for better or worse, nic is a person who is most content when he's got something to complain about. that used to be his marriage. they snarked at each other in much the way of fred and ethel mertz, each giving as good as they got. i would imagine there were honeymoon periods as he was often away for months at a time shooting some god-awful hallmark movie, and maybe those lovey-dovey vibes temporarily stuck with him. with the angle of her giving up her career to be a stay-at-home mom, i can easily see this leading to some underlying resentment and financial disputes. when their son left for college, i've always said that she woke up one morning with a determination to get a new lease on life. nic didn't stop her. routines are his bread and butter, but if she wanted more? she's entitled to find her bliss elsewhere. he's been in therapy for a while and sanded off some of the rough edges. it's not enough to save them, but (hopefully) they might be able to make it through proceedings better now than before. no pettiness. no dicking each other over for the sake of it.