They were on their second round of lovemaking when they were startled by a knock on the door. Daphne bolted up right and glanced at her husband.
"Wh-who is it?"
"It's Frasier." said the muffled voice. "Is Niles there?"
Daphne smiled and she cradled Niles' face in her hands, kissing him tenderly. "He certainly is!"
"Look, I know it's late but I really need to speak to him." Frasier replied.
Niles shook his head but Daphne kissed his lips. "It's all right. Don't worry." She whispered.
Reluctantly they climbed out of bed and wrapped themselves in the plush hotel robes. Daphne took Niles' hand and together they went to answer the door.
Frasier and Martin stood before them, wearing solemn expressions.
"Hello, Frasier. Martin." Daphne said, feeling resentment toward them.
"Daphne, I-."
Frasier stopped mid-sentence. "Are we... interrupting something?"
Daphne and Niles exchanged looks. "Actually you are." Daphne said. "Something wonderful, in fact. But I have a feeling that this is more important."
"We can come back later." Martin said.
"No." Niles replied. "It's fine, isn't it Daphne?"
She smiled in an effort to hide her worry and kissed him again. "Of course it is. I'll leave you alone to talk. I'll just be in the other room, reading."
"Actually Daphne, I'd appreciate it if you'd stay." Frasier said. "This concerns you as well."
"Oh...all right."
She sat down on the bed next to Niles while Martin made himself comfortable on the loveseat. Frasier, however, chose to pace the room.
"Niles... I've done something that I'm not very proud of and I'm afraid I owe you a huge apology. You see, when I spilled your secret on my show, I was merely trying to help a troubled caller by painting a metaphor on which to build a resolution. Obviously I didn't name names, but I should have known that you'd be listening. I know that I hurt you, Niles and I know how painful that childhood experience was. I saw how the kids would mock you; the extra loads of laundry that Mom was always doing-especially in the morning as she sent us off to school... I never said anything but I knew what was going on."
"What do you mean you never said anything?" Niles retorted. "You said plenty!"
"All right, I admit I was pretty harsh back then-."
"Back then?" Daphne shouted. When she rose from the bed, Niles gently pushed her back down again and rubbed her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Frasier. Go ahead."
"Thank you, Niles. Mom never said a word about what she was doing but I knew what was going on what with the endless medications and doctor visits, the prolonged visits to the boy's room at school. Niles, what it boils down to is that I'm sorry for bringing up something that was so painful, and I promise it will never happen again."
To Daphne's amazement, Niles smiled and rose from the bed, making no secret of what he was about to do. And she would have none of it.
In a surge of anger, she grabbed his arm, forcing him to sit on the bed. "Niles Crane what are you doing?"
He glanced at her in surprise. "I..."
"You were going to forgive him, weren't you?"
He opened his mouth but no words came.
"I..."
"Bloody hell Niles, how could you? I won't forgive your brother for this... Ever! He has no idea what he put us through... put you through. The pain and humiliation... When you were crying in me arms earlier, I just couldn't stand seeing..."
Her voice broke and when she began to cry, it was Niles who held her, just as she had held him only a few hours before.
"Look...maybe we should go." Martin said. "This whole trip was a bad idea. I'm sorry we bothered you kids. You gonna be all right?"
Daphne felt Niles nodding and she clung to him even more, burying her face against his chest. But then she released her husband and turned to Martin.
"Thank you." She whispered when he hugged her tentatively.
Martin smiled and patted Niles' shoulder. "I'm sorry, son."
Niles looked at his father in surprise.
"I'm sorry for making this incident seem less than it was. I know how much it hurt you to go through that and I'm sorry I wasn't more supportive. At least your mother knew how to make everything better and I wish to hell she was here right now. God, I miss her."
Niles hugged his father. "I miss her too, Dad."
Daphne hugged Martin again, holding him a little longer than normal. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear. I love you."
And then she turned to Frasier. "I'm sorry too, for lashing out. But your bloody friends-."
Frasier rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... about that...I have something to say."
He was silent for a long moment, barely making eye contact with either of them, and when it seemed to last forever, Daphne's anger returned.
"Well, go on!" She yelled. "Either say what you came here to say or leave us alone! Niles has been through enough hell for one night without the likes of you-."
"Daphne, please don't cry." Frasier said softly.
"I can't help it!" She yelled as the tears fell more rapidly. "All I can think of are the horrible things that your bloody friends said to me about the man I love! And I can only imagine what they said to him! He was so... hurt... I've never seen him so..."
"It's all right, my love." Niles whispered from behind her, encircling her in his arms. But Daphne was unfazed by the romantic gesture.
"No, it's not all right!" she yelled, staring at Frasier. "How could you even associate with people like that? The way they were laughing as though it was the funniest thing in the world!"
"Daphne, I can't speak for Carla, Norm or Cliff, but they were out of line!" Frasier said. "The alcohol was flowing freely, the-."
"Oh spare me your bloody excuses!" Daphne yelled.
Martin grabbed Frasier's arm. "Fras, maybe we should just go."
"But Dad, I-."
With a sympathetic look at Daphne and Niles, Martin coaxed Frasier out of the room, leaving the husband and wife alone once more.