You guys would not believe the struggle I went through to rewrite this chapter. Hopefully it lives up to your standards and y'all enjoy.

I don't own the Dukes.


I get my next appointment scheduled and Daisy and I head out to the car. We don't have to discus what to do next; we have shopping to do. Well, I have quite a bit of shopping to do now that I know my baby's gender.

"Just wait till everyone hears the news when we get home," Daisy comments as I drive us to a store I had visited a couple months ago.

"It'll be preparation for when you find out the gender of your little one."

"Actually, Enos and I have talked and we're goin' to wait till it's born to find out the gender."

"The family will go crazy along with the both of ya. Do ya really think you can wait that long?"

"I believe we can. And everyone else will just have to sweat it out."

I give a belly laugh. I'm surprised she thought the idea of waiting to find out. She's one who would want to know the first chance she got. I do however like the idea of everyone wondering what the next Duke is going to be.

We continue to talk about how everyone is going to react to mine and Daisy's news, mainly Jesse's, as we arrive at the store. Once inside, I head straight for the furniture. Last time I was here, I had found a nursery set that consisted of a crib, changing table, and rocker. All pieces were in a dark wood which was what made me love it.

As I near the department, I see the set and every piece is on display. I have a seat in the rocker and watch as Daisy catches up to me.

"Whatcha think?" I ask as I motion around.

"It's beautiful. Are you thinking of getting it?"

"Thinking? I'm getting it. I'd seen this the last time I was here. I didn't want to get it at the time though. It didn't feel like the right moment." I didn't want to root myself in that environment. I couldn't lose hope in going back home.

Daisy gives a little chuckle. She knew exactly what I had meant. "You're feeling proved right."

I give a little chuckle of my own. We seek out an employee and I order the set. I opt out of delivery since Hazzard is so far away. Bo and Luke should be willing to pick them up for me.

With the order out of the way, we head over to the next big thing: clothes. Namely, baby clothes. If this little girl is going to be apart of this family, she's going to have to get use to being dressed up and spoiled by her Aunt Daisy along with myself.

"I'm getting' this one for sure," I hear Daisy say.

I look up to see her holding a frilly dress. "For yours or mine?"

"Mine."

I can't help but smirk. "What about waiting on the gender?"

"That doesn't mean I can't be prepared."

I shake my head and turn back to the rack of clothes I was looking at. She was right. She'll get clothes from me that my daughter will grow out of but Daisy has a slight style differences from me. It's another reason for her to shop.

"I feel bad for Enos. You spend his paycheck before he can look at it."

"Hey. I've done good at not doin' that. And Enos knows that a baby is expensive."

"At least you can tell him that some of those clothes are for mine. That just might ease his mind a little bit." That gets a laugh out of her.

We look for another 30 minutes before realizing that we should be getting back home. It's going to be late when we get there so we decide to get some dinner first. The guys shouldn't mind. They can fend for themselves for one meal.

We drive around for a bit and decide on a little cafe that reminded me of Hazzard. We're seated on the little patio they have and order some sandwiches along with some sweet teas. We quickly get our drinks and the two of us are left in a silence that is weird for us. I can tell that Daisy has something on her mind but she won't say anything.

"You don't particularly like Lorry, do ya?" Daisy finally says.

I let out a little sigh. This is a subject that I knew would come up some time or another. "Not entirely. And the feeling's probably mutual for her too."

"Don't think that. She hasn't gotten to know you yet."

"Haven't you seen the way she looks at me and acts when Luke is around? I don't think she wants to be friends."

Daisy sighs. She knows I'm right. "So she acts a little protective of Luke when you're around. But what woman with a Duke boy on her arm wouldn't be when competition is around?"

"Why would she think that I'm competition? She should be confident of Luke's love for her. Come on, he proposed. He can't have feelings for me still."

"Don't be too sure about that." I look at her confused. Before she can continue her thought, our food arrives. We both thank the waiter and Daisy continues. "I haven't told anyone this, but I don't think Luke loves Lorry as much as he lets on."

"You can't be serious, Daisy."

"I am. I watched my cousin closely the past three years and he's never lost his feelings for ya. He put all his energy into the farm to hide how he felt. He was acting like he does whenever he has something on his mind and doesn't want to tell anyone. It took all we had to get him away from the farm to Capital City last July. From that moment, I could see that his feelings for you weren't fading. It's like he is putting those feelings into Lorry. That's why I think their relationship has grown so fast. He is making himself believe that Lorry is you.

"That's why I said what I did earlier. I feel that with you coming back, he's realizing what he's been doing. It's a matter of time before he ends everything with her and the two of you can have that future that was bound to happen."

Now I sigh. "Don't you dare do something to destroy what those two have for the sake of what could have been. I can believe Luke not wanting to leave the farm, but I can't believe what you say about him thinking that Lorry is me. That's just not like Luke. We both have life changing events happening in the future and we need to forget the past and what could have been. Please promise me that you won't meddle."

"But I just know-."

"No meddling. Luke's happy with the path he chose and I'm happy with mine." I see her gears spinning. I just need her to understand. I don't want Luke hurt and I don't want to get hurt myself. This is the only way. "Please, Dais."

"Okay. But only because you're the sister I never had and I don't want ya to be hurt by all this."

"Don't worry, okay? As long as all of you guys are happy, then I am too. There is nothing to worry about."


Getting the right wording in this took incredible brain power and many hours of deleting and rewriting. Hopefully this gave you guys something.

Keep it 'tween the ditches everybody.