Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

Authors Notes: Once again, my thanks to Reginaroadie for being the voice behind Travis Walken. Also, I realize I've been posting a bit slower than usual. I apologize to those of you who enjoy my stories. My excuse is life. It has the tendency to get in the way of fun. Hopefully, in a few weeks, life will start to slow down again, allowing me to have my precious writing time back. If not, I might just scream. =o) As always, feedback is appreciated.

The Unexpected

By KaySky

Part Four

Another month had passed and Mal still had no leads on finding the Tams. His normal nightly routine of wandering Serenity had become a time for his thoughts to explore hundreds of possibilities. However, with every passing night, the hundreds of ideas began to slowly decline. Tonight his mind was a total blank. He had absolutely no clue how he was going to find them.

As he wandered into the kitchen he was pleasantly surprised to see Inara pouring herself a cup of tea. “You’re up late.” He reached into a cupboard and pulled himself out a mug.

“It’s been hard sleeping lately.” She smiled, not allowing her exhaustion to show through. “Isn’t it a bit later than usual for yourself?” She began pouring Mal a cup of tea.

“Doesn’t seem right to sleep when there’s stuff to be done.” As he reached for his mug, his fingers brushed lightly against hers. It was only for a split second, but he smiled and she blushed. “What’s your excuse?”

“I’m worried about Kaylee. This has been so hard on her and the symptoms of her pregnancy are only adding to the toll. I feel like the only thing I can offer her is to hold back her hair during her morning sickness and that’s not much of anything. Not anything she truly needs anyhow.” Inara sighed.

“She’s a tough kid. She’ll make it through this just like we all will.” He took a sip of his tea. “That includes all the kids. Simon and River will be found…somehow. That ain’t somethin’ I can give up on.”

One of the many qualitie