Your first step is to ask yourself why you would want to tell them if you already know what their reaction will be. I think it works much better if you let them figure it out for themselves. That will give them time to absorb the shock gradually. If a person has time to suspect something for a while, they deal with it much better when they finally learn their suspicions are in fact, true. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a lot of drama.
I understand and that is a valid motive. I'm just saying that when people have time to think about things they most often react more reasonably than when they have to deal with so many emotions in a few minutes.