If I didn’t know Océane was moving out of our place a month from now, I’d be worried about Rachel.
For the past week or so, she hasn’t been… quite herself. I can understand her worries. Will came through and found a room for Océane that he’s willing to pay for. The roommate who was looking to fill the room seems nice enough.
Still, it must be nerve-wracking to let her sister go.
Luckily, I’ve been keeping a surprise from her, and this might be the perfect thing to cheer her up. I know how much she’s been encouraging me to keep working on game concepts outside work, and how it makes her smile to see me deeply lost in my passion.
So now that I’ve got a minimum viable product to show her, I have no doubt she’ll be excited.
Sitting at the tiny desk near Océane’s bed, I open the folder containing the executable file I’ve compiled, and wait. I rotate the chair to peer around; Océane is sitting on her bed, a book in hand. The door to the bathroom is closed. That’s where my wife must be.
When Rachel comes out, she seems to be in a much better mood. A hint of that beautiful smile that I love appears on her lush pink lips.
“Hey,” I call out to her, immediately grabbing her attention. “There’s something I need to show you.”
“Oh.” Her smile deepens. “Okay, awesome. Then there’s something I need to show you, too.”
It’s a good day for surprises, or what?
Rachel comes to stand next to me, and I double click the executable file. I’m so giddy that my hands start to shake.
“I’ve finally got something, honey.”
“Can I look, too?” Océane asks, her eyes bright.
“Of course.” I shift my chair slightly to give both Rachel and Océane enough room to see what I’m doing, grabbing my controller as the file loads and opens.
The next five minutes are pure joy. I play through the core game loop of my concept, which is part farm sim, part space exploration and survival, then hand the controller over to Rachel and Océane for them to try it out.
Their exclamations of surprise and fun mean everything to me. It’s one thing to make a game mechanicwork, but it’s quite another to make itfun. You only get to find out if it’s fun when someone else plays it and tells you.
“Karan, this is awesome,” Rachel says. She leans over for a quick kiss, her eyes crinkled with happiness.
“I’m glad you think so,” I start. “Because that’s not all I wanted to show you.”
I close the game, then pull out a few text documents. On the surface, these seem much more boring compared to the prototype, but they could change everything.
“I’ve already filled out all the paperwork, Rachel. I think it’s finally time for me to do it. You’re doing so well at the pharmacy, and I’ve got two strong projects under my belt at Ubisoft, and thedown payment for the place we’ve been looking at is something we can afford even if I’m only making minimum wage for a year or so, and so…”
I trail off when I turn only to be confronted by Rachel’s crumpled face.
The image of her with humid eyes and a trembling bottom lip is not the reaction I had in mind at all.
“What’s wrong?” I stand and cradle her cheek.
Océane moves away, sensing we’re going to need space.
“I was going to tell you right after this,” Rachel says, her voice sounding so small.
“What is it, Rachel?”
“Karan…” She takes in a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
The world collapses beneath my feet.
I’m… going to be a father?
I always wanted to be a father. And I can feel it, deep in my bones—the unbridled joy that’s about to come out and obliterate everything else in its path. The joy that will make me pick up my wife in my arms and have us dance in our apartment, even with no music.
