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 45 ….Anger

"Get back here!"

Jesse jumped up surprised as he heard the enraged scream. That was a very angry boy, very angry judging by the loudness.

"Get back here now, or I'm gonna beat ya so bad!"

The threat sounded serious and he quickly dropped his newspaper and hurried outside to see what was going on. He came out on the porch just in time to see Luke hit Bo. It was a full fist blow and the younger boy fell to the ground, wailing and with tears screaming.

"Lucas K Duke," Jesse roared. He had no idea of what was going on, but Bo was crying floods and screaming at the top of his lungs, and Luke was looking ready to strike again.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, picking up Bo, hoping to quiet him.

"Luke hit me!" Bo wailed.

"Why did ya do that?" Jesse asked, wanting the answer from Luke.

"He deserved it!" Luke raged.

"We don't hit Lucas, an' ya know that dang well," Jesse told him harshly.

"Well I ain't letting him getting away with it, just ya wait Bo, I'm gonna get ya for it!" cried Luke angrily.

"Lucas!" Jesse snapped as Bo wailed louder. "What's gotten into ya boy, threatening yer cousin like that?"

"He started it," Luke insisted.

"I've got to take care of Bo, Luke, get on over to the woodshed an' I'll come when I'm ready to deal with ya," He looked to make sure Luke was going there before he carried Bo inside.

"Now, ya really need to cry that much, sprout?" he asked as he carried Bo inside.

"Luke hit me," Bo wailed, hiding his face against Jesse's shirt.

"I saw that Bo, but why? What happened there?" he asked, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his tears.

"I don't know, Luke's mad at me an' he hit me!" Jesse tried to wipe the tears away, but he didn't have time before new ones rolled down his cheeks.

"But Luke don't get that mad for no reason Bo, I ain't saying that it was yer fault, but something must've had happened."

"I's just talking to him," Bo sniffed, gulping in air through his mouth and wiping at his nose with his sleeve.

"Here, blow," Jesse held the handkerchief to his nose. "What was ya talking about?"

"I's just asking him things," Bo defended himself. "Like about my mama an' papa."

"Well, maybe ya made him upset," Jesse frowned. After all, Luke didn't want to talk about that very much. "Luke's sad about it ya know."

"But why Uncle Jesse?" Bo frowned as Jesse wiped away the tears again. "I don't want any other brother, they's just mean, I want Luke instead, but I don't want him to hit me."

"I don't want him to hit you either," Jesse assured him. He was going to have a nice bruise there on his cheek, but it wasn't as if he hadn't worn bruises before. He'd be fine. "But Bo, Luke an' you aren't always gonna feel the same way about things. He loves ya, an' he wants ya to be his cousin, but maybe ya said the wrong thing to him."

"Then what's the right thing?" Bo wanted to know.

"I can't tell ya Bo, because I don't always know. I'm gonna go talk to Luke now, cause I'm gonna have to punish him for hitting ya. But I need ya to be a good boy an' sit and wait for me here, okay?"

"Right here?" Bo asked, sitting in the kitchen was boring.

"Go wait in the living room," Jesse decided. "But stay there, okay?"

"Okay," Bo agreed. Sliding down to the floor and shuffling in there, still sniffling a little.

Walking out to the woodshed Jesse found Luke pacing angrily inside, kicking at splinters off wood on the ground.

"Well Luke, what's going on?" he asked folding his arms over his chest.

"He deserved it!" Luke shouted.

"Lucas, ya don't shout at me," Jesse told him coldly. "Now, no matter the reason yer in fer a tanning for hitting Bo, don't make it worse."

"But he deserved it," Luke argued. "He did Uncle Jesse."

"What could a little boy like Bo possibly do to deserve ya hitting him?" Jesse shook his head. It wasn't like Bo was capable of doing very much. At least not in his size compared to Luke's.

"He said things," Luke admitted. Screaming and raging would only make his uncle more mad at him, and he wanted him mad at Bo instead.

"What did he say Luke?" Jesse prodded.

"He said it was a good thing he was my little brother cause I'd never have no real brother," and now Luke was the one close to tears.

"Aw Luke, Bo don't really know about that," Jesse sighed. That would set the boy off alright, but Bo didn't really know about Jud.

"I'm gonna hit him for saying that," Luke insisted.

"No Luke, yer not," Jesse told him firmly. "It's bad enough I'm gonna have to punish ya for hitting him in the first place. Then, what we're gonna do is we are gonna tell Bo, an' explain to him why it was the wrong thing to say."

"I don't wanna tell him that!" Luke burst out. Jud had been his little brother, and why should he tell Bo about him?

"Well, we are gonna tell him. Jud was Bo's cousin, just like you are, just like Daisy are. He has the right to know Luke, an' I'm not gonna have any arguing about it." Jesse told him firmly. "As for yer punishment…." He gave the boy an expecting look, waiting to see if there was gonna be any objecting about it.

Luke looked angry, enraged and sad. He was clearly furious, but he was also a little hurt boy who remembered the little brother he had lost.

"Lets deal with the punishment first, okay?" Jesse suggested. "An' then we can try sort it out with Bo and everything."

"If I can't hit him, I don't wanna talk to him at all," Luke stated firmly.

"Well, ya can't, but ya are gonna talk to him," his uncle told him firmly. "Now, ya hit Bo, an' he's a lot younger than ya are, it's bad Luke. It don't matter what he said or did, ya know ya can't hit him. So I'm gonna go get a switch, ya wait here now."

Luke sat down on the chopping block while Jesse went out to cut a switch, stripping off all the twigs before returning to the woodshed. Luke bent forward and bit his lip, determined not to cry as the switch bit into his backside. It wasn't the first time he got a switching after all.

When he was done Jesse put the switch aside and helped Luke straighten out his clothes. "Wanna go talk to Bo now?" he asked softly.

Luke shook his head, he was still battling the tears, and he didn't want to go talk to anyone.

"Luke, ya do understand why I had to do that, don't you?" Jesse asked him softly, pretending not to see the lone tear that escaped down his cheek. His little boy was to proud to really cry.

"Kinda," Luke admitted.

"Even if what Bo said made ya hurt, ya can't hit him. That is just wrong Luke," Jesse repeated, though softer now. "But I understand ya was upset, I love ya Luke, an' I don't wanna have to do that. Ya need to tell Bo yer sorry Luke."

"I don't wanna talk to Bo," Luke pouted stubbornly.

"Well, ya don't have to do it right now," in fact, Jesse wasn't worried. There was no need to force Luke to do that, he would on his own. "An' Luke, yer my little boy, an' I love ya no matter what, so if ya want to be alone a little while now, it's okay."

Luke nodded and shuffled out, headed for the hayloft no doubt, Jesse smiled softly as he watched him. Wondering if the loss of his little brother would always haunt the boy. Right now he had to try and explain it all to Bo.

Luke went up into the hayloft to be alone, like he usually did. He wanted the solitude to calm down, and if left alone, he could stay there for hours. He was just staring to really calm down when he heard Bo come up the ladder. He knew it was Bo, it was easy to tell him apart from their uncle, and Daisy as well.

"Luke," came the soft and careful voice as Bo peeked over the edge of the hayloft.

"What do ya want?"

"Can I come up Luke?" pleaded Bo.

"Alright," Luke wasn't really mad anymore anyway.

"I'm sorry Luke," Bo told him as he came over, squatting down beside him, not daring to hug him right away. "I didn't mean to say something mean."

"I know Bo," Luke sighed. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have hit ya."

"I don't like it when ya hit me, cause then I know yer mad at me," Bo stated. "Are ya mad at me Luke?"

"Not right now," Luke assured him. "Sorry Bo."

"Sorry to," Bo smiled, hugging him. "Luke, I still think yer a real best big brother," he tried carefully.

"I don't wanna talk about that Bo," Luke told him firmly.

"Okay," Bo gave in rather then risk angering Luke. "Luke, Uncle Jesse said it was time to come back inside.

"Alright," Luke nodded and followed him, letting Bo take his hand as they walked over the yard. Maybe Bo was a good little brother, but it was hard to think that and not think about Jud.

In credit of the man who's afraid I'll find out where babies come from…..

TBC

Please review, the Cricket is hungry