A/N: To my dear readers, thank you so much for being so patient with me. I apologize once again for taking so long to update. Whoever said being a teacher must be an easy job obviously ain't one! lol. I can only hope you still have interest in my story. I'd like to keep it going for as long as I can. Even after PC is over, I've still got Rali on my mind all day lol. And to my sweet Awians, thank you for all of your updates! Seeing you continue to write your fanfics really inspires me to work on mine! Oh and Nat, you better get to working, I got my next chapter out before you did haha :-p Just playing ;-) Until 57...

Rafe turned the car off and looked over at Alison. "Alison, are you sure…"

"Yes, Rafe! For the last time, I feel fine! And I have been feeling fine for the last few hours. Stop worrying!" Alison loved how Rafe was always looking out for her, but to get this worked up over a little morning sickness, which has ended well over three hours ago? She could only imagine how he would react when she was going through labor pains.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help…"

Alison put her hand over Rafe's. "I know, and I love you for that. But really, I'm fine. Now let's go."

Rafe smiled. "All right." He leaned forward, giving her a kiss, then stepped out of the car.

"Oh good, you're both here!" Lucy said, walking over to them.

"Hey cousin." Rafe greeted Lucy with a kiss on the cheek. "We'd never miss your Labor Day party!"

"Hi, Lucy!" Alison said cheerfully, giving her a hug, then holding up a plate of cupcakes that she had baked. "I brought these for the party!"

"Oh look at you! That's so sweet of you! But you really didn't have to go through all that trouble."

"It wasn't any trouble…I wanted to. They're fresh-baked!"

"Well those will be gone in no time I'm sure. Well come on to the back, that's where the party's at. You two just go ahead and mingle. I've got to check on the rest of the food!" Lucy scurried off into the house.

Rafe and Alison made their way to the back of the lighthouse where most of their friends had already arrived. Music was playing, and it looked like there was plenty to eat.

The moment Christina saw them, she came running towards them. "Rafe!" She grabbed Rafe's hand, surprising him at how hard such a small girl could pull him. "Come play with me!" she begged.

Rafe looked at Alison, then down to Christina. "Can we play in a little while, Princess? Right now I'm going to go sit down with Alison."

Disappointment fell over the child's face.

"Oh Rafe, go play! Besides, there's Livvie over there. I want to go talk to her."

"Alison, are you sure that…"

"Rafe, we're not going over this again. Now go!"

"All right."

"Come on!" Christina said, pulling Rafe away.

Alison laughed, thinking once again about how great of a father Rafe would be in a couple of months. Alison put her cupcakes on the table along with the rest of the food, then headed over to where Livvie was, sitting by herself on the porch.

"Livvie! Hey!"

"Alison." Livvie stood up, hugging Alison. "I'm so glad you made it. I was wondering when you would get here."

"Sorry we're late. What are you doing over here by yourself?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just relaxing. So how are you? How's the baby doing?" she asked excitedly.

"We're good. Rafe's a mess though. He almost wouldn't let me come to the party because I was sick this morning."

"You feeling better now?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. But Rafe, you know, the constant worrier."

"He just loves you."

"I know. He can't help it."

Livvie sighed, taking a sip of lemonade and resting her head on her hand as she leaned against the arm of the chair.

Alison looked over at Livvie. She could tell that something wasn't quite right. "Livvie? Is something wrong?"

"Men," she said angrily.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good. You and Jack have a fight or something?"

"No, we didn't have a fight. But I am mad at him."

"What happened?"

"Well it all started when Jack took me to the PC Grille last night. He made such a big deal about it too, saying that he wanted us to go have this incredible romantic dinner and all."

"And the dinner didn't go so well?" Alison presumed.

"I thought he was going to propose."

"And he didn't, huh?"

"Nope. Ali, I don't understand it! Why is he taking forever? Hasn't the last year meant anything to him? We've been through so much together."

"Don't worry, sweetie, I'm sure he'll come around. Just give him a little time."

"Alison, we've had time. You know, I've known Jack longer than you've know Rafe and you're already married with a baby on the way. What does that tell you?"

"Well, you can't really compare my relationship with Rafe to yours and Jack's. I mean, let's face it, Rafe and I have never had an ordinary relationship, and Rafe isn't exactly an ordinary guy."

"Yeah, true. I just wish he'd hurry up. Why do guys have to be so commitment-phobic?"

"Livvie, Jack loves you more than anything. He always has and he always will. Your time will come soon. And you two will be together for a long time. This is only the beginning."

Livvie smiled. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Thanks, Alison. I'll be back, I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"All right. I think I might go check out what's to eat."

As Alison made her way over to food, she spotted Jack getting himself something to drink. She walked over to say hello.

"Hey, Jack!"

Jack turned around, smiling. "Alison, hey. How are you doing?" He gave her a hug.

"I'm good. You tried my cupcakes yet?"

"What?"

"I was the one who brought the cupcakes to the party. What did you think of them?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Alison, I haven't eaten anything yet. I'm not really hungry right now. Maybe in a little while?"

"Okay, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

"Because I've never known Jack Ramsey to turn down food. Especially my food. Now come on, let's sit and tell me what's wrong." Alison took his hand and they sat down in some nearby lawn chairs.

"Alison, have you ever done something so stupid that it just completely ruins everything?"

"I think everyone does stupid things once in a while, Jack."

"Last night, I took Livvie to the PC Grille. I told her that I thought the two of us having a romantic evening together was way overdue and that we should go out and have a nice time."

"The evening not turn out how you planned?"

"I was going to ask Livvie to marry me, but I screwed it up!"

Alison's jaw dropped. So he was thinking about proposing! But obviously, something went wrong, and he didn't. "What happened?"

"When Livvie excused herself to run to the ladies' room, I reached into my pocket to get the ring out, you know, just to look at it. That's when I realized it wasn't there."

"You lost it!?"

"No, I left it at home in my dresser drawer! I must have been so nervous that I completely forgot it!"

"Aww, sweetie, I'm so sorry!"

"Of course, my whole proposal was ruined after that. I mean, technically I could have still proposed, but those things go over so much better when you actually have the ring, you know? I had this image in my mind of what it would be like when I finally proposed to Livvie. She'd look up at and see me smiling at her, then she'd look down and see I was holding a diamond ring. Then she'd start to cry. Then suddenly I wouldn't feel nervous anymore and I'd ask her if she'd marry me. Livvie would shake her head yes. Then I'd slip that ring on her finger. It was all ruined Alison! I'm such an idiot for leaving that ring in my drawer!"

"No, you're not. When you're about to do something as big as that, it's easy to feel nervous and to forget things."

"Oh come on, Alison, I doubt someone has ever done anything as stupid that! What guy is stupid enough to leave the ring at home on the night he plans to propose to his girlfriend?"

"Honey, some men are so stupid that they leave the ring at home on their wedding day. That's why the groom has a best man."

"You know what the worst part about it all is?"

"What?"

"I think Livvie's been suspecting I'm going to propose to her soon."

"Oh, you think so?"

"Last night would have been the perfect opportunity, so when I didn't, well, let's just say she's been really moody since we got home last night. I'm sure she was disappointed. We could have been celebrating last night but instead, she said she was so tired and went to bed early."

"Okay, I have an idea! You will get your chance to propose to Livvie, and it's going to be the best proposal ever!"

"You're not thinking of the yacht thing again, are you? Because remember that didn't turn out so well last time…"

"No, no, no! This will be one proposal that will go off without a hitch. I promise."

"What should I do?"

"Well, you say Livvie already suspects that you may have proposing on your mind, right? So in that case, you should try to make the proposal a surprise. You know, do something to catch her off guard. Make it spontaneous!"

"How do I do that?"

"Well, like when Rafe proposed to me. He took me to the bridge, you know, the one by the park?"

"Yeah."

"It's kind of a special place for us. Well anyway, he took me there and he gave me this poem he had written for me. And when I read the last line, it said, 'Marry me, Alison.' When I read that, Jack, I just couldn't believe it! Of all the things, I hadn't expected that to happen that night. And there was Rafe, on his knee proposing to me." Alison smiled, lost in the memory of her proposal.

"Alison?" Jack said to get her attention.

"Hmm?"

"That's really nice and all, but I don't do poetry."

Alison laughed. "I'm not saying you have to write poetry! All right, why don't you just start off by telling me of a special place you and Livvie have. You have to have somewhere that's special to the both of you."

"The river."

"Oh course, the river! Jack, that's perfect!"

"How can I make it romantic?"

"Oh, I got it! Okay, when Livvie's on her way home one day, you leave her a note at the house, and all you say is that you want her to meet you at the river."

"Then what?"

"Then, you could like, set up this romantic picnic there, just the two of you, and you know, with champagne, and some music. And then, that's when you would propose!"

Jack lit up. "Alison, that could really work! That's even better than proposing at the Grille!"

"Thank you," Alison said with a smile. "I do have a knack for coming up with good ideas for romance."

"All right, I'm going to do it. Thanks, Alison!"

"You're welcome. Oh, but, Jack, there is one thing you do have to remember in order to pull this off."

"What?"

"The ring!" Alison laughed.

"Haha, very funny, Alison."

Alison stood up, giving his shoulder a pat. "Don't worry, everything will go fine. There's Jamal. I'm going to go over and say hello. See you later."

Jack smiled, suddenly feeling much better. He walked over to the food table, suddenly having a craving for some cupcakes.

"Hey, there you are."

Jamal turned around, seeing Alison with a big smile on her face.

"Ali! Hey!" Jamal pulled her in for a hug, then held her back to get a good look at her. "What's made you so happy?"

"You ever have one of those times in your life where everything is going great for you and your friends? Wasn't this such a good idea Lucy had for a party?"

"Yeah, Lucy's always good at these kinds of things."

Alison looked behind Jamal and smiled. Jamal looked over his shoulder to see Marissa walk over to them.

"Alison, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"Hi, Marissa. I'm better than ever. You?"

"Great." Marissa smiled as Jamal put his arm around her.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Marissa."

"What?"

"Don't you like my muffins anymore?"

"I'm sorry! I've just been rushed lately. I'll drop by tomorrow morning."

"Oh good." Alison smiled. "Well, I'm going to go get some food. I'll see you two later. Enjoy the party."

Alison walked away, a smile on her face. Everything she had ever wanted…her friends happiness, and her own, was happening.

"Look at him, Livvie," Alison sighed as she watched Rafe lovingly, playing with his little cousin. Rafe held Christina by her hands and spun her around, lifting the child up and making her airborne. Her laughter carried over to the porch.

"Wish I was little enough to do that," Livvie laughed.

"I can't wait when it's Rafe and our little girl."

Livvie smiled. "Little girl?"

"Or little boy."

"When do you get to find out?" she asked excitedly.

Alison smiled at Livvie. "When it's born."

"You're not going to find out early?" Livvie complained.

"We want it to be a surprise."

"How can you not want to find out, Alison? When I throw you your baby shower, how will I know which color of balloons to buy?"

"You're going to throw me a baby shower?" Alison grinned.

"Well come on, you knew I would, right? But you won't know when. It'll be a surprise. It could happen at any time."

"What could happen at any time?" Rafe asked, giving Alison a kiss on her forehead, then sitting down beside the girls.

"A baby shower for Alison," Livvie explained.

"Oh, well that sounds fun." Rafe smiled.

Alison picked up a strawberry from the bowl she'd been eating out of and put it to Rafe's mouth. "You're so cute, you know that?"

"Well I try to be," he grinned.

"No, I mean with Christina. You're going to be an amazing dad."

"So when are you guys going to tell people?" Livvie asked. "I'm dying to go baby shopping but then I'd have to explain to Jack why I'm buying baby stuff!"

"You could tell Jack, I wouldn't mind," Alison said.

"Yeah but it's not my secret to tell!"

"You know, Livvie's right," Rafe said. "Maybe we should go ahead and let everyone know of the good news. We can't keep it to ourselves forever."

"And pretty much all of our family and friends are already here."

"You want to?"

Alison shook her head yes. "Let's do it."

"Yay!" Livvie cheered.

Rafe took Alison's hand and walked her over to the middle of the yard.

"Um, everyone?" He said loudly. "If I could just get your attention for just a moment."

All eyes turned to Rafe and Alison.

Rafe held on to Alison's hand tighter. "Alison and I have an announcement to make. And since just about everyone we know is here, we thought we'd go ahead and tell the good news." Rafe turned to Alison. "You wanna tell them?" he whispered.

"You do it," Alison whispered back.

Rafe smiled, thinking it was cute how Alison suddenly appeared nervous, when usually it was the other way around. "Everyone, Alison and I…well, it looks like we're having a baby."

Sounds of joy filled the air. Everyone seemed to talk at once, coming up to the two and offering their congratulations.

Lucy was first. "Oh I had a dream about this happening! I knew it was true! I'm so happy for you!" Lucy hugged her cousin, then turning to Alison to give her a hug. "Well," Lucy said, turning to the crowd, "I guess we have something to celebrate now!"