Chapter Five
As the dance wound down, Aralyn and Cam danced until the very end, when Bo gave Cam permission to bring her home without giving a curfew. As they danced, they stole a few more kisses, and Aralyn was eager to be alone with him for more.
Later, they sat outside her house in his mother’s Lexus. Cam had borrowed it for the night in the hopes of being able to bring her home, and he was glad he did. The bucket seats of his Jeep weren’t conducive to cuddling, and his dream of cuddling with her was happening right now. Both nervous, they didn’t say much as Cam held her close and they kissed a little more. Neither was in a hurry, and for the first time, Aralyn was loving being kissed. Now she understood why her Dad was always kissing Mom. It must be possible to still get that rush of tingly feeling even after twenty years.
Cam wasn’t demanding, but gentle and firm at the same time, letting her know he wanted her without being forceful. Holding her up against him with one hand, the other caressed the side of her face, his fingers playing with the long golden hair.
“You’re really good at this kissing,” she murmured. Cam smiled sheepishly, and she was pretty sure he was blushing.
“I research a lot,” he admitted. “You’re the first girl I’ve ever kissed.”
She tilted her head slightly to one side. “What about Callie?”
The smile vanished. “She doesn’t count. She just kind of…started crawling all over me. It really freaked me out.”
“Why’d you go out with her?” she asked curiously. He shook his head.
“Moment of stupidity that I don't count. But I don’t want to talk about her,” he said quietly. “I’d rather be kissing you. You’re pretty good at it too.”
Aralyn felt herself blush. “I’ve had a couple guys kiss me, but I didn’t really like it. It wasn’t like–like you’ve been kissing me.”
“We can practice some more.” He was grinning as he leaned in again.
"Can I ask you a silly question?" she murmured a few moments later.
The sun was starting to come up when she had asked the question, but technically, she was home. Cam had brought her home several hours before, but they had never made it inside. Mr. Duke hadn’t come busting outside with a gun, so Cam had figured he was safe. He was sure her father was watching from a window.
"Sure," he said easily.
"Was the German thing a ploy?"
Cam chuckled. "No. I really am struggling with it. I got a B one semester because I did whole lot of extra credit work. And I've always done well in anything math related."
Aralyn's head laid against his chest, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, his fingers playing with her hair. The night had cooled off and he had put his suit jacket around her for warmth. Cam didn’t mind the cool night, especially when he had her in his arms.
"Can I ask another?"
Cam laughed. "You can ask me as many silly questions as you want. I have nothing to hide."
"What was the rumor about you spending the summer at a confidence camp? Where’d that come from?"
Cam sighed as he laced his fingers through hers. "Most rumors don't bother me. That one does because it got all twisted. I spent the summer as a counselor at a kids camp for kids recovering from cancer and other illnesses. The whole premise is to teach them how to get back into a normal life, and build up their confidence, because after things like chemo, they're weak, and small, and a lot of them lose their hair, and things like that. While I was there, one of the counselors took me under his wing, gave me some lessons in being comfortable in my own skin. He talked me into LASIK, and kind of coached me on being more confident, exactly as we encouraged the boys to be. Somehow that got all turned around, and you can guess by who."
Aralyn giggled. "I thought it sounded awfully silly. You never struck me as underconfident. A bit shy maybe."
"When it came to you, underconfident was an understatement," he admitted.
Aralyn sat up and looked at him, surprised. "Why?"
Cam just shook his head. The girl, as bright as she was, did have her dense moments.
"Half the guys in school have been chasing you for the last two years. You're popular, star of the hockey team, famous parents, beautiful—I didn't think you ever noticed me as anything but the shy, gangly, geeky kid in the back of the class." He brushed a stray curl of hair back from her face. "You shone, all the time, and you were always nice to me. You have a rep for not dating a lot. I figured if you were turning down football stars, I didn't have a prayer of a chance."
"I had no idea you liked me," she murmured, "and I choose not to date Neanderthals like Kurt Mundy because they annoy me. I always liked the nerdy types," she said with a sly smile.
Cam had grinned. "Should I go back to wearing my glasses?"
"No," she laughed, "you have amazing eyes."
"So do you." He touched her jaw. "Everything about you is amazing."
Aralyn smiled and leaned over to kiss him gently. With reluctance he broke the embrace a moment later.
"I think your dad is tired of watching us make out," he said mildly.
Aralyn's eyes widened and she turned to look at the house. "He's been watching?"
"Sure. I doubt he's really staring but he's been up most of the night," Cam chuckled.
Aralyn turned pale.
"Don't worry, it's natural. Something tells me he’d be out here pronto if he thought anything major was going on, but I better get you inside before the sun comes up. Hang on." He opened the door and got out, walking around to open her door. “Now, my lady.”
"You don't have to walk me up to the door," she laughed, taking his hand to step out of the Lexus.
Cam looked pained. "I was raised to do so. Especially if Bo Duke is standing behind it with a gun."
Aralyn laughed, and they reached the porch too soon.
"I'll call you tonight," Cam said softly, brushing his lips against hers.
"Ok. Get some sleep," she said with a smile.
Cam nodded and waited until she had opened the door and stepped in before hurrying back down to the car, barely refraining from leaping in the air and shouting “Yes!”'
Aralyn shut the door behind her and could smell the coffee brewing. Rolling her eyes to herself, she poked her head into the kitchen. Bo sat at the table, with a cup of coffee and an almost empty pie plate.
"Sleep well Daddy?" she teased.
"Sure did," Bo smiled, his fatigue obvious in his eyes. "Just wanted some coffee."
"Cam was a gentleman, in case you weren't peeping through the curtain," she said dryly, getting a mug from the cabinet and doctoring it with a copious amount of sugar.
"Wouldn’t dream of it." He grinned at her. "He’s a nice boy."
"Very. And cute." She grinned, blushing just a bit.
"Well, your mama and I like him. Seems like he has a good head on his shoulders."
"I'm guessing he passed the background check, or you would have said something weeks ago."
Bo just grinned as Aralyn shook her head.
“Did you leave me any pie?” she asked, laughing.
Bo pushed the remaining pie towards her. Since she was a little girl, they had shared pie in the middle of the night. Sometimes she got up early to see him before he left for work and went back to bed before school, sometimes he was woken in the night by her crying after a nightmare. Some pie and hot chocolate always calmed her, and then he’d tuck her back in bed.
Now Bo sipped his coffee, remembering a time when he had come very close to losing his family. Once the twins arrived, things had been rough and almost too much to bear for Trixie.
Bo opened the door, wincing at the sound of the twins screaming from the living room. His nose let him know immediately they needed to be changed. Toys were scattered everywhere.
"Trixie?" he called, "Trixie, sweetheart, you here?"
"Daddy!" Aralyn raced from the kitchen, dried chocolate pudding smeared in her hair and on her face. Several blobs had dripped onto her pink jumper, and her golden hair hadn’t been combed. Bo swept her up into his arms, like he did every day.
"Aralyn, where’s Mommy?" he asked, alarmed as she covered his face with sticky kisses.
"She's sick," Aralyn replied, licking chocolate pudding off her chubby fingers. “I ate all the puddin’. Can you get me more?”
"Sick? Where is she? Is she in her room?"
"No, she's sleepin’ in the kitchen."
Aghast, Bo set his daughter down and ran into the kitchen. Sure enough, Trixie lay on the floor, whimpering. She still wore her robe from the morning and was curled up on her side.
"Aralyn, what happened?" Bo demanded.
"She just started crying. She wouldn't stop. Then she kinda fell on the floor and just kept crying.”
Bo knelt and gathered his wife into his arms, crooning to her softly. Trixie didn't answer, her bright blue eyes were vacant as she wept without tears.
"Aralyn, pick up the phone and push the numbers I tell you."
The four-year-old did so, carefully pressing the numbers her daddy gave her.
"You tell Honey I need her right away. Tell her Trixie is in trouble."
"Uncle Luke?" Aralyn piped into the phone. "Daddy says he needs Aunt Honey right now . . . Mommy's sick . . . I don't know . . . she kinda fell on the floor earlier, crying . . . ok." Aralyn hung up the phone.
"She's on her way. Daddy, what’s wrong with Mommy?"
"I don't know baby, but I'll find out. Can you be a big girl and do Daddy a favor?"
"Of course," she said proudly.
For the first time, Bo thanked God his daughter was well ahead of the average four-year-old.
Bo stood, holding Trixie in his arms. "You know how sometimes you get to help change the twins?"
"Yeah." Aralyn didn't look thrilled suddenly.
"I need you to change them, ok, Princess? Be very carefully, but clean them up good. You remember how?"
"Yes, Daddy." Her pert little nose wrinkled up.
"That's my good girl. One at a time, put the blanket on the floor, just like we showed you."
"Ok, Daddy!"
"And wash your hands before and after!" Bo called over his shoulder, carrying his wife up the stairs.
Honey and Luke were there moments later. Luke took charge of Aralyn with the twins, who was actually poking her siblings instead of changing them, as Honey raced up the stairs to Trixie.
She lay on her and Bo's bed, on her side, curled up. Bo sat in the chair next to the bed, his blond head in his hands.
"What happened?" Honey demanded.
Bo looked up, distraught. "I don't know. I came home and found her like this in the kitchen. Aralyn was a mess, the twins were screaming. I don't know—"
"All right, let me see her." Honey sat next to Trixie on the bed. "Is she responsive to you at all?"
"No." Bo's voice cracked, and Honey gave his hand a quick pat before turning to her best friend. “I just didn’t know what to do.”
"Trixie," Honey said softly. "Trixie, can you hear me?"
Shaking, Bo slipped out of the room. Facing down criminals suddenly seemed like a cakewalk compared to coming home and finding his wife borderline catatonic.
"Daddy, is Mommy better?" Aralyn asked, eating another cup of pudding as she sat on the sofa. She had found one more cup way back in the refrigerator. Luke hadn’t seen yet that she very carefully took everything out of the refrigerator and set it on the floor, and hadn’t returned them to their shelves.
"She will be sweetie," Luke answered instead as he picked her up. "You have pudding all over you, know that?"
"Yep." Aralyn giggled. "I like puddin'!"
Bo picked up Leif, who was starting to fuss. Logan had finally quieted down.
Holding his son, he stared out the window. Trixie had been depressed for days. Well, months, really, since the twins were born. She had been depressed after Aralyn was born too, but not like this. Honey and Luke had argued about a nanny, and Luke hated using Honey's money, but she put her foot down on help with the children. She often sent her nanny over to Trixie to help her as well, knowing Bo and Trixie were desperately saving money for a bigger house.
Bo leaned his head against the window. This was his fault, he figured. If he wasn’t working so much! But the overtime pay was building their savings, and with that, and the investments he and Luke had made under Matt Wheeler's advice, they would be all right in a couple more years.
But Trixie needed him now, he thought. He was supposed to be on a plane in a couple of hours, tracking their current fugitive to Chicago. He had only come home to change his clothes and grab his overnight bag, bracing himself for another fight with Trixie about being gone too much.
"You all right?" Luke was at his side.
"No." Bo sighed. "Luke, I can't get on that plane to Chicago tonight! I can't leave her like this."
"I'll go. One Duke for another." Luke smiled but Bo shook his head.
"No. We can't swap out like that without Stodge approvin' it."
"Then I’ll call him and tell him you have an emergency."
"Then you'll have Honey mad at you!"
"I'd rather have Honey mad at me then see you and Trixie splittin' up because of your job. Your wife needs you, Bo. I'll take this one."
But Stodge wasn't happy about the Duke boys switching, even when Luke called and explained Bo had a family emergency that needed his immediate attention.
Honey didn't bat an eye when Luke told her he was taking Bo's place. She just nodded. From Trixie's room she had already arranged for her nanny to come to Trixie, then she made a call for help, ordering the Wheeler jet to make an unscheduled trip to Atlanta.
Late that night, Bo was startled to open the door and find his mother-in-law standing there, smiling. “Moms!”
The nanny had arrived at seven pm, promptly taking charge of the twins while Bo got Aralyn ready for bed and read to her until she was asleep. She hated Peter Rabbit but loved Grimm’s fairy tales—the more gruesome, the better.
"Hi, Bo." Helen Belden hugged her handsome son-in-law. "Honey called me."
Bo turned red. "I'm sorry, I should have called you, I just didn't think—"
"It's all right." Helen smiled at him. "I know how chaotic it is with three little ones. I was thinking about a visit anyway, Trixie didn't sound good on the phone last week."
Bo stepped aside to allow her to enter, and took her bag.
"Trix is upstairs. She hasn't spoken to me, or Honey, but she finally fell asleep a little while ago. I don't know if I should take her to the hospital, or what." The Marshal was clearly distraught, and Helen soothingly put on hand on his arm.
"Let me talk to her. If she won't talk to me, we'll take her to a doctor."
Helen stopped in the living room to smile at her sleeping grandsons, watched carefully by the nanny, a matronly woman with steel gray hair and sensible shoes that reminded Helen of Margery Trask.
Helen opened the door to Trixie and Bo's room as he waited in the living room.
"Trixie?" she called softly, "Trixie, it's Moms."
For several moments there was no answer, and Helen got a cool washcloth and bathed her daughter's face with it.
Honey slipped out of the room to allow them some privacy, and set about making breakfast. Bo sat at the kitchen table, miserable, staring into his coffee cup.
"Sweetie, you need to wake up and talk to me," Helen said softly, brushing her daughter's curls. "Trixie, we're very worried, and I know you don't like hospitals."
Trixie slept, echoes of screaming babies whirling through her head, when the soft, familiar voice infiltrated.
Moms, she thought, Moms to the rescue. But Moms was in New York, so far away.
"Trixie, wake up, honey," Moms said gently.
She sounds so close, Trixie thought, tears welling in her eyes. If I open my eyes she won't be there, it will just be the twins screaming and Aralyn demanding more pudding.
"Open your eyes, Beatrix Belden," came the sharp voice.
Trixie popped her eyes open. The room was dim, but she knew the figure sitting next to her; it had sat there so many times in childhood.
"Moms?" she whispered.
"Yes, sweetie, I'm here," Moms replied.
Trixie burst into tears and sat up, throwing her arms around her mother.
"Moms, I can't do it! I can't do it! The twins scream and cry all day and night, and Aralyn is so wild, I can't—I can't—"
"Now you hush," Helen said firmly but in a gentle tone, "Trixie Belden can do anything she wants. ‘Can't’ doesn't belong in her vocabulary."
"Aralyn's wild," she wept. "We've spoiled her so, and the twins—all I can hear is them screaming—"
"They're not screaming now, honey," Moms said gently. "Listen."
Trixie wiped her eyes and listened to the quiet of the house.
"Where are they?" she whispered.
"Honey's nanny is here, and so is Bo."
"Bo," Trixie moaned. "He must be furious with me!"
"No, sweetie, he's very worried about you."
"I can't be a mother," she whispered, panic seizing her chest. "I can’t take care of them properly—they just cry and scream—I just want to run away—"
"Shhh," Moms said soothingly. "Trixie, what's happening to you is perfectly normal. You think I wasn't ready to rip my hair out over you and Mart's shenanigans while trying to keep Brian out trouble?"
"But you're so—organized—" Trixie hiccupped, "And—and—you're Moms!"
Helen chuckled. "Sweetie, we're going to get you through this. I'll stay as long as you need me to."
Trixie hugged her mother fiercely. "I'm so glad you're here."
"So am I. Now why don't you take a shower and clean yourself up? You have a husband who's worried sick about you."
"How long—I don't remember anything Moms. Just the screaming and screaming and Aralyn wanted more pudding, and then . . .nothing."
"Bo found you earlier this evening," Helen explained quietly, "on the floor in the kitchen, and it likely scared him to death."
Trixie swallowed. Her sweet Bo, sometimes clueless about the children, but always there for her. Cringed while changing diapers but never complained about it. Willingly got up in the middle of the night to feed the twins, and Aralyn as a baby, so Trixie could sleep. Spent whatever free time he had playing with their children. Spoiling Aralyn with rides on his shoulders and ice cream trips.
Helen helped her sit up and walk to the shower. While Trixie cleaned up, she pulled out fresh clothes for her daughter, noting they were behind on laundry. It hadn't escaped her notice that the nanny had been dusting as well, and Helen had a feeling the kitchen would be a disaster when she got down there.
In the morning, the nanny again fed and dressed the twins while Bo got Aralyn dressed for preschool and dropped her off. He had told Stodge he wouldn't be in today, and Stodge was livid. The nanny had stayed the night watching over the twins, and her relief arrived at 7, when the day nanny took over. Bo didn’t sleep, alternating between watching Trixie, who had fallen asleep, and checking on his children. He paced in between and tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do.
Bo had learned early on that a Belden woman in motion was a force to be reckoned with. Now he wondered if it was really the Johnson side.
Helen took charge of things quickly, with her and Honey arranging for a week long getaway for Trixie at a spa, where she would be relaxed and pampered.
Bo took a few days off from work, and between the nanny and Helen, quickly came to realize how overwhelmed his wife had been, running the household with the twins and a very active Aralyn, who was delighted to have her Daddy home full time, thinking it meant more trips to the ice cream store. She wouldn’t start kindergarten until the fall and pre-K was only a few hours a day.
It didn't take long for Bo to become very appreciative of his wife's daily efforts. He agreed the nanny should be hired part-time to help Trixie during the day while he was at work, and one night a week so he and Trixie could have some private time.
Fretting about the finances, he didn't want to tell his mother-in-law they were struggling to keep the small house they had and save for a better one. He was due for a raise soon, and he had yet to tell her that he, Luke and Dan had all put in for transfers back to New York, several months ago. Plus there were the medical bills from the twins birth; his insurance didn't quite cover everything, and Logan had required some special attention. And there was Aralyn's trip to the ER six months ago, from when she tumbled off her bike, which she wasn't supposed to be riding without supervision, and split her lip open. Again, the insurance covered most, but not all. Christmas wasn't too far off, as well as Aralyn's fifth birthday, and she was old enough now to want a party with her friends from school.
Honey finally announced the solution of a small loan. Bo refused at first, remembering Uncle Jesse's steadfast stance of not accepting charity. Luke also reminded him of how many times Jesse's pride almost cost them the farm. His wife had done a lot of sweet
talking to get Luke to back her on it. Honey knew the Duke boys had more than a double dose of pride but if one would agree, the other usually would.
Worn down by his cousin, Bo unhappily took the loan, and he and Luke and Dan let Honey and Daisy in on the transfer request. Honey was thrilled, but Luke pointed out they had made the request several months before, and there was no telling if or when it would happen.
They agreed to tell Trixie when she returned.
Honey alone knew how much Trixie missed New York. While she did love her life with Bo, she missed the rest of her family. She wanted hers, Honey's and Daisy's children to grow up with Mart's too. Brian and Jim hadn’t shown any inclination of having children yet, but Trixie wanted all the Bob-White children to grow up together and know each other. Mart and Di’s older twins were a year younger than Aralyn and Tiffany and Tim, and their younger twins only a month younger than Leif and Logan.
Aralyn’s arrival had thrown Trixie and Bo into complete upheaval. A month later Honey and Luke had Tiffany, and two weeks after that, Timmy arrived to Dan and Daisy. The following year, Dan and Daisy had Jesse, the year after that, they had Dana, and Honey and Luke had Jace. Then Trixie and Bo decided to have another, and had Leif and Logan. The arrival of the twins offset the precarious balance Trixie and Bo had managed to find in their marriage, as it became apparent Aralyn was a definite combination of Trixie and Bo’s natural enthusiasm for life. It was suspected their twin boys would be every bit as vivacious.
Bo returned to work to Stodge, who was unhappy he had lost one of his prized Marshals for a week.
"Women’s issues," Stodge snorted. "She was a fine Marshal till you got her knocked up."
Bo burst out laughing. "I didn't know after three years of marriage it was still considered 'knocked up'."
"Well, if she could handle chasing down criminals why can't she handle some babies?" he grouched.
Bo didn't really want to be having this conversation so he said nothing.
"Well, getting back to business, I hope she's all right for you to leave town because . . ."
Bo sighed unhappily.
Now he sat sharing pie with his teenage daughter, who still loved chocolate pudding, but had her first real boyfriend. Her blonde hair was slightly disheveled and her lips had absolutely no trace of lipstick, but he wouldn’t let his mind go there. It had taken a lot of effort on Trixie's part to keep him from standing in the window until she came inside.
Bo had never seen his daughter so happy.
And he was glad. It had taken a lot of work to pay back Honey and Luke, but he had insisted. Their transfers went through and they returned to New York, settling in White Plains. Honey and Luke had debated on moving into Manor House but opted to join, Dan and Daisy, and Trixie and Bo purchased houses in the subdivision where Mart and Di, and Brian had settled. They were spread out throughout the large neighborhood, as the old Bob-Whites were determined their children should grow up together. The subdivision had been designed by Hallie Belden, Trixie’s cousin, who had been on the rise as a highly sought-after architect. At the time, Hallie had been dating Jim Frayne, Trixie’s ex-boyfriend and Honey’s older brother.
Now the Dukes were comfortably settled. Their bills were caught up, and Honey and Luke had insisted on setting up college funds for Trixie and Bo’s kids, and Dan and Daisy’s years before. Matthew Wheeler had overseen their investments, and they all had nest eggs growing steadily. Bo hoped they could send the kids to college on their own, without them having to use the college funds or any of the kids taking loans. Once Daisy Duke Designs had really taken off, the extra money had come in handy, and now that money went into their savings.
Hallie had eventually married Jim, and moved into Ten Acres, and they had the three youngest children in the family. Dan’s oldest boy Tim was away at military school. The rebel in the family, he had pushed Dan too far, and the final answer had been military school. Bo knew how Dan’s heart ached over his oldest son not speaking to him, and he fervently wished they could work it out. Everyday he was thankful that his children were happy and healthy.
“Earth to Dad.” Aralyn was waving her hand in front of him.
Bo smiled at his only daughter. His heart was full with pride for the young woman sitting with him. He liked Cam, and something told him Cam might just become something of a regular fixture in their lives.
Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!
***
Author’s Notes
- A huge yee-haa to Dana, my fabulous editor for this Universe!
- If you didn't realize it, Trixie was suffering from post-partum depression. The flashback takes place circa 1990, before post partum depression was fully recgonized and acknowledged by medical professionals, despite its existence for centuries.
- Word Count, 4,543
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