A/N: So a little bit of time has passed since our last chapter. It's the Saturday before Halloween, so let's drop by the Ranch, shall we?
It was early in the morning on the day of the annual Pride Halloween party and Bo stood at the kitchen sink staring off into space.
Woody strolled into the room, "Hey howdy hey, little lady. I'm gonna head up to the barn… Bo? Bo, what's wrong?"
She started and looked at him, a smile tinged with disappointment crossing her face. She shook her head, and then shrugged, "It started this morning. Guess I was just late because of the stress at the preschool."
Woody enveloped his wife in a hug, resting his cheek on the top of her blonde head as she laid it against his chest. "It's okay, Bo. We have lots of time." He smiled softly at her as she looked up at him.
"I know, I just kind of hoped…although I know we talked about waiting until we were in our own house. Not that I think Jessie would mind; she'd have the babe on horseback before he could even crawl," a gentle peal of laughter escaped her lips.
"She would, that's for sure. You know I've been looking at the listings, but only casually. Should we start looking more earnestly?"
She nodded, "I think it couldn't hurt. Like you said, we have lots of time. What we don't have a lot of time for is getting ready for this party. Go on with you, I have food to prepare."
Woody kissed her softly pointed chin, "Yes, ma'am. I'll be just up in the barn if you need me."
The barn had been cleared of the horses and Buzz and Jessie had already emptied the dirty hay and scrubbed the stone floors clean. Woody was in the loft hanging fake cobweb and the lanterns for the "haunted haystacks" area. He had run into trouble, needing one more set of hands than he possessed to be able to properly attach the cobwebs to the wall. "Buzz! Give me a hand up here, would you?" He looked down on the floor as he heard a small thud. Laying near him was the disembodied hand from the scarecrow Buzz was assembling. Woody's face and shoulders drooped in exasperation, "Haha, very funny. This is serious!"
Buzz was already coming up the steps, a grin on his face, "Sorry, couldn't resist. What do you need help with?"
"Here," Woody handed him some cobweb, "Hold this while I hang this part. There's too much to try to hang and hold at the same time. Think Jessie would help, too?"
"No good; she's outside scrubbing out that metal trough for the apples. Hey, is Bo okay?" he asked. "She was pretty quiet this morning."
Woody hesitated momentarily, then shrugged a shoulder, "Yeah. We thought she might be pregnant, but it was a false alarm. It's okay, I mean we weren't really trying, but still we both feel kind of let down."
"I'm sure you do," Buzz offered sympathetically. "What are you two doing for costumes tonight?" he steered things towards a happier subject.
"Bo Peep and her sheep."
"Can't wait to see you in the bonnet," he teased.
"It's not what you think. Bo's going to be, well, Bo, and I'm the sheep. Just wait." Woody chuckled, "Mr. Potanski told me I was henpecked for letting her pick my costume."
Buzz laughed, "No one would know being henpecked like Potanski."
"That's the truth. What about you and Jessie? You doing a couple-ish thing?"
"Kind of. You know that sci-fi/western show we both like? Well, I'm going as the Captain," he made a face at Woody who coughed the phrase "type casting". "Anyways, Jessie's dressing up as the engineer."
"I thought the engineer loved the doctor," Woody raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, it's our version. Besides, not many people would necessarily pair up a Space Ranger and a cowgirl, would they?"
"Only the ones who don't know you, Buzz, believe me."
They were hanging the last of the lanterns when Buzz yawned deeply. Woody chuckled, "Late night?"
He nodded, "Kind of. Been working at my place, trying to get it ready for winter and such before I leave for my mission. It's not like it's major repairs, but just a lot of little ones and it's time consuming."
"You really should just move here; you practically live here as it is," Woody grinned.
"I know," Buzz nodded. "I always kind of thought Jessie and I would live there after we got married, but now that she's running the ranch, it's simply not practical. I should sell it, but it's been in my family for generations and I hate the thought of it no longer being ours."
Woody stepped down from the stepladder, his face pensive. "What if it didn't leave the family?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Well, okay, technically we're not going to be family-family until next July…but between you and me, Bo and I have been kind of keeping an eye out for a house. Nothing serious, not yet; but we do want to start a family in the next year or two. And we both have jobs in town, so the location would be great."
Buzz nodded thoughtfully, "What about the field, though? Right now it goes with the house, even though it's not attached to the property."
"The sunflower field? We could work something out, maybe put it on with the ranch. Or we'd just keep it; I know Bo loves it too and it wouldn't be a lot of extra work. Plus, I ought to keep my hands in the dirt somehow. What do you think?"
All of the details seemed to fall into place and a slow smile spread across Buzz's face, "Yes, I think it could work."
"Let me talk it over with Bo, first; probably wouldn't be good to make this decision without her," Woody grinned.
He laughed, "Probably not. Maybe we can all talk it over at lunch. It's not like it's something that has to be decided today, after all."
"Buzz?" Jessie's voice floated up into the loft. "The trough's ready; can you come give me a hand?"
Woody grinned at Buzz and, being out of Jessie's sight, tossed down the dismembered scarecrow hand. She let out a small yelp and then laughed, "Har-har, very funny Woo-deee."
Both men laughed as they descended from the loft. Buzz went to help Jessie with the trough and remaining decorations. Woody headed to talk over the housing proposal with Bo, unable to suppress a smile as the excitement bubbled in his stomach.
"Did you get everything done in the barn?" Bo asked, handing out empty plates before sitting at the table.
"Yup! All that needs set up is the food and puttin' the apples in the trough so people can bob for 'em. The loft looks great, too," Jessie beamed at her brother and Buzz. "It's almost a shame I gotta let the horses back in after tonight."
Woody laughed, "That wouldn't be fair; after all, it is their home. Speaking of," he looked to Bo, who nodded. "Bo and I have somethin' to talk to you about."
"Oh?"
"You see, the thing is… we want to start a family in a few years and we've been looking around at houses and we found one."
"No! You don't have to move out just 'cause you want kids! I-I can move in with Buzz," she looked quickly to her fiancé, "can't I? It should be me that leaves; I mean, otherwise it's like I'm kickin' you outta your own home!"
"Don't be silly," Bo put in briskly, "you're not kicking us out! Besides, the house is already yours, in case you didn't read any of that paperwork you had to sign when Woody turned over the ranch to you."
"Bo's right, Jess. Even if the house was still mine, you couldn't move in with Buzz… because that's where we're going to live."
"What?" she looked again at Buzz who nodded with a smile.
"As Woody so pointedly informed me earlier, I already live here, practically. And he's right in that you should be here. Trying to keep up that house is proving to be a bigger task than I realized, and I would rather sell it to family than a stranger."
Woody piped in, "It's a perfect location for Bo and I, since we both work in town. And we'll keep the sunflower field, too. What do you think, Jessie?"
She blinked a few times, "Ya really mean it." She smiled, "Wow…you guys with kids. It's just…it's such a big change. But it's great! It's really great!"
Woody laughed and held up a hand, "It's not going to happen for a while, so don't get too excited about having the place all to yourself. There's work to be done before we move in, so it might not officially happen until Spring, after Buzz is back."
The Space Ranger nodded, "I only have a week before I leave for the mission, but we could try and get the deeds all switched over, if you want. Speaking of, you still good to drop me off at the base on Friday?"
He nodded, "Yup, and don't worry about the paperwork yet; it's not that pressing. I mean we can try, but as long as Jessie really isn't going to kick us out…" he shot his sister a teasing look.
"Well, I guess that's gonna all depend on you," she smirked and gave her red braid a toss. "Bo, you're safe, but I'll be watching you, Woody…always watching."
The four shared a laugh as they dug in to their lunches. Jessie was glad the move would not take place for several months. It would make Buzz's absence easier to take, but she also knew it would make their family traditions that much sweeter, including the one that was only a few hours away.
Buzz finished buttoning the maroon shirt and was pulling on the brown trousers when Jessie came in to the room. She wore a pair of khaki coveralls that she had ripped the sleeves from. Underneath she wore a long sleeve printed shirt, but it was her hair that made Buzz's jaw drop. She had released it from its usual braid and let it fall into loose waves.
"Better hitch up your britches there, Cap'n Tightpants," she grinned at him as she sat down on the bed.
He smirked as he finished getting dressed, thinking how apt the nickname was at that particular moment. Shrugging on the suspenders, he sat on the bed's edge to pull the brown riding boots on. "How do people wear these things?" he grunted, struggling to get the boots on over the fabric of the pants.
Jessie laughed and retrieved the rest of his costume. "They can't be harder to put on than your spacesuit, Fly boy. Here's your holster; and don't forget this," she handed him the long brown coat. "Mmmmm, not bad, Cap'n. Maybe you should wear this more often," she smiled suggestively as he stood to don the garment and she rested her hands on his chest.
Buzz smiled but before he could retort, a strange looking animal walked in to the room. "Woody?" Both he and Jessie stared aghast at the young man.
Instead of being dressed as a regular sheep, his "wool" was matted and dingy. His face was gray with black blotched under his eyes and fake blood around his mouth. Bo walked in just behind him and Jessie shrieked with laughter. Her sister-in-law was Bo Peep, but her dress was ripped and she had done her face as a zombie.
Woody grinned, "I told you it wasn't what you thought. Well?"
Buzz grinned, "Genius. Zombie Bo Peep and her sheep."
"The Walking Fleece," Bo quipped. "You guys look great! Shall we go? People are going to start arriving soon. And I'm sure Pricklpants… I mean Mr. Taldon, will be early to get his little show together." Bo had approached the local thespian, so named because he created the character after inadvertently sitting on the school's pet hedgehog, to both invite him to the party and to tell local ghost stories. He had been delighted and assured her he would attend; the quartet found him already waiting by the barn doors.
While Woody showed Mr. Taldon to the loft, Buzz took care of hanging the piñata and the girls made sure the food was ready. The first guests to arrive were Trixie and Rex, dressed as dinosaurs, followed by Slink as a hot dog and Sarge as a green army man. When Andy showed up dressed as a Sheriff, Woody greeted his boss and friend with a laugh, "Have to work tonight or just couldn't come up with a better costume?"
The Potanskis arrived dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead. "Aren't these adorable?" Mrs. Potanski shrieked. "As soon as I saw them online, I told Don we had to wear them." She squeezed her husband's arm and he made a face. Woody raised his eyebrows at Buzz who grinned and mouthed "henpecked"; the two friends quickly broke eye contact before they lost their composure.
The party was in full swing with more friends coming in. The shrieks of kids' laughter filtered down from the loft and Jessie smiled as she heard Taldon's rich baritone, "it was the slime from the creature's metamorphosis!" The night was filled with good memories and laughter as people bobbed for apples, took turns at the piñata, and enjoyed the company of friends and family.
Jessie had retreated to a quiet spot, watching the festivities. Buzz reached from behind her, handing her a cup of apple cider. She took it with a smile and leaned against him as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"So, when this place is completely ours, will we get to keep this tradition?"
She nodded, "Of course! Woody'd tan my hide if we stopped it."
He leaned his head against hers, "Maybe start a few traditions of our own?"
"I like the sound of that. Got somethin' in mind?"
"Well, we could always keep up the tradition of having a wedding here on the ranch, like Woody and Bo did."
She twisted to look at him, "Actually, I was thinkin' of that. And I don't wanna get married here. I know Woody and Bo did, but I don't want to make that less special for them. I was wonderin' if we could get married in the field, with all of the sunflowers."
A wide smile spread across Buzz's face. That field had been a special place to him when Jessie had been away at veterinary school, and it became even more special when she came back and they had reconciled. "It's perfect. Absolutely perfect," he kissed her forehead.
Jessie leaned back against Buzz and sipped her drink. She sighed happily at the sight of her friends as they enjoyed themselves, of Woody and Bo as they fell against each other in laughter, of the delight in thinking of the future of this tradition and the ones to come.