(Daphne's POV)

Roz opened the door of her apartment after Daphne's soft but insistent knocking, and her face was lined with confusion as she looked at her friend.

"Daphne, is everything alright? You're here so early. Where is Niles?"

Daphne followed her into the small but homey apartment, where she was immediately greeted by Alice.

"Hello, Aunt Daphne," the little girl said. "You have to be quiet, David's sleeping."

"Actually, I'm going to take David home now," Daphne explained.

"Why, is something wrong? Is Niles okay? What happened?" Roz asked; at Niles' name, Daphne frowned and tensed, earning a searching look from Roz.

"Alice, go get ready for bed while I talk to Aunt Daphne, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy. I'm going to wear my dinosaur pajamas."

As soon as her daughter was out of earshot, Roz turned to Daphne.

"All right, what happened?"

"Nothing happened, Roz. I'm just here to take David home early."

"You're a terrible liar, Daphne," Roz scolded. "Now, I'm not letting you go til you explain what's going on. Besides, David's asleep now."

A very Roz-like look of defiance let Daphne know that she was quite serious. Daphne gave in. Besides, she was sure her friend, as a fellow mother, would sympathize with her and agree that calling it a night and bringing David home earlier was the right call.

"...so, I'm here to take David back, no matter what Niles says. I'm surprised how angry he got. I thought he cared more than that. I mean, we shouldn't have to fight over what's best for our son!"

Silence followed her story, and Daphne was shocked to see that Roz looked-disappointed? Her friend seemed to be debating what to say. After a few moments-

"Daphne, may I be frank?"

"Do I have a choice?"

The authoritative look Roz gave her quelled Daphne, despite her own irritation at the whole situation.

"I know I'm not the best person to hold an opinion on this," Roz said. "Since I've never even come close to being married. But I do know what can happen when parents focus too much on their kids and don't make time for each other. Because I lived that. My mother was smothering, trying to make me the perfect daughter, always worrying about every tiny detail. She barely said a word to my dad sometimes, when she was making sure every detail had been attended to. It absolutely tore them apart. They'd fight about it, and it always made me unhappy. And I know they were unhappy, too, even though they didn't want to admit it. And eventually...it was just over."

"I'm sorry you had to experience that, but-" Daphne began weakly, but stopped as a feeling somewhere between shame and guilt nagged at her.

"Also, I think you should know that Niles has been planning this for weeks. He even ran every single detail past me to make sure that it was 'perfect, just like Daphne'. And those were his exact words, you know. I've never known any man as crazy about a woman as he is about you, Daphne."

Her words hung in a tense silence, and all at once Daphne realized how much she had hurt the man who loved her so much.

"I-I have to go back to him and apologize."

Silently she added, I just hope it's not too late. Who knows what Niles is thinking now...

(Niles' POV, during Roz and Daphne's visit)

The case of one Mrs. Angela Washburn, who was under therapy for an extreme case of ornithophobia-a fear of birds-would have fascinated Niles. He'd taken many notes during their sessions, hoping to get to the root of her fear so he could better guide her through it. Plus, it was one of his most unusual cases. Never before had a patient called ahead and asked that the pigeons nesting outside his office building be shooed off before she came!

But even Niles' fascination with Mrs. Washburn's phobia and his determination to help her could not keep his mind off of Daphne's words. He'd tried so hard to be patient with her, but he couldn't excuse what she'd said to him as she'd left. He'd never dreamed that Daphne could be so harsh, almost cruel. Why would she think he didn't care about David? Didn't she remember how devastated he'd been that night he'd had to tell her they might never have children, after they'd tried so long, and how ecstatic upon learning that they would have a baby, after all? He'd waited so long for a woman to love him enough to have a child with him, and now…

He turned to one of his more serious case files; perhaps something more complicated would distract him from the devastation he was feeling.

(Daphne's POV, later)

After a brief stop at a lingerie store to select what she hoped would please Niles and help smooth over the disastrous fight, Daphne made her way back to the Montana. She was determined to apologize, to fix the rift between them, and give herself completely to him in every way. The night was young; it could be salvaged. It had to be.

An eerie silence permeated the apartment as Daphne cautiously reentered. The apartment was always quiet, but somewhere this quiet seemed different. Uneasy. Quelling another pang of fear for their relationship, she crept into their bedroom, relieved that Niles wasn't there. There she donned what she had purchased, and headed almost instinctively to Niles' home office.

At the door she took a deep breath, trying to quell her nerves at facing her husband. Where would she even begin? What would she say? But she couldn't keep avoiding him.

Praying that all would go well, she stepped into the room, pausing briefly at the threshold. Niles was focused on a stack of papers, patient notes, she presumed.

"Niles?"

Niles startled at her voice. When he turned to look at her, his eyes roamed briefly-too briefly-over her lacy new ensemble, and then held her gaze with an unreadable expression.

"How is David? Is he asleep now?" he asked hollowly.

Daphne smiled.

"Yes, but I left him at Roz's place. I decided I'd rather be here, with you, giving myself to you. Niles, I'm so sorry. About everything."

She moved forward seductively and smiled at him in a manner that would normally have her in his arms in seconds, but Nles didn't make a single move.

"So am I," he said sadly.

"Niles, please-"

Hurt still showed in his eyes even as he avoided eye contact.

"Look, Daphne. I love you, but I just can't do this yet. I need some space. Maybe we can have another night out sometime, but now...just leave me alone, Daphne."

Daphne nodded and left without a word. Never had she felt so terrible, so lost. Her words must have hurt Niles even more than she'd imagined, if he didn't even want to see her. She'd thought the time she'd doubted his love and become jealous of a certain Heather Murphy been the worst thing she could do, but questioning his integrity as a father...how could she have said those things to him?

Too consumed with worry over her behavior and the fate of their relationship to do anything else, Daphne collapsed onto the fainting couch and gave vent to her remorse, sobbing bitterly into a pillow.

Could things ever be the same between them?

(To be continued)