A/U: One of my favorite holiday movies is The Family Man, and as I was watching it the other night, I was inspired to write this Naley story. It's going to be four parts. I hope you like it.
"So it's settled, then," Haley said. "We'll give the kids one last Christmas and then…we'll file for divorce."
Nathan looked at his wife; she was sitting across the table from him with a guarded expression on her face. He wasn't sure what had happened, but somehow over the last few years they'd drifted apart. It had been over six months since they'd made love; Haley slept so close to the edge of the mattress some nights that he was amazed she didn't roll off the bed while she was sleeping.
"Haley…" His voice trailed off as he studied her face.
She sighed. "Nathan—"
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" he interrupted softly.
She stood up. "Don't do this, Nathan." She sighed. "It was hard enough to make this decision. Now that we've made it, let's not second guess ourselves. Yes, I'm sure we're doing the right thing."
"But the kids—"
Haley laughed miserably. "The kids don't deserve two parents who aren't in love with each other any more."
"You're right," Nathan agreed. "They don't deserve that."
He wished he knew what to do, what to say to make her love him again. But there were no magic words. It wasn't that he wasn't in love with Haley anymore; it was that he'd started to take her for granted and hadn't tried hard enough to show her how much he loved her. And he'd gone so long without showing her, he was afraid it was too late.
Nathan lay in bed that night thinking that things couldn't get much worse.
But that was before he woke up the next morning.