Blaine had thought it couldn’t really get any worse than the initial fact that he had to tell her. How could it get worse than the reveal? But no. Other things could be worse; he just hadn’t been able to imagine them.
He couldn’t have imagined Leah tearing herself away from him. His arms hover out in the air for a moment, like they don’t know how to react without her to hold against him. They fall to his side with a quiet shuffle of fabric, and there’s a long silence before she speaks three words.
He wants to apologize. For taking her time and ruining dinner - on top of everything else he’d fucked up, he’d managed that, too. He wants to offer to call for delivery himself, whatever she wants. It doesn’t have to be pizza. He’d buy something from that gross healthy place down the street - he’d go pick the food up himself - if it would make her smile.
Just then, Ben rounds the corner of the entryway into the kitchen. Nelson, his dutiful shadow, hobbles a few feet behind on arthritic legs. Ben’s mouth is open to speak, but the light in his eyes dims instantly at the sight of his parents’ faces, and his jaw hangs in suspense, words lost.
“Kiddo - ” Blaine starts. Maybe he should urge him back upstairs. How do you handle this? He can’t tell his son he got someone pregnant. Jesus Christ. How do you do that? Guess what; you’re gonna have another sibling… sort of!
“Is Mom okay?” Ben’s all but on his toes, poised to hurry to her side, to pull her into an embrace (he’d taken after Blaine when it came to comforting others with physical touch), but he’s hesitating, stunned into stillness. Ben’s eyes slide from Leah, to Blaine, to the stovetop, back again, trying to riddle out the problem. “Oh, Mom, don’t worry about dinner. Is that what’s wrong? Do you want help cleaning up? I can help…”
Blaine swallows the lump in his throat. He’s not in control. It makes his stomach churn.
She hears Nelson, but Leah doesn’t hear her son approaching and is unaware he’s entered the kitchen until Blaine acknowledges him in his tired, gentle voice. By the tone, it almost sounds like Blaine is about to explain what’s going on, what Ben has walked in on, but the words never make it out of his mouth.
Instead, Ben’s the one who speaks up, and the moment he does, Leah’s got a fresh round of tears in her eyes and she feels her hand shaking as she brings it up to her mouth, afraid to bring too much attention to herself in the event she starts sobbing again. Leah hated crying in front of her children - at least when it wasn’t happy tears - and though it wouldn’t be the first time she’s done it, she always tried to be strong for them. And Ben. He was so good. He didn’t have to know the full extent of a problem before wanting to help out. Fix something if it were feasible. Bring comfort to someone else.
Blaine doesn’t say anything and Leah makes the decision to nod her head, half-whispering, half-squeaking back, “Yeah. Yeah, I.. Silly me. Tell your dad what you want for dinner, honey. Whatever you want.” She sniffs loud and tries to compose herself, but when she turns back around she’s still got a frown and avoids either of their eyes, instead locking her eyes with the floor. Her arms cross her person, somehow making her look smaller. Nelson sits by her and gives a small wag of his tail, coming to collect his piece of table-scrap that Leah would normally give him right about now.