A/N: Please don't laugh at my sound effects ;-)

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom!

"Ugh…" Alison groaned, patting the sheets on Rafe's side of the bed. "Rafe, get the door. Rafe?" Alison opened her eyes, realizing that Rafe wasn't there. He was out running. "Great," she muttered as she stumbled out of bed, still half asleep.

Ding Dong, Ding Dong! Boom Boom Boom!

"I'm coming! Keep your shirt on," she grumbled. Alison glanced at the clock on the wall. Seven-thirty! This had better be important.

Alison fumbled with the lock and opened the door. This was so much easier to do when she was awake.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" Don said in a voice that was WAY too chipper for this early on a Saturday morning.

Alison had to blink her eyes. What the hell was going on here? "Don?"

"I'm not Frank Bielec from Trading Spaces, but I'm the next best thing!" Don didn't wait for an invitation as he walked past Alison carrying what looked like wallpaper and color samples. "Now, I'll just need to know where the baby's room will be."

"Um…the room at the end of the hall," she answered, since it was more polite than What the hell are you doing here?

Alison looked outside and saw Lucy coming up the walkway. "Lucy?"

"Alison! Oh, good, you're awake!" she said as she walked into the house.

Barely she wanted to say. Was she the only one aware of the time here? "Lucy, what are you doing here?"

"We're here to help you decorate the nursery of course! Where's that cousin of mine?"

"Morning run."

"Lucy! This is fantastic!" Don said as he ran back into the living room with an excited expression on his face. "The sunlight in there!"

"Oh I know! Isn't it perfect!"

"What's the baby, boy or girl?" Don asked, turning to Alison.

"We don't want to know…"

"Actually, that's okay! We don't need to know! I've got a great idea in mind!"

Lucy turned to Alison and smiled. "Alison, why don't we let you go get dressed, and Don and I will go ahead and started?"

"Um..."

"Come look at these color samples…" Don said to Lucy as they headed off towards the nursery, without giving Alison so much as a second glance.

Alison stepped outside and looked down the road. Where was that husband of hers? "RAFE!"

When Rafe got back from his run, he saw Alison sitting on the couch waiting for him, already dressed, and not looking too happy at the moment.

"Is Lucy here?" he asked with a confused expression. "Her car's outside."

"Lucy AND Don." Alison walked over to Rafe and lowered her voice. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

Rafe looked at Alison guiltily. "I might have slipped to Lucy that we hadn't decorated the nursery yet."

"Rafe! They were over here pounding at the door at seven-thirty! Now they're in there discussing color schemes and the light!"

"Oh boy."

"Yeah, 'oh boy' is right! Rafe, I don't mind if Lucy wants to help but…I thought we were going to do this together. She's in there taking over everything!"

"Okay, I'll go stop her."

"Yes, please do!"

Rafe walked down the hallway to the nursery to find Lucy and Don clearing all of the furniture out of the room. "Lucy. Don."

"Cousin! Oh good, you're back! We were just getting started."

"Kinda early though, isn't it?"

"Well the earlier we start, the more we'll get accomplished today!"

"Listen…I've got an idea. Why don't we get some breakfast cooked up and we can all discuss our ideas together. Instead of just, you know, jumping right in and putting paint on the walls. Besides, Alison is a little tired this morning. I don't think we should rush her or anything right now. Don't want to stress her out, you know?"

"Well actually, I'm not all that hungry right now…" Lucy started.

"Breakfast sounds good!" Don interjected. "I can whip up crepes for everyone! Bet you didn't know I also minored in the culinary arts."

"No, but that doesn't surprise me, Don," Rafe admitted.

"Is there anything this man can't do?!" Lucy said with a smile.

At first, Alison had been a little hesitant to let Lucy and Don help with the decorating in fear they would take over everything, but now, she was really glad they were here. Don had brought a book full of pictures of different nursery room samples, which had been quite interesting to look at. Don was also very good at offering some insights about interior design.

"Now the key to the perfect nursery is to not make it babyish at all. I know what you're thinking…isn't that the point of it? But actually, you want to create a room that can grow with your child. Like for instance, having pastel ducks would be really cute now, but try to convince your five-year-old son that when he's really into race cars and power rangers."

"What do you mean ducks wouldn't be cute?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Not to any five-year-old I know."

"I disagree! Hmmph!"

"So anyway…" Don continued, "You want to pick something you can use for years. Now, to wall color…"

"Wall color?" Rafe asked. "What's wrong with the color on there now?"

"Rafe, it's beige!" Lucy said, as if her cousin couldn't see that for himself. "You need some color!"

"Since you don't want to know the baby's sex, pink and blue are out, so I'd say go with something neutral, maybe a pale yellow or a light green."

"Ooo! You could do like, an outdoorsy theme!" Lucy chimed in. "You could have a mural with a garden and grass and flowers! And you could paint a little pond with frogs and dragonflies…and DUCKS!"

"Or a sunshine theme!" Don added. "Some yellow would really accentuate the room's natural lighting."

"Or you could do under the sea!" Lucy said enthusiastically. "You could paint an ocean on the wall! You could have little fish and seahorses and dolphins! And mermaids! Christina just loves that little mermaid!"

"Or how about we just look through these books for a while?" Alison suggested. She couldn't focus on anything with Don and Lucy bombarding her with ideas all at once.

"So where the heck is all of your baby furniture?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"We haven't got it yet," Alison said as she browsed through one of the nursery books.

"You haven't got it yet?!" Lucy couldn't believe this!

"Well, yeah. I mean, my nana had said something about us going to Wyndham's to look at the sets but we just haven't got around to it yet. We got a lot of time though, Lucy."

"Oh no, no, no, no, no! You have to get it today! Because we have to get the crib bedding that matches the walls and we can't get the bedding until we get the furniture! Oh dear, oh dear! We have got our work cut out for us, don't we?"

Rafe and Alison glanced at each other, wondering why Lucy was making such a big deal out of it.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do!" Lucy announced. "We look though these books and get an idea of what the room will look like. Then once we have our plan…Don, Rafe…it's up to you boys to get the furniture. Here's what you're going to need. A crib, a changing table…Don!" Lucy snapped her fingers. "Why aren't you writing this down?"

"Oh!" Don said, fishing a pad and pen out of his shirt pocket.

"We're going to need a crib, a changing table, a dresser, a rocking chair, a toy box, some shelves, and Rafe, whatever else you want. And it's got to match! Alison, you and me are going to get the paint, wall decorations, bedding, and the window treatments. Then we'll all meet back here and we can really get started! Now, is everyone on board?"

Rafe and Alison smiled at each other, reading each other's minds. It wouldn't hurt to go along, and the nursery would get together much quicker this way.

"Sounds like a plan, cousin," Rafe said, smiling at Lucy.

"Let's start looking," Alison added.

"Great!" Lucy smiled, proud of her organization skills.

After looking at several pictures of nursery samples, and after some input from Don about colors, Alison and Rafe decided to go for a moon and stars theme. It seemed like a suitable nursery theme for a boy or girl. The walls, they decided, could be painted light yellow, and Lucy knew there were some great wall borders with moons and stars on them at Wyndham's.

Alison loved to shop, but shopping with Lucy was quite a new experience! Lucy moved from one department to another, barely giving Alison enough time to catch her breath.

They found some adorable yellow and cream-colored bedding decorated with star and moon imprints. It had a blue and yellow plaid pattern around the edges. It had matching curtains as well. Lucy advised Alison to get the valance to decorate the top instead of having floor length curtains for safety reasons. And of course, there were also several blankets and pillows with stars and moons that couldn't be passed up.

The wall border was probably the hardest thing to buy. There were so many, and the border had to compliment the bedding and wall color. Eventually, they found a beautiful light blue border with yellow crescent moons and tons of navy blue and lavender stars.

Lucy added a few more "must haves" to their list. They found a mobile for the crib, with stars and moons hanging from it. For the wall, they found more star and moon decorations. They had even found the perfect lamp with a cream-colored lampshade decorated with blue and pink stars. And the best part was what they found for the ceiling: little glow-in-the-dark stars.

"Lucy, thank you so much for helping me find all of this stuff," Alison said as they piled all of their shopping bags into the car. "I don't think I could have got all this done so quickly without your help."

Lucy smiled. "Well you're certainly welcome. And hey, anything you need help with, just ask. But we're not done yet. We still have to get that paint on the walls…and oh, I hope the boys didn't screw up the furniture."

Alison laughed. "I'm sure whatever they picked will be fine."

"Let's hope so," Lucy said, as she turned the key in the ignition and drove off.

Rafe had thought selecting the furniture would be the hard part, but he was wrong. Putting the furniture together…now THAT was the hard part!

"I thought this stuff came pre-assembled," Rafe complained.

"Yes, because that would make life so much easier," Don said.

"We're back!" Lucy announced as she and Alison walked into the house carrying all of their shopping bags.

"Did you buy out the store?" Rafe laughed as he walked over to Alison and took a few bags to lighten her load. "Hey."

"Hey," she smiled, greeting him with a kiss. "And yes, we did buy the store out, at least out of all of the stars and moons," she laughed. "Let me show you what I got!"

Alison took a seat and started pulling things out of the shopping bags. "Here's the bedding. Look, it's got little tiny stars and moons on it. Do you like it?"

"I love it," Rafe said with a smile. "What else did you get?"

"Well, we got these things for the wall. Aren't they adorable? And we got a lamp and a mobile…and they're somewhere in one of these bags here." Alison laughed. "Did you get all the furniture for the nursery?"

"See for yourself," Rafe said, pointing to all of the boxes around the living room. "Some assembly is required."

"Oh dear! Well this is going to take forever!"

"Yes but, the important thing is that I got the furniture."

"Aww, well these are cute," Alison said, looking at the pictures on the boxes. The crib, changing table, and dresser came together as a set and were made out of solid oak. Alison was pleased; it was exactly what she would have picked.

"Yes, I'd say you boys did a great job with the furniture," Lucy said.

"Did you ever doubt it?" Don asked.

"Of course not! Now, the only problem we have now is figuring out how to get all of this furniture together."

"I've got an idea!" Alison said as she picked up the phone.

Within an hour, Jack, Jamal, Frank, and Ian were all there to help assemble the furniture. And Livvie and Marissa were more than happy to help Alison and Lucy with the painting.

Alison, wearing a pair of old overalls, a bandana on her head, and a little smidgen of yellow paint on her cheek, walked out into the living room to see how things were progressing. To her surprise, the crib was already assembled.

"You guys! It looks so beautiful!" Alison ran over to the crib to get a closer look. She could already imagine the baby sleeping in it now. "Thanks so much for helping out."

"We'd do anything to help you out, Spunky," Jamal said.

"All you have to do is ask," Jack said.

"Alison," Rafe called out, walking over to her with a glass of water.

"Rafe! The crib! Oh it looks so cute!"

"It did come together pretty well, didn't it? Now drink."

"I'm not thirsty…"

"Drink," Rafe ordered.

"Alright," she said, taking the glass of water. "Come look at the nursery! We're almost done painting it!" Alison took Rafe by the hand and led him to the nursery.

"Wow!" Rafe couldn't believe it was the same room. Don was right…the yellow did brighten it up. "That really does look better than the beige."

"I know! It's amazing how a little paint can make such a huge difference in a room!" Alison grabbed a paint roller and began to start painting again.

"I don't think so," Rafe said, taking the roller from her and sitting it back down.

"What are you doing?"

"Alison, I think you should take a break."

"I'm not tired."

"I know, but take a break anyway. That way I won't have to worry about you overdoing it."

Alison smiled. He was going to be this way, and it was only going to get worse. She might as well get used to it. "Okay, I'll take a break."

"Thank you," he said, then giving her a kiss. "By the way, you look really cute right now."

"Oh stop."

"You do. With that paint all over you," he laughed, wiping the paint off her cheek with his finger.

"You know, it's funny, but earlier this morning, the last thing I wanted to do was a decorating project."

"And now?"

"Now I couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to see what it'll look like when it's finished. This will be the perfect nursery for our baby!"

"Yes, it will," he said, pulling her in for another kiss.

Alison couldn't believe it, but everything was finished. The curtains were up. The furniture was put together. The paint was dry on the walls, but the fumes still lingered. But Alison didn't care…it was finished! That weekend, she, Rafe, and most of their friends had worked really hard to get that nursery together. It seemed liked a daunting task at first, but when they all worked together, they got a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. And now the moment she had finally been waiting for was here…she could just stand back and admire it.

It was beautiful, just as she imagined! The walls were sunny and bright. The furniture was brand new. The blankets were soft and cozy, just waiting for the baby.

Alison felt Rafe come up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close and kissing her shoulder.

"Rafe, doesn't it look so beautiful?"

"Yes," he said, still concentrating on her.

"Rafe," Alison laughed, then taking his hand and leading him into the room. She walked over to the crib and ran her hand along the smooth railing. "I can already see the baby in here, looking up at this mobile." Alison touched the tiny little moon and stars dangling from it. "And this rocking chair," she marveled, walking over to it and sitting down. "It's so comfortable!"

"I knew you'd like that one," Rafe smiled.

"I'll be spending so many hours in this chair. Rocking the baby to sleep…nursing…reading stories."

Rafe smiled at Alison. He loved watching her talk about the baby.

"I can picture you in here too," she said, looking up at him and smiling.

"Oh yeah? What do you see?" Rafe kneeled down beside her.

"You. Holding the baby. Talking to the baby. You're going to be the greatest father." Alison reached out, moving a little strand of hair from his face. "Okay, these paint fumes are kinda getting to me now."

"It's getting late. Let's go to bed," Rafe said, holding out his hand and helping Alison out of the chair.

As they walked out, Rafe switched off the light, and Alison looked back one more time. As she did, she noticed that the moon could be seen from the window. The moon was bright tonight, casting its glow on the entire room. Alison looked up to the ceiling, seeing the stars glow brightly. "Well look at that."

"What?"

"The moon and the stars are out tonight."

Rafe smiled, putting his arm around her as they walked to their bedroom.