DaisyMaeDuke

"Yeah well...that can't happen no more can it? We just gotta fend for ourselves an' if we hurt someone then too bad..." added Luke bitterly. "And you know what stinks Daisy? You know what really gets my goat? No matter what I do...I'm gonna hurt two people...Zack or Bo...and myself!" he vented, his jaw clenched.

Luke jumped a little having been looking out the window when she came in. He simply nodded a little, saying softly, "They sure were." He sighed running a finger along the window sill. "But they weren't easy...even then.." he scowled. He knew, in his heart, that he probably sounded full of self pity...and it really wasn't his intent. He couldn't help feeling though that the hand life dealt him wasn't fair.

Luke went straight to the room he shared with Bo. The room they had shared most of their lives. Had Luke still been the small, scared boy he had been when he first came to the farm he would have done what he did back then: crawl onto the bed and cry his heart out into his pillow. He wasn't that little boy any more though... and he couldn't just cry his troubles into his pillow and have them magically go away when his aunt softly rubbed his back. Now it was up to him and only him...and he didn't have a clue what to do. All he knew was that he was being forced to choose between two people he cared about...and it wasn't fair.

Luke sighed. He would like to think that doing what was right for him was all that mattered. But the truth was that Bo mattered too. And Jesse. And Daisy. And Zack. Trapped. That's what he was. And what was even worse was that it was possible, if not probablethat he wouldn't be approved as worthy of Zack's guardianship. "I just can't win," said shaking his head. "I just can't win." With that he walked inside letting the screen door slam behind him.

"Well what the hell am I supposed t' do Jesse?!" he snapped. He didn't really mean to yell like that, but he had been feeling things he wasn't used to feeling lately. He wasn't sure he understood the feelings and when Luke didn't understand something, it upset and almost angered him. He ran a shaky hand through his hair. He felt that, no matter what he did, he was going to hurt someone. It never bothered Luke to hurt someone in a fight at the Boar's Nest...or in a boxing ring. Heck, he had been trained to kill without batting an eye. But this was different. He felt like he was being forced to choose between his baby brother and a child who might become his son. He shook his head wondering to himself if he really was cursed to never find happiness.

Luke growled softly to himself. He loved Bo, he really did. They were closer than brothers...at least, they used to be. Luke would have thought if they were truly close Bo would talk to him about what he was feeling. "Don't he know I can't do this alone? I need him...I need all of you."

Luke shook his head. "That don't make no sense at all."

"Then what is it Jesse?! Why don't he want me t' be happy?!" cried Luke exhasperated. "S'like he don't care about me at all!"

Jesse sighed sadly. "I know that son..but your aunt...wanted ya to remember her when she was well...not...not these final days..." Luke was shaking hard in his uncle's hold, tears pouring down his cheeks.

Luke swallowed nodding a little. "Bo...he's mad at me about this...I get the feelin' that...that he don't want it to happen."

Luke sighed. "Yes sir...guess I am." He scraped the toe of his boot on the old wooden step, as he talked running a hand through his curls.

A pretty little brunette sat in a corner booth, flashing a soft smile at him as she sipped her beer from the glass. Meanwhile, Luke had made his way home, sitting with a sigh on the old porch just staring up at the stars.

No problem Buddy-ro," replied Cooter readily, though a little surprised that Luke had just left. He hadn't taken the General however. He was simply walking home, too much on his mind to stay still.

"Shoot I aint got nothin better to do...'sides...that's what friends are for..." He gave him a wide dimpled grin, it falling as he looked past Bo's shoulder. "Did you know Luke left?"

Cooter scratched his head slowly shaking it. "I dunno that I ever saw ol' Lukas do anything on impulse...least...nothin' like this," he added. Luk wasn't the one to do spur-of-the-moment things. Bo, on the other hand, was.

Cooter sighed nodding his head a little. "Well...it does sound selfish but...it sounds like the voice of soemone who cares a lot about his family...about the relationship he has with his cousin. Maybe you ain't wrong Bo...maybe Luke ain't thinkin'...shoot, wouldn't be the first time a Duke thought with his heart instead of his head...even Luke."

"Well did you think Luke would never want a family of his own?" he asked Bo. He wasn't sure he was playing the devil's advocate at the moment. More than anything he just wanted to understand. "Have you talked to Luke about what you're thinkin?"

Cooter shook his head again. "Well how do you know it won't be better? Heck, you an' Luke have been big brother's before to Andy...youre big brother figures to the whole basketball team...how do you know this ain't gonna be a chance for both of ya t really make a difference in this little guy's life?" He had to admit though, though not saying it out loud, that the idea of Luke becoming an instant father was overwhelming just to hear. Luke was smart...and a hard worker...everyone knew that...but he was also a ladies' man... and on the go...how could he ever bring himself to settle down...and if he did, how could he be truly happy?

I'd say that must be the Dukes go to Hollywood... (or something like that...I dont rember the exact title)

"Bo Duke what the heck did Boss put in that drink of yers? Luke loves you...he's always loved you...whether he has a family of his own ain't gonna change that one bit. Family is family..." Cooter just did not understand how Bo could say such a thing. Of all the families he knew, the Dukes were the closest-knit he ever saw. It made no sense. "And when has it happened before? Luke ain't never put a child before you...or anyone else for that matter..."

So what's your plan, Uncle Jesse? *asked Luke though it was clear to see he had other things on his mind*

"Sounds like some part of this whole arrangement don't et right with you buddy-roe...what's goin' on?" Cooter was more than the best mechanic in town. He was the best friend, save one another, that the Duke boys had. As such, he knew them pretty well himself and could easily read between the lines of what Bosaid to catch what had been left unsaid.

Cooter nodded. "S'true enough I suppose...but heck... havin' a kid... it's gonna restrict him a lot...he won't be able t' go to a NASCAR race whenever he wants... have to find a babysitter when he wants t' come to the Nest for a drink...not t' mention the expense alone...does he know what he's gettin' himself into?"

*just watches him go shaking his head how he could be moodier than a wet hen one minute and grinning like a chesire cat the next*

Cooter whistled low. "I knew ol' Lukas had a soft spot for kids but...adoptin' one....that's a might...well...crazy ain't it? What's he know about bein' a dad?"