A/N: Again, if reading about torture, in any form, makes you squeamish, you might want to skip ahead to the next post. There is a bit more about Rylee and what she's suffering through in this installment.

Also, just as a reminder, this story is 33 chapters long, plus a 40+ epilogue - we got a long way to go folks, so strap in for a bumpy ride!

Thanks go all who have continued to read and respond. As I work on new stories and one-offs I take all of your comments into consideration so hopefully, my writing will only improve ... that and I have a pretty incredible Beta, Leiasky, so you know ... pretty much foolproof!

Please comment - feedback is the stuff of life.

***

A NEW DAY, ch. 12: Fighting for Life

***

Kaylee awoke feeling cold and incredibly tired. Blinking her eyes rapidly, she tried to clear them, noting that the ceiling she was staring up at was not the familiar sight of the one from her room. Glancing around, she turned her head slowly from side to side and could make out the clinic. With realization, she realized she was in the main room. And she was alone.

With fear gripping her heart, she felt her pulse quicken as she could not see or hear Simon. Looking about, she was still too weak to get up. Having no idea how long she’d been asleep, her mind jumped to the worst conclusion imaginable, and she cried out, “Simon!” praying that he would still be here and come running at her call.

And he did. Having finally managed to doze on the couch in the corner of the room, Kaylee’s anguished cry pulled him from his light sleep and he bolted to her side, grabbing for her hand and speaking to her soothingly almost immediately as he heard the machines he had monitoring her start to whine in protest.

“Shh, bao bei, I’m right here,” he told her gently, reaching up with his free hand and brushing away the few tears that had fallen from her eyes. “I’m here, you’re okay.”

Closing her eyes and sighing heavily, she leaned into the hand he held against her face, and when she again brought her green eyes to his, she murmured, “I was worried you left me.”

Smiling sadly at her, Simon resumed his seat on the stool beside her and kept his hand in hers. “I can’t leave you, bao bei,” he told her truthfully. “You know that.”

“But you’re gonna,” she whispered, her eyes clouding again with fear and sadness that drove a dagger into his gut.

“To get Rylee back,” he reminded her, not at all certain he’d be able to hold back his own raging emotions for much longer. “That’s all and then I’ll be back.”

She shook her head as more tears came and said wetly, “No, you won’t and you know it.” Sobbing, she raised a shaky hand to her face and tried to hide her tears from him, although why she’d never be able to guess. Simon had seen her through plenty of bad times, but she felt awful crying now, making him feel guilty for wanting to get their daughter back; it should be what she wanted too, but the thought of waking without him, of raising their children alone filled her with such dread and melancholy, she could hardly breathe.

Pulling the hand she held to her face away, Simon gripped it tightly in his own and waited for her to look back to him. When she finally did, his heart lodged itself into his throat as her sorrow almost destroyed him. “I can’t live without you, Simon,” Kaylee finally murmured, her voice barely audible through more tears. “I can’t. Please don’t make me.”

Not knowing what else to do, Simon moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling up to him and holding her tight. She held him back as hard she could, her body still regaining its strength after the surgery and the transfusion. When he finally trusted his own voice, Simon murmured into her hair, “I can’t live without you either, Kaylee, you are my life.”

She sobbed loudly again, and her whole body shook as both of them tried to reconcile their need for one another with their love for their daughter. Unable to find an answer, they both just clung to each other in silence, praying that River would come through and they wouldn’t be forced to make the hardest decision of their lives.

***

River was studying schematics and plans of Osiris and the areas around the Academy when Jayne and Regan found her. The information had not been easy to locate, but Regan had managed to call in a few favors and while it was nothing particularly detailed, it would give them all a fairly decent understanding of what they were up against.

Plus, as River scanned the documents and files, her mind racing with plans, her memories sprang to life. She had remembered more about her time at the Academy in the past few days than she had in years and while the thoughts brought waves of fear and anger crashing down around her, she pushed it all away, knowing that the only thing that mattered right now was getting her niece back.

Approaching her, Jayne pressed a kiss into her hair and then sat at her side, keeping a hand to her back as her fingers flew across the console in front of her. He watched in awe as the images on the screen changed by the second; he knew that River was getting it all, even as his brain could only see flashes of color. She really was a wonder.

Coming to stand on her other side, Regan watched the scene as well and then finally asked, “What’s the plan, River?”

Not pausing, River said in a monotone, “We get her out.”

Sighing a bit, Regan should have known she would say something smart like that – it was her way. “I know that, dear, but how about you share the details with us, hmm?”

Continuing to study screen after screen, River began to talk. “They already have her, started the tests. She’ll be in an exam room, probably a lab. Here and here,” she continued, pointing to a few places on the grid she’d called up. Before Regan or Jayne’s eyes could focus on the image, she had flipped it again, looking to something else and went on. “I’ll go in, I know how they think, what they think, what they want. I can get to her.”

With a fear he had grown much too accustomed to, Jayne asked cautiously, “What about me, baby? What do you want me to do?”

Not looking to him, she said succinctly, “Stay here, out of the way, get ready to leave.”

Gritting his teeth, Jayne fought the very real urge to grab her hands and force her to face him. “I ain’t sittin’ by while you do all the heavy liftin’. You know that.”

“Have to, no choice. Only one can get in and only two can get out.” Her voice was still maddeningly calm and devoid of any emotion. Still angry at being so readily dismissed, Jayne let his eyes drift to Regan’s concerned face and the love he saw there for the woman before him made him pause. He knew that River and Simon had had a storied past with both their folks, and while Regan had managed to redeem herself in the past months, helping when Simon had been in such need, he hadn’t really known until now how much the woman loved her daughter – despite all she’d done to the contrary.

“And what do you want me to do, darling?” Regan asked finally, her own voice quiet.

River did stop now, her hands hovering over the keys before her. As if making a final decision, she swiveled her chair to her mother and looking her in the eyes, said quietly, “Distract father.”

Inhaling sharply, Regan had not expected that to be River’s answer. “There’s a very real chance he won’t see me,” she explained quickly, searching River’s face for some sign that she wasn’t really expecting her to do this. “I don’t know how much sway over him I’ll have.”

“It’ll be enough,” River reassured her, before turning back to her screens and information. Knowing they would get nothing else from her for now, both Jayne and Regan took their leave, pausing in the doorway to regard her.

After a few moments of silence, Regan finally asked him, “Has she had any other dreams about Rylee?”

Shaking his head swiftly, Jayne’s eyes would not leave the back of River’s head. “Nah, not since that one two nights ago.” Sighing heavily, he said quietly, “I’m worried, Mrs. Tam. For her and the little one.”

Resting a light hand on his arm, Regan admitted, “I am too, son. I am too.”

***

Simon was again checking over his newborn son and daughter when his eldest son found him. Entering the clinic quietly, Daniel watched his father work, noticing the way his eyes darted among the instruments and his lips moved imperceptibly as he recited vitals to himself so that he could remember. Daniel watched too as one hand drummed restlessly against the counter while he held a stylus in the other. Sometimes, he put the pen into his mouth, holding it with his lips, while he prepared some medicine and then expertly pushed the drugs into his brother’s or sister’s IVs.

After a few moments, the five-year-old boy finally cleared his throat and got his father’s attention. “Daddy, what’s going on?”

Turning at the small sound of his son’s voice, Simon saw his own fear and concern reflected back at him. It was no secret that Daniel was the spitting image of his father. Looks aside, his heart was just as big as Simon’s, the compassion he felt for others, especially his sister, far outshining the concern he felt for himself. At the thought of his relationship with Rylee, Simon’s face blanched as he considered that at one time everyone had compared their connection to the one he shared with his sister; had shared, past tense – they didn’t anymore.

Making one final note, Simon closed the chart, and sat down in the rocking chair by his babies, and reached out a hand to Daniel. Gratefully, the boy approached him and climbed into his father’s lap. Looking into his blue, blue eyes, Simon brushed some of his hair from his forehead and asked him, “What do you want to know?”

Nodding once, Daniel had suspected that was what his father would say and so he had prepared a mental list of all the questions he wanted answers to. “Is mama going to be okay?”

Smiling at him, Simon told him, “Yes, son, she’s going to be fine. That surgery she had, it took a lot out of her and that’s why she’s been so tired. But hopefully in a little over a week, you’ll be able to visit with her as much as you want.”

Satisfied with that response, Daniel went on. “What about them?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Chuckling lightly for the first time in days, Simon considered that he and Kaylee really did need to name the twins and soon. “Your brother and sister are very tiny,” he began to explain, and had to pause as Daniel turned back to him with a look of pure annoyance. “Right,” Simon said quietly, “I guess that’s pretty obvious.” Watching as Daniel nodded once, Simon decided on a different tact. “When you were born, you were the right size and your mom was able to make sure that you were breathing normally. But the twins, they didn’t get that. They’re too small and their lungs weren’t fully developed.”

“Is that why they’re yellow?” Daniel asked, again looking to his new sister’s tiny form. It was weird for their skin to be such a shade.

Smiling slightly, Simon told him, “No, their skin is yellow because they have a condition called jaundice.”

“Is it going to go away?” his son asked, looking back to Simon with wide eyes.

“Yes, it should go away in another day or two, it’s not serious.”

“So, then they’ll be okay?”

Grimacing, Simon said, “Not necessarily. They’re still having a bit of trouble breathing, and that’s very important. We have to pay a lot of very close attention to them in the coming weeks. But I’m hopeful that they’re going to be fine.”

Studying his father’s face for a moment, Daniel thought about pressing the issue. He could tell there was something his father wasn’t telling him, but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint it. Knowing that even if he asked, he probably wouldn’t get a satisfactory answer, he moved onto his next question. “Where’s aunt River and uncle Jayne?” He’d heard rumors, some of the adults whispering, but he wanted to know for sure.

“They went to get your sister,” Simon told him evenly, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

“When’re they going to be back?” Daniel asked, his gaze turning from one of curiosity to full-blown concern.

Sighing heavily, Simon told him, “I don’t know, son.”

“But Ry’s going to be okay, right?” Daniel’s voice was rising in pitch as his concern for his sister again spiked. He had been swinging between all out anxiety and slow-burning fear for the past five days since she’d been gone and now, as he had his father’s full and undivided attention, he wanted an answer – a real answer.

Simon could see his son’s need for reassurances; he could only guess how amazingly difficult all of this had been on him. It was too much for he and Kaylee to process let alone their five-year-old who only knew that one minute his sister had been across the hall and the next she was in grave danger.

“I don’t know, buddy,” Simon finally admitted, hugging his son to him.

“But she’s got to be all right,” Daniel explained, feeling more tears ready to fall and wishing they would just go away. His voice was muffled as he held tight to his father and buried his face against him. “I don’t want her to be hurt.”

“I know,” Simon agreed, keeping a firm grip around his son’s now shaking form. “I know. We’ve just got to hope and pray for the best.”

“I want everything to go back to normal,” Daniel said dejectedly, his voice no longer strangled by tears, but full of sadness. “I hate this.”

Squeezing his eyes shut against his own tears, Simon could only repeat, “I know.”

***

Simon was lying beside Kaylee, unable to sleep. He knew that the shuttle from his father would land tomorrow and while Mal and the rest of them had a plan, Simon did not like it. He didn’t like the fact that everyone was going to put so much on the line for him and his family.

Rolling his head to the side, he saw Kaylee’s sleeping face and knew that what he hated more was the thought of leaving her. Besides the health of the twins, which was spotty at best, the thought of walking away from Kaylee tore him up in ways he’d never imagined. And only made his anger for his father burn that much brighter.

A sudden thought occurring to him, Simon slid out of bed and dug through the drawers he’d been using since staying at the clinic. Finding what he was looking for, he pressed a light kiss to Kaylee’s forehead and then padded out of the room, heading to the porch and around to Millie’s den and the wave screen there.

Inserting the data stick, he again used the code to call up his father’s ship. He was slightly satisfied to realize he’d awakened him as his disheveled appearance came before him.

With annoyance, Gabriel bit out, “What?”

“Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed,” Simon stated sardonically, smiling a bit more as his father snarled at him. “Just not a middle of the night person, are we, father? And here I thought all evil masterminds did their best work in the dead of night.”

“If you called to be cute, I can easily go back to bed,” Gabriel retorted, reaching his hand off screen to end the connection.

But Simon’s voice stopped him. “I want to speak with my daughter.”

A wicked smile spreading across his face, Gabriel suddenly looked like his old, manipulative self. “Do you now? And just why would I let you do that?”

Cocking his head to the side and trying vainly to not show his anger and disgust at the man before him, he said evenly, “Because if I don’t speak with her right now, if I’m not convinced that she is unharmed, I will not be getting on that shuttle tomorrow.”

Frowning at him, Gabriel told him harshly, “I don’t know if you’re the one to be making demands, son.”

“If Rylee is already hurt, than all bets are off,” Simon countered. “You told me she wouldn’t be harmed, but if you let those monsters anywhere near her, than you have nothing over me anymore.” Pausing, Simon allowed his voice to drop to a whisper as he murmured, “She’s already lost to us.”

Gabriel held his son’s fiery gaze and felt the very real need to curse, violently. How had the boy already puzzled it out? How did he know that the blue hands already had their claws, needles and drugs into his daughter’s system? And how did he know he’d be unable to produce her?

“You seem to have a deep understanding of what exactly the Alliance is capable of,” he told him, meeting his hard gaze with one of his own. “I find that interesting.”

“Yes, well, there was once a time when I had to know what they were thinking in order to rescue my sister. I’m sure you remember that.” Simon’s tone was deadly, and Gabriel had to smirk at him proudly – perhaps the boy did take after him after all.

“Yes, River, how is your crazy sister? I haven’t heard from her in days, so I guess she’s not feeling a need to endanger any of your other brats.” Gabriel enjoyed watching Simon squirm at the implication. He could tell, by the way his boy’s eyes burned that there was no love lost between the siblings anymore and Gabriel smiled smugly. They had always been too close for their own good anyway – it was creepy.

“So, I take it I can’t talk to Rylee,” Simon said quietly, his gaze never wavering.

Sighing heavily, Gabriel sat back and raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “All right, you caught me.” Looking back to him, he growled, “No, you can’t talk to her.” With a menacing grin, he added, “But you can see her.”

And then with a flip of a switch, Simon was confronted with the image of his daughter strapped to a cold metal table, needles sticking into her arms, her head, her torso. She was writhing soundlessly and Simon’s vision immediately clouded with tears as his rage at his father turned to abject terror for his baby girl.

In a second the image winked back to Gabriel and Simon was seething. “Let her go.”

“No,” Gabriel said quickly, noting with joy how upset his son had just become. “The blue hands find her quite interesting Simon and while I may have failed at getting you back, I have managed to regain my life by handing her over to them.” Looking to him for a moment with a look of pure disappointment, he continued. “You know, Simon, I really thought you’d see things my way. I thought you’d realize that the prairie harpie and those brats you’re raising are nothing compared to the life you were born for.” Shaking his head with mock sadness, he added, “I had no idea you would turn out to be such a disappointment.”

With an angry growl, Simon told him, “The feeling is mutual.”

Holding each other’s gazes for a minute more, Gabriel sighed heavily and determined that maybe it was time to finally admit defeat. He may not have been able to get Simon back, but he had managed to effectively kill his daughter and he figured that pain of that loss would haunt the boy for years to come.

Waving absently at the screen, he said, “You don’t have to get on that shuttle tomorrow. I’ll wave them off. But you will never see your daughter again, you’re right about that.”

Before Simon could form another thought, the screen died and he hunched forward fighting the very real urge to heave. His daughter, his beautiful baby girl … they were hurting her, just as they had hurt River. With barely another thought, Simon again activated the screen, this time calling to his mother’s ship and was not surprised when River answered the wave.

Saying nothing in greeting as she knew Simon had called for a reason, she let him speak first. “They have her,” he ground out, fighting back tears as the image of his daughter’s writhing form continued to assault him. “They’re hurting her.”

River’s own eyes filled with tears. She could feel Simon’s anguish as readily as she could feel Rylee’s and it was quickly becoming too much. “Tell me you can do this,” he added quietly, his blue eyes holding her gaze. “Tell me you can get her back.”

Nodding once, it took River a minute to find her voice. Finally, she murmured, “I can and I will. She will make it back to you, even if I don’t.”

With nothing else to say between them, Simon closed the connection and sat back heavily. It was a long while before he felt he could move from the room.

***

It was the middle of the night when a light knock to Mal and Inara’s door roused them both from a restless sleep. Groaning, Mal rolled out of bed, and opened it a crack. Inara could not hear what was being said or even who it was, but she noticed as Mal slid back into bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her that he had a look of pure disgust on his face.

“What is it?” she asked, her head nestled into the crook of his neck.

“Simon,” Mal mumbled, his voice still full of sleep. “He talked to his dad, no shuttle tomorrow.”

Knowing that wasn’t what had caused his grimace, Inara asked him again, “No, Mal, what is it?”

Looking down to her through heavily-lidded eyes, Mal pressed a kiss to her forehead and told her quietly, “He saw Rylee. His father’s already turned her over to the Feds.”

Gasping at this news, Inara’s whole body tensed as her mind started to churn with the various awful things that could be happening to the girl right now. Frozen with shock for only a minute, Inara hurriedly moved to get up, but Mal’s firm hold kept her beside him.

“Where’re you going?” he asked her, more awake now.

Turning fearful eyes to him, she said quietly, “To get Mimi, I don’t want her to be alone.”

Looking into her eyes for a moment, Mal kissed his wife again and then rolled back out of bed. “I’ll get her. You stay here.”

Sighing with relief, Inara waited until Mal returned, their sleeping daughter in his arms. Handing her to Inara, the mother cradled her child to her chest and hummed softly to her and all Mal could do was hold them both.

***

Daniel was still intent on sleeping at the clinic, especially since Rylee had been gone and Simon was glad. Returning after speaking with his father and then Mal, Simon roused his son and took him to Kaylee’s side, watching with a sad smile as the boy rolled over and curled into his mother, her arm coming down and around him in her sleep.

Staring at the two of them for a moment, Simon tried to banish the image his father had shown him of his daughter. It was horrifying, there was no other word for it. He had guessed that she would be in the same danger as River had once been, but he had hoped that the father he had grown up with might still be around and find it impossible to cause his own grandchild such pain.

With fresh tears in his eyes as he thought of the pain his baby was suffering, Simon felt the very real urge to hit something. It wasn’t fair that he was stuck here, waiting for his sister to rescue his child. But what could he do? Kaylee’s body had not recovered sufficiently and would not for weeks and the newborns … they couldn’t be moved. While the jaundice would clear up in a few days the risk for infection in preemies was incredibly high. Besides, his little girl’s blood pressure had yet to rise to a safe level, while his son’s breathing still caused him concern.

Wrapped up in all of these dark and damaging thoughts, he barely heard the door to the room whisper open. “Simon?” Looking up, he saw Millie’s head poking around the corner and he hurried towards her quickly.

Simon would never be able to thank her for all she’d done for him and his family in the past week. She had been incredibly selfless, spending hours in the clinic, away from her own family, so that the twins were never alone. She was again on night duty, as she had convinced Simon right after the surgery that the chance to sleep with his wife was one he should take – both for her comfort and his own.

Walking behind her to the clinic proper, he heard the monitors beeping as he entered and his gut churned uncomfortably again. Moving quickly to his son’s side, he asked Millie, “What happened?”

“It’s his breathin’,” she told him, watching as he set to work. “It’s much too fast and now …” Her eyes gazed down at the small boy’s little chest as it fought to rise and fall. “He’s workin’ much too hard for such a little guy.”

Simon could not disagree with that assessment. Reaching into the small container, he placed the stethoscope to his son’s chest and listened intently. Besides the sounds of his labored breathing, Simon could make out his heartbeat and what he heard was not good.

Looking to Millie, he told her, “Over on the shelf, by the things my mother brought, there’s a data pad.” She moved to get it even as he continued talking. “Look up patent ductus arteriosus and ways to treat it.” Simon could not be entirely sure that was what was wrong with his son, but he had to investigate any and all of his options.

Millie scanned through the data, as Simon rested a light hand to his son’s head. His breathing was starting to slow a bit, but he could still see him struggling and he couldn’t stand it. Both of the twins had had excess fluid on their lungs, the c-section taking away the chance for a natural birth to aid them in their respiratory development. And while his little girl seemed to be suffering more from low blood pressure, his son had been having trouble breathing since they’d removed him from Kaylee, and the distress the infant was in now only made Simon’s heart heavier.

Finding the information he’d asked for, Millie came to his side, and told him, “We need a drug, called indomethacin.”

Knowing he didn’t have it on hand, he told her, “Check those boxes.” He prayed that his mother really had thought of every contingency.

As he heard Millie sorting through more medicine and equipment, Simon again stared to his son only interrupted when Millie cursed violently behind him. “No luck,” she told him, heading back to his side.

Knowing it had been a long shot, Simon still felt his heart sink to his feet. “What else can we do?”

Looking to him with wide and determined eyes, she told him quietly, “Operate.”

***

Kaylee awoke with Danny at her side and smiled sleepily at his peaceful face. Looking around the room, she noticed it was still dark out, but Simon was gone and that caused her to worry. Gingerly and very slowly, she rolled off the bed, having difficultly standing as the incision in her abdomen still hurt quite a bit, but with a shaky step she was soon on her feet and heading for the main room of the clinic.

With a hand to the wall to keep her steady, she could hear the sound of urgent voices and movement as she approached and the concern she’d felt when she’d first awoken only heightened. Entering the room, she watched with wide eyes as Millie and Simon hovered over her baby boy’s incubator, having already lowered the sides and brought out some more of the specialty equipment Simon had bought months ago.

Stifling a fearful gasp got the attention of both her husband and the midwife, and Simon moved hurriedly to her side as Millie continued prepping the infant for surgery.

“Kaylee,” he said quietly, standing between her and their son, trying to get her to focus her eyes on him. “Kaylee, look at me.”

“What’s happenin’?” she breathed, finally turning her fearful eyes to his face.

“He’s having trouble breathing, so we’re going to help him.” Kaylee cried silent tears at his diagnosis and clutched his shirt. “He’s going to be fine, Kaylee, but I want you to go back to bed.”

Shaking her head quickly, she told him, “No, I wanna stay here.”

Knowing he didn’t have time to fight with her and knowing that as the child’s mother she had the right to stay, Simon guided her to the couch in the corner of the room and helped her sit, putting her feet up so as to make her as comfortable as possible. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he told her, “I’m going to help him. You stay here, all right?”

Kaylee nodded fearfully and watched him walk back to their son’s side. Glancing to Millie, she murmured to Simon, “You sure this is a good idea, doc?”

Casting one more look to his wife, Simon answered softly, “I’m not going to tell her no.”

Millie nodded once and saw that Kaylee’s gaze had not changed from one of horror. “Well, then maybe she needs somethin’ to take her mind off things,” the woman said, and turning to look at Kaylee, told her, “Hey, darlin’, you know, we gotta name these munchkins.”

Blinking her eyes rapidly as Kaylee realized her friend was addressing her, she said quietly, “I know.”

“Well, then, get to it,” Millie commanded, turning back to look at Simon who offered her a smile of thanks.

“I thought of a name for the little guy here,” Simon added, as he watched Millie apply the anesthesia to their son, his body starting to regulate as he fell into a drug-induced sleep. “I held up my end of the deal, so now you’ve got to name our little girl.”

Kaylee’s eyes were focused on Simon’s back as he worked over their son and at the mention of their daughter, Kaylee’s eyes drifted to her. She wanted to hold her, so badly. She wanted to be a mother to these two new lives, comfort them and feed them so they would know who she was and that she loved them. But she knew she couldn’t, not yet.

Blinking again to clear her tears, Kaylee started to list names in a quiet voice. “Well, I always liked Rose or Catherine or Emma.”

Simon was listening half-heartedly, doing his best to concentrate on the tiny incisions he had to make. He had of course never done this before, most trauma surgeons on Osiris did not work in the neo-natal unit for a variety of reasons, the least being that treating a distressed infant was completely different from treating a distressed adult, but if this is what he had to do to save his son’s life, than he would.

Knowing he needed to focus, Millie answered Kaylee even as she continued to hand Simon tools. “I like Catherine, sweetie, but she might get confused with Cadie. What else you got?”

Kaylee continued to list off names as Simon worked, and Millie continued to engage her. As a surgeon he was used to performing delicate surgeries in a variety of settings and it was with remembered ease that he blocked out all the distractions and performed the procedure.

By the time he was done, just an hour later, his legs and back were aching fiercely, his body not only full of tension at the urgency of the surgery, but unaccustomed to bending over to work on such a small patient. As he finished his last suture and placed a bandage over the small cut, Millie moved across the room and helped Kaylee stand. “Come on, mama, I think it’s time you started bondin’ with these babies.”

Smiling weakly at her, Kaylee moved to Simon’s side, as he lifted the sides of the case back up and reaffixed the ventilator to his son. Placing a hand to the small of his back, Simon smiled tiredly at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Resting her hand against the case, she whispered, “Is he gonna be all right?”

“He should be,” Simon told her, his lips tickling her scalp as he rested his cheek against her hair. “The surgery went very well, so now we just need to watch his breathing, be sure it stays stable.”

“And what about her?” Kaylee asked, glancing towards their daughter’s small form.

Simon looked to her as well and without having to ask, Millie brought him the infant’s dedicated chart so he could make his own assessment. “Well, I would say she’s doing well. Her blood pressure is on the rise.” Looking back to Kaylee, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “She’s going to be fine. But we still have to give her a name.”

Smiling at him, Kaylee said lightly, “You first.”

His eyes widening at her with mock indignation, he tried to hold onto this light mood that was threatening to crash around him as his mind kept flashing to Rylee’s distraught form. Shaking his head to clear it, he told his wife, “All right, although I’m not sure how fair that is.” As Kaylee turned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, Simon held her around the shoulders and said, “I was thinking about Ethan.”

“Ethan,” Kaylee repeated, saying the name to see how it felt. “Ethan Thomas Tam?” She raised her eyebrows quizzically, seeing if he approved of the middle name and with a nod, Simon pulled her to him and repeated, “Ethan Thomas Tam.”

“That’s real pretty you two,” Millie chimed in, from where she had sat wearily in the rocking chair by the incubators.

They smiled their appreciation to her and then Simon glanced back down to his wife, whose green eyed gaze had again fallen to their son, Ethan. “All right,” he chided gently, squeezing her lightly. “Your turn.”

With a smile and a slight sigh, Kaylee’s face scrunched up a bit with concentration. There were a ton of names she liked, but what went with Ethan? Her eyes lighting, she looked to Simon and said, “Emma, Emma Catherine Tam.”

“It’s perfect,” Simon told her, lowering his head to place a light kiss to her lips. Kaylee returned his affections and then, pulling back from him, snuggled her head against his chest, feeling content for the first time in a long while.

“Can I hold ‘em soon?” she asked him, still staring at her son’s small form.

“Soon, Kaylee,” Simon assured her, wishing he could quell the rising agitation that was again churning through him. “Soon.”

***