[Book Four] Chapter 5: Engagement party

Chapter 5: Engagement party

On the trip back to Earth, Ashley had monopolized the entirety of Rick’s time to Jane’s annoyance. When the brunette confessed that now was the right time for her to get heavy with child, the redhead relented. Once back to the penthouse it’s a very satisfied Ashley that left with a big smile on her face despite the pain of a pulled muscle. She had already contacted her sisters and organized a gathering to share the news. There was another woman in the vicinity that sported the same smile but for a different reason. The ever stoic Miranda couldn’t help her mouth stretching horizontally from one ear to the other as she was wearing a very familiar engagement ring on her left hand’s ring finger. Both Jane, Rick and Dorothea congratulated her and Jennifer with the latter being embarrassed but not enough to not have a smile on her face, herself.

Just like Steve and Kaidan they hadn’t set a date yet and were not in a hurry to tie the knot. It was more of a symbolic gesture to the both of them of how much they loved each other. Rick thought that their decision to have a child together fitted the bill more but kept his opinion to himself. During dinner where the couple was invited, Jennifer shared with Rick that she was taking his offer about his former house on Eden Prime. Miranda had loved the idea and had quickly agreed. For his part, he asked Miranda to meet tomorrow in the morning and began to explain the general topic of what their discussion will be. She was supposed to make a schedule that could balance his family life that would come first and the work on the different projects the company would undertake, most notably the construction of the school he wanted to make.

After dinner, the couple left for their own apartment a few floors below and Dorothea left for an evening of D&D, organized by fellow fans she had encountered on the extranet. With Arianna in one arm and Jane in the other, Rick walked to their bedroom. He put his daughter into her crib, the poor thing was already knackered out, then led his sister towards the bed where they dressed themselves in their sleepwear. Which meant, wearing nothing at all. Under the light of the room, he saw once again the stretch marks made by her pregnancy on her stomach.

“I’m sorry.” he said as he went under the sheets.
“What for?”
“Not being there, for the pregnancy, for the birth. I should have been.”
“Yes, but you were dead. It wasn't your fault, you have nothing to be sorry about.”
“... You’re right but I can’t help feeling sorry. A pregnancy is not easy and I wasn’t there to support you.”
“I wasn’t alone. There was mom, Ash, and Liara. EDI was there too from time to time.”
“I missed so many things. Like… You, complaining that you were fat, or the bigger boobs and the milk! The MILK! Gosh I wish I had a taste!” he said and got smacked upside his head.
“That was for Arianna anyway.”
“Not before she was born! What a missed opportunity.” he sighed.
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yeah but I promise you, next time I’ll be there.” he said and with one arm brought her close to kiss her.
“Wow, there Mister.” she exclaimed in a loud whisper putting a finger against his lips. “No more babies for me before a few years alright?”
“Okay. I wasn’t alluding to it anyway.”
“Good, because I’m done for a while.”
“No more sex then?” he teased.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“So, if I were to make some outrageous advances right now…” Rick said, letting a hand slide slowly across her body to reach between her legs.
“You will find me a very receptive and eager participant.” She replied as she spread her legs, and kissed him.
“We better change rooms or keep very quiet.”
“Let’s keep quiet, I want your love more than a good shag.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

____________________________________________________________

The two months leading to the anniversary of the end of the war had been full of activity. First, Ashley had moved into the penthouse in her own room. It was useless as she spent most of her time sleeping in the same bed as Rick and Jane but they wanted the brunette to have her own space if she needed it. Thanks to Hannah, Ashley has been assigned to the protection of Jane. It was a bullshit assignment but that allowed the brunette to spend time with her fiance and to make sure she was pregnant. The Shepard matriarch wanted grand babies to spoil and she would stop at nothing to make sure those said grand babies were made. Not even telling Hackett to go fuck himself was off limits. It paid off as a few days before the ceremony a pregnancy test returned a positive. Everyone close to the couple has been invited for the celebration and the announcement of the engagement. That included the whole Williams family that was more than happy for Ashley and Rick. Even Maria, Ashley’s mother, wasn't as hostile towards her future son in law as she had been the one and only time they had met previously, not wanting to ruin her eldest daughter’s happy moment.

Abby had even joked about waiting for Rick to give her a ring as pretty as the one he gave Ashley and to make her his wife too. He joked back saying that he either got Ashley or the whole family as he wasn’t the type to half ass things. That was fine with Abby but not her sisters. Lyn didn’t know where to look as she blushed furiously, clearly interested in the offer and Sarah just frowned. Taking Ashley aside into one of the empty rooms of the penthouse, she asked for an explanation.

“I wasn’t going to say anything until I saw them but why are you…”
“He’s not cheating on me Sarah.”
“With what I saw on the Citadel, I’m sure he is. He even invited the two harlots!”
“Sarah, it’s not like that.”
“I’m pretty sure it is.”
“Look.” Ashley said, grabbing her sister’s hand and leading her to the bed where they sat down. “Rick and I, we’re not the traditional couple.”
“... What do you mean?”
“Until very recently, he was still hung up on his wife. Has been since her death. So I put my hat in the ring back then but we agreed that we were not ready for a serious relationship. We were more than just friends with benefits but less than boyfriend-girlfriend and more importantly free to date or have sex with whoever we wanted.”
“And he never stopped.” the redhead said accusingly.
“I didn’t either.”
“What? You’re seeing other men?”
“Dear god, no! Rick is all the man I need. Now, will you let me finish or will you keep on interrupting me?”
“... Go ahead.”
“Okay, so… He started a relationship with others when we separated after saving the Citadel. When we reunited at the beginning of the war he was already involved with others but made it clear that he couldn’t enter a serious relationship with any of them and they were all fine with that. On my end of things I had a few flings here and there. We picked up our relationship where we left it off and…”
“... And?”
“I guess things turned crazy from there. I started a relationship with Liara.”
“Who’s Liara?”
“The asari outside.”
“A woman?”
“Yes, Sarah, I’m bi. Is that a problem?”
“Not really, I’m just surprised, I never saw you with a girl before.”
“Because I like dick too much.”
“Ash!”
“Come on, you’re not a teen anymore. Anyway, Liara is one of Rick’s lovers.”
“Oooooh.”
“You see where I’m going with that?”
“That the Normandy is in fact a sexodrome with constant orgies?”
“Nooo! Gosh, Sarah!” Ashley exclaimed in laughter. “That’s not it at all! We just agreed that we’re staying with Rick, no matter what, since we’re all sleeping together anyway.”
“You said nothing that contradicted what I said.”
“Look, there is no secret between Rick and I because One, he doesn’t lie, Two, we’re each other’s confidant. So he’s not cheating on me and I’m not cheating on him. As for Jennifer and Miranda…”
“Okay, who are they?”
“Jennifer is the tattooed one, she’s also Analysse’s long lost sister.”
“Oh! Really?”
“Yes. It’s complicated, it involves Cerberus… in any case that’s not the point. She’s Rick’s sister in law. Miranda is Rick’s former lover and he was the one that did the matchmaking between the two.”
“I’m pretty sure, Jennifer is sleeping with him.”
“Yes, because the both of them agreed they wanted some dick too from time to time. Jennifer is his sister in law, Miranda his vice-president and he paired them up. They are family, it’s not just a regular hook up with a stranger.”

“How can you be fine with him sleeping with others?”
“Good question. I’m not going to lie to you and say that I don’t want him all to myself…”
“Then why…”
“Because even if that was the case I would just invite them into our bed, anyway.” Ashley explained, shocking her sister. “Look, I’m happy with this relationship more than I ever was. I’m not letting go of Rick and Rick isn’t going to let me go either, okay?”
“...If you’re happy, I’m fine with it.”
“Thank you.” Ashlayd said and hugged her baby sister.
“But I don’t get why...”
“This is why.”

Opening her omni-tool, Ashley pulled up a picture she made Rick take of her on her knees with his erect cock covering the whole length of her face while she was sporting a very happy smile with cum everywhere.

“Jesus, Ash!”
“You understand now? My body needs a few days of rest after sex.”
“How do you… it’s gigantic! It would split me in half!”
“Patience and determination. Sarah, we’re pushing babies bigger than that through our womb, there is no reason his cock wouldn’t fit. It takes a lot more work and lube for the ass though.”
“What?! You took…”
“Yes. And God knows I love it. Anyway, all his lovers? They are sex starved. The men around them are not up for the job because they don’t have the equipment or the skills and the girls don’t want to waste time finding a disappointing one night stand. Rick is safe, a sure bet and a good guy all around and will understand if they want to put a stop to the relationship and let them go. So, since my body is out of order, I thought ‘Why not let them have a turn? It’s not like I could have a turn myself anyway.’. There hasn’t been a single dispute between girls so far and I don’t see any happening any time soon. And it’s not like he’s chasing skirt in the first place. Women are attracted to him true but he’s not fucking everything that moves on two legs, so I'm not worried about him stepping out with some floozy.”
“I… understand, I think.” replied Sarah as she kept looking at the picture.
“Want to try him?”
“What?!”
“I’m asking you if you want to try him?”
“You’re not serious.” the redhead answered bewildered.
“I am, you, Abby, Lyn, even mom. I don’t mind. I know that the first time I had sex with him I smiled like a loony for days. It really put me in a good mood. You all could use that in your life. I know Abby wants to.”
“Wait! Abby knew?!”
“Yeah… I kinda had to tell her, because Dorothea was having problems dealing with his death.”
“She’s one of his lovers too?”
“Yes but… Dorothea’s case is complicated. Don’t ask, it’s classified.”
“I seriously doubt their relationship is classified.” Sarah said with a deadpan face.
“Not the relationship. Dorothea herself, she’s… I can’t tell you, sorry.” Ashley said with a sigh, not finding a way to explain.
“It’s fine. I’m still pissed but I understand that it was for an important reason.”
“Abby doesn’t know either about Dorothea, so don’t feel too bad.”
“So, Lyn is in the dark?”
“Yes but I will tell her soon. In fact I would have told you both at the same time because, let’s be honest, it’s not something we could have hidden forever. Not with Arianna in the mix anyway.”
“She’s his daughter! Oh my God! Him and the Commander!” exclaimed Sarah in realization.
“Yes, but it’s hush hush, so keep it to yourself.”
“Why? No, let me guess, classified?”
“Eh… Not really? Or at least not anymore? They just want it that way. They’re really private or rather Rick is private Jane doesn’t care.”
“... Will we ever know who he is now that he’s going to be family?”
“I don’t see him objecting to that. In fact, the Williams are the only ones here who don't know.”
“Who is he then?”
“Jon Grissom’s son. Yes, that Jon Grissom.” she added as she saw Sarah was going to ask.
“But I thought…”
“He had a daughter too. She’s the blonde with Admiral Anderson. Rick and her have different mothers.”
“Then why…”
“That is classified, I’m sorry. Though there was no adultery on Grissom’s part. His wife had already passed away a couple years before and they were divorced. I can tell you that much.”
“There is so much I want to know! UGH! Your fiance is a real headache!”
“That he is. Come on, let’s get back to the party.” Ashley said standing up.
“Fine… I need a drink or two after so many outrageous revelations.”

Ashley snorted and led the way out of the room.

____________________________________________________________


The rest of the party went well. People talked, people ate and drank and people laughed. Since the whole building belonged to Rick, he gave access to all the guests to one of the unoccupied apartments of their choosing for the night, that way no one would have to pay attention to their alcohol consumption when it was time to get home. After all, they could simply sleep on location. The only one who didn’t drink of course was Ashley, since she was pregnant. That didn’t stop her from ravaging her fiance once everyone had left. To their surprise they were joined by a very drunk guest who wouldn’t take no for an answer while Ashley was riding him with everything she had.
A sunrise later and the engaged couple didn’t quite know what to do with the last member of their impromptu threesome.

“What are we going to do with her?” Rick asked Ashley.
“Honestly? I don’t know.”
“In the first place… Why the hell went through her mind?”
“I may have been at fault….”
“What do you…”

He stopped talking when the redhead sleeping like a log on his chest and impaled on his morning wood began to stir up. She blinked a few times then her vision focused. Her eyes recognizing that she was sleeping on the naked torso of a man, the morning fog shrouding her mind evaporated instantly. Looking up, she saw the face of her soon to be brother in law and next to it her grinning elder sister’s.
Before she could let out a scream, Ash was as quick as lightning and put her hand blocking her mouth.

“Morning, Sar. If you could not scream and wake everyone in the Penthouse, including and specifically mom, that’d be great.”

Sarah nodded in agreement, still a bit in shock, blushing like mad, and Ashley removed her hand from her mouth.

“I… huh… I…”
“It’s alright. We’re not mad.” the brunette said and Rick nodded in support.
“I… Sorry, I shouldn’t have drunk that much.”
“My fault for showing you that picture.”
“You’re really… not upset with me?”
“Nope.”
“After the night of sex we had? Not really.” said Rick.
“Night of…”

She didn’t speak further as memories of the previous night went through her mind. How she had entered their bedroom, completely wasted, disrobed, pushed Ashley away from Rick’s cock and began to give him a blow job. Afterwards she did her very best to take him all inside of her with her sister’s help and after a few minutes of adaptation began to bounce up and down. She remembered climaxing and then, nothing.

“Ooooooooooh.” was all she said, understanding the faux-pas she had made.
“It was more Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Rick joked, embarrassing her.
“Stop teasing, my sister.” Ashley said with a frown before turning to Sarah but couldn’t hide her amused smile.
“Are you alright?”
“I… It hurts but…”
“Good?”
“Yeah.”
“You went at it hard, you should have taken more time.”
“I shouldn’t have done that in the first place.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. I told you you could use him.”
“What?”
“Are you complaining about sleeping with my sister?”
“... No? I’m just surprised you’re pimping me out like that.”
“I’m not pimping you, she’s my sister. It’s called sharing.”
“I… should… I should go.” Sarah said and began to pull herself up, Rick’s cock sliding out of her abused pussy. “Oww.”
“Easy, there. Don’t hurt yourself, go slow.” advised the brunette as she moved from her position to behind her sister to offer support.

Sarah nodded and inch by inch raised herself up. Despite the soreness, the feeling of Rick’s man meat stretching her and scratching the wall of her pussy made her moan a bit. After what she believed to be agonizing hours  she was finally separated from the man. She let out a sigh of relief and contentment that was cut short when she felt his cum running down her vagina then down on one of her legs.

“Shit… I’m not…”
“It’s alright, we’re going to a pharmacy as soon as we’re cleaned up.”
“No need, I’ll go. That way you have time to talk.”
“Thanks, lover.” Ashley said and gave him a loving kiss, before leading Sarah towards the bathroom. Or at least she tried as her baby’s sister's legs failed her when they touched the ground.
“Ash!” Sarah shouted in panic.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”
“I’m on it.” Rick said as he got out of bed, entirely naked and picked up the young redhead as if she was a princess, and carried her towards the bathroom where he sat her down in the bathtub. He gave Ashley one last kiss and went back to the bedroom, to dress up.

Once ready to go out, he went to his and Jane's bedroom where he found her still sleeping. Giving her a peck on the lips he went to see his sleeping daughter and saw her awake. At the sight of her daddy, the little redhead giggled happily. Picking her up and gently kissing her forehead, he decided to take her with him for his task. Arriving in the Kitchen, he saw EDI already prepping the little one’s breakfast.

“Good morning, EDI.” he greeted in a low voice and kissed her cheek.
“Good morning to you too. And you.” she added as she stroked Arianna’s cheek.
“I need to go on the Normandy for something, could you let me in and warn Jane that I took Arianna with me?”
“Sure.” the synthetic replied as she took the baby in her hand and gave her her baby bottle.

In the meantime, Rick searched for Arianna’s harness and her skycar seat. He had bout that recently as she was growing up fast and he wanted to go on some outing with her. So far she had never left the penthouse and he wanted to change that.
Finding the seat he took the elevator to the roof and went to the family sky car, installing it in the front passenger seat. Checking multiple times that it was secure, he went back to the penthouse to take his daughter.Just as he entered the kitchen he found EDI finishing to change her diaper.

“The most perfect AI galaxy and you’re changing diapers. Some scientists would keel over at the sight.”
“Then they are not much of a scientist if they don’t understand the value of taking care of a child.” she replied, dumping the used diaper in the garbage bin.
“I could kiss you right now.”
“Why don’t you do so?”
“Aren’t you and Joker… ?”
“It’s platonic. While he does appreciate this body’s curves he’s more interested in me but not in a romantic way.”
“That sounds like the two of you talked a lot about it.”
“We did.”
“In that case…”

He pulled her close and gave her a nice deep kiss.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t spent much time with you. Be it this body or the other.”
“It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve been up for two months now and I didn’t treat you like I should have. I want to change that. Why don’t I take all of you for an outing this afternoon?”
“I would like that.” the AI replied with a pleased smile.
“Don’t hesitate to share what you think and what you feel. That’s the key to a healthy relationship.”
“I’ll remember that and in that case, why do you want to kiss this body? I don’t ‘feel’ it.”
“Because I love you and kissing is an intimate way to show it. Sometimes the most important thing is not the result but the act itself and its significance. When I’m kissing this body, to me it’s not just an expression of love but an indication that, organic or synthetic body, that’s not why I fell in love with you. That I love you for who you are.”
“I understand.”
“Good. If you have an idea on where to go, I’ll be taking you there, in the meantime…” he began saying as he picked up Arianna in his arms. “See you in a bit.”
“Bye.” she replied, waving slowly her hand at Arianna who was looking at her.

Going back up to the landing pad, Rick installed his daughter in her seat and went behind the wheel. Taking off, he flew slowly towards the Alliance Military base a good fifteen minutes away. Since it was very early in the morning there wasn’t any traffic at all and the ride was smooth. After being asked for his ID and an autograph and a picture by one of the guards for her kids, Rick reached the Normandy’s dock. Getting inside, thanks to EDI, he went to the med-bay and searched for a morning after pill. Being thoughtful he picked up a bunch of them and left a note on Chakwas’ terminal about it. All the while, Arianna, who was strapped on his chest, was looking with wonder and curiosity at the new place her daddy had brought her in. Feeling playful he brought her to his quarters and showed her around and did the same for Jane’s cabin. He knew it was useless, she was way too young to remember any of it or even understand what he was talking about but he didn’t care, he was sharing time with his baby girl and that made him happy. It wasn’t all for naught however as she had been fascinated by Jane’s aquarium and the fish inside. Reaching with her tiny hand towards them and babbling. When he showed her the space hamster she did the same.

As he was going down the bridge to exit the ship, EDI warned him that Jane was not happy with him taking Arianna for a ride. Thanking the AI after a long sigh, he made his way back home.

____________________________________________________________

“Do you realized how…”

He shut her up with a loving kiss and by putting their daughter in her arms.

“You were sleeping so soundly that I was hoping to be back before you woke up and Arianna was already awake. I thought why not go on a short trip with her, showing her around.”
“... I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her missing from her crib!”
“I’ll put a small white board near it to exchange messages in the morning. There, problem solved.”
“That’s not…”
“That's the point, Jane. It was a failure of communication from our part that will not happen again. Now, we can argue about it for nothing or I can share with you what we did. Your choice.”

He placated her with that and picked up a slice of toast that he put in his mouth. Still frowning at him, Jane sighed in defeat and sat beside him at the table.

“What did you do?”
“I went to the Normandy.”
“What for?”
“Take some morning after pills. Speaking of… EDI do you know where Ash and Sarah are?”
“They came to take some food and went back to Ashley’s room.”
“Thank you.”
“You and Sarah?” Jane asked, surprised.
“She came in drunk as hell last night while Ashley and I were going at it. Threw her to the side and took her place more or less.”
“Wow. This morning must have been awkward for her.”
“You have no idea. It was fun teasing her though.”
“Of course, you big jerk.”
“To my defense, Ashley started it and I rolled with it.”
“Uh-huh. Now tell me about what my daughter did.” she ordered and lowered her head to kiss the top of her daughter’s own.
“Well… I showed her around a bit. Mainly my quarters and yours. You should have seen her eyes, she was having the time of her life. She took a particular interest in your fish and your spacehamster.”
“That’s mommy’s girl!” Jane squealed as she raised high up her baby who laughed.
“Daddy’s girl. She’s daddy’s girl.”
“Nuh-huh.”
“She is, you’ll see.”
“I’ll see nothing.”
“Whatever… She’s five, almost six months old, she won’t remember anything, so who knows if she’s into animals.”
“I’m sure she is, after all we both are.”
“... I’m not.”
“From a reliable source, you had a clownfish called Nemo.”
“Really?” EDI asked from the side interested in the revelation.
“... She’s never meeting her grandchildren.” he said with finality.
“Yes, really, EDI. Aria had to comfort him when his pet fish died.”
“I can’t believe she told you that!”
“We thought you were dead at the time, so…”
“Gosh, no respect for the dead!”
“Speaking of Aria, we should go see her. She was stuck on Ilos for a while, you were actually dead, this time and even though she knows you’re back, I’m sure she’d be pleased and relieved to see you.”
“I guess, you’re right. What about Arianna?”
“Oh, we’re taking her with us.”
“I mean, does she know about her?”
“No, that’s why I want to bring her with us.”
“Hmmm… I may have an idea. A good nice prank.”
“I’m listening.”

Rick explained quickly his plan which was all about playing on Aria’s nostalgia and Jane loved the idea. Afterwards, they talked about the celebration for the day before and exchanged with EDI, information that they may not have heard, like the fact that the brass up the military decided to go with the will of the people and were ready to announced that Commander was now a special rank in the military and that so far only Jane was having it. The rank of Commander would be simply replaced by something else though they haven't decided on the name yet. Rick thought it was stupid and that it would be easier to just create a special rank just for her to which EDI agreed. 

They were finishing breakfast when Liara showed up along with Maria, Abby and Lyn. When the Williams matriarch asked where Sarah was, Rick said she was talking in private with Ashley. Getting up he went to Ash’s room.

“Everything’s alright?” he asked as he saw the two sisters cuddling up in a sitting position on the bed.
““Yes.””
“Good, because your mother is up and wondered where you were, Sarah. Told her the two of you were speaking privately. I also have the you-know-what.” he said and pulled a small bottle from the inside pocket of his coat and tossed it at Sarah who caught it.
“Thank you.” the redhead replied and walked to the bathroom for some water.
“So?” he asked his fiance, who simply smiled at him.
“Well…”
“I wouldn’t mind doing it again.” came Sarah’s voice from behind him. “I… needed that and I may need some more.” she explained.
“Oookay… You may want to be on the pill though or some other contraceptive.”
“No thanks, I think… I wouldn’t mind having a baby.” she replied with an innocent smile and Rick turned to Ashley.
“This is your doing, isn’t it? You want me to impregnate the whole family or what?”

Ashley did her very best, but failed to contain her laughter, Sarah joining her as she took one of the pills from the bottle and gulped it down with a glass of water.

“No, we’re pulling your leg.”
“I was telling the truth about wanting to do it again.” the redhead clarified.
“So much for ‘Sarah is off limits’.”
“What?!”
“I may or may not have forbidden him to sleep with you. For my defense, you had just lost Thomas and were still grieving.” Ashley replied with her hands raised defensively.
“I’m fine. I miss him everyday but I need to move on. I can’t spend the rest of my life mourning him.”
““...””
“Maybe I went after the wrong sister.”
“YOU ASS!” Ashley shouted and threw a pillow at his face making Sarah laugh.

“Well, if you ever get tired of Ashley, come find me.” she teased and threw a raspberry at her sister before exiting the room as her name resonated loudly.
“That’s what you get for teasing me and perverting your baby sister.” he said as he sat down near a frowning Ash and kissed her passionately. She resisted at first but melted in his arm and kissed back.
“She can use you but you’re mine.”
“Yeah. Besides I already have one redhead to deal with, I’m good. Sooooo…. What did you two talk about?”
“About you sleeping around. She understands now why I’m not mad at you for giving a good shag to others while my pussy and ass are out of order.”
“That wasn’t much of a performance, she just…”
“She knows, that’s why she wouldn’t mind a repeat. To see how better it can be.”
“I suppose her husband…”
“He wasn’t that experienced since they were each other’s first and that was after a year of dating into their two years relationship. He wasn’t nearly as big either.”
“I see. Any plan about telling Lyn? And your mother?”
“I’m telling Lyn later today. My mom… well she’ll find out on her own.”

“Alright. And just so you know, there is no need to push Abby and Lyn in my direction. I know that I have a lot of stamina but it’s not infinite.”
“In insight, it seems like I did push Sarah towards you and I inadvertently may have; I won’t do the same mistake with Abs and Lyn. If they’re really serious about having sex with you for a tryout… I won’t be against it but  I will make it clear that sex is all they would get and not very often. You have a fiance and three girlfriends on a regular basis to please already, you don’t need more.”
“Amen, to that.”

“By the way, I told Sarah that you were Grissom’s son.”
“It’s fine. My identity is iron clad now and she is family or about to be so I see no reason to keep the secret.”
“In that case…”

She put her hands on his helmet and removed it.

“Don’t wear it inside please?” she asked and Rick nodded.

Standing up he pulled her with him and the two went to the kitchen. Where more people joined for breakfast, most notably Dorothea and Kahlee. The latter was surprised as she and Anderson had their own apartment a floor down. He gave up a one arm hug and a very brotherly kiss on the cheek.

“Andy is not up yet?”
“He’s been up for a while but…”
“Work?”
“Work.”

He took his seat between Jane and Ashley and began to eat, the single toast he had earlier had not been enough for a proper breakfast. An elbow hit from Ashley nearly made him miss putting a piece of pancake into his mouth. Looking up at her quizzically, she signaled with her eyes the rest of her family, who was looking at him in shock.

“Yes?”
“Ashley, you lucky bitch!” Abby said, recovering from her mind’s freeze.

The words spoken by the second eldest daughter of the Williams family made both Ash and Rick snort in amusement. They were sisters alright.

“Sorry.” quickly apologized, Abby.
“Don’t be.” Rick said, continuing eating.
“I used the exact same words when I cursed Analysse sometimes, so don’t fret over it. Now I know how she felt.”
“Mad?” Lyn asked from Sarah's side
“Smug.” replied Ash with a smug smile.
“I thought your identity was classified.” Lyn said.
“It still is but you’re family now, so there is no point to hide it from any of you.”
“Who are you then?” inquired Abby.
“Jon Grissom’s son.”

To everyone’s surprise it was Maria who answered as she looked fixedly at him.

“I met him a few times with your father and grandfather.” she explained to the puzzled and shocked look of Ashley. “You look just like him.”
“Wait a minute! Everyone knows that he had a daughter, not a son!” Abby protested.
“She’s over there.” Rick answered, pointing to Kahlee who smiled and waved, before taking a sip of her coffee. The resemblance between siblings was uncanny and left no doubt to denial.
“Wow…” was all Lyn said.

Questions were asked obviously and all were answered properly, that is by being vague about Rick’s mother identity and his childhood. The need for secrecy about who he was was firmly and extensively explained with the Williams who understood that somehow it would be bad for the Alliance for the information to be leaked. With Rick being notorious for being one of the most trusted subordinates of the queen of Omega the Alliance wouldn’t look good.
After breakfast the Williams, Ashley included left. Rick understood that a family talk was necessary and so after a kiss to his fiancee, watched her go. Before she could leave, he gave Kahlee a big hug that surprised her.

“What’s that for?”
“I just wanted to hug my big sister. Why? Are you complaining?”
“I’m not, I’m just surprised. I know you’re not the type to hug.”
“True but I’m happy as can be and I wanted to hug you so I did.”
“I wouldn’t mind that happening more often.”
“Me too. We’ll have to spend more time together, though, we may have had an epistolary relationship so far but I really want us to be close and that can’t happen by just exchanging messages.”
“I’d like that too.” she answered with a smile.
“I have some regular free time in my schedule, wanna do something together? Visiting a Museum, or watching a movie or… I don't know, whatever you want.”
“I’m pretty busy with my job, especially since the academy is gone. Keeping up with the standards, finding good teachers, taking care of the students…”
“Catching up with Andy~~” he teased and got pinched for it.
“That too. What I mean is, I have little free time but I’ll see we can do something together.”
“Everything would be easier if you were working for me.”
“Yes but I want to take care of the new generation and you’re working in new tech… Not really the same thing.”
“Well, about that…”

____________________________________________________________

EDI had chosen to visit the countryside, wanting to explore the luxuriant  environment. She never really had the occasion with all the planets they went on, being either a big rock or with an hostile environment, Tuchanka coming at the forefront of their mind. She was like a kid discovering a new world, examining every plant and every bug they came across, comparing what she knew about them from the extranet and her own observation. She especially liked visiting a badly damaged farm a few clicks away from her landing zone. It was abandoned to no one’s surprise as they were marks of reapers’ troop attacks. What was surprising though was that many animals were still there. Rick would have thought that they would have been killed or just ran away but it seemed that some had found their way back. A few horses, pigs and chicken here and there. While Dorothea was approaching a brown horse carefully, EDI and Rick discussed how they could have survived on their own by finding food. The sound of a scared horse made them turn their head around and see Dorothea with her hand raised up submissively walking slowly step by step to an agitated mare. Her calm and soft demeanor positively influenced the horse which stopped fidgeting until she reached him and began to caress his neck.

“I guess you want a pony for your birthday?”
“I don’t have a birthday.”

“We should change that. It’s a celebration of being alive.”
“You don’t celebrate it.”
“No, it’s just too painful of a day to me but it may have a significance for you.”
“Then… January 30th.”
“The day Gandhi was assassinated and the date of Bloody Sunday? That’s rather bloodthirsty.”
“No. This is not why I picked this date. It’s the day you freed me. It’s the day I stopped being a tool.”

“Oh… January 30th it is. What about Dorothea? Technically she was born at a later date but she’s still you.”
“On her fake ID I put the first of April.”
“April’s fool, huh? I really love the way you think.” he said and pulled her close in a one arm hug, making her smile.
“I think I'll keep this date for her birthday because we are and are not the same person at the same time.”
“Because of her experience disconnected from you on the Citadel?”
“Yes. Experience is what defines people, that’s why Jane’s clone could never have taken her place. Dorothea has her own experience that had I not assimilated it, I wouldn’t know about. For more than a year she... I… We were different people.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. On one hand I’m happy that a version of me has an organic life on the other… I’m a bit jealous?”
“If you’re connected to her, it’s your organic life too.”
“True but… It’s like I’m my own daughter or sister?”
“From my point of view, she’s an extension of yourself. Either way, whether you decide that you’re a very close but a bit different entity or just one person, I love you.”
“... Thank you.”
“Now, I think we should go before you decide to mount that horse and go on a ride to who knows where.” he said looking at Dorothea who was now hugging the mare.
“It would be for the best because I really want to do that.” EDI replied amused.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com