Alison couldn't believe it! Was she imagining things? She'd heard hormones could do some weird stuff, but this was just cruel!
"RAFE?! Oh my God! Is that you?!"
A sleeping Rafe rolled over.
"Hmmm..." he moaned still half asleep as he drowsily opened his eyes. "OH MY GOD!! Alison??!!!" he shouted as he jumped up, shocked.
"Rafe? Tell me this isn't a dream...Are you really back? But how?"
"I...I...I don't-...oh my God, Alison?!" Rafe was still in shock.
"Rafe! I can't believe it!" Alison let out a squeal as she seized Rafe and pulled him into a hard, passionate kiss.
Eventually, they pulled themselves apart and stared speechless into each other's eyes as they laughed, not really knowing how to react. Alison's laughter soon turned to tears.
"Alison? What's wrong?"
"Nothing...I'm just so...so...UNBELIEVABLE HAPPY! I mean, it's like I've been dreaming about this for so long, and I just never imagined it could happen, not really...Are you sure we're not dreaming?"
"Ouch! What's with you and the pinching?" Rafe joked.
"I'm sorry," Alison laughed, "I just...oh my God, you're real...this is real...I just had to make sure I wasn't dreaming."
"Umm, aren't you supposed to pinch yourself to check on that?" Rafe joked again. "I'm kidding...pinch away! Do anything you want to me...I'm just so happy to be back with you, in your arms....my angel."
Rafe smiled and Alison began to tear up again. It had been so long since she heard him call her his angel. She'd forgotten how wonderful those words sounded. And again they melted into a kiss as they embraced. They both wished that nothing would ever come between them being this close to each other again, except there was one little thing that WAS "between them"...literally.
"Whoa! What was that?!" Rafe jumped back from Alison's tight embrace.
Alison laughed, "I guess I'm not the only one who's happy to see you." She smiled as she looked down at her stomach, "So you know your daddy, I see...or feel, rather. I know, you just want a little attention, don't you?"
"Wow...I...I don't know what to-...wow...that was my...our...that was our baby kicking?"
"Rafe Kovich...meet our little accident."
Rafe reached out and placed his hands lovingly on Alison's pregnant stomach, "You mean our little miracle."
He bent down and kissed the baby that grew inside the woman he loved. Alison felt happier in this moment than she had in her entire life. As Rafe raised his head from her stomach he looked into the face and eyes of his child's mother and brought his lips to hers softly and lovingly, savoring every moment of their embrace.
Rafe and Alison layed on the bed, holding each other and never wanting to let go, when suddenly they were interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone on the nightstand on Rafe's side of the bed.
"What's that? Where's that ringing coming from?" Alison asked.
Rafe answered the phone curiously, "Hello??"
"Just reminding you two lovebirds to take a breath every now and then."
"Ed! What happened? Am I back for good?! Did the council decide to send me back?"
"Now listen, my boy. The council hasn't said anything. In fact, I could get in BIG trouble for letting you go back down there... So listen up! You're down there for one day...ONE DAY! Get me?! I don't wanna hear any 'Ed ya gotta let me go back' when you have to come back up here. It's the best I could do for now. I pulled a couple strings, so don't make me regret this! Got it?"
"Boss...Thank you so much! Thank you! I can't say it enough. Yeah, I got it...one day. I'm not giving up on trying to find a way back for good, though. But I really appreciate this. Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me! And to Alison...to us both! We'll name the kid after ya!... Well...maybe not naming the kid after you...but just know how much this means to us, to me...really!"
"Ok, ok, ok...get back to your little blondie and make the most of this trip. I mean it kid...one day...midnight you're back! Gotta go, I'll see you soon."
"Rafe? Was that...?"
"It was Ed, my boss. Angel, I only get one day with you. I begged him for something...ANYTHING...and this is the best he could do for now. The council's still debating the whole issue and Ed wasn't even allowed to do this, so I guess we'll take what we can get and make the most of it."
"I'll take whatever they give us. I never thought I'd see you again, so if one day is all we have, then...I'm sorry... the council??" Alison's profession of love was interrupted by her question.
"Oh, yeah...the council...see, well...ok, there's this council, and Ed's on it...which is a good thing cause I think he's pulling for us...and they're taking FOREVER to make a decision as to what to do about this whole situation, cause they've never really had a situation like this in heaven before."
"Speaking of which...how DID this happen? I mean, I remember you specifically telling me that when you went back 'up there' they told you that this 'wasn't in the cards' for us...so what? We're they playing with the wrong deck?"
"It's a long story."
"Rafe...I'm six months pregnant with an angel's baby...let's hear it."
"Ok...so there was this angel named Larry....."
Rafe began to tell Alison the whole crazy story of how it happened and everything that's been going on up in heaven. It was all still a little difficult for Alison to grasp, and no one else who didn't know about Rafe's "angelhood" would have ever believed such a story, but she had the belly, the swollen ankles, the aches and pains, and the hormones to prove it.
Alison followed Rafe's heavenly tale by catching him up on all the "goings on" with her down here on earth. She told him everything that had happened since he left, and Rafe admitted that he'd seen some of it, since Ed let him "peek in" on her every once and a while. He also expressed how much amusement he got out of watching Lucy and her in lamaze class the other day, and they both shared a laugh talking about the fiasco. It was nice for both of them to laugh again. Neither had been truly happy since they parted, and so they would make the most of this day-this gift-that they'd been given.