Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Nick turned to face Betsy. His heart was hammering in nervous anticipation and his palms were clammy.

"Are you ready to do this?" He asked, his voice steady even though everything within him was shouting at him to stop. Why was he going through with this? Surely if he threw himself at her mercy she would stay.

His little blonde pixie nodded her head in response. Yet, even as she proceeded through the mechanical gesture, her eyes were averted to the floor and her shoulders were stooped. It was the day the pair of them had been dreading. They had already put it off several times due to inconsequential reasons, each of them latching on to every excuse they could find not to make it real. He had appreciated each and every delay. Nick knew that, even though she had been the one to make the decision, Betsy hated the idea of moving out and leaving the kids behind. He had not commented on it, but he had seen the way she had watched his children over the past few days. There was always bittersweet pain etched on to her features; a look so full of love and sorrow it had the power to steal his breath. And it did, each and every time he was there to witness it.

A sniffle filled the air between them. Nick swallowed loudly and averted his gaze. He couldn't watch her cry. Not now.

"We can do this later. We don't have to do this right now." Nick offered, his hand reaching out to comfort her before he tucked both of his hands safely into his pockets. He needed to be strong if he was to make it through this and she was his undoing.

Betsy shook her head. "No. If I put it off, I'll keep putting it off. It's just so hard." She drew back her shoulders and released a long sigh. "Let's speak to the kids. This really can't wait any longer."

Nick held out his hand and offered her a weak smile. "Don't worry, we'll do this together."

Betsy stretched out her hand and placed it within his. He wove their fingers together and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before tugging her towards the door. His stomach knotted tighter and tighter as he led the way through the house, his ears leading him in the direction of his raucous children.

He found them in Delilah's room. They were both laid on the, their heads bent together as the scribbled onto large pieces of coloured paper. Their giggles and happy chatter was a soothing balm for his weary soul. It always amazed him how something simple, such as colouring pencils and paper, could utterly enthral them both. It just hurt that he was going to disrupt their joy.

"Kids?"

Two heads popped up from the paper, their feet kicking happily behind them. "Hi daddy." Delilah replied, a happy grin on her face. "We're drawing us at the park. Did you see?" She lifted the paper to show off her design

Nick smiled in response, warmth filling him as he stared down at his daughter. And then he remembered why he was there and he felt the smile slip from his face.

Delilah's little face contorted into a frown. "Daddy?"

Nick swallowed, squeezing Betsy's hand before they both stepped further into the room. "Betsy and I wanted to talk to you both. Can you stop colouring for a moment?" Nick asked softly.

Delilah set the pencils down carefully, her wide eyes never leaving his. He hated how pale had grown, her entire body held taught as she waited with poorly concealed fear. Nick felt as if he had been sucker punched in the gut. His daughter had always been sensitive to the world around her. He still remembered her little face in the weeks after her mum had passed. She had been young, too young to truly understand what death was, but she had recognised his pain even though he had done everything in her power to shield her from it.

All a parent ever wanted to do was protect their child from all the bad things and in that moment, as he stared in to her eyes, Nick felt like was failing. He glanced at the blonde at his side, forcing his fingers to loosen their vice like grip on Betsy's. She squeezed his hand in response before letting go. And then she was on her knees beside his daughter, her fingers reaching out to brush the hair from Delilah's face.

"We needed to talk to you both." Betsy started, her hand shaking as she looked down at his little girl. Her features were "Now, I want you to know that I love you both very very much and what I'm about to say is nothing to do with you. Okay?"

Betsy paused, her throat swallowing loudly as she blinked back her tears. Nick took a step forwards, placing a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"What Betsy is trying to say is that we have had a talk. And while Betsy has had a lot of fun living with us, we've decided that she will be going to stay with her sister."

Tommy was completely unaffected by the words, the conversation going straight over his head. Delilah's little face however scrunched up, a frown forming between her brows as she considered the words. Finally she set her sad gaze on Betsy.

"You're leaving us?" She asked, her eyes taking on a watery sheen when the blonde could only shake her head, her mouth unable to form the words.

"What did you do, daddy? Fix it. Make her stay." Delilah spat, her face quickly turning red as angry tears poured down her cheeks. "Make her stay."

Nick closed his eyes, drew in a steadying breath even as his daughter barrelled into his legs, her tiny hands beating into his muscles as she screamed at him.

"It's all your fault." Delilah accused.

Nick opened his eyes, looked down at his daughter, and found that he could not utter a word in protest. She was right. He knew it deep down that his actions were what caused Betsy to rethink the speed of their relationship. He couldn't blame her for that but he could blame himself. And he did. He had broken her trust and now the consequences were affecting all those he cared about.

"Hush now," Betsy soothed, her arms wrapping around the little girl and pulling her into a tight hug. "None of that now. This is no one's fault."

Delilah shouted something incoherent in response, the words muffled by Betsy's shoulder but Nick still felt each muffled shout like a slap to the face. Would his daughter ever forgive him for this? Even if she did, Nick wasn't sure that he could ever forgive himself.

Tommy, sensing his sister's distress, walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his face into Delilah's back even as started to cry, his face getting red and splotchy in the process.

The pain of seeing his children in distress was like a sharp blade to the heart. And yet Nick was almost certain that a blade would hurt much less. Seeing his children suffering was the worst kind of burden that a parent could bare.

"Now listen. Just because I'm not living here anymore does not mean that I won't see you." Betsy continued, her hand stroking the back of Delilah's head as she spoke. "I promise you that I will still visit. And I'll be there for your first day of school too. I love you too much to stay away."

Delilah sniffled and pulled back so that she could look up at Betsy's face. "Do you promise?"

"I promise." Betsy replied, pressing a kiss to Delilah's head. "No one could keep me away. And you'll come and visit me too. Right?"

Delilah wiped at her running nose, smearing streaks of snot across her cheek in the process. She drew in a deep breath and then nodded her head. "We'll visit you and then you can play with us. I'll bring my Barbie with the pink dress. I know it's your favourite."

"Thank you, sweetheart. You're such a good girl." Betsy murmured, using the sleeve of her top to clean off the smears from the little girl's cheeks. "I love you, always remember that."

"I love you too." Delilah replied, allowing Betsy to give her another hug. Then her attention turned to the discarded papers. Almost as if the last few minutes has now occurred she asked, "Can I colour now?"

Betsy blinked at the girl, her mouth opening as she fought to find the right words. Even Nick felt like he had been knocked off kilter by his daughter. Was that it?

Nick stared at his daughter, waiting for the other shoe to fall. He knew his daughter was strong and resilient, but that seemed too easy. Far too easy. He looked to Betsy, raising a brow in question but she just shook her head.

"Sure, sweetheart." Betsy replied slowly. "Lunch will be ready soon though. Okay?" The only response she received was a grunt from both children as they quickly lost themselves in their doodles.

Nick waited for another moment, holding his breath as he waited for some further outburst. But the children appeared content for the moment so he nodded his head towards to the door. Betsy pushed herself to her feet and followed him from the room.

For a minute, they just stood in the doorway. The children continued with their colouring, oblivious to their gaze.

"They'll be fine. Especially when they understand that I was telling the truth." Betsy stated. Yet her words sounded hollow, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

"Delilah loves you and that's not going to change." Nick reassured her before turning away from the room. It didn't matter that he could already feel a horrible knot forming in the middle of his stomach.

He wandered down the hallway, his eyes not really seeing anything. Nick felt as if he had been pulled through the emotional wringer. The kids knew and that just made it real. Betsy was going to move out.

Nick stumbled into his bedroom and slumped down onto the bed. He sighed even as paper crunched beneath his head. Reaching behind him, Nick pulled the newspaper free. His own face stared back at him but it almost felt like he was looking at a stranger. The man in the picture was smiling - a real smile. In the past, a photo like this never would have made it to the papers. He would have controlled his emotions in public. He never would have let the paparazzi have the chance to get so close.

He had let his guard down. In the photo, as he pushed Delilah so that she could swing high and Betsy watched from the swing beside her with Tommy on her lap, he had a wide grin on his face. He could remember the moment. He could remember how carefree he had felt as he forget about all of his stress for just a few minutes.

"Are you okay?"

Nick tossed the paper to the side before he turned his head towards to the voice. Betsy stood there, arms wrapped around her waist as she leant against the door frame. Nick patted the space beside him but she shook her head.

"I can't, Nick. Not right now. If you touch me right now, I-" her voice cracked as she looked away. "I just can't."

Nick pushed up on to his elbows. "What can I do?"

"Nothing." Betsy replied, her arms wrapping tighter around her waist. "I just need to be alone right now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'll see you at lunch."

With that, Betsy walked away from him, leaving a suffocating silence in her wake.