Kira woke up to feeling like the floor was shaking. Instead it was the bed since Emily was there enthusiastically shaking her brother to wake him up.

“WAKE UP JEBB! Mom said for me to come and wake you two up.”

“I’m awake. I’m awake.” Jebb rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked up at the clock. “Emily, ain’t it a little early? You ain’t got be ready for school for a while yet.”

“Mom got us up early. Figured that it might take us longer to get ready since you and Kira are here this morning too. She told me to get y’all on up.”

“Well, I’m up, okay. I’ll be out to help Pop in a minute.” With that, Emily ran out the door. “You awake?”

“Are you kidding? Nice touch. You’re mom sending in your sister to wake us up.”

“Mom’s never been known for being subtle. I better get on out there. I’ll see ya at breakfast.” Jebb gave her a quick kiss then grabbed his jeans, got dressed and hurried on downstairs. “Was that really necessary Mom?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Jebb.” Pauline turned back to the stove as she responded to her son’s question.

“You don’t fool me Mom. There ain’t no reason to wake the whole house up just yet.” Jebb stared at his mother’s back as she made it obvious that she was going to play stupid.

Just because she had to let them two stay upstairs together, didn’t mean that she was going to let them lounge half the morning away in bed. She’d heard the beds being moved around last night. They couldn’t even spend the night four feet away from one another while here in her house. “Hurry up and head on out to the barn, when you and your father get done, there’ll be waffles on the table. I thought everyone might would like something special this morning.”

Jebb was halfway out of the kitchen when he stopped and turned back to his mother. “I thought I told you that Kira gets sick if she eats anything sweet early in the morning right now.”

“Did you?” Jebb gave his mother a hard look before escaping to the safety of the morning chores. Oh yeh, this is going to be a fantastic day.




“You okay?” Jebb pulled Kira next to him on the bed as he sat down with her. Kira had just spent the last half hour getting sick in the bathroom.

“I think so. I thought that once the morning sickness stopped, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting sick anymore. Who would have thought that the taste of maple syrup could get that kind of reaction?”

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll make sure that Mom has something else for tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. We won’t be here long.” Kira leaned up against Jebb, exhausted from getting sick and getting up extra early. “I guess I’d better get ready. You’re mom and Karen are supposed to go shopping and I’ve been invited along. I suppose that I can handle a few hours doing that with them. And if not, I’ll just wander off to a different store instead.”

“You want to take the truck so you can drive yourself back and leave them behind once you’ve had enough?”

“Somehow, I doubt that I could get away with that.”

“After that stunt Mom pulled at breakfast, I don’t think anyone will say anything about it,” Jebb brush aside some of Kira’s hair out of her eyes as he spoke. Kira caught the lingering scent of the syrup still on his hands as he did so and bolted back to the bathroom to get rid of what was left of her breakfast. Jebb got up to go talk to his mother about the rest of the meals she’d planned for their stay here. Something tells him that she had more surprises up her sleeve like the waffles. He’d better start changing them now. He wasn’t about to watch Kira getting sick




Kira decided that it would probably be a bit crass to drive out separately so instead she rode out with Pauline to meet Karen in Tranquil where the oldest daughter lived with her husband. Thankfully, the drive was mostly uneventful and Kira had actually began to try and relax somewhat as the morning progressed. One of the shops that the three women went to was the crafts store. Pauline asked Kira if she’d started a baby blanket yet. When Kira revealed that she couldn’t knit, Pauline announced that she’d show her once they got back home. Kira insisted that it wasn’t necessary but Pauline was determined that her grandchild had to have a homemade blanket. Pauline then got a pattern and yarn and put them in her basket. Kira swore under her breath about stubborn old women poking their noses in where it didn’t belong. From the slight flutter that she had recently figured out was the baby moving, she figured that her son was probably agreeing with her.

The whole trip in town was spent arguing over the various clothes, blankets, colors or types of baby gear that Kira had planned to get. Pauline and Karen headed on to the next store but Kira’d had enough. The car was parked a couple of blocks away but she’d rather sit in it while she waited for the torturous morning to be over. As she walked back to the car, Kira kept a steady tirade up as she was trying to reign in her patience. Behind her, she heard her name being called after her but she ignored it. She needed to put some distance between her and her mother-in-law considering she still had another night and day to survive. Then she could go back home and leave the thorn in her side here in Placid. As she turned around the last corner towards the car, she felt herself flush. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as her head began to swim. She heard the sounds of the street take on the sound of rushing water before her vision darkened, then nothing.




Pauline wrung her hands as she waited. Waited for Doc Greenwood to come talk to her. Waited for her son and husband to come out to the doctor’s office that she and Karen had brought Kira to after her collapse on the sidewalk. Waited to see if her grand-baby was alright. While she just plain waited.

“Mom! Mom! What happened?” Jebb came running in spun her around before Pauline even realized that he’d come in with his father closely behind him.

“I don’t know. We’d just finished shopping over at Annabelle’s and she headed off in the direction of the car. We were following in behind her and suddenly she just collapsed.”

The door behind them opened and the doctor walked out and joined them. Jebb searched the old man’s eyes worriedly. “Doc Greenwood. How’s Kira and the baby?”

“The baby’s fine. Kira’s collapse was due to a spike in her blood pressure.” Pauline’s brows knitted together. She didn’t think that she’d been pushing her daughter in law that much. Not enough to make her fall out in the middle of town. “Now that in its self wouldn’t be so bad but I am concerned for two reasons. A woman’s blood pressure usually drops slightly in her second trimester of pregnancy. It’s not supposed to raise. Plus I ran a few tests and I’m a bit concerned about the amount of protein in her urine. Jebb, has she had any other episodes like this?”

“No. Not that I know of. Will this affect the baby?”

“If this is just the first time that her blood pressure has spiked, then her doctor back in Hazzard just may want to keep an eye on it. That’s all. If it continues, I’ll be honest; I’d be more concerned for your wife than the baby. Sometimes, episodes like this are the warning signs of a condition known as Toxemia (Now called Pre-eclampsia). Where toxins build up in the mother’s bloodstream while she’s pregnant. But for right now, we’ll not worry about that. Just make sure she follows up with her doctor and try to avoid any stressful situations to keep the pressure down.”

“Yes sir.”

“She’ll be ready to leave in just a minute. But I want her to relax for the rest of the day. Okay.”

The family collectively nodded as one. Pauline suggested that the family go ahead and head back to the farm while Jebb waited for Kira. Once on the way back to the farm, Pauline decided that she may not want to push her son’s wife anymore while they were here. She may not like here all that much but she didn’t want to put her health at risk.




The next morning, Jebb woke up to the smell of bacon frying. He hoped that this morning there would be no waffles to go with it. Leaving Kira to sleep, Jebb got on up and got ready for the chores. He had nearly went on back to Hazzard yesterday after the doctor released Kira but his mother pointed out that if Kira was supposed to rest, a long drive might not be the best thing for her right off the bat. Instead, he agreed to wait until after the Loftlin family lunch today where Kira was supposed to meet his mother’s family. Even if he’d rather that they leave right after breakfast instead.

If it was stress that Kira was supposed to avoid, then something told him that he needed to get her away from his mother first and foremost. Of course, she mellowed out a lot after Kira’s collapse. For which Jebb was grateful. He didn’t remember his mother having this much trouble when she was pregnant with the twins. It seemed like the world as a whole was against him and Kira having this baby. First there was the wreck, then worrying about the possible genetic problems, now Kira’s spike in her blood pressure and collapse. Of course with the first two, then throwing his mother into the mix, it ain’t no surprise that Kira’s pressure is up a bit. He’ll have to make sure he runs interference with his mother’s side of the family, whether she likes it or not today.

Once downstairs, Jebb was relieved that his mother had bacon and eggs with grits planned for this morning. Nothing sweet. Looks like yesterday had even scared his mother. No more making Kira get sick on purpose while they are here. Well that was something to be thankful for. Jebb went on outside and helped his father with the chores and then went on inside to clean-up for breakfast. Kira was just getting up when he got back upstairs so he waited for her before heading back down.

The meal was fairly sedate, no one really mentioning what had happened the day before even though it was still predominately on everyone’s minds. Kira was grateful for the fact that the breakfast wasn’t a sugar loaded one this morning though she could tell that she offended Pauline when she by-passed the southern favorite on the table and only ate some bacon and eggs. She’d never developed a taste for grits. Though to Pauline’s credit, she didn’t say anything even though it did look like her lip was going to bleed from the effort. Instead, she talked about how her family was looking forward to finally meeting Kira after such a long time. Jebb had thought about mentioning that the only reason that it had taken him so long to bring Kira around was because his mother had thrown up a wall of ice regarding the relationship. He didn’t though since it was bound to start an argument and he knew that Kira would jump in with both feet if he did. And the last thing he wanted today was for her to have another episode like yesterday.

His father at least helped to steer the conversation away from his mother’s family outing and toward racing. Jebb had told his father that he had skipped a lot of races since he was trying to devote as much time to fixing up the farm and farmhouse as he could. He’d hit some of the local races but hadn’t raced in nearly as many this year as he normally did. His father had made a comment that it was part of the price of finally growing up. That comment really hit him hard. Jebb hadn’t really ever thought of all of the things that his father had done as a younger man but no longer did. Well, not that anyone knew about at least. Jebb knew that he still got together with some old friends from his ‘shine days and would race around the back roads of one of the neighboring counties. But he was still a far cry from the reckless Duke Boy that he’d been back before settling down with a family of his own.

Jebb hadn’t really thought much about what his father had given up when he’d started a family. Or what he himself might be giving up now that he’s going to be a father. Jebb hadn’t really worried about missing the races this year while working on the farm either; he’d figure that he’d just be back out there next year. Will he though? After all, he and Kira will have an infant by then. Plus he’ll have to run the farm. It won’t be like before, where he could take off and his father ran things while he was off racing. The farm will be all his responsibility now.

“Jebb? You okay?” Kira noticed that Jebb seemed a little distant.

“Huh? Oh, yeh. Fine. Just thinking.” Kira raised an eyebrow in a question that went unanswered when the twins distracted him and started to chatter away with their brother. Kira made a mental note to ask him later what caused him to be in such deep thought later.




Kira did her best to remember the names of everyone as she had a distinct feeling of having done this before. Except then it was the Duke Family Army that she was trying to remember, not the Loftlin. Of course, news must have spread to the others of her fall out while shopping since it seemed that everyone was watching her warily as if waiting for a repeat performance.

Jebb’s Aunt Grace did seem interested in the fact that Kira was a lawyer. After a few minutes of speaking with her, it didn’t take Kira long to recognize the signs that she was a woman who’d had high expectations for life but gave them up when she realized that she was expected to start a family and be a good house wife. It seemed that she’d met a lot of women that thought or had been told that you could have one or the other. Not both. The fact that Kira had a professional career and now was pregnant seemed foreign to Grace. After a couple hours of chatting with various relatives of Jebb’s, he came over and asked her if she was ready to head back to Hazzard. He’d already taken their stuff out to the truck earlier so there was no need pack anything up. Kira got ready to leave while Jebb said his good-byes to everyone. Soon they were on the road making their long way back home.

Finally alone now, Kira asked Jebb what he had been so preoccupied with during breakfast. Jebb told her, though he tried to de-emphasize just how hard the thought of everything changing had hit him. Poor Jebb, he’d been doing so much worrying lately. Kira felt guilty over just how much she’d been the source of that worry. Kira told him that just because some things will change; it didn’t mean everything had to. And as far as the racing while having an infant went, well, that’s what “Aunt Daisy” will be for. She was sure to be willing to babysit when they needed it.

“Shoot, I think that if Daisy has it her way we’ll have to set up visiting hours to see our own son.” Jebb knew that Daisy has seriously caught a case of baby-fever. “Not to mention that Jesse is so hyped up too that when Daisy can’t help, he will.”

Kira saw that some of the concern was leaving Jebb’s face as he realized that he wasn’t going to have give up racing altogether. Kira figured that she’d need to find a way for Jebb to get out to have some fun. Give him some time where he wouldn’t have to worry about her or the baby.




Jebb glanced over at Kira as she dozed leaning up against up against the window as they neared the Hazzard county line. Listening into the CB chatter, it sounded like he and Kira had missed some fun. He hated to wake Kira up, but they needed to know where the others were at without using the CB.

“Kira, wake up.”

“Um?” Kira looked around and realized that she’d fallen asleep. “Where are we?”

“Almost in Hazzard. Something’s up. Ask Bo where he and Luke are at.”

Kira concentrated for a minute before turning back to Jebb. “Boss claims that they stole some of his documents and forged his signature to give them permission to go to Chickasaw County for the Derby over there today. Right after they left the county line, Cooter gave them a heads up so they never made it to the race. Now they can’t get back into Hazzard because of all of the road blocks. According to Bo, even the old ‘Shiner’s trails are being watched.”

“Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Boss used to know those old trails as well as the Dukes. Where are they at?”

“Down near still site number nine. I didn’t know that y’all had any stills across the county line back during the ‘shine days.”

“Yeh, had to spread them out. Tell them we’ll be there in a bit.”

“Jebb, if you’re plannin’ to take their place, how are you going to keep word from getting out that it’s you after the first person spy’s you? Cause that’s all it’s gonna take. And just because Little fell for it earlier in the year doesn’t mean that it’ll work now, too.”

“I got a plan. I’ll make it where Little, Enos, Rosco and the others can’t talk to one another.” Kira gave a skeptical look but passed on the message. She and the others would have to trust Jebb on this and wait to see what he had planned.

Jebb aimed the truck towards the flats and turned the head lights off once he neared them. After all, he didn’t want to scare any of the kids away before he got to them. He had the feeling that once he told them what he wanted, he’d have no problem getting all of the help that he needed. When they reached the stretch where dozens of various cars were, some seemed to be racing, Jebb got out of the truck and headed over to the core group and Kira watched as the teens first seemed to look at the blond Duke in disbelief then the teens all laughed and slapped him on his back before he headed back to the truck. Once Jebb was back behind the steering wheel, Kira’s curiosity got the best of her.

“You gonna share your plan now?” In response, Jebb just gave her a brilliant smile.

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