Here's Chapter 2 for you all.

It may seem all Mal / Zoe for those of your uncomfortable with it, and some bits will seem like that. But it isn't exactly what you think. If you want to give up on it thats your perogative but I know where its going :-P

I'm not telling who dies!

And there will be a few more Top Gun references to come...I just find that Wash and Goose are practically the same person...right down to the shirts!

Oh and the chapter title competition is still open (see chapter 1)

There is Rayne and Jayne's family in this one! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Once You've Tasted Love

"Simon?"

He looks up from a book as she enters the infirmary then sets it down on the worktop.

"How is my favourite patient?" He leans down and speaks to her bump.

River smiles at him. "She's fine."

"Good. Can't have problems with my niece now can I? No we can't can we, no, no we can't no…"

"Simon." She interrupts his descent into baby talk at her belly.

He straightens up.

"What happened this morning?" she asks gently.

He turns away and pretends to fuss with something on the worktop. "Err nothing."

"Liar." She says stubbornly. "Kaylee thinks you're leaving. Is she right?"

He stands there with his mouth open for a moment. "I…umm…"

"You are leaving aren't you?" River sounds hurt. "Why did you ever come back with us if you didn't intend on staying?"

He turns "River…" but she has already left the infirmary. Simon leans back against the edge of the worktop and sighs loudly.

Serenity lands in the dust just outside a small town on St. Owens.

The crew assemble in the cargo bay. Jayne is twitchy and keeps pulling at the collar of his smartest shirt. River too is fidgeting nervously. Mal lowers the ramp and opens the air lock doors and looks out at the scattered collection of houses and farm buildings. The heat hits them like a wave.

"Which one do you call home sweet home Jayne?"

Jayne gives him a glare but points to one a few hundred yards away, grab's River's small hand in his big one and heads towards it. The rest of the crew trail after him, squinting in the bight sunlight. Mal slightly behind Jayne and River. Then Wash and Zoë strolling along casually, hand in hand. Little Mal running ahead of them, kicking up clouds of dust with his shoes. Kaylee hurries to keep up with them, keeping up a steady stream of chatter with Wash. Simon and Inara bring up the rear. Both looking less than completely comfortable in their present surroundings.

When they near the house a woman appears on the front porch, shielding her eyes with her hand. She is wearing an apron over a floral dress, and her greying hair is pulled into a bun at the back of her head. As they approach she calls out to someone inside the house.

"Jacob! Maddie! Benjamin! Daniel! Get your butts out here and see who's crawled on home!"

"Hello Ma," Jayne says warily dropping River's hand.

"Jayne Cobb, why ain't you been home to see your mama?" She says walking down the steps towards them. She is a small woman, no taller than River but even Mal realises that Jayne would never mess with her.

"Ain't my fault Ma!" he gestures to Mal. "This hundan…"

He gets cut short by a cuff round the head.

"Ow Ma!"

"Don't you use such language Jayne. And give your mother a hug."

The rest of the crew look on in amusement as the mercenary gives his mother a firm hug. On the porch three men, who all bear a striking resemblance to Jayne, and a girl of maybe fifteen, have appeared.

Jayne pulls River forwards. "This is River."

His mother looks her over and cuffs him again. "Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant?"

Jayne shrugs and has the sense to look shamefaced. "Surprise?" he offers lamely.

"Its very nice to meet you Mrs Cobb," River says politely, holding out her hand.

"Call me Lisa, none of this Mrs Cobb stuff," she says giving River a tight hug. "Now which one of you is Simon?" she asks turning to the group who have naturally semi-circled around them.

"I am," he steps forward slightly tentatively.

Lisa pulls him into a hug much to his surprise. "Well, you're all family now! I've heard a lot about you. But Jayne didn't tell me how much you needed feeding up!"

"Err okay…err thank you," Simon stutters.

Mary looks at the crew again. "Which one is the dead captain?"

Mal steps up and gives her his most charming smile. He bows to her and holds out his hand. "Captain Malcolm Reynolds ma'am."

She eyes his coat for a moment. "Independent?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good boy." She looks around at the others. "Lets save the rest of the introductions for over a cold glass of lemonade shall we?"

Kaylee squeals loudly and even Mal gets a slightly glazed over look in his eyes at the thought of real lemonade.

"'Emonade?" Baby Mal looks up at Wash with big eyes.

Wash scoops him up. "Yes son real lemony lemonade!" And his eyes are as big as his son's.

Jayne tramps up the steps and exchanges various grunts and nods and handshakes with three of his brothers. The girl looks up at him seriously for a moment then throws herself at her big brother.

"Jaynie!"

He groans, "Please don't call me that Maddie."

She grins. "You call me Maddie! My name is Madeline!"

Jayne laughs and ruffles her hair, then picks her up in a big bear hug. "Lead the way to the lemonade mei mei."

They all end up sat around the big table in the kitchen with tall iced glasses of lemonade in front of them. Mal introduces the rest of the crew to Jayne's family.

Lisa introduces the oldest Cobb boy as Jacob who smiles at them, and then Daniel, the quieter one who has lighter hair than Jayne, and finally Benjamin, the youngest with a wicked glint in his eyes.

The lemonade proves popular with Wash asking for seconds before anyone else. Even Kaylee and baby Mal.

"Of course," Lisa pours him a fresh glass as the kitchen door opens with a bang.

"I was told trouble had blown back into town."

The man standing there could nearly be Jayne's twin, except for the clothes.

"Your brother…" Kaylee says in shock "…is a preacher?"

Jayne mock glowers at every single member of the crew, who all have their mouths open. "Yes, he's the good one of the family."

He stands and his brother embraces him with a slap on the shoulder.

"Everyone this is my brother Luke. A disgrace to the grand Cobb name."

"Behave Jayne. We're mighty proud of Luke being a preacher so don't you be mockin' his callin'," Lisa tells Jayne off but with a smile.

Luke grabs a glass and pours himself some lemonade and throws himself into a chair.

"Now then," Lisa continues. "We gotta get you all set to stay."

"Don't worry about it," Mal starts. "We had accommodation on Serenity…"

"I will not have guests of mine sleeping on a spaceship dong ma? Jayne, River and Simon can stay here in the guest rooms. Kaylee would you mind bunking up in Maddie's room?"

Kaylee nods. "Sure, so long as Maddie don't mind?"

Maddie's eyes are shining so they take that as a yes.

"Mal and Inara can stay with Jacob and Ellen…"

"His missus," Jayne interrupts.

"And Zoë and Wash can stay with Daniel and his wife, Jemima. Does that suit you captain?"

"Yes ma'am," Mal smiles.

"Alright then. Boys off you run."

The two instructed Cobb boys leave the house. The others, including Jayne, start to clear the table. Lisa follows them into the pantry to wash up.

Inara leans over to Mal. "I'd never believe that Malcolm Reynolds knew how to speak respectfully to someone's mother."

"What? I can be polite you know!"

Zoë snorts quietly. "Learnt some manners when we were away?"

Mal rolls his eyes. "I can be quiet charming when I so choose…"

"You try charmin' my mother and I'll have Vera on you," Jayne warns as he walks back into the room clutching a bowl.

Mal just grins and gestures to his own chest with both hands. "Can I help it if I'm this alluring to women?"

Inara covers her face with her hand, as Jayne's mother comes back into the room. "That you can't boy, but you can get a big head so ssshh."

"Yes ma'am," Mal grins and accepts the bowl of ice cream she offers him.

The bar is gloomy compared to the bright sunlight outside. The only other people in there are two men playing cards at a table near the window, a barman cleaning tables, and the barmaid who is facing away from the room, polishing glasses.

Jayne walks to the bar, leaving his wide brimmed hat firmly on his head. He sits half on a stool, keeping one foot on the ground.

"Two fingers of whisky ma'am," he drawls softly.

The woman turns and looks at him for a second, slight annoyance on her face. Then she looks a little closer.

Jayne leans back so she can see his face past the hat's brim.

"Well if it isn't Jayne Cobb!" She rounds the end of the bar and hugs him firmly.

He grins and pushes his hat up a bit. "How are you?"

"Fine fine," she sweeps a hand through her curly blond auburn hair. "Didn't think I'd see you back on this dust ball for a long time."

Jayne laughs.

River enters the bar in search of Jayne and spots him laughing with the woman. Her stomach flip-flops uncomfortably. Then he spots her and it's too late to run away.

"River baby," he calls and gestures her over.

River walks up slowly, feeling suddenly defensive.

Jayne loops his arm around her waist and grins at her. "River meet Ellen Cobb, Jacob's missus. Ellen this is River, my wife."

Ellen smiles brightly at River. "Pleased to meet the woman who finally tamed Jayne."

River smiles back stupidly, feeling like a fool for her earlier jealousy. "Pleased to meet you too."

"Jayne's like the brother I never had. When we were kids he used to put frogs down my dress."

Jayne laughs loudly. "I'd forgotten that. Jacob used to squeal to my mama. Boy you got me in some trouble girl."

She laughs. "You got any brothers River?"

"One, Simon. You'll meet him later. He never put frogs down my dress though."

Jayne snorts. "You probably put them down his."

Ellen grabs them some drinks and they sit talking in the bar for a long time until Jacob appears to drag them all home for dinner.

Jayne's mother has put on a huge spread of food for all of them. They are crammed round the table on a variety of different chairs, sourced from the Cobb's houses across the town. The boys had spent a time before dinner carrying them to their mother's house and arranging the dining room to accommodate the fifteen people it needed to. The chairs are a variety of heights creating an amusing tableau round the table. But the crew of Serenity are more interested in the food. Real pork, a couple of roast chickens, real vegetables, gravy and not a piece of processed protein in sight. Everyone piles their plates high and still Lisa Cobb keeps the table groaning under the weight of the food upon it.

They are all however crammed together round the table, which leads to much banging of elbows and laughter as they try to manoeuvre the food dishes around each other.

Mal finds himself next to Zoë, with her sitting extremely close to him. He swallows the mouthful of chicken he has and wonders why he feels so uncomfortable all of a sudden. He glances up at Inara, down the table who is deep in conversation with Jayne's little sister Maddie. They seem to be discussing Inara's posh dress right now. Simon is talking to Jayne's mother, being unfailingly polite. Mal glances at Wash who is feeding baby Mal on the other side of the table.

Zoë looks sideways at him. "What is it sir?" She shifts her weight in her chair as she does so, meaning that her leg ends up pressed against his. Mal nearly chokes on his mouthful of food. Their gazes meet momentarily. Mal blinks and wonders why he never noticed how big and brown her eyes are. And why that thought is so very very wrong.

She pushes his leg away from her playfully. "Get back on your own chair."

It's something that they have done a million times, the playful push of the leg. But never has it felt like a static shock has gone through both of them.

Zoë pulls her hand away sharply and focuses her attention firmly back on the food on her plate.

Mal swallows the lump that is suddenly in his throat and looks back at his own food, then turns to Kaylee and tries to engage her in conversation.

River suddenly looks up and stares straight at him.

He looks round under the intensity of her gaze. "Yes River?"

"It rained in a clear sky," she says softly. "There wasn't a cloud but it still rained." She looks to one side of her at Wash who is paying no attention whatsoever, and then back to Zoë then settles her eyes dead on Mal's.

"Right…That's interesting…" Mal says slightly confused, but more worried at the gnawing of blame in his stomach. He hasn't done a thing but under her eyes he feels like confessing to a million things. River's eyes bore into his hotly and he wants more than anything to look away. River breaks the look first and glances to Simon.

Zoë glances sideways at Mal in confusion.

River looks at him as though trying to figure something complex out. "I thought so," she finally says serenely. Then starts to eat her chicken as though nothing has occurred at all.

"Hey," Simon says softly, running a hand through his already messy hair.

Regan Tam smiles at him affectionately. "You should get your hair cut," she says.

Simon runs a hand through it again, pushes the front down in an effort to make it lie down and only succeeds in messing it up more. He sighs theatrically and gives up.

"How are you?" his mother asks gently.

He looks at the ceiling before he answers. "I'm fine."

The WAVE crackles slightly and Simon adjusts the camera.

"Really?"

He doesn't answer.

"How is River?" Regan knows when to change the subject.

"Getting big," he brightens, "she hates it of course. Says she feels like a whale."

Regan laughs. "Are you taking good care of her?"

"Of course!" he pretends to be affronted. "Everything is fine. The baby is fine."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

He shakes his head. "She doesn't want to know so I'm not telling you!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"I just want to know what colour baby clothes to buy," Regan says smiling. "How is Jayne?"

"Good, his family are nice. He's got four brothers, one sister. His mother told me I'm too skinny."

Regan laughs. "Well I agree, sure you get enough to eat out there?"

"For the last time yes!" Simon smiles.

Then she asks the one question he has avoided asking every time they speak. "How are you and Kaylee?"

He pulls a face before he can stop himself, and she frowns at him. "What's wrong?"

"We kinda…err…broke up. It's messy. I was thinking…I was thinking about coming home."

Regan blinks. "As much as I'd love to have you Simon, I don't know if that's a good idea. Your father…"

Simon sighs loudly. "I know. Maybe its just time I got off Serenity."

Regan nods. "Let me know what you decide. And keep an eye on River."

"I will," he says. "Love you."

"Love you too Simon. Goodbye."

"Bye," he says and signs off the WAVE. Then sits staring out of the window, as the sky turns orange. Soft footsteps come up behind him. He swivels Wash's chair, "River?"

"No, only me. They're looking for you," Inara says resting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She sounds so genuinely concerned that he can't lie to her. He can never lie to Inara for some reason. "No, but I'll pretend I am."

He stands up. "Shall we go before anyone…"

"Gets the wrong idea?" she laughs and raises an eyebrow. "Dirty mind doctor."

He flushes pinkly and Inara links her arm through his. "Come on."

Translation Notes

Hundan – son of a bitch

Mei mei – little sister

Dong ma? – Understand?