Later that evening, back on the ship:

They had left Persephone for the black and River had moved into Jayne's bunk

the second after she placed the ship on auto pilot. Considering that she didn't have many personal belongings, the entire move took fifteen minutes. Jayne gave her half of his limited closet and drawer space and since he never put belongings on the top of his dresser, she was able to place her personal girlie lotions and perfumes and limited jewelry atop of it. Jayne had already torn down his porn pinups the moment he set foot back in his bunk. No need for those bimbos any longer he smiled. He had the real deal and she were way better than those gals could ever be.

River noted the pictures in the trash can. "You don't have to throw your girls away. They are pretty like your guns and I have no issue if you still want to hang them up. Jayne smiled at her and took her in his arms. "I don't need any cheap floozy pictures Baby. They's rather insultin' when yer in the room. If anything, you make 'em look bad and it just ain't no fair to those gals. Let's just keep 'em in the trash shall we?"

"We shall. It's almost time for dinner, do you think you could show me what a quickie is?"

"I'd be happy to oblige ya Baby," he murmured into her ear as he peeled off her shorts and T-shirt, leaving her in the black lace bra and panty set he was coming ta love.

She cooed and sighed as his hands roamed her body. She was so attuned to him. Just the sound of his voice caused her body to react and once he began touching her, her body quickly prepared for intimacy. She gasped as he cupped her breasts in his large hands and squeezed her. "You should know that Kaylee and Zoe are planning to provoke us at dinner tonight if we wear our matching shorts and shirts. I would advise we choose other articles of clothing to wear to avoid any repercussions."

"I say screw 'em. Let's wear what we want. I kind a feel like messin' with 'em a bit just for fun. Like to stir the pot a bit. What ya say?"

"Yes, let's stir and screw."

"Now yer talking Babe." Jayne got down to work on the screw part quickly and had her legs shakin' and her hollerin' his name real quick. He found that he couldn't hold out long once she flew over the edge and let himself release with a roar. "Now, that was a quickie Babe. Ya get down ta business really quick like and just rock and roll."

He'd managed to temporarily render River speechless as she calmed and came down. Finally she spoke. "I like the concept of the quickie. Tonight may we try a longie?"

Jayne just laughed and hugged her tightly. "C'mon, it's time for dinner. Let's change into the shorts and shirts and stir up some shit shall we?"

They held hands and walked into the galley after everyone else was seated. Jayne had his arm slung around River's neck and was playing with her hair as he pulled out her chair for her.

"Who'd a guessed ya had table manners Jayne." Mal exclaimed. Inara was now back from her appointment and was watching Jayne and River and the rest of the crew's reaction to them. She noted the shorts and t-shirts and Jayne's possessiveness with River and wondered what had transpired in the four days that she'd been away.

"Yeah well I got 'em where my gal here's concerned."

Mal went right for the shorts. "Them is some real cute lil' outfits you two is wearing,"

"Yes, I picked them out. I felt the sports tee emphasized all the right parts of Jayne. He has such broad and strong shoulders and such well muscled and cut arms, I felt the shirt did him justice. Wouldn't you agree Captain?"

Noting Jayne's glare, he carefully responded "Well, I ain't gonna go and check him out close like, but I guess it does look fine. How come you got one too?"

"They happened to have the same style in my size so we decided to match. It was a nice look while we were pool side."

Kaylee, ever the sweet gal that she was jumped right in. "I think they look real good River. You two look great together and I'm so glad ya found happiness with each other. I don't suppose you'd like ta tell us how it all started would ya?"

River, with assistance from Jayne, recalled the transport pervert and the bad experience at the dentist office and everything in between. Simon quietly watched the two of them interact and share the experience with everyone. He noted how Jayne admired her when she spoke and how he never cut her off. He watched Jayne's eyes twinkle when she said something clever and saw the smile spread across his face when she pointed out something funny and Simon realized that this was a side of Jayne that he'd never shown anyone before. River was speaking clearly and interacting so well with everyone else that he was shocked. In just three and a half days, apparently Jayne had accomplished, without the need of drugs, what he'd been trying to do ever since the academy.

Simon snapped out of his reverie when he realized that River was speaking to him and Jayne was glaring at him for not following her. "Simon, are you okay?" Kaylee asked. Slightly embarrassed, he nodded and focused on River.

"Jayne had an excellent idea and we were able to bring you a surprise Simon," she excitedly grinned as she handed him a small data chip.

"What's this River?"

"Surprise. You'll see. And, dear brother boob, remember that this was Jayne's idea."

"Lil' Albatross, ya didn't give yer brother a sex tape of the two of you did ya? cause I don't think that's anything anyone is gonna wanna watch, 'cept for maybe Jayne."

"Silly Captain, we haven't had the time or the resources to make a tape yet, but what an excellent idea!" She smiled and turned to Jayne. "Jayne, I would like to get started making a movie of us soon. Are you up for it," she purred.

"Oh, I'm up fer anythin' Baby. You just let me know when and where and we'll star in our own little production," he smirked as he waggled her eyebrows at her.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I've had quite enough for now," Simon tiredly sighed as he took his data chip and left for the med bay. "He'll be fine, just give him a little time," Kaylee quietly commented.

Mal spoke first to break the uncomfortable silence. "Ya know Jayne, that boy did a mighty fine impression a you the other day. You was late for the meeting with Badger so I had Simon take one a my guns an' do his best to act the part of a crazy gun hand. Kind a looked like he had gas when he twisted his lip up ta try and smirk, but, it was enough to make Badger a tad wary. Wish you could a seen it though."

"Captain Daddy, Jayne played Simon" River excitedly rambled. "He was the doctor and I was the patient!"

"What'd I tell you lil' albatross, I don't wanna hear 'bout what you and Jayne do ta each other ta get yer kicks. This is all new ta me and I need a little time to adjust and I really, really don't want to hear 'bout yer games dong ma?"

"No Captain Daddy, you don't understand, he ran a brain scan and full body scan on me."

"He did what?"

"We found an imaging suite Mal, an' I figured it looked simple enough on Ariel when the Doc scanned her brain, so, she told me what ta do, and I scanned her. Then, she did me back," he proudly beamed.

"Jayne, that was an incredibly smart thing to do. How did you pull it off?" Inara questioned.

Jayne and River explained how they got the scans much to everyone's surprise when Simon walked back into the galley with an excited look on his face. Before anyone could ask, he started excitedly explaining what he had discovered on the data chip.

"Jayne, River, I am stunned. I can't thank you enough for what you both did. I was able to see actual area's of River's brain that appear to be slowly repairing themselves and creating new neural pathways. This is incredible. And Jayne, using yourself as a baseline was another stroke of genius!"

"That weren't my idea Doc, that was all River's idea. I just saw the empty imaging suite an' figured it wouldn't hurt ta give it a shot. River figured out just what ta do and it didn't really take too long."

"Well, I'm so glad to have this information. I was able to check the other parts of her body to see if those bastards caused any other problems and I'm very happy and relieved..." he stopped and took a breath, starting to get choked up a bit before he continued "to find that everything else seems to be in order with no apparent problems that I could detect. The only thing that I found unusual but was probably just a small anomaly, was on both of your brain scans, it showed high levels of endorphins. Were you in danger of being discovered or getting ready to flee?"

Jayne and River looked at each other and just smiled when River spoke.

"We were involved at the time scanning each other so there was some arousal involved that more than likely registered on the scans."

Simon blushed and went back to the med bay to study more of the important information, with Kaylee in tow.

Six months later:

Jayne sighed heavily as he walked up the ramp into the cargo bay. The job they'd just completed had been strenuous and he was tired and sore. It was snowing and blowin' something fierce. He Mal and Simon had ridden a long distance on horseback on some backwater moon that didn't allow men and women to have any business contacts. So, the women had been left behind on the ship and the three men had to handle the job on their own. He hated winter time and much preferred warm, sunny weather. He frequently thought back to he and River's enjoyable time spent on Persephone the previous summer and wished for more time alone with her in paradise. He headed to their bunk to undress and relax before dinner. When he opened the hatch and crawled in, he got a huge smile on his face. She was reclined on their bunk wearing her gold and black bikini and had her hair up in a ponytail and was even wearing her sunglasses.

She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck and sensuously rubbed her body against his. "Hello my Jayne, I'm so glad you are home!" she purred.

"Glad ta be home myself Baby. So whatca up to here...looks like yer going to the beach."

"Yes, you must change into your trunks as I'm taking you on a picnic to the beach."

"Whatever you say Baby. Food sounds good and if I can get in a small nap on this here beach yer talkin' 'bout and maybe touch on ya a little and kiss on ya a little, that'll be right good."

River squealed as he squeezed her ass playfully and kissed her breasts through the fabric of her top. "Please wait here a moment so I can see if the mice have finished playing while the cats were away."

Jayne helped her up and watched her little bikini clad bottom scurry up the ladder. He sighed with a smile on his face and stripped off his clothes and dug his swim trunks out of their dresser. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but if she wanted him to wear a plaid skirt and a fur coat, he'd do it for her. He laid down on their bed and waited for her to return.

The women of Serenity had been working the entire day on their surprise. They'd just finished it when the men returned and had to quickly pull several crates in front of it to shelter it from inquisitive and prying eyes. Of course the Captain had known about it as he had to give his permission.

River had found some free scrap stainless steel on the cortex that she Zoe, Kaylee and Inara had picked up that morning with Inara's shuttle. She and Zoe had cleaned and polished the metal and kaylee had welded the six sections together to form a large tub with a hinged lid that formed a water tight seal in order for the tub to act as a storage tank when not in use. River and she had engineered a heating and pumping device so they basically had themselves a spa. They bought some bromine to keep the water clean and disinfected and Kaylee had welded brackets onto the floor and latches on the sides of the tank so it could be secured when they were in the black or hoisted up on chains when it was empty and they needed the floor space. They'd discussed their plan with the Captain and he'd given the thumbs up but had wisely suggested a sign up sheet for usage as he wanted everyone to enjoy it.

The women had all agreed that River would have the honor to "christen" the spa that evening with Jayne. Inara had an old chaise that didn't match her new furnishings so they covered it in canvas and brought it down next to the spa. At a nearby thrift store, they'd found several large pillows and beach blankets to use and Kaylee had even discovered a large, plastic, fake palm tree that had twinkling lights woven through it's leaves. They'd set everything up quickly once the men had returned and were in their bunks so it would be waiting for River and Jayne.

Kaylee had plans with Simon that evening in his bunk, while Zoe and Inara planned on watching a movie in the common room. Mal would more than likely join them after he charted their new course on the cortex and made his business contacts for their next job.

River came back to their bunk and picked up Jayne for their beach date. They stopped in the galley and she retrieved the picnic basket she'd prepared earlier in the day. Before they entered the cargo bay, she tied a makeshift blindfold on Jayne.

"Yer gonna get kinky with me in the cargo bay? I like that idea Baby, just be carefully getting my pi gu down the stairs, don't wanna fall and screw up yer little kinky picnic or what not."

"No worries Jayne, I will not let you fall."

She got him down the steps and into the bay and left him standing momentarily while she unpacked the picnic and reclined onto the canvas chaise. "Okay, you may remove your blindfold."

Jayne pulled of the blindfold and was speechless at what he saw. He surveyed everything quickly. His girl reclined on a lounger of some sort, a beach blanket with a palm tree near it and the picnic spread out before him and some sort of aluminum tank sitting to the side. He approached it and realized it was a soaking tub. "Huh...will ya look at this. Where'd this come from?"

River explained to him the details as she took his hand and led him to the spa. They both settled in and found it was more than enough room for them to be comfortable. "We've set some rules, no nudity or what Kaylee calls "hanky- panky" in the spa for the obvious reasons, so we thought the chaise would be a suitable substitution if we choose to take our activities out of the spa. Once we are finished, we are to add bromine to sanitize and we clean everything up."

"Sounds simple enough. This was a great idea Babe! It feels so good after today." She snuggled into his chest and they soaked in silence for a half hour. "Do we have total privacy if I wanna do a little massage on ya and what not?"

"Yes, rules dictate no intrusions unless there is an emergency of course."

"Good" he murmured as he kissed her neck and let his hands wander her wet body. He rubbed her shoulders and arms and cupped her breasts in his hands as she turned around and embraced him. They kissed each other and explored each other with abandon until neither could contain themselves any longer. Jayne stood and got out of the tub and helped her out. He took off her wet bikini and removed his trunks and wrapped them both in the large towels that were neatly rolled in a basket sitting next to the tub.

They stayed wrapped in the warm towels and enjoyed the picnic. When they'd finished eating, Jayne stood in his towel and looked down at her. "Baby, I need to go get somethin' for a sec. Stay here an' I'll be right back." She watched as he left the room. She was sleepy now and reclined on the lounger. Jayne returned in a moment and sat down on the edge of the lounger with her. He stroked her hair and kissed her and held up his hand. On his pinky finger was a ring. The second River laid eye's on it, she knew what was coming and started screeching and excitedly yelling "Oh my! Oh Jayne!" as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

The rest of the crew heard the loud ruckus coming from the cargo bay and hurried to see what was going on just in time to see Jayne get down on bended knee and take River's left hand in both of his. His deep blue eyes focusing intently and solemnly on her. "River, Baby, I love ya so much and want ta ask ya ta be my bride. Will you marry me Baby?"

River had now quieted and joyously kissed him as she breathily replied "Yes, yes, my Jayne, yes, I'll be your bride!!"

Jayne carefully pulled the tiny ring off the tip of his pinky and placed it on her ring finger, happy that it fit her perfectly and he kissed her deeply. Both were caught up in the emotion of the moment and didn't speak but clung to each other for several minutes. "I love you Baby, I don't ever wanna be without ya! Ya just made me the happiest hun dan in the 'verse. This here ring belonged to my maternal Grandmother and I waved my Ma 'bout a month ago so she'd send it my way. You make me damn proud River wearing this ring. It ain't nothing big or fancy, but it comes from my heart."

"It's perfect Jayne, just like you. Absolutely, undeniably perfect. I love you more than life Jayne. You've made me whole and made me normal. I want to be your wife, I want to be a mother to your children, I want to grow old with you and die with you. You are my love and you are my life." She couldn't get out anymore words as she was now softly crying in his arms. Above them, the crew watched in awe of what they were seeing and eventually, they quietly backed out of the area to give the lovers their privacy.

Jayne and River were married three months later on Christmas Eve and spent their five day honeymoon at The Imperial Garden Hotel on Persephone in the same room they'd had six months earlier. Jayne's Christmas gift to his wife was the gold silk negligee he'd bought her their first time at the hotel and her gift to him was the finest gold wedding band on Osiris with a large, perfect diamond in the center, surrounded by inlaid gold nuggets and a box of the finest cigars in the verse. She also informed him that she had regained access to her bank accounts and they were now "independently wealthy."

-Fin-