Niles couldn't believe it. Daphne was gone. She had walked out on him and out of their marriage. Tonight he would be returning to an empty home. As he drove around in the Seattle rain, postponing the inevitable entrance to an empty home, all he could do was berate himself for what he had done. He had caused this; he had no one to blame but himself. He was a mess. He could only guess what Frasier would have to say to him, which is why he turned his cell phone off. Unable to deal with his brother's pity or worse, his wrath, he temporarily severed his ties with his life. Suddenly he felt very alone.

There was Daphne. She was going to the doctor's every two weeks now, with an appointment next Monday. He had cleared his schedule so he could go . Would she let him attend? Probably not. Already he was cut off from child, the child he had fantasized about having with Daphne from the moment he proposed to her. This was not going to be good.

All of his life he had wondered what kind of father he would be. But Daphne had answered that for him; he had jeopardized his own home, the safety net of his own child and for what? So he didn't have to see Maris suffer any longer? He knew that he had a soft spot for women in jeopardy but when did a soft spot become a weakness? When did he become more concerned with Maris 'well-being than that of his own family? There was no way Daphne would ever forgive him, and even he couldn't blame her. And to top things off he saw the disappointment in his father's eyes. His dad didn't even have to say a word without Niles' feeling his disapproval in his actions. Martin Crane never would have sacrificed his house. He always put his family first. So the two people in the world who meant most in the world to him were the ones he'd let down the most. What was he to do next?

Pulling into his apartments, he was shocked to see the familiar car with the license plate "Maris" and his heart dropped. What was she doing here?

He went to check in with the doorman and sure enough, there was Maris waiting for him.

Not wanting to make a scene, he told the doorman," It's okay. She's with me."

They went to his place with little spoken between them. She was dressed in black with a black headdress over her. It was obvious she was uncomfortable with the attention from the media as well as she should be.

"Would you like a glass of wine? No, water? Okay I'll get you one."

"What was that? The media is hounding you so badly?" he called out as he struggled to open the bottles. "I'm sorry Maris but that is just a price you have to pay. You want to ask me something?" The bottle cap refused to open no matter how hard he struggled.

"Maris, you want to spend the night here?" Now the bottle cap flew off across the room and Niles found himself flung across to the refrigerator.

"Are you nuts? I'm a married man in case you haven't forgotten. Where's Daphne? Well that's not important. What's important is that I can't allow you to intrude on my marriage any longer. I'm sorry but I have my limits."

The next thing Niles heard was the familiar slamming of the door, assuming it took her about five or six times to muster the strength to slam it. Before he reached the living room Maris was gone. He only hoped that she didn't decide to do anything foolish like flee the country. Then God knew that Daphne would have even more reason to hate him. Could this get any worse?