Half an hour later, David and Martin were both home, safe and sound. David laid down on the couch to watch TV until he felt better. Martin pulled his wife aside and asked, "Do you think we should call Daphne?" He knew she would rush right over if she knew her son was sick.
"Kids get sick like this all the time," Ronee said. "And besides, it's not like this is the first time I've ever taken care of a sick child. If you'll recall, I used to baby-sit Niles when he was wasn't feeling well."
Martin grinned. "Yeah. I bet you never thought back then you'd be a grandmother to his child," he teased. Being referred to as a grandmother was still a sore point for Ronee.
"Listen, smart aleck," Ronee shot back. "Do you want me to help you take care of the kid or not? Because I could call Daphne right now and tell her you made her son sick."
"OK, OK," Martin replied, knowing his wife meant business.
"Besides, you must have some experience with sick kids, too," Ronee reminded him. "Weren't you ever around when Niles and Frasier had the flu or something?"
"Nah," Martin replied. "I usually let Hester handle all of that. I was too busy getting criminals off the streets."
"Oh, yeah," Ronee said, looking down at his hip. "I see you were good at it."
David fell asleep on the couch. He woke up about an hour later, asking, "Where's my mom?"
The last thing Martin wanted to do was call Daphne and tell her what had happened. Not only would it ruin Niles and Daphne's perfect evening, but it would also mean a stern lecture from Daphne. Martin had gotten enough of those when she was merely his healthcare worker to know he wanted to avoid another one. "Your mom is busy. She's going out with your dad tonight, remember?" Martin said.
"I know. But I don't feel well, and I want to go home," David whined.
Martin was torn. He definitely didn't want to call Daphne, but he also knew David was sick and wanted his mother. He remembered Niles being the exact same way on the rare occasion that he was home when the boys were sick. He told David to wait a moment, and went into the kitchen to see Ronee. "He wants Daphne," Martin said upon entering.
"So, call her," Ronee said, handing him the phone. "I know you don't want to do it, but she is his mother. And I wouldn't mind having the house to ourselves." She gave him a knowing wink.
"She's going to kill me, I know she is," Martin said. "She's going to think this is all my fault."
"Gee, why would she think that? Just because you insisted on taking him to that silly ballgame?" Ronee teased. "What do you honestly think she's going to do? Beat you with your cane?" She laughed.
"I know you're right," Martin conceded. "But this is their first night alone in I don't know how long. I remember after Frasier was born, Hester and I never had a moment's peace. I still don't know how we managed to have Niles."
"Well, she was a scientist, wasn't she?" Ronee asked. "Maybe Niles was a lab experiment."
Martin laughed. "That would explain an awful lot," he said. Then he looked down at the phone in his hands and tried to work up the nerve to dial his son's apartment at the Montana.
"You used to be a cop, Marty. You faced down armed robbers without a second thought," Ronee said.
"Yeah, and look where that got me," Martin replied, gesturing toward his cane.
"OK, so you're not as young as you used to be. But I still can't believe you're so scared of your own daughter-in-law."
"Daphne may seem sweet," he said. "But she can be pretty tough when she wants to be. She was once arrested for dumping an entire load of laundry off the balcony of Frasier's apartment! It caused a huge car accident!"
"Then think about this," Ronee said. "What if David goes home tomorrow and tells Daphne that he wanted her here and you refused to call her? How would she take that?"
As much as Martin hated to admit it, he knew his wife had a point. He sighed as he finally looked down at the keypad and prepared to dial. But before he had pressed a single button, the phone rang. Martin looked at the caller ID, and immediately saw the call was coming from the Montana. He just stared at the phone, hoping it would stop ringing.
Ronee let out an exasperated sigh. She took the phone from Martin's hand and answered it. "Hello?" After a pause she said, "Hold on." She held the phone out to Martin. "It's Daphne."
Martin mouthed, "Tell her I'm not here," but Ronee shook her head. "Just talk to her," she whispered. "She can't kill you over the phone!"
Martin sighed and took the phone. "Hi, Daph!" he said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "How's your date with Niles going?"
"Well, it was going fine," Daphne said. "But then me powers kicked in, and I suddenly got a bad feeling about David. I couldn't get it out of me mind. So I figured I'd call and check on him so I can finally relax. I think I actually started to make Niles a bit nervous, too," she laughed. "But I'm just being silly, aren't I? I mean, it's not as if you and Ronee have never watched him before. I'm sure by now you've turned him into a die-hard Mariners fan, right?"
Martin hesitated. Of all the times for Daphne to have one of her visions. "Well...not exactly," he said nervously. "It seems he takes after his father." A lot, Martin thought to himself as he pictured his grandson lying on the couch in the next room.
"That's too bad," Daphne replied, knowing how disappointed Martin must be. "But can I talk to him?"
"No...now's not such a good time," Martin said. "He's...sort of..." He searched for a way to tell Daphne that wouldn't upset her.
Daphne knew Martin well enough to recognize the hesitation in his voice that meant he was hiding something. "What happened?" she asked, a bit of panic in her voice.
Martin saw that she wouldn't accept anything other than a direct answer, so he took a deep breath and said, "We had to leave the game early. David said he wasn't feeling well."
"What?" Daphne said in alarm. "When exactly were you going to tell me this?"
"Well, Ronee and I knew you and Niles really wanted a night to yourselves, so we thought we'd just take care of him here," he explained.
"Thank goodness for me powers!" Daphne exclaimed. "I knew it wasn't such a good idea letting you take him to that bloody baseball game. Does he want me to come over there? Because Niles and I can get there in five minutes, and -"
Martin could tell Daphne was getting angry. "Now, Daph, calm down. If it was anything serious, you know I would've called you." This was exactly the scenario he'd been hoping to avoid by not calling her. "Ronee and I have everything under control. He's asleep right now, and I bet when he wakes up, he'll be fine again. I saw this same thing with Niles lots of times. Kids are sick one minute and fine the next. No big deal."
"It's a bloody big deal when it's your child!" Daphne countered.
"Look, he's already here, so you might as well let him stay the night. I promise you, I'll call if he gets worse," Martin said. He knew how worried she was about her son, but it seemed unnecessary for her to come rushing over for something that was most likely nothing at all.
Daphne sighed. Martin was nothing if not stubborn. She'd learned that firsthand years ago, when he would fight with her every day over doing his exercises. Right now, she just didn't have the energy to argue with him. Not when she and Niles were finally alone for the first time in months. "I suppose you've got a point," she reluctantly admitted. "But I'm picking him up first thing tomorrow morning, whether you like it or not!"
"It's a deal," Martin said, relieved that he'd prevented Daphne from having a nervous breakdown. "By the way, have you guys talked to Frasier recently?"
"There was a message on the machine when we got home asking us to call him as soon as possible. But Niles and I have been a bit...busy, so we thought we'd call him in the morning. Why? Is something wrong?" Daphne thought she'd heard a bit of excitement in Martin's voice when he asked the question, but she wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"No, nothing's wrong," Martin replied, grinning. "But you really should call him. If you don't, I think poor Roz may have a stroke."
The mention of Roz gave Daphne an idea what this could be about. "Oh. I see," she said. "I'll have to let Niles know."
"Yeah, you do that," Martin said. After a slightly awkward pause, Daphne apologized for getting so angry with him. In turn, he apologized for not calling her right away. The phone call quickly ended, and Martin breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that he didn't have to worry about facing Daphne's anger anymore.