A/N: this is a sequel to The Promise by Iloveromance, written with permission and many thanks to Andrea.

Chapter 1

It was about two weeks after Niles and Daphne declared their feelings, once again, for each other that she got the news. This wasn't about her mum's fungal infection or a visit from Simon. Daphne would have preferred either one of those scenarios to the one she was facing now. After weeks of dreadful nausea and worse, plus the worst headaches of her life, Niles had insisted that Daphne go to visit a doctor, where he would presumably tell her that she was just stressed over the divorce from Donny and she would go along on her merry way. But from the look on her doctor's face, she could see that something was wrong, terribly wrong.

"What is it, Dr. Abbot? I'm sick aren't I? I'm probably dying. I should have known. I've waited years to finally become happy and now it's all ending, isn't it? I'm so tired, I don't know how I'm going to deal with this." Even though she verbalized her own fears, she didn't want to admit to her doctor that her first thougths were of Niles, and how he would deal with this. Poor Niles! She knew how much he loved her, and how much he'd been through- how much they had been through, only for it to be taken away from them. Oh, life wasn't fair!

"Calm down, Daphne. No, you are definitely not dying."

"So I'm not sick?"

"Oh, you are sick. But it will pass- in six months."

"Oh I have that mysterious Mongolian virus that Ni..my friend was talking to me about?"

Dr. Abbot smiled. "No, my dear. Much better than a virus- it's a baby. Congratulations, you are going to be a mother!"

Daphne stared at him, again wishing it were the Mongolian virus. That she could deal with. A baby? Could she be hearing her doctor right? It couldn't be. She and Niles hadn't even made love.

Oh dear God, she thought to herself. She and Niles hadn't made love, but she and her husband – her soon to be ex-husband had. Donny! This couldn't be happening. She was going to have Donny's child. Before she could say another word, the doctor handed her his trash bucket, where she proceeded to get violently ill. This was the worst thing that had ever happened to her, and she couldn't even begin to think of what the consequences of this child might be. She would lose everything- Donny was a shark, he would take this child, and then there was poor, sweet, loving Niles. She would lose everything that they had shared together. It would not be fair to expect Niles to raise another man's baby, especially Donny's. She knew what Donny was capable of, and he would tear Niles to shreds rather than allow him to raise his baby. Oh, what was she going to do?

"Mrs. Douglas? Are you all right?"

"I'm not…oh, I'm all right. No, I'm not. Who am I kidding? This couldn't have happened at a worse time. You see, I'm not Mrs. Douglas any more. My husband and I are getting a divorce."

"I'm sorry, Daphne. I realize this must be an inconvenience for you…"

"An inconvenience? Dr. Abbot, you don't realize the half of it. I can't be pregnant. My God, I'm going to lose everything I ever had anyways, and now this?"

"I'm sure Mr. Douglas will be reasonable, after all, he did love you enough to marry you, didn't he?".

.

"Have you ever met my husband?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't."

Daphne buried her head in her hands and began to sob.

"It's okay, Daphne. You're only pregnant if you want to be."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are options. We can discuss them once you've had time to process this news. I'm sorry, Daphne. I really am. I hate my job sometimes."

"It's not your fault. It's me own bloody fault. All my life I've tried to follow me heart and where has it landed me? I'm being sued by me own husband for everything I have, I came to America to get a fresh start, but where has it landed me? Pregnant and all alone with nothing to show for it, nothing but a bad case of morning sickness."

"Oh, Daphne. It's going to be okay. I promise you that."

Daphne stared at Dr. Abbot as if he had two heads. How dare he talk to her like that? He had no idea what she was going through. He probably had the perfect wife and perfect children living in one of four homes- with a couple of bloody sports cars to boost. No, there was only one person who could make her feel better now, and he was the one person who had the most to lose with this revelation. No, there was no way out, and she had never felt so helpless in her life. Not even Niles could make things better, even if he tried.

And he wouldn't be able to try. There was no way she was going to burden him with this child. It was her own fault she was in this mess, and she would fix it. She didn't know how but all she knew was that the end of her life as she knew it was over.

tbc