Fourteen and a half years earlier

The date had been circled on her calendar for nine months—from the moment she'd heard that Sabrina was expecting her first child. But it wasn't until now—nine days before Sabrina's circled due date—that Daphne started getting that anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach that always accompanied any kind of change in her family.

From her sister's decision to become a lawyer to her parents' announcement that they were planning on buying a villa in Italy that anyone in the family could use provided they asked nicely, the butterflies in her stomach churned for weeks before the change and stopped the moment the change actually happened.

It didn't help that no one seemed to have any idea how Sabrina was going to manage to give birth while under the effects of the sleeping spell. Everyone from Puck to Henry and Veronica to Basil and Daphne were more than a little concerned.

And then, there was Pinocchio.

Daphne hadn't gotten more than a handful of one-word text messages from Pinocchio in almost three weeks. He'd been buried under a mountainous case load and had broken almost every date they'd planned in that time.

Daphne understood why he had to cancel their plans so often. Sabrina had been an overworked attorney in her own right, and Pinocchio had his own case load to deal with in addition to hers. But it still didn't sit right with her that he couldn't even manage five minutes to say hello.

Oh, if it was an emergency, she was sure he'd come. But if it was something so "trivial" as her desire to have a simple conversation with him, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Daphne's cell phone vibrated on her desk, and she looked over at the caller ID. Puck.

In an instant, she snatched up the phone. "Puck? What is it? What's going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Puck admitted. "Sabrina started—making some noises last night. Grunts and moans. It freaked me out so I called your mom and Nurse Spratt."

"And?" Daphne prompted.

"They think she's having the baby. But since we're all a bit unsure about what's actually happening here, we all thought it would be best if we had you standing by."

"Me?" Daphne asked in surprise. "What could I possibly do? I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nurse like Nurse Spratt, I've never had a baby like Mom, what could I possibly do to help?"

"We thought you might have some alternative, magical ideas," Puck said. His voice raised in pitch as he began to sound worried. "I mean, just in case."

Daphne had been spending every spare minute with Bunny Lancaster and Baba Yaga in an effort to prepare herself for this very moment. And now, she felt woefully inadequate like she was being asked to take a test that she hadn't prepared for.

"I'll be right there," Daphne said as she forced herself to sound as confident as she had ever been. "I'm sure everything will be all right, but I'm on my way in case it isn't."

Puck didn't reply. He just hung up the phone and left her to look around her room as she thought about what she would need in order to help her sister.

Daphne was both thrilled and anxious to be an aunt. It had been bad enough to find out that she was an older sister, but now she was going to be mentor to a whole new generation of Grimms, and it made her nervous.

But more than that, she couldn't wait to see her sister again. It had been a long six months. Though Pinocchio had tried to be there for her like Sabrina had been, it wasn't the same. Daphne needed her sister and her boyfriend. Not a man who was trying to be both and not managing to do a good job of either.

She shook her head. She needed to get Pinocchio out of her mind. He was busy, and he wouldn't be available until Sabrina was ready to return to her law practice. She'd had a few fleeting moments where it felt like this relationship might be the one that she'd been waiting for all her life, but it seemed to her that he didn't feel the same way. If he had, he might have tried a little harder to spend more time with her. Maybe he was regretting telling her that he loved her after all.

The trip to Sabrina and Puck's brownstone was a long one. Daphne's thoughts swirled around in her head like fallen leaves circling in a whirlpool. Every time she tried to distract her thoughts from Pinocchio, the thoughts about him multiplied in her mind.

Daphne walked up to the brownstone and reached up to knock on the door. Almost before she had a chance to rap her knuckles against the wood, the door opened, and Puck's worried face appeared on the other side. "Come in," he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the house.

"Are you okay?" Daphne asked, unsure of whether she should be worried, frightened or anything else.

"She's having a baby, Daphne. I'm having a baby. I'm going to be a father," he rambled. "This is the end of the Trickster King! I'm going to have to be all—responsible."

Daphne sighed in relief. "Oh good, you're just having a nervous breakdown."

"Daphne, I'm serious!" Puck cried.

"So am I!" Daphne returned. "Here I was thinking that you needed me to do some sort of magical surgery, but all you need right now is emotional support. I can do that."

Puck threw her a look before he began pacing. "I don't know if I can do this. I mean, questions. Answers. Kids have so many questions—I mean, just look at you. Your sister was your human dictionary when you were growing up. I don't even own a dictionary, Daphne!"

"Breathe, Puck," Daphne commanded. "Have you slept—at all?"

"What?" Puck asked, as he looked back at his sister-in-law.

"I'm going to guess no," Daphne said as she shook her head. "Let me make you a cup of tea, okay?"

"I don't drink tea," Puck said, sounding like a petulant child.

"Hot chocolate then," Daphne countered. "With marshmallows."

"Kids drink hot chocolate with marshmallows. Parents make hot chocolate for their kids, but they don't drink it themselves!" Puck snapped.

"Do you think you need to be someone you're not just because you're going to be a father?" Daphne asked softly. "I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

"How do you know how parenting works?" Puck asked in agitation. "You're not a parent!"

"No, I'm not," Daphne admitted. "But I know that my parents aren't perfect. They've made some mistakes, and one of the biggest mistakes I've seen my dad make is trying to pretend that he isn't who he is—a Grimm."

Puck was quiet for a few moments. "Maybe I will take that hot chocolate," he said after a moment.

"Good," Daphne said as she walked into the kitchen. She put water in the kettle and put it on to boil.

"So, how are things between you and Pinhead?" Puck asked as he sat at the table. He seemed almost rational again.

"Fine," she said as she busied herself more intently with the business of making hot chocolate.

"That good, huh?"

Daphne looked up at him in confusion. "What?"

"You're like your sister—when you're nervous or angry about something, you throw yourself into your work. Wanna talk about it?"

Daphne shook her head. "Not really."

"Are you sure?"

Puck was looking at her with the compassion she'd only seen on his face a handful of times. He'd always been like a big brother to her, but rarely had he played it with such kindness. Usually he was being brotherly as he threw a glop grenade at her or kept a monster from eating her.

Daphne sighed. "I haven't heard—really heard—from Pinocchio in three weeks."

"And you think it's because he doesn't like you anymore," Puck said with disturbing insight.

Daphne offered him a guilty smile. "Yeah."

"He's been pretty busy," Puck said as he stood. It was as if his own concerns had just disappeared. How did he just turn his anxieties on and off like that?

He sighed. "But I've learned to trust your instincts, Daphne. You've got a great sense of when someone's treating you the way you deserve and when someone's not measuring up. I know that's now what you want to hear, but that's all I'm going to say. Your love life is your own."

Daphne looked up at him and shook her head. "What are you worried about?" She said with a small chuckle. "That was perfect Dad advice."

"It was?" He asked in surprise.

"Yep," Daphne said with a smile. "You're going to be a great dad." She paused for a moment before she continued. "Someday, I'm sure you'll get to be the Trickster King again. Maybe not everyday, but once in a while."

Puck grinned as ideas flooded into his mind. "Oh man, am I going to have fun if this is a girl!"

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"I've got to chase the boys away somehow!" He said with a mischievous wink.

The cell phone in her pocket vibrated, and Daphne pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. Pinocchio. As if her life wasn't complicated enough.

She pulled the phone out of her pocket and stared at it for a moment. She could pay Pinocchio back for all of her own missed calls. Instantly she shook that feeling off. She couldn't do that—she'd seen what revenge had done to too many people to be dragged into that trap.

She flipped open the phone and put it to her ear. "Hello," she greeted as she forced a smile to her lips.

"Daphne, it's Pinocchio."

"Hi, Pinocchio. How are you?" She asked, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong.

"I'm fine. Busy, but fine." Pinocchio sounded distracted by something, and Daphne heard an irritated voice in the background. "Hey, I'm free for lunch today. I had an appointment, but it was canceled. Something about not crying over spilled milk—anyway, I had a few minutes, and I thought I'd take my girl out to lunch."

Daphne cringed as she heard the term "my girl." Where once the term had seemed affectionate, now it seemed like a prison where she was kept in the arms of a man who didn't love her as much as he thought he did.

"Actually, I'm at Sabrina and Puck's right now," Daphne said. She wasn't interested in going to a restaurant with Pinocchio at the moment—not when he'd ignored her for so long.

"Is something wrong?"

"Sabrina's having the baby, or at least, we think she's having the baby," Daphne explained. "We're still trying to figure out what's going on, but we're all here trying to figure it out. Anyway, that's why I can't come to lunch today."

"Of course!" Pinocchio said with a nod. "I'll be right there with a platter of sandwiches. I know your whole family could probably use some food—especially Puck. I think he eats when he gets nervous."

"Among other things," Daphne admitted under her breath.

"Look, Daphne, are you okay? You sound strange."

"I'm fine," Daphne said with the shake of her head. "I'll be fine with some sleep, I'm sure."

"I had something I wanted to talk to you about," he said in that distracted tone that told Daphne that something was wrong. "Something that really can't be said over the phone."

Daphne managed a thin smile. "Okay, okay. I'll be here when you get here."

Before he had a chance to say goodbye, the voice in the background called Pinocchio away from the phone. Daphne hung up the phone with tears in her eyes. She pressed a hand to her forehead as if to ward off the coming tears. No doubt, Pinocchio was coming to tell her that he was wrong for saying that he loved her. No doubt he was coming to break up with her.

And while it would break her heart, she had to admit that it was for the best. She couldn't keep living like this. She couldn't keep wondering when she'd get a chance to see her boyfriend.

The sound of a baby's cry caught Daphne's attention, and she looked over at the stairs expectantly.

"What was that?" Puck asked. It was clear that Puck had heard the cry that Daphne had just heard.

Tears welled up in Daphne's eyes at the sound of the baby's cry. It was odd—she was happy for her sister and Puck, thrilled to have a niece, and sad that Pinocchio wasn't here to share it with her. That he might never be here to share another moment like this with her.

Veronica Grimm appeared at the top of the stairs with a tiny pink bundle wrapped up in her arms. "Puck, would you like to hold your daughter?"

"My daughter?" Puck asked as he fluttered over to where Sabrina's mother stood. He hovered over her and the baby for a few moments before he set himself on the ground and carefully took the baby from his mother-in-law. "I'm a father," he whispered as he studied the infant in his arms. He looked up at Veronica with wonder in his eyes. "She's perfect. Just like Sabrina."

His eyes widened in realization. "Sabrina!"

"Is still sleeping," Veronica soothed. "While we're fairly confident that she'll be fine if she's awoken, Nurse Spratt suggested that maybe we wait for an hour or two before we try to wake her up. Just to make sure the magic is out of her system."

Puck shook his head. "She should be here for this," he said as he cradled his daughter in one arm and flew off to awaken his wife.

Daphne watched the scene with fascination. It seemed that the Trickster King was a natural husband and father. Who would have thought it?

Even as she thought of it, another image filled her mind's eye. She could almost see Pinocchio playing with children—her children. The vision faber her a smile as she watched him play and then return his attention to those precious children of theirs.

The thought pierced her tender heart like a sharp knife. The tears came more swiftly, and she turned to go back downstairs.

"Daphne?" Veronica asked softly. "Are you all right?"

Daphne swallowed down her tears as the kettle whistled. "I'll be there in a minute, Mom. I've got to take care of the kettle, and then I'll be there."

Voices could be heard from the master bedroom, and Daphne assumed that Nurse Spratt had tried to stop Puck from awakening his wife.

Though she didn't turn around, Daphne could almost see her mother turning back toward the room and then back toward Daphne. "I'd better go in there and see what all the fuss is about," she said apologetically. "You'll be all right?"

Daphne nodded in an effort to keep from losing her tenuous composure. "I'll be fine."

As she walked back to the kitchen the front door opened and Henry Grimm filled the doorway. "I heard Puck needs some fatherly advice," he said as he walked in. "Where is he?"

"With his wife and daughter."

Henry stopped in surprise. "Daughter?"

Daphne chuckled as she nodded.

"I'm a grandfather," Henry said as a look of dumbfounded awe appeared on his face.

A wry half-smile appeared on Daphne's lips. "There's a lot of that going around," she said with a chuckle.

"Is Sabrina awake?" Henry asked as he recovered from his awe.

Daphne shrugged. "I don't know. Puck took the baby in to wake her up, but I don't know if she's actually awake now or not. But Mom's upstairs. I'm sure she's waiting for you."

Henry nodded and headed up the stairs as Daphne walked over to relieve the whistling tea kettle.

She was twenty years old. She shouldn't have such visions of marriage and family—especially to an Everafter who was more married to his work than he could ever be to her.

There was a knock on the door, and Daphne walked over to it.

There on the stoop of the brownstone was Pinocchio with a tray of sub sandwiches and a bouquet of yellow and green balloons. "I didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, so I got the gender-neutral colored balloons."

"It was a girl," Daphne said with a small smile. "Puck's upstairs with Sabrina and the baby."

"Is she awake?" Pinocchio asked as he stepped into the living room.

Daphne shrugged. "I don't know. I figured I'd give them some time with the baby and with each other."

Pinocchio nodded as he set the sandwiches and the balloons down. "It's been a long six months for them."

Daphne nodded. "I know." She inhaled and crossed her arms. "So, you needed to tell me something you couldn't say over the phone. What exactly did you want to say?"

"Now?" Pinocchio asked, looking around him. He seemed nervous for some reason.

"I think we should just get it over with," she said as she inhaled.

"Get what over with?" Pinocchio asked in confusion.

"You want to break up with me, so get on with it," she said as she tried to brace herself for the pain that was coming.

"Break up with you?" Pinocchio asked, blinking his eyes with incomprehension.

"Yes, and I think it's a good idea, so just get it over with," she said as she tried to get him to hurry up.

Pinocchio was stunned to silence. "You think it's a good idea if we break up?"

Daphne nodded quickly.

"I see," he said as he exhaled slowly. "Then, I guess I misread the signals."

Daphne looked at him in confusion. "What?"

He reached into his pocket and put a small velvet box beside the sandwiches and balloons. "Tell Sabrina and Puck congratulations for me, okay?"

"Pinocchio," Daphne whispered as he walked out the door.

She broke down in sobs as Pinocchio slammed the door behind him.