Standard Disclaimers apply.
(Part 2)
*************************************************************
To say that it wasn't quiet in the kitchen would've been an understatement, but, in the end, it wasn't that noisy either. Zoë didn't feel like going into the noise right now. Still, however, she walked in, and sat down at Wash's side. Simon, escorting River, was right behind her, and took a place across the table from Zoë, keeping eye contact with her.
Wash shifted his own eyes back and forth from Zoë to Simon, confused. He leaned over to his wife, "Is something going on between you two?"
Maintaining her visual lock, she whispered back through tight lips, "Not a thing dear."
Simon seemed to be trying to avoid smiling, and Zoë wondered when he had gotten so evil. 'Good God, what's gotten into him?'
"Maybe the good doctor has a little thing for your wife, Wash." Sneered Jayne, giving the insolent little smirk that was so well known on the ship.
Kaylee's head snapped to her right to stare at Simon in disbelief. Her eyes looked lost and upset. As if that wasn't enough, the entire crew noticed her agitation.
"And I think Kaylee's got a little thing for you, doc." Finished Jayne, returning to his meal, happy in the small disturbance he'd caused.
Simon looked over at Kaylee, who quickly turned her head away, cheeks a tad flushed. He leaned over farther to get a better look at her face, and she turned back, mouth opened to speak.
"Simon, I - "
"Damnit Jayne, can't you ever just be civil?" Mal asked coldly, lightly pounding a fist against the table. The two men stared at each other for the longest time.
"Look Captain, I didn't say anything that nobody on this ship doesn't know about. Kaylee's little crush on Simon been common knowledge since he set foot on Serenity, she just ain't - "
"I won't tolerate slander on this ship!"
"Well la di da Mal."
"Jayne!" Threatened Mal.
Harsh words and glances began to be exchanged, but only two people weren't paying attention to it. Wash and Zoë.
"So, tell me what's going on."
"Wash, I really don't wanna talk about it right now. I'll tell you tomorrow morning."
"No. Zoë, look, I love you, but I would really like to know what's going on now."
"I'm surprised you haven't asked me if I'm having an affair with Simon yet."
"I know you better than that, you wouldn't cheat on me. And if it's not that, how bad could it be?"
Zoe put her elbows on the table and massages her temples. She whispered to herself, "Just a little life-altering…"
Unfortunately, her husband had gotten quite good at hearing her whispers, "Life-altering? You're not sick are you?"
"No, I'm not sick, now will you drop it?"
"Zoë, please, I'm your husband, you can tell me anything."
"I'm pregnant!" Stated Zoë, in a voice that was probably a little louder than she'd have liked.
Everything seemed to stop. Mal and Jayne stopped arguing, Simon and Kaylee stopped trying to get as much information out of each other as they could, Inara and Book stopped trying to get Mal and Jayne to quit fighting, and River stayed sitting silently.
"You're what?" Asked Wash, grabbing his wife's hand.
"I'm pregnant Wash, I'm going to have a baby."
Wash suddenly embraced her with all the force he could muster, "Oh God Zoe! This is incredible! I'm gonna be a father!"
"This is truly a blessing, we should celebrate this gift." Agreed Book, and the whole room broke out in jubilation.
At least, everyone except Mal. He smiled and acted happy, but in reality, he really wasn't. A helpless infant on a ship like this wasn't a good idea, not even if its mother was the original female fighter, and its father a damn good pilot.
*****************************************************
'Maybe Book will see this from my point of view.' Thought Mal, walking slowly to the infirmary. The old preacher had gone there earlier with a headache. Simon has insisted that all medicines be kept under his care as he was the only one who knew how to properly use them. Mal had hated that. Meant he had to deal with that secretive and pompous doctor whenever he needed a band-aide.
"Hey Book." Said Mal dryly, walking into the infirmary. Simon had just given the old man a glass of water and two small red pills.
"Yes Captain?" Asked Book, swallowing both pills in one fluid motion and handing the empty cup back to the doctor.
"Do you - " Mal shuffled his feet and leaned his back against the door frame. He pressed his right foot up against the other side and placed his hands in his pockets, "Do you think this is really the right place for a baby?"
"You're not thinking of throwing Wash and Zoë off the ship, are you?" Asked a wary Simon, looking at the Captain in disbelief.
"Well, if I wanted to, that wouldn't be any of your business now doc, would it?"
"Mal, I would really protest you asking them to leave. What sense is there in getting rid of them because they choose to do what almost every married couple does?" Book stated, walking towards the Captain.
Mal put both of his feet on the ground and turned to face the two men, looking more than a little skeptical.
Simon spoke next, "Think of it this way. There's another person being born who will hate the Alliance. You're not losing Zoë, you're gaining an officer."
"What do you mean by that, doctor?"
"Let's just say you're lucky that Wash is so laid-back."
Mal and Simon took simultaneous steps forward, but Book got in between them, "Mal, this child is a blessing from the Lord. Don't ruin their happiness. And Simon, will you try not to bait the Captain please?"
"Yes, as long as he understands that he should be happy for them, not just putting on a nice face."
Book shook his head and laid his hand on Mal's shoulder, "I'm leaving now Captain, why don't you come with me if you have no more business to complete here."
Mal allowed Book to lead him from the infirmary, and they parted in the next hallway. Walking back towards the cargo bay, he heard the voices of Inara and Kaylee.
"Kaylee, I was wondering if you could fix a few lights and things in my shuttle."
"When did they stop working?"
"They weren't working so well after the accident the engine had a few months back, but they only recently died."
"Okay, let me grab some tools."
"Ladies."
Inara turned around to face him, "Mal."
Kaylee's response was much more innocent, "Hey Captain!"
"So, are you girl's excited about the news today?"
"It couldn't be better! I love babies, they're so cute!" Kaylee jabbered, obviously the most excited of the three.
"What do you think Inara?" Asked Mal.
"I'd have to agree with Kaylee. Infants are adorable. At least, as long as they aren't yours."
"Hmm." Nodded Mal.
"It's another person I'll have to teach to stay out of my quarters, but other than that, I welcome some new life on this ship."
Disgusted, Mal turned his back on them, "Do either of you know where I can find Jayne?"
"I didn't think you'd want to find him after today's little incident." Purred Inara, and Kaylee looked at him questioningly, agreeing with her friend.
"Yeah, well as long as he doesn't have Vera or any other guns, I'd like to talk to him."
"You'll find him in the kitchen then." Said Inara, and wheeled around to face Kaylee, angered. 'Insensitivity thy name is Mal.' She hissed in her mind.
A few moments later, Kaylee finally whispered, "What's gotten into him?"
"With Mal, you never know. Although I do get the feeling that he's not too happy about Zoe's pregnancy."
************************************************************
Mal hesitated outside the kitchen door. He could hear Jayne inside, obviously drinking something. The mercenary always seemed to manage to slurp his drinks and meals loud enough for the whole ship to hear. The Captain peeked around the door frame to make sure that Jayne wasn't holding a weapon. Then, he stepped inside.
"What do you want?" Said Jayne, obviously detached and angry.
"I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier."
"Well, let's talk about it." The bigger man leaned back in his chair as Mal took the seat across from him.
"What happened at lunch today can never happen again. I'm still Captain of this ship Jayne, and I won't tolerate you speaking to me like that again."
"If you don't like how I do business here, you can just drop me off on the next god-forsaken planet we land on."
"I don't want to drop you off Jayne. Zoë's out of commission right now, I need every available fighter I can get. All I'm asking you to do is to treat the people on this ship with a little respect."
"Why? It ain't like they treat me with any great deal of respect."
"Jayne, we all know that Kaylee likes Simon, except maybe Simon himself, at least, until you told him today. Also, what we all know is that you like Kaylee. Trust me, you don't have a chance with her if you keep insulting Simon."
"Probably don't got a chance in hell with her anyway as long as the good doctor's around." Snarled Jayne, taking a long drink from the glass in front of him.
"Don't you start talking like that Jayne. If I get any indication that you wanna hurt or kill anyone on Serenity, I will drop you off on the next planet, without pay."
Jayne shifted in his seat, he looked rather uninterested. Mal immediately felt the need to change the subject, and it occurred to him to get Jayne's opinion on the question he'd been asking everyone else.
"So, what do you think of the news we got today?"
"You mean the baby thing? I don't care, it really doesn't effect me."
"You don't think it's dangerous to have an infant on a ship like this?"
"Sure it's dangerous. Everything we do is fuckin' dangerous. Look Mal, I'm pissed that it's Zoë too, but you can't do anything about that, man. Her extreme fighting days are over, and I can see that makes you all mad inside."
"Well at least you don't believe I'm mad because I love her."
Jayne laughed, "Who said that?"
"Your favorite person." Replied Mal sarcastically.
"The good doc Tam." Said Jayne, surprisingly lacking all emotion in his voice, "What exactly did he say?"
"That I was lucky that Wash was easy-going."
The deep throated chuckles that followed told Mal that Jayne was back to normal.
"Do you think there's anything good about this?"
Leaning forward onto the table, Jayne smiled, "Zoë's gonna be a lot more passive. That ass-kicking attitude of hers will take a backseat. Hopefully for good."
Mal looked suspiciously at him, "I didn't know you had such strong feelings about Zoë's military style attitude."
"I don't like girls with too much attitude, and the means of backing it up."
"I see. Well, I need you to go and take inventory of the things in the cargo bay that we can trade or sell. After that, you can sleep or eat or polish Vera."
"Will do Captain, will do."
Mal stood up to leave, "But I'm not kidding you Jayne, that kind of threatening talk has got to stop. Makes everyone nervous. Especially that last bit about Zoë, I don't ever want to hear that again. She's pregnant for Christ's sake!"
***********************************************************
Mal walked out of the kitchen and walked slowly to his room. He'd gone looking for agreement and had found a potential danger. At least he'd found that. Jayne was a paid soldier, not a loyal one like Zoë.
Had Simon been right about him? No, Mal knew he didn't have romantic feelings for Zoë. Inara maybe, but not Zoë. Did he question her loyalty to him? Not really. Certainly she'd be more apt to defend her family first now, but she'd never betray him. So what was the problem?
She'd fought with him, side by side during the wars. Her sheer existence at his side now was what he considered to be a gift. Too many of his friends and soldiers he'd known on the battlefield had died in front of his eyes, and some in his arms.
He and Zoë shared a bond forged in spilled blood and the hell that was war. That was what it was. If Zoë had a family, that was a new bond forged in a type of blood he could never possess in his veins. Something would change again, and after his years of service, Mal had learned to dislike change.
Tired and confused, the Captain fell back onto his bed. He made one final mental note of the day, keep an eye on Jayne.
************************************************************
(Part 2)
*************************************************************
To say that it wasn't quiet in the kitchen would've been an understatement, but, in the end, it wasn't that noisy either. Zoë didn't feel like going into the noise right now. Still, however, she walked in, and sat down at Wash's side. Simon, escorting River, was right behind her, and took a place across the table from Zoë, keeping eye contact with her.
Wash shifted his own eyes back and forth from Zoë to Simon, confused. He leaned over to his wife, "Is something going on between you two?"
Maintaining her visual lock, she whispered back through tight lips, "Not a thing dear."
Simon seemed to be trying to avoid smiling, and Zoë wondered when he had gotten so evil. 'Good God, what's gotten into him?'
"Maybe the good doctor has a little thing for your wife, Wash." Sneered Jayne, giving the insolent little smirk that was so well known on the ship.
Kaylee's head snapped to her right to stare at Simon in disbelief. Her eyes looked lost and upset. As if that wasn't enough, the entire crew noticed her agitation.
"And I think Kaylee's got a little thing for you, doc." Finished Jayne, returning to his meal, happy in the small disturbance he'd caused.
Simon looked over at Kaylee, who quickly turned her head away, cheeks a tad flushed. He leaned over farther to get a better look at her face, and she turned back, mouth opened to speak.
"Simon, I - "
"Damnit Jayne, can't you ever just be civil?" Mal asked coldly, lightly pounding a fist against the table. The two men stared at each other for the longest time.
"Look Captain, I didn't say anything that nobody on this ship doesn't know about. Kaylee's little crush on Simon been common knowledge since he set foot on Serenity, she just ain't - "
"I won't tolerate slander on this ship!"
"Well la di da Mal."
"Jayne!" Threatened Mal.
Harsh words and glances began to be exchanged, but only two people weren't paying attention to it. Wash and Zoë.
"So, tell me what's going on."
"Wash, I really don't wanna talk about it right now. I'll tell you tomorrow morning."
"No. Zoë, look, I love you, but I would really like to know what's going on now."
"I'm surprised you haven't asked me if I'm having an affair with Simon yet."
"I know you better than that, you wouldn't cheat on me. And if it's not that, how bad could it be?"
Zoe put her elbows on the table and massages her temples. She whispered to herself, "Just a little life-altering…"
Unfortunately, her husband had gotten quite good at hearing her whispers, "Life-altering? You're not sick are you?"
"No, I'm not sick, now will you drop it?"
"Zoë, please, I'm your husband, you can tell me anything."
"I'm pregnant!" Stated Zoë, in a voice that was probably a little louder than she'd have liked.
Everything seemed to stop. Mal and Jayne stopped arguing, Simon and Kaylee stopped trying to get as much information out of each other as they could, Inara and Book stopped trying to get Mal and Jayne to quit fighting, and River stayed sitting silently.
"You're what?" Asked Wash, grabbing his wife's hand.
"I'm pregnant Wash, I'm going to have a baby."
Wash suddenly embraced her with all the force he could muster, "Oh God Zoe! This is incredible! I'm gonna be a father!"
"This is truly a blessing, we should celebrate this gift." Agreed Book, and the whole room broke out in jubilation.
At least, everyone except Mal. He smiled and acted happy, but in reality, he really wasn't. A helpless infant on a ship like this wasn't a good idea, not even if its mother was the original female fighter, and its father a damn good pilot.
*****************************************************
'Maybe Book will see this from my point of view.' Thought Mal, walking slowly to the infirmary. The old preacher had gone there earlier with a headache. Simon has insisted that all medicines be kept under his care as he was the only one who knew how to properly use them. Mal had hated that. Meant he had to deal with that secretive and pompous doctor whenever he needed a band-aide.
"Hey Book." Said Mal dryly, walking into the infirmary. Simon had just given the old man a glass of water and two small red pills.
"Yes Captain?" Asked Book, swallowing both pills in one fluid motion and handing the empty cup back to the doctor.
"Do you - " Mal shuffled his feet and leaned his back against the door frame. He pressed his right foot up against the other side and placed his hands in his pockets, "Do you think this is really the right place for a baby?"
"You're not thinking of throwing Wash and Zoë off the ship, are you?" Asked a wary Simon, looking at the Captain in disbelief.
"Well, if I wanted to, that wouldn't be any of your business now doc, would it?"
"Mal, I would really protest you asking them to leave. What sense is there in getting rid of them because they choose to do what almost every married couple does?" Book stated, walking towards the Captain.
Mal put both of his feet on the ground and turned to face the two men, looking more than a little skeptical.
Simon spoke next, "Think of it this way. There's another person being born who will hate the Alliance. You're not losing Zoë, you're gaining an officer."
"What do you mean by that, doctor?"
"Let's just say you're lucky that Wash is so laid-back."
Mal and Simon took simultaneous steps forward, but Book got in between them, "Mal, this child is a blessing from the Lord. Don't ruin their happiness. And Simon, will you try not to bait the Captain please?"
"Yes, as long as he understands that he should be happy for them, not just putting on a nice face."
Book shook his head and laid his hand on Mal's shoulder, "I'm leaving now Captain, why don't you come with me if you have no more business to complete here."
Mal allowed Book to lead him from the infirmary, and they parted in the next hallway. Walking back towards the cargo bay, he heard the voices of Inara and Kaylee.
"Kaylee, I was wondering if you could fix a few lights and things in my shuttle."
"When did they stop working?"
"They weren't working so well after the accident the engine had a few months back, but they only recently died."
"Okay, let me grab some tools."
"Ladies."
Inara turned around to face him, "Mal."
Kaylee's response was much more innocent, "Hey Captain!"
"So, are you girl's excited about the news today?"
"It couldn't be better! I love babies, they're so cute!" Kaylee jabbered, obviously the most excited of the three.
"What do you think Inara?" Asked Mal.
"I'd have to agree with Kaylee. Infants are adorable. At least, as long as they aren't yours."
"Hmm." Nodded Mal.
"It's another person I'll have to teach to stay out of my quarters, but other than that, I welcome some new life on this ship."
Disgusted, Mal turned his back on them, "Do either of you know where I can find Jayne?"
"I didn't think you'd want to find him after today's little incident." Purred Inara, and Kaylee looked at him questioningly, agreeing with her friend.
"Yeah, well as long as he doesn't have Vera or any other guns, I'd like to talk to him."
"You'll find him in the kitchen then." Said Inara, and wheeled around to face Kaylee, angered. 'Insensitivity thy name is Mal.' She hissed in her mind.
A few moments later, Kaylee finally whispered, "What's gotten into him?"
"With Mal, you never know. Although I do get the feeling that he's not too happy about Zoe's pregnancy."
************************************************************
Mal hesitated outside the kitchen door. He could hear Jayne inside, obviously drinking something. The mercenary always seemed to manage to slurp his drinks and meals loud enough for the whole ship to hear. The Captain peeked around the door frame to make sure that Jayne wasn't holding a weapon. Then, he stepped inside.
"What do you want?" Said Jayne, obviously detached and angry.
"I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier."
"Well, let's talk about it." The bigger man leaned back in his chair as Mal took the seat across from him.
"What happened at lunch today can never happen again. I'm still Captain of this ship Jayne, and I won't tolerate you speaking to me like that again."
"If you don't like how I do business here, you can just drop me off on the next god-forsaken planet we land on."
"I don't want to drop you off Jayne. Zoë's out of commission right now, I need every available fighter I can get. All I'm asking you to do is to treat the people on this ship with a little respect."
"Why? It ain't like they treat me with any great deal of respect."
"Jayne, we all know that Kaylee likes Simon, except maybe Simon himself, at least, until you told him today. Also, what we all know is that you like Kaylee. Trust me, you don't have a chance with her if you keep insulting Simon."
"Probably don't got a chance in hell with her anyway as long as the good doctor's around." Snarled Jayne, taking a long drink from the glass in front of him.
"Don't you start talking like that Jayne. If I get any indication that you wanna hurt or kill anyone on Serenity, I will drop you off on the next planet, without pay."
Jayne shifted in his seat, he looked rather uninterested. Mal immediately felt the need to change the subject, and it occurred to him to get Jayne's opinion on the question he'd been asking everyone else.
"So, what do you think of the news we got today?"
"You mean the baby thing? I don't care, it really doesn't effect me."
"You don't think it's dangerous to have an infant on a ship like this?"
"Sure it's dangerous. Everything we do is fuckin' dangerous. Look Mal, I'm pissed that it's Zoë too, but you can't do anything about that, man. Her extreme fighting days are over, and I can see that makes you all mad inside."
"Well at least you don't believe I'm mad because I love her."
Jayne laughed, "Who said that?"
"Your favorite person." Replied Mal sarcastically.
"The good doc Tam." Said Jayne, surprisingly lacking all emotion in his voice, "What exactly did he say?"
"That I was lucky that Wash was easy-going."
The deep throated chuckles that followed told Mal that Jayne was back to normal.
"Do you think there's anything good about this?"
Leaning forward onto the table, Jayne smiled, "Zoë's gonna be a lot more passive. That ass-kicking attitude of hers will take a backseat. Hopefully for good."
Mal looked suspiciously at him, "I didn't know you had such strong feelings about Zoë's military style attitude."
"I don't like girls with too much attitude, and the means of backing it up."
"I see. Well, I need you to go and take inventory of the things in the cargo bay that we can trade or sell. After that, you can sleep or eat or polish Vera."
"Will do Captain, will do."
Mal stood up to leave, "But I'm not kidding you Jayne, that kind of threatening talk has got to stop. Makes everyone nervous. Especially that last bit about Zoë, I don't ever want to hear that again. She's pregnant for Christ's sake!"
***********************************************************
Mal walked out of the kitchen and walked slowly to his room. He'd gone looking for agreement and had found a potential danger. At least he'd found that. Jayne was a paid soldier, not a loyal one like Zoë.
Had Simon been right about him? No, Mal knew he didn't have romantic feelings for Zoë. Inara maybe, but not Zoë. Did he question her loyalty to him? Not really. Certainly she'd be more apt to defend her family first now, but she'd never betray him. So what was the problem?
She'd fought with him, side by side during the wars. Her sheer existence at his side now was what he considered to be a gift. Too many of his friends and soldiers he'd known on the battlefield had died in front of his eyes, and some in his arms.
He and Zoë shared a bond forged in spilled blood and the hell that was war. That was what it was. If Zoë had a family, that was a new bond forged in a type of blood he could never possess in his veins. Something would change again, and after his years of service, Mal had learned to dislike change.
Tired and confused, the Captain fell back onto his bed. He made one final mental note of the day, keep an eye on Jayne.
************************************************************