Rule I: Let's keep this a secret

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Really made my day :)


Niles awoke to soft crying. At first he believed it was Roz. Wait – why was Roz there in bed with him? He stared at her and the memories came back, one by one. Like a puzzle, they came together and gave him a clear, awkward picture of the last night. Careful not to wake her, Niles got up. For the moment he didn't care that Roz couldn't hear her own child wailing. It gave him the perfect opportunity to flee the bedroom that still smelled of their mistake. He had to get out of there or he was going be sick.

"Hey there, Alice." The little girl's eyes were all red and puffy from crying. She lifted her arms towards him. Niles hesitated. He didn't have much experience with infants. He still remembered when Frederick had been a baby. The boy hadn't been to Seattle much when he was small and Niles had never flown out to Boston. He had gotten to know his only nephew as a young, sophisticated boy who was mostly independent. Alice on the other hand wasn't. She still needed to be fed and changed. Niles wasn't sure he could do that. The other possibility was waking up Roz. While he realized how easy that could be, he also didn't want her to think he was incapable of taking care of her daughter. He had too much pride for that. Finally he picked up the small bundle. Alice was so much lighter than he had expected. She stopped crying almost immediately.

"Good girl." Gently rocking her, his eyes wandered about the room. He and Maris had hardly ever used it. The room was a guest room and if Niles was honest, they had never had many guests. They never had real friends. There were quite a few of things of Alice's in the room. It was amazing how much stuff babies needed. His eyes landed on the baby monitor. Someone had turned it off. Niles shook his head in incomprehension. No wonder Roz hadn't heard Alice cry. With the baby phone switched back on, Niles tried to put the girl back down. She clung to him like a scared kitten and he sighed.

"So you don't want to sleep, hm?" The girl's eyes stared at him. Niles dimly remembered them being blue at first. They had turned into a deep green by now. Children truly were miracles. He wasn't even scared of holding her anymore.

"You've probably met a few men in your short life already," Niles rocked her gently from side to side, "I know I should haven't said this. Your mom is great." As he said these words, he realized they were true. He didn't think much about Roz other than she was his brother's colleague – and well, rather annoying. He had never bothered to look deep into her eyes, ask her serious questions. How could he claim to know her? Niles looked at the cute girl in his arms. Once again, he had been a snob. He had always considered Roz to be someone of the working class, someone different from him. But if he thought about it, weren't Daphne and Roz were much alike?

"So even if you have met a lot of men… you don't have to like all of them, you know? Give your mom a sign who is a good guy and who's not. I think she could use the help sometimes. Hey, are you falling asleep on me?" Niles whispered the last words. Alice had finally calmed down. She fought hard to keep her eyes open, but she was going to lose this particular fight. As soon as her breathing was deep and even, Niles gently put her down. He watched to see if she would wake up again, but she didn't. One of her hands made a fist. She looked like a fighter, ready to take on the world. The image made Niles smile. Any child of Roz' would turn out as a tough as nails.

Walking back to the bedroom, Niles wasn't certain he wanted to return. While with Alice, he had mostly ignored what had happened. He and Roz. He and Roz had slept together. This had all started as a scam, so where had they gone wrong? He couldn't deny that last night had been wonderful (he didn't admit it though; not even to himself). It all came down to the fact that they should have done it. After all they were… friends? Niles couldn't say they were. Both of them were unattached at the moment. Niles' heart wasn't unattached; it was hung up on Daphne. Only last night Roz had made him forget about all of this. Her lips had touched his body, her deep, soft laugh had touched his heart. Niles realized he didn't regret what they had done at all. At least he didn't regret it as much as he probably should. Part of him wanted to go back and hide some more in her warmth. There was just a small part that still wanted to flee and forget the previous night had ever occurred.

Carefully, he opened the door even though he doubted it would wake Roz. After all she hadn't heard Alice cry either. So he was taken aback when a pair of eyes looked at him through the darkness. He could tell she was as uncertain as he had been only moments ago. Without much of a decision, he simply went back to bed. Roz sat up in bed, obviously appalled by his action.

"What are you doing?" She asked, holding the blanket up to her chin. It looked ridiculous and she wasn't the kind to be hiding anyway.

"I'm tired." Niles answered simply.

"But…" She trailed off. She didn't have the vocabulary to voice her fears and regrets and had hoped Niles would do it for her.

"I took care of Alice, she was a little bit fussy but she went back to sleep."

"I know." They stared at each other. Roz wore a shocked expression while Niles couldn't have been more confused. How could she possibly know? Then he remembered turning on the baby phone.

"I'm sorry about the things-" She waved his apology off. They had never apologized for their mean words, they weren't about to start now.

"We can't do this. Can we?" Niles had never expected her to ask such a question and mean it. He could see the honesty in her eyes. There was fear, too. She was scared of rejection. Maybe she had never actually asked someone to stay with her – whether for a night or for forever. Niles always asked, no, he pleaded. Being alone wasn't something he was good at. But his heart was already taken. Daphne had stolen it and there was no way he could retrieve it. They were doomed. His thoughts tumbled through his mind unsure what to say to Roz. The longer he waited, the more irritated she seemed to get.

"What- what do you mean? You want to do this?"

"No! I mean, I don't know. We could be like you know these people who just have sex." She shrugged, playing all of this down. Niles had always wondered how these things worked. How did people just have sex? It was not something he wanted. He wanted to be in a happy relationship, maybe get married again. To Daphne. Roz could never be more than a distraction.

"I know you're in love with Daphne, alright? I don't care. Maybe… if she ever shows any interest in you, you know." Roz grinned. Niles was still taken aback by her proposition. They couldn't possibly do this. But as he looked at her, he wondered if her lips still tasted the same as they had last night. Suddenly, he needed to know. He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips. When he moved away from her again, Roz' eyes were wide. Apparently, she hadn't expected him to agree on any of this (he hadn't either).

"We can't tell anyone about this." Niles said despite knowing it was wrong. They were doing this the wrong way. Had he possessed psychic powers, like Daphne claimed to do, he could have foreseen this was going to end badly. But he didn't. And part of him really wanted to try this. Just as a distraction, just to…

"We should make rules." Roz said uncertainly. She had taken Niles' hand in hers. Her hand was cold, he observed absent-mindedly. All he could think of was making her feel warm again. All other thoughts seemed to have just disappeared from his mind.

"Yes, rules. First – do not tell anyone." He told her and started kissing her neck. He just wanted to see what she tasted there. He needed to know. When he closed his eyes, he saw Daphne. Just for a short moment. She was smiling at him, and laughing. It was really Roz who was laughing. Niles needed to concentrate.

"No one would believe us anyway." That's why she was laughing. Before Niles gave in to his instincts, he realized she was right.

TBC