Zoe and Simon had been arguing again. There fights usually got real loud which was strange considering the mates taciturn nature. Mal could not recall her ever being so hotheaded the entire time he’d known her, even the fights the captain had had with her in the days approaching her marriage to Hoban Washburne.

The baby would be born in about three months. Zoe expressed vehemently that she wanted the child born as far away from the alliance as possible, perhaps somewhere out. She’d begun to show two months before at which point most of the crew had gone crazy for the coming baby. Kaylee was always talking about what to name the baby as Zoe expressed little interest in the subject. She did however veto naming the child after it’s father. The little mechanic had taken to writing long lists of boy names and girl names. Jayne was distracted with baby proofing the ship, though Zoë told him that it was totally unnecessary as the child was still three months away.

Inara constantly spoke of initiation to samsara for the baby, which Zoë was partial to. She out rightly refused to have the baby baptized in the Shepard’s faith.

“He ain’t here to complain anyway.” Zoe would say defensively if asked.

River was keeping to herself more often then not. She had grown distant from Simon after her recovery from psychosis. She rarely spoke with anyone and when she did, it was only in the riddle like verse that had grown more and more difficult to interpret. The only thing that seemed to ground her was putting her ear to Zoe’s belly and feeling the baby kick. Simon personally believed that she was listening to the child’s uncomplicated thoughts as a distraction from all the friction on board.

The only exception to all the excitement was Mal. He just couldn’t seem to get enthusiastic about the baby. All it meant to him was that there would be another small person underfoot and that his first mate would be moody and for all practical purposes incapacitated for close to six months. The ship had enough problems a