Title: Baby Talk Rating: PG Synopsis: Everyone’s got babies on the mind thanks to River. Timeline: Takes place 10 months after Serenity, the movie.

Notes: Next part of a series beginning with : And So It Begins, Kiss Me, Coming Together, Tell Me, What’s Proper?, Tears ,Peekaboo, Impatient, Waking Up is Hard to Do, The Talk, I See You, Exhaustion,.Moving Day, Celebration, Surprise , Vacation, Reunion, Manipulation, Baby Talk

Disclaimer: This story is not meant to infringe on the copyright of any person or company related to the trademarked characters and situations depicted in the Serenity movie or Firefly series. I make no money from this. Only done for fun – and a desperate craving to have more stories told about this wonderful ‘verse Joss Whedon created. ----------------

“I wanna hear the fight!” Jayne leapt to his feet and started toward the passenger dorms.

Mal’s hand on the taller man’s shoulder stopped him in his tracks. “You leave those two alone, Jayne, hear me?”

“Like you did?” Inara stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Mal.

Mal returned the glare with equal heat. “Hey! Alls I said was –“

“No babies on your ship, yes, we heard,” River finished for him, standing and putting her bowl in the sink for washing later.

Mal scowled at River. “You were havin’ your own little argument with that stubborn brother of yours. How’d you hear what –“

River rolled her eyes. “You think louder than you speak.”

“I don’t know about that, River,” Inara stared at Mal. “He speaks pretty loud.”

Mal turned toward Inara and started explaining in every little minute detail, that they’d already heard once this morning, why he didn’t want any babies on his boat.

Zoe shook her head and left the room, heading for the relative peace and quiet of her bunk. Mal and Inara’s arguments had been heated recently and she knew, she just knew, when they finally snapped, they’d be worse than Simon and Kaylee during their first week together. And she didn’t want to see Mal reduced to behaving like – an animal in heat. It would ruin her image of her staunch and mighty sergeant. Her commander in arms, her – she stifled a giggle as she walked down the hallway toward her bunk. Oh, she couldn’t wait.

River simply pushed Jayne toward the entryway. “Watching Simon fight with Kaylee is much more fun.” She cast a look over her shoulder at the still arguing Mal and Inara. “They do it too often for it to be fun anymore.”

Jayne smirked. “They just need to rut an be done with it.”

River raised an eyebrow but said nothing as they walked down the hallway toward the passenger dorms.

~*~

“She still had no right bringing that up at the dinner table,” Simon paced around the room while Kaylee sat on the bed. They’d left the door open, and their voices carried down the hallway to where Jayne and River crept quietly forward.

“Oh, sweetie, you know River.”

“Yes, too well and I’ll break her little fingers if she messes with those shots.” Simon leaned against the dresser on the far side of the room that had been a recent addition.

River held back a giggle at the thought of Simon harming her in any way.

Kaylee’s face fell. “Don’tya want kids?” She wanted ‘em so badly she could taste it some days. But they had just not gotten around to talking about it yet. She hadn’t wanted to scare him. It had taken too long to get him in the first place!

Simon opened his mouth to speak but instantly closed it when he noticed the look on Kaylee’s face. He wanted to scream no! with every fiber of his being. He couldn’t bring a child into the ‘verse now. He was a fugitive, living on a ship in the middle of the Black. How could they knowingly bring a child into such an unsafe situation?

He and Kaylee weren’t even married yet. Not that that was a prerequisite, but Simon had always wanted to be married to the woman who bore his children. But as he stood there watching Kaylee, he couldn’t help but picture her heavy with his child, her skin glowing. He wanted to look at that bright, cheery smile for the rest of his life.

Simon crossed the room and dropped his hands to her waist, squeezing gently. “Of course I do. Just – not right now.”

Kaylee remained silent, which, to Simon, indicated that he needed to provide more of an explanation.

“Bao bei –“ Simon began, treading very carefully. He didn’t want to upset her. He did that far too often for his own good – though he had learned quickly since they’d been together. “There is nothing more in this ‘verse that I want than to have a baby with you. But I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now. We can barely feed ourselves much less a little one. River and I are still fugitives.” He carefully left out the married part. He had his own plans regarding that topic that he didn’t want Kaylee to know about just yet.

Kaylee nodded and despite the truth of his words, a few tears pooled in her eyes.

Simon continued, feeling the need to provide more excuses. “Not to mention, Mal would probably kill me if I got you pregnant.”

Kaylee rolled her eyes and Simon winced inwardly. That had been a lame excuse and they both knew it.

Simon didn’t know what else to say, so, as he always did when that was the case, he leaned forward and kissed her.

She stiffened in his arms for a moment but then wrapped her hands around his shoulders and melted against him, sighing against his soft mouth as it moved against hers.

Outside their door, River wrinkled her nose obviously disappointed by the lack of an interesting argument between her boob of a brother and his girlfriend. She turned to walk away, knowing what they were going to do now and truly not interested in seeing or hearing, but Jayne remained unmoving.

River stared at him for a long moment, and chuckled lightly to herself as he leaned forward to listen more intently, and if possible, she knew, to watch. Jayne could be so disgusting. She’d seen and heard Kaylee and her brother enough for the both of them.

River crossed the small distance to the door and slid it shut, giving the couple some privacy. When she returned to Jayne’s side, she giggled at the annoyed look on his face.

“I’ve seen them do it before. It really isn’t pretty.” She walked away, leaving Jayne staring slack-jawed after her. ~*~

Mal and Inara were still arguing when Jayne and River returned. But River held Jayne back in the hallway, so they could listen. Perhaps they’d been more entertaining after all. Simon’s discussion with Kaylee had been too disappointing.

“Mal, I’m not saying you don’t have a right to say what happens on your own ship.”

“Sure sounds like it to me!”

Their voices carried down the hall but River was certain that Simon and Kaylee were oblivious as the pleasure emanating from their bunk grew more intense.

“You know you can’t just tell Simon and Kaylee when they can or can’t have children.”

“He knocks her up, that’s boy’s gonna marry Kaylee if Jayne has to stand behind him with Vera pointed at his back!”

Jayne visibly brightened at the mention of his prized weapon, and smiled even wider at the thought of getting to press it legitimately up against Simon’s back.

River pinched his arm just hard enough to get the mercenary’s attention but he just scowled at her, the happy thoughts turning around his increasingly disappointing day.

“Mal, that’s not fair! You can’t force them to get married if –“

Why did their arguments always feel like foreplay to him? Only without the big payoff at the end. “You damn well better believe I will.”

Inara was incensed. “You insufferable piece of –“

Enough of this, Mal thought suddenly, time to move past the foreplay.

Her tirade came to an end when Mal grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. Spontaneous though it may have been, Inara immediately melted against him, her mouth flowering beneath his in a long overdue expression of their pent up desire for one another.

Jayne nearly fell into the room, he was so shocked. River simply smiled.

When the two parted, the fire had vanished completely from their eyes. Inara stepped back, none too delicately, as her feet didn’t seem to want to work. She was breathless and she smoothed her silk dress in an effort to hide her trembling hands. But she was not used to being at such a disadvantage and she immediately sought to wipe away that slow smile spreading across his face. “Don’t expect a kiss will end every argument, Malcolm Reynolds.”

She turned and walked out of the room, right past a gaping Jayne and a smiling River. Mal’s eyes followed her, his heart beating so rapidly, he could only stand there and grin stupidly. “No. But it’s a damn good start.”

THE END