Chapter Three

Jason arrived in Paris five days later. He had tried to book an earlier flight but many planes were delayed due to an unexpected snowstorm. He felt nervous and lost as he waited at the reception area of the maternity hospital. He didn't know what he was going to say to Aria when he saw her. He had spoken to her the night before on the phone to inform her he'd be coming.

"Can I help you Sir?" the receptionist asked.

"Yeah, I'm here to visit my baby in the ICU." It felt so surreal to say that.

"Okay, what's the mother's name?"

"Aria Montgomery." Jason waited as the receptionist typed something into her computer. He was worried that Aria had changed her mind about letting him see Nadia.

The receptionist smiled and signalled to another nurse to come over. "Nurse Belinda, could you please show Mr. Dilaurentis to Aria's room. The baby's in there with her."

Jason's face lit up. "She's out of the ICU?"

The nurse informed him on the condition of the baby as she led him down the hallway to Aria's room. "For now yes. She's much stronger than she was at birth. We're still keeping an eye on her. She spends time with Aria during the morning then we take her back to the ICU at night." The nurse stopped at the nurse. "Here we are. Good luck."

Jason knocked on the door of the private suite and came in. The first thing he saw was Aria sitting on the edge of the bed looking at the baby in her arms. Aria's hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a loose knee length floral dress. She didn't have any make up on but still looked beautiful, even with a cast on her wrist. When she saw Jason she smiled.

"Hey, is that her?" Jason asked, not realizing how silly he sounded.

Aria giggled. "No, this is just some random baby I picked up in the hallway." Aria couldn't help but smile as Jason blushed. "Do you want to hold her?"

Jason nodded and gently took the baby from Aria. He couldn't help but stare at the tiny little baby in his arms. She looked so fragile and pretty in her cotton candy pink onsie. He couldn't believe he was actually a father. "She's so perfect. How much does she weight?"

"Exactly five pounds. I'm so happy she's healthier now. I thought she was going to die." Aria's voice cracked. "I'm glad you didn't have to see her when she was first born. All those tubes and wires attached to her broke my heart."

A lump grew in Jason's throat and he gently sat down on the bed next to Aria, careful not to wake the sleeping little baby. "That must have been awful for you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to comfort you."

Aria tried to not show how much she cared about Jason. "It's fine. You're engaged to Cece. It's not your job to comfort me anymore."

"Aria if I had known that you were pregnant I would have never gotten back together with Cece. I really would have tried to work things out with you."

Aria frowned, pretending not to care. "Don't be silly. We broke up and you're allowed to date who you want. I probably would have moved on too if I had not been pregnant when I came to Paris."

Feeling a little hurt, Jason decided to change the topic. "So when are you getting out of the hospital?"

"Today. I can't wait to be out of here." Aria looked sadly at the baby. "She has to stay for another week. I'll have to visit her every day."

"Nadia is a nice name. What did you put as her last name?"

"I haven't decided yet. Would it bother you if I gave her my own last name instead of yours?" Aria felt the need to explain. "It's just, we're not married. We're not even together. It would be easier for her to have Montgomery as her last name because of legal stuff like passports and doctor appointments."

Although he wasn't thrilled, Jason just went along with it. He was happy just to be allowed in his daughter's life. "That's fine by me. The living arrangements are what I'm most concerned about. How am I going to be in her life if you're living in Paris and I'm living in Pennsylvania?"

"I'm moving back to Rosewood. I hate it here in Paris and I miss my family. Especially now, I'm really going to need my mom's help." The thought of Ella gave Aria a headache. Ella had called Aria after finding out about the baby a few days ago. She was furious to be left out of the loop but she offered Aria to come back to the family home with her and Mike. Bryon had left years ago. "So, does everyone back home know?"

"Yeah, I didn't mean to tell anyone. Cece and I were arguing, then my parents came in and heard. Then my mom told your mom. Alison told everyone. Sorry."

Aria shrugged. "It's fine. They'd have to find out eventually anyway. So, what did Cece say?"

"She wasn't happy." That was putting it lightly.

Aria couldn't stop herself from saying what was on her mind. "You moved on pretty quickly. When did you two get engaged?"

"Two months ago. It all happened really fast." As Jason sat there explaining his relationship with Cece, the realization that he didn't love Cece at all hit him. He may have cared about her, but not enough to marry her. He didn't know what he was going to do. "I don't really know what I'm doing."

Aria sighed. "I'm really happy on my own. All I need to so right now is focus on Nadia. Relationships are too much work."

Three months later.

Aria moved back to Pennsylvania to be with Ella. The baby is healthy. Cece and Jason are still engaged. Aria has the baby from Monday to Friday and Jason has her on the weekends.

Aria sighed as she looked into the mirror. It had been three months since giving birth and she still had a few pounds to lose on her belly. It was Saturday night and Jason had the baby. Hanna was forcing Aria to come to a nightclub in Philadelphia. According to Hanna, Aria was becoming a baby obsessed hermit and if she didn't leave the house and have some fun she'd go mad.

Aria met Hanna at the club. Hanna did a wolf whistle. "Woah, you look hot!" Hanna said.

Aria brushed off the compliment. She was wearing a short black dress with five inch heels. Spanx were holding in her belly but other than that she felt good. "This place is so loud. What kind of music is this?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Seriously, all you've been hearing for the past three months is a screaming baby. AND YOU'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE MUSIC?!"

Aria laughed. "Yeah you're right. I just want to have some fun."

Hanna linked arms with Aria as they headed out onto the dance floor. "Not too much fun. You already have a baby." The girls giggled.

Jason tried his best to sooth the crying baby, but Nadia had an awfully powerful set off lungs on her.

"Why is that damn baby always crying? Can't you shut her up?" Cece yelled as she painted her nails.

The baby just got louder and louder. Growing frustrated with Cece, Jason lost his temper a bit. "Well you could help me instead of just painting your nails."

Cece shrugged. "Why should I help? She's not my baby." She stood up and walked across the room. "Don't pick fights with me. If you hadn't been irresponsible enough to get that hobbit Aria pregnant then we wouldn't be arguing right now."

The baby started to cry even louder. Cece looked like she was about to burst from anger. Jason was extremely irritated too. He hated the way Cece spoke about Aria. "Look Cece, you have whatever opinion you want of me, but don't try to say that my daughter's life is a mistake. She exists and I'm never going to choose you over her. So either get used to the fact that I'm a father or just leave!"

Cece huffed and puffed like a three year old, grabbed her bag and stormed out the door, brushing past Jessica. The second Cece left, Nadia stopped crying.

"Is everything alright?" Jessica asked. "I was in the neighbourhood and decided to drop in."

"I think I want to call off the engagement to Cece. I just don't love her. All we do is fight." Jessica took the baby from Jason and cradled her in her arms, she'd really grown to love being a grandmother.

Back at the club, Aria and Hanna were both very tipsy. Two hot guys were flirting with them back at their booth. Aria wasn't really interested but Hanna was loving the attention. Since breaking up with Caleb five years ago, Hanna was no stranger to a casual fling.

After a while Hanna tugged Aria into the bathroom and they both started to fix up their make-up.

"So which one do you like? That guy with the green shirt was totally checking you out." Hanna said.

Aria shook her head. "No way."

"Oh come on. When is the last time you got laid?"

Drunk, Aria answered honestly. "Like a year ago and I got pregnant." Suddenly feeling insecure, Aria frowned. "Besides, once he finds out I have a baby he won't want me. Nobody will want me. Hanna am I going to die alone?" The next part she whispered. "I have a c section scar. It's so ugly."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "And I have a liposuction scar."

What do you think? Please review and any suggestions are appreciated. Please tell me what you think should happen next? I'd really love reviews.