Author's Note:I had planned to make this a multi-chaptered story, but I couldn't figure out where to go with it beyond this, so I simply wrote it as a one-shot. It does lend itself to a sequel, which I hope someone will do! :) Thanks to my friends who encouraged me to write this.
"I got a call from Roz today," Daphne said as she crawled into bed with her husband.
"What did she say?" Niles asked. He knew Roz and Daphne had been close friends for years, and they talked on the phone as often as their schedules permitted it. But he rarely was given details of their conversations. He well understood that Daphne needed girlfriends, just as he sometimes needed to make a long-distance call to Frasier for advice about a patient.
"She told me she thinks she'll be too busy on Halloween to take Alice trick-or-treating. She wondered if Alice could come with David and me."
Niles looked at her in confusion. "I didn't know you and David were planning to go out. This is David's first Halloween. He doesn't even have teeth yet to eat the candy he gets!"
Daphne smiled. "I know, darling. But they make special costumes for babies, and they're quite adorable. It isn't really about the candy so much. We can dress him up and take pictures. He's going to be the cutest penguin the world!"
"A penguin?" Niles asked, wondering where she could've gotten the idea. He remembered she'd recently taken David to the Seattle Aquarium. Perhaps they'd had the costume on sale there.
Daphne nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes. It goes with me Mary Poppins costume!"
Niles looked at her in confusion and surprise. Daphne was planning to dress up, too? "There was a penguin in Mary Poppins?" He recalled watching the movie as a child, but he and Frasier hadn't been interested. What kind of nanny takes kids all over London, going from roof to roof? Niles always preferred an opera over typical children's movies.
Daphne sighed, seeing that her husband wasn't getting it. She got up and walked over to the shopping bag where the costumes were. First she pulled out an adorable little penguin outfit, just David's size. She held it up for his inspection. Then she carefully laid it on the bed. Next she picked up her own costume. It consisted of a long, white, frilly dress, along with a matching hat and umbrella. The outfit was identical to the one Julie Andrews wore in the movie, during the scene when Mary Poppins and Bert go into the sidewalk drawing. As a child, Daphne had loved that part of the movie, and the slight implied romance between the two. When she'd seen the costumes in the store, she knew immediately she had to purchase them. "Well, what do you think?" she asked as she held the dress close to her body.
Though Niles thought Daphne was beautiful no matter what she wore, it had been a long time since he'd seen her so dressed up. Even though she wasn't actually wearing the dress now, the effect was breathtaking. "Wow...you look..." Niles struggled to find an appropriate word.
"'Practically perfect in every way'?" Daphne asked with a laugh, quoting a line from the film.
"Yes, definitely," Niles replied, now getting out of bed to kiss her.
Daphne grinned. "I'm glad you think so, because there's a costume for you, too."
"What?" Niles asked. "I haven't had much luck with costumes in the past." He cringed, remembering the year he'd dressed as his father for his brother's "dress as your hero" party. Before that, he'd gone as Cyrano, wearing a large false nose.
Daphne kissed him again. "Darling, you'll be very handsome, I promise. You'll be a perfect chimney sweep."
Niles was normally so immaculate in his appearance, doing his best to stay free from dirt and germs. The idea of being a chimney sweep, covered in soot, immediately made him uneasy.
Daphne saw the nervousness in his face. "It'll only be for a few hours. And years from now, we can show David the pictures so he can see what a wonderful sport his father is."
Niles considered this for a moment. His early memories of his own father were few and far between. Most of them involved painful moments spent attempting to satisfy Martin's love of sports and his hopes of having an athletic son he could be proud of. When David was born, he'd promised himself that his son would have different memories. And clearly, this was something Daphne wanted. He'd loved Daphne for so long, and he'd made a promise to her, too. He'd vowed to spend the rest of his life doing his very best to make her happy. He laid a finger under her chin, lifting it to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "My love...if my being a chimney sweep for a day is what you want, then of course, I will do it. Your happiness is the most important thing in the world to me."
Daphne couldn't help sighing at his words. When he said things like that, she realized just how lucky she was that she had a husband who wanted nothing more than to love her and take care of her as long as she lived. Their life together at times reminded her of a fairytale. "Oh, by the way, Roz told me what Alice wants to be. It's not a character from Mary Poppins, but I think she'll fit in fine."
"Who is she going to be?" Niles asked.
Daphne grinned. "Cinderella. I've always loved that story, the way the poor girl wound up with the handsome prince in the end. I just never imagined I'd end up with a prince of me own."
Niles kissed her forehead, briefly intoxicated by the scent of her shampoo. "I love that story, too. But I always thought it was about a sad, lonely prince who is rescued by a woman who captures his heart in an instant."
Daphne grinned, understanding that her husband was no longer talking about the fairytale, but about their own love story. She sometimes still got chills thinking about it, how Niles had fallen in love with her at first sight, as she stood there folding laundry. She took his hand, gently leading him back toward the bed. "You know, I believe I could use the services of a good chimney sweep right now. Do you know of anyone?" she asked as she slowly began to unbutton his pajamas.
Niles felt a wave of excitement, knowing what was about to happen. "I believe I do..." He did not finish the sentence, being too busy kissing Daphne repeatedly. When they were both too tired to continue any further, Niles finally drifted off peacefully to sleep. As he lay there in Daphne's arms, he smiled to himself. This Halloween might actually be a jolly holiday indeed.
The End