Zoe and Hoban "Wash" Washburn laid together; wide awake, despite the late hour. They were quiet, as they didn't want to wake everyone aboard the ship.
"That was the best time that I've had since our wedding." said Wash.
"Hands down?" asked Zoe.
"Hands down."
Zoe and Wash shared a laugh and then dived into a passionate kiss. Wash tried to pull apart for a second, but it seemed that Zoe didn't want to. Finally, he was able to break way from her. Zoe quickly hopped out of the bed and wrapped herself in her robe.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm doing. I just..."
Wash took Zoe's hand and then sat her back down on the bed. "Honey, what is it? You've never acted like this before."
"When I thought you were dead. I've never been so scared in my entire life. I just couldn't stand losing you."
Wash sighed and caressed Zoe's arm, and then gave a few gentle kisses on her shoulder.
"I'm here, all right? I'm not going to leave you." whispered Wash.
Zoe turned to Wash and touched his cheek. "You've gotta promise me, Wash."
"I promise."
Zoe hardly trusted anyone, not even herself on occasions. But when she looked into Wash's eyes; she knew that he was being honest. She could trust him completely.
"I hope you keep it." said Zoe.
Zoe gave Wash a nice, long kiss and then laid back in bed with him. As they were about to close their eyes to sleep; Zoe couldn't help but ask the one question that had been lingering on her mind.
"Do we still want that family?"
Wash turned to Zoe. He was taken aback by the question, but not very surprised by anything that came out of his wife's mouth. He let out a sigh, knowing that he had to answer.
"Well, of course I still want kids. I just thought that maybe we were going to wait awhile. Until we both recovered from the shock of the day."
Zoe caressed Wash's chest. "How long do we have to wait?"
Wash shrugged. "About five seconds."
Wash and Zoe smiled at one another and then slid under the covers.
The next morning...
The entire crew was seated for breakfast. Save Zoe and Wash, who hadn't even woken up yet.
Everyone couldn't help but wonder where they were.
"It's still early," said Jayne "maybe they decided to sleep in today."
"Can't they do this later? We've got a ship to keep in order." said Mal.
"Come on guys, you know that Wash could have been killed yesterday. You can't blame Zoe for wanting some private time with him." said Kaylee.
After awhile, Zoe and Wash came into the kitchen. Hand-in-hand, with smiles on their faces. Kaylee and Inara were smiling; as they were happy to see them together.
"Have fun, kids?" asked Jayne, in his usual sarcastic tone.
"Beyond." said Zoe.
"Far beyond." added Wash.
"Come on. It's getting cold." said Inara.
Zoe and Wash sat down next to one another. Everyone could see that they had something they needed to tell.
"All right, what are you lovebirds keeping from us?" asked Mal.
"We tried to make a kid last night." said Wash, smiling at Zoe.
"Thank you for being direct."
Upon hearing Jayne's remark; Kaylee kicked his ankle from underneath the table.
"That's great. Do you think it will happen?" asked Kaylee.
"Maybe. I won't mind trying again." said Wash.
As Zoe and Wash kissed; River rose from the table. Her face showed hardly any expression as she spoke.
"Excuse me. I need to take a walk." said River.
River left the kitchen. Everyone shrugged it off, as River did seem a bit weird to the crew. Simon, concerned for his little sister, followed her out of the kitchen.
"There's something else that we talked about." said Zoe.
"What is it?" asked Mal.
Zoe sighed. "We were thinking of leaving the ship."