THE LORD OF THE RINGS || THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

The Life Cycle of Butterflies

Rating: G Word Count: 3500 Summary: There’s a room in the house Shepard doesn’t know how to explain. 

This is my Shepard’s happy ending. He deserves it, dammit.

Happy Birthday, Shepard.  

He hears her tiny feet on the floor the moment he turns the coffee pot on. A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips, but when he sees a flash of blue skin dart past the entrance to the kitchen he pretends not to notice.

Instead he waits for the coffee to brew, then sits down at the kitchen table with a cup when it’s done – thick, strong and, as Alenko used to insist, unfit for human consumption. Watching the doorway out of his periphery, he uses his omnitool to activate the view panel’s datafeeds and open the shutters to let the morning sunlight stream in. For a moment he squints, and by the time his eyes adjust there is a small figure worming her way into the seat beside him.

“Well look who’s up early,” Shepard says, and slides his cup towards her in offering. She takes one sniff and wrinkles her nose.

“Gross,” she declares. “Mommy doesn’t know how you drink that stuff.”

He grins. “Mommy has bad taste in coffee.”

Her face crinkles in consternation, mouth opening to object before she screws it shut again and collapses her elbows on the table in a huff. Shepard’s grin widens. No one tells Amina that Liara is bad at anything, and there’s only one reason he’s getting away with it this morning.

“So?” he asks. “What has you up this early, Butterfly?”

Her shoulders hunch, a shy grin spreading across her face. She runs the fingers of one hand subconsciously along the rills of her crest, feet kicking under the table. “Happy birthday, Daddy.”

Shepard leans over and kisses her temple. “Thanks, kiddo.”

Keep reading