[Book Four] Epilogue: Chapter 57: Epilogue

Chapter 57: Epilogue

He wasn't surprised when he found himself standing in front of very big and very golden gates. Nor was he when he was able to pass them without problem. He knew he was dead. For good this time. He didn’t feel sad or at least not much. He was finally at rest and that was more than good enough for him.
Not knowing where to go, he thought about Analysse. Immediately the scenery changed and he found himself in front of a tiki bar on a beach. The latin music made him raise a brow in curiosity and after a moment of thinking walked forward into the small wooden edifice. Inside, he was surprised for the first time in his afterlife. Legion was behind the counter, wearing a straw hat and a fake mustache just under his head lamp while shaking a shaker. On a stool was a familiar Salarian, sipping his drink through a straw while wearing what looked like a Hawaiian shirt.

“Legion, Mordin, good to see you again.”
“Welcome to afterlife, Rick.”
“Yes, indeed. Want a drink?”
“Yeah, sure, why not? Piñacoloda? Can you do that?”
“Of course, I’ve been making drinks for a hundred years. It’s a simple task.” the geth replied and began making the drink.
“You sound more… organic?”
“I made many organic friends and learned a lot from them.”
“I’m happy to hear that. Mordin? Testing all day, I presume?”
“Noooo. Every other day only. Day off reserved for other hobbies.”
“Such as?”
“Conversation for another time. Family waiting for you.” replied the Salarian and pointed with his head a table on the side with three people sitting at it.

Taking his drink and thanking Legion for it, Rick made his way to the table where Analysse stood up. He put down his drink and embraced her fiercely to which she answered back with the same intensity. He inhaled her scent deeply, remembering her fragrance he had forgotten as the years had passed. When he had his fill he pulled back and kissed her hotly with everything he had. Again she answered in kind. His hands instinctively reached firmly for her butt and in answer she jumped him, locking her legs around his waist. As the kiss began to be fiercer, they were interrupted by a throat being cleared.

“Jon! They haven’t seen each other in a century! Let them get reacquainted.”
“They could use a room for that.”

Recognizing his mother’s voice, Rick broke up the kiss and looked annoyed at his first wife who was amused more than anything. Sighing in surrender, he let her down. Immediately, Hannah was on him to get her own hug.

“Missed you, mom. Everyone did.”

As they separated, Hannah moved aside to let John introduce himself. Unfortunately for him, Rick’s fist was faster in the introduction department. His father ended up on his ass with a sore jaw.

“That’s for leaving Kahlee all alone. We were lucky to meet.” said Rick as he extended his hand to pick up his father. “How was it? As good as you?” he added, looking at his mother.
“I headbutted him and broke his nose.” the blonde woman replied with a proud and amused smile, her nose a bit up in the air.
“... Can’t say I don’t deserve it.” admitted Grissom, rubbing his jaw.

Everyone sat down at the table and Rick was the first to talk.

“Why are we here? I mean a tiki bar?”
“You’re the one that advised Legion to welcome everyone like that and he took a liking to the pacific isles’ culture.” answered Analysse.
“So what happened? You’re here early.” inquired Hannah.
“Well… Remember that time where I kept dying and being brought back?”
““You what?!””
“The nanobots in my body kept bringing me back to life each time I was killed. Anyway, that took a toll on my body and I simply died of old age a few decades earlier.”
“How is Kahlee?” Jon asked.
“Nothing new, still retired and living happily with Anderson.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“I refused to tell him anything and he never looked.” Hannah explained.
“I didn’t want to spy on my daughter.”
“I understand. It would have driven me mad in your place.” admitted Rick.
“Exactly!”
“Well… She… worked for me as the headmistress of my academy for sixty six years.”
“You opened a school?”
“Oh, yeah. A school for the most brilliant minds or hardworking students from all across the galaxies. She’s loved by almost all her students and is a great Aunt.”
“The two of you are getting along then?”
“Oh, yes.”
“What about your family?” Analysse inquired.
“Our family. You made me do this, remember?”
“Fine! Semantics! Our family.” she corrected herself and rolled her eyes to the sky.
“After the war against the Ketts… You know about that or do I need…”
““We know.””
“The dead speak. That’s the only way we can get news here without looking down. Although since our family has been very private we don’t hear much about what’s happening in the living world.” his mother explained.
“I see… So… Arianna, that’s my eldest, she finally took the head of the science department of our company.”
“Wait, I thought you opened a school.” interrupted his father, confused.
“With all the money I made with my tech before and during the war. I created a tech company, then created my school then snatched the best students making even more money and went from tech to pretty much everything.” Rick explained and continued his tale as his father nodded in understanding. “Arianna took my place when her kids were old enough to go to school. She didn’t want to at first but Sandra, that’s my third kid, convinced her. Apparently, making her own hours, reading projects and pretty much doing whatever she wanted was appealing. She’s almost a perfect copy of mom and Jane, the exception being the eyes. She had mine or ours, I suppose. She’s even smarter than I am and a true daddy’s girl! She married Sara Ryder…”
“Ryder? Any relation to…” his father asked.
“Yeah, Alec’s girl.”
“Isn’t she your age?”
“There was a private initiative to go to Andromeda in 2185, before mine. Sara had been in stasis for decades before we woke her up. Arianna was already older than her by a couple years.”
“I see.”
“Gave birth to two children. A girl named Hannah and a boy named Alec.”
“And she’s just like me!” Hannah said proudly. “From the looks to the personality!”
“Unfortunately.” Rick mumbled but was heard by his mother and got kicked under the table for it. “Arianna took after me the most in personality, though she’s kinder and doesn’t have that vindictive trait I have nor the cunning. She has a thirst for discovery but is not that wild. Though sometimes she can be impulsive.”
“If she didn’t look like a Shepard I’d have thought that she was Alec’s and Sara was yours.”
“How so?” inquired Analysse at Hannah’s comment.
“Arianna is almost always calm and collected except when she’s very interested in something.”
“Like her father. I don’t see…”
“I changed a bit after going back. I stopped holding myself back and went very wild. Sara is like that too. The few times we hung out together was… chaotic to say the least.”
“I want to hear more about that later.”
“Sure. Anyway, my next child is Adam, that’s my first son and the second eldest, graduated from the Academy early with high marks. Got recommended by Anderson for the underwing program. That’s… a program that puts promising graduates with high potential in leadership under the tutelage of a confirmed officer to learn the trade and not just be thrown to the wolves.” he quickly explained as he saw that his father was going to ask. “It’s a new thing that I proposed to Anderson and Hackett when I created the military division of the academy.”
“It’s really successful.” commented Hannah.
“Yeah. Anyway, a year later  he got a medal for bravery and was invited to join N school. He was eighteen! Finished it under a year, best of his class and made top ten percentile in N7 history. Well, at the time. I don’t know about it now.”

Hearing his grandson’s achievement, Jon whistled, clearly impressed.

“Became humanity’s eighth spectre in his late twenties and climbed up the ranks. Right now he’s waiting for his mother to kick the bucket to replace her as Fleet Admiral.”
“She’s still enlisted?!” Analysse interrupted in astonishment.
“One hundred and thirty and still going strong. She said she would retire from service only when she’s dead.”
“I’m sorry, who…” Jon began to ask.
“Ashley Williams, my second wife.”
“Williams… As in…”
“She’s his granddaughter.”
“Good. Honestly, Archibald didn’t deserve the shit he got for Shanxi and blocking the rising in ranks of his whole family…”
“And now the Williams are the most well regarded and decorated family only second to the Shepard. Anyway, Adam is well… used to be a very talkative child but grew out of it. He’s… very protective of his siblings, especially Arianna and Sandra since they’re roughly the same age. He’s best friends with Sandra actually. She always got into trouble and he was always there to pull her out of it. Almost a hundred years later and it’s still their routine. He married Sandra’s best girlfriend and had four daughters. He’s more or less… well.. The one holding the family together now since I’ve left active life. JJ that’s my second son with Ash and fourth child. His name is James Jeff but JJ is shorter. He’s the best mechanic on Ryder, that’s the first colony world we colonized in Andromeda. He has two sons, to his brothers' eternal jealousy.” he declared with an amused smirk.
“How so?”
“Apparently Ash’s maternal side of the family only gives birth to girls. She has three sisters who all gave birth to girls. Ash only gave birth to boys because I’m that awesome and out of our four sons. Only JJ had boys, all the others had girls.”
“That did wonders for his self esteem.” commented Hannah.
“What do you mean?” inquired Analysse.
“JJ… Adam casted a large shadow with his achievements and JJ never was much of a fighter. Too soft for that, so he always felt less since he wasn’t perpetuating the military tradition of the Williams family. Even more so when his younger brothers all did well military wise. He got over it with time but he always felt like an ugly little duck.”
“I can see why having two sons helped him. He succeeded in something his brothers didn’t and wished they had.” Said Jon in understanding.
“Timothy Kaidan and Andrew Jace, respectively TK and AJ are twins and my fifth and sixth kids…”
“You have a lot of children.” his father commented.
“I had a lot of wives. I’m only halfway done.”
“Goodness.”
“Blame mom, she wanted ten grandchildren.”
“Guilty as charged.” replied the woman with an unrepenting grin.
“TK and AJ didn’t enlist but opened a security firm. They’re not the best but one of them and are known for their reliability, honesty and good prices. These two are inseparable and do everything together. They married twin sisters and got three sets of twin daughters.”
“Now I know you’re kidding me.” Analysse said.
“Oh, no. It’s true.” confirmed Hannah.
“Poor them.” commented Jon.
“Oh, you have no idea! They felt so overwhelmed by all the women in their family that they packed their bags and ran away for a short vacation. They got chased by their wives, all the adult Williams women. Their grandmother, their mother, their aunts, and their cousins.”
“I’ll never forget that. They dragged them back in chains. Their wives were more than pissed.”
“Yeah. Thankfully they smoothed things over by talking because they weren’t far from a divorce. When their wives learned that they just wanted time for themselves for once instead of always doing what the girls wanted, things went much better. Every year now, they either have their own vacation week or the whole family does something they want to do.”
“They’re fortunate to have understanding wives. Mine wasn’t.” Jon said with a grunt.
“Kahlee did say that her mother was a bit shallow.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“Anyway, to be fair, it was thoughtless of their wives and daughters to never care about what they wanted to do and took the situation for granted. That they did what they did wasn’t surprising. In my opinion, they deserved better than one week or one vacation for them a year. Heck, they’re brought most of the income home, they should have been the ones making the decisions.
“That sounds a bit sexist. Coming from you it’s… weird.” Analysse commented.
“He’s right though.” Hannad supported. “Their wives are no gold diggers and no tyrants, but the boys let them be in charge of everything and they got too used to it. They became too complacent.”
“They loved them more than enough to self-reflect but what resulted from it is not enough in my opinion. Should my sons decide to part ways, their wifes would get decent money but would never live in the luxury they are used to and be cut off from the rest of the family. I’m pretty sure Sandra would bury them though.”
“That she would. Nobody messed with her siblings. I’m sure my granddaughters in law knew.”
“They’re not that bad. We got worse in the family. Remember JJ’s husband?”
“No, they’re not. But it definitely played a bit. And yes, I remember that asshole. Glad my grandson got out of this relationship.”
“Probably. My granddaughters however did way better than their mothers. TK and AJ are really good dads and the girls felt guilty from the way they treated them unconsciously though to be fair they were a bit too spoiled. Not rotten, just a bit too much…  Ever since the incident they made sure that at least one of them spent an evening or a weekend with their dad. It’s been going on for nearly forty years even with their own children and they never missed it once.”
“I thought JJ …” began Analysse.
“He remarried. His first husband was a chief in a restaurant and sometimes JJ helped. He didn’t want children and at the time JJ didn’t either until he changed his mind and they began to fight. The fact that Chuck was more interested in his restaurant than his marriage pushed JJ to divorce him.”
“I always thought that Chuck cheated on him.” said Hannah.
“He didn’t, didn’t have the time for that.”
“You had him checked.” the redhead stated.
“Of course I did. So did Sandra. Anyway a year later a short little thing of a woman about ten years younger, came to JJ’s shop for some repairs on her skycar. He invited her to dinner, she accepted and they went back to his flat. She never left and six months later they married. They’re still happy as can be and I never heard or saw them fight.”
“Six months?“ said Jon in surprise and a bit doubtful.
“We thought she was after his money or family name at first but she was clean. She signed the prenup without even looking at it.”
“Guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.” Analysse quipped with a knowing smile.
“Yep. It’s the only thing he got from me though. Anyway JJ got a wonderful wife that everybody loves, and gave me two grandsons.”
“A drastic but welcome change from Chuck. He was arrogant, condescending and boastful. Not even that good at his job.”
“Come on mom, he made good pasta dishes.”
“And that was it.”
“... Yeah, true.”
“I’m still surprised you or Sandra or both did nothing to him.”
“Who said we didn’t?” replied Rick with a knowing smirk.
“““What did you do?”””
“Sandra and I covertly bought all the food distributors he was buying from and year after year the prices rose which in turn made him rise his. Ten years later, since his food wasn’t that good for the amount he was selling it he had to close his restaurant.”
“Revenge is a dish best served cold… you and that girl. Really.” Hannah said, shaking her head with an amused smile.
“A bit harsh don’t you think?” his father asked.
“Not really. He had ten years to improve his cooking and counterbalance his expenses.“ pointed out Analysse. “You would have left him alone, if he had.” she stated more than asking her husband.
“I would have. To be honest I forgot about him until Sandra reminded me.”
“I swear that girl has no mercy.” commented Hannah.
“She got that from you.”
“You’re not better!”
“I do know when to be merciful.”
“Only because you forget!”
“Guilty as charged. Anyway, enough about that. Next is my little princess or my sweet potato. Leeha, that’s my third daughter, finally met a nice quarian after…”
“A…” Before Jon could finish his question Hannah hit him in the rib with her elbow and he quieted down.
“She finally got over her huge father complex and had two children, a boy and a girl. She… Wait a second, I’ll grab another drink, does anyone want anything?”
“A scotch for your father and a single malt for me.”
“A beer for me, darling.”
“On it.”

As he left the table for the bar, Hannah quickly explained the situation with Leeha.

“She’s his adopted daughter. His best friend turned wife is a quarian. The father was a deadbeat cheating asshole and Rick welcomed her, despite being heavily pregnant. Raised her as his own and he’s very protective of her so don’t speak of their lack of blood relation or that she’s an alien, he hates it.”
“Understood.” said Jon.
“I’m serious, Jon. He loves her so much that when he had trouble with his memory he believed that she was his after finding a way for quarian and human to procreate." Hannah insisted.
“Wow.” exclaimed Analysse.
“Here are your drinks.” Rick said as he came back and put three glasses and a big pint on the table then sat down. “Leeha is the head of the ship division, just under Arianna. Every ship model produced by the company? She had a hand in it. She’s the sweetest thing you’d ever meet. The kindest and nicest of all my children though just like her mother she has a shotgun and knows how to use it very well. Next is Matthew of course, my eighth kid and last son. A true mommy’s boy that one but with my look or rather, yours. Ours? Doesn’t matter. Just like Adam he graduated early from the academy and got immediately snatched by Helena for N-school.”
“Helena?” inquired Adam
“Helena Müller, Hackett’s niece. She’s the one recruiting potentials.” explained Hannah.
“Again like Adam, he graduated N7 within a year. Got ranked third in all history of N7 with his scores and that was after they changed the tests.”
“Why did they do that?” Jon asked. After all, the N6 test was the hardest test in the whole Alliance navy.
“Because your son completely demolished the test.” replied Hannah with a proud and knowing smile.
“You went to N- school?!”
“Not exactly. After everything I did during the war, Helena wanted to see what I was made off and test my limits. I did well and some changes were made.
“Well? You did well? What he doesn’t tell you is that he completely exceeded all the theoretical tests. They couldn’t even grade him! The biotics part? He corrected the tests from errors to misconceptions and even taught the teacher! N7 made a huge leap forward in that aspect. The worst was the survival test.”
“What happened?” asked Analysse, very interested in hearing more about how great her husband was.
“They were left in a hostile jungle with only a knife and a bottle of water. He made a house in the trees, with a makeshift elevator and fully furnished, planted vegetables, and tamed two predators the size of a wolf. The last contestant had given up nearly a week prior and Rick was in total radio silence so they had to get him. Except he didn’t want to leave because he was having the time of his life! They had to sedate him and take him away!”

That revelation made Analysse laugh hard while Jon spit the content of the glass he was drinking, completely dumbfounded at what he heard. Every single soldier that went through the N6 survival test ended up in a pitiful state. To hear that his son was basically on vacation the whole time was something he couldn’t fathom.

“He nearly failed though, barely got the passing mark in driving.”
“Oh my god! You almost failed because you suck at driving?! This is hilarious!” Shouted Analysse as she laughed even more.
“Ha, ha. I’ll have you know I never had any accident while driving. Anyway, Matthew went through the test pretty much the same way, except it was in a tundra environment. He built an igloo and spent his time fishing. Once N7, he climbed up the rank normally and when Anderson retired with Kahlee, took the job as the overseer of the human students in the military department. He married Ashley’s niece and had four daughters.”
“My ninth child and fourth daughter is Siobhan. I had her with my other best friend, Dorothea. She’s a well known artist. A painter mostly but does other forms of art, like sculpting. She’s living on Eden Prime with her sister and has two children. My tenth is Analysse.” he said with a smirk.
“Shut up! She named her after me?” his wife said as she hit his upper arm.
“Who?” asked Jon.
“My little sister.”
“You had a child with your sister in law?” inquired the old hero with a raised brow.
“I asked him to. Besides, she and her wife needed a good dick in their life without any complications and Rick fitted the bill.”
“The fact that Miranda, that’s Analysse’s little sister’s wife, had already asked me to father Sandra nearly a decade prior helped.
“... Your family is.. Complex.”
“Don’t worry it’s almost over.” he said to his father with a smirk and turned towards his wife. “I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that your namesake looks a lot like you. A bit less curvy and with your sister’s eyes but the resemblance is so uncanny that the old people of Eden Prime thought she was you at first. That gave credit to Jennifer being your sister. As for what the both are doing… Jennifer opened a pub after retiring from her biotic instructor job at the academy, and she named it the Andersson’s Glory. It’s very popular and Analysse managed it for decades. She lived on the flat above it with Siobhan since they’ve been together since their teens and often visited her mothers. They live in our rebuilt home. Miranda expanded the garden a lot and made it magnificent. Versailles had nothing on it except the size.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Lastly, my eleventh and last child is Aezzia. And she’s…”
“Wild doesn’t even begin to describe that girl.” Hannah said with a tired sigh.
“She’s always hyper and very curious. She has a knack for finding, attracting and creating trouble. A real explorer, this one. From what I remember she’s on Omega with mom.” Rick added.
“What about... Sandra? It’s Sandra right?” his father asked.
“She’s the most powerful woman in both Andromeda and the Milky Way. She succeeded me as the Co-CEO of the company at… Twenty eight? Yes, I think it’s twenty eight. She’s better at the job than I was. Heck, our rivals secretly wanted me back in charge because I was kind compared to her and I completely bankrupted every single company in the energy and eezo business. Despite being the Co-CEO, Leeha being the other, she’s totally in charge since her sisters are not interested in the responsibilities of the post. She has three daughters that are as sharp as she is. Her eldest looks a lot like Kahlee. I’m very proud of her just like all the others.”
“What about you?” Jon inquired.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. I certainly wasn’t asking your mother or my daughter in law. You spoke of your children but what about your wifes?”
“You know this one already, I presume?” he said as he took her hand in his and smiled brightly at her.
“Of course.”
“Your mom introduced us when she arrived.” his wife replied.
“Once I found Jon, I went to search for my first daughter in law. I wanted to know the woman you never stopped loving even after a hundred years and from whom you took orders despite being in the afterlife.” his mother teased. “Good choice.”
“Thank you.”  smiled the ravenette.
“All my wives are good choices.”
“Speaking of wives…” said Jon, trying and succeeding in bringing the topic back on track.
“Technically, I’m only married to two. The second one is Ashley,”
“My best friend.”
“Despite my best effort, knowing I wouldn’t be monogamous and that I would always be in love with this one…” he started and pointed to Analysse with his head. “She didn’t care and stayed. Since her family is deeply religious and because her mother wouldn’t have liked it if she had children but not married and because after supporting me through… Well… she deserved it and more. My third wife, though technically my bondmate, is Liara T’Soni. She’s an archeologist and has been the shadow broker since 2185 when we killed the previous one.”

At that, Jon whistled, impressed.

“Since she was only a hundred and six when we…”
“A hundred and six?!”
“She’s an asari.”
“Oh! I see.”
“I chose to promote her from archeologist teacher to headmistress of the academy when Kahlee retired. She absolutely loves the job and I know the academy will be in good hands for a long while. She’s also the foremost expert on protheans.”
“That reminds me, I met Jaavik a while ago. He was happy to be back among his people and said that once you get here they’d give you the greatest warrior party ever, whatever it means.” Hannah interrupted.
“Must be a fighting tournament or something like that. Why the invite though?”
“As I told you the last time you were here. You’re really popular with the species reaped by the Reapers. Jane too.”
“True, for some reason though, the protheans like you more.”
“Wonder why… Anyway, Liara is Aezzia’s mom. Next come the others. There is Jane of course…” he said and stopped looking at his father.
“What?”
“Nothing to say about that?”
“No, why?”
“Kahlee had a hard time at first with that knowledge and said it was a bit because you raised her like that. You wouldn’t have approved.”
“Honestly? I wouldn’t have but that was before you were even born. When I learned that you had disappeared… I just… wanted you to be safe and happy no matter what. I don’t think it would have bothered me or at least not enough that I wouldn’t have gotten over it had we met. Besides, gene therapy has been perfected so, honestly, it’s inconsequential.”
“... I wonder if she’d recognize you, you seem so laid back.”
“Death does that to you.” Jon smiled. “But keep on, what about the others?”
“There is Tali, my best friend. She’s a Quarian. She used to be just as shy and kind as Leeha though since she was raised among the flotilla and her father was an admiral she toned down the kindness a lot and became a real hardass. Especially with me. She has a dominant streak you wouldn't believe. She’s a tech genius and most of the time my partner in crime when I get an idea. She usually gives life to it. I created my company with her and she was the Co-CEO. We met in 83 when we were chasing Saren during her pilgrimage. In two years she became one of the five Admiral of the flotilla and one of the greatest heroes of her people. She’s absolutely loved by the geths.”
“I can confirm!” yelled Legion from behind the counter.
“How do you know?” Rick asked, turning around.
“Plenty of geths arrive here. Mostly to meet with and thank me for my deeds.”
“And they should!” Rick replied and turned back to his family. “Legion…”
“Gave the geths their sentience, I was told.” his dad said.
“Alright! Next is… or rather are… or is… It's a bit complicated.”
“Why? Does she have a split personality disorder or are they siamese sisters?” the bolder blond man asked.
“More of the former. EDI is… she’s an AI that I freed.”
“A what now?!”
“When Jane was resurrected by Cerberus… You know about...”
“He does. I filled him in up to our victory against the reapers about the things in general.” Hannah cut in.
“Well... The alliance, despite the council laws, worked on an advance VI that evolved to be an AI. That was on the moon. Idiots that they were, they tried to shut it down and since it was more or less newly born and scared shitless, it defended itself, lethally. Hackett sent Jane and our team to deal with it and while we succeeded in deactivating it, Cerberus got their hands on its code and created EDI and put her on the Normandy SR-2. After talking to her a lot and teaching her about organics in general I freed her from the shackles Cerberus put on her.”
“Why did you do that? That was dangerous.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t care. She was sentient and that all mattered to me. No one should live their lives in chains just because they are dangerous. Regardless of my reasons, it turned out to be the third best decision I’ve ever made. Along the line, to understand organics better and help in the war effort, she created a human body to download herself into, Dorothea, while at the same time still being in her synthetic body. When I got stuck in a wheelchair on the Citadel, Dorothea stayed with me, unconnected to EDI; she experienced things that EDI did not. Especially since after our victory against the Reapers she was stuck out of EDI’s reach for a year. In the end, while still the same entity they are also different. EDI chose to become my children and grandchildren's nanny and also works as one of the two best mathematicians in the company. She’s also a very popular Dungeons and Dragons Game Master and at last but not least the Game Master of the VR video game I created. Dorothea on the other hand is Siohban’s mother, a former lingerie model and when she wasn’t part of our music band, was a researcher in the company on whatever she took a fancy too.”
“... Multiple wives, from all horizons, a dozen children.. You had a very eventful life.” his father commented.
“Oh, it’s not over. The girls were not the only women in his life and there were more children.”
“Mom!”
“What?!” It’s true.”
“Jennifer and Miranda are different, they were married to each other.”
“So? They still invited you to their beds when they or you visited and you are their daughters’ biological father.”
“That wasn’t… Miranda has a… condition.”
“Riiight.”
“Oh, I want to know about that.” grinned Analysse.
“In private. Miranda is very private and embarrassed about it.”
“About being a slut?”
“Mom! You know perfectly well that…”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just joking.”
“Okayyy. That aside, what other children?” Jon spoked.
“Er…” Rick hesitated not wanting to talk about his three daughters with Sandra. At least not to his father. Analysse would be told later in private.
“Your nieces from Abby and Sarah are not just your nieces.”
“You’re kidding right?” replied Rick, unbelieving.
“You slept with your sisters in law?!” exclaimed Jon in surprise.
“Nothing knew since he did it with my little sister but I’m curious about Ashley’s.”
“To be fair, Ashley pimped him out though only to her sisters. Abby was divorced and Sara a widow. Both were single.” Hannah defended her son.
“That doesn’t mean Maria and Angelina are mine.” Rick began but was immediately interrupted.
“No but the DNA tests do.”
“What DN… You tested them?!”
“I had a feeling. I was right.”
“Wh.. Why didn’t they say anything? Why didn’t you? Who else knew?”
“Ashley and Lyn knew. Not their mother, she would have killed you. As for why they didn’t say anything was because… They felt guilty to have done it without your consent but they knew you would have refused them so went with it anyway.”
“And Ash knew and never told me? I can’t believe it! I can’t believe her! What the hell?!”
“She was not happy with them but to avoid any troubles for our family, kept quiet. And she knew you wouldn’t have been happy with the news. Just like you are now. I agreed.”
“I’m so going to have words with them when they get here.”
“I have no problem with her sisters but Ashley is mine first.” Analysse said.
“Why?”
“Because I waited more than a hundred years to get my hands on Ash, because ladies first and because I’m asking you?”
“ … I hate it when you ask me things. Can’t ever say no.”

Analysse simply smiled victoriously and kissed him on the lips. Jon cleared his throat and asked about Rick himself.

“Well, I became the richest man in both galaxy and technically the most powerful politician but didn’t care one bit about the latter so after the war with the Ketts I began a musical career with Jane and some friends. We went at it for thirty years before I retired.”
“... That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Riiiight. There is so much to tell that we’d be here for days.” said Hannah.
“Oh? Can I have a preview?”
“Now that he’s here I can tell you all of it later but to give you an idea: The female leader of all the krogans sent him multiple breeding requests.” she replied to Jon with a laugh. Back at the Counter, Mordin had an amused smirk on his lips.
“Mom!”
““What!?””
“Oh, I’ve got to hear this!” Analysse exclaimed.
“His friend, Urdnot…”
“Mom! St…” Rick tried to protest but Analysse grabbed his head and pulled it down her cleavage as a distraction. That was the right thing to do apparently because he immediately grabbed her breasts and stopped any complaint. “Wrex, leader of the krogans, had a daughter named Mordin. She grew up hearing the stories of the Normandy and its crew and she was fascinated with Rick’s tale. You see, the krogans see him as one of the greatest warriors to have ever lived along with Jane. Even more so our son because he rode Kalros, the mother of all thresher maw, who’s about the size of a sandworm in dune, something no krogan ever did, and punched a Reaper to the face. The requests came the very day after Rick made a tank fly for five hours, made it land right in the middle of Ketts forces and proceeded to wipe them all out. A month before I died she was still sending requests.”

Jon had his jaw hanging so low that it was almost touching the table, completely baffled by the tale, while Analysse was laughing.

“There is one thing I’d like to know,” said Rick as he turned towards his wife after escaping her seductive and huge tracts of land. “Where is Samara?”
“Apparently, she’s currently the head of the scientific department of your company.” Analysse answered with a smug grin.
“She’s… but…”
“Children, very young children have the privilege of reincarnation. You won’t see any children or babies up here or rarely. Parents get to choose where and to whom, if they are interested in the first place, their children are sent to. Otherwise it’s random.”
“And you… Sent her to Jane? To me?”
“Of course. I got to know Jane very well after all. So when she went back I… changed my mind about keeping Samara with me and chose her to be her new mother. At the very first opportunity I asked Samara to be sent to Jane and indirectly to you. I knew she’d be alright and happy with her aunt and dad.”
“That’s… Such an irresponsible plan, there was no way for you to know that Jane and I…”
“I had a feeling.”
“... And they call me insane.”

Afterwards the small group separated. Rick was tired of talking and wanted to spend his time with Analysse. With the promise to meet soon. Rick took his wife by the hand, said goodbye to his parents and friends and they went for a walk on the beach. The knowledge that he had actually raised his very first child vanished the guilt that he had been carrying for most his life. Without this burden, for the first time he felt at peace.

____________________________________________________________

That’s it? It ends like this? What about the war against the Ketts? It dragged for so long only to be dealt like that in the previous penultimate chapter? What about the music bands and the VR Game? What about the new inventions he came up with that were never extended upon?

[Author’s note: Nobody cares about the war or the Ketts. And as you said, it was dragging.]

Why talk about it then? Why not stop the story at the end of the third book? Wasn’t it the whole point of the fourth?

[Author’s note: Because his life didn’t stop at the third book. I have to say I’m impressed he had such a life after the Reaper War. Sadly, after his declaration of ownership as I like to call it, nothing really exciting happened to him during the rest of his life and I couldn’t stop the story at that particular point.]

That’s a bit…

[Author’s note: Shh! He’s coming back. You know what to do.]

Yes, you’re not there and don’t exist meanwhile I’m this powerful deity that sends him to different worlds to earn good Karma. I’ve been doing this for a while already, no need to remind me. Which world should I send him to?

[Author’s note: I don’t know, give him a choice.]

A white portal opened in front of the narrator. Out of it came Rick Wald. The gods’ pawn. As the narrator took the form of a golden mist and the sound of a female voice, they spoke.

“Good to see you back. How was it?”
“Not the best world I’ve been in, but far from the worst. Upper tier I’d say. Did I earn a lot of good Karma?” answered Rick.
“You did. You didn’t break your record but it was the third highest amount you earn.”
“I guess that’s good.”
“It is. Are you ready for your next world?”
“Which one is it this time?” asked Rick, clearly fed up. Something that the narrator ignored if they even noticed.
“This time you have a choice.”

The End

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