A/N: This is short, but more issues will be resolved in A NEW REASON, parts 1-5.

Thanks to all for your great comments - I appreciate not only everyone's encouragement, but your honesty. It means a lot to know I've managed to make an impact, whether good or bad.

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A NEW DAY, epilogue: Miracles

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“River?”

Looking up from where she was again tending Jayne’s grave, River saw her mother’s concerned face. As the older woman walked towards her, a bit unsteadily over the uneven ground, River rose, brushing off her dirty hands and allowing her mother to wrap her in a tight embrace.

“Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry,” she whispered into her hair, as she held the girl tight.

Blinking back a few tears as her mother’s emotions overwhelmed her, River patted her back and said, “It’s okay, mother. I’m okay.”

Pulling back from her, Regan gave her daughter a quizzical look and asked, “Really? Are you sure?”

Nodding once, River looked over her shoulder at the headstone and then back to her mother. “Yes, I’m sure. Because I was loved once and that’s what’s important.”

Wiping away a few of her own tears, Regan said wistfully, “Well, he was a good man.”

Frowning at her, River said wryly, “No, he wasn’t. And if you could have picked any other husband in the ‘verse for me, you would have.”

Smiling at her intuitiveness, Regan squeezed River to her side, and said, “Okay, you got me. Maybe I didn’t think he was right for you, at first. But he did love you, my dear, and that made him very important to me.”

River leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder and they stood in silence for a moment. Finally, Regan pressed a kiss into her hair and said, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t be here sooner. We pushed the transport as fast as we could.”

Nodding, River told her, “I know.”

“Actually,” Regan said quietly, reaching a hand into one of her deep pockets. “I have something for you. I honestly have no idea where it came from, it just showed up at the house the morning Simon waved and asked me to come.”

Looking to her with a curious gaze, River glanced down at the package in her mother’s hand. It was very plain and tied with a simple string. Taking it with a shaky hand, she looked to Regan expectantly and her mother said, “I had my security staff scan it, there’s nothing dangerous about it, as far as they could see. And it doesn’t contain a tracking device of any kind,” Regan added, knowing that would be Simon’s concern.

Nodding, River looked back to the package and pulled gingerly on the end of the string, unraveling it and letting it fall to the ground. As she parted the brown paper that surrounded it, her breath caught in her throat. Swaying a bit on her feet, Regan grabbed her firmly around the shoulders and asked, “River, dear, what is it?”

River turned the vial over in her hands. She had no reason to believe it to be what she thought it was. For all she knew it could have been a deadly poison, meant to kill her. But as she looked at the pale yellow liquid floating inside, her heart skipped a beat as she realized her prayers might have been answered.

With tears in her eyes, she looked up to her mother and whispered, “You don’t know who sent it?”

Shaking her head, Regan explained, “No, it came by courier with no return address and there wasn’t a note.” Looking to the vial and then back to River, Regan asked, “What do you think it is?”

As her first tears fell, River turned back to look at Jayne’s headstone and swallowed thickly. Then glancing back to her mother, River kissed her lightly on the cheek and whispered, “A miracle.”

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6 1/2 Months Later

Madeleine Li Cobb was born on a bright and sunny spring day. She was seven pounds, five ounces and had a full shock of dark hair. Her baby blue eyes stayed with her as the months passed and it was soon apparent to everyone, including her mother, that the girl would be the spitting image of her father. And as time passed, the little girl was forever considered by her mother, aunt, uncle, grandmother and friends as a miracle.

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TBC - A NEW REASON