"Zoe?"
Zoe looked up to see Mal across the galley, his little boy on his hip. She told herself she was going to have to get used to his dopplegangers. Never did she think he'd have some of his own. "Good morning, Sir."
Mal adjusted his hold on Will as he studied his old friend. "You look beat, Emma keep you up?"
His first mate gazed down at her baby, who was dozing lightly on her shoulder. "Yeah, still teething." Walking towards her bunk, she stopped next to him.
"Bubba," Mal prompted his littlest "you say good morning to your Aunt Zoe?"
"Mornin, Aunt Zoe'." Will squeaked, eyeing the baby. "She my cousin?"
"Certainly."
"Aunt now, Sir?" The first mate asked with the slightest tinge of a bemused smile.
"I'm her uncle. Only fair." The Captain explained with a lopsided grin. It tickled him, they thought that they both had babes. "River's up in the helm, we'll be touching down soon. Since Simon's coming with me, why don't you take the time off and catch up on some sleep? Inara's taking the boys out, Kaylee can handle Emma and Jayne."
"Sounds good."
"We just gotta figure out what to do with our prisoner."
She watched as he hoisted Will up and adjusted him so that he held the boy to his chest. The little head rested on his shoulder, and the child wrapped his arms around his father's neck. Zoe took that beat to mull it over, pursing her lips in hesitation. "I think we should keep her, Sir. Till the job's done. We need a pilot with chops, be dangerous to go into this job without one."
Mal looked at her skeptically. "You sure we can trust her?"
"Like you, war ended long ago for her." She explained. "I think we can trust her."
"And if we can't?"
"We're both holding our children, Sir?" She implied.
It caught Mal off-guard, that the two of them were going to have to be more careful about talking about killing folk now that they had little ears aboard Serenity. He looked at Will, who was looking back at him curiously, oblivious to the fact that he and just implied they dispose of Emerson if she proved untrustworthy. "Ah… well." He cleaned his throat and patted the little one's back. "Yes we'll uh… discuss that when we cross that particular bridge?"
"Good thinking, Sir." She nodded, stifling back a yawn. "I think I'm gonna go try to lay down."
"You do that." He smiled down at his little boy. "We gotta go fetch Big Brother, got something special to show them."
"That be?"
Simon climbed out of Zoe's bunk holding a hungry, fussy Emma to his chest. She gazed up at him expectantly, ready for her morning bottle.
"Emma, while I most certainly enjoy our time together, you know what's nice?" He told her, tired but ready. "Letting your mother sleep through the night."
She squawked, showing off the tiny teeth that were effecting her sleeping habits.
"She's kind of important in the whole scheme of us not dy-" He was about to pad off into the galley, pull the bottle he had left heating on the stove, and retreat to Kaylee's hammock to enjoy the peace and quite before the ship turned into a ruckus of people preparing for landfall. "ing?" However he heard noises at the helm and stopped.
Emma whined, twisting and planting her mouth on his shirt.
"Hey." He carefully extracted her mouth from his chest and hurried to the galley. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Testing the temperature, he gave her the bottle and watched her grab it and drink readily. "There we go." With the baby settled into her first meal of the day, Simon wandered back to the helm.
"That's Antilles?" Will asked from the comfort of Mal's arms. Reaching up, he touched the thick glass the separated the helm from the vastness of space.
"That's Highgate, the planet. Antilles is that little place." The Captain explained, pointing to the grey patch that was nestled between all of the green of the forest and the blue of the ocean. He could see the wonder in his boy's eyes through the reflection of the glass.
"And we're going to 'Tilles?"
"As soon as Serenity breaks Atmo." Mal said as he could see the thin wisps of matter begin to hit his ship. "And that's gonna happen in just a sec."
"Never saw this before." Warren marveled, feeling the shift and watching River's execution of the procedure.
"Why's she turnin' pink?" Will asked.
"Serenity's got panels covering her that absorb all the heat." His father explained as their was a slight jostle.
"We aren't gonna burn up?"
"No, no. Serenity keeps us nice and safe. She's thoughtful that way."
Inara turned and saw the doctor resting against the hatch with who he considered his cutest patient. She smiled and walked over. "And this little one?"
"A tale of woe and strife I'm afraid. Teething." He shrugged. "Figured I'd give Zoe a break and take the breakfast shift."
"Awfully nice of you."
"As they say, it takes a village." His eyes watched the Reynolds men in amusement. "We take it for granted, don't we? We've seen take offs and landings hundreds of times, and here it's their first."
"It's beautiful." Will said in awe up front.
"War, Son, get up here closer." Mal coaxed.
"Warren you gotta see this!" The little one piped up.
"He suggested it." Inara told him with a bit of pride.
Simon smiled with her. "Good."
"Nara?" Will called out.
The doctor's grin widened. All three of them were clustered up front, Mal with his hand on Warren's shoulder, and little Will looking over Mal for Inara. "You better go," He whispered "you're needed."
Inara blushed and pressed a kiss to Simon's cheek before hurrying off. "Well isn't that a sight to be seen."
"So you ready for some crime, Doctor Tam?" Kaylee sidled up to Simon with a cup of coffee. Taking a sip, she reached over and gave one of Emma's sock covered feet a little tug.
"I think." He sighed, looking down at his hungry charge. "I may go pick up a bowler hat before I head out, have to make up for the lack of waxed mustache. How are you, Darling?"
"Oh just shiny." Her voice trailed off as her eyes wandered into the helm. "They look like a portrait or something." She admired the foursome, the way Inara leaned on Mal who held his boys close. "All cute with those kids."
"They make a handsome family." He agreed with a nod.
"And not… y'know… yelling."
"You didn't hear them this morning." He whispered.
Kaylee's face sank. "Ain't never gonna end, is it."
"Oh god no." Simon snorted. "They're just going to start fighting about those boys now. All that happened was they gained new category."
The mechanic slouched against the doctor, and the two watched the Reynolds-Serra clan. A beat passed, and she mumbled un-enthusiastically. "New catagory."
"Look at it this way." He told her with a heavy sigh. "At least now, we'll get to hear some variety."
-Fin-
A/N: So this is it! Well not it. Maybe... like... there could be more... there is more... however it might be awhile? Anywho it's been fun and thank you for your patience. Please leave some reviews if you'd like more or if you have some critques or what not. See ya around!
