Jim lay in bed, unable to sleep. As he heard the clock on the dresser tick away the seconds, the warm body next to him snuggled closer. He glanced over at her and exhaled. Karen was undoubtedly beautiful, and he knew that he would be a lucky guy if he got to spend the rest of his life with her. But, as the guilty weight on his chest reminded him, something just wasn’t right.

Jim wasn’t dumb; he knew that their upcoming six-month anniversary carried a lot of meaning. He had to make sure that this was what he wanted. He was getting older now, no matter how much he still acted like a naïve college kid. Decisions had to be made. On paper, it made sense. Karen was gorgeous, focused, and a lot of fun to be with; as an added bonus, she had never broken his heart and left him to rebuild his shattered life in a place two and a half hours away. But if he allowed himself to be brutally honest, he knew that there was only one girl for him. No matter how many times she may hurt him or stomp on his heart, he still melts at the sight of her pale skin and reddish curls. At his core, he knows that not just anyone can make a person feel this way.

He wonders how many nights he has wasted in this debate. Almost six month’s worth, he thinks to himself. That is such a long time. Too long. Fuck it, this has got to end. He resolves to tell Karen in the morning. Time to stop pretending.

As he slapped the alarm clock to quiet it, he rolled over to find Karen’s post empty. Confused and still groggy, he shuffled into the kitchen to see Karen waiting for him with breakfast.

“Hey, what are you doing up so early? And cooking breakfast? Am I missing something?”

“Well,” she said. “I didn’t feel so great this morning, so I figured while I was up…”

“Oh. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. It eventually passed.” She patted his chair. “Sit down; I have something to tell you.”

“Okay. I do too, but you go first.”

“Jim, we’ve been together almost six months, right?”

“Right. About that…” Jim rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the table.

“Wait,” Karen cut him off. “I just wanted to say that I love you. And it scares me how much I mean that. I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but it’s only made me realize that you’re the guy for me.”

Jim’s stomach twisted into a knot. Can I do this? As he felt a hand that was not Pam’s take his, he spoke up. “Karen, I…”

“Hold on. After all that, I wanted to tell you something else. This is going to sound so stupid, but when we were going through a rough patch a little while ago, I kind of followed some of Kelly’s advice and, well – Jim, I’m pregnant.”