Okay, back with another chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I'm going to camp tomorrow (Wednesday) and I'll be back really late on Sunday night. I'm posting five different things today, that way when I get back my email inbox will have a lot of emails. I did that once and it's quite fun. So you guys review. By the way, my review goal for the story I just finished, Trouble at the Boar's Nest, was 100 reviews. I ended up with 99, isn't that sad? So if you would, one of you people here should review to it and make me happier. Now on to this story . . .

Chapter 10: Fatherhood

After six months, Bo had yet to be left completely alone on the farm with Lois. All three of the other Dukes, but especially Daisy, helped him out with the baby. Daisy had fallen in love with the child and treated her as if she were the mother. Bo didn't mind this, because he didn't feel too comfortable with being alone. Luke and Jesse also loved Lois as if she were there own child (well Jesse as more of a grandchild), but Daisy seemed to take total control.

But one day, after six months, Daisy was working at the Boar's Nest, and Jesse needed help with picking up some fertilizer in Capitol City. It was time to put Bo's parenting to the test, so Jesse took Luke to Capitol City. Bo was finally left alone with Lois for a few hours.

After feeding Lois, he lay her down in the crib. He had yet to move himself and Lois to the addition, which housed two bedrooms and a bathroom, but he planned to do it within the next few months or so. It had a door which connected into the living room, so he and Luke had had to remove the window that had been there and replace it with a door.

Sinking down into Uncle Jesse's favorite chair, Bo sighed. It wasn't easy being a father, but he was beginning to get used to it. Suddenly, he was surged with a newborn confidence that he could do this. He could raise Lois to be a good girl. He could be a good dad, the kind that Lois would grow up to love and respect. Of course, he knew the teenage years would be wild, just as Daisy's had. He guessed it was a girl thing.

So when Lois started crying, Bo knew he could handle whatever the girl needed. He lept to his feet and over to the crib.

Smelling the air, he decided she didn't need changing. He had just fed her, so she wasn't hungry. He chalked it up to her just being tired and wanting her dad to help her fall asleep. He picked her up and sat down with her in the rocking chair in which his Uncle Jesse and Aunt Martha had used to sing him to sleep when he was a baby.

He sang a couple soothing songs, and he could tell Lois was almost asleep. In fact, he was close to dozing off himself. He was awakened by a painful sounding cough. He opened his eyes and panicked when the coughing didn't cease.

Suddenly, Lois let out the biggest cough of all, followed by a spew of barf emerging from her mouth, landing all over Bo's shirt and pants. He didn't seem to care, though. He was more concerned about his daughter.

"Lois, ya all right there, darlin'?" he asked, although he knew she wouldn't answer. Instinctively, he ran his hand over her forehead, eyes growing wide when he found it warmer than usual. He stood up and set the baby back down in her crib and quickly grabbed the thermometer. He put it in her armpit as Daisy had shown him how to do in cases like this one. As Daisy had instructed, Bo waited 2 minutes before reaching for the thermometer.

"Hundred 'n' one," Bo commented. "Aww, dang it! Now what?" He angrily threw the thermometer down on the table. He decided to do the only thing he knew would work for now: call Daisy and ask for adivce.

Daisy sighed, not able to shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right at home. She tried to ignore it and focus on the waitressing. She noticed Cooter sitting down at a nearby table and decided he might be able to make her relax.

"Hey there, Cooter," she greeted as cheerfully as she could. "How ya doin'?"

"Everythin's goin' just fine," Cooter replied. "Just stopped by for some lunch. How 'bout ya take my order?"

Daisy grinned. "Well, I could. What would ya like?"

Cooter's answer was stopped short by Jerry the bartender.

"Daisy, you have a phone call!" he called out. Daisy excused herself to go to the phone. "It's Bo," Jerry went on. "He sounds kind of upset."

"Thanks Jerry," Daisy said. She turned her attention to the phone. "Hey there, Bo, what's wrong? Jerry says ya sound a little upset."

"Daisy, Lois is sick," Bo announced. "What do I do? Oh, I knew I wan't ready ta try an' take care of 'er by myself. I don't have the slightest idea what to do with a sick baby. She was fine an hour ago, what's wrong with 'er?"

"Now Bo, calm down," Daisy soothed. "Did ya take her temperature?"

"Yeah, it's 101, Daisy!"

"Is she coughin' any? What are her symptoms?"

"Yeah, she's coughin', an' she threw up all over me, too. That's about it."

"Why don't ya try givin' 'er a little cough medicine?" Daisy suggested. "I ain't sure how much ta give a baby, but it should say on the back of the bottle. Give it to 'er, an' see if she can keep it down. Don't try ta feed 'er. Does she have diarrhea?" Jerry gave her a strange look, as if to say "Hey, there are people eating in this place!"

"She hasn't gone to the bathroom yet," Bo said. "I don't know."

"Well, if she can keep any cough medicine down, try puttin' just a little orange juice in her bottle an' see if she can keep that down, all right Bo?" Bo consented. "If ya have any more problems, don't hesitate ta call me. An' ya might even wanna call Doc Applebee and see if he has any suggestions."

"Thanks Daisy, I'll do that." Bo sounded a little relieved now. "An' I'll call ya if she gets worse. Thanks a lot, Daisy." The two hung up, leaving Bo to take care of his daughter, and Daisy to take care of the customers.

After hanging up with Daisy, Bo dialed the number to the town doctor. Doc Applebee told him about the same things Daisy had. He hung up feeling a little more confident in what to do, but still felt imcompetent as a father.

He read the directions on the back of the medicine bottle for infants, and prepared the correct dosage. Carefully, he carried the spoon of medicine over to Lois without spilling. He made several attempts to get his daughter to take the medicine, to no avail.

"Come on, Lois, just take it!" Bo cried angrily. "It ain't that bad, just take it!" But Lois would not open her mouth, no matter what her father did. The young man was just about to give up when he heard the door open and shut. Uncle Jesse and Luke had arrived home from Capitol City, much to Bo's relief.

"Hey Bo," Luke greeted. "How you guys doin'?"

"Terrible," Bo answered bitterly. "Lois is sick, and I can't get 'er ta take the medicine. I was right, I can't do this, I'm a horrible father, I-"

"Bo, stop right there," Luke said. "Uncle Jesse, can you take care of Lois while I have a word with Bo?" Jesse nodded his consent, and shooed Bo out of the way so he could pick Lois up. Luke led Bo outside and pushed his shoulders so he sat down on the porch steps.

"Bo, you ain't a bad father," Luke told him. "It happens. Every child gets sick one time or other, and in my opinion, yer doin' somethin' right if she don't like medicine," he joked.

When he got a small smile out of Bo, Luke chuckled and playfully slapped Bo's shoulder.

"See?" he said. "You know you agree with me, you just won't admit it." He still wore a small smile. "Bo, I think it might be time fer you and Lois ta move in to the addition. I can't say I ain't gonna miss ya, I really am. We've been sharin' a room forever, but Lois needs ya more than I do."

"I was thinkin' just the opposite," Bo replied.

Luke nodded in understanding. "Well, Bo, believe me, yer ready, an' so is Lois. I'll help ya move this weekend, okay?"

Bo consented. "I guess. I trust ya ta give me good advice, so I guess I will move this weekend." He got up and headed inside to tend to his sick daughter.

Luke watched through the window as Bo took control of his daughter. It looked like Uncle Jesse hadn't had any luck with the medicine either. He sighed, knowing he had just made a large personal sacrifice for his cousin. He figured Bo was ready to move across the house, but Luke didn't think he was ready to quit sharing a room with him. But, he recognized that Bo was ready, and he knew he had to do what was best for his little cousin. Still, he was going to miss sharing a room with Bo.

Okay folks, another chapter gone and done. Why are those two words spelled almost the same, yet the vowel sound is different? Okay, I don't know where that came from . . . anyways, please review, and I'll update as soon as I can. Like I said, I'm going to camp tomorrow, and I won't be able to work on anything until Monday morning. So fill up my email inbox, please!