Chapter 13: Love in the First Degree
When Jo and Luke told the family that they had just learned that they were expecting a little girl, the family was all ecstatic. Daisy was already planning on all the cute little dresses that would be bought while Jebb started laughing.
"You want to share what you think is so funny?" Luke asked as he walked over to his cousin.
"Just remembering a few conversations that we had back when Kira was pregnant. It seems to me that you were the one that said that it was a good thing that I wasn't havin' any daughters. Now you are having a girl and will get to be the one to look forward to all those tea parties that you teased me about with my sisters."
"Alright, so I see the irony. But it really isn't all that funny," Luke said as he remembered some of the conversations that he and Jebb had before the boys were born.
"Maybe from where you're standin', Cuz," Jebb smirked as the family went on to discuss how the nursery in the farm's most recent addition could be arranged.
Of course Daisy volunteered to go and help Jo shop for the new baby things to go in the room. She would even take her to the shop that she found for Kira when she was pregnant since she would start to show a little more very soon. One thing they didn't need to go shopping for was a crib since Kira and Jebb had two even though both of the twins slept together. So by the end of the evening, various plans were put together for the outings and Daisy even got on the phone and started to spread the word to the rest of the family both far and wide.
Bo, however, still hadn't shaken the feeling that he'd pushed fatherhood onto his best friend and cousin against his will. When Luke had gone out to handle the evening chores, Bo followed him out to the barn to talk to him. When Luke looked up and saw his cousin coming up, he could tell that he wanted to talk about something.
"Somethin' on your mind?" Luke asked as he began to muck the stall of the young mule that they had gotten to replace Maudine.
"I wanted to ask you how you felt about the baby and all. I mean, I know that you were sayin' how it seemed a little soon right after you and Jo got married and all..." Bo sort of stumbled through the question.
Luke had to grin as he remembered that his cousin still didn't know that Jo's pregnancy had absolutely nothing to do with his little joke with his stash of condoms.
"I'm beginning to get used to the idea. Though I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with a little girl. With a boy I figure that I'd just do what I remember I liked to do. But a girl?"
"Well, I seem to remember Daisy likin' a lot of the same things we did when we were younger. She just liked to throw in a doll or two and play dress up in addition to rough housin'."
"You make it all sound easy. Of course it ain't you that's expectin' a kid this fall."
"Yeh, well about that. I think that there is somethin' that you ought to know." Bo shifted back and forth a bit and Luke couldn't help but take pity on him. That doesn't mean that he won't still get him back for his joke done in poor taste but at least by then he won't be expecting it.
"You mean that you had somethin' to do with the fact that I had to buy a whole new box of condoms when Jo and I got down in the Caribbean to replace the box that someone had gotten a hold of before we left?"
"You knew?" Bo's jaw dropped. Here he'd been beating himself up for being responsible for Jo's untimely pregnancy and it turned out that he wasn't responsible for it at all.
"Are you kiddin'? When I went to unpack I noticed that certain things weren't where they should have been. So, you want to tell me what made you think of doin' that?"
"In my defense, I was drunk when I suggested that we ought to have a little bit of fun with you. Coy was stone-cold sober though when he did it."
"So it was actually Coy that did it?" Luke thought about it, trying to figure out when Coy could have had access to his luggage before he'd left on his honeymoon.
"Uh, well, I mean..." Luke enjoyed watching Bo trying to backtrack because he really didn't intend to throw his other cousin in front of the bus, so to speak.
"Bo, I get it. Just watch your own wallet for a while."
Luke smirked as he turned back to the stall to finish cleaning it out. Now he only had to come up with a good way to get his cousins back. After all, it looked like he had a lot of people to get back at. Not only for his cousin's joke, but for the bachelor party that had been given for him as well.
~01~
Kim looked over the day's appointments and saw that the day was scheduled to be a rather light day. One thing that was on the day's calendar was that Bo was due to come in just before lunch to have his cast removed. She also noticed that while her uncle was handling most of the patients while she was still recovering, Bo was listed as her patient for the day. Until then Kim had very little to do so she worked on updating patient files throughout the morning. When she heard Sue greet the blond Duke, Kim went out and gave Bo a smile as she led him into the back room where she would cut off the cast.
"You ready to get back to drivin' the General? That is if you can get it back from the others now. I think I saw Kira drivin' it yesterday and she was drag racin' Jebb in it."
"You did. Jebb learned not to dare Kira to do anything. Though you'd think that he would have learned that a long time ago. I'm pretty sure that they both just did it to rub it in that I couldn't drive it at the time. I am so ready to get this thing off and get back to normal livin' again. I'm even ready to get back to takin' care of the chores out at the farm again."
"Oh you have been bored haven't you?"
"Yep, but at least I got out of mendin' fences last week." Bo grinned at Kim as he gave her a wink. "Luke tried to convince Uncle Jesse that they'd be alright for another week but he wouldn't budge on them."
"Lucky you. And all you had to do was break your arm chasin' down my ex," Kim said trying to joke but couldn't quite hide the guilt that she felt for getting Bo hurt on her behalf.
"Yeh, well, I'd do it again if he ever came back around here." Kim lowered her eyes and started to work on removing the cast instead of saying anything in response. When the cast was removed, Bo flexed his hand a bit after having not used it in so long. "Now that's better."
"Just don't feel the need in tryin' it out too soon in a bar room brawl."
"Well why don't you come along so you can remind me not to push my luck tonight?" Bo said as he watched Kim's face for any reaction.
"I don't know..."
"Come on, Kim. You ain't been out to cut loose in a while. If it's 'cause you're worried about the rumor mill, we can just head back up to the Blue Goose instead of goin' out to the Boar's Nest," Bo said as he lifted Kim's chin up to raise her eyes to meet his.
Inhaling, Kim answered a bit reluctantly, "Alright. I guess it couldn't hurt to go back. At least there we won't have an audience." Kim back away slightly and turned to open the door to the room that suddenly felt just a bit smaller than it had moments earlier.
"Great. I'll pick you up at seven-thirty." Bo grinned he followed her out of the small exam room that they'd been in.
Of course since they were no longer shut away in the back room, Sue could hear every word. She strained her ears as she listened to Bo Duke and Kim Appleby iron out the details for their date. As soon as Bo left and Kim headed out for her usual lunch at the diner with one or more of the Duke women, Sue got on the line with her cousin, Maybelle, and told her what she'd just heard. And here they thought that the doctor was the one woman in town that had no interest in landing Bo Duke. Looks like the unlikely pair are going out after all.
~01~
That evening when Bo drove up to Doc Appleby's house, Hazel Bradley was sitting on her front porch enjoying the evening breeze as the bright orange stock car pulled up in front of her neighbor's house. When Bo got out of the General, he saw the next door neighbor and waved to her. He then ran into Doc Appleby on his way out of his house.
"Bo, I wasn't expectin' you. Is there somethin' I can help you with?"
"No sir, I'm just here to pick Kim up. I was plannin' on takin' her out this evenin'."
Irving looked the younger man over for a second. He'd been waiting for this but Kim hadn't mentioned that she was expecting the blond Duke to come and call on her. Probably because she expected him to be gone before Bo came to pick her up. Smiling, he turned back toward the house.
"Well come on in. I'll run and let her know that you're here before I leave," Irving said as he headed back into the house and led Bo in as he went off to the room that had been her room ever since she'd come to live with him as a pre-teen.
Meanwhile, Bo was feeling an awful lot like a teenager himself, pacing in the living room as he waited for Kim's uncle to tell her that he was here. Irving was the equivalent of her father right now and it had been a while since he'd had to worry about facing a girl's father when he'd gone to pick up a date. Of course, he didn't really think that he'd have to worry about getting a load of buckshot in his britches tonight, thankfully. He was getting too old to worry about shotguns full of rock salt and pebbles.
When Kim walked into the living room wearing a pair of jeans and a simple blouse Bo gave her a smile. It didn't take her long to get ready for the evening and still look quite pretty. She'd put on a little bit of makeup, too. Just enough to make her dark brown eyes shine. In fact, he couldn't help but tell her that she looked beautiful tonight.
"I think that you need your eyes checked, Bo."
"Nah, I'll leave em the way they are; especially since they're lookin' at you." He winked and enjoyed the slight blush that rose up in Kim's cheeks. "I brought the General but we can take your Jeep if you'd rather."
"And deprive you the joy of racin' around in the car that you haven't been able to drive since your arm was broken? I wouldn't think of it."
"Then let's go." Bo led Kim out to the stock car, prepared to feel Kim tense up when he helped in through the window even though he still didn't like it. At least now he knew why she'd tensed up back in April. Feeling Kim's muscles tighten up beneath his touch was enough to make him want to drive up to the state's prison and beat Ted into the ground again.
On the drive up to the Tennessee state line to head to the roadhouse that they were heading to Bo told how Luke and Jo had been recruited to babysit for Jebb and Kira since they were away for the weekend to race in a Motocross event in Alabama. They hadn't been able to hit any of the races down that way in a while so the family had no problem with helping out a little with taking care of the twins. Besides, Jo needs all the experience that she can get.
"Bo, she is expectin' one baby girl. Takin' care of two toddlin' little boys is a bit different."
"I know. It was still fun to watch them two chasin' after the boys though." Bo smirked as he remembered Luke trying to get the boys ready for a bath earlier. That was his cue to leave. It was made all the funnier when it looked like Luke had gotten more wet than either of the boys who had refused to sit down once they had been put in the tub then Mikey took a leak in the bath water. "It even seemed that the more I laughed the more them boys gave Luke a hard time."
"So of course you tried to hold the laughter back a little, right?" Kim smiled knowing the answer before she even asked.
"Not a chance. I laughed so hard my stomach started to hurt."
Kim giggled at the image that Bo had painted for her. Bo continued to fill her in on some of the various things that had been going on out at the farm since she'd moved back out to live in town again. As they kept chatting, the drive seemed to end a lot quicker than they had expected it to.
Again, Bo helped Kim out of the stock car and led here inside and found that the place was already quite busy. They had to sit at the bar until a table was cleared. When a booth opened up in the corner, they quickly moved to claim it and then ordered some drinks. Bo told Kim that the food here was pretty good so they both got an order of burgers and fries as well. As he and Kim continued to talk, (him about the farm, her about the various folks from town that had come in for one reason or another in the week) Bo tried to remember the last time that he'd actually talked this much to a woman while on a date.
When they'd finished their small meal, Bo asked Kim if she'd like to dance and led her out to the small dance floor as one song was ending. When the next song came up, Bo had to chuckle to himself. It was a song by Alabama and if they had been in Hazzard, he would have sworn that Daisy had chosen it for him to dance to it. As the song began to play, Bo pulled Kim up close to him as he really began to listen to the words, maybe for the first time.
(Lyrics to "Love in the first Degree" removed to remain in accordance with fanfiction's rules.)
Much like when they'd come to the out of state bar before, Bo and Kim both lost track of time as they both laughed, talked, and danced. Before they knew it, it was nearly time for the old roadhouse to close. And they still had to drive back to Hazzard.
On the drive back, Bo put his arm on the back of the seat and Kim responded by sliding in closer to him on the bench seat. An action that Bo had to smile to himself about. When he pulled up at the house that Kim was living in with her uncle, it was all dark except for the porch light that Irving had left on for his niece. Bo helped Kim out of the General Lee and walked her up the walkway.
"I had fun tonight, Kim. I hope you did too," Bo said as they neared the door, again for the second time in one night feeling like a teenaged boy on a date instead of a grown man.
"I did."
"That mean we can do this again?" Bo asked while searching Kim's eyes expectantly.
She lowered them before answering. "I don't know. Bo, I just don't think that-"
"Kim," Bo lifted her chin as he spoke. "I ain't here askin' you to commit to anything. I'd just like the chance to spend more time with you. After all that you've been through I ain't about to ask you to do anything you ain't ready for. I just want to be with you. Okay?"
Kim stared into Bo's blue eyes and saw the reason why so many women have lost themselves in those deep pools. In those eyes, Kim only saw sincerity in them. Not an ounce of humor that had filled them all night long. Swallowing hard, "Alright," Kim whispered. "I guess it couldn't hurt none."
Bo gave Kim a genuine smile as he gazed down into Kim's eyes filled with uncertainty. Closing his own eyes, he leaned down and covered her lips with his own. He kept the kiss light, undemanding. A simple, slow, goodnight kiss. It was nearly all he could do to not pull her tightly up against him.
When Kim returned his kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck, he felt as if a switch flipped inside him. No other kiss had felt like this. None of the countless other kisses that he'd ever had could possibly compare with this one. He had no idea just how long he'd been standing on the porch kissing Kim, but when he'd finally ended the kiss and let Kim go inside, the first beginnings of a sunrise were starting to show as he climbed into the General to head home.