Chapter 12

The dinner between the Matthew's and Hunter's was set for November 9th, which meant that Maya had to keep Katy's secret for over 3 weeks. Knowing what her mom went through earlier in the year, Maya was determined to say nothing until Katy was ready. Considering she almost blurted it out at her birthday party, Maya was sure there was no way she was going to be able to hang out with Riley all that time and not say anything, so she started subtly avoiding Riley. Riley noticed though, she was thrilled that Maya seemed so happy with Andrew, but saddened that she seemed left out. She and Maya had always had their inside jokes and stories, now it seemed certain that Maya and Andrew were sharing something just between them, they stopped talking a lot whenever Riley came near, and always seemed to find some excuse to ditch her.

As Katy, Shawn, and Maya arrived for dinner, Riley rushed to pull her into her bedroom, hoping to catch up, but Maya just gave her a quick hug and went to offer her help to Topanga in the kitchen, to the shock of both Riley and Topanga. As they sat down to eat, Auggie spoke up "so why are we having dinner together tonight, I thought we were having Thanksgiving together". Cory broke off his conversation with Shawn to answer "we are having Thanksgiving together bud but that doesn't mean we can't eat together now, we always love having Shawn over, I mean, with his family too". As everyone snickered about Shawn and Cory's "bromance" Maya glanced at her mom to see if she would jump in. "Actually Auggie" Katy said "there is a reason we wanted to have dinner together tonight. You all are our closest friends and really the only family we have, we wanted you to know first, I'm 13 weeks pregnant!" As Topanga and Cory rushed around the table to congratulate Katy and Shawn, Riley grabbed Maya's arm and hissed "bay window, bay window right now!" "But I'm hungry" Maya protested as Riley pulled her into her room.

As soon as they arrived at the window Maya could see Riley was bubbling over with questions but she held her hand up for silence. "Hold on, I know you have a lot of questions, but let me say something first. I am so sorry I have been avoiding you. It was really important to my mom that we waited to tell people until after the first trimester, and you are my best friend in the world, how could I not tell you something this important? They told me at dinner on my birthday, they wanted to wait until Andrew left so it was just the three of us, he even offered to leave when he saw them hesitating, but I wouldn't let him, so Andrew knows, but he is the only other person. If I knew what they were going to say, I would have had you with me instead." Touched Riley reached up to give Maya a big hug. "I'm so happy for you Maya, you are going to be a great big sister, we can catch up after dinner, let's go eat".

The time between the dinner and Christmas went by fast. Maya did sign up for the SAT prep class (Andrew loaned her $25 when she came up a little short, she didn't want Shawn to pay for it in case it didn't work out). The class was intense with a lot of homework, so Maya rarely had much free time between work, school, and SAT prep. Andrew and Riley were very patient, the three often hung out together when their schedule allowed. Andrew even started teasing about finding Riley a man, something that Maya cut short. Katy was feeling somewhat better too, still tired and with bad heartburn, but she was starting to show and seemed really happy. Katy had found a website that describes how big the baby was compared to a piece of fruit or vegetable and shared it with Maya, which made the whole pregnancy seem much more real.

The week before Christmas Andrew met with Maya to exchange gifts, he and his mom were spending the week in Pittsburgh with his grandparents, but they would be back before New Year's. Maya had given him a new journal and nice pen, while Andrew gave her new brushes, sketchbook, and pencils. After she had opened her gifts Andrew shyly handed her one more. "This one is just to borrow". Maya looked a little confused as she opened the gift to find a worn journal. "It's my first, and you are the only one I've ever let read it, so please be nice." Maya was so touched she had tears in her eyes. "Why would you give this to me? "she asked. Andrew leaned in to kiss her gently, "because I love you Maya." Maya hesitated, she had never been in love before but there was no way to deny what she was feeling. "I love you too Andrew, you are the most amazing man I've ever met." She kissed him, deepening it, feeling a need for Andrew that she had never felt for anyone. After they broke off he continued to hold her face for a minute, waiting for both of them to catch their breath. "I'll be back by New Year's baby; can we ring in the New Year together?" "Absolutely" Maya breathed.