Author's Notes: It's been a while since I've posted a story. Writing is a
daily thing for me, but it's taken what seems like forever to get this
story where I like it. I'm almost embarrassed to say that the inspiration
for this story comes from a Whitney Houston song but it was the words, not
the voice that brought the story to life. And I've included them in the
story at some point. Thanks to those that have helped me out, Elizabeth,
Amy and Becky. You saw bits and pieces, this is the whole thing. I hope it
is enjoyed by all.
Feedback is much appreciated. It would be nice to know that you liked something I've spent so long working on.
Disclaimers: I don't own a thing. The characters are Grub Streets and Paramount's. The lyrics to "I Believe" are property of whoever produces Whitney Houston's music, Arista I think and whatever movie studio produced the movie that it came from. Bottom line, it's not mine.
Oh, one more thing. This is written from Daphne's perspective.
I Believe
By Sydney Long (SgtMickey@aol.com)
Part One----Prologue
As I lay curled up in the arms of my husband, watching his features light up with the moon as it creeps into our room, my thoughts drifted to the discovery our children had made earlier in the day. It was something that I had misplaced over the years yet never ceased thinking about. They found a letter hiding in one of my old romance novels, a love letter of sorts that my husband had written to me when he thought he had lost me forever. It's a letter that defines who we are as a couple, as parents, as individuals, as a man and a woman and as husband and wife.
That letter changed my life. Well, finding out that he was in love with me changed my life, receiving the letter was the force that led me to grab a hold of that change and not let go. Niles Crane is the reason I believe in love. He has given me everything I had ever hoped a husband would give me. He gives me love, support, friendship and protection. He holds me when I need to be held, even if I don't ask him to. He makes sure I'm taken care of before he takes care of himself.
What was once a private declaration of love had been shared amongst our children. When one of our kids comes across something from our past, it doesn't take long before all four of them know. And not long after that, they turn into their grandfather and start grilling us for answers.
On more than one occasion our kids and their friends have told us that we're the coolest of all the parents. I'm always surprised as to how many people know about my life and my marriage when we arrive at parent's night or any school function. Our kids waste no time in telling their friends the latest gossip from the Crane household. There's no doubt in my mind that by the end of the week someone outside of the family is going to mention that letter.
While I heard the reaction from our kids, I'm really anxious to hear what my husband has to say. He had yet to find out about the little discovery for he spent the evening with his brother at their silly wine club. After all of these years, I still can't believe the two of them are so passionate about liquid grapes.
I suppose I can't complain as the years have turned him into a real family man. He gladly gives up his free time to attend any game, meet, match, play, conference or lesson the children have.
One night he even mumbled something to me that still makes me laugh. We were going to have dinner with Frasier and his wife Allison. A night without the kids usually means a French restaurant with a name that I still can't pronounce, expensive champagne, cloth napkins and stylish china. I'll never forget what he said before we entered the restaurant, "What I wouldn't give for this to be Pizza Hut. I have a craving for those cinnamon bread sticks Avery always gets." I remember a time when Niles Crane didn't even know what a Pizza Hut was.
That's one of the many things I love about him. Since we've been married, a different Niles has emerged. It's as if this is the Niles he always wanted to be, a husband, a father, a friend. Of course he still has many of the quirks I fell in love with and yet he's developed others that I love just as much. He's a bit messier now and by that I mean his side of the closet. It's not arranged according to color, designer, season or weather anymore. It's in the same state of chaos as my side.
Our bathroom however is as clean as the maternity ward at the hospital. The kids have many laughs at our expense because of the bathroom. I've actually caught my husband arranging my make-up according to eyes, cheeks and lips. Needless to say that led to a stupid argument that attracted the attention of not only our children but also the mangy mutts we've acquired. If a stranger had walked in our house the yelling, laughing and barking would have sent them running in the other direction.
One thing that hasn't changed is the passion Niles has for me. It's as fiery as the words he wrote in the letter. The things he whispers to me on our balcony over looking the ocean send chills running through me just like they did that day. We've spent many a moonlit night out there just loving each other. And if it weren't for that letter, that beautiful letter, I don't know where I would be today or even if I would be as happy as I am.
I needed Niles to know that our past has been uncovered. I wanted to hear him say those words to me again. I know I've heard them over and over again since that day. But I never tire of hearing them. He offered to record them once, so that I could play them over and over again. He did that when there was some debate on whether or not he could stay with me while I was in the hospital recovering from the birth of our babies. It was a lovely offer but half of the beauty of those words is seeing his face while he says them. The way his eyes glisten and sparkle with each word always fill my heart with joy.
I didn't want to wake him, but I just had to, if he's even asleep. He has a habit of pretending to be asleep but waits until I am before he actually nods off. But I just have to know how all of this makes him feel. Rather than jump up and down on him as our youngest likes to do, I have discovered that it's in my best interest to wake him up with a kiss or a light stroke on the cheek. Niles Crane may be passionate but he can be quite grumpy when he first wakes up.
"Honey," I whispered tracing his jaw line with my fingers.
"Hmm," he replied, now I know for a fact that he is not asleep. I think he's trying to avoid one of my stories.
"Honey," I said again placing a small kiss on his forehead, "Wake up. Please."
"Hmm," he mumbled again. Okay, I'm going to have to try a different approach. Maybe if I just come right out and ask him, it will stir some emotions in him, just like it did me.
"Do you remember the letter you wrote me," I said watching his eyes slowly open in the darkness of our bedroom. The moon is casting a beautiful glow into our bedroom on this night. We have to doors to the balcony to let in the fresh night air.
"Letter, what letter," he said.
"THE letter," I said.
"The letter," he said.
"How could you forget about that," I said bopping him on the head with my pillow.
"Oh the letter," he said, the light bulb finally clicking in his mind, "the one I wrote with the song lyrics?"
"Yes," I said.
"Of course I remember it," he said flipping on the light, "but why are you bringing that up now? You haven't mentioned it in years."
"Your children found it today," I said propping myself up on my elbow.
"Where," he asked stroking my cheek with his thumb.
"In the library," I said.
"The library," he questioned. Okay so maybe he was asleep; he's not comprehending a word of what I'm saying.
"I slipped it in one of my books at some point in time," I said, "but over the years, I had forgotten which one."
"And you hit me in the head with the pillow because I forgot," he mused.
"No, you flat out forgot," I said, "I never did, I just couldn't remember where I put it. I have moved a couple of times since then. Besides, I know it by heart. I don't need to see it to know what it says."
"What went through your mind when they told you," he asked. He always beats me to it; it's the curse of being married to a psychiatrist.
"It brought back a lot of memories," I said, "some of the good, some of them bad, some of them painful and some of them so passionate I swear I thought we were going to burn the building down."
"I wanted to tell you for so long," he said rolling on his back and looking at the ceiling. "When I think about how much time that was lost. God, honey, think of all of the years we could have had together."
"Oh sweetie, I didn't mean to upset you," I said sensing his emotions building. I honestly didn't think this would upset him. I thought he would see it as I did, as one of the happiest and most important moments in my life. I should have known though. Whenever we talk about our past, Niles always gets a bit upset. I can't say that I blame him; he isn't always the only one either. Cowardice and blindness dictated our relationship at first. He being too afraid to tell me, me being too blind to see what was right in front of me.
"It's okay," he said looking over at the window, probably counting the stars that were sprinkled across the night sky.
"Niles, I wanted you to know that the kids found it," I said turning his face towards me. He tried to fight me. He didn't want me to see what I already knew would be in his eyes. The wondering of what would have or could have been had our love been realized sooner than it actually was.
"Well I'm glad it was found," he said.
"I know that the years we didn't have will always make us wonder," I said, "honey, if we had begun our life sooner, we might not have the wonderful children that we do. Things happen for a reason. You once told me that, remember?"
"I know. It's just that some times it just hits me," he said, "how much more we could have had together had we been given those extra years."
"Darling, I don't care about what we could have had," I said stroking his arm lightly. He loves that and for some reason it soothes him. I discovered that within days of our union. "I care about what we already have and what we will have. We have love, true love. We found it and it's so hard to find. I can't imagine our life being any different than it already is. And it's even better than I ever could have imagined."
"Daphne," he said. No, I need him to understand that everything we went through happened for a reason. All of the heartache, the loneliness, everything happened because we believed in us.
"No, Niles, receiving that letter changed my life," I said, "it made me see who I really am, who you really are and what we would be together. I can't even fathom what my life would be like had I not met you. Even before I got the letter, losing you was something that I thought about all the time. From the time that, that, oh damn, what's his name? Oh who cares what his name was but from the moment he proposed, all I could think about was how it would affect our relationship. Yours and mine. I needed that letter and as soon as I figure out which of the kids has it, I'm going to get it back."
"I offered to record it," he said. There's my Niles coming back to me.
"I told you, I want to see your face when you proclaim your love to me."
"I wish I could have seen your face when you opened it," he said. He says that all the time. His one wish, if things had been done differently, would have been to see my face when I first opened the letter. With what's his name there, I had to conceal my initial emotions.
"I saw your handwriting and I knew my world was about to change."
Feedback is much appreciated. It would be nice to know that you liked something I've spent so long working on.
Disclaimers: I don't own a thing. The characters are Grub Streets and Paramount's. The lyrics to "I Believe" are property of whoever produces Whitney Houston's music, Arista I think and whatever movie studio produced the movie that it came from. Bottom line, it's not mine.
Oh, one more thing. This is written from Daphne's perspective.
I Believe
By Sydney Long (SgtMickey@aol.com)
Part One----Prologue
As I lay curled up in the arms of my husband, watching his features light up with the moon as it creeps into our room, my thoughts drifted to the discovery our children had made earlier in the day. It was something that I had misplaced over the years yet never ceased thinking about. They found a letter hiding in one of my old romance novels, a love letter of sorts that my husband had written to me when he thought he had lost me forever. It's a letter that defines who we are as a couple, as parents, as individuals, as a man and a woman and as husband and wife.
That letter changed my life. Well, finding out that he was in love with me changed my life, receiving the letter was the force that led me to grab a hold of that change and not let go. Niles Crane is the reason I believe in love. He has given me everything I had ever hoped a husband would give me. He gives me love, support, friendship and protection. He holds me when I need to be held, even if I don't ask him to. He makes sure I'm taken care of before he takes care of himself.
What was once a private declaration of love had been shared amongst our children. When one of our kids comes across something from our past, it doesn't take long before all four of them know. And not long after that, they turn into their grandfather and start grilling us for answers.
On more than one occasion our kids and their friends have told us that we're the coolest of all the parents. I'm always surprised as to how many people know about my life and my marriage when we arrive at parent's night or any school function. Our kids waste no time in telling their friends the latest gossip from the Crane household. There's no doubt in my mind that by the end of the week someone outside of the family is going to mention that letter.
While I heard the reaction from our kids, I'm really anxious to hear what my husband has to say. He had yet to find out about the little discovery for he spent the evening with his brother at their silly wine club. After all of these years, I still can't believe the two of them are so passionate about liquid grapes.
I suppose I can't complain as the years have turned him into a real family man. He gladly gives up his free time to attend any game, meet, match, play, conference or lesson the children have.
One night he even mumbled something to me that still makes me laugh. We were going to have dinner with Frasier and his wife Allison. A night without the kids usually means a French restaurant with a name that I still can't pronounce, expensive champagne, cloth napkins and stylish china. I'll never forget what he said before we entered the restaurant, "What I wouldn't give for this to be Pizza Hut. I have a craving for those cinnamon bread sticks Avery always gets." I remember a time when Niles Crane didn't even know what a Pizza Hut was.
That's one of the many things I love about him. Since we've been married, a different Niles has emerged. It's as if this is the Niles he always wanted to be, a husband, a father, a friend. Of course he still has many of the quirks I fell in love with and yet he's developed others that I love just as much. He's a bit messier now and by that I mean his side of the closet. It's not arranged according to color, designer, season or weather anymore. It's in the same state of chaos as my side.
Our bathroom however is as clean as the maternity ward at the hospital. The kids have many laughs at our expense because of the bathroom. I've actually caught my husband arranging my make-up according to eyes, cheeks and lips. Needless to say that led to a stupid argument that attracted the attention of not only our children but also the mangy mutts we've acquired. If a stranger had walked in our house the yelling, laughing and barking would have sent them running in the other direction.
One thing that hasn't changed is the passion Niles has for me. It's as fiery as the words he wrote in the letter. The things he whispers to me on our balcony over looking the ocean send chills running through me just like they did that day. We've spent many a moonlit night out there just loving each other. And if it weren't for that letter, that beautiful letter, I don't know where I would be today or even if I would be as happy as I am.
I needed Niles to know that our past has been uncovered. I wanted to hear him say those words to me again. I know I've heard them over and over again since that day. But I never tire of hearing them. He offered to record them once, so that I could play them over and over again. He did that when there was some debate on whether or not he could stay with me while I was in the hospital recovering from the birth of our babies. It was a lovely offer but half of the beauty of those words is seeing his face while he says them. The way his eyes glisten and sparkle with each word always fill my heart with joy.
I didn't want to wake him, but I just had to, if he's even asleep. He has a habit of pretending to be asleep but waits until I am before he actually nods off. But I just have to know how all of this makes him feel. Rather than jump up and down on him as our youngest likes to do, I have discovered that it's in my best interest to wake him up with a kiss or a light stroke on the cheek. Niles Crane may be passionate but he can be quite grumpy when he first wakes up.
"Honey," I whispered tracing his jaw line with my fingers.
"Hmm," he replied, now I know for a fact that he is not asleep. I think he's trying to avoid one of my stories.
"Honey," I said again placing a small kiss on his forehead, "Wake up. Please."
"Hmm," he mumbled again. Okay, I'm going to have to try a different approach. Maybe if I just come right out and ask him, it will stir some emotions in him, just like it did me.
"Do you remember the letter you wrote me," I said watching his eyes slowly open in the darkness of our bedroom. The moon is casting a beautiful glow into our bedroom on this night. We have to doors to the balcony to let in the fresh night air.
"Letter, what letter," he said.
"THE letter," I said.
"The letter," he said.
"How could you forget about that," I said bopping him on the head with my pillow.
"Oh the letter," he said, the light bulb finally clicking in his mind, "the one I wrote with the song lyrics?"
"Yes," I said.
"Of course I remember it," he said flipping on the light, "but why are you bringing that up now? You haven't mentioned it in years."
"Your children found it today," I said propping myself up on my elbow.
"Where," he asked stroking my cheek with his thumb.
"In the library," I said.
"The library," he questioned. Okay so maybe he was asleep; he's not comprehending a word of what I'm saying.
"I slipped it in one of my books at some point in time," I said, "but over the years, I had forgotten which one."
"And you hit me in the head with the pillow because I forgot," he mused.
"No, you flat out forgot," I said, "I never did, I just couldn't remember where I put it. I have moved a couple of times since then. Besides, I know it by heart. I don't need to see it to know what it says."
"What went through your mind when they told you," he asked. He always beats me to it; it's the curse of being married to a psychiatrist.
"It brought back a lot of memories," I said, "some of the good, some of them bad, some of them painful and some of them so passionate I swear I thought we were going to burn the building down."
"I wanted to tell you for so long," he said rolling on his back and looking at the ceiling. "When I think about how much time that was lost. God, honey, think of all of the years we could have had together."
"Oh sweetie, I didn't mean to upset you," I said sensing his emotions building. I honestly didn't think this would upset him. I thought he would see it as I did, as one of the happiest and most important moments in my life. I should have known though. Whenever we talk about our past, Niles always gets a bit upset. I can't say that I blame him; he isn't always the only one either. Cowardice and blindness dictated our relationship at first. He being too afraid to tell me, me being too blind to see what was right in front of me.
"It's okay," he said looking over at the window, probably counting the stars that were sprinkled across the night sky.
"Niles, I wanted you to know that the kids found it," I said turning his face towards me. He tried to fight me. He didn't want me to see what I already knew would be in his eyes. The wondering of what would have or could have been had our love been realized sooner than it actually was.
"Well I'm glad it was found," he said.
"I know that the years we didn't have will always make us wonder," I said, "honey, if we had begun our life sooner, we might not have the wonderful children that we do. Things happen for a reason. You once told me that, remember?"
"I know. It's just that some times it just hits me," he said, "how much more we could have had together had we been given those extra years."
"Darling, I don't care about what we could have had," I said stroking his arm lightly. He loves that and for some reason it soothes him. I discovered that within days of our union. "I care about what we already have and what we will have. We have love, true love. We found it and it's so hard to find. I can't imagine our life being any different than it already is. And it's even better than I ever could have imagined."
"Daphne," he said. No, I need him to understand that everything we went through happened for a reason. All of the heartache, the loneliness, everything happened because we believed in us.
"No, Niles, receiving that letter changed my life," I said, "it made me see who I really am, who you really are and what we would be together. I can't even fathom what my life would be like had I not met you. Even before I got the letter, losing you was something that I thought about all the time. From the time that, that, oh damn, what's his name? Oh who cares what his name was but from the moment he proposed, all I could think about was how it would affect our relationship. Yours and mine. I needed that letter and as soon as I figure out which of the kids has it, I'm going to get it back."
"I offered to record it," he said. There's my Niles coming back to me.
"I told you, I want to see your face when you proclaim your love to me."
"I wish I could have seen your face when you opened it," he said. He says that all the time. His one wish, if things had been done differently, would have been to see my face when I first opened the letter. With what's his name there, I had to conceal my initial emotions.
"I saw your handwriting and I knew my world was about to change."