Disclaimer: Second verse, same as the first. None of 'em are mine and the drama gets worse!

Also, thanks to everyone who still reads and reviews. I know as an author I pretty much failed. I hope that what comes next makes up for the great absence. 3 Sketchy

It was very difficult getting Kaylee to sit still while Wash and Forrest pulled Serenity in to land on her home planet. She bounced her legs and fidgeted like mad, almost jumping off the ramp as it lowered. Before anyone else had caught up she was taking off like a shot, moving as fast as her shirt legs and huge belly would allow. A woman in a dusty pair of overalls was running up the dirt road toward the ship, the widest and brightest smile on her tanned face. She glowed bright as the sun, and not one person aboard the ship doubted for a moment this was Kaylee's ma.

"Mama!" the mechanic hollered, hugging the woman tightly around her baby bump. The two women were hugging and crying and chattering so fast they sounded like weepy squirrels. The rest of the crew deboarded a bit more calmly, Jayne hanging toward the back of the group. Not that he was nervous, no. He just wasn't eager to set foot on another dust covered planet where you had to scrounge for your meals. Jayne had always been more comfortable on Core planets. Preferred order and civilization.

"Nervous?" Simon asked, the only person who had left the ship behind Jayne. The merc turned to the doc, a stony look on his face. He didn't reply, but grunted shortly. Simon frowned at him, pleased as always by the man's conversation skills. "You can't possibly be more nervous than I am."

"I knocked her up," Jayne snorted.

"I left her," Simon replied softly. "I broke her heart."

The doctor had a good point, which made Jayne smirk. "Yeah," he said, getting a little spring in his step. At least he was sticking around, seeing this baby thing through. And Kaylee had said her parents would like him, and she would know better than he would anyway. They were her folks after all. The merc walked over toward Kaylee, who was still chattering like mad with her mama. He stood unnoticed a solid few minutes, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the crew who stood watching, most of them laughing.

"Oh, mama!" Kaylee declared, seeming to remember that she had seven other people standing idle. "You have to meet my crew! This here's Cap'n Mal, and Zoe, and that there's River and Forrest, our young'ns, and there's Simon our doc and 'Nara, and this..." She stepped close to Jayne, hooking her arm through his, "is Jayne. Joss' daddy." She grinned, seeming happier then anything that Jayne was the father of her child. Jayne seemed more dubious then pleased about it all.

Kaylee's mom gave Jayne a once-over, squinting at him before the smile crossed her features again. "Hello, Jayne!" she delcared, pulling him into a tight and suprisingly strong hug. She was a short woman, but she had arms like a bear. The merc was pretty certain he felt a rib pop. "Kaylee's been gushing 'bout you for months now, says you're a real stand-up guy." Taking his shoulders, Mrs. Frye looked him over properly, eventually nodding as though deciding that he'd do. "Come on in the house, all of you! I have a stew on the stove that's been simmering all day and if I keep Papa from it any longer he'll waste into nothin!"

As though having known he'd be talked about, Mr. Frye came strolling up the dirt pathway, wiping his hands on a greasy rag. He had a hard look about him, the kind of man that was always thinking and rarely talking. His crisp blue eyes were sharp, looking over Jayne like a hawk on its prey. The merc didnt like fluffy baby cooing and crap, but he liked being sized up even less. His own eyes scanned Kaylee's father, a silent battle passing between them. Mr. Frye outstretched his hand. "You must be Jayne," he said, almost tersely, shaking the merc's hand firmly. There were a hundred words passing between the two men, none of them pleasant.

"Daddy!" Kaylee squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. Either she was totally oblivious to the testosterone battle or she was simply ignoring it. "Daddy this is my crew!" She went through the introductions again, pointing them out one by one. Her father nodded a greeting to all of them. Every one except Simon. With Simon he walked right up to the medic, who shrank a little under his gaze.

"So," he said firmly, "you're the doctor who broke my girl's heart?"

"Daddy!" Kaylee scolded, embarassed but not knowing what she could do about it. Daddy Frye got his way, end of story. Even Kaylee's mama, who looked totally embarassed, simply bit her bottom lip and looked at Simon apologetically.

Straightening himself, the doctor held the man's gaze, even though he really just wanted to take off at a run in the opposite direction. "I didn't mean to hurt your daughter," he said, trying to sound confident but his meek voice betrayed him.

Papa Frye snorted, clearly not buying it. "You boys from the Core, think it's all fun with girls like Kaylee. Like they ain't got feelings you can crush."

"No, sir, I never-"

"So why ain't my daughter good enough for you?"

"Daddy!"

"Answer me, doctor."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Simon gestured with his hands as though that would make a brilliant explaination pop out of his mouth. "Kaylee is wonderful, sir. And she's been a very good friend to me, b-but... she and I, we... just didn't fit." He couldn't tell the man it was just sexual tension between him and Kaylee, that would be suicide.

"Why not?" There was nothing wrong with Kaylee, in fact this damn doctor would have been lucky to have a girl like her. Mr. Frye knew his little girl was no angel, as her current condition indicated, but if Simon had just used his daughter for relief of his nether regions, he would be parting with them right soon. Kaylee had loved this man dearly, and no one got away with hurting Papa Frye's baby girl.

"Because..." Licking his lips, Simon glanced over at Mal, who seemed more tense then the doctor had ever seen him. Simon wished he's say something, wished someone might say something, anything to end this awful moment. "Because I fell in love with someone else."

The silence that hung in the air was incredible, almost having a weight of its own. Everyone looked between one another, varying degrees of concern, shock and confusion on their faces. All except Simon, who was staring at Kaylee's father (who was staring back at him) and Mal, whose jaw was set and his eyes staring hard at his doctor. Mr. Frye leaned closer to Simon, mullling this new piece of information over. "Who?" he asked.

"Zoe." The name just came out, no thought behind it, not even a brief check with the brain to make sure it was allowed to be said. Just came out, and there was no turning back now.

Papa Frye looked over at Zoe, who was doing her damndest not to seem completely stunned by this startling revelation. She would more then likely destroy Simon later. Brow furrowed, he nodded curtly at her, stepping away from the near trembling doctor. "Let's eat," he said simply, taking Kaylee by the hand and leading her back toward the house. Almost immediately she began chatting again, putting a hand on her belly and telling her father about all the funny things Joss did while still inside her. Mrs. Frye waved everyone else along, taking Jayne's arm and walking with him. Everyone else began to follow suit, and it would be easy to believe that the tense moment that had passed never happened. Unless, of course, you looked at Mal's face.

Lagging behind everyone else, Simon fell in step with the captain, who was looking dead ahead. "Mal," Simon began, speaking low.

"Captain," Mal instantly corrected.

Captain. Great. So that's how this was going to be. "I didn't... I didn't know what else to say."

" 'Nothing' leaps to mind."

"Well I couldn't say nothing, I had to tell him something. And that was the first name that came to mind, I just-"

"This might be a conversation you best be having with your new lady love, don't you think?"

"Mal," he said, almost pleading, "don't take it like that..."

"Doc, I don't care, ok? You do whatever it is you feel you gotta do here. I'll go about my business and you'll go about yours." End of discussion.

"But this is your business. I couldn't... how could I tell him I left his daughter for a man?"

"You didn't," Mal said sharply. "You just left his daughter. Though to be in the right, you weren't with her to begin with, so..."

"Mal-"

"Captain."

"Captain." Simon spat the word as though it burned his tongue. "If Kaylee did't tell them... how could I?"

Mal knew the hundred and one reasons Kaylee hadn't told her parents Simon was working on the sly now. For one, men like that weren't looked kindly upon in the outer planets. For another, her father hardly seemed the type to have any desire to deal with Core men at all, let alone soft Core men. And finally, maybe most importantly, it probably embarassed the hell out of her to have to admit that someone she'd fallen so hard for was not with a man. But all these reasons did not excuse the startling realization Simon had blabbed out in front of everyone. "You coulda let me in on the secret, you know."

"I told you, Zoe's name was the first one I thought of, I didn't-"

"That ain't the one I'm talking about." He glared sideways at Simon, picking up his pace.

It took Simon a moment to understand the captain's meaning, what with his thoughts laden with confusion and fear of Zoe killing him later, and guilt about looking ashamed about his relationship with Mal (which he wasn't, or not totally). Eventually he got it though, the epiphone striking him hard. He had just told everyone in the crew that he had fallen in love with someone. The subject had never been broached before, and now everyone knew. The whole damn ship knew. He was a complete idiot.