Rafe was back in Ed's office, sitting alone and watching the small television screen that allowed him to look down on Alison every now and again. He had watched the whole scene with Jamal and Alison a little less than a month ago, and his feelings had been torn ever since.
He loved Alison more than anything in the universe, and he wanted nothing more than to be with her...but he knew in his heart that it would never be possible, and he always told her he wanted to find love again after he went back...so why not Jamal? Rafe knew how much Jamal loved her, and knew that he'd take good care of Alison, and his child, but...but he just couldn't help the jealousy...and his selfish desire to always have Alison's heart, as she would always have his.
Now it was December...the 24th to be exact. All of heaven, and half of earth, was preparing for the big holiday celebrations, and he knew Alison was preparing for the biggest celebration of all in the near future...the baby would be born soon. At the present moment, however, Alison...and the rest of Port Charles...was preparing for a different kind of celebration.
A year ago, this day, Rafe, with the use of a few magical powers, helped bring about one of the biggest, most long-awaited events in all of Port Charles- Kevin and Lucy's wedding. Now all of Port Charles would be celebrating the one-year anniversary of that miraculous occasion...and considering all of the near-disasters surrounding that wedding, not to mention having to deal with Lucy...it really WAS a Christmas miracle.
As Rafe watched Alison get ready for the formal event, his mind drifted to memories of last year...when she walked in the room, unexpectedly, and he saw her in that beautiful lavender dress. It took his breath away. The feelings he felt for her that night let the magic just flow out of him- the ring box, Alison dancing on air, the bouquet, the garter- it was like he didn't even have to try to make the magic happen. She just brought it out in him every time he saw her smile. Looking at her on the screen, now, she looked just as beautiful, if not more, as she did a year ago.
"God, Alison...What I'd give to be down there with you right now." Rafe sighed to himself.
Just then the door opened and Ed walked in jovially, "Why so glum, kid? This is the big day up here! Even Beth is sampling some of the 'special' egg nog. Better keep an eye on her though...that Beth...she's a wild one! You wanna try some?" Ed attempted to hand Rafe a glass full of creamy white liquid.
"Wha-..." Rafe looked up at Ed, not having heard much of what he just said, "Oh, sorry boss...no thanks." Rafe's thoughts were somewhere else at the moment.
"You okay, kiddo? You haven't already been at the egg nog have ya?" Ed joked.
"No, no. I'm just watching her...Alison"
"Again? Son, ya gotta turn off that TV. You're watching all the time now. It's not good for ya. It's taking on a whole new level of voyeurism at this point."
"I can't help it. This is the only way I can see her...the only way I can be with her."
"Well...maybe not, sonny boy."
Rafe's heart jumped as he darted his eyes up at Ed. Did he just hear what he think he did? "What do mean?" Rafe inquired impatiently.
"Well...Tis the season!" Ed smiled as he raised his glass of egg nog in the air.
Alison arrived at the party with Livvie and Jack. She felt like a cow in her gown, now nine months pregnant and ready to go any day now, but Livvie and Jack reassured her time and again that she looked absolutely gorgeous. As they walked through the doors, Alison stopped dead.
"What's the matter, Ali? What's wrong?" Livvie asked, worried by Alison's sudden reaction.
"Ali, you okay?" Jack joined Livvie in her worry.
"I'm fine...Really, I'm fine. Just felt a little something, that's all."
Livvie was still worried, "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, do you need to go to the hospital? We'll take you, it's fine."
"Yeah...and hey, if ya need a doctor...well...I think the almost whole staff of GH is in this room." Jack added.
Alison laughed, "No, no. Really...I'm fine. I've been getting little twitches all the time. That one was just a little bit stronger than the others. Dr. Newman said it's normal, though, since I'm due pretty soon."
"Well, if you say so...but, listen...if you need us to go at any time, just let me or Jack know, okay?"
"Alright already! Stop worrying! I'm fine...Ooo! Look at that food!"
Livvie and Jack smiled and knew everything was okay as they watched Alison make a beeline for the hors d'oeuvres.
Before Alison could reach the table, however, she bumped into a tall figure.
"I'm so sor-...Jamal! Hey...ummm...how are you?" Alison felt awkward. She had been avoiding him ever since his surprise proposal.
"Hey, Ali. You look gorgeous."
"Oh...thanks...and so do you...I mean...handsome, very handsome. You clean up pretty well, Mr. Woods."
"Haha! Thanks...Yeah, I once had to take this really spoiled little rich girl to a big formal event and she made sure to instruct me on how to dress appropriately for things like that. Apparently, I used to be a real thug before she got her hands on me. Hmmm...I wonder whatever happened to her..." Jamal teased as he placed his finger to his chin and looked upward, imitating a very thoughtful expression.
Alison laughed, "Haha! Oh yeah, I remember her! She was a knockout!"
Jamal smiled and sighed quietly, "She still is."
"What was that?"
"Oh....ummm...I was asking you if you wanted to dance."
"Oh, come on! I can't dance! Look at me!"
"That's okay...I look good enough for the both of us." Jamal joked as he dragged her onto the dance floor. "Come on, now...Show a brother how it's done."
Just as they got onto the dance floor, though, the faster music stopped and a slow song began to play. Both Jamal and Alison felt a little uncomfortable, but came together to dance to the romantic music.
As they danced, however, Alison couldn't help but think back to a year ago when she was dancing with Rafe on this very same dance floor. That night it was SHE who had to drag her partner onto the floor. She remembered how, when she danced with him, she felt as though she was floating on air. This memory led to a flow of other memories from that night with Rafe, and her mood became more somber as she realized how much she really missed him.
Jamal noticed that Alison had become very quiet. "What's the matter, Ali?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing...nothing, really."
"Am I that bad a dancer?"
Alison smiled, "No, no...I've just been out of sorts all day today. Lots of things going through my head...but ya know what? It's time to cheer up! This is a celebration. I'm really happy for Kevin and Lucy. It's really a shame you missed the wedding. It was so beautiful...so full of...miracles."
"Yeah...umm...speaking of weddings..."
Alison could sense that a very touchy subject was about to rear its head again. She didn't want to hurt Jamal, but nothing had changed since the last time they talked. She thought about it...Oh did she think about it! But, she just couldn't. It wouldn't be fair to Jamal. She'd always be in love with Rafe.
"Jamal...don't."
"You don't even know what I was gonna say."
"No, I think I do...and I think I should just stop it here and spare us both."
"Ali...would you just let me..." Jamal tried to continue.
"Please, Jamal...let's just not talk about this now."
Jamal was getting nowhere so he just spit it out, "Alison...I'm not gonna ask you to marry me."
"What?" Alison was shocked.
"Don't get me wrong. I still love you, Alison. I always will love you. But I've thought about it...I've been thinking about it for a month...since that night at Lucy's. You love him, and you don't love me that way anymore. But I just want you to know that I'm always here for you, no matter what. Maybe the proposal was a bit out of the blue...and I just thought that maybe, since you wanted a family, and you wanted someone to raise the baby with you...well...that maybe I could be that guy. But I get it. It's not meant to be between us, not that way. I will always love you as much as I did when we were together. You were more than my girlfriend, you were my best friend...and I don't ever want to ruin that, ok?"
Alison almost started to cry, "Jamal..." She didn't know what to say to his beautiful confession. "Jamal...I...I just...OH!"
"What?" Jamal was confused. "Ali, you ok?"
"Umm...yeah...I'm fine-...Ohhh! Ow!" Alison grabbed her stomach and hunched over. "I'm fine...just in a little bit of labor."
"What?! Oh my God!" Jamal started to panic. "Livvie! Jack!...Oh wait, Lucy's your coach!...Lucy! Lucy! Where are you?!"
Lucy ran over to Jamal and Alison, followed by Livvie and Jack who had been dancing.
Lucy took one look at Alison and knew her coaching job had just gone into effect. "Oh, ok...this is fine...everything's fine!...I'm the coach! I am a calming influence! I'm focused, I'm in control...calm, breathe, calm, breathe."
Jamal interrupted Lucy's self-pep talk, "Umm, Lucy...I think you're supposed to get HER to breathe!" He gestured toward Alison.
"Yes! Ok, Alison...You remember how it goes...Hee Hee Hoh, Hee Hee Hoh-..." Lucy held Alison's hand and helped her to breathe, "Hee Hee Hoh, Hee Hee HoOOOKAY! Okay! That hurts!"
Alison squeezed Lucy's hand as she felt a contraction coming on.
"I think..." Alison panted, "We should just go over to the hospital right now."
"Yes! Good plan! Wait a minute! I'm the coach, I should come up with the plans-..."
"Lucy!" Alison shouted as the contraction came over her and she hunched forward.
"Ok, Ali! We'll get ya there!" Livvie comforted her friend. "Jack went to go get the car and bring it around the front. So we'll all go."
"I'll follow on my bike," Jamal added.
"No, Jamal...you don't have to come. And Lucy! I'm so sorry! This is your big anniversary party! You don't have to leave it!"
"Are you kidding me?! I'm your coach! And this party's kinda boring anyway. I've been chatting with your grandmother for the past 30 minutes."
"Yeah, and Ali...I'm going! Come on now, I just finished telling you that I want to be there for you-...," Jamal started to explain.
Alison had to interrupt Jamal's speech, "Ok, ok...ya know what...pain! I don't care who's coming or going! Just get me to a hospital and get this thing OUT OF ME!!!!" Alison was starting to look a little vicious.
As Jamal and Jack helped get Alison into the car, the pain really took over her thoughts and words.
"Rafe! I can't believe you did this to me! Wherever you are I hope you're hearing this! If I could get my hands on you right now, I'd...Ahhhh!!!" Another wave of contractions came over her, "Rafe! You son of a-..."
Jamal looked up at Jack as they settled her into the seat and shut her door, "Well that's the first smart thing that's come out of her mouth in about a year."
When they got to the hospital, Alison was writhing in pain. Apparently all those little twitches and cramps she had been having all day had been early labor, and she was now feeling the stronger contractions. When she arrived, they rushed her into the emergency room and Dr. Newman was called down to examine her.
Lucy stayed with Alison and helped her with the breathing but it wasn't doing any good.
"Alison, you've gotta breathe with me! Come on, now...breathe!" Lucy tried to encourage her.
"I don't want to BREATHE, Lucy!! I want DRUGS!"
Alison noticed the worried look on Dr. Newman's face as she read the monitor and turned to speak to a nurse.
"What's wrong, Dr. Newman? What's the matter? When can I push?!"
Dr. Newman tried not to alarm her, "Alison, the baby's heartbeat is dropping...and your blood pressure is not where I'd like it to be. I think we need to do an emergency c-section."
Fear and panic took over Alison, "Is the baby alright? Is the baby gonna be okay?! Please, God! I can't lose this baby!" She began to cry.
"Alison, stay calm. I need to you stay calm. We're going to take you up to the O.R., and we'll go from there. It's going to be alright, I promise. But we have to go now." Dr. Newman turned to Lucy, "Mrs. Collins, we might have to put her out completely, so it might be better if you waited with the others in the waiting room. There won't be much for you to do, and we'll let you know everything that's going on."
Lucy wanted to argue her way up there with Alison, but she didn't want to waste any time. She leaned over Alison and kissed her on the forehead and promised her that everything was going to be okay, and that they'd all be waiting to see her and the baby after the surgery.
Alison tried to remain calm and hold back her tears as they wheeled the stretcher out of the room and toward the elevators. She looked back at Lucy, who waved...trying to smile in order to comfort Alison. But Alison could not be comforted...she was scared to death. She already lost Rafe. She could NOT lose their baby.
"Please, God." She whispered toward the ceiling, "Please let the baby be okay...please!"