Another Forgotten Birthday

[petrelliheidi]

Heidi sat at the kitchen table waiting for her husband to come home from work. After spending the day with her children Nathan's mother kindly agreed to taking the boys off her hands for the evening so that she and Nathan could celebrate her birthday in peace

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[petrelliheidi]

Heidi had been sleeping soundly, as far as birthdays go this one had been pretty great even though it was probably the worst idea she ever had, Peter was Nathan's brother for crying out loud! That was cold but hadn't her husband been cold to her? And to Peter by the sound of it, he idolized his brother but now both seemed to have had enough of him.

Heidi's eyes snapped awake and looked over at the other side of the bed, a little surprised to see it empty. Heidi saw him make a hasty escape out the window, a little dangerous but that didn't seem like it would faze him. For a moment she wondered what had gotten him so rattled but that was when she heard the keys in the door oh god, Nathan...She took a breath to calm herself before going out to face him, her newfound empathy gave her the strength she needed to give her husband a good talking to if it came to that. She walked into the lounge room and leaned against the doorway with her arms folded, he looked rough. "Hey honey, how was wherever you pretended to be this evening?" In that

[law_anddisorder]

Nathan almost dropped his keys, a combination of the alcohol's effect on his coordination and surprise at Heidi's bristling comment.

What the hell, did she grow that smart mouth overnight?

"It was great, baby," Nathan said, recovering pretty smoothly for his inebriated state. "How much housework did you pretend to do today? Obviously dinner isn't in the oven. You're still in your pajamas and the place is a Goddamned mess," he said, gesturing at the wineglasses on the coffee table and the discarded clothing on the couch. He recognized one of his suit jackets, but didn't remember leaving it there. He'd been in a rush this morning, and Heidi hadn't let him in his own damn bedroom. Who knows what the hell he did anymore?

He took off his suit jacket and hung it in the foyer closet, made a mental note to try and remember where he'd forgotten his tie, and made an immediate beeline straight for the liquor cabinet.

"Well? What the hell did you do all day?" Nathan added, pouring himself a little more than a splash of Scotch.

[petrelliheidi]

Heidi narrowed her eyes at her husband, usually, she would let him get away with this kind of behavior because it wasn't worth arguing about but tonight Heidi felt like throwing down

[law_anddisorder]

Nathan finished the rest of his drink in a long swallow, mostly to hide the utterly shocked expression on his face.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Never in all their married life had Heidi ever spoken to him quite like that. Sure, she'd put him in his place from time to time, but never like this. He wouldn't pretend to think that Heidi didn't know about his philandering, but never had she outright called him on it. If he hadn't been so drunk, and if he hadn't just finished screwing said intern, he might have considered it a turn-on

[petrelliheidi]

Heidi started to laugh, how was it that she had put up with this from him for so long? Love made a person do stupid things. "What even makes you think there is going to be a next year?" She asked him curiously. "What would happen if I was just suddenly not here? Would anything change? Would you even realize I was gone or would you be too busy drowning your sorrows in Scotch and call girls?"

She sighed heavily, she wished it could be the end of it right there but it would take a lot for him to change his ways, even if he wanted to. "No Nathan, I want you to mean it." Because that hadn't been an apology, that had been an attempt to get her to shut up. "You know I think I'm going to go get changed, get the kids and go out for pizza. We'll be staying with my parents tonight."

[law_anddisorder]

Nathan's intoxication left him slow to process everything Heidi had just said to him, and when the gravity of the situation finally dawned on him, he was watching her pajama-clad legs disappear up the stairs to their bedroom. He let out a drunken chuckle of disbelief.

No way. She's not serious, is she?

Heidi was just going to up and leave him here? She hadn't even put anything on for dinner, and Nathan had eaten nothing since the veggie and egg wrap he'd wolfed down while driving to the office earlier that morning.

She's fucking serious."Heidi, wait!" Nathan called after her. His first few steps forward were clumsy, and he nearly spilled his drink on himself unsteadily navigating the clear path through the living room and up the stairs. God, he really hadn't meant to get this inebriated

[petrelliheidi]

The feelings she was getting off him were ones that she was not prepared for, fear though she wasn't quite sure of what, she didn't believe it was over the idea of her leaving. Heidi glared at him and wriggled out of his grip, she was not in the mood for this. "Back off Nathan, you aren't coming with us, not in this state." She did her very best to keep her children away from Nathan when he was like this. "If I know my boys, they won't turn down pizza." They would sit through one of their grandmother's charity dinners and afterward her sons would still be hungry.

"When you've sobered up, call me. I'm sure I have a hell of an apology coming then." If he even bothered to try. She smiled brightly at him and picked up her bag. "You have a nice night."

[law_anddisorder]

Once Heidi had gotten free of his grasp, Nathan stepped back, his hands up in a non-threatening manner, sure he was about to get slapped in the mouth for manhandling her like that. He was brought up to know better than to ever put his hands on a woman.

He almost apologized, but decided against it. Honestly, why should she start believing him now?

The slap never came; all he got was Heidi's unflappable composure and her thorough disappointment. And a You have a nice night that could just as easily have meant, Go fuck yourself, PetrelliNathan stood there alone in his bedroom, completely dazed for a moment, until the sound of the front door closing snapped him out of it. The house was deathly quiet; Nathan could hear the blood pounding in his ears, the refrigerator humming away in the kitchen. His face burned with a mixture of anger and shame. God, what had he done

[petrelliheidi]

Heidi's evening had been fun after she had picked the boys up they went out for pizza, their company was exactly what she needed after her argument with Nathan, they were her light, her reason to wake up in the morning If only Nathan felt the same way. Once they had been tucked into bed at her parents' house Heidi retreated back to her home to pick up some of their things, upon entering she felt a deep depression, it almost knocked her off her feet. What the...? Her eyes went wide when she realized it had to have been Nathan, she could feel him and he was having a rough time. She put her bag down and went upstairs to where her husband lay asleep on the bed looking more worse for wear than when she had left him.

"Oh, Nathan." She said as she kneeled down beside the bed, he looked pretty out of it, the broken mirror on the ceiling giving her an idea of what had happened. Heidi sat there watching him quietly then gently woke him up. "Hey tough guy, get in a fight?"

[law_anddisorder]

"Heidi. You came back. Thank God," Nathan said, his voice groggy from both too little sleep and too much alcohol. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, wincing from the cuts on his hands.

"A fight?" He realized she meant the broken mirror. "Uh, yeah," he said sheepishly. "A fight with myself. He won." Nathan tried to smile, even though he had a splitting headache. He hoped Heidi knew how much he truly did love her; he knew for a fact that she still loved him. Her crystal-blue eyes were filled with concern for him, even after everything he'd done to her. Everything he'd not done for her

[petrelliheidi]

He meant every word, Heidi could feel it. She liked this new ability, it may not have anything as grand as flying or moving objects with her mind but it certainly had its applications. "I know that wasn't you." She said quietly, it wouldn't have happened otherwise but maybe it was needed to shake him up. "You've never been fond of what I do for a living, I can understand that but I am here, you can talk to me

[law_anddisorder]

Nathan hadn't even thought to check his face for any cuts, because his own reflection was what got him into this mess, and he'd also been feeling no pain when it happened. Now? He felt like he'd been stung by a hundred angry bees

[petrelliheidi]

"It's not that bad," Heidi reassured him, it was odd though to see him cut up like that, Nathan was always an anywhere but the face guy, even though he had the cute little scar on his chin that she adored, he had never been a fan. She continued to dab at his cuts lightly as he talked, it made her so happy to hear Nathan admit his faults, it wasn't something he did lightly. "I didn't need a present." It was never really about that. "I needed you

[law_anddisorder]

Nathan knew Heidi hadn't taken a cheap shot with her comment about the interns; she had a point. He only looked at them long enough to get them into bed. After that, it was strictly sex. No touching, no cuddling, certainly no sleeping in the same bed with them. They were just a dime a dozen. Not that explaining that to her would be worth it; it'd come out sounding like excuses, which would only make things worse

[petrelliheidi]

While Heidi was happy with her husband's progress she felt conflicted, earlier that evening she was in this bed with another man, one who bore a striking resemblance to the man sitting next to her. She should tell him, god, that would be a stupid idea, Heidi could only guess what his reaction would be, he would probably break everything in the house