She was just drifting off to sleep when the phone rang. At once the erotic dream she'd been having about her husband vanished and the shrill ringing of the phone that replaced it shook her to the core. So much for dreams; or in this case, fantasies.

It was a dream that she'd been having more and more as the months went by. The realization that she and Niles couldn't do the thing that she most wanted to do pained her. And that pain produced the familiar feeling of guilt. The most ironic thing of all was that the thing she most wanted to do was exactly the reason that they couldn't. Not yet anyway.

For months they'd been trying to conceive a baby, but the odds weren't at all in their favor. And so, they'd learned to perfect their attempts at trying again and again; making love at all hours and in almost every place imaginable. They made love in every room of their home in the Montana, including the kitchen, which was an adventure in itself.

Niles loathed the idea at first but Daphne quickly showed him how sexy and erogenous a kitchen could be. After all, they had quite a history there, getting ready for Niles' fictitious date with the even more fictitious Phyllis.

Ever since that fateful night, even without realizing that Niles had conjured up a story about wanting to make dinner for a woman he was in love with, the song "Heart and Soul" was forever engraved on her own heart. Years later when he finally told her the truth about that evening, she'd been so touched by the gesture that she'd started to cry. Niles, of course, assumed the worst and began to apologize profusely. But it took no time at all to convince him that he'd made her happier than she'd ever dreamed. The fact that he'd planned the whole evening simply because she'd overheard him telling Frasier in the kitchen that he loved someone (and that someone turned out to be her!), touched her deeply. From that moment on, she loved him even more. But not as much as she loved him now, and she longed to give him the child that she knew he so desperately wanted.

Their lovemaking commenced on almost a daily basis, not just in the kitchen and the bedrooms, living room, study and guest room but other places as well. They even had a few lovemaking sessions on Frasier's sofa, when Martin and Frasier weren't at home of course. Who said house-sitting had to be dull?

However, no matter how many conventional and not so conventional methods that she and Niles tried, the reality of a baby was becoming less and less. And on the nights that she disappeared into the bathroom her pregnancy test in hand, she was sure that it would be the night that she'd come to Niles with the good news.

But too many times, she'd emerged from the bathroom, collapsing in tears into the comfort of Niles' waiting arms when she glanced at the tiny window that indicated that she was not yet pregnant. The wonderful man that he was, he held her through the night, singing softly into her ear as she cried herself to sleep.
However the more the scenario happened, the more she longed to have a baby, until the need was so great that it was almost unbearable.

And then it happened.

One night, just moments before she knew he was due to arrive home from work; she'd done her best to make the apartment seem as romantic as possible. The ovulation test in her hand indicated that she was ovulating, making it the perfect time to try again.

He'd barely walked through the door when she walked down the staircase, clad in her sexy black nightgown and robe. He was rendered speechless. The video tape he'd held in his hand dropped to the floor and for a second he stared at her in disbelief. Within seconds she was in his arms, kissing him deeply.

However, he seemed distracted.

"What's wrong?"

"I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I had some disappointing news from the doctor today. It seems that I suffer from low motility and it might not be possible for us to conceive."

She tried to hide her disappointment, but she felt as though she might cry. However, she wouldn't cry in front of him; not when he was obviously so upset. And although it appeared so on the surface, it wasn't his fault. He couldn't be guilty of something he had absolutely no control over.

"Oh… I see."

"I'm so sorry."

"Oh, don't be sorry." She said, suddenly finding courage as she smiled at him. "We'll be all right. There are lots of things they can do. And until we're able to do them, I don't see what's wrong with giving Mother Nature another try."

He swallowed hard, never taking his eyes off of her chest. And that's exactly where she wanted them to be. His eyes widened as she reached into her nightgown and smiled mischievously, revealing the familiar white stick."I took the test today. I'm ovulating."

"Last one upstairs-."

Like two children they ran for the stairs but he paused on the landing, taking the stick from her and examining it closer. "Daphne, this isn't the ovulation test, this is the pregnancy test."

"Oh, silly me. They both look so much alike that I-." She froze, her heart racing. She wanted so much to believe that it was true, but there was as always the tiniest bit of doubt. Slowly their eyes moved toward the tiny window. And she knew that he noticed the pink plus sign the moment that she did. It was a dream come true.

"We-we're pregnant!" Niles shouted.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and she threw herself into his arms, sobbing tears of joy. "Oh Niles…"

The kisses turned passionate and they headed upstairs unable to hide their love for one another. And that evening their lovemaking session took a different turn. It was a celebration that would last though the night.