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“Do you ever think about the future?”
Scott turned his head to look at Gil who was lying beside him on the front of the Nomad. Scott had driven them out here to watch the sun go down and they had stayed as the stars had begun to come out.
“Depends how far you’re talking,” Scott sighed, glancing back out at the night sky, “Sometimes it feels hard to look beyond finding Meridian and taking down the Archon… But then other times, I look at the colonists, the outposts, and I can see the legacy we’re going to leave behind here.”
“What about our future?”
“Our future?”
“Yeah, you and me. Let’s say the dream becomes a reality, Sam leads us all to Meridian, we find the true golden world we’ve been looking for and we send the Archon running with his tail between his legs… Do you ever think about what we’ll do then?”
“Stick together, I suppose,” Scott said, unable to keep the uncertainty out of his voice, “I don’t know what life will hold, but whatever it is, at your side is where I want to be.” He took hold of Gil’s hand, interlacing their fingers.
“Would you ever want to settle down? Live the colony dream; build a house, set down roots… have a family?”
Scott’s eyes widened, “A family?”
“Yeah, a kid… kids plural, I don’t know.”
Scott sat himself up a little to look at Gil, drawing his boyfriend’s attention away from the stars, “What’s brought all this on?”
Gil sighed, sitting up to join him, “I don’t know, I guess I finally started taking on some of the stuff Jill keeps harping on about. She can’t wait to start helping people start families, start real lives here, and it got me thinking about us, about our life together.”
“And that’s the life you want for us? White picket fences and two point five kids?” Scott raised an eyebrow.
“You know me, Scott. I live in the moment, I go wherever the wind takes me, but ever since you literally stumbled into my life, you’ve made me realise that maybe it isn’t so bad to want something…”
“Safe,” Scott said quietly, their eyes meeting in a moment of understanding, “That was always the dream of coming out here. The idea of exploring a new galaxy had its perks, but in reality, what I wanted was to build a home, have the family I was never going to have back in the Milky Way. And when I think about that now; you’re in the picture. Me, you, a house with the perfect view with a big kitchen so I can finally cook again-”
“You cook?”
“I love cooking… Don’t give me that look, I don’t plan on living off of cereal and sheer willpower forever… I want that life, and I want it with you. I want to start something here, and yeah, having kids is part of that.”
“You think we could raise a kid together?”
“I think if we can keep the Tempest in the air with the shit my sister drags us into, having a baby should be easy in comparison.”
Gil hummed with laughter, “She does have a tendency to get us into trouble… So you’ve thought about us having kids?”
“I’ve entertained the idea, sure. I saw you showing those refugee asari girls from the Leusinia how you fixed up the Nomad, teaching them the difference between all of your wrenches, helping them fix their toys… I couldn’t help but picture that with our daughter instead.”
“What did she look like? This imaginary daughter of ours?”
“She was all you. Hair the same red as yours, your laugh, your smile… But she would have my eyes, and the Ryder freckles. I could see it all, her having us wrapped around her little finger, Sammy fawning over her, us teaching her how to fix up her first shuttle-”
Gil’s was on Scott in a flash, kissing him hard, pinning him to the Nomad. “I love you Scott Ryder,” Gil murmured against his skin as his attentions moved to kiss along Scott’s jawline, “I love you so god damned much, you wonderful, amazing man… Let’s do it.”
Scott hummed in contentment, more than happy to be the subject of Gil’s adoration, smirking at his words, “If Sam finds out that we screwed on the Nomad, she’s going to be so pissed.”
Gil rolled his eyes, continuing to kiss and nip his way along the lines of Scott’s face, “Not that…” he breathed heavily in his ear, “Let’s have a baby.”
Scott stared up at him, “What?”
“Everything you’ve said, everything you’ve described, it’s what I want, more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. Jill told me about her coworkers who have just come out of cryo, doctors who specialise in helping same sex couples have kids… The next time we’re on the Nexus we could go see them.”
“You’re serious about this? Because once we do this, we can’t back out, we’re in this together for the rest of our lives.”
“I’m in if you are.”
“You want to have a baby now? But the Archon, and Meridian, and-”
“It’s something to fight for,” Gil said simply, any further words that were going to come out cut off by Scott kissing him.
This was reckless and stupid, and Scott was certain that neither of them had thought this through properly, but this was everything he wanted; to build a life with the man he loved. Yes, the Archon was still out there, and sure, no matter how many Vaults Sam activated Meridian was still the key to all this, and still very much missing, but Gil was right. Their future, their child, it was something to fight for. It was like that stupid car that Liam had told him about, it was about knowing that no matter what; something was coming and it always would be, a sense of hope and familiarity.
And for that, Scott was willing and ready to give anything.