A/N: I'm not done with the Tams yet, so enjoy the ensuing tension!

Thanks to Leiasky for getting to this, especially because she's been so busy!

And again, thanks for all the shiny comments. Browncoats really are the best!

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Best Intentions, ch. 15

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“River?”

As his sister turned to him, her face shining with a healthy glow he couldn’t quite remember ever seeing before, Simon swallowed past the lump in his throat and again furrowed his brow. “Let’s go over the ground rules again.”

With an eye roll she had perfected over the years, River turned to fully face her brother, folding her hands demurely in front of her and waited for his prompt. “Okay, what is the first rule?”

“No talking about your sex life.”

“And the second?”

“No talking about anyone else’s sex life.”

Simon nodded, glad those two had stuck; despite the list of ten rules he’d supplied her with, he felt they were really the most important. “Number three?”

“Do not mention either time you were shot.” As Simon opened his mouth to ask her for the fourth, River raised a hand and began ticking the rest of the rules off on her fingers. “Four, do not mention the baby. Five, don’t mention that fact that Jayne names his guns and knives or that he likes to spit at the table or that he offered to show me his man parts once.” Simon shivered as she continued. “Six, never mention being almost burned at the stake, kidnapped by a bounty hunter or held at gunpoint by a Fed. Seven, do not talk about Fruity Oaty Bars. Eight, do not mention that I am a reader. Nine, do not mention that you were offered a job at Sihnon Memorial. Ten, do not agree to go back home with them.” Dropping her hands to her sides, she fixed him with a patient look and sighed. “Satisfied?”

“For now,” he told her, stepping forward and placing a kiss to her cheek. Taking her hands in his, he said quietly, “You understand why I’m nervous, don’t you, mei mei?”

“Don’t want to lose me,” she said, matching his tone. Reaching a