A Hazzard County Christmas-BoJamesDuke and DaisyMaeDuke

[BoJamesDuke]

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Later that day, well into the evening, Bo was back in the bandages and set back up in the bed after being up and around all day. Daisy had re-applied the make up she was using to fake Bo's bruises and made them darker as the Doc had told them they would be and the sheets were changed so any make up that may have rubbed off was gone. Now, the cousins were just anxiously waiting for Luke's arrival, waiting to see if their plan had gone the way they were hoping or whether he was going to be worse....or if he would even come home at all.

[DaisyMaeDuke]

Their questions were answered as Luke came in, his hands loaded down with bags. "Daisy! Bo! I'm home....stay wherever you are an no peekin!" he ordered as he took gifts out of each bag and set them carefully under the tree. His Santa suit was off now, he having turned it into Boss, but the smile was still on his face.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo glanced to Daisy, trying not to get his hopes up too much at the positive sounding voice and hearing the unmistakable rustling of wrapping paper coming from where Luke's voice was...at least it was unmistakable to him, he recognised those kinds of things more than other people seemed to. Biting his lip, keeping a hand on Daisy's arm to try and keep her calm and stop her squealing in excitement, he called out.

"Ain't like i'm allowed t'get up and come peek anyways am I?"

[DaisyMaeDuke]

To his surprise Luke laughed out loud, laughing so hard he bumped into the tree sending a chorus of jingle bells sounding which made him laugh harder. "You might as well come..Daisy too....you're a horrible actor by the way, he said with a smirk, as he set the last of the presents under the tree.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo frowned a little, not believing that Luke actually knew what was going on....he wasn't about to fall into the trap of Luke finding out because he slipped up either. Still, the sound of Luke laughing was too great to hear that he wasn't about to break it by getting into an argument about whether or not he actually had figured it out. Signalling to Daisy, he got out of bed and carefully put his arm round her hobbling out as he kept up the pretense he was really hurt.

"Alright what's goin on...one minute you wont lemme move let alone get out of bed then the next yer in here, laughin like you's doin an imitation of a hyena and actin' like nothin's wrong...who are ya an' what have ya done with Luke?"

[DaisyMaeDuke]

Luke smiled a little to himself. "I found him...I found him an brought him home," he said turning. He pursed his lips before quickly pulling Daisy into a hug taking Bo's support away with a chuckle. " I said it before an Ill say it again...you're a horrible actor."

That seemed to set him off again and he started laughing. It was almost like he was making up for lost time.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo actually did stumble sideways as Luke took Daisy away from his side, having been leaning on her enough that her moving would cause it. Shaking his head, he put the weight on his foot properly and folded his arms.

"Maybe, but you sure didn't realise that for a few days now didja? An' besides, I ain't as bad as you when you were tryin' t'pull sick days from school when we was kids...can ya blame me for bein' a bit horrible at it? Look what I had t'learn from!!"

Daisy couldn't help but laugh at Luke's laughing, hugging him back as he kept his hold on her, smiling to Bo.

"I think you did a great job Bo...you sure did trick Luke here even if he'll now deny it."

[DaisyMaeDuke]

"I'll never admit t' nothin'!" said Luke playfully. "Dais, are there any of them Christmas cookies left, or did Bo eat em all?" he asked going into the kitchen.

"Nice make-up job on him by the way Daisy...really helps hide his face," he said with a smirk. He soon was raiding the cookie jar, pulling out a few cookies and then making his way to the cupboard for a glass. "Y'all want some?"

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo watched him, shaking his head a little at the offer as Daisy went to get him the milk from the fridge. Biting his lip he sat down at the kitchen table and started taking off the bandages, finding the change in Luke almost too dramatic to be believable. Yes this is ultimatly what he and Daisy had wanted, it was true that he should be just going with it and be happy that Luke seemed to finally be where the rest of them were. But that was just it...seemed to be. He couldn't be sure that Luke actually did feel this way, it all just seemed too over the top. He had expected the change to come about gradually, that they'd finally get to talk about what was bothering him and he certainly hadn't expected Luke to be making fun of the way he had brought the change in him about.

Not wanting to spoil the mood however, he just sat quietly peeling the bandages off his chest and his ankle as Daisy laughed and joked around with Luke.

[DaisyMaeDuke]

Luke joked happily with everyone. Like Bo, he too hadn't expected to feel this happy...he wasn't even sure why he was...except for the fact that he was trying whereas before he had simply given up.

"I...I owe you both an apology...he started. He took a deep breath. "I...I aint been the support ya needed. Im sorry."

[BoJamesDuke]

Daisy smiled as she listened to him, pleased to finally see the sparkle back in his eyes and the bounce back in his step. All that needed to happen now it seemed was for him to start sleeping properly and eating right again and Luke would be back to his normal self in no time.

Of course, Bo saw it differently. Like Jesse, he'd been through a lot with Luke. Maybe not everything that his Uncle had but a fair amount and people had often claimed that the boys knew each other better than they knew themselves...and Bo knew that Luke while Luke may have been feeling happy after his excursion as town Santa...it was unlikely it would last to this extremity. Shaking his head, he looked to Luke and said gently.

"Cousin...will ya sit down an' quit it...I'm glad that yer happy again, I am. Its what i've wanted for a long time now but...yer pretendin. Yer pretendin cause you think its what we want but its not...I don't want this to be a temporary thing and unless or until you talk about what's kept ya away from us, nothin's gonna change...yer gonna go right back to what you were like before..."

[DaisyMaeDuke]

"I aint pretendin! Im happy! I am! Look I got presents.... You wanted us t celebrate Christmas...now Im ready to...I thought you'd be happy! Maybe you did hit your head..." he said with a laugh, putting away his now empty glass into the sink looking out the window as he did. "Heck if it'd just snow everything would be just want Santy Claus ordered."

[BoJamesDuke]

Clenching his jaw, Bo shook his head even more, getting to his feet and pulling Luke away from the window, making him face him.

"Stop it!! Just stop it! You can't tell me that after everything you've put me an' Daisy through, after everything you've done to yourself that one trip into town talkin' t'kids all day has made ya forget everything that turned you away from us! You can't get over losin' Uncle Jesse that quickly! I know christmas is a time for miracles, heck i'd be the first one to believe it, but this ain't right!"

Daisy bit her lip gently as she listened...of all the outcomes that could have happened from this plan, this was not what either of them had expected. She could see what Bo was saying, how much she and probably Luke wanted to believe that Christmas had solved all their problems, all Luke's problems, the way Luke had been acting made that hard to believe. Stepping forward, she put a hand on Bo's shoulder and a hand on Luke's gently.

"Bo...c'mon calm down...I know you's been worried about Luke but don't shout...it ain't time for shoutin'...an' Luke...Bo has got a point. Its...hard to believe you can switch between two extremities like this...and before you say it, yes it is what we've wanted. We've waited for you to be happy and come back us definitly and i'm so happy your happy...but this...this is too happy considerin' everythin' that's happened cousin...you can understand right?"

[DaisyMaeDuke]

"No...No I don't!" shouted Luke looking at them incredulously. "Ya go to all this trouble, all these LIES, t' get me t' be happy, well it worked. I am," he began trembling though as he spoke. "What do you WANT from me?! " He turned away from them, doing as he always did when something bothered him and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo swallowed hard as Luke turned away, clenching his jaw before saying gently as tears filled his baby blue eyes.

"I want t'grieve with you Luke...I miss him too..more than anythin...especially at times when I need his advice and I turn t'ask him an' he ain't there waitin in his chair no more. I may be younger than you and I know you got this crazy urge t'protect me an' Daisy from anythin that might hurt us more...but seein' you sufferin an' not bein' able t'do anythin' about it hurts more than anythin' you could say. You might have been made head of this family, but every great leader needs help. Uncle Jesse had Auntie and us...you still have us..."

[DaisyMaeDuke]

Luke's lip quivered as he heard Bo choke out the words. He could feel the tears coming, but shook his head willing them to stop. "No...no...we...we gotta stop it..." He snapped his fingers. "Christmas carols...we always sang Christmas carols...."

Daisy and Bo looked at one another.

"Cmon...I'll start....silent Night...holy night....all..." His voice started choking missing the soft bass of his uncle's voice. He shook his head trying again. "all is..." He blinked hard. "somethin in my eye...."

[BoJamesDuke]

Without another word being said, Bo crossed to his older cousin and wrapped him in a gentle, supportive hug - hoping as he did that Luke would accept it and wouldn't push him away like he would have done before. More than anything, this is what Bo wanted. He wanted Luke to finally grieve with them. Rocking him softly, he rubbed Luke's back gently and whispered.

"It's alright...it'll be alright now Luke..."

[DaisyMaeDuke]

"No...it won't....he...he's gone...he....he's really...gone...." And with those words the tears began to fall.

Daisy wrapped her arms around him too, sandwiching her older cousin between him and Bo.

"I want Uncle Jesse..." whimpered the dark-haired cousin, sounding more like a lost child than the grown man he was.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo nodded gently, letting go of Luke with one hand to reach Daisy and include her in the hug too.

"I know...we all do Luke...more than just this family, there's loads of people out there wish Uncle Jesse was still here...but he ain't...and he was never gonna be forever...but he ain't gone completly you know? The essence of who he was is still here...he lives in us. Everytime you make a decision, everytime you work on this farm, everytime you deal with other people...its Uncle Jesse that taught you those skills Luke...."

[DaisyMaeDuke]

"Aint...the same..." he choked between his tears. He hated how weak he seemed. He wasn't supposed to cry. He was supposed to be the strong one...the one the others looked to for help...he wasn't supposed to be the one needing help. But now, as he felt the loving embraces of his cousins, he couldn't deny that he needed help somehow.

[BoJamesDuke]

"No it ain't....but nothin stays the same forever...you can't stop change. Change has t'happen otherwise we'd never be able t'grow. An' sides...it was time for Uncle Jesse t'go...he missed Auntie somethin fierce....he's been without her long enough ain't he?" he asked softly, trying to find any words of comfort even though he knew really there weren't any. Luke just had to get what he had been holding back out of his system and realize what they were saying, and until he found something to do that, Bo and Daisy just had to be there and that was fine with them.

Biting her lip though, Daisy thought of one small thing that might help. Luke was still in Jesse's Santa suit, even without the beard and moustache and maybe this final thing could help him in some way. It had always soothed him when he was a kid and this was something Jesse had wanted Luke to have....except they'd never been able to get Luke close enough to them to give it to him. Carefully she broke away from the hug and hurried into her room where she was keeping the small wrapped box and the letter and brought it to Luke, saying gently.

"Uncle Jesse wanted us to give this to you..."

[DaisyMaeDuke]

"Wh-what..." stuttered Luke looking at the box as if something would jump out at him.

Daisy placed it in his hands, with a nod urging him to open it.

Luke swallowed, wiping his teary eyes with the back of his hand before shakily undoing the ribbon and lifting the lid.

[BoJamesDuke]

Inside the small box, the light of the room and the christmas lights catching its brightly shined metal, was Uncle Jesse's fob watch that had always hung from his overalls. As a boy when Jesse used to comfort Luke after something bad had happened - a fight at school or with Bo, falling over and scraping his knees, girls breaking his heart (as had happened as often as Bo had girlfriends before he went to the Marines) - Luke had always sat in his lap and cuddled into him, one of his hands taking hold of the fob watch that would always hang there gently, pressing his ear against it as he held it. The soft, rhythmitic ticking had always calmed his mind and his anger and made him able to listen to what his Uncle had always told him.

Jesse of course had known how his passing would affect Luke, or at least he knew the worst case scenario, and so had tried to leave him something that would give him that little bit of peace and acceptance. Something of his Uncle's that he could always carry with him without feeling embarrassed about it. And so, engraved on the back, he had put the simplest message - For my very first, special little boy x

[DaisyMaeDuke]

Luke paled as he saw the contents of the box. Carefully he took out the fob, turning it over in his hand, his breath catching as he sawthe inscription.

Dropping it in the box, he hurried to his room, before he broke down compltely.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo watched him go with a small sigh, deciding now to leave the rest to his Uncle. He knew what was written in the letter, he had had to help Uncle Jesse write the thing when he got too weak to write for so long. While their Uncle was gone, the words he had needed to say to Luke were still there in paper and ink and he just hoped they would be able to help him now as they had done in the past.

Shaking his head as Daisy went to follow Luke, he grabbed her shoulder gently and led her to the lounge, just sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped round the two of them.