I know that I just got out the last chapter yesterday, but I'm on a kick here. I will hopefully have another chapter by the end of today. Only two more chapters in this story, and then I'll write a sequel.

THE Question

Three years had passed since Tripp's birth. In that time, another Washburne boy- Kieran Emory- had been born. Mal's resolve finally crumbled after seeing the birth of Kieran, and he and Inara had one child now. A boy, named Spencer Thurmon, who went by Spence. Tripp had grown up a bit. He was now three years old and the leader of three boys. He nicknamed their group the Space Boys. Tripp certainly looked the part of a leader: calm green eyes, a serious face with his mother's stare, and curly black hair, Tripp gave off a powerful presence. Kieran, however, turned out to be a clone of his father instead of his mother. Kieran's skin was lighter than Tripp's, his hair dirty blonde. No one, however, was sure where his green eyes came from. Both of the boys had that odd genetic quality. Kieran also was very carefree and fun. He ran around a lot, screaming at the top of his lungs. Kaylee obviously loved him more than the others, enjoying his wild nature. Zoe and Wash often had to stop her from spoiling him or trying to teach the two-year-old how to shut off the gravity in Mal's bunk whenever he put Kieran in time-out. Mal's own son, Spence, ended up looking like his father's clone. In fact, when they compared captures of the two, they looked almost exactly alike. Since he was only one, Spence wasn't allowed to fully participate in Tripp's elaborate games of Space Boys, even if his mother watched from the sidelines. Or his father. Mal had turned out to be a surprisingly good father, not spoiling the boy rotten nor depriving him of life's joys. He punished him when it was appropriate, but wrestled with him playfully in the common room, much to Jayne's enjoyment. Things were progressing quite satisfactorily for Serenity and her growing family. The only people left without love on the ship were Book, who wasn't allowed to love, Jayne, who preferred making love, and River, who was just another case all together. River didn't necessarily not want love like the other two, but there was no one there her own. She couldn't relate to anyone on the ship, and she certainly wouldn't want to love them like that anyway. She knew that once she was cured- which would come sometime soon, she knew- she would want to be in love, but she wouldn't know how. Save for one boyfriend at fourteen before she was carted off to the Academy, River had no knowledge of how to act. And when the day came when she needed advice, she would ask Kaylee. After all, she was getting better, thanks to Simon's experimental drug, and knew that soon all she'd have left to deal with would be her occasional outbreaks and her psychic abilities. So she was content for the time being. Simon and Kaylee's relationship progressed nicely in the past few years, with them becoming closer and closer by the day. Had the crew not known that they were only dating, they would have thought that the two were married. They should have been, but Simon got cold feet again and again, so they hadn't yet. He had a silver bracelet (he couldn't afford a ring) with the Chinese symbol for Serenity on it all wrapped up in his bunk, but it hadn't moved from its current position. Kaylee didn't push him, but she had promised herself that she would propose to him if he didn't get his act together by the end of the month. She wouldn't have to wait until the end of the month, though. In fact, she wouldn't have to wait until the end of the day. For a couple of days, Simon had been no where to be found. Even Kaylee had barely seen him, save for meal times, when they went to bed, and when they woke up. She thought that he had been ignoring her, but after consulting with Inara, she learned that Mal had done the exact same thing when he had proposed to her. She desperately didn't want to keep her hopes up, but River's knowing smiles encouraged her daydreaming even more. While Kaylee was enjoying pre-proposal bliss, Simon was fighting hard to make this engagement the most perfect thing he had ever done. He had been wracking his brains the past few days, attempting to remember every possible detail of their first date so that he could recreate it. Another new beginning springing from the old one. It seemed fitting, and he wasn't exactly the most creative person when it came to dates. The night had finally come. He had asked Mal for permission. He had bought and cooked- with Book's help- all of the food. He had taken the bracelet out of its hiding place and slipped it into his pocket. He had set everything up outside. He had made sure that they wouldn't be leaving before that night. He had made sure that Wash landed them in the middle of nowhere. He had made sure to tell her that he would indeed be waiting for her in the cargo bay at 6:30. Simon stood in the hold at six, thirty minutes early. He supposed that it would take that long to clear Jayne from his precious weights. “Come on, Jayne,” he begged. “I just need you out of here for five minutes. I don't think that Kaylee would appreciate your grunting while I'm...” He didn't know quite exactly what he was trying to do. Jayne snorted. “If yer tryin' to be romantic to her, it ain't gonna work with no gruntin' and groanin'.” He smirked dirtily. “She's kinda used to that.” Simon rolled his eyes and was about to protest, but Mal called from the door , “Jayne, out. Now.” “Cap'n, I was jus' havin' me some fun,” Jayne complained. “You seem to have a lot of 'fun' with Simon and Kaylee, Jayne,” Mal told him sternly. “Lots o' fun with me and Simon? I don' think I've ever been that drunk.” Kaylee's voice floated down the stairs as Mal snapped his fingers and Jayne, with a pout on his face, followed him out. Simon looked over at his departing friends, and then back up to the woman who would, hopefully, in a few hours, be his fiancé. And the woman in question never ceased to take his breath away. Now, as she flounced down the steps, he thought she looked more beautiful than ever. She wore a simple yellow T-shirt and a flowing white shirt. She piled her hair up in curls, no doubt helped by Inara. She looked like she did every day, but for some reason she looked exceptionally beautiful. Simon supposed that that proved that he was truly in love. “Hey,” he breathed. Finding nothing else to say, he told her something incredibly stupid: “You're early.” She giggled, sensing his discomfort. “Couldn't resist you for a second longer. I haven't seen that much, these past few days.” “Sorry about that,” Simon apologized, kissing her on the top of her head. “I had to make sure everything was perfect.” “Simon, anything you do is perfect,” Kaylee told him. She took his hand and smiled widely. “Lead the way.” He let a bit of his tension feeling her hand in his. He let out a small grin and took her toward the doors to the cargo bay. She had a puzzled look on her face, until he opened the doors with flourish and she saw the familiar setting before her: a picnic basket on a blanket and another blanket off to the side with a heavier quilt and two pillows stacked up on it. “Oh, Simon, it's just like our first date!” Kaylee squealed excitedly. She squeezed him so tightly that he thought he might lose consciousness. “Yeah, I was hoping you'd get that impression,” Simon joked as she let go of him. “You're awesome,” she informed him seriously, skipping down the ramp toward the basket, her hand still clasping his. “I know.” She laughed some more at him as they sat down by the basket. Simon pulled out the same menu as last time: some cold protein chicken and mashed potatoes, along with two apples. “You have one good memory,” Kaylee commented as they ate. When they were finished, Simon pulled out “dessert”- strawberries. He earned another squeal and another kiss for this. Once the strawberries were happily resting in their stomachs, they retreated to the other blanket, curling up close to each other. Kaylee put her head on Simon's chest, while he propped his up with one of the pillows. He subconsciously roped her into a hug, drawing her nearer. They lie in a contented silence for awhile, enjoying the feeling of security and warmth that they got just from being close. Soon enough, Kaylee pulled the quilt over top of the them, showering them with more warmth. Seeing her begin to drift off to sleep, Simon decided that now would be a good time. Now would be a very good time. “Kaylee,” he began, catching her attention. She sensed that he was about to go into a very sweet and charming speech, so she didn't interrupt him. “When I first met you, I really tried to deny that I was in love with you. I thought that love was just a biochemical reaction that made us choose someone who pass on good genes and keep humans alive. Science had an explanation for everything. But that changed over the time I spent here. There was no scientific explanation for the tension I could feel in the air, the emotions that I felt, everything. But mostly, there was no scientific explanation for the way I felt for you. “I've finally learned that the heart isn't just an organ that pumps blood. Our hearts are who we are. Yours is really, really big, and mine is, well, it's getting there. I want to learn more about love and about life. And you're the person to teach me.” Simon didn't really have a knee to get on, so he just reached into his pocket and pulled out the bracelet, holding it up to her in the palm of his hand. “Well, there's no room for me to get on my knee, and I didn't have enough money to get a ring, but, um, will you marry me?” Simon had a pleading look in his eyes, as if praying her to say yes even she didn't mean it. He needn't have worried. Everything in Kaylee's life had been brought full circle at that moment as she looked back at his blue eyes. Her own eyes filled with tears as she whispered, “Hell yes!” She kissed him passionately and when they broke apart, he put the bracelet on her wrist. “I love you way more than is healthy, you know,” Simon commented as they snuggled up together, preparing to go to sleep. “I know.” *** Early the next morning, Mal came outside just to make sure that some wild desert beasts hadn't gotten it in their heads to eat the lovebirds up. He saw the picnic basket and the blankets exactly as they had been before, but with Simon and Kaylee occupying one of them. He noticed the bracelet on Kaylee's wrist and commented to himself, “Huh. That's new.”