Gaming Night

“How should we tell them?”
“…I’ll take care of it.”
“No, wait-!”
“What?”
“I want to be the one to tell Don.”
“…okay, whatever you say.”
“I love you, Dylan.”
“I love you, too, Anya.  Everything’s going to be okay.”
~~~
It was a brisk Saturday evening.  Don was leaving his friend’s house after they’d celebrated the end of spring break with a game party, and, keys in his hand, he approached his car with his thoughts somewhere far away.
Anya, his ex-girlfriend, had looked troubled all evening.  She’d hardly touched the food, something practically unheard of as she always dug into the sugary lay-out their parties harbored.  In fact, if he caught her looking at the plates at all her face seemed to go a little green around the gills.
Maybe she’s just got a stomach bug, he thought, unlocking his car and getting in.
“Hey, Donnie, wait up!”
He looked up as the car turned on and saw that Anya was approaching.  As he smiled at her and rolled down the window he couldn’t help but notice the strange expression she wore.  Quite unlike her usual jovial farewells, she seemed on edge and upset.  Had he done something to upset her?
“What’s up?” he asked.
She licked her bottom lip, avoided his eye, and then, when the silence was stretching too far blurted, “I need to tell you something.”
“I didn’t do anything, did I?”
His heart jumped as she cracked one of her first smiles of the evening.
“No, Donnie, you’re in the clear.”
“Oh, good, I thought you were just terrified of me.”
She smirked, but then the solemn glance came back, her arms folded as she stood there obviously uneasy.
“Come on, Anya, what’s going on with you?” said Donnie.  “You’ve been acting different lately.  You’re not yourself.”
“Well…there’s are reason for that.”
And, with a sigh, she blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
Donnie blinked.  Then his heart jolted in his chest and he sputtered, “So-you and Dylan?”
She spent the next few moments trying to explain what had happened, and half the time Donnie only heard white noise.  One part of him was excited, but the other was appalled.
“So that’s why you didn’t eat?”
Anya nodded, averting her eyes, hiding behind shame.
“You should’ve eaten something, Anya.  You can’t go without eating anymore.  It’s dangerous!”
“I didn’t want to puke everywhere.  If I’d been sick people would’ve asked what was wrong and I’d have to lie or explain myself-“
“They’re going to find out eventually.  There’s no way you’ll be able to keep this secret for very long.”
“It hasn’t fully sunk in for me yet, you know?  How could the others understand if Dylan and I don’t?”
She sighed and put her trembling hands in her pockets.
“We’re gonna get this sorted out.  I just wanted to tell you myself before you heard it from somebody else.”
“I appreciate it, Anya…I’ll do what I can for you.”
With a grin she thanked him, leaning back to stare at the cloudy night sky.  Don, however, did not follow suit.
Instead he eyed her stomach.  It was unchanged for now, and was so close to him he could almost reach out and touch it…
It took him a couple seconds to comprehend the fact everything would be different for her from now on.