(Three weeks later)
They were just about to sit down to dinner when the doorbell rang. Niles and Daphne looked at each other in confusion.
"Now who could that be at this hour?"
Daphne put down her napkin and rose to her feet. "I suppose we should find out."
Niles followed her to the living room and she opened the door. "Oh…"
Martin stood in the doorway, Ronee by his side.
"Ronee, Dad. What brings you here?"
"Oh we were just-we didn't come at a bad time, did we?"
"No of course not. We were just sitting down to dinner."
Ronee gasped. "Oh no, I was afraid of that. Well…"
"We'll come back later." Martin said. "I-." but Ronee gently took his arm and gave him a knowing look.
"Don't be silly, come in." Daphne said. "I can set some extra places for dinner. Are you hungry?"
"Actually I could eat a little something." Ronee admitted.
"I'm starving!" Martin agreed.
"All right then, just come-."
"Um, actually Daphne that's not why we came." Martin said. "You see, I…" He looked at Ronee who smiled as they shared a look of understanding.
"Dad, is something wrong?"
"Um, can we sit down somewhere?"
"Sure."
The four of them settled themselves in the living room. Daphne took Niles' hand, trying not to worry abvout what Martin might say.
"What's wrong, Dad?"
"I came to say I'm sorry. I know I don't say that very often, and I should. But after Eddie died-."
"Dad, you don't have to say anything. I understand."
"Yes, yes I do. You came over to try to help me and I acted like a jackass. I'm not proud of it and I know that your mother would be ashamed. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. It's just that Eddie…"
Daphne felt tears well in her eyes. "I know you loved him Martin. And I'm so sorry. I wanted to say something to you when we were driving home from the hospital, but…"
Daphne began to sob. Niles moved to comfort her but someone else got there first. She found herself in Martin's arms. His strong hand moved up and down her back.
"Hey, come on now, don't cry. I'm sorry, Daphne."
"But it's not your fault!"
"Yeah, it is. I mean, losing Eddie was tough, hell it is tough but the way I treated you and Niles, well… it wasn't right."
"Dad…"
"I'm sorry, son."
The moment Daphne pulled out of Martin's arms, Martin went to hug Niles.
"Thanks Dad. And I know you don't want my advice but if you ever need to talk… about Eddie or Mom or anything at all, you know where to reach me."
"Yeah, I do."
"Are you going to be all right, Dad?"
Martin smiled at Daphne and then at Ronee. "Yeah, I am. For the first time in my life."
"Well I think we should have a lovely dinner as a family." Daphne announced. "Who's hungry?"
Everyone spoke at once and headed for the kitchen. Except for Niles who turned to Daphne and kissed her.
"Thank you, my love."
"Why are you thanking me?"
"For bringing Dad back. I know he misses Eddie; we all do, but he's lucky to have you… and so am I."
She returned his kisses and smiled knowing that they held the promise of many more.
THE END