Chapter 10
The afternoon and evening passed quickly as Roz and Frasier unpacked the boxes from her apartment fixing up the nursery for Alice. Frasier managed to bite his tongue at some of the decorations Roz pulled out that clashed hideously with his decor. She was already on edge enough with Rick, and with everything changing so fast he knew she would likely snap if he came down on her also.
When Niles and Daphne brought Alice back late that evening all the unpacking was essentially done and Roz and Alice were pretty much officially moved in to Frasiers apartment. Niles and Daphne both stopped and immediately started surveying the noticeable changes that had been made.
"Frasier, your apartment...." Niles was stunned at the change in the decor. "What happened?"
"It doesn't look that different, we just did a little bit of childproofing as well as moving some priceless antiques out of the way of tiny fingers." Frasier tried to sound nonchalant in his response, while watching the happy reunion between Roz and Alice. One would think they had been seperated for weeks the way Roz carried on.
"I can't believe you're taking it this calmly, Niles just about had a fit when I tried to touch up our place. I've already been preparing for him to go crazy when I had to start moving things after the baby." Daphne laughed.
"You understimate me my love, I can handle a little rearrangement here and there........ but out of curiousity, what things would you be moving?" Niles tried to sound cavalier but one could easily detect the note of concern beneath his words.
"I knew it, I shouldn't have brought it up," Daphne groaned, "Just forget about it for now, we've still got 6 months before the baby comes."
"Yes but in therapuetic terms the earlier one starts dealing with traumatic events the better." Niles voice took on a noticeably anxious tone as he began to follow her into the kitchen.
"You sound like you're comparing this to a bloody earthquake." Daphne's voice began to rise as she started gettting upset.
"Well pardon me for being concerned about my apartment...."
"Your apartment? Last I checked I lived there to, you know I'm getting tired...." Their argument continued as they both went out of hearing range.
"Looks like trouble in paradise for the lovebirds" Frasier commented
"Yeah, can't believe someone can get so uptight over a few silly figurines and paintings." Roz said, not noticing the sympathetic expression on Frasier's face for his brother.
"Yes well, I guess some people just don't realize what's more important in life." Frasier said gamely, still feeling a pang at seeing his precious belongings disturbed . Though he had to admit he was probably feeling less pained than he would if he saw one of them smashed on the floor, falling and hurting Alice, or even worse for her to turn one of his paintings into a canvas for her own fingerpainting endeavors.
"I didn't think they'd make it" Roz's voice brought Frasier back from his thoughts.
"Make what?"
"Make it as a couple obviously, look at how they were arguing." Roz explained.
"Why, just because they're having a little fight? Married couples do that Roz, it doesn't signify the end of a marriage. Well if it's over furniture, if it's over another woman perhaps, but not something like this." Frasier explained, laughing at Roz's seriousness.
"Well pardon me for not being real clued in to this marriage thing." She started getting angry.
"Whoa whoa, Roz, calm down." Frasier didn't understand where her anger was coming from. "I know you haven't been married before, but..." He followed her to the sofa where she had sat down, picking up Alice and seeming to shut out whatever he was saying.
"OK, Roz, look at me" Frasier sat down and reached over to touched her arm, causing her to look up at him.
"Look, let's just drop it, they're the ones arguing anyway, not us."
"No, I can't let it go, it doesn't take a trained psychiatrist to realize that I just hit a nerve. Now why don't you tell me what it is?"
"Now Daphne, I told you it was just an accidental statement..." Niles pleaded as they re-emerged from the kitchen.
"Sure, it was one of those Freudian slip things wasn't it, you didn't mean to say it but you meant it!" Daphne was still fuming as she picked up her purse and opened the door. Niles didn't even hesitate to say goodbye as he charged out after her.
"And there they go." Frasier commented after a moment of silence before turning back to look at Roz.
"Look Frasier, I'm sorry if I overreacted, but I really don't want to talk about it."
Frasier remained silent, sensing by her nonverbal cues that she was ready to talk despite her assertions to the opposite.
"It's not a big deal, it's just that my Mom and Dad were always constantly fighting. Kind of like Daphne and Niles were, just a lot louder. You say it's a normal things that all married couples do, but I had watched my parents tear each other down for 10 years before they finally divorced. It was a relief to have an end to the constant fighting, but then came the battles over me. When I went to Dad's he would insult my Mom and her new boyfriends, and then the same things happened when I was with my Mom. I just don't have a very good opinion of marriages, and when I see a couple fight, I just automatically think they must not love each other." Roz finished still not meeting Frasiers eyes.
Amazed at her sudden depth of discussion Frasier paused a moment before he replied. "I didn't know your parents, so I can't say what caused them to be like that. But in many many cases when a husband and wife fight, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. Look at Niles and Daphne, you saw how they were fighting, but I guarantee you that by tomorrow they'll act like it never happened. And I can remember when Mom and Dad used to fight, they had some real doozies, but their love for each other was never a question. So not to pry, but is this perhaps why you've never married before?"
"That's part of it, I always thought that no matter how great the guy was, once it got serious we'd end up hating each other. And then especially after Alice was born, I swore I'd never make her have to endure a unhappy home."
"And yet you married me." Frasier said quietly.
"But that was different, it was to keep her, and besides we're best friends." Roz tried to lighten the mood, suddenly feeling nervous for some unexplained reason.
Not to be deterred however Frasier continued to discuss the issue. "And as you should know by now after listening to me tell this to hundreds of callers, friendship is one of the most solid bases for marriage. Think of it this way Roz, lets say, just for the sake of argument that our marriage had been real. And lets say that right now I started saying something like, oh.... I can't stand that hideous clown snowglobe thing on my veneered oak coffee table what would you say?"
"I would say that Alice loves it, it makes her feel more at home and to deal with it." Roz's temper started to flare.
"There you see, you're getting angry. And let's say I was equally angry, we'd fight, see what I mean."
"No I don't see what you mean, except that you don't want Alice to feel at home here in your little shrine to the antique world." Her voice continued to rise.
"Roz you're missing the point. I was just using that as an example." Frasier said in a soothing tone. Roz appeared to settle down slightly but didn't respond. "Listen, now lets say we had just had this argument. And think about this for a minute. Would you doubt that I was still your best friend?"
"Frasier thats silly, of course not." Roz laughed as the tension was broken.
"And considering for a moment that if our marriage had been real and that we were in love, would you head straight for divorce court over a clown snow globe?"
"Okay, okay, I understand what you mean, my parents problems were probably a lot deeper than many marriages. Perhaps that rumor about my Dad being forced into the marriage with a shotgun wasn't just a story." Roz started pondering.
"Hi guys, hope I'm not interrupting anything" Martin announced as he walked in the front door with Eddie, effectively putting an end to the introspection.
"No Dad, not a thing." Frasier said easily, breaking the momentary silence that had arisen while Roz had been digesting what he had been saying.
"I suppose not with Alice here, by the way I love what you've done with the place Frasier, looks much less sterile. Actually looks like people live here." Martin praised as he looked around at Roz's handiwork.
"Thank you Martin, do you think this globe is to much?" Roz spoke up, indicating the aforementioned snow globe on the table.
"Not at all, I think it not only adds a nice touch, but it makes the house look more child friendly. Let me guess, Frasier doesn't like it." Martin teased.
"Nonsense, I love it." Frasier almost growled, "now are we going
to sit here all night or eat dinner?."