A/N: Well, we're finally gonna meet Jayne's family. The visit to Kerry to should cover the next few chapters at least. The Mal/River situation will be resolved before they leave. I promise. At the bottom of the page I've listed Jayne's family members and their ages for all of you. - Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy :)


Today was the day they were going to land on Kerry and meet Jayne's family. The merc watched his wife running around the galley getting together baked goods and the presents they'd gotten for his family into baskets. She had been near frantic with worry that she wasn't going to make a good impression on his kin ever since it hit her they were gonna be there soon a few days ago. Since then she'd been cooking up a storm and cleaning the ship spotless enlisting everyone's help in case his family wanted to come on board and have a look around. She was worried sick that the Cobb's weren't going to like her and it puzzled Jayne to no end just why she was concerned that 'they' wouldn't like 'her'. He kinda thought it was gonna be the other way around. He knew his family. They could be a rough bunch but they were good people too; hard-working farmers and ranchers all of them. His ma, he told Tessa, was gonna adore her.

"Baby, you've got enough pies and baked goods there to feed an army," Jayne told her putting her running around to stop by taking hold of her arms and making her face him. "Tessa, they're gonna love you. Stop worrying yourself about it."

"But what if they think I'm not good enough for you? I mean, we didn't exactly get married the usual way. What if they think badly of me for joining the marriage contracting service?" Tessa argued frowning. Jayne shook his head and pulled her into his arms letting her hide against his chest.

"They won't," he assured her firmly. "I already told my ma about it and she approved of the whole thing, said it was the best way to make sure I married a good girl and not some whore. Well, she used the word 'trollop' but Ma's kinda strict about foul language. I'm sure she already let the rest of them know too and they're not gonna care. If anything, they're gonna be jealous because I got such a beautiful wife. If anybody does give you any trouble then you tell me and I'll set them straight. Dong ma?"

She nodded and lifted her head to look him. "You're too good to me, ai ren."

"Well, it goes both ways. You're good to me and I'm good to you," Jayne smiled down at her. "We take care of each other. My Pa said that's what makes marriage work, the give and take. Oh, and laughter. He said you gotta be able to laugh together."

Tessa grinned up at him and nodded, "I think I would have liked your pa. Do you miss him?"

"I didn't use to but since I've gotten a little older I think about him a lot. We had a big falling out before I left home. I wanted to travel and see what was out there in verse for me and he didn't want me to. We fought about it and I packed my stuff and left. That was the last time I saw him before he died a few years later," Jayne explained. "I wasn't really needed there, though. I've got four brothers, two sisters and all of them are grown, married and have their own kids except for my youngest brother Mattie who's nineteen now. He's got the damp lung but I already told you about that."

"I talked to Simon about taking a look at him and seeing if there's anything he can do for Mattie," Tessa told him quietly. "Was that all right?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" he asked.

"You and Simon don't really get along that well so I just wondered if you minded," she shrugged. He shook his head and bent to kiss her before turning and looking at the baskets full of goodies on the table.

"I don't know how the hell we're gonna fit all this in the mule, bao bei," Jayne told her.

"Oh no, they're sending a couple of wagons for all of us. River talked to your sister Beth about it yesterday when she waved to ask us when we're gonna be there," Tessa explained. "I don't know if Mal gonna want to stay on the ship at night, though. He said we'd have a few days here to visit before we have the job on the other side of Kerry to tend to."

Mal walked in then and frowned at all the baskets on the table. "Are we making any charitable donations I should know about?" he asked them.

"No, they're for Jayne's family. You don't go visiting without bringing something," Tessa explained as if it were obvious. "There're so many because well, I want to make a good impression and we have to make up for Jayne being away so many years."

"We're landing in an hour," Mal said before walking out. The newlyweds looked at each other and shared a frown at the Captain's behavior. He'd been acting odd since he and Jayne had talked about River a few days ago right after the 'saloon incident' on Athens. He was curt and a bit sullen to everybody, brooding all the time and studying River when she was nearby like he was trying to figure something out but just couldn't quite get a handle on it.

"Did you get a chance to wave your brothers about River?" Tessa asked her husband once she was sure Mal was gone.

"I talked to Noah about it. He said that the only one that's single and would agree to do it is my brother Craig's son Dean. He's twenty and wilder than I was at that age from what Noah told me. He said that he'd talk it over with him and let us know when we get there," Jayne explained in a somewhat reluctant tone. He'd half-hoped she'd forgotten about the plan.

"Good," she nodded. "River's on board too. I talked to her about it and she said that she has to do 'something' to get the Capt'n's attention short of tying him up and having her way with him."

"That might be simpler," Jayne muttered and his wife glared at him in warning. "I just don't like playing games like this is all, baby. Someone always gets hurt. And I cannot stress enough that it ain't any of our business."

"You agreed, Jayne," she reminded him and he growled with frustration but nodded anyway. "Besides, if River and Dean both know what they're getting into and that this is just to spur Mal into action then how could they get hurt? You think Dean might take an actual liking to her?"

"I don't know the boy but I doubt River's gonna be his type if he was anything like I was," Jayne grimaced thinking of how he'd been at twenty. He had been wild, reckless, stubborn and not caring about anyone but himself. Come to think of it, he'd still been like that until he married Tessa. Well, except for reckless; he'd learn the hard way to be cautious about things over the years. Still, he didn't really understand what a relation of his would see in River. None of them knew she was a little killer woman. They'd just look at her and see the Core bred girl pilot. Well, they'd just have to see what happens.


An hour later Serenity landed on Kerry and its Captain and crew opened the bay doors to reveal two men that resembled Jayne closely waiting on them next to two large wagons. Jayne grinned and took Tessa's hand leading her over to them.

"Jayne, you sorry pi gu, you didn't tell us she was this pretty," Craig, the oldest of his younger brothers, told him grinning. He gave Tessa a friendly nod. "I'm Craig, darlin, and this is Noah."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Tessa replied a bit shyly. Both men were around Jayne's height but not quite as tall with the same Cobb blue eyes and no-nonsense look about them.

"She's shy," Jayne explained tucking her closer to his side. The men nodded understanding. "Ma sent you two huh? Oh and don't call my wife 'darlin'. I just broke the Capt'n from doing it."

"Hell, Jayne, I didn't mean anything by it," Craig waved him off. "And yeah, she did. Oh and Dean said that he'd help you out with your plan. He's rounding up some strays in the west pasture right now with Billie, Luke and Charlie but they'll be along after while."

"Fine then, let me introduce y'all to the rest of the crew," Jayne waved Mal and the others over and made the introductions between them and his brothers. He saw Craig and Noah exchange a concerned frown when he pointed out River and he wondered about it but now wasn't the time to ask.

After they got everybody, and those baskets and their luggage, loaded onto the wagons and Mal locked up the ship, they started off toward Cobb Croft. It had been in their family going on a hundred and fifty years now, covered a hundred-thousand acres of rich farmland and arable pasture and everyone in their family until Jayne moved off had been born, lived and died there. The main house was huge; had three floors and a basement and cellar, ten bedrooms and ten and a half bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room, parlor, study, laundry room, and sun room. The crew were stunned when they saw it coming up the driveway lined with large oak trees. They had assumed Jayne came from a poor family by the way he acted but evidently they had been wrong.

"Do you all live here?" Kaylee asked Noah as they pulled up the house.

"Nah, this is the main house. We grew up here but after we got married and started having kids we all built our own houses, nowhere near as big as this one, though," he explained. "My wife Penny and I and our kids live over that hill over there where that grove of apple trees stands. Craig and Julia and their kids live over on the north side where the creek comes out from the mountain. Beth and her husband Cole and their young'uns live in town. We didn't pass by their place, though. They live on the other side of town. Cole's a lawyer. Their boy Luke, he's seventeen like Craig's twin girls Billie and Charlie, comes to help out on the place with us, though. He's a good hand with horses. Seth and his wife Karen and their kids live in town too, next door from Beth and Cole. Karen's pa owned and ran the general store before he passed and he didn't leave any children behind but Karen so she and Seth took it over and they run it now. Josie and her husband Robert live here, though, over yonder on the south side in the valley. Robert's our chief farmer, next to Ma that is. The only one that still lives here in the main house with Ma though is Mattie. He's the youngest of us siblings, just turned nineteen."

"How many kids do you have?" Simon asked his mind boggling at all the Cobb's at the place. One Jayne was often too many for him to handle, let alone this many.

"Two, my daughter Sam is thirteen and my son Jesse is eleven," Noah answered. "Craig over there's got five though; Dean who's twenty, the twin girls Billie and Charlie at seventeen, another boy Eli who's fifteen and then his youngest boy Josh who's twelve. Then Beth and Cole have three; their boy Luke that I just told Miss Kaylee about, and their girls Sarah who's fifteen and Laura who's twelve. Seth and Karen have three kids; Jacob's six and the twin girls Megan and Hannah are two. And then Josie and Robert have three too; Damon's seven, Lydia's five and Kenneth is two. I don't think anybody's expecting right now unless Jayne and my new sister in law have something to announce."

"No, we ain't expecting yet," Jayne shook his head at his brother as they came to a stop in front of the house.

"That makes thirty Cobb's, counting Jayne and Tessa," Simon whispered to himself in shock after doing the math in his head. Jayne heard him and gave him an evil grin before jumping down and turning to help Tessa off the wagon.

Radiant Cobb, or Ma, came running out of the house when she heard them pull up. The first thing the robust, healthy woman did was embrace Jayne and Tessa in a bear hug. She reminded River of the Amazon women from the Earth-that-was mythology; tall, dark blonde hair that was graying now but attractive with sparkling grey eyes. Apparently Jayne and his siblings had gotten the Cobb blue from their father.

"I'm so glad y'all made it," Ma Cobb told them. Then she let go of Jayne and turned to Tessa. "Now then, let's have a look at my new daughter. I swear, Jayne didn't tell me you were so beautiful, honey."

"She brought you about a dozen baskets of goodies, Ma," Jayne said proudly as he and the other men unloaded their things, "Made it all herself."

"Well, aren't you just an angel," Ma hugged Tessa again and then turned to look at the others. "Which one of you is River? My grandson Dean said when you got here I was to send you out to him and his sisters and cousin. Can you ride a horse, honey?"

River nodded and smiled widely. She hadn't been allowed to go riding in years. She had a dapple gray mare named Seraphina when she was little but her father sold it when she left for the Academy.

"Well then," Ma continued, "You go on over to the stables and tell Eli to pick you out one and get it saddled then head over to the west pasture. It's that way."

Ma pointed in the direction and River nodded then walked off toward the stables ignoring the way Mal had tensed up and Simon's objections. Noah gave Simon a firm pat on the back and smiled.

"She'll be fine, Doc," Noah assured him. "Eli'll probably put her on Maybelle. She's a gentle bay mare and she'll lead your sister in the right direction to catch up with the others."

"You know," Tessa mused aloud, "I wondered why River wore jeans today instead of a dress. Do you think she knew she'd be riding?"

"Probably," Jayne agreed then made the introductions for everybody before turning back to his mother. "Ma, where's Mattie?"

"He's not feeling well today. He's upstairs taking a nap," Ma explained, her voice losing it's pleasant sound in exchange for a sad tone. "He's been looking forward to your visit, though. Now, y'all get all this inside and Jayne, you know where your room is that you and Tessa will be staying. Just put everybody else in the others. Miss Kaylee and the Doc here will have separate rooms. I don't mean no offense on either of ya but you ain't married, and I don't allow that kind of nonsense under my roof."

"That's fine, Mrs. Cobb, we understand," Kaylee nodded giving the older woman a beaming smile. She reminded her of her own mother back home on Harvest.

"It'll be easier if everybody just calls me Ma, honey," she told them. "Tessa, you, Kaylee and Zoe come on with me to the kitchen and we'll get these goodie baskets sorted out. Everyone else is gonna be here tonight for dinner and tomorrow we're having a big get-together with friends from town and the neighboring farms to welcome Jayne home and as celebration to you and him getting hitched, Tessa. I never thought I'd see the day that my Jayne got married. You just don't know how happy that makes me."

Tessa was a bit overwhelmed by her mother in law but she was relieved too. She knew how highly Jayne valued his mother's opinion on things. Now as long as the rest of them didn't find fault with her it would all be all right. She met her husband's gaze briefly while Ma led her and the other women into the house and he gave her a wink and smiled making her blush and smile back. Ma caught it and smiled to herself. Yes, she was very happy about the choice her boy had made.


THE COBB FAMILY (Jayne is the oldest of the siblings and 40 yrs old; Tessa is 18 as previously stated in the story)

Radiant 'Ma' Cobb (57): Jayne was born when she was seventeen; she married at sixteen.

Jake Cobb (deceased): Jayne's father

Craig Cobb (38), his wife Julia (38); their son Dean (20); twin daughters Billie and Charlie (17); son Eli (15); and son Josh (12)

Beth Cobb-Whitaker (36), her husband Cole Whitaker (42); their son Luke (17); daughter Sarah (15); and daughter Laura (12)

Noah Cobb (33), his wife Penny (33); their daughter Sam (13); and son Jesse (11)

Seth Cobb (29), his wife Karen (27); their son Jacob (6); twin daughters Megan and Hannah (2)

Josie Cobb-Ryland (25), her husband Robert Ryland (34); their son Damon (7); daughter Lydia (5); and son Kenneth (2)

Mattie Cobb (19)