When Rafe came home, Alison ran into his arms excitedly. "Rafe!"

Rafe laughed, loving homecomings like this. "What's got you so excited, angel?"

"Rafe, my parents called me!"

"What?"

"They called and…and they're going to come to the wedding!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Alison took Rafe's hand and led him over to the couch.

"Well what did they say when they called?"

"Okay, my dad called me a little after you left. I was surprised that he called, I mean, he rarely just up and calls me out of the blue. But Nana had told him about our engagement and he said that he wants to be there and…well he wants to give me away."

Rafe looked at Alison, who was positively beaming with happiness. He hated to ask but he felt that he should. "Alison, I don't want to put a damper on the moment but…"

"But what?"

"Alison, I remember what you told me about your parents. You said they were always letting you down. I just don't want to see you get hurt if your parents can't make it to the wedding. That is what you told me, remember? You said not to count on them being there."

"I know what I said, Rafe, but…I think they really mean it this time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I do. And believe me, I was skeptical at first, but Daddy sounded so excited over the phone. He called me his little girl; he hasn't called me that since I was seven! And he said that he wants you to call him. I think he wants to have a chat with you to, ya know, learn about the guy his daughter is going to marry!"

Rafe laughed.

"Anyway, I told Daddy all about you and I talked to my mom too. She's dying to meet this man I'm so crazy about. I talked to them for like fifteen minutes."

"Alison, that's wonderful!" Rafe gave Alison a hug.

"I'm so happy, Rafe. I think my parents are really trying to make up for all of those years that they weren't there for me. It's so funny because I've always had this dream of you know, the day I would get married and my father would be there to walk me down the aisle and give me away, but I never thought that would be a reality until now."

"Well I have to say, I think it's about time your parents came to see their daughter. I can't wait to see the expression on their faces when they see how beautiful and amazing you've turned out to be."

Alison smiled at Rafe and wrapped her arms around him. They kissed.

~*~*~

Rafe never realized that so much went into planning a wedding. Well, sure, he had planned Lucy and Kevin's wedding, but that was different. He had angel powers and that seemed to make everything a bit easier. But this was his wedding, and Rafe was amazed at how much there was to do. It wasn't just setting a date and getting the clothes and someone to perform the ceremony, it was much more. There was a rehearsal dinner to plan and a reception to plan. The flowers and invitations had to be selected. There was the caterer and the photographer. And of course, there was the honeymoon. That was the second most important thing next to the wedding itself. It was enough to make Rafe's head spin. He had never even imagined getting married until he met Alison. Lucky for him that Alison seemed to be able to keep track of what they needed to do.

"Okay, which do you like better, these invitations or these? Because I kind of like the ones with the flowers on it but then the ones with the bells are nice too but I don't know if that's kind of dorky because well, don't they all have bells on them? I want it to be unique! But then these, I don't like the print, I want it to be something fancier, but not so fancy as to where you can't read it. Rafe?"

"Huh?"

"I asked which ones you liked best. Are you even paying attention?" Alison laughed.

"I like them all. Really. I don't really notice a difference."

"Oh come on, just pick your favorite!"

"Um, okay, what about those?" Rafe pointed to one that he thought looked pretty nice.

Alison made a sour face. "Those suck," she said, flat out.

Rafe laughed. "Okay, then why don't you pick the one you want?"

"I think I like these the best." Alison pointed to her favorite one.

"Those look fine with me. Let's go with those."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, really. I want this to be you know, the wedding you dreamed of having when you were a little girl. You pick out the flowers and the invitations and whatever else you want."

"Well look, it's your wedding too, so if I pick out something you hate, just say something and I'll pick something else. Deal?"

"Okay, deal."

"Now, you need to go."

"What?" Rafe was surprised. "Go where?" He didn't have any plans for today.

"Lucy's coming over and she's going to go help you find a tuxedo."

"Oh, um, okay."

Alison laughed. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I told Lucy that you hadn't even got something yet and well, you know how Lucy is. She loves to shop and said for me to tell you that she was going to take you out today. You want to go right?"

"Well I suppose I can handle a few hours away from you, not that I want to or anything though."

"Well how about this? Why don't you call Lucy and you two can go out and all. Then when you come back, we'll have dinner and then afterwards, we can have a little nakedness."

Rafe laughed at how Alison just came out and said that.

"Sound good?" Alison said with a straight face.

"Sounds better than just good." Rafe stood up and gave Alison a quick kiss before leaving to go call his cousin.

~*~*~*~

Lucy was ecstatic about Rafe and Alison's upcoming wedding and had taken it upon herself to volunteer to help out any way she could. She was thrilled to help her cousin pick out a tux.

Lucy made Rafe try on the ones she thought would look best on him, and of course, Rafe couldn't say no to Lucy, even if they were ones he wasn't too fond of. But eventually, Rafe found one that he really liked and Lucy was in agreement.

"Okay, that is the one! That's the one!" She said excitedly. "Cousin, you really look handsome in that one. Well, you always look handsome actually but, Alison is going to love it!"

"Thanks for helping me pick one out, Lucy."

"You're welcome, cuz."

"This really does look good." Rafe admired himself in the mirror. "Okay, yeah, I'm definitely going to go with this one." Rafe continued to look at himself, but he got real quiet.

Lucy could tell that something was going on in that mind of his. "Rafe?"

"Yeah?"

"Well we've established that the tux is great but…something isn't right. What is it?"

"You're really good at reading people, aren't you?"

"Well yeah, but you've always known that about me."

Rafe sat down beside Lucy. "Well, you're right, something is on my mind that's kind of been bothering me."

"Nothing serious, is it?"

"No, it's nothing really serious. It's just, I have absolutely no clue who could be my best man."

"Oh, I see," Lucy said.

"And see, Alison doesn't have to worry about any of that. Livvie and Eve are going to be her bridesmaids and her father is going to give her away, but…"

"You're not really close enough to anyone to ask to be your best man?"

"Exactly."

Now of course, thought Rafe, if he could have someone from Heaven come down for the ceremony, he wouldn't have this problem of who should be the best man, because he would already know.

"You know, why don't you ask Doc? He would do it!"

"Well see, I actually did think about asking Kevin, but then I wasn't really sure how he would feel about it, you know? Because well, to be honest, we really don't know each other all that well."

Lucy's face lit up, as it often did whenever she had an idea. "I know who could be your best man!"

"Who?"

"Me!" Lucy said enthusiastically.

Rafe laughed. "You?"

"Well yeah me! Think about it, Rafe. What is a best man anyway? A best man is always someone close to the groom, usually a family member. And hey, I'm family!"

"But, Lucy, you're not a man. It's sort of tradition that…"

"Oh pooh on tradition! We can make our own traditions! I could be your best cousin!"

Rafe smiled at Lucy. It was odd, yes, but for some reason, it felt right. "You really want to do this?"

"I'd love to stand up there with you. I love you, cuz. And after all you've done for me, I'd really like to be there for you as well."

Rafe smiled. "I love you too, Lucy. Alright then, best cousin."

"So you mean it? You really want me to stand up there with you?"

"I'd be honored if you did."

"Oh, yay!" Lucy cheered. "Now, let's buy this tux and head out because I've got a lot of planning to do!"