On Board the Bebop

January 14th (end of week 33 of Faye's pregnancy)

There was something so soothing about sitting quietly in the small room with his bonsai trees. For one, they didn't require half as much work as the fruit and vegetable and herb bearing plants in the hydroponics room. And unlike his companions on the ship, the bonsai never sassed back or gave him grief. Even Ein was occasionally guilty of being a pain in the ass.

Here, amidst the peace of the plants, Jet could breathe deeply and let his mind wander. He could cherish the silence while still feeling deeply tied to the other life present - life that he cultivated with care, each snip precise, each adjustment one to bring more harmony to the bonsai itself. Here, he could–

"JET!"

The peace was shattered with Faye's loud shout from further inside the old fishing vessel. Spike was out after a bounty and had left confident in knowing his lady would be looked after by his partner. They'd been tackling bounties as a team for a bit but the farther Faye progressed in her pregnancy the less either man liked to leave her in just Ed and Ein's company.

Jet barely spared a thought for the branch that had been rudely clipped when Faye bellowed. He raced from his bonsai tending to the living room to answer the call, certain that something terrible must have happened.

"Faye!" He yelled, lurching to a stop. "What the hell?" He demanded.

She was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels on the monitor. There seemed to be nothing awry.

Faye glanced up at him and sighed. "Jet," She said, quieter this time. "I am BORED."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to let out slowly before speaking to her through gritted teeth. "Faye. For fuck's sake, you cannot scream for me like that. I thought you'd fallen or been hurt somehow." Jet griped. "And anyway it's your own damn fault."

Glaring at him through narrowed eyes, Faye made a harrumphing sound and turned back to the monitor. "It is not entirely my fault. But whatever! I can't drink, I can't smoke, I shouldn't gamble - and now I can't help with bounties?"

Jet rubbed his face with his real hand, wishing Spike was around to face this whiney Faye. She'd been cooped up for nearly two weeks now, so he supposed she'd reached the end of her short rope. Still, the damn woman knew the restrictions were for her own good so you'd think she'd be more tolerant of the situation.

"We've been over this. It's too dangerous." Jet huffed. "But… I've been thinking. While you can't go out and bust heads or serve assholes… well, maybe you could start to do some research on the bounties. Take over my role so I can go out and get some work done."

It was a sign of just how bored and irritated by her confinement Faye had become that she gave his suggestion serious consideration. For all of a minute. But then she shook her head.

"That's a nice gesture and all, but we both know I'm shit at that end of things. Besides, Ed is getting feisty about being taken off duty too now that she's had a taste of excitement. I couldn't take the research aspect from her - that would leave her with nothing."

Jet mulled this over, realizing it was true. "Well, there are more schools she could attempt," He mused.

Faye laughed shortly. "I think we all know that ship has sailed. She tried a bunch, to be fair, and honestly I'm not surprised that her intelligence already puts her out of the league of kids her age. Ugh. No there's gotta be something else I can do here."

"Besides cooking and mending?" Jet chuckled at the dark look Faye shot his way. Her attempts at mending clothes had not gone well, though her attempts at meals had gone better. Her concoctions were more palatable than anything Spike had brought to the table so far, or Ed for that matter.

"I've even exhausted all the options for researching baby business. I've watched videos," she shuddered in apparent recollection, "and taken the courses DB insisted on. I've read books and websites and until I have a live baby to practice diapering or swaddling or feeding there's basically nothing left for me to learn." She made a face at the image on the monitor and shut it off, tossing the remote onto the coffee table. "You know what's even crazier? Spike has been just as into all this. The classes and learning I mean. It's strange since he normally doesn't give two shits about anything."

"Maybe that was true of the Spike we had on board when you forced your way onto the ship," Jet allowed, "but to be fair when it was just the two of us, Spike did just as much background checking and whatnot to catch our bounties. Well, maybe not on the computer but in terms of learning through legwork and questioning people. He's always had the potential to be an avid learner. Guess it just took something like this to truly matter to him for it to become obvious to the rest of us."

Faye had given the entirety of her attention over to Jet, but she still looked pensive.

"Faye… are you still worried that we're gonna pull the rug out from under you and send you packing? I said you forced your way onto the ship and that's true enough but even when you gave us no reason to appreciate your presence here…we wouldn't have given you the boot. And now? Well, you've grown on us like a barnacle. We care about you. You have a place here regardless of your ability to contribute at the moment. Hell, kid, how many months have we let Spike loaf around all banged up and bringing nothing to the table? Don't worry about not pulling your own weight - we're a team here, you know. It's fine. You can take it easy for a while."

Faye inhaled deeply through her nose, eyes fluttering closed briefly, and then exhaled and looked at him. "Thanks, Jet. I guess I was kind of bothered about that. I…just hadn't really thought about it that much. Things that trouble me I try to avoid acknowledging."

Jet grunted in sympathy. "Well yeah, that's typical of all of us I'd say. Except maybe Ed. She doesn't let much bother her in the first place but stuff that does… she tends to approach head on. But we've got some real deep-set issues, the rest of us. It's better to put some thought into shit to understand it, you know?" He paused as an idea came to him. "DB wants you to take it easy on the workouts and switch to yoga, hey? That kinda shit is good for meditation too. Easy on the body and beneficial for the mind and it can be fairly time consuming. Maybe we can use that to fill the hours of your day."

Half an hour later, after Jet finally found a second yoga mat and they'd both changed into workout clothes, he had Faye running through some basic moves that were listed on a sheet from DB. Soft instrumental music played over the speakers, courtesy of Ed who had woken up on the bridge and was now sitting with Ein and watching the older pair warm up.

"You seem pretty familiar with these poses," Faye noted slyly. "When did you start doing this?"

Jet shrugged. "When my leg was busted up and Spike was still in the hospital. Or, er, what'd you call it? The 'old fogeys place' that you wouldn't even go into! You called 'em 'oookey' whatever the hell that was supposed to mean - but they had some good classes! Yoga was only one of the things I dabbled with then. It helped more than I expected." His leg had been a minor agony compared to to concern he'd felt at the time for his partner, laid up under a pseudonym in a retirement facility with his life touch-and-go for days, while Faye had fucked off on her own. She'd stayed on the ship and had done what she could to bring in some bounties and hadn't even used the woolongs for herself, but she'd also refused to go to see Spike and had never inquired as to what Jet was doing that whole time.

"Huh. Yeah I don't remember you gimping around much by the time we got Spike back on board." She replied thoughtfully.

"That's where the yoga came in. It's a form of meditation that merges physical balance with mental peace. Heals you inside and out. Just keep doing this every day and you'll see. Bet this will help not just you but the baby too."

"Well, shit. Guess it can't hurt anyway. DB has been recommending it pretty much every appointment these days. And you're right about it helping the baby - or at least making labor less stressful on both parties. There's plenty of studies she's cited me about it." She sighed. "All right. I need something physical to do or I'm gonna go mad. Let's keep going - what's the next move all about?"

"Hold up, we gotta go about this smartly. I gotta crosscheck the poses I know with the list DB gave ya. Sometimes the names change depending who is teaching ya."

"Jeez, how complicated can some hippie exercise be?"

xxx

On the Bebop

January 20th

Faye drew in a steadying breath as she shoved the drawer of the fridge closed in aggravation. "Oh come on now, I've given up drinking and cigarettes and I really cut back on pot! I've only smoked to help with the morning sickness, or back ache, or mood swings. And even that's been infrequent for weeks now!"

Spike wandered into the kitchen and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Talking to the baby or yourself?"

She growled at him. "Where are they?"

"Uhh…where's what, doll?"

"My fucking edibles, Spike!"

He held his hands up in a show of innocence. "I wouldn't touch your treats, no worries."

Grumbling angrily, Faye stalked from the kitchen with Spike following curiously on her heels. She stopped in her tracks when she reached the living room and let loose a shriek that brought Jet hustling from the bridge to peer down at the commotion.

"Dammit Ed! I can't smoke or drink or work - all I have is left is edibles! Whyyyy would you eat my edibles?!" Faye cried.

Spike leaned over her shoulder to see more of the scene as it unfolded.

Ed lay sprawled atop the coffee table, insensate and with glazed eyes, seeming just as upset about the issue as Faye herself.

"Why would anyone want to feel like this?" The hacker moaned. "Make it stooooooop…"

Faye reeled in her outrage as she made her way further into the room and plopped down on the couch. She missed seeing the 'not my problem' look that Spike and Jet exchanged before both men backed out of the room and into the kitchen and bridge respectfully.

"Sorry, kiddo, there's no pausing this ride once you jump on board." Faye told Ed then. "Sometimes food helps. Sometimes you can sleep it off. Don't fight it, it's just dizziness for the most part. You'll be fine in a few hours, I promise. Here, just lay there for now and see if it helps to keep your eyes closed. I'll grab us some blankets and make up a nest and we can just relax here in the room together. Maybe we'll try some music or cartoons. In a little while when you can walk we can go get some fresh air."

"Mmmmm sorry, seeeeeeeester…Ed didn't know those were special gummies…"

"Uh huh. Maybe next time don't go for something that has a skull and crossbones on it, hey? It's only been the universal symbol for 'poison' since time began." Faye replied, unable to keep a smile off her face. "Hard to believe we finally found something even you can't eat without consequences."

Ed moaned piteously. "This is worse than the camp juice!"

Faye chuckled. "Hate to break it to ya, but adults say and do and eat and drink a lot of awful things. I know we don't really do a lot of sharing here on the ship, but…well, in the future just maybe think to ask first about stuff like this, hey? We've finally reached a point where we're not squabbling over the last bean every few weeks, which means special treats sometimes…which might just mean accidentally drugging yourself if you indulge without permission."

"Ed didn't mean to eat the whole bag, Faye-Faye… they were just so cute and delicious…"

"Ahh you'll be fine, Ed. We'll get through this together. I'll stop trying to get you to learn a lesson. Now, you just lay right there while I gather up some supplies."

xxx

On a trail in Panma City on Callisto

Days Later…

"Ugh! Now both of my socks are down by my toes," Faye complained as she and Ed walked along the snowy path.

Ed snickered. "Surprised they could fall down past your fat ankles, sis!" She said slyly.

Faye stopped in her tracks, jaw dropping in indignation, and then couldn't stop from laughing incredulously. "Edward! That was… positively bitchy!"

Ed stopped her own straight arm and straight leg march to whirl around and wrap Faye up in a hug. "Didn't mean it though! Just wanted to say something outrageous to distract you and boost your mood!" Her golden eyes were locked on Faye's face. "Wasn't sure if you'd end in tears or giggles, but Ed is glad this is your choice."

"You little goof," Faye muttered, still smiling despite herself. It had been so incredibly out of character for the sweet hearted hacker. Then something else occurred to her. "Edward! You've grown a few inches!"

Ed beamed. "Yes yes yes! Onwards and upwards! Ed is growing up not out!" She broke from the embrace to cup her flat chest for emphasis. "That's good though, Ed has never wanted to be a femme fatale! Those tatas are just a lot of work and worry! Edward doesn't ever need that much attention."

Faye laughed again. "Oh Ed," She sighed softly. "We're all built in different ways and if you ever change your mind about what you want to look like, you can always change your body too. That's the beauty of medical advances. But I'm glad you're happy with how you are because I sure am too. I think you're perfect just as you are. Just, always remember that your opinion is what matters most - don't ever change because that's what someone else wants."

"Ed is Ed! And Faye-Faye, you taught me plenty about being yourself. Remember…'Well, this is who I am, so it can't be helped. If I act like someone else saying, "even though I look like this I'm really a homemaker!" or whatever... even if it did get anywhere, in the end, hardship—no—only regrets will come. It's got to be someone that will like me for myself.' And sure, you were talking personality, but it's logic for looks too! And Spike-person loves you exactly as you are - the full, flawed, fabulous Faye that you are!"

Ed's words - verbatim to what Faye herself had spoken to the hacker way back before Ed had even left in search of her father - had a profound impact on the gambler. Faye tried hard to stop from crying but it was impossible. "Oh, Ed, I didn't even think you were listening when I was rambling that night."

Ed stepped up to her again, wiping the tears away. "Wanna know a shhhhhh sister secret? Spike-person overheard that night too. He was hiding in the hallway when you had the drunken mumbles. Ed saw the look in his eyes - even the fake one! Admiration and affection ooh la la!" Ed grinned. "That's when Ed knew one day there'd be happily ever after…" And she gently touched Faye's belly. "Happy ever after and then some!"

"Dammit, Ed, you're gonna make me dehydrated from crying so much. I'm hungry, sis - let's go back to the ship and eat up our feelings. This has been a long enough walk in the cold."

"Abso-tively-posi-lutely! Look, Ein-dog is heading our way! He must be here to escort us back."

Sure enough, Ein pranced around the girls and then yipped as he started back down the path they'd taken. Laughing and linking arms, Ed and Faye followed in his excitable wake.