Conclusion: Week Twelve

Okay, I've been too busy to journal much, because the daring heroics that we've been up to lately since Jayne joined the crew are... well, I'm not going to go into all of the details because I don't have enough time for THAT right now. But - we just landed on Beaumonde a few hours ago, and the day after tomorrow is Zoe and Wash's wedding day. Things are all being arranged rather last-minute, but still I'm excited.

Zoe picked me to be her 'peeress of honor,' mostly because she didn't really have anyone else that she felt at all comfortable with asking, One of Wash's cousins is also a peeress, and a woman who Mal and Zoe both served with in the war and made it out alive was supposed to round out her side of the wedding company, but we just found out this morning that she was bound by Alliance law on the other side of the planet, so Inara volunteered to fill in. Mal made some cracks about if she'd be charging Zoe for her time, but Zoe accepted fairly gratefully.

There's so many details to take care of, but I'm loving it. The bride's "last blast party", keeping track of the guests, not that this is a big shindig, but still... rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and everything. The wedding is going to be outside, on a pleasant meadow overlooking a stream, with trees dotted here and there. We're going to be hanging cheap colored beads over the tree branches, and everybody will need to wear repellant cream, because there are bloodsucking bugs who sometimes swarm at this time of year if they catch the scent of people in large groups.

Zoe's father DID make it, or at least we've had word that his ship is in orbit and should clear Beaumonde customs inspection soon. Wash's family is here - we've already met up with them; in fact, he parked the ship on a corner of the country house's backyard. I've already mentioned that his cousin is a peeress, and his brother is the Best Peer. Mal's one of Wash's Peers too, though I don't think Wash is happy about that. Zoe probably insisted that Mal had to be part of the proceedings - and a guy who Wash went through flight school with and worked on an express courier service with - the two of them trading off piloting the same ship I guess, because the routes were so tough that somebody had to be at the controls all of the time - deep slots crossing the Verse by passing close to the sun, that kind of thing.

There's a lot of the wedding traditions that they're going by that I don't really understand - about why there have to be three attendants on each side, and why the schedule is so fixed, and that kind of thing. Weddings back home were sometimes big affairs, but not usually as well-planned as this - just big parties where the whole town pretty much gathered to celebrate the new couple hooking up. Well, it's Zoe's big day, and I'm doing my best to just get everything organized the way that she wants it.

Which reminds me, I've got to go and talk to a guy about decorative fruit to put on the back of the chairs for the reception. (Fruit again, sheesh and all that!)

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Man, what a bash. When a girl like Zoe decides to enjoy the perogatives of single life one more time before she takes herself off the market, she doesn't mess around.

Things started fairly simply - myself, Zoe, Inara, Wash's cousin Nancy, and two other girls who've been invited to the ceremony. (An old friend of Wash's, and somebody that Zoe knows from a job that she did with Mal from before I joined up.) We went to this dark nightclub in the city - there was food - really good stirfry and shish kebab, and some drinks. I did try to avoid getting too hammered myself, switching to virgin cocktails after my third highball.

There were male dancers that came out a little while after that - REALLY hot guys, too. If there was an explanation of exactly what the usual rules were for the 'private sessions' with them, then I missed that. Tried one myself, and there was a lot of touching both ways, no kissing on the lips, but... well, it was enough to get me excited but not close the deal, which I just found frustrating. Went back to the table, started talking with Nancy, who wasn't seeming that interested in the guys or the booze herself, and we started playing an invented game involving trying to flip silverware into the punch bowl in the center of the table.

Long after midnight, local time, I finally decided that it was my job as Peeress of Honor to get the bride-to-be back home and resting. (Wash was going to be sleeping in his folks' house from now until after the ceremony - one of those goofy traditions again.) So I was able to round up everyone except her pretty quickly - one of the dancers said that she was in the middle of getting a special wedding present from his friend, and I should just wait a while. Feeling impatient, I made him tell me where they were, and he pointed out a small door, almost hidden against the wall.

The door was locked, but I was pissed now, for no really good reason, and had picked up a few tricks over the past few months. The lock wasn't great quality, and I could lever the springbolt back by slipping my visitor's visa card in between the door and the frame and jiggling it around a little. Went in and - saw much more of Zoe than I'd ever expected to. And the dancer 'friend', one of the cutest, with toned muscles and skin even darker than Zoe's own, was also bare naked and had his shaved head down in between Zoe's legs.

"Oh," I muttered. "Maybe I really should leave you to this. But we're ready to leave whenever... you've come." Oh, blabber factor at least twenty-nine on a scale of one to ten.

Buddy lifted up his head, and without wanting to I could see that between Zoe's legs was also shaved quite free of hair. "Are you sure that you want to," he asked, in between sucking on his own lips.

"Make it quick, baby," Zoe purred, sounding nearly lost in contentment. "Kaylee - umm, I'm sorry you had to see this, but - didn't we lock the door."

"I'm too clever for my own good," I said, and went back out, hoping that the door would lock again of its own accord, but I wasn't about to fiddle with it at that moment.

Zoe emerged less than five minutes later, looking perfectly composed and serene except for a look on her face that I wondered if I was reading too much into. And we all went back to the long and richly furnished rented groundcar, to drop everyone else off, including Nancy at the Washburne's country house. Finally, Zoe and I went up into Serenity and took to our own bunks, not saying anything.

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What I'd seen kept bugging me all through the next day and through the wedding rehearsal. (There were indeed a lot of bugs about, but they didn't seem to pay us any attention, and even gave everybody about ten feet of space or so, which I guess was the repellent cream working.) The rehearsal dinner was held at the Washburne's house, and it was a great, homey get-together - pot roast that was really meat, and all kinds of trimmings, and home-baked cake and biscuits for dessert.

During the computer puzzle games that nearly everybody present were playing in the living room, Wash took my arm gently and whispered in my ear. "Do you want to talk about something?"

I hesitated, then decided to take the chance, and nodded. He led me off to a room that was possibly a private den, or his father's study. "You've been acting a bit twitchy all day, and Zoe thinks that it might have had something to do with... her last bash as a single woman last night?"

"Umm, yeah, actually," I said. "Has she... said anything about, well..."

"Exactly what she did, like breaking a lot of the rules with one of the entertainment dancers?" Wash said, and nodded. "She asked me about it before you left - in fact, we talked about it quite a few times. I - well, obviously I wasn't wild about the idea at first. I mean, who would be? But... but she's a passionate woman, not possibly one of the best people in the 'Verse temperamentally suited to monogamy, and she's been faithful to me ever since we first... came together, like that. She wanted one chance to blow of steam and - and be with another man, before our wedding day, and only if I didn't have issues after thinking about it. And she offered me the chance to do the same thing too, at the bachelor party or in some other circumstance if I wanted to."

I blinked. "Did... did you take her up on that? Sorry if that's too weird to ask, but - but I'm curious."

"Well, I didn't go as far as she did... I did look up an old flame and had lunch, kissed her and... well, it was a good way to get a bit of closure I guess. Not that I really needed to do anything like that, but I wanted to make an effort so that Zoe wouldn't feel what she'd done was one-sided."

I had to ask the big question. "You're not even a bit worried about what this means for your future with Zoe? I mean - she says that this is just something she wanted to get out of her system before the big day. What if it's still hanging around, seven years on or who knows when?"

Wash just shrugged and smiled. "I... I can't guarantee that she won't feel that temptation, or that she'll always be strong enough to bear it without wavering, ever faithful in her flesh. But... but I do believe that she'll tell me if that day comes, like she came to me this time, and that we'll find some way of dealing with it in honesty and love. Maybe I'll give her permission to indulge outside the marriage bed, as long as I know about it - if that seems like the best way of staying together. I don't know how she'd feel about an arrangement like that herself... and I should probably ask before tomorrow."

"You could really picture yourself doing that?" Most married men I knew from back home always seemed to be so jealous and possessive about their wives, and usually a bit paranoid about being cuckolded.

"Not wanting to *picture* it, I admit," he said, and I laughed. "But I trust that I can do it if that's what it takes."

I smiled slightly. "Hope that Zoe realizes what an incredible guy she's got."

"Well, I think so... but it would be a bit arrogant for me to say so to her." He chuckled softly. "Feel free to put in a reminder on my behalf if you like. Want to get back in the game?"

"Sure," I told him with a big smile. "Lead the way."

"You haven't got lost, have you Kaylee?"

"No, come on - right when we come out of here, to the end of the hallway and then left. It was just an expression." And when he didn't move for a moment, *I* opened the door and led the way.

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"I dunno," I said, as I sat on the bed in the honeymoon suite, watching Zoe applying invisible makeup very carefully. "Brett Wash is a nice guy, but he's married his own self, and... and I just wish I had my own date to the wedding and the reception. Poor guy might feel a little bit left out at the parts where I need to play the part of the Peeress of honor, but still... I want a guy to dance with, to put his arm around me at the table, and..."

"Yeah, I know Kaylee," Zoe said, with about as much sympathy as she could manage. It wasn't as much as she'd mustered last time, so I realized that I was probably getting pretty tiring with the refrain. Oh, if it surprises you that Zoe was getting ready in the honeymoon suite - well, it startled me a little bit, and it isn't a Beaumonde wedding tradition either. Just - Wash's aunt pointed out that Serenity doesn't really have the right facilities for this sort of preparations, and started making calls to find another space for us. When she tried the SkyClimber hotel, they mentioned that the honeymoon suite wasn't in use at this point, and of course, it was already reserved for Zoe and Wash later, so an arrangement was fairly quickly made.

"Okay, okay, I'll change the subject," I said. "Do you have your personal testament all written yet?"

"Umm, no - at least, I have an idea what I'll say, but not all of the details," Zoe admitted. "Having a bit of a hard time with putting it into words - how much I feel for Wash and why, what marriage means to me and the promises that I intend to make."

"You'll figure it all out when the time is right, Zoe," Inara said reassuringly. "I know that the clock is ticking, but that doesn't matter. Just don't stress about it."

Zoe turned a perfectly blank look on Inara, keeping it up for long enough that even Inara was starting to squirm, and I couldn't keep from chuckling softly. (I was careful to keep it quiet so that Zoe didn't get pissed at ME.) Just when the tension was getting to be too much, Zoe said in a perfectly calm, deadpan tone - "What, me - worry? Do I look like I'm... worrying?"

For a few seconds none of us even moved. And then I realized that Zoe was joking, had to be kidding around with us because not even she could be quite so dry and serious. When I broke out laughing, Inara followed, nervously, and Nancy joined in. Even Zoe cracked a smile.

"Okay, umm - I have a question, if that's okay," Nancy said timidly. "The two of you - Kaylee, Inara - you're not married, are you? Haven't ever been?"

"No, I haven't hardly had time," I said, though that wasn't exactly the whole truth. Friends of mine my own age back home were already a few years married with kids in a few cases - but I wouldn't have wanted to rush that much.

"Nor I," Inara agreed. "Taking a husband in my line of work would be... unusual, though hardly unheard of. I've had one offer already to - settle down, but ended up refusing it."

"Oh." I wondered if Nancy would ask about Inara's line of work. She obviously wanted to - I hadn't realized that she didn't know that Inara was a Companion - but appeared to lose her nerve.

"And I haven't, before, either," Zoe volunteered.

"Yeah, I did kind of - get that impression," Nancy told her. "And thanks. Do you think you ever will get married, Kaylee? Would you want to?"

"Actually, I've been thinking about that, a lot lately," I admitted. "Because of Zoe and Wash. If - if I find the right guy, someone who I love that much and loves me back and if we can get all of the usual drama sorted out - I'd definitely want to get hitched. Maybe not as quickly as Zoe did, but... well, it takes a thousand different courses to fly the 'Verse."

"And what about you, Nancy?" Inara asked.

"Oh - I'm already sort of pre-engaged," she said. "Drew couldn't make it today - he's off in South Africana on an important job assignment, but - well, if he'd been able to make it, we'd have formally announced our engagement at the reception."

"Hey!" Zoe snapped. "Bride here! MY big day - you don't try to steal MY thunder on my big day!!"

Nancy quailed. "We... we'd have asked Wash and yourself before going through with it - if it'd been a real option. I... I didn't think it was a big deal. That's sort of how these things tend to go in our clan... and you're playing a joke on me now, aren't you?"

Zoe's grin escaped. "Yes, yes I think that I was. Congratulations, whenever you manage to announce - even if it's an unlikely moment, which I certainly know about."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Well, much as I hate to say it, we're running a bit low on time to be indulging in such idle chatter. Zoe, you done with your face? It looks pretty good to me."

"Um - uh, yeah, I think - wait." She dabbed something on her cheek. "Yeah, okay."

"Now it's hair time," Inara said, getting up. "Come on, let Miss Serra get to work - I promise that you won't regret choosing me."

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Everyone turned around as the music changed, and Zoe began her procession up the aisle, breathtaking and wondrous in her red print wedding dress. In the end, she'd decided to break with certain traditions as far as not having anyone 'give her away' and walk her up to the altar with her on his arm - not her father, and not Mal. I thought that made sense - it's one thing for a girl who is still dependent on her childhood family, in one way or another, at the time of her wedding, but that was not something that described Zoe at all. Wash and the rest of us were already her family, and she wouldn't be leaving us...

Wash looked very handsome in his white and pale-yellow suit, I thought. I was stuck in a pale purple dress that looked pretty hideous - but then, that's the point of Peeress costumes, isn't it? To make the bride shine in comparison?

I tuned out most of the ceremony, though of course I still remember impressions. The attending Shepherd was a middle-aged man with a slightly humped back, but a kind and sweet smile, and when he made all of the usual speeches you could tell how much he believed that some God way out there in the black really loved us all, Zoe and Wash especially today, and wanted the best for them all of their lives. The only member of the crew who hadn't been tapped for the wedding party was Jayne, and he was sitting up front with a very sincere smile.

Wash made his witness first, and spoke on about the suddenness with which his love for Zoe had grown, how he was determined to do his best to protect her, and learn to let her protect him when that seemed like it would work better. Zoe took her turn, and talked about how she hadn't expected to really find love when she decided to actually get to know this pilot guy better and spend more time with him, how with all of the billions of people in the 'verse it was so rare to find one who so perfectly complemented your own in every way, and promised to love him always, to follow their star together no matter where it led them, to always respect him and never grow in anger. The Shepherd gave his final blessing and proclaimed them legally man and wife in the eyes of God, according to the laws of Beaumonde and the full span of the Allied 'Verse.

We took groundcars from the wedding site to the community hall, which was hosting the reception, and I nearly fell over when I spotted a familiar face standing outside the front doors and waiting for us. "Hey, I just got here a few minutes ago, darling," he told me. "Something tells me that you might need a dance partner."

"Jonny Winfield?" I breathed. "But - but how did you get - what are you doing here? Beaumonde must be eight..."

"Never mind that," he said, sweeping me into his arms. "We may only have one night to be together again, so why spoil it with more questions."

"Alright," I said. "I have to give a toast for Zoe, and dance one traditional dance with Wash's brother. Aside from that, I'm all yours."

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When Jonny dropped me off at the edge of the Washburne's backyard, the sun was already coming up. We'd said our goodbyes, so I took one more kiss and hurried aboard before I could break down into tears.

Mal was waiting in the cargo bay. "How long do you think I should give them, on account of this being the wedding night?" he asked me conversationally. "Or at least, it was the wedding night, before it became the morning after."

"At least until local noon, or else you're an unfeeling monster," I said. "Why are you so much in a hurry to be off, anyway?"

"Well, we got a wave last night, while everyone was off at the ceremony," he said. "Badger. He's got a salvage job in a blown carrier for us. And while we're on Persephone, I want you to find us some more passengers, for a trip to Boros."

"Okay, all right," I said, too tired to argue. "Who do you figure we'll find?"

"Oh, probably nobody very interesting," he replied offhandedly, turning and walking away.

THE END!