Quick shoutout to everyone who's been reading, subscribing, favoriting, and leaving those beautiful, thoughtful reveiws! Y'all are the best!
Also: I wanted to invite everyone to help me sing the birthday song for one of our own, dullkatelyn1! I hope this update helps their special day be just that little bit more awesome! Happy Birthday!
Now, without further ado:
t wasn't ten minutes after breakfast of the big day and Candy already knew he was gonna enjoy this Cartwright style wedding.
Sure, he was trussed up like a Christmas Day turkey in his new, tailor sewn suit, but that wasn't putting a damper on his spirits. Considering it at least felt like it fit well. And he kept catching Joe looking at him as if he needed to double take to believe it was really him. In a good way.
Looked like Mr. Cartwright had been right about the importance of a well fit suit after all.
Yep. That plus the early arrival of their first guests and Candy knew today was gonna be special. As promised.
"Alright," said Adam from where he was getting ready to start his self appointed job of party coordinator, "since the Rossi's are here early, setting out the tables and chairs will be that much easier."
Candy was just a little surprised when the group of overly punctual, obviously related folks nodded agreement and started right on in with Hoss, Mr. Cartwright, Hop Sing, and Adam; moving arms full of chairs from where they were stored when there was no use for them and out to where they'd planned on holding the whole shindig.
What surprised him a whole heck of a lot more was the way Mama Rossi reacted when he moved to do his part.
"You? No, poor thing." Said with surprise and a goodly amount of sympathy.
"Poor thing?" Candy asked, wondering if he'd really heard it right the first time.
"Yeah, you been sick?" The mama with a hefty armful of chairs asked as she hitched them up and readied herself to carry the batch off.
"Wha-"
"Don't worry; you rest. Leave the work to the Rossi's and the healthy people."
"Sí, save your strength for the wedding," enthused a similarly sympathetic, younger version of Mrs. Rossi. Who Candy hadn't caught the name of just yet. "You gotta have fun on your big day!"
And that was that, it turned out. The warm, concerned, Italian family shooed Candy away and flat out refused his help in even setting out cutlery and flatware.
So Candy, knowing when he wasn't wanted, meandered a ways off and found a nice fence to rest his 'recovering' frame atop. Being good and 'saving his energy' for greeting the other guests when they arrived.
He heaved himself a big, deep sigh when he realized it might just be a while before anyone else showed up and therefore might be a while before he was allowed to do more than mope around and watch the others have fun setting up for his-
"Yeah, I wouldn't let it get to ya." Candy's head jerked at the sound of... his fiancé talking to him from down on the grass on the other side of the low fence. Huh. Only surprised him because Joe was laying almost completely out of sight, in the shade of an exceedingly short and stout tree. Low hanging branches flared out in a way that gave it a vaguely ten gallon hat shape.
"They never let me lend a hand either. Not even a finger, come to think of it."
"The Rossi's?" Candy asked his lounging fiancé. Deciding as he did, that he didn't want to sit on the uncomfortable wooden fence a moment longer. So he slipped off the opposite side and ducked to make his way over to Joe's relaxed recline.
"Mmhm. I don't understand it myself, but for some reason, they all seem to think I'm sickly," Joe said as Candy navigated his way under all the twigs.
"That's what the mama said to me- to me!" Said Candy as he lowered himself to a sit by the unperturbed Cartwright side. "I'm healthy as a horse; strong as an ox!"
"And skinny."
"Huh?" Asked Candy as he studied the lidded eyes of the man no doubt rumpling his suit jacket, laying on the ground like he was.
"It's what they say, anytime they see me. 'So skinny,' or, 'If you eat more, maybe you get your strength back, poor thing,' or how about, 'Your brothers don't let you work with the cows, do they?' That whole family seems to think I'd fall apart at the seams at the threat of a hard day's work."
As displeased as the thought of anyone putting down the man he was about to marry got him, Candy knew that if it really bugged Joe, the guy would have done something about it by now.
Come to think of it, kinda looked like he had. Maybe even taken advantage of it, judging by the worry free time he'd managed to carve out of a hectic morning.
"Is that how come I found you sleepin' under an overgrown bush? 'Cause yer guests think you're skinny?"
Starting with a snort, Joe cracked an eye open and raised a brow. "Eh. I figure, that's why you came to join me under this 'overgrown bush'."
"Hm. Fair 'nough," said Candy as he laid himself down in the ever so slightly dewed, fine grass that grew near the roots. A place where sunshine rarely ever broke up the calm cool of the unsullied earth.
Shoulders nuzzled against each other, the pair lay there, in the shade of that sombrero shaped tree, and listened to the little birds make twittering noises up in the midst of the twigs. Hoping they didn't get any bird droppings on their suit fronts for their troubles.
Though, if they had, it would have been worth it for the uninterrupted time they had to themselves, quietly breathing the smell of the sparse growing wild flowers and accidentally dozing off to the feel of a pleasant breeze rustling their hair as well as the bird filled leaves above.
When Candy snorted awake, it was to the feeling of Joe hurrying to a sit and inadvertently brushing his shoulder in the process.
"The Rosebaums're here!"
Candy heard shouted from the direction of the house, in the baritone boom of the biggest brother on the ranch.
"Let's go say hi," Joe said with a smile that spoke both of anticipation and nerves.
"Last one there gets a checkup," Candy challenged as he rolled up into a crouch and took off for the front drive.
Joe had yet to meet the doctor, counter to both his own and her wishes on the matter. For, though the doctor had wanted to make it, the drive out to the ranch house from town was nothing to sneeze at, and her office was anything but short on patients, so she had sent letters back and forth with Adam and Hop Sing and had overseen Joe's recovery in that fashion.
Rather a crude way to go about it, she had commented in one such letter, but effective and safe enough, considering there was more than one individual versed in the art of practical medicine residing on the premises.
So it had been Hop Sing who removed the handful of stitches from Joe's scalp, and who had decided when the sling was no longer necessary, and it had been Adam who kept Dr. Rosebaum apprised of the situation and assured her that nothing worrying was afoot.
To everyone's utter relief, the prognosis of a full recovery had indeed been accurate.
And now physician and patient were meeting face-to-face for the first time since the fateful incident which had taken place over one month previous and nearly claimed the lives of two, since fiancéd, cowhands.
"With only your eyes, please follow my finger. Good. Now, please touch your index finger to your nose." Strangely enough, the first words the doctor spoke as she disembarked the rented day buggy which Hoss was already offering to put up for her husband.
Candy would have thought a party guest might want to start with a... very different greeting. 'Hi,' for example. Or perhaps, 'good day'. Maybe even, 'congratulations'.
Eh, Candy thought as he watched the doc doing her thing, Joe seemed to be enjoying it, so to each their own.
"Povero piccolo Giuseppe!" Came a sudden exclamation which drew all eyes as a quick stepping Mama Rossi led her family around the house. No doubt so the group of Rossi's could help out with welcoming the new guests, Candy thought with a good natured shake of the head. Rethinking the notion when he realized that all four of them had on their concerned expressions.
"We knew there must be something wrong when we didn't see you this morning!" Said Mr. Rossi. Confirming Candy's observation.
"And now we know that it is true!" Claimed the younger Mr. Rossi.
"A physician? Oh, what is wrong, mio caro?" Demanded Mrs. Rossi.
"Is there anything that we can do to help?" Asked the younger Miss Rossi.
"There is no need for alarm," informed the doctor as she nodded at her patient. Letting him know that the exam was complete.
"The injuries are not fresh."
"But he looks so unwell!" Claimed Mama Rossi as she and her family came to a stop within optimal scrutinizing distance. "You can practically see his ribs!" She said with a pointed gesture toward Joe's well fitted jacket.
To that, Candy nearly spoke up with the full intention of correcting the inflammatory remark, but the stalwart Dr. Rosebaum beat him to it.
"Joseph was brought into my office with a blunt force head injury and a badly sprained arm, but his family has treated him well and I am pleased to say that he is now just as healthy as before the terrible incident."
"Terrible incident? What 'terrible incident'?!" The papa demanded. Looking like he was worried whatever it was might decide to happen again. To him this time.
"Stepped in front of a speeding horse," Joe offered when the professional sawbones didn't.
"Saved my life doin' it too," Candy added. Not willing to have that part of the story left out.
"Oh, it sounds terrible, i miei piccoli," said Mrs. Rossi. Hands over her mouth in shock.
"Oh, it was terrible!" Spoke up Mr. Rosebaum. "I heard it from the tailor's roof. Such a fearsome noise," he said with a shudder. Then he straightened to make tentative eye contact with the worried Italian family.
"I sat with him all night. I just couldn't sleep after..." Trailed off the poor man who seemed to have gone two shades greener at the reminder of that unfortunate day.
"Yes, my sweet," said Dr. Rosebaum as she turned to her husband. "I remember well." Then, before saying more, she took him in a tender embrace. Prompting him to lean down ever so slightly, so as to bring his ear closer to her. "It is one of the reasons that we are here today; so that you may see for yourself that your diligence and your caring attention were not in vain."
Then she released her husband and, with a glance around and in a more conversational tone, offered her final say on the matter. "Joseph is fine. I guarantee it."
The doctor's small smile at the end turned out to be the last nail in that particular coffin. After that, there was no further mention of ill health, nor any pitying looks for the youngest Cartwright boy.
Sure, Joe and Candy were offered seats frequently by the well meaning Rossi family, but nothing was said against the two of them joining in the games and festivities, so they counted it as a victory all the same.
The sheriff Roy Coffee put up his horse without bothering anyone for a hand, and slipped into the party without pomp nor circumstance. Claiming he liked it that way just fine.
"Better'n folks makin' fools of 'emselves on my behalf," he'd said with a shake of his head as he'd taken his seat in the lone rocking chair in the shade of the back porch.
Right near the horseshoe arena a few Cartwrights had spent a while putting together the previous day.
The arrival of Jody and Amos changed the atmosphere from that of a quaint get together to something akin to a full on fiesta. What with them bringing firecrackers and plenty of matches to 'burn the house to the ground', as Adam had put it. As he'd grabbed the two, blessedly separate packages from their freshest guests with a tight 'smile'. For safe keeping, until such time as they had a designated area cordoned off for such tomfoolery.
And plenty of water on hand. Just in case.
"Well, Jody, if you haven't shown up in the finest couture of France. I never known you to dress up quite so well," Candy said as the two of them shook their heads in amusement at the sight of Adam spiriting away the 'dangerous' party favors.
"Why thank ya, Candy, but these duds are older'n me and you could tell just by lookin' 'em. You, on the other hand, are looking slicker than a greased pig. Where'd ya go and get a fancy suit like that?"
"Hm, the secrets of the fortunate, my dear Jody," Candy said with as much of a puff as he could put in his chest.
"Fortunate? Don't wanna tell me? I'll betcha it's a hand me down from... Mr. Cartwright then," Jody said with as scrutinizing a look as she owned. Eyes sharp and searching under her head of dark curls.
"Well, you got part right," Candy informed. Inspecting his fingernails in an aloof manner. Giving it a few seconds before going on. "The suit is a gift from Mr. Cartwright, but it's no hand me down. No, I had to do a whole peck of standin' still for this here beaut," he said, finishing with a little quarter turn he knew showed off the cut of his new pants just right.
Confirmed by the way Joe was distracted from his conversation with Amos by the sight. Nearly missing the 'congratulations' part of the friendly greeting.
"Hm. Does look fresh from the tailor," Jody conceded. "'Cept for the grass stuck in the collar," she said, a quick hand reaching up to snag a few wayward blades of the unwanted green stuff.
"Mine's a hand-me-down, but you won't catch me complainin', no Sir," Jody said with a shrug that happened to emphasize the cut of her jacket shoulders. Reminding Candy that she was indeed wearing what appeared to be a well touched up, used suit. One that most likely had belonged to her pa. Now passed on to her for it being obviously far too small for the man, in his current stage of life.
"I can see why, you tall drink o' water you," Candy said with the help of a conspiratorial eyebrow wiggle.
"Ha! I'm just glad the folks on the town church committee stopped all their harpin' on about how walking around with yer walkers on display ain't 'ladylike'," Jody said in a rather... long suffering tone.
"You mean folks was givin' you a hard time about you wearin' pants?" Candy asked. A mite incredulous.
"Yep. Seems they don't want 'women folk' wearin' 'man clothes'. Don't know how they figure."
"I'd'a thought they had better things to be doin' than harassin' shop keepers about a silly thing like fashion."
"Welp," Jody started, hands on her hips and a wry look on her face, "like I said: Don't know how they figure."
The sound of approaching footsteps caught Candy's attention well enough that he didn't miss when another voice spoke up.
"Oh, who is this, Candy?" Asked the youngest member of the Rossi family. With a smile which Candy and Jody saw soon as they turned some to see who'd made the inquiry.
"Oh, this here's my good friend, Jody. Jody Freeman," Candy said as the young lady in the party dress came to a stop right by them. "And, Jody, this is..." Candy trailed off, not able to stop his eyes from going wide as he found himself unable to finish the introductions.
After all, how could he introduce her when he still hadn't heard any of the Rossi's-
"My name is Regina. It's a pleasure," said the youngster who it turned out was perfectly happy to introduce herself.
"No, the pleasure is all mine, Ma'am," Jody insisted. Taking the offered hand and planting a playful kiss on the knuckles.
"Want to play a game of chess?" Said the Signorina Regina with a gesture toward the games table. And just the smallest hint of a blush.
"Nothin' would please me better," Jody assured.
And that left Candy standing around by his lonesome. Forgotten, like so much dirt under a freshly shined shoe.
That is, until a certain soon-to-be-wed somebody took him by the elbow and pulled him off to the side. Ducking them around the corner of the big house and only stopping when they were thoroughly out of sight of the party and its freshly grown number of guests.
"Enjoying our big day?" Joe asked as he huddled them close to the wall. Getting them into the almost shade of the high roof's eaves.
"'Bout as much as can be expected," Candy said, feigning disappointment. Which got him a snort.
"Well, Hoss said he and Hop Sing are gonna set out the food about now," Joe said in a knowing tone.
"Ah, well in that case, I'm having an exceptional time, Mr. Cartwright," Candy said with a stuffy affectation. Hoping it reminded Joe of that book they'd read together. The satire. The romantic satire.
"Oh? Well that's too bad, Mr. Canaday," Joe responded in his own version of a high society voice. "Seeing as I brought you all the way over here thinking you might like a kiss to cheer you up. But," he said with a shrug, "if you're already having a good-"
When Joe began to turn, as if to head back to the party, Candy's closer hand darted out and closed around a black gloved one. Stopping his fiancé gently.
"Now, Mr. Cartwright, whoever said I wasn't lonely?" He asked with as pathetic an expression as he could muster. Not able to keep it on his face when his fiancé interlaced their fingers.
Outright smiling when Joe leaned forward and brought their foreheads together. Nearly bumping the hats off their heads in the process.
"My mistake, Mr. Canaday," said Joe, before pushing that last bit closer to the man for once not in red. Bringing them to the perfect distance for kissing.
And when they did, neither of them needed affectation to enjoy the way their lips locked together. Like they were trying to keep a secret. One they'd gladly guard with their lives.
One neither of them had any intention of ever letting another soul in on. No soul, that is, but the one belonging to the man they were about to share with in a good old fashioned 'I doing'.
"Now are you enjoying our big day?" Joe asked as he brought his forehead against Candy's once more.
"Absolutely." All the reassurance the mock concerned fiancé needed.
Didn't stop him from pushing a perplexed Candy right up against the side of the house and kissing him a second time.
When they broke apart again, Candy saw the mischievous look in his intended's eyes. And the way his lips curled up at the corners when he moved them to say, "Just making sure."
The ensuing cackling nearly got them found out by an oldest brother who informed them that it was time for lunch and that they'd better not keep Hoss and Hop Sing waiting.
They followed right quick at the mention of food. Candy smiling when he realized they were hurrying back to the party hand in hand.
Already acting like a happily married couple.
How 'bout that?
The 'conversation' between Candy and Mrs. Rossi near the beginning of this chapter is in reference to one Mama Rossi and Joe have in Big Shadow On The Land (the family's first appearance) which I found hilarious and which has stuck with me ever since. :D