Zoe laid Dina gently in her bassinet. Inara still had Rex, he was a loud and energetic one. Even only a few days old, he tried to stay up and look at the world with his big blue eyes. She could already tell he was going to be so much like Wash. A tiny stab pricked her heart.

She'd wished she'd known she was pregnant when her husband was still alive. It had come as such a surprise to find out less than a month after his death: she was nearly two months pregnant. Her tears had been in sorrow and in happiness.

Somehow, she'd settled herself to living alone for the rest of her life, always watching Mal's back. The man attracted trouble to no end, and needed a minder. Simon had given her the news when she'd thought she'd caught a bug on Santo after a short run. He'd given her the results in a quiet neutral tone. She'd been thankful that he hadn't shown pity or even worse happiness. And it was his professional demeanor that had helped her make the right decision. She hated to admit it, but she had thought about terminating the pregnancy. She didn't want to think about looking at a little person that would remind her so much of him. When Simon gave her her options in his neutral voice, she'd demanded why he didn't show any emotion, why didn't he judge her, why didn't he tell her what to do.

“Because you have to decide for yourself whether you can live with only a little bit of your husband for the rest of your life.”

It was that statement that had opened her eyes.

She turned the baby monitor on, pocketed the portable one and climbed out quietly. River was just climbing out of the spare bunk to the right of hers.

“Are you sure you want to move in there? It can get a bit claustrophobic if you ain't used to it,” she informed her.

“Special guests. They'll need the best rooms. Three should be enough.” River shrugged and led the way back to the passenger dorms.

“Kaylee's right, though. Captain ain't gonna be happy to know you moved things around without his permission.”

“He would have t