Author's Note: This is a story I wrote about the Dukes and their first years at the farm. I tried to keep it with them from the point where they got to the farm, and carry on throughout a couple of years. It's a growing and learning experience for all of them. There are also notes at the end of each chapter, a credit of sorts to a father from his son.
Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.
Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….
Learning To Love…
Chapter 26 ……….Doorposts
"I swear the two of ya are growing so fast I don't rightly know what to do with ya anymore," Jesse declared, shaking his head as he looked at the two boys. He had just dressed them for the morning, and it looked like it was time to expand the wardrobe again. The boys were growing fast.
Luke's shirt was tight over his chest, and the sleeves only reached to his wrists.
"I though ya had that shirt on only yesterday, an' then it fit," he grinned teasingly. "Did ya shrink it just to give me a fit?" He chuckled as Luke giggled and shook his head.
"An' look at you," Jesse turned to Bo, who's jeans ended at his ankles. "Ya trying to grow up an' shoot through the roof, Bo?"
"Gonna be as big as Luke," Bo declared happily.
"I can tell that's what yer working on," Jesse nodded. "Alright, Bo ya can have a pair of Luke's old jeans. Luke, I don't know what to get ya that ya ain't grown out of, so yer gonna have to wear that one today, an' we go buy ya a new shirt after school, I'll pick ya up."
"Okay," Luke tugged at the sleeves as if he could make them longer. This was something where Jesse really missed his wife, she had always been sure to sew the boys some clothes up, or buy new ones before they grew out of them this bad, but he didn't seem to be able to keep up with them.
"How big am I now?" Bo asked, bouncing up and down. "I wanna know how more big I am."
"Alright, come here," Jesse agreed, they had time before Luke and Daisy had to take the school buss surely. Luke had just started third grade, and he thought he was mighty big to.
"You first Bo," He stated before he went to get his pocket knife. Bo ran over to the doorpost where Jesse and Martha had started to keep track of their height. Bo stood himself on his side, carefully. His heels against the wood, and then he tried to stretch and make himself as tall as possibly. Jesse put the flat of his hand on top of his blonde curls and held it against the post, making a scratch with the knife, and then showing Bo how it was indeed higher up then the last one they had made.
Luke hurried over as well, as much as Bo wanted to be as tall as Luke, the older boy wanted to remain the taller. He was the oldest, and he wanted to be the biggest so that he cold be the protector.
He stood quiet with his back against the post, also inching up as much as he could by stretching, and Jesse drew a new mark for him as well.
"See there boys, yer gonna grow so much that there doorpost wont be enough," Jesse chuckled. "Now come on now, school buss is gonna be here too soon Luke. Ya need to get yerself yer boots an' bag an' hurry on out to the road."
Luke bit his lip worriedly, realizing that they had forgotten to make his lunch. Rather than say anything though he hurried off to get his boots and bag. He knew how hard pressed his uncle was to keep up with everything, and he felt guilty for adding to it. The last thing his uncle needed was to make a mad dash to get him lunch. Grabbing an apple from the bowl on the kitchen table he stuffed it into the bag before hugging both Bo and Jesse, Daisy was just putting her lunch in her bag. She had leftovers from last nights meal, but Luke didn't like it all that much, so Jesse had promised to make him something else.
"I'm gonna be as tall as ya, Luke," Bo declared when Luke lifted him up to hug him goodbye.
"I'm always gonna be taller than ya," Luke grinned, hugging him and then setting him down. "Bye Uncle Jesse."
"Don't forget to wait for me then," Jesse reminded him. "So we can get ya that shirt."
"I won't," Luke declared as he took Daisy by the hand and hurried outside, he figured they were a bit late, it felt that way. Pulling her forward hurriedly Luke looked for the bus, and spotted it. They'd just be able to make it since the driver spotted them.
"Good timing kids," the driver grinned as Luke sank down in a seat to catch his breath, and Daisy skipped over to sit with her frieds.
"Sorry sir," Luke apologized, knowing how he hated to wait for the children.
"Ah, don't worry, didn't really make me wait son," he declared as he drove on.
As they reached the school Luke had to hurry again, he had to make sure Daisy got to her room, because she still wanted him to follow her there and carry her bag. Then he had to go off and find Cooter and Enos. They were a few grades above him, but he was able to find them, running up to Cooter.
"Hey there buddy, got ya tail on fire?" Cooter grinned as he came over.
"Cooter, Uncle Jesse forgot about my lunch, I only have an apple," Luke explained. If he had no lunch, the teacher would make him tell why.
"That's not good," Cooter stated. "Ain't like yer uncle to forget that."
Luke shook his head. "He was worrying cause I've grown outta my shirt, an' cause it was always Aunt Martha did it, Cooter, do ya have any? Please, just a little bit of something?" he pleaded his friend. "I didn't wanna say nothing, cause then he'd feel bad."
"Sure Luke," Cooter grinned, taking his bag from his shoulder and getting out his lunch. "What ya got Enos? If we both pitch in we can set Luke here up I reckon."
"My mama made me sandwiches," Enos grinned, opening his own lunch. "I got a chicken sandwich here Luke," he handed him the sandwich and Luke put it in his bag.
"Here ya go, buddy," Cooter grinned, giving him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of lemonade." I don't really feel like lemonade anyway, just try an' get me the bottle back later okay."
"Okay," Luke nodded. "Thanks, ya really saved me, thanks Enos, yer a great friend."
"Shoot, is nothing," Enos stated embarrassed.
"I'll see if I can get some cookies or something to bring y'all later," Luke promised.
"Don't worry about it," Cooter grinned. "But hurry on back now so ya don't get late fer class."
"I will, thanks," Luke smiled at them, darting off and running back towards his class room.
"Enos, ya just did the good turn of the day," Cooter stated putting a hand on his shoulder.
"All I did was give him a sandwich, an' mama made me plenty," Enos stated embarrassed.
"Yeah, but Luke didn't want to have to tell his uncle about it, I reckon they's still having a hard time losing their aunt," Cooter pondered. "He's trying to make it easier fer him by taking care of himself I reckon."
"Luke always takes care of himself," Enos pointed out. "He takes care of everyone else as well."
"Uhu, so we's gotta make sure that someone take care of him," Cooter agreed. Just as he had declared when he first ran into the Duke boy, there was plenty of people who thought Luke was good for Cooter. Luke was smart and it was already showing, where Cooter was known as a far from brilliant boy.
Seeing the two of them together there was no doubt about it who was the brain, because Luke often took the lead, and many thought that it was cute. Still, Cooter did look out for the younger boy, he preferred not to think, but when it came to the two Duke boys, Cooter would use all his brain cell's to make sure they were doing okay. Enos was a little different, he was one year older than Cooter, and he was pretty smart. He was just very shy and very clumsy, whereas Luke was a natural leader.
Cooter thought it would be interesting when Bo started school, and he'd see where he fit in, but Bo wasn't the same leader as Luke was, because Bo wanted to follow Luke.
While Cooter knew how some frowned upon the fact that Cooter let a younger boy do his thinking for him, he saw no fault with it. He looked out for Luke in a completely different way. He tried to make sure the boy didn't get to serious, or in a too dark mood, and he'd ask his mother to pack him extra lunch for a little while. She would understand, she had told him to keep an eye on how the Dukes were managing.
Their uncle did his best, and even Cooter knew that, and it wasn't the first time Luke had wound up without lunch, but mostly then he'd been in such a hurry he forgot it at home. Cooter forgot his lunch sometime ago, and Luke split his with him. Walking inside the class room Cooter was really happy that they had friends who did things for each others. It was really something to appreciate.
Luke got to his classroom just as the bell rang, he came running in with the last children, panting as he dropped down in his seat.
"Did ya decided to run around the school out of boredom?" Mrs. Haynes asked amused, she was a pretty good teacher. Luke had nothing against her for most parts. She didn't like fighting though, and if you was fighting she took you right to the principal.
"No Ma'am," Luke breathed. "I's just had to talk to Cooter."
"Must've been something awfully important," she smiled. "Keep running at that speed and they're gonna want ya for the track team later. Alright children, open your books, we're gonna start with math."
Luke sat panting for the first few moments, but then he focused on his work. Not that he was a big fan of math. He didn't really care much for it, Coop did. Luke played with him on occasion, he like all the book subjects, and sometimes he got teased. Not very much though, because he was nice to most everyone. Luke tried to sneak a glace at his books on occasion, but he didn't really want to cheat, so he just did it to get in the mood for math.
At least when they were let out for lunch he had some lunch to eat. He had no idea what Cooter got to drink with his meal, but the lemonade was great. So was the two sandwiches. It was good to know you had friends you could count on.
When he got out of school he ended the last class at the same time as Cooter, so he went over to them to find him, not bothering about the bigger kids. They just let him be.
"I got ya bottle back Cooter," he shouted as he spotted his friend in the distance, sliding down the banister rather than walk down the steps.
"Did it taste okay?" Cooter grinned, ruffling his hair before taking the bottle and putting it back in his bag.
"Yeah, was a great lunch, thanks Cooter," Luke told him, nodding. "I just didn't wanna bother Uncle Jesse, an' we was near late for the bus anyway."
"Hey, it ain't no problem, ya helped me out when I forgot my lunch," Cooter reminded him. "Ya gonna head right home now?" he asked, knowing Daisy had already gone home.
"No, Uncle Jesse is coming, cause he's gonna get me a new shirt," he showed Cooter how he was growing out of the one he wore.
"Alright, I'm gonna head over to help pa out, but he won't mind it if I'm a bit later. Ya wanna ride piggy back?" Cooter suggested.
Luke hesitated, it was fun, but he didn't want to be seen being a little kid in the schoolyard. The hesitation cost him his decision though, as Cooter just grabbed him and threw him over his back, running of with him. By the time he had dumped Luke on his butt in the sandbox, the two of them spotted Jesse's pickup truck and Luke headed off.
He found Jesse had taken Bo with him, but Daisy was at home on the farm doing her homework. He could have left Bo as well, but the toddler never wanted to be left out of anything concerning his big cousin. Luke let him ride piggyback to the store, but he had to get off as they entered.
"What shirt should we get Luke?" Jesse asked, the selection wasn't the grandest, but there was at least a dozen to chose from in his size.
"That one," Bo declared pointing at one.
"Why that one?" Jesse asked with a smiled.
"Cause Luke's gonna grow, an' I's gonna be as big as Luke, an' when I am, I's gonna have Luke's shirts, cause I's got his jeans, an' I like that one," Bo explained in a rushed breath.
"I like it to," Luke decided, it was blue plaid, and he thought it looked nice.
"Alright then," Jesse nodded. "Yer in luck Bo, when ya grow that big, yer gonna know ya picked it," he chuckled.
"Growing again, are ya Luke?" Homer Rhuebottom stated teasingly as he wrapped the shirt up.
"Yes sir, I do that every now an' again," Luke told him with a smile.
Homer chuckled, the boy was quick.
"I's growing to," Bo declared. "As big as Luke, I's got his jeans," he bragged.
"Both boys grow like weed," Jesse declared.
"Well here is to keep ya growing," Homer stated holding out the jar with hard sweets. It was routine, he always did now, and they took one each, thanking him.
Going back out to the truck, Luke carried the wrapped up shirt, and held Bo by the hand. Growing was more than marks on the doorpost, and when he was fully grown he just hoped he'd have done it right.
In credit of the man whom I wanted to grow up and be like….
TBC
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