Disclaimer: Not mine, just writing for fun.

A/N: So this took a little more time than I thought it would, but it is longer than most of the chapters I posted to this series, so I take comfort in the fact that it should be sating to you all who have read along! I loved writing this epilogue (many a hilarious convo was had about this ep.!) and hope you enjoy reading it, now onto business...WARNING- there is mention of a F/F relationship. Nothing explicit but if you don’t like the idea, then don’t read this. Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, River/OFC. PG-13

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Simon climbed up the stairs to his house smiling to himself before putting on the guise of disappointment. As he entered the front door he heard the trilling laughter of his son fill the hall that lead to the kitchen. Simon spied Kaylee bustling across the kitchen, cake in hand as she set it on the counter where his son was sitting. Jared reached out to try and grab a piece, Kaylee shooing his hand away. "Hey, this is Molly‘s cake and it‘s for later!" She leaned over to kiss him on the forehead, her burgeoning stomach grazing the counter. She then swept her finger across the bottom of the cake, lifting off some excess frosting for her son, who eagerly used his whole hand to smear it off and shove it in his mouth. Her hazel eyes shone with pleasure as he licked the frosting off his chubby little fingers “Xiao zang gui!” Kaylee was wiping his hands and face when Simon entered the kitchen, surprising them both as he slipped his hands around his wife’s expanding waist, holding her from behind. Kaylee giggled in his arms and leaned back against his chest, “Simon! What’re you doin’ home so early?” Simon squeezed her and kissed her cheek, “I just received a wave from Mal.” She turned in his arms, smiling widely, “What’d the cap’n have to say?” It made Simon smile that still after more than two years she couldn’t refer to Mal as anything but her captain. Stalling for time , he kissed her on the nose and then picked up Jared, “Uh...well, bao bei, they won’t be able to come for a visit right now.” The look on Kaylee’s face almost made Simon give up on the ruse he was trying to pull over on his wife. Simon quickly pulled out the excuse he had made up before she could ask too many questions, “They were offered a job on Santo and it was too much money for them to pass up.” The pout on Kaylee’s face made Simon want to just kiss it away. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked, even when she was moping. “Molly’s gonna be so sad, and I made all this food, and I just...I just miss ‘em is all.” “I know, xin gan. They’ll come as soon as they can , and Inara promised to wave you tonight so they could all wish Molly a happy birthday,” Simon pushed her hair back off her shoulders to trail down her back before reaching up to caress her cheek, “Maybe we can pack a picnic for tomorrow, take it up to the lake? I know Molly would love to go swimming.” Kaylee’s pout was grinding against his resolve but there was a little grin twitching at the corners of her mouth, “I’m too fat to go swimming.” Simon chuckled as he shook his head, "You are not fat, you're radiant." Kaylee leaned up and softly kissed him, whispering before her lips touched his, "Pi hua." Kaylee leaned over and kissed Jared's cheek before tickling him in Simon's arms, "You on the other had are a little piggy!" The shrieks of laughter that peeled through out the kitchen from his son warmed Simon’s heart. He knew it had been hard on Kaylee to leave Serenity, but the life they had made on Beilyx was a good one and he never regretted their decision to settle. Simon set Jared back on the counter, ruffling his hair as the toddler settled out of his fit of giggles, “I have to travel to Felton today, but I’ll be back by dinner time.” Simon quickly pecked her cheek and said good bye before heading out the door. He didn’t want to stay for fear that he wouldn’t be able to keep his secret for much longer.

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Seeing Serenity for the first time in over a year warmed Simon’s heart as he approached the ship. They had landed in the field next to the train station, the only open space available since the mission and small town of Cascade sat on the edge of a mountain range. The cargo bay doors lowered to reveal his sister running down the ramp at breakneck speed. Her hair whipped back behind her shoulders as she flung herself into Simon’s arms, the dark folds of her purple dress floating around him. He enveloped his sister in a loving hug, holding her tightly. “Missed you.” Her words were soft against his ear, he could her the tears she was trying to hold back in her voice. “Me too, mei mei.” He squeezed her tightly again, releasing her to say hello to the rest of the crew who were wandering down the ramp, each at their own pace. Inara was the second off the ramp, a serene smile gracing her features. Simon was struck by how ageless she truly was. She took his face in her hands and just admired him for a moment, the beard he had grown before leaving Serenity still present, a mark of the new life he and Kaylee had begun, “You look very well.” Her eyes twinkled as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Hey! You already stole one girl from this boat, best not be workin’ on a second!” The mock irritation in Mal’s voice parted Simon and Inara. She turned a cocked eyebrow at him and smiled wickedly, “Jealous?” She threw her arms around Simon and they hugged, River’s giggles erupting as Simon gave Mal a self-satisfied shrug while still holding Inara. Mal stormed down the ramp, “That’s enough, break it up.” He gently extricated Inara as she herself laughed heartily at Mal’s irritation, before slipping her hand to rest in his. He reached over to clasp Simon on the shoulder, squeezing it affectionately, “Glad ta see ya, doc.” “You too, Mal” “So where‘s Kaylee and the kids?” “I ... I told them you weren’t coming, I want it to be a surprise.” Mal shook his head, “You're a brave man, lying to your wife.” Simon just smiled, “She’ll be overjoyed when she sees everyone, she won’t even care.” Mal snorted as Jayne lumbered down the ramp. He glanced around with an uninterested look then stared at Simon,” So, when’s dinner?” Simon took a deep breath and shook the irritation out of his head, “Soon.” Zoe exited the ship followed closely buy the man who had replaced Kaylee as mechanic on Serenity. Patrick Cahill was a small man, about the same height and size of River, with mousy brown hair and glasses. He was quiet, reserved, educated, everything Jayne was not, which endeared him to Simon to no end. He had shipped out with Serenity as a means of furthering his practical use of the education he had received at the TechAcad, and he didn’t mind the solitude of the black. Simon was sure he had become Mal’s new favorite, if for the only reason was he barely spoke. Simon noticed something different about Zoe as she sauntered down to stand in front of him. She seemed more at peace than she had in so many years and her pleasant smile made his grow tenfold. "Doc." Simon clasped her offered hand, holding it gently and squeezing it, "Zoe, it's good to have you here." Simon released it and extended his hand to Patrick, "Nice to see you as well." Patrick grasped his hand firmly and nodded his greeting. Simon looked back up the ramp, confusion flooding his features, "Where is Samuels?" Zoe's features took on the look Simon had come to know over the years as the It's all Jayne's fault face. Mal gave her a side long glance before answering, "We had a little accident awhile back, Samuels shipped out, for good." "What?" River stepped up next to her brother and leaned in conspiratorially, “Jayne shot him.” Simon’s eyes widened as he took her words to mean the worst, “He’s not-” “Ah, hell, I only grazed him, and it weren’t like it was on purpose or nothin‘. Damn idiot jumped in front of the bullet.” Simon looked over at Jayne, "Well, as much as we loathed each other, you never shot me. I’m not sure if I should be afraid or comforted by this knowledge." Jayne shrugged as he thought about Simon’s words, "I wanted to. Mal wouldn't let me" “Suffice it to say, he was less than interested in staying aboard after one of his patients shot him,” Inara gave Jayne a scathing look as she lightly touched River on her back and prodded her in the direction of Serenity‘s ramp, “River why don’t you see what’s taking Yan so long?” River smiled sweetly at Inara and then turned to race up to fetch Serenity’s new medic. Simon looked inquisitively after his sister and then turned to Mal and Inara, “Yan?” Mal grinned like a Cheshire cat as he opened his mouth to answer Simon, but was cut off by Inara. “She’s the new medic Mal hired a few months back. She’s very sweet, and well trained as a nurse. I’m sure you will get along famously with her.” Jayne snickered to himself, “Your sister sure does.” Zoe elbowed Jayne in the ribs as Simon’s attention was garnered by his sister walking a very lovely young Asian woman down the ramp. She was petite, a little taller than River, with two long braids on either side of her shoulders. The soft pink of her Ao Dai fluttered against a gust of wind as she walked up to Simon, his sister close at her heels . River pushed her towards Simon and excitedly introduced them, “Simon this is Hua Yan Mei.” Simon smiled at Yan as he extended his hand for her to shake, “It’s pleasure to meet you.” Yan nervously took his hand and smiled amiably, “Please, call me Yan.” Simon nodded his approval then turned to the rest of the crew, “We should hurry back, Kaylee and Jared will be returning with Molly shortly.” River grabbed Simon’s hand and pulled Yan along with the other, striking up a conversation between the two about Yan’s training as a nurse, the others following in step behind them. Zoe kept a watchful eye on Jayne as he leered at the two girls accompanying Simon, rolling her eyes as she watched him focus on Yan’s backside and then over to River’s, chuckling to himself. Patrick gave Jayne a disgusted look and then moved in behind the trio, quietly following while blocking Jayne’s view. Mal ushered Inara along, her arm held tightly to his side. He leaned over to whisper, “He doesn’t know yet, huh? I thought Kaylee would’ve spilled the beans by now.” Inara faced him and softly scolded, “ Quiet, Mal. There’s a time and a place for everything. I don’t want you to ruin this for her.” Mal patted her arm, a bit too patronizingly for Inara’s tastes and muttered, “I think this is goin’ to be one hell of a visit, sweetheart.” Inara squinted her eyes at her lover before removing her arm from his grasp and hurrying along the path to catch up with Simon and the girls. “What?! What’d I say?”

__________________________________________________________________________ Molly Connors looked over at her mother with terrible disappointment at the news that her a yi River and the rest of the crew of Serenity were not going to be coming to her birthday dinner that evening. She let her book bag almost graze against the ground as she held onto to it by the little strap, kicking a dirt clod on the road that led to their house. Kaylee reached over to pet her dark hair, which only this morning had been put into perfectly curled pigtails. By the end of the school day, after running around with all the other children, they hung lankly, one just a little higher on her head now than the other. Molly was usually very fastidious about her appearance, which made Kaylee smile. For her hair to be a mess meant she must have been having too much fun to care. It broke Kaylee’s heart to see the shine not in her little girls eyes, as it had been when she had picked her up from the mission school that afternoon. Molly looked down at her feet, sighing to herself, “They always come.” “I know, baby, but sometimes grown folks gotta work and there was no way they could get here. They all promised ta come, soon as they can.” Her annoying little brother, Jared, squirmed against Kaylee’s hip, insisting to be put down. Kaylee resigned to let him walk, the new baby growing inside her making it hard to carry him for too long. “Sister Joan said y’all had cookies and punch for your birthday in class, that musta been real nice?” Kaylee grasped Jared’s hand as the two and a half year old followed in step with his mother and sister. He reached out to pull on Molly’s hand, effecting a long suffering moan from his big sister before she took a hold of it. “Yes, Mama.” Kaylee smiled to herself at how much Molly had grown into her own little person. She was still contemplative and quiet like her daddy, but she had also developed quite the inquisitive nature, something Kaylee was sure to be a Tam family trait. She had already been placed three grades ahead of the other children in her class. Sometimes she would just sit and think for hours, where as other times she would pester her parents for answers to things they had no idea she even knew about. She was a surprising and joyful child, except when she was pouting. “Molly, it won’t do to have a long face, sides Jared and I make you a cake today. Your daddy’s gonna be home soon, you got presents ta open, and I already got your favorite made for dinner. Tomorrow we’re goin’ on a picnic, maybe go swimmin‘, you’ll have a shiny birthday, I promise baby.” At the mention of cake Jared had jumped up and down and was now singing his own little cake song before yelling out to his sister, “Molly, birthday!” She just laughed at her brother, letting the melancholy mood she was in subside as he swung his arm along with hers, turning the corner of the road to walk down the path to their home. There on the front porch waiting were the crew of Serenity, engrossed in their own conversations when Molly let out a little gasp before letting go of her brother’s hand to run towards the house. “You came!” Her sweet voice broke the adults’ conversation, all of them turning to look down the path. Kaylee pulled up her son again into her arms, her own surprise at seeing everyone on the steps bringing a swell of tears to her eyes as she hurried down the path. Molly’s hair swung from side to side as River raced down the steps to envelope her into a bear hug, picking her up and squeezing her tightly before setting her back down and kissing her forehead. “Of course we came, your father wanted it to be a surprise.” Molly threw her arms around her a yi’s waist as River steered Molly to the rest of the crew waiting to say hello. Simon walked down the steps and kissed his daughter’s cheek before taking Jared out of Kaylee’s arms. Kaylee beamed at her husband, surprised he could’ve lied so well to her earlier that day. “Keepin’ secrets from your wife now, are ya?” Simon gave Kaylee one of his shy grins that always made her weak in the knees. He swung his son onto his side before placing a hand on the small of her back, leaning in to whisper, “Only the good ones, bao bei.”

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Molly pulled Zoe down the hallway to her room, looking back to smile at her before pushing her door open. She led Zoe over to the little dresser where she kept her favorite toys, all lined up by height. Zoe’s heart broke as she stared at the display in front of her. Molly had arranged the dinosaurs by height each perfectly spaced and she noticed that they had been well cared for. Molly was definitely Simon’s child, her room was almost as spotless as the infirmary had been in Serenity when Simon had been it‘s keeper. Molly picked up the little triceratops from near the end of the dresser, holding it sweetly in her hands. She handed it over for Zoe to inspect, tilting her head with concern, “Jared got a hold of this one, he chewed the tail off, but Mama fixed it.” Molly pointed to the base of the tail where Zoe detected the teeth marks of Kaylee and Simon’s younger child. Kaylee had managed to glue the tail back on, if a little off kilter. Zoe took her word very seriously, setting the toy dinosaur back into Molly’s hands and leaning down to face her. “You’re taking real good care of them sweetheart.” “Sometimes Jared tries to bury them in the yard, so I keep them up here, he can’t reach it yet. Do you want to see my drawings of them?” Molly’s eyes were filled with hope and Zoe had no intention of refusing her. Zoe took a seat on the little pink bed, more than likely Kaylee’s pick for the room, as Molly search her trunk for the pad of paper she liked to draw on. She plopped her self right next to Zoe on the bed, placing the pad on Zoe’s lap. Looking at the little girl made Zoe think of her late husband. She had so desperately wanted to have his children, a home and a life free of the trappings of the war she lived through and the uncertainty of life on Serenity. She hadn’t been able to let Mal know that she had been seriously thinking of leaving the ship she had called home for almost twelve years. It had happened slowly at first. She had met him when they had dropped off some goods on Ezra. It had been a nice simple, legit job, just some casings for a factory there. Zoe hadn’t expected to even talk to the man, but Clayton Banning had walked himself straight over to her as the workers had been unloading the cargo and introduced himself. They had spoken briefly but soon there had been more jobs bringing them back to the factory, a steady stream of work, each time leading to them seeing each other quite often. Clayton was a respectable man, had a decent job, a home and soon Zoe began to long for the same. Sitting with Molly in the girl’s perfectly pink room, filled with flowers and frills sent a pang of jealousy through Zoe’s heart. She wanted her own house, her own babies, something that life on Serenity would not afford her.

________________________________________________________________________ Inara and Kaylee were gathering some refreshments for everyone outside when River waltzed into the kitchen, humming a little tune to herself. She smiled brightly as Inara poured the wine she had brought from the ship and Kaylee pulled out some beer and cider from the cooler. River came up to Inara and playfully lifted the glass of wine out of her hands , taking a sip and then leaning over to Kaylee to whisper, “She doesn’t need this.” Kaylee’s eyes turned to saucers when River’s true meaning behind the words struck her, “Inara Serra!” Inara opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again. She sent River a scathing look, “You have a big mouth River.” River giggled as she kissed Inara’s cheek, “Look who’s talking.” Inara stood a little straighter, smoothing her skirts, “I have no idea what you mean.” Kaylee bustled over to the other side of the island, enveloping Inara into a hug, “Oh Nara, I’m so happy for ya! Does the Cap‘n know?” “Not yet. I’m waiting for the right time.” Inara returned the hug, holding Kaylee tightly, thinking of her own child growing inside as Kaylee’s belly pressed against her abdomen. When Kaylee pulled back from the embrace she turned herself around to face River who was still sipping on her wine, “And you, kissin’ girls now, huh?” River took another big gulp of wine, downing the rest of the contents so she wouldn’t have to respond to Kaylee’s playful accusation just yet. She set the wine glass down and filled it up again, looking indignantly at Kaylee, “I’ve only ever kissed girls.” This sent them all into a fit of giggles. Kaylee took River’s face in her hands, cradling the younger woman’s cheeks, “I’m just so happy that you’re in love, xiao yi.” River shrugged her shoulders and blushed at the mention of her relationship with Yan. Inara smiled at the sisters-in-law. Kaylee kissed her cheek and the released her face, sternly chastising, “I’m just mad at ya for not tellin’ me ‘fore ‘Nara did!” River snorted and took another sip of wine, “I was still kissing her when Inara ran off to wave you.” Kaylee giggled and turned to Inara, “Ain’t there something about companions ’n not kissin’ and tellin’?” Inara tried to keep the grin twitching at her lips in place while she put on a regal demeanor, “That is only with clients, it holds no weight with what I see in public domains. Besides, I am retired now” River set her glass down and glanced over to Kaylee, “You still haven’t told my brother yet?” “Ya know I haven’t. I was thinkin’ you could, maybe after he has a drink or two....soften the idea of his baby sister bein’ all...grown up.” “Well, I think he’ll be happy to know you’ve found love River,” Inara interjected, causing River to turn a deeper shade of pink. “River?” Yan’s soft voice echoed through the hall as the young woman entered the kitchen to find all three women taking sips of their drinks. Yan knew she had intruded upon their “girl talk” by the way they all had a blush on their cheeks. They had most certainly been talking about her and River. She smiled shyly and motioned at one of the wine glasses on the counter, “May I?” Kaylee beamed at Yan, “No need ta ask, ‘course ya can.” Yan nodded her thanks and took a long sip of the wine, the three women in front her still not speaking. She burst into a fit giggles after she finished her sip, amused at the awkwardness of the situation. River came over to grasp her hand, joining in her laughter. Inara leaned over to Kaylee, “They are like this all the time, it’s terribly cute.” “Were Simon and I this bad?” Kaylee had tilted her , smiling at the obvious joy the two girls found with each other. Inara gave Kaylee a long suffering look, “Were? You mean still, and yes, you are.” Suddenly River let out a gasp. The other women focused their attention on her as she raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes growing larger than any of them had ever seen. “What is it, River?” Yan’s quiet voice broke River’s astonishment. She removed her hand from her mouth, a look of distress taking over her features, “He knows now.” “Oh no!” Kaylee grabbed the tray of drinks and hustled from the kitchen, wanting to make sure her husband didn’t say anything stupid, he had been doing so well over the past couple of years. Inara’s temper flared in her eyes, leaving the wine glasses on the counter to storm after Kaylee, “I’m going to kill Mal.” River called out over her shoulder, “No. Worse.” Inara stopped her quick step to turn and face River and Yan. River shook her head, then closed her eyes as she said the one name Inara was hoping would not come out of her mouth, “Jayne.” Inara rolled her eyes, muttering, “Ben dan.” Yan held River’s hand a little more tightly, smiling wanly at her before tugging her forward, to the back porch where the rest of the crew were gathered. River shook her head and stayed firmly planted in the middle of the kitchen, “Wait.” Yan’s smile expanded across her face. She kissed River softly, encouragingly. As their lips parted, Yan leaned her head forward to touch River’s, “Fine. We can wait for a minute.” River quickly pecked Yan’s lips again, then picked up one of the abandoned wine glasses, drinking it greedily. Her cheeks had already begun to turn rosy from the wine she had consumed earlier, causing Yan to voice with some concern, “Are you sure you want to drink that?” River nodded her head enthusiastically, “Yes.”

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Simon's mouth was agape as he processed the words Jayne had just uttered. It had been such a pleasant discussion, mostly about the work Serenity had been picking up lately. When Yan had excused herself to find River, Jayne snickered to himself, garnering Simon's attention away from the watchful eye he had been keeping on Jared as the toddler played about the yard. "What is so funny Jayne?" Mal gave Jayne a vicious glance as Jayne just kept chuckling, then straightened himself up, "Nothin'." Simon gave him a side long glance then turned his attention to Mal, "I'm glad to see River's made friends with some one near her own age." "Yeah, real good friends," Jayne choked out, not being able to contain himself, and in truth, not really caring. Simon gave Jayne another questioning look and this time he wanted some answers, "I don't see how River experiencing a new friendship has any humor to it, Jayne." Jayne still sputtered with laughter, "She sure is experiencin' somethin'." Mal put his hand to his temple, trying to rub away the headache that was beginning to throb, "Jayne, I don't see nothin' funny 'bout it neither." "What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe picked up Molly from where they had sat on the porch swing and excused herself, Patrick following closely behind, giving Jayne a distasteful look. They went into the yard to play with Jared and Simon could hear his daughter ask, "What's so funny?" Zoe just ignored the question while leading her away from the impending commotion, little ears straining to hear anything they could. Simon glanced at Jayne and then back at Mal, confusion clouding his eyes before Jayne's true meaning behind his words began to dawn on him. "You mean... she's...and her and Yan....and...I think I need a drink." Simon sank down into the now empty porch swing, gripping the chain holding it up to the ceiling with white knuckles as he processed all that had just been revealed. "Gorram it Jayne!" Mal's fury at Jayne was tempered by his own merriment at the doc's state of utter shock. "What, I didn't say nothin' 'bout River sexin' up Yan, he figured it all out on his own." Kaylee emerged from the back door, tray of drinks in her hands and a mega watt smile from ear to ear greeting the men, "Who's thirsty?" Simon glanced up at his wife, the shock beginning to wear off as he remembered that Kaylee had just received a wave from Serenity not one month ago, "Did you know about this?" Kaylee let her guise slip for just a second before turning her innocent, doe eyes on Simon, "Know what, honey?"

_______________________________________________________________________ Simon glanced over at his sister holding the pretty medic's hand. They sat on the porch swing watching the children play, River whispering into Yan's ear, causing the two young women to giggle before Yan leaned over to kiss her cheek. Simon felt the joy at his sister finally experiencing love well up in his heart. Though his brotherly concern had been spiked by the idea of River engaging in a relationship, it had been tempered by her choice. Secretly, Simon was quite relieved that his sister's interest leaned to the fairer sex, he not even wanting to think about River with any man. Kaylee gently nudged him in the ribs as she noticed that Simon had been staring a good long while at his sister and Yan, "You alright, sweetie?" Simon slid his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head, "Just fine, bao bei. Better than fine." Simon turned Kaylee to place his hands on her stomach before kissing her thoroughly. Kaylee reached her arms around Simon’s neck kissing him just as passionately right back. “They ain’t never gonna quit being all spoony are they?” Jayne asked to no one in particular as he leaned against the post of the fence while Inara played with Jared in the yard. Molly leaned against the fence just as Jayne had and crossed her arms looking far older than her five years, “They do that all the time.” Molly rolled her eyes as she turned her head to stare at her a yi River and Yan. While they whispered to one another again, Molly squinted her eyes with interest, “Jayne?” He took another sip of his beer before answering, “Yeah, kid?” Molly turned her little pixie face up to stare at the large man who she could always count on for telling her things no one else would, “What’s a lesbian?” Jayne chuckled to himself just thinking about how the doc’s head was gonna explode when Molly repeated to him what he was going to tell her as he sunk down to face Molly’s earnestly questioning eyes, “Well, Mol, yer aunt River over there-” “Oh no you don’t!” Inara had caught the tail end of Molly’s question as she passed by trying to capture Jared to settle down before dinner. She interrupted Jayne just before she was sure any inappropriate language would be used. It would most surely send Simon into seizures if his daughter found out just what a lesbian was from Jayne. Inara ushered Molly away with only a little resistance, “We’ll talk about this subject later, tian shi. For now, let’s go get your mother and bring out the food to the table.” “But, I want to know now, yi ma.” Molly’s voice held no impudence just pure curiosity. Inara threw Jayne a withering scowl over her shoulder as she brought Molly up to Kaylee and Simon. Molly looked back to Jayne as well, but her face held only disappointment and none of the disdain. Simon lifted his daughter in his arms, “What’s the matter li shu?” Inara’s eyes widened as she was sure Molly would let spill what she had asked Jayne. Kaylee caught the look and furrowed her brow back at Inara, silently trying to figure out what the problem could be. Inara mouthed the word “lesbian” to Kaylee when Simon focused all his attention on his daughter. Yet Molly surprised them all when she just leaned her head into the crook of his neck, “Nothing, Daddy.” Simon reached up and patted her cheek, smiling at Inara and Kaylee as they both let out a sigh of relief, smiles plastered on both their faces. Kaylee looked to Inara then back at her husband, “Dinner time?” Simon nodded and walked up the stairs to the porch to have Yan and River come in the house for dinner. Inara and Kaylee went to fetch Jared from the yard, where he was careening around trying to capture a little field mouse that had been running through the grass. Kaylee deftly lifted her son in to her arms before he collided with her best friend‘s legs. Inara smiled over to Mal, absently touching her stomach before heading over to him and Zoe and Patrick, who had been immersed in their own conversation. “Shall we eat?” Inara’s request was met with enthusiasm as they all headed for the back porch, Kaylee falling in line with Jayne as he finished his beer. “So ya seeing any one, or are ya too busy chasin' River and Yan 'round, tryin’ ta sneak a peek?” “Nah, Zoe said she was gonna shoot me next time she caught me snoopin’.” Jayne’s eyes glazed over as another thought passed through his head, “But I can hear ‘em just fine in the next bunk.” Kaylee snorted, shook her head, and then burst out into giggles. Her son just smiled that same swai smile his daddy had and then burst into laughter himself at the amusement his mother found in Jayne‘s words.

END

Thanks for reading and all your comments are greatly appreciated!!!!

Chinese Translations: xiao zang gui- dirty little monster, dirty little ghost, affectionate term for child pi hua- nonsense, bullshit bao bei- precious, darling a yi- auntie xiao yi- sister-in-law (informal) ben dan- fool, idiot tian shi- angel yi ma- mother's sister, aunt (informal) li shu- bunny