Chapter 4

In Which Preparations are Made for a Feast

The ship was still more or less intact on the afternoon of Christmas day. The same, however, could hardly be said for the kitchen, food in various stages of preparation, dishes, and other implements were strewn everywhere. And, of course, the oven was broken. Wash lay on his back underneath the antiquated contraption as Kaylee looked on, stopping occasionally to stir the pot that was bubbling on a burner.

“Well, do I have a second opinion?” Kaylee asked as he emerged from under the stove.

“Looks like one of the heating coils is busted,” Wash said. “The safety system won’t let the rest of them turn on,” he explained.

“That’s what I thought. We could try and bypass the safeties… We have to get this thing working! I have to use it to warm the ham!” Kaylee said.

“Ain’t really necessary, though,” Jayne said. He was sitting on a chair a few feet a way, expertly flicking potato peelings into a bucket between his knees with a wicked looking knife. “Ham’s already been cooked. We can just cut chunks off and eat it.”

“That’s disgusting!” Simon said, sticking his head into the kitchen to see what was going on.

“Sissy,” Jayne muttered, but otherwise ignored the doctor, who saw the confusion in the kitchen and made a quick get-away.

“I’ll tell you what,” Wash said to Kaylee. “You’ve got all the burners working, right? You just keep doing what you need to, and I’ll try and fix this thing.”

“Thanks, Wash,” Kaylee chirped, and went back to her cooking.

Book entered this lovely domestic scene with a bag of vegetables in one hand and a battered notebook in the other.

“I knew I had this recipe written down somewhere,” he said cheerfully, and opened the drawer nearest his hand and pulled out a knife. He drew an emerald green squash from his bag, and began to chop it into neat little circles.

A few minutes later, Simon was back. The sight of Kaylee bustling around the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner was simply too adorable to miss. This tim