DaisyMaeDuke

"Everythin...you...this whole thing with Troy...been eatin ya up...look at yaself...ya done made yaself sick over it...an I knew...if ya knew bout Jesse...ya wouldn't take it well...an I knew Troy needed ya...I needed ya...I couldn't risk...what tellin ya would do... not til...things settled a bit."

Luke ran his hand through his hair and sighed softly. "I'm worried boutcha Bo," he admitted softly.

Luke sighed. Leave it to Bo to use his own words against him.

"No...I didn't..." he started to name his reasons for doing so but he realized that it didn't really matter. Jesse was sick, Bo was angry...there didn't seem to be anything he could do about either. "You didn't hafta run off...ya coulda heard me out...stead ya just leave..."

Luke frowned. "Did you think it was any easier on me...keepin it from ya? Dealin' with it all on my own?"

Luke looked down nodding a little. Bo taking off as he did had hurt his feelings more than he cared to admit.

Luke nodded a little, still looking at him.

Luke looked at him uneasily. "So...you...you changed your mind I take it?"

Jaime swallowed and nodded. "Come on Troy," she said taking his hand and leading him out the room. "Ya can take a ride on Maudne."

Luke looked at Bo. "Y- you...."

Jaime looked to Luke in surprise. "I am?!" Luke was just as surprised...maybe the adoption papers went through...maybe Bo knew and that was why he hadn't spoken to him...maybe he was furious... "She is?!" asked Luke of Troy..

Luke smiled a little. "That's good Troy." He still wasn't sure if all this meant what he thought it did.

"They did, huh?" asked Luke quietly looking at Troy.

Luke swallowed, not understanding what was going on, and not saying anything still not sure of Bo.

Luke near choked, unable to say anything. "Troy!" cried Jaime hugging the youngster impetuously.

Luke flushed, not in the mood for company. "Really, who?" asked Jaime cocking her head to one side.

Jaime smiled. "Go get your pjs on and we can do your hair," she teased. Luke stayed quiet.

Luke bit his lip still not sure where things stood between him and Bo. Jaime called out, " In here!"

"Nothin'" answered Luke craning hi neck to see out the window.

"Hope it ain't another puppy," mutters to himself rememberin how Bo had found a sick puppy as a youngster and brought it home, crying for days when it died.

Luke frowned hearing Bo pull up.

Luke drew her closer, hugging her gently. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Luke reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. "I love ya Princess..."

Luke swallowed hard as he heard her words. "I couldn't ask for a better daughter," he murmured a tear trickling down his cheek. "You deserve a better father than ya got."

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. It was getting harder and harder to feel like he was any good at this "daddy" thing. Had Jaime understood how much her words were hurting him she would have stopped. But now the fat was in the fire. People who didn't know Bo and Luke well assumed that because they were together all the time that they were almost the same person. That theory was wrong. True a lot of their interests were the same, but they were opposites in many areas. It was this opposition in personalities that complimented one another so well. Bo tended to do things on a whim, while Luke needed to think things over thoroughly. Bo wore his heart on his sleeve, while Luke's, though just as tender, was hidden away to be shown only to the few people he knew and loved...and that rarely. When hurt or backed into a corner, Bo lashed out, not willing to go down without a fight. Luke by turns would shut down. It was a coping skill he had learned the hard way in Nam. Now, Jaime was lashing out at him, and he couldn't move away quickly. He refused to lash back, because deep inside, he knew that she was right. That did not, however, make it hurt any less. So here was Luke, hurt and unable to move away, unable to lash out. He did the only thing he knew to do in that situation and he did it instinctively. His body tensed a little, and with a tear escaping his eye, Luke said nothing.