Eugenia Rostov flopped back onto the pillows, her face red and wet.

"It's a girl," Doctor Gee said, holding up a squalling baby, all messy with white mucus.

"A girl," Ivan Rostov echoed, the delight on his face tempering a little. "That's … nice." He patted his wife's hand.

"And here comes the other one," the doctor added as Genia grunted, pushing down again.

"And? Another girl?" Ivan asked, leaning forwards.

"I don't … no, it's a boy."

Ivan sighed with relief. They'd waited a long time for this, and the thought that perhaps the family name wouldn't continue had eaten away at him a little. And what with Genia not wanting to know the sexes until the birth … He could have insisted, of course, but it seemed a comparatively small price to pay for her continued well-being. Except it had preyed on his mind.

The nurse quickly took the babies to one side, cleaning them up and making sure they were breathing okay. The sound of crying filled the room.

"Which one's that?" the new mother asked, ignoring what was still going on between her thighs.

"The little boy," the nurse said. "He certainly has a pair of lungs on him."

"And the girl?"

"She's fine. Just quieter than her brother." Wrapping them both in blankets, she carried them back to the bed. "Here you are."

"Which is the boy?" Ivan asked.

"This one."

He took his son, holding him close. "His name's Alexander. Alexander Ivan Rostov."

"That's nice. And your daughter?" the nurse asked, giving the other baby to her mother.

"Genia can name her."

"Elena," his wife said, moving the blanket to one side to look at her new child's face. "For my mother."

"And a middle name?" the nurse asked. "Her brother has one. Only fair she does too."

She was tempted to do as her husband had done, and use her own name, but only a moment's thought persuaded her that he would think it foolish. "Amelia, then. I had a friend at school by that name."

"Elena Amelia Rostov." The nurse nodded, entering the names into her pad. "I'll send the registrations through. We can take the blood tests and scans later."

Ivan carried Alex to the window, holding him up. "This is your home," he murmured. "As far as the eye can see."

Genia sighed quietly. She knew what he was thinking. He'd wanted a son, so much. She looked down at her daughter. Still, a little girl was nice. If she was pretty she could go to parties, wear nice clothes, perhaps marry well and bring even more prestige into the family … Elena opened her eyes, bright blue as all babies were, and seemed to stare at her mother. For a moment Genia thought she was reading the thoughts off the back of her mind, but she shook herself. That wasn't possible.

"They'll be wanting feeding," the nurse said. "First feed is important."

Genia nodded vaguely, still staring at her daughter, an odd uncomfortable feeling stealing over her.

"Madam Rostov?" the nurse prompted.

"What? Oh, yes." Carefully moving the little girl to one side, she opened her robe, baring a breast. Her daughter began to suckle, those disconcerting eyes closing. Still, if she kept that colour it would be quite striking …

---

Mal had given in. The combined assault of Kaylee and Bethany, with side swipes from Simon, and even the occasional dig from River, had overcome him, and he'd agreed, with a grace that surprised the majority of his crew, to visit Phoros so they could spend a week with the Fryes. Not that he was going to admit it, but it was a plan he had in fact considered himself, and was a hair's breadth away from suggesting when they started their nagging. Still, it had given them something to do.

"I love my captain!" Kaylee exclaimed, kissing his cheek even as Bethany bounced up and down, tugging on his hand.

"Okay. Enough." He tried to shake them off, attempting his stern, gruff look.

Trouble was, Freya knew his thoughts almost before he'd thought them, and she raised her eyebrows knowingly at him.

It had been fun, though. With extra time to spend everyone was a lot more relaxed, and even Kaylee admitted she didn't mind seeing her family spread out some. The Fryes, of course, fell in love with Hope immediately, adding her name into the huge family Bible kept high on the shelf in the parlour, and Simon spent an informative afternoon going through the family tree, finally beginning to figure out which of the enormous family was related to whom and how. Bethany sat with him, her little legs swinging as she read the names.

Hank finally managed to go fishing, and despite not catching a single thing enjoyed himself thoroughly. Zoe actually agreed to accompany him, and fell asleep in the warm sunshine, Ben lying next to her in the crook of her arm.

Even Jayne and River took off, going camping for two days, coming back dusty and dirty, but very happy. She teased him about a bubble bath, which for some reason made his ears blush.

Mal and Freya just spent the time together, playing with Ethan, teaching him from the portable Cortex screen they'd brought from the ship about the stars and planets, being the Reynolds.

On the fifth day, though, a thoroughly relaxed captain took a wave from a very irate ex-Companion.

"I should have come with you!" Inara complained, her face about as angry as Mal had seen it over the Cortex.

"Why? Ain't you getting on with that doctor feller?"

"He's … he's …" For a moment she couldn't find the right words, then suddenly they came. "He's worse than you!"

Mal couldn't help it. He laughed. "Now, Inara, you know full well there ain't such a thing."

"Well, I would have doubted it, but … everything he says, everything he does … do you know he wants breakfast at 5.30?"

"So?"

"And expects me to join him!"

"'Nara, you never worried about getting up that early before."

She ignored him. "And then he makes me go for a walk with him!"

"Walk. That a fact. Well, that's surely a hanging offence."

"And he hasn't even asked me once about what happened on Bellerophon."

"No?" Now Mal was surprised. "But he's been there near on a –"

"I mean, he talked to Hermione, helped her, but I've had to tell him things. He hasn't even asked." Her temper still heated the ether between them.

Mal relaxed, and gave Dr Nazir full marks for sheer deviousness. "Really. Son of a bitch."

"I've half a mind to tell him to pack up his things and go." Petulance, now.

"Could. You're paying him."

"But I'll be damned if I'm going to go through all this and not have him do his job!" She flicked a stray lock of hair back over her shoulder, and the thought occurred to Mal that she looked quite amazing when she was angry. No wonder he used to like to rile her. Before Freya, that is.

"'Nara, Frey seemed to think he was okay. She said you could trust him."

"I know, but –"

"Why don't you tell him?"

"What?"

"Tell him you're not appreciating the way he's doing things. Or have you tried?"

"No, I actually haven't – but he's a doctor! He should know how to do these things."

Mal suppressed a sigh. "Tell him. See what happens. Who knows, permaybehaps he's waiting for you to blow up a little, get a mite angry with him. Frey did pass on what you did with those plates."

Inara's head lifted. "And I haven't forgiven her for that yet."

"I'll let her know." He smiled. "'Nara, like you said, he's your doctor. Talk to him. I've a notion you'll be surprised."

Suddenly she appeared unsure. "I just … aren't these people supposed to make you feel like they're your friends?"

"Wouldn't know about that. Dr Yi and me, well, we never had the time to get onto that, but she did Frey a lot of good. Perhaps you don't have to be friends. Just respect the man."

"But he annoys me!"

"I annoy you."

"That's different."

"Does that mean you don't respect me?"

"It's different!" she insisted.

"How?"

"Well, you're not here, for a start!"

Mal laughed. "And we ain't gonna be, prob'ly not 'til it's Freya's time. So as far as I can see it, you've got yourself three choices. One, tell him to leave. Two, let him carry on his merry, and you get what you can out of it. Or you talk to him. Tell him how you feel. He ain't likely to up and hit you."

"I'd kill him if he tried."

"And it'd be right if you did." He shook his head in mock exasperation. "But you gotta admit, 'Nara, you're a difficult woman to live with."

"I'm …" Her eyebrows threatened to disappear into her hair. "Ye zhong!" she swore, and switched off the link.

Mal chuckled at the static but shook his head ruefully. Inara wasn't stupid, so he was at something of a loss as to how come she hadn't figured out what he was doing. Mind, there was always the possibility that there was something else going on here. Maybe he should have insisted on meeting this doctor properly, not just shook hands before they left. Given him the third degree, as well as Frey's more subtle questioning. He made a mental note to ask his wife for a few more details. Like if she thought Nazir was good-looking, for a start.

Be just like Inara to fall for someone she hated. Not like there wasn't precedence …

A low buzz announced another wave coming in. As he punched up the screen, he considered he sure was popular today. Then he saw the message, and decided he'd rather be ostracized.

---

Freya watched Kaylee giving Hope her bottle, her hazel eyes thoughtful as she slowly chewed a plain cracker.

"You still getting morning sickness?" Ellie Frye asked, sitting down next to her, taking a break while her husband finished doing the cooking over the great outside fire. Half a cow and he insisted on being there for every moment.

She nodded. "Nearly seven months pregnant and I'm still throwing up occasionally."

"Happened to me with Peter. All the way up to the birth, more or less."

"Thanks." Her dry tone made Ellie laugh.

"That don't mean it's gonna be the same for you." She looked across at her daughter. "Maybe adoption is the best way to go, you know," she said softly. "No stretch marks, no sickness, and no having to get up a dozen times in the night to pee."

"I think Kaylee'd still go through all that for Hope."

"I'm pretty sure you're right." She smiled. "It looks like my newest granddaughter is going to keep the blue eyes, though. And the blonde hair."

"She's pretty."

"Oh, she is."

Freya stroked the mound at her waist. "It always amazes me that babies are born with blue eyes, but most change within the first couple of months."

"Your husband hasn't. Nor Simon."

"Or Jayne, for that matter." Freya laughed. "Considering that blue eyes are a recessive gene, I'm surprised there's so many on board."

"You mean you're more likely to have brown than blue?"

"Mmn. Not that I mind. I like a man with dark hair and blue eyes."

"That why you fell for Mal?"

"Something like that."

"No, I know there was a lot more to it."

"He made me feel … human."

Ellie was surprised. "And you don't think you are?"

Freya didn't answer for a long while, just touching her belly. "Sometimes I wonder," she finally said.

The older woman put her arm around her shoulders. "Come on. I think you need to eat something. Else I'll be calling that blue-eyed husband of yours and telling him you're misbehaving."

---

"We've got to leave," Mal said, looking around the dinner table, and it was plain to see that it would be a wrench, even for him. "Got us a job."

"Anything interesting?" Eddie asked. "Or wouldn't you be able to say?"

Mal smiled. "Considering the man we've got it from, I'm not sure I'd like to."

"So where are you headed?"

"Persephone."

"Badger?" Jayne asked, spearing another roll with his knife.

"Could always say no, sir," Zoe said quietly.

"I could, but … we've done okay the last couple of months. Got some money saved." Mal shook his head slowly. "But it'll only take the same of lean times, and that'll be gone. We need to take the work when we can."

Kaylee looked at her parents. "Do we have to go right now, Cap'n?" she asked.

"Looks like it. Badger's been approached by someone wants a cargo hauled to Boros, only it has to be before the end of the month."

"Badger say why?" Zoe asked. "If it's that perishable he has access to ships of his own -"

"He wasn't any more forthcoming than what I've told. Just that we need to get to Persephone, and he'll explain it there."

"This Badger," Eddie said slowly. "I take it he ain't the most trustworthy of fellers?"

"Wouldn't deal with him unless we had to," Mal admitted.

"He's tried to gyp us more'n once," Jayne put in.

"He knows Mal gets the job done," Freya explained, wiping Ethan's fingers where he'd been playing with his food. "It … irks him."

"He likes you," Kaylee pointed out.

"I don't know why," Freya said. "It's not like I've done anything to encourage him."

"You gave him one of those wobbly headed doll things." Hank laughed. "For him, that was tantamount to declaring undying love."

Freya shuddered. "Don't," she pleaded. "That's just … horrible."

Everyone laughed.

"So do you think it'll be anything like the last one?" the pilot added, remembering what he'd been made to clean out of the cargo bay, and the smell.

"Hope not. But believe me, I intend having a quiet word with him about that," Mal promised.

"I thought they were sweet," Kaylee said, wiping Hope's chin.

"It nearly took my arm off," Simon pointed out.

"What did?" Ellie asked, putting a second slice of meat on Freya's plate, and glaring at her until she started to cut it into pieces, eating it a morsel at a time.

"Vorpal cat," Kaylee explained.

"A what?" Bill asked, looking up from where he was giving Ben some sloppy food, it being his turn.

"I looked them up. They're wild animals, and apparently they've become popular as an exotic pet." Simon sighed. "There were half a dozen of them. Just."

"Fiddler was only playing," Bethany said, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, then belatedly remembering and picking up her napkin.

They looked down at the little dog lying under the table. He twitched in his sleep.

"Short stub, think you'd better just be glad we caught the gorram thing before they got into a fight," Jayne said. "I'd'a laid money on the cat."

"I wish I'd seen it," Freya said, chewing. "Not the fight, obviously, but … Vorpal cats?"

"You were off not being with me," Mal pointed out, taking her free hand. "That's what happens when you shirk your wifely responsibilities."

She swallowed and stuck her tongue out at him.

He raised his eyebrows. "The wind'll change and you'll stay like that."

"What, all beautiful and amazing?" she teased.

"Absolutely." He leaned forward and kissed her.

"Not at the dinner table," Ellie ordered, and everyone laughed.

"So we're taking Badger's job this time, Cap'n?" Kaylee asked.

"Don't know. But if it's something we don't like, there's sure to be other work we can get."