OOI - Serenity

[naturaltalent]

Kaylee's in her little hammock in Serenity's engine room today, eating a protein bar and looking very thoughtful. Usually when she has free time, lately, she's hung out in the living area or the infirmary, wherever Simon was. But today...

Well, it's a lot to think about, the implications. And she likes to think alone in her favorite spot on the ship.

Comments

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Simon gives her a smile in response - weak, as smiles go, but he isn't exactly the most expressive person in the verse. "A bit, yes."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"You ain't mad, are you?" she asks quietly, worried. That's her biggest fear.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"Mad? No, Kaylee, I..." He stares at her, mouth open. "Why would you think I'd be mad?"

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee looks down at her hands. "Just... ain't exactly somethin' little. A baby's... well, it's years'n years'n... It's... a big thing. And maybe you don't wanna be a father."

Not that she's sure she wants to be a mother. But if she's pregnant...

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"I... I honestly hadn't thought about it. I was mostly thinking about... staying alive and taking care of River and..." He lets out a slow breath. "It'll be okay."

He's not, actually, sure of that. He just has to say it, for Kaylee's sake.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"I just... āiyā, wŏmen wánle," she whispers. "I don't know if I can, Simon."

She's scared, frankly. That she won't know what to do, that she'll be bad at it, that Mal won't like it.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

He leans over to kiss her forehead, smoothing her hair. "I know. And if we can't... we'll find something to do about it. It's okay."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

She nods and leans into his touch, closing her eyes and just breathing him in. He smells like sanitizer and metal and the rosemary-scented soap she'd bought a few months ago to wash the laundry with.

A few minutes pass.

"Is it time yet?" she whispers.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Simon looks up, gently pulling away from Kaylee and walking over to check the equipment. "I think so..."

He presses a couple buttons, and a readout pops up on a tiny screen. Simon stares at it in silence, having for a moment forgotten that Kaylee's sitting right there, waiting for an answer.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee bites her lip, hard, and waits as long as she can stand. Which is not long at all.

"Simon?" her voice is wavering a bit.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Simon jerks his head up, startled, and turns to face her. He smiles at her, shakily. "You're... pregnant."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee stops breathing for a moment. It feels as if everything, everything has stopped.

Pregnant. Baby. With Simon. Pregnancy. Nine months.

"Tiānna..." she whispers, pressing a hand to her heart.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

He takes a step toward her, looking worried. "Are you alright?"

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"I... think I might be sick," she says faintly, then promptly doubles over and spills her lunch over the infirmary floor.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Kaylee..." Simon steps forward quickly, smoothing her hair out of her face with one hand, rubbing her back with the other. "Do you want a drink of water?" he asks, pathetically concerned. It's all he can think of to offer her at the moment.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

She nods and pulls her hair back. She has an ever-present hair-tie on her wrist and she uses it gratefully. "Sorry," she says, her voice faint and wavering. "Didn't mean to make a mess."

[morethangifted.livejournal.com]

"Easily cleaned. Worse messes in worse places all over the room." River's voice drifts in moments before she does.

She stops in the doorway, frowning curiously at the both of them.

"Is Kaylee sick?"

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"It's okay," he murmurs to Kaylee softly, and then he jumps a little when River speaks, turning to the door.

"No, mei mei, she's just... She's not sick."

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine, River," Kaylee says with a wobbly and none-too-convincing smile. "Just a little stomach ache's all."

[morethangifted.livejournal.com]

River raises an eyebrow. Her expression clearly indicates that she knows they're lying.

She doesn't actually say anything, though. She just sits herself down comfortably in the doorway.

[freedom-iswhat.livejournal.com]

"Um... alright then," Simon says slowly, eying River for a moment before turning back to Kaylee. After a moment, trying to remember what he was saying, he just repeats, "Do you want a glass of water?"

And from the top of the stairs, passing through the cargo bay, Mal notices them and asks, "Someone get hurt?"

Simon is just going to very quietly facepalm.

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee follows Simon's example. "Everything's shiny, Cap'n," she says, though her face, Simon's face, and the mess on the floor say otherwise.

[morethangifted.livejournal.com]

"Kaylee is not sick," River announces, still studying them both.

"Not sick, but not well," she adds in an undertone.

[mm-allfireburns.livejournal.com]

"Everything's fine," Simon says loudly, giving his sister an I heard that look.

Mal's already making his way down the stairs, though. "What's goin' on?"

[kaywinnitfrye.livejournal.com]

Kaylee sighs. "Things, Cap'n."

She really doesn't want to have to tell him this. Really. This could not get any worse.

"What's all this?" Jayne leans against the doorway, eating something rather unidentifiable.

Kaylee sighs again.