Archive of Our Own ^beta

When the cars returned the race would be over. Then she could get the youngest Duke home since Crystal needed her nap. Of course, getting the boys home will be up to Jebb since they were always allowed to stay with the men at the garage for a while after each race. At eight years old, the twins were more interested in hanging out with the men in the family, doing things that they may or may not be allowed to do elsewhere.

Fortunately, Kira didn't think that she'd have to worry about her husband or the rest of the men doing anything that they shouldn't while the boys were with them. Even if their methods weren't exactly hers. She knew for a fact that Mikey had gotten a taste of beer when he pestered Cooter for some during one of the Saturday mornings at the garage that they'd gotten to tag along to as a reward for getting all of their chores done all week without having to be reminded too much. Her oldest had shown a bit too much curiosity in the drink that the men were all drinking while enjoying the weekly breakfast of doughnuts, so Cooter had taken it upon himself to teach the boy that he wasn't old enough to enjoy the beverage. From what Kira could tell by listening to her husband tell the tale, her son had gagged and spat the drink back out all over the floor of the garage. Just seeing his older brother's reaction had prevented Jay from deciding to join in on the taste test.

Glancing around, Kira caught sight of Kim with Daisy's son, Jimmy. Daisy was working at the bar so, as was customary, Kim had volunteered to watch the young boy when his mother was busy. Kim had become a second mother for the young boy and Bo was very much like a father to him. Kira was sure that at times Daisy still worried about her son since she was a single mother after Darcy's death while she was still pregnant but at the same time her son had so many good male role models that she knew that he'd always have a man to talk to when he needed one.

Beside Kim sat Luke's wife and his little girl. Jo and Kim became the best of friends nearly from the moment each of them had moved to town; especially while Kim was the former Marine's doctor during her pregnancy with her and Luke's daughter, Faith. The young girl with dark curls was running around with her older cousins never far from one of the adults in the Duke family or another. In fact, Kira knew that Jesse intentionally had set up his game of checkers with one of the other men in town in an area where he'd be able to see if the younger Dukes wandered too far from their parents.

As the reports of the next lap came in from overhead, Kira listened as Rosco reported that the General Lee had just passed the fourth checkpoint along with a car being driven by one of the younger men in town. One that, in Kira's opinion, confused reckless behavior with talent. Now she knew that she'd done the same when she was younger and less experienced; but to be honest, she had felt that she had no reason to worry about getting hurt and she certainly had never worried about anyone else at the time. Being a bit older and wiser, the knowledge that someone like that was out racing her brother and husband grated on her nerves.

Bo seemed to be holding his own, though. At the next check-in his lead had grown just a bit more and it was clear that he'd be returning to the old roadhouse several seconds ahead of the rest of the racers. Next, Kira heard it reported that Cooter was giving the young driver a run for his money, but one thing was definitely wrong. For the second update in a row, she heard no mention of her husband at all.

When the leading cars could be heard pulling up toward the Boar's Nest Kira's concern deepened. As she made her way toward the finish line, she kept trying to listen for the Stonewall Jackson above the sounds of the exuberance of the race's spectators. When she got to where her brother and cousin each were embracing their wives, she asked the one question that was at the forefront of her mind.

"Where's Jebb?"

"Ain't he here?" Bo turned about while looking for his cousin as Luke did the same; each noticing for the first time that he hadn't crossed the finished line along with the rest of the racers.

"No," Kira answered her brother before adding, "and he never showed up at any of the checkpoints after the second one."

With only a glance between the two, the cousins hopped back into the General Lee and took back off in search of their missing kin. Bo took a shortcut back to the second checkpoint where Jebb had last been seen. In the stretch between the second and third checkpoints there were several bends in the road along with divots and ditches but nothing Jebb couldn't navigate past in his sleep.

From what Luke could remember, it had been during this particular stretch that the newer racer had taken Jebb's third place run and had begun to challenge Cooter for second. He did his best to remember just when he'd last seen his cousin but with all of the excitement of the race it all just seemed to be a blur. Instead, he decided to watch the tire tracks to see if they gave any clue as to what had happened on the track less than an hour before. When he came to a couple of sets that looked to have been competing fiercely against one another Bo slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the road so that he and his older cousin could get a better look.

"What do you make of them?" Bo asked as he knelt down to get a better look at the tracks.

Luke followed one set of tracks while his cousin examined the other. As he neared the deep ravine on one side of the road his eyes scanned the brush below. "Bo, over here."

Luke began to follow the broken brush down until he finally saw a glimpse of the blue Charger that belonged to the missing Duke Boy. As he got closer, he saw that the left side of the car was crushed against a tree.

"Luke!"

"I see it. Head back up to the General and call for Cooter and for an ambulance. And hurry."

As he approached the passenger side of the car Luke peered into the window and saw his cousin slumped across the steering wheel. His blond hair bloodied from where his head had smashed into the steering wheel. Opening the door, Luke leaned in and checked for his cousin's pulse. He had a hard time finding one but eventually he found it. It was a bit thready and weak, but it was there. He was then left to wait for Bo who told him that not only was Cooter on his way, but he was bringing both Kim and Kira with him, and the ambulance would be right behind him. The kids were being left with Jo and Jesse to watch.

Luke knew that neither of the women would have been able to stay back once learning of Jebb's wreck. Kira being his wife, was sure to be worried for her husband after learning of the accident that sent him down into the ravine. Kim, being a doctor, would be quick to come to aid of her brother-in-law. In no time at all the wrecker and ambulance pulled up behind where the fellas had left the General Lee. Before Wilbur and his partner could get the back board out of the ambulance both Duke Women were stumbling down toward the men with Cooter at their heels.

"How's Jebb?" Kira asked just before she saw the side of the car crumpled around a tree. "Oh God!"

"Easy. He'll be alright. Luke checked him out as much as he could. Let Kim and Wilbur take it from here, but he'll be alright."

Bo put an arm around his sister as they stepped back to let the others work together to get Jebb safely out of the car and up the ravine toward the ambulance. Once the whole group was back up at the road Kim told Kira that she'd ride with Jebb to keep a check on him during the ride. It would be best if she followed in behind with the fellas. Before Kira could mount a protest Wilbur helped Kim up and shut the door to the back of the ambulance.

"I'll let Uncle Jesse know that we'll be heading to the hospital." Luke walked over to the orange stock car and pulled out the mic for the CB. Jesse assured him that the kids were fine with him and Jo and told Luke to let him know just as soon as he had word on Jebb's condition.

The three Dukes then climbed into the General Lee and followed in behind the ambulance while leaving Cooter behind to start working on pulling out the Stonewall Jackson out of the ravine. Once at the hospital each of them was forced to stay behind in the waiting room until Kim came out to tell her family members of her brother-in-law's condition.

"He's not awake yet. We've had to give him a couple of stitches from where he got just a bit to intimate with the steering wheel which also caused a fracture in his left cheekbone. He likely will have a concussion, but we won't know for sure until he wakes up. In addition, he'll have some sore ribs; two of them are broken but several are bruised. He was lucky that he didn't end up with any internal injuries."

"Yea, real lucky," Kira muttered. "If he'd really been lucky, he wouldn't be here."

Kim gave her sister-in-law a look of sympathy before telling her what room Jebb had been taken up to so that she could sit with him while waiting for him to wake up. Over the next several hours various friends and family members joined Kira while keeping a vigil in his hospital room. When night fell, she reluctantly left her husband's side to be with her children. Bo volunteered to stay with Jebb overnight and promised that he'd let her know the instant that there was any change in his condition.

When Kira got home her sons and daughter were all waiting for her to find out how their father was. Kira did her best to slap on a convincing smile as she told them that he was fine before she walked over to gather her youngest up in her arms. It was well past Crystal's bedtime, but she'd wanted to stay up with her brothers. Kira thanked Jesse for watching the kids and could tell that he wanted to ask things that he'd not dare ask in front of the children. Instead, he gave each of them hugs and promised that he'd see them in the morning and left the mother to take care of her small brood.

Once all of the kids were in their own beds Kira went to her room and let the stress of the day wash over her. She wished that she knew that Jebb was going to be alright. She knew for her children's sake she couldn't let them know just how terrified she still felt hours after seeing their father hunched over the steering wheel of the family car that Jebb liked to race when he could.

Perhaps for the first time in years Kira felt the uncertainty of everything weighing her down. When she saw Jebb bloodied and limp in the car she had been certain that she'd already lost him. While waiting for him to wake up she had almost nothing to think about than what would have happened if he hadn't survived the accident. How would she be able to make it through life without him? Her rock and steady hand? The one who had not let her push him away when she'd been convinced that she couldn't depend on anyone to not abandon her after a lifetime of not being able to count on anyone for the majority of her life.

Sitting on the bed, Kira grabbed Jebb's pillow off of the bed and held it tight as she allowed the emotion-filled tears that she had been holding back since the afternoon to finally flow in hot rivers down her cheeks. Tears that she'd rarely let anyone else see. Tears that she rarely allowed to show themselves at all.

The next day Kira was sitting in Jebb's hospital room once more and waited in a silence that both irritated and frightened her. She had called his parents earlier in the morning and promised to call them the moment that she had any news. She then pulled out her bag with some files for a case that she had going to trial over in Hatchapee next week. It was nothing major, really. Just an incident where a few men had gotten into a dispute with one another after a bit too much beer at the local roadhouse of the county. She really didn't need to read over the information again, but she felt that if she didn't do something that she'd go out of her mind. As she was putting one file down in favor of another, she glanced over at Jebb only to be greeted with clear signs of him trying to wake up.

"It's about damn time," Kira muttered in relief. She then moved closer to the bed and watched as Jebb's pained expression took in the sight of the room.

"How'd I end up here?" Jebb asked since the hospital looked different than any he could remember.

"You got a little too up close and personal with a tree during the race yesterday." Now that Jebb was awake it felt as if the weight of the whole world had been lifted from her shoulders. "From what Bo and Luke told me, it looked as if that newcomer may have run you off of the road."

"Bo and Luke?" Jebb thought hard as he heard his cousins mentioned.

"They'll be by later." Kira smiled knowing that the other men would be nearly as relieved as she was to know that Jebb was awake and appeared to be just fine. "I'd better go let a nurse know that you're awake. I know that Kim planned to come check on you pretty soon, too."

With that Kira rushed out of the room to go in search of a nurse. She came across her sister-in-law instead. Kim told her that she'd go and see Jebb and get a few tests lined up that she'd wanted to wait for once he was awake. In the meantime, she expected Kira to head down to the cafeteria since she knew dang well that she hadn't hardly eaten since the accident. Reluctantly Kira agreed since she would rather not be left alone in the hospital room while Jebb was out for his scans.

Kim headed to Jebb's room and went on in to get a look at her patient. When she did, she noticed that he looked to be a bit confused. "Jebb, how's the head?"

Jebb raised a hand to his head where he could tell he had stitches instinctively before shrugging. "Hurts like hell but I'm guessin' that there's a good reason for that."

"I'd say so. Now I'm going to just ask some basic questions, so we know where to start today. Alright?"

"Alright."

"First, can you tell me where you are?"

Jebb scoffed just a bit at the question. "A hospital."

"Right. But can you tell me which one?"

Jebb glanced around the room for a clue but couldn't see one. He knew that the hospital didn't look like the one in his hometown of Placid. The last that he could remember he had been heading to Atlanta for a race. But the woman who had been in his room when he woke up had mentioned a tree. Had the race been an off road one? Or maybe he and his friends had arranged for a street race after the Motocross. But she'd also mentioned Luke and he couldn't have been there. He was on the other side of the world.

"Atlanta?" Jebb guessed but knew right away that he'd been wrong by the look that crossed the nurse's face.

"Jebb, do you know who the president is? What year is it?"

Those questions caused him to laugh outright. "1975 and its Gerald Ford. Have any other obvious questions that you want to ask me?"

"I see." After a few more baseline questions Kim's brows furled in concern at Jebb's answers. "I'm going to go ahead and get some tests scheduled and then I'll be right back."

Kim headed toward the nurses' station and gave the orders to the charge nurse before making her way toward the cafeteria where she knew that her sister-in-law was waiting for her. When she found her, she could barely make herself join Kira at the table where she was eating a sandwich of some sort that she'd gotten for her lunch. Kim braced herself for what she needed to tell the other Duke.

"So, how is he? Is he going to be alright?"

"Well, he's having a CAT scan right now but there is something that we need to discuss."

Kira saw the seriousness in Kim's face and instantly became concerned. "What? Why? What's wrong?"

Kim bit her lip as she tried to figure out just how she was going to tell the other woman that her husband had just lost nearly twenty years of his life. "Well, first, I should say that this may not be permanent-"

"What's not permanent? What's wrong?"

"After asking Jebb some questions it seems that he's lost some of his memory. Now like I said, it may just be temporary but right now we really don't have a way of knowing that."

"His memory? So what? He can't remember the race?"

"It's a little bit more than just the race, Kira."

"How little bit more?" Kira asked as she crossed her arms.

"He, uh, he can't remember anything after 1975. He thinks it's the summer that he was sixteen. After looking up his medical records it looks like he had a motorcycle accident right around then. It could be that this recent trauma has triggered a latent injury that he'd sustained way back then."

"He what? 1975? We hadn't even met yet in 1975!" Kira took in fact that her husband now had no idea of who she was. Hell, he had no idea that he was a grown man with his own family. "The kids! How am I going to tell them that their dad doesn't know who they are?"

"Well, hopefully this won't last long-"

"But if it does?"

"All I can say is that we'll need to take this slow. It's going to be hard on Jebb when he realizes just how much of his life he's missed."

"So, what do we do now?" Kira asked while feeling that her entire life had been turned upside down in a way she hadn't thought possible.

Jebb waited for the woman that he'd assumed was the nurse to return after he was finished with the testing that had been ordered after he woke up. Instead of the nurse, however, the next person who walked into his room was his Uncle Jesse. He looked a bit different; his hair looked just a bit lighter and thinner but there was no doubt that he was his uncle.

"Uncle Jesse, am I glad to see you. I've been trying to figure out just how I ended up in here."

Jesse nodded and went to sit down next to his nephew's bed. "So, I've heard. I asked Kim to let me talk to you before she came back in to explain what's going to happen now."

"Kim?"

Jesse saw his nephew's confusion, so he added, "She's the doctor who asked you the questions before you went for your scans. In fact, she's a bit more than just a doctor; she's family."

Jebb's confusion deepened. He couldn't remember there being anyone in the family who was a doctor. In fact, no one in the family had even ever gone off to college.

"I know that things seem a bit strange. Your accident has affected your memory. In the coming days, things are going to be a bit overwhelming, but it will all be alright."

"My memory?"

Jesse nodded before he pulled out a photo album that he'd brought with him. After flipping it open, he put it on the roll-out table that was across Jebb's bed. "Right here is when you wrecked your motorcycle. You got a pretty good bump on the head and broke your leg just before harvest season that year."

"That year?" Jebb stared hard at the picture of himself that he couldn't remember posing for.

"That was 1975," Jesse stated gently. He turned the page and showed a few more snapshots that had been taken before Jebb had returned home after his visit to the family farm in Hazzard.

"It isn't still 1975?"

"No," Jesse said with sympathy as he watched Jebb turn a few more pages of events that he had no memory of. When Jebb came across a few other pictures that Jesse had handpicked for the album he watched silently as his nephew took in the life that he no longer could remember.

"Luke? He's out of the Marines?" Jebb asked as he saw pictures of his cousin who had been sent off to Vietnam. Relief was clear on his face when he realized that his cousin made it home safe and sound.

"Yep. That there is a picture of the party that we had waiting for him the moment he got off of the bus. That was a day that we'd counted down to for so long. I don't think any of us slept a decent night the entire time that he was out of the country."

Jebb flipped a few more pages past photos of his and the other blond Duke Boys' graduations from high school. There were pictures from the funeral for Coy's parents which felt like a kick to the gut only to be replaced by happier images. Some even depicting races that his cousins had won as well as some that he had apparently been the victor of. That was when he saw a few pictures where someone he didn't know but looked familiar all the same began to pop up. There was a girl who looked much like the woman who had been in his room when he'd first woke up this morning.

"Who's that?"

"That's Kira," Jesse responded but waited for Jebb to continue to look through the album. When he made his way to a photo taken just one county over the surprise was clear on his face.

"We're married?"

"Yes. I'll never forget the day I first asked you about your relationship with her. I've never seen any two people more meant for one another. You actually defied your mother to marry her."

"I did? Why?" Jebb stared at the picture while trying to recall the woman that his uncle claimed that he loved. In the photograph it certainly looked like it.

"Let's just say that she and your mother took a while to really end up on the same page. Things are always a bit more interesting when Pauline and Kira are in the same room." Jesse chuckled as he remembered some incidences from his niece and nephew's earlier years of their marriage.

When Jebb turned the page once more he was given another surprise. In the picture he could see himself standing between two hospital bassinets. He was holding a small infant and a nurse was standing beside him with another.

"Your mother took that picture right after she realized that you and Kira had twins. Both of you had kept that a closely guarded secret. She'd bet you that you'd spill the beans before the kids were born so of course you had to rise to the challenge," Jesse said while bypassing the not so pleasant aspects of that day.

"So, you are saying that I've got two babies at the house? That I'm a dad?"

"They are a bit bigger now. And both the spitting image of you when you were young. They tend to get into a bit of trouble together but nothing that you haven't been able to handle, so far. You've become a great dad."

"What are their names?" Jebb asked still just a bit shell-shocked. How could he be a father and forget his kids? His wife?

"Michael and Jonathan. Mikey and Jay for short. Bo actually was the one to shorten their names when they were little. And they love their Uncle Bo."

"You aren't going to tell me that Bo is a dad now, too, are you?"

"No," Jesse said simply, yet somehow mournfully at the same time.

Jebb continued to look through a few snap shots that showed that he appeared to be a happy family man. Jesse would explain the pictures as Jebb asked about each one of them while trying his best to remember each event. He then turned a page to find what looked to be Luke's wedding day. He and all of his cousins were standing by his side along with a gorgeous blonde. He looked over each of the people in the picture and saw how they had aged from the last time he could remember them. Even his parents in the picture looked differently. Beside Daisy and the woman that his uncle had told him was his wife were two young girls that according to the names listed below the picture were his baby sisters. How could they have gone from being infants to young girls on the edge of becoming teenagers?

After a couple more snap shots Jebb came across a picture of Luke with his bride holding a tiny infant. So, while his uncle had told him that Bo wasn't a father it didn't appear to be true of his oldest cousin. Next Jebb found pictures of Bo's wedding. Looking at the pictures he was surprised to see that the bride was the doctor who had seen him earlier in the day. So that was what Jesse had meant when he said that the woman was family.

There were more pictures; both of good times and bad. Jebb's heart broke for his cousin when he learned that Daisy had gotten married only to become a widow a mere six months later. Jesse had pictures of Daisy with her son and despite the hard times, Jebb knew that his cousin must love the fact that she was a mother. She'd dreamed of having kids since they were all little. He could still remember times when she would mother him and Bo while growing up.

In one picture Jebb saw Daisy with her son and the woman that Jesse had told him was his wife holding an infant as well.

"I thought that the twins were older than Daisy's kid."

"They are. That there is your daughter. Crystal, or Chrissy, and Jimmy were born on the same day. In fact, they've got a birthday comin' up."

Jebb's eyes went just a bit wide as he had to ask, "How many kids do I have?"

"Three. This little girl was a bit of a surprise. She came along when the boys were three. It's been great havin' all of the youngens out on the farms. Here I'd given up on you boys ever settlin' down and startin' families of your own and you three decided to prove me wrong, one right after another." Jesse grinned before adding, "And I've never been more thrilled to be proven wrong. To watch all of you become responsible family men; I've never been prouder."

He saw the truth in his uncle's eyes and a part of him was glad that he'd become a man that he could be proud of, even if Jebb himself couldn't remember any of it.

"So, what do I do now? How am I supposed to go about a life that I can't remember?"

"Kim said that this lapse in memory is likely just temporary. After you're discharged, we'll try to surround you with things to trigger your memory. We'll just take it one day at a time. Your memory will come back in its own time."

"I hope so," Jebb said as he glanced down on the pages that depicted a life that seemed so foreign to him.

~01~

Kira braced herself before going into her husband's hospital room. Her husband who no longer knew her from any stranger off of the street. She knew that Jesse had put together a couple of photo albums to help jog Jebb's memory. She could only pray that it worked. After seeing her husband, she still had to face her children and tell them that their father couldn't remember them.

How in the hell was she supposed to do that?

Kira waited until after her brother and cousins visited with Jebb. The family members that he could actually remember. Jesse hoped that seeing them would help Jebb come to terms with all that he'd missed. From what she heard; her husband's greatest reaction was to seeing Luke. It was as if he had just gotten out of the Marines all over again. Jebb's reaction had a clear effect on Luke when he left the room. Kira had watched as he left without stopping him. Instead, she allowed Bo to go after their older cousin. She then waited for a while to let Jebb process everything that he'd learned from his cousins.

Walking into the hospital room, Kira felt more self-conscious than she could remember being in a long time. Especially around Jebb. When he noticed her, he looked just a bit surprised to see her.

"Hey." Jebb put the album aside that his uncle had left for him and tried to figure out what he was supposed to say to the woman that he couldn't remember marrying.

"Hey. How are you feelin'? You know, with the head and the ribs?"

"Like I've been kicked in the head by a mule only to have a house fall in on me. How long was I out? You know, before I woke up earlier today?"

"Almost a day." Kira went to sit in the chair next to Jebb while trying to remember that he was feeling just as awkward, if not more so, than she was. "I'm sorry that I didn't notice that something was wrong earlier. I was just glad that you were awake."

"Don't worry about it." Jebb shifted a bit uncomfortably in the bed while trying to figure out just what he was supposed to say to his wife when he could barely remember her name. "So... uh... Jesse told me that we're, um, married."

"And the thought of it makes you feel a bit weird," Kira said for him. When he tried to mount a protest, she stopped him. "It's alright. As far as you're concerned, you are sixteen with your whole life ahead of you. And if someone had told me that we ended up married back when I was sixteen, I would have felt more than a bit uncomfortable, too."

Jebb couldn't help the small snicker that escaped at the comparison. "So how did we meet? If you don't mind me askin'."

"We both raced on the Motocross Circuit."

"So, we, what? Hit it off right away or something?"

"Oh God, no. I couldn't stand you when we first met."

Jebb made a face as he heard Kira's statement. "Why not?"

"Let's just say that the Duke Ego is something of an acquired taste." Despite herself, Kira had to smile at the memory of the brash young man that Jebb had been when they had first met.

"Well, if you thought that I was that bad then how did we end up together?"

"I guess you just didn't give me a chance to get rid of you. You were something that I just couldn't shake off. Like something on the bottom of my shoe," Kira teased just to see Jebb's reaction. She then sobered before she continued. "I had a lot of issues back then and didn't trust anyone. But when I stopped showing up during one season on the circuit due to cancer you came looking for me. Even later on when I got scared and left, you found me and made me realize that you weren't going anywhere."

Jebb saw the seriousness in Kira's eyes and instinctively knew that there was a lot that was being left unsaid.

"How long have we been married?"

"Nine years. The boys came along just after our first anniversary."

"Nine?" Jebb knew that he'd missed a lot but hearing that he'd been married for nearly a decade just hit him a bit harder than flipping through the photo album seeing pictures of people who were complete strangers to him.

"Yep. It will be ten the day after Christmas. And your mother has been pushing for a renewal of vows this year. That way she can be there this time. And of course, she probably won't let us get away with wearing our jeans for this ceremony," Kira said while trying to add a little levity to the moment.

"I saw the pictures and wondered about that. Jesse mentioned that my mom wasn't too keen on the two of us. Why is that?"

Kira leaned back as she took a deep breath while trying to figure out a way to explain it to Jebb without out it really freaking him out. "Well, when we were dating, we didn't exactly do the whole meet the parents thing. I wasn't ready. Then just after you bought a ring and was ready to ask me to marry you, we found out that we were already related."

"Related?" Jebb sat forward just a bit more in surprise.

"Cousins, actually." Kira nodded to confirm that he'd heard her right. "I was kidnapped when I was three days old. I didn't find out until the week of Thanksgiving; a month before we got married."

"Cousins? I don't remember anyone sayin' nothin' about a cousin being missing."

"I guess you could say that I was the family secret. The one that no one talked about."

Jebb couldn't believe that his family could have hidden such a big secret from the younger members of the family. "So, who were your parents?"

"Michael and Crystal Duke. Mikey and Chrissy were named after them."

"Bo's parents?" Jebb didn't know why he hadn't put the names of his kids together with his aunt and uncle. Clearly his other son's name came from his own father, so it only stood to reason that the other children were namesakes of other members of the family as well.

"We're twins."

"Twins?" Jebb thought about his younger years when he'd visit the Duke Farm and how there were times that Bo had pretended that he had a sister. "How did you find out that we were related?"

"It's a long story. But the moment that your mother found out about us she practically had a heart attack. We ended up eloping and it took your mother two years to apologize for making that first year more than just a little bit difficult."

"I can believe it." Jebb scoffed at the idea of his mother admitting that she was wrong about anything.

For the next hour he listened to Kira tell him more about his life that he couldn't remember before she announced that she needed to leave so that she could get their children some dinner and talk to them about Jebb's return home scheduled for the next day. Physically, there was no reason to remain in the hospital now that the threat of concussion was over. Not to mention, the best thing for his memory was to be surrounded by his family with things that could trigger it. But that meant that the children needed to be prepared for the coming days.

Alone once more, Jebb flipped back through the albums while trying to see each picture with a bit of understanding after speaking with not only his uncle and cousins, but now his wife as well.

After going home to find her brother watching the kids Kira started to lay out dinner while trying to decide just how to tell her children about their father's condition. Meanwhile, Bo was out in the barn taking care of the daily chores that Jebb wasn't there to take care of. With him were the twins as they went about their own chores that they were expected to take care of daily as well. While Bo was chopping some firewood the boys joined him and asked him if he had heard anything about their father yet. Taking a break from the chopping, Bo glanced toward the house where his sister was at.

"Well, there is a couple of things. For one, your dad will be coming home tomorrow." Bo watched as both boys seemed relieved since he knew that they'd picked up on the fact that something was different from any of the other times that their father had been injured either during a race or any other time. Primarily because of the fact that they hadn't been allowed to go to the hospital today.

"So, he wasn't hurt that bad?" Jay asked.

"Well, he has some busted ribs so he won't be able to get back to all of his chores too quickly, but he also got a pretty good bump on the head," Bo stated while trying to figure out how he'd tell the boys what all that bump would entail. "In fact, I wanted to talk to you about that. The next couple of days may be a bit awkward. You see that bump on the head was a might strong and is making it where your dad is having a hard time remembering some stuff. He's going to need you two to help him. You think that you can do that?"

"How much of a hard time remembering stuff?" Mikey exchanged a glance with his twin as he asked.

Bo let out a sigh since there was no good way to tell the boys what they wanted. "A lot. But it will only be for a little while. What we'll need to do when he gets home is try to jog his memory but we also need to be patient with him. Can you two help out when your father gets home?"

Both boys nodded cautiously before getting back to their chores. Once they were all done the boys bade their uncle goodbye and went inside for supper. Their little sister was carrying over the last plate to the table as she finished setting the table as was one of her chores. One that allowed her to help their mother and she was proud of. After the three children and their mother sat down for dinner Kira broached the plans for the next day.

"Tomorrow your dad will get to leave the hospital and come home."

"So, Daddy is all better?" Crystal asked as she picked at her food on her plate. The twins exchanged looks as they waited for their mother to explain what had happened to their father. Their uncle had told them of his injuries and that he has some problems with his memory, but it wasn't clear just how much.

"Not quite, Chris." Kira put her fork down as she tried to explain things for her five-year-old. "You know how sometimes when you have a really bad dream? Sometimes it is hard to remember where you are and what happened? Sometimes you don't even remember me for a few minutes right after you wake up?"

Crystal thought briefly before nodding.

"Your dad is sort of stuck in that moment before you fully wake up and you know everything will be alright. We'll just have to be real patient for a while. Help him remember stuff from time to time. Alright?" Kira asked her daughter while eying her sons to see if they understood as well. Once all three nodded she moved the conversation to a lighter subject. "In the meantime, what do you want for your birthday, Crystal?"

~01~

Jebb rode in silence as he stared out at the countryside and took in the slight changes that he knew that most in the town had long since gotten used to. He saw where the Johnson's barn had been replaced some time ago. The old windmill out at the Younger's place must have finally collapsed and was removed. Instead of replacing it there was a small house on that same plot of land. It even looked like the old mill was back in full production and he saw dozens of cars parked outside that showed just how many employees the mill once more employed. As the truck got closer to the Duke family farm he was surprised when Jesse steered toward the old Hanson farm instead.

"Why are we going here?"

"When you and Kira got married, she let you decide where the two of you would make your home. You surprised her and bought the old Hanson farm and got it up and running again; made a real success of it, too."

A lot of questions floated through Jebb's head, but he knew that was something that he'd have to get used to for a while. Instead of asking questions like how he could have afforded to buy a whole farm, especially one right next to his uncle's farm, he let it go for now.

When the truck pulled up into the farmyard Jebb saw several cars, but one caught his attention the most. It was an orange car that was painted up like a race car. That had to be the car that his cousins had told him about when they visited with him the day before. Apparently, according to them, his own car looked very similar, only a different color. Off to the side Jebb saw a few picnic tables set up for a party: his Welcome Home Party. Funny, but he didn't feel like he was going home.

"Are you ready for this?" Jesse asked after he parked just beyond the other cars in the yard.

Jebb reluctantly nodded. He opened the door of the truck and stepped out into the farmyard to be greeted by the mixture of both familiar family members and complete strangers whom he'd apparently cared for very deeply just days prior.

When he got out of the truck, he reached forward to hug his parents who were there waiting with his cousins as well as the women that he now knew to be Bo and Luke's wives. Next to Luke's wife was their little girl while Daisy's son was with her; none of whom Jebb could remember the names of. And of course, there were his wife and three kids. The youngest of which sent herself hurling his way before he'd even registered that she was running in his direction. When she latched onto his leg his hand rested on top of her head instinctively as he glanced at his family around him.

Fortunately, his mother stepped forward and knelt beside the little girl before the awkwardness of the situation could really be felt by anyone other than him.

"Crystal, remember what your mother said about your father still being hurt. He won't be able to pick you up until his ribs get to feelin' better."

Jebb wasn't sure if his mother had used the girl's name for his benefit or not, but he was grateful since it meant that he wouldn't have to see her face fall when she realized that he didn't know it. Of course, there were still his sons that he needed to remember the names of, as well.

The family made their way to the picnic tables for dinner to enjoy the breeze in the late July evening. While each family member spoke Jebb noticed that they constantly used one another's names; an act to benefit him, he was sure. Another thing that he noticed was that, with the exception of his daughter who seemed oblivious to his condition, his wife and sons each seemed to be a little less talkative than the rest of the family. He wished he could remember if they were naturally introverts or the fact that they each knew that he had no memory of them was the reason. He had a sneaky suspicion that it was the latter.

At least when dinner was over, he could do one thing that felt normal; or at least he thought that he'd be able to do it. He headed out to the barn to help with the evening chores. As the two eight-year-olds started to milk the goats and feed the other animals Bo was quick to remind him that with his cracked ribs that it'd be best to not get back to work just yet. He wasn't ready to go back inside with the rest of the family but staying out in the barn had a way of making him feel fairly useless. His own kids were more help in taking care of the chores than he was at the moment.

After going inside, he watched as his mother helped to clean the kitchen up. The whole time he could hear his wife and mother bicker with one another. Though as he listened the bickering didn't really come off as being mean-spirited. It was as if there was some inside joke that he was missing. Missing along with everything else, lately.

Jebb was so engrossed in watching his mother and wife getting the kitchen put back together that he was taken by surprise when his father walked up behind him. When he asked Jebb how he was doing he considered trying to shrug off the unfamiliarity of everything but at the last second, he changed his mind. Why lie? He was out of his depth, and everyone knew it.

"It all seems so strange. Like I went to bed about to be a sophomore in high school and then the next minute I wake up and half my life is just gone and replaced by someone else's. I don't have a clue about what I'm supposed to be doing now."

"It will get easier. I promise."

Jebb exchanged a wary glance with his father before nodding. He sure hoped that it'd get easier. What's more, he hoped that his memory returned soon so that he could wake up from this odd dream of being a man with an instant family.

Since he couldn't help out with the chores Jebb headed upstairs to get a look at his home while hoping that it would help to jog his memory. When he got to the end of the hallway, he could hear his daughter playing with Luke's and Daisy's kids. He really felt sorry for Daisy's son since both of the girls had convinced him to play their game of choice for the day, Tea Party. Briefly he thought about trying to rescue him from his female cousins, but he knew that it'd be a bit difficult at the moment since he couldn't even remember the poor boy's name. Instead, he watched from the hall as the three drank their imaginary tea as they chatted with various dolls who had been invited to sit at the table with them.

Jebb shook his head, glad that he'd never been roped into doing anything as humiliating as dressing up and playing tea party with any of the few female Dukes in the family. He'd been fortunate that both his sister and Daisy had outgrown that phase before he'd been old enough to join in the play.

After leaving the tea party behind Jebb roamed into what had to be his sons' room. There were toy cars and such off to the side to make a clear spot in the middle of their room. That must count as cleaning their room since that had always been his criteria for whether or not the room was clean; could you get around without stepping on anything? Yes? Then the room is clean enough. Jebb could tell that his boys had different personalities based solely on their room. One side was just a touch cleaner than the other. Not to mention that one bed had everything from toys to clothes stuffed underneath while the other only had a few dust bunnies beneath it. Jebb figured he'd have to try to guess later on which one was the messier of the two.

The next room appeared to be made up as a guest room, so Jebb went on to the last room on that side of the hall. After stepping inside, he glanced around the room that he shared with his wife. What was her name again? The room was neat as a pin which had to mean that his wife preferred for things to be in order since, while he'd not consider himself a pig, he'd never really bothered to go overboard either. Like with his bed, why make it up if the only thing he'll do is climb back in later on anyway? No one else should know if his bed was made up since you don't just go into random people's bedrooms anyway. If he wanted to leave his sheets untucked since they were more comfortable that way then he should be able to leave them that way without his mother, or anyone else, complaining.

Glancing around the room, Jebb felt uncomfortable. Like he was intruding on someone else's space. Walking back out, he decided to wander the rest of the house instead. He ended up in the attic and started to look through various boxes that had been stored there. He found trophies from various races as well as things that had likely belonged to his children before they'd outgrown them. He also found more photo albums so he sat down to look through them to get glimpses of the life that he couldn't remember having. He found pictures of him and the boys out in a pond as he was tossing one of them further out into the water. Another with them sitting on the bank with his cousins fishing. He even found one of Bo holding one of the kids when they were just babies and it looked like he'd just been thrown up on. That was one thing he could remember about his sisters. It seemed that babies always had something coming out of them in one form or another.

Putting the book of pictures down, Jebb wondered just how long it would take for him to have any recollection of the events that were caught on film in there.

The next morning Jebb woke up hoping to find that his ordeal was just a dream. No such luck. When he cracked his eyes open, he found himself in the room that he shared with a woman whom he couldn't remember. He still couldn't figure out how he could forget so many people that he obviously cared about and who cared about him. He knew that he was hurting both his wife and kids, but he didn't know how he could fix things.

Rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling he noticed that he wasn't alone in the bed. Which seemed strange since he knew that Kira had insisted that he take their room and had volunteered to sleep in the spare room instead. He hated to admit it, but he was relieved when she did since he wasn't looking forward to sleeping with a stranger. Jebb moved the blanket just slightly and found the youngest in the household sleeping next to him. His daughter must have gotten up some time in the middle of the night and snuck in.

Not wanting to wake up the sleeping child, Jebb carefully got out of bed and got dressed to head downstairs. He wasn't sure if anyone else would be awake just yet, but he didn't see himself lying around in bed waiting for the sun to come up. Once downstairs he found his mother already awake and frying up some bacon to go with breakfast. At the kitchen table, he found his wife reading over some paperwork. He couldn't put his finger on it but this picture of his wife and mother both in the kitchen just didn't seem to go together; especially first thing in the morning.

Jebb shook off the odd feeling and walked further into the kitchen to let the two women know that he was awake. "Mornin'." Both looked up and greeted him and his mother asked him how he'd slept. Jebb answered with a shrug. "Alright, I guess."

Kira shuffled her paperwork together to put it away in her bag to make room for the plates that Pauline was putting on the table in preparation for breakfast. She was really just using it to keep her mind busy, anyway. She hadn't been able to sleep. Not while knowing that Jebb was just across the hall from her and was suffering the way he was. She'd seen the pain in his eyes when he'd try to speak to her or the kids while trying to find his footing in this strange situation that he now found himself in. She could tell that his loss of memory hurt him far more than his broken ribs or fractured cheek. Particularly when he interacted with the boys. Crystal was too young to truly understand how badly her father's memory had been affected. The boys, they were having a harder time which Jebb was able to pick up on. He may not remember them, but he was still their father. Some of the instincts that he'd developed over the last eight and a half years were still functioning enough for him to pick up on when his sons were hurting.

Kira got up to get Jebb some coffee and topped her own mug off, as well, while she was at it. She knew that she'd be living on caffeine for the day. Meanwhile, Pauline went ahead and started to load up a plate of bacon and eggs with toast for her son.

"Kira, when are you supposed to go to court for those yahoos that hired you?" Pauline figured she might as well as make small talk to try to break the silence. Besides, it would do her son good to be reminded of what his wife did for a living. She could tell the night before that he was just so overwhelmed with trying to remember every detail that had once been a part of his life that he hadn't even had to think twice about.

"Tomorrow. It will only take an hour or so. It'll be pretty straight forward." Kira took a sip of her coffee before adding, "You and John are staying through to the weekend, right? No point in ya'll driving back with the birthday party this weekend."

"Already figured on helping with the party. Daisy will be having Jimmy's friends over, too, right?"

"Who is having a birthday?" Jebb asked while trying to keep track of what as being discussed.

"Sorry," Kira apologized as she sat back down across from Jebb. "Daisy's son, Jimmy, and our daughter, Chrissy, will both be turning six on Saturday. We've been planning on throwing a party for both of the kids over at the other farmhouse. We'd offered to have it here, but Daisy was insistent that she wanted it over with her and Jesse. She said it was only fair since, at the time, she knew that you and the fellas would have been out in the fields with the crops all day. But with the accident..." Kira shook her head to change her unsaid thoughts and to change the topic back to the party. "Anyway, there will be most of the five- and six-year-olds in Hazzard County coming over this weekend. So, we'll need everyone to help keep track of them. By the end of the day, I think that we'll all be wanting to check back into the hospital for a break."

"Kira!" Pauline didn't think that joking about going to the hospital was appropriate at all considering the fact that Jebb was in his current condition.

"It's alright, Mom!" Jebb chuckled and bit back a hiss of pain that his laughter had sparked. "It was just a joke."

It wasn't that big of one but somehow it made him feel more at ease. He'd always used humor to make difficult situations easier to deal with. Clearly his wife was doing the same thing. To be honest, it made him feel more at ease with her than he had since first learning that they were married. It showed that maybe people would stop walking around on eggshells for now.

"Not a very good one," Pauline insisted. She was about to continue her diatribe regarding her daughter-in-law's poor taste in jokes but stopped when the twins walked in ready for their breakfast. Kira took advantage of the distraction to go upstairs and help her daughter get dressed for the day.

As usual, Mikey was wide-awake while his brother slumped into the chair more out of habit than anything else before putting his head on the table in an effort to steal a second or two more of sleep. If it wasn't for the fact that their grandparents were in town Jay would have stayed in bed for a bit longer. But he knew very well that his grandmother didn't take kindly to having the kids sleep in longer than she deemed appropriate.

Both boys greeted the adults in the room as Pauline started to get their breakfast on the table. As she put Jay's plate down, she motioned for him to get his head up off of the table. Reluctantly, he did so and grabbed his fork so he could start moving his food around on his plate. Some of it was bound to find its way into his mouth if he did.

Beside Jay Mikey dug into his own breakfast as his grandfather came in from doing the morning chores. John asked each of the blondes at the table how they slept before accepting his own breakfast. He then reminded the twins of the chores that they were expected to attend to after breakfast to which Mikey asked if they'd be able to go down to the pond to go fishing once they were finished.

"Maybe Dad can come, too," Mikey added since he knew that his dad wouldn't be able to help the other men out in the fields, anyway.

Jebb was speechless, not able to figure out what to say.

"I wanna go!" Jebb heard from the doorway from the small little girl in Kira's arms as she'd just returned from waking up the youngest of the family.

"No, Chris," Mikey folded his arms across his chest as his little sister looked as if she was ready to gear up for a fit to get what she wanted. "You hate fishing because you can't talk out there. If you talk, you scare away the fish. You always beg to go and five minutes after we're out there you're bored."

"He's right, Chrissy," Jay added to support his brother's argument. "The last time we went to go fish you got hot and bored, and we ended up going to the swimmin' hole instead."

"Well, how come we can't do that again? If you get to spend time with Daddy, so should I."

Jebb wondered if he always felt like a rope in the middle of a tug-of-war competition when it came to the children or if this was just because of his current situation.

The adults all saw the look of distress on Jebb's face. Kira placed a finger under Crystal's chin and had her look at her as she tried to calm her daughter. "I'm afraid that your daddy won't be able to go swimming today. Remember I told you that he was hurt? But how about I take you swimmin' for a little while today?"

Crystal felt torn. She didn't want her brothers to get to spend time with their father without her but here her mother was saying that she could spend some time with her without her brothers. But she still wanted her time with her daddy.

Jebb looked at the little girl's face and couldn't help but crumble. Maybe he could do something special for her. "What if I read you your story tonight? Would that make you feel better about me goin' fishin' with your brothers?"

"Two stories?"

Mikey and Jay rolled their eyes. Memory or no memory, it looked like their sister still had their father wrapped around her little finger. But at least he did say that he was going to go fishing with them.

"Chrissy," Kira spoke up. She knew that on a good day Crystal could talk her father into anything, but this was not a good day. Jebb was still out of sorts while trying to recover from the accident over the weekend. "One story. You know the rules. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Crystal replied as her mother put her down in her chair for breakfast. She was disappointed that she wouldn't get a second story but at least she'll get to spend some time alone with first her mother and then her father today.

Jebb, for his part, realized how he'd been manipulated, or nearly was if Kira hadn't spoken up. He couldn't help but wonder if he was always a marshmallow where his kids were concerned. Especially the youngest of the crew.

~01~

Jebb settled onto the bank with the twins and watched as the boys got their gear together in silence. Both baited their poles and cast them before getting comfortable near their father. Jebb knew that the boys had told their little sister that you couldn't talk while fishing, but he hadn't thought that they'd actually follow their own rules when she hadn't been brought along. Finally, the silence had grated on his nerves enough that Jebb had to speak up.

"So, do we come fishing a lot?" That seemed to be a safe question. Jebb gave his line a bit of play as he stared out into the water.

The boys exchanged a look before Mikey answered their father. "Whenever there isn't anything else that needs to be done around the farm."

Jebb nodded in response. He supposed that he likely enjoyed getting off with his sons whenever he could. "Anything else that we do together?"

Jay shifted to look more in his father's direction. "Like what?"

"What all do we do for fun? Things that ya'll enjoy?" Jebb wondered if his boys would be honest with him. Were they close? Was he a good father? He hoped so. Maybe he had questions that his sons weren't really old enough to answer but he knew that his parents and the other adults in the family would put his feelings ahead of any truth. Kids, they tend to be more honest when the truth might hurt.

"Well, we get to go to the garage with you and Uncle Bo and Luke when ya'll help Cooter on Saturdays if we've done all of our chores without havin' to be reminded of them too much through the week."

Jebb could see both the pride that they were permitted to join the men as well as the fact that they were uncomfortable with the questioning. The three fell silent once more as Jebb watched the boys eye one another out of the corner of his eyes. He swore that if he didn't know better that there was an entire conversation going on just a matter of feet away from him. It was as if a glance from one boy to the other could tell the other exactly what the other was thinking without having to actually say it at all.

After a while, one of the boys reeled in a fish that was pretty impressive for the size of the kid. He wished he could tell them apart, but he figured that it would come in time. As the blonde eight-year-old re-baited his line Jebb spoke up once more.

"Let me ask you two something. When it comes to your sister, am I always such a pushover?"

The twins both busted out laughing at their father's question before Mikey responded, "Is that a trick question?"

Jay added, "If you only knew!"

The boys then began to tell their father of various stories of how easily Jebb had caved to his only daughter in the past. From there other fun stories of various degrees were shared that made all three blonde Dukes laugh at the absurdity of them. The three spent the rest of the day with the boys keeping their father laughing so hard that at times his ribs had to remind him of his accident just a few days prior. They didn't catch any more fish; Jebb figured that the raucous laughter was loud enough to warn them all away from their lines.

Soon, it was getting time to head back to the house for the boys to take care of their afternoon chores. Jebb felt much more comfortable with the twins as they no longer seemed like complete strangers to him. At times when they had been cutting up and telling him of various stories he could feel as if he could actually remember some of the events. Well, almost. It helped that Jay was such a good storyteller. Of course, it didn't hurt that Mikey tended to act out his brother's stories as he went as best as he could which kept Jebb completely engrossed in them.

As the trio got home, Jebb told the boys that they'd have to go back and go fishing again as soon as possible; earning him brilliant grins from both of his sons.

Jebb looked down and realized that Crystal had fallen asleep some pages ago. He closed the book and set it down on the night stand next to the bed where he was sitting with his daughter curled up next to him. As he started to glance around while trying to figure out how to move up off of the bed without waking the little girl, he caught sight of his wife in the doorway.

"She got you to read her a second story, didn't she?" Kira grinned knowing that some things never really change.

Jebb shrugged his shoulders as he answered, "I didn't really see the harm in it. Now how do I get up?"

"Slide over toward the floor. She's less likely to wake up that way."

Kira watched as Jebb moved as carefully as one would with trying not to disturb a bomb. One false move and he'd wake up the little girl who in just a couple of days will turn six years old. Once Jebb had stealthily moved to the floor he then quietly stood while holding back a wince from his bruised ribs and moved toward the door. Halfway there he heard Crystal groan and move in her sleep which caused him to pause mid-step until he was sure that she was still sound asleep. After a momentary pause Jebb continued toward the door and softly pulled the door behind him before risking saying anything else in an effort to not wake the sleeping child.

"Thanks. I guess I didn't think about how I was going to slip out of there when I got settled in with her."

Kira grinned and nodded before heading back downstairs with Jebb. In the living room John and Pauline were sipping on coffee while the evening news played softly on the television. Jebb went to sit next to his mother on the couch; John was sitting in the recliner nearby.

Kira knew that she shouldn't be disappointed that he hadn't gone to sit on the chaise lounge chair as he usually did but she was. She couldn't help but wonder just how long it would take for Jebb to get his memory back. She had to remind herself that this wasn't like watching a thirty-minute sitcom or reading a fiction novel where it seemed that the main character regained their memory after an accident in only a matter of days. Where all was well by the end of the program. Kim had warned her that it would likely take a considerable amount of time, if at all. There was still a chance that Jebb may never fully recover. But Kim has sounded confident that Jebb would likely be well on his way to being back to normal in about a week or two. Kira prayed that Jebb would fit the best-case scenario.

John told the family of some of the goings ons out in the field where he'd helped the other men out since he was in town while Jebb was unable to work while healing from the accident. He'd commented on how he'd been worried about how much Jesse would try to keep up with the other men. As John was telling his family about how Luke and Bo both kept grating on his older brother's nerves when the younger men would try to interfere with Jesse's intentions to work just as hard as the other men the twins came down to give everyone a hug and kiss for the night.

Shortly after the boys had gone to bed Pauline insisted that Jebb should head upstairs, as well. After all, the family had all been told that the best thing for Jebb while healing up was to make sure that he had plenty of rest. Jebb didn't really feel all that tired but somehow, he just couldn't argue against his mother's logic. So up he went to the room that he knew that he'd shared with his wife for more than nine years yet still felt so foreign to him.

He knew that Kira would once more take the spare room just as she had the night before. Jebb felt sorry for essentially kicking her out of her own room. Maybe he should have taken the spare room instead? Not ready to go to sleep, Jebb took a better look around the room to see if there was anything around that could help to trigger any memories.

In the corner of the room was a set of shelves that had both books as well as videos; many of them looked to be home movies. Jebb pulled a couple off of the shelf and saw that most had dates on them, a few had other descriptions instead. Some looked to be a bit more private than he was willing to delve into. Figuring that watching the videos might be even better than looking at photographs to help him remember his life from before the accident that stole his memory over the weekend, Jebb went ahead and put in first one video and then another.

He watched himself in races, participating in pranks, candid home movies with his cousins, parents, uncle, and even his wife and kids. Watching himself interact with the later felt so strange. Everyone else, while he couldn't remember those particular events, still felt normal; he could see himself behaving the way he had on the films. But with his wife and kids, especially his wife, it was as if he was watching someone else pretending to be him on screen. Though at least he was able to see how he and his wife interacted. He seemed to have found someone he really cared about, and who cared just as deeply for him if judging by what he saw on the tapes. Jebb just wished that he could remember for himself.

As the video that he was watching ended, Jebb chose another despite the late hour. He sat up in the bed, holding the remote to the video player, and slowly started to nod off just as the sun was about to rise.

Sometime later that was how Kira found him when she came upstairs to see why he hadn't come downstairs for his breakfast yet. After seeing the static-like snow on the screen of the television she walked over to the set and ejected the video from the player. Kira saw that it was an old family home movie, just like the ones littering the floor around the set. It appeared that Jebb had watched several of them throughout the night until he fell asleep.

After turning the television off Kira headed back downstairs and to tell Pauline not to expect Jebb for breakfast just yet. He needed his rest; since he didn't get it overnight, he'd have to get it now, instead. It went against Pauline's nature to leave her son to sleep the morning away, but she had to remind herself that he was still hurt, and it was for the best. She did have a hard time keeping Crystal from going in to wake her sleeping father but knew that the girl would be pacified with making plans for her party. Leaving the boys with John at the farm, the grandmother drove to town to make plans for the weekend. Pauline let the child pick out the flavors and decorations for her cake for Saturday. She then went with Crystal to the dry-goods store to pick out a few extra party favors.

By the time that Jebb woke from his slumber Pauline was back with the little girl and was getting lunch together to take to everyone working in the fields. She was loading a lot of food up into baskets to be taken out to all of the menfolk while Crystal sat on the floor with some toys. When Jebb looked at the clock on the kitchen wall he was surprised to see how late it was.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Jebb rubbed his hair as he stumbled into the kitchen feeling as if he'd drunk more than a healthy dose of his Uncle Jesse's finest whiskey.

"Kira asked us not to before she headed out to the courthouse. Said that you didn't get much sleep last night, so we figured that it'd be best to leave ya be." Pauline paused in her packing of the men's lunch basket as she took in the sight of her son. The dark circles under his eyes told her that he still didn't get quite enough sleep to make up for what he'd missed. "Are ya hungry? I can make you some breakfast if you like. If not, I have lunch about ready for everyone."

"Nah, you don't have make anything extra for me. I'll have what everyone else is havin'." Jebb walked over to the refrigerator and found some milk and started to drink directly from the carton. Pauline turned back from the cupboard with a plate to put Jebb's food on when she spied her son's behavior and hadn't been able to stop herself from correcting him despite the fact that he was a grown man in his own home. "Sorry. Forgot."

Jebb sheepishly reached for a glass that his mother had put out for him on the kitchen table. After Crystal climbed up to her chair from the floor Jebb glanced around before asking where everyone else was.

Pauline put a plate down for both of the other Dukes on the table before answering. "The boys are helping John and the other men out in the fields. They are making sure everyone gets water when they need it. Kira, though, is in town. She had that court case today. She said she'd be done by now, but she'll grab lunch while she's out then run some errands while in town."

~01~

Kira walked out of the diner after finishing her lunch of a BLT with sweet tea, ready to get her errands done before heading home from town. She knew that Pauline would have taken care of the groceries needed for the party in the next couple of days, so Kira just needed to stop by the pharmacy and the post office. She hated going to the pharmacy but knew that she needed the medications that she's been on since each of her children were born. Still, at least those dreaded pills have allowed her to enjoy her life here in Hazzard with her family. Not to mention, she knew very well that if she missed getting her prescriptions filled that Russell would tell Kim and she'd then in turn sic both her brother as well as husband on her. Kira figured that Bo would have to take over the role of nagging protector, for now, alone.

Kira took care of her stop off at the pharmacy as quickly as possible; meaning not very since everyone had to ask her about Jebb and how he was doing after his wreck this past weekend. It seemed that every single person that she met on the way to the pharmacy as well as while gathering her purchases inside had to pull her aside. After she promised to share their thoughts and concerns with her husband, she then was able to head over to the post office.

More than two years after Emma Tisdale retired from her role as Post Mistress, it still felt strange to walk into the post office without her identification in hand. Kira gathered her mail from the young woman who had taken Miss Tisdale's place and headed out toward her vehicle. Kira hopped up into her truck as she spied a letter that was addressed to herself. She pulled the envelope out from behind the rest of the mail.

Kira read the return address: Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles

She glanced around and saw that no one on the street was paying her any attention in her truck. After taking a deep, steadying breath, Kira opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and felt her entire body grow so cold that the August heat and humidity of Georgia couldn't warm her cooled blood. Leaning an elbow onto her truck's window she made a fist and rested it on her forehead. With everything else that was going on out at the farm, this was the last thing that she needed to deal with right now.

Jimmy went running screaming with his cousins, Faith and Crystal, while playing with them as well as several of the other children who had been invited out to the Ancestral Family Farm for the two six-year-olds' birthday party. Each of the adults watched on with amusement as the children had their fun. Even the twins, being a couple of years older, joined in with the fun. Jay and Mikey both took turns chasing the younger children, pretending to be monsters, at times to elicit squeals from the younger kids.

Jebb watched on with a grin on his face as he enjoyed the festive atmosphere when his oldest cousin joined him on the porch swing.

"How ya doin', Cuz?"

"Alright. Not as sore. Still can't remember much but Bo's wife said that it might would take some time." Jebb shrugged then changed the subject since he didn't really want to discuss his injuries and memory issues. "Which one is yours, again?"

Luke scanned the children and found Faith before pointing her out. "There. She's wearin' the pink camouflage jumper in pigtails. She'll be seven this November. She was born on Veteran's Day."

"You couldn't have planned that if you'd tried," Jebb gave a slight chuckle. "Let's see, you married another Marine, right?"

Luke nodded in affirmation as he then pointed out Jo to his cousin. "That's right. You're starting to remember some things. It won't be long before you start to remember even more."

Jebb hoped that his cousin was right.

"So how are you handling things at home? You know, with the kids and Kira?" Luke asked.

Jebb shrugged uncomfortably, "I guess it's alright. The kids are kind of fun to be around. I even went fishing with the boys this week. And Crystal, she's just a sweet little girl."

"What about you and Kira?"

"I-" Jebb felt even more uncomfortable. "I just don't know. It's weird. I really don't know how I'm supposed to behave around her. I know she's trying to give me my space while I'm trying to regain my memory but-" Jebb was at a loss for words to really explain his relationship with his wife who was a complete stranger to him.

"Maybe you and Kira need to find some time just the two of you if you two are to really reconnect."

"Maybe." Jebb sounded a bit doubtful at his cousin's suggestion, but he admitted that it might not hurt.

Luke felt sorry for his cousin, but he really didn't know how else to help him. Yes, he and Bo have had memory issues over the years after an accident or some other misadventure, but they had regained their memory relatively quickly. Jebb was now a week out from the race where he'd had wrecked and loss his memory. This was longer than any of the rest of the family had ever had to deal with memory loss.

"Hey, Fellas," Daisy could be heard calling from where the rest of the party was taking place at the picnic tables. "You're missin' out on all of the fun. The kids are getting' ready to open their presents."

"I reckon that we'd best get over there." Luke stood and waited for Jebb to do the same before they joined the rest of the family.

Both Jimmy and Crystal took turns opening up presents from the family and friends who had been invited to the dual birthday party. Jebb saw that he had apparently made a new doll house for his daughter's birthday before he'd lost his memory. The Birthday Boy was given an assortment of toy cars and airplanes while Crystal was given lots of clothes and dolls of various kinds. The children both seemed to love each new present as they unwrapped them. Finally, the last present for each of the children were ready to be given; these were given by Jebb's presents.

John had covered a very large present under some tablecloths and all of the other presents had been arranged to keep prying eyes from getting a sneak peek up until the rest of the toys were handed out. He told the little boy to go and lift up the cloth as he leaned back relaxed and ready for his niece's son reaction to his present. When Jimmy tugged at the cloth it revealed that John had made him a pedal car in the shape of an airplane.

"Oh wow! So neat!" Jimmy climbed into his pedal plane in the pilot's cockpit and started to drive the toy around the rest of the partygoers while making plane noises with his mouth.

"John, what in the world?" Daisy shook her head in appreciation at the gift that her uncle had made for her son. "What made you think to make him something like that?"

John nodded to the twin boys to his side. "I asked these two what they thought he might would like. Jay and Mikey told me that Little Jimmy loved to play with their old pedal cars while pretending to fly but that he was getting too big for them. Add that to the fact that he's loved planes all his life, it seemed like a natural choice."

Daisy wiped a tear that threatened to fall at the thoughtfulness of the gift before reminding her son to thank his Uncle John for the gift.

Next Pauline handed Crystal her last gift for the day. Crystal quickly opened the box that had been wrapped in her favorite color of yellow. Inside she found a new rag doll that Pauline had made for her granddaughter. It had red hair to match the little girl and was wearing a yellow dress with lavender trim. Beneath the doll in the box was a matching dress for Crystal so that she could match her new doll.

Both children, ecstatic with their new gifts, showed them off to the rest of the children gathered for the birthday party. As the children went back to playing the adults started to clean up. At the same time the other parents of the friends of the birthday children began to call in their kids to start to get them ready to leave out. Soon, the only children still on the farm were those of the Duke family.

Kira watched out of the window as she washed the dishes, only partially able to have truly enjoyed the day. Granted, from the outside, it had almost appeared as if everything was back to normal. The kids had a blast, the other adults were all joking and having fun as well. But she, herself, had held back. She knew that her very presence still made Jebb uncomfortable as he tried to remember nearly a lifetimes' worth of memories. As a result, she kept herself to the fringes of the celebration as much as she could without missing out on her daughter's special day. Kira hoped that spending time with the other Dukes would help Jebb's memory since he was very comfortable with them despite his memory issues.

~01~

The next day after church Jebb waved goodbye to his parents as they promised to call to check on him every few days. He was now left alone in a house with people whom he had no conscious memory of. His Uncle Jesse and his cousins were nearby, all on the adjoining farms, but they weren't here in this house.

Taking a deep breath, Jebb went back inside and watched from the living room as the boys played with their little sister. Crystal hadn't let that new doll that Pauline had made for her out of her sight since she'd gotten it the day before. He saw that the boys were good about placating their sister when none of their other cousins were around to keep her occupied. Jebb did his best to pretend that life was normal as the kids played. He and Kira, though, seemed to be staying on the outer orbit of one another. Each trying to give the other space. As the evening progressed, they had dinner as a family as if everything were back to normal.

Jebb hadn't realized how much he'd depended on his parents being a buffer while they'd been in town. A bridge between the life that he remembered to the life that he couldn't. Now, however, he was in the house with four strangers who were supposed to be his family as well. He was able to joke a bit with the kids, and of course the youngest crawled up in his lap as it got closer to her bedtime. Finally, after the kids were put to bed. He wasn't ready for bed, so he stayed up and wandered the house as a way to decompress from the day.

When Jebb made his way to the kitchen he saw that Kira had her office door open and seemed to be working on something. She'd likely waited for the kids to be in bed so that she wouldn't have to divide her time between them and her work. Jebb watched her in silence for a while before she seemed to sense him watching her, so she looked up, making him feel self-conscious about being caught.

"Are you okay?"

Jebb put a hand to his neck and rubbed it nervously. "Huh? Oh. Yeh, sure. What are you working on?"

Kira covered her calendar back up with the papers in her hand where she'd been trying to figure out how she'd work out a pending trip that was now required thanks to the letter that she'd received the week before. "Unfortunately, trying to figure out how I'm going to be able to fit a meeting in Atlanta in later on this month."

"This have something to do with one of your cases?" Jebb walked in and sat down in front of Kira's desk. He hadn't actually sat down to talk to her about her job after learning that he was married to a lawyer of all things. He still felt that was a bit odd for a Duke to have married anyone who worked on behalf of the law. Though it had made Jebb feel a bit better knowing that Kira was a Defense Attorney.

Kira bit her lip and paused before replying, "Yes. A case that I was involved with nearly nine years ago. The defendant is up for parole, and I need to go before the parole board the last week of this month. But with everything that has been going on-"

"Didn't the doctor say that the memory loss will just be temporary? I should be remembering everything any day, now. So don't worry about me." Jebb hoped that he'd have his memory by then, at least.

"Yes, she did." Kira hoped that Kim was right, too. "But the kids start back to school a couple of days before the meeting. And this will be Crystal's first year of kindergarten. I really don't want to miss much that week."

"I can see that. Well, it might be tough but driving up to Atlanta and back in one day can be done. It will just take all day." Jebb tried to look at Kira's dilemma logically. "And it is just one day."

"True." Kira just hoped that that one day turned out the way that she needed it to.

~01~

Kira had driven Jebb to town since he still hadn't been cleared to drive after the accident. Today Kim was going to examine him to see how he'd been healing up after the wreck since it was now nearing two weeks since Jebb had wrecked during the derby, changing his and the rest of the family's life dramatically.

They both sat impatiently for Kim to be ready to see Jebb. Unfortunately, Kim had several patients come in for minor emergencies just before they had come in, so she was running a bit behind. When it was finally Jebb's turn he casually told Kira that he'd be right back as he walked off in the direction of the exam rooms.

Kira had been in the process of standing up when Jebb had cut her off. He didn't intend for her to join him. He still didn't feel comfortable around her. So now she sat in the waiting room feeling like an outcast. She and Jebb had always gone to the doctors together. Have ever since he first found out about her being pregnant with the boys. She could count on one hand and have fingers left over the number of times either of them had seen a doctor without the other present.

She wanted to know why Jebb hadn't started to regain his memory yet. Hadn't Kim told her that all of this was just temporary? Right now, it certainly didn't feel all that temporary. After about twenty minutes Jebb left the exam room and came back out to tell her that Kim had told him that he could get back to driving and easing back into his normal life. Well, as normal as it could be despite the fact that his memory didn't seem to be in a hurry to return.

What Jebb didn't tell her was Kim's warning that the longer his memory seemed missing in action the less likely it was to return. That left Jebb with a lot of things on his mind.

Kira got back home after dropping the kids off for the first day of school. The boys were upset that they weren't in the same class this year. Kira didn't bother to tell them that she suggested to the school that they would benefit from being in separate classes this year. The truth was, Kira knew very well that her sons used their unusual connection to one another to their advantage during class; especially during tests. Though she supposed that if she and Bo had grown up together, they would have likely done the same thing.

Mikey and Jay split their studies up so that they would study what they were most interested in. Then during tests, they would both miraculously get the same test scores even when seated on opposite sides of the classroom. The teacher couldn't figure it out, but Kira could. Of course, she couldn't tell the teacher that her boys were sharing the answers in the way that they were. So, this year Kira figured that she'd just eliminate that particular issue.

As Kira got out of the truck and saw Jebb walking his bike out of the barn where it was stored when not in use. "I see you are feeling better. Are you planning to go for a ride?"

"Figured that I've tried nearly everything else to try to trigger my memory. Even if it doesn't work, at least I'll be able to enjoy the mornin'. Want to join me?"

Kira glanced toward the house since she did have some paperwork that needed to be done. After a moment's hesitation, though, she figured she'd just work on the paperwork later in the day, instead. This was the first time in the weeks since Jebb had lost his memory that he had asked to spend time alone with her.

"I'll go and get my bike and be right back."

Kira did her best not to run to the barn with excitement. Before she hardly knew it both she and Jebb were riding the back roads of Hazzard County. After weeks of fretting over Jebb and his loss of memory, the speed of racing down towards Rainbow Canyon was just what she needed to carry away some of the stress that she'd been living under since the moment that she'd first seen Jebb's car crumpled up against that tree.

Jebb fell in behind his wife and couldn't help but be impressed by the woman's skills on the bike. No doubt, those skills were a big part of why he had married her. As they headed toward Rainbow Canyon the two would take the various dips to launch them into the air. They were both having fun and Jebb was feeling the most carefree that he could remember. As they rode both began to take more and more risks with their jumps.

Eventually after some thought Kira hit a much larger divot. She sent her bike higher as she rotated the bike in mid-air, causing it to make a complete flip before landing hard on the other side of the mountain of dirt. As he watched, Jebb felt as if a cold hand gripped his insides. He pulled up short and stopped his bike as he tried to rein in his ragged breathing. He didn't understand why but he was clammy with a cold sweat forming at his brow. He couldn't explain it, but it was like he was gripped by an absolute, irrational, growing fear.

"Jebb?" Kira's voice sounded a bit distant, but he did his best to focus on it. He hoped that by doing so he'd find the ground with his feet once more that he really couldn't feel at the moment. "Jebb, answer me. What's going on?"

"I-uh," Jebb tore his helmet off and wiped his brow with his hand; trying to rid himself of the cold sweat the covered his face. He wished that he could do the same for the drops rolling down his back. Sweat that had nothing to do with the late August morning's heat. "I- When you did that stunt- I-uh..."

Kira understood. In fact, she felt a bit guilty. After three weeks of no real change in Jebb's memory she'd begun to wonder if it was even recoverable at all. Kim had told her that the longer Jebb went without recovering his memory the less chance that he'll actually regain them. Kira had, on a whim, decided to do one thing that she knew freaked Jebb out ever since he'd found her in that small town of Alabama when she worked as part of a stunt crew. She did a flip that was very similar to the one where she'd nearly lost her life doing after they'd broken up when they were younger.

"Just try to calm down. Let it pass. I think you are having a memory trying to come through."

"I thought I'd see some sort of images like watching a movie," Jebb took a deep breath and held it briefly before trying to release it as slowly as he could.

"Apparently not. Instead, you are experiencing a memory of an emotion." Kira guided Jebb over to the ground before sitting down with him. He would need time to gather his bearings after the memory flash.

"Why is it happening like this, though? Why couldn't it be a memory of a nice summer day, swimmin' out at the pond? Or racin' the back roads with the fellas?"

"I'm not sure. Lord knows we've tried to trigger those memories in the last three weeks. But I guess I should let you know about the time that you're experiencing flashes from, now." Kira took a moment to gather her thoughts with how to explain the reason behind his panic attack. "When I was younger, I was a bit reckless, and I joined a stunt crew. You showed up at one of the shows and I was hurt while performing a stunt. Another rider and I collided in mid-air. I was in the hospital for weeks and in physical therapy for much longer. I didn't ride again for nearly a year. Ever since then, you've never really liked for me to perform some of the more riskier stunts that I learned back then. So, when I did that flip it triggered your anxiety from my accident."

Jebb took in what Kira was telling him as he finally felt his heart rate begin to return to normal. "Well, I guess we did get one positive thing out of this."

Kira arched a brow as she saw the tale-tale tilt of the side of his grin starting to spread. "And what is that?"

"That I can recover some of my memories; they haven't been lost completely."

Kira had to grin back at Jebb's infectious smile. "True. Though hopefully you don't have to be traumatized to trigger them all. So, are you ready to try to ride back to the farm? I think that the guys were going to recruit you to help with some fence work."

"Fence work?" Jebb sighed. "Maybe after another lap around the canyon. But no stunts."

"Alright. I can do that." Kira stood back up and put her helmet on as she threw a leg over her bike. She then waited for Jebb to do the same before they went back to having a friendly race around the canyon. They actually kept riding until nearly noon. That meant that Bo and Luke were stuck doing the fence work that morning on their own.

While riding around, Kira did take Jebb to the small old silver mine cave that they had used here in Hazzard when they wanted to get some privacy away from the rest of the family.

Jebb could see that the cave actually had several comfort items that kept the cave ready for a quick getaway. He saw a couple of sleeping bags, lanterns, and even some jars of canned foods for instances where they may need some nourishment while they were out. The back of the cave actually looked quite cozy. Jebb could look around and see how it could be a nice place to go year-round. The cave would keep a constant temperature, even if it may be a bit cool. He supposed that she hoped that showing him their private hideaway would trigger his memories of their happy times while in the mine. Sadly, he didn't remember anything about those alleged happy times.

~01~

After lunch Jebb finally joined his cousins out looking for any other fences that needed repair or replacing. When they eyed him with the unspoken question of if he'd had any breakthroughs with his memory since the last time that they'd seen him the day before Jebb reluctantly shrugged his shoulders and frowned.

"Sort of. I don't remember any actual incidents, but I had a reaction when Kira was pulling some stunts on her bike earlier."

Bo wondered just what his sister could have done to have Jebb react, by the look on his face, negatively while riding her bike. "What kind of reaction?"

Jebb thought for a second as he tried to put a name to the feelings that he'd had earlier in the day. "I guess you could say I was scared, but that really seems like a pretty mild word for it."

Luke nodded knowing that Jebb had come close to losing Kira several times during their relationship; both before and after getting married. The few brushes he himself had with the possibility of losing Jo certainly had given him an empathy for his cousin. "Well, at least things are finally starting to come through. That's got to be a relief after all of this time of not having any indication of it."

"True, but how much longer before I have an actual memory? And why not something more pleasant?" Jebb couldn't help but suppress a shudder as he mentioned the fearful response he'd had while riding his bike.

"Don't know," Luke put a hand on his cousin's shoulder to try to show his support. "But you have to try to find the good in what ya have so far. You've had a lot of good memories and I know that they are just waiting for the right moment to bust through."

~01~

Two days later Kira sat waiting for her turn to speak before the parole board. She hadn't slept well all week knowing that this day was coming. She'd never been on this end of the process before. She'd been an attorney for the defense and helped a previous client walk through the process of going before the board, but never once has she been the victim; awaiting her chance to plead her case as to why the inmate had yet to fulfill his debt to society.

Glancing at her watch she saw that it was nearly time for the kids to get out of school. Jebb was planning to tend to the kids despite Jo's offer to pick them up when she went to get Faith from school. After all, Crystal was in the same class as both Faith as well as Jimmy. As those three get older Kira sort of felt sorry for their future teachers having three Dukes in the same grade level. Even if one was put into a separate class that still left two together in the small school. And Kira had the feeling that Crystal and Faith would especially grow up to be thick as thieves. She figured that it had to be just as bad as having any set of Duke Boys in the same class.

Hearing a click of a door opening up, Kira was jerked out of her reverie. Walking out of the conference room was the inmate's sister. She recognized Kira instantly and gave her a glare that if looks could kill meant that she wouldn't be walking out of the government building alive. Kira leveled her own gaze to meet the woman's to show that she wasn't intimidated. She came to speak her peace and she wouldn't be deterred.

One thing that she was surprised to see was that the sister seemed to be alone. She'd expected to see the man's wife and child (he should be nearing fifteen now) with his sister to speak on his behalf. Where were they?

There was little time to really wonder since she heard her name being called. It was now her time before the board. As the victim she would be granted the last word before the board would discuss the case regarding the potential for parole. Much like at a trial where the prosecution would be the last to give closing arguments.

Kira stood and straightened her clothes as she calmed her nerves. She'd spoken before countless juries before. This shouldn't be any different; yet somehow it was. It felt vastly different indeed.

Kira headed off to town for a few errands before it was time to head out to Osage County for the Mock-Shine Run in a few hours. Among them was stopping off at the post office to see if there was any mail for her or Jebb. She had Crystal in tow with her while the twins had asked to join Cooter and Jebb in the Stonewall Jackson on their trip to the next county over. When she glanced through the envelopes, she felt her heart nearly stop when for the second time in as many months she had a letter from the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. She wanted to tear it open to read the contents of the envelope but restrained herself. She carried it to her truck and put it in the glove compartment to read later on before she hefted her daughter up and secured her for the ride.

The two redhaired, female, Dukes then made their way to the starting line for the Mock-shine race over in Osage County before the roads were closed off for the road race. As she pulled up and got out of the truck, she saw that Jebb and Cooter were laughing along with the twins. When Kira reached them with Crystal holding her hand she glanced back and forth between the twins and the two men.

"What did I miss?"

"I just learned that the boys have learned the lesson that Dukes don't ever lie to another Duke a little too well," Jebb said as he looked as if he was teetering on the edge of being insulted and humored at the same time.

"How's that?"

"Jebb here hoped that the boys would back him up with saying that he should be the driver today. Mikey asked him if he was racing to win." Cooter stopped and snickered before adding, "Cause if we wanted to win that Jebb best let me drive."

"Traitor." Jebb muttered before laughing again.

"What? If they are racin' against Uncle Bo, then Uncle Cooter has a better chance at beatin' him. Dad doesn't remember all of Uncle Bo's shortcuts and tricks!" Mikey shrugged and looked to his brother for reinforcements.

"Yea, Dad. If you were racin' your bike against Uncle Bo, it would be different."

Jebb knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't help himself. "Bike, huh? That mean that I'd be able to win if I raced your momma?" Jebb grinned as he eyed Kira to see if she'd take the bait.

The twins looked to one another and seemed to be silently debating before Jay replied, "Maybe. Sometimes you do. Sometimes you don't."

"Only sometimes, huh?" Jebb shook his head. He did ask.

"You and Kira are pretty evenly matched, Jebb. It depends on the kind of race as to who usually wins." Cooter walked over and slung an arm across Kira's shoulders as he added with a wink, "You've always had good taste in women. She's got the brains of a high-class lawyer and can race with the best of them. Bein' a Duke and all, I wouldn't expect anything less."

Kira gave Cooter a smile in appreciation for the compliment. "Well, considering that you'll be hauling all of that mock-shine and loading it up into the Stonewall, it's a good thing that you're all healed up from your last race."

About this time, Luke and Bo joined the other Dukes after getting the General ready for the race.

"Are you two ready to eat Luke and mine's dust?" Bo chuckled as he ruffled the nearest twin's hair.

"Don't be so certain, Buddy Roo," Cooter joked back. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves that you've not seen yet."

"Is that a fact?" Luke gave a crooked grin before joined in the jocularity. "Well, it looks like we'll get to see if you're more than just talk. It's time to get the cars over to the startin' line."

Kira gathered her children and took them to join the rest of the family to watch from the sidelines. Kira had parked her truck next to Jesse's and both of them put the tailgates down so that they could hop up and sit on them. Kim, Jo, and Daisy joined them. Meanwhile, the kids each joined their mothers in the back of the trucks, knowing that they wouldn't be allowed to play with the kids their own ages until after the racers had left the starting line.

About a dozen cars joined the General and the Stonewall at the starting line. They all listened as the rules and instructions for the race were laid out for the racers. With the preliminaries out of the way each of the men got into the racecars and waited for the starter's pistol. As soon as it fired the passengers who were given the job of loading the mock-shine into the trunks of the cars were quick to get moving. Among them Luke and Jebb hurriedly set to work to filling their trunks up with the cargo. Luke and Jebb each were more focused on competing with one another than with the rest of the racers. Luke finished a half second before Jebb but with the blonde's longer legs he was able to get into the Stonewall at the same time that Luke was climbing into the General.

So now it was up to Cooter and Bo to determine which of the two Duke Cars would finish first. Cooter and Bo each left the other racers behind soon after they pulled away from the starting line. They remained evenly matched as they headed out of town. At the town's edge, they each made their own way to their own route that they'd already laid out ahead of the race, knowing that the route would be just as important as racing ability in this race. Cooter took the Stonewall through some back country roads that may as well have been old deer paths, they were so non-descript. If one hadn't known that they were there you would have missed them completely. He'd done many jobs over in the county adjoining Hazzard County over the years and he'd found some old roads that even the Duke Boys hadn't ever been on.

Cooter had no problem staying ahead of the young bucks who decided to tail him on his way out of town. He toyed with a couple of racers just to have a little fun before he finally pulled out ahead of them and jumped the Stonewall Jackson to switch roads before he headed back toward the finish line. He knew all too well that the other drivers wouldn't be experienced enough to even attempt a jump like the one he'd pulled off without any issues. Shoot, he knew this car just as well as he knew the General Lee. And since he was the one entrusted to put it all back to racing shape after the last race, Cooter was well aware of what the car was capable of.

"Nice drivin', Cooter." Jebb turned back in his seat after seeing the other cars pull up short rather than trying to jump the gully to the road that he and the other man were now riding away on.

"Would you expect anything less?" Cooter eyed up ahead and saw a familiar orange blur growing larger in his field of vision. "Looks like we'll be gettin' back to town about the same time as Bo and Luke. Hope you're ready to do your part. This race could come down to you and Luke."

"I'm ready. Just as soon as you stop." Jebb would rather be perching on the windowsill as they pulled up to the finished line but thanks to some new regulations from the racing commission they had to wait until the cars were completely stopped before the passengers got out to unload the mock-shine.

Cooter pulled up alongside the General Lee and he and Bo began a battle for first place between the two cars who held the racing veterans of the surrounding counties. Had the race been over with the crossing of the finished line it would have been a photo finish. As it was, though, the two cars pulled over to their unloading zones so that Jebb and Luke could then finish the race on foot.

Jebb pulled out of his window in true racing fashion just a fraction of a second ahead of Luke before he ran to the back of the car and threw the trunk open. He briefly thought about the fact that he was going to have to tease his older cousin about how he was slowing down with his old age. Each car had ten crates that held the bottles of mock-shine. Jebb was on his third crate when the next car pulled in to start unloading along with the Duke Cars. By the time he was on his ninth crate the last of the racers could be heard approaching the finished line. While he was hefting his last crate, he saw that Luke also had his last crate out of the trunk. Jebb did his best to put on one last burst of speed to get that last crate stacked on top of the others, but he heard Luke holler in victory just as he had set the crate down on his own stack. Jebb and Cooter would have to accept being in second place.

Back at the farm the Dukes all celebrated the two Duke Cars coming in both first and second place. Well, most of the Dukes all celebrated. Bo noticed that his sister didn't seem to be all that jovial, though she did her best to try to appear as excited as the others. But Bo knew better. He'd tried to prick her mind a few times, but she wasn't really willing to respond. As a result, he figured that he'd do his best to find a good time to pull her aside away from the others. Hopefully, with it just the two of them, she'd be more willing to unload what was keeping her so pensive.

To be honest, though, it wouldn't take that much deciphering. With it being the middle of September, and the fact that Jebb had his wreck during the race the last weekend of July, Kira had been trying to help him regain his memory for nearly two months. Each of the other members of the family have each tried to get Kira to talk but she was a strong silent type. Even more so than even Luke. And she was as stubborn as the best of them.

Bo had tried to be there for his sister while giving her the space that she wanted while dealing with the very unusual circumstances that she found herself in. He knew that she was likely taking it personal that Jebb had the hardest time with remembering her. He wished that there was a way to fix things for his sister and cousin, but he was stumped. Even his wife was bewildered with how to help the couple. Kim had told him that the longer that he went without regaining his memories the less likely that he would regain them at all. That meant that Jebb may never fully remember how he and Kira had gotten together and fallen in love.

As the evening wore on and it was time for everyone to go their separate ways Bo still hadn't been able to get Kira off to the side to talk to her alone. He figured he'd have to instead make up an excuse to leave the other men in the fields and go back and talk to Kira alone back at the house during the work week. Only without Jebb or the kids around would he likely be able to get Kira to talk to him; allowing herself to be vulnerable.

After taking a sip, Kira put her glass down and read the letter that she'd gotten from the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles for what had to have been the hundredth time since she'd picked it up at the post office over the weekend.

... It has then been found that the inmate in question will be set to be released on Monday, the ninth day of October ...

So that was it. He's been paroled. Kira just stared at the letter as if the words would suddenly change just by shear will power.

Kira heard a noise in the kitchen adjacent to her office and it sent a shiver down her spine before she realized that it likely was one of the others in the family. After all, the ninth was still a couple of weeks away. During the day they each walked right in and helped themselves to anything needed. If the men were working in the fields nearest to her home, they would naturally come here if they needed something. Kira moved her glass into a drawer of her office desk and slipped the letter under the large calendar on her desk before she stood up to see which of the others had come to the house and what they needed. When she opened her office door, she saw that it had been Bo whom she'd heard just moments before.

"Isn't it a little early to head back to the farmhouses for lunch?"

Bo gave a shrug before he replied, "Maybe a bit. But I didn't come by for vittles." Kira saw a serious look in his eyes and already knew the reason behind his visit. "I wanted to come by and talk to you. I've felt a bit neglected, lately. What with the fact that I can't get you to talk to me any other way."

Kira took a deep breath. She'd been trying to postpone this conversation ever since Jebb's accident. The problem was, the more she tried to avoid it the more the rest of the family kept trying to get her to talk to them. It seemed that Jo was over at least once a week after dropping Faith off at school. She and Kim had invited her out to join them on their weekly lunch dates with a bit of persistence, as well. Kira wouldn't admit it, but she had chosen to make her appointments out of town, usually over to Chickasaw County, on Wednesdays at about lunch time just so that she'd have an excuse not to be cornered by the two other Duke Wives. Jesse, he'd taken his turn in trying to get Kira to talk about how she was taking the prolonged stress of Jebb's absent memory, too. Just as each of the others had in their own way.

But now Kira was alone in her kitchen with her brother who, by the way he was pulling up a chair and motioning for her to sit, had no plans of leaving until she finally spoke frankly with him. Kira groaned but went ahead and sat in the seat that Bo had pulled out for her. He then took the seat at the head of the kitchen table next to her and waited for her to speak.

"What do you want, Bo?"

"You know what I want. You haven't really talked to any of us since Jebb's accident; despite the fact that you kept telling us that you were talking to one or another of the others. You've been shutting everyone out at a time that you really shouldn't. You've got to let us help."

Kira narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "Help do what, exactly? Flip some non-existent switch that will put things back to the way that they were before Jebb's accident? Because we both know that isn't goin' to happen. Jebb's memory has gotten as good as it's goin' to get."

"You don't know that," Bo tried to sound convincing despite his fears mirroring his sister's. After all, he'd discussed Jebb's condition at length with his own wife. "We never know what will trigger the rest of Jebb's memories."

"You don't think that I've tried everything that I could think of to jostle them? To make Jebb remember our past together?"

"Well, maybe that's it."

"Maybe what's it?" Kira's face had a bit of a hard look to it as she responded.

"Maybe you're tryin' too hard. Both of you. Maybe you two just need to get away for a few days and let things just fall into place."

"Aren't you forgettin' a few things? Like the fact that we can't just pick up and leave. There are the kids to think about."

"Kim and I could watch over the kids. You and Jebb could take off on the bikes, go ridin' along the countryside, and maybe stir up a few memories from before you two had kids. What do you say?"

Kira wasn't sure that it would work. After all, nothing else had. But she figured that she could use a break away for a few days. She definitely needed an excuse not to think about all of the things that have been going wrong in the last couple of months.

"When can you and Kim be ready to watch the kids, then?"

~01~

Two days later Kira and Jebb were riding their motorcycles along a nameless dirt road just trying to enjoy the freedom given to them by Bo and Kim's offer to care for their three children for a few days. Both Kira and Jebb had a rucksack with a change of clothes and a few supplies for their road trip. Kira figured that an old-fashioned road trip would be the best way to try to shake off a few worries for her and hope to shake loose a few memories for Jebb.

Considering that the first time that she and Jebb had ridden together the only shadow of a memory that Jebb had regained of her had actually been a bit traumatic for him Kira decided that she'd do her best to ride in a sedate manner. She wouldn't try any stunts like she'd done that other time. She wanted to trigger some more pleasant memories for Jebb. Instead, she held herself back just a bit when Jebb would indicate that he wanted to race. After all, triggering Jebb's memory was more important than her pride in her racing abilities.

As it neared nightfall the two Dukes came upon a small town with a small motel and a few roadhouses. They figured that that they might as well as stop for the night. The two went into one of the roadhouses with the intent to get a little something to eat before checking into the motel for the night. Upon walking in it was clear that the crowd wasn't the sort that they would have found at the Boar's Nest. No, this place seemed to serve those who were more along the malcontent fringes of society. Judging by the motorcycles parked outside, there were several riders who rode together; and not in the same way that Kira and Jebb rode with their friends from the Motocross circuit for years.

Kira went to sit at the bar while Jebb went to use the facilities. There weren't any tables available right off, so she figured that she'd just wait for the next set of customers to leave and take it over from there. She ordered a scotch and started to sip on it when Jebb joined her. That was when a couple of owners of the bikes sitting out front decided to walk over.

"Hey! You two!" A tall, rough looking man wearing jeans and a leather jacket had walked up behind Jebb and he looked to have two friends standing behind him. "This place is our bar. No outsiders allowed!"

Jebb turned ready to with a snappy comeback that died on his lips when he saw the man. What were they putting in the water out here to grow the locals to such proportions? "Listen, Friend. We don't want no trouble. We just stopped in for a little something to eat."

The big guy out front snickered, "I don't care what you want or don't want. If you move into our territory, you'd best be ready pick your teeth up off the floor."

Kira set her drink down with a thud and balled her fists up at her side. For nearly two months she'd had so much angst bottled up that she could spit fire and if these guys wanted to give her a target for all of the anger and frustration that she'd been barely keeping at bay then so be it. She could barely hear Jebb trying to speak reason with the bikers. She was so focused on the other men, when one began to raise a fist, she allowed the dam inside her to burst. She knew from experience that the men would underestimate her. It may have been a while since she'd been in an all-out barroom brawl, but it was a lot like riding a bike. It is something that you never really forget how to handle yourself once you learn. Especially since her first education had been from the street fights that she'd earned money from while living on the streets as a teen. She wasn't above fighting dirty; in fact, a part of her actually preferred it at the time.

Kira dodged yet another punch from one of the men who had joined the fight before flipping the guy over the bar. As another man fell at her feet from where Jebb had dispatched him Kira eyed his knife sheaved on his belt. Seeing as he wasn't going to be using it anytime soon Kira pulled it just as she saw the lead goon pull his own knife on Jebb. With only a moment to contemplate, Kira threw the knife and hit the goon's hand; causing him to drop the weapon that he'd been about to use on Jebb. Kira then turned back to her next opponent as he threw yet one more punch in her direction. She returned as good as she got and in just another few punches the fight was all over. The two Dukes remained standing while those who could still stand began to slink away. The leader of the ill-tempered men held his bleeding hand as he stumbled to his feet. He'd not come across anyone both willing and able to give him and his men a good what for quite like these two strangers.

Kira saw Jebb rubbing his head, indicating that he'd been hit there during the fight. "You alright?"

"Yea, you?" Jebb continued to rub where a goose-egg was starting to form.

"Fine." Kira signaled to the bartender to get her and Jebb another round of drinks. They were going to need the liquor to ease the pain of not being quite as young as they once were after a fight like this one. She briefly allowed herself to hope that the knock that Jebb got in the head would magically return the rest of his memories to him. But she once more had to remind herself that things weren't as easy in real life as they are portrayed on television or in the movies.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"That is a long story," Kira groaned before she then changed to chuckling just a bit. "But I guess we've got all night. Let's grab that table over there and I'll tell you all about it."

~01~

Jebb laid awake in bed as he thought back to the fight back at the old roadhouse. He wasn't sure why he'd been so surprised to see Kira in action; she was a Duke, after all. And she certainly had the skill that matched any Duke that ever was. But she also fought dirtier than a Duke normally would. He wondered if that was how she usually fought. Still, it felt very natural to fight right alongside her. Like he'd been doing it most of his life. Which from the way she told it, that was exactly what he had been doing. Ever since they first started riding together in Motocross. It also appeared that the spunk that Kira had shown not only on the track but in the barroom brawl had been what had attracted him to her in the first place.

Jebb turned in his sleep and saw that Kira was fast asleep. He saw where she was sporting a fair share of bruises from the earlier bout in the roadhouse. He knew he had some that mirrored those of Kira's. Still, it felt so natural to worry about her injuries ahead of his own. That was the strangest part of this whole ordeal. It was so strange to feel so responsible for another person that still felt like nothing more than a brief acquaintance. He knew that everyone had hoped that this road trip would help in his recovery. He just wasn't sure that it would. He really hadn't learned much of anything new. Well, nothing other than the fact that no one in their right mind would piss off his wife.

Jebb finished up with the other men out in the field and hopped into the pickup after putting the farming implements that he'd used that day back into the truck bed. He knew that he was supposed to head back to the farmhouse, but he just couldn't force himself to put the truck in gear. Every day he went to the house after working out in the fields and would do the farm chores while picking around with the kids who had really grown on him. He'd help the boys with their homework, and he'd read to Crystal before she went to bed. All that seemed to be normal enough since he was their father; even if he couldn't remember when they were born. But then he and Kira were left to their own devices once the kids were asleep.

That was where things really bothered him the most. He just couldn't connect with the woman who had been his wife for nearly ten years. No matter how much time they spent together or how many home movies he watched, both G-rated and those that wouldn't be appropriate for anyone outside of himself and his wife to watch, she was still a complete stranger to him. Well, maybe not a complete stranger after two months but at best he saw her as just another one of his cousins; not his wife. And he felt guilty about that.

How much longer was he expected to keep pretending to be a happy family man while waiting for his memories to return? And what was he supposed to do if they never did?

Putting the truck in gear finally, Jebb knew that he'd be expected back at the house, soon. He just wished that he could talk to someone, anyone, about what he was feeling. He really couldn't, though. Kira was just as much blood to them as he was. He'd feel like he was putting the others into the middle of he and Kira if he confessed that what it really boiled down to was that he didn't love his wife. And to be honest, he had no idea of why he ever did. Maybe that was what he felt the guiltiest about. He knew that she still loved him. She had practically bent over backwards trying to do anything she could think of to help him while he was healing up. But none of it had helped.

So how do you fall back in love with someone who you just can't remember having any feelings for in the first place?

~01~

Kira sat across from Jebb over supper as the kids chattered about their day at school at their homework. Jay did not like his teacher much at all while Crystal seemed to have made friends with every other child in her class and Mikey had brought home a D on his latest math test. Meanwhile it seemed that Jebb's smile was frozen onto his face as he pretended to pay attention. But she could tell. He was absolutely suffering.

Kira took a sip of her glass as she tried to contemplate just how she could help him. Maybe they'd gone about everything the wrong way. Maybe instead of pushing Jebb to remember the life that he'd had before the accident by throwing him right back into it perhaps they should have taken a different approach.

Kira waited until the kids had turned in for the night before she decided to discuss her thoughts on the matter with Jebb. She'd gotten settled into the chaise lounge with a book while she waited for Jebb to join her in the living room for a while before bed.

When Jebb walked in he noticed that Kira had gotten herself a glass of shine, so he decided to join her. He could use a little for himself. When he sat on the couch with his glass he looked up as Kira cleared her throat.

"I've been thinkin'," Kira downed the contents of her glass before she continued. "Maybe it would help if you went to visit your parents for a while."

Jebb's brows raised at the suggestion. "Go to Placid?"

Kira nodded, "I figured that since we haven't had any luck with your memory that maybe if you went back to more familiar surroundings when you first woke up from the accident that you might have a better chance at remembering other parts of your life before the accident. I called your mother earlier today with the suggestion; she was thrilled."

"You called my mother?" Jebb hated to admit it but the idea of going home to Placid excited him. This farmhouse still didn't feel like home. Here he was just a visitor.

"She nearly hopped into her car and drove straight here to pick you up the moment that I suggested the visit." Kira gave a sad smile. Something told her that if Jebb left that he wouldn't be coming back home. But she couldn't force him to stay where he was miserable. And he was indeed miserable. That easygoing smile of his had long since disappeared. "I told her that you'd be fine driving out on your own. She's expecting you this weekend. That way we can tell the kids that you'll be visiting your parents and all."

Jebb remained silent for a moment. He figured that it would be best to at least look like he was mulling over the decision but in his mind, there was no real decision to be made. He was going home. His real home.

~01~

Pauline watched from her window in the kitchen that Saturday while waiting for Jebb to pull into the driveway. She had had fixed up his old room to look as much like it had once did as she could, and she fixed her only son's favorite meal. It was just waiting for her boy to make the long drive over from Hazzard County. She wondered how he looked. She hasn't seen him since she and John left just a few days after he'd gotten out of the hospital after his wreck. Kira had assured her that he'd healed up just fine; well, except for the fact that he still had a large portion of his memory completely wiped clean.

Pauline had been surprised when her daughter-in-law had suggested that perhaps what Jebb needed was a visit to his childhood home. But Kira had assured her that she felt that Jebb would be happier in Placid for the time being. Pauline trusted her on that, but she also felt that Kira would be very unhappy about it at the same time. In fact, when she discussed the plans with Kira about Jebb's pending visit her son's wife sounded more sad than anything. Sad and hopeless. She couldn't remember a time where the fight in her daughter-in-law's spirit just seemed to have completely abandoned her.

When Pauline heard the powerful engine of Kira's truck, she knew that her son had gotten out to her and John's farm in Placid county. She headed outside with her husband to greet their son. As soon as Jebb stepped out of the truck Pauline wrapped her son into the tightest hug that she could muster, she'd missed and worried about him so.

"Mom, take it easy. I can't breathe." Jebb chuckled as his mother pulled back just a bit embarrassed. "Pop," Jebb disentangled himself from his mother so that he could greet his father.

"You made good time, Son. Why don't we head on in and have a little bit of lunch and then you can get settled in."

Jebb ate lunch with his parents and got caught up on the ins and outs of what all had happened in Placid lately. The longer he was back in his parent's home the more at ease he began to feel. In fact, he was more relaxed than he'd been since he first woke up in that hospital room back the last weekend of July. When he went upstairs to his old bedroom, he set his suitcases down on the bed and began to unpack. He wasn't sure how long he'd be staying so he'd packed two cases. Once they were emptied and his clothes were put away in the dresser and closet Jebb set them into the bottom of the closet. He then stretched out onto the bed and took a breather.

Lying on the bed he felt one thing that he'd not felt in weeks. He felt like he was home.

~01~

Bo had agreed to help out with the chores over at his sister's place while Jebb was visiting his parents. He hadn't believed it when he was first told that Jebb would be leaving town for a while. But after discussing it Kim, he decided that maybe it wasn't that bad of an idea after all. Since nothing else had helped, who knows, maybe a little mothering from Pauline could do what nothing else seemed to. As Kim's Uncle Irving says, Sometimes the best medicine don't come out of a bottle.

After he finished mucking the stalls out in the barn Bo headed inside to get cleaned up. Kira was at the table with Mikey trying to help him learn his multiplication tables. He knew that one thing that he and Jay hated with being in different classes was that they couldn't help one another as easily as if they were still in the same class. But Bo figured that they were still helping from time to time based on the fact that Mikey went from having a D on one test to having an A on his next one. Mikey's teacher had been surprised but Kira hadn't been. From the looks of it, Kira had given Mikey a little extra homework as punishment for his cheating. Meanwhile, Bo was sure that he'd find Jay cleaning the upstairs bathroom for his punishment after helping his brother cheat on his test. That was a chore he knew that his sister hated which meant that it was frequently the punishment of the boys when they got into trouble.

Bo went over to the kitchen sink to wash up as Kira gave her oldest son a reprieve and allowed him to go upstairs until it was time to get supper on the table. Once Mikey was out of the room Bo asked if Kira had heard from Jebb since he'd been in Placid.

"No, but I didn't really expect to, either. John has called a couple of times to keep me updated but Jebb's been mainly settling back in town."

Bo lowered his brow at the tone in his sister's voice. "You sound like you don't think that Jebb's comin' back."

Kira sighed as she stood to stir some food in a pot on the stove. "To be honest, after seeing the Jebb I've known disappear over the weeks since his accident, I guess I don't. He's been struggling and unhappy this whole time." Kira turned to look out the window over the kitchen sink as she tried to sort out her thoughts that she'd not had the courage to speak out into existence. "You should have seen him, Bo. He's been miserable for weeks. The moment I suggested that he should go see his folks he couldn't get out of Hazzard fast enough. If you'd seen his eyes, then you'd know that he likely won't be back for some time. If he comes back at all."

"Kira, Jebb wouldn't leave you and the kids for nothing." Bo walked across kitchen and turned his sister back towards him. He was surprised when she didn't resist when he pulled her up against his chest. "You'll see. After a quick visit with his parents, he'll be back."

"The Jebb who hit that tree wouldn't leave. But that isn't the same Jebb who woke up in that hospital room and I just don't know what this new Jebb will do. And that's what scares me."

There, she'd finally done it. She admitted the fear that had been haunting her since the end of July. She knew things could be worse. She still had the rest of the family, but it wasn't the same. She missed her husband. She had missed him for quite some time. But up until recently she had allowed herself to hope that he'd be back to himself. But as the days turned to weeks, the weeks to months, she had no other choice but to face facts. Her Jebb wasn't coming back. He couldn't. Every memory that had made him the man that she loved, and who loved her back, had evaporated into nothingness. Now he was little more than a stranger or a distant relative. But not a husband.

~01~

Jay had finished up his punishment of cleaning the upstairs bathroom and was heading down the back stairwell to tell his mother when he overheard his mother and uncle discussing his father. He heard his uncle trying to convince his mother that his father would only be gone for a short visit with his grandparents. He also heard the despair in his mother's voice. She didn't believe that he'd be back.

Jay stayed frozen in the stairwell for several minutes before he headed back upstairs all the while trying to decide who was right; his mother or his uncle? He thought that his father was getting better. He'd pick around with he and his siblings and they had even spent many hot afternoons after school going down to the fishing hole catching fish together. He seemed like he was back to normal for the most part.

Jay kept what he'd heard downstairs to himself. He didn't want to worry his brother or sister. Instead, he stayed silent about what he'd overheard. He'd wait to see if his father would be coming home before he said anything. There was no reason to upset Mikey or Crystal until he knew for sure.

He knew that his mother was smart woman but, just this one time, he prayed that she was wrong. He hoped that his father would be back soon. Not only back in Hazzard but back to his old self.

The weekend came and despite their father not being home to take them to the garage Luke and Bo had invited their nephews to join them for their weekly breakfast of doughnuts over at Cooter's. They'd always enjoyed being out with the men and they had learned to help fetch various tools when needed which made them feel quite grown up. Mikey had jumped at the chance, but Jay had said that he'd rather stay out at the house. So, off the eldest twin went with the older set of Duke Boys whilst the younger remained behind. Crystal was off playing at Faith's which meant that the only other person in the house was his mother.

When Jay headed inside after the General Lee pulled away, he quietly walked back inside and wondered what he should do. Off to the side of the kitchen Jay saw his mother's office door open so he headed in that direction. She didn't seem to notice him as he stood outside her door. Instead, he watched as she read a letter. She was so engrossed that when he spoke, she flinched.

"Mom?"

Kira felt her heart beat so fast that it seemed to want to lurch right out of her chest. She'd thought that she was alone in the house when her younger son came into her office. She quickly took a gulp out of her glass since her throat suddenly felt too dry to get any words out. When she finally did, she slipped the letter back under her desk calendar.

"Jay, I wasn't expecting you to still be home. Didn't you want to go off with your uncles with your brother?"

He shook his head, "I didn't want you to be lonely."

"What makes you think that I'd be lonely?" Kira asked as she motioned for her son to walk closer and to sit on her lap. He wouldn't be able to do that for much longer. He was already a lapful as it was, she thought with just a bit of sadness.

Jay sat on his mother's lap and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Dad."

It was one word, but it said so much. Kira had to try two times before she could swallow the lump in her throat. "What about your dad?"

"He's been gone for two weeks."

Kira could have sworn that there was an underlying question to her son's statement. A question that she didn't have the answer to. "Your father and I have been apart before. He'll be back soon. He's just spending some time with your grandparents for a while. But, since you decided that you'd keep me company today, what would you like to do? I think we both need to get out of the house for a little while."

Jay contemplated for a moment. His mother didn't know that he'd overheard her talking to his Uncle Bo. He'd keep that to himself for a little longer. Finally, he asked if they could go riding the dirt bikes. His parents had gotten a couple of dirt bikes that were his and his brother's size a couple of years ago, much to the chagrin of their Uncle Jesse. He felt that they were too dangerous. In fact, Jay didn't think that his uncle much cared for his mother and father riding around on them, either. Back for their birthday the boys were given new ones to replace the ones that they had started to outgrow.

"That sounds like a great idea. A little speed and dirt is just what the two of us need right about now." Kira stood up and locked her office up before she and her son headed out to the barn to get the dirt bikes ready. They had a small track that they'd built up for the boys out past the east forty. A little time spent out there was just what she needed for a bit of a distraction. She'd been working with Jay, in particular, for the Peewee Motocross. He had an innate skill that she knew that it won't be long before he'd be ready to take on the mantle of the best Duke on two wheels. He was too young and inexperienced for now, but she was raising hers and Jebb's replacement.

Mikey preferred racing around in a go-cart but he'd never pass up a chance to race on his dirt bike when he could. The twins just preferred to do their racing a bit different than the other. A part of Kira wondered if they hadn't subconsciously made it so that they'd never have to race against one another. Much like Bo and Luke don't race against one another for the peace of the family's sake.

~01~

Pauline glanced at the clock and saw that it was well after midnight. She'd expected Jebb to return to the house hours ago. But it seemed that each night he returned just a bit later. He'd been going out with old friends who he'd lost touch with long ago. Actually, to be honest, Jebb had outgrown them as he transformed into a responsible family man with a wife and three children. The other men had never quite settled down and still carried on as if they were still teens in high school. Pauline worried that their influence on Jebb wouldn't exactly help him regain his lost memories. Instead of returning to the man that she'd long since become proud of for his sense of family he now appeared to be regressing to his younger, more wild, self.

Pauline turned in her bed and eyed her husband. How could he just lay there and sleep at a time like this? Their son was behaving as if he was still twenty years younger without a care in the world. She knew that she'd have to have John talk to Jebb. He always seemed to get through to their son better than she ever did. Hopefully Jebb will get this wild streak out of his system and soon. He had three children back in Hazzard who needed their father. Not to mention, he still had a wife; even if he couldn't remember marrying her.

~01~

Jebb sat in an old roadhouse about an hour away from home. He and his old friends from high school had decided to paint the town. He'd been surprised to find that Holt and Tucker were still milling about in Placid once he'd gotten settled in. Most of his old high school friends had either moved away or had gotten married. Those who were married weren't too inclined to go out and chat about old times with him. He supposed that their wives had actually made up their minds for them. But Holt and Tucker were still single and living it up. The three of them had gone out several times just this week after they'd finished working out at the old mill and he'd finished up his farm chores.

As the three men joked around and drank beer his buddy Holt decided to leave the table in favor of more feminine companionship. As Tucker looked around the old bar in favor of doing the same, he noticed Jolene Cypress looking towards the table that he and his friend were sitting at. He knew from experience that Jolene had no love for him. That meant that she had to have her eye on Jebb.

Tucker snickered and motioned for the Duke to take a gander over at the bar. "Looks like you got yourself a fan."

Jebb saw the pretty brunette and smiled back at her, causing her to appear flustered at being called out at her staring at the blonde man. "Looks like," Jebb's smile faded before he continued, "But aren't you forgettin' somethin'? I'm married."

"That's just a technicality. You said yourself that you can't remember ever marryin' her and you don't feel a thing for her. Why should you feel obligated to be loyal to a total stranger?"

Jebb wanted to latch onto Tucker's logic so badly it nearly hurt. Still, a part of him wouldn't let him. At least not right now. He's still married, at least for the time being, and as a Duke he couldn't break a vow despite the fact that he doesn't remember making it.

~01~

Two days later John asked Jebb to help him with some fence work along the south forty. It'd been a while since he'd been out that way so there were a fair number of snags and collapsed fences that needed attention. After he and his son had been working on the fence work for about an hour or so John figured that he'd best address a few concerns. Not only of his own but those of his wife, as well.

"You got in a little late the other night. You almost could have just stayed awake when you got home and not bothered going to bed before gettin' up for church."

Jebb shrugged and just hammered in a new fence post.

"You'd been stayin' out quite a bit since you came home."

"So?" Jebb took a swipe at his brow after setting his sledgehammer down. "Didn't think that it'd be a problem so long as I still helped out while I was here on the farm. It's not like I'm a kid, no more."

"Son, that was actually goin' to be my point. You've been runnin' around like you're still sixteen. You're not. I know you don't remember the last twenty years, but you are too old to be actin' like a kid, still." John saw his son turn to face away from him, a clear sign from his younger years that he knew he was in the wrong but didn't want to face up to the consequences just yet. "Jebb, the whole reason that you came out to the farm was to try to help your memory."

John saw that Jebb's back seemed to deflate just a bit at his last comment. "Jebb, you did come here to try to recover your memory, didn't you?"

Jebb worked his jaw as he tried to figure out a way to say what he wanted to without sounding like a jerk. "That's what Kira's hopin'." Jebb walked toward the lumber to grab a board to attach to the new post that he'd just set into the ground. He couldn't look at his father while he made his confession. "Truth is, I just don't think that there is anything left to try that hasn't already been tried. It's time to face facts, I'm not gettin' my memory back. Which means I have to figure out what I'm goin' to do now."

"Do about what?" John had a sinking feeling that he didn't want to know the answer.

"I can't go back to Hazzard, Pop. I can't live a life that isn't mine." Jebb grabbed up some nails and went to work on the fence, letting the hammering drown out any opportunity to continue the conversation for a while. When he finally was done with the fence, he decided he'd walk back to the house instead of riding in the truck with his father.

John was too stunned at the implications of what his son had said to say anything initially. When he finally recovered, he saw that his son looked ashamed and heartbroken to have to admit what he had. Seeing that look, John didn't have the heart to press him any further.

~01~

"He said what?!" Pauline's eyes bugged out when she heard about her husband's conversation with their son. "And you didn't say nothin' to change his mind? Why did you let him just walk off like that without setting him straight?"

"Pauline, this isn't easy for Jebb. He's been doing his best to try to remember the last twenty years ever since he woke up in that hospital bed. Two months of feeling like he has no control over his own life. He's just tryin' to figure out how to take the reins back. He came here because it was the only thing that felt right for him after months of confusion. He's not happy about what he told me. In fact, it looked like havin' to get the words out about tore him apart. We'll give him a bit more time; hope that once the pressure is off to remember his life as a grown man with a family that he'll start bein' able to put the puzzle pieces back together.

Pauline crossed her arms. This is not how she'd hoped that her husband's conversation with Jebb would go. He was supposed to help him realize that he needed to get back to his life with his wife and children as soon as possible. Not help him put them out of his mind so that he could live once more as a single man.

Jesse got off of the phone with his brother over in Placid County feeling almost as if he'd been told that a loved one had gone on to their final reward. John told him what he'd heard straight from Jebb's own mouth. He didn't want to come home. He'd come to the conclusion that his memories from the last twenty years weren't going to return and instead of trying to work through everything and try to create new memories, his nephew was intending on staying in Tranquil. He supposed he should go and talk to Kira. She would need to be told. Jimmy wouldn't be out of school for another few hours so he figured that he'd head over to see his niece and give her a heads up that it may be a while before the family would see Jebb back in Hazzard. Though he might just keep the full extent of his brother's conversation with the confused Duke to himself for now.

Jesse hopped into his old truck, that he refused to get rid of no matter how much the others kept hounding him about getting a newer one and headed over to the next farm over. When he went inside Kira's office door was open, but she wasn't inside. As he passed the hall that the washroom was on, he saw a light under the door, so he knew that she'd only be a minute. He decided that he'd go back to her office and wait for her in there. It would be less likely to be filled with uncomfortable memories for Kira while he discussed Jebb with her.

Jesse went on in and sat down and waited since it always seemed that women took longer in the washroom than a man. Just as he heard that Kira was finishing up, he noticed a glass of what looked like water on her desk. With it was a glass jar that was nearly empty sitting beside the glass. With his brows furled in suspicion he scooted in his seat so that he could reach the glass. Picking it up he took one whiff and knew that it wasn't water that his niece had been drinking in the middle of the day. Jesse set the glass back down before he sat back in his chair once more. When Kira found her uncle in her office, she couldn't help but be surprised.

"Jesse? What are you doin' here? I wasn't expectin' you."

"So, I figured," Jesse nodded, aiming his chin to the glass and jar on the desk. "It's a little a little early in the day for that, ain't it?"

Kira rolled her eyes as she walked around to the other side of the desk, putting it between herself and her uncle. "I just had a little with my lunch earlier. I never even finished the glass. And since when were you against a body take a drink of shine every now and again? You've been making it most of your life. You've always spoke right highly of it; with pride, too, since the family has been makin' it for more than two hundred years."

"It's true. Shine has been a big part of my life, this whole family's life, for generations. But in all my days, I've never had to hide it when I was drinkin' it."

"Who says that I'm hidin' anything?" Kira crossed her arms in front of her, not liking what Jesse was inferring. "I just happened to have a glass with lunch while I was working on some papers."

"That bottle seems a bit empty from where I'm sittin'." Jesse hoped that he was overreacting. But with all that his niece had endured in the last couple of months he could understand, a little, if she'd been driven to drink to cope with it all. That being said, there were the children to consider, and they needed at least one parent to have their wits about them. Jebb was still dealing with his loss of memory off in Placid County. That meant that they needed Kira to remain solid.

"It's an old jar," Kira snapped.

Jesse blinked at Kira's reaction but recovered quickly. "Then I guess you won't mind me taken it with me when I leave."

"Why would you take it?" Kira then narrowed her eyes. "You aren't seriously standin' there and mulling over whether or not I've become a drunk, are you? Uncle Jesse, drunks are people like Old Hobie Harkins."

"And people who hide when they drink or prefer to drink alone. But if this glass of shine really is as innocent as you say, then you won't mind me takin' what's left."

Kira rolled her eyes. "Fine. Take it. I've got other things to do than stand here and argue over it."

Kira fell into her office chair and explicitly ignored her uncle as he reached for the nearly empty jar of whiskey.

Jesse decided that this wasn't the right time to discuss his nephew with his niece at the moment. He started toward the door of the office before he paused. He hated it but he had to ask. "You wouldn't happen to have another jar around here, would ya?"

Kira raised her eyes without bothering to lift her head and glared at her uncle. "You want to search the place for yourself to find out?" Kira could feel her blood pressure rising as she gritted her jaw. "Was there something that you came here for, or did you just come here to accuse me of becoming a drunk and search for whiskey?"

Jesse shook his head. The stress that Kira was under was eating her alive. The last thing she needed was to discuss her absent husband and the uncertainty of his returning home. "It'll keep."

Jesse left Kira alone in her office hoping that he hadn't been right. Maybe the family needed to check with her a bit more often for right now. He'd hate to see his niece crumble under all of the strain that she'd been under for the last couple of months.

Kira listened as the door to the front door closed behind her uncle. Alone once more she threw her pen down on her desk and rested her head in her hands. She couldn't believe that she had snapped at Jesse the way she had. She'll have to make it up to him. She knew why she was snappy today. It was the ninth. Still, she had to remind herself that no one would be coming out to the farm looking for her. She was safe in her own home. Not to mention, a man would have to be crazy to get out on parole only to cause more trouble here in Hazzard of all places. She was just letting ghosts of the past rear their ugly heads and making her jumpy.

Kira grabbed her glass and took the last swallow of shine that was in it as she returned her attention to the letter she'd been trying to write. Reading over it, she sort of wished that her uncle hadn't taken the jar with the rest of the shine with him. Because for what she needed to do, she could use a little extra liquid courage.

~01~

Pauline scrunched her brows as her son came down the stairs. He'd changed out of his work clothes and by the looks of it he was heading out to meet with those two dunderheads that he'd gone to school with again.

"Supper's almost ready." Pauline said while barely keeping a smile on her face. John and Kira had discussed their plan for Jebb. As a result, her husband had insisted that they shouldn't push their son. She was to let him do what he wanted for now; believing that the reduced stress on their son would have a positive effect on him. To Pauline, though, it seemed to be having the opposite results of what the whole family was hoping for. Her son had returned to being a wild, overgrown, child.

"I'll get somethin' while I'm out." Jebb had made sure that he took a little extra time getting ready for the night. He was supposed to meet Jolene out at the local roadhouse. They'd met up a few times, almost as if with a silent agreement to do so, but this was the first time that they'd made an actual date of it.

"Well, before you go, you've got mail on the table," Pauline said before she turned back to the stove to tend to the meal that would now be far too much just for herself and her husband.

Jebb shrugged since he knew by his mother's body language that she definitely wasn't happy about his plans to go out again tonight. He knew she'd be even less happy if she knew that it wasn't Holt or Tucker that he was meeting up with. He walked over to the kitchen table and saw the envelope with his name on it postmarked Hazzard Georgia. He didn't recognize the handwriting, so he knew it wasn't from his uncle or his cousins. He'd know their handwriting anywhere. That meant that it was likely a letter from his wife, Kira. Jebb grabbed it up but didn't really want to read it at the moment, so he just stuck it in his back pocket as he headed out of the door. He had other plans for the evening.

He got out to the old roadhouse and waited for Jolene for nearly thirty minutes before he got tired of nursing his beer while waiting on his belated date. He didn't know why but he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the letter from Hazzard.

Jebb,

You probably hadn't expected to hear from me, but I figured that after the amount of time since you left that it was probably overdue. I know that you've had a lot of pressure on you since you woke up in that hospital room. Pressure from me, the kids, and all of the others. We all wanted to have the man who hit that tree back so badly, I know we didn't make it any easier for you. But the man who woke up after that crash isn't the same man who had first climbed into that race car that day. You have your own hopes and dreams. I still hope that you'll be able find your way back, but I know that if you do, it will have to be on your own terms. And as such, I'm going to have to let you do what you once let me do. Leave. On your own terms without any conditions with the freedom to live your life the way you see fit.

I suppose this is the first time that I've ever really thought about how hard that was for you when I left you behind back when I was in college. I know you don't remember but I was hurting and mad at the world. I thought that life had knocked my feet right out from under me and that no one, not even you, could understand. I was afraid of being hurt even more and instead had hurt you. For that I'll never forgive myself.

However, I don't want you to feel tormented by being torn between two worlds. One you remember and one that you don't. So do what you have to do to be true to yourself. If that journey brings you back to the life that we had before the accident, then nothing could make me happier. But above all, I want you to be happy. Whatever that entails, do it. Even if that means starting a life elsewhere; without me. Don't worry about any of the others trying to guilt you for living your life. I'll call them off. I only ask that you write the children, see them when you can, call them when you can't see them. There is no reason for them to suffer more than they already have. So just don't hurt them.

Love Always,

Kira

Jebb stared at the letter and read it back through again. Did she really just tell him, in not so many words, that it was okay for him to not to want to go back to Hazzard? That he was free to do whatever he wants?

"Hey, Sugar. What 'cha got there?" Jolene asked as she joined the blonde Duke at the table where he'd been waiting for her. She'd taken a bit extra care into getting ready for tonight. She'd hoped to entice the man into being a bit less of a gentleman tonight. Being with a gentleman had been a nice change of pace but she was ready to move this relationship a bit further along.

Jebb folded the letter and returned it to his back pocket as he gave his best smile to his companion for the evening. "It's nothin'. Just a letter from a family member."

After her trip to Atlanta with the other women, along with her unexpected visit with her oldest friend, Kira felt just a bit better. She hadn't expected to, but she did. Daisy and the others were right. Somewhere along the way Jebb hadn't been the only one to have lost themselves. She needed to do more than sit in her office while mulling over what she could have done to help Jebb more than she had already done. The only thing that doing that would do would help her fall into a deeper and darker depression.

After she picked the boys up from school, she took the kids out to the makeshift track out past the east forty so that the boys, particularly Jay, could show off their racing skills. Already the family was making plans for a celebration, regardless of what place Jay finishes at in the Peewee Motocross race. Jay had asked for Daisy's fried chicken, Kim's potato salad, and his Uncle Jesse's pumpkin pie. With it only a week until Halloween Kira figured that the kids could also enjoy some roasted pumpkin seeds after they carve their Jack-o-lanterns the night before the race.

While out and enjoying the afternoon before it started to get too dark the kids all had fun riding around on the track. Crystal had even been given one of the twins' old dirt bike and Kira had helped her learn to race around on it in a flat area of the home-made track.

"Momma, are you goin' to race like Jay?" Crystal had gone to most of the races that her parents had raced in within a couple hours of home. Having her mother go so long without racing wasn't normal.

"I don't know." Kira did miss being out on the track, but she had been concentrating so much on Jay's race that she hadn't thought about signing up for a race for herself. "You think that I should?"

Crystal nodded as her mother smiled down at her. "Uh-huh. You are always more fun after you win a race."

"And I've not been that much fun lately?" Kira chuckled as her daughter's face took on a guilty look for saying what she had. "I tell you what, I'll sign up if you let me wash your doll that your grandmother gave you. She's lookin' a might dirty. lately. You haven't let that doll out of your sight since your grandma gave her to you."

Crystal looked down to where she'd stuffed her doll into the front of her jacket while learning to ride the dirt bike. After some consideration she figured it would be a small price to pay if it meant that her mother could have some fun, too. "Okay. Tonight, after I go to sleep."

Kira laughed as she shook her head. By adding that one caveat her daughter would be able to keep ahold of the doll during all of her waking hours but still be able to have the doll cleaned. "Alright. Then it looks like there will be two bikes on the back of your Uncle Jesse's truck on the way to Capital City this weekend."

~01~

Mikey listened to the quiet of the night after his siblings all went to sleep. Even his mother had gone to her bedroom despite the fact that she usually stays up a few hours after the children were all in bed. He guessed it wasn't any fun staying up without his father in the house.

Being as careful as he could, Mikey crept out of his room and headed down the closest set of stairs. He made sure to skip the fourth step down since it tended to squeak if you stepped on it in the middle of the stair. He wanted to make sure that he wasn't caught on the way downstairs. Once he was down in the living room he snuck into the kitchen and grabbed up the phone and dialed up a few numbers that he knew by heart. Why couldn't math be as easy as remembering a phone number? The phone rang a few times before he finally heard his grandfather on the other end of the line.

"Duke Farm. John Duke speakin'."

His grandfather sounded a bit tired. Maybe it was later than he thought it was.

"Grandpa, it's me, Mikey."

"Mikey? What are you doin' callin' so late? Does your mother know you're on the phone?"

"I'm sorry. No, Sir, she doesn't. I just wanted to call and talk to dad."

There was a long pause before his grandfather finally replied, "I'm sorry, Mikey. He can't come to the phone right now. I'll have him call you tomorrow after you get home from school."

"You don't have to do that. I was just goin' to ask him if he would go to the Tri-County Motocross Race this weekend. Jay's goin' to be in it. I know he'd like to see dad there; you know, to pull for him."

"Jay's decided to be in a real race, huh? Not just racin' around with you and some of ya'll's friends?"

"Yes, Sir. He's real nervous. Mom's told him that it's alright. That he didn't have to worry but... So, I figured that if dad was there-"

"He'll be there. I can promise you that."

"Good. Thanks! I'd better go back to bed now. Love you!" With that Mikey hung the phone back up and headed back to bed. He couldn't wait to see his brother's face when he saw their father at the race on Saturday.

~01~

The twins rode the hour-long ride to Capital City in the General Lee with their uncles, Bo and Luke. Their aunts, Faith, and Jimmy would be riding in Kim's car. Crystal rode with their mother and Uncle Jesse in his truck. In the back of that truck was not only Jay's dirt bike for the Peewee race but Kira's as well. Jay was a bundle of nerves on his way to his first real race. He'd been so excited until today. Now he felt like he was about to throw up. His mother told him that it was normal to be nervous. She told him that the trick was to make that energy work for him. He hoped that he'd be able to do that. Of course, it helped, too, that his mother told him to just think of this race as another practice. That there was no pressure on placing in the race. Then they'd spend the off season working on being even better by the spring.

When the Duke Caravan arrived in Capital City the area around the track was filled with both spectators and other racers. The family all first took Jay over to where the racers for the Peewee Motocross were assembling for their race which would be first. Kira's race would be later in the day as she would ride in a race for the more experienced racers. The family unloaded the two dirt bikes and did their best to ease Jay's anxiety. Eventually it was getting closer to time for the younger racers to prepare for their race.

Bo set his hand on his nephew's shoulder as he addressed the rest of the family. "Why don't ya'll go find a good place to watch from the stands? I'll stay with Jay until it's time to get to the starting line. That way he can get into the zone without bein' distracted."

Bo tilted his head toward the stands with a wink. Kira wanted to stay but with all of the other little boys around she knew that Bo was likely trying to keep Jay from being embarrassed by his mother of all people making a big show of her son's first real race. Kira was reminded that her boys were starting to enter the phase where there may be times where having their mother around would be the last thing that they'd want. Nodding her understanding she gave Jay a smile as she squatted down to his level but held herself back from pulling him into a tight hug.

"We'll see you right after the race. And remember, just focus on one turn at a time: not the finish line. You do that and you'll be able to enjoy your first race regardless of where you place." Kira was surprised by the fact that her youngest actually reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck quickly before returning her smile.

When the family left the two blonde Dukes Bo helped Jay give his dirt bike one last look over before it was time for those who weren't racing to leave the starting area.

"You ready for this, Jaybird?" Bo asked as he ruffled his nephew's hair. Instead of a reply he only got a shrug out of his nephew. "Somethin' buggin' you?"

Jay shuffled his feet a bit as he stood in front of his uncle. "Just feels weird."

"What feels weird? Bein' here at the track?"

Jay shook his head. "Forget it. It don't matter."

"Now that ain't true. If something is botherin' you then it does matter. Come on. Tell me what's on your mind."

Jay looked around before he finally spoke back up. "Dad should be here."

Bo closed his eyes as he tilted his head up towards the sky for a moment. "Jay, I'm sorry. I didn't think about you missin' your dad. Things are just a bit out of sorts, still-"

"Because he ain't comin' back home."

Bo knelt down next to his nephew and looked him in the eye. "What makes you say that?"

"Cause he ain't."

Bo bowed his head, almost in a silent prayer to find the right words that his nephew needed to hear. "I don't know what's goin' to happen with your dad and his memory. None of us do. But I do know that if he could change things he would. But right now, we just have to take one day at a time. We have to find what gives us something to hope and strive for. Now you've worked too hard to get here to let things that we can't change keep you from seein' this thing through. I'm proud of you for wanting to do this."

"You are?"

"Yes, sir-ee-Bob. You betcha. And I'll tell you a secret. Sometimes I still get a little nervous before a race, too."

"You do?" Jay was surprised to hear his uncle's confession. He was known for being the best racer in the family.

"Yep. But that's normal. When you aren't nervous, even a little bit, that's when you make the most mistakes out there. That's when you get a little too cocky for your own good."

"I hadn't thought of it that way." Jay gave his uncle a smile as the officials finished shewing the spectators off of the track; that included his uncle. He suddenly felt better about the race. He was still nervous, but he was okay with that. As his uncle told him, it would keep him from getting too cocky.

Jay put his helmet on and walked his dirt bike to the starting line. Just before he got on, he scanned the other racers for the later races were lined up. As he lowered his visor on his helmet, he was surprised to see none other than his father. He'd made it!

~01~

Kira held her daughter up so that she could see better as her brother took his place at the starting line for the Peewee Trail Beginner's Race. When the race began, she couldn't help but be a bit nervous for her younger son. He set out around the track, passing some racers, was passed by others. As the bikes neared the finish line Kira watched as another racer got a little too close to Jay's back tire. This caused his bike to lose its balance just as Jay crossed the line.

"Take it easy, Mama-Bear," Luke whispered in her ear as he saw her jaw set in a grimace at the sight of her son taking a tumble caused by the other child. "You knew that it'd have to happen sooner or later. And look. He's already back up on his feet and gettin' out of the way of the rest of the racers."

Kira gave Luke a sideways look. "I'll remember to give you the same reminder when Faith decides to race." The look on Luke's face clearly showed that he hadn't thought about his own child being out on the track. "She's already wanting to practice with the boys' old bikes."

"Yea, well..." Luke rubbed the back of his neck before saying, "You'd best get down to the track and congratulate him for finishing the race. Then he and Bo can come up here to watch the rest of the races while you get ready for the advanced races."

Kira set Crystal down and told her and Mikey to mind the rest of the Dukes while she was gone. By the time that she'd gotten to the area where the young racers were herded off to at the end of their race her brother had rejoined the younger racer, but he wasn't the only one. As Kira joined them, she found that another blonde Duke Boy was there congratulating Jay.

Jebb watched the race and tried his best to figure out which of the young racers was his son. From a distance, clad in their racing gear, they all looked the same. Still, he watched, nonetheless. When the race ended, he spotted his Cousin Bo approach one of the boys. Wherever he found his cousin he'd find his son. He knew he had plenty of time before the race that he'd entered would start; there were several levels to be raced before the advanced races. Jebb headed over to where he saw his cousin with his son.

"Jaybird, I think you did really well for your first try out. You finished in the eleventh place. That means you nearly made the top ten." Jebb overheard his cousin as he approached. "That's somethin' to be really proud of."

"Indeed, it is," Jebb added to his cousin's sentiment. "Especially when many of those other kids were older than you."

"Jebb?"

"Dad! You came!" Jay tossed his helmet down and ran over to his father to greet him with a hug about his waist.

"What are you doin' here, Jebb?" Bo had to ask since to the best of his knowledge no one in the family expected him here today.

"I got a call tellin' me that Jay would be racin'. So here I am."

"Who called?" Kira asked as she walked up to join her brother and son. Seeing her husband here of all places hadn't been what she expected when she woke up this morning.

"Mikey," Jebb said simply. He didn't bother telling the others that it had been his father who had actually been home and spoke to the eldest of the Duke Children when he called. Nor did he tell them that his father hadn't exactly been too subtle in his opinion that, memory or no, he needed to be there for the young boy when he stepped out into the world of racing.

Kira raised a brow at hearing that her oldest has apparently taken it upon himself to ask his father to come to the race. Jay was a bit confused to hear that his brother had talked to his dad since he'd not told him about it. Still, he was happy to see that his father had come.

"So does this mean that you're back?" Jay asked the same question that the older set of Duke Twins were wondering as well.

"Well, I-"

"Jebb, your own private cheering section is here. Oh, is this your little boy that you were tellin' me about?" Jebb was interrupted by a voice that he'd not expected to hear today. He'd told her that he didn't want her to come. When the other three Dukes turned to face Jolene, he visibly cringed.

"Dad?" Jay looked up at the strange woman as she sidled up next to his father. "Who's she?"

Jebb looked from his son's confused expression to Bo's angry and Kira's hurt one. "I, uh... Well..."

That moment of hesitation, along with Jolene's act of slipping her arm through his was just enough to connect the dots for the young boy, which sent Jay running from the group at top-neck speed.

"Dammit, Jebb! What were you thinkin' bringin' another woman here?! Ain't the kids been through enough in the last few months?" Bo shouted angrily before telling Kira, "I'll get him."

Jebb watched as his cousin took off in the same direction that his son went before being brought back to the reality that his wife and his girlfriend were both staring at him.

"What was that about?" Jolene asked before turning her attention to the woman that she remembered from last weekend. She smiled and extended her hand in greeting. "You must be Jebb's cousin."

Kira eyed the untouched hand and only responded with, "Among other things. How did you know we were cousins?"

"He told me when we saw you and his other cousin last weekend at a club in Atlanta." Jolene saw that the other woman was staring off into the direction that the young boy went so she added, "I do hope that the boy will be alright. Shouldn't his mother be tending to him?"

Kira's eyes narrowed. "I'm his mother."

Jolene took a step back before looking at Jebb with an accusing glare. "I thought you said she was your cousin. Now she says that she's the mother of your child. Which is it?"

"Both," Jebb said awkwardly. "Listen, I told you not to come here today. I-"

"Both?!" Jolene shrieked in disgust as she tore her arm away from Jebb's arm where she'd linked it with hers when she walked up. "Both? That's sick!"

"Wait a minu-"

"No! I can't believe that you... and she... That you- Ew!" Jolene stormed away as if she couldn't leave the Duke that she'd been seeing for the last couple of weeks fast enough.

Jebb didn't know if he wanted to go after Jolene or stay behind with Kira. Especially since he could feel her glaring at him. When he looked back up at her he saw that she had her arms crossed.

"I know that I told you that you could do what you wanted since you couldn't remember me, but I distinctly remember saying to not hurt the kids any more than they already have been. And then you go and bring a girlfriend here when you bein' gone is so fresh. And on a day that was so important to Jay. How could you?"

Jebb put his hand on the back of his neck as he rubbed it absentmindedly before replying defensively. "She wasn't supposed to come here. I told her not to. And I seem to recall that I wasn't the only one who'd started to move on."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"As Jolene said, we were at the club last weekend when you were there with that guy. The two of you looked mighty familiar, yourself."

"You are being ridiculous. The only person that I saw last weekend was-" Kira came up short and then despite or maybe it was because of the stress of the situation burst out laughing. "Wait a minute. You saw me with Brent, and you were jealous of him?" Kira tried to rein in her giggling but that only made her chuckle all the more. "Oh no! You finally have a memory resurface and it is of being jealous!"

"What is so funny? What do you mean it's a memory?" Jebb couldn't figure Kira out. One second, she's about to give him a good down the country talking to and the next second she's laughing at him. He knew that most of his memories had returned more of general feelings rather than actual events, but this wasn't the same, was it?

"Jebb, one thing that's been pretty consistent throughout most of our relationship was that you get jealous pretty easily. But for you to be jealous of Brent... Well, that hasn't happened in a very long time."

"I don't get it. What is so funny about me possibly being jealous of Brent? If I was, that is."

"Brent is my oldest friend and I'm not his type at all!" Kira shook her head as she calmed her giggles to a snicker. "He's gay."

Jebb gave Kira an odd look. He still didn't think it was funny. Still, there was something, or someone, else to consider at the moment. Jay. The way he tore out the pit area when he saw him with Jolene was heartbreaking. He'd intended to stay for a few days but now he wasn't sure that he'd be welcomed.

"Shouldn't we go after Jay? You know, to let him know that Jolene's gone and all?"

Kira paused and looked off in the direction her brother had gone and remained silent for a moment. "Bo's got him. It probably is best if you give him a while. This wasn't easy for him today. He's hurt and confused."

"He's not the only one." Jebb mumbled.

~01~

Kira offered to bail on the race to go ahead and let Jay leave to go home but he had insisted that he wanted to see her race, too. So, after seeing to it that he was alright and Bo would keep watch on him, which also kept him from going to have a talk with Jebb after the incident with the woman that he'd been keeping company with, Kira set about getting ready for her own race. She wasn't surprised to see that Jebb was signed up for the race as well. It only made sense that after driving all the way from Placid that he'd get in a race while he was here.

For her part, Kira's heart just wasn't in it. She'd preferred to be heading home with her son, trying to help him pick up the pieces of his broken heart. But for now, the only thing she could do was to do as her son asked, and race. And it would be for him, along with her other children, that she'd do her best to win the race. After all, hadn't Crystal told her that she was the most fun after she had won a race.

She did her best to clear her mind as the rest of the racers lined up at the starting line, but it was a futile attempt when she knew that her husband, whom she'd seen with another woman only about an hour prior, was merely meters away from her. Kira set her visor down as she once more silently asked her brother how the kids were doing, especially Jay. After being reassured once more that they were fine with the rest of the Duke family she made a conscious effort to narrow her focus to the track, her bike, and the nameless racers around her.

When the signal for the race to begin came she allowed herself to have tunnel vision. Nothing existed but the race. She quickly went toward the front of the pack as she passed several of the other racers. Eventually, it was she and three other racers who had pulled away from the rest of the pack. One of whom was her husband. Kira engaged in a small battle for placement with another racer as her husband did the same. As she pulled away from the last turn of the race, she won her position and now it was down to only her and one other racer for first place. That racer was Jebb.

Kira hadn't really felt competitive with Jebb in a very long time but for some reason she felt the need to actually win against the man whom she'd known just shy of the damnable twenty years that Jebb could no longer remember. It was as if she had to prove that he had indeed found her interesting at one time. And that interest had been sparked on the racetrack. Kira threw on an extra burst of speed just as the two riders that she and Jebb had passed recovered from their fall in position. Jebb's competitor was just a bit closer to him than hers, so Kira sped forward as Jebb once more had more than just her to be concerned about. When she crossed the finished line, however, it felt like a very hollow victory. She'd won, and won fairly, but it wasn't as if she'd be able to really celebrate that win with her husband.

Kira went through the motions that was expected of her as the winner of the race. Before joining the rest of the family after the race she knew that she'd have to talk to Jebb again. He'd come a long way to visit with the kids and even if it hadn't started off under the best of circumstances, she knew that she still needed to encourage Jebb to stay for her children's sake. Even if she doubted that he'd be Jay's favorite person for a while. With her helmet in hand, Kira spotted Jebb and walked over to him.

"Where'd you learn to race like that?" Jebb asked with more than just a touch of a surprise in his voice.

"I've been racing for nearly as long as you have, Jebb. I told you that we met through racing."

Jebb ran a hand through his hair as he responded, "I know. I guess I never really gave it much thought."

"Clearly." Kira sent a glance toward where she knew that the rest of the family would be waiting for her. "We'd planned a little celebration for Jay's first race. Since you came all this way, you might as well as come out. Mikey and Crystal will want to see you."

"But not Jay," Jebb replied with concern. "I guess I blew that with him earlier."

Kira didn't say anything since there was nothing to say that would refute Jebb's own assessment. Jay was upset and he had that right. She was upset, though she wasn't sure she had quite the same right. She had, after all, told Jebb that he was free to do what he wanted. She had just hoped that he wouldn't take her up on that offer quite so soon, or to have the fact that he did indeed want to move on shown right in front of her; up close and personal. She kept trying to tell herself that she shouldn't take it personal since in Jebb's mind they were barely acquaintances. He couldn't remember their life together but that actually made it worse.

"Give him space." Kira said, not knowing if she was saying it for her husband's benefit or her own. "He'll come around, given time."

Luke watched as his cousins returned to where the rest of the family waited with more than a small bit of surprise. Bo had told him of why Jay had taken off after the completion of his own race. Which explained why the younger twin eyed at his father warily upon his approach. When Kira informed that Jebb would be joining the rest of them for their dinner back at the house Luke swore that he saw the young boy scowl. It was clear that his father wasn't his favorite person at the moment, with good reason. He wasn't quite sure what he'd do in the same situation; in place of any of those involved.

It was clear that the other siblings were happy to see their father, ignorant of what had happened down on the track. Mikey had even been able to convince his father to let him ride to the house with him in Kira's truck once his bike was loaded onto the back of it. Kira and Jay's were on the back of Uncle Jesse's. Once back out at the house the planned celebration seemed to have turned into an event where everyone was walking on eggshells. He knew that if Bo had it his way, he would have tried to pound some sense into the newly returned Duke. However, out of respect for Kira and Jesse, (each of them had exchanged some low-key words with him before Jebb had gotten out to the house) Bo was instead regulated to casting a few harsh glares. Jay, for his part, had taken great pains to stay on the opposite side of the room as his father. An action not missed by any of the adult Dukes in the family. Kira, for her part, looked as if she was running interference between the father and son as well as keeping an eye on her brother. An act that was clearly stressing her out. In the last few hours, he'd swear that she had aged. She was tired. She'd been tired but now she wasn't hiding it as well.

After dinner the family hung around for a little while, discussing Halloween that would be in just a matter of days, now. The parents were preparing how they would handle both the holiday festivities as well as making sure that they got the children in bed at a decent time since they had school the next day. Soon enough, though, everyone started to slowly drift away since it was time for the children to get to bed. As Jo got Faith ready to leave Luke figured that he'd take the opportunity to speak with his cousin, Jebb, privately.

"Jebb, I wanted to see how you are. You know, with everything."

Jebb stepped out onto the front porch with his oldest cousin as he shrugged. "Honestly, I feel like I shouldn't have come back. Jay's mad and Kira keeps giving me funny looks-"

"What did you think would happen, Jebb? You had another woman at the race! Did you once ask yourself how all this has to be for Kira or the kids?"

"Kira was the one who said that I was free to do what I wanted," Jebb insisted in defense as he crossed his arms.

"And you just couldn't wait to test her on it? Dammit, Jebb! I didn't think that you were that naïve with women, even with the memory of a sixteen-year-old. They tell you to do what they don't want you to do just to see if you'll do it! Anytime a woman tells you to do what you want that is as good as sending up a flare to abort mission."

"If she wasn't alright with me moving on then why send me a letter telling me that it was okay?"

"Think about it, Jebb. She's been practically bending over backwards trying to see everything from your perspective. To try to make things easier on you. Did you ever once consider how you'd handle things if the roles were reversed? If she'd suddenly didn't remember you or a happy marriage of nearly ten years? If she acted as if she was miserable to be around you and the kids, and couldn't wait to get away? How would you feel if she showed up after a few weeks away with another man on her arm?"

Jebb thought back to when he saw Kira with her friend at the club; the one that she now claims is gay. In that moment he'd not been comfortable at all, and that was without having his memory of their relationship.

"Can I ask you something, Luke?" Jebb waited just a moment before he got his response in the form of a raise of an eyebrow. "Was I a jealous person when it came to Kira?"

Luke snickered before letting out a soft chuckle. "You could say that. It took a while before the other men in the family finally were no longer able to elicit a reaction from you when they'd push you just to see that vein in your neck pop out. Coy is among the worst who has always loved to push your buttons. But it was always in good fun. What makes you ask that?"

"I saw the girls last weekend."

"Jo didn't say that you were at the same club that they went to," Luke responded in confusion.

"Well, I didn't exactly go and show myself. I wasn't alone."

"Oh. Alright. So, you saw them. What about it?"

"I saw Kira with her friend. I didn't like it." Jebb gave a long sigh. "Kira told me that she thinks that it was a memory."

Luke considered the unspoken question. "It is possible. Haven't most of what you've gotten back mainly been in the form of emotions?"

"Yes, but... I don't know." Jebb wasn't sure what he wanted to say. Or even why he had brought it up. But at least Luke was talking to him like a cousin rather than a man who had wronged a family member. He doubted that he'd get the same courtesy from his blonde cousin any time soon.

Luke looked up when Jo and Faith walked out to join him. It was time to head home. "I got to go. You're plannin' to stick around for a couple of days, right?"

Jebb nodded then watched as his cousin and his family left; the last of the extended Duke family to leave out after the dinner that had been planned as a celebration. He then reluctantly went inside. Kira was upstairs with the kids somewhere, so he just sat in the living area. He waited downstairs for so long that he was beginning to think that she'd decided to go on to bed. Finally, he heard her returning down the stairs.

"I wasn't sure if you were coming back down or not. Kind of thought you forgot about me still bein' down here."

Kira took a swallow to try to moisten her throat before replying, "Not likely. It took a while to get the kids down. Crystal, especially. She wanted you go come up to read to her."

"Sorry. I didn't think about that."

"I know." A part of Kira wished that Jebb hadn't come to town today. It was easier when he wasn't in sight. Not within reach. Having him here left a gaping wound that can't heal right in her heart. "Listen, I moved your things to the spare room across the hall. I moved my sewing stuff out so it will be just yours when you are in town."

Jebb hadn't thought about the sleeping arrangements. He and his wife had tried to sleep in the same bed before he'd left. But of course, that was long before she'd had to witness him with another woman, knowing that they weren't just friends.

"Thanks." When Jebb saw that Kira was heading back up the same stairs that she'd just came done from he added, "You heading back up? I thought that we might would, you know, talk."

Kira shook her head. "Not tonight. I'd rather not. I really don't know what we'd talk about, anyway. Nothing has changed, really. You still have no memory that would make you feel connected. And you've already moved on. I won't force you to live a life that you don't want."

With that, Kira finished heading up the stairs. She didn't look back and went straight to her room and closed the door. She went to sit on the bed, heaving from the checked emotions that threatened to break the cold wall of ice that she'd tried to erect around her. She turned to open the nightstand and pulled out a jar of moonshine. She opened it and took a long hard swallow to try to steady her nerves.

When will she finally wake up from this nightmare? When will the world stop crumbling beneath her feet? She just wanted her life back, but she knew that just wasn't going to happen. Not now. Likely not ever.

~01~

Jay stood with his siblings after school let out and waited for their mother to pull up to pick them up. He waved at Faith as she saw her mother's car and took off in her direction. Jimmy was close at her heels since Jo frequently would pick him up at the same time when Daisy was working.

Crystal was complaining that her teacher had made her leave her doll in the classroom when they went out to recess today. When the class had returned to the classroom the doll was missing. The teacher had assured the little girl that the doll would turn up, but Crystal was still bemoaning it being missing. Crystal had received a matching costume for her and her doll from her grandmother and she'd been looking forward to carrying the doll as she went to go trick-or-treat tonight.

As Jay saw the family car, the Stonewall, he gathered up his backpack and he and Mikey took Crystal by a hand each to start heading toward the pickup area in front of the school. When Jay realized that it wasn't his mother behind the wheel he froze. He'd been trying to stay as far from his father as he could since Saturday. It had been a difficult three days. It was really hard watching his siblings, especially his younger sister, act as if everything was back to normal.

One glance at their mother should let them know that things weren't normal. Jay swore that when he'd went to her office for some help on some homework the day before that he'd seen her wipe her eyes. She'd been crying; he was sure of it. When the three Duke Siblings got into the car Mikey asked where his mother was at as he climbed into the front seat with his father as the other two climbed into the backseat.

"Your momma went to pick up some treats for tonight from the bakery. I told her that I'd come to get ya'll so she could try to get all the extra food that she told Daisy that she'd get for the Halloween party, tonight. She'll take it over to Community Center there in town before she comes home to get you ready for trick-or-treating." Jebb waited for his son to close the door before he pulled the car out of the school lot. "So, are ya'll excited about the party and trick-or-treating?"

"No! My doll got lost today. I want to go back and look for her." Crystal crossed her arms since she wanted her doll back. It hadn't been important enough to her teacher but maybe her father would see how important her doll is to her.

"We'll make sure that the teacher keeps a look out for the doll when they clean up the classroom. She'll show up."

Jay then listened to his siblings talk about their costumes, but he just watched out of the window wishing that it had been his mother who had picked them up after school. Every time he looked at his father, he saw that strange woman who had shown up at the race this past weekend. One thing that he didn't get was why hadn't his mother gone off on her? Was she too hurt to even get mad?

When the Dukes all got home there were chores to take care of before the family got ready in their costumes. Crystal was the Good Witch of the North from the Wizard of Oz. The matching dress for her doll was left on her bed, unused. Mikey and Jay were both two of the Teenage Ninja Turtles. Mikey was, yes, Michelangelo. Jay was going as Donatello. Jimmy would be going as Raphael. It surprised Luke and Jo when Faith had declared that she wanted to join in and be Leonardo, the leader of the group. She could be both feminine and girly, but she could hang with the boys like the best of them already. She didn't want to be a princess for Halloween this year, rather a ninja turtle just like the boys.

Jay got his stick that his Uncle Jesse had whittled for him to use as a fighting staff and Mikey got his toy num-chuks. Crystal had her magic wand, and the family was ready to head out. There was just one thing wrong. Their mother hadn't come home yet. She was supposed to finish off their costumes and make sure that they had everything ready for their night out. He'd heard his father try to contact her on the CB but hadn't gotten a reply. Jay wasn't sure but when it was time to leave out it looked like his father just might be a little worried about her. That made Jay a lot worried.

Where was his mother?

Kira carried yet another two large bakery boxes to her truck to add to the two that she'd already set onto the front seat. She'd left the door open to make it much easier to manage. She had just enough time to drop off the sweet treats over at the Community Center before heading home and get into her costume for the Halloween party. All around on Main Street there were already people milling about in costume. Mainly the various shop owners and employees trying to be festive for their customers. She saw several that she felt had a good chance at winning the best costume contest.

As she stepped away from the passenger's side of the truck to close her door she turned and came face to face with a man dressed as Zorro. She was surprised by just how close he was to her already as she turned but what surprised her more was what he was holding in his hand. It was a doll that she'd know anywhere. It was the one that Pauline had made for Crystal for her birthday. The same doll that her daughter hadn't let out of her sight if she could help it ever since.

"I see I have your attention," Kira heard as she focused on the doll. "Now, if you want to see to it that the little girl who owns this relic remains safe and sound, you'll do exactly what I tell you. Otherwise, you'll never see her again. Nod if you understand."

Kira felt her heart race as she reached the conclusion that if this man had the doll that he had her daughter. Not here. He wasn't that stupid. She could physically take the man on, she wondered if he had a weapon that she couldn't see though, but if she did so then she had no doubt that she'd never find her daughter. Trying to calm her nerves she nodded as she tried to fight through the panic rising up in her to reach out to her brother.

"Good. Now, the two of us are going to take a walk over to the alleyway. Don't try anything."

Kira did as she was told. What else could she do? She had dozens of possibilities running through her head. Was Crystal hurt? Scared? Already dead? No, he wouldn't have done that. Not yet. She had to believe that the man in front of her wouldn't hurt an innocent child. Using one as a pawn against her was one thing. Murder was another. When the pair entered into the alleyway, she found a brown sedan with the trunk opened. She had a sneaky suspicion as to why.

"Get in." Kira heard and had her suspicion confirmed.

She fought her own inclination to argue and did what she was told. Until she knew that her daughter was safe there was no way that she could do anything to put her at greater risk. Once Kira was in the trunk, she quickly found her wrists bound and was then gagged. Just as the doll was tossed into the trunk without ceremony Kira tried once more to call out to her brother. She had to let the rest of the Dukes know what was going on. Before she could get a reply, however, Kira's world became a chaotic bout of pain. Eventually everything went dark as she curled in on herself while trying to move as far away from the individual who was inflicting the pain as the cramped space of the trunk allowed. Dark and painful as she was knocked unconscious.

~01~

Kim was finished for the day, so she headed upstairs to get ready for the night's festivities. She had told Crystal that she and Bo would have costumes to match her costume since the other children had all decided to go as a group. Since she was Glenda, the Good Witch of the North she was going as Dorothy and Bo would be the Scarecrow. Daisy even decided to get into the fun by playing the Wicked Witch of the West and had convinced Jesse to dress as the Wizard. As for Luke and Jo, Jo had said that she and Luke were still going back and forth between a couple of ideas so she wouldn't know their costumes until she saw them at the party.

As Kim finished putting her hair in pigtails, she heard the General Lee pull up outside, letting her know that Bo had arrived. She went down to greet her husband and smiled as he stopped in his tracks as she came down the stairs of the clinic. She still found it hard to believe that she could have that effect on anyone, much less Bo Duke.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Like you're ready to break out in a rendition of Over the Rainbow at any minute," Bo said as he moved to give his wife a kiss in greeting. "You finished up early today. I didn't think that you'd be all dressed by the time I got here."

"Well, what can I say? Everyone in town is too busy getting ready for tonight to bother with getting sick or hurt. Let's just hope that everyone in town doesn't decide to change that up after dark," Kim grinned as she pulled back and lightly pushed Bo toward the stairs. "Now it's time for you to get dressed, too. I need my trusty companion by my side."

"Did I really have to be the Scarecrow?"

Kim giggled before asking, "Would you have rather had been the Cowardly Lion or the Tin Man without a heart?"

Bo made a face and went to reply but paused as he swore he felt his sister try to reach out to him. The thing was, though, as soon as the feeling came through it also disappeared. When he tried to call back out to her, he didn't sense anything. No reply, no nothing.

Kim saw the expression on her husband's face change and was concerned. By now she'd long since learned when he and Kira were talking through their very odd connection. "Bo? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. I thought I heard Kira but then it stopped. Now I can't reach her at all."

"Well, we should be able to see her soon at the Community Center. You can ask her about it then."

"Yea, I guess so." Bo remained at the bottom of the stairs for a few more moments before he headed on up to get his costume on. He knew that Kira had kept a wall up ever since Jebb's accident, which made reaching out to her a bit more difficult. And with all that had happened over the weekend as well as Jebb's return to the house he was sure that his sister's nerves were stretched to the limit.

~01~

Jebb wondered if he'd misunderstood Kira's schedule. Maybe she meant that she'd meet them at the Costume Party instead of coming home after she dropped the baked goods off at the Center before the party. After all, why make the trip to town twice? Jebb just wished now that maybe he could have volunteered to get the party food together since he felt uncomfortable being with the kids by himself. Well, maybe not all of the kids. Jay kept shooting daggers at him. He guessed that he could understand. He'd seen him with Jolene when he didn't understand that he and his mother really weren't in the same place right now. Though to be honest, Jebb was a grown man and didn't really understand everything right now.

After loading up the kids and letting them do a little trick-or-treating at some of the farmhouses on the way to town he finally got them to the Community Center. Once there he let them loose knowing that they could have some safe fun along with the other kids from the town. Jebb felt more than a bit out of place since it seemed that he was the only one without a costume of any kind. But then again, when he came to town over the weekend he hadn't exactly planned to stay for Halloween. But he'd decided that if he was going to repair the damage done to his relationships in town then he needed to stay and at least put in a little effort.

When he saw his oldest cousin walk in with his family he chuckled. He and his wife were Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Jebb walked over as Jo helped Faith get her costume adjusted from her ride over to tease Luke.

"I wasn't aware that there'd be any cavemen here tonight. What? No club?"

"Listen, I was given the choice of this or Buzz Lightyear. Jo had planned our costumes long before Faith changed her mind to be a Ninja Turtle. I picked the lesser of two evils."

"Maybe you should have come as the rat," Jebb joked though not being able to remember when he'd seen the Ninja Turtles. But the comment had come out so effortlessly that he was sure that there was a rat involved somehow.

"Nah, I'll keep the caveman set up." Luke said as he made a face at the thought of showing up dressed as a rodent. "So, what are you supposed to be? Where's your costume?"

Jebb shrugged, "I didn't bring one with me when I came to town. I... I hadn't really planned to be here, tonight."

Luke eyed his cousin but didn't respond. He knew that it wasn't easy. Nothing was right now. He didn't need him to harass him over his recent decisions. He'll leave that to Bo. "So, where's Kira? What did she come as?"

Jebb shook his head. "I don't know. She came to town to pick up some of the baked goods for the party and I haven't seen her since. I had thought that she was going to go back home to get dressed but when she didn't show I figured I'd misunderstood her."

"There's Daisy. She'll know." Luke waved at his cousin to have her come over to join the two men. "Daisy, have you seen Kira lately? Jebb figured she just stayed here when she dropped off the food for the party."

Daisy adjusted her long, billowing skirt as she replied, "Kira never showed up with the treats. I mean, we still have plenty but-"

"What do you mean she never showed?" Luke asked in concern. "Jebb, you said she came to town, right?"

"Yes. She came in the truck, planning to get the food while I picked the kids up from school. That was at about, oh, three o'clock, maybe three thirty."

The three Dukes all looked at one another in both confusion as well as concern just as Bo and Kim, too, arrived at the Halloween party.

~01~

Cooter waved at a customer as they drove away. He then turned to close up his garage as he heard Luke Duke's voice spring to life over the CB. He heard him calling out for Kira, or anyone who had seen her lately, asking for her to answer him. When he didn't hear the female Duke respond Cooter's brows lowered in concern. He scanned the streets around the Main Square and spotted her truck near the bakery down the street. Cooter looked around to make sure that no cars were coming down the road before he crossed it and quickly headed toward the truck that belong to the strangely silent Duke.

Cooter walked around the truck and saw that there was no damage, though as close as it was parked to the garage, he had no doubt that if something had been wrong with it that Kira would have asked for him to take a look at it for her. When he looked inside, he saw four large bakery boxes on the front seat. He opened the driver's side door, cranked the trunk to see if it would turn over, turned the truck off again, and reached for the CB to call back to Luke.

"This here's Crazy C callin' out to Lost Sheep. Yea, I found Kira's truck parked over here at the bakery. There are four boxes inside for the party but there's no sign of her anywhere."

There was a pause before Luke came back over the airwaves, "Is there anything wrong with the truck?"

"That'd be a negatory, there, Buddy Roo. It's just like she disappeared. Even her purse is sitting here with the bakery boxes."

"Do me a favor, go over to the courthouse and get Enos. As sheriff, he needs to know that something ain't right. I'll be there as soon as I can. We don't want to scare the kids, so I'll have to make up some excuse to leave the party."

"You got it." Cooter returned the CB mic to the holder and closed his eyes in a silent prayer. What could have caused the mother of three to disappear? He could only hope that she was alright.

~01~

Jebb listened to his cousin's small conversation with Cooter over the CB. Kira had made it to the bakery but apparently never left it with her packages. Instead, something had prevented her from making it the five-minute drive to the Community Center to make her delivery. He didn't know why but he felt an icy hand grip his heart.

"I'm coming, too," Jebb found himself saying before he realized it.

"You'd better stay. If too many of us disappear during the party the kids will start to wonder what's up. I'll just say that I'm goin' over to help Cooter with something." Luke said for not just Jebb but for Bo, too, though he did add to his other cousin, "You keep tryin' to get through to her. If you do, call out on the CB and ask me if I will be back in time for the Costume Contest. Then I'll know that you got through to her and she's safe. If she isn't... Tell me that it's a good thing I'm not here since you don't think I would have won."

Bo nodded as he committed the coded conversations to memory so that he'd be able to keep his older cousin in the loop as soon as he had any information to share. As his cousin left, he spied his uncle and knew that he'd have to be filled in on the fact that his sister had mysteriously disappeared.

Jebb rolled over as he started to drift off to sleep. As he did so, he felt as if something was very wrong. He felt an unexplainable urge to wake back up. Maybe he needed to get up to use the restroom. Jebb rubbed his eyes and sat back up. As he stood up, he caught the smell of smoke. He hadn't started a fire in the fireplace downstairs, had he? Jebb opened the door to the bedroom and instantly panicked. He heard the popping of flames and saw an eerie glow through the darkened hallway. The smoke was already quite thick, and he could feel the heat of the flames, even as he couldn't see them very well.

Jebb coughed and called out to the kids. They must still be asleep in their beds. Ignoring the heat he crept along the wall, as far from the stairwells as he could as he passed them and made his way to the other end of the house where the children's bedrooms were. When he got to Crystal's room, he kicked the partially opened door and charged in, blindly feeling about for the little girl's bed. When he found her, he quickly grabbed her up and was already turning back toward the door as the young girl snapped awake with a shriek.

"Daddy?"

"It'll be alright. We've got to get out of the house," Jebb said between coughing from the thick smoke. "Hang on."

Jebb held his daughter tightly as he sprinted from one bedroom to the other, quickly slamming the door closed behind him with his foot. He saw the opened window and stumbled over to it to take in a breath of fresh air. He put Crystal down at the window carefully.

"Stay right here." Jebb then stumbled over toward the closest bed and began to violently shake the young boy until he was awake. "Wake up. The house is on fire."

Mikey, being the twin easier to wake, sat up in confusion momentarily before he registered what his father had said as well as the popping sounds coming from just outside of the bedroom door. He called out to his brother, both verbally as well as silently, and woke Jay up.

"Dad, what are we going to do?" Mikey asked as he and Jay joined their father and sister at the window.

Jebb knew from his dash down the hall that both stairwells were blocked by fire. He looked out of the window to the large, old oak tree outside of the boys' bedroom. It looked sturdy enough. Though even if it wasn't, falling from the second story window at this point was safer than trying to get out by way of either the front or back door. "Can you boys climb trees?"

Mikey nodded vigorously. "Uncle Jesse says we climb like monkeys!"

"Alright, hop up," Jebb indicated for Mikey to climb up into the windowsill. He then helped the oldest of the children reach out to the limb that was just within reach. Jebb held his breath as he watched the boy's slow creep toward the trunk of the tree. "When you get down to the bottom, run to the car and send out a Mayday on the CB."

Mikey nodded his understanding as he began to scurry down the tree. With his older brother off of the lifesaving limb it was Jay's turn to climb out on the precarious hope of safety. He scooted toward the trunk before asking, "What about Chris?"

After all, his younger sister couldn't climb trees.

"I've got her. You follow your brother," Jebb said as the sound of the door being snapped by the flames behind him popped. Crashing sounds came from overhead in the hall. The fire was swiftly spreading along the second floor of the house. The heat in the room was quickly becoming unbearable. When he saw his younger son start to scramble down the tree Jebb wrapped his arms around the weeping little girl. "Chrissy, hold on tight to my neck, okay."

Crystal's response came in the form a near chokehold as Jebb sat up in the windowsill and reached out to the limb that he was putting the trust of both his and his daughter's weight and life on. As he pulled himself out of the burning room and onto the tree limb, he heard crashing from overhead just outside of the bedroom door. It sounded as if the attic was beginning to collapse onto the second floor. As he left the smoke and flames behind, Jebb was acutely aware of the fact that the limb that he sat on creaked from both the weight that it was supporting as well as the fact that the heat was drying out the wood and making it weaker as he scooted across it. When Jebb finally reached the thick trunk, he let out a brief word of thanks to God before he shifted his daughter onto his back so that he could climb down easier.

Once on the ground he carried Crystal across the yard toward the barn where the car had been parked. Once there he collapsed onto the ground, heaving from exhaustion. He then looked back to the house. Flames were licking the roof with their damaging tongues.

As Jebb felt darkness creep up around him he had one thought as he stared at the burning home. How had this happened?

~01~

When Mikey called out over the CB Cooter had been making a late-night emergency tow and had just gotten back to the garage as the Mayday came over the airwaves. Cooter then alerted Gussy over at the Phone Company to send out a mass call to all of the volunteers for the fire department. He then hopped back into his truck and raced as quickly as he could toward the Duke Farms. When he got to Jebb and Kira's farm he found that the rest of the Duke Men had gone to the farm to try to put out the fire that was still raging in the old farmhouse. In addition, Cooter saw Kim was treating Jebb for some injuries that it appeared that he'd gotten before he had gotten out of the blaze. As he walked up it was clear that Kim was trying to convince the injured Duke to go to the hospital to be checked out and to have his burns treated in a more sterile environment.

"Jebb, both of your feet will need to be bandaged and we need to watch for infection. Plus, you breathed in an awful lot of smoke."

"Kim, you're a doctor. You can deal with all of that here just as well as at the hospital. Besides, I think that the last thing that those kids need right now is for another parent to disappear on them. I've done enough of that in the last month or so to last them a lifetime."

Cooter, while concerned for the Duke, felt a bit of hope, too. That was the closest that he'd heard him sound like the man that he had once been since the racing accident. He'd love to stop and help Kim convince his buddy to head to the hospital, but he knew that he'd be a bigger help with aiding the other men fight back the flames to keep the fire from jumping from the house to the surrounding outbuildings like the barn.

Jesse was watching the three traumatized children, sitting with them with a twin on either side of him at a nearby picnic table and held the little girl in his lap. All three were still trembling from their midnight escape from the burning house. He knew that there was likely nothing to be learned from the fire until the cold light of day. Speaking of cold, the trembling that he felt from the children may not solely be from the fear and trauma of the night.

"Come on. Let's head over to the truck. I'll take you over to the house and get you warmed up and-"

"What about Daddy?" Crystal asked as she stared at her Aunt Kim bandaging up her father's feet.

"I'll have your Aunt Kim drive him over to the house, too. We'll get ya'll set up in the spare room so you can get some sleep." Jesse caught Kim's attention and indicated that he was taking the kids home with him. He knew that the other men would likely be needed to help get Jebb over to the house. In the meantime, there was no reason to keep the children exposed to the horrifying destruction of their home.

~01~

In the morning Jesse got breakfast together for himself, Daisy, and Jimmy. As Jimmy got ready for school Jesse filled Daisy in on the events of the night after she and the little boy had gone to sleep. He told her of the fire, of Jebb and the children's escape, and how he had brought them home and put the kids to bed in the spare room upstairs that they had set up for when all of the kids would sleep over. Daisy was shocked to learn of the fire. Add that to the fact that Kira was missing while the man who had hired men to kill her nearly nine years ago had been released, and Daisy wondered if the fire was an accident or not.

"Enos will be over later on to discuss what he and the fire chief, and investigator find after they're able to get a look at it all in the light of day." Jesse told Daisy that he'd contact her at work when he learned anything. Shortly after Daisy left to take Jimmy to school and head to work with Lulu, Kim and Bo showed up at the house. "The two of you look like you've been busy already this mornin'."

Bo had gone with Kim to the clinic to get the wheelchair that was kept there for the off chance that a patient would need one after coming into the office. Kim knew that many in Hazzard couldn't afford to rent medical equipment like a wheelchairs and crutches, so she kept various equipment on hand to loan out when needed. She knew after treating Jebb's injuries that as soon as his system was devoid of the adrenaline it would be far too painful to walk on his burned feet. She also brought some pain relivers, ointments, and fresh bandages for when the man woke up this morning.

"We never quite went to sleep. The fire wasn't put out until just before sunrise. Luke plans to be out there when Enos and the fire investigator are out there in a little while." Bo sat down at the kitchen table with exhaustion. He felt every bit of the weight of what was going on with the family. First and foremost, the disappearance of his sister. He couldn't reach her and that worried him. What if Shawn has already killed her? What if he and the family never found her? If Kira could, surely, she would have called out to him by now. The fact that she hasn't told him that she couldn't. "Are the kids awake?"

"No," Jesse shook his head. "They refused to go to sleep until they heard you and Luke bring their father home, last night. I expect that they'll sleep for a while, yet. Why don't you two try to go home and get some rest. There isn't anything we can do right now."

Kim was tired as well and knew that she didn't have any appointments for the first half of the day, so she encouraged her husband to take Jesse's suggestion. The two climbed into Kim's car and headed to their small cabin elsewhere on the Duke Farm. Despite the fact that Bo wanted to go out and tear the county apart from one end of it to the other he knew that he was so exhausted that he'd never even be able to drive as far as town. He collapsed onto his bed and was asleep before his wife had even joined him.

~01~

Bo looked around in nothing but shear darkness. Pain from every segment of his body jolted from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. He felt cramped, like his legs were pushed up to his chest. He couldn't stretch out no matter how hard he tried. His hands, though he couldn't see them, felt bound. He tried to call out for help, but no words came out of his mouth. He tasted the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth. He smelled oil, grease, and gasoline over a layer of dirt. Struggling fruitlessly to sit up he felt a sway, as if he were being moved from one side to the other.

He heard mechanical gears grinding. He listened and heard the crunching of metal. Wherever he was felt as if it was lifted up and was moving through the air. When he finally was put back down it was done with a loud thud. Then everything went silent, once more. There was nothing left but the cold whistling breeze that seemed distant to Bo. He was trapped and couldn't move or call for help.

With a jolt up from where he'd slept on his bed Bo woke with a start. He heaved in his breath in huge gasps as sweat poured from his body despite the fact that it was a cool day outside and he hadn't set a fire in the fireplace before going to sleep. As Bo fully woke up, he realized that he had been dreaming but it wasn't a regular dream. He was connected to his sister. He was experiencing what she was. Or had.

Bo tried to call out to his sister without success once more. He concentrated on the dream as he quickly stood up and headed into the living room to find something to write everything down that he could remember. He didn't want to miss a single clue. This was his only chance to find his sister before it was too late. Because it can't be too late. Not yet.

After Enos left the burned-out farmhouse Luke headed over to the main farm to talk to his uncle and Jebb and fill them in on what he'd learned.

"The best that they can figure, there were two points if origin for the fire."

"Two?" Jesse asked in confusion. "Where did it start?"

"According to the investigator there was a fire started at the center of each of the stair wells. That drew the flames and the smoke on up to the second floor."

Jebb listened intently as he inferred what his cousin was implying with a hard look on his face. "Someone set that fire on purpose, knowing that the kids were up there."

Jo had joined the rest of the Dukes after she'd dropped Faith off at school. Once she'd gotten back out to the farm, she learned that Jesse had sent Kim and Bo to get some rest since they had yet to get any rest since the fire broke out. When she heard that someone tried to kill the young Duke Children, she was both terrified at the idea and angry.

"Why would anyone want to do that to the kids? What kind of evil person would want to harm children? Much less kill them in their sleep?"

Luke put his hand on his wife's hand while they sat next to one another at the kitchen table. "Enos told me that he contacted Shawn Kyle's parole officer. He is supposed to be bringing him in for a sit down and chat to see if he can explain where he's been for the last twenty-four hours."

"You think that he's behind the fire?" Jo asked.

Luke nodded. "I can't think of anyone else who would be evil enough to want to kill the kids."

Jebb lowered his head as he thought about what could have happened the night before. "So how do we find him?"

Jesse's brow raised. He tried to sound stern but secretly he was glad to see this side of Jebb sneaking back. "We? I hate to tell you this but according to Kim you're goin' to be in that chair for over a week, maybe two, until the burns on your feet heal up."

"Besides," Luke added, "He lives all the way in Atlanta. He likely headed back there right after setting the fire. We'll have to let the Atlanta police department deal with him there. Right now, what we have to concentrate on is-" Luke was interrupted by the sound of the General pulling up and braking hard right in front of the house. It was quickly followed by Bo running inside at high speed, all out of breath. Luke had seen that look in Bo's eyes before. "Bo, what's wrong?"

"I think that Kira's in a junkyard! Come on, we've got to go looking for her," Bo shouted as he tugged on his cousin's arm.

"What makes you think that she's in a junkyard?" Luke asked since Bo's declaration seemed to come out of nowhere. "Did you talk to Kira?"

"Not exactly. I had this dream and well-"

"Whoa! Hold up?" Jebb asked as he tried to get both of his cousins' attention while Kim entered the kitchen after having gotten out of the General Lee at a more sedate fashion than her husband. "Luke, why would you ask Bo if he's talked to Kira if we don't know where she is?"

The Dukes all exchanged looks with one another. While Jebb was healing up they had purposefully neglected to fill him in in the unusual trait of some of the twins in the Duke Family possess. They had felt that, at the time, Jebb had enough on his plate while trying to trigger his past memories. Then as time wore on, it had just been forgotten that he was no longer privy to that detail regarding Kira and Bo as well as Jay and Mikey.

Jesse decided that he'd take it upon himself to answer his nephew's question. "It all started with my brothers, Michael and Jeremiah. They were twins, just like Bo and Kira; just like Mikey and Jay." Jesse raised his hand to stop Jebb's question in his eyes from making it to his lips since he knew that Jebb couldn't see the connection between them as of yet. "They were born with an uncanny connection. One might even say supernatural. I've heard of other twins who seemed to know when their twin was hurt, or even had died, from miles away; but growing up, my brothers were the only ones whom I knew of firsthand. They had a connection that allowed them to know when the other was hurt or sad; even allowed them to carry on whole conversations without having to utter a single word." Jesse motioned toward Bo before he continued. "Do you remember when you and Bo were younger? Do you remember that Bo had, what we thought was, an imaginary friend?"

Jebb looked confused as he replied, "Yes. Luke and I used to tease him that he'd invented a friend who was girl."

"Do you remember what her name was?" Jesse prodded.

"That was a long time ago... Let's see... I think it was-" Jebb looked sharply between his cousin and uncle as he recalled that Bo's imaginary friend's name had been Kira. "Wait a minute! You're not sayin'-"

Jesse nodded. "The same Kira that we later found to be his long-lost sister."

Bo watched as his cousin took in what he'd just been told. He figured that Jebb might as well learn the rest of it, too. "It seems to be passed down from one twin with the ability to another set. Mikey and Jay have it, as well. It's one reason why Kira had the boy's placed into separate classes this year. The temptation to help one another out on tests seemed to be a bit too much for them."

"Prove it." Jebb couldn't believe what he was being told about not only his wife and cousin but his children as well.

"We can do that later," Luke interjected. "Now, Bo, what's this about a dream? What did you see? What makes you think that she's in a junkyard?"

Bo pulled out the slip of paper that he'd jotted down what he could remember when he woke up from his dream. He hadn't wanted to miss any detail. "It's dark and cramped, like a trunk. I clearly heard the sound of mechanical gears grinding and the sound of metal crunching. The kind of sound that a car crusher makes. I smelled oil, grease, and gasoline. What other place would fit?"

Luke thought hard on what his cousin was telling him. "Even if you're right, there's three junkyards in and around Hazzard alone. And we have no idea if Kira is even in Hazzard, any longer. And if she's in a trunk, do you know how many cars could be in a single junkyard? It could take days just going through all the cars in one of them."

"I thought of that. But if I get close enough, hopefully I can sense her a bit. Kira and I have worked on this some over the last few years. Then if we don't find her here in Hazzard then we just head toward Atlanta and try the junkyards between here and there. Not to mention, we can ask the operators of the junkyards if anything is out of place."

That comment caught Jo by surprise and had to ask, "How would anyone know if something is out of place in a junkyard?"

Luke took it upon himself to explain to his wife, not being able to hold back a smirk. "Junkyards have an order to the chaos. Otherwise, they wouldn't be useful for folks when they need to buy a part for their car. So scrapped bodies with decent parts won't be in the same sections as cars that are good shells but have had anything worthwhile stripped already. That way when you go in and look for a decent chassis, you'd go to one area while if you need a transmission, you'd go to another section. If someone took a car to a junkyard with the intent to hide it, they wouldn't know the system of that particular junkyard. They'd hide it not realizing that there are indicators that it shouldn't be there."

Jo took in the explanation and nodded. Her husband and his cousins have practically grown up around junkyards, tinkering with cars and car parts for most of their lives. This would be an area that they would be well versed in.

"One thing that we need to do, first," Jebb spoke up from where he'd been mulling over the fact that it seemed that the kids were nearly in as much danger as Kira was from this man who appears to have kidnapped her. "We have to get the kids out of Hazzard. Just in case this Shawn Kyle guy comes back. If he planned to kill them last night, he might come back when he hears that he didn't succeed. Uncle Jesse, I think that you should take them to my parents'."

"But if he is close enough to know that the kids survived, he'd be close enough to find out where we might take them," Kim spoke up instead from where she'd started to change Jebb's bandages.

"Do you have any other suggestions?" Jebb asked from his chair as he winced as the wraps were pulled away from his raw flesh.

"I think I do. A good place to hide that no one who hadn't grown up in Hazzard would think of."

Luke's eyes lit up at what he felt Kim was suggesting. "The old Indian caves."

Kim nodded, "There are hundreds of them and if someone didn't know exactly which one the kids were in, they could search for weeks and never find them."

"The cave that I gave birth to Faith in," Jo piped in as she recalled the cave that Kim had taken her to in an effort to escape a tornado when she was in labor. "I can stay out there with the kids until it's safe to bring them back out to the house. I'll just make sure that I get my gun to keep on me just on the off chance that he shows up."

Luke knew that his wife would be very capable of protecting the kids; being a former Marine, herself. "I'll go out with you to set up some old shiner's early warning systems to let you know if anyone is getting close and get you and the kids settled in. Daisy can pick Faith up when she gets Jimmy. Don't be surprised if she decides to join you with them. We'll go ahead and get everything together and prepare for them to join these three, as well. Just in case." Luke turned toward Bo and directed, "You head out to town and pick up Cooter. He knows about you and Kira, and he'd be able to help you with the junkyard that he and his cousins run. I'll catch up to you when I get the kids and Jo settled in."

Bo wanted his cousin to join him, but he understood that at the moment he was needed to help secure the children. Especially since they didn't know where Shawn Kyle was at the moment. And since Cooter had been a part of the search for Kira during her kidnapping nearly nine years ago, he would be able to help in this search without asking any questions about why Bo would want to search some areas and discount others.

"Alright. Take your time. Make sure that the boys and Chrissy are safe. I'll report in if we find anything." With that Bo turned and headed out to the General and raced to town.

Once Bo was gone Luke and Jesse started to get some supplies together that Jo and the children would need. While they were busy doing that Jo went to her and Luke's house to gather a few things as well while Jebb pulled the kids aside to talk to them. Once he did, he realized that Jay had been eavesdropping and had heard the adults discuss their plans while his older brother had been keeping Crystal occupied.

"Is momma goin' to be alright?" Jay asked as Jebb pulled Crystal into his lap.

Jebb saw the look of concern on the young boy's face. He wanted to tell them anything other than the fact that he just didn't know. "She will be if your uncles have any say in it. Now, the three of you are goin' to go camping with your Aunt Jo. When you come back, all of this will be settled and-"

"Why would someone want to burn our house down?" Jay asked since he'd heard his Uncle Luke tell the rest that the fire hadn't been an accident. "Is that why we're goin' campin'? So, the man doesn't burn down this house, too?"

Jebb closed his eyes momentarily as he tried to figure out how to explain this very complicated situation to the children since all three of them were now looking to him for answers. Somehow, those eyes boring into him made him feel more helpless than sitting in the wheelchair with burned feet.

"You heard all that, huh?"

Jay nodded before tilting his head to listen as his uncles quickly gathered together some of their clothes that had been kept at the house for sleepovers or accidents as well as food from the kitchen. All of it was being taken out to their Uncle Jesse's pickup truck to take it and them out toward the Indian caves. His parents have taken them out to some before. At that time, it had been for some fun, but he and the other children had been told to never go in them without their parents so that they wouldn't get lost in them.

"Jaybird, I don't know what would make a person do such bad things. But since there's someone like that around, we're goin' to make sure that you and the others are safe until he can't do anymore bad things. Your Aunt Jo will watch over you while your uncles find your mother and make sure she's safe, too. For now, just think of your campin' trip as an adventure. And, hey, you are going to get to stay out of school during this, too. So, there's that, right?"

The boys exchanged looks with one another. Somehow, their father didn't sound so convinced that everything would turn out alright. That in turn meant that they weren't convinced. But for their sister's sake, they didn't say anything else.

In no time at all, it seemed, the pickup had the supplies needed loaded into the back. Jo drove the pickup with the kids while Luke drove in behind her in the Mustang so that once he was finished helping her set up in the Indian cave, he'd be able to go and catch up with Bo. The group drove toward the Hatchapee County line and once they neared the Indian caves Luke hid the car before hopping into the back of the pickup truck as Jo drove it the rest of the way towards the caves just a bit further away from the road. They found a set of caves as well as an outcropping of boulders. Luke indicated which cave for Jo to pull up at and stop. The two then set to work unloading the supplies that they hoped would only be needed for a very short time. But they knew that they'd best be prepared in case this turned into an extended camping trip.

With that done, Luke then began setting up strings attached to tin cans along the perimeter of the small makeshift campsite. When he'd finished, he took the children along the lines so that they knew how far they'd be able to go without setting off the old shiner's alarms. He knew that they'd get restless if they were told that they had to stay in the cave, which they will be, and will likely want to play outside. Particularly if this situation becomes prolonged. He figured that it would be best to go ahead and assume that they'll sneak out and let them see where the perimeter had been set up.

Jo set the campsite up as comfortably as she could for the children. The children and she each had a sleeping bag and a few board games and toys had been brought from the farmhouse to keep the kids occupied. Kim had even found a few books that the boys would be able to practice their reading while in isolation with. The cave that was chosen had an airshaft further in the back which would serve as an appropriate chimney for the fire. By not having the fire set at the cave's entrance, even if someone came looking for the children by using the smoke, it would be harder to find which cave entrance was connected to the campfire.

The truck was then backed into the boulders and covered to camouflaged it so that it wouldn't be noticed until you were right up on it. Afterwards, both portable CBs that were being left behind were double checked to make sure that they were in good working order. With that done, Luke reluctantly headed out to join his cousin to look for the missing Duke. His wife was guarding the younger members of the family who had been put in danger the night before. It felt so odd to see Jo with her pistol on her hip after all of this time being out of the Marines, but he knew from experience that she could shoot the wings off of a bee at amazing distances. If there was anyone that those kids would be safe with, it would be his wife.

Luke contacted Bo via the CB and learned which of the local junkyards he and Cooter were at to meet them. The pair had discounted the first of the three in the surrounding area nearly right off of the bat. The one closest to town didn't have a crusher, currently. It had broken down last week and the parts for it were backordered. That meant that it hadn't been the crusher that Bo had heard in his dream. Cooter had long ago learned to not ask too many questions when it came to the uncanny connections of the Duke Twins. Though it had been a while since it had been the older pair of twins who astounded him.

When the search party got to the second junkyard Bo did his best to call out to his sister. The fact that he couldn't get her to respond to him still was causing a different level of panic to rise up in him. He had to control it, though, since he knew that panic would block him from contacting Kira. He wondered if that was why she couldn't respond as well or if there was another reason for her silence.

"I'll go and get a car ready for the crusher. That way if it's the same machine, hopefully you'll be able to tell." Cooter headed over to the crusher's controls to check things out as Bo called out a reminder.

"Don't forget to check to make sure it's empty!"

Cooter shot him a look that said that he'd already planned on it but kept his mouth shut since he knew that his buddy was under a lot of stress as it was. Instead, he got a car that was scheduled to be crushed and put it in the beast and turned it on. From his position, when the machine was turned on, he could tell that this wasn't the right one by Bo's reaction to the sound of the gears grinding. Cooter wasn't sure just how he knew it wasn't the right one, but it was clear that Bo was certain. So off to the next one, and hope that they found the missing woman there.

~01~

Jebb sat aggravated in his chair as he knew that most of the rest of the family were all out either looking for Kira or were watching over the children to make sure that they remained safe until the man who apparently hated Kira so much that he'd not only strike out at her, but her children as well was captured. He couldn't remember feeling so helpless in his whole life. He looked down at the fresh bandages that Kim had wrapped his burned feet and legs and groaned as it felt as if his burned flesh knew that they were being looked at, so they flashed over in pain as a result. Jebb rolled his chair away from the window in frustration only to realize that his Uncle Jesse was watching him.

"Kim left some pills to help with the pain when she left the antibiotics. Why don't you take some to help take the edge off?"

"I don't think so, Uncle Jesse." Jebb shook his head. He knew his uncle was just wanting to help him, but he really didn't want to take any pills. "Any word on the others, yet?"

"They've not been gone long. I'm sure that we'll know the moment that they know somethin'. But since we're alone, why don't we talk for a bit?"

"What about?"

"Well, I know from talkin' to your daddy that you didn't plan on comin' back."

Jebb looked away, back toward the window. "Mikey wanted me to be in town for Jay's race."

"And that's all?" Jesse watched the back of his nephew hoping to see something, anything, that would tell him that he'd come back to Hazzard to stay. Instead Jebb just shrugged awkwardly. "Jebb, are you sayin' that if it wasn't for Kira's disappearance and the fire last night that you'd have already gone home?"

Jebb thought over the question. If he'd been asked the same question a couple of days ago, he would have said yes. Now… He just wasn't sure. The flash of memory when he found that paperwork regarding Shawn Kyle's parole seemed to have triggered something in him. He still couldn't remember much but it was like that didn't really matter right now.

Jebb looked around as if the answers to the numerous questions that have gone through his head in the last several weeks were hanging in the air around him. When he did, he spied the crutches that Kim had left for him when he needed to go to the bathroom since it wasn't designed to give room for a wheelchair in there. Standing on his feet supported only by the crutches was sheer agony but at the moment he didn't care. He wheeled over to them as he called over his shoulder to his uncle.

"I've got to go clear my head. I'm goin' for a drive."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jebb."

"I'm just goin' as far as the house. I got to see it for myself." With that Jebb hobbled out the door while biting back the pain that being on his feet caused. He had to get out of the house before his uncle asked him anymore difficult questions to which he didn't have the answers to.

~01~

Luke watched on helplessly as his cousin tried to reach out to his missing sister. This was the last of the junkyards within an easy drive of Hazzard County. It was just on the other side of the county line in Riverdale County. Cooter had convinced the worker at the junkyard to get a car ready for the crusher, though Luke wasn't sure how since he couldn't exactly tell him that Bo needed to hear it so that he could tell if it was the same one from his vision of Kira. When the crusher's gears revved up Bo's eyes snapped open at the sound.

"She's here, Luke. Somewhere, Kira's here!"

Luke knew better than to ask how Bo knew but he had to ask, "But where? There are hundreds of cars here, and thousands of places to hide someone. Where do we even start?"

Bo grabbed up a crowbar and headed off toward the closest car and pried the trunk opened. "Anywhere."

"But we have to figure out a better way than just open all of the trunks without a plan," Luke said as he glanced over toward Cooter where he was still speaking to the employee of the junkyard. Cooter must have guessed by Bo's reaction and prying open the trunk that the crusher was the right one. "Look! The guy's pointing toward the other end of the yard. There might be something amiss in that area."

The three men headed off toward where the worker had indicated, and Cooter explained that he'd noticed a car seemed out of place back there. Three cars up in a stack was a brown foreign made car in an area that only had Fords stored. It was when Bo saw the car sway slightly in the breeze that he remembered the sound of the wind blowing in his dream. That car had to be it. Cooter got behind the controls of the crane and moved the car down onto the ground where both Dukes worked together to pry the trunk open. When they did what they saw turned their stomach.

Inside the trunk was the missing woman. She was bound, gagged, and had clearly been beaten with an object of some kind. Dried blood covered her swollen face, making her identity impossible to discern from looks alone.

"Oh God!" Bo panicked at the sight. Were they too late? He reached forward to try to find a pulse, but he pulled his hand back when he felt how cold Kira's skin already was. He looked down toward Kira's hands and saw that she was clutching something in her hands. He heard Luke scream to Cooter to call an ambulance as he tried to pull the doll from his sister's hands. They were frozen tightly though so Bo left it where it was. "This must have been how he got her to cooperate. Kira wouldn't have fought back if she thought that it would put one of the kids in danger."

Luke searched for a pulse as he considered what the doll's presence meant. Crystal had lost her doll at school. That meant that Shawn Kyle had been at the kids' school and could have easily grabbed one of them there without any of them being the wiser. He made a mental note to contact Daisy and tell her to get Jimmy and Faith out of school just to be safe until the bastard was found.

Finally, Luke found the slight indicator that Kira was still alive; barely. "Cooter! How about callin' for Kim? She might can get here before the ambulance."

Bo swallowed hard as he heard his cousin's orders. "Hang on, Kira. We'll get you to the hospital soon. But you've got to hang on."

~01~

Jebb pulled the truck up at the house that he'd lived in for most of the last decade and stared at the house in disbelief. The second story and the attic were completely gone. The blaze had overtaken them and reduced much of it to ash. The bottom floor would be ruined from the smoke, soot, and water damage from the battle against the flames.

Sitting in the truck he felt like Kira was sitting right beside of him. Was it a memory?

"Jebb, if you keep bringing us here, Hansen is gonna have to start chargin' ya rent."

"No, he ain't." Kira raised an eyebrow at Jebb. "Remember how you said that you'd be willing to live anywhere?" Kira looked outside the truck looking around the old farmyard. "Well, how about Hazzard?"

"I figured that you'd want to live in Placid, closer to your folks."

"Well, I chose Hazzard for a couple of reasons. One, I think that for the sake of everyone livin' in Georgia, it's best to put as many counties between you and my mother as possible." Jebb laughed at the look Kira gave him for that comment. "Two, I've always said that if given the choice, I'd like to live here in Hazzard. No matter where a Duke lays his head, this corner of the state will always be home."

Jebb could, remember the excitement of that day. This house was something that he knew Kira had never had, a home. Staring at the house, he could smell the varnish that he'd put down on the floors. Remember hearing the kids screaming from one room to another. Rooms that were no more. Glancing out into the yard he could even swear that he had a memory of a food fight. But that was rubbish, and he knew it. Dukes never waste food.

He knew that it would cause him pain, but he felt the need to get out of the truck and walk through the debris. He hobbled toward the house and felt waves of nostalgia as he saw some of the kids' toys in the yard. He hoped that they'd be able to save some of them for the children. The sharp, acrid stench of the burned wood filled his nostrils as Jebb walked with his crutches up the back steps that would lead into the kitchen. Or what was left of the kitchen. Part of the ceiling was collapsed toward the hall to the dining room where the family dinners took place. Off to the side was Kira's office. The door was hanging barely on its hinges. He knew that the family would have to try to salvage what they could from the office as well.

He wanted to walk further into the house but knew that to do so would be reckless while on crutches. Jebb stepped out of the kitchen door and was met by an intense sense of pain as he felt a large weight crash into his side, causing him to fall off of the steps onto the hard ground.

By the time that Enos and Cletus showed up to take Shawn Kyle away Cooter had gotten close enough to Hazzard to share the news that the Duke Boys had found Kira and had taken her by way of an ambulance to the hospital. So once the law officers left with their prisoner Jesse and Jebb headed to the hospital to see what condition Kira was in. As soon as they arrived Kim took Jebb aside to re-bandage his burned, and now bloody, feet while the other men filled their uncle in on just what they knew.

"Jebb, you weren't supposed to be up on your feet, yet," Kim admonished as she did what she could to treat her brother-in-law.

Jebb rolled his eyes while Kim's attention was directed at his feet. "I couldn't just sit in that danged wheelchair and do nothin'. I figured just goin' over to see what's left of the house wouldn't hurt none. Didn't expect to get into a fight while out there. But at least Shawn's been taken into custody, now."

"That is a relief." Kim frowned as she finished cleaning the opened wounds on Jebb's feet. "I hate to tell you this, but you've got a nasty infection starting. I'm going to have to admit you until we get it under control."

"I really don't think that's necessary, Kim." Jebb tried to convince the woman who was his sister-in-law. When he did her eyes took on a determined look that actually had him flinch.

"Jebb, you're hurt more than you realize. First from the fire; you were borderline needing to go to the burn unit over in Atlanta. If it wasn't for the kids and everything else going on, I wouldn't have hesitated in sending you there, last night. Now you've busted the blisters and the thin skin that was left. You can either be admitted here where I can try to do what I can to keep you from getting worse or I'll sign the transfer papers right now to have you sent over to the burn unit over in Fulton County."

Jebb's mouth hung open, not able to believe that this was the same, sweet, quiet woman who had married his cousin, Bo. She always seemed like such a pushover but here she was asserting herself in a way that left him little doubt that she'd do exactly what she threatened and more if he didn't cooperate. He could now see her still as that young girl who used to routinely exchange insults with Bo when they were all growing up. She could still spit fire if she felt that she needed to. Okay, so maybe this is his how she handled his younger cousin.

"Alright, alright. Fine. I'll stay. But what about Kira? What's goin' on with her? Cooter told us that Bo and Luke brought her in. Where is she?" Jebb held up his hands in surrender as he spoke.

"She's in surgery right now to locate and stop any internal bleeding." Kim then went on to explain her initial diagnosis for her sister-in-law. "She'll be in for a fight when she gets out. All we'll be able to do is wait and see if she's able to pull through. She'll need more surgeries, but we'll address them as her system will be able to handle them."

Jebb swallowed hard after hearing of Kira's varied injuries and the prognosis for her recovery. Kim's tone told him all he needed to know as to what the odds were. "Do me a favor. Since I've got to be here, anyway, could you put us in the same room?"

"I already planned to do that. I asked for a double room since I knew that someone from the family will be here while's she's here. I'll go ahead and get you set up in there. They'll bring Kira in after she's out of surgery." Kim gave a small smile as she left Jebb in the treatment area as she went to get someone to help transport him to the room that will be Kira's for the foreseeable future.

~01~

Luke announced to the women and children that he was coming when he approached the Indian Cave that the family was all hidden away in. When he caught sight of his wife, he gave a slight nod before he directed his attention to the children. His daughter jumped up into his arms, so he carried her back toward the cave as he spoke to the three who had first been hidden away for their own safety.

"Well, I thought that you'd want to know, kids. We found your momma and the person who started that fire last night. Ya'll are safe and don't have anything to worry about, no more."

"Is she okay?" Jay asked since his uncle hadn't said that she was. Just that she was found.

Luke didn't want to lie to the child. He didn't know that Kira would be alright. "Well, she's goin' to be at the hospital for a while so that your Aunt Kim can take care of some things that need watchin' after. Speakin' of which, your dad didn't listen to her about the burns on his feet, so she's made him go to the hospital, too. He was up walkin' around after he was told not to be. You know how your aunt can be when folks don't listen to her about takin' care of their health, don't you?"

The kids nodded since they have each seen how their sweet aunt also was very serious about people doing what she tells them to do when they were sick or hurt. "So does that mean we go back to the farm, now?" Mikey asked since he was just getting used to the idea of camping out in the cave.

"Well, I was going to let you if you wanted but I thought that since you don't have to go back to school for the rest of the week that we might just go ahead and have fun. Getting a little camping in before it gets much colder. I even have the twenty-twos to go squirrel huntin' if you want."

"I want to go see momma," Crystal whined as she thought about her choices. She didn't want to stay in the cave anymore if her uncle said she didn't have to. And she wanted to see her mother.

"Your Aunt Kim said that no one will be able to see your momma today. Maybe tomorrow, Chris," Luke said though he knew that the kids would need to be prepared for the fact that Kira won't be awake when the kids eventually went to see her. But he'd save that for later. Fortunately, Daisy spoke up, after all, she'd been filled in a little bit when she was first contacted to get the kids out of school. She knew that the kids would need a bit of a good distraction while they couldn't see their mother.

"Well, since we don't have to stay out here in the chill, anymore, how about I take you and Jimmy back to the house. I think we could use a nice, warm bowl of soup."

"Tomato?" Jimmy asked his mother. "With a cheese sandwich?"

Daisy smiled at the simple request. "With the crust cut off."

"Yay!" Jimmy grabbed Crystal's hand before they got ready to run in the direction of where his mother's Jeep was hidden so that they could head back to the farm.

"I want to stay with the boys," Faith said as she looked up at her mother and then her father. "Can I?"

Luke grinned since his daughter had the tendency to want to do whatever her older cousins did. "Boys? What do you say? Are we goin' to camp out?"

Jay and Mikey both mulled over their options. Their home was burned down so they would likely be going back to the main farmhouse. With both parents in the hospital, yet not allowed to go there tonight, they really didn't think that they wanted to just go back to the farm and worry about chores and listen to their little sister play with their cousins. And it had been a while since they'd had squirrel stew. So, they would camp out. But they wanted to see their mother as soon as they were allowed.

~01~

Jebb got settled in the double room that he and Kira were assigned to in the hospital. The hospital was starting to phase out the multiple occupant rooms in favor of more private rooms just as other hospitals around the country were. Tri-county still had a few double occupant rooms, though, for those who couldn't afford the more expensive private rooms. Once in the room Jebb was left alone while waiting for Kira's surgery to finish. When she was finally rolled into the room and transferred over onto the bed in the room Jebb was starting to drift off to sleep. Though the moment that the nursing staff brought her into the room all thoughts of sleep were forgotten. He stayed on his side of the room while the nurses got Kira transferred from the gurney to the bed and got her settled.

Once he was alone with his unconscious wife he carefully got up from his bed as he listened to the quiet of the night. Kira had been in surgery for several hours. No doubt Kim and Bo had seen Kira while she was in post-op before she was brought to the room. Jebb sat on the edge of the bed, partially due to the pain emanating from his burned and bandaged feet and got his first look at the damage that Shawn Kyle had inflicted on his wife. Kim had told him that Kira had turned onto her left side during the attack while she was in the trunk of the car that she'd been found in, thus protected much of that side but had left her entire right side open to the assault. Both her right arm and leg had several breaks in them. He knew that Kira also had multiple broken ribs, as well.

The most startling evidence of the attack, however, was Kira's face. It was swollen beyond recognition. Now he understood why Kim had stated that she would need at least two surgeries to reconstruct her face. Briefly he thought about the children. If they saw their mother like this, it wouldn't alleviate their concerns for her at all; in fact, it was likely to scare them. He knew that it had that effect on him, actually.

How had she been able to survive the attack this far? Jebb gingerly brushed some of Kira's hair aside, almost afraid to hurt her further just with his touch.

"Kira," Jebb whispered as he caught a crack in his voice. "I don't know if you can hear me but if you can, fight. I know you've fought for most of your life, but you need to fight now more than you ever have fought before. The kids need you... I need you." Jebb watched for any reaction to his confession. "I still don't remember everything, Kim told me that I likely have regained most of what I can, but I remember enough. Enough to know that we had a happy life and that life without you wouldn't be the same. I've heard it said that there is someone out there for everyone and if you are lucky, then you find that one person that you're meant to be with. I've been lucky. I was a fool to not realize that sooner. And if you'll just wake up and let me, I'll make it up to you for all of the pain that you've been through for the last several months."

He knew that she was still heavily sedated but that didn't prevent him from being a little disappointed at the lack of response that he got. The only sound in the room was the rhythmic beeps of the machine monitoring her heart rate as well as the one doing the breathing for her.

"That's alright. Sleep. Rest. Do what you have to do to fight your way back. Until then, you won't be alone. You'll never be alone again."

Luke followed in behind the three siblings as they scrambled into their parents' room at the hospital, eagerly rushing in to see them. He had finished packing up the gear from the impromptu campsite that he and the twins and his daughter had been at for the last two nights. He'd been able to keep the boys busy for the two days for the most part; only having to answer the occasional question about their mother. He'd like to keep the kids distracted a bit longer, but he considered himself lucky to have been able to do so for the extra day that he promised the rest of the family while they waited to see how Kira would fare from her harrowing ordeal.

Luke had dropped his daughter off with his wife and drove the children to the hospital hoping that they'd be reassured that their mother would be alright, eventually. The disappointment of seeing only their father when they made it inside was clear as Luke watched the three come to a halt in the hospital room. Still, the youngest went ahead and climbed into her father's lap where he was sitting on the side of the bed; still with his feet bandaged.

"Where's mom?" Mikey asked since he and his siblings had been told that they were coming to see her as well.

Jebb glanced at Luke subconsciously even though he knew that his older cousin wasn't aware of the most recent events at the hospital. Kira had been taken back into surgery to relieve the pressure from her brain swelling; a holdover from the beating that she'd taken at Shawn Kyle's hand with the tire iron. An Intracranial Pressure Monitor had been placed during a previous surgery. When the doctors had come in to check on Kira just after breakfast it indicated that Kira's brain was once more swelling and needed to be addressed.

"The doctors had to take your mother for a quick look to make sure that everything is healing up the way it needs to be." Jebb looked up at the clock to see what time it was. He'd been told that the operation was expected to be finished over an hour ago. He'd hoped that his wife would have been returned to the hospital room by the time that the children were brought to visit. "She should be back any time, now."

Luke caught Jebb's eye and knew that his cousin couldn't tell him but at the same time he understood that the reasoning behind Kira's absence was more concerning than he was telling the children. He made a mental note to call Kim after he took the children back to Jesse. He figured that he'd try to divert their attention.

"So, how's your feet healing up, Jebb? Is Kim goin' to let you out of here any time soon?"

Jebb looked down at his bandaged feet briefly. "She said that I'll be released by the end of the weekend so long as I promise to stay off of my feet. Of course, she'll be over to check and change the bandages a couple times every day. From then, it looks like these boys are goin' to have me as a roommate in the spare room that has always been set up for the kids in the family. Looks like I'll be sleeping in one of the bottom bunks. You know, I can't remember the last time I slept in a bunk bed."

Luke chuckled at the mental image of his cousin sharing the room with the twins with the two bunk-beds set up in it. Crystal had been staying with Faith this week, but she likely will decide to go stay with her father once he was out of the hospital. That meant that all three children will be sharing a room with their father until they can rebuild their home. Once Kira was well enough to leave the hospital that room will be more than just a little tight.

"Just make sure you are careful waking up. Don't sit up too fast. You'll bust your head. You're just a bit taller than the youngens."

"Maybe Dad should sleep in the top bunk, instead?" Jay suggested with a grin.

"Yeh, somehow I don't think that would be much better." Luke chuckled.

Mikey nudged his brother and pretended to whisper, "He'll forget he's on a bunk and fall out when he goes to stand up. What a way to wake up."

"Gee, thanks, Mike. I'm sure you'd find that hilarious, too."

"Yep!" Mikey giggled as he mimicked his father's potential fall from the bed and collapse to the floor, causing both of his siblings and his uncle to join in the laughter.

"Something tells me that I'll be safer if I sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor," Jebb said sarcastically. He was about to say something else when the door opened to reveal some nurses bringing Kira in by way of a gurney. Jebb motioned for the children to hop up onto his bed to keep them out of the way as she was transferred back to her hospital bed. Her head was bandaged but there were no other outward signs that she'd just been in surgery. The rest of the family had already prepared the children for the sights of the tube that helped Kira to breathe.

Once the nurses had finished with setting Kira back up, they told Jebb that someone would be in to talk to him later after his company was gone. The nurses had been told ahead of time that he didn't want to worry the children needlessly and he appreciated their discretion. He convinced the children that their mother was merely sleeping but he knew that even without the medication given before and during her surgery, Kira wasn't just asleep. Kim had told him that she had been put into a medically induced coma to allow her system to try to heal from her injuries. Jebb wasn't sure how to explain that to the kids, so he'd rather not have to at all. At least for the time being. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to explain it at all.

~01~

A few days later, at the heirloom farm, Jebb tucked the kids into their beds for the first time after their home had burned. The boys were both on the top bunks while Crystal was on one of the bottom bunks. He, himself, would take the other one when he returned upstairs to get some sleep for himself. He leaned against the door-frame with his crutches and watched the children sleep for a few moments. The last week had seemed to throw everything up into even more chaos than it had been beforehand; and he hadn't thought that would have been possible just seven days prior.

"Jebb," a deep, soft, yet thunderous voice spoke up from behind him. Jebb turned and saw that his uncle was standing behind him. "You know you ain't supposed to be up on your feet."

"I know. I'm on my way back downstairs." Jebb adjusted the crutches under his arms as he moved away from the doorway and headed toward the stairs. He hated the fact that he needed them to take some of his weight off of his damaged feet. Still, it was some progress to not be relegated to the hospital bed; even if he knew that Kim hadn't been happy about sending him home. She'd carefully weighed sending him to the farm with the needs of his children to have one parent that appeared to be mostly recovered from their harrowing week.

Once the two Duke men were downstairs with Daisy, they sat at the table to drink a cup of coffee while discussing the plans of rebuilding the house that had been set on fire. Daisy set Jebb's cup down in front of him as she informed him what Luke and Bo had determined regarding the other house.

"Luke seems to think that much of the lower level can be salvaged. There's a lot of water damage along with smoke but nothing that can't be fixed. He's already called Coy to see if he'd be able to come and help with the work. Vance is out to sea for the next several months but Coy has already agreed to come down. Even General Hart said that when he comes down for Faith's birthday next weekend that he'd stick around to do what he can."

Daisy wasn't sure why she had been surprised to hear of the latter's staying for the razing of the burned-out parts of the other farmhouse. He had taken to the family over the years as if he'd always been a part of them; though it did help when Enos became the sheriff after Boss's death. He never was comfortable with the idea of unjust arrests being a part of normal life for a Duke in Hazzard.

"That's good news. With the family coming in, in a couple of weeks, for Thanksgiving we'll have a few more hands to help with the cleanup. Then after the start of the year we can get started with the rebuildin'," Jesse said. He hoped that by that time Jebb would once more be on his feet, without the need for the crutches. He knew his nephew would be hard to keep still until then.

Jebb nodded as he couldn't help but wonder how much of that time his wife would be stuck in the hospital. The farmhouse had been Kira's first real home and it didn't feel right to be planning the rebuilding of it without her input. Nor would he be capable of doing much of the work on the house himself for a while.

~01~

Jay sat off to the side as the other children celebrated his cousin's birthday. Faith blew out seven candles and eagerly accepted the slice of cake that her mother cut for her. Jay pretended to enjoy himself, but he was silently waiting for the end of the party so that he and his siblings could visit their mother. He knew that the adults weren't telling him and the other kids everything. His mother had been asleep for almost two weeks, now. Something was wrong. He knew it. Still, he knew that he shouldn't ask his questions about his mother right now. His cousin deserved a festive birthday, even if he couldn't force himself to be just as festive.

Jay ate his cake along with the others and watched as Faith was given her presents. He watched as his younger sister joined in with their cousins with playing with the party guests. He wondered how much his sister could understand about how hurt their mother must have been for her to still not be awake after two weeks of being at the hospital. But he knew that something wasn't right.

He'd seen how the adults would stop talking about their mother when they saw any of the children. He'd also overheard his grandparents speaking to his father when they came up last night. Everyone was worried about his mother. They just didn't want the children to know. That scared him. Even when his father was hurt Jay and the others were told what to expect and that everything would eventually be okay. But now...

Jay sat and waited for the party to end and hoped that when he was taken to the hospital to see his mother that worse news wouldn't be waiting for the family. He could only hope that his mother would wake up and start getting better.

~01~

Kim read over the recent observations that were put into her sister-in-law's chart. She'd decided to try to pull back on some of the medication that Kira had been placed on that had placed her into a medically induced coma days ago. What concerned her, however, was that Kira showed no signs of improvement or even the slightest hint of waking up. Kim went over the various tests in hopes that she had missed something in vain. She planned to go talk to Jebb while he was visiting Kira with the kids, but she had hoped that she'd have better news to share while he was here. She knew that the rest of the family, too, would like to know when to expect the injured Duke to wake up. She didn't like knowing that the only answer that she could give them was that she didn't know.

With no other choice, Kim got up from her desk and made her way to Kira's hospital room where she found Jebb with the three young children. She noticed that Jay still kept a guarded distance from his father; a holdover from seeing him with someone who wasn't his mother a couple of weeks ago at the race. Kim instinctively walked over to put a hand on his shoulder as she joined the family.

"Kim, I was just tellin' the kids that Kira must still be pretty tired. That we should be quiet to let her sleep." Jebb tried to sound as if he wasn't concerned for the children's sake but if he was honest, he was terrified that Kira still showed no sign of waking.

Kim took in a calming breath before she tried to decide how best to proceed. "Actually, I think that hearing a little bit of noise could do her some good. I was going to see if the boys would like to take turns reading to their mother while we talked. Jo's been reading from a mystery when she comes to visit but she may be ready for a change of pace."

Mikey exchanged a glance with his twin since their Aunt Kim seemed a bit less optimistic than she had been when they usually came to the hospital for their visits. "What should we read?"

"How about this?" Kim suggested as she held out a book that she had grabbed with the boys in mind earlier in the day.

"Peter Pan?" Mikey asked as he reached for the book.

"I thought that you might enjoy it. You and Jay can take turns reading to your mother and to your sister," Kim smiled at the young girl who had climbed up to sit on the bed next to her mother.

Once the boys were settled in with the book and started to take turns reading Jebb walked out of the room with his sister-in-law with trepidation. He closed the door behind him since he had the feeling that he wouldn't want the children to overhear what was about to be said.

"What's wrong, Kim? Why hasn't Kira started to wake up, yet?"

Kim wasn't surprised to hear Jebb get straight to the point. She decided to do the same. "To be honest, I don't know. We pulled back on her medication days ago and we'd expected her to wake up by now. But brain injuries are sometimes unpredictable. Add that to the fact that we had to induce coma to try to help with the healing... We tried to reverse the coma but she's not reacting to the lack of anesthetics. Which means that we no longer have control over it. She could wake up tomorrow or she could stay in the coma for an undetermined amount of time. But I will warn you, the longer that she stays under the harder it will be for her to recover."

"Are you sayin' that she might not wake up at all?" Jebb didn't wait for the answer. He saw it in Kim's eyes the moment that he asked the question. He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. "So, what do we do? How can we help her?"

"Just keep talking to her. The more she hears the rest of the family the more likely that her mind will react to her environment. Help trigger memories. Let the kids read to her, tell her about their day. I've asked Bo and Luke to find some of their old tapes of the family singing and play them in a loop for when she doesn't have any visitors."

"And that will help?"

"It won't hurt," Kim answered before she noticed that Jebb was showing signs of his burned feet still causing him pain from standing for too long. He may have ditched the crutches, but he was still far from healed up. "You need to go back and sit down. Spend a while with Kira with the kids. Bo will be coming by to sit with her in a few hours. We'll get through this, together, as a family. We just have to hold onto hope."

Jebb nodded before doing his best to strip his face of the renewed worry that he now had for his wife. He knew that he'd have to share some of what he was told with the children. He just didn't know how much would be appropriate. The boys suspected. He could tell that. Perhaps he needed to talk to them after their sister was asleep tonight.

"What happens next?" Crystal leaned toward her oldest brother when he paused from his reading.

"Just listen and you'll find out, Chrissy," Mikey replied before he continued to read.

{"I'll rescue her!" he cried, leaping at his weapons. As he leapt he thought of something he could do to please her. He could take his medicine.

His hand closed on the fatal draught.

"No!" shrieked Tinker Bell, who had heard Hook mutter about his deed as he sped through the forest.

"Why not?"

"It is poisoned."

"Poisoned? Who could have poisoned it?"

"Hook."

"Don't be silly. How could Hook have got down here?"

Alas, Tinker Bell could not explain this, for even she did not know the dark secret of Slightly's tree. Nevertheless Hook's words had left no room for doubt. The cup was poisoned.

"Besides," said Peter, quite believing himself "I never fell asleep."

He raised the cup. No time for words now; time for deeds; and with one of her lightning movements Tink got between his lips and the draught, and drained it to the dregs.

"Why, Tink, how dare you drink my medicine?"

But she did not answer. Already she was reeling in the air.

"What is the matter with you?" cried Peter, suddenly afraid.

"It was poisoned, Peter," she told him softly; "and now I am going to be dead."

"O Tink, did you drink it to save me?"

"Yes."

"But why, Tink?"

Her wings would scarcely carry her now, but in reply she alighted on his shoulder and gave his nose a loving bite. She whispered in his ear "You silly ass,"}

Three children could be heard giggling as the last word was read. It was a word that they were never permitted to say yet it was there in their children's book. Mikey passed the book over to his brother since he couldn't stop giggling to continue to read to their sister and mother. He wondered if his father remembered that the word was in their book.

Jay continued the reading while they waited for their father to return from speaking with their Aunt Kim and some of the other doctors regarding their mother. He knew that anything that they didn't want the kids to hear would be discussed during their visits where the boys were encouraged to read to their mother. Aunt Kim had said that it would help to wake her up but so far, she didn't seem to be doing anything of the sort.

Jay finished the chapter and closed the book to the dismay of his little sister. He and Mikey would read one chapter together during each visit. Today was the thirteenth day that they'd been reading to their mother. He wondered if she'd still be asleep when they finished the book. After all, there were only four more chapters in the book.

"Can't we read some more?" Crystal asked her brothers as they put the book back on the side table next to their mother's bed. "I want to hear what happens next."

"No, Chrissy. You know we only read one chapter. We'll be back tomorrow to read some more." Mikey insisted as he walked over to the door to peek out to see if their father was nearby. After their visit to the hospital, they were to go back to the farm to try to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. When he stuck his head out, he saw his father returning from down the hallway. "Looks like it's time to go."

Each of the children, along with their father, told Kira goodbye and left. Afterwards the room was left in silence once more. The only sound left in the wake of the family's departure were the sounds of the monitors that kept watch over the Duke's life signs. Twice during the day after the children and Jebb had left a nurse checked in on the patient. During each visit the nurse would rotate the patient from one side to the next, giving a brief stretch session for her muscles and ligaments to keep them flexible. Otherwise, there was no movement in the room at all.

As evening approached the sound of a cart being rolled into Kira's room could be heard. Bo decided that there was one tradition that he and Kira had kept since she'd first come to town that he intended to keep it: even if she couldn't fully participate in it tonight. He had requested a television to be taken to his sister's room so that he could watch the second football game of the day together with his sister. Normally they would each pick a team and place small bets on the outcome of the game. Tonight, he mainly would use the game as background noise. After he set the television up and got the channel tuned in Bo turned and spoke to her hoping that she could hear him.

"You know the rules, the Cowboys are my team since they are from south of the Mason-Dixon which means you get to pull for the Vikings during this ga-"

Bo paused as he saw something that he'd not seen in weeks. Kira's eyes were open.

"Kira? Kira, darlin'?" Bo put a hand on his sister's, but she didn't respond to him at all. "Kira? Can you hear me?"

Bo fumbled for the device to call a nurse and waited impatiently as it seemed it took an eternity to get a response from someone. When the nurse finally asked him if she could help him, he called out a bit louder than needed, "Get a doctor in here! My sister's awake!"

Bo stood back and watched as a nurse and then one of the doctors on staff came in to check his sister. The doctor shone a light into Kira's eyes, checked her reflexes, asked Kira to blink before rereading parts of Kira's chart before he shook his head as he addressed the Duke.

"I'm sorry, she's still in a coma."

"But her eyes are open. She's awake!"

"Sometimes that happens. It may be a sign that she's closer to waking up but for now there is no other sign that she's regaining consciousness."

The doctor and nurse then left Bo alone with his sister. Bo tried to touch his sister's mind, but it was still closed off to him. He'd been so sure that Kira was back when he saw her eyes were open. "It's alright, Kira. I know that you're tryin' to get back. It may just take some more time."

Bo watched his sister more than the game over the next couple of hours. He tried to keep up a running commentary on the game, even pretended to pout over losing their non-existent wager on the game. All thorough out the game, though, Bo kept track of when his sister's eyes were opened and when they weren't. Trying to discern if there was a pattern to her blinks, even. There wasn't one that he could see but he knew that if Kira was conscious at all then she'd try to reach out to him in any way that she could.

Finally, the game was over, and he knew that he should head home to his wife. He knew that she would find tonight's events interesting and may even have some insight on them for him. Bo glanced around the room and saw that Crystal had left her doll for her mother. The same doll that Pauline had made for her for the girl's birthday. Crystal didn't want her mother to be alone in the hospital. Bo took the doll and slipped it under his sister's arm before leaving a light kiss on her forehead. He hoped that the doll could bring some sort of comfort to her as she slept alone in the hospital.

"G'night, Darlin'. Sweet dreams."

~01~

Jebb dropped the children off at the schoolhouse and went to sit with his wife. When Kira had first opened her eyes when Bo had sat with her on Thanksgiving afternoon the family had all hoped that it meant that she was waking up. Now a week later and while she had some moments with her eyes opened longer than that first day, she still didn't seem to be responding to anyone or anything. Each day the doctors checked to see if any stimuli could reach Kira. Kim had told him that the first response would likely be to pain. It was why when Kim came in to join him that he wasn't surprised to see his sister-in-law pinch Kira in various locations.

Kira was in a sleep cycle, meaning that her eyes were closed when Kim began her morning ritual. On the third pinch, when Kim pinched the thinner skin under Kira's arm, her patient slowly opened her eyes. Jebb saw the action and looked to Kim to see what it meant.

"Let me see if she responds again, Jebb. It could have been a coincidence," Kim explained as she waited for Kira to close her eyes once more. She gave her a moment more before Kim repeated the pinch in the same location to see if it would illicit the same response. When Kira's eyes once more flitted open. Kim let out a sigh as she fought a grin.

"Well?" Jebb's focus when back and forth between the two women.

"It's a good sign." Kim brought the blanket back up to cover her sister-in-law and tucked her back in. "I still have no answers as to when she will wake up, but this is the most positive sign since her attack that we've seen out of her. Just keep trying to get her engaged with you by discussing anything that you think that she might respond to."

Jebb nodded and when he was left alone with his wife, he sat next to her while trying to figure out just what he should talk about. "You know I still have some gaps in my memory, even though a lot of it has come back. There's been a memory that I wanted to talk to you about."

Jebb did his best to pretend that he wasn't watching for a response from Kira. After all, wasn't the old saying that a watched kettle never boils? Maybe the same could be said for a comatose patient waking. "I'm pretty sure that it is a memory from before we were together. At least that is what I gathered since in the memory you poured your glass of whiskey all over my head!" Jebb couldn't help but chuckle. "Maybe you could fill me in on how we went from where you clearly couldn't stand me to how we ended up being so close."

Jebb took Kira's hand in his own and took comfort in the warmth coming from it. "It still bugs me that there are parts of my life that I can't remember. Not as much as before, but I guess there will always be blanks that need to be filled in. That's why you need to wake up, Kira. I need you to fill those blanks in."

He brought up different memories that he figured if anything would elicit a response they would. "I've been thinking more about when we first came out with the rest of the family. I've asked the family and apparently according to Daisy, she was the first one who found out about us. She said that we got a little careless at the festival the weekend after Thanksgiving and she walked in on us. The way she tells it, it was pretty sweet. Even told me that watching us together made her hold out her belief in true love. I think she's still hoping that she'll end up finding her Prince Charming. Someone who can come and sweep her off of her feet." Jebb snickered.

"I guess you never told her that from what I can tell, I hadn't exactly shown up and whisked you away with love at first sight." Jebb watched as Kira blinked in what he could imagine was a response to his one-sided conversation. "Sometimes, though, I sit here and wonder what would have happened if we'd told the family about us when we were first dating. You'd have to tell me about how you would see all that going down, though, since I don't remember that time. So, it is a bit hard to imagine. But I've heard that the first part of our marriage was... kept interesting thanks to my mother. So, guess I can't help but wonder if she'd known about us when we were first dating if it would have been easier for her to accept us once she learned that you were Bo's sister."

Jebb squeezed the hand resting in his own and shook his head. "But at least now it seems that whatever rough patch there had been between you and my mother has long since been worked through. I can tell you that there was nothing that she wanted to say to me more than to tell me how foolish I was to walk away from what we had the entire time I was back in Placid. That couldn't have been an easy feat; to have her from at one time hating the idea of the two of us together to being angry at the two of us being apart."

He watched as Kira blinked again. But her expression was still so incredibly blank. She showed no sign that she understood what he was saying. Jebb briefly closed his eyes before he added, "But I tell you, no one could be angrier at the whole situation than me right now. Because I can't shake the feeling that if I hadn't up and left that you wouldn't have ended up in here. Because you wouldn't have hidden the fact that you were scared of that bastard getting out of prison. We could have then done... I don't know. Something. Anything. Like making sure that you weren't alone so he couldn't have swiped you right off of Main Street like he did."

He swallowed hard as he felt this throat clogged with emotion. He watched as Kira's eyes closed and remained that way. He supposed she was entering into another sleep cycle. "I'll let you rest, now. Just, wake up soon. Okay? For all of us."

Kim decided to do her daily examination of her sister-in-law before any of the rest of the family filtered their way to the hospital. While Kira had shown some response to pain, she still hadn't seemed to get any closer to waking up. Kim hadn't told the rest that once Kira had reached the one-month mark without reviving that her prognosis for her eventual recovery was no longer as optimistic. And now she was approaching the second month anniversary. The longer that she remained in her coma now the less chance she had for a full recovery.

Kim carefully went about her examination while telling Kira what she was doing at each step along the way. She started off with her pin light and shone it into Kira's eyes. It was a routine act that she's done countless times, not just for Kira but for other patients as well. This time she paused as she processed what she wasn't quite sure of what she saw. Kim waited a moment then flicked the light back across Kira's field of vision once more. Finally, after more than a month, her pupils reacted. Not by a lot, but it was an ever so slight reaction.

"Kira? I'm not sure if you can hear me but I have to believe that you are fighting to get back. Keep fighting. Alright? I know you are a fighter. So, I'm askin' you to keep fighting." Kim moved to test Kira's reflexes and was a little disappointed when there was no reaction. Still, she had to hold on to the fact that she had seen a positive result when she checked her eyes. That was one more step to recovery. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, Kira. I know that Jebb is bringing the kids by before they head to see his parents for the holidays. I even think that the kids have something special for you."

Kim rolled Kira onto her side, giving the impression that the woman was hugging her extra pillows, and checked to make sure that she hadn't developed any new bedsores. "If you asked me, though, I think that the only thing that those kids want for Christmas would be for you to wake up. You keep workin' on that and I'll do what I can to help you when you do, alright?"

Kim then left the room while saying what had to be the millionth prayer since Halloween. How had it gotten to be the weekend before Christmas already? At least she could share with her husband that there was a small change today. She knew that he worried for his sister and tried to reach her several times a day. She wasn't sure about the ins and outs of their connection, but she somehow felt that Bo would likely be the first to be able to really reach Kira. The fact that even he hadn't in the months since Kira's attack had been perhaps the most disheartening in the whole ordeal.

~01~

Jebb carried Crystal as the boys walked out in front of him as they walked the halls that had become a part of their daily lives. He barely even noticed the decorations that lined the halls that were meant to make the place cheerier. When the small family entered Kira's room the boys walked over and gave Kira a hug each in greeting.

"Hey, Momma. We came to bring you a Christmas present." Mikey held a gift box that was wrapped haphazardly in paper with snowmen and snowflakes on it.

"You said I could open it!" Crystal said as she wiggled from her father's arms.

"I know that!" Mikey rolled his eyes and handed the present to his sister to open.

Crystal pulled the paper back from the clothing box and opened it up to reveal a new nightgown. "Tada! Since you are spending so much time in bed, we thought that you might like a new one! Feel it! It's soft!"

Crystal held the gown to her mother's face and rubbed it against her cheek to let her feel how soft it was. Jay watched and saw his mother's eyes close for a moment before opening back up. He found it eerie that his mother's eyes could be open at times, but she still wasn't awake. Was it wrong of him to wish that she'd keep her eyes closed until they left?

"I'll help change you into the new gown before we leave," Jebb said as he took the gown and laid it across the bed. "I just wanted to make sure that you got to be with the kids before we left out to see my parents. They're staying the week. I'll be back after Christmas, though."

Jebb and the children settled in for a visit, the boys taking their turns at reading The Christmas Carol. Jebb made sure that they'd finish the story today before they headed out of town for Placid County. Jebb sat next to the bed, holding his daughter with one arm while he instinctively reached out to hold Kira's hand while listening to the old Christmas story. As Jay read out the last line something caught Jebb's attention. He felt the feel of Kira's hand change ever so slightly.

"Kira?"

"What is it, Dad?" Mikey asked as he watched his father set his sister to the side and focus on the woman in bed.

"I could have sworn that your mother gave my hand a slight squeeze." Jebb lifted his eyes to see that Kira's eyes were open. "Kira, if you can hear me, try to do that again. Just a little bit of pressure on my hand."

Jebb watched as Kira's eyes closed again, he wasn't sure if it was from concentration or if she had closed them coincidentally at the same time. That's why he didn't ask her to blink. She'd been doing that already. She hadn't tried to grab his hand before. Or whatever else it could be considered when he felt that pressure from her hand change. He watched for what felt like an eternity and was about to believe that he'd imagined the feeling of Kira's hand moving ever-so-slightly. Just before he was about to remove his hand to turn back toward the children, he felt Kira's smallest finger shift on his palm.

Jebb sighed in relief and smiled. "I think I'd best go see if Kim's still here and let her know that you had another breakthrough."

~01~

Kim went back to her office after speaking with Jebb and briefly checked on her sister-in-law feeling both hope and dread for the next few months. Kira was no longer in her coma but that meant that the hard work of recovery was about to begin. Knowing her sister-in-law, the recovery was going to be more than just a bit nerve-wracking for her. It will be a slow process since it appeared that due to her brain injury from the attack that she'd sustained from Shawn Kyle as well as the coma that she'll have to relearn to do much of what she'll need to be independent once more.

Kim told Jebb and the kids that they should still go to Placid for Christmas. Kira would want them to. Not to mention, it would give her and the other doctors time to see just where Kira was at now and come up with a plan on how to help her during her rehabilitation in the coming months. Another thing that Kim needed to do was that she'll test for while Jebb and the kids were out of town to check for any deficits in memory. Given the substantial brain injury Kim would be surprised if there wasn't at least some loss.

Jebb and the children were planning to leave from the hospital to head to Placid; though they now were planning to leave out a little later than they'd earlier intended. Kim promised to tell the rest of the family of the latest news. They were all going to have dinner at Luke and Jo's so Kim could tell them all at the same time.

Kim gathered up her belongings and went ahead and decided to head on out to the farm. The drive home was non-eventful, and she pulled up to Luke and Jo's and saw that she was the last to show up. Kim got out of her car and quickly headed inside, immediately appreciating the warmth of the house on the cold evening.

Bo looked up from where he was stoking the flames of the fire in the fireplace and smiled up at his wife. He'd known that she was at the hospital, but he'd expected her back at the farm just a bit earlier.

"Long day?"

"Just a bit. I did see Jebb and the kids before they headed out to Placid." Kim glanced around and saw that the rest of the adults in the family were in the kitchen, so she motioned for Bo to join her. "I do have something to share with the family," Kim said as she and Bo made into the kitchen. Her proclamation caught the attention of everyone immediately, causing all other conversation to come to a halt.

"Kira. Is something wrong?" Bo asked since he immediately thought of his sister.

"No. In fact, I have some good news. She's out of her coma. She was able to respond to Jebb and the kids today. I'll test her tomorrow to see just how much rehabilitation she'll be looking forward to. But for now, the good news is that she's awake and aware of what's going on."

Luke's face took on a look of concentration before he asked, "Just what do you mean by rehabilitation? Or that Kira was able to respond?"

Kim took in a breath as she sat at the kitchen table. Daisy stayed at the stove to keep watch over the night's dinner, but the rest of the Dukes joined Kim.

"She was able to respond by answering questions with a light pressure with one of her fingers. She's been in a coma for a while and she has brain damage, just how much hasn't been determined. She'll have to learn how to use most of her muscles again. I'll start the tests tomorrow to see just how much of her deficits today were from fatigue after having just woken up from her coma and how much is from actually being under as well as the attack from Shawn. I know I don't have to remind you that he did a real number on her. Now that she's awake I hope to find out just how badly the attack affected her."

Bo listened with half an ear as he tried to reach out to his sister without any luck. If she was awake, why couldn't he get her to respond now?

Jesse scratched his head as he asked, "Is there anything that we can do?"

"Just be there for her. She'll be frustrated, angry, and likely depressed when she can't just get up and walk out of the hospital. We'll have to be understanding. Help her see the progress of her condition even when she can't. But if this family is good at doing one thing its being there for one another through anything that can come at us." Kim smiled at the truth of her last statement. It was that truth that made her feel truly fortunate to be a part of this family. She then decided to change the subject. "So, did Coy get home safe today? He was supposed to get there today, right?"

Jesse nodded, "Coy called a couple of hours ago when he got back. He also told me that he put the presents that I sent with him for my brother and his wife under the tree. I just hope Abner and Bess like them."

Jo assured Jesse that she was sure that they would before she added, "I'm surprised how much of the house was cleaned up with Coy's help. You guys were able to demolish the top two floors and do some cleanup of the main floor a lot quicker than I thought that you would."

"No since in wasting time. The winter is the best time for us to get most of this done, anyway. Once the spring starts with the planting it will take a lot longer to finish up the rebuild." Luke said as he got up to get the dishes together as he noticed that his cousin was nearly finished with their supper on the stove. This sent the rest of the family to start getting the table set for their evening meal. "With any luck, we'll at least have the first floor back to normal by the time spring comes."

"And by the time that Kira is well enough to leave the hospital," Bo added with optimism. "I'll go get the kids and tell em to wash up."

Kim almost told her husband and the rest of the family that the whole house was likely to be repaired before Kira would be ready to leave the hospital, but she decided to hold her tongue. Tonight, was about optimism. She'll let the sentiment sit for right now.

Kim walked through the nearly vacant halls as she headed toward her sister-in-law's room. With it being Christmas Eve, all patients who could be had been sent home. In addition, the hospital was working on a bare minimum staffing for the holidays. When Kim walked into the hospital room, she saw that Kira was awake.

"Morning, Kira. I hope you don't mind but I've got you set up for some tests later on, but I need to set up a baseline, so we know just what we are dealing with, okay?" Kim saw Kira blink and pause before she opened her eyes back up. Kim turned and used tape to put two pieces of paper up on either side of her on the wall. "Now the first thing we are going to do until we are able to work on your speech is to help create a way to communicate. Now I have this green card on my right with the word yes on it. When I ask you a question and the answer is yes look to it to let me know. And conversely, on my left we have this red card with no on it. Understand?"

Kira looked to the green card before looking back to her sister-in-law. She tried to reply vocally but was frustrated when she heard only a groan instead of her voice.

"I know this is frustrating, Kira. But it will get better. Now, let's see," Kim looked down at her paper where she'd written down some baseline questions. "First, we'll check for any deficits in your memory. We can't do the usual questions, so I've had to come up with some different ones. Can you tell me if you can remember the boys' eighth birthday?"

Kira looked over at the card over Kim's right shoulder.

"Good. Now how about the end of their school year?"

Again, Kira looked to the green card on the wall.

"Very good. Now what about the fourth of July? Do you remember Mikey twisting his ankle when he and some of his friends jumped off of old man Cary's barn?"

Kira eyed the card on the other woman's right once more and Kim swore that she saw a look of displeasure at the memory of her oldest son's misadventure.

"Don't worry, I don't think he plans to do that again any time soon. Alright, the next big event would have been the race the last weekend of July. Do you remember that race? Do you remember Jebb's accident?"

Kim watched as Kira looked up toward the ceiling and paused as if trying to will the memory. After a moment she reluctantly looked toward Kim's left at the red card.

"It's alright. That gives us a narrower view of where your memory has left off." Kim put her papers and clipboard aside for a moment. "But now I know that you don't remember how you ended up in here. With the fact that Jebb had the kids in here with him yesterday, would it be safe to say that he didn't go into a lot of detail about that with you?" Kim saw Kira glance to indicate that Jebb didn't tell her about how she ended up in the hospital. To be fair, Kira wasn't awake for long after the rest of the small family realized that she was no longer in her coma.

"Okay. Well, the basics are that Shawn Kyle was released from prison in October. On Halloween he abducted you and beat you pretty severely. He cracked your skull, broke some ribs, and gave you quite a few internal injuries. Your bones and internal injuries have healed but you've been in a coma since." Kim paused to give Kira time to process what she'd just been told. She thought about asking if she'd been told about the house being set on fire but decided that it could wait. Kira would have a trying day as it was without the added bad news.

"I have some tests that we need to run now that you are awake to see how much damage was done to your brain during the attack. I've also got a speech therapist scheduled to come in and try to assess you in a little while so we can try to get you talking again. Hopefully you're just still experiencing some of the effects of not using your voice for so long. But in any case, the sooner you start to work with a speech therapist the better. After that, your physical therapist will be in to work on your muscles in your arms and legs. We've been trying to keep them loosened up while you were under. That should help a little. We'll let you have tomorrow off for Christmas and then I'll have you set up with an occupational therapist to work in tandem with the physical therapist to get you back to being able to do some basic self-care activities. I'm not going to lie to you, none of this will be easy. You are going to want to give up some days. It will be frustrating, and you will hurt from the strain. But you will get through this."

Kim gave Kira a smile to try to encourage her. "In the meantime, why don't you try to reach out to Bo? I know that he's been worried about you and at least with him, you'll be less frustrated since you two have a very special way of communicating."

She did her best to make sure that Kira was as comfortable as she could before she left with the promise to check on her again in a few hours. She then headed to her office to get everything started for the day. The tests need to be set up, but she wanted to make sure that everything was spread out far enough to allow her sister-in-law time to rest between each session.

Bo stopped off to see his wife and to join her at the hospital for his mid-day meal. Hospital food was never his favorite, but it gave him a chance to see his sister. After eating a barely edible meal Bo let Kim get back to work and went to see his sister in her room. From what Kim had told him, he'd be seeing Kira a little while before her physical therapist was to see her to help her work her muscles. Bo walked into the room and did his best to act as carefree as possible while carrying a bag. It was the day before Christmas, after all.

"Hey, Sis. Boy, am I glad to see you awake." Bo plopped down in the chair next to Kira as he spoke. "How are you feeling?"

Kira took a moment, first trying to use her speech like the therapist from earlier in the day had told her to try, then decided to fall back on her and Bo's special connection. The thing was, though, it felt different, too. Almost like trying to walk through knee-deep mud. 'Tired...Frus...ated.'

"I understand. It will take time to get back to normal. But the best news that the whole family has gotten this week for Christmas is that you are awake. You know, I thought you woke up back on Thanksgiving. Your eyes opened up and I got all excited," Bo smiled as he remembered that day before a grimace replaced it. "It took a while to understand that having your eyes open and you actually being awake were two different things."

'Op...en?'

"Yes. Kim said that it wasn't unusual for someone in a coma to have their eyes open." Bo tried to ignore the brokenness of the conversation to look as if it didn't faze him. He hadn't thought that Kira's ability to speak without actually using her physical words would be impaired, but it was clear that even this form of communication was difficult. He wondered if that meant anything. "Do you remember anything while you were in a coma?"

Kira thought a moment before she replied, 'No.'

"It's just as well. Staying in the hospital is always boring in the best of circumstances." Bo picked up the bag and started to pull its contents out as he spoke, "Speaking of which, I got you something that might help now that you are awake to keep you from going out of your mind. Well, completely, at least. I got this tape player and found some books on tape. Figured that it would help with passing the time. I'll ask the nurses to help when the tapes need to be flipped or changed out. I know you like history and such so I found some historic fiction at the library. And our local library has already asked for some more to be sent from Atlanta for when you finish this book."

Bo looked around the room for a good place to set the tape player up in the room and started to plug the player in when he looked up to the sound of a knock on the door. In the doorway stood a professional looking woman in a hospital uniform that looked differently than those of the nursing staff.

"Excuse me. I'm supposed to come in to work with Mrs. Duke. I'm the Physical Therapist, call me Donna."

"Well, Donna, I'm Bo. I'm Kira's brother." Bo barely gave the woman a glance as he finished plugging the player up and slipped a tape in but didn't press play since it was clear that the story would have to wait. "I'll go ahead and leave you to do your job. I'll go talk to the nursing staff about the books on tape and see if they'll help out with it."

Bo went back to his wife's office to discuss his visit with her.

"I didn't think that she'd have as much time talking when she wasn't actually having to speak, Kim. Her speech was very broken. Like she had a hard time piecing her words together. How is that possible? It should be as easy as just thinking about what she wanted to say."

"Bo, I don't have any answers for you. There's no real explanation of why you two, or Jay and Mikey, or your father and uncle, have all been able to have this unique ability. Much less why Kira may have a difficult time using it now." Kim shook her head not being able to explain away Kira's current issues. "She did sustain a lot of head trauma. So much so that I'm surprised that she only has lost a few months of memories, to be honest. That may have something to do with it. Or it could be she's out of practice just like with using her actual words. It may be a matter of just using that part of her mind again just like having to work back up to speaking or relearning how to walk. Only time will tell us how much she'll have to deal with in the long run."

Bo ran a hand through his hair as he thought about how much pain his sister had in store for her. He knew that for the most part, the rest of the family won't be able to do anything to make the coming weeks, likely months, any easier for his sister. "So, what do we do now?"

Kim got up and took her husband in a hug. "What this family does best. Just be there for her. Be there and love her."

~01~

Jesse slipped through the halls of the hospital later in the evening to see his niece to ring in the holiday. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't alone for it. He also planned to bring a little joy to the lives of the children who had been forced to stay in the hospital tonight. He'd had Kim set it up. The nurses in the children's ward had let the parents in on the night's special surprise.

Jesse was dressed as Santa Claus and was carrying a bag over his shoulders. But instead of toys he had his clothes that he'd leave wearing in it. The toys for the children to open up in the morning had been dropped off earlier when Bo came to the hospital. Jesse roamed the halls and smiled when he heard excited whispers from the children letting him know that they'd seen him through the cracked doors that the parents had left open. He'd tip-toe down the hall as if trying to avoid being seen to add to his ruse.

After he knew that each child had caught sight of him, he then made his way toward where his niece's room was. When he walked in, he was mildly surprised to see Kira wide-awake since he figured that she would have been exhausted from the day's events. He'd been prepared to sit in the room while the woman slept.

"Well, Merry Christmas, Baby Girl. I have to say I've missed seeing you awake."

Kira gave a crooked smile, her left side not as willing to move as her right. She took in Jesse's outfit and said after some difficulty, "S...ant?... Wh?"

Jesse looked down and grinned. "I took a stroll through the children's ward before I came here."

Kira nodded that she understood as she also looked to the green card on the wall from earlier in the day. Working with the therapist had helped get her to work her voice and muscles needed for speech but it was incredibly aggravating to not be able to say a whole word, much less a sentence.

"I'm glad to hear you talkin'. The way I heard it; you might not be able to. Looks like you have already made headway." Jesse saw the look of frustration on his niece's face and added, "I know it is frustrating, but it is the truth. This time just over twenty-four hours ago we didn't know if you'd ever be able to wake up. So yes, everything is hard right now, but you have already done more today than any of us had hope that you'd be able to do this week. In my mind, it is nothing less than a Christmas miracle. Just a couple of days early."

Kira closed her eyes briefly as she thought over what her uncle had just said. For her it had only been a matter of hours and she was ready to go out of her mind. Yet for the rest of the family, it had been months since this whole ordeal had begun. Finally, she opened her eyes back up and gave a slight nod.

"Now, I thought that I'd spend a little time with you. Maybe help catch you up on everything that's been going on in recent months." Jesse figured that he'd start with some positives. The negatives can wait until after Christmas. Today would only be about all the things this family can be thankful for. "I know you can't remember but Jay had his first real Motocross race. I think he did pretty well considering it was his first race. I do believe he's inherited yours and Jebb's talent on those infernal bikes. Placed eleventh."

Jesse was pleased to see a smile creep across Kira's face as the pride of her son shone through. He then shared more tidbits about the family. From news on the kids, Jo's selling of several paintings, and even shared of Daisy's recent dating of Enos in earnest and Jesse's speculation of if those two would finally do something other than circle one another. By the time he'd finished he saw that Kira was starting to doze in and out. He got up and adjusted the bed so that she'd be more comfortable before he headed into the adjacent bathroom to change out of his Santa suit. The rest of the family would be in and out tomorrow to make sure that Kira could enjoy as much of Christmas as possible. For the moment, he was just glad that Kira was no longer in a coma.

The next day Kira was visited by each of the family members, as well as Lulu, to make her Christmas go by quickly. Staring at the four walls of her room would have made it intolerably long otherwise. While Bo and Kim were there for their visit Kira even was able to talk to the kids and Jebb. He and Bo had worked it out that they'd call during the visit and Bo was able to tell the kids what Kira wanted to tell them when her words failed her. He and Kim had set Kira's room up with a phone that had a speaker option so that both she and Bo could hear the kids at the same time, and he could jump in when needed.

Kira was given a few gifts to make her stay better. When Lulu was visiting and gave her some caps that she'd knitted for Kira it was the first time that she realized that her hair had been shaved back when she'd first been brought into the hospital. It had been needed for the brain surgeries that she'd had to have. Kira wouldn't have been able to explain it if Lulu had asked why that bit of news hit her so hard. It was just that each time she'd lost her hair in her life had been due to the fact that she was in a fight for her life. This time being no different.

Her hair was now a fuzz since it had begun to grow back out while she was still in her coma; it looked like a buzz cut that had started to grow out. Lulu had knitted her the hats to keep her head warm in the cool hospital while she was relegated to staying while she worked on her therapies to get her back to her old self. When her last visitor of the day left Kira spent the rest of the evening listening to a book on tape and drifted off to sleep listening to the monotone of the narrator.

~01~

As sunlight began to filter into through the window to light up the darkened hospital room Kira woke up to the surprise of finding Jebb sitting next to her bed.

"...ebb?"

"Happy anniversary. Ten years today," Jebb stood up to kiss Kira on the forehead. When he saw Kira's look of confusion he grinned. "What? I told you over the phone that I'd be seein' you today."

Kira moved her hand to gesture to the clock on the wall where it showed that it was barely seven in the morning.

"So, I drove here after the kids went to bed last night. I told them that I'd be back to pick them up for the boys' birthday."

Jebb sat back down, but this time sat on the edge of the bed while preparing himself for a conversation that he knew he needed to have with his wife. He adjusted the bed and helped her get comfortable in the sitting position.

"Kim told me about the tests that she ran. That you don't exactly remember the last few months; well, the months leading up to your attack." Kira gave a shrug as a reply. "That means that you don't remember but I think- No, I know that I owe you an apology for some of my behavior during those months. You see, the accident that Kim used in her test to determine the time-frame of your memory loss... Well, I hit my head pretty hard. Hard enough that I had some memory loss, as well."

Jebb saw the concerned look on Kira's face as she tried to sit up more on the bed.

"H-" Kira wanted to scream in frustration of not being able to really speak in a full sentence.

"How much? I lost about twenty years." Jebb saw Kira's eyes widen. "And I know that you don't remember but for the first two months you watched me struggle with the fact that I couldn't remember you or the kids..." Jebb paused as he thought back to those rough months. "At the end of September, you suggested that I go stay with my parents. I jumped at the chance, unfortunately. You even said that you understood if I- Well, you kind of set me free. Looking back, now, I realize that you wanted to be chosen but that's not how I handled things. I hurt you and the kids."

Kira saw the regret in Jebb's eyes and wanted to comfort him with a hug. She could only move her hand across the bed toward him to which he took in his own hand.

"I didn't start really getting much of my memories back until after your attack. Actually, fighting Shawn seemed to trigger some of them. Who'd have guessed that the jackass would be good for something."

"Nah... m," Kira did her best to reply. "Yu... 'kay?"

"Are you kidding? I won't ever get all of my memories back, but I got back enough. I'm all healed up. Even from..." Jebb suddenly remembered that Kira didn't know about the house fire either. "Oh, speaking of which, that's something else that I know I need to tell you about. The night that Shawn attacked you he also came to the house and set fires in both stairwells."

"Wh-?" Kira tried to sit up straighter at hearing that her home, with her children inside, had been set ablaze.

"Relax. You've seen the kids. They didn't get a scratch on them. I'm just glad that boys had that huge tree outside their window." Jebb was glad that Kira had indeed seen the kids on the evening that she first woke up from her coma, so she knew firsthand that the kids were fine. "But I did burn my feet just a bit. But, again, you've seen that I'm okay now."

Jebb stood to show that he was back on his feet, even if he couldn't stay standing for long stretches yet. Kim had told him that he was healing well, though. That he needed to pace himself. As he sat back down, he then went on to tell Kira of how far along with the renovation of the house had come. The second floor and attic were complete losses, but the main floor was salvageable. It had sustained smoke and water damage that the other Duke men had begun to repair. Even Cooter and several other men from town had helped. The stairwells were blocked off so that once the repair work on the main floor was completed Jebb and the kids would be able to move back to the house instead of waiting for the house to be fully restored. With the number of people who had offered to help he was sure that the repairs would be well on their way to being completed by the time she'd be released from the hospital.

"I've figured that since it is clear that we won't need the large dining room at the house while we are rebuilding the top floors that the room would be better used as a room for the kids. Its bigger than the guest room downstairs. Plus, even though they will still all be sharing a room it will be better since right now they are sharing a room with not just all of their siblings but me, too. I know that Jesse and Daisy don't mind us being underfoot over at the other farmhouse, but we really are just kind of on top of one another," Jebb explained. "Oh, but this whole thing has made it where Chris wants her new bed to be a bunk-bed. Turns out, she really likes being able to use the blankets hanging over from the top bunk as cave or something. Plus, I think that the privacy that comes with it has helped since she's not used to sharing a room like the boys."

Kira sat and listened as she was caught up on what had gone on in her family's lives. She hated that she couldn't really add to the conversation much. She tried to get out some questions every now and again but doing so only frustrated her. Fortunately, Jebb seemed to know what she wanted to know and did his best to answer the questions that were still mostly unspoken.

After a couple of hours, a woman in a hospital uniform came in. She was the Occupational Therapist and was there to work with Kira for a while. She suggested that Jebb should get himself some breakfast while she worked with her patient. The therapist's goal was to help Kira be as independent as possible. Among those tasks would be simple things like working her back up to being able to use her muscles well enough to feed herself. Knowing that her patient was scheduled for a swallow test later in the day the therapist decided that working on grasping items on the hospital tray to simulate a spoon or fork would be the best place to start. She put a few wooden dowels on the tray of varying sizes. To Kira they looked an awfully lot like the boys' Lincoln Logs.

"Alright, Mrs. Duke. Let's just start with picking these up one at a time and then putting them back down."

The therapist watched as her patient moved her arms with some difficulty, though just a bit easier than the last time that she'd seen her two days prior and did her best to reach out for the wooden dowels. However, after a couple of tries of over-reaching the objects the therapist smiled while trying to reassure Kira that it was natural as she placed one of the objects into her hand. She worked with Kira to simulate lifting the mock eating utensils in the same manner that she would while eating. Kira's muscles were doing well with the new task after months of being sedentary and the therapist told her so; that the next day she would bring real utensils to work with instead.

Still, there was something that concerned her. Throughout their period to work together Kira wasn't able to actually reach out to any of the objects that was put before her without first overshooting them. A notation was placed in the paperwork to have Kira's vision checked. With the head trauma that had been sustained it was quite possible that her depth perception had been damaged.

When the therapist left Kira was taken out of the room for her swallow test, leaving Jebb alone in the hospital room for what seemed like forever. Finally, rather than Kira it was actually Kim who joined Jebb in the room.

"Jebb, I heard you got back to town early this morning."

"I wouldn't have been able to just stay back in Placid. Not with today being mine and Kira's anniversary and her finally being out of the coma. So how is she doing? Really?" Jebb watched as Kim took one of the seats in the room and took that to not be a very good sign.

"Well, it's kind of a mixed bag. She's doing well for how long she was out; she has retained more muscle control than I thought that she would have. I think she may even be able to try to get out of bed in the next day or two to start working on walking again."

"But?"

"But it looks like her vision has been impaired."

"Impaired? How? She seemed to be able to see everything well enough when she was in here earlier."

"She sees everything fine. But her depth perception has been severely impacted. And with the fact that she's been healing for the last few months from her injuries and surgeries already, it will likely be permanent."

"So, what will that mean?" Jebb asked.

"It appears that she sees everything in two dimensions; much like a drawing on a piece of paper. Many things will be difficult. She'll have to learn how to adapt so that she can do simple things like walking safely so that she doesn't end up in the middle of road or walk into walls. And of course, driving will be out. Which I know for a Duke is one of the worse things that I could tell any of you," Kim tried to make that last line come out as a joke while at the same time knowing that there really couldn't be a truer statement. "I'm not going to lie. This won't be easy, and it will change a lot in her life going forward. Coming to terms with that will take time and it will be like a part of her died. She'll grieve for what she's lost. May even become resentful that others can do what she can't. This will be a normal part of her healing process."

"But at least she'll be alive to go through it."

Kim nodded. "Yes. I just wanted to make you aware of what to expect. There will be some things that we'll discuss going forward to make some small things easier."

"Like what?"

"Well, like the new flooring in the house as the renovations are completed. We can choose designs that can help Kira keep track of where things are in the house. Like a checkerboard pattern in the kitchen. She can learn to count the squares to know that the kitchen chair is on square four or the stove is ten squares away. Things like that. She'll also be taught to use a white cane to help her locate items in her path to help prevent her from tripping over them."

"I thought only people who were blind used those," Jebb said as he creased his brows.

"A very small percentage of those who are visually impaired are fully blind. You can still have some sight while needing a little extra help, like from a cane or even a service dog," Kim explained. She wasn't surprised by Jebb's assumptions since that was actually very common for many to assume that only those who can't see at all would use a tool like a white cane. "Now one other thing, we did a swallow test today and we'll work on getting Kira back to eating. Her feeding tube hasn't been removed from her stomach, yet, since I want to make sure that she can get enough nutrition without it. However, she's not likely to be enthusiastic with the food that she'll be eating for a while. She'll be relegated to foods that are pureed."

"You mean like baby food?" Jebb tried to imagine Kira eating food like that. Or even himself. The very idea sort of grossed him out. "She's going to hate that."

"I know. But hopefully it will not be for long. As she regains her muscle control, we'll slowly work our way up to regular foods. I just wanted to warn you so that you can go and eat in the cafeteria before Kira's dinner is delivered since I think we can agree that her watching you eat a regular meal while she is fed her meal may not be a good combination to start right out of the gate with."

"Right. No sense in rubbing salt in the wound. I'll make sure that- Wait. You said fed her meal?"

"She's not got enough control, between her muscles and her depth perception to feed herself yet. But this is just the first day back to actually eating and is to be expected. It will all be a process. Just be patient."

~01~

Nearly a week later Jebb walked behind the children as they headed down the hall toward Kira's room. He picked the kids up early that morning after they spent Mikey's birthday (New Year's Eve) with his parents to then allow them to spend Jay's with the rest of the family today. On their way to Hazzard, they stopped off to see Kira at the hospital and to have lunch. Well, lunch first at a diner nearby since he didn't really look forward to having hospital food yet once again.

As the family all walked into Kira's room Jebb saw that her lunch had been delivered. It was on the tray in front of her but still had the warming cover on it. He stepped forward without thinking and went ahead and prepared himself to help his wife with her meal.

"Looks like we got here just in time for you to have your lunch," Jebb said as he lifted the cover from the plate to reveal Kira's pureed lunch for New Year's. "Let's see, looks like greens, mashed potatoes, and that smells like it's supposed to be pork of some kind. I'll assume that the brown stuff is black-eyed peas. All you're missin' is some cornbread for a traditional New Year's meal."

When Jebb went to grab the spoon Kira spoke up, "No... I... can."

Jebb stepped back in surprise since he hadn't expected her to refuse his help. Each of the family members had been working together to make sure that one of them was at the hospital for each meal to help her since they knew that she'd hate to depend on strangers instead. Then he realized that this was the first time that the kids had seen their mother since that first night that she'd woken up from her coma. She didn't want the first thing that they saw of her now being that she had to be fed like a child.

"Alright." Jebb then realized that there was a place-mat on the tray today that resembled a checkerboard. Similar to how Kim had told him that they could help Kira when they renovate the kitchen. The mat would help Kira keep track of where things were in relation to her on the tray. Kira slowly grabbed the spoon before choosing the potatoes to try eating first. Once she had somewhat clumsily gotten some potatoes onto her spoon, she then closed her eyes since it was easier to allow her muscle memory to direct her spoon to her mouth so that her vision didn't confuse that action.

"That looks gross," Mikey said staring at the pureed food on the tray as he saw his mother take her first bite.

"Mike, that's not nice," Jebb reminded him quickly.

"Not... wrong... Gross." Kira put her spoon down as she spoke.

"Kira, how badly could the potatoes be?"

"Bad... You... taste."

Jebb rolled his eyes and took a bite of what had to be the safest food on his wife's plate. They were mashed potatoes. What could the hospital really do to them? When he took a bite, he gagged as he forced himself to swallow the substance that was supposed to be food. "Alright. So, they could use a little salt. And some butter." Jebb searched the tray for the salt packets that were usually sent along with the food. "We'll fix it up."

"No... Not... hungry."

"You've got to eat, Kira."

"No..." Kira then pointed to where her feeding tube was still implanted into her belly beneath her gown. "I... don't."

Jebb wanted to argue with her that she wasn't supposed to use the feeding tube as an excuse to not eat but decided not to in front of the children. Especially since it was Jay's birthday. The two boys always celebrated together but it still was his day. "Alright. But when Bo comes by to help with your dinner, I'm going to make sure that he sees to it that you eat."

Kira then did the most normal thing that he'd seen her do since she'd come out of her coma. She rolled her eyes at the idea of being mothered by her husband. Jebb couldn't help but chuckle before he then had the kids to share how their Christmas went with their mother as well as the birthday party that John and Pauline had thrown for the boys the day before with some of their cousins in Placid. For a little while it was almost easy to forget that they were still in the hospital.

Bo sat in his sister's room waiting for her to return to her room. Kim was working at the clinic, so he'd decided to check in on Kira to make sure that she ate her lunch today. Especially since her feeding tube had been removed about a week ago. She could not rely on the nutrition from it any longer. She had to eat even if she didn't like the pureed foods that she was still relegated to eating.

He'd left the other men after they had finished moving the new furniture into the house now that the first level had finished being renovated after the fire. The kids' beds and dressers were in the old dining room and the old guest room would be Jebb and Kira's once she was released from the hospital. The Dukes had started on the framework for the upper floors of the house, but the family would be forced to live on the main level until the rest of the house was rebuilt. Bo hoped to get a good amount of the house done before spring planting starts just around the corner. Fortunately, the town's population had been eager to help with the rebuilding of the home before the planting began.

Hearing the door open Bo looked up to see Kira shuffling in with one of her therapists at her side, an arm looped around her waist to help balance her on her feet. After Kira was walked over to the bed and was helped back up onto it the therapist left.

"What... you... doin'... here?" Kira forced out. She'd rather just ask Bo through their link but when Kim had suggested that they only use their link when absolutely necessary to help her with relearning to speak he'd agreed. He didn't want her using their link to avoid speaking if he could help it.

"I came to make sure you eat lunch since Kim is in town at the clinic today." Bo moved one of the chairs in the room to make sure that he would be facing his sister once he would sit down. He then added point-blank, "Otherwise, we both know you won't."

"Nasty... though."

"Not today," Bo moved the tray over to the bed. It was then that Kira saw that the plate on her tray was not the standard hospital plate. "Uncle Jesse fixed you some lunch. He wasn't happy that you'd left most of your breakfast on the plate this morning when he sat with you. You're havin' what we had out at the farm. He just used one of those fancy food processors to make it where you can eat it. We have some chicken, green beans with ham mixed in, mashed sweet potatoes with cinnamon and brown sugar, and some sweet tea with some of that thickener in it so that you can have it. No claiming that it tastes badly, this time."

Kira smelled the food that was better than any of the food that she'd been trying to choke back since she'd awakened from her coma. Still, it reminded her of baby food.

Bo unwrapped the silverware that he'd brought with him with the meal and set the meal up for Kira to start eating. "Now, while you eat, I'll tell you about finishing the main level of the house. And don't forget, if you don't eat everything, you'll hurt Uncle Jesse's feelings."

Kira groaned at the bit of guilt that her brother added to his instructions to eat. He knew damn well that she wouldn't want to hurt Jesse's feelings. Using the place mat to help her determine where everything was on her tray, she slowly grabbed a spoon and set to the task of trying to feed herself. The food tasted good. Something that she knew she shouldn't have been surprised by since her uncle was an excellent cook. Still, the fact that she was still having to eat pureed foods weeks after she'd started the process of healing was depressing. As she ate, she listened to Bo tell her about the house and the progress that the men had made so far on the repairs to it.

She knew he was keeping an eagle eye on her, worried that she'd choke while eating as she'd done in the past a few times when he was there. It was one reason why she had to have someone with her when she ate even though she wasn't forced to have them actually feed her any longer. Still, he tried to give her the illusion that he was ignoring her from time to time. Even if he wasn't watching her, he was listening to her closely as she ate. One saving grace for her, however, was she was told not to try to speak while she ate to reduce the chance of choking.

"Now, Kim told the rest of the family that she'll be discharging you later on this week. So that's good news," Bo said as he stood up to gather the dishes and silverware once Kira was finished with her meal. He then put them back into the picnic basket that his uncle had sent the meal to the hospital in. "She said that that you'll be able to work with the therapists on an outpatient basis. The only thing she's concerned about is that you still refuse to try to use the white cane when you are walking."

"Feel... like... knockin'... stuff... over." Kira gave a look that looked to be a cross between a glare and a plea.

Bo crossed his arms as he shook his head. "It'll take time to get used to it. But you won't learn if you don't try, Kira."

"I'm... not... usin'... it." Kira stated emphatically. She didn't need it. She could still see. She wasn't blind. She would make do. She'd have to.

~01~

The next morning Kira waited for her morning visitor. Usually, it was Uncle Jesse or Kim since the other men would be busy with either working on the farm or restoring the house. The other women would be tending their children. Jebb usually would come in the evening with the kids so she could visit with them, too. When the door opened this morning Kira was surprised to see her oldest cousin instead.

"Luke?"

"I figured I'd give Uncle Jesse the mornin' off." Luke smiled as he lifted a picnic basket similar to the one that Bo had brought her lunch to the hospital the day before in. "Don't worry. Jo cooked. Not me. She sent scrambled eggs since they don't really require a lot of chewin'. She checked with Kim, and she said that it should be okay. She also sent some oatmeal with brown sugar since you don't like grits."

Kira watched as Luke set up her breakfast topped off with some orange juice. Once her cousin mixed in the thickener to her juice, he rolled the tray in front of Kira so that she could eat.

"Why... come... today?"

Luke grinned as he replied, "Can't I just want to spend time with my cousin?"

"No. You... up... to... some... thin'."

Luke shrugged. "Eat. We'll talk after you're finished."

Kira looked down at her tray and saw that Luke hadn't put the place mat that she'd come to rely on to use to find where her silverware and food were on the tray. She glanced over to where her cousin had sat down and seemed oblivious to the fact that he'd neglected to place the tool that she'd been using for weeks now onto her tray. She shook her head to shake the slight sense of dread that she suddenly felt. She'd not realized how much she'd come to rely on that simple place mat that resembled a checkerboard. She moved to reach for her spoon and ended up knocking her bowl of oatmeal. Fortunately, it didn't tip over enough to spill her food out before she stopped it.

"Havin' a bit of a hard time?"

Kira creased her brow. "Where's... the... mat?"

"Oh, so you want the mat? You see, I heard that you didn't plan to use any tools that would help with your vision. I mean, Bo told me that you flat out refuse to learn to use a white cane. The mat is a tool, too, to help with your disability. If you don't want to use one, I figured that you wouldn't want the other, either."

"It's... Diff... rent!"

"Really? Why?" Luke stood up to watch Kira struggle with the answer.

"Just... is."

"No, it isn't Kira. Both help you if you allow yourself to learn to use them. You have been using the mat and it's helped. I don't think you realized how much until you didn't have it any longer." Luke went to the basket where the mat was and started to rearrange the items on the tray so that he had room to put the place mat down. He then put the bowls of food, cup of juice, and the silverware onto the mat as Kira had become accustomed to. "The cane is just another tool. You just have to allow yourself to take the time to learn and use it. You are going home this week. You can learn in the privacy of your own home, if you want, but if you start here while you are still in the hospital then people who are trained to help you can do just that."

Kira looked down to her tray now that it was set up as she had become used to for each of her meals. She chewed on her lip as she considered her cousin's words. She finally uttered the words that she knew that he was waiting for. "I'll... try."

"That's all that I ask, Kira." Luke knew that she didn't want the visible reminder for everyone else to see of her new disability. Overcoming that won't be easy. She had a lot of pride. It was that pride that had always served her well over the course of her life. But now, Kira was going to have to set that pride aside.

~01~

Kira waited in her room a few days later while waiting for her discharge papers. Across the room Jebb was waiting with her. She'd asked to be released while the kids were still in school. She wanted to try to find her way around the house and its new layout before the kids saw her. She didn't want to have them watch her stumble around their home as their first memory of her being back out of the hospital.

As for the rest of the family, she knew that the men were all upstairs working on the upper floors. They hoped to have the new walls in place before the planting started in earnest. Kira had asked, though, that they wait until the evening to officially welcome her home. She wanted to try to get a feel for being back home without the eyes of the rest of the family on her.

"Kira?" Jebb saw that she seemed to be lost in thought. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I... I'm... just... sort... of..." Kira couldn't figure out how she wanted to finish her sentence.

"It'll be alright. Kim said that transitioning home may take some time. But you'll do fine. And since all of us are on the first floor, you'll not have to worry about using the stairs for a while."

Kira nodded. Yes, she wasn't sure how she'll be able to navigate the stairs just yet. Eventually the discharge papers arrived, and she and Jebb were able to at long last leave the hospital. Jebb helped her into her truck then steered them back toward Hazzard County. He continued to tell her about the renovations of the house, things that they hoped to do in the coming months, as well as ways that they could improve the house so that it would serve the family even better than the large house had already. Kira, however, had a hard time trying to concentrate on what he was saying. As she watched the landscape pass by her window, she began to feel nauseated. She had to swallow repeatedly the spit that seemed to be running from a faucet directly into her mouth. She also had a sheen of cold sweat that covered her as she rested her head on the window of the passenger's side door. As she suddenly felt a sensation of falling, she reached her hand out to the dashboard of the truck to steady herself.

"Kira," Jebb noticed that she didn't look well. "Are you okay? Should we go back to the hospital?"

"Stop... truck!"

Jebb did as he was told without hesitation. As soon as the truck stopped Kira yanked the door open and practically fell out onto the ground. Jebb quickly shut the engine off, got out and made his way around the truck where Kira was dry heaving on the ground. He knelt down next to her and when he noticed the cold sweat, he removed his jacket to add to Kira's own jacket. The last thing that he knew that Kira needed was to catch a chill on the winter's cool day.

"Are you okay now?" Jebb asked as his wife finally stopped heaving and leaned against him as if she didn't have the strength to stay upright on her own.

"Yes... Think... so." Kira took several slow breaths as she tried to gather herself. "Kim... warned. Just... didn't..."

"Warn you about what?" Jebb wondered what could be so bad that Kim hadn't shared it with him as well.

"Motion... sick. Never... been... carsick... before. Not... even... going... fast."

Jebb hadn't thought of how Kira's loss of depth perception could cause her to not even be able to comfortably ride in a car. He knew that she'd not be able to drive but here she was getting sick just riding in the car. "Maybe if you try to ride with your eyes closed. It might not make you sick that way."

"I'll... try." Kira stood back up with Jebb's help and got back into the truck. She then tilted her head back onto the headrest and made a conscious decision to keep her eyes tightly closed. She suspected that Jebb was eyeing her to make sure that she wasn't getting sick again. Still, she didn't want to tempt fate by opening her eyes and checking.

When the truck finally came to a stop once more Jebb told Kira that they were home. She then opened her eyes and saw for the first time just what kind of damage had been done to the only house that had ever truly been a home for her. The top two floors were nothing but a frame. The first floor looked different, as well. The windows, the doors, the wood for the outside of the house were all new. In fact, her home didn't look anything like the one that she remembered.

Kira stared in horror at the remains of her home then remembered that her children had been in the house when this had happened. "How?"

"Remember, everyone is okay now, Kira. The kids are all fine. It was a scary night, but they got through it." Jebb seemed to know what was going through Kira's mind as she looked at the house. After giving her a few minutes to take in the changes of the exterior of the house he got out and walked around to help her out of the truck. As she got out, she felt an unwelcomed tool placed into her hand. "Now, you might as well as practice using it right from the start. It will help you get around the house."

"No... I... don't-"

Jebb cut her off. "You promised Luke that you'd work on using it." Jebb saw the dirty look that crossed Kira's face, so he added, "Yes, I know about him going to talk to you about it. And since Dukes don't break their word, you get to take this and start practicing with it at the house. But I will walk you up to the door."

Jebb extended his arm to Kira to help guide her up to the steps. When they reached the steps at the back door, he told her to step up and guided her to the door, opened it, then allowed her to make her own way into the kitchen. Once inside Kira saw that the kitchen had been redone. It looked very close to her old kitchen before the fire, but the flooring had been replaced with checkerboard patterned tile. Jebb informed her that each square was two feet by two feet. After a moment Kira realized that it was designed that way to help her navigate the room. Kira took in the rest of the room and while she was depressed that nearly all that she'd acquired over the last ten years in her home had been destroyed she was pleased with what her family had chosen to replace those items with.

That's when it hit her. This was just over ten years that Jebb had first brought her here to surprise her with where they would make their home together to start their family. Jebb noticed her pause.

"Something wrong? You don't like it?"

Kira shook her head. "Not... that. Just... been... ten... years."

Jebb put an arm around her waist. "A lot of memories in this room, huh?"

"But... you... don't... remember... them."

"No. I don't. Not all of them, at least. But I do remember the first time you came here. I got a flash of it when I saw the burned-out shell of the house that first morning after when I came over here to get a look at the fire damage. Then when we were choosing how to decorate this room, I sort of got a few more memories. That's why I insisted on the wood paneling in here and in the living room. I remembered that you actually liked it despite Daisy tryin' to talk you into paintin' over it before we moved in. She tried to convince you that it was too masculine. But you thought that it made it feel more like home. Your home."

"You... remember... that?"

Jebb smiled and nodded. "It's one of my favorite memories that I've gotten back since I first lost them."

Kira returned the smile as she went further into the room. She subconsciously stretched out a hand to feel before she'd walk into anything. The first thing that her hand felt was one of the kitchen chairs.

"You know, that's what the cane is for. You'd find the chair sooner with it before you're right up on top of it."

Kira gave a harsh glare at Jebb, forgetting the touching moment that the two had just shared. After a few seconds she unfolded it and reluctantly began doing as she'd been taught to determine her surroundings with it. When she walked toward the living room, she saw that while the checkerboard flooring hadn't been continued into it the flooring had been chosen with her vision in mind. Instead of planked hardwood floors they were now replaced with parquet flooring. It was still the dark hardwood that she loved but the parquet pattern was chosen to help Kira navigate the room. The furniture, too, while didn't look like the furniture that she'd painstakingly chosen years prior it was definitely chosen with her tastes in mind.

"So, what do you think? You like it?" When Kira nodded Jebb continued, "Good. Now, you have a couple of hours to practice getting around before the kids get home. Since I know that you didn't want them to see you stumble around as soon as they see you at home."

Kira nodded once more before she set about the task of relearning her home that she once knew like the back of her hand. She counted ten steps down the hall to memorize where the bathroom was. She then set about memorizing how many steps there were from the door to the couch. She tested how many steps she had from the stove to the kitchen chair at the table. In essence, she was relying on her counting of her steps and the squares in the flooring rather than the cane. By the time the children were let out from school she felt confident. She could do this. She just had to remember her steps.

Kira looked down at her watch and saw that it was getting close to lunch time; meaning that one of the others would be over soon with her meal since none of them felt it was safe for her to cook without someone else around just yet. And they were still concerned about the possibility of choking. Just knowing how much they felt that she still needed help nearly two months after getting out of the hospital grated her nerves. She could at least make herself a bowl of soup and pour herself a glass of tea. That wouldn't be hard. It might not be as easy as it once was, but she could still do it. Even if she wasn't supposed to eat solid foods still two months out from leaving the hospital.

Plus, it wasn't as if she was totally alone. Jesse was upstairs working on painting the second floor while the fellas were out in the fields. Kira kept an ear out for him since she knew that she'd be able to get to her cane if she heard him approaching the stairwells so that he wouldn't know that she didn't bother with it when she was alone.

Kira got up from her place at the couch and stumbled through the room to where she'd left her white cane. One thing that she didn't want was for when Jo showed up to help make lunch for her and Jesse, as well as the men out in the fields, was for her to complain about Kira not using the tool that the whole family had joined together in telling her that she needed to get used to using. Kira held her hand out as she counted the ten steps to the chair where she'd left the blasted cane folded up in the seat. She then bent down, blindly grabbed, and unfolded it just as she heard a car pull up outside her home. Kira made her way to the kitchen where she knew that her visitor would meet her. When the door opened, she wasn't surprised to see Jo with an arm full of groceries.

"Jo... you didn't... have... to bring... anything." Kira shook her head as the other woman put both bags onto the counter by the refrigerator; still hating how much she struggled with her words. "We have... food... here."

"I know you do. I just wanted to save you and Jebb a trip to town, is all." Jo set about unpacking the groceries as she spoke. "I also brought over some stuff for the roast that Jay wanted. I'll set it in the oven, and it will be ready by supper. There should be enough for leftovers for lunch, tomorrow, too."

"So, you... don't have... to come... over?"

Jo shrugged. "I volunteered to go with the kids on their field trip tomorrow over to the museum in Capital City."

"Don't... apologize... Jo." Kira sat in one of the kitchen chairs since she knew very well that Jo would refuse her help if she tried, anyway. "We'll be... okay."

"Of course, you will be. I just like to do my best to help out." Jo walked over the refrigerator to put away a few of her purchases. As she turned, she saw the look that Kira was giving her that clearly stated that Jo had done quite enough since the other woman had come home from the hospital. Her pride still was wounded regarding the fact that others were doing what she'd done easily enough prior to her attack. Jo chuckled before she continued, "Too much, huh?"

Kira just shrugged. From where she sat, she watched as the other woman set about making lunch for the family, both here in the house as well as out in the fields. For the most part she just listened as the other woman spoke since trying to speak too much was just frustrating for Kira. Kim explained that her deficits would be permanent.

The therapy would help but she'd suffered too much brain damage in her attack to recover completely to where she'd been before. At times, she felt trapped in her own mind since she had no hope of speaking as fast as she wanted. Most of the time she just gave up and didn't bother with chiming in when she had something to say as the rest of the family carried on conversations around her.

As Jo finished placing some sandwiches into the basket that she'd take the fellas' lunch in Jesse came down the back stairwell. He'd been finishing up on painting Crystal's room today. He'd let her pick out the paint for both the walls and trim. It was no surprise that she'd chosen a bright yellow with lavender trim. It was a very bright and cheerful combination. Jesse supposed that the little girl deserved a little cheeriness in her life after all that had gone on in the last several months.

Tomorrow, he planned to start on the boys' rooms. With the boys getting older, Jebb had decided that they would move the guest room down to where his and Kira's room had been. The family had decided that it would be best for him and Kira to remain downstairs with her vision and subsequent mobility issues for the moment. They could move up to the expanded old sewing room should Kira be able to safely navigate the stairs on a regular basis in the future. While the boys weren't ready to completely have their own rooms yet, Jebb suspected that they would soon enough. So, when the upstairs was rebuilt, the men put a sliding door between the two rooms so that they could have the door open to make one very large room or they could close it to have separate rooms. One boy's room will be blue, the other had chosen a reddish orange color that reminded Jesse of the General Lee.

"Well, looks like I'm just in time for lunch." Jesse walked over to the sink to wash his hands as Jo placed a couple of plates on the table with sandwiches along with some chow chow and canned peaches from last years' crop. When she and Luke got their house, she asked for some fruit trees to be planted and last year was the first really good crop and gave her enough to canned some of the extra for later.

After putting her and Jesse's lunch down she set to getting Kira's processed food as well. She'd already pureed some peaches from the canned peaches that she and Jesse would be eating from. To go with it she'd brought over some leftover meatloaf that she'd made for her, Luke, and Faith the night before. It was simple enough to puree and it was already well seasoned. And of course, the mashed potatoes that Jo had made to go with it needed nothing extra to make it safe for her kin to eat.

"How's the painting coming along, Jesse?" Jo sat to eat her lunch before heading out with the basket for the men. Afterwards she'd spend the afternoon gardening. Kim would be bringing the children home after school and join her in the garden. Daisy had worked a bit in the morning before she had to go into work.

"Crystal's room is all finished. It should be dry for her to get a look at it when she comes home from school." Jesse grabbed the jar of chow chow to add just a bit more on his plate since it was one of his favorites to eat. He then turned his attention to Kira. "I heard that you finally started following your therapist's recommendations to work with the keyboard, again. You notice that you are playing better, again?"

Kira shrugged. "Some."

Her therapist had told her that trying to play her keyboard would help with regaining some of her dexterity. Though she still had a hard time controlling her left side of her body at times. To her, it made no sense that she was injured on her right side, but it was her left that didn't want to cooperate at times. Kim had told her that it was from the brain damage that she'd sustained. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. So now her limbs that had actually been broken in the attack worked better than the ones that were left relatively unharmed.

"Well, keep at it. I like listenin' to some music while I work." Jesse then bowed his head and waited for the women to do the same so that he could say grace before the trio dug in to eat. They didn't ever take their time since Jo would leave straight out to take the men their meal right after they finished. Jesse also headed out to take care of some of the chores over at his and Daisy's house before Jimmy got out of school while he waited for Crystal's room to dry.

Once Kira was finally alone for the first time in several days, she eyed the stairwell that her uncle had come down after he'd finished painting for the day. After a few moments of hesitation, she decided that she would go upstairs to see the room for herself. To be honest, she hadn't had the opportunity to go up to the second floor to see the progress of the rebuilding of the upper portions of the house up to this point. Everyone had been quick to state that she wasn't far enough along in her therapy to try the stairs yet. In addition, it seemed that she was rarely left alone in the house since she'd come home from the hospital.

Kira glanced toward the door as she listened to both vehicles pull away from the house. She'd have a few hours before the kids were due home from school. There was little to do around the house until the children returned so Kira got up and counted the steps toward the back stairwell. Her counting was just a bit off because she kicked the bottom stair when she got to it. Kira took a deep breath and placed a hand at the wall to steady herself as she took that first step onto the step. She waited to make sure that her foot was firmly planted before she lifted her back foot and placed it onto the second step. Again, she made sure that her foot was firmly placed before continuing the process until she was finally up at the top landing. She looked around and saw that the hall was stained to look as close to the way it had prior to the fire as possible.

Knowing that she had plenty of time Kira took a turn to the left toward where her sewing room had been. A door hadn't been placed for that room yet, so she walked on in and noticed that it felt a little larger than it had. She walked to the end of the room and saw that there was a doorway in the expanded area of the room, so she walked in that direction. When she got there, she saw that it was walk through closet. At the other end of the closet, she saw yet another vacant doorway. When she walked through it, she found the bathroom that had been part of the master bedroom. She knew that the room was going to be turned into a guest room. Kira couldn't understand why the bathroom would be connected to the room across the hall, though. The new layout of the former master bedroom was a bit smaller thanks to the larger former sewing room as well as the walk-through closet.

Kira walked out of the room and headed to the next room. This one did have a door. She opened it and saw that while the room didn't have paint, it had been primed and had cloths piled up on the floor for the next day where Jesse will place them to protect the new floor from the paint. She also saw the large pocket door that will allow the boys to choose when they want to share their room with one another or have some privacy. A door that would have been difficult to put into place had the upper floor hadn't needed a complete rebuild. So maybe there was a positive that came out of the fire. One very small positive.

Kira held her hand out toward the door as she approached and moved herself through to the other boy's room. She wondered how they would set the rooms up. Would they keep their beds near to the pocket door so that they were still close, or would they enjoy the room that they now would have by setting them up on opposites sides from one another?

Kira saw where the paint cans were set aside that Jesse would use tomorrow. It looked like he was going to start in the other room since the drop cloths were there for now. Smiling, Kira left the room and walked across the hall where Crystal's room had a fresh coat of paint. When she walked into the room the bright yellow reflected her daughter's personality perfectly. She was a true ray of sunshine in a world that could be so dark at times. Kira could see how her daughter will want her room set up, already. A small table for tea parties in one corner. Faith had let her cousin have a couple of her dolls to replace the ones that had been lost in the fire. They will have a prime location at the table.

Jebb had taken Crystal to pick out her new bunk bed before they moved back into the house and Daisy had helped the girl choose some pretty and feminine bedding that will go perfectly with her room's décor. Kira was certain that Jebb hadn't really thought about having to take it apart and putting it back together once the room was ready for the little girl to move into it.

Kira walked over to the opened window that had the same view as the room had prior to the fire. She felt saddened at the thought of no longer having the rocking chair that the family had given her when she was pregnant with the boys. When she had Crystal, it had been moved to her room and Kira had spent many hours looking out at this view.

If she looked hard, she could see the little patch of woods between this farm and Luke's. The boys love exploring that little patch. In fact, Bo promised to take them looking for mushrooms there this upcoming weekend. Off to the other direction, while she couldn't see it, she knew Bo's cabin that he shared with Kim sat tucked away in another clump of trees. Beyond that was the main Duke Family Farm.

She took one last look around the room of yellow with lavender trim before she headed next door to the bathroom. She saw that once more the men had thought ahead toward when the kids grew up. The sink and bathtub were separated from the toilet. By installing a water closet, if the boys needed to use the restroom once their younger sister started to wear makeup and spend hours upon hours styling her hair they can still tend to business.

She wondered if the men had looked back toward their childhoods both with Jebb's sister as well as Daisy and how they had needed to use the toilet only to be out of luck when designing the new bathroom for the children. Of course, it will help that there is also the bathroom at the end of the hall and the one downstairs but even with that, there may be times where it will be needed in a family of five with lots of cousins over all of the time. Kira smiled as she imagined her children being crowded into the room trying to get ready for school or dates in the future.

Kira looked at her watch and saw that she'd been upstairs longer than she thought. But she should be fine. The kids still had an hour before they would be home. Kira headed back toward the stairs and prepared for her careful descent down the stairs. Already she could smell the roast cooking that Jo had put into the oven before she left out. While she was still resentful that no one felt that she could cook on her own, yet, she had to admit that her cousin's wife was a good cook, and her mouth was already starting to water for the meal to be eaten that evening. Even if she did have to have it pureed before she actually ate it.

She wasn't as helpless as the family seemed to think. Here she was taking the stairs without either a person to help her or that stupid cane. Just like she could do some of the housework that others insisted on doing for her. Why couldn't the others realize how frustrating that was for her?

Kira saw the living room as she made her way down the main stairwell and sped up just a little faster. That was a mistake. With only three steps to go she lost her footing and stumbled. Kira reached blindly for the handrail and ended up on the landing.

"Okay... So not... ready... to come... down... faster... than... a snail." Kira got to her feet and rubbed her knee that she felt a bruise forming from her fall. "I think... I won't... mention... this to... anyone."

Weeks later, Kim listened to her sister-in-law and empathized with her. To be honest, she was not surprised to hear Kira complain of not being permitted to do many simple tasks around the house that she'd once done with hardly a thought prior to her attack back on Halloween. She'd spoken with her often when she drove her to her therapy sessions at the hospital. Kim had also spoken with the physical therapist and gotten her opinion on what she felt Kira was ready for. After a moment as she drove out of the hospital's parking lot, Kim looked over toward where Kira was sitting on the other side of the car. She still got terrible car sickness thanks to her visual disturbances so would always ride with her eyes closed as a way to try to hold off the sickness.

"I agree. I think that we can start working on you doing a few more things at the house."

Kira was surprised to hear Kim's reply. "You do?"

"I know you've worked hard in therapy. And I know what you've been able to do there. How about this, I'll sit in the kitchen tomorrow afternoon while you prepare a meal for the kids, Jebb, Bo and I? I won't help or do anything unless you need it. This way you can see if you are ready to do it at home."

Kira scrunched her brow a bit. So, she still wouldn't be alone. But it was something. Kim was trying to help her reach the next step to independence; even if it wasn't the step that she'd wanted. "I'll need... to make.. a list... for what... I'll need... from the... store. But... first I... need to... check what... we have... at the... house." Kira paused before adding, "Thanks, Kim."

~01~

Jebb headed home after heading to town to check the mail. Another box came in and he hoped to get it together with the others that he'd received over the last month. He's been working on his surprise for Kira's birthday present and with it being in a couple of days he was confident that his idea will be well-received. The two older twins were going to have a small party with the family and Cooter. Presents weren't really asked for, but everyone would have something for each of the birthday twins. Jebb had the other boxes that he'd gotten from his friends over the last month hidden up in the hayloft since he figured that would be a place where Kira wouldn't find his surprise. He was fairly certain that she had gone upstairs alone already but he couldn't prove it. But going out to the barn was still undo-able for her, at present.

When Jebb got home he stowed his box away then headed into the house and felt a panic when he saw Kira at the oven with the door open. She had a dish in her hands, and it was clear that she was about to try to put it in the oven.

"Kira! What are you doin'?"

Kira turned to face him and rolled her eyes her trademarked fashion. "I'm... making... dinner. What... does it... look like?"

"But-"

"It's alright, Jebb." Kim spoke up from her place at the table. She'd been holding a book, but she hadn't been reading it. She knew that if she just sat at the table where it was obvious that she was watching Kira like a hawk then it would make her more nervous about her first meal that she was preparing in more than half a year. When Jebb looked back to his sister-in-law he gave her a look of confusion. After all, wasn't it dangerous for her to use the oven? "Kira offered to fix dinner for Bo and I tonight. So, I'm just sitting here since I have nothing else to take care of this evening."

Jebb saw the look that Kim gave him to try to convince him that she had everything under control. He nodded his understanding and turned to watch Kira put what appeared to be lasagna into the oven. He noticed a tape alongside each side of the door to the oven that had markings much like a ruler, but each section was a different color. He assumed that Kim put it there so that Kira could try to keep track of where her hands, and the casserole dish she was holding, was in relation to the open door. Jebb wasn't sure if he was comfortable with Kira using the oven yet but if Kim thought she was ready, not to mention supervising, he supposed that he should be happy about this step that his wife was able to take regarding her recovery.

After a moment of hesitation Jebb sent a smile to both women as he said that since they were in the kitchen that he'd go see what the children were up to. Once he was gone Kim pretended to return to her book. She noticed that Kira had to correct her angle of her dish so that she wouldn't burn herself, but she had done it at the last second. The two of them had prepared the lasagna earlier in the day so that Kira had plenty of time to get everything ready for dinner and now she only had to warm it back up.

With the main course back in the oven she checked the stove where the pudding looked ready to come off and be put into the fridge. Kira reached forward to the knob to turn it off and glanced to see if Kim noticed that she grabbed the wrong one first. She then knelt down and opened the cabinet next to the oven where some of her larger dishes for meals were kept and took her time with making sure she grabbed the bowl that she wanted to pour the pudding into.

At least under the cover of the cabinet she didn't feel as conscientious when she had to feel her way toward the right bowl. She then stood back up with her bowl. She carefully moved the pudding into the bowl and left it on the counter while she made her way along the counter toward the sink to wash out the pot. She knew that if she left the dirtied pot to sit to clean later on it could be difficult to get the chocolate pudding out once it set.

Kira glanced behind her and while she knew that Kim was watching every move she made, she did appreciate the fact that she was trying to not look like she was. She put the pudding in the fridge to let it start to set and cool. It would be topped with store bought whipped cream for dessert. After counting the steps back to the island, Kira set about fixing the rest of the dinner as she fought the butterflies in her stomach. She somehow felt as if she was back in college and was taking an exam that could make or break her year.

~01~

A couple of days later Jebb watched as his wife and brother-in-law enjoyed their birthday. The family had thrown a small party with just a few friends. There was the usual fair for the family, cake, Uncle Jesse's crawdad bisque, and of course some of the finest moonshine in all of Georgia. The family spent the entire evening after the children had gotten out of school celebrating, having fun, and eating the special food that Jesse and Jo had fixed for the party.

Once the family and friends had left and the children were put to bed Jebb decided to finally pull out his present that he'd worked on for his wife. He'd taken the contents from all of the boxes that his and his wife's friends had sent and combined them in one large box. Kira eyed the box that was on the coffee table after she came back downstairs after making sure that the children were asleep. She'd been curious when Jebb had for once not insisted that he'd help her on the stairs despite showing that she was capable of navigating them on her own. When she saw the box, she realized that he'd had his own reason tonight.

"What's... this?"

Jebb grinned and shrugged mischievously. "Looks to me that you forgot to open one last birthday present."

Kira eyed Jebb before she walked over to the coffee table and tested the weight of the box. Knowing that it was too heavy for her to lift since she still had weakness on her left side (and likely always would) she sat on the couch behind the coffee table and carefully unwrapped the box and then opened it to find a large selection of video tapes.

"Tapes?"

"I reached out to some of our friends and let them know that all of our copies of various events and such were lost in the fire. I thought that we could watch them. This way we could take a walk down memory lane from our earlier days of being together. I mean, I know we've watched a lot of videos that Uncle Jesse and the others have made over the last ten years or so, but we were already married for those."

Kira smiled at the idea of Jebb trying to trigger some of his still lost memories as his gift to her. They had grown close since she woke up after her attack, but he still had gaps in his memory. They each knew that both of them would have gaps in their memories from their own respective injuries the previous year. For Kira's part, if she and Jebb had gone through such a rough patch that she'd been told about, she wasn't in any rush to even attempt to regain her own memories. But for Jebb, having lost so much of his life with her, it was beyond sweet.

Kira noticed that the tapes were each dated, and many had a title that would say what each tape held. "Sounds like... a fun... idea."

Jebb reached into the tape that appeared to be the oldest based on the date on the video. He joked as he popped it into the VCR. "Maybe I should have popped some popcorn."

"Next... time," Kira snickered. She knew that the reason he hadn't likely was because she couldn't have any but that didn't taint the small joke.

Jebb joined Kira on the couch and watched as he saw the recorded events of their earliest days. What was clear by the end of the tape was that he hadn't exactly swept her off of her feet the moment that they had met. In fact, it looked as if his now wife couldn't stand the sight of him in the early days of their relationship. A marked opposite of the other young women that he normally came across. Maybe that was what caused him to pursue her? Or was it her skill while racing? She appeared to be as focused on the track as he had been. It looked as if she gave him a run for his money a few times. As evident from their race the week before her attack.

When the next tape started to play Jebb's interest was piqued as he seemed to be calling out Kira on some sort of wager.

"Alright. I won. Now you have to pay up."

"You are such a perv, Duke." Kira gave Jebb a dirty look on the screen.

"You should have thought about that before you agreed to the bet. All of us have lost this bet at least once. You'll learn." On screen Jebb chuckled. Turning toward to the camera, he spoke to his invisible friend behind the camera, "I think it's time to move this party so Kira's initiation into our little troop can be completed. What do ya say? Where should we head, now?"

"Let's see..." said the woman behind the camera, "I think my initiation was over at-"

"Forget it. If I'm going to do this, I'll choose where we're going." Kira said as she walked out of the frame.

"Alright, everyone. It's Kyle's turn to be in the spotlight. Let's pack it up and head on out."

"Wait a minute," Jebb said as he racked his brain. "Wasn't Debbie's initiation-" After looking over at Kira and seeing her hide her face behind her hands he realized what he was about to watch.

The crowd all shouted out again as Jebb motioned for the woman behind the camera to turn it off. When the camera was turned back on, it was clear that the group was in a bar. He walked up to where Kira was sitting sullenly at the bar with a drink in her hand.

"It's time to pay up, Kyle. No more killing time. Last call is only twenty minutes away. It's now or never."

"You seem to be in an awful big hurry for me to do this. Guess you know that you'll never see me do it again, huh, Duke."

"That's why I plan to put it on tape. That way I can watch it anytime I want." Jebb could be heard chuckling in the background.

"Can I at least finish my drink first?" Kira asked as she made a face at Jebb.

"Nope. No more stalling."

"Alright, well, I hate to waste anything so..." On the screen, Kira stepped closer to the camera, and they could see that Kira was dumping her drink on Jebb.

"Hey!" Jebb hollered out as he realized that Kira had poured her whiskey all over him. Beside him, Kira cringed at the sight of herself on screen stepping up onto the bar stool on her way up to start her performance on the bar. "Oh my God, you actually did it!"

"Can't we... fast... forward... through this... part?" Kira reached for the remote, but her husband kept it out of her reach. For Jebb's part, he found the sight on the screen to be really hot.

When Kira saw that Jebb wasn't going to fast forward through the rest of her performance she got up and stumbled toward the television then fumbled until she ejected the tape instead.

"Oh, come on!" Jebb figured he'd have to watch the rest of it later without his wife.

"Next... tape." Kira said emphatically as she grabbed a new tape at random and worked to push it into the player.

When the taped played, it now showed the inside of a tattoo parlor and Jebb looked like he was a bit pale as he sat up on a table in his underwear.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Jebb said on the screen.

Kira grinned when she realized which tape this was.

"What's this?" Jebb asked out of curiosity. What was he doing?

"Just watch... Sweetness," Kira chuckled.

"I didn't talk you into it. It was part of a challenge. A challenge that you lost. Next time you bow out of a dare, you can look forward to another tattoo. Besides, I did let you choose which one you wanted," Kira could be heard as she held the camera.

"My folks will kill me if they find out I have a tattoo when I go home."

"I got a tattoo?" Jebb couldn't remember seeing a tattoo on himself since he'd first woke from his car accident.

"That's your problem. Of course, one way to avoid them finding out is to keep your pants on. And don't sit for a few days in front of them." Kira giggled as Jebb rolled his eyes. Picking up the copy of how Jebb wanted the tattoo to look, she showed it to the camera. "You know, not many people use a tattoo as a form of I.D. After all, anyone who gets to see that should know who you are, Jebb Stewart Duke," Kira said with an emphasis on Stewart.

On the camera, a man with a lot of tattoos came into view and began to prepare Jebb for his new bit of artwork. The artist had him to lay face down on the table as he began to pull his underwear down as the camera went off. When the camera came back on, a close up shot of the tattoo was filling the screen; not giving any indication of just where the tattoo was located.

Jebb read the tattoo and saw that his middle name had been replaced with Sweetness. He stood and pulled his pants aside enough to find his tattoo when he twisted his torso enough.

"How is... it that... you... didn't... real... ize that... you had... a tattoo... Jebb?" Kira asked as she started to laugh. Though she had to stop when she started to get choked up a bit.

"Because I ain't in the habit of lookin' at my own ass!" Jebb said with a soured tone as he was still trying to twist enough to get more than a hint of the ink that he had on his backside. When he heard Kira start to choke on her own laughs he stopped and made sure she was alright. "Kira?"

When Jebb moved forward and made her lift her arms like they would do when any of the kids started to choke, she pushed him away lightly. "Fine..." Kira took a deep breath. "I'm... fine."

"You sure?" Jebb watched as Kira got her breathing back under control. When she nodded, he figured that they'd probably not want to push their luck with watching other videos tonight. Instead, he held out a hand to his wife. "Come on. It's late. We should head on to bed."

Kira felt bad that her choking episode had put an end to their night of walking down memory lane. But at least with the copies of the videos of their own now, they could watch them any time that they wanted. She'd have to send a note of gratitude to all of their friends who helped create this gift for her birthday.