A/N: Finally, an update! Sorry for the delay; blame busyness combined with a rather nasty case of writer's block. Hope this makes up for it!
Jessie sneezed as she inhaled some of the dust that flew up from the small rug she was shaking out. She draped it over the porch railing and leaned down, resting her forearms on the fabric as she gazed out over the ranch where the horses were running free. The late April days had come and with them the much-anticipated Spring weather. After such a long, cold winter, Jessie felt much the same as the horses: ready for warmth and the freedom to escape the confines of the farmhouse. The whinny of the horses echoed faintly across the fields and she smiled, "Guess I better get back to work. This house ain't gonna clean itself!"
Mopping the floor of the entryway took more effort than Jessie had anticipated and she flopped into the armchair in the room she and Buzz used for an office. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and pushed herself up after a few moments. Humming along to the country music streaming from the radio, she began removing items from the bookshelf. Dust rag in hand, she wiped the top shelf clean, stopping in confusion as she hit something in the far corner. "What in tarnation is up here?" she stood on tiptoe on the stool and reached for the mystery item. When she saw it, she let out a loud and long laugh.
She held a small figurine in her hand that she had found at a yard sale the previous Fall. It was a cartoonish sculpture of two people, a boy and a girl, who were naked. They were sitting together on the curve of the moon, arms around each other. The base had a caption that read "Love is…out of this world!". Jessie had bought it to send to Buzz for Valentine's Day, knowing it was something so far from either of their tastes, he would enjoy the joke. Since she had purchased it before he had left for his mission, she stashed it where he would not notice it. "Guess I hid this too well, since I forgot all about it," she mused. "Wonder if it would make it to him if I sent it out tomorrow…"
As if in response to her question, the video communication system set up on the desk chimed to indicate an incoming call. Jessie jumped down from the step stool, eager to answer. "Hey, Buzz!" she smiled broadly at the site of her fiancé.
"Hey, yourself. How's my cowgirl?" he smiled back at her.
"Pretty good," she settled into the chair, noting that Buzz was sporting a bruise below his left eye. "What happened to you?"
He brought his fingers to the injury, "Oh, this? Nothing to worry about. One of the new cadets was carrying a load too heavy and one of the crates slid off. I just tried to catch it with my face instead of my hands; I don't recommend it."
Jessie laughed, "Must be on account of that lack of oxygen up there."
"Must be. What are you up to? I'm not taking you away from anything important, am I?"
"Pfft, no; just cleanin' house. It's fin'ly nice out; I was starting to think we'd never see Spring! You'll never guess what I found, though." She showed him the figurine as she told him its story.
He laughed, "This really tests the theory that it's the thought that counts, you know that, right? Why don't you hang on to it, though, until I get home. Maybe it can grace the mantle once we're married and the house is fully ours."
"Maybe. Speaking of…I was thinkin' about the wedding. You know how we were gonna have it in the sunflower field?"
He nodded, "Mmm-hmmm. What's wrong?"
"Well, it's just…I really want to still do that, but I don't see how we can; not with all the people we need to invite. There's not enough space and all of the cars… it would just end up doin' too much damage to the field. So I'm thinkin' we should look into having it at the church instead."
Buzz frowned, "We can do that if you want."
"But?"
"It's just, you had your heart set on having it at the field. I don't want you to be disappointed, not on that of all days."
She shrugged, "I know, but I just can't see how we can make it work. It'll be fine; I'm still getting' to marry you and that's the important part," she smiled.
"Agreed. Well, not that it's important that you're marrying me, but… I mean…oh you know." He smiled sheepishly. "I can't believe how fast time is going; just a few more months!"
"I know! It'll be nice when you're home; easier to make decisions when it's both of us."
"You've handled it pretty well, I might just mess it up. That reminds me, I should be home the first Saturday in May. We're due to land in the early morning and I've arranged for a ride home from one of the other Rangers since I know that's when you'll be busiest with the horses. How is that change-over going, anyway?" he asked, referring to the work Jessie was doing to convert the ranch into a rehabilitation clinic for horses.
Her face brightened. "I think I've got all of the information together," she prattled on cheerfully, filling Buzz in on what she had learned. "It's gonna be a lot of work, but I think we can do it."
"That's great, Jessie! You can count on my help just as soon as I'm back." A klaxon sounded in the background and Buzz turned his head to listen.
"Everything okay?" Jessie asked, biting her lip nervously.
He nodded, "Everything is fine; we have a routine scouting mission and that was the call to assemble in the shuttle bay. At least this is the last one of these; I am very much looking forward to being done with these new cadets."
"The horses may not be easier, you realize," she teased. "Be safe, okay?"
"Always am. Love you, cowgirl."
"Love you, Space Boy." Jessie waved and then sat back when the screen went black. She let out a giggle of excitement as she thought of what was to come in the next months. Buoyed by those happy thoughts, she returned to the task of cleaning, making sure that the small figurine was where Buzz would see it when he returned.