Bed and Wine: Part 6

By Kaynara

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A certain former companion is not having her best weekend ever. Our favorite heroes play at being married, and the mystery deepens. Serenity *spoilers.*

It's Joss's verse--I just borrow it.

***

Accustomed now to her daughter’s cries, Zoe woke immediately, rolled out of bed and approached the cradle where Raven slept.

“It belonged to my Ella,” Caroline had explained, as Zoe hefted the small brass piece down from the attic, carried it over by the bed.

“And how old’s your baby girl now?” Zoe asked, watching Caroline bounce Raven lightly in her arms.

“She’d have been eleven this winter.”

Zoe nodded and they left it at that.

Now Zoe knelt on the floor, lifted her fretting little girl and curled the warm, squirming body against her chest. Carrying her to the bed, she lay the baby out beside her, unbuttoning the Hawaiian shirt she used for a nightgown. Twice already tonight, but Zoe didn’t mind...didn’t mind much, anyway. She appreciated this time together, these quiet moments late at night, even if in the morning her eyes would be blurry, her brain fuzzy from lack of sleep.

“You know, Baby Girl. Your daddy was always one for midnight snacks.” She glanced at the clock by her bed. More like two in the AM.

She sighed, stroked a finger over the baby’s cheek, marveling at the way her tiny lips moved.

“Your daddy would just adore you to pieces. He’d show you off somethin’ crazy, tellin’ anybody’d listen that his baby girl was prettiest in the ‘verse. ’Spect he wouldn’t be wrong.”

Zoe yawned, let her eyes flutter shut for a moment. She’d been dreaming before the baby cried out in the night. Lately she dreamt often, good dreams that stayed with her when she woke. If she let herself, she could visualize him now, sitting at the foot of the bed, watching her feed their baby.

“Husband?” she murmured sleepily.

“I’m here, Sweetie. Watching over my girls....”

Zoe closed her eyes again, serene beneath his watchful gaze.

***

Jayne stomped