"Rafe?! What are you doing back? I thought that you went back to heaven and there was no way that…"

"Yeah, I know…you, me, and everyone else. But, my boss pulled some strings, because…well…because of the special circumstances."

"So you got to come back for good?"

"Well…actually…no."

"What do you mean, 'no'? Rafe, you disappeared for like 6 months and left Alison to deal with everything all by herself…then you pop back into her life, get her hopes up, and now you're just gonna leave again?! Rafe! You can't do that to her…not again!"

"Livvie! Listen to me! Don't you think I would have been here to be with Alison through all of that if I could have?! God! Do you even know how much it KILLED me to see her the way she was?!"

"Then why are you back, Rafe? You're just going to make it worse for her again when you have to leave in, what?, a few weeks?"

"Actually…all I get is a day."

"A day! ONE DAY?! Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me! Don't you think that's a little selfish, Rafe? I mean, to pop back into Alison's life and give her all those dreams again for only one day…Dreams that she has to realize are NOT ever going to be reality! This is only going to keep her hanging on to you longer and stop her from moving on and being happy. Isn't that what you want for her?"

"Shouldn't that be MY decision, Livvie?" Alison walked into the room and interrupted the argument.

"Alison…I'm only thinking about what's best for you," Livvie said sympathetically to her friend. "You went through hell dealing with Rafe leaving the last time. I just don't want you to go through that again."

Rafe wanted to say something, but neither Livvie nor Alison seemed to be paying much attention to him when he tried to open his mouth.

"Look, Livvie…You're my best friend, and I know you're only looking out for me and stuff…but don't you see?…This IS what's best for me. I love Rafe, and I need him. And I wasn't any closer to getting over him and 'moving on' before he came back. I need this, and if one day is all I get, then I'll take every second of it."

There was a moment of silence as Livvie stared back at Alison, understanding what she was saying, but not knowing what to say. She just didn't want to see Alison hurt again. Rafe decided this would be a good time to jump in.

"Livvie…I know things weren't all that great between us before I left, but you know me. And you know I would never do ANYTHING to hurt Alison. I love her, and this may be the only chance we get to be together," Rafe looked lovingly into Alison's eyes as he spoke, "…and the only chance I get to ever be with my child."

Alison began to tear again, but stopped herself and sucked it up, "Ok, look…this should be one of the happiest days I've had in months…so please don't ruin it for me, ok? I just want to enjoy every minute of my time today with Rafe."

"Alright, fine…I'll leave you two alone. And, Alison…you know where I am if…WHEN…you need to call me later."

Livvie turned toward the door.

"Wait! Livvie!" Alison called out.

"What?"

"There's one thing you have to promise us. You can't tell anyone about Rafe being back…not today, not EVER."

"Why not?"

"Livvie, you know what I had to go through with everyone thinking Rafe just knocked me up and skipped town. Everyone wanted to know where he was and why he left. They've all finally dropped the subject…but if they know he was back here…."

"They'll bring it up again all the time and wonder why he came back and just left again." Livvie finished the sentence.

"Yeah, ok…I promise. I'll talk to you later, Ali."

Livvie turned and walked out the door. Rafe could feel the coldness that still existed between Livvie and him, but he didn't dislike her for it.

"I'm sorry about that." Alison tried to apologize for the slight interruption in their day of happiness. "She's just…"

"She's just a good friend who's worried about you and wants the best for you."

"Except sometimes her opinion of what's best for me is a little different from mine."

"Well, I'm just glad you've got people looking out for you."

"Hey, I'm pretty good at looking out for myself, ya know!"

"Yeah, I know." Rafe smiled and wrapped his arms around a very pregnant Alison and kissed her tenderly.

Alison melted completely into the kiss, but then pulled away with a jolt.

"Oh!"

"What's the matter?"

"We have to go! That doctor's appointment is in like 20 minutes! Aww…but we didn't even get to eat the breakfast you made."

"Well…it's probably cold by now."

"That's ok…I'm hungry. I'll just grab the bagels, but I think we should go…but…"

"But what?"

"How are we gonna get you into the hospital without anyone seeing you?"

"I told you…I'll take care of it." Rafe smiled back at Alison and she suddenly didn't feel nervous about it anymore. She knew Rafe had something up his sleeve.