Chapter 2: In which the table is set in more ways than one
"So," Mal asked as he set a plate down on the table. "What's wrong with her?"
"Zoë?" Simon said, from the other side of the table where he was folding the napkins. "Nothing."
"So she ain't sick?" Mal said, steeping to the right to put down another plate, as Simon stepped to the right to put down another napkin. The captain had told himself very firmly that he wasn't going worry about it, because it would have been wasted energy. Still, he was shocked by how utterly relieved he was to hear Simon's simple, confident, diagnosis.
"No," he said, "she's in perfect health."
"Then what caused her symptoms?" Book said as he brought the large bowl of rice that was going to make up the majority of the night's meal to the table. "I can't believe that Zoë would have any hypochondriac tendencies."
"She's not," Simon said. "I mean, she doesn't. But, I, ah, I really shouldn't be talking about this."
"'Bout what, Zoë's health?"
Simon nodded, as if the answer had been painfully obvious.
"Why not?" Mal asked.
Simon sighed, "Doctor-patient confidentiality is not only necessary for a trusting rela--."
"Ah, shut the text book, Doc. I'm Zoë's captain and Book here's her preacher. If we ain't got a right ta know 'bout her health . . ."
"You don't," Simon insisted. "And I'm not going to tell you anything."
"You told us she was all right," Mal pointed out.
"My mistake," Simon said, putting down the last napkin. "And I've leaned my lesson. Next time I'll be more discreet."
Mal looked like going to set into the young doctor and explain some things about a captain's authority but, fortunately for Simon, at that moment a yawning Kaylee entered the kitchen. "Hello, Kaylee," Simon said quickly to draw Mal's attention from him to her.
"Hey-ya, Simon," Kaylee said, a thick slur of drowsiness in her voice. "What's cookin'? Smell's good."
"Good morning, sweetheart," Book said, turning to the young mechanic. "How was your nap?"
"All right, I guess," Kaylee yawned. "Think I'm more tired now than I was 'fore. Kin ya hand me a glass, preacher?"
"Don't suppose ya feel more cheerful," Mal said hopefully. "Less grumpy?"
"With or without a nap," Kaylee snapped, glaring over her shoulder at Mal, "you were still mean."
"You were mean?" Simon said, turning to the captain. He looked absolutely horrified. "What did you do?"
"Nothin'!" Mal said defensively. "Thoughtless, maybe, ok, but mean . . .?"
"You were mean," Kaylee said solidly as she poured herself a glass of water.
Mal looked around, hoping to find support with the men in the room. The looks on the shepherd and the doctor's faces convinced him very quickly that he was in the wrong room for that. "Fine," Mal said. "If I 'pologize can we make some peace?"
"Oh, there's plenty of peace, Cap'n," Kaylee said. "I ain't gonna make a ruckus."
"What are you gonna do?" Mal said warily.
The girl shrugged innocently.
"Kaylee," Mal said. "I'm really, really sorry. I got my reason's fer bein' mean. An' your right, I was mean."
"I'd like to hear those reasons," Book said.
"You'll all hear 'em," Mal said. "Jus' not right away."
Kaylee sighed and looked away. Mal could feel Simon and Book's judgmental stares.
"Look," Mal said firmly. "I'm the captain and that means I don't gotta explain anything I chose to do ta any of you. Now, if I was a little mean with Kaylee, I had my reasons, which I don't have ta explain. I've apologized and I think it'd be nice, be Christian, fer ya'll ta forgive me. Which brings up another point, I weren't mean ta you gents so I'd appreciate it if only one person in this room were mad at me." There was a very uncomfortable silence. "And I think she ought'a find it in her heart ta let go a this little episode."
Kaylee sighed and nodded, clearly not meaning it.
"I guess that'll have ta do," Mal said. "Time we got supper on the table. Doc, Zoë and Wash comin' ta supper?"
"I would assume so," Simon said. "They didn't really discuss their dinner plans with me."
"And even if they did you wouldn't be able ta tell me," Mal sighed. "Well, their places are set so if they don't show, they don't show."
"Why don't you sit down," Simon offered, pulling out a chair for Kaylee.
"I ought'a . . ." the girl started.
"I can do it," Simon said. "You look tired."
"Well, thank you, Simon," Kaylee said, smiling up at the doctor before turning very pointedly towards Mal. "That's real polite."
Mal sighed and turned away.
Ten minutes later the table was set and everyone, with the exception of Wash and Zoë, were seated around it. It was 18:00, time to eat. But there was a sort of empty pause as everyone waited for either the firstmate or the pilot to come in and, at very least, explain that they wouldn't be eating with the crew. It felt all wrong, to start without them, but it also felt a little silly to wait for them.
"Maybe I should go check on Zoë," Simon volunteered, "See if she's coming up."
There was a weighty pause.
"If she comes, she comes," Mal finally said. "We can start without her."
Jayne reached for the bowl of rice.
"'Course," Mal said, glancing at the mercenary in a way that made him slowly draw his hand back. "Might not be such a bad idea. You sure she's all right?"
"She should be fine," Simon said, pushing himself away from the table. "Maybe they just lost track of time."
"We'll wait on ya, Doc," Mal said, as the boy hurried past him.
"Aw, Mal, do we have'ta?" Jayne grumbled none-to-softly.
"Yes," Mal said. "We do."
Simon had just reached the steps leading to the door which would take him to the hallway and downstairs to the infirmary, when he stopped short. "Oh," he said, taking a step back to clear the way for Zoë and Wash. "There you are."
"Weren't waitin' on us, were you?" Zoë asked as she, Wash and Simon took their seats. Mal couldn't help but notice that his firstmate's poker face was more than unusually red around the cheeks and bright around the eyes. Wash looked downright giddy, and seemed to find a way to be touching his wife no matter how she moved; once they were sitting, Mal was sure they were playing footsy.
The food was passed around. Those who prayed silently did so, only slightly grating on their captain's nerves, and everyone started eating with an uncharacteristic quietness. Everyone was dying to know what was going on with Zoë, whose sudden transformation from sickly to giddy was somewhat troubling, but no one quite had the gumption to out and out ask.
"Is it just me," Wash finally said after a couple of tense minutes. "Or is everyone unusually quiet tonight?"
"You know what, hon, I think they are," Zoë said with a chuckle.
"Ok, ok," Mal finally said. "No need ta put on a little show. Ya obviously got good news, we'd all appreciate it if ya'd share."
"You wanna tell or should I?" Zoë asked her husband. Her nose was crinkling in a joyous way that Mal had never seen before.
"I want to," Wash said, "But it's really your news."
"No," Zoë insisted. "It's both of our news, you can tell . . ."
"Somebody tell," Mal said, growing a little angry, "That's an order."
"Yes, sir," Zoë said, taking a deep breath and becoming dry and professional again, although there was still a twinkle of joy in her eyes as she glanced around the table. "Wash and I are pregnant."
There was a heartbeat where everyone at the table, with the exception of Simon, starred at them in absolute shock, which was broken by Jayne's grunt, "You just said Wash was pregnant."
"Ahhhh!" Kaylee screeched, jumping from her chair and barreling over to Zoë, who was quickly wrapped in a congratulatory hug. "You're gonna have a baby! That's great!"
Inara, who happened to be sitting next to Zoë, quickly joined in fawning over the firstmate. "That's amazing news. Congratulations."
"Thank you," Zoë said, her professionalism gone, she was giddy again. "Thanks."
"We're you trying to . . .?" Inara asked
"No," Zoë said. "It just kinda happened."
"But yer happy 'bout it, right?" Kaylee asked. "Yer excited?"
"It's a good thing I was in the infirmary," Wash explained to Book, Jayne and Mal, who listening eagerly. "'Cause when Simon told me Zo was going to have a baby I nearly died of a heart attack."
"This will be wonderful," Book said, "Having a child on this ship."
"Right," Jayne grunted. "Smelly diapers, cryin' in the middle of the night, not bein' able ta cuss, this'll be jus' wonderful."
"I never really wanted a baby," Wash said, a little wonder in his voice. "I mean, having Zoë was just so fantastic. But soon she'll have a son or daughter; we'll have a son or daughter." He looked up at his friends, "I can't even describe how wonderful this feels. It must be why some family's have twenty kids. I could totally have twenty kids if it feels like this every time."
"Just wait 'till the cryin' and the diapers, like Jayne says," Mal said good-naturedly. "Then we'll see how you feel about prolific offspring."
"A baby," River said softly. She, like Simon, was watching the others congratulate. Simon had already offered his felicitations and River couldn't quite figure out what would be right to say.
"That's right," Simon said with some confidence. "A baby."
"It'll cry and spit up."
"That's pretty much what babies do."
"And its mommy will love it and rock it and sing to it."
"Yeah, I think Zoë probably will."
"And its daddy will bounce it on his knee and tell it scary bedtime stories."
"Yeah," Simon said, turning away from his thrilled shipmates towards his sister. "What are you thinking, mei mei?"
There was an odd smile that spread across River's face, the kind of smile she barely every had. It was hopeful, encouraged, and a little expectant. She looked like she was about to laugh and cry from sheer joy.
"Soon the smell of
baby powder
And the sent of curdled milk,
Fragrance like a pungent flower
To our hearts the same in ilk,
Will descend, like spring's fresh shower
Of the rain which does not bilk
Its joy; nor should we gathered cower
From this babe, with skin like silk.
I would not shrug, no, not a day
Which I could spend with what may be:
Unique, unknown, new DNA
Beloved, hopeful progeny,
Of one gay nights roll in the hay:
The ships first own, our loved baby"
Simon stared at her, dumbfounded for a second. Finally he managed to say, "Was, was that a sonnet?"
The girl nodded, "It's for the baby."
"Did, did you just come up with that? Just . . . compose it?"
River nodded again, she still had the silly, youthful, smile on her face. "Do you think I should tell Zoë?"
"Ah, no," Simon said quickly.
She looked at him critically, almost hurt. She didn't say it, but he knew she wanted to know why not.
"It's a very nice poem, River," Simon said. "I know Zoë will appreciate it, ah, you just might want to consider reworking the sextuplet first."
She stared at him blankly a second before nodding. "The meter's off."
"That's not what I . . ." Simon started, before deciding that it would probably be better to just agree with her. "Yeah."
"I'll think about it," The girl promised.
FRIDAY
"All crew report to the cargo bay," Mal's voice boomed, echoing through the cargo bay where most of the crew was already assembled. Jayne and Book were in the twelfth round of a knockdown, drag-out, horseshoe tournament. Simon and Kaylee were perched on the catwalks, their legs hanging over the edge, watching. Inara and Zoë, under the pretense of watching, were sitting on some of the large crates talking, and, a couple of yards away, River was hovering, like she had been ever since Zoë made her announcement, beaming at the firstmate.
"Doesn't it drive you nuts?" Inara asked quietly, so that River couldn't hear over Jayne's loud gloating as he landed the perfect toss.
"Not so much," Zoë said with a shrug. "She stays outta the way, she's quiet, and it's better this than her rantin' and screamin'."
"I suppose," Inara said. "I'd just wonder about what's going on in her head."
"That's somethin' I'm sure we'll never know," Zoë laughed. "But look at her face, can't be harmful," Zoë said, turning to smile at River, who smiled bashfully yet eagerly back. "She's just excited 'bout the baby. So long as she stay's out from under foot there ain't no harm."
"What about when you go out on a deal?"
Zoë grunted, "I ain't gonna go out on no deal, not for nine months."
"And you're all right with that?" Inara asked, amazed.
"That's the way it is," Zoë said with a shrug. "Between Cap'n worrin' and Wash worrin', just ain't worth it. Now, when my nine months are up, well, then we might have us a little ruckus to determine who goes out on deals and who stays on the ship."
Inara laughed.
"But for nine months' I'm ship bound," Zoë continued. "Don't think I'll mind the company most times."
"She can be a very sweet girl . . ." Inara said, letting her sentence trail off.
"I talked ta Simon 'bout it, he said that he thought the baby gave her hope," Zoë said, an almost uncharacteristic sentiment in her voice and eyes. "Ya know, the poor girl's seen so much, got next ta nothin' ta look to in the future. But this baby, it gave her hope. I just . . . I just don't wanna be selfish about it, ya know. This ship, Serenity, for better or for worse, it's all our home and we're all kinda family. Can't help but feel sorta like it's everyone's baby. Even River's."
"I doubt you'll feel that way after twelve hours of labor," Inara said. "By then you'll feel you've earned exclusive rights."
"After bein' saddled with the kid fer nine months I think I'll be eager fer some time away."
"So, are you hoping to groom River to be a sort of nanny."
"I ain't doin' anything," Zoë said, trying to hide how frightened she was at the idea of the girl who'd coolly sliced Jayne across the chest with a carving knife holding her baby. Zoë had to admit to herself that River was fine hovering around as long as that's all she did: hover, be a pretty little specter on the edges of her peripheral vision. The prospect of more than that was slightly disturbing. "In nine month's we'll see," Zoë finally said. "But right now, I ain't gonna chase her away when she's done nothin' wrong."
"Well," Inara mused, "For now at least you're making her very happy."
"An' that's good," Zoë said. "Everybody deserves their share a happy."
The
conversation on the catwalk was remarkably similar.
"She's real pretty when
she smiles," Kaylee said, gazing at River.
"I know," Simon sighed. "It's nice to see it again. I just . . . I hope that she knows enough to be cautious."
"Wa'da'ya mean?" Kaylee asked.
"She's so enamored with the idea of a baby on the ship, a new life, tabula rasa."
"Tabula-whosa?"
"It means a clean slate, a fresh start," Simon explained. "I'm just afraid eventually Zoë's going to get sick of having River hovering over her."
"Well," Kaylee offered. "River ain't botherin' nobody."
"Not yet," Simon sighed. "But she can be so unstable. I know she wouldn't do anything to hurt Zoë or the baby, but if Wash were to, quite reasonably, ask her to zou kai . . ."
"I'm sure it'll all work out jus' fine," Kaylee said, grabbing Simon's hand and squeezing it affectionately. "A baby's a blessin' and my grandma said nothin' bad come's of blessin's."
Simon looked at Kaylee skeptically, but he didn't dare nay-say her grandmother's words of wisdom.
"Ya never know, maybe It'll turn out she's great with kids and can take care of the baby while Zoë goes out on a job."
"I'm, ah, I'm not sure . . . I don't think she even really seen a baby before."
"Naw," Kaylee asked, amazed. "She'd of had to."
"I can't conceive where . . ."
"At a family gatherin' maybe?"
"No," Simon said, his eyes scanning the cargo bay ceiling as he thought, as if his sister's life experiences were painted there. "She was the youngest."
"Well, yeah, but you had cousins."
"Two," Simon said. "One, Jeanette, was my age and the other, Foster, was four years older then me."
"That was it?" Kaylee asked amazed.
"Come to think of it, Foster's wife was pregnant when I left. They've probably had the baby by now. Huh."
"Ya couldn't of had just two cousins," Kaylee said, amazed.
Simon's eyes drifted back down to her pretty face, "My father's sister never married and my mother's brothers had one child each."
"So, you didn't have any cousins," Kaylee asked, her mind stuck on this fact.
"I told you, I had two."
"Might'as well be none," Kaylee said, rolling her eyes.
"Why, how many cousins do you have?"
"Ain't sure," the girl shrugged, "'Bout twenty four on my ma's side, I think, and . . ."
"Twenty four?" Simon's voice cracked just a little.
"Yun-huh," Kaylee nodded, not skipping a beat. "An' then on my daddy's side I think there were . . ."
"Hey, Little Kaylee," Mal interrupted as he bounded down the stairs. "Thought' I told everyone to be in the cargo hold, ready ta get off."
"We're gettin' off the ship?" Kaylee asked excitedly, forgetting about her countless cousins.
"That we are," Mal said, reaching down and offering a hand to help her up. "I think we could all stand ta have dirt under our feet for a spell."
"So," Simon said, pulling himself to his feet unassisted. "When you say 'we could all' . . ."
"You and yer sis included," Mal said. "It's a nice little out of the way planet full a nice little people, no reason to fret."
Simon nodded clearly still fretting, but willing to trust his captain's words.
"Hey!" Kaylee said, as if realizing something for the first time. "Where are we setin' down? You ain't told us once what planet we were goin' to."
"Well, you were too busy to much care," Mal said as the threesome plodded down the stairs, clinging to the banisters. The gravity of the planet was already kicking in and as Wash eased the ship down the whole crew felt just a little off kilter.
"Cap'n, You hao zi!" Kaylee said, turning and slapping Mal on the arm hard enough to hurt. "You had me do all that work so's I'd be too busy ta ask where we were headed."
"I am, at times, amazed at my own cleverness."
"Wow, Captain," Simon said, with a somewhat nervous respect in his voice, "That was quite the connivery."
"You may think what you done was clever," Kaylee said lividly as she reached the deck and started heading towards the hatch. "But you're gonna be sorry when I decide never ta talk to you again."
"I
have great faith in the weakness of those convictions," Mal told Simon quietly
over his shoulder. The doctor couldn't
help but snicker.
"You laughin' at me?" Kaylee
said, turning on the men with more fury in her expression than either man would
have thought possible.
"No," Simon said very quickly, his mouth going dry.
Mal, who knew what was going to happen as soon as the hatch hit the dirt, continued to chuckle. Kaylee sent him a venomous glare so cold that he started to cough, had to clear his throat, and came out of it looking more or less contrite.
There was a dull clunk as the hatch unlatched and a loud cranking as it started to lower. It was loud enough to prevent any real communication, but Kaylee still managed to communicate her extreme displeasure. It hung around her like a cloud, Mal and Simon didn't dare come close to her.
The rest of the crew wandered slowly towards the opening of the hatch, taking in the fresh air as soon as it flowed in. It was a sort of ritual for the crew to gather near the hatch when it opened. Even on planets were Simon and River were not allowed off, the siblings would hover near the ships entry, breathing deeply of air that hadn't been sterilized, filtered and recycled.
Jayne and Book had quit their game. The mercenary sucked in the air greedily while the preacher closed his eyes and took in deep measured breaths. Inara made a sort of contented sigh as she exhaled the first sweet breath. Wash slipped his hand in Zoë's as he slid next to her, their faces were very close, almost like they were taking the same first breath. River's tousled hair wisp back at the slight breeze, she was giggling, softly and seemed almost overcome with the simple pleasure. Even Kaylee's foul mood lightened as the cool air hit her face. As Mal looked around he mused that, if he ever had to describe joy, he'd probably say it was fresh air flowing through Serenity.
But what happened next would, perhaps, have been a better definition. When the hatch was half down it became clear that, wherever the ship had landed, there was a mass of people waiting. When the hatch was three-quarters of the way down, and the mass of people were clearly visible, Kaylee screeched.
Although Mal couldn't see it, he knew Kaylee's bright face had a downright radiant, probably blinding smile on it. She ran to the edge of the hatch before it hit the dirt, screaming all the way, although her voice was lost in the din as most of the assembled crowed called out her name.
"Ah, Captain?" Simon asked, clearly confused by the mechanic's reception.
"It's her family," Mal said. "Her home."
"So that's why you kept her busy, preoccupied. So this could be a surprise."
"Yeah," Mal said warmly. Kaylee'd just thrown herself into her father's arms. Her mother was petting her hair and trying not to cry. Nieces and nephews where pulling at her jumpsuit begging for their aunt's attention.
"I think she appreciates it," the doctor offered, his voice was warm too.
"She's my girl," Mal sighed. "Thing's I go through ta see that smile . . ."
"It's worth it," Simon said. Mal glanced back at the boy. He was staring at Kaylee's warm reunion with an almost wistful expression. Mal wondered if the boy wanted to be in Kaylee's place, welcomed back to his family with loving embraces, or if he'd rather take the place of the handsome young man who'd just kissed the pretty mechanic on the cheek.
"On that point, Doctor, we are in perfect agreement."
To be Continued . . .