"Hey, gals, I'm home! Jessie? Bo?" Woody called as he walked through the front door to the farmhouse, struggling to maintain his grip on the box in his arms.
"Woody! You're home!" Bo hurried in to the front hall and relieved her husband of the package.
"Just in time, too," he said as he brushed the dusting of snow from his hair and shoulders. "Just what we need, more snow. Ah well, it's pretty and at least I know I don't have to go in to work tomorrow." He planted a kiss on the waiting lips of his wife. "Where's Jess?"
"Upstairs, in the shower. She's been up in the barn almost all day, making sure the horses were fine with this oncoming storm. I think the only reason she stopped was because it got dark. What's in here?" she gave the box a small shake.
Woody grinned and took the box from her with a grateful nod, "The presents from Buzz."
"They finally came! Jessie will be so excited. I know she hated to disappoint him with the news of their delay, although when we get fourteen inches of snow, I don't know what we could have done about that. Let's put that under the tree. How was work today?"
"Fine, fine," he rubbed his hand on his biceps in an effort to warm up. "Andy says to wish everyone here a nice holiday. It was pretty quiet down at the station; most folk in this town are either out visiting or snug at home, so he wasn't worried about too much tomfoolery tonight. Pretty lucky, not many places can still say that. We still have hot chocolate, right?" He set the box under the tree that, miraculously, still had most of its needles. It was a long running joke between him and Jessie to see who could kill the Christmas tree the fastest, mostly due to lack of watering. Bo had wisely taken charge of the task, and so the evergreen was still lush and fragrant; Woody took in a deep breath, enjoying the crisp scent.
"Of course. Settle in, Sheriff, I'll get you a cup," she grinned and walked back to the kitchen as he relaxed into the armchair.
A few minutes later Jessie came bounding in to the room, "Hey! You're home! Happy New Year's Eve!" She proceeded to put a cone-shaped, tinsel-topped hat on his head with a laugh. She wore a similar one and held on in her hands that could only be meant for Bo. "Slow day at the office?"
"Very. Buzz's presents came, though."
Her green eyes lit up, "Really?! Oh, good! Let's open them tonight! Please?" She clasped her hands together, the paper hat dangling by its elastic cord.
Woody smirked, "I don't know...have you been good enough?" He laughed and held his hands up defensively as she grabbed a pillow and aimed it at him. "Okay, okay... you drive a hard bargain. Ahhhh, thanks, little lady!" he smiled warmly at Bo as she handed him the mug of cocoa. He watched over the mug's rim as his sister promptly bestowed the festive hat upon Bo's head, much to her chagrin.
"Oh come on, Bo... don't be a stick in the mud. It's only New Year's Eve once a year! B'sides, we gotta make our own fun since there's nowhere to go and we couldn't get there anyway. I had the tv on upstairs; they're sayin' we might get another six or eight inches from this storm. The poor horses...they're gettin' restless, bein' all cooped up in the barn for a week now. Well, what're we waitin' for? Let's open some presents!" She plopped down on the floor beside the box. She got the box open with a little help from Woody's pocket knife and distributed the gifts as directed. "Hang on, there's a note here." She tore open the envelope and skimmed the contents quickly. "Ok, Bo," she pointed, "go ahead and open yours. He has explanations for everything."
"Of course he does," Woody muttered good-naturedly.
Bo let out a delighted noise and she opened a box with a beautiful model of the solar system. Jessie hummed appreciatively, "Here's what he says: 'I know it may not seem like much a Christmas present, since it's for work, but I thought you would like this for the preschool.' Oh, keep going, there's something else in there." She waited until her sister-in-law retrieved a small snowglobe. Inside was a little cottage surrounded by a picket fence and some trees. The inscription on the base read: Our First House. Jessie smiled, "He says, 'It doesn't look much like your house, but it plays a song you should recognize.'" She paused as Bo wound the key and the song As Time Goes By chimed. Jessie smiled and continued reading, "'I hope you'll have just as many fond memories in that house as I do.'"
"Oh, Woody…our wedding song! What a lovely gift! It'll look just perfect next to my little Shepherdess," she said with an affectionate glance at Woody. On Christmas morning he had surprised her by finding the same type of china doll that had been lost in a yard sale. At Jessie's insistence, it sat, prominently featured, on the mantle until the time would come to pack it away for the move.
"Okay, Cowboy...you're next," Jessie lifted her chin towards him.
"So much for saving the best for last...oh WOW!" He held up a leather holster, the firelight gleaming off of the newly polished leather.
With a low whistle, Jessie looked back to the note. "He just says 'Merry Christmas to the straightest shooter I know."
"That just leaves you," Bo reached over and took the note from her hands. "Go on..."
The box addressed to Jessie was small and she wondered what he had found for her. She opened the hinged lid and gasped in surprise. Inside was a necklace; a simple gold chain was attached to both sides of a gold horseshoe charm. Within the curve of the charm was set a gem unlike any Jessie had ever seen. It was an inky blue-black with tiny pinpoints of silver light. She passed the box to Woody who then passed it to Bo, before it was back in her hands. She removed the jewelry from its case and put it on. As she fastened the clasp, she noticed that the charm sat just at the base of her throat and she could not help but smile; that was a favorite depository for Buzz's kisses.
"'For Jessie - I know you don't go in for much jewelry, but I thought you might make an exception for this one. I found the charm here on Earth, but the gem came from Capital Planet. It's called the Starfield gem, for reasons I'm sure you can guess. It's the best way I have of actually giving you the stars, and I hope that you wear it and you know that I hold you just as close to my heart. Let me know if the length suits you; I wanted to make sure it was short enough to not get caught on anything. And if I got it right, and I think I did, it got you wondering. And the answer is of course I did it on purpose.'" Bo looked up, "What does that mean?"
Jessie just shook her head, although her cheeks flushed a rosy pink.
Bo arched an eyebrow but did not press the issue. She cleared her throat and read, "'Woody and Bo - I'm sorry I can't be there with you all for Christmas, but I'll be thinking of you just the same. Jessie - all my love.' Goodness," she lowered the letter to her lap and looked at Jessie, "I think you can tell him they were all big hits. Do you know when you'll be talking to him again?"
"No. They had somethin' going on, I forget what all he said it was. It might be a week or so. But I'll prob'ly write to him and I'll tell him he did good. Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln! Look at the time! It's almost midnight already. Come on, we gotta get the tv on so we can see the cow drop. Woody, there's some wine in the fridge; pour us some glasses wouldja?"
The trio was sitting around the television as the stuffed cow was lowered in the next city westward. They counted down the last ten seconds and hooted and hollered as the clock chimed the hour, ringing in the new year. As Woody and Bo shared a kiss, Jessie fingered her necklace and thought of Buzz. She realized that the chiming noise was steady, although a bit faint. "Tarnation, that's the video link!" she exclaimed and ran into the adjoining den. "Buzz!" she laughed as his smiling face appeared on the screen.
He smiled, "Hey, cowgirl. Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year. I didn't expect you t'call tonight!"
"I know. I wanted to surprise you. I'm just glad you hadn't gone to bed yet," he teased.
She smirked, "Mmmm. It's not as enjoyable without you in it. Oh! Your presents came today; Woody brought them home."
He laughed at the whirlwind subject change, "Good! I see you're wearing yours. Do you like it?"
"I love it. Oh, Buzz…I just love it. And I did wonder about where it sits; you sly thing." She laughed as his grin widened. "Bo and Woody were real pleased with what you got them. Course you know you set the bar pretty high…think you can live up to the pressure?"
"I'll manage. Jessie, I have to go; I just had a few minutes to call. I'm sorry."
She nodded, "It's all right. Be safe okay?"
He smiled tenderly at his fiancée, "For you? Anything. Love you, cowgirl."
"Love you, Space Boy. Happy New Year." The screen dimmed and then went blank. Jessie let out a small sigh; she always felt slightly let down when their video chats came to an end. She rubbed her fingers over the pendant again and her face brightened with a smile. Still, she thought, it'll only be a few more months before he's home. With that thought in mind, she joined Woody and Bo as they toasted the new year and all of the joys that lay in store.