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"Whaddaya mean you need help feedin' 'em? You got two right there--one for each of them," Jayne stated, as if the answer was obvious, while pointing at her chest.
River rolled her eyes, shifted their son more securely on her breast, and told him: "Infants growing exponentially; need more than I can produce. Nutritional supplementation necessary, but we do not have the appropriate item. Must have Simon concoct substitute when he returns, but for now, will have to settle for bovine lactation products."
Jayne cocked his head and blinked at her.
She sighed and wondered again what had made her fall for the big lug, let alone chose to procreate with him.
"There's powdered milk in the kitchen. Follow the directions on the package, EXACTLY."
And he did just that. But after rummaging in all the cabinets and lockers and drawers for something to put it in, the Merc threw up his hands in frustation and wished once again that he had gone out on the job with Mal, Zoe, Simon and Kaylee.
Carry a gun, look tough, growl occassionally, shoot people when I gotta, tote the heavy stuff...THAT'S the stuff I am good at, he thought. NOT stuff like this.
Jayne sighed and turned around to search through the mess again when he felt his little girl hug his leg tightly. He picked her up and set her on the counter.
"You're a good Daddy," she told him. "And you're good at lots of Daddy-stuff too: you tell me stories, you strum me to sleep, you give big hugs, you play hide and seek, you sneak me candy, you make me feel safe. You'll think of something; I believe in you."
She kissed his cheek, hopped down, and skipped off...no doubt headed for Inara's shuttle.
Lightly touching his cheek where she kissed him, Jayne spent only a second on the sobering thought that his eldest daughter was taking after her mother in something quite different than just her looks. Then, he looked at his fingers, got an idea and ran down to the infirmary.
Jayne chuckled a bit imagining Simon's reaction to the room's condition (again). Then he picked up the jury-rigged "bottle" and returned to his and River's very crowded bunk.
Once there, he gently lifted the hungry baby girl out of the well-worn bassinette--a cradle that he had hand-crafted in preparation for their first child. He softly stroked her cheek to prepare her, and placed the thick surgical glove, with the small needle holes in the finger, into her rooting, open mouth. Jayne grinned at his wife with pride when the infant began sucking vigorously.
The big man swaggered across the small space to sit down in the rocking chair he had made for River; then he cuddled the happily nursing baby closer to his chest, closed his eyes and began to slowly rock.
Finally done with nursing the more demanding infant boy, River rose gracefully and tucked him into the blankets of the bassinette his sister had just vacated. Silently, she tip-toed over to her husband and daughter, placed a blanket over them both and kissed him soundly.
"Now I remember why," she whispered.
And before anyone freaks, I KNOW that smallish infants should not have cow's milk, let alone drink it from something that could possibly pop and choke them. But this is The Black. You make do with what you got, and these were things I imagined would be most readily accessible on Serenity.