Chapter Six
Frasier pulled the rental car in front of Lilith's house. The flight over to Boston was smooth and surprisingly quick. He rushed out of the car and over to the door. He gently turned the doorknob slowly to find that the door was not locked. He slowly opened it and stuck his head inside.
There at the table was his Lilith. She had a plate of carrots and celery in front of her as well as a container of dip. Frasier chuckled slightly to himself at the thought of dip. It reminded him of when the two were dating.
"Did you have a good time at school?" his ex-wife asked without actually looking at him.
Frasier sighed, knowing that he should have called before arriving unexpectedly at her house. "School was a long time ago," he told her as he walked over towards her. She still looked beautiful. Her hair was down again, and a part of Frasier's mind was concerned about that. The only times he had known her to let it down, she wanted to be with him on a more intimate level.
Lilith gasped as she rose from her position at the table. "Frasier, I apologize. I did not realize that you were at the door."
No need to apologize, Frasier thought to himself. "I should have called first," he admitted as he hugged her tightly. He could feel the panic in her body lessening as he held her in his arms. He rubbed her back a few times before guiding her back to the table. The two of them sat down, and he placed his hand on top of hers.
Lilith would not meet his eyes. She stared at the platter of vegetables. Frasier glanced over at them before trying to look into Lilith's eyes. Once she finally picked up her head, he could see how nervous she was. "Lilith, what is it?" he asked gently as he moved his chair closer to hers.
"I don't even know where to begin," Lilith said as she propped her head up in her arm, which rested on the table. "This whole thing has me completely worried, but I'm more worried about your reaction now."
Frasier once again was worried. "My reaction?" he asked in a slightly frightened tone. "My reaction to what? Lilith, what is going on?"
"Well, first off, I told Frederick you were here for a conference, so back me up on that," Lilith said as she reached for another carrot. She got a little dip on it before popping it into her mouth. "You're welcome to have some," she added as she gestured at the vegetables.
"Lilith," Frasier warned. "Come on. You really freaked me out last night. What is going on? Is Frederick ok?"
"He's fine," Lilith assured Frasier. "We have a beautiful, healthy son." She looked back down at the table.
"Then what is it?" Frasier asked. "Are you ok? Are you sick or something?"
Lilith started to shake her head, and then rose from the table. "I think I'm going to be," she stated as she rushed towards the bathroom. Both her hands were up at her mouth.
"Lilith!" Frasier called after her. Now he was officially worried for Lilith's health. From her message to this, he did not know how much more of this he could tolerate. From the way Lilith mentioned Frasier's presence in Boston as a conference, Frasier doubted that Frederick knew the truth. Besides, he was not even home from school yet.
Frasier looked around the kitchen. It was mostly the same as his last visit the previous Thanksgiving. Several of the photographs on the refrigerator have been changed, but other than that, there were no differences. Frasier sat still as he waited for Lilith to return.
Several minutes later, Frasier hear the faint sound of a toilet flushing. Lilith emerged from the bathroom with a small, brown hand towel in front of her mouth. Frasier noticed her and quickly guided her over to the couch in the living room.
The two of them slowly sat down, and Frasier placed one hand on Lilith's forehead. He found it to show no signs if a fever. "Ok, Lilith, are you going to tell me what's going on now?"
Lilith nodded slightly and rested her head against Frasier's chest. "I've been avoiding it long enough," she started. "I feel you deserve to know."
Frasier wrapped his arm around her while mentally preparing himself for the worst. He knew that he would not like the next words that would come from Lilith's mouth.
"I'm pregnant," Lilith admitted softly.
Frasier blinked twice in shock. On the one hand, he was relieved to find out that Lilith did not have some deadly disease. On the other hand, he was shocked. This was not what he had in mind when she had called. Although, this made sense, too. Lilith was technically single again, so she would be raising this child all alone. That would be enough to cause her to worry like she had.
Frasier pulled her closer towards him and held her in his strong arms. "I'm here for you," he told her softly.
Lilith now blinked in surprise. "You're taking this rather well," she pointed out.
"Well, I know how hard it is to go through this. I just went through this with Roz," he reminded her. "I want you to know that I can do anything you want me to do." He rubbed her back again. "Have you told Brian yet?"
"Brian!" Lilith exclaimed in horror. "It's partially his fault that I'm like this," she said angrily.
"Partially?" Frasier asked curiously. "He is the father, is he not?"
Lilith gasped as both her hands fled to her mouth in shock. She had just thought of it as common sense that Niles was the father. Frasier on the other hand did not know of her troubles with Brian. He knew that the two of them divorced because Brian was gay, but he did not know that the two of them had not slept together in a very long time.
"Lilith," Frasier warned again. "Brian is the father, is he not?" he repeated angrily.
Lilith's eyes once again filled with tears as she shook her head. "He's not," she admitted softly as she grabbed one of the pillows from her couch. "Niles is."
