Chapter 2

Back on the Jackson Farm

Emerald-Loiness-06

Balladeer: The Jackson family consists of Charlie, Mary, Chelsea, Nicole and Jamie. Nicole and Chelsea are older than Jimmy by 5 years, a fact that Chelsea loves to rub in to Jimmy. Now Jimmy doesn't have a muscle car like the Dukes and his sisters, he has a red 1978 Ford Bronco with a 1968 429 motor. Nicole actually has her own car, a blue 1989 Ford F-150 that has over sized tires.

Chelsea and Nicole came skidding to a halt in front of the Jackson family farmhouse. Chelsea parked the Charger between Jimmy's Bronco and Nicole F-150, dwarfing the size of the car. Nicole slid out of the car and ran her hand over the cool metal of her truck.

"Come on Nic. Ol' Blue will be here in a few hours. Besides I see Mama's head peekin' through the curtains." Chelsea grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her towards the house.

"But I ain't seen my truck in 4 years! Not since Daddy and Cooter drove it out to Chapel Hill to bring us the Lady!" Nicole whined as Chelsea flung open the door.

Chelsea looked at her sister with a glare. "Well when we go jukin' why don't you just take it out and I'll take my car and we'll all be one big happy family."

"Good idea!" Nicole grinned, completely missing her sister's glare.

"You're an idiot." Chelsea rolled her eyes and muttered as Mary came into the front room to see her girls.

"Chelsea! Nicole! Oh you made it home alright!" Mary pulled her daughters into a hug.

"No thanks to Chelsea." Nicole stuck her tongue out at Chelsea.

At 23-years-old Chelsea and Nicole still carried on like a couple of teenagers at times. Chelsea rolled her eyes and stepped on her sister's dark brown cowboy boots. Nicole yelped as Jimmy, the youngest at 18, came thundering down the stairs to see his sisters.

"Chels! You still got the Charger?" Jimmy looked excited.

"Hell yes I still have the Charger! After supper we can go look at it." Chelsea smiled at her younger brother.

Mary looked at her oldest with a disapproving glare, "What have I said about swearin' in my house, Chelsea Lynn Jackson?"

Chelsea flinched at the sound of her whole name. "Sorry Mama. It's a bad habit."

Nicole snickered at her sister's misfortune. "Yea Mama. When we were livin' in NC she started cussin' a blue streak. I guess that's what you get when you hang out with frat boys."

"Shut up Nic! You dated one!" Chelsea scowled as their mother looked at the pair in amusement.

"Robby doesn't count! I was with him for two days before I found he was a pig!"

"He was in a fraternity! That's one heck of a big ol' red flag that he was a pig!"

"Girls! Now enough of this arguing, your just in time for supper. My famous homemade Chili." Mary interjected as Nicole opened her mouth to retort.

The green-eyed blonde glared at her sister as Chelsea, Nicole and Jimmy followed their mother into the dining room. Chelsea hugged her father as Nicole dropped a kiss on his cheek. Charlie smiled at the twins, hearing their argument and knowing that when it came down to it, they were still his little girls.

Mary walked into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of Chili to bring out to serve. She walked in to see Chelsea looking out the window while Nicole, Jimmy and Charlie were deep in conversation about the ride from Chapel Hill, North Carolina back home to Hazzard.

"Chelsea, you want cheese on your chili?" Mary asked her oldest.

Chelsea didn't answer, which caught Nicole's attention because she refused to eat chili without cheese or hot dogs in it. Marry looked at Nicole with concern as Chelsea continued to stare out the window, drumming her fingers on the table.

"Chelsea!" Nicole said sharply, getting her blue-eyed sister's attention.

"Huh?" Chelsea looked up, eyes wide in confusion.

"You thinkin' about somethin' honey?" Mary set a hand on Chelsea's right shoulder.

"Yea Mama…a certain Beauregaurd Duke." Nicole smirked.

Chelsea raised an eyebrow at her sister, "This cocky little statement comin' from the girl that dang near wet herself when Luke slung an arm around her shoulders back at the Boar's Nest when talkin' to Boss." Nicole started blushing as Jimmy started laughing.

"I knew ya'll still fancied them Duke boys!" He said with a boyish grin.

Charlie shared an amused look with his wife. "Now ya'll it's supper time so lets eat because I know for a fact that the girls are gonna want to go jukin' tonight."

"I wanna go!" Jimmy exclaimed as Chelsea loaded up her chili with cheese.

"Sorry little brother. You're too young to go since they're servin' 'Shine on Friday nights." Chelsea said as the family joined hands and began to pray.

Balladeer: Now doesn't this just warm your heart? It's not often that you see a family come together like this on a Friday evening.

"JD still serves Moonshine at the Boar's Nest on Friday nights?" Charlie asked as he grabbed his milk after taking a hearty bite of chili.

"Of course he does! It's a jukin' tradition to drink some 'Shine. I do believe that it took you a couple of hits off the old fruit jar before you could propose to me. I thought my brother was gonna explode!" Mary smiled.

Nicole looked up from her chili, her eyes wide as saucers. "Ya'll use to drink Moonshine?"

Charlie started laughing as Mary nodded. "I use to run it for JD sometimes. That's how I met your mother. She helped load up my car one day."

"Let me guess. A year later ya'll were married and expectin' Nic and I?" Chelsea grinned.

"Nope, a year later your daddy was runnin' from my daddy like a scalded dog because he didn't make 'Shine, he just ran it." Mary smiled cheekily across the table at her husband.

"So how did ya'll get Grandpa's approval?" Jimmy asked. The kids had never heard the whole story as to how their parents got together.

"Jesse Duke came in and saved the day and my hide." Charlie admitted.

"So that's why we call him Uncle Jesse!" Nicole concluded.

"Part of it. He was also my best man and your mother choose him to be godfather to all three of you kids." Charlie answered as the family quickly started finishing their dinner.

"Is Enos Strate still around?" Chelsea asked suddenly, polishing off her cheesy bowl of chili.

"Yep. He's Rosco's Deputy." Mary answered as the brunette sat back in her chair.

"Well at least we know that Nicole and I will have a friend when we get huffed in jail for being associated with Bo and Luke." Chelsea quipped, halfway serious.

"Get thrown in jail? Now why would Rosco do that?" Mary looked at her daughters.

"Mama, Uncle Rosco would do anything Uncle JD told him and that includes cuffin' and stuffin' Chels and I. Besides, we're not exactly in Boss's good graces since we stopped at the Boar's Nest to see Daisy." Nicole answered.

"Why is my brother upset with you two."

"I wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world to him but he deserved it. Not apologizin' to Nicole and I or Uncle Jesse…how rude!" Chelsea knew her mother was going to be angry that she was disrespectful to Boss Hogg.

Mary rolled her eyes, "I know that my brother is rude but you have to understand that is just how JD is."

"I know Mama. May Nicole and I be excused? We promised the call the boys on the CB about tonight." Chelsea smiled at her mom with her brightest smile.

"Fine…just be back in the house in fifteen minutes. Lulu and JD are comin' out for dessert." Mary nodded, waving the girls away.

"Thanks Mama!" Nicole and Chelsea jumped out of their chairs and went out the door to their respective vehicles.

"You were just dyin' for a reason to get into your truck, weren't you?" Chelsea asked, sliding into the Lady.

"You know it!" Nicole laughed.

"You are terrible!" Chelsea said, grabbing the CB. "Black Sheep to Lost Sheep, ya'll got your ears on? Come back."

"Black Sheep this is Lost Sheep. We hear ya loud and clear." Luke's voice carried over the channel.

"Hey Luke, its Nicole." Nicole grinned down at her sister.

"Hello Nicole. Chelsea, Bo was just headed out towards your farm in the General." Luke said as the sun started sinking below the horizon.

"What the hell for?" Chelsea looked over at the CB Mic confused.

"Uncle Jesse wanted me to give you something." Bo cut in on the channel.

Chelsea smiled, "And what in the world did Uncle Jesse send me?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." Bo laughed. Chelsea slid out of the Lady to give Nicole and Luke some not so private, private time.

She walked up the drive a little ways before hopping on the fence to sit and wait for Bo. She heard the General before she saw it, which was how it usually went. She started grinning when Bo honked the horn, playing the first 12 notes of Dixie. The orange muscle car came skidding to a halt as Chelsea hopped off the fence.

"Well howdy Mr. Duke. I heard that you were bringin' me somethin'?" Chelsea said, leaning on the door.

Bo gave her a boyish grin before moving around to slide out. "Uncle Jesse figured that you and Nicole would be a little cold tonight after jukin'."

"I got a jacket and a Duke to keep me warm. What'd I need somethin' from Uncle Jesse for?" Chelsea raised her right eyebrow.

Bo pulled out a black leather jacket from behind him as Chelsea's eyes went wide. It was a racing jacket that Charlie and Mary had made for the girls when they started racing on the tracks around the state. Chelsea's jacket had the Rebel flag across the back with Jackson under it. On the shoulder of the right sleeve was a new patch, one of a checkered flag with Bo's name on it.

"Daisy made that up and put it on when I started drivin' for NASCAR. They all thought I would make it big. She remembered how much you liked me way back when so she thought it was a good idea. Nicole's got one just like it on the left shoulder with 'Luke Duke' below the Marines seal. It was when she didn't know if he was comin' home or not." Bo explained, blushing lightly as Chelsea stared at the patch.

Chelsea looked up at Bo with a blissful smile. "Oh Bo, its perfect! Tell Daisy I love it and thank Uncle Jesse for me."

She pulled him into a hug as Nicole came walking up towards them. Bo looked heaven ward and told the good Lord thank you. Chelsea pulled away as Nicole reached them, running her hand through his hair.

"His hair is still as blonde and as fluffy as it ever was." Nicole commented with her hands in her pockets.

"Leave my hair alone Nic. This is for you." Bo handed her the matching black jacket.

She smiled at the coat and ran all the way back to her truck to tell Luke that she saw his patch. Chelsea laughed at her sister as Bo slung an arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him coyly as he leaned against the General's door.

"Well Mama said that we needed to be back in 15 minutes because Boss and Aunt Lulu are comin' out for dessert. How about you and Luke meet us here in about 2 and a half hours?" Chelsea suggested putting her jacket on.

Bo smiled as she ran her hand over the patch. "Sounds like a plan. We'll CB up head to let ya'll know we're on our way."

"Alright. We'll see ya in a few hours." Chelsea kissed Bo lightly in the cheek before starting back towards the large farmhouse. She stopped and turned as he slid into the General Lee and shouted back at him, "Oh and Nic was right about your hair…but it looks great!"

Balladeer: Now I said that they would have a few obstacles to over come before they could continue their romancin' but they still needed to start romancin' to continue. Now ladies and gentlemen here comes Jefferson Davis Hogg and his lovely wife, Lulu Coltrane-Hogg, Rosco's sister.

Chelsea saw the telltale white Cadillac convertible in the dusk as she watched Bo drive away. She heaved a sigh before walking over to the F-150 and knocking on the window. Nicole looked over and saw Chelsea nodding her head behind the truck.

"Oh shit." Nicole muttered as she slipped out of her truck. The twins turned and continued on into the house and up to their room as the large Caddy parked next to Charlie's new Dodge Ram.

Nicole, Chelsea and Jimmy each had their own rooms, dominating the second story of the huge three-story Georgia plantation style house. Nicole and Chelsea's rooms were at the front of the house, connected by a bathroom. Jimmy's room was on the back of the house with a guestroom and separate bathroom. The girls often left both bathroom doors open so they could see each other from their closets and desks. They set their newfound jackets on their beds, figuring that their uncle would have a fit if he saw the patches for the Duke boys.

"This is just gonna to be the best danged night of my life." Chelsea said sarcastically as they made their way back down to the living room to greet their aunt and uncle.

"Play nice, sister dearest. We got two and half hours until jukin'." Nicole whispered in Chelsea's ear as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Ya I know. Shut up." Chelsea hissed back before smiling at her Aunt Lulu.

The Jackson girls spent the next two hours smiling and talking with their aunt as JD sat in the corner with a sour look on his face.

Balladeer: More sour than normal that is.