we need to talk ...

“I will tell her, tonight,” he tells his best friend. “I will tell him, tonight,” she tells her best friend. “Are you sure?” his best friend asks. “Are you ready for this?” her best friend queries. Both he and she nod. They both tell their best friends that they have spent time and energy thinking everything through. “I’ll be around, later, if you need to talk,” his best friend says. “Call me and tell me how it goes,” hers says. It is mid-evening when they sit to talk. The dishes are done. The kids are in bed. The TV has hummed itself into a whispery, flickering drone. Outside, it’s snowing, lightly. “I need to talk,” he says. “Me, too,” she replies. “You first,” he says. “No, you,” she replies. “You. You go.” He nods okay. “I’ve been thinking a lot, lately,’ he says, “and I think I want …” “Another baby?” she says, finishing his sentence with a lovely smile. “… a divorce,” he says, before her words hit home. She is stunned to tears. He, to silence.