PART EIGHT

We gotta get out of this place

If it's the last thing we ever do

We gotta get out of this place

'cause girl, there's a better life for me and you

*

We gotta get out of this place - The Animals

*

I wish we could back

to the beginning

cause there's something missing from your eyes.

We lost a lifetime

when I disappeared,

now I am coming back to you.

*

I wish I could fly, I know I can save us somehow.

You thought you were safe and sound but you need a hero now.

You gotta believe even with broken wings,

I've come to your rescue and you can't rescue me.

*

The Rescue – American Hi-fi

*

“Mummy,” Sarah began, in that tone of voice any parent recognises is going to lead to a tricky question, “Why was that big cloth moving in the trees?”

Zoe took a breath, “It was Jayne and Vera, remember them?”

“'Course I do, Mummy!” Toddler indignant mode engaged, “Vera gives me milk an' cookies and Jayne gives me piggy backs sometimes in the cargo bay.”

“Yes, well; they're together like Kaylee and Simon and River and Zhang and Mal and Inara. Grownups who are...together...like that like to have a...erm...special cuddle sometimes and then it's private. We're waiting here till they've finished, okay?”

“'Kay. Can't I watch? I like cuddles.”

“Grownup cuddles are a bit different, sweetheart.”

Sarah joined the dots, “Is that how babies are made? Special cuddles?”

Zoe was just about used to having a bright and precocious child, “Sometimes. Grownups like to practice special cuddling quite a lot, it feels really good. You'll understand when you're older.” Zoe was trying by tone of voice and willpower to stop this line of questioning.

“Are Jayne and Vera gonna have a baby?”

“No sweetie, they can't. Sometimes people can't have babies, but they still like the cuddling bit. Vera and Jayne more than most.”

“And you did that to have me?”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“Okay.” Then, to Zoe's intense relief, Sarah spotted a striped fish in the shallows and her attention was diverted.

Simon and Kaylee look