Chapter 11:
Kim locked the door to the clinic after checking on a few things in town. She'd already gone to see Bo for her daily allotted visit for the day. When she had gotten to the courthouse earlier, she was surprised by the fact that there seemed to have been a complete transformation inside since she'd come by yesterday afternoon. There was a tree in the process of being decorated by Enos while the rest of the upper courthouse was covered from floor to ceiling with garland and ornaments. The lower jail was decorated in much the same way. She'd passed Lulu as she left out and thanked the plump woman for thinking of the men while they spent their holidays in jail.
When she headed out of town, she passed Jo's car so she knew that Luke would be getting his visit soon enough. Kim was near the Duke Farm when she got a call on the CB asking her to check on a patient on the other side of the county so she turned her car around. Kim figured that since she was on her own today, she might as well as stay busy; hoping that she could wear herself out today to the point that she could go back to her own home today and be too exhausted to be spooked by any of the noises from the woods. After all, she was a grown woman and there was no reason why she couldn't stay by herself. Ted was still locked safely away behind bars in the state prison. With Jo's father out at the house, Kim felt it was just time to go home.
Smiling to herself, maybe she could ask Jo if she'd like to go for a run together later on. She knew that Jo was doing her best to get down to her pre-pregnancy weight. Jo went for a run nearly every morning before Luke was locked up then again in the afternoon. Without Luke home, though, that had gone by the wayside. Maybe while out checking on her patients, Kim might head over to Capital City and look into getting Jo a jogging stroller for Christmas. That way Faith could go along with her mother on the runs.
~01~
Jesse looked down at the scrap of paper that Bo had given him when he'd gone in to see the boys earlier in the day. Part of him was proud of the fact that his nephew had taken the time to put in some real thought on his wife's Christmas present. Her ex-husband had destroyed her violin years ago which had left her without an instrument. Bo wanted to return to Kim what Ted had taken from her so he'd saved up the last bit of his winnings from the last racing season to buy a new one.
On the other hand, Jesse was slightly irritated that his nephew had waited until the last minute to pick the present up. Which meant that since he was now locked up, the only way that the present would be under the tree for Christmas would be for him to pick it up for his jailed boy and put it there himself.
Luke, however, hadn't gone shopping yet so he'd been regulated to asking Enos to let him use the phone to talk to the service clerk at the department store to help him with ideas for his presents for both his wife and daughter and hope that the woman had similar tastes to Jo. Ordinarily he'd send Daisy but with her being busy with planning her wedding, he hadn't wanted to bother her.
Now Jesse was on his way to retrieve the presents for his nephews. He just hoped that this would be the only time that his nephews were foolish enough to get themselves locked up over the holidays.
~01~
Jebb gripped the steering wheel as he thought over the morning that he'd spent with his wife. He wasn't sure if he should take it as an insult or not considering that she'd gotten sick in the middle of their lovemaking.
The New Year was always met with a bit of fear since that was the usual time for Kira to see her oncologist. This meant that as the holidays neared, Jebb subconsciously began to search for any indication that when they got the results from the yearly tests that they'd be anything but positive. Not to mention that ever since the boys were born she'd been having to see other specialists as well. He thought about all that he'd seen in the last couple of weeks.
Kira had been nauseated, a bit moody, and he knew from their night out last weekend at the Boar's Nest that she seemed to go to the bathroom more often than she usually does. He'd also noticed that she seemed to tire a bit easier than usual. Heck, she'd even fallen asleep with the boys last weekend and she never did that. She wouldn't even take a nap when she was pregnant unless he forced her to. As they'd gotten dressed before heading out, he'd even noticed that he must have bruised her last night while he was making love to her. She always bruised easily due to her light skin but he hadn't thought that he'd been that rough with her last night.
Putting all the symptoms together, Jebb started to feel a cold knot in the pit of his stomach. There were two instances that had given Kira similar problems to what she had now. One was when she was pregnant. Ironically, she hadn't suspected that she was pregnant at all. She'd thought that the blood cancer that she'd already had two battles with had returned. Jebb figured that since he'd taken it upon himself to make sure that she couldn't get pregnant again by having a vasectomy that only left the other unpleasant option as the possible reason for her being so sick.
Jebb made a mental note to watch his wife a bit closer while she wasn't working over the holidays. Then he'd best call the specialist and double check just when Kira's appointment was. Maybe even see if he could get it upped from the end of January.
When the couple arrived at Jebb's parents, they found the boys were in the kitchen where Pauline was making gingerbread cookies with them. The moment that they saw their parents, though, the cookies were left forgotten.
Kira caught the glare that Pauline gave her so she just gave her a false smile that let her mother-in-law know exactly what she really thought of her latest meddling. She wasn't going to light into the older woman in front of her kids but she wasn't about to just forget that Pauline had accused her of cheating on Jebb either.
For supper that night, Pauline had Jebb's favorite foods on the table and had even made her famous Chocolate Chess Pie. When Jebb made a comment about all of the food as he sat at the table, Pauline just said that she thought that Jebb could use a decent meal.
"You look like you've lost some weight, Jebb. I guess havin' to chase after them boys all by yourself all the time can really take it off of ya," Pauline said as she eyed Kira. "Though I guess you're the only that's losing weight. Here, have some more greens," Pauline said as she put an extra spoonful of the mixed greens.
"Mom, I ain't lost no weight and you know it," Jebb said as he dug into his plate.
Meanwhile, Kira picked at her own supper. She couldn't explain it but she just wasn't all that hungry and the smell of the greens seemed to hit her the wrong way tonight. As the rest of the family devoured their food, Kira mainly just pushed hers around on her plate. When the dessert was served, she still hadn't eaten more than a few mouthfuls.
As Pauline started to serve the pie, Kira grabbed Jay's plate from his dinner to make room for the pie plate and put it on top of hers to hide the fact she'd not really eaten. She then grabbed Mikey's and carried them to the kitchen as Emma and Emily helped to clear the table as well.
Kira wasn't really sure if she wanted to head back to the family dining room so she stayed behind when the girls went back for their own dessert. Kira put a pot of water on the stove and waited for it to boil. When the water was ready, Kira fixed her tea and reluctantly returned to the table with it.
By that time, the dinner conversation had turned to Daisy and her pending marriage. Pauline had the satisfaction of believing that she'd been right all of these years about Daisy and the fellas; that Daisy hadn't gotten married before now simply out of duty to her cousins. She had felt that she couldn't get married and leave them without a woman to take care of them. And while she didn't like the fact that there wouldn't be a large wedding for the whole family to attend, Pauline did find the notion of getting married at the stroke of midnight as the New Year began to be a romantic idea.
Jebb rolled his eyes but let his mother go on without interrupting her. It wouldn't hurt anything by letting her believe what she was saying anyway. As he was finishing his dessert, he noticed that Kira was only sitting at the table with the family with a cup of tea instead of a plate for herself.
"Aren't ya havin' any dessert? I know that you love mom's pie," Jebb said.
Shaking her head, Kira replied softly hoping that no one else would hear her, "I'd better not. My jeans are a little tight."
"You know, I noticed that myself," Pauline said from her end of the table. "Maybe you should try this new diet that Grace has been on. She lost ten pounds in a week. I can get you the information on it before you leave."
Kira shot daggers at her mother-in-law. "I haven't gained more than a couple of pounds, Pauline. I think I'll forgo the miracle diet of yours," Kira said as she sipped her tea. It was true; her pants were tighter than they should have been after such a slight weight gain. But then again, with her heart and kidney issues, water weight has always been the bigger issue. Right now, she was more bloated than anything else.
"Well, if you change your mind. You know, you really should watch your weight a bit closer. Once a woman hits thirty, the weight is a lot easier to put on than take off," Pauline said as she stood to start clearing the dessert dishes. She wasn't sure if it was wrong of her to have enjoyed the fact that Kira started to work her jaw in an effort to not reply but enjoy it she did. She still wasn't convinced that the man that she'd seen stepping out with Kira was strictly a friend. It looked like she'll be making a few more trips to Atlanta in the next month than she usually did.
Pauline started to do the dishes as the rest of the family headed into the living room. When Kira brought the last of the dirty dishes to her in the kitchen, she couldn't hold her tongue anymore.
"What the hell was all that in there?" Kira said as she pounded her, now empty, tea cup down next to Pauline on the counter.
"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Pauline said innocently.
"Like hell! Knock it off. It's not enough that you had to try to scare the shit out Jebb this week. Making him think that I was cheatin' on him-"
"I saw you goin' out with a man on a night that your husband thought that you were sick."
"I was going out with a friend that Jebb knows well. He doesn't have a problem with Brent and since you mentioned it, yes, Jebb is my husband; which means that the two of us make decisions regarding our family. I don't need you constantly going behind my back and undermining me on every decision I make."
"As Jebb's mother, it's my job to watch after him to make sure that he doesn't get hurt by anyone," Pauline said as she bore a hole in her son's wife. That look was returned ten-fold by Kira.
"And just who do you think will hurt him? Me? You have a lot of nerve, Pauline, if you think that I'd just sit back and let you try to turn my family against me," Kira said in a deathly quiet voice.
"He was mine first. When all is said and done, a man can have as many wives as he wants, but he can only have one mother," Pauline said standing her ground.
It was then that John came to check on the women, it having been a while since they'd both gone into the kitchen together. After three years, his wife and niece didn't get along any better than when they'd first met. In fact, they never seemed to find a way past the wall of distrust of one another that had been built up the moment that Kira and Jebb's relationship first came out. Here he'd hoped that when they'd both called a truce at Luke's wedding just under a year ago that it would be the end of this slight war between them. Unfortunately, it hadn't taken long for his wife to re-engage their niece/daughter-in-law in battle.
"Are you two done with the dishes? The boys are ready to-" John looked between the two women and saw that they looked just a mere second away from coming to blows. "Am I interrupting anything?" John asked as he intently stared at his wife since he knew that whatever had happened, Pauline was bound to have instigated it.
"I'll head on into the living room," Kira said without looking away from her mother-in-law. "I think Pauline's got everything under control just the way she likes it."
Kira then poured herself another cup of tea before heading into the other room as John turned to his wife.
"Pauline, I thought we talked about this."
"John, I know that-" Pauline was interrupted by the sound of a dish shattering followed by her son's voice.
"Kira!"
John and Pauline left the kitchen and found Kira collapsed on the floor with her teacup shattered beside her. Next to her was Jebb trying to bring his wife around while both of his sisters as well as his boys were looking on from where they'd planned to watch a Christmas movie.
"Emma, you and Emily take the boys upstairs," John motioned to his girls as he knelt beside his son and daughter-in-law. He then took Kira's clammy hand in his own and felt for her pulse. It seemed faster than it should be. "Pauline, call Doc Greenwood."
~01~
Kira waited impatiently as the town doctor checked her blood pressure as three watchful pairs of eyes looked on. One standing right beside her and the other two from the other side of the room. When the older man removed the ear buds to the stethoscope out of his ears and wrapped the medical device around his neck he told her that her blood pressure was up.
"I could have told you that without a medical degree," Kira rolled her eyes as she rolled her sleeve back down.
"I'll assume that you're on medication and you've been taking it," Doc Greenwood said ignoring the comment from his patient. Over the last two years he'd seen her off and on when she visited the Dukes with Jebb; he was well used to her snippy comments when she wasn't feeling well.
"Of course I've been takin' it. Every morning with breakfast. Today being no different."
The doctor raised a brow at the statement since he doubted that the woman sitting in front of him was as religious as she claimed with regards to her medication since if she had he didn't think that her pressure would be as high as it was nearly a half hour after she passed out.
"With that being the case, I suggest that you take another in the evenings and check back with the doctor in Hazzard when you get home. In the meantime, try to relax. Avoid salt, alcohol and any stressful situations."
Kira knew that all but the last suggestion would be child's play. Avoiding stress while in the same house as her mother-in-law for the next week, however, would be damned near impossible. Especially while Pauline had the ridiculous notion in her head that she was cheating on Jebb.
"Thanks, Doc," Jebb as the man headed toward the door. The older Dukes walked the man out which left him alone with his wife for a moment so he asked, "You sure you feel alright now?"
"Peachy," she said while breathing out hard. She still felt a little weak but she wasn't in the habit of admitting stuff like that. Carefully, she stood up so that the room wouldn't start spinning. Kira eyed Pauline before turning back to her husband. "I think I'd better just head upstairs and go on to bed."
Jebb nodded since he figured that would be best as well as he thought back to his musings from earlier. Kira's collapsing was just one more symptom to put on the list that already had him on edge. He wasn't sure exactly what the cause of his wife's spike in blood pressure was but one thing was certain, he'll be watching her very closely over the next week while she was around for Christmas. Which will make for a very tense holiday for sure.
~01~
Christmas approached the Dukes, both in Placid and in Hazzard and while Jebb continued to keep watch and noticed other instances where he felt that Kira wasn't sharing when she felt more than just a little off (particularly in the mornings) his cousins who were sitting in jail continued to mark off the days until they were free once more.
Lulu had arranged for them to have a small party on Christmas night where they had had the typical holiday feast with their family. They each exchanged gifts and if one hadn't looked toward the bars on the cells behind them all or on the windows, it would be very difficult to imagine that it was all taking place inside of a jail.
Thomas had been surprised by the party since he was certain that this kind of fare was not the usual at other jails, regardless of just how much everyone in a town knew one another. Needless to say, Christmas hadn't gone as he'd expected. In any case, it was good to see that his daughter now had a strong connection to a very close family who wouldn't allow even the most unusual of circumstances to put a damper on their holiday.
Along with the rest of the family, Darcy and Daisy spent the evening celebrating their last Christmas as an unmarried couple. They were very excited that in just one week they would be married. Once married, they will be able to plan for their baby.
Daisy was already making plans for the nursery, not so secretly hoping for a baby girl of her own. She had found material that she was just dying to buy for a baby quilt and curtains but didn't dare for two very big reasons. One, if she bought material for a baby quilt before she was married, news of her pregnancy would be all over town before breakfast the next morning. Two, it was just too early to find out for sure if she was having a girl or a boy.
In just a couple of weeks she'll be able to come out about her pregnancy without shame since she'd be a married woman planning a family with her husband. However the wait to learn the gender of her baby would be a bit longer. A wait that seemed to be eternal to Daisy as she envisioned her baby that she'd have in her arms the next time she celebrated one of the holiest holidays of the year.
