Future Endeavors

Summary: River and Jayne learn that parenthood can require some unpleasant sacrifices and wind up discussing what comes next. Set in the future, RAYNE. Perhaps fluffy, but I like it anyway.

Special thanks to Wikipedia, for informing me that Shepherd Book's first name is Derrial.

Rating: M, for some sexual content/references.

(I'm not sure if this actually deserves an M rating, since it seems rather mild compared to some of the other M-rated fics out there. I was a bit stuck trying to decide if it was a T or an M and decided better to err on the side of caution. Please let me know if you think it deserves a T rating instead, and I'll change it. I'm new to the FF community and still not too sure what warrants which rating!)

Edit 6-27-10: Updated to fix a few typos. My Internet was down, otherwise I would have fixed this much sooner. Thank you to the people who reviewed and suggested the corrections (and for being kind enough not to point out a few other little ones I found :) ). Hopefully I got them all this time!

Enjoy!

"He is wandering the realm of REM?"

"He's asleep, if that's what ya mean, and so's the rest of the crew." There was a long gap as Jayne focused on burying his lips in the crook of her neck, hands dancing about her back, her hips, her legs – anywhere he could get a half-decent grip, desperate to feel her beneath him. "And we ain't gonna crash?"

"Successfully navigated meteor field." Kiss. "Engaged auto-pilot." Kiss. "Will be landing in approximately four hours, twelve minutes."

Jayne took a brief second to smirk greedily. "That's a whole lotta time."

"Uh huh." River dipped her head back to provide better access to her neck. "Lots of sand has passed through the hourglass, lots of days crossed off the calendar," she murmured. "It's been too long."

"Damn straight." His fingers flew over the thin lacy material she was currently sporting, tugging this way and that on the hooks stitched into the back, the ones that were an engineering marvel in that they somehow managed to hold the entire outfit together despite their minuscule size. "Got yourself some new underthings, huh?"

"Mmhmm. Last job was good. Thought we deserved some – ah!"

He dug his fingers into the fabric and pulled, neatly splitting the seams and tearing the garment right off. "Sorry," he said, not really sorry at all. "I'll buy you a new one."

She gasped, and again he wasn't sure if it was a good gasp or a bad. "I liked that one," she admonished, pushing him onto the bunk.

Jayne grabbed her hand and dragged her down with him. "I liked it too, but darlin'… like ya said, it's been a long time. A mighty long time."

After that they didn't talk for a while, on account of Jayne tangling his hands in her hair and kissing her until she couldn't very well form a grammatically complete sentence. Not like Jayne was doing any better. No, he had been waiting and waiting and waiting for this night, this moment, for… well, it damn near felt like forever. If it weren't some job keeping them separate or too exhausted, Mal had some dumb task for one or both of 'em that had them keeping different hours. And if it weren't Mal, well, then it was that pesky doctor wanting to spend some quality time with his sister. Quality time, ha! Jayne knew that even after all this time, even after the courtship – a real, honest-to-God courtship, done right and proper– and the wedding and Christ, even after they had become parents together, the doctor still didn't believe Jayne could take care of her properly. Ah well. Anyway, one thing or another had been keeping River and Jayne from having any real alone time for so long that Jayne was starting to wonder if perhaps the universe had some vested interest in keeping their bed cold.

Beneath him, River tensed suddenly. "Longitudinal waves, oscillating up and down and up and down. Vibrations in the ear drum, nerve impulses in the brain."

Jayne propped himself up on his elbows to wait so he wasn't crushing her. River was doing well enough these days that he had found whenever she said something crazy she generally repeated it a moment later in words a sane person could make sense of. This was no exception.

She turned her face up at him slowly. "Did you hear that?"

No, no, definitely not. No way. And if he had… well then, still no! He had been waiting too long for their plans to be derailed because Serenity had a loose screw or one of its occupants was having trouble sleeping. "Nah."

The edges of her mouth lifted. "Then neither did I."

For a moment, they went back to what they were doing and all was right with the universe. Their mouths were still working like a ship going full burn. Their hands were still roaming, clutching sheets and flesh. As far as Jayne was concerned, life was about five different kinds of shiny right about then.

And then Jayne heard a faint scratching. "Prob'ly nothin'," he said, allowing her to flip them over so she could go to work on loosening his belt buckle.

"No doubt," she agreed hopefully. "If it's even there at all."

But, no, now there it was again and as they both stared at each other, they realized there was no way to deny that this time it was definitely there.

"If there were an emergency," River rationalized desperately, "there would be a lot more noise."

"Right. Mal'd be yellin' and there'd prob'ly be shootin', and…"

"Precisely."

"Ya know, I don't even see no reason for us to leave our quarters!"

And then… oh, and then. Then things went right from bad to disaster, bypassing worse entirely.

"Ma? Pa?" a very, very small voice called out from the other side of the thin, former passenger dorm door.

Jayne pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Above him, River went limp.

"Ma?"

As one, Jayne and River sighed. The little voice was on the edge of terror now; there was no chance, no chance at all that it would decide to go back to bed on it's own.

"Ya should prob'ly get that, 'less you think now's a good time to explain some o' the finer points o' life to him," Jayne suggested grumpily, pulling his shirt back on and positioning a pillow strategically.

River giggled in a way that made him feel a lot younger than his forty-some years – and made him wish oh-so-much that fate would've allowed them to continue on in peace – and climbed off of him. "Captain Reynolds? Is that you?" she teased gently, slowly standing and kicking the dark remnants of her original nightclothes under the mattress.

"Ma? Ma, are you there?"

"Captain Reynolds?"

"No, Ma, it's me! It's Derri!"

"Oh, Derrial! What a lovely surprise!"

"Ma, I wanna come in!" There was a faint clanking as young Derrial tried to open the door. "Ma, why's it locked? It ain't never locked!"

"What'd I tell you, Derri?" Jayne hollered. "Gotta learn to sleep in yer own quarters, and ya can't do that if you're always comin' to ours," he explained, watching unhappily as River pulled on one of his t-shirts. He died a little when she decided to put on pants as well. "Now, what's the magic word?"

There was a long silence. "Please?"

"Please what?"

"Please can I please come in please please?"

River laughed again but slid open the door to reveal a pouting little boy clutching a misshapen gray object tight to his chest. Jayne blinked fiercely in the sudden light but he still saw Derri launch himself towards River and throw his arms around her legs. River bent down and pried him gently off so she could scoop him up in her arms.

"What's the matter, Derri? Why ain't you in your bed, dreaming 'bout…" What did little boys dream about? It had been so long since Jayne had been one that it took more effort than he cared to spend to remember. "'Bout them dinosaurs o' shuttles o' somethin'?"

"Disturbances in the night," River whispered, kissing Derri's forehead lightly. "A nightmare."

"Uh huh," Derri affirmed, burying his head in River's shoulder. "A bad one."

River kept him in her arms as she sat down on the bed, but even if she'd let go, Jayne suspected Derri had such a death grip on his mother that even then he'd've stayed nestled against her torso.

Jayne reached out and ran a hand through his young son's curls. "Whaddya think will make you feel better?" he asked, meaning it to sound a little tougher than it did. After all, Jayne reckoned the one life lesson he was at all qualified to teach was how to look after one's self. He had learned from a young age that he better watch himself because no one was going to do it for him. He knew he wasn't going to be winning any brilliant parenting awards or anything, but he figured the least he could do was teach his kid how to solve his own problems.

So, this was something he and Derri had been working on of late. "You're the only one who knows what it feels like to be you, so you're gonna have to learn to make things right on yer own," Jayne had told him a few weeks ago, pleased with himself for coming up with a slightly softer way to get his point across than simply saying that Derri was the only person Derri could really count on. After all, five was a little young to be learning the harsh truths of the universe, even if they were truths he would someday have to face. Plus, Jayne reasoned, at least for now Derri still had people looking out for him.

"Water," Derri decided quietly. Only, he wasn't so great with saying his "r's" yet, so it was more like "waddah."

River untangled herself once more from Derri's grasp and bounced to her feet. "I shall bring you some!"

Derri sulked as River strode from the room, but the moment she was out of sight he straightened up and stopped looking so forlorn. Jayne glanced at him suspiciously. If his evening had been ruined just because the kid had wanted a bit of attention…. But, no, now what Jayne looked closer, he realized Derri's bottom lip was quivering, and his eyes were maybe just a little too shiny, and there was something about the way his knees were still curled up to his abdomen that whispered of fear.

Jayne frowned. Why, then, the act? Derri had no problem showing his fear when River was there. Why were things different now that it was just him?

Of course, that was it. It was just him, just Jayne, and all of a sudden Jayne realized that the poor kid was trying to put on a brave face to impress his father.

Jayne felt his heart break just a little, though there was also a bit of fury. He had the sudden desire to have a serious chat – or maybe go a few rounds – with whatever higher power thought nightmares were a good thing to give to little kids. Instead, Jayne settled for putting a big hand around Derri's tiny shoulder, nearly surrounding him with a one-armed hug. "Why don't you tell yer Pa what ya dreamed 'bout," he suggested.

With wide eyes, Derrial began to talk in slow, frequently broken sentences. There was a fair bit that made no sense to Jayne, but he suspected he got the main idea. Apparently, the kid had dreamed the ship was crashing. It made sense that such an image would scare Derri; the thought of all his things, his home, everyone he knew including himself disappearing in one fiery moment was enough to frighten most adults.

But Jayne just waved his hand. "Is that all? Well, that ain't nothin'," he said dismissively. "Least, not nothin' to be worryin' 'bout. Wanna know why?"

If it was possible, Derri's eyes became even wider. "Why?"

"Well, 'cause we got the best people in the whole system keepin' Serenity in the sky, that's why!"

"But… but what if one day it don't stay in the sky no more?"

"What would yer Aunt Kaylee think if she could hear you now?" Jayne chided. "She just might love this ship more'n she loves yer Uncle Simon. Ya think she'd ever let it fall outta the sky?"

"…I guess not."

"And yer Ma, well, she's another person keepin' Serenity flyin'. Ya think she'd let Serenity to crash if you and me and her were on it?"

"Noooo."

"Right. And I'll tell ya somethin' else. I been on a lotta different ships with a lotta different pilots, and there ain't no one better'n yer Ma. As a pilot or as a person. Ain't no one better."

"Uh huh."

"Good. Now, come here." Jayne pulled Derri even more tightly against his side. Bad thoughts quashed, he knew he should have sent the kid back to his room. He had to get used to sleeping in his own room sooner or later, and besides, it was not yet so late that Jayne's night could not be salvaged. But… after the courage his son had tried to display earlier, Jayne thought that maybe, just tonight, he should go a little easier on him.

"Here's your water, Derrial," River proclaimed, gliding back into the room with a blue ceramic class. Jayne acknowledged briefly that due to the timing of her entry, she must have overheard his comments about her, but so comfortable was he in this set-up in being married to her that he didn't particularly mind. In fact, these days, he never really worried too much if she heard him say something that sounded a lot more like a line from some dumb Core poem book than something that ought to have come out of his mouth. He had gotten over being uncomfortable with her knowing his thoughts about the same time he got past his aversion to kissing on the lips. He didn't regret either.

Derri accepted the glass with two hands and – nearly spilling it all in the process – took a long gulp. "Thanks, Ma."

River settled in next to him and ruffled his dark curls. "You're welcome, bao bei." She glanced over Derri's head at Jayne. In his eyes, she must have read Jayne's decision to let their son stay with them that night. She smiled softly and nodded. As she settled in underneath the covers, Derri turned coat and left Jayne's embrace for River's. Jayne wasn't too terribly plussed; if River was holding Derri, and Jayne was holding River, it was still the same basic idea. Their weight was warm and comforting at his side.

"Try to sleep," River advised quietly. "We'll be there in not too long."

Jayne felt Derri yawn against his chest. "'Kay," the little boy muttered.

River bent slightly and pressed a soft kiss against the top of Derri's head. "What about me?" Jayne whispered mischievously.

River twisted over the top of Derri's head to kiss Jayne on the lips. She went for a light peck, but Jayne deepened it substantially, catching her jaw and holding it in place while he went about giving her what was quite possibly the most thorough kiss goodnight in the history of everything.

"Bein' squished, Ma," Derri protested sleepily, thrashing slowly in an effort to loosen the arms around him.

"Sorry, little fella. That better?"

Derri yawned and closed his eyes again, resting his head against River's chest. "Yup."

Jayne ruffled Derri's curls again. "Good. Now lay still an' get to sleep."

River and Jayne lay there, son balanced in between, not daring to move at all lest they disturbed him and his efforts to sleep. The last thing they wanted to deal with when they landed was a child who had not slept – especially if they had had neither their evening of pleasure nor a good night's rest themselves.

Finally, after Derri's breathing had evened, River dared a comment. "Fatherhood has changed you," she remarked softly, eyes shining even in the darkness.

"Pff." Jayne dismissed her comment immediately, the same way he had that time when Mal suggested just being married had changed Jayne. 'Course, Mal was talking about how Jayne tended to put someone besides Jayne first on a job, but the mercenary thought that was more due to momentary lapses in judgment than marriage magically making him a better person. And that was the sense in which Mal had meant it: better. "What d'you mean, though?" he demanded, deciding it would be best to know just what sense River was thinking of.

"Not good, not bad," she answered, in a tone that seemed to indicate a shrug even though she stayed perfectly still. "Just different."

"Ha. Sure." Jayne looked down at the scrawny boy between them. "I'll grant you that together we ain't done half-bad."

"Yes, we do produce beautiful children."

"Hell, 'course we do! It's us, ain't it? What's that yer brother's always yammerin' 'bout? DNA and genes and what's-it's? You and me, don't think we got a bad gene between us." Jayne paused. "In fact, you and I make such pretty kids that we really oughtta make another one. It's only fair to the rest of the 'verse."

There was no outward change, but something suggested to Jayne that River was frowning on the inside. "Inadvisable," she whispered, more softly than she needed to in order to not disturb Derri. "Downside risk is much too great."

"Now, when you say that, you're talkin' about how maybe you and me don't exactly have the best odds of bein' around fer a long time. And then I reply with somethin' 'bout how there's five other people on this boat who'd roll over 'n die if it'd help this son o' ours, like I told him not ten minutes ago."

"And-"

"Yep, and then you're gonna say we still ain't figured out a bunch o' the problems we got with Derri, like where he's gonna get an edge-cation livin' on a ship. Only, I still don't see what's so mighty important 'bout schoolin', and anyway, we been settin' aside some each job since he was born in case we ever end up somewhere that might have schools that'd take 'em, even though he's got a mercenary and a wanted moon brain for a pa and a ma." Jayne hesitated, catching her eye long enough to be sure she knew he didn't mean the jab at her sanity. "An' if we can't find one, we'll get some stuff off the Cortex and between the two of us – and everyone else here – we'll manage. Same for everything else: we'll manage." He smiled, just a little bit. "We've danced this dance before, darlin'. 'Less there's somethin' future-y you know that I don't, you ain't got no argument I ain't beaten before."

River bit her lip. "Why?"

Why? She'd never asked why before. Did he need a reason for wanting another kid? What would even be a good reason? He didn't think the obvious – that he was madly, deeply addicted to what one had to do to have children – would suffice. He thought about Derri. The little bugger was all kinds of adorable, and it was pretty shiny seeing his eyes on someone a lot younger and a lot better. Jayne reckoned he was fond of the way it felt whenever his kid did something like mastering the alphabet, drawing Jayne pictures whenever they could find those crayons he liked, or showing off those somersaults Kaylee had taught him. And it was pretty great how excited he always was to see Jayne when Derrial woke up in the morning, or when Jayne had been away for a few hours on a job. It felt nice, Jayne thought, when the kid threw his arms around him like Jayne was the shiniest thing to ever grace the 'verse. Was it bad to want twice as much of all that?

Of course, no matter that he'd become more at ease expressing his thoughts of late, Jayne couldn't very well say all that. "You know just as well as I do that it's downright shiny to have a little kid," he said, deciding that this summed up his thoughts nicely. "Don't pretend you don't like it."

River clutched Derri's sleeping form a little more tightly against her chest. "The threat of losing only one is menacing enough."

"Ain't nothin' bad gonna happen to that little boy," Jayne said firmly. "Nothin'. If you trust me at all, you oughtta at least trust me on that. Not while me, you, Mal, the doctor, Kaylee, or 'Nara is still breathin'. Plus, here, watch this." Jayne reached around and jerked Derrial's shoulder gently. "Derri? C'mon, Derri!"

"Derrial needs sleep!" River protested, but it was too late.

"Ma? Pa? Whazz goin' on?"

Next to him, River sighed. "Don't mind yer Ma none, Derri," Jayne instructed eagerly. "Hey now, what would ya think of havin' a little brother or sister around?"

Derri blinked, and then was momentarily overcome by a yawn. "A brother, or-?"

"Jayne-"

"Sister, yeah. Whaddya say?"

"I'm gonna have a brother or sister?" Derrial fought his way out of River's hold and jumped up. "Geez, a brother'd be real shiny! We could play tag, an' Independents and Alliance, an' I could show 'em how you can draw on yerself with Aunt 'Nara's face paints an'…"

Jayne cleared his throat loudly, and Derrial fell into a guilty silence. Over their son's head, Jayne grinned apologetically at River.

Derri gasped suddenly. "D'ya think Uncle Mal'd make me share bein' Second Mate with a brother? I dunno that I'd like that." He clutched River's leg suddenly. "Ma, it's gotta be a sister. Don't forget, 'kay? Has to be a girl."

"Jayne…"

Secure in the knowledge that his mother surely loved him enough to honor his preference, Derrial let out a wild whoop. "I'm gonna be a big brother!" he yelled, leaping up. He bounced around on the bed until he accidentally landed on Jayne's leg then moved to the floor at his father's nudging, continuing to holler.

"You fight without honor." River tucked her head against Jayne's chest dejectedly. "He's never going back to sleep."

"Nope. Ha, look at the little guy run around!" Jayne kissed her forehead. "So, whaddya say? Ya gotta admit, it'd be a shame to disappoint him now. You'd have to tell him. Don't think I could break his little heart like that."

Jayne felt River smile into his chest, and sensed that at long last he had won the war. Sure, he'd had to fight dirty, and yes, when they arrived planetside they'd have to deal with a cranky kid – and with being deprived themselves – but Jayne had no doubts that it would be worth it.

"Besides," Jayne added placatingly, fighting the urge to begin whooping himself. "Just think 'bout how much fun we had makin' the first one!"

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought of it!