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 41 ….Someone To Play With
Bo strolled around the farmyard, very board. He had been bored all day since Luke was in school, and his uncle was to busy. There seemed to be nothing he could do though, and when he got fussy his uncle got angry. It was what Bo used to call a bad day, and when Luke got back home, he had homework. Daisy wasn't doing anything, but she wouldn't play with him either. She said she was tired of playing cars, and didn't want to get dirty. It was strange cause that took all the fun out of playing.
He was standing drawing lines with a stick in the dirt when someone grabbed him by the waist and threw him high up in the air. He cried out with surprise, but as he got his feet back on the ground, turned around and saw Luke he threw his arms around him.
"Wanna play some?" Luke asked him, ruffling his hair.
"Ain't ya got homework?" Bo frowned.
"I hurried, cause I figured ya wanted to play."
"I wanna, I wanna play Luke," Bo declared, bouncing up and down.
"Wanna throw the football around?" Luke asked, grinning. He had started to play football at recess in school, and was trying to teach Bo what he learned.
"Yeah," Bo grinned. "I'll get the ball." He darted off, running to their bedroom, and grabbing the ball before coming back.
"Can ya teach me to tackle?" he asked hopefully.
"Maybe, but lets teach ya to kick first," Luke decided. He was a little worried about tackling Bo, he didn't want to hurt him after all.
"I can kick," Bo declared. "I can kick real good Luke."
"Yeah, but it's different to kick a ball," points out to him. "Ya need to be able to make it go exactly where ya want it to."
"Okay, then ya can show me," Bo agreed.
"Okay, ya need to put the ball like this," Luke told him, digging the butt of it into the ground. "Then ya need to pick a target to aim for, an' then ya come running an' kick it."
"Okay, show me," Bo grinned.
"Ya got it cousin," Luke grinned as he picked an aim. Backing off he took a moment to look where he wanted the ball to go, then he ran forward and kicked it, watching it sail a few feet to the side, but Bo didn't have to know that.
"There, see it's easy," he grinned as Bo ran and fetched the ball.
"Luke, it won't stand up," Bo declared as the ball kept falling over for him.
"Well, don't worry, I'll hold it for ya, just don't kick me," Luke instructed him. Settling down beside him and holding the ball loosely.
"Can ya do that?"
"Sure ya can, I see them do it all the time."
Shouting happily Bo ran forward, kicking the ball so forcible he fell over himself.
"Look Luke!" he shouted as the ball bounced. "I kicked it Luke, I kicked it real hard!"
"I know Bo, I saw," Luke grinned as he went up to get it. "Now try again, but don't fall over."
"Kay," Bo got up and brushed off his hands on his jeans. Letting Luke hold the ball he ran forward and kicked as hard as he could, this time keeping his balance by grabbing on to Luke. Bo was thrilled that he could make the ball sail through the air like that. He was incredible excited about how far he could kick it, but he wanted to learn how to tackle, and Luke gave in. Showing him how to use his shoulder and his speed to bring them down. He had to be careful though. Bo was quite a bit shorter than he was, and he was worried that if Bo scored a full hit, it would hurt real bad. Still, he took Bo down a few times as he ran with the ball, making sure he landed first with Bo on top of him, and every time he did it, Bo shouted happily.
Bo himself didn't have too much success with bringing Luke down, but he didn't let that make him too sad. He had long ago learned that Luke was bigger than him, and both stronger and heavier. He knew that if Luke just showed him how to do it, and said he was good when he tried, then that meant he could do it as soon as he found someone the right size. For a moment he considered Daisy, but then his uncle would most likely get mad at him, and that would just be plain bad.
Since Luke had the ball, Bo shoot forward and threw himself around his legs, bringing Luke down quite effectively.
"Did I do good?" he demanded as Luke pushed himself free and sat up.
"Ya did good Bo, ya got me down, didn't ya?"
"Can we play baseball now?" Bo pleaded, getting back to his feet.
"Do ya want me to teach ya to pitch an' hit?" Luke wanted to know, but Bo shook his head.
"I just wanna play baseball Luke, when we just throw it," he explained.
"Okay, go put the football away then an' get the baseball instead," Luke instructed him. Why run and change equipment when Bo was all too willing to do it?
Bo didn't have his own glove yet, so when they just played catch, Luke never used his, it was more fair that way. A baseball could hurt if you caught it the wrong way, and it was no fair if his hand was protected when Bo's was not.
Bo wasn't very good at baseball, and they didn't stand very far apart from each others. Still, he was pretty enthusiastic, and Luke had to admit that at least he wasn't a sore loser about it. He didn't care if Luke caught the ball more often than he did himself.
"Luke," Bo started, and Luke knew he wanted something right off.
"What Bo?" he asked.
"Uncle Jesse told me I'd have a birthday soon," Bo shone up, and Luke wasn't really surprised that was what he wanted. The upcoming birthday was a big event to Bo.
"I know Bo, yer getting older ya know," Luke grinned.
"He said I could tell him what I wanted for a present," Bo went on thoughtfully. Luke had already decided what to get him, and saved up enough money for it as well.
"Then ya had better tell him what ya want," Bo was so innocent about it.
"Is it okay if I want a cap gun Luke?" he asked, pausing for a moment in the game.
"If ya want a cap gun, then ya should tell him that's what ya want," Luke agreed. He was getting Bo a cowboy hat of his own, a white one, like Roy Roger's. Their uncle was already working on a stick horse for him as well. Luke hadn't told Jesse yet, but he had thought he'd want a cap gun.
"I thought if I did, then we could play more cowboys, an' then I don't have to borrow yer's," Bo explained. "I like it when we play cowboys."
"Then tell Uncle Jesse that ya want a cap gun," Luke decided. He had already told their uncle he was getting Bo a hat, so that he would know Bo didn't need one. They had a real flashy white in the store, it would be a bit too big for Bo, since it fit Luke pretty good when he tried it on, but Mr. Rhuebottom told him he could put paper inside it, and then when Bo grew, he wouldn't grow out of it so fast. That sounded real good to Luke, so he had told him he'd buy it. He was also making him a garage from the spare bits of wood in the barn, and he hoped that Bo would really like that. He kept saying his car's had no place to stay at night.
"I will tell him," Bo grinned, throwing back the ball and not getting it anywhere near Luke. "Uncle Jesse said I was gonna have a birthday party."
"That's really fun Bo, that means Cooter is gonna come, an' Enos to I bet, an' we get to eat cake, an' they's gonna bring ya presents to."
"From Cooter?" Bo beamed, anything that came from Cooter was good. He always knew what Bo thought was funny, and he protected him as well. When Bo was worried about starting school after the summer, Cooter told him not to, because Luke was there, and so was he, and Enos, and Broody, and they would all look out for Bo. It was hard to be scared of something when you had so many who took care of you.
"Yeah, an' then when Cooter has his birthday party, yer gonna bring him a present," Luke explained to him.
"When is that?" Bo asked.
"Later this year, after school starts."
"Why ain't it sooner?"
"Cause Cooter is real slow," Luke decided and Bo giggled. Then he ignored the ball and came over to Luke.
"Luke…"
"Yeah Bo," Luke sat down on a hay bale, he could tell Bo wanted a serious talk.
"Birthday is when yer parents give ya stuff cause yer born right?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Luke nodded. "They celebrate that yer born."
"But I ain't got no parents, right?" Bo asked sadly, climbing up to sit beside him.
"Well, not right now," Luke admitted.
"So how's it work then. Sammy told me I had to have parents for things like that, an' he said I didn't have any cause Uncle Jesse don't count as a parent."
"Well, Bo, Sammy ain't very bright," Luke decided. "Bo we did have parents, I know ya don't remember it, but ya had a mommy an' a daddy."
"Why don't I anymore?" Bo wanted to know.
"There was an accident, so they died," Luke explained.
"Like Aunt Martha?" Bo asked softly.
"Yes, like Aunt Martha," Luke nodded. "But Uncle Jesse count every bit as much. Ya know how he can count as much as parent?"
Bo shook his head.
"Because there ain't no parent that can love ya anymore than he does," Luke grinned. "Ya know how Sammy an' his brother is always fighting?"
"Yeah," Bo nodded. "It's stupid, they fight all the time, an' they hit each others, I don't think they wanna be brothers."
"But you an' me, we only fight at times an' we want each others, now don't ya think that count?"
"Yer my big brother Luke," Bo nodded. "Yer always gonna be my big brother no matter how big I get."
"So I count as yer big brother cause that's what we want, an' Uncle Jesse count as a parent, cause that's what he wanna be, to us," Luke explained. "He does everything that a parent does, he helps ya with splinters, an' when ya skin yer knees, an' he makes ya yer favorite food when yer sad. Lets ya sit in his lap when he reads to ya an' all the things like that, if parents do that cause they love ya, an' Uncle Jesse do that cause he love ya, then he just have to count."
"So I have a parent, it's just Uncle Jesse is my parent now since mommy an' daddy can't?" Bo asked thoughtfully and Luke nodded.
"An no matter who is my parent, yer my big brother?"
"Yeah," Luke nodded, hugging him. "Always Bo."
"Then I don't think I care what Sammy says," Bo grinned.
"Good, do ya wanna play some more football now?"
"Not really," Bo fidgeted, what he wanted to do was sit and cuddle some, but he knew Luke wasn't much for doing things like that, and he didn't want to annoy his cousin, not when the talk had gone so good.
"What do ya wanna do then?" Luke asked, worried he was still sad over the things Sammy had told him, he hugged his little cousin.
"Luke, how come ya always know?" Bo asked, his voice filled with admiration as he snuggled into the hug. It seemed like Luke always knew exactly what he wanted and needed, exactly.
"Dunno Bo," Luke shrugged, he was more in the mood for playing, but he ignored it and sat down with Bo anyway. It was getting obvious what the blonde tot wanted to do, especially when he snuck a slightly dirty thumb into his mouth.
"Bo, get that out, do ya wanna get crocked teeth?" Luke chided him.
"Will ya still love me if I do?" Bo asked, turning big soft blue eyes to him.
"Yeah Bo, I would." Luke assured him.
"Then it's okay," Bo grinned, holding up his other thumb. "Wanna borrow?"
"Hmmm, that does look kinda tasty ya know," Luke grinned, bending forward and pretending to bite his thumb.
"No!" Bo screamed loudly pulling back. "Ya can't eat my thumb!"
"Ah come on, just a little," Luke teased as he leaned forward, grabbing Bo's wrist and tugging so that he could almost reach his thumb.
"No! Bad Luke!" Bo cried, struggling with him, making pretty good resistance even if he was younger and smaller. He was pretty sure that Luke was just teasing him, but Luke had that way of playing with him that still made him scared, even if he knew it was all in fun. Especially when Luke grabbed him and held him upside down, just like Cooter used to do.
"Alright, then I'll eat yer toes instead," Luke stated smiling, tugging at his boots and pretending not to notice when Bo banged his fists against his knees. Then he decided to give his little cousin a break as he was starting to turn red in the face. Turning him the right way, sitting him down on his lap on the hay bale again and letting him calm down.
"That was fun," Bo smiled as he rested his head against Luke's chest.
"Sure was," Luke agreed.
"But I'm tired now."
"I know, wanna go inside so I can read for ya?" Luke offered.
"I'm too tired," Bo told him with hopeful eyes.
"Alright, climb up on my back an' ya can ride piggy back," Luke offered, knowing it was what he wanted.
"Thanks Luke," Bo scrambled up on his back, and a Luke got a loud and wet kiss in his ear.
"Come on now cowboy," Luke grinned, settling down with Bo on the couch two minutes later, reading him his favorite story.
In credit of the man who never read stories….
TBC
Please review, the Cricket is hungry….