Sports Night, Dan/Natalie, challenge 147 usurp, Helsinkibaby

[helsinkibaby.livejournal.com]

Title: The Best
Author:helsinkibaby
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing/Characters: Dan Rydell/Natalie Hurley
Rating/Category: G
Word Count: 247
Spoilers: future fic
Summary: Natalie is usurped in Dan's affections.


They are, as near as anyone can tell, the first husband and wife team to co-anchor a sports news show, with all the scrutiny that comes with that. It's a good scrutiny though, most of the time, aside from the people (Dan calls them idiots) who insist Natalie only got her job because she's married to Dan. 

Natalie doesn't listen to them, partly because they're in the minority, partly because she knows it's not true. 

Mostly because it's quite a kick to see a picture of you and your husband followed by the comment, "I want a man to look at me like Dan looks at Natalie."

The first time she saw a comment like that, Natalie was a little embarrassed, not used to her private life being up for public consumption. Then she looked, really looked at the photo, looked at how Dan was looking at her. 

And she understood. 

Natalie loves it when Dan looks at her like that like she's the greatest thing he's ever seen, like he's head over heels in love with her. For a long time, she thought that the worst thing that could ever happen to her was Dan looking at someone else like that, someone usurping her in his affections. 

She thinks that until the day that she lies in a hospital bed, sees him staring at their newborn daughter with that exact look on his face, and what she thought was the worst thing is suddenly the best. 

Comments

[spikedluv]

That was sweet.

(Can you please include the actual prompt (usurp) in your subject line, as well? Thanks!)