A/N: A birthday gift for Kristen who hinted that almost all of the chapters in "100 Moments" and "Life in the Emerald City" could be written into their own stories. This is one of them, taken from Ch. 25 of "100 Moments"
It was the sound of shattering glass that startled her awake. Daphne bolted upright, her heart pounding. "What was that?"
She looked to her left, but to her dismay, her husband was sound asleep, unfazed by the frightening sound that had awakened her in the deep hours of the night. But the sound came again, a bit louder this time.
Someone was in their home.
Fear engulfed her and she shook her husband rapidly. "Niles, wake up! Please!"
He jolted awake and reached for the light, illuminating the bedroom. When his eyes met hers, his face held a look of worry. "Daphne, what's wrong? What is it?"
Immediately she began to cry. "Oh Niles… I heard a noise downstairs! I think someone's in the house! What if he hurts us? What about David?"
His lips pressed against hers and his gentle hand reached to stroke her hair. "I'll go downstairs and see what's going on."
"We should call the police. Your father-."
"Not yet. Let's see what it is first. We don't want the police coming over if it's not an emergency."
But what about David?"
"You check on David and I'll go downstairs." Niles moved to reach for his robe which lay neatly on a nearby chair. But Daphne grabbed his arm, preventing him from moving. "No, don't! I-I don't want you to go by yourself!"
"Daphne, I'll be fine. I just want to see-."
"NO!"
Startled by her outburst, his eyes met hers. "Daphne-."
"Please, Niles! I don't want to lose you! I won't!"
"Daphne-."
She began to sob and he held her close, stroking her back. And then she heard him sigh deeply. "All right. We'll check on David together and then go downstairs."
Their fingers entwined, they crept down the hallway to where the soft glow from David's nightlight beckoned them inside.
"David, sweetheart? It's Mommy and Daddy." Daphne said softly. "We wanted to make sure that you're all right."
When there was no reply, she felt a bit of relief. Perhaps he hadn't heard the noise after all. She walked further into the room and reached out to stroke his soft hair.
But her hand stilled. The bed was empty.
She gasped in shock. "NO!"
Niles flipped the overhead light switch. "Daphne, what is it?"
"He's gone!"
They both stared at one another in horror only for a moment before Daphne fell onto her knees sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh God! My baby! My little boy! My son is gone! They took him!" she was barely aware of Niles arms around her waist, attempting to lift her to her feet.
"Daphne, Daphne, Daphne…Hey, hey… come on… We don't know that."
"Then where is he, Niles? Where is my little boy! Oh God, how could this have happened? He's supposed to be in bed! I don't-."
Another crash sent them flying into the hallway.
"It's coming from the kitchen." Niles announced. "Hold onto me, Daphne. I'll keep you safe."
"But David-."
"Come on…"
She clung to him, finding it impossible to control her sobs and even the security of Niles' strong arm around her didn't ease her grief. Together they moved quietly through the darkened living room to the kitchen door. The fact that it was closed frightened her even more and as Niles moved his hand to push the door open, she began to cry even harder. He turned to her and kissed her lips; a gentle, lingering kiss. The kind of kiss he always gave her when he knew she was afraid. Slowly he pushed open the door, tightening his grip on her as he did so.
There was a collective gasp when they discovered the source of the intrusion. It wasn't an intruder at all.
Four year old David stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at his parents with wide eyes. A terrifyingly sharp knife (the kind Daphne and Niles told him never to touch) lay on the hardwood floor, beside his plastic plate adorned with the Peanuts character Snoopy, and shattered jars of peanut butter and jelly. The kitchen, which was usually immaculate, was a complete disaster.
Suddenly her worry and premature grief turned into rage. She stormed over to her son and knelt to his level, grabbing his tiny shoulders so abruptly that he cried out in pain. And then she shook him, much like she'd shaken Niles awake just moments before.
"DAVID MARTIN CRANE, WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE DADDY AND I TOLD YOU NOT TO PLAY WITH KNIVES? DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?"
"Daphne-."
Despite Niles' hands on her shoulders, attempting to pull her away from her son (who was now sobbing harder than she'd ever seen him cry), she kept on, unable to stop.
"YOU ARE GROUNDED, YOUNG MAN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? NO TOYS OR TELEVISION OR ANYTHING FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH! NOW CLEAN UP THIS MESS, RIGHT NOW!"
"Daphne! Stop this!" Niles yelled, yanking her away from David. "He's all right! Just calm down and-."
Daphne froze, staring at Niles and then looked at her son, who was even more upset than before. And just as quickly as her anger came, it left.
"Oh, Sweetheart…" She reached for him, but he moved away-paining here even further. He picked up a broken piece of the plastic plate (the only one he would let his meals be served on), and looked helplessly at them. "My Snoopy plate…."
Niles knelt to David's level "I'm sorry buddy. We'll get you a new one, but… what were you doing in here? It's late."
"I'm sorry Daddy. I'm sorry Mommy." David cried. "I just wanted to make my own sandwich!"
"I see." Niles said, glancing at Daphne.
"Am I in trouble?"
Again Daphne tried to reach for him to stroke his hair, the way she often did when he was afraid. But once again he moved away from her, holding onto his father's pajama pant leg. And Daphne was beside herself. Her son was frightened-and not because of what he had done. He was frightened of his own mother.
"Oh Niles…"
Niles lifted David into his arms and kissed his cheek. "No David. You're not in trouble. We were just worried. But your mother is right about the knife."
"I'm sorry Daddy!" David cried.
Niles sat David onto the bar stool and grabbed a paper towel to gently wipe away David's tears. "IT's all right. Don't cry. But the next time you want a sandwich, come and tell your mom and I okay?"
"I wanted to do it myself. Too show you that I'm a big boy."
"Sweetheart you are a big boy." Daphne said. "You can do lots of things around here. You help us with dinner, you take care of Eddie while your grandpa is watching the baseball game or when Ronee needs him to help her with something, and you can call Uncle Frasier in Chicago all by yourself. But we've told you before; knives are very, very dangerous. You could cut yourself and it would hurt really badly! Remember when your friend Leonard cut his hand on the glass at school?"
David nodded. "Uh huh…He cried and I went and got the teacher! He had to go to the doctor and get siches!"
"Stitches." Daphne corrected, suppressing a smile. "And we're very proud of you for helping your friend. But we don't want you to get hurt either."
Niles looked a little green. "Not to mention the… oh… blood."
Daphne stroked Niles' cheek. "That's right, sweetheart."
"I'm sorry." David said. "I was just hungry."
"Well, I'll tell you what." Niles said. "I think there's some more peanut butter in the cupboard and some jelly too, so we'll clean up the kitchen and then get you all cleaned up and we'll get that sandwich for you, okay?"
"Niles-."
"I think it would be all right, Daphne. Just this once."
"Mommy will take you to your room to get you all cleaned up, okay?"
For the first time in her life, Daphne was afraid to be around her son. "I-I don't know..."
Niles went to the cupboard and removed David's plastic cup, the one that matched his Snoopy plate. And then he opened the refrigerator and poured David some milk.
"Here. Take this and go sit at the table, all right? I want to talk to Mommy for a second and then we'll get you all cleaned up."
"Okay Daddy. Love you."
"We love you too, buddy. Now go and drink your milk."
The little boy pushed the kitchen door open and disappeared into the living room. But just as Niles turned to her, Daphne turned away, sobbing into her hands.
Niles' hands were on her shoulders, his lips on her neck. "Well, this has been some night, hasn't it? I almost feel like-."
She turned in his arms and when their eyes met, she cried even harder. "Oh Niles!"
He held her close, stroking her back, trying his best to calm her shudders. But still she cried.
"Sweetheart what's wrong? I know you were frightened when you thought David was gone, but he's fine now. He's just-."
"I'm a horrible mother!" She cried as he drew her even closer.
"No, Daphne, don't ever say that. You're a wonderful mother."
"I am horrible Niles! I-I yelled at him! I screamed at him, and now he's afraid of me! Me own son! How could I do that?"
"He's just confused, Daphne and so were you. You were acting on your impulse. I would have done the same thing."
"But you didn't. You were calm and… Oh God, I almost hit him! I-I shook him so hard! I-."
She could feel her body trembling as she cried against Niles' chest, dampening his robe with her tears. She knew that he should go and see how David was doing, but he stayed there with her, making sure she was all right. She'd never loved him more. "I'm so sorry."
"Daphne, it's all right. David may be just a little boy but he understands. I'm quite proud of him for knowing what to do, even if he went about it the wrong way. I never realized he wanted to be so independent. Perhaps he has more of your genes in him than we thought."
Daphne smiled as Niles brushed away her tears. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No..." he whispered, kissing her lips. "It's a wonderful thing."
They kissed a few more times and held each other close. Daphne never wanted the moment to end, but she knew that they had to check on their son. Reluctantly she drew back from Niles embrace and smiled. "I should start cleaning this up."
"Daphne that can wait till tomorrow."
The words surprised her, for in the past he would have insisted that the mess be cleaned up that very second. He certainly had changed since the day they met all of those years ago. And it was all for the better.
"All right. But I should really get this glass cleaned up. And this knife…" She shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to her son. And as though reading her mind, Niles kissed her forehead.
"He's fine, Daphne. We just need to teach him how to be safe in the kitchen. And put things out of his reach."
"I love you, Niles."
"And I love you. Now let's clean this up a bit and then check on David. He probably wants more milk."
Together they swept up the broken glass and the broken pieces of the Snoopy plate. But before she tossed it into the recycle bin, Daphne eyed it longingly. "He really loved this little plate. Used it every day."
"We'll buy him a new one tomorrow. First thing." Niles said. "I think he was more upset about that plate than of breaking those jars."
"We should give him his own jars of peanut butter and jelly. And a knife that is safe for him to use. And perhaps a cooking class for kids." Daphne suggested.
Niles eyebrows rose. "You know, you're right. We should do those things. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."
"I'm sorry, Niles. I didn't mean to get so upset."
"You had every right. But now we should probably see how he's doing. I'm surprised he hasn't sneaked back in here."
Daphne lowered her head. "Because he's afraid of me, Niles!"
"Daphne, no… He loves you. And so do I."
They shared a few more kisses and she held her husband tightly. "I love you, Niles."
"Come on. Let's tell David we love him too."
They joined hands and pushed the kitchen door open, once again gasping at the sight. Their son sat at the table. The plastic Snoopy cup by his side, sound asleep.
Daphne smiled, and went to him, lifting him into her arms. "You're getting so big." She whispered kissing his cheek, which tasted of strawberry jelly. "Come on, Sweetheart. Let's get you into bed."
"I'll be up in a moment." Niles said, giving her one last kiss.
She took David up the stairs and into his bedroom. Gently she cleaned his face and hands with a wet wipe, which amazingly did little to wake him. She held him close, inhaling his scent and then kissed his cheek. "Mommy loves you so much, Sweetheart. And I'm so sorry I yelled at you."
"Daphne?"
She turned in surprise to find Niles standing in the doorway. "Oh…"
"Are you ready to go back to bed?"
"Just a second."
She leaned to cover David with his blanket and kissed him once more. "I love you, Sweetheart. And so does Daddy."
When she turned to Niles, he flipped out the light switch, bringing the soft glow of the nightlight into the room once more. They joined hands and returned to their bedroom. She loved Niles so much, even more than she did just hours ago. And sleep was the last thing on her mind
THE END