Chapter 22

Because the drawing wasn't for another two days Mal had River move Serenity out of the ship yard and to the country side. This way they wouldn't be in town if anyone became wise to their plan and they wouldn't have to pay docking fees for another two days.

It was a tedious and long two days. They had no job to work on and even the cleaning duties Mal had handed out had been long done. Luckily the crew was accustomed to long periods of idle time and they knew how to keep themselves entertained. For Zoe and Jayne this meant spending almost the entire two days locked in Jayne's bunk, Simon and Kaylee also spent large amounts of time locked away together. River and Mal spent the time with their baby girls and trying to catch up on much needed sleep.

"River who is Ryan?" Mal asked as he walked into their bunk.

River looked up in surprise from the bed where she was feeding Haven.

"Ryan was the security guard at the building where the lottery offices were held." She replied.

"He gave ya his number?" Mal asked sounding slightly jealous and holding out the scrap of paper with the guard's Cortex number written on it.

"No he didn't give me his number." She explained and tried in vain to hide her smile.

"What?" Mal asked instantly noticing the smile on her face.

"No it's nothing." River said trying to avoid telling Mal who the number actually belonged to.

"Come one I ain't the reader you are but I can tell there's something you ain't tellin me. What did Kaylee get his number and don't want Simon ta know or somethin?" Mal asked.

"No the number isn't Kaylee's either."

"So if the guard didn't give you his number and he didn't give Kaylee his number then he musta given it to…" Mal trailed off and then a wide grin broke out on his face.

"Are ya tellin me that the guard gave his number to Simon?" Mal asked gleefully.

River couldn't contain her smile this time and nodded. "Yes. It turned out the guard wasn't at all interested in Kaylee or I, but he did seem to fancy Simon quite a lot."

Mal threw his head back and laughed until his face turned red and tears rolled down his face.

"Oh I can't believe Simon got a date and no one told me. How's Kaylee? She jealous?" He asked between his bursts of laughter.

"No in fact she told Simon if he wished to keep the date she wouldn't mind. Simon however thought it was a bad idea." River said with a giggle.

"You nervous about the drawing this evening?" Mal asked as he lay down on the bed beside his wife and daughters.

"Not about winning. I'm certain we will do that, but I worry about what will happen after we claim the prize." She answered.

"Why's that?"

"It is a multi-million dollar prize ai-ren. When someone wins it will cause quite a commotion. What if a capture is taken of me or Simon or you or Serenity? If the Alliance saw any of us they would have a big clue as to our whereabouts. I won't let any of us go back to the Academy, not ever." River said her voice quivering slightly.

Mal propped himself up on his arm so that he could look straight into River's eyes.

"That ain't gonna happen bao-bei. We been through too much and worked too hard for the life we got now. Ain't no one taken that away from us. Kaylee's gonna claim the prize and Jayne's gonna go with her. Kaylee ain't wanted for anything and Jayne, well hopefully he ain't wanted here. We're gonna be careful with this." Mal assured her.

River nodded and gave Mal a smile. "I know ai-ren. It's just now that we have the girls I'm so scared of the Alliance finding them." River confided and looked down at the two sleeping girls.

Mal stared down at his tiny daughters and felt the same fear his wife felt. Losing his family to the Alliance was the one thing Malcolm Reynolds feared above all else. The very thought of some hun-dan scientist hurting his children the way they had hurt his wife was almost unbearable.

"I know bao-bei. But I promise you the Academy is never ever gonna lay their hands on our girls. We're gonna win this money and use it ta stay as far from the Alliance's hands as we possibly can. These girls are gonna have everything money can buy."

"I had everything money could buy and it never helped me much." River pointed out sadly.

"Yeah but the difference is these girls are also gonna have two parents who love em and would die to protect em. I think those are two things you and yer brother never had." Mal comforted.

River sniffled and one tear rolled down her cheek. Mal used his thumb to wipe the tear away and then pulled River down and gave her a comforting kiss.

"I promise you our little ones are gonna grow up having the kinda life we never had. They're gonna have all the love I got when I was a kid and all the advantages you got. Put together I'd say these are some damn lucky little girls."

River gave Mal a smile and nodded. She tried to believe what Mal was saying but she knew the Academy was still out there and as long as they were they would always hunt her and her family. She hoped that the money would help them remain safely away from the Academy and maybe someday help her to stop the Academy all together.

The crew hung out together in the galley all evening after dinner. They had the local news brought up on the Cortex and everyone eagerly awaited the announcement of the lottery numbers.

"Hey it's on!" Kaylee shouted to the men who had been at the table playing cards.

The crew grew silent while the seven numbers were read off. Even the babies who had been fussing grew quite while they waited for all the numbers to be read out.

"Tonight's Superball numbers are… 2-30-9-28-17 and 54." The lottery announcer shouted excitedly.

The crew all let out a collective breath and sat in silence. No one moved or said a word after the announcement of the numbers.

"So that's it then huh?" Jayne finally muttered.

"Yep that's it." Mal agreed.

"You'd think winning millions of dollars would be more exciting." Simon complained.

"What ya ain't excited now that ya got money ta take yer boyfriend out on a date?" Mal teased.

"River I'm going to kill you!" Simon shouted.

"Simon you got a boyfriend?" Jayne asked his laughter under control.

"No I don't have a boyfriend! I just had to pretend to like this guy because… Oh you know what fine I have a boyfriend. There are you happy?" Simon replied and shot a killing look at his sister.

"Well damn when ya admit to it, it takes all the fun outta it." Jayne pouted.

"Yeah I know." Simon replied smugly.

All six members of Serenity looked at each other and suddenly large smiles plastered the faces of everyone. Mal whooped loudly and jumped up. He put his arms around River's waist and lifted her off the ground, happily raining kisses onto her face and neck.

"You did it bao-bei!" He exclaimed.

River giggled and wrapped her arms tightly around Mal's neck, returning his kisses passionately.

After everyone had celebrated their new found wealth Kaylee and Jayne left in the Mule to turn in their winning ticket. Zoe, Mal, Simon, and River waited anxiously all evening for the two to return. Mal began to get nervous when the sun went down and there was still no sign of the Mule. By eleven that night he was close to a panic and ready to fly Serenity back to the docks to look for them. Just when he'd made the decision to do just that he heard the whine of the Mule approaching.

Jayne drove the Mule into the cargo bay and stopped it suddenly. He and Kaylee were both laughing loudly and seemed to have been singing as well.

"Ya'll mind explaining to me just where in the hell you've been for five hours?" Mal asked angrily.

Kaylee and Jayne both stopped laughing and turned to look at their Captain. One good look at the both of them and Mal knew that they were both drunk. Very drunk by the look of it.

"Sh-orry Cap'n. There was a big- a big party after they found out we won. We had ta stay and get our- hic- our captures taken." Kaylee slurred as she attempted to climb down from the Mule.

Mal walked over and caught Kaylee just as she fell out of the Mule and plummeted head first towards the floor. She looked up at Mal and gave him a bright smile.

"Thanks Cap'n." She giggled as he set her on her feet. She promptly fell down and giggled helplessly in a heap on the floor.

Mal sighed and left her giggling to talk to Jayne. He was just as drunk as Kaylee, Mal thought it was a wonder they had not driven the shuttle into a tree.

"You mind tellin me why you felt the need to get completely hammered along with my mechanic?" Mal asked.

"S'like she said Mal. They started celebratin soon as we turned in the ticket. We had ta fill out a bunch a paper work and get our captures taken. Then they started handin out the champagne and we couldn't just leave." Jayne explained.

Mal sighed but decided to enjoy their newfound wealth and not get upset about the drinking.

"Alright get yerself ta bed." Mal ordered and gave Jayne a friendly slap on the arm.

Mal found Simon and River on the bridge involved in a heated discussion about some sort of physics that Mal couldn't begin to understand.

"Hey Doc yer wife's back." Mal informed Simon.

Simon jumped up eagerly and headed to the door. He stopped and turned back to Mal.

"They're alright right?" Simon asked.

"Well other than bein completely wasted their fine. Kaylee's probably passed out on the floor next to the Mule by now."

Simon grinned and rolled his eyes before leaving to get his wife to bed.

"They got the ticket turned in." Mal told River.

She nodded and smiled before standing up to hug him tightly.

"Now we can go anywhere we want. No more having to scrape by from job to job." Mal said happily.

"I love you ai-ren." She whispered into his ear before trailing her tongue down his neck.

"Hey now none a that! The Doc said you can't be doin nothing for another two weeks." Mal reprimanded and pulled himself away from River's skillful tongue.

"Sorry. I will restrain myself until Simon says it's ok for us to resume our activities." River complied.

"The girls asleep?" Mal asked.

"Yes they're in our bunk. I have the baby monitor on." River assured him and nodded her head towards the comm unit they had rigged up to work as a baby monitor.

"You ready to go ta bed?" Mal asked.

River yawned widely and nodded. "I will be very elated when the girls begin sleeping through the night."

Mal threw his arm over River's shoulder and walking arm in arm they headed to their room. Before climbing into bed they spent a few minutes watching the girls sleep side by side in their makeshift bassinet.

"We should plan on makin a trip to some place with a good shopping district. We can build the girls a nursery in the empty passenger bunk next door." Mal suggested.

River leaned against his shoulder and sighed contently. "I think that's a very good idea my love."

Mal undressed, climbed under the covers, and watched in admiration as River undressed in front of him. It was hard to believe that not even a month ago she'd been pregnant with twins. Her figure was much curvier than it had been before, but that only enhanced her beauty. Her stomach was nearly as flat as it had been before her pregnancy and to Mal's delight her breasts had grown much fuller than they'd been before.

"Ahh bao-bei waitin another two weeks is gonna kill me I'm thinkin. You are so damn beautiful." Mal whispered lustfully as River slipped a night gown over her head and climbed into bed beside him.

"Well delayed gratification is often very pleasing. Just think how wonderful it will be when we can be together again." River whispered into his ear and then cuddled up against him.

Mal buried his face in River's hair and breathed in the sweet scent of her. He fell asleep easily that night. It was the first time in many months that he wasn't worried about providing for his family. He realized that money couldn't buy happiness but money could buy security and safety for his family and that definitely made him happy.

Serenity lifted off early the next morning, Kaylee moaned the whole time about Mal making her get up so early to check the engines, but seemed happier once she was in working on her baby.

After breakfast Mal went down to his old bunk in the crew quarters and signed onto the Cortex. He checked the balance on the bank account they had set up for their lottery winnings to be deposited in, hoping the deposit had been made already. The lottery winnings wouldn't be paid to them all at once, but paid in a steady monthly deposit over the next fifteen years. While this meant that they couldn't go absolutely crazy with their spending it also meant that they would be having a very large sum of money given to them every single month.

To Mal's delight he found that the first payment had already been deposited into the account and suddenly the crew of Serenity was a very rich group of people. He left his old bunk and walked into the bridge where River sat at the controls.

"Should I set a course for Beaumonde? It's only a day away and shopping in New Dunsmuir is always good." River asked.

"You think it'll be safe?" Mal asked.

River shrugged and gave him a small smile.

"We can't hide forever ai-ren. I would like to go buy baby things for the girls as soon as possible, they have very few clothes that fit them and they are always getting dirty." River explained.

"Well Beaumonde it is then." Mal said.

They stayed docked on Beaumonde for nearly a week. River and Mal spent their time shopping for baby things and soon Haven and Annabelle had a nursery that few children in the Verse would ever have.

The rest of the crew was given the job of completely stocking up the ship like they had never been able to do before.

Mal was a little worried that Kaylee would die of happiness when he gave her free reign to buy anything she thought Serenity's engine could use. They barely saw the mechanic for the entire week; when she wasn't out shopping for parts she was in the engine room replacing old parts with new more advanced ones.

Simon likewise was happy to stock up the infirmary with new equipment and medicines that they had previously been unable to afford.

Jayne and Zoe spent their week restocking the kitchen and weapons stores.

The next week when they were back in the Black the crew was eating better than they ever had while on the ship.

Jayne belched loudly one night after dinner and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach contently.

"I gotta say I'm likin this whole bein rich thing. I mean hell if it means we get ta keep eatin like this I'll be damn happy for the rest a my life." He commented and lit up an after dinner cigar.

"Yeah ain't gonna disagree with ya on that point. The food is definitely better when ya got a big wad a cash to spend on it." Mal agreed pleasantly.

It was late that night when River woke from a deep sleep and found that Mal was not in bed with her. She checked the girl's room and found that they too were not in their brand new cribs.

Using her reader skills River was able to walk straight to the bridge where she knew Mal was sitting with their daughters.

She walked quietly to the door and stood smiling at the sight before her. Mal was sitting in the pilot's chair holding both of the babies in his arms.

"See that out there little bits. Now some people are gonna tell ya that the Black is cold and lonely and too big. It can be all them things but it can be so much more. That little bits is freedom out there. The Black is a place where you can go wherever you want and you can be whatever you want. And I promise ya right now that I aim to make sure you both have that freedom for the rest of yer lives. Yer ma and I we had alotta bad things happen to us when we were younger, stuff you'll hear about someday when yer much much older. But I swear to ya none a that is gonna happen to either of you. Yer gonna have people who love you and protect you forever." Mal whispered to the girls.

River was filled with warmth as she listened to her husband talk to their little girls. She realized then that even if the Alliance someday caught up with them things would turn out alright in the end. She knew that Mal would always come for her and for their children. He would fight for them with his very last breath if it came to that. She had known that Simon would always come for her, but having a man who loved her, who would fight for her, who would die for her was something she never thought she'd have.

She walked up behind Mal and put her arms around his neck.

"Hey love what ya doin up? Me and the girls were tryin ta stay outta yer hair so you could get some sleep." Mal said lovingly.

"I woke up and missed my family." She replied and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck.

"Well we ain't goin no where bao-bei." Mal promised.

"I know ai-ren. I know." River said with a smile.

End

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thanks for all the nice reviews! I already have the first chapter of the next story in this arc written, so I'll post it in a day or two. Happy Holidays everyone!