to stand up on their own and were talking a bit. The two were really close twins and did everything together. They did ‘play’ with Leeha and Balden (when he was present) without making any fuss. On the contrary they were very happy to be with them.
Arianna was academically in her last year of middle school. Rick suspected that she was smarter than even him. He was both proud of her, happy to have someone else who would one day talk to his level but also worried. He was always worried in a recess of his mind, regarding his eldest’s future.
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The warlord creating problems all over the Traverse’ south border was indeed Bahlak. Kaidan had waited in ambush at the exit of the Styx Theta relay and boarded a pirate ship. He got all the necessary information from the crew and dealt with them like spectre do. The captain of the ship had been a gold mine of knowledge and in a single week a plan was formed. Rick would be dropped a few km away from the bunker’s entrance and infiltrate it at night when the guard would be at their lowest. He had worn a camo armor for the first time and it had served him well. With it he reached the area dealing with the oxygen recycling and diffused a powerful narco agent (Creation of one of his guys in the company) and put to sleep the ten thousand pirates and five thousand slaves without anyone knowing any better. After that he reached the control room, opened the bunker and called for the fleet composed of different species, most notably Asari, Salarians and humans. They didn’t bother with arresting the pirates and just shot them dead as they slept with the exception of Bahlak who was kept alive for Jane. She has wanted him dead for more than a decade, Rick wasn’t about to let anyone but her kill the asshole. Ashley was put in charge of the troops by Hackett who had put forward her name to the council via Hannah and was accepted. The brunette took satisfaction in dealing with a few dozen of them, before taking a small team to check on the slaves that were all gathered in the same place. The furnaces for trash recycling worked hours on end non stop and when the effect of the narco agent stopped no batarian corpses were left in the bunker. As the slaves woke up. The alliance released them from their collar and deactivated their cranial implants. At first they were wary but when Ashley talked to them through the coms about the situation, they all relaxed a bit. Some were unbelieving, some were crying out of relief. There were plenty of different emotional reactions.
Bahlak was kept sedated until Jane was not pregnant anymore, so around a month. When she was ready for the task, Bahlak was woken up and he didn’t like what he was told. When Rick showed him the footage of his people getting recycled he lost it, thankfully he was gagged.
“You broke illegally into Rick’s bunker with your people. By galactic law he can do whatever the shit he wants to you to defend his property. Second, Your entire species is made of slavers, people preying on the weak. Your entire doctrine revolved around one concept ‘might is right’ and now that you all got put down by someone stronger, you’re whining like a little bitch? Hypocrite much?”
“Now that I think about it, the batarian always went after weaker than them, never stronger.” said Rick. “No wonder the reaper went after them first.”
“And when they do fight someone stronger they run away but you’re aware of that Bahlak, right? After all, every time we crossed paths you ran. Don’t worry you won’t have to run anymore.”
And with that, Jane put a bullet in the batarian’s head.
“Want me to make a cup of his head?”
“... You know what? Why not.”
“... I was kidding.”
“You were?” exclaimed in surprise Jane.
“Yeah. I mean, taunting the guy, belittling him... That’s my thing, not yours. Yet...”
“I... I wanted to do that for a decade.”
“I get it. I’m not pointing fingers or anything. I’m just making a note. I’ll put that on the wacky hormones.”
“Let’s do that.”
Removing Bahlak’s head from his shoulder with her own lightsaber, Jane picked it up and they left the bunker for the Normandy. Rick closed the complex, like he did the others before leaving though. He had no plan for them currently but they could be useful in the future.
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The subjugation of the terminus clans and of the batarians that participated in the raids for the past few years had made the news. With thousands of people enslaved now returned to their home, things couldn’t be pushed under the rug and made the news. Kaidan was given credits for the investigation as a spectre and Ashley for leading the mission (which got her a promotion out of it). There was no mention of Jane or Rick participating in the mission.
Back home on Celeste, a few days after everything, Rick found Jane drinking wine from the cup made out of Bahlak’s skull. Sitting by her side on the couch he kept looking until she had empty it.
“Was that good?”
“Better than I thought it would. It tastes like... victory.”
“Are you sure it’s not the expensive wine?”
“Perhaps, it’s not like I’m much of a wine drinker. I’m rather a beer or strong alcohol kind of girl. But after nine months without a drink, I needed it.”
“Won’t that change the composition of your milk for Matt?”
“... Yes but I think he can take the formula for a few days. Mommy has been waiting for ten years, I’m sure he’ll understand. Now are you done asking questions so we can snuggle?”
“Yes, ma’am.” he replied as he brought Jane to his side, letting her lie down with her head in his lap.
“...”
“...”
They didn’t say anything and just enjoyed each other’s presence and warmth in silence. Rick patted her head gently, letting his fingers go through locks of her hair.
They were alone tonight. Ashley was back on duty and had left earlier in the day after saying goodbye to her baby boys. Adam almost cried but toughened up and simply hugged his mother and told her that he loved her and that he would take care of his brothers as they would wait for her to come home. She almost cried too after hearing that.
Liara was with her students on some Prothean ruins down the planet that everyone could see if they looked outside their window. She was doing a bit early their midterms exam as having the ruins reserved for the Academy had gotten complicated at the start of the year. A new discovery had been made and the owners of the ruins decided to begin some new excavation at the same time. To avoid some problem, meaning having the students in the way, the owners had proposed to seal the new area discovered and get the students there early. It wasn’t that big of a deal, only one month and Liara believed her students ready, so the proposition was accepted.
Tali had departed to Rannoch to speak with Zaal’Koris and Ran. The plans they had recovered from the bunker indicated an attack on the quarians’ and geths' planet with several weak points marked. Instead of just sending the information, Tali wanted to see for herself what was the actual situation.
“Arianna, this is great! Why did you not tell me you were that advanced in your studies?”
The little girl’s face turned bright red, so similar to her mother when she was embarrassed.
“We could have prepared you faster and...”
“STUPID DADDY!” she shouted and ran out of the room leaving behind a frozen Rick.
For the first time ever, Arianna had shouted at him, insulted him and more importantly ran away from him. His mind was so shocked and confused that it had shut down.
“Rick?” asked EDI from his side but got no answer.
His eyes were haggard and his mouth gaping. Checking his vitals with her sensors everything was fine and she didn’t understand what was happening. She called out to him again and even after poking him he gave no reaction. She was reminded of the time Jeff had seen Jane all dolled up when she went on her first date with Rick. Just as she was about to literally shock him out of his metaphorical shock Jane came home.
“What’s wrong with him?” Jane asked as she saw her brother’s state.
“Arianna yelled at him that he was stupid and ran out of the room five minutes ago. He’s been like that ever since.”
“She did what?! Why?!”
“I do not know. But she looked just like you when you’re embarrassed so she may have been at first but she quickly switched to being angry and did what she did.”
“Where is she?”
“Probably in her room.”
“Alright. Can you...”
Jane waved indicating at Rick and EDI, understanding the message nodded. Going to her daughter’s room she found her under her cover. Walking slowly, she sat on the bed, by her little girl’s shape and began to caress her back through the sheets and blanket. The shape moved away at first but Jane let her hand follow it.
“Sweetie, what happened?” asked Jane in a soft tone.
“...”
“I’m not mad if that’s what you’re worried about. Neither is your father.”
“...”
“... Come on sweetie, talk to me. What’s bothering you?”
“... Daddy is stupid.” came a small voice.
“I know. Despite being smart, sometimes he’s the stupidest in the galaxy.” replied Jane as she laid behind her daughter and pulled up the sheets and blanket to show her daughter’s face.
“I just wanted to spend time with him but he doesn’t want to.”
”Oh, Arianna... There is nothing further from the truth. If he could have it his way, you’d be in his arms all day everyday and all night every night."
"That’s not true! He just wants me to go to school.”
“No, what he wants is for you to have a good and happy childhood unlike him.”
At that, Arianna turned around and looked at her mother for a moment.
“Daddy didn’t?”
“No. And before you ask, no I will not tell you. What I will tell you however is that he felt very lonely with no people around him that were as smart as he was.”
“He had no friends?”
“No. Not until he was twenty. It’s more than half his life.”
“... That’s sad.”
“It is and that’s what he doesn’t want for you. He thinks that by going to school at your appropriate level you’d be able to make friends and that you won’t ever feel alone or lonely. He’s so worried about you and your future that he didn’t realize that you wanted to just spend time with him.” Jane confessed as she put a wild lock of her daughter’s hair behind her ear.
“... I shouted at him...” Arianna whispered. “He was praising me and I shouted at him...”
“As I said, he’s not mad. In fact he was so shocked at your outburst that... he kind of shut down. He’s probably wondering why his daughter is hating him right now.”
“I don’t hate him!” the young redhead defended.
“I know but as you correctly said, your father is stupid. You hit him right in his greatest insecurity. Failing you as your father.”
“He’s not!” Arianna protested again with a frown.
“Then you should go and tell him that and that you just want to spend more time with him. Because right now he’s probably moping on the couch and only you could bring him back to his usual self.”
Arianna nodded and hugged her mother before darting out the room yelling ‘Daddy!’. Jane looked at her go and a smile crept onto her face as she thought about how father and daughter were so alike.
‘In the end she really was a daddy’s girl. Huh, I need to make sure Matthew is a mommy’s boy.’