Summary: See parts I and II. Also, unless you are a detective, or even if you are, you might want to check out the first section before beginning this one for the sake of my writing making sense.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!



Moon Swings
Part III

By Laura ([email protected])



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up the next morning and panicked. I looked around and couldn't find Niles. My breathing increased as I started to believe that I had envisioned everything positive about the previous day. I then saw there was a note on the table next to me and breathed a sigh of relief: 'Daphne, gone to get breakfast, love Niles.' I smiled and snuggled back into my sheets, not quite ready to get out of bed.

I was not awake for ten minutes when I heard the door open. I sat up in bed to see Niles enter, a bag and tray in his hands.

"Good morning, my love," he said, placing his items down and giving me a kiss.

"Good morning," I responded, "you scared me, I don't like waking up without you." I pulled him near to me. He kissed me again and smiled.

"Would you rather not have breakfast?" I could not describe the feelings I had coursing through me at that precise moment. All I know is that it felt good to have him back near me, to have our relationship back. Something I was sure that I had ruined. Niles moved away from me, slowly, and moved towards the table where he had placed our breakfast.

"No, no, that's quite alright," I said to him. I grabbed my bathrobe and joined him at the table. "Sleep well?"

"Wonderfully so," he replied. I knew he hadn't slept the night before and the smile on his face told me the rest was much appreciated. "You?"

"Like a baby," I replied. It's always better to get naked and under the covers first with someone you love. However my love suddenly had a strange look on his face.

"Speaking of that," he said. His voice caught a bit, making a few nerves float through my system. "Do you remember our one un-clarified quandary from yesterday?" I stopped mid-bite and looked at him. He can't be saying what I think he is…

"You didn't?" I exclaimed. He looked a little unsure of himself.

"Actually, I did, I thought it would be helpful." I just sat there, I couldn't even move, I was petrified. "Honey, are you alright?" Niles asked me, concern written all over his face.

"I'm fine, it's just, it's just…" my voice just trailed off.

"It's just one more thing added to the list of things that has happened to you in the past year?" Niles filled in for me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, that's exactly what it is. Can't we just wait until I can't get up on me own?" Niles shook his head at me, I was serious.

"Daphne," he said to me while smiling.

"Oh all right, I'll pee on the bloody thing, but you'll have to check the results," I said while rising to the bathroom.

"Daphne, wait!" Niles called out. I turned around and he patted the bed. "Maybe we should talk about this first." I breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the bed, if only I knew what I wanted with all this.


**Niles**

I didn't want to rush Daphne into anything, it's been her nerves that has helped cause all our problems. I did, however, desperately want to know whether or not I was going to be a father. All that could wait a few minutes. I had to live up to my promise of helping out my wife.

She sat down next to me, timidly. I was instantly rubbing her back.

"Do you not want this?" I asked, she sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know. I don't exactly have me head on straight, we've been fully shown that." That seemed to me like one more reason why we may, in-fact, be having a baby.

"Alright, let's play hypothetical, what would you do if you found out you were pregnant?" She looked up at me.

"Until that moment, I wouldn't really know now, would I?" An idea popped into my head.

"Alright then, we'll play it out," I pulled her upwards and dragged her into the bathroom. "You've just finished taking the test," I then dragged her back into the room, "Then we sit here and wait for three minutes." I sat the two of us down and paused for about three seconds. "Then the timer dings," I jumped upright, "I run into the bathroom," which I acted out, "and then I tell you that we are pregnant." I said the last part while kneeling in front of her. However my brilliant plan merely succeeded in making my wife laugh so hard she ended up laying on the floor. "I guess that didn't work," I said as I helped her up.

"No, it was – helpful." She may have said that but she's still laughing regardless.

"How so?" She finally stopped laughing and looked at me.

"Well, let me put things this way. In the past year my life has been constantly changing. I want it to return to normal but normal isn't what it used to be. I have to adjust to a new normal. Who's to say that a baby can't be part of that?" I swear I saw a smile creep over her face. The grip she had on my hand also increased. My heart quickened, this could be real.

"Ok, do we need to try out the other extreme?" I asked, already standing, wondering if the negative response was becoming the less desired one. She laughed again.

"No, no, that's quite alright. Shall we give this thing a go?" She stood up and I noticed that she was shaking. This was a big step for us, planned or not. I rose as well and enveloped her into a hug while kissing her forehead.

"I'm ready when you are," she pulled away from me and took the box into the bathroom. I sat on the bed and fiddled with my hands. Deep down inside I knew I wanted this.


**Daphne**

For the first time since Niles suspected I might be pregnant I was actually thinking about the idea, and liking it. Maybe I wanted my life to be crazy and chaotic, perhaps all this mess was my choice all along. I finished the test, laid it out on the counter, and then joined my husband on the bed. He rose and set our travel alarm clock. Then he came over to the bed and took my hand in his.

"This is going to be a long three minutes," I sighed.

"Well, there's food," he said cheerily. We had completely forgotten about breakfast.

"Can't hurt, right?" I said. We then got up and continued our meal. There was a growing tension in the room. That's to be understandable, of course. We were about to find out whether it was really just the two of us, or perhaps our small family was already growing. I thought of what it would be like to have a child, half mine and half Niles. Someone who would be a combination of the two of us, forever binding us together, forever being a result of our love. I also thought of not having one, though I knew my life was forever changed just by the possibility. I could only imagine what was going through Niles' head for we were eating in silence for a long while, both lost in our own thoughts. I wondered what was taking place in his.

"Niles, can I ask you a question?" I finally said to break the silence; my love breathed a sigh of relief. His thoughts must have been just as haunting as mine were.

"Anything my love," he replied.

"Well, we talked about my view of all this, but what about yours?" He put his fork down and looked at me.

"I'm actually looking forward to the possibility," he said. The slight smile on his face told me he was serious.

"Really?" He chuckled.

"Yes really, it's anomalous, it's taken me by surprise, but yes I do." I looked at him, a little shocked. I didn't expect him to want a child this much. "Though if we're not I'd like to wait a while before actually trying for one." A little tranquility perhaps, I'll agree to that.

"Agreed." At that moment the timer rang.


**Niles**

It was at that precise instant that the extent of all this hit me. I was suddenly not as valiant as I thought I was. Without direct connection between my brain and legs I managed to stand up and head towards the bathroom. There were only two possible answers to this question, yes or no. My urge to find out the answer had suddenly been replaced with fear. One way my life was to forever be changed. My walk towards the bathroom was one of the longest I had ever taken, I'm sure it felt even longer for Daphne, who had followed me only to the bed, holding my shoulder until she sat down.

I walked into the bathroom and looked at the stick. After staring at it for a few moments I realized I didn't know what I was looking for, so I reached for the box: one line pregnant, two lines not. Ok, that seemed to be pretty simple. I walked back over to the stick and looked at it. One line. That meant…


**Daphne**

I pretty much knew what the answer was when I heard a thud from the bathroom. I raced in to see Niles on the floor, at least it didn't look like his head had hit anything on the way down. I crouched behind him and slowly picked up his head.

"Niles, Niles, are you alright?" He slowly opened his eyes.

"Daphne?" he asked.

"Are you alright?" I helped him to sit up.

"I, I think so," he said and then he looked at me with the strangest expression.

"So there's one more reason for my crazy behavior now, right?" I asked him and smiled despite myself. His face soon matched my expression.

"Yeah, fainting on the floor made it pretty darn obvious, didn't it?"

"Yeah, just a bit," I replied chuckling.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. This man has just fallen onto a hard tile floor and he's worried about me? I wanted to be upset but I couldn't, so instead I turned to him and smiled. He then wrapped me in his arms and gave me a huge kiss. Which turned into a passionate kiss. Which turned into making sure I really was pregnant. Apparently that fall did not harm my love, not one inch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Niles and I spent the day… well, in our room. We would have thought that after being cooped up together for a week we'd be anxious to head out and go places. That wasn't the case. Of course we were hardly a couple for the three days that our marriage was on the rocks. I never knew it could all happen so quickly. I also never knew that one more change to my life would make me so happy.

Niles turned off the movie we had been watching and turned towards me. He gave me a kiss and propped himself up next to me, which involved taking his hand off my stomach for the first time since we started watching the movie. He was going to be a wonderful father. Which is good, because I was probably going to continue to be a basket case.

"So how far along do you think you really are?" he asked me. I turned sideways to face him.

"Well, according to the math this child was either conceived before our wedding, or after." And that was the truth. Niles laughed at me.

"Well, at least it won't be obvious that our baby was already in the works when we got married."

"Oh, that happens a lot in my family. The baby's born seven months after the wedding, ten pounds, feisty thing, and mom and dad claim it's a preemie," we both laughed and knew that I was dead serious.

"Well us Cranes aren't like that," he said, I looked up at him confused. "Mom was pregnant with Frasier when they got married," my hand was up over my mouth in shock.

"Really?" Niles laughed.

"Yes. Apparently she waddled down the aisle too. Frasier was born two months later." The two of us laughed heartedly over that. At least that meant that my father-in-law would have no problems with this situation.

"I never knew that," I said once I caught my breath.

"I don't think Frasier does yet, either," oh dear!

"So when do you think we created this child?" I asked, bringing the subject back around. He looked at me pensively.

"I don't know. The wedding night would be interesting. I always thought that never happened and yet, it could have," he was so cute I had to kiss him.

"Well, we'll just have to find out when we get back to Seattle," I said before he kissed me again, and again, and again…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've started to play Daphne's games in my head. So let's see, where was I a year ago… Oh yes, still married to Maris. And now I'm married to Daphne and becoming a father. Wait, that didn't sound quite right. And now I've divorced Maris, married Daphne, and becoming a father. No, that's still a tad ambiguous. So let's see, now I've divorced Maris, married Daphne, and am having a baby with Daphne. Yes, that sounds healthier.

It was now more than halfway through our trip and everyone was quite pleased that Daphne and I were having no other problems, especially my love and I. Bryce and Ashley were taking us today to breakfast and then out to dinner tonight. We hadn't had a formal dinner with those two for a while, not one that would call for wine, at least. So Daphne and I were basically convinced we were going to have to tell them about the baby tonight. Coffee had already been avoided effortlessly; Daphne just claimed that I gave her enough energy that she didn't need it. No one complained with that one.

I glanced over at the clock; it was nine in the morning. I should probably get myself into the shower. However I was rather comfortable being snuggled up with Daphne. I nuzzled my head into her shoulder and she stirred.

"Morning," she yawned as she turned towards me.

"Morning my love," I said while giving her a kiss.

"Is it time to start getting ready?" she asked sleepily. I kissed her forehead.

"Yes, it is," I sighed and got out of bed. "You stay there and I'll take the first shower." Before I got to the bathroom her hands were around me.

"I'll join you," that was all she needed to say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the lovebirds were late for breakfast, again. Ashley was now into the habit of timing them. The latest they've been thus far is a half hour late, for newlyweds they are pretty time conscious. Right now we were up to minute twenty-two when they finally arrived. Thank god we picked a restaurant in their hotel.

"Twenty-two minutes this time, you aren't even trying to beat your record," Ashley said as they sat down across form us.

"It's more that we're trying not to make a new record," Niles said as they were handed their menus.

"We don't mind," Ashley smiled. She had really taken a liking to these two.

"Just wait," was all Daphne had to say. Niles, even though he was holding his menu, was also holding Daphne's hand. I swear they were acting more like lovers now then they were when they first arrived in England.

Our waiter arrived and told us about the omelet bar they had today. Both Ashley and Niles wanted one so they left, not before Niles insisted on getting Daphne one as well.

"He certainly takes care of you," I said to Daphne, she was still following Niles with her eyes.

"Daph, earth to Daphne," I joked at her; she finally came back to her senses.

"Sorry Bryce, you were saying?"

"I said Niles certainly takes care of you."

"Indeed he does. You seem to take care of Ashley as well." Daphne said, leaning forward.

"I do my best. She's headstrong like you and doesn't allow me to do much," we both laughed.

"So how are things with you and your new lady?" she asked me and I swear a mile wide smile must have appeared over my face. Daphne chuckled at me.

"Come on Daph, you know I'm serious about her."

"How serious?" I glared at her, we had already discussed this months ago.

"You know that, too."

"When?" she asked, prying little devil, isn't she? However instead of being bold like I wanted to be my head turned towards the floor.

"I'm not sure." She shook her head.

"Bryce McGee, I know you better than that," or so she claimed she did, she was missing my signals, however.

"I'm just not so sure about the timing," I managed to say while fiddling with my napkin.

"Why? She's crazy about you," was Daphne's response.

"Yeah, I know, but…" my voice just trailed off, Daphne finally caught on.

"Bryce, are you scared?" I looked up at her slowly, just to let her know she was right. Then an evil smile formed over her face. "Alright Bryce, answer me this, are you happy?" I smiled.

"Yes."

"Is she 'the one?'" so that was what the evil smile was for, she was turning my words back around to haunt me. I didn't mind, my words had served her well in the past; perhaps they could do the same for me. So I thought about it and I ended up smiling even broader. The trick does work. "So what are you waiting for?" Daphne asked.

"Well, for you and your husband to leave England, for one," I responded.

"Fair enough, and after that?" she had me caught.

"I'm not so sure."

"Alright then, Bryce, do me a favor. Ask her tonight instead of going to dinner with Niles and I."

"But what about you two?" I asked, she smiled.

"You don't have to worry about the newlyweds. Come on Bryce, I've seen how you two are together, you'd be a fool to let her go." And Daphne was right.

"Think you and Niles can help me with the ring?"

"You haven't even bloody bought a ring? What was this preparation you were talking about?" Daphne's voice was so loud I was afraid Ashley would hear. I glanced around, relieved that I didn't see her.

"That, was all in my head," I said while tapping my head. Daphne swatted my arm and shook her head.

"Bryce McGee, you need help."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That afternoon Daphne and I met up with Bryce at a jewelry store. It turned out to be the same one where Daphne had bought up our bands previously. I couldn't help but to glance around. I soon found out that my lovely wife had chosen the best pair out of the whole store. Bryce and Daphne had already gone over to the engagement rings when she caught me in the other section. She walked over to me.

"Don't trust your wife?" she sneered. I kissed her.

"I was just verifying what I already knew," I replied, turning to face her.

"Which was?" she asked.

"That you picked out the best pair in this store." She smiled and I gave her a kiss.

"Now come join Bryce and I before they think that the ring is for me." Daphne then grabbed my hand and led me over to Bryce, who was already being waited on.

"Lads, you've got to help me out, I'm awful with this stuff," Bryce said, the poor guy was starting to sweat.

"Come on Bryce, I quite liked the one you gave me," Daphne responded. "What did you do with that, anyways?" she asked. Bryce simply pointed. My wife and I followed his hand and sure enough, we saw Daphne's old ring. Daphne swatted Bryce's arm before joining me in my laughter.

"I've got a hefty store credit, thanks Daph," Bryce then gave Daphne a kiss on the cheek and went back to looking. I had found one that looked nice.

"Hey Bryce, what about this one?" I showed him the one I was looking at. The stone was placed high in it's setting: perky and outgoing, it reminded me of Ashley.

"Hey mate, that's not bad," Bryce then asked to see the ring.

"That is a beautiful one," Daphne said.

"It rightly is," Bryce replied. He then gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I think we have a winner."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, as soon as we arrived home from dinner, Daphne instantly went to see if the phone light was blinking.

"Darn it, no word yet," Daphne said as she plopped down on the bed. I kneeled in front of her and took off her shoes.

"Honey, we don't even know what Bryce's plan was, we can't expect them to be engaged already," I said as my wife sighed.

"Yeah, why wouldn't he tell us?"

"Perhaps so that Ashley could tell us tomorrow morning," I replied. Daphne sighed again. "Hey, would you mind not giving our little one any stress?" I asked wile rubbing her abdomen. Daphne looked at me with her jaw open.

"The baby is fine, just will be born knowing that mom's a nutcase." I got up onto the bed and wrapped her into my arms. The hormones were doing quite a number on her. I can trace their beginnings to right before our wedding. Of course, that could just be the wedding itself. Daphne then started speaking again.

"You are going to want to strangle me by the time this baby is born." I kissed her cheek.

"Nonsense. I just might need to enlist the help of Dad and Frasier."

"It'll probably take all three of you as well." I had no response so I simply kissed her. This was going to be a long pregnancy. Yet, I was still excited.

"Does it make sense that I'm this wacky already?" She asked me, I sighed, it looked like we'd be on the subject for a while longer.

"The unease, the anxiousness, yes. But right now it's just the psychology of it all. You're bringing it on because you know that you are pregnant."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, of course. In a couple of days, once you've adjusted a bit, this should fade."

"But what if –" I cut her off a kiss that knocked her back onto the pillows. She finally caught my drift.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ashley~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryce and I were the late ones to breakfast, for a change. Hey, who could blame us?

"Those smiles are promising," Daphne said as we sat down. Niles was looking at his watch.

"So is their timing, eighteen minutes late," he grinned at me. I knew that Bryce had told them what he was doing last night.

"This is going to be a scary competition," Bryce said.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" I asked, telling both sets of parents was simply not enough for me. I also couldn't stop smiling if I tried. Bryce kissed my cheek.

"Make them beg," he said. Daphne kicked him.

"Bryce!" she exclaimed. "I've been waiting all night and I want to know, Bryce wouldn't tell us his plans." Suddenly she had become the eager one. Oh hell, we were both eager, I'm always eager. I wrapped my arm around Bryce's.

"Well, for starters I didn't know that you two had bailed on us last night. Bryce told me that you were meeting us at the restaurant, which didn't make sense but I trusted him."

"Yeah, that won't last," Daphne said. Niles patted her shoulder as Bryce and I just laughed.

"Once we arrived he told me that it was just going to be the two of us. He had gotten the table lit with candles and already set up with a wonderful wine."

"I had told her that we needed a special night to ourselves," Bryce added.

"So we had a lovely meal. When we were finished Bryce took my hands in his and started this wonderful speech, only half of which I can remember." And I wished that I had each word etched into my memory. I looked at Bryce.

"Ash, I was so nervous I completely lost track of what I planned. I'm just glad it sounded good." I kissed his cheek.

"Well, it was music to my ears. He talked about how seeing you two so happy together had made him think about us. He told me how much he loved me and then asked for my hand in marriage and I said yes," I was getting all chocked up. Daphne stood up and came over to me.

"Congratulations!" she then gave me a huge hug. Niles and Bryce had a good laugh over the two of us. Daphne turned around.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Just, comparing, that's all," Bryce responded.

"Ash," Daphne said firmly as she returned to her seat.

"I know, I know, hit him. I think I'll kiss him instead." And that's exactly what I did.

"Good answer," Niles responded. I looked over at Daphne, she was smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashley and Bryce were adorable together. I really could not have been happier for them. However, with dinner planned for this evening I felt like my pregnancy was going to raid on their parade. I was sitting on the bed, having just finished getting dressed.

"Niles?" I asked, he entered from the bathroom. "Do you think there's anyway to get out of the possible wine incident tonight?" He sat down beside me.

"You don't want them to find out?" he asked, placing a hand on mine.

"Oh, it's not that, I just don't want to take the lime light away from them, that's all." Niles picked up my hand and kissed it.

"Well, we can always see what happens. If they pry into the reason why you aren't drinking any alcohol then that's their fault." He kissed my neck.

"But this is Bryce and Ashley," I exclaimed. He stopped and sat back.

"Still their fault," he then resumed kissing my neck while I laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At dinner wine became an issue all too quickly. Ashley and Bryce were celebrating so they ordered a wine bottle, one of my favorites at that. Niles gave my hand a squeeze to comfort me. I asked for a soda, best to give my senses something sweet.

"Daphne, aren't you going to have some wine?" Ashley asked once the waiter had left. I shared a look with Niles.

"I'm just not in the mood for alcohol tonight," I prayed they would leave that alone.

"But Daph, I thought you liked this one?" Bryce asked, I was hoping he wouldn't have remembered. I looked at Niles.

"We had a bad experience with it once, a bad batch. But not to worry, I blame the storage unit, not the bottle," Niles said in my rescue.

"Well, we can order something else," Ashley said, they weren't letting this drop like I wanted them to.

"No, don't be silly. This is your night, you order whatever you want." Bryce ignored me and flagged down our waiter, I saw that Niles was rolling his eyes with me.

"Alright Daph, what do you want, my treat?" I turned to Niles, we weren't getting out of this one.

"That's all right," I said to the waiter, who subsequently left.

"Daph? Why not?" Bryce asked.

"Because I can't," Bryce just stared at me.

"What do you mean you can't? Daphne you're not back to sniffing glue again, are you?" Niles turned towards me slowly, I just glared at Bryce.

"Of course not. I did that once because Billy convinced me it was fun. You know full well that the real glue sniffers were my brothers." Niles patted my back.

"Then Niles prescribed something for you, right? To calm you down, bring you back to your senses." I sat there, blinking at my longtime friend, flabbergasted. Niles didn't even have his prescription pad with him.

"Excuse me?" my husband exclaimed at Bryce. Ashley was simply watching this ping-pong match, astounded.

"Well, Daphne has been acting dreadfully off lately, a few pills would fix that, right?"

"I would never even think of doing such a thing. That's completely unethical," Niles' fists were clenched. I couldn't believe Bryce was convinced of this.

"I'm sorry mate, I just figured this could be a legitimate problem. I've often heard of mood swings and the such that can be controlled by medication," Bryce was backing down, thank god, I was afraid I was going to have to kill him.

"No, there is no problem here. Daphne's mood swings cannot be altered by medication." I gave my husband a quick glance. He realized what he said and mouthed "sorry" to me.

"But there is something causing all this then?" Ashley asked. She was slightly shaking her head from her confusion.

"Yes there is, but we really didn't want to mention anything."

"Now that doesn't work, come on, tell us," Bryce said. I chuckled.

"I don't know, you seem to think I need my husband to medicate me," I glared at Bryce, Niles chuckled and kissed my cheek.

"I'm sorry Daphne, you just haven't been acting like yourself, that's all." I was starting to wonder just how far along I really was.

"It's more like myself plus one. You know that extra person can cause a lot of havoc and yet they can't be blamed," what was I saying? Niles gave me a look that let me know he was thinking the same thing.

"Ok, if there is a personality issue going on here you really should be medicating her, Niles." Niles and I just starting laughing at that. He eventually put his head on my shoulder.

"It's not a personality issue, Bryce. Though it was my psychiatrist that figured it out," I said, Niles sat up, smiling at me.

"Now, nothing is official yet, so keep that in mind," Niles began, "But some of Daphne's peculiar behaviors might just be traced back not to a personality but rather to a baby." Bryce stared at us with his jaw slightly ajar. Ashley gasped and brought her hands up to her mouth.

"No!" she said. My nerves faded upon seeing her delight. I couldn't even begin to try not to smile. Niles was rubbing my hand.

"Are you serious mate?" Bryce asked, finally managing to get his jaw back into working order. He was staring directly at me so I nodded.

"Depending on when you have you're wedding I might just be waddling around."

"That does explain why you've been acting so strange, Daph," Bryce said.

"It does, and then some."

"How far along do you think you are?" Ashley asked.

"Could be a couple months," Niles said. A couple months? Oh my god, it really could be a couple months, that's a couple months less available to prepare. This was finally starting to hit me. Sometimes things become real once you start talking about it with other people.

"Oh my god, a couple months?" I said, suddenly I was losing it. Niles rubbed my back.

"Or a couple weeks, don't worry about it yet, sweetie," he then kissed my forehead. His kiss relaxed me however his words did not.

"If only my actions didn't confirm the month and not week theory," Niles kissed my lips as our drinks arrived.

"Well, now that Daphne is calm and without any dreadful alcohol, shall we make a toast?" Bryce asked, we all raised our glasses, the waiter had been nice enough to give me the same type of glass.

"To Ashley and myself and to Niles and Daphne's newest addition." We then all clicked glasses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we arrived back to our room that night Daphne collapsed onto the bed. She was making this a habit. I guessed I would find her on the fainting couch quite often.

"Oh, I think I ate too much," she complained. I kissed her stomach.

"Why do you say that?" I asked while I began to take off my shoes.

"Well," she said while propping herself up, "I can feel that last bite of desert in my neck and this skirt is too tight," her last statement caught me, I glanced over at her.

"Umm, sweetie, that might not be just dinner." She looked at me for a second before running into the bathroom. I followed. I found her in front of the mirror, sideways.

"I don't really see any difference, do you?" she asked. I wrapped my arms around her.

"If we do see anything it's probably just a fabrication of our imaginations," she kissed me.

"You and your psychological mumble jumble," she said as she left the bathroom. I exited to find her back on the bed. "I seriously ate too much," she said again. I took off my suite jacket.

"Honey, you are eating for two, its ok." She moved so that she was sitting against the headrest.

"I'll be huge in no time," she sighed.

"I'll love every inch of you," I crawled over to her and began kissing her arm.

"I just want to know for sure," I stopped for a moment.

"We will soon enough, and then we won't get another vacation for quite some time," I let my voice trail off as I gave her puppy dog eyes.

"You're right," she then threw herself into my arms and kissed me deeply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of Niles and Daphne's stay in London was wonderful. Although the breakfast thing did become a bit of a competition, one day we arrived at the same time, both an hour late. The people around us had no idea why we were laughing so. And Daphne's pregnancy… well, it made sense. I have fond memories of her mom pregnant, which she was for about nine years straight, and she was quite loony. Now, I'm not saying that Daphne's turning into her mother, just that the signs add up. I would be seriously shocked if they found out they weren't pregnant. And I know they both would be crushed. Niles had even purchased a souvenir for their baby, a tiny t-shirt of the British flag.

As for Ashley and I, well, I'm glad Daphne gave me that little push. I was ecstatic that I was finally getting married myself. And it all just made me realize how foolish Daph and I were to get engaged in the first place. We weren't sure, when it's right you know, you just know. We were all eating breakfast one last time before we drove Niles and Daphne back to the airport.

"Excited to be going home?" Ashley asked them.

"Yes, very," Daphne began, "we have some redecorating to do." Niles put down his fork.

"You are not moving anything in your condition," he said. "Frasier and I will move everything, or I'll hire someone."

"As amusing as it sounds to watch you and your brother move heavy objects I'd like you to actually meet our child, so let's hire someone," she then gave him a kiss. Ashley and I were laughing. Daphne caught us. "Bryce, you've seen Frasier, they are exactly alike. One time the two of them couldn't even move their Father's recliner, so it ended up nicking the floor. Which just meant that the floor had to be completely re-fixed." I saw Niles stiffen up.

"I don't like that memory," Daphne looked at him, she was trying to figure out why he said that and then her eyes got wide, she seemed to have realized it.

"Oh, Joe," she then turned to us while placing a hand on Niles' shoulder. "The guy they got to fix the floor ended up dating me for a while."

"Oh, I see," Ashley said. "You'll tell us when the baby's due, right?" Ashley loves to change topics. Niles and Daphne laughed.

"Right after we let my family know that we are having one," Niles responded.

"My family can just guess," Daphne said. I started laughing.

"Daphne Crane," I said to her.

"Oh, all right," she sighed. Niles gave me a look of thanks.

"Have you two done any wedding planning thus far?" Niles asked. I looked at Ashley.

"Well, we've thrown around a few ideas, but that's about it," she responded for me.

"I hope I'll be able to make it to the wedding," Daphne said.

"Well, if you let us know when the baby's due maybe we can make that work for you," I smiled devilishly at Daphne. She stared at me.

"Bryce McGee, we'll see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This vacation seemed long and short at the same time. Time wise it felt short, but when I stopped to remember everything that had happened it seemed like an awfully long trip. Frighteningly long. I still couldn't believe how well it turned out, I was sure I didn't deserve it.

I was sad to leave Bryce and Ashley. It really was a shame we lived so far apart. Then again, that was part of the beauty of our relationship, hard to get fed up with one another from across the Atlantic. Even Niles looked like he was sad. To top it all off I hadn't been having the best morning. I was feeling a little queasy. It probably was just the pregnancy but it was not a feeling I wanted before a long flight home.

As it turned out I slept for most of the flight, as did Niles. We were out late the night before, Bryce and Ashley did not let us go easily. Our nap was helpful for dealing with the time change for we actually had some energy when we arrived in Seattle.

Once we arrived home it was a wonderful feeling. I placed my bags down, well, the two that Niles allowed me to carry, and walked over to the couch to sit down, or rather, lay down. Niles let out a laugh.

"I knew you'd do that," he said, coming over and giving me a kiss.

"How did you know that?" I asked while sitting up so that he could sit beside me.

"Well, for starters, you plopped down onto the bed every time we returned to the hotel room," I didn't remember that.

"Really?" I asked, he kissed me again.

"Really." He brought a few bags upstairs as I sat where I was and looked around. It felt good to be home and for the first time since I was married the Montana had a true home feeling for me. My husband soon returned with the phonebook and the phone, "Call your doctor." I took the items from him as I laughed.

"Anxious are we?" I asked, teasing him.

"Very," he curled up next to me. "I was fine this last week and a half but now I'd really like to know. I've already decided which room we could convert into a baby room and I would like to prevent myself from any extremes." I laughed at him and gave him a kiss.

"What's so funny?" he asked while I dialed.

"So have I."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was lucky and was able to land a doctor's appointment for the next morning. The nurse made the mistake of asking why I thought I might be pregnant and I made the mistake of telling her the whole story. I think I ended up scaring the poor dear.

They told me they'd call me later once they received the results. I went to Nervosa, out of habit, and ended up ordering myself some tea. I was sitting there, thinking of how sure I was that I was pregnant, when Roz showed up.

"I see it's back to married bliss for you," she said while sitting down opposite me.

"Thankfully yes," I replied.

"What exactly happened?" Roz asked. "I was relieved when Frasier told me that everything was ok but all I could remember was that door slam on the phone before you hung up." Oh dear, that's right.

"Well I had called you in the thick of the storm. Shortly thereafter Niles had taken off his wedding band and left."

"Niles did that?" Roz asked. I sighed and settled back in my chair to explain to her the full story. I was quite pleased with myself that I had no hesitation in doing so anymore. "That's one hell of a vacation," Roz said once I had finished.

"Tell me about it, and we still had a week and a half to have fun." I then saw my wonderful husband enter the café.

"Hello Roz, Hi Daphne," he gave me a kiss, placed his order, then sat down next to me.

"Any word yet?" he asked me, I shook my head.

"Anything interesting happen while we were away?" I asked. Roz just shook her head.

"Unless you count my continual failure to achieve a second date, no," She was certainly having some bad luck. "Anything else of interest happen on your trip, did someone get hit by a car or something?" Niles and I laughed at her.

"Actually Bryce and Ashley got engaged," I said. She didn't seem thrilled.

"Really? That's wonderful," her voice was flat. She then rose and left.

"I'm worried about Roz," I said to Niles.

"Don't be, I talked to Frasier today, she just had a really bad date two nights ago and she's been like this ever since." I still felt bad. "So how did the doctor's visit go?"

"Fine, they took some blood, did a few tests and said they'd get back to me." Niles sighed. I gave him a kiss. "If you can't be patient now how are you going to be for the next seven to nine months," I said while rising. Unfortunately because of that I didn't see Frasier enter.

"What's going on in the next seven to nine months?" he asked. I looked at Niles, he shrugged. I had to field this one.

"Oh, you know, all the decorating we've been talking about doing, I just figure that it will take a while, especially following this streak we've been under." Frasier seemed like he would buy it. "Well, I've got to go see how lazy Dad's been, bye." I gave Niles a kiss.

"Call me if you hear anything," Frasier looked at Niles strangely, I gave my husband a look, "from Ashley or Bryce," he finished. I smiled at him and then left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a long three weeks without Niles and Daphne. They had called the night before to let us know that they had arrived in one piece. I took that as finally knowing that their marriage wasn't in shambles. When Frasier told me about their troubles I could not believe it. I didn't think they'd have these types of problems, at least not this early.

Daphne showed up that afternoon. She had warned me to keep up with my exercises while she was away and I'll admit to you that I slacked, big time. I had three weeks ya know. However Daphne didn't notice, like she normally does. She actually praised me for keeping to my word. I started paying closer attention to her after that. If she was going easy on my exercises something was definitely up. And she continued to do weird things, just proving my suspicion further. I got my chance to say something after she walked into the kitchen and then walked immediately back into the living room.

"What did I go in there for?" she asked.

"I don't know, but you can get me a beer," I replied.

"No, I went into the kitchen for a reason, I'm sure I did," her voice trailed off. "Water, that's it!" she exclaimed and headed back towards the kitchen.

"Don't forget my beer!" I called after. She returned with both.

"You and your precious beer," she mumbled before sitting back down on the couch. I turned off the television.

"All right Daph, what's wrong?" she looked over at me, I knew there was something there.

"What are you talking about?" she replied.

"Well, you don't normally forget things that quickly and you gave me the easiest day of exercising ever," I realized I shouldn't have mentioned that last part.

"I can fix that last part," she said, I squirmed. "Can't a person be nice and forgetful sometimes?" she asked, her eyes were too wide. Just then the phone rang and she answered it.

"Hello? – Hi Niles. – No, I'm fine. – No, I haven't heard anything yet. – Yes, your father's fine but he's prying." I rolled my eyes. "Ok, will do. – Love you too, bye." She then hung up the phone.

"Come on Daph, I know you're hiding something from me." She sat back down on the couch.

"So? Old man," she was giving me her "I'm-not-going-to-tell" look.

"I can keep a secret," I replied. She stood up.

"I'm not sure about that, and besides, I don't think you'd want to know about this anyways."

"Oh Geez. I can too keep a secret, I was a cop for thirty-years, and what wouldn't I want to know?" she turned around with a sly smile.

"Well, with Freddy and all I figured you were good with grandchildren," what does that have to do with – Oh. I swear my eyes must have bugged right out of my head.

"Daph, you're pregnant?" she beamed at me.

"Possibly so, I'm still waiting for confirmation." I got out of my chair to give her a hug.

"That's great!" I exclaimed.

"Just don't tell Frasier, I'm sure Niles wants that liberty."

"My lips are sealed." Unfortunately my smile wasn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was anxious to get home from work but leaving for three weeks meant I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. I stopped calling Daphne so as to get my work done at a faster pace. I ended up staying only an hour later so my timing was not atrocious.

When I arrived home I found my wife curled up on the couch, watching the television. I discarded my belongings as she turned off the television and rose to great me.

"Hi Niles," she said while kissing me. I couldn't read her face.

"So?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. Slowly a vast grin appeared over her face and she nodded her head. A wave of enthusiasm overcame me as I pulled her into my arms and gave her a tight hug, then a huge kiss. She pulled back.

"I also know when," she said, still smiling broadly. I didn't expect to find that out so quickly.

"Was it a wedding night conception after all?" I asked while smiling, she chuckled.

"Sadly no," she moved towards me and fiddled with my tie, "that would have been impossible." She then kissed my shocked face.

"So just how pregnant are you?" I asked, wondering what the possibilities really were.

"No more guesses?" she asked. Her smile was tantalizing me, I just wanted to know what the answer was.

"How far before the wedding?" I asked. She kissed me.

"Two weeks." Two weeks, that meant…

"So we're two and a half months pregnant?" I asked, my breathing was becoming a little difficult to control.

"Yes, no wonder I was so loony, right?" she asked but I was still having trouble breathing. She rubbed my back and led me over to the couch.

"I'm – sorry, this just became – very real," I said in-between gasps.

"You should have seen me earlier," she sighed. I finally was able to breath normally, Daphne finished rubbing my back and sat down next to me.

"What happened earlier?"

"Let's just say that our kitchen had a fudge attack," I couldn't help but to chuckle at her and kiss her cheek. "You think I'm kidding, wait till you see the kitchen," I sat back; I was becoming leery of what state the kitchen actually was in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day I met my brother in Nervosa. When I arrived he already had his coffee. I ordered mine and sat down.

"Hi Niles," my brother grumbled.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked.

"Oh, it's Dad. He's being a nuisance."

"What's he doing now?" I asked as my coffee arrived.

"He won't tell me his secret." My brother's still petulant and I'm having quite a hard time keeping myself from laughing, thankfully Dad was keeping the pregnancy quiet. Daphne and I had called him last night to confirm our child for him. We had managed to keep Frasier away from the phone, Dad pretended we were Duke. Remembering all this made me want to laugh twice as hard. Unfortunately Frasier noticed I was trying to hold my laughter in.

"You! It's your secret!" he exclaimed, sending me into a fit of hysterics.

"It's not mine alone, it's mine and Daphne's," I finally managed to say. My brother looked at me askance.

"Well, you're already married and it appears that you're not having any more dilemmas…" I just sat still. My brother would eventually figure it out. Daphne then entered the café.

"Hi Frasier, hello Niles," she said, giving me a kiss and sitting down next to me. The waiter then came over. "Oh, just a hot chocolate for me, I need some type of caffeine today." My brother then let in the loudest gasp I have ever heard in my life, and I've heard him do that quite often. Daphne looked at me.

"I just gave him a few clues," I said.

"You gave me one clue!" Frasier exclaimed.

"And the hot chocolate," I replied. Frasier then lowered his voice.

"You two are having a baby?" My wife and I proceeded to giggle like five year olds. Which is ironic because five year olds shouldn't be having children in the first place. "Oh, Niles, Daphne, that's wonderful." Frasier then gave us both a hug. "Did this just happen?" Frasier's question sent Daphne and I into a fit of hysterics.

"The baby or finding out about the baby?" Daphne asked, my brother glared at her.

"The baby, when should I expect my new niece or nephew?"

"Oh, in about six or seven months," Daphne replied. Frasier blinked. "That means I'm 10 weeks pregnant."

"Yes, I know what that means. That was, before the wedding," Frasier said slowly. Daphne started chuckling again, I nudged her.

"Do you have a problem with that, brother?" I asked.

"No, no, of course not." And yet I didn't believe him. I was going to have to have a little chat with Dad. I then realized that he wasn't finished talking. "However that's not the best standards to be setting for the young one, is it?" Standards? Who does he think he's talking to, Roz?

"What are you talking about?" Daphne asked, quite shocked as well.

"Let's look at the issue at hand here, shall we?" Daphne's drink arrived, much to the obliviousness of my wife and I. "Two weeks, before the wedding, you two join in a tryst that results in a child, conceived out of wedlock. Now, it will not be noticeable to the world that this was the case but this child, this innocent little being, will know." My brother was talking nonsense.

"This from a man who has sex out of wedlock," Daphne replied dryly, finally paying attention to her drink. Frasier glared at her.

"Mistakes do happen, I'll warrant that. But look at all you two have been through in the past year, do you really want to be adding a child to this milieu?"

"You know Frasier, you do bring up a good point," I began. My brother sat back smugly. "Next time I decide to have an unplanned child, whom I love dearly, I'll make sure to stop by your place first just to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Oh, better yet, I'll simply refrain from having sex at all until you're absolutely positive that another person won't make the earth tilt off it's axis and spin into the sun!" Frasier stood up.

"Well, I never."

"Oh put a sock in it," Daphne began. "You have no idea what you are talking about." My brother then stormed out of the café. "I'm surprised he hasn't thrown the earth of its axis himself," Daphne grumbled.

"He would if he could." She turned towards me.

"Promise me one thing, that you will never, ever ask your brother for permission to have sex with me." I kissed her.

"I haven't done that yet and I don't feel like starting now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things have certainly been moving fast in my brother's life. Of course I realize that this pregnancy wasn't planned, still, it was a bit of a shock. I was hoping Niles and Daphne would be able to find some tranquility and a baby will do nothing of the sort. They were oblivious as to the quandary they were really just entering into.

I arrived home to find my father where he normally is.

"Hey Frasier," Dad said, instantly turning towards me.

"Hi Dad," I responded.

"Did you talk to Niles?" my father was certainly excited about this.

"Yes, we met today in Nervosa."

"And?"

"And Niles and Daphne told me about the baby, yes." Dad shifted in his seat, smiling wide.

"Isn't it great?" he asked. I wasn't so sure.

"Well, Dad…"

"Now Frasier, don't start."

"Its just, well, their child got a head start on their marriage." Dad just looked at me.

"You had no problem with Roz's child."

"Yes, but that was Roz." My father sighed.

"Look Frasier, these things happen. They're married now and happy, what more do you want?"

"I suppose you're right," I said as I attempted to make my way towards my room.

"Of course I am. And you would have no reason to complain anyways," Dad then turned the television back on.

"Why wouldn't I? I was married when Frederick was conceived." Dad shook his head.

"I'm talking about quite a few years before that." I paused, I was quite positive that I didn't have any other children.

"Dad, I'm not following you."

"Let me put it to you this way, Fras. Add a couple of months to Daphne's pregnancy and you've got your mother and I." My jaw fell open. That meant…

"Mom was pregnant with me when you two got married?!"

"Yup, she was the cutest thing, waddling down the aisle." Waddling…

"Mom was very pregnant when you two got married?"

"Yeah," Dad was calm and collected, I was going insane.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" I asked, my father turned around.

"Consider your reaction and then get back to me." He turned back to his game as I stormed off to my bedroom. I hated being wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End~of~Part~III~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~