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 32 … Man To Man

Jesse spoke again, calmer this time. "Luke, why'd ya sneak out here?"

"Couldn't sleep," this time Luke answered.

"But why'd ya go out here when ya know that ya ain't supposed to?" Jesse asked.

"Cause I wanted to," Luke told him, the defiant set still plain to see in how he held his jaw.

"So basically to defy me?" Jesse asked.

"Kinda, I guess," Luke admitted.

"Luke," Jesse sighed rubbing a hand across his forehead, tiredly. "Ya know that I don't want you kids outside alone after dark, ya know that after I put ya to bed, I don't want to see ya up running around, especially not slipping outside without telling me. Now, was this something ya did only to give me gray hair, or did ya have another reason?"

"I couldn't sleep, an' I started getting mad again," Luke slowly explained. "I couldn't just lie still, an' it seemed like awful hot in there. I just wanted to burn off some of the angry, an' then I figured I could go to sleep."

"An' why couldn't ya just tell me, why'd ya try to sneak off?" Jesse wanted to know.

"Cause ya'd only tell me to go back to bed an' not care about it," Luke told him, his voice steady in spite of his knowledge he was being slightly disrespectful.

"An' if I take ya to the woodshed, I don't reckon that's gonna solve nothing," Jesse sighed. "Alright Luke, do ya think yer old enough fer a man to man talk about it?"

"I don't know," Luke told him honestly. "Ain't never done that before."

"Well, ya ain't exactly acted it, but I reckon it's been a hard day on ya, an' it ain't always easy to use yer brain right on a bad day," Jesse decided. "Lets put it this way, I ain't gonna punish ya fer sneaking out, ya know ya shouldn't, I know ya did, an' I just don't think we're gonna solve nothing in the woodshed. So, if I sit down, an' I promise to listen to ya, are ya gonna be listening to me so we can work it out an' get ya back to bed?"

"I'll do my best," Luke nodded.

"Sit down then," Jesse told him and took a seat on the porch swing, letting Luke seat himself.

"It still ain't quite fair," Luke started. "Daisy called Bo silly just a few days ago, an' he got real sad, I told her not to, but she just stuck her tongue out at me an' didn't care."

"That was mean of Daisy," Jesse nodded. "Why didn't ya tell me?"

"Cause I had to take care of Bo, an' then when I was gonna, ya told me to start doing my homework an' sides, anytime I do, Daisy start calling me tattle tale." Luke pointed out. "But she does a lot of things like that, say things an' so, but the one time I do, I get spanked."

"Luke, yer about to learn a man's hard lesson in life," Jesse told him seriously. "Life ain't fair, especially not where girls are concerned. Ya can't fight them like ya fight boys, an' there ain't a man alive could win over a woman fighting her own way."

"Then what do ya do about them?" Luke wanted to know.

"Not much ya can do, a man can't raise his hand against a woman, an' even I ain't supposed to take to spanking a big girl like Daisy."

"So she gets away with it, an' we get the short end of the stick," Luke decided.

"A lot of the time," Jesse nodded. "An' no matter if it's fair or not, I can't let ya say things or do things to Daisy, but Luke, I ain't gonna let her do it either if I spot her. I just need to see when she does it."

"Then ya'd have to look whenever ya ain't around, cause that's when," Luke informed him.

"It always is Luke, it always is," Jesse told him with a small smile. "But life ain't ever gonna get more fair than it is now. Are ya always gonna do things like this when it ain't?"

"What's the options?" Luke wanted to know, pulling up his feet on the swing.

"Aren't all that many of them," Jesse admitted. "Ya can try to be a man about it though."

"An' if I'm a man about it, what do I do?" Luke asked.

"Then ya don't do nothing much, ya just accept the fact that ya can't do anything about it."

"Sounds like a rotten deal," Luke mumbled, trying to cover up his legs with his arms as it was getting chilly.

"Luke, son, life is gonna throw a lot of rotten deals at ya as ya grow," Jesse smiled softly. "An' as ya grow older yer gonna find just how many of them has to do with girls. The thing is, no matter how unfair it seems, there will come a day when ya think them same girls are just something special."

"They are already, specially nasty," Luke stated.

"That too little boy," Jesse ruffled his hair.

"Uncle Jesse?" Luke started as he rubbed his hands over his ankles and Jesse decided that it was time to end the discussion soon and get him back into the warmth inside.

"Yes Luke," he answered softly. The conversation had been a good idea though, he had won more ground than he would have been able to in the woodshed.

"Is there anything at all yer really allowed to do to a girl?"

"Yer allowed to outthink them, but I ain't known a man yet was able to," Jesse smiled. "They can be more sly then a fox boy, an' if ya don't watch yer step, yer just gonna find that ya put ya foot in yer mouth an' they won."

"If it's the only thing a fella is allowed to do, then I'm gonna do it," Luke said in a stubborn and confident voice.

"An' with them smarts ya got between yer ears, I might even believe ya can do it to," Jesse decided. "But be careful Luke, or they're gonna laugh so hard ya thought ya dropt yer britches."

"I can be smarter than the girls," Luke grinned confidently.

"I bet ya can Luke, I bet ya can," Jesse grinned. "But right now, I reckon my big boy should be a little boy an' be tucked back into bed."

"Okay," Luke nodded.

"Come on then," Jesse picked him up and carried him inside, marveling over the fact that Luke let him. Not so big all the time, no matter how much he wanted to. Putting him down on the bed Jesse covered him up with the blanket and tucked it in around him.

"Goodnight now Luke," Jesse told him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "An' this time, would ya stay put?"

"I will, at least I will let ya know if I don't," Luke promised. "Goodnight Uncle Jesse." The arms he threw around his uncle's neck was still no bigger than a child's Jesse thought. He often found himself wondering what Bo would be like when he reached that age. Luke had always been more independent than Bo. Had appeared stronger and with will of his own no man could change.

Bo was such a sweet little boy, with his blonde curls and blue eyes he was just as pretty as a picture. He was trusting and open, and he wore his heart on his sleeves. Jesse loved all three children just as much, but he hoped Bo wouldn't be like Luke, not all that much. Not so cynical and cautions, and not with that dark mood that could so easily come over the oldest.

Daisy was a beautiful little girl, and just like Bo knew how to use his cuteness, she knew how to make use of that. It would be interesting to see what would happen when Luke tried to match his brain against Bo's looks.

Luke settled down as Jesse left again, closing his eyes and tried to sleep. Thinking about things that was a lot more fun than girls. Like puppies, they were cute, even when they licked ya in the face. Yawning Luke touched his cheek, and no thought up puppy made his cheek feel wet.

"Luke," Bo's quiet voice came only an inch from his ear.

"What are ya doing?" He mumbled sleepily, realizing that it was Bo and not a puppy dream.

"Kissing," Bo beamed. "Can I sleep with ya?"

"Why?" Luke yawned.

"Cause I wanna," Bo grinned.

"What kind of reason is that?"

"My reason," Bo grinned. "Can I, please?"

"Okay, because I'm too tired to argue with ya," Luke agreed. "But if ya start getting real weird ideas about being a puppy an' start licking my face, I'm kicking ya down to sleep on the floor."

"Okay," Bo smiled and kissed him again. "Thanks Luke."

"Sleep Bo," Luke mumbled as Bo crawled down beside him and got comfortable. Luke was tired and fell asleep right away.

Bo got up on his hand and looked at his sleeping cousin. "Luke?" he whispered. There was no reply but a soft snore.

"Luke," he repeated a little louder. "Are ya sleeping?" if Luke wasn't, he never could resist the opportunity to be sarcastic when Bo asked that.

Smiling to himself Bo got up on hands and knees, sticking out his tongue and licking Luke' neck and the side of his face.

"Playing puppy," he giggled before settling down and curling up to sleep next to his cousin.

In credit of the man who had man to man talk with me when I was ten, sharing a beer while leaning against the old car in the backyard…

TBC

Please review, The Cricket is hungry….