Girl Talk Pt 1

Daphne pulled the car up outside Roz's apartment building taking the large grocery bag from the back she locked the doors. as she rode up in the elevator she mentally checked off the bag's contents making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Roz's list had been so long she was sure she'd leave something behind but now standing in front of the apartment door she was pretty sure she'd remembered it all.

"Hi Daph !" Roz said opening the door and regarding her with a broad grin

"Hi yourself , and Happy Birthday" Daphne replied as she marched past her friend and placed the bag on the low coffee table in the centre of the room.

"Did you remember everything"

"I think so , but Roz are you sure you wouldn't rather go out ? I mean it is your birthday and I know Donny wouldn't mind baby-sitting Alice" They had already gone over this on the phone earlier in the evening and Roz was determined that she'd rather have a girlie night in with lots of wine , ice cream and vodka shooters , but Daphne saw no harm in giving it one last shot

"No" Roz said firmly "It's been ages since we had a really good chat , now we're staying in and that's final. I've just got Alice down so give me two minutes to get glasses and spoons and we're all set."

Daphne sighed as Roz disappeared into the kitchen . Reaching into the bag she started to lift out pots of ice cream

"Ok" she shouted "We've got Vanilla , Fudge , double chocolate , strawberry , choc chip and honey comb. Did I forget any?"

"Nope , well done!"

"Yeah well I just lifted one of everything and I was pretty sure that would cover it. Now I've got two bottles of white and two red and of course...." She lifted the bottle of vodka out of the bag as Roz appeared with a tray of glasses and spoons , an ice bucket and a large box of chocolates

"Good" she said "Now make yourself even more useful and open the wine."

Daphne took the cork screw from Roz as she curled up on one end of the sofa. Looking down at her friend , Daphne couldn't help but think something was going on , Roz had gossip , she had to have otherwise why pass up the chance of a night out with a built in baby-sitter. She handed her a glass and then filling one for herself she pulled the scatter cushions of the large arm chair and positioned herself on the floor. Once she was comfortable she raised her glass.

"Well once again , happy birthday and here's to many more" she said

Roz sipped her drink "So tell me about the wedding plans" she said smiling at Daphne "have you gone dress shopping yet?"

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By the time Daphne had detailed the wedding plans to date they had managed to get through a bottle and a half of wine and were slowly demolishing the various flavours of ice cream ;

"So are you nervous ?" Roz asked

Daphne sighed "Well .... no not really , I know everything is planned perfectly and I've no doubt it'll all go off without a hitch , and I guess I'm sure Donny loves me and we'll be happy. I'm kind of ..... well not nervous really but concerned about moving. I know it probably sounds daft to you but I've lived with Dr Crane and Mr Crane for 7 years now and I guess I just can't imagine things any other way."

Roz laughed , the wine was beginning to take affect on both of them and Roz could see this was obviously something Daphne had been keeping to herself for a while , she tried to make light of the situation , "Are you trying to tell me your going to miss Frasier ? Oh come on Daph surely not having to look at his face over the breakfast table every morning is reason to get married on it's own. Mind you it's a long time since I seen Donny in the morning but I don't suppose it's much better"

Daphne laughed , there was a time when Roz commenting on seeing Donny in the morning would have bothered her but she was past it now , and besides she was right like most men she'd had dealings with he was terrible in the morning . She reached for the cork screw and opened the third bottle of wine.

"I told you ,you would think I was daft ..... but you know they're the closest thing I have to a family here and I don't know it just seems strange that's all . I know Dr Crane can be a pain , a big one. I know he can be self centred and he's picky and he has a tendency to get above himself , but you know when you need him he's there. Anytime I've really thought things couldn't get any worse he's always been able to make me feel better , granted normally because I look at the state his life is in at any given time and I realise mine isn't all that bad , but still ."

"Yeah" Roz said grinning "No matter how bad your life gets you can always be sure Frasier's is worse"

"And as for Mr Crane" Daphne continued "I know I'll still see him everyday but ... Well my own father wasn't much good for anything and I guess he's the way I always wanted my father to be. We can shout and yell at each other and at the same time be completely honest and I know we'll never fall out or he'll never think any less of me." Daphne felt tears going to her eyes , the wine was going straight to her head , "you know I think I'm even going to miss chasing Eddie out of my room and telling him off for drinking out of the toilet"

Roz refilled both their glasses "look Daph" she said with understanding "it's not as if you're not going to work there anymore , you'll just go home in the evening to Donny and come back in the morning. You'll still see almost as much of them , and you won't have to listen to Frasier complain about your English cooking anymore and we'll see how he likes it when he's doing it all himself or having Martin force feed him hamburgers and french fries and fried breakfasts."

"I guess you're right, I just worry that once I move out I'll be just an employee instead of a member of the family . I'd hate that."

"Relax it'll never happen" Roz laughed "They love you they're not going to stop doing that just because you don't sleep under the same roof anymore . Now you are being daft"

"Yeah , yeah I know" Daphne said taking one of the pots of ice cream and scooping out the last of it " But then there's Dr Crane"

"Daph that wine must be going to your head you've already talked about him . He's pompous but has a wonderful side I know I work with him too remember."

"Not that Dr Crane" Daphne replied setting down the now empty ice cream carton and reaching for another "Niles"

Roz's ears pricked up and she suddenly felt a little less drunk "Oh" she said "Niles . Yeah Daph lets talk about Niles"