It was the shaking that woke Niles from a sound sleep. The minute he felt the bed moving back and forth, his eyes flew open and his heart began to race.
He glanced at the sleeping angel beside him, willing her to awaken. But oddly enough she continued to sleep, somehow unfazed by the disruption.
His fingers touched her silky hair and he smiled, still unable to believe how beautiful she was.
"Daphne, wake up! It's an earthquake! I'm going to check on David!"
Seconds later, he heard his name.
"Daddy!"
Niles' head whipped around and he sighed with relief when he realized that there was no earthquake after all. The source of the shaking, his three year old son David stood beside him, his tiny hands perched on Niles' forearm.
"Daddy!"
Niles climbed out of bed and lead David into the hallway, trying his best not to disturb his goddess. "What's wrong, David?"
But the child only stared at Niles through bright blue eyes.
Concerned about this unexpected late night visit Niles held his son close, wishing he could keep him safe from harm.
"Did you have a bad dream?"
To Niles relief, David shook his head.
"I want cookies!"
Niles couldn't help but smile.
"No David, it's much too late for cookies. But I tell you what... I'll make sure that Mommy gives you some cookies with your lunch tomorrow, okay?"
Almost instantly David's lower lip began to tremble and his eyes filled with tears, breaking his father's heart.
Defeated, Niles took David's hand and sighed. "Come on."
Together they walked down the stairs, Niles in his designer silk pajamas and his young son who wore colorful footed pajamas adorned with pandas.
Minutes later while David sat quietly at the table, Niles filled a plate with Daphne's homemade cookies and poured two glasses of milk.
"Here we are."
The house was dark except for the soft glow of moonlight that illuminated the kitchen and Niles relished these precious moments alone with his son.
"Daddy, I watched Sesame Street!" David said proudly, his mouth full of cookies.
"That's a great show!" Niles replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as his son.
"Cookie Monster ate a lot of cookies!"
David's voice rose excitedly as he launched into a babbling story describing in detail the way Cookie Monster went around eating everyone's cookies.
"That sounds fascinating but weren't the other Muppets mad that Cookie Monster ate all of their cookies?" Niles asked, amused at David's use of description.
He could tell that David was extremely smart for a boy of three and at that moment, Niles couldn't have been a prouder father.
All too soon the plate of cookies and glasses of milk were empty and David began to nod off. Niles quietly cleaned up the kitchen and then scooped David into his arms, carrying the tired little boy up the stairs.
Reluctantly he led David into the bathroom where he coaxed him into brushing his teeth. But to his surprise, David did so without protest.
"Here we are." Niles said, tucking David into bed. The child fell asleep instantly and Niles took the opportunity to stare at his sleeping son, knowing that he was the luckiest man on earth.
He leaned down and kissed David's cheek.
"I love you, David."
"Love you... Daddy." The child replied.
Niles heart soared and he took one last glace at David before returning to the master bedroom. He never knew that his heart was capable of filling with so much love, and he owed it all to his angel.
With a sudden urgency he hurried into the bedroom, wanting nothing more than to hold her in his arms.