A/N: Okay, this one's REAL sappy, IMO.

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Deliver Us From Evil

Chapter Ten: One Last Night, Part Two

Balladeer: Luke just told Ali what the plan was for the girls to get outta Hazzard—and as predicted, she was not too happy

"You want us to what?" Ali screeched.

"Hon, it's the only way to keep you girls safe," Luke said, ready to bail out of the way in case she decided to throw something at him. "Eve an' Chelsea are goin' with ya."

"I don't care!" she screamed, stamping her foot on the floor. "I can't leave her without you!" Tears were pouring from her eyes. "I've already lost a baby, I can't be losin' you too!"

"Darlin', nothin's gonna happen to me—"

"You don't know that! We didn't know that this was goin' to happen to our baby, did we? You can't say nothin'll happen to you!"

Luke didn't know how to respond to that. No, he didn't know that the baby was going to die. No, he had no way of promising her that he would be safe from whoever it was doing these things to them. Ali noticed that he couldn't think of anything to say and went into an uproar.

"It's not fair!" she shouted, throwing the couch pillows across the room. "I did everything I could to be healthy for the baby! I ate right, exercised right, went to the doctors, everything!"

"I know you did," Luke tried to solace her but to no avail.

As he was trying to pick up couch pillows from the floor, Ali burst into the nursery—the nursery that was now not going to be used, the one that their baby was supposed to be living in next month. Luke heard the sound of something breaking, dropped everything and ran inside to see his wife kicking the baby crib apart.

"Ali, what're you doin'!" he exclaimed.

"I can't stand it anymore, Luke!" she cried, leaving the torn bed and tossing teddy bears from their shelves on the wall and knocking the bassinet over on its end. "I can't stand passin' by this room an' knowin' there's not gonna be a baby in it!"

She grabbed a porcelain piggy bank that had little painted flowers on it and hurled against the wall, the small pig shattering into pieces and leaving a good-sized hole in the wall. She collapsed to the floor where she continued to sob, repeating over and over, "It's not fair. It's not fair."

Luke rushed to her side and tried to help her up but she was being stubborn and insisted on being left alone. It hurt him that she was so upset about this, not that he could blame her. She had taken care of herself the past eight months with their baby, only now it seemed like it had been a waste of time. He rubbed her hair, trying to console her but she still laid there on the carpet crying.

"Ali, I know it hurts. I was lookin' forward to bein' a father, just like you were to bein' a mother." The crying didn't seem to go down any. Luke sighed. "You're not the only one that lost somebody, Alison."

Ali picked up her head, wiped the tears away from her eyes and tried to sit up on the carpet. Her eyes were red and puffy and her nose was stopped up from crying. "You must think I'm crazy," she sniffed, wiping her nose with a sleeve. "A ranting lunatic. I'm sorry, I know you're upset, too. I wish you'd act like you were though. I never see you get emotional."

"I've always been like that," he told her, wrapping his arms around her to comfort her.

"Luke? You think we'll have another chance at parenthood?" she asked, resting her head in his arms.

He sighed, trying to think of how to say it. "If we want to, I don't see why not."

"You don't think that—that we'd be replacing the one we lost, would you?"

He gave her a squeeze. "No, of course not. I'll always remember that one. But I'll love the next child just as much."

Ali nodded in agreement, still laying in Luke's arms. "So, um . . . what was it you were sayin' about goin' somewhere with my sis an' niece?"

Luke chuckled at how she just switched subjects so easily. "I love you, Ali, but you confuse the mess outta me sometimes."

"Hey, I could've said the same for you a few times before," she smiled softly, lifting her head so he could her a kiss.

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April 1988

Luke was looking at an assortment of diamond rings through the display case. He had money saved over and he was wanting to buy an engagement ring to propose to Ali with. They'd really hit it off since he'd come back from the Marines and her coming back to Hazzard. He loved her wild personality, rounded off nicely with feminine charm.

The girl behind the counter, a pretty redhead, kept giving him starry-eyed looks. "Ya lookin' for somethin' for your girl?" she asked, wondering who the lucky girl was.

Luke looked up and smiled briefly. "Yeah. Havin' a hard time figurin' out which one she'd like in my price range."

The girl used her keyset to unlock the jewelry case and pulled out a small one that was priced at about one hundred and fifty dollars. "It's on sale," she told him, letting him look at it. "Ya reckon it'll fit her hand?"

Luke looked at it with a confused look and said, "I dunno, I'm not sure what size she wears. Your hands look about the same as hers though."

The girl smiled. "I wear either a five or six, depending on the make. Try that one on me to see if it fits my hand or not."

Luke didn't realize that Ali had walked in behind him, having dropped in to see if someone could fix her watch that had broken. When she saw her boyfriend trying a ring on some girl, she nearly crossed her eyes in anger.

"Lucas Duke!" she growled.

Luke turned around, surprised to see her. "Ali!" he said, fumbling for something to say. "I—It's not what it looks like!"

"Ya better explain to me what you're doin' puttin' a ring on this hussy, then!"

"I was just—I mean—I was only—"

"Oh forget it!" Ali fumed, storming back outside and down the street. Luke ran his hands through his hair, chasing her outside with the sales girl right behind him.

"Ali, will ya let me explain!" Luke pleaded, grabbing her hand.

"I don't wanna hear it!"

Luke held up the ring in his hand. "I'm tryin' to ask ya to marry me, but I had to try it on this girl to see if it would—"

Ali gasped when she realized what was going on and fixated her eyes on the ring. "You—you're askin' me to marry you!"

Luke grimaced, realizing he blew his chance at a more romantic proposal. "Yeah."

Ali laughed and threw her arms around, excited beyond belief. "Yes, of course I will! And I just love that ring!"

The happy moment was short-lived by the salesgirl clearing her throat behind Luke, who turned around and gave her a confused look. The girl had her arms crossed. "I'm happy for ya an' all, but ya still gotta pay for that."