"That just doesn't sound like Ezra" Ella lamented as she listened to her ex-husband vent about his new found work situation.
"Trust me, he is going out of his way to infuriate me, there's not even a polite attempt to hide it" Byron assured her.
Aria just listened. As much she genuinely did feel for her father, she knew Ezra was completely justified in his treatment of Byron. As she had expected this family dinner was going to be a rough one for her.
"He made a mockery of my class, he called me old and stiff." Byron complained.
"Did he really call you old?" Ella challenged.
"And he had Hanna of all people, as his sidekick. That girl couldn't whisper if her life depended on it" Byron huffed.
"Hanna? Really?" Mike asked intrigued.
Aria just rolled her eyes. "Hanna was just along for the ride, she works for Ezra now, he saved her from the horrid lady who treated her like crap" Aria defended.
"If Jen was treating Hanna badly, she could have come to me, she didn't have to join the dark side" Byron whined.
"Ezra is hardly the dark side" Aria snapped at her father.
"Are you already back with him?" Byron asked surprised.
"No, I'm just saying, that it's not like you are completely innocent in all of this, you have earned your share" Aria reminded him.
"Have you spoken to him?" Ella asked her daughter.
"Yes" Aria smiled weakly.
"What did he say?" Ella responded. Making no attempt to hide her acute interest.
"Oh you know, I broke his heart, he'll never forgive me, the usual" she answer sadly.
"I'm sorry baby, I'm sure he doesn't really mean it" Ella offered. "Are you going to talk to him again?"
"When he's ready he'll talk to me" Aria shrugged.
"We all know he will, I mean he's still Ezra" Mike offered.
"Am I the only person at this table who doesn't see this guy for who he really is?" Byron exclaimed frustrated. "What about you Zach, you're a neutral party"
Zach looked like a deer in headlights. "Well I've always liked Ezra. I never understood why you objected to him and Aria. I would think most fathers would be thrilled, but as you know, age is not that important to me." He answered simply.
"He was her teacher, why are you people forgetting that?" Bryon fumed.
"Dad I met him before school, he thought I was older, I have already explained this" Aria argued.
"He found out soon enough, he lied to all of us" Byron snarked.
"So did I" Aria reminded him.
"Let's move along, no need to keep rehashing the past, we're all adults now" Ella said with a forced smile. "Aria can you still come get Zoey for a few hours tomorrow?"
"Of course, it's the highlight of my day!" Aria smiled over at her little sister, who was currently scrunching up her mash potatoes in her hands.
Driving back home with her father was more than awkward for Aria. Although tempers had died down from the dinner before, the lingering conflict still filled the air.
"I'm sorry, about earlier" Byron almost whispered. "I know Ezra still means a lot to you, I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you"
Aria turned and smiled at him. "Thanks Dad, I know that took a lot from you"
"I don't want to let Ezra being here to rip us apart again" He said genuinely.
"I know Dad. We aren't those people anymore" she responded sweetly.
"That's good to know" Byron smiled.
"You ready to go big girl!" Aria cheered as she greeted her baby sister. Ella and Zach needed to finish up a few things, and Aria was on Zoey patrol for the next few hours. The Brew normally had a burst of people on the lunch hour, and today seemed to be no exception.
"We'll let's get your stuff and go the park" Aria cooed.
Zoey grinned her big gummy grin and made an excited squeal at her sister. As Aria and Zoey made their way through the growing crowd she noticed that Ezra was towards the back, and was staring at her intently.
Getting caught up in the excitement of seeing him, she didn't noticed that the baby bag was still wide open, and before she knew it, almost all of its contents were sprawled along the floor. Bending down to pick up her mess, Aria noticed Ezra coming to help.
"Can you take her?" Aria asked.
Ezra looked stunned. Aria simply placed the child in his arms, and went to collect the last of the diapers.
As she made her way back to Ezra, she saw that he and Zoey were having some sort of stare down.
Ezra was studying Zoey intently. It instantly hit Aria what he was doing. Zoey looked so much like Aria, he must think she is Aria's, and that would make her Ezra's too. Aria couldn't help but to laugh out loud.
"Calm down Ezra, she's my baby sister" Aria chuckled as, she reached for Zoey. Instantly she saw Ezra's entire body relax.
"I don't know if I'm more entertained or insulted" Aria smirked.
"Crazier things have happened" Ezra said, as he avoided eye contact with her. There was an awkward pause between them.
"So this is Ella and Zach's baby" Ezra said while smiling back at the small girl. "They did good"
"Her name is Zoey, I'll be sure to let them know" Aria smiled sweetly.
"Ezra Fitz, I hope you were swinging by to come say hi" Ella smiled as she walked up.
"Um yeah, I thought I'd drop in and say hello" he smiled back.
"Well we insist you come for dinner, Zach said he'll grill up some stakes, and I'll have Aria make her apple pie" Ella grinned.
Ezra's eyes grew big. Aria could tell he was going to try to back out.
"We won't take no for an answer, a single man needs a home cooked meal, and we all know your lacking in that department." Ella smirked.
"Well when you put it that way" Ezra smiled.
"Good, we'll see you tonight at 7:00, you remember how to get to our place right?" Ella asked.
"Yeah, I remember" Ezra said.
Sorry for the delay! I should be back on schedule now. Don't forget to do your part and review!