Jayne sighed. His eyes were still fixed on the small Cortex screen which now only showed the wave notification instead of the recording he’d just been watching, but he was seeing something else entirely. Standing with his brother, Matty, in the chapel at Southdown Abbey, waiting for River to come down the aisle and make him the happiest man in the ‘verse. They’d been joking about how the younger Cobb would be forced to take on the job if Jayne backed out.

“Hell, Jayne,” Matty had said. “I got me Jolene back home. She’s about all I can handle.”

“Yeah, they get you like that, don’t they?”

“Surely do.” He coughed slightly. “So, you gonna be best man when I marry Jo?”

“You askin’?”

“I’m askin’.”

“Then I’d be proud to, Matty.”

And it looked like he was going to be held to that. Jayne reached out and pressed play again.

Matty appeared, a grin cracking his face in two, making him look younger than his years, and a happier version of his brother. He laughed, then spoke. “So Jayne, ‘spect you didn’t think you’d be seeing this yet, but, well, I figured something as important as this should be said face to face, or as much as I can with you outta range. Jason says he’ll get this sent soon as I’ve finished, so I’m hoping to get a reply in the next day or two.”

He glanced down, and when he looked back up there was such a light in his eyes it was almost embarrassing. “See, I finally got Jolene to name the day, and it’s the nineteenth of this month. Enough time to get the banns read and all, and maybe for you to get home? I’d like to see you stand up for me as best man, like I did for you. Like you said you would. Any chance of you asking that captain of yours? I know if you got a job it might be hard, but can’t hurt to ask. It’d mean a lot to me to have my big brother standing next to me when Jolene says she’s gonna be my wife for ever.”

He chuckled again, then coughed. “Anyway, I better go now ‘fore I embarrass myself even more, and make Jason laugh himself silly.