A/N: Thank you everybody who read and reviewed the first chapter. I'm so glad everybody liked it. This one of the fastest updates I've had, so I hope you all appreciate it. LOL! Here's the next chapter, I hope you all like it. :)

~ Chapter Two ~

~~ Introducing the Boyfriend ~~

Emily, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Alison

Emily and Maya pulled up to The Grille on Friday night, with Molly and Mackenzie in the backseat. Alison had texted Emily and the others yesterday saying that she wanted to have a group dinner together. Ali had some news that she wanted to share with them, and Emily couldn't help but be curious. Had Alison gotten some information about her lost daughter, Isabella, but, no, it had only been a few days since Ali's announcement that she was getting her daughter back. Some things take time to happen. Emily stared straight ahead through the windshield at the glass windows of the restaurant.

Maya looked over at her from the passengers' seat. "Are you okay?" she asked Emily, softly.

Emily tore her gaze from the restaurant, turning towards the love of her life. "Yeah,...sometimes, it just hits me that Alison is really alive," she explained. "Like this dinner. We're all going to sit down together, eat, and talk, just like old times."

"I'm glad everything turned out perfectly, that you have your friend back," Maya replied, taking Emily's hand in her own. Emily smiled back at her.

"Look, I see Leslie!" Mackenzie pointed out her window to where Hanna and Caleb were walking up the sidewalk to the restaurant with their two daughters. "We get out now?"

"Ok, girls, but no running in the parking lot. We hold hands, okay?" Maya reminded them. The girls agreed, and unbuckled themselves from their car seats.

Emily started to get out of the car, but then stopped when she heard her voice mail beep with a new message. "Mmm, that's weird. I didn't even hear it ring," Emily muttered, pulling out her phone.

"Who is it?" Maya asked, getting Mackenzie out of the car and holding her hand.

Emily listened to the message, while opening the back door and helping Molly out of the car. She held on to her daughter as they walked around the car. She put her phone down from her ear and looked at Maya, confusedly. "That was Meredith, our social worker," Emily explained. "She wants us to call her when we get a chance."

Maya considered this for a moment, as they walked toward the building. "Maybe she wants to check in with us, check to see how the girls are doing," she guessed. "She did a lot for us with the adoption and everything. She's practically part of our family."

Emily nodded, but she wasn't fully convinced. However, she pushed it to the back of her mind to worry about later. This night was all about friends, fun, and love. She wasn't going to let anything ruin this night for her with her friends.

"Leslie!" Molly called out, waving at the two year old. The younger girl whipped around to see who was calling her. She locked her gaze on Molly and Mackenzie, smiled, and waved back enthusiastically.

The two groups met at the door of The Grille. Hanna placed Leslie on her feet, and the three little girls rushed into a great big hug. The adults greeted each other, smiling at their children. Caleb held open the door for the women with one hand, as he balanced Hailey's carrier in his other hand. They ushered the children in front of them when they walked inside, where the girls immediately shed their coats. Leslie only got about halfway before her zipper got stuck and she gave up.

"We like your dress, Leslie," Mackenzie commented. The twins passed their coats to Emily, and Hanna helped Leslie off with her coat. Leslie wore a long sleeve dress turquoise polka dot dress with a red bow at the waist of the ruffled skirt, and she wore red leggings underneath with a red headband in her hair. Leslie giggled shyly at the girls' compliment.

"We not wearing dresses today," Molly pointed out. The twins wore black and gray striped leggings and a black long sleeve shirt with silver, glittery stars on it.

"It looks like we're the first ones here," Emily noted, looking around the restaurant but not finding any of their other friends. She adjusted the twins' coats over one arm. They decided to find a table big enough to accommodate all of them, and sit and wait for the rest of their friends. Molly and Mackenzie chose their seats first, and Emily laid their coats on the back of their chairs. They wanted Leslie to sit between them, but they settled for Leslie just sitting next to one of them so that Hanna could sit on Leslie's other side.

"So, how is she settling in?" Emily asked, to make conversation while they waited for the others. She watched as Hanna settled Leslie into the booster seat. Caleb handed the three little girls each a kids menu and some crayons. Molly and Mackenzie tried to do the activities on the menu to the best of their ability, but Leslie just took a crayon and started scribbling all over the paper.

"Things have been going pretty smoothly," Hanna answered, smiling at Leslie. She was trying to make sense of what the twins were explaining to her. They were trying to explain connect-the-dots, but it wasn't working out too well. "Though, she has a bit of trouble at bedtime. She doesn't want sleep alone," Hanna finished.

"I sleep wit mommy and daddy!" Leslie added, happily, glancing up from drawing.

"You did?" Emily laughed. Leslie nodded, and then went back to coloring. "I'm sure she's still getting acclimated to her new surroundings," she assured Hanna. Then, she looked up towards the front windows. "Oh, here comes Aria."

The others turned and looked toward the windows. Aria, Ezra, and Liam were walking down the sidewalk to the main entrance to The Grille. Suddenly, they stopped and Liam said something to Aria. She hesitated, glancing up, then she looked back down at her son and nodded. Liam spun back around excitedly and ran a few feet back the way they had just come. Liam ran into someone's open arms, and the two spun in a circle in a hug. It was Jason Dilaurentis.

Hanna and Emily shared a look. "How awkward do you think this is going to be?" Emily whispered, not tearing her eyes away from the scene.

"I don't think there's a number high enough on that scale," Hanna whispered back, also glued to the scene.

"We shouldn't be staring," Emily stated. "It's awkward enough without having an audience." She turned away from the window to give her friend a bit more privacy.

Hanna turned away a second after Emily did. "You're right," she sighed. "I can't read their lips anyway."

"I gonna use red now," Molly and Mackenzie said at the same exact time, without planning it. Neither one of them acted like it was funny; they just reached for a red crayon without looking at each other.

Leslie watched the two of them, her own crayon poised in the air. Then, she quickly switched it for the red one. "Me too," she said.

A couple more minutes passed before Aria and Ezra entered the restaurant. Liam was in high spirits as he came in behind Aria and Ezra, he was practically skipping. He seemed happy about seeing the man that was his father figure for most of his life. They approached the table with greetings on their lips. Liam slid into a chair across from the twins, taking off his coat and placing it on the back of his chair. Instead of doing the activities on his own kid menu, he flipped the paper over and began drawing his own picture on the back.

Ezra went over to sit by Caleb, who was using his foot to rock Hailey in her carrier gently, causing her to smile. Aria stayed near Emily and Hanna.

"So,..uh...we saw Jason outside," Emily said, hesitatingly. "How was it, seeing him again?"

Aria bit her lip, lowering herself slowly into a seat across from her friends. "You guys saw that, huh?" she mumbled.

"Yeah, but we didn't hear anything," Hanna clarified, then added, "Next time, you should open your mouth wider so that we know what you're saying-" She stopped when Emily nudged her with her elbow. "What?" Hanna said.

Aria hid a small smile. "It was actually kind of fine," she told her friends. "Liam wanted to talk to Jason for a couple minutes, he hadn't seen him in a while. I didn't really get to talk to him."

"He didn't look too good," Hanna pointed out.

"Hanna!" Emily scolded, under her breath. Hanna looked at her innocently again.

"I know," Aria whispered, looking down at the table. She ran her index finger around languidly in a circle on the tabletop. "I don't even know how Ezra felt about Liam talking to Jason."

Emily came around the table, and pulled Aria into a comforting hug. "It will be okay," she reassured her friend. Aria glanced over Emily's shoulder, seeing Ezra watching her. He mouthed 'are you okay', and she gave him a nod in answer.

Suddenly, the three little girls burst out laughing. They looked to see what they were laughing out, and saw Liam with two crayons sticking out of his mouth like he was a walrus or another animal like that.

"Liam, no, take those out of your mouth," Aria chastised him. Liam dropped the crayons onto the table, still laughing with the girls.

"He silly," Molly giggled, and Mackenzie agreed.

Leslie started to mimic Liam's actions, but Hanna stopped her before she could stick the crayons in her mouth. "Don't do that, that's yucky," she told her daughter. Leslie grinned, sticking her tongue out at her mommy. Hanna smiled, and nuzzled noses with her.

Right about then, Spencer and Toby arrived, each carrying a child. They could hear Tyler's voice from all the way over at the table, his little voice going about a mile a minute.

"What is he so excited about?" Aria asked, when they had gotten closer. Tyler was still going on about something almost sounding like nonsense.

"Oh, he saw a family of ducks crossing the street and now he can't stop talking about it," Spencer explained with a smile at her son, setting Eliza down.

"How much can a three year old talk about a bunch of ducks," Aria laughed.

"I believe he's giving them all life stories," Spencer laughed, too. She sat down next to Aria, pulling Eliza over closer to her.

"...da little duckie run 'cause he being left behind," Tyler was still telling his story as Toby started putting him in the booster seat next to Mackenzie. "And den-no, wait, I sit over there wit him!" Tyler interrupted himself, pointing to the seat next to Liam. Toby lifted him back out of the seat, and carried him around to the other side of table. He settled Tyler in his seat, wrestled Tyler's coat off of him, and then sat down in the chair beside his son.

"Hey, we're almost like twins," Liam said to Tyler, pointing to their similar shirts. They both wore long-sleeve striped shirts, but Liam's was black-and-gray-and-maroon and Tyler's was turquoise-and-yellow-green.

Tyler stared at him, then agreed, "Yeah!"

"Nuh-uh, you not twins," Mackenzie argued.

"Yeah, me and Kenzie are twins, 'cause we look da same, not just our clothes," Molly added. She and Mackenzie shared a mirror smiles.

"I was just joking, jeez," Liam told them, leaning his chin in his hand and going back to his picture.

Tyler watched him, then turned to his own sheet. "I dunno how to do this," he whined.

"Here, I'll show you," Liam leaned over and started helping the younger boy with the activities.

"...And how is this little one is doing?" Aria was saying, leaning down looking at Eliza. She tickled Eliza's belly softly. "You are so cute!" she cooed to the baby.

"I think she gets cuter everyday," Spencer admired Eliza with a smile. "But she's very tiring."

"Is she sleeping through the night?" Aria asked.

"No, not all the way. She hasn't grasped the concept that the sun means it's time to wake up," Spencer answered. Eliza started fussing, so Spencer took her out of the car seat and settled the baby on her lap.

"Well, you're causing trouble already, aren't you?" Aria teased the little baby, tickling her neck. Eliza laughed, swinging her hands around.

A few more minutes passed, and Ali still hadn't arrived with her mysterious date. This dinner party was all Alison's idea. She had said she wanted them all to get together and introduce her new boyfriend to them. It surprised them that Ali wasn't here yet, but it was just like her to want to make a grand entrance. They waited another minute, then they decided to place their drink orders and food for the kids, before they got restless and ornery.

The waitress brought the drinks out, and chaos nearly ensued. Molly and Mackenzie marveled at their plastic cups with a lids, looking at the pictures printed on the cups. Leslie wanted a sip from everybody's cup, and Tyler whined and complained about why he couldn't have a big boy cup like Liam. So, they were all pretty busy that they didn't hear anybody approach the table.

"Hello, ladies, look at who I have here," that tinkling voice that they all know so well sang out.

They all turned and saw Alison standing there looking perfect, her hand on her hip and her other hand threaded through the arm of the man standing next to her. The girls did a double take just to believe that the man standing next to their friend was actually the one they were seeing. He was tall, dark haired, and tan skinned.

Noel Kahn.

"See, I told you they'd be speechless," Ali smiled up at her boyfriend.

"Well, you're always right," Noel smirked, leaning down closer to her. They kissed passionately, and the girls looked away awkwardly. Ali and Noel eventually pulled apart, and Ali slid into the seat beside Spencer and across from Emily. Noel went to sit with the guys, with a grin plastered to his face.

"Ali, how did this happen?" Hanna asked, not one for subtlety.

Alison grinned. "Well, he came to visit me in the hospital, and we just...connected," she explained. She gazed fondly at Noel across the table. "We've been inseparable ever since."

There was a couple seconds of silence. Emily broke it first. "Then, we're happy for you," she said, flashing Ali a smile. The other girls agreed.

"Good, now let's celebrate everyone being here together," Alison said. They all raised their glasses and toasted love and friendship, the glasses clinking together. The children laughed as they mimicked their parents.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The night rolled on, with easy conversation and laughs. The girls slowly got used to Ali and Noel together, their flirtatious glances and other stuff like that. The outing was winding down, as the kids were finishing up their desserts. Molly and Mackenzie shared a banana split, though they did have a mini fight over the odd cherry. Tyler ate his chocolate ice cream sundae without holding back, seeing as half of it was all over his face. Liam also had the same sundae, and he ate it while finishing up the drawing he'd been working on throughout the evening. Leslie had a strawberry sundae, sitting on Caleb's lap and she shared it with him.

Hanna walked over and sat down beside Caleb and Leslie. "Is it good?" she asked Leslie. She pushed some of Leslie's hair back out of her face.

Leslie nodded, and held out a spoonful of ice cream to her mommy. "Want some?" Leslie said, around a mouthful of ice cream. Hanna declined the offer with a smile. Leslie turned to Caleb. "Daddy will eat it," she said, and put the almost dripping spoon to Caleb's mouth. He opened his mouth big, and Leslie fed him the ice cream.

Leslie only ate a couple more spoonfuls and then she was done. Hanna cleaned her up from her ice cream, sticky goodness. Then, she let out a big yawn. "You ready to go to sleep?" Hanna asked her, softly. Leslie lay back against Caleb, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She nodded.

"Are you going to sleep in your own bed tonight?" Caleb asked her, looking down at her.

Leslie shook her head, vehemently, like she was scared of something. "I sleep wit you, pweassse!" she whimpered.

Hanna and Caleb looked at each other, hoping that this was just a phase and not something worse. "Ok," Hanna relented. "One more night." Leslie smiled with relief, continuing to lay on her daddy.

Liam finished his sundae, and wiped his face and hands with his napkin. He slipped out of his chair, taking his drawing in his hand. He walked around the table to Ezra. "Daddy?" Liam slid in next to Ezra.

"What's up, buddy?" Ezra wondered, turning to look at his son.

"Wanna see what I drawed?" Liam replied, holding his paper with both hands.

"Sure," Ezra smiled at him. Liam placed the paper on the table, smoothing it out proudly. Ezra leaned in to look at it. "It's very good. Who are all these people?" he asked, motioning to the stick figures in the drawing.

"That's me, that's you, that's mommy," Liam explained, pointing to each person. Then, he got to the last one. "And that's Jason. We're a big family, right?" Liam didn't look at Ezra for an answer, because he wasn't expecting one. He doesn't think of no as an answer.

Ezra couldn't correct Liam. He nodded his head slowly, not finding the words to speak. How could he deny his son the man who he had grown up with for the past six years? No matter his feelings, Jason was a huge part of Liam's life, and he was going to have get used to that. But he wasn't going to lie, seeing Liam run into Jason's arms hurt him. Ezra put his arm around Liam, staying quiet. Liam was what truly mattered, and he was happy right now. The rest will fade in time. Maybe.

A/N: What did you all think? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because from here on out, it's going to get tough. Please leave feedback and tell me what you all thought. I love reading all of your lovely reviews :)