All too soon, the nurse told Jebb that it was time for her to take his boys away. She was assigned to ride with them to Atlanta and she promised to take real good care of them. As the nurse took them away, Jebb felt torn. His sons were leaving to go to Atlanta, several hours away, while Kira was here at Tri-County. He felt like he needed to be in both places. He’d not heard how Kira was yet and his sons were being sent to be cared for in a special unit in a completely different hospital altogether.

When Jebb joined the others, Luke said that he and Bo would volunteer to go to Atlanta so that Jebb could stay with Kira. They’d discussed it with his aunt and uncle while Jebb was in the nursery with the twins. Pauline had wanted to go but knew that she and John needed to be here for Jebb until everything with Kira was sorted out, just in case. The fellas made a quick stop at the farm to switch vehicles and to grab a change of clothes. From there they headed to Atlanta, promising to check in as soon as they reached the hospital.

So once again, Jebb was reduced to waiting for word from the doctor about his wife. He kind of thought that Doc Appleby would have come out to see him by now at least. He hadn’t been the doctor on call but he’d dropped everything to get to the hospital when Jesse had called him to let him know that Kira had been found and was in labor again. Finally, just as the first beginnings of a Georgian sunrise started to lighten the eastern sky, Doc Appleby came out to the waiting room and found Jebb.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long. There have been some complications...”

“What kind of complications?” Jebb didn’t like the look on the doctor’s face. Apparently, neither did his parents as the each placed a hand on one of his shoulders as they waited for the doctor to answer Jebb’s question.

“Well, when Kira was brought in, she was suffering from severe hypothermia. Then right after the babies were delivered I’m afraid that Kira’s kidneys started to shut down and then she went into cardiac arrest.” Jebb felt his knees buckle as the doctor spoke. “We’ve got her stabilized finally, but-”

“So she’s alright?” Jebb interrupted. If she was stabilized now, if she was going to make it, then nothing else mattered.

“It’ll take time, but I believe that she’ll be alright, yes.” Doc smiled at the single-mindedness of the young man in front of him. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll go over everything after you’ve gotten a chance to see her. She’s asleep, but you can go on in. I’ll fill your parents in while you’re with her. She’s in room number 354.”

Jebb left an amused doctor behind as he headed to his wife’s room. Once he found her room, he slipped inside and pulled up the chair close to the bed and took Kira’s hand. He’d never been so scared in all of his life; not even in June. Which had scared the life out of him, then. At least the men that had taken Kira were in custody now, along with Shawn Kyle. That man had better hope that he never ran into him again. Because if he ever found Shawn alone Jebb would be the one to end up in custody.

After a few minutes, Jebb felt Kira tighten her grip on Jebb’s hand. “Kira? Are you awake?”

Kira slowly opened her eyes and saw Jebb looking at her expectantly. She gave a light tug on Jebb’s hand and he stood up and slid in beside her on the bed. Hugging Kira tight to him, he started sending thanks to God above for bringing his wife back to him.

Kira latched on to Jebb as tightly as she could. She never thought that she’d see him again. She was certain that she was as good as dead. Even after she escaped, she’d gotten so cold. And then there was the pain...Kira bolted up.

“The babies!” Kira moved her hand to her stomach and felt that it was no longer the same size that it had been this time yesterday.

“They’re alright. Don’t worry about the boys. Bo and Luke are with them.”

“Boys? We had two boys?” Kira smiled as she was told that she had two little boys. Sorry Daisy, no frilly dresses after all.

“Yep. Identical twins. And I hate to tell you this, but they look just like me. Blond hair and all.” Kira gave a small laugh at Jebb’s joke.

“When can I see them?” Kira felt a little empty not feeling them kicking her from the inside anymore. She couldn’t wait to see them. It felt like she’d been waiting forever to meet them.

“Kira, I’m afraid that the hospital already sent them on over to Atlanta to stay in the Neonatal unit over there. The fellas went right in behind them so that they wouldn’t be alone.”

“They’re gone?” Kira sounded broken-hearted as she realized that she wouldn’t get to see her babies yet.

“You’ll get to see them real soon. I’ll ask the doc about it just as soon as he comes in. They are so small. They are barely a handful.”

“I’m sure that will change real soon. They’re Dukes after all.”

Kira leaned her head on Jebb’s shoulder, still wishing that the babies were at least in the same hospital as her. They’ve all been a family for only a few hours now and were already separated. “Tell me about them.” Kira listened drowsily as Jebb told her about their sons. Soon, the stress of the last several days caught up to Jebb as he began to drift off beside his wife, still clinging tightly to one another.




“This is WHOGG Radio (Snort snort). Happy New Year Hazzardites! I have breaking news for all of you. Late last night, Mrs. Kira Duke was finally found and the fiends responsible for her kidnapping have been taken into custody. The Duke family thanks each and every person that helped in the search and appreciates the thoughts and prayers that have been sent their way during this time of trouble.

Now time for the second breaking news of the morning. Lock up your daughters Hazzard Daddies! There’s a new pair of Duke boys movin’ in. Of course it’ll be a few years before they’ll be causing the young girls to swoon after them. Last night, Michael Jeremiah Duke was born at 11:59 pm weighing in at 5lbs 2oz with his brother Jonathan Kyle Duke right behind him at 12:01 am coming in at 4lbs 15oz. No word yet on how the mother is at this hour, but continued prayers are welcomed. Both babies have been sent to Atlanta to be cared for by doctors in the special Neonatal unit there.

Our best wishes to the young parents from all of us here at WHOGG (Snort Snort).”




Bo and Luke headed back towards the nursery area. They’d been allowed to get a brief look when they’d first gotten to the hospital early this morning but then were told to come back during visiting hours. They’d caught a quick nap in the waiting room and now were heading back to watch over the two newest Dukes. When they first checked in at the small desk Luke could tell that the nurse on duty really didn’t believe that they were family. Two single men, neither of whom were the father of the babies coming to see the them instead of the parents. She insisted that only immediate family members were allowed in.

“Ma’am, we’re those babies uncles; BOTH of us. Now are you goin’ to let us in or not.” Bo caught the look that Luke sent him but ignored it. Sure technically, under the rules that many people put around the term Immediate Family Luke wouldn’t qualify. Being a cousin to the parents and all. But Luke was Bo’s brother. Plain and simple. Which meant that he was, in turn, Kira’s brother. Fortunately, Tri-County had sent a list of family members over with the babies. On that list, Luke was on it, listed as the boys’ uncle. Doc Appleby had thought of everything.

When the two men were allowed into the unit, finally, they were given scrub tops and gloves to wear. When the nurse in the unit saw how timid the men seemed to be with the small infants, she found it a little humorous. She’d seen many family members come in here afraid to break the premature babies that fell under her care.

“Babies thrive on touch. Talk to them, touch them. When it’s time to feed them, I’ll let you hold them.” The nurse then watched as the men reached through to touch the babies in the incubators.

“Babies thrive on touch huh? Bo, are you that sure you ever grew up?” Luke said to break the tension.

“Real cute Luke.” Bo turned to the baby in the incubator in front of him. “Ignore your Uncle Lukas. He always thinks that he’s so smart.” Luke smirked at Bo’s reaction to his teasing. “Hey, what do they have on ya, Mikey? They got two tags on ya.” Bo fingered the band on his nephew’s leg that seemed to have a little tiny box on it.

“That’s called a Hug and Kiss, sir,” The nurse informed him as she watch on.

“A what?” Luke looked up in response to the nurse.

“The device on the babies’ legs is called a Hug and Kiss. You see, this ward is sort of locked down. If a baby leaves this wing without the device being deactivated, an alarm will sound. The hospital then goes on total lock down. No one goes in or out until after the baby is found. It’s a new security feature. Not all hospitals have them yet, but I’ll be willing to bet that they will in a few more years.”

“We could have used one of these things when Kira and I were born,” Bo replied as he continued to study the band on the baby’s leg.

“Sir?” The nurse asked in confusion.

Luke responded for his cousin. “His twin sister was snatched from her crib when they were born over at Tri-County. We only got her back a little over a year ago.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Then you can appreciate the technology behind these things then. It’s time for the babies’ feeding. Would you like to help feed them?” The nurse went to prepare some bottles. She reckoned that this family had even stronger reason to not want to let the babies out of their sight. She’d go see if she could get them permission to stay with the newest members to their clan even when it wasn’t visiting hours.




Jebb woke up when the nurse came in to check on Kira’s vitals and couldn’t get back to sleep so he just sat up with her instead. He ended up thinking about everything that had happened in the last week. Only now dealing with the fear that had coursed through him the whole time that he didn’t know where his wife and kids were. He didn’t ever want to come that close to losing his family again. He was still just watching Kira sleep when Doc Appleby came in to check on Kira himself and talk to them.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I kinda thought that she’d be awake now.”

“It’s alright Doc. Come on in.”

“I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you both but it can wait.”

“What did you want to talk about?” Jebb sat up a little more, careful not to wake his wife.

“I wanted to discuss Kira’s pregnancy. I know that we discussed the risks earlier on about any future ADDITIONAL pregnancies, but with what has happened, there are some things that I think that we should go over.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I know that we’ve already discussed the genetic risks of another pregnancy when Kira and you were walked through all of the testing at the beginning of the pregnancy. Well, now that Kira went toxic with the Toxemia, there is a safety issue to consider as well. Once a woman develops Pre-eclampsia with one pregnancy, she’s more likely to develop it again with any subsequent pregnancies. And with Kira’s pregnancy developing into full blown Eclampsia, the implications for further health risks are even greater.”

“So you’re saying that if Kira gets pregnant again, she’ll have to go through all of this again? Being bedridden and all?”

“I’m afraid so. We still have tests to run to determine any permanent damage to her vital organs, but needless to say, I wouldn’t recommend a second pregnancy. I was going to discuss a more permanent form of birth control with the two of you, considering that she conceived on the pill. It would involve surgery, and quite frankly, her body couldn’t handle another surgery so soon but I’d like you two to consider having Kira’s tubes tied before she’s released.”

“Surgery?” Jebb looked down on Kira’s sleeping form. She’d been through so much already. It didn’t seem fair to ask her to go through more. “Isn’t there any other option?”

“Well, there is one more, though most men seem a bit timid to consider it. It’s easier for them to let their wives handle the birth control end of the relationship; even though it’s actually easier and safer for the man. Many men consider it a threat to their masculinity to consider the other option.”

Jebb listened to Doc Appleby as he gave a rundown of both procedures that could be considered to keep from having to worry about pregnancy with just a bit of trepidation.




Kira had just finished with the breast pump when Daisy came to see her after Kira had sent Jebb home to get some real sleep instead of napping on the bed with her like he’d been doing. Kira’s milk had come in and the lactation nurse had her pump her milk so that it wouldn’t dry up while she couldn’t see her babies. Doc Appleby even sent what she’d already pumped to Atlanta for the boys. Well at least she was able to do something for her babies even if she couldn’t be there with them.

“Hey Kira. How are you feelin’?”

“Like a cow at a dairy farm.” Kira sat back in the bed as she straightened her top back out.

“Any word yet on when you’ll get to see the babies?”

“No,” Kira pouted since it’d been three whole days and she still hadn’t gotten to see her sons. “Doc said that he’d try to get me transferred to Atlanta, but it hadn’t come through yet.”

“I’m sure that it won’t be much longer. John dropped Pauline off at the hospital about an hour ago. The fellas are on their way back to Hazzard now. Pauline is already in full Grandma Mode now. She went out and got a whole bunch of little preemie clothes. Even got herself a shirt that says Number One Grandma on it. No one can still believe that y’all kept the fact that you were having twins a secret; especially Jebb. He’s never been one to keep secrets before.”

“I never thought that he could make it that long without slipping up either. I guess he can still pull off a few surprises when he wants to. I’m sure he enjoyed seeing the look on his parents’ faces when they saw him with the boys.”

“John said that it was the first time that Jebb had smiled in days and Pauline started to cry. The boys and Uncle Jesse and Uncle John loved the second name that y’all had picked out. Of course, Bo’s already is shortenin’ both of the boys’ names.”

“Of course he has. He couldn’t leave anything alone could he?” Kira laughed.

“Luke told me to warn you that Bo’s already learned a valuable lesson. It appears that he’s found that women like a man that will take care of an infant. They find a man with a baby attractive. The nurses have been all over him, thinking that he’s cute feeding the babies and all.”

“Luke said that huh? And I’m sure that he hasn’t followed suit; using my babies to pick up women,” Kira said with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

“I think Luke would call it giving the boys a proper education. Duke Boys are never too young to learn how to sweet talk a lady.”

“Remind me to be suspicious anytime the boys volunteer to babysit.”

“Deal. I wanted to ask you something though. Do you know why Jebb was coming out of the Doc’s office when I was driving through town before I got here?” Daisy pulled up the chair in the room and got comfortable for the visit. She planned to stay a while since Boss had given her a couple of days off. She reckoned that he was feeling guilty for his part in Kira’s kidnapping.

“He was at the Doctor’s office? No, I ain’t got a clue. I guess that the whole not going to the doctor alone thing doesn’t go both ways. You’d better believe I’ll find out just as soon as he gets back. He was supposed to go home to get some sleep.”

“OooH! Sounds like Jebb’s in trouble.” Daisy laughed as she was transported to her younger years when the fellas were always ending up out in the wood shed for one misdeed or another. Daisy then got up and started to fix Kira’s hair and even got some make-up out of her purse.

“Daisy, what are you doing?” Kira asked as trying to shoo her cousin away.

“I’m gettin’ you ready for company. I asked for permission to use one of the conference rooms. You were supposed to have a baby shower next week, You’re goin’ to have it today instead. All of the women will be here in any minute.” Daisy moved to get the wheel chair from the corner and pushed over to the bed. “Hop in. I’m driving.”

Kira looked at the chair dubiously. “I can walk Daisy.”

“Not yet, you can’t. So jump in. The girls have all prepared some of their favorite dishes too. So no hospital food for supper tonight. And I brought a red velvet cake.” Kira got on into the chair and the two cousins went on to meet the party guests.

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