“You okay, moonbrain?” Jayne sat on the bed and undid his heavy workboots, tossing them into the corner with a clang against the bulkhead.

River absently crossed the small shuttle to pick them up, placing them with care exactly three inches from the wall and in perfect alignment with each other. “Shiny,” she said, arranging the laces.

“Only you didn’t say hardly anything at chow time.” He wriggled his toes in the socks his Ma had knitted.

“Nothing to say.”

He gazed at her for a moment as she concentrated, then said, more conversationally, “I told you Matty finally got up the balls to ask Jolene to marry him, didn’t I?”

“Yes. In that letter you got when we stopped for fuel at Wayborn.” She didn’t look up.

He pulled his t-shirt over his head, sniffing it experimentally to see if it would do another day. “So d’you think the Cap’d swing by Ezra if I asked? You know, when all this is over. Don’t expect to get there for the wedding itself, but it’d be good to slap my little brother on the back and maybe kiss Jolene.”

“No kissing other women.” She stood straight and looked at him. She knew what he was doing, trying to distract her with the mundane, and she loved him all the more for it.

“Well, no, maybe not that.” He grinned. “So d’you think Mal’d go for it? Only maybe you’d better ask. He’s less likely to toss you out the airlock, and I can’t do them puppy dog eyes to save my life.”

River ran her fingers along the empty crib before joining her husband on the bed. “Yes, you can.”

Jayne chuckled. “Maybe. But not for him.” His face became more serious. “He’ll be home soon, girl. Caleb, I mean. I miss him something fierce too, and I never thought that’d be the case. But it won’t be long ‘fore he’s waking us up in the middle of the night with his teething.”

River’s mind skittered to what was happening on Lazarus. “No.” She shivered.

“You okay?” Jayne asked, putting his arm around her.

“Just … cold,” she lied.

“Then you get undressed and we’ll snuggle a while.