Mal climbed slowly down the ladder into his bunk, feeling his back aching a little. He knew he probably should go see Simon about it, but the young doctor would only say it was age creeping up on him, or more likely galloping towards him at an alarming rate. He hadn’t exactly been keeping a check on the calendar, but that particular date was heading his way, and nothing he seemed to do was liable to stop it. Just so long as the rest of the crew didn’t figure -

“Hey.” Freya slid the nursery door closed as quietly as possible.

“They asleep?” he asked, his heart beating just a little faster as it always did when he saw her.

“It took two stories and a glass of water, but Ethan’s finally off.” She smiled and stretched her arms above her head. “Jesse, on the other hand, was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.”

“She’s a good girl,” Mal said, watching her body lengthen, taking delight in just knowing she was his wife. “Like her momma.”

Freya smiled at him. “I’m not good, and I haven’t been a girl in a very long while,” she pointed out.

“You’re good for me,” he expanded.

She chuckled. “That’s always good to know, sweet talker.” Sitting down on the bed she pulled her boots off. “Everything all locked tight?”

He unhooked his arm from the ladder. “Autopilot’s set for Beaumonde. Be there in a couple of days.”

“Think this job’ll come to anything?”

“Hope so. We’ll be a bit tight on fuel otherwise.” He pushed his suspenders from his shoulders.

“Then it will.” She smiled brightly at him and started to undo her shirt buttons.

“You ever think maybe we should have a base somewhere?” he asked, mirroring her. “You know, someplace dirtside, where we can wait for the jobs to come to us?”

She paused. “Sometimes. But we’ve got Lazarus.”

“Ain’t ours, ai ren.”

“No. But it feels like home.”

“More’n Serenity?”

She shook her head. “No. Serenity’s where we live. But Lazarus is … I don’t know, it just … maybe it’s the bath.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “So if I put a bath in the cargo bay you’d be more likely to want to stay on board?”

“We could try.” She unfocused. “A big bath. Big enough for two, maybe three people. With hot water, bubbles, maybe a small fridge next to it …”

“You’d never get Jayne out of it.”

She laughed. “Probably not. Besides, you were the one started this, asking if we should have a base planetside.”

“I didn’t … those weren’t quite my words.”

She slid her shirt from her shoulders, tossing it onto the chair by the desk. “Mal, Serenity is home. If we had a house someplace, that’d be nice. So the children could take regular breaks in the fresh air, feel the earth under their feet, see blue sky … but if we didn’t that’d be fine too.”

“And when there’s more kids? ‘Cause there will be, you can guarantee that.” Mal watched as she stood up and unbuttoned her pants. “Not just River’s baby, but I’m pretty sure Hank wants another, and if Simon can he’ll find a way to get Kaylee knocked up again, and you …”

She stopped, her pants halfway down her legs. “Me?”

“We’ll have to consider where we’re gonna put our next ones.”

She didn’t laugh, or even chuckle, just looked at him with love in her eyes. “So two isn’t enough for you?”

“Frey, if we only have the two, then I’ll be happy. But maybe one more? Or perhaps another couple?”

She ran her hands across her flat belly. “Do you have any idea what having children does to a woman? How hard it is to get back into shape after?”

“You saying no?”

“No.” This time she smiled. “As in, no, I’m not saying no. But there has to come a time when we can’t fit any more children on board.” She finished shimmying out of her trousers.

“Sounds like one of those jokes, don’t it?” He undid his own pants. “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin, only it’s how many kids can you get on board a Firefly.”

“I don’t think the designers were thinking of there being actual children on board,” Freya pointed out, unhooking the back of her bra. “Very short-sighted of them.”

“Then we’ll ask River.” He kicked his boots off. “She can work out the optimum number, and the crew can draw lots.”

“So you’re going to make how many off-spring we’re allowed something like a lottery?”

Mal shook his head firmly. “Nope. We’ll have as many as we want. You and me. I’m captain, you’re the captain’s wife. If’n we want twenty, that’s what we’ll have.”

“Twenty?”

He grinned. “Nice round number.”

She slid her bra from her arms. “If you’re anywhere near serious, we’re definitely going to have to have Simon looking into this whole male pregnancy thing.”

He felt his blood heading south. “I wouldn’t mind.”

Her face took on an odd look. “You know, I don’t think you would.” She stepped closer to him, close enough so that he could feel her heat on his skin. “You’re a strange man, Malcolm Reynolds.”

“A man in love, Freya Reynolds.” He leaned forward to grab her, but winced.

“Your back?” she asked, immediately concerned.

“Twinge, that’s all.”

“Lay down.”

“What?”

“Lay down. On your front.” She turned away and opened a drawer, pulling out the oil bottle she’d used for her belly when she was carrying Jesse. “You need a massage.”

“Really?“ He couldn’t have moved much faster. By the time she turned around, he was on his chest on the bed, wearing nothing at all.

“Hmnn.” For a moment she studied him, her eyes travelling down his finely toned back, to the swell of his perfect buttocks, then his long legs, lightly covered with almost blonde hair … “You don’t seem too enthusiastic,” she joked.

“Prob’ly just what a man needs,” he said, cuddling the pillow and looking round at her.

She smiled. “I’ll have you know I don’t do this for just anyone.” Climbing onto the bed she straddled his thighs.

“Should hope not.” He waited, preparing himself for the touch of her hands on his skin, for the cool trickle of oil … only she must have rubbed it between her palms, because there was no coldness at all, just the gentle touch of his wife’s hands on his back, gliding smoothly up and down his spine. “God, Frey …” His eyes closed to concentrate more on the feeling.

“You like?” she murmured. She leaned forwards, her palms pressing gently into his muscles, her belly laying on his ass.

“Mmn.” He sighed in pleasure. He could feel the cotton of her panties against him, moving gently as she moved. That was so good. Knowing this was for him, no-one else. Just his ai ren, touching him, doing her best to make him feel - “Ow!”

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I think that’s the bit that hurts.” She manipulated the knot.

“That it is.”

“You’re going to see Simon in the morning.” Smoothing it out with her thumbs, she leaned down enough to kiss it.

“I’m just getting old, Frey.”

“No you’re not.”

“I am. Something none of us can stop.”

“Speak for yourself. I intend to stay young forever.”

He tried to look at her over his shoulder. “You got some kind of magical spell to accomplish this miracle, then?”

She smiled at him. “Yes. It’s called being married to you.”

He laughed, making the muscles in his back contract. “If that’s all it takes, there’s gonna be a mighty long queue for my services when the rest of the ‘verse finds out.”

“Then I’ll stand shotgun with Vera.” She moved her hands down his spine again, rubbing the oil into his buttocks.

“Oh …” he sighed. He reached down under himself and tried to adjust a certain portion of his anatomy that was becoming somewhat congested. “Frey …”

“Turn over.”

He didn’t need telling twice. While she held herself up off him, he managed to roll over until he was on his back, and she settled herself onto his thighs again. Her eyes raked down his body, pausing at his heavy, swollen manhood, and she smiled. “You just gonna look?” he asked, his voice throaty.

She didn’t answer, just ran her hands from his waist to his shoulders, thumbs pressing into his skin, defining the muscles already there. He sighed as her naked breasts rested on his chest.

“You know, some people would pay a lot of money for this,” she pointed out, desire obvious in her tone.

“I’d pay every penny I got to keep you just for me.” He put his hands on her hips, catching his thumbs in the elastic of her panties. “You gonna keep these on?”

For answer she lay on him, her body along the length of him, and wriggled out of her constricting underwear, the motion not doing his arousal any good at all. Although, he admitted as he gritted his teeth to avoid coming there and then, maybe it was exactly the opposite.

She saw him close his eyes, knew what he was thinking, and lay still. “You okay?” she asked, running one hand up his side and across his shoulder.

“Fine, fine,” he ground out.

“Maybe we should stop, then.”

His blue eyes, dark with passion, flew open and fastened on hers. “Don’t you dare.”

Sitting up she touched him, just gently, her still oiled hand moving smoothly up and down his length. He groaned.

“I love you, Mal,” she said so quietly it was less than a sigh.

“Don’t ever leave me.” It was a plea on the breath of passion.

“Nor you me.” She stroked him one last time, then raised her body above him, lowering herself exquisitely slowly onto him.

His muscles trembled as he felt her hot wetness engulf him, watched her eyes close to hold the sensation for as long as possible until she started to move on him. His hands came up, almost of their own accord, to take hold of her breasts, running his thumbs across her nipples and making them stand to hard peaks. “Xin gan …” he whispered.

“Zhang fu …”

He began to thrust up into her, matching her pace. “My beautiful ai ren …”

“You’ll never be old, Mal,” she said, riding him, her eyes fluttering at the waves building inside her. “Always young … always like this … oh, Mal …”

Then there were no words, just the sound of flesh sliding on flesh, of gasps and moans, of two people so much in love with each other that nothing else, for those few long moments, mattered in the whole, wide ‘verse.

A.N.: Just a little bit of smuff (smutty fluff) as a Christmas present to all of you who read my stories! There won’t be any more for a few days until after Christmas, but I’ll be back with WORLD WITHOUT END, where River makes a decision that will change her life.

So, to all of you who lurk in the BSR, and Browncoats everywhere, have a very Merry Christmas, and let’s all look forward to a peaceful and prosperous New Year!