Hi everybody! I just started a new job waitressing so I've been a bit brain dead lately, but bear with me, I will get this story finished if it's the last thing I ever do! (Btw: This chapter will involve some time jumping). Here is your chapter 3, enjoy

"Look at this! What does this watch tell you?" Niles stuck his wristwatch in Frederick's face. Frederick chuckled a little bit and swatted his uncle's hand out of his face. "It tells me that you know what time it is."

Niles, exasperated, stalked over to his wife and sat down next to her on the couch. "Darling, do you happen to have the time?"

"Why yes. It's exactly…" She grabbed his wrist and looked at the time. "9:02." She turned back to her magazine, uninterested.

"Aha!" Niles jumped up and pointed a finger in the air. "Frasier has now been gone exactly 6 hours and 2 minutes. That talk was only one hour long."

"Relax, Uncle Niles I'm sure that Mom and Dad probably just grabbed some dinner. No need to worry," Frederick explained.

"That is what I am worried about!" Niles exclaimed.

"Honestly, dear, don't you think you're getting a little bit carried away?" Daphne put her magazine down. "What is the worst that could happen?"

Niles turned to her and made a dramatic cutting gesture with his throat before throwing his hands in the air. Daphne merely grimaced and turned back to her magazine.

"Uncle Niles, honestly, I think you're starting to get a little rude now. I mean this IS my mother you've been badmouthing," he shot his uncle a pointed look.

Niles grumbled and sat down on the couch, with his arms folded across his chest, and pouted. Frederick, who couldn't truly be angry with his uncle, smirked and went back to reading his newspaper.

A few minutes later, they heard the lock and then the door opening and closing. Frasier walked into the living room and surveyed his family. "What are you all still doing up?"

"I could ask the same of you!" Niles blurted. Daphne nudged him, hard, in the side. He made a noise and glared over at her.

"How was the talk?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh it was wonderful. The student who gave it was so intelligent. Lilith and I talked with him afterwards and he seemed delighted to be talking to accomplished psychiatrists."

Niles snorted and Daphne nudged him again; he glared at her again.

"Did you guys catch some dinner afterwards?" Frederick glided over Niles.

"Yes we did. And then we got some coffee at the little shop across from the restaurant. It reminded me a lot of Café Nervosa." He sighed. "It was really nice to reconnect. She invited me over tomorrow to take a look at her new garden."

Niles got up, narrowly avoiding Daphne's hand which was attempting to snatch him back, and walked up to Frasier. "I don't think this is such a good idea. You know that…."

But Frasier interrupted him. "It's not like we are dating again, Niles. Now calm yourself. I will still have plenty of time to spend with you little brother, don't worry." He patted him on the shoulder, in a patronizing manner, and then headed up the stairs for his bedroom. Niles whirled back around, frustrated, to see his entire family hiding behind their reading material, shaking with laughter.

"You know what?" Niles spluttered. "I…I hate you all!" He stormed off while the others continued to laugh harder.

C/F

"Lilith I…I had no idea that you would be such a good gardener!" Frasier said with shock, as he surveyed his ex-wife's garden.

"Oh you didn't, huh?" She got up, dusted her hands off, and put them on her hips.

"Well…yeah. Flowers deserve such tender loving care! Such gentleness! One needs to be…." Frasier paused to bend over and sniff a flower before turning back to his wife. He opened his mouth to continue, but she was now standing with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"I'm uhhhh…..digging myself into a hole aren't I?" He laughed nervously. "Literally," he muttered under his breath. "You know I didn't mean…."

"Suuureeee," she shot him a look and turned to walk back towards the house.

Frasier, who knew that she was kidding at this point, followed her back to the house and dropped his coat down on the back of the kitchen chair. Lilith walked over to the fridge and poured two glasses of lemonade before sitting down next to him at the table.

"So what's on your agenda for the rest of the week?" Frasier asked casually as he took a sip of lemonade.

"Well…." Lilith took a deep breath and took a drink of lemonade, attempting to think fast.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to have lunch tomorrow," Frasier suggested. He looked down at his clasped hands, avoiding her gaze. He couldn't believe he was asking her this…again….

"Well, let me just umm….check the calendar." Lilith got up and walked over to the blank calendar on the side of the fridge and stared at it for a few seconds before walking back over. "I don't have any prior commitments. I would love to join you for lunch." She sat back down and smiled a little.

Frasier looked up. "Really?"

"Sure, why not? The spontaneity of it excites me."

"Speaking of spontaneity…I would like to go for a walk, what do you think?"

"Sounds invigorating," she responded.

Frasier jumped up and grabbed his jacket before following her outside.

"Don't you need your cane?" She enquired as they left the house.

"Doctor said I need exercise everyday without it. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity."

Lilith shrugged and the two walked in silence for a few minutes down the sidewalk before Lilith turned to Frasier. "Listen…Frasier….I just wanted….I just wanted to apologize for all of the pain I caused you over the years."

Frasier frowned and turned to her. "Where did that come from?"

Lilith sighed. "The guilt has been consuming me for so many years now. I've attempted to apologize on multiple occasions but the apologies never seem adequate. It seems like nothing I do can alleviate the guilt from destroying your life. Contrary to popular belief, I felt terrible about it and still do." Frasier didn't miss the remark meant for his family.

"Now, now, Lilith. I deserve some of the blame too. I wasn't exactly the best husband. I did have a wandering eye too, you know," Frasier tried to joke around to relieve the tension, but Lilith was determined.

"Frasier did you….did you ever forgive me?" Lilith stopped and turned to her ex-husband. Her face, as usual, remained stoic, but her beautiful brown eyes pleaded with him.

"Lilith." Frasier gently put his hands on her shoulders. "I forgave you. A long time ago. The years we spent together…why…they were the best I've ever spent with any woman."

"Thank you, Frasier. That means a lot, coming from you." Lilith stuck her hands in her pockets and slowly started walking along. Frasier followed her for a few more steps before he started chuckling.

"What?"

"Well that huge tree across the street there just reminded me of that time Frederick locked Sam Malone outside of the house."

"Oh yes" Lilith nodded, remembering. "We came home and he was stuck in that tree and little Frederick had fallen asleep on the floor all on his own."

"Sam and Frederick were so close."

"Well I didn't appreciate him coming to our house at six o clock in the morning," Lilith responded, rather quickly.

"No, you just didn't want him seeing you in that nightgown." Frasier argued.

"Well, frankly, yes. He would have become focused on my body instead of my intellect and then no longer feared me."

"They all feared you, my dear." Frasier laughed a little.

Lilith paused, noticing Frasier's slip of the tongue and stopped in her tracks. It took him a few moments to realize it. "Lilith? Now what? Did I say something wrong?" He walked back over to her.

Lilith sighed. "Frasier what are we doing?"

"What do you mean what are we doing? We are taking a nice afternoon stroll…"

"No I mean….what are WE doing?" She asked again.

Frasier opened and closed his mouth, finally understanding her. "I….I don't know."

"Are we being foolish?"

Frasier bit his lip. "I don't think so. We are just two friends, making up for lost time." He snapped his fingers suddenly. "We could set some ground rules!"

Lilith frowned. "Ground rules?"

"Sure. This isn't a dating relationship. You may see others as you please, as may I. So, when it's time for me to go back to Seattle it's not like this was anything serious just…"

"Two friends making up for lost time," Lilith echoed.

"Correct!" Frasier, said, a little excited now.

"Well…that sounds to me like a rather fair set of rules," Lilith stated.

"So, Dr. Sternin what do you think Freud would have to say about this situation?" Frasier abruptly changed the subject.

"Well somehow, Freud would attribute this to some deluded idea about one of us having attachment issues with the opposite sex parent from a very young age…"

"Madam, I take offense to that statement!" Frasier mocked shock and put a hand to his heart. "That cut me…right here….right…here…" He started staggering around and clutching his chest.

"Oh stop being so melodramatic." Lilith rolled her eyes but was unable to stop a smile from tugging at the corner of her lips. She turned away attempting to hide it.

"Aha! I caught that! That was a smile!" Frasier cried in triumph. "Let it be known that I, Frasier Crane, on this day in history made Dr. Lilith Sternin, the woman made of steel, smile!"

Lilith stopped and Frasier continued to walk down the street. "You are in SO much trouble!" Lilith called after him as his laughter rang down the street.

C/F

Niles continued pacing the bedroom, staring at the clock and out the window.

"Honestly, Niles." Daphne got up out of bed and walked over to her husband. "I don't understand what you are getting so upset about."

"You don't understand what….you don't understand…" Niles stopped and put his hands on his wife's shoulders. "Frasier has been out with Lilith almost every day for the past TWO weeks. TWO. I think he is getting reattached to her again. I don't like this at all."

"Niles, Frasier is a big boy. He can take care of himself…"

"No! He can't! She's an evil seductress. You don't know her the way that I do. Do you know what she did to him all those years ago? She LEFT him. She destroyed his life, Daphne. And he took her back. He took her back!"

"I never knew that." Daphne crossed her arms and sat back down on her bed. "So how long did their marriage last after that?"

Niles sighed. "Not long. A year, maybe. But he couldn't trust her or deal with the pain. All they did was fight. He finally broke it off and flew out to Seattle. Don't you see? This is happening to him again! He is going to fall under her spell and she's just going to hurt him. I should know."

"Oh and how would you know?" Daphne stood up and put her hands on her hips.

Did Daphne remember that he and Lilith had that one night stand….? He wasn't going to risk it. "Oh you know. She causes you terrible headaches! She drops the thermometer like twenty degrees when she is in the room…."

"Darling…" Daphne put her arms around her husband and hugged him, to stop his ranting. "It's really sweet that you care so much about your brother. But do you really think that you need to be worried? Frasier's leaving for Seattle again in two weeks."

"I guess you're right." Niles sat down again next to her. "But I just…can't take this. What if I started spending time with Maris again? Would he be reacting the same way?" He threw his hands in the air.

Daphne placed a hand on his shoulder, lovingly. "I think he would trust you," she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Although I sure would have something to say about that!" She teased.

Niles smiled and leaned in to kiss her, when he heard the door open from downstairs. He leaped out of bed and raced out of the room, fast as lightning. He bounded down the steps and skidded to a halt in the middle of the hallway directly in front of Frasier.

"Well, hello to you too!" Frasier laughed and moved around him into the kitchen. Niles followed him in. "I think it's time for an intervention."

"Oh really?" Frasier smirked and walked over to the fridge, opening it up. "Well I'm flattered, really I am…" Niles reached around and slammed the door in Frasier's face.

"Now what the hell is the matter with you?" Frasier's face grew stormy as he looked over at his brother. "You've been investigating my every move the past couple weeks. You are NOT my keeper!" He shoved his brother's arm out of the way and opened the fridge door again.

Niles reached over and shut it. "Frasier Crane, you are making a mistake."

"Oh really?" Frasier crossed his arms.

"Yes! You….you don't dip popsicles in hot sauce!" Niles exclaimed.

Frasier opened his mouth and stopped for a second. "Ok, I'm going to pretend that made sense. Even so, Niles, we are NOT dating."

"Oh really?" It was Niles' turn to cross his arms and lean against the fridge.

"As a matter of fact, yes! And even if we were this is none of your business!"

"It's none of my business? I am NOT going to sit by and let that…that….witch destroy your life again Frasier! She is…."

"SHE'S NOT A WITCH!" Frasier exploded. "Why do you still think that?"

"BECAUSE SHE IS!" Niles yelled back. "I don't want you hurt all over again."

"I can take care of myself." Frasier grumbled and shoved his brother out of the way. "Now leave me alone, I'm going to bed." He turned around and walked away and then stopped and faced his brother. "I was in a wonderful mood until you showed up!" He walked out, angrily, and Niles followed him out. "Frasier!"

"I don't want to talk to you…."

"Well it's about time you did!" He yelled. Frasier stopped mid step on the stairs. He turned around to look at Niles, and his eyes were squinted into little slits. "What did you just say to me?"

Niles heaved a sigh. "Frasier….you know I'm only saying this because I care. I'm your brother, and I want you to be happy. I don't feel like fighting." He threw his hands in the air. "I'm worried. How do I know she's not playing you again?"

Frasier slowly walked down the steps and over to his brother. "She never played me the first time! Don't you see? Our marriage failed because we were stupid and focused on pleasuring our bodies."

Niles made a face and put a hand up. "No details please."

Frasier rolled his eyes. "The point is we are friends now, with different expectations. That's it. We….we skipped the friends part the first time around. Neither of us have….any feelings." Frasier's voice caught. "It's perfectly innocent" he added, to cover up the glitch with his voice.

"I'm trying to trust her, I just….can't."

"Then trust me." Frasier put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Can you do that for me?"

Niles looked up at his brother and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I'll have to."

"Good." Frasier patted him on the back. "Besides, I have a date tomorrow."

"Really?" Niles looked up. "Who is it?"

"Oh just a woman I ran into in the Doctor's office. She was really charming actually. I asked her out for dinner."

"Well that's…that's great!" Niles grinned. "What's her name?"

"Margaret something." Frasier shrugged. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow!" He wiggled his eyebrows at his brother before continuing up the steps.

C/F

"Margaret?" Frasier asked.

"Hi!" Margaret smiled and gave Frasier a hug. A little surprised, Frasier blinked a few times but accepted the hug. "I'm so glad you asked me out. I was admiring you from across the room, trying to get your attention." She smiled.

"Well….uhhh….I was too!" Frasier smiled back and moved her chair out so that she could get into her seat.

He sat down across from her. She pulled out the menu and started looking at it. Frasier stared at her for a few seconds. She had auburn hair tinted with gray and her eyes were a pretty shade of green. Ten years ago, Frasier would have already decided to invite her back to his apartment. But now…

"So what do you think you will be getting?" She put the menu down and stared at him. She had a gorgeous smile too.

"I'm not sure yet! Maybe the shrimp?" He guessed. He opened the menu, pretending to look at the menu.

"That is SO funny!" She laughed and put her hand on his arm. "I was JUST thinking the same thing!"

Frasier, slightly annoyed by her touchy feeling attitude, shifted his weight uncomfortably. Lilith wasn't that touchy-feely.

"Great! We can order that. Would you like any wine?"

"Oh I'd LOVE some!" She smiled again. "Red is my favorite. White wines are just too sweet."

Frasier put his menu up just in time for her to miss his snort. Right. Even Lilith could appreciate the superiority of white wines.

"Is something the matter?" She enquired. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh no, no!" Frasier laughed and put the menu down. "I was just uhhh…..checking the menu again! Eyesight" He chuckled a little and pointed to his eyes.

"Ohhhhhh." She smiled again. Geez that smiling was so over the top. Would it kill her to be a little solemn sometimes?

The waiter walked up. "May I take your orders?"

"Sure I'll have the shrimp dinner," Margaret said.

"I'll have the same." Frasier handed the waiter his menu. Why was Margaret copying him? Did she think that he would like that? Lilith never did that…Frasier stopped suddenly and gasped.

"What is it?" Margaret asked, concerned.

Frasier gulped and blinked a few times before shaking his head. "Nothing I just…I just remembered that I left my laundry in the machine."

"Oh. That's a silly reason to get all upset!" Margaret responded.

But Frasier's mind was already a million miles away. Had he really been comparing this woman…to Lilith? This whole time? He hadn't done that since the divorce. But he couldn't help it. Was he allowing his feelings to get in the way…"

"Frasier? Come back from your far away place!" Margaret said and made a goofy face.

Frasier stood up, suddenly. "I'm sorry, Margaret. I think I….I need to get some air."

She frowned. "Is everything alright? Do you need me to come with you…"

"NO!" He interrupted, loudly. She looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, it's just…I will be right back." Frasier walked to the front of the restaurant and, running into his waiter, slapped a twenty in his hand. "For my dinner."

He didn't wait for the waiter's response but tore out of the building. He flagged a taxi and got inside, slamming the door. "Take me to the nearest pay phone." Frasier felt so very scared and confused all of a sudden. He needed to talk to someone familiar, someone he loved, and who would know exactly what to do. He needed to talk to Roz Doyle.