(Niles POV)

Her words rang loudly in his ears long after the guests had gone.

"I've never been so insulted in all of my life!"

He'd watched her walk out of their home at the Montana, having never felt more dejected. She was gone, possibly forever, and he had no one to blame but himself.

The baby shower he'd thrown was nothing more than a cover-up for the string of horrible lies that he'd told her. When they'd married (on what was without question the happiest day of his life), he vowed never to lie to her, not even once, but now he'd broken that vow in ten-fold. He should have just been honest with her and told her what he'd had lunch with Maris, no matter what her reaction. She would have calmed done, eventually… or so he'd hoped.

Now he moved about the apartment, desperate to find something to do to occupy his time. But how could he possibly concentrate on anything other than the fact that he may have lost the one woman, the only woman he'd ever really and truly loved?

The apartment was ghostly empty. The guests had left, one by one, quietly without a word. And when his father and brother had gone (the last to leave), they gave him looks of sympathy, which was clearly undeserved, but to their credit they said nothing about what he had done.

He busied himself by straightening the living room, trying not to think about the woman he'd lost. To think of her only brought more heartache, but the soothing music from the radio helped, if only a little. And then he heard a sound that was sweeter than the music that flowed from the speakers. It was the sound of the key in the lock.

His heart raced as the door opened, revealing his angel. Without hesitation he dropped what he was doing and went to her, taking her into his arms.

"Daphne, I am so sorry."

To his utter happiness, she embraced him tightly and kissed him. "It's all right. Well not entirely, but I'm not as mad as I was. I just don't understand why you couldn't tell me that you were having lunch with Maris."

He took her hand and led her to the fainting couch, determined never to lie to her again. They sat down and he ran his hand over her soft skin. It was as always like touching the silkiest satin imaginable. "Well, I was going to tell you but you were so upset when Maris called that I worried about how you'd react."

She sighed deeply and looked at him. "I suppose I have been a little difficult haven't I?"

He fell silent. "There's just no way to answer that." But the moment the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. And suddenly he feared that he'd angered her again. But instead, to his relief she sighed deeply and gave him a small, but beautiful) smile.

"I'm sorry Daphne."

"I don't want to talk about it right now. I'm much too tired. All I want is a nice cup of tea and a warm bed."

They stood and headed for the kitchen but he stopped her at the door.

"What is it?"

He couldn't resist kissing her. "I love you, Daphne. And your wish is my command. Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed and I'll bring your tea?"

She turned, kissing him in a way that let him know that he was forgiven. But in spite of the forgiveness, he knew that he would spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

THE END