Sorry it took me a while to stick this up, but I've been busy with school. Anyway, here's the next.

Rating: PG, maybe PG-13 for Jayne Pairings(not all in this chapter, but this is what it will be throughout the series): Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Wash/Zoe (no Jayne/anybody, ever, but will have River/OC much later on)

First Born

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. It was supposed to be a great day in their lives, one that they were ready for. On the day that they had ticked off on the newly bought calender hanging up in their bunk. That was the way it was supposed to happen. Not today. Simon was awakened early that morning to banging on the door of Kaylee's bunk. He had been staying there since after Miranda. That morning, he had his arms wrapped peacefully around her as they slept, tired from yesterday's job. With Zoe as an invalid, the rest of the crew had to pick up the slack. Most days River did it, but she spent yesterday sick with some sort of stomach bug and the two of them had to go. “SIMON!” Wash's voice rang out through the stillness in the bunk. Simon, half-asleep, groaned and rolled closer to Kaylee, nuzzling her neck. He received a sleepy chuckle at this. “SIMON!” Wash shouted again. “ZOE'S WATER DID SOMETHING BAD AND I'M SUPPOSED TO TELL YOU, SO IF SHE OR THIS BABY DIES IT IS ON YOUR CONSCIOUS!” At this, Simon sat bolt upright, disturbing Kaylee. He turned slowly to look at her, his expression scared on his face pale. “What did he just say?” Kaylee stared back at him, her face also a bit shocked. “Something about Zoe's water...” “Zhou chang yu!” Simon exclaimed, scrambling out of bed and rushing to the ladder with Kaylee close behind him. “Wuza matter?” Kaylee asked groggily. “Zoe's going into labor.” Simon had just gotten very distracted as he rushed up the ladder and nearly bowled Wash over. The two men sprinted to the infirmary, where Zoe had been sleeping after she fell asleep there during a round of tests. Kaylee stood shock-still at the top of her and Simon's bunk, unable to move. She'd never watched a baby being delivered before and had no experience with them at all, but she did know that Zoe not being due for a whole 'nother month and her having the baby that day spelled trouble. And lots of it. “What's going on?” Shepard Book came up the steps from the passenger dorm with River in tow, looking very confused. He hadn't put the hair away, but River, oddly, showed no response to this explosion on his head that was “putting his brains in terrible danger.” Perhaps because she knew that the impending problems were much worse than a bit of rogue hair. “Baby's here,” River stated calmly, her eyes at the ground with everyone else's eyes. “He's a little early, but he'll pull through. Sweet boy, he'll be. Smart. Calm. Collected.” She turns to face the group again. “He'll be a good boy.” Kaylee clarified her meaning. “She's means that little Washburne's here.” “Why's Doc got himself goin' crazy for?” Mal's grammar was even in worse than usual when he was sleepy. “Baby's here,” River repeated. “Ya mean Zo's baby?” Mal babbled. “Is everything alright?” Inara asked worriedly, coming down the steps. “I saw Simon and Wash running top speed into the infirmary. Is she okay? Is it the baby?” “Baby's here.” River now appeared to be growing bored of the comment. “Zoe and Wash's baby?” Inara asked, flabbergasted. River rolled her eyes. “No, Simon and Kaylee's baby.” “WHAT!”everyone in the hall way other than River chorused. “We all go into a battle with strong faces and tightly screwed on heads,” River mused, “but we go into everyday life with loose bolts and wandering minds.” “Uh-huh,” Mal said, finding it a bit odd that he understood her meaning and even odder that her reasoning sounded a bit like Tracey. We all went into the war never looking to come out, but it was real life I couldn't survive. He turned back to Kaylee and said, “So Washburne junior's here?” “Tha's what Simon says,” Kaylee confirmed. “Huh.” Mal tried to seem detached. “Well, that there's more'n a mite of a reason to eat breakfast 'bout now. Wash ain't gonna steal any chow.” “Mal!” Inara reprimanded. “How can you say that?” “Ain't no point in worryin' our pretty little heads about something we can't change,” Mal said sagely. “And food's always a great way to get our minds off of things.” Jayne emerged from his bunk at this moment. “Someone say breakfast?” Kaylee rolled her eyes. “Zoe's havin' a baby and all you can think about is food?” Jayne's eyes popped out. “Zoe's havin' a baby?” “Yes, Jayne,” Inara confirmed, exasperated. “Oh.” Jayne paused for a moment and looked up to the sky thoughtfully. Then he turned to Inara. “Do you gotta be nekkid to have a baby?” “You know I'm thinkin' that Jayne oughta get to the kitchen pretty quick.” Mal didn't mean it as a suggestion; he meant it as a command. “I'll make food,” Shepherd volunteered. “But I think I oughta be there,” Jayne protested. “Ya know, to give 'er support.” Mal sighed. “Jayne, when I say something, it ain't a suggestion unless I say it's a suggestion, and this ain't no suggestion.” “Fine, fine,” Jayne grumbled. “Take the fun oughta everything.” He stalked off to the kitchen with the rest of them. Three hours later, and there was still no baby. Inara and River constantly explained to them that this process took very long time. Well, Inara explained it and River confused them. The entire crew, minus Simon, Wash, and, of course, Zoe, sat comfortably on the chairs in the living area. Kaylee kept glancing anxiously at the infirmary, where Mal and Book had hung some blankets in the day in order to keep Zoe safe from Jayne's prying eyes. Jayne kept on playing with his and guns and when he wasn't doing that, he was lifting five pound dumbbells in his chair. Inara had brought a book along and read it as she waited. Mal held a funny little wooden toy in his hands that Kaylee bought him for a birthday present. River mumbled things under her breath, occasionally speaking loud enough for the rest of them to her what she said. They guessed that she was reading Wash, Zoe, and Simon's exceptionally “loud” minds, providing with a running commentary. Book was praying as they all expected him to be. Praying for Zoe. Praying for the baby. Nobody broke the sitting time for lunch, not even Jayne. By dinner, however, nearly all of their stomach's were growling, so River offered to bring some protein bars for them since she would know if something was happening anyway. She skipped out happily while the rest stared sullenly at the closed door. It happened when she was gone. They heard screaming and crying, high-pitched and un-Zoe-like. “The baby,” Inara exclaimed. They all stood up to rush into the infirmary, but Kaylee blocked the door. “We should give 'em a little privacy 'fore we invade Zoe's space,” she stated firmly. “Right,” Book agreed. “Besides, we don't even know if the child is in stable condition. With the premature birth.” “Moonbrain lost her mind yet?” Jayne wondered, looking up to the kitchen. As if on cue, River's scream echoed as they heard the thud of her boots on the metal. But River's screams weren't because of the baby. As Mal hurried up, he met her halfway on the stairs. “Someone's here,” she told him. “Someone bad.” “What the hell?” Mal muttered, following her back up to the bridge. The rest trudged along after them, except for Kaylee, who stayed by the infirmary. On the bridge, the crew saw exactly what had River so spooked. A huge Alliance cruiser was looming right over them. They didn't have time to worry about what was going on in the infirmary. They had to fight. “What're we gonna do?” Jayne asked. Without waiting for an answer, he added, “I say we go get out Vera.” “Jayne, plan A don't always involve violence,” Mal told him. “We wait and we try to pass.” “Should I buzz the infirmary, Captain?” Book asked, his finger hovering over the button. Mal shook his head. “Not yet, Shepard. Let's wait an' see what happens 'fore we worry those folk more'n they already are.” “Fair enough.” The group held their breath as the cruiser passed by, and Mal reflected on how hard his life was going to be with these kids on board. The children couldn't know that their mommies and daddies went out and shot people for a living. They couldn't know that their lives were in constant danger. One little baby wouldn't be awful, but that one little baby would grow up and that little baby would understand the peril they faced each and every day. And even though this was the first baby, he doubted it would be the last. In fact, Book, Jayne and River had a secret bet as to what would happen next: Wash and Zoe's second baby, Simon and Kaylee's first, or Mal and Inara's kid. River would probably win, but Book and Jayne didn't care. Well, Jayne probably didn't realize that part of being psychic meant that she could predict the future. The ship floated aimlessly by the colossal Alliance vessel. And then Mal got an idea. He turned to River. “You know how to fly this thing?” River shrugged. “Well enough for what you have in mind.” She sat down in the chair and gunned the ship as fast as it would go. “What in the dí yú is she doin'?” Jayne shouted. “Gonna get us killed!” “Relax, Jayne,” Mal said. “I got a plan.” “And we all know how well the last one turned out.” “Yeah, well,” Mal tried to counter. He paused and then added, “This one's different.” He went over to the intercom and punched it. His voice rang throughout the ship. “Hey, Kaylee, I need you to press that button on the intercom in the infirmary that transports it outside the ship when I say so.” Kaylee heard him, thought it odd, but knew better than to question the captain. She pounded hard on the infirmary door for a good thirty seconds before Wash exasperatedly threw open the door. “What?” His face held none of its usual charm; he looked tired and haggard and worn and older than Book. Wash's Hawaiian shirt was wrinkled and a bit bloody. Kaylee felt sad for the man; she didn't want to intrude upon the rather depressing birth of this little bundle of joy. But she had to. “Cap'n told me to come in here-” “Kaylee, I can't let you in,” came Simon's voice from the other side of the room behind the door. “It's a closed ward.” “Cap'n says,” Kaylee repeated. “Honest.” When Simon leaned over and saw the look of worry on her face, he knew that Mal must have been ordering her to perform some strange sort of task that didn't understand or would rather have not done. “C'mon in,” he said. She saw the little baby on the second bed where Simon had wrapped it up in millions of blankets and stuck multiple tubes in it. The child was barely as long as Kaylee's forearm, but it screamed like a banshee. It made her want to cry, seeing a baby that was so weak being forced to go through one of the toughest things it would ever do. Simon was doing all he could, constantly checking and recording things, pulling out different medicines, while Wash sat beside the bed holding a peacefully sleeping Zoe's hand. Kaylee made her way over to the intercom. Quicker than she expected, she heard Mal's voice say softly, “Hey, Kaylee.” She pushed the button and the wailing filled the ears of the Alliance officer sitting on the other end. They heard another click of the intercom and a deep, unfamiliar voice booming, “I'm sorry for troubling you. And good luck to that poor child.” Up on the bridge, everyone was breathing sighs of relief. “Amateur,” Mal said. “We coulda just been playing a tape.” “Hey, wait sec,” Jayne said. “If there's cryin', don' that mean there's a baby?” All of their heads snapped at the exact same time, as if there were a string pulling on them. Jayne tried to hold back a laugh. Then, they all sprinted down to the infirmary, their footsteps like thunder. Jayne brought up the rear, looking rather drowsy and uninterested. The crowd stopped in front of the infirmary's closed doors, which Kaylee and Wash stepped out of. Wash helped a sleep-walking Zoe return their as she limped on him. They didn't say as word as they went past, and that, with the loss Kaylee's smile, made the mood go stone cold somber. Even River, with her psychic abilities, looked unsure of what the outcome of the birth would be. Simon came out a moment later, his face showing signs of fatigue. He looked so tired, but they all knew that he would be in for a long night. “He's here,” Simon announced dryly. “Very small, chances are slim.” He spoke in short, choppy phrases, but everyone got his meaning. “Does he have a name?” Inara asked. “Yes,” Simon replied. “Zoe named him after her uncle, who was born under similar conditions. Tripp Seymour, was her uncle. His full name is Tripp Seymour Washburne.” “Do ya think he's gonna make it?” Jayne wondered, a tiny, almost indistinguishable, hint of emotion hidden in his voice. Simon ran his hands over his as if buying time to answer. Kaylee sensed his stress and reached over, wrapping her arm around his waist. “I honestly can't say,” Simon replied. “Some babies would just give up, but he's got a lot of Zoe's fighting spirit. He's a tough kid. He won't give up.” “Some man in my battalion,” Mal began, “used to say, 'The tough guy is the one who only give up when he know the better man's won 'cause he's dead.' Lil' Washburne's one of those guys. And he's the better man.”