GUYS! Thanks so much for the reviews! It means so much to me that you love the story! Please review it, whether you like it or not, because I only want to get better! Enjoy Chapter 2!

_ARIA

"Julian, Noah, did you say you wanted Cookie Dough or Rocky Road?" Ezra asked his two oldest sons, only a year apart, at TCBY.

"Dad, I said I wanted Rocky Road and Julian wanted Cookie Dough. Gosh, they are right when they say old people forget things easily." Noah said.

"Noah! Apologize to your father right now! What you just said was extremely rude!" Aria reprimanded her son. Even at just 14 years old, he was never afraid to speak his mind. And with no filter, sometimes Noah made really impolite and offensive comments. It wasn't intentional, of course.

"Sorry Dad, you're not that old." Noah teased. Ezra grinned his famous boyish smile (Even at 47 years old, he's still got it. Aria thought.), rolled his eyes in response and began to order his children's ice cream.

"Mommy, is Daddy getting me vanilla with sprinkles?" Their six year old daughter, Melody, asked, running out of the bathroom.

"Yes, sweetie, he is. Did you wash your hands?" Aria replied.

Melody's face turned tomato red as she ran back to the bathroom.

Melody was a surprise, not an accident, as some people around Rosewood had joked. They thought they were done after two boys, but little did they know, eight years later, there was more in store for Ezra and Aria. And she was the greatest gift they could have asked for. Melody Alice Fitz was such a sweetheart, always wanting to please people. She was also as cute as can be. Melody had brown curly hair, just like Ezra's, that fell to her shoulders, and the bluest of eyes that would sparkle in the light. Plus, the gap in her front teeth from the tooth she had just lost last week added a certain charm, a charm she only could have inherited from Ezra.

"Mmmmm, that was YUMMY!" Melody said happily from the middle row of their Volkswagen Routan. Julian was playing Madden '12 on his PSP in the back seat, and Noah was watching intently, ready to inherit this device and the game that it came with when Julian would get another cool gadget on Christmas.

They pulled into the driveway of their Rosewood home, and Aria, Julian, and Noah, got out of the car and went inside. Ezra was going to drive Melody to her friend Rowan's house for a playdate.

Ezra was back from Rowan's house ten minutes later. He walked in the house to see Aria walking down the stairs in a black, tailored pantsuit. Of course, Aria wouldn't wear it if there wasn't some type of unique flair. The collar looked like the lining of jacket, only it was on the outside and the breast pocket, Fresh Prince style. It was a mix of many colors, in swirly designs, almost like hotel room wallpaper. But on Aria, it looked fantastic. She had her hair up in a messy bun, with a matching red headband, which was topped with a big bow.

"Hey hun." She kissed Ezra lightly on the lips. "Wes should be here any minute, so I was hoping you would do Daddy Duty tonight, at least until dinner? Please?" Aria begged with a puppy face.

Wes was Aria's publisher. She was now a New York Times best-selling author, after her novel about an illicit relationship between a teacher and his student averaged a sale of over 5,000 copies per week, which is way above the average (of course, she wrote under a pen name). Now, however, Aria was struggling to write a sophomore novel as strong as her first. She needed something personal and inspirational to work with. Hence, the meeting with Wes, to brainstorm ideas and review her progress.

"Alright babe, I'll make dinner and get Melody in. But then it's my turn with you. I don't want Wes hogging you all day." He said with a flirtatious smile.

The door bell rang. "I'm all yours!" She smiled. "Noah and Julian are playing basketball outside. Make sure they shower before dinner! And please pick up Mel at six o'clock. Thanks, Ezra, you're the best." She began walking to the door. "Oh!" She turned around, getting a kick out of what she was about to say next, but also secretly wishing he would actually listen, when she said "USE A COOKBOOK! Follow a pre-made recipe, made by someone else." With that she opened the door and let Wes in.

"Hey Wes, how…." Ezra heard in the background, as he made his way to the kitchen, chuckling.

Aria walked Wes to the door, and after two hours in the dining room discussing her book- which had unexpectedly improved a lot in that time- she walked into the kitchen. Happily surprised, she saw Noah and Julian both in tee shirts and pajama pants, with wet hair, which meant that they had showered. Melody was sitting at the table in her sundress drinking some water. The table was set, and then she saw Ezra come to the table, wearing in apron that said "#1 CHEF." He smiled as he brought mashed sweet potatoes, sautéed green beans, and roasted chicken to the table.

"Ezra," she smiled, "this is amazing! You're incredible. I love you." She leaned in and they started kissing passionately, just like they had over twenty years ago, in his apartment, 3B.

"MOM! DAD! Get a ROOM! That is DISGUSTING!" Noah shouted, while Melody giggled.

"Yeah, seriously guys. Gross." Julian said, clearly trying to get the point across.

"Alright guys," Aria said, pulling back from Ezra. "I'm going to get changed. When I get down we'll eat and see if this food Dad made is actually as good as it looks!" Everyone laughed as Aria made her way upstairs.

Two minutes later, Aria came down, matching her boys in a tee shirt and sweats. She sat down at the table, where all the food was already served on everyone's plates, hers included.

"Dad, this is good." Julian said

"Ezra, this is DELICIOUS." Aria said, indulging in the luscious food she never even knew Ezra could make.

"First recipes on Google, guys." He said smiling, clearly pleased with himself. They talked about their weekends, upcoming field trips (for both Ezra and the kids ), cleaned up the dishes, and made their way upstairs. Aria bathed Melody and she and Ezra read and put her to bed together, while Julian and Noah got a movie started. After the movie was over and Julian and Noah finally went to bed, it was already midnight.

They got in bed and after kissing for a few minutes, when they were laying in each other's arms, Ezra noticed a worried look on his wife's face.

"Aria, are you okay?" Ezra asked with the utmost concern.

"What?" Aria asked, her mind clearly preoccupied. "Oh, um, yeah." She said, re-gathering her thoughts. "Well, it's just that Hanna hasn't called me back yet. It's been five days. At first she would answer the phone, or call back right away, on the same day even. But slowly it started becoming two or three days. And now five? I mean, I know she's busy, it's just that I feel like maybe she doesn't care about our friendship anymore, like it's not even a semi-priority." Aria said, with tears filling up in her eyes.

"Shhh, baby, its okay." Ezra soothed.

"It's gonna be alright, Aria. She cares about you and you friendship." He continued, as her weeping turn into heavy crying.

"Shhh, baby, it's gonna be all right." Ezra said.

But somewhere in the back of her head, Aria wasn't sure that that was true.