Author's Note: This was a random one-shot idea that came to me today. I decided to dedicate it to Leigh Ann as a birthday present and thank-you for all of her love and support! *Hugs* I hope you like this story!
Daphne sighed as she rode up in the elevator of Dr. Crane's building. She was grateful to be finished running her errands, and even more so that her boss had only needed her to pick up a few things. She watched the numbers go up, anxious to reach the nineteenth floor. Unexpectedly, the elevator stopped on the very next floor. She thought someone was waiting to get on, but there was no one.
She heard the sound of a sniffle, and noticed a young boy crouched on the floor in front of the apartment directly across from the elevator. He seemed to be near tears. She pushed aside thoughts of relaxing at home and stepped off the elevator. She walked over to the child, bending down to his height. "Are you all right?"
The boy sniffled a few more times. "I just got home from school. I knocked on the door a bunch of times, but I don't think my mommy's home, and I can't get in."
Daphne's heart broke. He couldn't be more than five or six years old. No wonder he was so upset. "Well, would you like to come to my apartment and wait there till she comes back?"
He looked up at her in surprise. His mom and his teacher had told him all about strangers. He wasn't supposed to go anywhere with somebody he didn't know. But this lady seemed nice. She even looked a little like his mom. "Okay," he said.
Daphne smiled warmly and helped him stand up. "My name's Daphne. What's yours?"
"Joey."
"Nice to meet you, Joey. Now, do you know your mommy's phone number? Or where she works?"
"My mom doesn't work," Joey explained. "She just stays at home. My dad works, but I forget where."
"Oh," Daphne said as she walked him back to the elevator and pressed the button. The doors opened at once, and they got on. "What about your home phone number? Do you know that? I can call your mum for you and tell her where you are. I'm sure when she gets back, she'll be awfully worried about you."
Joey nodded. His mom always told him to make sure he remembered it just in case he ever got lost.
"Good," Daphne smiled. The elevator doors opened again, and this time, she found herself outside apartment 1901. "Well, here we are," she said as she unlocked the door. "Have a seat on the couch. Make sure you put your backpack on the floor. Dr. Crane will have fit if anything happens to his precious couch!"
Joey obeyed. The couch wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than sitting out in the hallway.
Daphne walked over to where he sat and smiled at him once more. "Tell me your number so I can leave a message for your mum." Joey told her. Daphne dialed and left a short message. When she'd finished the call, she once again turned her attention to her young guest. "Can I get you anything? We have milk if you want a drink."
Joey nodded. He knew his mom wouldn't want him to drink soda or eat junk food, especially not before dinner.
Daphne walked toward the kitchen to get the glass of milk. "I think Mr. Crane wouldn't mind sharing a chocolate chip cookie or two," she added.
Joey looked around the room after Daphne went to get his drink. There were a lot of weird things on the shelves. He wondered what kind of place this was. He began to get a little scared again, because even if this woman was nice, she was still a stranger.
"Here we are," Daphne said cheerfully, carrying a tall glass of milk and a small plate of cookies into the living room.
Joey took the glass and nearly emptied it all at once. "Thank you."
Daphne's heart melted when he smiled at her. His milk mustache and missing tooth made him adorable. She wondered how anyone could leave this sweet little boy all alone. Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Maybe that's your mum," she said to Joey as she went to answer it. Daphne opened the door to see a very frantic-looking woman standing there.
"I just got home from running a few errands and I had a message on my machine telling me my son was -"
"Mom!" Joey interrupted, running over to hug her.
The woman smiled immediately. "I just ran to the store to pick up a few things. I thought I'd be back by the time he got home. But I ran into an old friend, and I guess I just lost track of time. I'm so sorry about this. I can't thank you enough for keeping an eye on him for me. Let me see if I've got any cash on me..." she opened her purse to look inside.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. Joey wasn't any trouble at all." Daphne smiled.
"Joey, say thank you to the nice lady." The woman looked up at Daphne again. "My name's Ellen, by the way."
"Thank you," Joey said, grinning at her once again.
"You're welcome, Joey. It was nice meeting you, and I hope you'll come by and visit again sometime. Mr. Crane's dog, Eddie, just loves children!"
"In that case, we'll definitely have to come back," Ellen said. "Joey loves dogs. But we really have to be going, because I need to start making dinner. Thanks again!"
Daphne smiled at them and waved goodbye. They got onto the elevator just as Dr. Crane's younger brother stepped off.
Niles smiled the moment he saw his angel standing in the opened doorway of his brother's apartment. "Who were those two?" he asked.
"Hello, Dr. Crane," Daphne said. "That was Joey and his mum. Poor Joey was locked out of his apartment, so I let him in here to wait until his mum came home."
Niles sighed. It seemed there was no limit to Daphne's kindness and generosity. "That was very nice of you."
Daphne shrugged as she allowed him to enter the apartment. "Well, I couldn't very well just leave him there in the hallway. He's such an adorable little boy."
"Maris never liked small children," Niles remarked. "She said the neighbor children looked at her strangely whenever she went outside."
Daphne was glad Dr. Crane was slowly moving on from his divorce. She'd hated seeing him so heartbroken when his wife left him. "Well, I've always loved children. I suppose I'd like to have one of me own someday, but it doesn't seem likely. Lately I can't even manage to get a date, much less a family!"
"I'm sure you'd make a wonderful mother," Niles said immediately. "You do a wonderful job of looking after Dad."
"Thank you. I suppose I'll just keep hoping my Mr. Right is out there somewhere. Roz always says even if you can't find him, you can at least have fun looking."
Niles looked at her in silence for a moment. If she was looking, why shouldn't she look at him? His heart pounded as he spoke. "Daphne...would you like to go out with me sometime? I mean, just for a drink perhaps? I've been feeling a bit lonely these days, too. Perhaps a little company would help us both."
Daphne was surprised. She'd never expected Dr. Crane to say anything like this. But the idea of going out with someone, even a friend, was welcome. It would get her out of the house, at least. "All right."
"How about tomorrow night?"
Daphne nodded. "That would be fine." She smiled. For some reason, she found herself looking forward to it.
Niles could hardly believe this was happening. He started to feel a bit dizzy.
"Are you all right?" Daphne asked. Dr. Crane didn't look very good all of a sudden.
"No. I mean, yes," Niles stammered. "I should go. I've probably taken up enough of your time."
"Nonsense, Dr. Crane. Didn't you want to stay and see your brother?"
"Oh, well, I did, but I just remembered that I have a great deal of reading I need to do. But I'll call you later with the details about tomorrow night."
"All right then. I'll tell Dr. Crane you stopped by." She was a bit sad to see him go so quickly. "And I'll see you tomorrow night."
Niles blushed. And when she leaned forward to gently kiss his cheek, he nearly fainted on the spot. He knew he needed to leave before an attack of hyperventilation could set in.
Daphne smiled to herself as she closed the door. Fate was certainly a funny thing. Who would've thought a fluke on the elevator would've led to not one, but two unexpected encounters? She couldn't have predicted any of it. Yet her powers told her that there would be many more exciting surprises in her near future. Daphne could hardly wait to see what tomorrow had in store.
The End