Confusion with a 'K'
Chapter Three
She was still soaring at three o'clock that morning, wrapped up in a blanket next to her mother on the couch. She had never fallen asleep, but rather had rewound and replayed every moment of their night together over and over behind her eyes. When she crept out of her room for a midnight snack, she had found her mother waiting on the sofa for her with a small bowl of freshly washed strawberries and a smile. She felt like a little girl again, and curled up next to the older woman without hesitation.
"Tell me about this boy." The strawberries were gone now, and the two women lay curled together, sleep in their eyes and love in their hearts. Kaylee's for Simon, and Mrs. Frye's for her Kaylee. Finally, there was love, real love, for her daughter.
"He's wonderful, Mamma," Kaylee gushed. "He's smart 'n funny 'n nice…he's a doctor!" Her mother giggled at the emphasis.
"I know it, sweetie. I was there all night too, remember? Tell me somethin' else. Somethin' I couldn't figger out just by spendin' five minutes with him."
"Well, he…sometimes, he…" Her brow furrowed, and she harrumphed in the darkness. "I don't know, Mamma. It's late. I'm tired." But her mother did not let it drop.
"How long've you known this boy exactly, Kaylee?" Her daughter shrugged sheepishly.
"Little while."
"But not long enough to know anything important about him, I gather."
"I know plenty about him." Mrs. Frye put a finger under her daughter's chin, tilting her face up and giving her a long look that only mothers have perfected, and that only mothers ever will perfect. It was a look more loving than any that Inara could produce, and more withering than Mal's very best. It was all in the eyes somehow, Kaylee was sure, but more than that she would not know until she was a mother herself.
"Do you think maybe you're jumping a little too quickly again, my sweet Kaywinnit? Like you did with Bester? Or like you did with Mal?"
At that, Kaylee pulled her face away from her mother's hands. "I wasn't nothin' but a girl with Bester. I was a stupid little girl, didn't know nothin'."
"And with Mal?"
"That was just a crush, Mamma. I only had a crush on Mal, and besides, followin' him onto Serenity was the best decision I ever made in my whole life. Up til then, it was the only decision I ever made in my whole life. It grew me up, Mamma. I think Simon's gonna grow me up, too." Her mother's eyes widened, but she took her daughter's words to heart.
"You know how easy you get hurt, darlin'. That's all I'm sayin'. You might be a grown woman now, but even grown women still need Mammas. And yours is just tellin' you to be careful, that's all. To think a little bit about this with your head before you turn it over completely to your heart."
Kaylee nodded, eyes down. She had heard this all before, but this time it was different. Simon might come with a lot of baggage, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She knew that for sure. Maybe she didn't know him full well, but she would get to know him. People got to know each other all the time and things worked out just fine. Things would work out just fine. She thought all this, but said nothing. She didn't need to.
Kaylee was on the verge of going back to bed when they heard a shout from the room Simon was supposed to have been sleeping in. "Tzao-gao!"
"Simon?" she called, jumping up and racing to his door. "Simon, what's going on?"
"I've just had a call from Inara. River's having some sort of attack, falling down and convulsing, unable to speak…I have to go. I have to go now."
"Should I come too?"
Simon's eyes, which until then had been darting around the room at top speeds as he gathered together the few belongings he'd brought with him, finally focused on Kaylee's face. "Kaylee. Oh, Kaylee, no. You should stay here, with your mom. I'm sorry I woke you up at all. Just go back to bed, and have a nice breakfast with her in the morning. I'll see you back on the ship afterward." On the ship. No at home.
"But Simon…with everythin' that happened tonight, I really think I should be with you. It's kinda my place now, right? To be with you when stuff like this happens?"
"Stuff like this," he repeated with a dry laugh, and the heavy sadness in his voice frightened her. He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes before replying. "Wuh de tyen, ah, Kaylee, my whole life is 'stuff like this.' Always. And I don't want to drag you into it."
"Simon, you're not draggin' me anywhere!"
"Kaylee, please. I just…I told you this was too much. I can't. I just can't. I need to be with River."
"But I can too, Simon, just—"
"No!" Pulling a shirt he'd discarded on the floor over his head, Simon zipped up his small bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kaylee. I really am sorry to do this to you, you have to believe me, but it's not right. For River."
"Is it right for you?" she asked softly, and he averted his eyes.
"It's not," he responded, and she wasn't convinced as he brushed by her into the living room, which was now suspiciously void of her mother. "I'm sorry. Just…just forget about tonight, okay? It was wrong of me to come, and I hope you can forgive me. I'll see you back on Serenity. Thank your mother for me." And with that, he was out the front door of her childhood home without a backward glance, and she was once more without him.
AN: That's it, ladies and gentlemen! By all means, let me know what you thought! (: