It had been a very long day, so Wash was sure his eyes were deceiving him when Zoe, Mal and Jayne walked back into the cargo bay. He screwed his eyes shut and opened them again, but there still appeared to be a little girl on his wife’s arm.

“Um… why is there a kid on board all of a sudden?” he asked tentatively.

“Badger’s daughter. He gave us a really good price back on Persephone if we’d agree to drop her off at Eavesdown next week,” Mal said while he pressed the button that closed the cargo bay door and sealed off the air lock.

“Okaaay… but don’t we have a policy on this?” Wash hurried to fall in line with Mal while the captain headed for the stairs, and ignored the death glare Zoe was shooting in his direction.

Mal stopped walking and turned to Wash. “It was a very good price. ‘Sides, it was either this or no food this month.”

“And I’m not saying that food isn’t a good thing…” Wash sighed. He was looking for the best way to tell Mal that this was a really bad idea without Zoe overhearing him. That woman had ears like a hare and he didn’t much feel like sleeping on the floor for the rest of the week.

“Take us out of the world, Wash,” Mal said before Wash had the chance to speak his piece. Leaning in, Mal added in a soft voice, “The sooner we leave, the sooner this kid is off-ship again…”

“’Sides,” Mal continued, patting his pilot on the back with a grin, “She’s nothin’ but a little girl. How much trouble can she possibly be?”

Jayne just snorted loudly as he passed them on the way to his bunk.

----------------------------------------

“Aw, would you look at that! Ain’t she a real cutie?” Kaylee said, not really expecting an answer. She flashed Cara a huge grin as she finished braiding the little girl’s hair and tied it with a ribbon.

Kaylee grabbed her handheld mirror, a parting gift from Inara, and held it up in front of Cara. “There, look how pretty you are!” She beamed down at the little girl who was sitting cross-legged on Kaylee’s bed, her back leaning against Kaylee’s shoul