by: Marty Chrisman
Luke smiled as he looked down at his daughter lying peacefully in his arms taking a bottle. It still seemed strange to be looking into his daughters eyes, the same sapphire blue as his own. Even though she was only a few weeks old, he could already see the subtle blending of his features and Shelby’s in her face. Both babies had his eyes, little Jesse had the same color hair but little Kelly’s hair was the same color as Shelby’s. And they both had that stubborn set to their chins that seemed to run in the Duke family.
He glanced over at Shelby who was sitting on the couch feeding little Jesse. He couldn’t help smiling at the picture. He may not have been sure in the beginning about being a father, but he had no doubts now. Shelby and the twins meant more to him than he had ever imagined. And Jesse, Bo and Daisy were just as thrilled with the babies. At this rate, they were gonna be spoiled rotten.
After the twins had finished their bottles, Luke and Shelby carried them into Shelby’s bedroom and laid them in the crib. Even in their sleep, they curled up against each other. As they walked into the kitchen, Luke glanced at Daisy who was fixing lunch and said, “Daisy, would you mind watching the babies for a minute? I wanna show Shelby something.”
“Sure, Luke.” Daisy said “I’d love to.”
Luke took Shelby’s by the hand and led her outside. As they started to walk towards the back of the Duke Property, Shelby looked at him curiously and said “What are you up to now, Luke Duke?”
“You’ll see….” He told her with a grin. Ten minutes later, they came to a large roped off area on the edge of the woods. Shelby frowned and looked at Luke questioningly. “What do you think about a house….right here?” Luke said, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“A house?” Shelby said in a surprised voice. She turned her head so she could look into his eyes. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yep. Jesse gave me 5 acres of land and…I wanna build a house here….for us and for the babies.”
“You are full of surprises, aren’t you?” Shelby told him with a laugh. “You planning on building this house all by yourself?”
“No, Uncle Jesse, Bo, Cooter and some other friends all said they’d help. I figure we could have it ready to move into in about six months or so.” He looked deeply into her eyes as he gently kissed her. “I want you in my life, Shelby….married or not. I don’t care anymore as long as I’m with you. I love you, Shelby.”
“Oh, Luke…..” Shelby said, tears gathering in her eyes “What did I ever do to deserve a man like you?”
“Just lucky I guess.” Luke said with a laugh. “So what do you think about the house?”
“You really want this, don’t you?”
“Yes….just as much as I want you.”
“Then maybe it is time that we got married.” Shelby whispered. Luke looked at her in surprise, stunned by her sudden change of mind. She was the one who had been resisting the idea of getting married even though Luke had made it plain that he wanted to.
“Are you finally saying yes?” he asked with a huge grin
“Yes….I guess I am.” Shelby told him, as she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. She was no longer afraid of making the final commitment to Luke, the ultimate commitment that a woman and a man could make to each other. She knew that he would do his best to make a good home for her and their children. And she knew that he would make her happy, he already did more than he would ever know. For the first time in a very long time, Shelby finally felt at peace, secure in Luke’s love and secure in her place in the Duke family.
When they finally returned to the house sometime later, they shared the happy news with the family that they were finally getting married. Neither one of them wanted a big wedding, so they decided on a simple ceremony at the farm with just the family and a few close friends. They sat a date for one week from Sunday. Now that Shelby had finally said yes, Luke wasn’t about to give her any time to change her mind. They were going to finally be a real family at last.