Chapter Twelve

Hours had passed. Frederick was in his room eagerly doing his homework. Lilith needed time alone and forced Frasier to go to Cheers. After a little arguing, Frasier decided that it had been a long time since he last saw Sam, Carla, Norm, and Cliff. It would be nice to see them again. Before he left, he made sure that Lilith would be ok. Frederick was told to watch out for her, but Lilith again insisted that she would be fine.

That was about forty minutes ago. She knew that once Frasier arrived at Cheers, it would be a good couple of hours before he returned back home. Until then, she would occupy herself with other things. She tried skimming through the books of baby names, but she could not do that yet. Not alone. First off, she did not know the sex of the baby. Secondly, she felt it should be a decision either based on people more than just herself. Niles should probably be included as well as Frasier and possibly Frederick.

Speaking of the devil, she heard knocking from the kitchen door. Frasier had been there long enough to have a key to her place. She doubted he would get drunk enough to need a ride home. Lilith pushed herself off of the couch and walked over to the door. Sure enough, it was Niles. She opened the door slowly and stepped aside, but she said nothing.

"Lilith, I understand if you're angry," Niles began as he entered her house. "You have every right to be angry with me. I know my first reaction was not…ideal."

"Judging from what Frasier said, neither was your second," Lilith told him. "But do sit down. I have something I want to show you." With that she walked into the living room to get something from the table in there.

"Is Frasier lurking around in the other room?" Niles called to her curiously.

Lilith shook her head. "No," she answered honestly. "He's at Cheers." She sighed heavily as she returned and sat down at the kitchen table. "Saying that almost makes me think we're still married except this time I forced him to go."

"Why?" Niles asked. "I thought you'd enjoy the help and support."

Lilith nodded. "I do, and I'm grateful that he supports me, but I need some time alone. Besides, I had a feeling that you would be coming here, and I didn't want him to be here for that. With all his feelings floating about, I don't think it would be appropriate."

Niles nodded. "He does care an awful lot about you," he noted as he sat down next to Lilith. "What is it that you wanted to show me?"

Lilith handed Niles the sonogram picture. "This," she said. "Apart from me and my OB/GYN, no one else has seen it. I thought you should be the first one."

"Wow," Niles began in awe as he held it carefully. He could not really tell where it was. Thankfully, it did not look like Lilith could either since it was marked on the picture itself. At least, it was circled. "I don't know," Niles began. "It's kind of small. I think it takes after you."

Lilith smiled slightly. "Thank you, Niles," she told him. "At the very least, for not yelling at me again."

"I do apologize for that," Niles said sincerely. "You just caught me off guard. Completely off guard, and I didn't know what to do. I'm relaxed now. I did the 'take a walk' thing that's recommended. Cleared my head. I'm better now."

"Glad to hear it," Lilith said.

Niles nodded at her. "You are carrying my child after all," he said as he moved off his chair and in front of Lilith. He placed one hand over her stomach. "Hello there," he began in a soothing tone. "I'm your Daddy, and I love you very much."

"Niles," Lilith began irritably.

"Yes?" Niles asked.

"Remove your hand from me please," Lilith commanded. Niles obeyed. "Thank you," Lilith added. She sighed as Niles moved back into his seat. "How do you want to handle this?"

"The pregnancy?" Niles asked.

"All of it," Lilith answered. "Now specifically, the pregnancy. Frasier already offered to stay here with me."

"I think that'd be for the best," Niles injected.

Lilith nodded. "As do I, but this is still your child. If you're not comfortable with the situation, we can change it."

Niles shook his head. "No, I'm fine with it. You and Frasier have a history. He obviously still loves you, and I think you still love him." He sighed as he glanced back down at Lilith's stomach. "But we still have the baby. Now, I would be willing to cover half the doctor's visits, maternity clothes shopping, basically anything baby-related," he offered. "Within reason. I'm not buying the baby a Jaguar."

"And I can e-mail you with updates on what's going on," Lilith continued. "My due date's in mid-December, but it could be a few days earlier or later. Generally second children are earlier, but the age gap between Frederick and this one is greater, so I don't know if that would still apply. I do, however, assume that you would want to be there for the birth."

Niles nodded. "That I will not miss. From how Frasier described you being pregnant before, I don't mind missing that part," he said. "No offense."

Lilith ignored his last comment and continued with what she was going to say. "I guess around Thanksgiving, we can figure out a good birth plan. Depending on how much I've progressed since then, you can either stay in Boston, or fly back to Seattle for about a week then come back."

"Oh, then I guess I'll stay after Thanksgiving," Niles told her. "And I'm willing to help after the birth if you want me around."

Lilith sighed. "We'll talk about that after the birth," she said. "I think we've got what we need for now. Thank you, Niles," she told him.

Niles nodded as he walked towards the door. "Take care of my child."