A/N: I shouldn't be starting a new story, but I couldn't help myself. It's my two year fanficversary, so I wanted to post something. And this idea has been in my head for the longest time and I'm really excited about this story. I hope you all like it too. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my other stories.
Oh, almost forgot to thank someone. If it wasnt for my best friend and writing buddy, Valerie, I wouldn't even be on fanfiction. Or writing, for that matter. She always helps me, encourages me to write, and puts up with my constant complaining and whining, which no one would ever want to listen to. Y'all should see the emails between us. I honestly can't thank her enough. I can make this longer and shit, but lets not get sappy here. So lets just leave it at a thank you. Gracias, chica!
Disclaimer: I obvi don't own PLL.
Ezra Fitz never thought he'd be where he was. Not once had he ever imagined he wouldn't be by his wife's side as they welcomed their first child into the world. And yet here he was, in the waiting room, and not by her side. He'd been rushed out of her hospital room just a short ten minutes ago, yet it already felt like he was waiting for hours. Drumming his fingers anxiously along his thighs, he could only hope that both Aria and their baby would be alright.
"Hey," Spencer spoke gently. She took a seat beside him, rubbing soothing circles along his back. "They'll be fine." She assured. "Stuff like this happens all the time."
He gave her a friendly smile, as she continued the soothing circles.
"Family of Alison Dilaurentis?" Dr. Burnals called.
Alison, right. He'd almost forgotten she was also at the hospital, giving birth to her child. He'd been so worried, so caught up with worrying about Aria, he honestly didn't remember about Alison. Poor girl; she'd been in labor since the day before, and last he heard, there hadn't been a change. It was funny how two best friends had both coincidentally gone through pregnancy at the same time, and were now giving birth at the same time as well. Sure, Alison's pregnancy had been the result of a drunken hook up, but since the day it was revealed she was pregnant, she changed completely. For the better, of course. She, just like Aria, had both been counting down the days to welcome their little bundle of joy.
"Yes?" All three girls stood simultaneously. "How is she?"
Dr. Burnals smiled. "I just got word from Dr. Samuels, and they're both perfectly fine."
"Both? The baby was finally born?" Hanna squealed.
He nodded. "You're more than welcome to see her. We just transferred her to a different room. Feel free to go whenever you get the chance."
"Thank you."
"Sir, what about my wife?" Ezra asked worriedly.
He sighed. "Mr. Fitz, it's not going easy. We're still monitoring her, but if things don't improve, we'll need to perform an emergency C-section."
Ezra felt an empty pit form in his stomach. "They'll both be fine, right?"
He sighed again. "I hope so. I have to go back in there. Don't worry, I'll try everything I can."
He nodded, whispering a quiet thank you.
"Any updates on Aria?" Emily asked.
He shook his head. "Just what they told me when they kicked me out. Dr. Burnals just told me they're still monitoring her. But she might end up needing an emergency C-section."
Emily shot him an encouraging smile. "Aria's strong. They'll both be OK."
"Thank you."
She nodded. "Um, are you alright by yourself for a little bit? We want to go check up on Ali, but one of us can stay with you."
"No. I'm fine. Go ahead. Send her my congratulations and tell her I'll be meeting her little one soon."
He watched them leave as he sat back down, burying his head between his shaking hands. He was happy for Alison, relieved even, that after almost twenty four hours in labor, she finally had that little blessing in her arms. But he had to admit he wished it was Aria who had their daughter in her arms. Wished her friends were not only going to see Ali, but Aria as well. She hadn't been in labor for more than two hours, but the last twenty minutes had been agonizing after finding out about her complications.
Fifteen minutes after he'd last seen Dr. Burnals, he came rushing out.
"Doctor." Ezra panted heavily. "How's Aria? How's the baby."
He rubbed his palms nervously along his lab coat."Come with me, I have something important to discuss with you."
He walked into the room, eyes red and swollen from the devastating news he'd received just moments ago. His heart had never ached so much before. He'd never felt so much pain and anger in his life.
"I'll come back soon, Mr. Fitz."
Ezra nodded, trying to hold back the threatening tears. His eyes wandered down to the sleeping figure. Her chest rising up and down with a steady rhythm. She looked so peaceful. So calm. So at peace not knowing what she'd have to face as soon as those eyes opened. He wasn't sure he'd be strong enough to do this. Everything he'd ever dreamed of, was crushed in a blink of an eye.
Wiping away some new tears, he bent down and kissed her forehead lovingly.
"We'll get through this." He whispered, his voice breaking. "We'll get through this." He repeated. "I promise."
He took a seat on the rocking chair, and watched her sleep. He'd promised her they'd get through this tragedy, but would they? Was he strong enough? He had to be. Whether he really was or wasn't, he had to find a way to act brave and strong. For her sake, he just had to.
A knock on the door, caused him to wake up. When had he fallen asleep? Rubbing his eyes, he stood up once he spotted Dr. Burnals.
"She still sleeping?" He asked.
Ezra nodded, as he stood and walked over to him. "She hasn't woken up at all."
Dr. Burnals was about to speak, when a small whimper got their attention.
"Ezra?" She whispered, her eyes still closed.
He rushed to her side, settling beside her as he held her hand.
"I'm right here." He leaned down, kissing her forehead softly.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and for a second, she didn't remember where she was. But not even five seconds later, it hit her hard. She panicked, instantly trying to get up.
"Hey, hey," Ezra spoke gently, in attempt to calm her down.
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked frantically around the room. "Where is she, Ezra?"
Her chest heaved as her eyes roamed the room in attempt to spot her daughter. "Where's our baby?"
Ezra's heart shattered to pieces, realizing it was now the moment he'd been dreading since he received the news. He searched for Dr. Burnals eyes, silently asking for his help.
"Where is she Ezra? I want to see her." She cried.
Ezra held her tighter, desperately trying not to break down in front of her. His attempts failed as his eyes were soon brimming with tears. Dr. Burnals walked over to them, taking a seat on the chair beside her bed.
"W-what's wrong? Dr. Burnals?" She panicked. "Why aren't either of you answering me?"
"Aria," He began. "As you might be aware, while you were delivering, we encountered some complications, and-"
"But my baby is fine, right?" She asked hopefully. "She's Ok, right?"
He sighed as he prepared himself to explain everything. Ezra held her tighter, wanting to hold and comfort her as best he could before she received the most devastating news.
"Your son was a stillborn." He explained. "I'm sorry."
As soon as Aria heard those words, her heart dropped, and everything around her froze. It couldn't be true.
"I know this is hard to un-" The doctor started to explain but was instantly interrupted by Aria.
"NO!" She whispered.
"Ar-"
"NO. You're lying." She screamed. "You're lying to me!"
"Aria." Ezra soothed, hugging her tighter.
She shrugged him off, releasing herself from his embrace. "You're both lying to me." She cried.
She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. "It's not true. It's not. I wasn't pregnant with a boy, we were expecting a baby girl. So where is she? Stop lying to me, because it isn't funny."
"Doctors make mistakes on genders sometim-"
Aria shook her head vigorously. "NO!" Aria sobbed into Ezra's side. "Give me my daughter. I want to see her, now . Stop with this. Whatever prank you're trying to pull off, just stop. I-it isn't funny. I want my daughter." She repeated.
"Babe." Ezra cooed, stroking her hair gently. "You need to try to underst-"
"This is all a lie." She whimpered. "Our baby isn't dead, Ezra. She isn't. I heard her cries. I heard them."
Dr. Burnals shot Ezra a sympathetic look, as he held Aria. He felt terrible watching them both suffer. He felt so sorry for them.
"Would you like to see him? Hold him before you say goodbye?" He asked after a while.
Aria shook her head once again, looking up at the doctor with eyes full of hurt and anger. "She's alive! Call it a mother's intuition but I know she's alive. She isn't dead."
After that, Aria spiraled out of control. Her cries and screams only increased, filling the small room. It broke Ezra's heart to see her hurting so much. Hated seeing her so small and vulnerable. Now was the time to act strong for her. No matter how bad he was hurting too, no matter how bad he wanted to break down with her as well, he couldn't. Within minutes, some nurses came in, ushering Ezra to the side as they attempted to calm her down. They gave her a sedative, and slowly, her cries and screams diminished. Her chest rose up and down rapidly, as she laid so hopeless in that bed.
"It's not true, Ezra. It isn't." She said faintly before her eyes drifted shut.
Soon enough, a few hours had gone by, and as he sat on the rocking chair beside her bed, he realized it was now dark outside. He threw his head back, ignoring the pain he felt when it hit the hard wood. How could it be that their daughter, turned out to be a son? How was it, that their son, that precious little being he'd just seen, was gone before he even had the chance to live? All their hopes and dreams of raising their child, were crushed, so suddenly ripped away from them.
It'd pained him—devastated him to witness what Aria had gone through earlier. Her screams of pain and denial had broken everything in him. He'd told her they'd be able to overcome this, but would they? People always said that the pain of losing a child, was one that would never be erased. He hoped they were wrong, because if he would have to live with this pain, he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it.
Telling their friends hadn't been easy at all. Being met with their excited gazes, filled with happiness, as he nervously walked out into the waiting room, was still pinned to his brain. The looks of sympathy that soon followed, were worse, seeing them every time he closed his eyes.
If he was being completely honest, he was jealous of Alison. He knew it was wrong of him, so wrong, but he was. He almost hated her in that moment. Hated her and her newborn daughter, who he hadn't even met. He was just so damn jealous and almost wished it was Alison going through this and not Aria. After all, Alison had been a terrible person for most of her life, and deserved something like this to happen to her. But Aria, who had been nothing but kind and caring, didn't deserve this. Alison had gotten lucky and rewarded with the most precious gift in the world— a precious healthy baby girl. And what did they get? A dead son.
"Why?" He whispered out loud, as if he would get an answer.
Why couldn't they ever be happy? Every time life seemed perfect for them, something had to go wrong. Every single fucking time. It was as if their happiness, every time they found it, was too good to be true. Life was never good to them. All their months of preparing the nursery, of preparing themselves, felt so useless now. Everything vanished into thin air in just a short amount of time. The day they had so desperately counted down to— the one day that was supposed to be the best and most magical day of a couple's life, became the absolute worst.
It just wasn't fair.
Just as his eyes were finally starting to close, a small whimper caused him to rush to Aria's side. "Shh." He cooed. "Shh."
Aria's whimpers grew as she tossed back and forth. Her eyes suddenly shot open, instantly filling with tears. She sat up, wrapping her arms around him. "Ezra." She whimpered into his chest. "Please tell me this was all a nightmare. Please tell me our daughter is Ok."
Ezra sighed, hugging her tighter, running soothing circles along her back. "Aria." He spoke softly. "I'm so sorry."
His own eyes filled with tears as he held his broken wife in his arms. "We'll get through this, I promise you."
She shook her head against his chest. "You don't get it, Ezra." She sounded so broken. "Our daughter is alive." She stated.
"Aria-,"
"Ezra, no. " She whispered, shaking her head vigorously. "You weren't there." She sobbed. "I heard her cry, Ezra. I heard our daughter cry."
Ezra sighed in defeat as he threw his head back into the pillow. This was going to be harder than he thought. Aria cried in his arms as he hugged her tighter. The tears he'd desperately tried to hold back, were becoming harder to fight. But he couldn't allow himself to cry. Aria didn't need to see him hurting. It would only make it worse for her.
"Why don't you believe me?" She asked suddenly, staring up at him with red puffy eyes. "Why?"
Why? Because it wasn't possible. He'd seen their dead son. He'd held him.
"Shh." He soothed, ignoring her question. "It will get better."
"Our baby can't be dead." She said, her broken voice making his heart ache.
Ezra kissed her forehead as he desperately tried to comfort her. Not even the warmth of his skin, his gentle kisses, nor his sweet words, seemed to be helping. But it didn't matter, he continued holding her.
"Have you seen him?" She whispered moments later.
Ezra let out a sigh of relief, glad she was slowly accepting their sons death. He tilted her head back, staring at her lovingly. He nodded. "Yes. H-he's beautiful."
This caused Aria to clutch Ezra tighter, as new tears fell from her eyes. "This isn't fair." She choked out. "He can't be dead, Ezra."
"I know, Aria, I know. But we will get through this. Together."
"Something in me is just telling me our baby isn't dead. I feel like,." She sniffled. "I don't know."
He kissed her forehead. "Dr. Burnals explained several mothers go through this. They have a hard time accepting their child's death. It's normal."
Aria shrugged, as she cried into his chest. "I just can't accept it, Ezra. I can't."
There was a brief knock on the door, before it swung open. "Aria." He said sympathetically. "How are you holding up."
Aria remained silent, only burying her face further into Ezra's neck.
"She just woke up." Ezra answered. "She seems better."
"That's good to hear." He smiled as he took a seat in front of them.
Aria unburied herself from Ezra, sitting up against the pillows. "W-what happened? What did I do wrong?"
"Aria," Dr. Burnals spoke gently. "This wasn't in anyway your fault. This happens often, there's no one to blame."
Aria only whimpered into Ezra's chest. It was her fault. She must have done something wrong. Ezra whispered words of encouragements into her ear, as he ran his hand soothingly up and down her arm.
"I'll leave you two alone." The Dr. announced as he walked towards the door.
Wiping away her tears, she looked up at him. "Dr. Burnals?"
"Yes?"
She sniffled, preparing herself to speak. "C-can I see him?"
A/N: Soooo? Yay or nay? What did you guys think? Please review and let me know!