Zoe had discovered the one thing she hated about being pregnant – the waddle. No matter how she tried to disguise it, she waddled. All her life she had the manner and reflexes of a cat; a panther, someone had called her once. Only thing panther-like about her now was her nails, nothing else for her to do but waddle and grow her rutting nails. And eat. She had been eating for a whole gorram brigade. Bane was the only one who had caught her midnight binges, being an insomniac, but had kindly said nothing – even cooked for her sometimes, which is what she was doing tonight.

“There,” said Bane, placing the dish in front of her. Zoe inhaled it deeply and practically purred; fried dried beef, plum sauce and strawberry jelly. She took the spoon and just mixed it all together. Bane grimaced, but wiped the look off her face as soon as Zoe looked up as she could be awful tetchy these days. It would not be long now, the woman could barely reach the table. Bane did not care what Simon said about Christmas, the baby was going to come sooner than that. At least she had fitted the baby alert last month when they had a false alarm. When Zoe pressed it would sound in Simon and Kaylee’s quarters, and everyone else, but she had not told Zoe that. It had taken some doing to wire it through the comm. system of the entire ship, but she had managed it.

“You won’t tell Kaylee about the strawberry jelly?” Zoe asked with her mouth full of the stuff.

“Take it to the grave,” confirmed Bane, nodding seriously. During their midnight feasts, Zoe had talked to Bane more than any other woman in her life. They had both been born in space, so she understood more than the others what it was like to experience the floating freedom. Mal also knew what it was like, but he had not been born to it. Since the time she had discovered she was pregnant, Serenity was the only place she would consider having her child. Bane had also been teaching her some German, ready for the time when she would have to tell the Deutschlander