Trinity

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Spike and Ed had gotten bored with the tension in the waiting room, and they asked the tired-looking nurse at the desk to let Jet know that they'd be outside, should Jet come looking for them. The nurse nodded and yawned.

It was a beautiful clear morning. The sun was still rising and had turned the clouds a most delicate shade of pink. Spike shook a cigarette out of a pack, muttering, "Red at morning."

"Sailors take warning," replied Ed, frowning at the cigarette in Spike's fingers. Spike sighed and popped the smoke back into the pack. "So when are you going to stop smoking, Spike?"

"I thought the point of a relationship is to accept the other person as he or she is."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "And I thought the point of a relationship was to put the desires of another person's before your own."

"I thought that was codependency."

"Stop watching the damned daytime TV, Spike."

"If you make me quit smoking, I will turn into the foulest human imaginable."

Ed scoffed and wrinkled her nose. "Oh, please. You are such an amateur."

Spike grinned. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Ed didn't answer; she only smirked back at Spike. "Ed? Answer me." But Ed didn't answer, which prompted Spike to make a grab for her. Ed shrieked. "Huh? Ed-ed thinks she can be all vague and metaphoric because she's got a couple of Bull Shit degrees and a More Shit degree?" By this time, Spike was relentlessly tickling Ed as she squealed and begged him to stop. "Why not go the full nine and get one of those Piled Higher and Deepers, eh?

Ed was nearly breathless and struggling to escape Spike. "Spi-spi . . . . Let Ed go!"

A new voice broke through. "Anyone would think you guys were the children."

Spike turned to the voice, and Ed took this opportunity to give Spike a massive pinch on the underside of his upper arm. Spike yelped, and Ed leapt out of Spike's clutches and into the arms of Jet, who looked like he'd been dragged down a gravel road. "Papa! Is everything okay?"

Jet hugged Ed tight. "Everything's okay, Ed."

"Well?" Spike asked, rubbing his tricep. "Boy or girl?"

"Boy," replied Jet with a tired grin. "Twenty inches long, seven pounds, eight ounces, and everything he's supposed to have and none of what he shouldn't." He took a breath. "Faye's exhausted, sore, pissed off."

Spike grinned. "In other words, right as rain."

Ed squeezed Jet even tighter. "Congratulations, Papa."

"I agree. Congratulations, Papa." And Spike joined into the embrace briefly.

The three of them stayed close and still for a moment, and then Jet said, "Well, I have a little something for us to celebrate with, but we need your permission, Ed." Jet produced three cigars from his pocket.

Ed laughed. "Light 'em up!" The men joined in the laughter, and the three cigars were smoked with celebratory cheer.

And oddly enough, only Ed could blow a proper smoke ring.

Faye was exhausted, as well as sore, but pissed off she definitely was not. She was lying on her side, gazing at the infant beside her, who could barely open his eyes. Her hands traveled over every inch of his amazing body. She reached down to kiss his head, burying her nose in his soft black hair. This baby smelled better than anything else she had ever known. Better than vanilla, better than expensive perfume, better than frying bacon. The baby's hand curled around her finger, and Faye had to stifle a sob. She kissed the baby's fist, and wiped the tear from her eye.

And Faye could not stop smiling.

There was a soft tap on the door, and Jet, looking decidedly rumpled, poked his head in. "Faye?"

"C'mon in," Faye murmured, keeping her eyes on the baby.

"You have company."

Faye did look up at that, and smiled hugely at Spike and Ed as they shyly came into the room. "Hi, guys. Come over and take a look."

Ed was the first to come over, and she squatted by the bed to coo at the tiny baby. Spike carefully touched the baby's head, running his fingers through the baby's hair. "There is nothing as soft as baby hair," Spike remarked, which warmed Faye's heart, for some reason. Then Spike leaned over, kissed Faye on the head, and squeezed her with one arm. "You did good, Romani."

Faye squeezed him back. "Thanks, Gorgio."

Spike stepped back, but held a bag out to Faye. "Trade you? Is it okay if someone holds the nipper for you?" Faye nodded, and took the bag from Spike as he carefully lifted the infant into his arms as if he'd been doing it forever. Spike gently walked with the baby, lightly bouncing him. Faye opened the bag, and pulled out a big soft bundle of deep turquoise yarn. As she separated out the little bundles, she realized that she was holding a pair of incredibly tiny booties, a little hat, and a blanket with a beautiful and complicated-looking knit pattern. Spike then said, "We chose the turquoise because we didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl, and we thought it would work for either."

Faye was turning over the blanket in her hands, and then it finally struck her. The Lunkhead had knitted all this himself. So long ago, on a drunken night, he'd said that he knew how to knit. She hadn't believed him, any more than she believed that he was the son of a preacher or a former seminarian. But some tears spilled over, which she wiped away with a corner of the blanket. "These are absolutely beautiful, Spike. Thank you so much."

Jet was trying to fill out more paperwork, and he was grumbling. Finally, he turned to Faye and asked, "What is your middle name?"

Faye rolled her eyes. "Hand the thing over and I'll fill it out."

Jet glanced at her and said, "No, it's okay, I have it under control. Just tell me what your middle name is."

Faye's eyes narrowed and she snapped, "I'm not saying. Give me the damn certificate and I'll fill it out."

Spike handed the baby to Ed, and said, "It's Rosamund. Here, hand that blanket over. The kid's getting all antsy." Jet chuckled, and added the name to the certificate as Ed laid the child on the new blanket, and Spike popped on the booties and hat with a practiced ease. Spike stole a glance at Faye, who was staring at him, and said, "I told you I'd babysat."

"You also said you lost your virginity to the kid's mom."

Spike actually blushed a bit. "Yeah, well . . . This is how you swaddle. Over, over, up, over, over, up." He then presented the baby to Faye.

"Won't he be all upset, being so confined?"

Spike shrugged. "Just the opposite, really. Newborns get freaked out when they have too much room. Swaddling comforts them."

Faye smiled at Spike. "There is no limit to what you know, is there?"

Jet broke in again. "What's his name, Faye?"

Ed was incredulous. "You haven't decided that?"

Faye rocked the baby, a beatific smile on her face. "We wanted to wait until he got here. But I've been thinking about Joseph. Joseph Edward Black, I think."

Jet stared at Faye, and asked, "You'd give him my name?"

Faye turned that smile to Jet, and replied, "He's yours, isn't he?" And Jet's heart melted. Spike's heart melted a little too, and he stood behind Ed and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. Faye looked at the two and said, "You guys have a namesake now. I suppose you two will have to be the godparents too."

Spike sighed. "Cripes. Now we have to live as a good example. Thanks a lot." But he was smiling. Jet laid down his pen and yawned. Spike took the opportunity to snatch the clipboard away, saying, "Your spelling goes straight to hell when you're this tired, old man. I'd better proofread." And then Ed's and Spike's eyes goggled at the paper. Spike wrinkled his nose and said, "Who the hell is Abraham Sebastian?"

Jet lurched out of his chair. "Give that back."

Spike held the clipboard out of reach. "Abraham Sebastian?"

Jet snarled, "Give it back, goddamnit!"

Ed snorted. "And you all make fun of my name." Everyone paused and stared at Ed for a moment, and then began to laugh.

Just then, Devine and his wife, Inga, burst in, creating a lot of commotion and bringing a huge bouquet. Inga demanded to hold the baby, which Faye gave up reluctantly. Devine still had a cigar in his mouth, thankfully unlit, and he handed around more cigars that were of much higher quality than the ones Jet had passed around.

After a time, Devine, who was never one to mix words, got to business. "So, Black, Valentine. Got a proposition for you."

Joseph started squalling, and Spike deftly took the baby from Inga's arms. Joseph quieted immediately. Faye turned her gaze back to Devine, and asked, "What kind of proposition?"

Devine pointed at Faye, "You, you be floor manager, being a hostess and the like to big rollers. Keep them entertained; get them to spend big money in the Citadel. Then you stay on and be the in-house commentator on the big gambling events. Even toss you in there from time to time." Devine then pointed to Jet. "And you, you take over security. Liked your record from the ISSP. Good man. Whip those nancy boys I got into shape. Good solid money. Good solid place to bring up the kid. Whaddya say?"

Jet and Faye were goggling at the large man. Jet opened his mouth to say something, but Faye broke in, "We need to think about it."

Devine nodded. "Fine then. C'mon, Inga, let's blow. I haven't had a drag on this goddamned cheroot for nigh on an hour. Goddamned hospitals. You think about it, you two. We'd like you guys to stick around, but no hard feelings if you don't. Okay?" And then Devine and Inga left.

Jet whistled softly. "Carries one big-ass stick, doesn't he?"

Faye wasn't listening. She was gazing across the room at Spike and Ed, who'd politely moved to the other side of the room, and they were both focused on the baby. God, how she'd missed them both, so, so much. And she'd missed Jet so terribly while she was on Venus, yet, when he was there with her, she still felt lost and alone. Looking at Jet, Faye wondered how the both of them would deal with living in one spot in a house with its roots of concrete and steel driven far into the ground, everything so much bigger than it needed to be and so solidly fixed, captured, trapped, unable to move.

Faye closed her eyes. She was still a Romani, but she figured Jet was as inclined to being a nomad as she was. Faye opened her eyes to see Spike rocking Joseph and Ed peering intently at the baby. She could hear Spike saying softly, "Hi there, Spike Jr. We're going to be pals, I think. If your mother lets me be a bad influence in your life." Ed was chuckling, and she squeezed Spike around his waist. Spike smiled back at Ed.

And Faye could no longer imagine her life without those people across the room. Faye squeezed Jet's hand. "There's no place like home."

Jet perched on the edge of her bed. "That's true, but where is that?"

Faye smiled up at Jet with tears in her eyes. "Home is where all five of us are. Faye, Abraham, Joseph, Edward, and Joseph Edward."

Jet chuckled and smiled back at her. "You actually mean the Bebop?"

"Yes," replied Faye.

"I'll go where you and Joseph Edward go, but I thought you never wanted to go back there."

"I was wrong." Three little words. "Let's go home."

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Almost the end.

This is a work of fiction, and the CB characters are copywrited by someone other than me. Please leave a review!