The Wish Part Three Author:JJ Subject: Rayne, Saylee, Mara Rating: NC-17 Disclaimer: Ain't hers, to make coin off of. These here characters (like yours truly) belong solely to Joss and the hwoon dahn's at 20 century fox, dong ma? (Thank you, Jayne!) Summary: Post BDM. Rayne and Saylee. Takes place one year after The Need. As Simon and Kaylee are having troubles. River and Jayne deepen their relationship. Author's note: I tried very hard not to make the Rayne parts cheesy, I failed miserably, LOL!

Chapter 3-- Ask Me A Question

Mal was on the bridge of his ship in deep contemplation. Marriage contemplation. He knew that now since Jayne was going to ask River to marry him that left him in a sticky situation with Inara. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry her, it was that he didn't really think about it, he never thought long term with anything. Mal lived his life day by day, week to week, job to job. It wasn't until he met Inara that he thought about the future. Inara was the glue that held this makeshift family together, she was the glue that held him together.

"Mac," He heard Walker call out. Mal smiled and turned around to pick up his God son. Zoe stood at the doorway as Mal sat him in his lap so Walker and pound on the controls of Serenity.

"I think he wants to fly Zoe," Mal said to Zoe and Mal whispered into Walker's ear.

Zoe grinned fondly remembering her husband, "Like father, like son."

"So what's up," Mal asked Zoe and Zoe hunched her shoulders.

"Just checking up on my Captain. I saw you were in here for awhile, I thought you could use the company, Sir," she smiled sitting in the co-pilot's chair. Walker was making whooshing noises and touching the controls enthusiastically. Zoe grinned again every now and then she could feel Wash's presence on the bridge this was one of those times.

"Jayne's proposing to River tonight," Mal said and Zoe nodded. Mal was shocked she wasn't surprised.

"You're not surprised?" Mal said and she shook her head.

"Once you've experienced real love, Sir, you can spot it a mile away. I knew it was only a matter of time for those two once they got together," she said.

"What about me and Inara?" Mal asked and Zoe smiled.

"Sir?"

"Do you think we have real love?"

Zoe laughed, " Of course you do , Sir. You two are perfect for each other. You're two sides of the same coin."

"I feel that somehow I failed her, she gave up everything for me, even her shuttle," Mal sat back in the chair.

"Sir, Mal, you two like dancing," Zoe smiled. "You've danced around becoming a couple, now you're dancing around marriage. Not because you don't love each other, but because you are afraid that one day one of you will come to your senses. If you would have asked Inara to marry you when she decided to quit being a Companion she would have called you feng le, hopped in her shuttle, and went straight back to the Guild house. And if she told you she wanted to get married you would have pushed her away. There's no win for losing with you two. You always gotta be on the same page before you move forward. The question you want to ask Inara is, are you two on the same page?"

"What if she says no?" Mal wondered and Zoe shook her head.

"Well if she says no, you can pretend that you're relieved to hear it, Sir," Zoe went over to Mal and picked up her son. " Time for a nap young man," she kissed Walk.

"Thanks Zoe," Mal said.

"Anytime, Sir."

"Bye Bye Bye" Walk said, waving.

Kaylee was crying again. It was how she spent most her time in the engine room, now. Serenity might as well fall out of the sky from the paltry work Kaylee had been providing. All she wanted was to have a child, Simon's child and she couldn't concieve. She thought originally it was the Reaver poison that did something to her, but after several tests and their results, there was no reason that she wasn't pregnant.

To make it worse Simon was treating her as some mad scientist puzzle. Hurry up and fix Kaylee, it seemed. Even sex felt only functional. The romance of it gone, the release in it bitter. She wanted to give up, she just wanted to be happy without kids, but seeing Zoe and Wash's son play with Jayne and Mal, seeing the joy he brings to the crew clenched her heart. Especially since she envisioned what her and Simon's children would look like together. Brown curly hair, big brown eyes, wide smile and rosy cheeks. She saw their children so clearly, so why hadn't she conceived yet?

She wiped her tears and walk to the infirmary. She watched Simon through the window of the infirmary, he was packing, clothes and coin. Simon felt her watching him and looked up. Their eyes met. His eyes were pleading forgiveness, she walked into the infirmary wondering why he was packing.

"I don't wanna fight no more," she sniffed. Simon went to her and took her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I've been a total pi-gu," Simon sighed. "I've been laying our failures solely at your feet, I've become nearly as sexist and misogynistic as my father."

"Misogynwho?" Kaylee looked up at him. Simon smiled and then kissed her.

"It's not you who has the problem Kaylee, it's me," Simon sighed. "I might not be able to give you children."

"Why do you say that? Do you know for sure?" Kaylee asked him touching his face.

"No, and that's why I'm leaving for a few days," Simon told her.

"What? Where are you going?"

"I have a friend, a doctor friend, on Ariel, he owes me a favor. He's a specialist, he'll know what's wrong with me."

"You're not going to Ariel! You know what happened the last time you were there! If the Alliance get a hold of you they'll shoot you on site after Miranda," Kaylee argued.

"That's why I'm going alone, I'll be safe, I promise, my friend is arranging me a false identity as we speak."

"I don't want to lose you over this," A big fat tear escaped Kaylee's eye and Simon kissed it.

"I''ll be back, I promise you," Simon smiled hugged her again. "I love you." he said as he walked out of the infirmary, Kaylee ran after him.

"Don't go, Simon, Please," she pleaded. Mal walked off of the brigde and handed Simon the access card to the shuttle and then handed him a pistol.

"I have to do this Kaylee, if not for us, then for me. I'll be back, I swear, bao bei," He said.

"If you're not back in three days, we'll come looking for you," Mal said and Kaylee looked at them both.

"Be safe, Simon," she threw herself in his arms and he kissed her forehead.

"I will," he said and looked at Mal. "Try not to get shot or hurt while I'm gone, Saffron should be fine, for three days as long as you feed her and look after my Kaylee," he smiled and then pulled away from Kaylee. He touched her face once more and then left.

"I gotta a bad feeling , Cap'n," Kaylee said.

"He'll be fine, and if he's not, he's been with us long enough to know when to lay low until we come for him, and we will come for him, I promise you that," Mal said.

"Have any of you seen, Simon?" Saffron said from behind them, she was wearing a long powder pink cotton robe and white socks.

"He'll be back in three days," Mal said as Kaylee rolled her eyes and walked past her back to the engine room. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, he just said that he was coming to see me and then he didn't," she hunched her shoulders. "You got anymore of the melon from this morning?"

In the kitchen, Saffron sat eating the rest of the honeydew melon they got from Athens, ravenously. Mal watched her, as she ate sitting at the end of the table.

"You know, you ain't supposed to be out of your bunk," Mal said, craving an apple, for her.

"I was bored! Nobody comes to see me , but the Doc. I had more friends in prison," she sighed.

"Well you don't just burn brigdes when you con people, you naplam'em," Mal hunched his shoulders taking out a sliver of apple for himself.

"I know and I'm sorry," Saffron sighed and Mal shook his head.

"You know your 'sorrys' don't account for much."

"I know," she ate the apples slices. "I know you hate me, and I know what I did to you, making you fall in love with me and then conning you, I know that was wrong. You didn't deserve that. You're actually not a half bad catch," Saffron grinned. Mal sighed and shook his head.

"I had a lot of time to think about what I did to you and my other...'husbands' when I was in prison. I hated myself for it. All those good guys I burned, broke their hearts like some kind of predator, stole from them and then move on to the next. Ye Soo, it was such an easy con... until it just wasn't." she wiped a tear away. Mal took her wrist gently and turned it over.

"Is that why?" he left the question open. Saffron pulled away her arm and hid it under the table.

"I'm full, I think I'll go back to my bunk now, thank you for the snack," She stood up, smiled at Mal, and left the table.

"Ai ya," Mal cursed when he realized she did it again. Before, they spoke he was fully hating her with every fiber of his being, and now he just couldn't. And he couldn't tell whether he was being conned or not.

Jayne was trying to figure which shirt he should wear to dinner. It came down to two choices. One was the nice white button up River had brought him after she torched his whoring shirt and the other was the brown t-shirt he was wearing when he told her he loved her for the first time out loud. He was completely torn between the two. So he was standing in just his jeans when Zoe came in with a pair of scissors and a comb intent on doing something with his unruly hair.

"I don't know what to wear," He complained and she laughed.

"Wear the brown t-shirt," Zoe said.

"Why the t-shirt?" he sat down in the chair she pulled out for him. He sat still as she covered his shoulders with a towel

"It's what you're most comfortable in and it's less shirt to fidget with while you ask her," Zoe combed his damp hair.

"I'm freaking out, you might just haveta hit me before supper," Jayne said, Zoe laughed again.

"It's a big step, a huge step," Zoe said as she made the first trim at the back of his neck. "When you ask her, just be you, Jayne. Don't do any long speeches, just get down on your knee and ask her."

"Thanks,Zoe," Jayne said and she smiled and continued to trim his hair.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Inara was making protein mash meatloaf with fresh onions and red bell peppers. She also made strawberry shortcakes at Jayne's request. They were River's favorite desert. Mal's job was to keep River busy on the brigde with talk of new course settings until Jayne was finished getting dolled up. River barely could keep a straight face because she knew exactly what was going on and she thought it was cute that everyone was treating her like she had no idea.

Twenty minutes later Inara annouced supper was ready Mal and River made it down to the supper table first followed by a puffy eyed Kaylee, then Zoe and Walk, and then Jayne, who was freshly showered, freshly cut, and freshly shaved. River saw him and she gave him a heated look of appraisal that sent Jayne's blood rushing. He sat down next to her and she kissed him gently.

"You approve?" he asked.

"You'll see how much I approve after supper," she promised and Mal cleared his throat.

"There's children at this table," he reminded them and River stuck her tongue at him. Inara served the food refusing Zoe's offer help. She serve Mal first, running her hand down the back of his neck he looked up at her with a smile and she kissed him softly.

"Hey, there's chil'ren at the table," Jayne said and everyone laughed.

"Where's Simon?" Zoe asked once they were all served.

"He left this afternoon to Ariel to see a doctor," River said for Kaylee who looked absolutely miserable.

"Why a doctor at Ariel, of all places," Jayne asked. he hated Ariel, it reminded him of what he once attempted to do. River took his hand under the table.

"There's some kind of stupid specialist he wants to see there," Kaylee through down her fork and stood up. "I'm sorry everyone, I'm just not hungry,' she left the table in awkard silence.

"I'll go after her," Inara said and Mal shook his head.

"Not after you prepared this wonderful meal, I'll do it, she's my mechanic," Mal got up and took Kaylee's plate with him. The rest finished their meal with very little conversation.

Mal found Kaylee in her bunk curled up with one of Simon's shirt, balling her eyes out. Mal put her plate on the side and sat down on her bed, he touched her leg gently.

"I-It's my fault Mal, I-I wanted a baby so bad, and n-now he's risking his life for me," she cried some more.

"Simon's a big boy, he can take care of himself, he also can make his own decisions. He wants this baby you two are trying to make as much as you do. That's why he's getting a full check up to see what's what," Mal said and Kaylee nodded.

"Wha-what if we can't? What i-if he comes back and we can't h-have kids," she sobbed.

"You will cross that brigde when you come to it, mourning now before you know anything is feng le. You two love each other, if you believe in that, you'll be alright," Mal smiled. Kaylee sniffed and then smiled too.

"Thanks Cap'n," she nodded.

"Now hurry up and eat we gotta get back before Jayne proposes to River," Mal said and Kaylee eyes went wide.

"So that's why Jayne smelled like a girl?" she said and Mal nodded.

Kaylee and Mal made it back to the supper table just in time. The strawberry shortcake was being served and Jayne looked fidgety. River couldn't stop smiling because she knew what was coming. Jayne waited until Inara sat down when he finally stood up and made River stand up too. He got down on one knee and took her hand.

"I don't got fancy words, like that poetry stuff you read, but I love you," Jayme took a deep breath. "Will you marry me, Riv?" Jayne said, as he open the ring box and River looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Let me think about it for moment... this was such a surprise," River said and everyone laughed. "Yes, Jayne, I will marry you!"

Jayne picked her up with one arm and twirled her around, they kissed and everyone clapped. He took the ring from the box and slid it on her finger.

"I like the ring very much," she said to Jayne looking into his eyes. "And I love you very much." They kissed again and it became heated until the Captain cleared his throat.

"Congratulations, now, take that to your bunk," he smiled and River pulled Jayne by the arm. Jayne quickly grabbed the desserts and they were gone.

"I don't even wanna know what they're gonna do with those," Mal shook his head.