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Tightening the strings of her apron, Liara surveyed the state of the kitchen with an exasperated sigh. The ripped open bag of flour laid discarded, its contents coating much of the counter, the floor and even the walls; her cooking bowl, once clearly decorated with flowers from Earth – a rose, an orchid, some bluebells – was now smeared with ingredients that should be inside the bowl but didn't quite make it in.
Thinking back to when she had started her cooking venture thirty minutes ago, she hadn't imagined how difficult it would be to prepare the old Earth recipe. It probably wouldn't have been so bad had the bag of flour not been so stubborn to open. She wouldn't have found herself faced with the decision to either admit defeat and allow Glyph to open it for her or push through the attempt to open it herself, and she wouldn't have chosen to do the latter to such a disastrous result. The bag had burst open, the explosion of flour covering almost every surface in the kitchen, including herself. If Liara had been blessed with more time, she'd have cleared away the mess there and then, but with Shepard coming home soon she knew she needed to carry on with the baking and worry about cleaning up later. The most important thing was getting the gift ready before Shepard's return.
What Liara hadn't anticipated was how hard it would be to concentrate with flour all over the place, though admittedly, this was mostly out of annoyance that the accident had happened to begin with. So far, she'd managed to beat the sugar and butter together as the recipe instructed, but in her frustration she had cracked the egg haphazardly, causing part of the yolk to run down the wrong side of the bowl and integrate itself into the mess of flour on the kitchen counter.
“Honestly!” Liara admonished herself for the easily avoidable mistake as she continued to survey the kitchen. Perhaps this is what she got for leaving the preparation so last minute.
You're holding yourself to unrealistic expectations again, a voice in her head reminded her and she knew it was right. It had been hard to adjust from living with the heavy weight of responsibility and urgency as the Shadow Broker during the war to living a relatively unburdened domestic life with Shepard now that the galaxy was rebuilding. There were still times where she'd find herself expecting to be capable of more than she was logically able to – a deeply ingrained but unhealthy mindset left over from the war – and it seemed she was now taking it out on her current unfortunate baking situation. If Shepard were here right now she'd be laughing good-naturedly at how foolish she was being.
Truthfully, Liara had wanted to give herself more time to bake the surprise for Shepard but her bondmate had left the apartment later than she'd anticipated. Since becoming parents their time management had taken a hit, and on this occasion it was Shepard who couldn't tear herself away from their newborn before leaving to buy groceries. If the store wasn't due to close for the day soon, Liara doubted whether Shepard would've left for at least another few hours. Not that she could blame the human woman, Liara was still in disbelief that they were lucky enough to now have a child together and she knew that Shepard felt the same.
Not long after Shepard had left, Elina had started crying as if able to feel the distance between herself and her father. Liara had been about to set up the kitchen when she'd heard the noise, saw her daughter stirring through the baby monitor and took to the bedroom to calm her down enough for her to fall asleep. By the time she'd made it to the kitchen she was sure Shepard must be almost done shopping; Shepard would need to speed through the task before the store closed, leaving Liara with less time for baking before she returned.
Liara inwardly swore to herself at the realisation that Shepard was probably on the way home right now, though she knew realistically that she couldn't have predicted she'd be left with so little time to prepare her present for her wife. Taking a moment to get her thoughts in order, Liara relaxed the tension in her body as much as possible as she set back to work. If she hurried she might be able to finish it in time.
Unfortunately, it only took a few moments for that hope to shatter as she heard the front door of the apartment woosh open and grocery bags being placed on the floor. She froze in place as Shepard stepped into the kitchen; in the split second it took for the woman to evaluate the situation and burst out laughing, Liara turned to face her with a sheepish expression.
“Do I even want to know what happened? It looks like we've had a snowstorm in here.” Shepard remarked, obviously amused by the bizarre sight in front of her.
Liara lowered her head, shaking it slightly. “I was baking – well, trying to bake. I didn't get very far – I was trying to make a surprise for you. Something I thought you would like from an Earth recipe book I came across.”
“Oh yeah? What was it?” Shepard quirked an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. With a wave of her hand she then gestured to the flour disaster, “And how exactly did it lead to this?”
“It was going to be a plum cake. I know you like plums and I know that they're hard to come by here on the Citadel so when I saw them at a market a few days ago I just had to buy them.” Liara explained, “I thought it would be a wonderful gift to let you know how much I appreciate everything you've done for Elina and myself lately, especially while I've been so focused on directing the remains of my old Shadow Broker resources towards so many different recovery efforts.”
“I couldn't get the bag of flour to open, but rather than let Glyph handle it I was adamant that I was going to open it myself. As you can see it didn't go very well.” Liara continued with a slight hint of embarrassment, “And then I accidentally cracked the egg poorly because I was too preoccupied with being frustrated at myself over the flour. I just didn't have time to add the other ingredients and set it in the oven to cook, let alone clean up before you came back. I'm sorry that you returned to this rather than what I had hoped would be a lovely surprise.”
Shepard glanced at the unused ingredients on the counter and then back to Liara. She smiled, “You don't have to apologise, Liara. It means a lot that you wanted to surprise me but honestly, just knowing you thought to in the first place is enough of a gift for me.” Shepard walked over to the counter and ran her hand through the flour, “I can get rid of the mess here if you want to get yourself cleaned up.”
“Absolutely not,” Liara replied curtly, “I'm not letting my own mistake create work for you. This was supposed to be a pleasant experience. I won't have you clean up my mess for me... literally.”
Shepard chuckled good-naturedly, “I really don't mind. With my fast working pace it'll only take a few minutes.”
When Liara crossed her arms and gave Shepard the sternest expression she could manage while covered in flour, Shepard threw her hands up in mock-surrender, “Alright! But at least let Glyph do it for you. We didn't upgrade him with that household maintenance software for nothing.”
Not wanting to repeat the mistake of refusing to rely on Glyph twice, Liara uncrossed her arms and reluctantly agreed, “Very well, but on one condition. You've got to stay out of the kitchen until the plum cake is ready and you've got to act surprised when I present it to you in the way I had originally intended.”
Shepard was relieved to see that Liara's expression had eased into something lighter, less stressed, her posture more relaxed than before. There was now even the hint of a smirk on her lips.
“You've got yourself a deal. I'll take these groceries into the living room and check on our daughter.” Shepard beamed, “It still feels so surreal to be able to say that.”
“Part of me hopes we never get used to it.” Liara replied with a grin of her own at the thought of their child.
Once Shepard exited the kitchen, Liara set about the process of adding the rest of the ingredients, this time adding a second egg successfully. Glyph finished cleaning up the kitchen with holographic utensils just as Liara put the cake in the oven. As she waited for it to cook she entered the living room and found the groceries in their bags by the sofa; Shepard wasn't there, presumably still checking on their daughter. She carried the bags back to the kitchen and placed the products Shepard had bought in their usual storage spots.
Liara hadn't planned anything particularly glamorous, but she did want to make the kitchen a little more fancy than usual. She rummaged through one of the drawers until she found a yellow, floral patterned cloth to lay across the table. She couldn't remember the last time they'd used it or why they had bought it in the first place, but right now she was glad to have it. Once the cake was fully baked, Liara placed it on one of their less worn plates and set it on the table along with the appropriate cutlery.
Liara peered her head into the living room and found her bondmate sitting with her legs up on the sofa, watching a vid on her omni-tool.
“The cake is ready, you can join me in the kitchen now if you'd like.” Liara alerted Shepard, grabbing her attention. “How's Elina?”
“Not awake yet,” Shepard replied with a smile, leaving the omni-tool on the couch as she stood to join Liara in the kitchen, “I'm glad there's at least one peaceful sleeper in this family!”
“Clearly that is not a trait she has inherited from either of us.” Liara heartily agreed.
“Tell me about it. Even before the war...”
Shepard's words trailed off as she entered the kitchen. She glanced at the plum cake sitting temptingly on the table and then back to Liara, who was now doing her utmost not to show in her expression the slight twinge of doubt that had suddenly crept in at the thought that perhaps setting the kitchen up like this was a silly idea.
“The kitchen looks wonderful!” Shepard announced at the sight before her, allaying Liara's worry, “Since when did we have this table cloth?” She asked, taking a seat at the table.
“I can't actually remember, but I found it in the drawer a few weeks ago while sorting.” Liara explained, sitting down on the opposite side of the table, “Perhaps we bought it for a special event, but considering we don't have those very often I think we should use it more.”
“Agreed, it's lovely. And so is this plum cake.” Shepard grinned. She noticed Liara sitting with no cutlery, “Uh, where's your plate?”
“I made the cake for you.”
Shepard shrugged, “Doesn't mean you can't have some.”
“Thank you but I'll stick to what you just came home with. I've been really looking forward to having Blast-Ohs again.” Liara replied, thinking back to the previous week where she hadn't been able to find the product when she'd gone shopping. Apparently Blast-Ohs saw a spike in popularity last week and it left her craving the tasty cereal.
“Are you sure you don't want any? I can just cut you a slice if you want.” Shepard insisted.
“I'm alright, Shepard. I want you to enjoy the whole cake.” Liara declined with a smile. She stood and walked to the cupboard, quickly grabbing the box of Blast-Ohs, some milk, cutlery and a bowl before returning to her seat.
Shepard chuckled as she watched her wife hastily set about the process of tearing the box open, tipping the cereal into the bowl and pouring the milk; she hungrily began to eat the cereal as Shepard cut out a slice from the plum cake.
Shepard took a bite from the cake and was instantly hit with the wonderful flavour. The texture, too, was light and easy to chew. For someone who wasn't used to baking dishes from Earth, Liara had managed to do a great job!
Shepard decided to let Liara know as much.
“This is incredible, honey. You've done really well, especially for your first time making this.” Shepard said, providing the feedback in between another mouthful of cake.
Liara paused from eating her cereal and Shepard was sure she noticed just a hint of a blush on the asari's face.
“You're too kind, I just did what I could despite my inexperience with recipes from Earth and mostly hoped for the best.” Liara replied, adding to herself in her mind, thank the goddess you actually like it!
Shepard smiled warmly and, as if reading Liara's thoughts, assured, “Well, you did great. I don't think I've had anything this well-made in a long time. Honestly you didn't have to do this for me at all but I'm glad you did, I really appreciate it.”
Shepard reached her hand across the table to Liara, who in turn placed her own on top. Liara grinned at Shepard, relieved that her 'surprise' was actually a success despite ending up missing the surprise part of her plan.
Just as Liara was about to respond, a familiar cry drifted into the kitchen from a few rooms away. The pair checked the baby monitor and saw Elina stirring. They exchanged a glance, knowing that their daughter was now awake and ready for some attention. Their moment of peace was over for the time being.
“I'll let you finish eating. Just be careful not to let Elina see, I'm certain she'll want a slice if she sees you with it.” Liara teased, retracting her hand as she stood.
“Hah, I'm sure this cake will be gone by the time you both come back.” Shepard chuckled.
As Liara left the kitchen to see to their daughter, Shepard gazed fondly at the now half eaten cake. She felt warmth flow through her chest; love, for the family she once believed she'd never get to have; joy, at the knowledge that she now had the rest of her life to spend with them, free from the threat of the Reapers; gratitude towards her wife, whose support – not just today, but over the past several months – continued to both baffle and amaze her.
Shepard made a mental note to do something nice for Liara at an unexpected point in the future, though perhaps not cooking. Best to stick to her own strengths and making palatable food certainly wasn't one of them. Regardless, she was going to make sure Liara knew that her appreciation was reciprocated.
While Liara's surprise hadn't gone the way she'd intended, it had been successful anyway; Shepard hadn't anticipated such a lovely gift. Now it was her turn to return the favour.
As Shepard finished her cake, a grin found its way to her face as the cogs in her mind set to work.