Hello again! When it comes to multi-chapter stories, I always like to publicly respond to reviews for one chapter in the A/N of the next. As such:

appreciateinvalue: Thank you! Most of what Niles had in common with Frasier in the canonverse is not true here, but there are some similarities that do remain, as we will soon see.

dreamer 3097: Thank you!

iloveromance: Thank you so much! Such words coming for someone who is such a big part of the Frasier fandom means a lot! I personally noticed that the great majority of Frasier multi-chapters are re-writes of episodes or add-ons to episodes, or AUs that take place mostly within the realm of the canonverse. I hope to maybe inspire other Frasier writers to think a bit more outside the box and toy with ideas that are drastically different from the show!

I also always feature a story from the fandom the story I am writing belongs to every chapter. The featured story for this chapter is Motherhood Isn't Easy by Kristen3. "Daphne is stressed over taking care of David on top of everything else, but Niles knows how to fix it." This is a very cute family bonding shot that shows a realistic issue that many new mothers face. Check it out!


Beep beep beep.

Niles slowly opened his eyes, the weight of sleepiness heavy on his eyelids. Without moving his head, he reached over and felt for the alarm clock in the darkness of his room. Eventually, he found it, and jammed down just the right button. The shrill beeping ceased.

Sighing, he ran his hands down the length of his face before sitting up. Glancing at his clock, he saw that it now read 5:02. Perfect. Plenty of time to get things done before she woke up.

Wrapping his hand around the cane that sat beside his bed, Niles boosted himself up with a grunt. With effort, he made his way into the bathroom that was joined with his room.

One look in the mirror confirmed for him that he felt as tired as he looked. He had gotten little sleep the night before, having been kept awake by the disturbing image of Daphne sleeping a mere two doors down. The natural side of his mind kept producing the most salacious images of Daphne possible, ones that made the civilized side of his mind cringe in disgust. Those thoughts kept him awake all night as he tossed and turned, warring with himself over the idea that she could possibly be capable of bringing to life those obscene visions.

He tried to put those memories out of his mind, however, as he knew perfectly well that keeping them at the front of his mind would only lead to more awkwardness between him and Daphne once she got up. He told himself sternly as he splashed water on his face that she was just his physiotherapist. He had nothing at all to worry about.

After answering nature's call, he started making his way downstairs. He'd always meant to move his bedroom down into the empty room he had on the first floor, but it always slipped his mind to ask his brother for help when he was around. It was stupid of him to put it upstairs in the first place, he knew, but at the time he was just eager to be done with everything and the upstairs room was where the movers had put all of his bedroom boxes.

Surprise sparked within him as he saw upon approach that the front room lights were on. He began to feel a tad alarmed; leaving lights on was simply something he didn't do, and he'd specifically told Daphne to make sure they were all off before she went to bed. Had Frasier come to drop off that set of champagne glasses he'd borrowed?

Knowing that Frasier would leave them in the kitchen if he had indeed dropped them off, Niles wobbled over toward the door. His good leg was still trying to wake up, which made his journey to the kitchen ten times slower.

He had almost made it when the door swung open, striking him in the face and nearly knocking him over.

"Mr. Crane!" an alarmed voice cried out. He felt a pair of arms encircle him, steadying him after the unexpected blow. "Mr. Crane, are you alright!?"

He lifted his free hand to rub his now-aching face. "My God Daphne, can't you come through the door a bit more slowly?"

She backed away from him in a near-panic. "I'm terribly sorry! Here, let me get you some ice."

Before he could protest, she vanished back into the kitchen. He made it a point to step away from the door, wary of being caught in its path again. Why the hell was she up so early, anyways? Were all English people early risers?

Daphne came out of the kitchen just as quickly as she had before. She was holding an ice pack wrapped in a towel in one hand. She thrust it toward him. "Here, put this on your face!"

He accepted her offering, letting out the tiniest sigh of relief as he pressed the pack against his reddening cheek. "Daphne, calm down. It's not that big of a deal."

She flung her hands every which way for a couple of moments, clearly not sure what to do with them. Finally, she brought them to a rest at her sides. "I'm sorry, Mr. Crane. It's just, this is my first day, and I don't want to mess things up for meself. I can't afford to lose this job."

He hobbled over to one of his chairs and sat down. "I'm not going to fire you for whacking me in the face, Daphne."

"You're not?"

He shook his head. "Just tell me, what are you even doing up so early? It's not even quarter after five yet."

She shrugged. "I always get up this early. Me mother used to whack me with a spoon if I wasn't up by sunrise. I was hoping to get breakfast ready before you got up, but I guess I got up too late."

He waved it off. "It's fine, I can wait. What's for breakfast, anyways?"

She approached him. "Black pudding. It was one of me old client's favorites, and I thought you might like it too."

Niles looked at her with confusion. "Isn't pudding normally for dessert?"

She laughed (Niles noted how her laugh was almost manic, unsurprisingly) and whacked him over the head with the back of her hand. "Black pudding isn't for dessert, you silly goose! It's made with beef suet, pork blood, and oatmeal."

At her description, he felt himself grow equal parts curious and sick. "I don't really want to know, but I'm going to ask anyways: do Brits really eat that stuff?"

She looked surprised that he even felt it necessary to ask such a question. "Of course! We eat black pudding all the time for breakfast! It was one of the things me grandma always used to make. That and jellied eels, which-"

"Okay!" he cut her off, his appetite rapidly fading. "No offense, but I don't normally include beef suet and animal blood in my breakfast. How about you save it all for yourself, and I'll pour myself some milk and cereal." He got up and started heading toward the kitchen.

She cut him off. "Oh no you don't. I'm your home health care aide, and that means I take care of breakfast."

He cringed at the words "home health care aide". "Please, Daphne. You're my physiotherapist, and I can take care of my own breakfast. I may be disabled, but I'm not incompetent."

When he tried to walk past her, she moved to block him again. There was an almost awkward silence between the two before Daphne suddenly darted into the kitchen. He heard a cupboard door open and shut, and he realized what she was doing.

Irritated that she wouldn't give him a chance to care for himself, he hurriedly limped into the kitchen. He arrived just as she was about to pour some corn flakes into a bowl. He smirked, a sarcastic tone emerging as he said, "Too bad I don't like corn flakes."

She froze as he said that, a single flake slipping out of the box and into the bowl. "But this box was right at the front, and it's almost empty!"

He leaned a bit more on his cane. "Corn flakes are Frasier's favorite. He ate breakfast here yesterday, which is why the box is at the front. As for why it's almost empty, well, he needs morning support a lot." Truth be told, he really did like corn flakes, and he was the one who regularly consumed them, not Frasier. Frasier's favorite cereal was Cheerios, specifically the "original" kind. Niles himself hated Cheerios, unless of course a cup of sugar was dumped upon them (an act that Frasier forbade).

However, Daphne didn't know that. And it just so happened that the Cheerios sat right on the counter near Niles, just an arm's length away. Like it or not, this was his chance to prove his own ability. He didn't care if it was petty, he could pour his own damn cereal.

He launched for those Cheerios like his life depended on it. He grabbed the box just as Daphne made a break for it.

"Aha!" he cried triumphantly. He hurriedly hobbled around the island toward the fridge, mind set on getting the milk.

Daphne realized pretty quickly what he was doing. She, being physically well, was quite predictably able to get to the milk before him. She threw open the left door and grabbed the milk, immediately backing away so that she was out of Niles's reach.

"Daphne!" Niles snapped, his irritation flaming. He took another step and tried again to grab the milk, but she hopped backward as he moved forward.

"Give. Me. The. Milk," he ordered icily. "This isn't fair."

She wrapped her arms around the plastic jug like it was her baby and turned her body away from Niles. "You hired me!"

"I did not! Frasier did!"

She turned her nose up at him. "Well, then, I am sure he'd agree with me! Now I won't tell you again, Mr. Crane. Go and sit in the dining room and wait for your breakfast."

He looked at her incredulously. "Are you- Are you giving me orders?"

She looked nervous now. "It's for your own good."

That set him off. Nobody gives orders to Niles Crane!

In a move that suprised both of them, he pushed off of the floor with his good foot and practically threw himself onto Daphne. Despite his injury, he was still quite strong from his SEAL days, and he was easily able to overpower her and grab the milk. However, the cereal box slipped out of his arm in the process, dumping the oat rings all over the floor.

"Dammit!" Niles cried upon seeing the mess. "Now I'll have to settle for corn flakes."

Daphne watched somewhat begrudgingly as her patient made his own breakfast and whisked it out into the dining room. Truth be told, Niles hated making such a fuss over something so trivial. However, he was a very independent person, and he didn't need some Brit telling him what to do.

Daphne joined him quietly at the table a few minutes after he had seated himself. There was a long silence that hung between the two for a while, until Daphne decided to break it with a quietly-uttered question.

"Are you upset with me?"

The question surprised Niles. He expected Daphne to be asking him if he were sorry, not if he were upset with her. He decided to give an honest answer. "Not anymore, but I do wish that you would let me handle the simple things. I'm not incompetent."

She pursed her lips. "I just don't want you hurting yourself."

He released a bitter chuckle. "I don't think I can get any more hurt than I already am."

She huffed at him. "Don't count on that. I've seen some pretty horrid things in my lifetime."

Recalling some of her stories, he nodded. "Yes, I suppose you have. I understand your concern, but... I'm fine. Really. I only see you as a physiotherapist, not some kind of maid. If I wanted a maid, I would have had Frasier hire one. You see what I'm saying?"

She nodded slowly. "I suppose so. I'm sorry, Mr. Crane."

He shrugged. "It's over. Forget it, okay? Just... you do your... therapist stuff and I'll do my Niles Crane stuff."

"Alright."

They finished their breakfast in silence. After they were through, Niles cleaned their dishes while Daphne sweeped up the mess on the floor.

After that came Niles's first taste of physical therapy. For someone who was concerned about his safety, Daphne sure had him do some pretty crazy exercises. Bend this way, reach that way. Lift this, push that. He felt like he was back at Great Lakes in Navy boot camp, being drilled by the men charged with instructing him. At least he didn't have to wear a uniform.

The pair spent two hours on physical therapy, but to Niles it felt like ten. He was drenched in sweat and his hip hurt like a bitch as he sank down into the welcoming cushions of his couch.

Daphne, who hadn't even broken a sweat, was smiling down at him. "So much for being a tough Navy guy," she joked.

"Hey," he snapped. "I did all the work."

She waved him off. "Of course, of course. Would you like some ice water?"

He nodded. "Yes, that would be wonderful."

As she hurried off into the kitchen, he tried stretching his injured leg. He winced at the sharp pain that resulted. Clearly his hip was not used to being worked. Damn, living with Daphne was getting painful!

As she returned with the glass of water, the phone on the table beside Niles began to ring. Glancing a bit toward the black device, Niles reached out and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" he asked, taking a sip from the refreshing drink.

"Yes, hello Niles. It's Frasier. I was just meaning to inquire how everything is going?"

Niles rolled his eyes. Of course his brother wanted to nose in to how his first day with Daphne was going. "Everything's fine."

"And?"

"And... nothing."

"Nothing?" Frasier sounded angry. "A whole night and morning with her and all you have to say is 'everything's fine'!?"

Niles sighed, putting two fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Frasier, why are you calling so early?"

"It's not early! You know that I get up precisely at 4:05 every morning! This is late morning for me!"

"Well, maybe it isn't for me!"

There was silence for a moment on the other end of the line. Then, "Are you sure you're getting along okay? Daphne isn't driving you crazy or acting too... kooky?"

Leave it to his brother to use a word like "kooky".

"No."

"She hasn't done anything weird or said anything suspicious?"

Niles raised one eyebrow as he took a quick look at Daphne, who was now on her hands and knees examining the underside of his coffee table. "Nope."

"Must you always answer with one word?"

"Of course not."

He heard his brother groan on the other end of the line. "When you give me such vague answers, I can't tell if you're really okay or not!"

"What is this Frasier, an interrogation?" he snapped. "I'm perfectly fine, and so is Daphne! We're getting along fine. You have nothing to worry about. Everything is positively, abso-toutley perfect! Now goodbye!" He slammed the receiver back on the hook.

Daphne paused her examination of the coffee table for a brief moment. "What was that all about? It wasn't me hiring agency calling, was it?"

He put his face in his hands for a count of three before answering her. "No, no. It was just my brother."

"This early?"

He gave her an "I know, right?" look. "Exactly. That's what I said to him. He was being all nosy as to how we're getting along."

"Doesn't he trust you?"

He scoffed. "Apparently not." Wanting a change of subject, he gestured at the coffee table. "Now what's so fascinating about this?"

She stood up. "It's dusty."

"So? I can't exactly bend down to clean it."

A sly smile curled her lips, and he immediately regretted admitting to such a weakness. "Oh really? Well, then, allow me."

As she sped off to find some kind of duster, he let out the loudest groan of exasperation he could muster.

There was just no satisfying her, was there?


So thank you for reading this chapter! I am so sorry it took this freaking long to get out, but life got to me and I entirely forgot about this story! I'll try to be more timely with Ch. 3, and it also should be more exciting. This is still a set-up chapter :)