Friday's Child

Simon finished stitching up Jayne's latest gun shot wound. "Now, just take care this time- if you strain too much you could pop the stitches then-" "Then you'll bleed all over my gorram ship and the doc won't have mind to patch you up, because I'll see to it he doesn't." Mal's voice interrupted Simon's instructions. Jayne just grunted and left the room as Zoe came in behind Mal and sat on the exam table. Once Simon had dealt with the crew's various ailments he sat on the exam table himself, exhausted.

Did he really leave Osiris for this? The black. A life on the run? He loved River, he was glad for the safety the Captain provided her. He was thankful for Kaylee- his ray of sunshine out here away from all he knew. The crew were becoming more like family every day, even Jayne as much as Simon didn't wish to admit it.

But- and this was a large 'but' he couldn't help thinking that his efforts were going unnoticed. He was a skilled surgeon- he'd reattached a girl's entire leg once. He had saved the lives of everyone on this piece of go-se and yet when did they thank him? When he found himself apologising to Serenity- he knew that Kaylee had rubbed off on him. Perhaps a little too much.

He spent the rest of the afternoon in a sulk. Sorting and tidying until he had run out of things to sort and tidy. It was then that he heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Kaylee and River standing in the doorway sporting matching grins. He loved both of these young women- more than he would ever be able to express, so he pushed aside most of the hard feeling and rewarded them both with a grin of his own. "Can I help you two ladies?" He asked. "No." River giggled "No Simon, we're here to help you. Come on." Kaylee took him by one hand and River took him by the other and they led him down to Kaylee's bunk.

Inside everything looked even cheerier than usual. There were fairy lights covering the walls and a small brightly colored piece of canvas saying "We Love You Simon!" In bold, colorful lettering. Spread out on the floor was a small blanket and cupcakes that looked real, even if they would still taste like protein Simon felt appreciative of them, he knew River and Kaylee had gone to a lot of trouble for him.

"Sorry it's just protein." Kaylee apologised after Simon ate his second cupcake. He shook his head and kissed her on the forehead. "No bao-bei, it's perfect, just what I need." He squeezed River's hand not wanting her to feel left out. River smiled knowingly and said. "You love us so much and give us so much, we needed to show you we appreciate what you do." With that she kissed Simon on the cheek and left the two love-birds cooing at each other. Maybe she would go and raid Jayne's secret chocolate stash- at least that wouldn't taste like protein.