River bulled her way past Mal and Zoe, who both had their guns trained right 'twixt the strangers eyes. She went to Simon and knelt opposite Kaylee, who was stroking his hair lovingly. River looked into Simons face, and he seemed to be in less pain then when he'd first been hit. She put her right hand on his side. He gasped when she pressed lightly down on the swollen flesh. Although she was worried, she allowed herself a small smile of relief. Nothing was life threatening here. Kaylee seemed to remember that it was her father that Mal was ready to shoot. "Hey, thats my Pa', y'know!" That seemed to catch Mal off guard, as they had all been expecting someone less...huge. He looked quizacally at Kaylee, then River. River nodded, then went and stood before the man. She stared long and hard at his face before going back to Mal. Inara was standing next to him, she having fell behind in her heeled shoes. River said to Mal, "He's okay." Mal said, "Which one?" River laughed at that. "Both of them." Mal put up his gun, followed by Zoe, and then Jayne. "You better be right, lil' albatross." He turned to Kaylees dad, and said, "Now, I think that y've got a lil' storytellin' to do. I'm Malcolm Reynalds." He pointed at Zoe. "Thats Zoe Washburne, an' thats Jayne Cobb," pointing to Jayne. He motined to Inara. "Inara Serra." She bowed. "You know Kaylee, that one there is River, and the one you jus' punched out is Simon Tam." "George Frye, at y'service. Follow me, think I owe y'all a beer an' a explanation." He trundeled off, through the door toward a house a few hundred yards away. Mal turned to them all. "Okay, Kaylee an' River, help Simon back to Serenity. Rest of ya, come with me." Simon spoke up. "No, no, I think that I oughta hear this." And Kaylee said, "Its my family, here!" Mal hung his head tiredly. "Fine, fine, lets all follow Mr. Frye tah wha'ever this is. I get the feelin' that Simon's offended some one again." *** A few minutes later, they stood before a large wooden house, painted sky blue. The air smelled of corn and cows. George knocked loudly on the door. "Molly, we have visitors!" The door opened, revealing a woman in a flowery dress. She lit up happily when she saw Kaylee, flashing a smile to rival even hers. She ran out the door and hugged her tightly. "Oh, my baby, it's been so long since we've seen you! Mac's here, we were just talking about you!" She looked up at the motely crew that gathered behind her. "And who are these?" she asked in a friendly tone. Kaylee returned her hug energetically. "Ma', this is my friends from Serenity. And, you won' believe it, I'm engaged to-" "Simon Tam!" Molly Frye moved protectively in front of her daughter, in much the same reaction as George, though with less punching and yelling. "Kaylee, don't you know who this is?" "My fiancee," said Kaylee coldly. She was getting tired of her family abusing her soon to be husband. "You're wha'?" Mrs. Frye gave her a blank look. George put a hand on her arm in a comforting way. "C'mon, hon, these people ain't bad folks. And our little girls gettin' married." They all stepped inside, George guiding Molly along. Kaylees cousin Mac was in the kitchen, and reacted much like the Fryes had, with some screams thrown in. In the end, they all settled down 'round the large kitchen table, each holding a large mug of beer. Kaylee and Mac chatted a bit, catching up on lost gossip, and learning about their respective fiancees. "Billy McCormic?" said Kaylee. "I thought you hated him." "I did, but one night we met at a dance, an'...I don' know, but it was like magic, then and there. An' a few months later, he goes and asks me to marry him." Mac had long red hair, and wore a dress much like Kaylees. "So, how'd you get attached to a criminal?" "Simon ain't no criminal, hes sweet an' nice, an' handsome, too." In an undertone, she added, "an' hes great in bed." Mac gave a Kaylee-ish giggle, then Mr. Frye banged his mug loudly on the table. "Alrigh', alrigh', I'll go first, 'bout Simon an' his reputation round these parts." He took another swig of his beer, which was indeed quite good. "Back about eight months ago, the cortex started givin' out all these reports, that Lilac an' all these attacks on freighters and border moons near the edge were orchestrared by Simon Tam an' his gang. They sent out pictures of him an' his crazy sister, who he took from a mental hospital. I'm supposin' 'at thats her," he said, pointing to River. By this time, they all were laughing into their mugs at the absurdity of it all. "Wha's so funny?" Jayne laughed so hard into his mug that it spilled onto the wooden table. "Oh, please. The doc a criminal genius? Fella can barely shoot a gun straight, and he can't even begin to think any thoughts 'bout murder an' stealin'!" He laughed some more into his mug. Kaylee spoke up. "Really, Pa, the on'y person Simon ever killed were a Reaver what landed on top of me!" Mr. Frye looked at her. "So, it was Reavers what killed all 'dem people?" Kaylee nodded. "An' it was you lot that stole that money from Lilac?" Mal spoke to him. "Yeah, we were filchin' some security payroll when them damn Reavers gave us the jump. Wouldn't've got out hadn't been for River." Mr. Frye took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll believe that the Alliance 'ave framed Simon. But why?" "Well, y'know that rumor that it was the Alliance what made the Reavers, right?" George nodded. "Well, its the truth. River dug it up, an' we got it out to everyone. Stands to reason that they'd wanna squash it now, 'fore it gets outta hand." "Ah." He took another swig of his beer, which was near full out. "So, when'd he propose to Kaylee?" "Oh, a while back. See, I'd broken my shoulder bad when I fell off the 'walk. Simon patched it up, saved my life. Then, he proposed to me once he saw that I wasn't gonna die on him." She left out the relatively crucial part that he was the reason that happened. Mr. Frye looked doubtfully at Simon. "So, you're a doctor? Saved my little girls life?" "Twice, the other time was when I got shot by a fed. We came here to tell you 'bout it, and then you went and broke his ribs." She gave him a stony glare, and he looked abashed. "Okay, so I over reacted a bit." Simon chuckeled. "But, iffin it means anythin', I don't think that you could find a better man to marry, an' you have my blessing, if you'll take it." "And mine," said Mrs. Frye. Kaylee looked like she was going to refuse for a moment. Then, she got up and hugged both her parents. George then went over and shook Simons hand. "Come, you must stay a while," said Molly. "I'll call the children, they'll want to know." She bustled off. *** 'A while', turned out to be a month, which was the amount of time that it took for Simons ribs to heal fully. They all celebrated with a party, and Simon celebrated with Kaylee in their own special way. Simon wondered what his parents would think, about him and Kaylee. The seeds of an idea started to form in his head, but Kaylee brushed them away by moving them closer. The wedding was sent for three months away.