Lineage 2/5

River curled into his side, careful to keep her five-month bump from brushing him. While Jayne hadn't said anything else about the baby, he was not happy. He was resigned. He was coping. But he wasn't excited or happy or any of the other things expectant parents were supposed to be—that River was. He ignored her growing belly when he could, though sometimes she caught him staring. At those moments, Jayne usually radiated a sickly yellow worry and a pea green frustration. Sometimes there were red spikes of anger, but he did his best to keep that in check.

Tomorrow they were set to see the first color sonogram. As technology progressed to the point that sonograms were almost a film of the fetus, it became tradition for the first few to be done in black-and-white, and not generally shown to the parents. Later, when it looked more like a person, the parents could see the face of their child at the same time that they were given the option of knowing the sex. Simon had adhered to that out of his sister's wishes, and the new parents' first glimpse of the life that grew in River would be seen just before lunch the next day.

River smiled in anticipation.

But, afraid that Jayne would guess at what the smile was for, she leaned in to lick his collar bone. She traced the primary veins and arteries connected to the heart over Jayne's chest as they lay in bed. She hummed in her throat, and rubbed her chin against his shoulder causing him to grin.

Jayne smirked. River's sex drive had gone way, way up since she got pregnant. They hadn't spent so much time in bed since they first got together and were still in their practice phase. He wasn't sure it was biological or if she was trying to will this into a normal pregnancy through the act.

Of course, he thought, it could be that she wanted to fuck him into wanting the baby. He knew it didn't make sense to accept Angel as his own and be a father to her, but not want to bring a child of his own into the world. He couldn't help that that was what he felt.

When he felt River's hands start to wander south, he grabbed her wrist. "River. We already done this once. Ain't you tired?"

"Mm. I could go again."

She smiled up at him, but there were dark circles under her eyes. It reinforced the idea that she thought she could sex him into acceptance. Jayne brought her hand back up and trapped it over his heart despite River's mewl of protest.

"Never thought I'd say no to sex, but you're tired. An' in your delicate condition, ya don't need to be exertin' yourself."

"I enjoy exerting myself," she purred as she rubbed her thigh against his, afraid that if they weren't intimate until he was asleep, Jayne would go up to his old bunk again.

"I'll take ya up on that tomorrow morinin'. Now be quiet, an' go to sleep."

She whined, but Jayne turned her around so he was spooning her. River gave an exaggerated sigh, and said, "Fine. We shall continue in the morning, if Angel doesn't come in and wake us up." She snuggled further back in his arms.

As River tried to calm down enough to go to sleep, she started muttering. She got into so heated a debate with herself that Jayne finally propped himself up on his elbow and scowled down at her. "What in hell are you goin' on about?"

She jumped a bit. "Umm. We have yet to discuss possible name choices. I was cataloguing my favorites in order to whittle my list down to names you might not say no to."

Jayne grunted. This was one of those topics he always avoided. If he gave it a name, that made it real, and he wasn't quite ready for it to be real yet. Of course, tomorrow he would be getting a look at it, and he wouldn't be able to get away from the reality. He might as well get this part over with now since they were both keyed up about the big unveiling in the morning.

"Got any idea if it's a boy or a girl?"

River snorted and looked up. "Yes, because a five-month-old fetus has a gender identity to brood on. The only hint I have is that I have prolonged morning sickness, which some relate to a male fetus, but Kaylee was sick into her fifth month, and she had a girl. It will be a surprise."

"Alright. Just askin'." Jayne propped himself up on his elbow. "You got any favorites you know I won't like if I hear you put it on the birth certificate without my knowin'?"

"Well…I was thinking…I always liked Ferdinand—"

"No."

She pushed up on her elbows. "Why not?"

"Not Ferdinand," Jayne protested. "Name like that guarantees the gettin' the crap kicked outta ya."

"By whom? There is only us on the ship."

"Someone, somewhere, someday would beat the snot outta him just cuz he's got a stupid name. Let's see if we can avoid that."

"Speaking from personal experience?" she whispered. He didn't answer, so she leaned back and kissed his nose. "Are there any other guidelines for name choice?"

"Like what?"

"Some parents like to name a child after older family members, or when it is a child after the first, alliteration, assonance, consonance, or rhyming are used. I was wondering if you had a preference."

Jayne frowned. "Uh…no namin' after family members. I ain't sure what the other things meant 'sides rhymin'."

"Alliteration is using the same beginning letter or sound," she explained. "Like Jayne, Jack, Joseph, and Joselyn."

"Yeah, none a'that," Jayne nixed. "Always thought it was stupid when I heard whole families an' the kids named somethin' alike."

"Also, it would get confusing. One of my father's partners named his children Tamara, Teresa, and Timothy. I remember he waved home once and stuttered out T's before he said, 'The boy.' In that case, I like Griffin, Ulysses, Paladin, and Damon and/or Pythias for a boy, and Ch—"

"What the hell are those?"

"Huh?"

"Those ain't names," Jayne argued.

"They are so," River insisted.

Jayne shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Whatta ya got for girls, an' we'll go from there."

River huffed. "Fine. Chloe—"

"Sounds too much like Zoë, an' we got one'a them."

"I liked Agape, but we decided against same letters."

Jayne turned on his side to face her. "What's with the weird names? Just chose somethin' simple. Somethin' that has meaning."

River pinched his arm. "My own name is rather odd, thank you. An unconventional name gives a child character and makes him or her unique."

"Makes 'em easier to pick on."

"I like those names, and they all do mean something. A griffin is a mythological creature that stood for wisdom and valor. Ulysses was another name for the hero Odysseus who designed the Trojan Horse which penetrated the inner walls of Troy, Paladin means 'defender of the faith,' and Damon and Pythias come from a Greek myth about two friends who remained loyal despite certain death. Agape is also Greek. It means unconditional, devoted love as opposed to Eros, which is more like lust. I thought it had a semi-divine sound to it, and would go well with angelic Angel."

"Well, then what about Grace?" Jayne suggested. "Means kind of the same thing. Love and holiness and devotion and honorin' those that deserve honor. Goes along with Angel, too."

River rolled onto her back to look up at him with wide eyes. Jayne's devout side always surprised her, she saw it so rarely. He didn't live a very sanctified life, but Jayne was raised a church-going Christian, and he fell back on it at the oddest of moments.

"Grace," she tested. "Grace Cobb…Angel and Grace Cobb."

Jayne shifted onto his back to keep from looking at her. It did sound good, and he almost wished he hadn't suggested it.

"Can we call her Gracie?" River asked.

"Sure."

River nodded. "Grace it is."

She rolled over and settled back into the pillow. Jayne waited, but there was no more muttering. He looked at her, and finally had to poke her in the shoulder. "Hey. We only got the girl's name. We need one more."

River let her hair hide her grin. She'd hooked him! "You're correct. After all, we don't want a repeat of the Jayne debacle."

He snorted. "You heard about that, huh?"

She rolled onto her other side to look at him and didn't bother to hide her smile. "Your mother told me. If it makes you feel any better, she truly is sorry."

"Don't go laughin'! Your name's weird, too," he pouted.

"My grandfather named me!" she protested, pinching his arm.

"Ow!" He rubbed the red mark she'd left, and glared at her. "Why'd your grandpa want to go an' name you somethin' like 'River?' Seems mean, to me."

Her smile died away. "It…it wasn't intentional."

Jayne saw he'd upset her when she went to turn away again. He slid his arms around her to keep her facing him. "Didn't mean to make ya upset. Again."

"Not your fault. Thinking about my parents in relation to Grandpa is difficult. He loved me very much."

"An' your folks didn't," he finished. "How'd he name you, then?"

River wondered if she should tell him. She didn't want to make him feel worse about his indecision about the baby, but he had asked. "I was an accident. My parents already had their perfect child, and neither of them wanted another. My mother had an interior design degree, and she finally got to set up her own business once Simon started attending school full time. It was traditional for a woman to stay home to oversee the raising of her child until it was old enough to enter school, and she didn't want to lose the clients she took three years to accumulate to others who would come to take her place while she raised a second child. So she ignored her pregnancy for as long as she could. If she hadn't been in such forceful denial, she might have thought to get an abortion."

Jayne's arms tightened. He didn't like this story. It made him feel like he was in the same category as her mei yon de parents, and he hated the thought of her not existing at all if her mother hadn't been such a pian zhi de po fu. What if someday someone would be thinking the same thing about him because he hadn't wanted this baby?

River soaked up the warmth of him, and continued. "When my mother finally resigned herself to my existence, it was too late to safely get an abortion. She complained loud and long until finally my grandfather interceded over a family dinner." She scrunched her brows and affected a deep voice. "'Oh, cry me a river, Regan! If you don't want the child, I'll take it. I'll pay for nannies, doctors, dentists, school—whatever it needs.' Of course, my father couldn't let that go. It would be a disgrace for him to let someone else pay for his child's upbringing, so he took my mother aside and had a word with her. When I was born, and Grandpa Max came to the hospital, Mom pointed to me in the bassinet, and said, 'Here you go, Dad. I cried you a River.'"

He frowned, his curiosity pricking him. "Wait a minute. How do you know? You can't r'member bein' born, can ya?"

She rubbed her cold nose into Jayne's shoulder. "No," she gave a dry laugh. "When I was eleven, I entered my difficult stage." She noticed his incredulous brow raise, and amended, "More difficult than usual. Mom and I got into a fight. Simon was away at graduate school, and Dad didn't want to get involved. We ended up screaming at each other, and she told me I wasn't supposed to exist. She never wanted to have me. I ran up to my room and waved Grandpa. He didn't like lies, and he knew I'd know if he tried, so he told me the truth." River looked up at Jayne with pleading eyes. "Simon doesn't know. He was too little to pay much attention at the time, and he's never read people well. Don't tell him."

"I won't."

They were quiet for a long time before River giggled softly. "Grandpa Max would have liked you. You would have liked him, too."

"Doubt it," Jayne snorted. "Don't have much in common with rich Core folk. You know, 'cept you."

"Maxwell Gibson did not start out rich," River boasted. "He started out as a dock worker. His father managed one of the warehouses, and he was smart, worked his way up, and finally became the district manager of the area of the Capitol City docks he started in. He was ruthless in his upward movement, and was noticed by the CEO of the trading company. He made his fortune and ended up marrying the CEO's daughter—for love, of all things! His own daughter hooked a Tam and joined an old family name with new money."

Jayne craned his neck to look down at her. "Rich people are weird."

"He was mercenary," she teased. "You two would have had so much in common."

He snorted, and dug his fingers into a sensitive spot on her side eliciting a squeal and giggle.

"Jayne?" she asked once he'd stopped the attack. "What about Max?"

"Thought we said no namin' after family?"

River deflated, but nodded that yes, they had. Jayne couldn't take it anymore. She'd been too sad lately, and he'd been the cause of it too much. He sighed. "Max, huh? Max Cobb…. I guess it doesn't sound too bad."

His wife grinned. "Maxwell Cobb has a very nice ring to it."

"Good. We got that straightened out. Can we sleep now?"

"Yes, boa bei." River kissed the side of his mouth. "Are you sure you would not like to have sex again?"

He growled, and locked his arms around her chest, trapping her own between them. River smiled, and snuggled into him.

&&&

River still hated the infirmary, but she submitted to the check-ups and tests that Simon was required to do, and those he insisted she undergo to make sure the Pax didn't have a negative impact on her pregnancy. He also monitored her brain activity for signs that the pregnancy was having a negative impact on her. She slid back in the medical chair, and reached for Jayne's hand.

"So you're actually staying this time?" Simon asked.

Jayne nodded. This was the first sonogram he would be here for. It was too much for him to take at first. During the first one, he was still dealing with the fact that River was pregnant; he wasn't ready to see proof yet. For the second one, he had a legitimate excuse—he'd had a concussion from a job gone south and couldn't get out of bed. Despite what River said, he did not get hurt on purpose to get out of going.

River nodded as well. "He is. Not going to let him get out of it, this time."

Simon pulled the sonogram machine to the side of the bed, and asked his sister to lift the bottom of her shirt over her stomach. When he uncapped the tube of gel, River stuck her tongue out at it.

"You know, mei-mei, it's really hard to take you seriously as an adult when you do that."

"It's cold," she complained. "Gives me gooseflesh."

Simon sighed, and rolled his eyes as he attached two sensors to her stomach. Being a wife and mother hadn't changed her a bit. She was still a spoiled brat.

"Am not," she protested.

"Was your brother thinkin' mean thoughts at ya?" Jayne asked.

"Called me a spoiled brat."

"Can't argue with him there," her husband muttered. He and the Doctor shared a look of understanding

She glared at him, but looked away when dark hair and a yellow dress streaked passed the infirmary doors and had to back-track. Angel stepped over the raised portal, and skipped over to the bed. River smiled, and asked, "Come to meet your new sibling?"

"Uh-huh!" the newly turned four-year-old chirped. She looked up at Jayne. "Daddy, up! I wanna see, too!"

Jayne bent down to hoist the little girl up to sit on the side of the reclined chair with Mommy. Simon squeezed some of the gel onto the swell of River's exposed stomach causing her to shiver. Angel shivered in sympathy, and the two Cobb girls shared a giggle. Jayne closed his eyes and prayed it wasn't a girl. There was only so much giggling a man could take, and they had the menfolk outnumbered on this boat already. The only good thing about the pregnancy, so far as Jayne thought, was that Simon assured him that there was only one baby. He would have had a heart attack if it had been twins.

"Okay," Simon said as he picked up the sonogram pads. "Let's just make sure there aren't any new complications that've come up."

He put the paddles on River's stomach, and the 3D, orangish image of a human head faded up on the screen. The forehead was a little big, but it was defiantly human. River gasped in delight. As they watched, the mouth opened and closed, the tongue coming out briefly. River laughed at the mimicry of her earlier action.

"Is that a baby?" Angel asked. She had a confused, "ewy" look on her face.

"Yes, that is." River grinned. "Looks strange now, but your sibling is not done growing yet."

"No cleft lip," Simon reported. "There are the hands curled up under the chin, see? I'm counting five on each hand. River?"

"Five and five make ten," she whispered. "Look, Jayne! Your nose. Our baby has your nose."

"Yeah…" he murmured. "Got your mouth, though…wide-like. Think those are my brother's ears…."

"Annabelle has River's nose," Simon commiserated. "It's not unusual for genes to get shuffled like that and children look like aunts or uncles."

"It looks like an art dough face," Angel argued. She sighed heavily. "Gonna need a helmet."

Simon chuckled and moved the sensor around a bit to pan down. "Chest and abdominal area are normal…two legs…and it's a boy."

"Dì di!" Angel cheered. She looked over her shoulder at her Daddy. "Toldja."

"Uh-huh…." Jayne was staring, so he only distantly heard Angel. He was too busy categorizing his son. His nose, River's mouth, Matty's ears. The baby had his chin, though. He had his hands, too, even if they were itty bitty at this point. Those kind of looked like River's feet, though—long and slender. That was his baby, his son, right there. He was real.

The worries were still there, as were the doubts. Every argument he made against having kids was still an issue that they were going to have to face when the time came. But for the first time, Jayne felt anticipation, almost excitement. His hand found its way up to rest on the side of River's belly as Simon focused back on the baby's grimacing face. That was Jayne's too. "Hi, Max."

"Max?" Simon asked, and looked down at his sister. "As in, Grandpa Max?"

River nodded still with her ever-present smile.

"Who's that?" Angel asked her mother.

"Grandpa Max was my mommy's daddy," she explained. "He would have been your great grandfather, but he died when I was thirteen."

"How?" Angel asked.

"Aneurism. A blood vessel in his brain ruptured during a board meeting." River sighed. "He should have lived many years longer."

"You two were very close," her brother said. "He always made me a little uncomfortable. Wo de ma, he might have actually liked Jayne…on first meeting. They would have gone outside to smoke cigars, and possibly spit. Huh." He shook his head. "I guess it's true that we're attracted to people who remind us of someone we already know."

"Like Kaylee and Nanny Susan," River teased.

"River!"

"You kept a picture of you and her until you moved into the honor's dorm at Medicad."

"So," Jayne interrupted, calling their attention back to the screen, "everythin's lookin' good so far, right? Nothin's wrong? He's growin', an' he's healthy, an' not…ya know…?"

"Everything is fine, Jayne," Simon assured him. "Your son is developing right on schedule. I've tested for genetic defects, and found none. There are no growth defects to be seen, and the deeper sonographic sweep I used last time showed that his internal organs are growing and healthy, as well."

"Good." Jayne nodded. "Good."

&&&

Three weeks later. Space…

River held her head in her hands. The waves in the room rolled her—Angel and Dewey squabbled over his homework, her pink and his green crashing into each other in trumpet calls; Kaylee turned orange with suppressed annoyance as she tried to get fluting Annabelle to eat her peas without throwing them on the floor; Simon, Mal, and Jayne were a discordant chorus of disagreement on the upcoming job and who would be participating.

Zoë tried to separate Angel and Dewey, but there was only so much space at the dinner table even with Inara still on her shift at the training house on Paquin. It was hard not to fall back into Corporal Alleyne's voice to quiet the two, but that would no doubt only worsen the situation, so she kept her temper. She looked across the table hoping for River to offer support, and found the younger woman almost crying as she held what had to be a throbbing head. Zoë took notice of the noise around her, and raised her voice just enough that her, "Quiet," was heard throughout the room.

Everyone stopped to look at her.

Zoë reached across the table and touched River's arm. "River? You alright?"

She slowly shook her head no. Jayne pushed his chair back, and stood behind hers to pull it out enough that he could pick her up. He looked down at his brother-in-law, their argument forgotten for the moment, and Simon nodded. The Doctor stood up and followed them down to the passenger dorms, down to what was now the Cobb wing. He pulled open River and Jayne's door for them then went to the infirmary.

When he returned, Jayne had tucked River into bed and was leaning over, talking quietly to her. He looked up when Simon entered, and moved back so he could pass his sister a glass of water and two pills. "These are over-the-counter pain relievers for the headache. It's the heaviest form of medication I'm comfortable with giving you at this point. Sleep for a while, and then if you're feeling up to coming upstairs, you can have some tea. I'm pretty sure we have chamomile. Only something that will calm you down. No caffeine or stimulants of any kind."

River nodded, and swallowed the pills. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Jayne motioned for the glass, and she passed it to him. Jayne leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll come check on ya in a bit, 'kay?"

"Okay," she murmured.

Simon and Jayne left the room. Jayne slid the more insulating fiberglass door, made to look like rice paper, shut, and the two walked out to the common room. He stopped the Doc with a hand on the arm, and asked, "What if she gets bad?"

Simon drew in a deep breath. "There are several drugs I researched, two I have here, and others I can get that are safe for River to take that will calm her down. Sedatives." He tugged on his ear. "But they were never designed to be taken long term. We just have to keep her as relaxed as possible. I don't know how pregnancy will effect what triggers a fit. Any kind of stress may tip her off in this condition, and this being River, there's no way to tell how she'll respond."

"Cryin' in a corner, or killer woman…?" Jayne nodded. "Look, Doc, you back me on whatever I say to Mal about the job tomorrow, an' I'll make sure it goes smooth as syrup tomorrow."

"I can't say that I'll understand the tactics of it, but I'll support you."

"All I ask." Jayne frowned. "Damn. We ain't havin' a moment, are we?"

"I think we might be," Simon said. "But it's about River. Overlapping interest, and all. I think it's allowed in this one area."

"Yeah, just don't tell anybody."

"It will follow me to my grave."

&&&

Four days later. Constance…

Thanks to Jayne's over-preparation, the job had gone relatively smooth. The buyers had considered cheating them, but after taking in a good third of Jayne's arsenal and several grenades he had strapped to his belt, along with the deep, challenging scowl on the mercenary's face, they decided to just pay what was agreed on. Jayne watched them, Vera pointed and ready, at the back of the Mule as they left in case there was any thought of shooting them while they flew away.

After that, the crew decided to take a short break. The kids needed fresh air, and Simon needed to have a talk with the local doctor about getting some supplies for childbirthing. But just as they seemed to hit a nice patch, something bad had to happen. Jayne ended up carrying a sobbing Angel home clutching the broken pieces of Sarah-doll's porcelain head not an hour after they'd left. Kaylee held Dewey's hand as she carried her daughter in behind them.

River rushed forward from her seat on a crate in the bay. She had been enjoying the fresh air without actually having to go out to mingle with strange minds when she was already so clouded. She reached up to wipe the tears off her daughter's face.

"Angel baby," she cooed.

Simon walked up from the lounge drawn by the sound of crying. "What happened?"

"Some little hun qiu took her doll and pitched it under some wagon wheels," Jayne growled. He had to make an effort not to squeeze Angel too tight in his fury. He'd bought her that doll and given it to her on his and River's wedding day, the day he signed the adoption paper to claim Angel as his own. It was a symbol of sorts. And a Rim-world mini-punk had gotten it smashed. Jayne wanted to smash the kid's head right back!

Dewey frowned as Angel's Daddy carried her back to her room. He'd seen the boy who grabbed her doll while he was with Aunt Kaylee and little Bella at the dry goods store getting candy. Now, Dewey had taken Sarah-doll a few times himself. Okay, a lot of times. In fact, he'd taken her last night before bedtime, and hid her so Angel threw a fit. But it wasn't right that somebody else took her doll. He'd seen the boy run off with Sarah-doll, and Angel ran after him, and then he'd pitched the doll under wagon wheels. Dewey was so mad at that kid he wanted to go after him and shove him. But the grownups brought them back to Serenity.

He let go of Aunt Kaylee's hand, and went up to the bunk he had next to his Mom's—who was really Aunt Zoë, but she said that his real Mommy wouldn't mind if he called her that, too. He hunted under his bed for his jar that he kept the money he got for doing chores in. Dewey emptied the contents onto his bed, and shoved the loose change by fistfuls into his pockets.

When he climbed out of his room again, Mom was walking up the stairs to the bridge with Uncle Mal. She stopped and smiled back at him. "Hey, did you have a nice time in town?"

"Uh…." He froze. He did not want his Mom to know what he was about to do. He didn't want anybody to know because he would look like he was a dork. Dewey was pretty sure "dork" wasn't the word he wanted, but he couldn't think of a better one. "I was… uh…gonna run back to the store real quick. I know where it is, and I'll be right there and back, and I won't talk to strangers. Pleeeease?"

Zoë opened her mouth to say no, but that boy could pull puppy dog eyes that should be outlawed. "You will take one of the com boxes. You will keep it on at all times. If you aren't back in fifteen minutes, I will come to get you, and you will be confined to your room for a week, are we understood?"

"Yes, Mom! Thank you! Love you! Bye!"

Dewey ran down the stairs, down the ramp, and back through town to where the dry goods store was. When he was there earlier, he'd seen one of the dolls in the shop and it looked a little like Sarah-doll. It stood on a little stand, and had a breakable head and the same kind of hands and feet. He figured that since he couldn't find the boy that broke Sarah-doll and give him a good shove, he could buy Angel a replacement.

There were three dolls standing on the shelf. Dewey stood up on his tip toes and reached for the one in the middle with the long brown curls and pretty red dress. A voice from behind him yelled, "Hey, kid! Get off that. Those aren't for playin'."

Dewey looked over his shoulder at the round-bellied man in the white apron who stood behind the counter. "I need to buy that doll up there. I've got money."

The man looked at him all squinty eyed. "How come a little boy wants to play with dolls? Don't you want a ball or somethin'?"

"It's not for me, it's for a girl," he said. Some grownups were so dumb.

A grey haired lady came out of the back room. She was in a white apron, too, and she looked down at Dewey with a kind smile. "Robert, be nice. He wants to buy his little girlfriend a present. Here, honey, I'll get that."

Dewey didn't like the term girlfriend. Just because he was buying Angel a doll didn't mean he liked her. She was all girly and annoying. But if the lady got the doll down for him, he wasn't going to say anything. He followed her to the register.

"This one's kind of expensive," the woman told him with a frown. "It's seven platinum. Do you have that much?"

Dewey pulled the money out of his pockets and let the lady count it. She shook her head. "You only got about one here. Sorry, hon. You'll have to pick somethin' else for your girl. We got some real cute rag dolls over on that bench there."

"No, it has to be like this one," Dewey said. "Can you hold it for me? I'll be right back."

"Sure." The lady shrugged, and Dewey took off back to Serenity. He was really out of breath. They didn't get to run much in just the cargo bay. Halfway back, the com box hooked on his waist beeped.

"Dewey?" Mom's voice asked.

He picked it up and pushed the button to talk. "'M comin'!"

As soon as he got back, he stopped to catch his breath at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as he could breathe without it burning, he climbed up all the way to the bridge. Mom and Mal looked over at the sound of his wheezing.

"Dewey?" Mom asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Dewey said between gulps of air. "Can I can I talk to Uncle Mal? Man to man?"

Zoë and Mal exchanged surprised looks. Zoë shrugged. She had no idea what this was about. Mal, puffed up with pride, nodded, and turned to the boy. "Alright, boy. Have a seat, and we'll talk."

Dewey walked over to the copilot's chair, still trying to catch his breath. Mom passed him on the way out and ruffled his hair. He didn't really like that, but loved her, so he let her. As soon as he was sure that she was down the hall, he turned to Uncle Mal.

"Okay," the Captain said, "what'd you wanna talk about? This isn't about girls, is it, 'cause I thought we had a while yet until we had to deal with that."

"No! Ew!" Dewey's face pinched. "I wanted to ask a favor. It's an important favor, and I didn't want to tell Mom, 'cause Mom would tell Aunt Kaylee an' Auntie Nara, and they'd tell everybody else, and I didn't want anybody else to know. Plus, she might not have it, 'cause what I need is money. Not a lot! And I'll pay you back every penny."

"Money, huh?" Mal asked. "And just how much money does a six-year-old need?"

"Seven platinum," Dewey muttered. "I'll bring you back your change, 'cause I almost had a whole platinum myself. And I'll do extra chores."

"How much candy do you need?"

"It's not candy. I can't tell you, but I promise I'll pay you back. Please? Please, please, please?"

Mal considered it. The boy did seem pretty worked up over something, and he'd never asked for something like this before. "Did someone ask you to bring them this money? Did they threaten to beat you up if you didn't?"

"No. It's for…something I need to buy."

The Captain frowned, and after a few moments deliberation, he sighed. "You will be working this off, young man. And I want my change back."

"Thanks!"

Mal reached into his rear pocket and pulled out his money clip to remove a few bills. "This should cover it. You keep that com box on, or your Ma'll like to skin ya."

"I will!" And Dewey was off again. He waved as he passed his Mom, and headed back out the doors. He was winded now, so he took his time. He finally made it back to the store, and handed the lady his money.

"My goodness," she muttered. "Where'd you get all this."

"My uncle. I'll be working it off for weeks and months and prob'ly years! Is it enough for the doll?"

She looked unsure for a moment before her husband called out from the rear of the store, "He coulda stolen it!"

"Hush up, Robert!" The store lady rang the doll up and gave Dewey back his change. "Do you want this in a box to give to the lucky girl?"

"Nah. A bag'll do it."

She chucked, but put the doll in a thick brown back before she gave it to Dewey. "You be careful on your way back, now. She's awful delicate."

Dewey nodded, and made his way back to Serenity at a walk, careful of oncoming traffic, and any of the jostling of the crowd. The ship was parked a little ways outside town, so after a certain point, he didn't have to worry about someone knocking him over, and sped up. His mom called once on the com, and he stopped to answer her. Once he made it back to the ship, he peeked up the ramp to make sure no one was in the cargo bay. No body was, so he hurried inside and stashed the doll behind a couple of crates on its back so it wouldn't fall over and break.

Hours later, Serenity took off for the Black, and Angel was up on the bridge with her Mommy, Annabelle, and Aunt Kaylee, while stupid Jayne—Dewey refused to call him "uncle" as it seemed wrong in every way—sat at the table trying to glue Sarah-doll's head back together. Dewey snuck down to the bay, grabbed the doll, and tip toed down to Angel's room. He had to sneak by the infirmary, because Uncle Simon was in there. Uncle Simon was always in there. Then Dewey pulled the doll out, and laid it on Angel's bed, propped up against the pillows next to Jingle Bear. He smoothed its dress, and made sure the curls were laying right, and then high-tailed it back upstairs as fast as he could.

&&&

Angel was devastated. She was glad she knew that word because she was pretty sure this is what devastated felt like. Her Sarah-doll was gone. Even if Daddy fixed her, it wouldn't be the same. Angel was supposed to take care of her baby, and she let her get hurt. It was all her fault.

Mommy put Serenity to sleep, and reached down for her hand. "Bed time."

"Sarah-doll won't be there," she sniffled.

"Shhh." River knelt in front of her daughter, and pulled her into a hug. "Dolls are like ships, not people. Their souls don't fly away when they get broken. You just have to put them together again, and love them back to health."

"She'll never forgive me. It's disastrous!"

River pressed her lips together to keep in a laugh. Angel pulled back when she felt her shoulders shake, and looked at her in shock and accusation. She covered her mouth until the smile went away, and said, "It is very bad, but Sarah-doll loves you. I am sure she will accept your apology and offer forgiveness."

Angel nodded, but she wasn't sure. Still, she let Mommy take her down to bed. On the way through the galley, she saw Sarah-doll lying with her head mostly constructed on the table. She hid her face in her mother's dress so that she wouldn't have to see her baby in pieces.

They met up with Jayne coming down from his weight bench, but River said she'd see the ni zi into her pajamas tonight. When River opened the door to her daughter's room, they found something out of place sitting on Angel's bed. They both stood looking at it for a moment.

Angel looked up at Mommy. "Where'd she come from?"

River felt the green threads attached to the doll and a light, greenish mist hovering around the doorway, and she had a very good guess at where the new arrival came from. But she couldn't ruin Dewey's secret. She shook her head, and said, "It's a mystery."

Angel let go of her hand and padded over to the bed. She climbed up, and reached for the doll as Daddy came into the room behind her.

"Where'd that thing come from?" he asked.

River smiled at him. "Not from me."

"Well, I didn't buy it. Think it was Kaylee?"

"Perhaps."

Jayne narrowed his eyes at her. "You know who done it, don't ya? Why ain't you sayin' nothing?"

"Because I don't wish to see you overcome with a fit of pride and refuse to let her keep the doll."

"Can I keep her?" Angel asked over her shoulder. "Please? Just until Sarah's better?"

Jayne huffed, but he nodded. River stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek. Then she went in to help Angel into her pink nightgown with little daisies embroidered on the front. It had cost them two platinum for her birthday, but she was so proud of it, she hardly ever wore anything else to bed.

When Angel was asleep, Jayne and River slid beneath their own covers. River cast one last smiling look on the new crib set up on the other side of the small room, bought because Annabelle currently occupied Angel's old baby bed, before she set her head down on her husband's chest.

The next morning, Angel bounced up to the mess with her new doll in hand. She leaned up in front of where Sarah-doll lay, and gave her incapacitated baby a kiss good morning. It was no good breaking tradition just because her baby was sick.

Kaylee looked up from helping Annabelle with her cereal, and smiled at the pretty new dolly she held. "Well, my goodness! Where did that pretty thing come from?"

Angel shrugged. "Found her."

"She was on Angel's bed last night when I went to tuck her in."

"Ohhh," Kaylee said and smiled secretly at her.

River shook her head discreetly, and the mechanic frowned. She shook her head back, meaning "Not you?" River smiled and mouthed, "No." Kaylee looked at Jayne, and he too shook his head, and shrugged, pointing at her. Kaylee didn't buy the doll. She was fairly certain Simon hadn't, either.

Mal looked at little Angel's new toy. His forehead pinched in thought, and he glanced over at the little redhead who sat on his left. Dewey looked awfully interested in his cold cereal. Huh.

When he was done with his coffee, and he noticed the boy was just playing with the soggy flakes floating in the milk, Mal stood up and motioned for Dewey to follow him. "Come on, boy. You got chores to do. No time like the present to get started. Well, go put your dish in the sink, first. We ain't raisin' ya in a barn."

Dewey went to the sink stood on his toes to put the bowl inside. Then he followed the Captain out to the stairwell. As soon as they were around the corner and out of sight of the crew, the Captain put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"That was a good thing you did."

His face went so red. "Don't tell!"

"I won't," Mal chuckled. "Just thought you should know I'm glad my money went to somethin' worthy. I'm proud of ya. You're shapin' up to be a real good man."

Dewey's chest puffed out a mile, and he walked tall down the bay to begin working off his debt.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Translations:

mei yon de—useless

pian zhi de po fu—stubborn shrew

Dì di—little brother

hun qiu—no-good bastard

ni zi—little girl