Livvie returned to the bike shop after a few hours of shopping and found Jack and Jamal deep in conversation. She didn't have to try very hard to guess what they were talking about.
"Hey Guys!" Livvie kissed Jack hello as she interrupted the conversation.
"Hi Livvie...Jamal was just telling me the news. God...Alison's pregnant. I can't believe it."
"I know, I know...We're all in a bit of shock...especially Alison."
"Yeah, how IS she doing?"
"Well...like I said, she's a little shocked, a little scared out of her mind...and she really misses-..."
"Rafe." Jamal finished the sentence for her with a look of disbelief. He still couldn't understand how she could be defending the creep for picking up and leaving her.
"Yeah." Livvie sighed, seeing the hurt in Jamal's eyes.
Jack interjected, "I can't believe he just left her like that! Does he even know what's going on?! She deserves so much better."
"Listen, both of you!...Alison really needs us right now...ALL of us, but Rafe is still a very touchy subject and she's still head-over-heels for him-..."
"Even after he knocked her up and left town without a trace! What a -..." Jamal was again interrupted by Livvie.
"Hey! Listen to me! Like I said, she's still totally into him...and she gets VERY upset when someone bashes him, ok?? So if you want to help her...if you want her to LET you help her...you need to just bite your tongue...ok?"
"Ok, ok...so how can we help?" Jack said, giving into Livvie's advice...but not liking it.
"Well...right now Alison is kinda adjusting to the whole situation, and even though she says she wants to be left alone a lot, I still think we should stick around for her and check up on her once and a while. Especially you and me, Jack."
"Hey...what about me? Just cause Ali and I aren't a couple anymore...I mean, I still care about her...and we're still friends..."
"Jamal..." Livvie saw how much he still cared about Alison and wanted to lay it down for him as lightly as possible, "I know you still care about Alison...she's just kinda fragile right now...ya know... I mean, she's still dealing with a lot of left over things from you and her AND she's dealing with Rafe leaving...it's just a lot for her...I mean, I still think she's gonna need you. You know her better than anyone...it's just that, well..."
"I should lay low for a while...right? That's what you're trying to tell me."
"Yeah."
"Alright, alright. I get it."
Livvie tried to change the mood, like she had with Alison earlier, to something more uplifting, "So...you guys wanna see what I got?!"
Jamal and Jack rolled their eyes as the spotted the five shopping bags that looked filled to the brim with pastel-colored objects.
"Here we go..." Jack sighed as Livvie dumped out her bags of baby clothes, toys, and stuffed animals.
"What?" Livvie questioned, looking quite clueless.