Title: Shadow Rating: movin' on up to PG. "So there /is/ kissin'..." Characters: the whole crew, plus toddlers Kacey and Lolly, Baby Abey

Pairings: Heavy on the M/I, trying not to neglect the rest of canon (S/K, Z/W, J/Vera)

Summary: Set 4 years post-BDM, Mal and the crew has a job on Shadow.

Author's Note: This part is longer to make up for the long wait. Sorry about that! Midterms. Also, this entire story is dedicated to my homesickness. :) The St. Mary's River and all dock-jumping antics are dedicated to Savannah, Georgia.

Part 3 She finds him down by the river, back pressed against an old oak, Abe sleeping on his shoulder. “It’s getting cold,” she says, sitting gingerly beside him, pressing their shoulders together. She slips Abe from his grasp and settles him snugly against her breast. Mal puts his arm around her, tugging her closer and burying his face in her dark hair, lost in the soft and the scent. “She used to love these things.” His voice is muffled by her hair. Inara knows whom he’s talking about, immediately. “Never could get any seafood on the ranch. Only kind available was imported from here, too expensive. She loved shrimp. Ocean’s just a few miles down the river, you know. Keaton, Chris, and me used to take the boat out, ride over the shrimpers’ wake. They’re just a couple years younger. Better with the boat, though.” He pauses. “I met them. Keaton looks like you,” she says softly, gently prodding him to continue. “Yeah. She and Aunt Laney loved teasing each other, saying they’d had twins a year and hundreds of miles apart.” He laughs roughly. “Like I said, she loved these things. All the family together. Kids on the dock used to be me and my cousins, Hannah watchin’ over us like a mother hen. Only two years older’n me, but all kinds of uppity. She used to squeal, too. We’d threaten to push her in or put snakes in her bed; she’d go cryin’ to Ma and Aunt Laney. They’d be too busy gabbing to yell at us and send Uncle Em and Uncle Jack instead. They were old softies when it came to us kids, though. They’d grump for a bit, then toss us over the railing, knowing we were laughing the whole way down… And Ma, she’d…” She feels something wet against her neck, and her own eyes fill with tears. She presses a kiss to his hair, resting a comforting hand on his thigh. Mal doesn’t cry, as a rule. There are, of course, exceptions, times when his eyes get wet: the first anniversary of Miranda and the loss of Shepherd Book, near loss of Wash, that one nightmare that gripped him a few months into their sharing of a bed, the sounds and smells of the Valley haunting him, and the first time he held Abram in his arms. “Never wanted to come back. She’s in everything on this gorramn rock. An’ we ain’t even on the ranch… ‘Nara, I ain’t the boy they remember, young and idealistic. Never gonna be him again. But I’m not the man who came home after the Valley neither, broken and dead inside. Never wanna be him again. He didn’t cry at his own mama’s funeral, had lost too much to feel it. But here, I feel like both of ‘em.” “Mal,” she whispers, a few tears escaping. She stops them, staying strong. Abe snuggles further into her chest in his sleep, making a few little noises. “I don’t… Maybe you should go. To the ranch, I mean.” “I can’t. Look at me now, ‘Nara. Going there… seeing what’s become of it…” “It could be cathartic.” “I don’t…” He lifts his head out of her hair now, composes his face. She tilts her face up to put a soft, silencing kiss on his lips, then his cheek. “Just think about it. Now, you have a captaining decision to make. Your aunt has offered the guest rooms to the crew.” “We got beds on the boat.” “Not that aren’t bolted to the ground. Nor do we have real bathtubs and showers and several other things that have Mrs. Tam salivating.” Mal snorts. “Don’t wanna put Laney out.” “I think she’d be offended if we decline her hospitality.” “She certainly would,” Mal agrees, beginning to stretch out his neck. “What I remember about these houses, there’s plenty of space. No use to deprive the crew of a little leisure. Don’t get much o’ that on the ground.” He squeezes her shoulder, kisses her temple, and then stands, feeling the last hour against the great oak painfully in his back. He hazards a glance over the river, two of Shadow’s moons reflecting off the dark water. The moons also cast a glow on Inara’s golden skin, get caught in her curls, illuminate little Abe’s sweetly sleeping face. He smiles at her, this beautiful woman who, for reasons he still can’t understand, consented to be his wife, bear his child. He offers her his hand, helping her up. “He’s out like a light,” Mal comments, gesturing to their son, who smiles a little in his sleep, cheek nestled at his mama’s breast. “It was an exciting day. He had lots of attention before you stole off with him.” “Male bonding,” Mal defends gruffly as they walk back up to the house. “Of course,” Inara smiles at him. “Dirty jokes and bar fights?” “Hell no. Dirty jokes don’t come ‘til he’s ‘least five.” “Don’t listen to anything Daddy ever says, Abram.” “Hey now! You can’t be telling him that!”

***

“Oh, bathtub…” Simon, returning to the cozy room provided by Mal’s aunt after tucking Leila Lee into the bed she is sharing with Kacey, smiles at his wife’s wistful face. She has just opened the door to the bathroom, which does indeed have a bathtub. It’s not a particularly fancy or ornate bathtub: just your average household porcelain. Still, the jerry-rigged bathtub they have on Serenity can barely fit the three children at a time, though Kacey and Lolly insist on always bathing together and with Abram. “Climb on in, bao bei.” “She go down easy?” Little Lolly woke briefly while everyone was moving the things into the house, disoriented and cranky at being disturbed. “Perfectly. River’s sleeping with them, and you know how Lolly is with Kacey.” “It’s right cute,” Kaylee smiles, “The two of them always cuddling and looking out for each other and ‘Baby Abey’. They’re like siblings.” Simon wraps his arms around her waist, kissing her temple. “So, the captain hasn’t had an aneurism yet. Jayne and Wash have bet going.” “Oh, I’m in on it,” Kaylee laughs, “I got tomorrow ‘fore lunch. You should go in.” “I think betting on a patient’s medical condition is against the Hippocratic Oath.” “But it’s fun… Nah, he’s got ‘Nara and Abe. He won’t have an aneurism. Non-fatal heart attack, maybe… ‘Nara’d be too pissed if he died on her.” Simon laughs gently. “Are you going to take a bath or just stare at the tub? Because if you’re not going to use it, I’d like to.” Kaylee grins. “We could use it together…”

***

“I love big, fluffy beds,” Wash sighs, stretching the wonderful sleep from his bones. “Why don’t we have big fluffy beds?” “Because they’re… big? And our rooms are small?” Zoe answers, sliding out from under the cover reluctantly, enjoying the sunlight shining through the curtains, warming her skin. “Not the Captain and Inara’s. How is that fair?” “Do you really want them right next door?” “Ooh. True. Better for the rest of the chi of the ship that we shut them off. I’m starving.” He sniffs the air. “I smell bacon. And eggs. And they’re real.” “You sound like Kacey.” He smiles. “No. That would be: ‘Dad! I’m hungry. Dad? Dad, Dad, Dad. Hungry, hungry, hungry!’” “Shut up, Husband,” Zoe laughs pausing in her dressing for the day to lean over the bed and kiss him. The wooden bedroom door swings open, slamming loudly. “Dad! Breakfast! I’m hungry!” Wash groans. “I know him too well.” “Bacon, eggs, and pancakes,” River’s voice sings from the doorway, a sleepy-eyed Lolly on her hip. Kacey bounces onto the bed, jumping back and forth from Mommy to Daddy at a blinding pace. “Aunt River couldn’t feed you?” Wash asks, pulling his pants on over his boxers and grabbing Kacey, throwing him over his shoulder like a pack of potatoes. “Excuse us, Mommy. The boys need to eat.” He pauses in the doorway, placing a raspberry on Lolly’s cheek. The little girl giggles and buries her face in River’s shoulder. Zoe finishes getting dressed and joins River and Lolly on the way to the breakfast table. The dining room is strangely empty, just Mr. and Mrs. Stokes busying themselves around the table, stacking pancakes in the center, spreading out platter of several types of eggs and piles of bacon. “Looks good,” Zoe says, watching her men sit down excitedly, blue eyes wide with excitement. “Where is everyone?” River sets Lolly in a chair, tucking a napkin in the collar of her nightgown like a good aunt. She plops into the chair next to her and begins to serve each of them. Sometimes it surprises Zoe how easily River has taken to her role in raising the children. “I sent them all off to the other houses for the mornin’, let y’all have a peaceful waking after last night’s chaos,” Laney smiles as Zoe sits down on the other side of Kacey. “They’ll all be back by lunch, those not in school, that is.” “Mornin’,” comes a grunt from the doorway. “Ooh, bacon!” “Good morning, Jayne. Please be less disgusting when you eat, as we’re with company,” River says without looking up from cutting Lolly’s pancakes into manageable size. Jayne opens his mouth to protest, but Zoe silences him with a harsh look. Simon and Kaylee join them soon after, much to Lolly’s delight. Zoe intervenes in a near-repeat of the Washburn men’s great food fight of ’20. Save the missing Captain and family, it’s a normal breakfast time for the crew. But Serenity’s Reynolds soon make their presence known, two of them at least. Abe seems to be pitching a fit, and his face is red from the exertion of screaming when he and Mal enter the room. “Uh-oh,” Laney says, “Someone doesn’t look too happy.” “Yeah. Apparently Daddy ain’t cuttin’ it this mornin’.” He gives a hesitant smile to his aunt, which quickly turns to a grimace when Abe resumes his wailing. “Thought we’d try food to distract us while Mama’s in the shower. Looks real good, Laney.” The aunt just smiles in return, continuing her conversation with Kaylee beside her. Mal pulls apart a pancake after seating himself at the table, Abe in his lap. The infant calms to mere hiccups at the sigh of food, staring quizzically at the shredded pancake. Mal offers him a tiny piece, which the little one takes hesitantly in a chubby fist, pausing before shoveling it into his mouth. He immediately smacks his hand on the table, demanding more. “I think he likes it, Cap’n,” Kaylee laughs, wiping syrup from Lolly’s face. “’Course he likes it,” Jayne counters, “First food he’s had weren’t mashed protein or breast milk.” “Thank you, Jayne. Pleasant as always,” Mal grumbles, resolutely ignoring the mercenary in favor of drawing a giggle from the calmed Abram before handing him another small piece of food. He grins as Abe focuses almost too intently on the offered pancake, his brown eyes almost crossing. “Mal,” Silas says from the other end of the table. “Thought me and your other uncles could talk some business with you after breakfast, out at the storehouse. We got 80% of the crop harvested. Should be able to leave tomorrow evenin’ or the mornin’ after.” Mal nods. “Sure thing, Uncle Si. Soon as I can hand Bubba off long enough to eat myself.” “I’ll take ‘im, Cap’n,” Kaylee offers, one of her cheerful smiles in place as she grabs her nephew. The boy begins to protest, but quiets when Aunt Kaylee offers him some of her pancake. “Look, Mal, somethin’ that’ll actually shut ‘im up,” Jayne says. “Jayne, that’s my son you’re talkin’ on,” Mal sighs, serving himself a heaping pile of eggs topped off with an artery-clogging amount of bacon. “I know. And he’s loud as…” “Watch your mouth, Jayne. We got young ones at the table,” Zoe warns. Kacey giggles and leans over his mom’s lap to poke Jayne with a fork. “Ai ya! Zoe, calm your brat. That’s not appropriate table behavior.” Everyone turns questioning glances at the mercenary. “Can’t imagine where he learned that,” Wash says sarcastically. “Tell me why did we name our son after him?” “You ain’t the picture of civility yourself, little man.” “Don’ figh’!” little Lolly demands, brow furrowing. Everyone but Jayne and Wash burst into laughter, Kaylee pausing in feeding Abe just long enough to plop a kiss on her daughter’s head. “You tell ‘em, Leila Lee.” “As you can see, got our own little peacekeeper aboard,” Mal grins, meeting his aunt’s eyes over the long table. She returns the smile.

***

After breakfast, the crew of Serenity is invited out to the dock, where Mrs. Stokes likes to do most of her entertaining. With the help of a life vest, Wash and Zoe attempt to teach Kacey to swim, while River calculates just how she can make a bigger splash than Jayne by jumping from the top of the dock house. Lolly and Abe sleep in the shade of the dock house, a quilt spread on the floor where the two are curled up together for their nap. It is autumn on the St. Mary’s River, but still warm enough during the day to enjoy the water and sunlight. With Inara agreeing to keep an eye on Lolly, Simon and Kaylee escape to the top of the dock house, Mrs. Tam wishing to get a sun tan and watch Jayne and River’s contest. Inara and Laney are alone with the sleeping children in the dock house, iced tea in hand. They’re currently sharing a comfortable silence, Inara studying the view and Laney studying Inara. The younger woman has an undoubtedly regal bearing. A Companion, Hannah guessed correctly last night. If any one would know, it would be Hannah. She is the only Reynolds-Stokes to have attended university off-planet, on Londinium to be exact. Others chose higher education as well, but stayed on Shadow, choosing from the handful of universities in the cities. Laney wasn’t sure what to make of Inara’s former vocation at first, since the profession is not looked upon with great respect by the church nor her own beliefs. But, aside from her stately grace, Inara is also warm and friendly, genuinely interested in Malcolm’s past and family, even more so than Malcolm it would appear. That combined with the little boy almost constantly at her hip has charmed her way into Laney’s heart. “Remind me to get a few captures out for you when we go back to the house,” Laney breaks their silence, after a long sip of sweet tea. “The old-fashioned paper kind, but in pretty good condition. I have one of Malcolm which looks much like little Abe.” Inara turns a smile, a beautiful one which must have snared Laney’s nephew, to the older woman. “I can’t wait to see them. He will absolutely hate that.” Laney laughs. “’Magine he would.” She pauses before asking the next questions. “He doesn’t wanna be here, does he?” “No, not exactly. Mal… he isn’t very open about his past, with any of us. I didn’t even know he still had family on Shadow.” Laney ponders this, doesn’t press. The war was rough for all of Shadow. Four of her children, the middle four, Keaton, Abigail, Colby, and Romey, all joined up. Most of her nieces and nephews joined as well. Keaton and Abigail joined the local defense force under the promise they would never have to leave Shadow. Colby was a medic in one of the artillery divisions, one that thankfully didn’t see too much action in the war. And Romey… Romey was a fighter pilot, newly out of flight school, bound for Serenity Valley when the Independents surrendered and his squadron was ordered to turn around and go home. Laney finds herself guiltily thanking God every day for that. But the war was especially hard on the Reynolds cousin who served in the most commanding capacity, the one who lost his soul in the Valley only to lose his mother before he could make it home. “She would’ve loved you. And Abram. Maggie, I mean. Malcolm’s mother. She would’ve been an amazing gramma, too. Spoiled him senseless… She was younger than me, three years. The two boys between us, all of us just a year apart. Raised on the ranch where Maggie raised Malcolm. All on her own, too, besides those ranch hands. And she was young, too. Just twenty-two. Mom and Pop passed on when she was sixteen, in the epidemic.” “And Mal’s father?” Inara asks softly, reluctantly. She wants to know, but Mal has never brought it up. Laney opens her mouth, about to respond, then shakes her head. “Better leave that one to Malcolm.” Inara nods, understanding. Lolly begins to stir, whimpering a little as she wakes. Inara retrieves her gently, not wanting her to wake Abe, and sits back down, the little blonde curling into Inara’s lap, thumb in her mouth. “Good morning, sweetie. Nice nap?” Inara asks softly, rubbing the girl’s back gently as she gets used to her surroundings. Lolly nods and burrows further into Aunt ‘Nara, brow scrunched. After a few moments, she asks: “Mommy?” “She’s just upstairs, Lolly. She’ll be down in a few minutes.” As if on cue, Kaylee comes down the stairs from the roof, smiling brightly when she notices her daughter. “Hello, sweet pea,” Kaylee greets. Lolly extends her arms, begging to go to her. “Wan’ hold you,” Lolly murmurs sleepily. Kaylee grabs her and smiles her thanks to Inara, taking the little one down onto the floating dock to watch her family splash around with each other. Inara checks on Abe briefly, brushing a dark sweaty curl from his brow. When she returns to her seat, she feels Laney’s eyes on her. She looks up, questioningly. Laney is smiling. “You’re a natural mother, a caregiver,” Laney smiles at her. “And you’re good for Malcolm. I’m glad he found you.” Inara’s eyes settle on Abram. She has to admit that she’s glad, too.

***

It feels almost normal, natural. Joking with his uncles, listening to Keaton’s sarcastic drawl compete with Christopher’s cheery optimism. They have barely changed at all, still picking at each other and driving their fathers to distraction. Hannah plays mother hen still, the most learned member of the family keeping the books and affairs in order, even moments away from giving birth. Everyone is older, but it feels like nothing has changed. All of it serves only to remind Mal further of his mother. Hannah looks like her, more than a little, light brown hair braided down her back, shrewd blue eyes staring out of a pretty face. He can still remember his first visit out here, barely old enough to be off his mama’s hip, only five or six. She liked to let him run around out by the warehouse, let him run his hands over the baled cotton, climb them if his uncles weren’t looking. She raised him well, was strict and stern most of the time, but she also loved to let him run, stretch his legs and expend his energy. It was just them growing up, no pa to speak of, their own secret club until puberty hit and he couldn’t stand the embarrassment of being seen with her. Even then, though, when none of his friends or ranch hands were around, they would share little jokes and secrets. Maggie Reynolds was only fifty when breast cancer took her life, one week after the remaining Browncoats laid down arms in Serenity Valley. Breast cancer is completely curable in the Core. Even on pre-war Shadow, breast cancer only claimed ten percent of its victims. During the war, the Alliance blockaded Independent Shadow, keeping out precious medicine. They killed as many Independent-friendly citizens that way as they did soldiers on the battlefield. Old age would never touch Maggie, and in Mal’s mind she would remain the young, beautiful woman who’s eyes sparkled when she kissed his cheek and tucked him in at night. “You okay, Mal?” Keaton asks. Mal shakes his head, focusing on his cousin. He forgot where he was momentarily, caught in the remembering. “Yeah, fine. So, crop’ll be ready by Tuesday mornin’?” Uncle Emmerson nods. “Buyers on Three Hills are expectin’ it by the end of the week. Can your ship make up for the delay?” “We’re a day behind ‘cause ‘bout a third of the hired help came down with food poisoning,” Hannah explains. “Yeah, Serenity can make it. Won’t be a problem,” Mal assures them, head still a little fuzzy from the reminiscing. “All right,” Uncle Si says, standing up from his seat on the stacked cotton of the warehouse. “We’ll get all that loaded on your boat by dinner tomorrow, so you can leave ‘next morning.” With that, the informal business meeting breaks apart, Si hollering at the hired men to make sure they stayed on schedule. Mal escapes quickly, in search of his crew. He finds them on the dock. He can hear Jayne, Simon, and Wash playing in the water with the two toddlers, Lolly and Kacey squealing with laughter. He hears his aunt’s voice, warm and gentle, speaking to someone who isn’t responding. Looking through the screen, he sees Laney seated in one of the rocking chairs, Abe standing on her lap, his strong little legs pushing him up, hands firmly gripping his great-aunt’s fingers. For not the first time, he wishes his ma were still alive, could meet her grandson. Mal hears more laughter, this from above him. He climbs the stairs up to the top, finding the four women of Serenity sunning and girl-talking, he’s sure. Kaylee’s on her side, propped up on her elbow as she tells some outrageous story. River’s on her back, staring directly above at the live oak branches, but she’s laughing, too, engaged in the conversation. His increasingly less stoic first mate has a big grin on her face, seated cross-legged beside Kaylee’s feet, shaking her head at what the younger woman’s saying. Inara is in the middle, half-sitting, legs laid out in front of her, elbows supporting most of her weight, eyes sparkling and focused on Kaylee. The sun is in her hair, resting in a loose ponytail over one shoulder, catching on her earrings, warming the one shoulder exposed by her sari. She notices his arrival first, turning to smile at him. “Hey, ladies,” he greets, smiling at the pretty picture they make. “Hi, Mal,” his wife responds. “Hey, Cap’n,” Kaylee grins brightly. “Sir,” Zoe nods. “Girl talk, Captain Daddy. No boys allowed.” “Well thanks, Albatross. Just came lookin’ to talk to my wife quick. If you three can spare her.” “Aw, you spoil all of our fun,” Kaylee whines teasingly. “Alright, if you must… We want her back soon, though, dong ma?” “I’ll try, Lil’ Kaylee.” He extends a hand to Inara, which she takes firmly and lets him help her up. He pulls her into him, a hand lightly on the small of her back, an instinctive kiss in her hair. “Aw, look. Cap’n’s actually showing affection in front of us.” “Feeling alright, sir?” Inara laughs and presses a hand to his forehead. “Yes, are you feeling sick, dear?” “Ai ya. Brats, all of you,” he admonishes, threading his fingers through Inara’s and leading her towards the stairs. “They’re holding hands,” River sings annoyingly as they disappear down the stairs. “I pay your salary,” Mal sings back. When they reach the bottom of the stairs, Mal presses her against the dock house and kisses her, needing to feel something warm and familiar, something that feels right when his whole sense of everything is swirling out of control. He pulls back and tucks her hair behind her ear. She smiles at him return, a question in her eyes. “I wanna go to the ranch.”