Glen walked around the constructor pod mounted to the floor in the middle of her workshop. Technically, it was John and Tali’s workshop … it was their house, after all, and Tali still loved to tinker. Still, with all the help Glen had given them both before and after the war, they made it clear their home was hers, and for her that meant access to the best workshop short of the one in Ebott, back on Earth.
Finding a Glyche facility near Rannoch had been difficult, but locating one, sneaking in, and making off with an entire constructor pod had been a feat unto itself. Glen just hoped CIC Janus would be willing to forgive her at some point in the next two-thousand years.
Once she was satisfied that the constructor was running properly. She set a single tiny black seed in the cushioned interior before closing the door and turning her attention back to the monitors surrounding the pod. Taking a deep breath, she said, “All right, run a full scan on the seed.”
The pod was originally designed to accommodate core units, and by association most bipedal humanoids. As such, the tiny black seed was barely visible to Glen as the pod angled forward until perfectly vertical. It turned to the first monitor, signaling the attached scanner unit to begin a detailed scan
The pod was nearing its first cycle when Glen heard a voice that made her freeze.
“Glenda? What are you doing in there?”
Glen spun about, a reflexive smile on her face. “Tali!”
Tali smiled back. It was hard to make out with the mask, but Glen had come to learn the little tells on what was visible of the quarian’s face.
“What are you working on?” Tali asked, approaching the constructor pod with obvious interest.
“Huh? Oh this?” Glen said, trying her best to glance back at the constructor as though it were the least interesting thing she’d ever seen. “Bah. Pet project. Probably won’t work anyway. Forget about that, girl; how’ve been? I haven’t seen you in at least a month!”
Tali let out a sigh before sitting down on an empty storage box. As Glen sat down beside her, Tali said, “I just came back from an extended gene therapy session.”
Glen gave her a sympathetic smile. “Didn’t go well?”
“That would be an understatement.” Tali sighed again. “At this rate, I’ll be an old woman before I can get rid of this wretched suit.”
“You aren’t having trouble with the scrubbers I installed in the house, are you?” Glen asked, only for Tali to shake her head.
“The scrubbers works great, but I still have to wear my suit when I go outside. I want to feel the wind in my hair, Glen! The warmth of the sun on my skin. I want to be able to wear a bikini when John and I go to the beach, and to swim in the ocean without worrying about rashes or infections.”
“Lord knows I feel for you, girl.” Glen said, rubbing Tali’s shoulder. “Bein’ stuck in skin-tight clothes would be like a nightmare for me.”
“I wish I could wear clothes like yours.” Tali said, her hand running along the green-and-gray stripes of Glen’s shirt. “They look so comfortable.”
“Teria always said I dressed like a slob.” Glen confessed. “Baggy shirt, baggy shorts, sandals. Underwear optional, though tigreth aren’t really big on undergarments anyway.” A sly smile crossed Glen’s face as she added, “though John might be more receptive to something with silk and lace.”
Tali’s blush was faintly visible through her helmet. “I do have some things Kasumi gave me, but … well, to be honest, once I take my suit off for the day …”
“Ah. Gotcha.” Glen said, nodding. “I’m the same way.”
“Really?”
Cheeks warm, Glen let out a cough and said, “How about we get some lunch then head down to the beach for a while to catch up? I’m assuming you did more than just gene therapty while you were gone.”
“Well, I did stop by Garrus’s new home on Palavan.” The light in Tali’s eyes grew brighter as she said, “Doctor Michel was there.”
“Ooh!” Glen said, rubbing her hands together. “This I gotta hear. Just give me a sec, all right?”
Glen gave the constructor pod a quick once over before rejoining Tali by the workshop door.
“What exactly are you working on anyway?” Tali asked..
“Just something for a friend.” Glen said dismissively. “Now, you were saying about our dear friend Garrus and the good Doctor?”
It turned out Tali had a lot to say about Garrus and Doctor Michel, about their engagement, about how they were considering a home on Palavan, but Tali convinced them to permanently move into the rooms Glen built for them. By the time Tali finished telling Glen everything, the two had eaten lunch and walked the fifteen-minute path down the cliffside to a long, beautiful beach. The two women laughed as they walked through the warm sand amid the soothing sounds of the ocean waves.
“I swear, even his face-plates were blushing!” Tali said, making Glen laugh all the harder.
“Aw, man!” Glen said, shaking her head. “I am gonna have so much fun teasing him when they get here. Say, when are they getting here?”
“In a few months.” Tali said, staring down at the sand. “There’s, um, something they’re wanting to get done first.”
Glen focused on the warm sand slipping through her toes as she waited patiently for Tali to continue.
“They are adopting. Two girls; one human, the other turian.”
“Really?” Glen said, her grin widening. “That’s great! I’m sure they’ll make great parents. Creator knows there are still plenty of orphaned children out there looking for good families. Y’know, you and John aughtta think about it, give the Vakarian kids a little company.”
After a moment of silence, Glen realized that Tali wasn’t beside her anymore. She turned to see the quarian hugging her elbows and looking strangely small.
“Tali,” Glen said, smile fading. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“I … that is, John and I, we were talking. About children, I mean. Adopting.”
“And?”
Tali let out a sigh that somehow left her looking even smaller.
Glen’s jaw went slack. “No! He … he didn’t want any kids?”
“On the contrary; he said he’d love a big family.”
“Then … you don’t want children?”
“Of course I do!” Tali said, looking Glen in the eyes. “Keelah, this would complete everything! I’m on my home world, I’ve got a loving husband, an important role in helping my people, and a beautiful house. Add in a family, and I don’t know what else I’d have left to dream.”
“Then what’s wrong? What’s the problem?”
Tali let out another sigh. “I just … always hoped that …”
Realization hit Glen like a tall ocean wave. “You wanted to have children of your own.”
Tali hung her head. “You’re right, Glen … there are so many children who need a good home, children who John and I would love as our own unquestioningly, but … is it wrong of me to want a child of my own flesh and blood … of mine and John’s?”
Glen shook her head. “Of course not, sweetie! Hell, it’d be weird if you didn’t! I myself often wondered what a little Tali/Shepard hybrid would …”
Tali looked at Glen when the Dreamer failed to speak for a few moments. The expression on the Dreamer’s face was one of concern with just a touch of horror, a result of imagining a child with Tali’s technical ability and John’s skill at causing chaos loose in the house.
“Locks on the workshop.” Glen said, giving her head a little shake. “Still, I totally get the desire to pass on your genes. That said, you’d have to have realized that would be impossible.”
“Of course.” Tali said, wringing her hands. “I guess I just thought after everything we accomplished, something as small as this would be simple.”
“Hey.” Glen put her hands on Tali’s shoulders and looked her friend in the eyes. “This isn’t small, Tali. Your feelings aren’t trivial, Tali, not to me, and certainly not to John.”
Tali’s bright eyes stared back at Glen for a long moment before she slowly nodded.
Glen smiled and rubbed Tali’s cheek. “The best thing you can do right now is to talk to John. Let him know how you feel, and maybe even look into a few options.”
“Options?”
“Well, you could always consider artificial insemination.”
“You mean … oh. Keelah, I don’t know, Glen … I’d have to trust someone a great deal for that. The only quarian man I’d consider is Kal’Reegar, ancestors rest his soul.”
“Well, maybe he made plans. Didn’t you tell me they kept er, samples from many quarian families to help spread genetic diversity through the fleet?”
“Well … maybe …”
“And if that fails, you could always give ol’ Koris a call.”
Tali’s balled up fist smacked Glen in the arm. Glen let out a laugh as she rubbed her arm. “Just kidding.”
ns 15.158.61.20da2
