When they first met, something about him bothered her.

When Mal asked her about it, she couldn't put her finger on it. It took her a few days to realize that she was waiting. For that laid-back, joking exterior had to be a facade. Any moment he would become the typical arrogant, condescending pilot like every other pilot she had ever met.

But it never happened.

Not that he wasn't a good pilot. He was. Mal hadn't lied about his long list of references.

He treated everyone well from the captain to a peddler in the street. He brought laughter to Serenity. And it was good to see Mal laugh again.

She grew use to him. It became hard to remember the ship without him on the bridge. But when he began to seek her out more than the others, she did her best to ignore it.

She expected him to up the ante. He was suppose to brag about all his exploits in a desperate bid to impress her. She knew that the arrogant pilot was in there under all those jokes. Instead he bought her a comb for her hair.

Marrying him had been one of the few orders from Mal she had ever disobeyed. It had been worth it. Even for the short time they had together.

With a sigh, she sat on their bed. She had hoped against hope that she could be carrying his child, to have some part of him still with her. But fate had deprived her of even that.

* * * * *

On the bridge, River glanced over at the dinosaurs. No one had dared to move them. The stegosaurus had fallen. With a shaking hand, she righted it.