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“Hypothetically,” Seth says as he bounces into the pool house looking a bit pale, “what would you say if someone told you you’d gotten them pregnant?”
The first thing that pops into Ryan’s head is, “You got Summer pregnant?”
“I wish I’d gotten Summer pregnant,” Seth says dejectedly as his hands drop to his sides, “but no; she insisted I wear a condom that one time we had sex, even though she’s been on the pill since she started menstruating.”
“O kay,” Ryan says slowly, “so Summer’s not pregnant but someone else is? Or is this really just hypothetical?”
Seth stares at him, chews on his lip, paces away to stare out at the pool, and then says very quietly, “What would you say if someone told you you’d gotten them pregnant?”
Ryan folds over the corner of the page he’d been reading and places the book aside before joining Seth. After a moment he says, “I guess it depends.”
Seth shoves his hands deep into his pockets as he asks, “On what?”
Ryan wants to say that it depends on who it is, on whether or not he believes that he is the father, on things but he finds he can’t. So instead he says, “If they wanted to keep the baby, I’d find a way to support them.”
Seth doesn’t respond, and when Ryan turns to look at him he sees the other boy has his eyes squeezed shut while tears run freely as he silently cries. Not knowing what to say, Ryan grabs him by the shoulder and pulls Seth towards him, enveloping him in a hug.
When Seth does speak again, his voice is thick and he’s clinging to Ryan, “I’m three weeks pregnant.”
---
Later, after Seth had cried himself out and Ryan had guided him to the couch, Seth explains that the doctor had tested his urine as per usual when he’d gone for his yearly physical, and then had blood drawn to confirm.
Seth wracks his brain for something to say as Ryan tries to wrap his head around the fact that he was going to be a father. “Did you know that even though it’s just a bundle of cells at three weeks, the baby’s sex has already been determined?”
Sighing, Ryan asks, “What do you want to do Seth?”
Seth pulls on a loose thread on his shirt, determined not to look at Ryan, “I want to keep it.”
“I do too,” Ryan says with a shaky smile, “I want to have this with you.”
Seth’s head jerks up to stare at him, “You do? It’s just- We never- and you’re…” he flails a hand at Ryan, who raises an eyebrow.
“I’m what exactly?”
“Oh god,” Seth says suddenly, burying his face in his hands, “Mom and Dad are going to kill us!”
Ryan knows Sandy and Kirsten aren’t going to be happy with this situation; they were supposed to be brothers not fuck buddies. But he hopes they can work things out because he’d long since come to the realization that he loved Seth, and having a family with him is a dream come true.