Alternate ending to The Show Where Lilith Shows Up

For Lurchy

Frasier woke up, at first unsure of where he was and who he was with until he saw the familiar dark and wavy hair cascading beside him on the pillow next to his. My God it was Lilith- there had to be some mistake! How could they have wound up in the same hotel room, obviously after a night of passion, after what had started out as an irritating phone call to his radio show? Surely she couldn't have planned it, and he would have had the strength to resist her considerable charms. And as a psychiatrist, he laughed at the notion of fate; he was no more a romanticist than he was an animal doctor. There had to be some reason for their sharing the same bed. Alcohol might have had been a factor, but surely he had kept his wits about him. What was it about Lilith Sternin that he could not resist after all of this time?

Speaking of the devil, she started to stir, aware of his staring (not unlike his knowing and resenting Eddie's doing the same thing to him) and she opened her eyes.

"Good morning," Lilith purred as she brushed the hair out of her face.

"Good morning," Frasier, a man of the largest vocabulary of his senior high school year, could barely put the two simple words together.

"How did you sleep?"

"Well with any luck not at all," he laughed.

"Oh, Frasier, you're so naughty," she scolded. "Are you suggesting a morning tryst? I haven't even brushed my hair. You know how frizzy it gets in strange environments."

"Your hair looks wonderful, Lilith. I wouldn't touch it if I were you. Actually I was thinking more in lines that a discussion is in order, although if you couldn't keep your hands off of me I would understand- I do have that effect on women."

She frowned as she stood up and put on a robe. "I see your healthy ego is still intact. Although I suppose having me as a willing participant in last night's activities did not do anything to deflate it either."

"Oh, buttercup, you know I kid. And last night, well, I have to be honest and admit that last night has left me truly confounded."

Lilith heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh darling, you as well? I thought that I was the only one who was left with a feeling of confusion. I must admit, I enjoyed last night and anticipated another early round of lovemaking even as I drifted off to sleep…"

Frasier perked up. "Confounded shmounded. Come to me my blossom bottom." He reached out for her, only to be playfully smacked away.

"No, Frasier, we have both admitted that we were confused by last night's incident. I need to make a confession, and I hope that it is with open ears and an open heart that you will listen to me."

Sensing her seriousness, Frasier tied the knot on his robe and sat across the bed from her. "Go ahead, Lilith. I'm listening."

"Oh will you stop, for heaven's sake? I'm not one of your faceless listeners you can pacify with some trite expression. I'm your wife or have you forgotten that?"

Frasier frowned. "Technically, you're my ex-wife. I have the paycheck stubs to prove that."

"You're not making this easier on me."

"Sorry. Go on."

"What I meant to tell you was that I found your note. The one where you confessed that you were still in love with me. I must admit that it took me by quite a surprise- I had no idea that you still harbored such strong feelings for me. But the more time I took to think about it the more I realized that I, too, shared those feelings. I know that I've done a lot of things to hurt you and I would take those things back if I could. I would erase the hurtful actions of the past but all I can do is go forward. When I think about my future all I can think about is one with you in it. What I'm trying to say, Frasier, my love, is that I still care for you, very deeply. Do you think there's still a chance for a future for us?"

Frasier prided himself in the fact that he was a great listener-he made a rather nice living by it- and he didn't shock easily, but this time he was quite surprised. Lilith wanted him back. He never saw that coming. He honestly didn't know how he felt. When she had cheated on him, he literally felt like dying. He would never forget how he felt standing out on the ledge back in Boston, his friends coming to support him but ultimately Lilith talking him down. He'd vowed he'd never let his guard down like that again. Now here she was asking to come back into the very heart that he had so very carefully protected over the years. What was a shrink to do? He knew what his head told him to do- he took one look at her and saw the road sign- warning, icy roads ahead- but then again, when it came to affairs of the heart, he never did listen to his head. This was Lilith for crying out loud. She was the mother of his only child, the great love of his life. As she pleaded to him with her steely eyes Frasier knew, even though it went against his better judgment, what his only choice could be.

Pulling Lilith to him with a kiss to beat any they'd shared the previous night, Frasier effectively answered her question in no uncertain terms. Just in case she, a genius of the human psyche, couldn't read his mind, he whispered in her ear his answer. And in a few months Lilith and Frederick moved from Boston to Seattle. It might have taken them several tries but eventually they got it right, and no one could have been happier than Frederick. Frasier still utilized Daphne as his father's physical therapist, and Niles still eventually got his divorce, clearing his path for his eventual marriage to Daphne. What started off as a simple attraction between two brilliant but lonely people paved the way for many people, in ways even they could never have predicted. For two people with all of the solutions in the world who would have thought that love would have been the final answer after all?

The end