*The story in this chapter is "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown
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"Rafe, where are we going?" Alison asked as Rafe dragged her somewhere downtown.

"You'll see. I hope no one has claimed it yet."

"Claimed it? Rafe, what are you talking about?"

"There it is!"

Rafe and Alison stood in front of an empty building with a sign in the window that said it was for rent.

"I saw it last week and when you were talking about opening up a bakery, I thought this would be a good place to have it. Well, what do you think?"

Alison's eyes lit up. "Oh, Rafe! Rafe, this is perfect! I can already see pastries and stuff in the window!" Alison ran up to the building and put her hands on the glass and looked inside. "Oh, and there's a lot of room inside. And I could…I could put a sign right up here and a little bell on this door!"

Rafe laughed. "And look at the location of it. I mean you've got the river right there; it's a great view. You'll get plenty of business around here."

"Rafe this is perfect!" Alison threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"What was that for?" he laughed.

"Believing in me. For helping this dream of mine become a reality."

"And it will. That's a promise."

Alison smiled.

"So now all that's left is calling that number on the sign right there and pretty soon, you'll be in business. Have you thought of a name?"

Alison beamed. "Well, I was going to go with Alison's Bakery, but that just sounds so plain. I've thought of a much better name."

"Well let's hear it!"

"'Alison's Heavenly Delights'. What do you think about that?"

Rafe smiled. "Am I your inspiration?"

"You're my inspiration and more!" Alison put her arms around him and they kissed.

~*~*~

"I won't have to do this much longer," Alison said to Rafe as she got ready for her shift at the Recovery Room.

"We should celebrate tonight."

"Really?"

"Definitely! We'll….we'll go out to that restaurant that we went before."

"Our first date," Alison beamed.

"Right."

"I can't wait."

"Alright, so I'll see you when you get off."

"Yes." Alison kissed him. "I'll be missing you every second."

~*~*~*~

Alison smiled as she was lost in a daydream. She kept thinking of Rafe's face and how cute he was and how much she loved him. She couldn't wait to spend some time with him.

"Alison. Alison?"

"Hmm?" Alison was snatched out of her reverie by Ian's voice. She rushed over to Ian and Eve's table. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I've just been sorta spaced lately. Can I get you anything else?"

"Actually, we weren't going to ask for more food. We have a favor we want to ask you."

"Oh, um…okay, sure."

"Eve and I were planning on spending a night out, but our babysitter called at the last minute and had to cancel. Is there any way that you could watch Danny for us?"

"Oh, well, Ian, I wouldn't mind, but Rafe and I, we…we sorta wanted to spend some time together tonight."

"Well bring him along too. My two favorite babysitters!"

"Please, Alison?" Eve asked. "It's been a really long time since we've done something for ourselves.

Alison smiled. Eve and Ian wouldn't be back together if it hadn't have been for she and Rafe. It was nice to see them happy together. And she remembered how much fun it has been babysitting Daniel with Rafe that one evening before Christmas. "Alright, what time do you want us over?"

~*~*~*~

"So you really don't mind that we're spending our night with a baby instead of going out somewhere?" Alison asked as they stood outside the Thornhart's door.

"As long as I still get to spend time with you," Rafe said with a smile. "And besides, he is a cute kid."

Alison smiled and knocked on the door.

"Oh good, you're here!" Eve said with a smile and let Rafe and Alison in. "We're just about ready to go."

"That's a nice dress, Eve," Alison said.

Eve smiled. "Thank you. It's new. Look, I really appreciate you two watching Daniel for us. Ian told me that you two watched him before. And Daniel slept all through the night that night. He must like you."

"Well Rafe is really good with children." Alison smiled at Rafe.

"Well she's not so bad herself," Rafe said, his eyes on Alison.

"And here he is…" Ian said as he walked into the living room holding Danny in his arms.

"Aww, Daniel," Alison said and took the baby from him. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that he's even more cuter than that last time we saw him. I mean look at how much he has grown. It's like he's a completely different baby!"

"Thanks so much for watching him," Ian said.

"We're glad we could help," Rafe said.

"Lambert, you ready to go?"

"I'm ready if you are."

"Have a nice time!" Alison said.

"Bye, my little man!" Eve said to Daniel and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Oh, some important numbers are on the fridge. Call us if you have any problems. And he'll probably need a bottle fixed for him in a little while."

"Okay, we'll take good care of him."

"Bye, thanks again," they said.

"Bye. Say 'bye', Daniel." Alison held up Danny's little hand and made him wave to his parents. Daniel smiled big.

Eve and Ian left.

Alison looked over at Rafe who was smiling at them. "You wanna hold him?"

"Oh, um…"

"Come on, you know you do," Alison grinned and put the baby into his arms. Daniel smiled and cooed. "Aww, see that? He likes you!"

Rafe held the child close to him. Daniel looked at Rafe and reached out for his ear. "Yeah, I guess he does."

"I'm going to go fix his bottle."

"Alright." Rafe sat down on the couch with Daniel. "This looks pretty neat," Rafe said as he picked up one of Daniel's toys. "You like this one?" Rafe held the toy in front of the baby and he reached out for it. Daniel was interested in it for two seconds and then decided that Rafe's ears and nose were much more interesting. Rafe laughed.

And then, a sadness came upon Rafe. He had always wondered what it would feel like to have a family. He would never know. Rafe hadn't held a baby in a long time, but holding Daniel made him think of what it would be like to hold his own infant child in his arms. He wished he could have this with Alison, more than anything. He had never experienced love until he had met her. If only things could be different, he could have everything he ever wanted in life with her.

~*~*~*~

"Well, this looks very familiar," Alison said as she walked into the living room holding a wailing Daniel. "I know he's not hungry and I just changed his diaper. I've walked him all around the house and he is still crying! Maybe you can try."

"Oh, but I can't do the lights or anything anymore…"

"Oh I know," Alison said as she handed the baby to Rafe. "But um, I think that maybe…oh look at that!"

The moment Rafe held Danny, he calmed down.

"Hey there, little guy," Rafe said. "What's with all the crying?"

"He stopped!" Alison said with a smile. "I knew he liked you. Maybe he senses that you're different, that you're an angel."

Rafe just smiled.

Daniel reached out for Rafe's face and tried to grab his ears again. Alison laughed and reached out to stroke the baby's soft cheek. "Oh…I love babies! Working in the nursery really was my favorite part about my volunteer job that I had a while back. It was just like everyday, there was a brand new miracle in the world."

"Well I'm sure the babies there loved you."

"Not as much as I loved them. You know, I would always pretend that I hated that volunteer job, because Nana was the one who made me volunteer in the first place. I hated being told what to do. She forced me to do it though because I had missed curfew too many times."

Rafe laughed. "You were a real party girl, huh?"

"I sorta was!" Alison laughed. "Seriously, I'd hang out at the mall with my friends until eleven, I'd go to raves. And this one time, my friend Sherry and I snuck into a college fraternity party. Now that was WILD!"

"You? A college fraternity party?! Wow, I have to say, I'm shocked, Alison!"

"Well, if truth be told, I really wasn't into all that stuff. I just did those kinds of things because, well first of all, I had a need to be social because I wasn't getting any kind of attention at home. And second, well, I knew it would really annoy Nana! But seriously, like I was saying before, I actually really liked my volunteer job. I was kind of sad when they didn't need me anymore."

Daniel made a little cooing sound that made Alison and Rafe turn their attention to him.

"You know," Alison said, "I think that maybe he's getting sleepy and that's why he has been so fussy. Maybe we should like, read him a book or something."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Why don't you go get one?"

Alison got out a book to read to Daniel. Then the three sat on the couch and Alison took Danny and put him in her lap. She read the book, and Danny was becoming sleepier. He kept closing his eyes but would then open them again and look at the book she was holding.

"…Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon…"

Rafe watched them and couldn't help but smile. She loved children so much and was so good with them. Someday, she would make a great mother.

"…Goodnight kittens. And goodnight mittens. Goodnight clocks. And goodnight socks…"

"I think he's sleeping," Rafe whispered.

"Oh? Is he?" Alison looked down and saw that Danny had finally given up the fight and closed his little eyes. "Well, I guess we'll just put this little one to bed then." Alison got up from the couch and gently placed Daniel in his little playpen. "He's so cute," Alison whispered to Rafe who had walked over to her to look at the sleeping child. Alison looked at Rafe, who was just smiling at her. "What?"

"You'll make a great mother someday."

"I'm not so sure about that," she said quietly as she walked over to the couch and sat back down.

Rafe sat down beside her. "Alison, what do you mean? Of course you'll make a great mother. You're so gentle and caring…and the way you are with Daniel, how could you not be a great mother?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that…I'm probably not going to have children, Rafe."

"What? Why?"

"Rafe, you know I love you. And the way I feel about you…well I know in my heart that I'm never going to feel this way about anyone else…"

"But, Alison…"

"No, listen. I've never felt this way before. Never. I mean, I've been in love, but never quite like this. With you, it's different. It's like I feel this connection with you, that not only are we lovers, but we're soulmates. And I just really don't think that there will be anyone else. And I don't want there to be."

"Alison, listen to me. You know I'm leaving. At the end of March, I'll be gone, forever. And I don't want you to live your life alone. I want you to live a long and happy life, and I want you to be able to move on, because you're going to have to."

"No, Rafe, listen. I don't want to move on. And I'm not going to be miserable if I'm alone for the rest of my life. Because I really won't be alone. You'll always be with me in my heart. And just knowing that I was loved by you, and experiencing that kind of love, that's all the happiness I need to last a lifetime."

"Alison, I know in your heart that you want to be a mother. I can see it in your eyes."

"Maybe I'll adopt someday."

"Alison."

"What?"

"I don't want you to go through that alone."

"I could do it. There are lots of single mothers out there."

"I'm not saying you couldn't do it by yourself. What I'm saying is that I don't want you to. Having a child is such a miracle, and it's one that I want you to share with someone you truly love."

"But, Rafe, see what I'm telling you? I'll never love anyone the way I love you. If I was going to have a child, I would want it to be with you…wait a minute."

"What?"

"Rafe, I just, I just thought of something. What if…"

"What if what?"

"Well, what if we made a baby together? It would be a part of the both of us, a creation of our love that would stay with me even after you're gone. Rafe!" Alison smiled big.

"Alison, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."

Alison's smile faded away. "What do you mean?"

"Alison, as much as I would love to have a baby with you…I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because, angels can't have children."

"Oh," Alison said sadly. "Well, I guess the idea was sort of silly anyway."

Rafe smiled at her. "No. No, it wasn't silly, not at all. You know, Alison, I would love to have a baby with you. I really would. But it's just…"

"I know, it's not going to happen."

"I'm sorry."

"Well you know what? I don't want to think about you leaving or what it's going to be like after you're gone. I just want to concentrate on what we have, right now. Right this very moment. I love you."

Rafe put his arms on her face. "I love you, too."

Alison smiled, and Rafe leaned forward and kissed her lips.