TITLE: "SILVER LININGS" AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL FANDOM: "FIREFLY" PAIRING: Simon/Kaylee. Mal/Inara. RATING: NC-17. STATUS: SEQUEL to "MANNERS MAKETH THE MAN" ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where. FEEDBACK: Welcomed. EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com WEBSITE: http://unilelu.net/Alison/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "Simon pops the question. The Captain clues Inara in then has to face some unexpected fallout." The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly' are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No infringement of copyright is intended.

"SILVER LININGS"

"Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

It was his cold feet that woke her but Kaylee quickly forgot about his feet as Simon's arms came around her, his naked body rubbing gently up against hers, his lips on her neck, soft breath humming across her skin. Kaylee's eyes sprang open. How was a girl supposed to sleep with such distractions? As she turned to face him, the smile on Simon's face made her breath hitch. A smile seemed to swallow up all of her face in happy response, her arms sliding up his back until she had her hands around his neck, the better to draw him closer to her waiting lips.

"Kaylee...."

She loved how his voice husked as he whispered her name. Intended to make him breathless. "Yeah, sweetie?"

They were lying on their sides, one of Simon's hands coming to rest on Kaylee's stomach. Simon's smile widening even further at the touch. "I have something to tell you, *bao bei*."

Kaylee drew back so that she could see his face. The doctor was still smiling, his other hand now drawing warm trails over her skin and inching lower with each sweep. Made concentrating all kinds of difficult. Kaylee caught her bottom lip in her teeth and tried to look as if all her attention was on him. Which in a manner of speaking it was.

"I spoke to the Captain."

Whatever she was expecting it wasn't that. Her attention sharpened, eyes glued to his face.

"Before I repeat that conversation there's something I want to ask you."

Confused and more than a little baffled, Kaylee accepted the kiss automatically then began to lose herself in it. Her eyes closing just as the kiss ended. Worse still Simon was pulling himself gently out of her arms and getting out of bed. "What ya doin', Simon?"

His smile was gentle. It fascinated her. "Do you think you can sit up, *ai ren*?"

Her heart flipped over. He called her sweetheart! Kaylee let him help her sit then reached for him as Simon dropped to his knee beside the bed. Kaylee's eyes widened in alarm. "Simon, sweetie, what's wrong?"

Simon laughed, a light and musical sound that transfixed her. "*Yiwusuoyou*, Kaylee. Nothing's wrong, I just want to do this right."

For some reason Kaylee's mind was slow on the uptake until Simon gently took her hands in his and started to speak, his eyes locked on hers and holding all the love he kept in his heart for her to see. It brought the threat of tears to her eyes as Kaylee held her breath.

"Kaylee, I love you. I don't know when it happened but I know it started the moment I first saw you. Now I cannot imagine my life without you nor how impoverished it would have been had we never met." He paused and smiled tenderly. "Kaylee, what I'm trying to ask in my ham fisted way is - will you consent to be my wife?"

"Huh?"

He laughed lightly to hide his nerves. "I mean, will you marry me?"

Her face cleared and it was like the sun going nova. So full of happy that his heart soared to think he could put that look upon her lovely face. "Will I? Simon Tam if ya ain't the slowest witted three per cent in the 'verse" Ya have any idea how long I been waitin' for ya to ask?"

The shock on his face made her laugh go deeper, her hands drawing him towards her, urging him up off his knee but instead of climbing back into bed he sat on it. When he spoke he was kind of breathless. Adrenaline and a cornucopia of emotions making him almost dizzy. "Kaylee, that's not all."

Kaylee's look dimmed just a mite, but seeing nothing but love and honesty in Simon's face she relaxed again. "Okay, I'm listenin'."

"I spoke to the Captain and..." Simon broke off, suddenly nervous, not sure how Kaylee would react to what he had done. "I would have spoken to your father first but I can't guarantee we would be able to get to your parents' before the baby came and I want to marry you now." Her smile got even wider if that was possible. Feeling heartened he squeezed her hands and continued. "So I asked the Captain for your hand in marriage." Kaylee's jaw dropped, totally stunned. Simon pressed on before his courage could fail him. "He said yes."

For a moment or two Kaylee just stared at him. "Ya asked the Cap'n?"

Her voice was faint and distant. Simon hoped he had not stepped over a line. "I um I know maybe I should have discussed this with you first but I didn't want to tell you then have the Captain say no and..."

She was shaking her head gently at him now and pulled a hand out of his so she could cradle his cheek. Such love in her eyes that he wondered how he could ever have doubted her response. "Simon Tam, ya are such a boob!"

Simon leaned in for a kiss then forced himself to pull back, amused at the moan of disappointment from Kaylee when he did so. "I also asked the Captain if he would marry us."

Now shock rendered her completely speechless. Eyes wide as saucers as if the bigger they were the more she would be able to comprehend.

"Kaylee, I want to get married on Serenity. I don't want to wait for some catastrophe to unfold, or spend years dodging Alliance patrols and anyone the Captain has managed to make enemies of in the meantime. I want this, I want you. I want our children to grow up with parents who love them enough to be married, to share my life with you and with them for as long as I live. Kaylee, I don't want to put it off. I want that bright shiny future to start now, today, this hour, this very minute!"

"Wow!" Kaylee's face was shining at Simon's impassioned plea. When the damn broke every shining drop fell in celebration. Little crystal shards of joy. It was enough to make his heart melt. Kaylee could hardly form words. "I can't believe ya done all that an' I didn't know!"

Simon kissed her gently. "It wouldn't have been a surprise if I'd told you, *bao bei*."

"An' Cap'n said yeah?"

The doctor nodded, too busy running a trail of kisses down her neck to answer.

"So when's the weddin'?"

Simon paused and looked at her. "*Shenme*?"

"Ya asked to marry me, asked the Cap'n to do it on Serenity. Must have a date fixed, *dui*? So when is it?"

Now he looked flustered. Kaylee thought he looked adorable.

"Um I, well, I thought, with us having to hide and not knowing how long and and..."

"Spit it out, Simon. That's an order!"

He stared at her. "Did you just give me an order?"

Kaylee smirked. "Yep, an' ya better get used to it Simon Tam. Now, stop tryin' to avoid the question. When's this here weddin' gonna take place?"

Simon Tam, gifted doctor and trauma surgeon, Top Three Per Cent of his class blushed. Flustered and hesitant, his answer was quiet and tentative. "Um, is tomorrow too soon?"

* * * * *

Given the lateness of the hour, Inara was surprised by the quiet knock on her hatch. Even more surprised to find the Captain standing hesitant in the doorway. "Mal?"

Looking a bit sheepish he realised it was pretty late to be calling on her. Not that they hadn't indulged in a few late nights recently but still. The thought of going back to his lonely bunk and lying awake looking up at the ceiling held no appeal. "Can I come in?"

Him knocking surprised her. Him asking to come in stunned her. Inara stepped aside and waited until he was inside then shut and locked the door. The Captain's eyebrows rose, his indefatigable humour rising to the occasion. "You expectin' to get lucky, *bao bei*?"

Inara smirked. "Only in your lonely pathetic dreams."

But her words belied her actions as she closed the distance between them, her arms encircling him, watching his eyes go wide as Mal tried to focus on a face so close to him he couldn't tell whose breath was filling his gorram lungs. Not that he cared. Even out of focus the view was perfect. The taste of her velvet lips on his was even better. Before the Captain could put his thoughts in order Inara was undressing him. Slowly. Her hips hugging and sliding against his so that his arms came around her automatically, a low moan drawn from him. The gentle swaying continuing like some kind of old time dance, the kiss deepening, her tongue lapping his until he couldn't bear the slowness of the pace. But Inara would not be rushed and despite the fact that Malcolm Reynolds was undoubtedly the master of his boat in her shuttle only her rules applied.

* * * * *

Zoe frowned when she stepped on to the bridge. River did not look up, she was gazing into the endless sea of Black with an odd intensity. The first mate glanced around as if to make sure that her eyes were not deceiving her. "Where is everyone?"

The girl turned her head, eyes twinkling, a grin tugging at her lips. "Won't be quiet for long."

"*Shenme*? What're you talkin' about?"

Zoe's troubled gaze flicked past River to the Black but still nothing. Her eyes narrowed then she hesitated, noticing that River looked as if she were fighting to hold in the happy not to cover up some anxiety yet to be unleashed.

"*Ni zhidao*, don't you?"

"Doesn't matter what you wear, they won't notice."

"Who?"

The word was taken right out of her mouth. Zoe was relieved to see the Captain step on to the bridge. There was a light almost playful air about him and was she imagining things or did he look *clean*? Not, *I've splashed water on my face* clean, but the *I've scrubbed until I'm down to the bottom layer of my skin* clean. The Captain even had on a clean shirt and britches and - were those creases?

"Zoe, your eyes widen any more they're like to fall outta their sockets, *dong ma*?"

She seemed oblivious to his amused tone. "You're clean, sir."

The Captain blinked. "Well yeah, that would be 'cause I washed." He paused. "I do wash, Zoe."

A little flush crept up Zoe's face but she recovered real quick. "Yes, sir, just seem a mite shinier than usual. Any reason you care to share?"

A full blown grin completed her confusion. The Captain chuckled then decided it was time to clue her in. "Simon's finally asked Kaylee to marry him."

Dark brows flew up in happy surprise. "He did?"

Mal folded his arms across his chest and leaned back on the co-pilot's console. The Captain looked as smug as if he had been responsible his own self. "Uh huh, an' little Kaylee said yes."

A look of solemn satisfaction spread over Zoe's face. Everyone knew the only person Kaylee wanted was Simon. Had been that way from the moment the girl first set eyes on the boy. The only one who seemed to need convincing had been Simon. There was some happy relief in seeing that the road to true love hadn't been a waste of gorram time. Pleasure brought a smile to her lips, her body relaxing around it. "Can't say it ain't before time. So when they fixin' on tyin' the knot?"

The Captain dipped his head a moment. Zoe's look sharpened and River giggled.

"Sir?"

Mal straightened. "They um, are kind'a in a hurry."

Zoe's eyebrows crept so far into her hairline they pretty much disappeared.

"Kind'a want to do the deed this very day. Here. On my gorram boat."

For a moment it occurred to Zoe that her Captain and friend must be suffering some form of dementia. Had he forgotten that Book was dead? And how in the nine hells did he think this tired old Firefly would be up to the job of being fit for a wedding? Gorramit, they didn't even have time to dress the ship up or make a gorram feast for afterwards and *diyu* - what in the nine hells could they do for a wedding cake? It was the Captain's unexpected laughter that drew her from the flurry of worried thoughts crowding her over anxious mind. "Ain't funny, sir. What we gonna do for a preacher?"

The Captain's mood sobered, his look sad but quietly determined. Zoe knew that look. Respected the emotions that formed a rock solid wall behind it. Respected the man even more though she wasn't weak enough in the head to tell him. A Captain hooked on the opium of praise wouldn't last long in the Black and they needed him strong not reliant on their opinions or support to make him stand firm. No. Some things were just best left unsaid. Except when they had a gorram wedding to plan and no time in which to do it. A soft, happy little smile eased the moment. "You worry too much, Zoe."

As Zoe opened her mouth to disagree, Inara swept on to the bridge. Her face as bright and shiny as if it had been oiled and polished. She was wearing a beautiful orange silk kaftan with red swirls and patterns chasing each other around the hem and the trim of her short sleeves. In fact, the Companion looked so happy she seemed to glow. It wasn't anything Inara said, just the comfortable way the Companion moved towards the Captain, a hand brushing his before she nodded to Zoe and River. "*Wode ma*!"

Inara stared at Zoe. "Zoe? *Shenme shi*?"

Zoe looked from Inara to Mal. "You finally did it, didn't you sir?"

"Did what?"

A big beautiful smile blossomed on Zoe's dark face. It seemed to light her up inside, a spark of mischief twinkled in her eyes. "Does this mean a double weddin'?"

* * * * *

No news was not good news. The navigator had no emotion one way or another. When your brain had been picked clean then reassembled with parts that didn't belong you lost all interest in your own mortality. In fact everything but the task at hand ceased to have any meaning. Mr Turner folded his hands in front of him, the thin blue gloves like a second skin. His gaunt pasty face appearing as bloodless as his narrow lips. Large vacuous eyes more machine than man in his deliberations yet he lived and breathed, blood flowing through his veins, heart pumping with a rythym as steady as any mechanical heartbeat. Composed and emotionless.

His counterpart, Mr Cole, stood silent and watchful. Both wore sombre charcoal black suits, white shirts and black ties. They looked like undertakers on their way to a funeral. The navigator asked no questions nor did he alter his position. They hung like a dark deadly shard in the depths of the Black like a piece on a chessboard waiting for their absent opponent to make the next move. Mr Turner and Mr Cole exchanged a brief look. It clearly intimated that when that next move was made it would give them everything they needed to win the game.

* * * * *

Simon did not want to move ever again. In his arms Kaylee showed him you didn't have to die to go to Heaven. *Tian Yesu*. "Kaylee, *bao bei*, do you know how much I love you?" The heat from Kaylee's grin made Simon's heart go flippity-flop in his chest. "How 'bout ya tell me?"

Normally shy and tongue tied Simon had no such reservations in the privacy of their room. It helped that they had been making love just minutes before, albeit the careful abreviated version given Kaylee's current condition. Neither wanted to do anything to put the growing miracle at risk. Simon had asked her if she wanted to know the sex of the baby but Kaylee had shaken her head, adamant she wanted to be surprised. Boy or girl would make no difference to how dearly the child would be loved.

"I love you so much, I can't believe how long it took me to see what was right before my eyes! Oh Kaylee," He paused, gently brushing the damp hair from her shining face. His breath caught, so full of emotion, so grateful and humble that a love such as this could be his. "I never knew how lonely I was before, how... incomplete. You make me feel as if I could do anything."

Kaylee smiled, her warm hands ghosting over his skin sending little shivers through his body. Want and need trembling beneath her touch. "You're so shiny, Simon. So good an' smart. I love how you care 'bout everybody, even when folks've been mean t'ya, if they're hurtin' it's like nothin' else matters." She paused as if in awe of what she was describing. "You're so gorram selfless, *ai ren*."

"I'd like to say that's true but actually, I'm very very selfish."

Kaylee froze and tilted her head back so she could stare at him for a moment. "You? Selfish?" The mechanic laughed. "Oh Simon, if you're gonna tell jokes that funny ya ought'a be on stage." At his frown she put a couple of fingers over his lips to still any protests. "I ain't mockin' ya, *bao bei*, just if you're selfish I'm the Queen of all Londinium."

Simon smiled and kissed her gently. "What can I do for you, your Majesty?"

She smacked him playfully and slid her hand down his chest until the words got tangled in his throat, her look lusty, her touch making him throb and harden in her hand. But Simon had other plans beyond his own pleasure. Before Kaylee could take the initiative away from him Simon carefully but swiftly rolled her onto her back and slid down between her legs, his long sensitive fingers gently probing and mapping their way through the dark forest to her over heated core. Kaylee's eyes widened, her mouth sagging open as little sparks of electricity lit her up inside and made her ache for him. "Oh Simon!"

The doctor knew just how to tend to what ailed her. Slowly kissing his way down her body, his fingers danced slowly in her wet heat, finding the nub of nerves that sent shock waves through her body. Heat swamping his hand as she arched her back, his fingers bringing her to orgasm just as his lips took over the delicious torture, his tongue lapping at the juices flowing from her release. Kaylee tried to speak but couldn't. Simon hadn't finished with her yet. The lapping turned to probing, sucking, licking, devouring. Finding just the spot to drive her crazy, Simon gripped her hips to hold her still and took her over the edge again and again. Kaylee gripping his hair as she rode the rollercoaster of pleasure ripping through her in wave after wave of ecstasy. It was a long time before her over sensitised and weary body realised that the pounding in her ears was not from a blood rush. Someone was hammering on their door.

Glazed eyes just stared in adoration at Simon. Groaning, Simon wanted to yell to everyone to leave them the *diyu* alone then it hit him with the force of a train wreck. "Oh no!"

Vaguely, Kaylee became aware of her lover's tone. "Hmm? Was'up?"

Sheepishly, Simon eased back and looked at her. "Um, I think we slept in."

The pounding was still going on but louder now. Both of them ignored it for a little longer. "What d'ya mean?"

"This is supposed to be our wedding day, *jide*?"

He would long cherish the look on Kaylee's face as the realisation sank in. Her slow dawning horror turning him into a fit of laughter which at first annoyed her then had Kaylee as helpless as he was. The pounding stopped but they were wrong if they thought they had been given a reprieve. The door opened and as the pair turned their shining faces to see who it was, all the air evacuated out of Simon and Kaylee's lungs. Crowding in the doorway the Captain, Inara, Zoe, Jayne and River stared at them with matching smirks. Each one was dressed in their Sunday Best and enjoying the stunned looks on the young couple's faces.

"You want we should come back for the wedding after the birth?" Quipped Mal.

* * * * *

CHINESE GLOSSARY: (Mandarin - Pinyin)

*bao bei* = precious/treasure *ai ren* = sweetheart *yiwusouyou* = nothing *shenme* = what *dui* = correct *ni zhidao* = you know *diyu* = hell *dong ma* = understand? *wode ma* = mother of God *jide* = remember *shenme shi* = what's the matter? *tian Yesu* = sweet Jesus