PART 11

Cleaning up after the party was slow going, partly because it was still dark and partly because Mal was still tipsy. They’d set up a few work lights, and Mal, Jayne, and Cole were wandering through the darkness, collecting trash and righting anything that looked fallen. Little Zoë had pushed herself too hard and her brief respite of sitting on the picnic table had turned into a nap apparently. Mal went to the table and nudged her shoulder, and she looked up at him tiredly.

“Go on inside,” he said.

She shook her head and closed her eyes. “If I move again, I’ll just get colder.”

Mal laughed and rubbed her arm, trying to warm her a little. Then he thought better of it and laid down on the table next to her, gathering her in his arms. She would always be his baby girl, and he was glad they’d had a few months to share this home. He missed having her around, but he was proud of the path she was carving out for herself in the ‘verse. Sometimes he got choked up, wondering how many more years she had left before the cancer took her, but he tried not to think negatively. The past few months, they’d come out here a lot, and they’d lie on the table and stare at the sky. Now, she snuggled up to him and he kept her warm. He had a few more weeks with her while she finished her recovery, then she’d be off traversing the sky again on a path he couldn’t go.

Jayne grunted disapprovingly at them for not working, then he laid down on the bench. Cole took up the other bench, and the four of them were just lying their like idiots, freezing their noses off, looking up at the stars.

Jamie trotted up, carrying Genny piggy back, both smiling.

“Do y’all need blankets? Or maybe a sanity check?” Jamie asked. Genny hopped on Jamie’s back and knelt next to Cole, and they started whispering furtively.

“Speak up, Little Genny! I’m trying to eavesdrop,” Jayne hollered.

Genny made a face, and she and Cole retreated toward the creek for more privacy.

“Bring him back!” Mal yelled after them, sitting