REALIZATION #1

Frasier bustled about his apartment, trying to make everything perfect. The music, the table setting...

He paused amidst his bustling and looked down at Jess. "What do you think?"

She barked in approval, wagging her minute tail.

Frasier smiled. He felt giddy, as if he were flying, but not as if he were about to fly through the roof, this time; instead, as if he were flying through the clouds. He felt that all his past troubles no longer mattered, as if a burden had been taken off him. What had happened? Why did he feel that way? What was different?

Nothing was different—yet, everything was different.

He could no longer fritter away the day bantering with his father or talking about opera with his brother. They had new lives and families now, and it was about time he went after the same thing.

And suddenly, after years of failed romances, he knew who he wanted to be with. She'd been in front of him all along; he'd seen her every day at work, shared both his good and his gloomy experiences with her. She was the only non-relative who truly knew him.

Frasier suddenly felt as if he'd had the breath squeezed out of him, and he staggered over to the couch. He wanted to be with Roz...He loved Roz.

How could he have been so blind? After their one night together, he'd told himself it was a mistake. Had convinced himself. But it wasn't a mistake.

Loving Roz wasn't a mistake.

"Love," Frasier laughed aloud, gaining a curious look from the Jack Russell terrier on the floor. He turned suddenly sorrowful. "As if Roz would ever love me..."

REALIZATION #2

Roz stood in front of her mirror, putting on a pair of earrings. It was just Frasier. Why did she even care how she looked?

Then again, why had he asked her to come to his home for dinner?

Hadn't they failed as a couple already? What more was there to do?

But she shivered as she realized that maybe they'd just needed this time, needed to go through all these failed relationships, before finally being ready to accept that which was staring them straight in the face, finally ready to settle down.

Settling down? she questioned herself. She laughed aloud, but it was weak, and she knew it.

Swallowing, she tried to slow her heart rate and confront the issue. Frasier. What were her feelings for Frasier?

Roz thought long and hard about it. She worked with him. She felt comfortable talking with him. If she ever murdered a man, he would be the first one she ran to for help with hiding the body.

And that left her where?

She bit her lip. Frasier. How did she feel about Frasier?

She thought back to the glint in his eyes when he interacted with Alice. How the two had seemed to connect...How he could make a great father for her...

Roz felt a tear in her eye. Alice needed a father so much.

And she...

She needed a husband.

And she loved Frasier.

A chill went down her spine as she repeated it aloud in a whisper. "I love Frasier."

How long? How long had she felt these...these feelings for him? And why was she realizing it only now? She thought of Martin and Niles. Two of the Crane boys had newfound family members. For Martin, a wife. For Niles, a child.

Maybe it was time that Roz too indulged herself in the addition of a new person into her life. Truly into her life.

She let out a heavy breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

What was she going to say to Frasier?