Author's note. Whew, sorry for taking so long to update this. This is a nice long chapter to make up for it.

Written by me and Mrs Bumblebee.

Enjoy and please review.

After another fifteen minutes Cody had all the horses brushed clean and slick, making them look like real show horses. Cody smiled at them and patted their sides before he headed back into the cabin.

"Hey, the horses are all done," he called to Terribull who was stirring a sauce.

"That's great kid," Terribull replied as Cody now said.

"I'm just gonna have a wash."

"Okay but you're getting a bath later," Terribull said with a grin as the calf groaned but went to wash.

Terribull chuckled as Cody walked off, slightly shaking his head.

"Kids," He chuckled to himself before he tasted the sauce.

It tasted good but needed a bit more spice to it. He grabbed a couple of jars and sprinkled their contents into the saucepan, stirring it all carefully. He knew Saddlesore and BootHill would be sleeping somewhere but didn't really care, they were a disaster in the kitchen. Just thinking of the last time they'd tried to cook still made him grit his teeth in annoyance.

Cody soon returned to the kitchen, face and hands all cleaned. Terribull smiled down at him.

"Want to come with me to check the fish?" he asked the calf.

"YEAH!" Cody cried with delight as Terribull laughed.

Walking over to the young calf, he scooped him up, tickling him and setting him on his shoulder. Cody giggled and hugged his dad, this was great.

Terribull walked out to the smoke house and opened it. He had to step to the side, knowing a big bellow of smoke was going to spill out when opened. Once it cleared Terribull stepped back in the door way and looked at the fish.

They had turned a deep yellow colour, the smoker had done its job well. He grinned and pointed it out to Cody who gasped.

"Wow, that is so cool," Cody said in awe before saying. "Whoa, I can really smell it now."

"Nice, isn't it?" Terribull said with a smile.

Cody's mouth water.

"Mm hm," Cody moaned as he took deep whiffs of the delicious air.

Terribull chuckled before he checked the corn cobs and saw that they were done. He reached up and very careful took them down.

"And to go with smoked fish, some nice smoked corn on the cob," Terribull explained.

Cody's eyes were big, he really wanted to have some right now. But Miss Lily had always taught him not to sneak scraps so he resisted the temptation. He did hope they would be eating soon.

"I can't wait to eat those," he happily told Terribull who chuckled.

"Neither can I, son."

"But don't worry, we don't have to wait for too much longer," Terribull reassured Cody as he hugged him.

"Great, I'm starving," Cody said earnestly. "I can't wait to try our fish, bet it's going to be great."

"It should be, the fish from that lagoon are always great," Terribull assured him. "Come on, let's get this to the kitchen."

Cody nodded as Terribull put him back down on his feet and handed him a couple of the corn cobs to carry into the kitchen.

"There should be a plate waiting for them, it's on the table," Terribull told him. "Put them there and then come back for more."

"Okay," Cody chirped, and rushed into the kitchen with the corn cobs, carefully placing them on the plate.

Cody nodded and headed to the cabin and disappeared inside and after a couple seconds was back to get more from his dad.

"Good lad," Terribull said as he dealt with the fish. "Maybe you could go wake those idiots next, just make sure you it nicely. No water or anything like that."

"I won't," Cody promised, taking the corn cobs to the kitchen, carefully arranging them. He then went off in search for the two varmints.

And again it didn't take him long to find them but surprisingly he didn't find hem sleeping. In fact he found them playing a game of poker and by the looks of it Boothill was winning.

"I swear you are cheating," Saddlesore growled as he pushed his pile of money in front of Boothill.

"I am not, you're just being a sore loser," Boothill argued.

"Uh, guys," Cody coughed before they could really start arguing. "Dinner'll be ready in a minute."

They waved him away, to focused on their game.

"I wanna see those cards," SaddleSore demanded as BootHill scoffed.

"Hah, no chance."

"Then if you're not cheating then why are worried. Just show me," Saddlesore argued but Boothill shook his head.

"No way, I know that once you see them you'll try to cheat."

"No, I won't," SaddleSore said hotly as Cody asked.

"Are you guys gonna fight?"

"None of your business, buzz off," BootHill snapped as Cody shrug.

"Okay, I'll go and tell Terribull."

Again they ignored him and continued with their argument. Cody sighed and shook his head before he headed back to the cabin.

"They're fighting." Cody called into the cabin through the door way.

"Fighting?" Terribull repeated with a scowl.

"Yeah, they were playing cards and SaddleSore says BootHill is cheating. I don't know if he is," Cody explained as Terribull looked even more annoyed.

"Right, I'll deal with them," Terribull growled.

Cody nodded and moved out of the way to let Terribull by before he followed after him. When they arrived where Cody found them they were still at it.

"What's going on?" Terribull barked out as Cody peeked from behind him.

The two varmints froze before launching into explanations, accusing the others of skulduggery. Terribull listened for a single second before snarling.

"Alright enough, BootHill, you tell me."

"We were playing poker and I was winning. Suddenly he started getting all sore loser and accusing me for cheating," Boothill replied, snarling at Saddlesore.

"That's because you clearly are, you've been winning too easily," SaddleSore said hotly.

"Huh, you're just sore," BootHill sneered.

Terribull growled and grabbed them both and bonked their hands together.

"I'll be the judge of that," Terribull snarled before he picked up both their hands and looked them over before he put them down.

"He wasn't cheating, you're just terrible at playing poker," Terribull snorted as Saddlesore.

"Hah, told yah," BootHill said in triumph, even as he clutched his ringing head.

"Humph," SaddleSore huffed, eyes squeezed shut as he waited for his head to stop spinning.

Cody giggled, those two were really silly some times.

"Come on you two, Dinner is almost done and I can still think about not letting you eat," Terribull threatened.

They jumped and quickly started straightening themselves out, no way where they going to miss dinner. Cody giggled again as he and Terribull stood aside so that the two varmints could rush through to the kitchen.

"Those two," Terribull muttered as they followed. "I swear I get a headache every time I gotta deal with them.

"I believe that," Cody stated as they headed inside.

"I wonder if it would be cruel to make them just eat everything else and no fish?" Cody questioned out loud.

"WHAT?!" the two of the hollered as Terribull tried not to smirk.

"If they don't behave, maybe," he said seriously as the two minions gulped, they did not want that at all.

Cody giggled and followed Terribull into the kitchen to help him get everything ready, the smell of the food filling the cabin.

As well as the beautiful fish and corn cobs, they had spicy relish, some mash, chips, a couple of sauces for pouring over the food and a bowl of salad. Cody grinned widely, his dad was by far the best cook on the Mesa, this all looked so good.

Terribull handed Cody the large bowl of salad to carry over to the table while he took the chips and mashed potatoes. When they set them down Terribull swatted Boothills and Saddlesores hands away when they tried to sneak and bite.

"Not until we're all ready," he growled, knowing they'd try to sneak the best bits.

The two pouted but didn't protest, they didn't want to miss that fish. Once drinks had been poured, sarsaparilla of course, they were ready to begin. Terribul cut large slices of the fish and dished it out to everyone who started to help themselves to the side dishes.

But Cody waited as Terribull picked up his plate for him and putted spoonfuls of other food and a handful of the chips onto his plate for him.

"Here you go kid." Terribull said, placing his plate back down in front of him.

"Thank you," Cody said, smiling at his dad. "This all looks great,"

"Let's see if that's true," Terribull chuckled, pleased at how eager Cody looked.

Cody picked up his fork and picked up and piece of fish and put it in his mouth. The instant it hit his tongue, his mouth was exploding with flavour.

'Mmm, this is amazing," Cody moaned.

"Mm," Terribull agreed as he tasted the fish himself and knew it was good.

Even the other two made noises of agreement, this fish truly was excellent.

"Wow, this is the best. I can't believe I've never had this," Cody said as he took another bite.

"Well, I'm glad I could introduce you do it," Terribull chuckled as he took a bite of corn, dripping with butter.

Cody grinned and started tucking into his meal with gusto, this had to be the best meal he'd ever had.

Everyone was really enjoying the feast Cody and Terribull had made and soon an hour later there was hardly anything left but a couple scraps here and there and a plate full of fish bones.

Cody had never felt so full in his life, he'd actually had to loosen his belt because his belly had gotten so large. SaddleSore and BootHill looked exhausted but very satisfied, they were currently slumped in their chairs, tongues lolling out. Terribull was a lot more dignified but even he looked full. He shot Cody a smirk of satisfaction, this had been brilliant.

Cody leaned closely and whispered.

"I had a great time today, dad,"

"Me too son," Terribull whispered, reached down to ruffle the calf's hair.

Cody grinned happily, this really was the best. Although he felt so full, he wasn't sure they'd be able to wash up the dishes. Funnily, Terribull seemed to be thinking the same thing as he said.

"We'll leave the dishes until tomorrow; I don't think any of us are going to manage them tonight."

Cody chuckled and nodded until he pointed at the other two people at the table who were now snoring fast asleep in their chairs.

"I know those two aren't," he giggled.

Terribul rolled his eyes but didn't bother to wake them. Instead, he got up with a groan and reached over to lift Cody up. Cradling him, he said.

"Come on, let's go and have a nap. We've had a long day."

Cody yawned and nodded.

"Okay," he whispered as he snuggled into Terribull's chest.

Terribul patted his back he took them through to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. He sighed, he'd eaten too much but didn't regret it, that feast had been too good to waste. As Cody snuggled against him, he said.

"I thought I was going to burst, that was so good."

Terribull smiled at this and wrapped an arm around the calf to pull him closer.

"Same here kid, good job in helping in catching those fish and cooking them," Terribull replied.

Cody grinned up at him, feeling so happy that his dad was proud of him. Terribull chuckled before saying.

"You'd better take that belt off, you'll feel more comfortable."

"Okay," Cody said and removed it with relief before settling down again.

"Ohhh that feels so much better," Cody moaned in relief.

"It sure does," Terribull agreed as he lifted Cody up for a moment to remove his own, before allowing the calf to lay back on his chest.

"What we going to do tomorrow?" Cody asked with a tired yawn.

Terribull thought for a moment.

"I don't know...maybe we'll think of something tomorrow," he replied

"Okay, just wondering," Cody said with another yawn. He felt so warm, full and comfortable, he felt like he could easily go to sleep right now.

Terribul smiled as he watched his son slowly slip off to sleep, it had been a long day.

Terribull reached up and started to stroke Cody's back to help him go to sleep better.

"Go to sleep son," He whispered.

"Mmm," Cody mumbled, snuggling in tighter.

Terribul smiled and gave Cody's hair a little kiss as his son slipped off to sleep.

"Sleep tight," Terribull whispered before he too closed his eyes to sleep.

They both slept soundly but in the night, Cody woke up. Groaning, he glanced around before realising what had woken him. His dad was snoring, a lot louder than normal. Apparently, over eating had that effect on him and now he'd woken the young calf up.

"Mmm," Cody mumbled to himself as he rubbed his eyes, he still felt so sleepy.

Cody looked back down at Terribull and moaned again, knowing he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep with that snoring. He reached out and poked his dad.

"Dad?" He whispered.

There was no reply so he poked him again.

"Huh?" Terribull grumbled, rolling over slightly but still snoring.

"Dad," Cody said, a little louder.

Terribull snorted again before he peeked an eye open and glanced up at Cody.

"What is it son?" Terribull grunted through his sleep.

"You're snoring too loudly," Cody said softly. "I can't get back to sleep."

Terribull yawned before he reached up and lifted Cody off him and set him back down on the bed next to him.

"Sorry about that kid. I'll try and be quieter," Terribull whispered as he rolled over so his back was facing Cody.

"Thanks," Cody said gratefully as he cuddled into his dad's back, sighing at the warmth he found.

Terribull smiled at him from over his shoulder before he relaxed again and slowly let sleep take him.

Cody didn't get to sleep as quickly but he soon did. His dad did snore a little but not enough to really disturb him; it was more of a deep rumble. He sighed, it was nice to have a bit of background noise, it made him feel more at home. Because the town always had sounds and he'd missed that.

He whimpered softly as he started to feel home sickness started to creep up on him. He squeezed his eyes and buried his face into Terribulls back to force himself to stop thinking about it.

"He's taking me home," Cody whispered to himself. "We're going to go home and I can live with my new dad."

Being near Terribul helped a lot and since he didn't want to wake his dad a second time, he forced himself not to cry. He focused on all the nice things they'd done together and what they could do when they got back. Eventually, he fell into a slightly uneasy sleep but it was sleep nonetheless.

The next morning Terribull woke. He could feel Cody pressed up against his back which he smirked at before he very carefully got up out of the bed, being sure he didn't wake Cody. Cody whimpered at the body heat loss and Terribull quickly fixed that by picked up the covers and covering Cody back up. He reached down and petted Cody's hair.

Cody sighed and snuggled down, looking a lot more peaceful than he had a moment ago. Terribul watched him for a moment, making sure he was okay. He hoped Cody's sleep hadn't been too disturbed by his snoring, he was pretty sure he didn't snore that badly most of the time. He knew there was a massive cleanup to do but for now, he was going to put it off in favour of brewing some coffee.

Terribull walked into the kitchen with a huge yawn. He started to brew up some coffee and while he waited he looked at the kitchen and scrunched his nose up at the mess.

He started to think about making his two lazy sidekicks clean it up since he and Cody had caught and cook the dinner while they lazed about.

They barely did anything useful; it would be a fitting job for them. Of course, they would moan and whine but they'd get on with it, or else. He smirked, that sounded like a really great idea although he wouldn't allow them to do any cooking. Those two could frankly burn water if left to their own devices.

Terribull nodded and made the decision. He left the cabin to go wake the two varmints and get them to work while it was still early.

"Come on, get up," he hollered into their room where they were snoring peacefully. "I said, get up."

They of course ignored him, so he went in and turfed them out of their beds. He grabbed each bed and flipped them, taking them, the blankets, and their host all in one and landed roughly on the ground.

"YAHH!" they cried as they came awake in an instant. "What's going on?"

"You're going to be cleaning up the kitchen today," Terribull said with relish. "Me and the kid cooked, so you two can clean up."

"What?!" They both yelled.

"Yes you are and I don't want to hear any complaining, get to it," Terribull snorted.

They moaned loudly but another growl from the large bull had them scurrying for the kitchen. He smirked before heading to his bedroom, where Cody was still sleeping soundly. He smiled, his son looked so peaceful lying there. Once he adopted the little calf, they could fix up a proper room for him, back in his home in the town. Cody could paint the walls anyway he liked, he hoped that would make the little calf happy.

He smiled as he continued to watch Cody sleep before he walked over and gently stroked his head.

"Time to wake up," He whispered.

"Mmm?" Cody mumbled, burying his face further into the pillow.

Terribul chuckled but gave him another little rub.

"Come on son, you're wasting the day away."

"Sleepy," He whines softly as he pulled the blankets over his head.

"I know but you've got to get up now," Terribull told him firmly, now giving him a little shake as the calf groaned.

"Okay, okay I'm getting up.

He sat up and stretched, yawning widely.

Terribull chuckled and reached down and picked the calf up since he could see he was still half asleep sitting up.

"Mmm, what's happening?" Cody asked, very sleepily.

"We're just going outside for some fresh air," Terribull told him. "The kitchen's getting cleaned at the moment so we can't go in there."

"By who?' Cody moaned as he rubbed his eyes.

"By Saddlesore and Botthill, I ain't let those too off from doing something useful," Terribull replied.

"They won't break anything?" Cody said a little uncertainly although he was very grateful he and his dad didn't have to do the washing up. They'd had such a big feed yesterday that there must be a mound of dishes and other odds and ends.

"They know that if they do that they'll have to answer to me and use their own money to go buy some more to replace them," Terribull replied with a smirk.

"They won't risk it then," Cody giggled. When those two were in town, they were always complaining about money or the lack of it. Even if they had some money, that didn't stop them from complaining.

"No, they won't, Terribul chuckled as he carried the young calf out into the sunny yard.

Cody moaned as the bright sun hurt his eyes until they got use to it and adjusted. He yawned again before he looked around and took a deep breath or fresh morning air.

"That feels great," he sighed as Terribul nodded.

"It sure is son. We'll be able to go riding later."

"Really?" Cody asked.

Terribul smiled and nodded.

"Yes and I may even let you rise my horse by yourself," He suggested.

"Really? Cool," Cody declared happily, he'd love a chance to ride a big horse for once. His pony was nice but being able to ride a proper horse would be so wicked.

"Yep, he's a good horse; you'll be safe with him."

"I know he is. Almost every time we're playing he's sure he's gentle with me," Cody told Terribull.

Terribul smiled proudly as he said.

"He's always been the best, I was lucky to find him. I went to a horse sale and there he was, a half grown colt. Straight away, I could tell he was going to be special."

"Really? Cool," Cody chirped before he started to wiggle around in Terribull's arms, wanting down.

"Alright, alright," Terribul said with a chuckle as he set the young calf on his feet. "You kids are always so impatient."

"Only cause grownups are so slow," Cody said cheekily and squealed as he dodged a swat to his rear.

"You know good and well that I am not slow, you're just too hyper right now," Terribull chuckled.

"I know," Cody admitted, his dad could definitely move when he wanted to.

Terribull grinned down at Cody before he lunged for him again and this time was able to scoop him up and started tickling him mercilessly.

"Ahh," Cody squealed, struggling and laughing at the same time as he was tickled.

"That'll teach you," Terribul said with a grin as he continued.

"Ahh No fair," Cody screamed as he laughed and kicked his legs, trying to break free of Terribul's iron grip.

"You give in," Terribul asked.

"Yes, Yes I give just please stop." Cody cried out through his laughter.

"Alright," Terribul said with a chuckle before ceasing his tickling. Gently, his let his son down, giving his hair a good ruffle in the process.

"No more teasing your elders," Terribull warned softly.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Cody said apologetically.

"That's alright," Terribul said. "Just as long as you understand."

"Yes sir," Cody replied before he giggled and swatted at Terribull's hand as he ruffled his hair again.

"You're messing up my hair," he complained as Terribul said.

"It was already messed up."

"Was not," Cody humphed and grabbed up his hat which had fell from his head when Terribull had grabbed him and put it back on.

Terribul grinned but didn't argue the point; Cody looked cuter with his hair messy.

"Come on, let's see to the horses," he said and he lead the way over to where the horses were eagerly waiting them.

Cody grinned and ran after his dad.

"Okay," he chirped in excitement.

They spent the next half hour brushing down the horses as well as feeding and watering them. The stable was also cleaned out and although Cody wrinkled his nose at this, he still did it with good grace. It was very peaceful work especially as the sun was shining so brightly down on them.

Terribull went to push the wheel barrel to the compost pile while Cody stayed with the horses. All three crowed around Cody, nuzzling and gently nibbling on him, wanting his attention.

"Hi there," he greeted warmly. "Great day, isn't it?"

As they nodded in agreement, he whispered with a giggle.

"SaddleSore and BootHill are inside cleaning the kitchen cause we cooked a feast last night."

The horsed whined happily, almost like they were laughing when Cody told them this which made Cody laugh too. Those too lazy varmints needed to do some work other then lay around and stuff their faces when it's time to eat.

"Yeah, I think it's funny to," Cody said with a huge grin. "Bet their complaining their heads off in there."

The horses laughed again and pawed at the ground.

"Hehe but I bet they wouldn't be complaining if Terribull was there watching them," He giggled.

"You bet they wouldn't," said a voice right behind him and he jumped as he saw his dad standing there.

Terribull chuckled down at him.

"Talking to the horses again son?" Terribull playfully teased his son.

"Yeah," Cody admitted with a small smile. "They understand me."

"They are intelligent," Terribul agreed making the horses snort as though it was obvious.

Terribull's horse walked over and nuzzled his owner. Terribull smiled and reached up and patted his nose.

"Yep, you and the others and very smart aren't you?" Terribull said to the horse.

The horse nodded, pawing slightly at the ground to indicate agreement. Terribul patted his nose, saying.

"Never doubted it for a moment."

Cody smiled as he watched his dad talk to his horse like they were old friends. Soon the other horses started wanting attention too and leaned down and started nuzzling and nudging Cody for it.

"Okay, okay," he laughed as he started rubbing their noses and patting their heads. "I hadn't forgotten about you guys, we're friends, aren't we?"

The horses gave him more nuzzles and little licks meaning yes, they were.

Cody giggled at the tickling sensation form their tongues and tried to get them to stop.

"Haha hey stop it, that tickles," He laughed.

The horses gave each other sly looks before continuing, making him giggle even more. They did stop as they didn't want to overexcite the young calf and allowed him to stroke them again.

"You guys are so mean," Cody panted one they stopped.

But the horses didn't take any offence from it and nuzzled him. He gave their noises another pat before asking.

"When can we go riding?"

"After breakfast," Terribul replied.

Cody smiled and nodded.

"Okay, are we going to just take your horse of one of these guys too?" Cody questioned curiously.

"We'll take one of them with my horse," Terribul said. "I'm going to send one of those idiots into town, see if there's any news. That means all three horses will get out."

Cody smiled and nodded.

"Okay, you hear that guys, you're all getting out today," Cody told the horses who all whined happily.

Terribul reached over and gave Cody another hair ruffle.

"Come on, let's see how those varmints are doing," he said and Cody grinned.

"Okay, I bet they're not even half way finished and they've got more broken dishes then they do dirty now," Cody stated as he followed.

"They better not have," growled Terribul. "Ah well, they can always buy us more."

Terribull opened the door to the cabin and walked in with Cody close behind him. They headed for the kitchen but Terribull closed his eyes and looked away briefly.

"Do I even want to look," Terribull asked Cody as he looked for him.

"Uh...it's not too bad," Cody said after surveying it. "But it still needs a lot of work."

"Urgh," Terribul grumbled. "Those two take forever to do anything."

Terribull opened his eyes and nearly screamed at the sight he saw before him. Dishes were broken; water and soap suds were everywhere and those two odours were rolling around and fighting on the kitchen floor.

Cody stood there sheepishly; he hadn't known how to really break it to his dad.

"I do not believe this," Terribull growled, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

Terribull stomped into the kitchen and stood over the two who haven't noticed him wet as they fought each other through the suds that covered them.

Terribull growled before he reared his leg back and then kicked them out of the kitchen.

"What in tarnation are you two idiots doing. I said clean the kitchen not fight in it," Terribull yelled at them.

"He wouldn't wash the dishes," whined BootHilll as SaddleSore snarled.

"Because we agreed I'd dry, you'd wash."

"No we didn't, we said I'd dry," BootHill protested as Terribull snapped.

"Forget it; I don't want to hear it."

"I want you two out of this cabin before I get really mad...NOW!" Terribull yelled at them.

Boothill and Saddlesore both became very frightened and fell over each other in their rush to get the door.

"I do not believe them," Terribull groaned, sinking into a chair. "One little task, that's all I ask and they screw it up."

"It's okay dad," Cody said soothingly. "I'll help you clean up; I've helped Aunt Lily clean up after a fight in the saloon."

Terribull sighed in aggravation as he pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked at Cody and smiled.

"Thanks son, I know I can count on you, sadly I know you'd do a better job than those two put together," Terribull replied.

Cody grinned as he said.

"You bet I can. We can get everything picked up before we start washing and drying, that's the best way to do it."

Terribull smirked and nodded.

"Good idea," He praised before they got to work on cleaning up the kitchen before they could really start.

Thanks to BootHill and SaddleSore, there were bits of food on the floor as well but thankfully, not too much. Cody carefully grabbed all the small things while his dad took care of the bigger things. Soon, they had everything picked up and while the food went in the waste bucket, the dishes went into the sink where they should have been in the first place. Terribul shook his head in disgust, only those two varmints could make such a poor job of it.

Cody came to strand next to his dad.

"So how do you want to do it? You wash and I dry and put away?" Cody suggested.

"Ehh, that sounds fine," Terribull said with a nod. "You know where everything goes?"

Cody nodded eagerly before grabbing a nice clean dishcloth so that he could dry properly. Terribul smiled and started to scrub away at the dirty dishes, giving them a proper clean.

Carefully he handed the now cleans ones to Cody who gladly too them, dried them, and then put them away in the spots.

"That's good," he complimented, making his son grin widely.

"We make a great team, huh dad?" Cody asked and his dad nodded.

"We sure do."

They both chuckled at each other and continued working until the kitchen was spotless.

"Doesn't it look brilliant?" Cody asked, admiring their handy work.

"Yeah but now we've got to get breakfast going," Terribul said with a wry smile. "Anything you fancy, son?"

Cody thought for a bit.

"How about breakfast burritos," He suggested.

Terribul grinned; he hadn't had one of those in a long time.

"Sounds good, I'll get them started."

"Great, I'll get you the ingredients," Cody said eagerly.

Terribull smirked.

"Well you may to have noticed but we have a couple chickens out back behind the smoke house, mind getting some fresh eggs from them?" Terribull suggested.

"Sure, I can do that," Cody said confidently.

"Well, you go on," Terribull mock commanded and Cody gave him a cheeky salute before rushing off.

"Hey girls," he greeted as he rounded the smoke house to find some hens happily pecking the dirt.

The chickens looked up at him curiously, a bit confused by the friendly newcomer but soon accepted him and went back to pecking. Cody grinned and walked over to the nesting box and started checking the nests for eggs.

"Ooh," he exclaimed in delight as he saw there were several newly laid eggs. "Great."

He started taking them out one by one, carefully placing them in his hat. a couple of hens came closer and started peeking at his laces, perhaps thinking they were tasty worms.

Cody carefully shooed them away.

"Hey cut that out," He chuckled softly.

One ruffled her feather before strutting away, head held high. The other kept cocking her head back and forth, as though trying to spy a tasty morsel on this newcomer. Cody giggled before saying.

"I'm sorry; I don't think I've got anything."

But as he put his hand in his pocket, he found a bit of slightly stale bread.

"Uh you can have this," he offered and was immediately surrounded by chickens.

The chickens happily ate up his offering, being carefully not to peck his fingers too hard as they were give the tasty treat.

"Aww, you henny pennys are nice," he cooed, using the name he'd used since he was little.

The hens puffed themselves up with pride as he giggled; their feathers were very soft and tickly.

"You all take care now." He said before he picked up his hat full of eggs and headed back to the house.

"I got the eggs," he chirped as he entered the kitchen. "The hens are really nice."

"They are," Terribull agreed. "Although you've got to keep them fed or they get a bit temperamental."

Cody giggled.

"That's what Aunt Lily says about the customers," he quipped.

"Does she now?" Terribull questioned playfully which made Cody giggle again and walk over with the eggs.

"Yeah, if you watch how everyone is before they eat and after, you can see the difference," Cody said with a knowing air.

"I can imagine," Terribull chuckled, he knew he got a little grumpy if he didn't get grub.

Teribull then pointed out something on what Cody said.

"And I know how you get after you get done eating a big meal," Teribull pointed out.

"Huh, how?" Cody questioned with a raised brow.

Terribull chuckled and ruffled his head.

"You sleepy."

Cody flushed and then giggled.

"Yeah a little. Aunt Lily likes people to be relaxed but she doesn't like them falling asleep in her saloon."

Terribull chuckled and nodded.

"I can see why. After you clean up their dirty dishes you still have to clean up after them once they leave because they left drool on the table," He joked.

"That happens," Cody exclaimed. "People say it doesn't happen but it does. And they never clean it up, it's always me."

Terribull heard the pout in Cody tone and decided to have a bit of fun.

"Aww poor baby," He teased.

"And they never say thanks," Cody grumbled as Terribul struggled not to laugh.

"Aww is that right," Terribull teased again, knowing he was getting on Cody's nerves.

"Yeah, they just have no manners," Cody said hotly as Terribul sniggered.

"Yep, whole mesa's full of unkempt, uncouth varmints," Terribul intoned mock serious.

"Yep and sadly two of them live here," Cody added with a smirk.

Now Terribul couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing.

"That sure is true son and we've got to deal with them on a daily basis."

"But at least you can keep them in line...for a couple seconds," Cody giggled.

"A couple," Terribul agreed before clapping his hands together. "Right, let's get this breakfast on the go, I'm getting hungry."

Cody laughed and nodded.

"Okay, what else can I help with?" Cody asked.

"You can separate the eggs," Terribull told him.

"You know how to do that, right?" he added and Cody nodded.

"Yeah, although I didn't used to be good," he admitted. "But I can do it fine now."

"That's good, you go and do that," Terribul instructed.

Cody nodded and went to get a bowl and then picked up an egg. He carefully tapped it on the edge of the bowl until it cracked and then separated the shell to let the goopy inside fall out into the bowl.

He then transferred the remaining yolk to another nearby bowl, ensuring no contamination. He then repeated this process with all the eggs, not getting a single bit of yolk in with the whites. Although at one point he squealed as he cracked and extra large egg and discovered what was inside.

"Look...look," he called to his dad. "A double yolk!"

Terribull looked before he chuckled.

"Well what ya know, if we knew it was like that we should had hatched that one and had twin chicks," Terribull stated.

"Yeah," Cody said with big eyes. "That would have been cool, I love chicks."

He looked at his dad and said.

"How often do you have chicks?"

"Not a lot of times, we have to eat a lot of the eggs most of the time but if you want you can keep an egg and try to hatch it if you want," Terribull replied.

"That would be great," Cody said eagerly and took the very last egg which was still warm and placed it in a basket. Carefully, he covered it with a cloth to keep it warm and put it where it couldn't be easily knocked over.

Terribull smiled at this and watched Cody come back to continue to help make breakfast.

Pretty soon, they were cooking their breakfast burritos which had been stuffed with all sorts of goodies including ham, tomatoes and many other things. They viewed the meal with immense satisfaction until Cody said.

"Um, should I get the others?"

Terribull thought for a bit before shaking his head.

"No, those two made the kitchen worse than it was so as punishment they're going to have to make their own or go into town and buy something to eat, they ain't getting anything from me today," Terribull replied.

Cody grinned; he hadn't fancied sharing his breakfast with those two. With a slight wink, Terribul told him to lay the table for two while he dished up. Cody put down two plates and pour two glasses of milk for them and even put down a couple knives and forks for just in case and then sat down to wait for his dad.

Soon his dad was carrying over a nice big bowl full of breakfast burritos. Cody could feel his mouth watering and he grinned in anticipation.

"That smells so good," he moaned as Terribul started serving them up.

"I hope they taste as good as they smell," Terribull stated.

Cody smirked up at his dad.

'If you had them then they're going to be the best," He chirped.

"Aww, shucks," Terribul teased, ruffling Cody's hair. "Come on, let's not waste anymore time, get stuck in."

Cody was more than happy to oblige, biting into the first one with gusto.

"Mmm, these are delicious." Cody moaned around his mouthful.

"They sure are," Terribul agreed, savouring the taste of his home cooking. "Tuck in son, their all for us."

"Gladly," Cody replied before taking another big bite out of his burrito.

"Yummy," he said thickly, mouth full of tasty breakfast.

They made a good meal of it, until every last scrap was gone. Cody sat back with a sigh, that had been so good.

"Man that was amazing." Cody sighed, rubbing his full belly before he reached out and picked up his glass of milk to drink it.

Terribul nodded, he was feeling pretty good to.

"I'm going to go tell those varmints to get their own breakfast," he said, getting to his feet with a groan. "And once we've rested and cleared up, we can go for a ride."

Cody smiled and nodded.

"Okay," Cody replied in excitement.

"I'll start clearing up," the calf said helpfully, making the older bull smile.

"That'd be a big help, son," he said proudly.

"Any time dad," Cody replied and then started taking all the dirty dishes to the kitchen and got to work.

Terribul smiled before going out to where SaddleSore and BootHill were miserably lounging about.

"Right," Terribul barked as they jumped up. "If you two want breakfast, you can go into town for it. I ain't letting you make another mess."

"But boss," they whined but he was hearing nothing of it.

"Go on," he ordered. "And see what that damn Marshall is up to while you're at it."

"But...but...yes boss." They moaned in defeat before they turned to walk off before Terribull stopped them.

"Oh and Boothill, leave your horse, I need him today," Terribull added.

"What?" BootHill cried. "You want me to ride with him?"

He pointed at the scorpion who scowled.

Terribull glared down at him.

"You got a problem with that?" He snarled.

"No," they both said in a defeated tone, they could never stand up to the powerful bull.

"That's what I thought, now get going," he barked and they scrambled to obey.

Once they were gone Terribull headed back to the house to help Cody finish cleaning.

Cody had done a good job in the time he'd been out and Terribul smiled, they would easily get on. At least he didn't have to worry about Cody being a messy calf when they finally got a home together.

Author's note. Cody and Terribull go for a ride, how does that go? Find out next time, until then.