by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse was in the barnyard milking one of the goats when the familiar yellow Torino pulled into the driveway. He stopped milking and stood up as Shelby parked the car beside his pickup and climbed from beneath the wheel. He let his eyes sweep over her slender figure for just a moment. She wasn’t showing yet.

Shelby hesitated beside the car as Jesse walked over to her. With a warm smile, Jesse put his arms around her and gave her a hug. “Welcome home, little one.” He told her. When he released her, she had tears glistening in her eyes. “Come on in the house.” Jesse told her, slipping his arm around her shoulders “There’s some lemonade in the refrigerator. You must be tired after driving all the way from Atlanta.”

Shelby didn’t say anything until they were in the house and sitting at the table sipping their cold drinks. “Thank you, Uncle Jesse…..for letting me stay here.”

“You’re part of the family now…” he told her “That baby you’re carrying makes you a Duke too.”

“Luke didn’t know, Jesse not until I told him.”

“I know. If Luke had known, he would never have let you leave. None of us would have.”

“I thought about not telling him…just staying gone and having the baby by myself…”

“You did the right thing though…that’s what counts”

“I was scared to death.” Shelby admitted with a faint smile “I didn’t know how he’d react.”`

“I raised them boys to take responsibility for their actions.” Jesse said “And I’m proud of both of them.”

“I just want you to know that it’s my fault not Luke’s that I got pregnant.” Shelby said uneasily. She wasn’t entirely comfortable having this conversation with Jesse but she wanted him to know that it was her own careless that had caused this pregnancy.

“That may be so.” Jesse told her in gruff yet gentle voice “But Luke still should’ve known better and used some kind of protection himself.” Jesse smiled warmly “When’s the baby due?”

“Sometime in July.”

“Well, now…it’s gonna be nice having a little one around this old house again. I kinda miss that.” He said “And you don’t need to worry none cause the old high chair and crib is still in the attic.” Jesse’s eyes twinkled “You know there’s been a lot of babies born in this ole house….I even delivered a few myself….including Luke.”

“You delivered Luke?” Shelby asked with an amused smile

Jesse nodded. “His mama was here when her time came and there wasn’t time to get her to the hospital. Luke was in too big a hurry to be born.” Jesse chuckled at the memory. “Have you been to a doctor yet?”

“Just once…when I went to the clinic to make sure I wasn’t just late….”

“I’ll give Doc Applebee a call. Tell him you’ll be coming in to see him as soon as you get settled in.” Jesse shoved himself back to his feet “I gotta git back to the milking. Just make yourself at home. The boys should be back soon. They had to run into town and pick up some feed.”

“Thanks, Jesse.”

“There’s no need to thank me.” Jesse told her in a genuinely sincere voice. “You and that young’un need a family to help take care of ya.” Jesse went back out to finish the milking, leaving Shelby alone in the house. She sighed softly as she watched the door close behind him. She still wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing by agreeing to come back to Hazzard while she waited for her baby to be born. Jesse’s support meant a lot and it went a long way towards relieving most of her fears.

But it was Luke she was worried about. He seemed to be accepting the pregnancy and he wanted to be a part of his child’s life. She had expected that. But she also knew that he would feel honor bound to do the right thing by her and get married, if for no other reason than to give his child his last name. Only Shelby wasn’t going to be forced into marriage just because she was pregnant. Rising to her feet, she went out to her car to start bringing her things into the house.

She was just getting the last of her things out of the trunk when the General Lee roared into the driveway. The car skidded to a halt and Bo climbed out of the driver’s side, greeting Shelby with a huge grin. She smiled back and then watched as Luke climbed out of the other side of the car. Smiling, he walked over to her and graciously took the bag she was holding in her arms. “Here let me take that.” He said. He took her arm and guided her towards the house. Shelby felt awkward for a moment but the feeling quickly passed. She reminded herself that he was just showing good manners and tried not to read more into his gesture than was intended.

While the boys did the evening chores, Shelby helped Daisy fix supper. As they cooked, they talked. “It’s gonna be nice having another girl around here.” Daisy told her with a warm smile

“Yeah…I missed not having another girl around to talk to when it was just me and Cory.”

Daisy glanced at Shelby out of the corner of her eye “I have a feeling things are gonna get real interesting around here. You sure know how to shake things up.”

“I told Luke because I want him to be a part of this baby’s life.”

“Is that all you want him to do?”

“I’m not marrying him if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Luke may have something to say about that before this is all over with.”

“He can still have his name on the birth certificate as the father without us being married and the baby can still carry his name.”

Daisy looked at Shelby with a slight frown. She suddenly seemed defensive and upset. Daisy found herself wondering what Shelby had against getting married. Or if it was just Luke she didn’t want to marry. Somehow she didn’t think that was it. If anything, Shelby was in love with Luke and he was in love with her and they were both just too stubborn to admit it. Oh, yeah Daisy thought to herself. Things are gonna get real interesting around here.

            Their conversation was cut short as the boys came in from doing their chores. The two girls put the food on the table and the family sat down to eat. After supper, Shelby volunteered to do the dishes since Daisy had to work the late shift at the Boar’s Nest. Luke volunteered to help clear the table

“Would you take walk with me when you finish those?” Luke asked in a quiet voice so that only Shelby heard him, as he sat the stack of plates on the counter beside her.

“Okay” Shelby agreed, trying to avoid looking into his eyes. If she did, she knew she’d start thinking about things she’d rather not think about right now. The situation was complicated enough, she didn’t want to complicate it any further. Luke excused himself while Shelby finished the dishes.

When she was done, she went out onto the back porch and stood on steps, watching the sun set. It was peaceful and quiet here on the farm. Shelby missed her home in the mountains but that was gone now. She didn’t have a home of her own anymore. She heard the screen door shut and sensed Luke’s presence as he came up behind her.   “Ready for that walk?” he asked. He was standing so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against the back of her neck and smell the scent of his aftershave.

“Sure.” She said stepping down off the steps and starting to walk across the barnyard. Luke fell into step beside her, slowing his longer stride to match her steps.

They walked in silence for several minutes before Luke finally said “I’m glad you decided to come.”

“I almost didn’t.” Shelby admitted

“Why?”

“Because I feel like I’m complicating your life, complicating my life. And I don’t need any more complications right now.” She sighed softly “I didn’t mean to mess up your life, Luke.”

“Why don’t you let me decide if you’re doing that?” Luke said

“Because you wouldn’t tell me even if I were.”

“You’re not messing up my life. We’re both responsible for what happened and it’s up to us to find a way to work things out.”

“How can you be so calm about all of this?”

“Who said I was calm?” Luke asked her with a thin smile “I’m scared to death. I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

“Neither am I but it’s a little too late to do anything about it now.”

“So what do we do about us?”

“Luke, there isn’t any us.” She stopped and looked at him solemnly “Our whole relationship has been built on one crisis after another. I mean the first time you were hurt, the second time you had some crazy psycho after you, and the third time Cory and I were in that mess. And now I’m pregnant. We’ve never had the chance to really get to know each other.” Before Luke could reply, she turned abruptly and started walking back towards the house. “I’m tired. I wanna go to bed.”

“Okay.” Luke said, turning and walking with her back to the house. He decided to let the subject drop for now. She was putting up a wall between them. Luke could feel it but he didn’t know why she was doing it. He sensed not to push it or she could easily disappear again. Something had her as skittish as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers.