Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Pretty Little Liars characters.

Chapter 7: Papa Don't Preach

'The one you warned me all about,

The one you said I could do without,

We're in an awful mess, and I don't mean maybe…'

Not long after Spencer and Hardy left the hospital, did Aria get the all clear to leave. While Ezra went to sort out some paperwork, she sat and pondered everything that had happened to her in the last twenty-four hours. She was finally free of Liam. Well he was finally free of her was another way of looking at it. She was happy, for the first time in a long time she was happy. She had Ezra, she had their baby she didn't need anything else. But she also felt a lot of guilt. Guilt for what she did to Liam, she felt bad for all those months she was with Ezra behind his back, and for embarrassing him in front of all those people at Ezra's party. Aria put her head in her hands. She was glad most of her things were at Ezra's hotel room, and not her old apartment, so they could make a quick getaway to Rosewood. It was strange to think that all the time she was living in Rosewood all she wanted to do was leave, and now she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd want to be. In addition to the drama surrounding Liam, she also couldn't stop thinking about Spencer.

Spencer was her closet friend and it made her heart hurt, that Spencer had been carrying around all this pain and grief without telling anyone. Aria made a promise to herself to try and see more of Spencer in the future, so that her friend knew she was always there for her. Her conversation with Spencer also brought her own mother to the forefront of her mind.

She usually told her mom everything, but she'd hardly spoken to her mother since rekindling her romance with Ezra. Deep down she knew why she was reluctant to talk to her mother. When Aria was away at college Ella and Byron had become close again and they eventually remarried during her final year in Savannah. She loved that her mom was happy again, but there were so many unresolved feelings between Aria and her father she found it difficult to be around them sometimes.

She would never truly forgive her father for cheating on her mom, and she thought how ironic it was that she was now in the same predicament that he was in just a few short years ago. And his reluctance to accept Ezra also added to her fear of telling them what had been going on in her life. Although at the time, her mother had warmed to the idea of Aria and Ezra being a couple, Byron couldn't stand the sight of them together. Telling her parents, her father in particular, that she had fallen pregnant through having an affair, and an affair with Ezra, was not something she was looking forward too. She also feared for Ezra's face as this time Mike wouldn't be there to stop her dad from letting out his anger on her poor boyfriend.

Ezra reappeared in the waiting room, flashing her a brilliant smile and for a moment all her worries disappeared. He helped her up, despite her protests that she was fine. Truthfully being hit by Liam didn't physically hurt her at all, and part of herself knew she deserved it so she couldn't be angry. That didn't stop Ezra's worry though. She knew that the next seven months would entail Ezra hovering over her every step making sure no harm came to her.

They walked hand in hand out of the hospital and Ezra hailed a cab. They travelled back to the hotel in a comfortable silence, Aria nestled into Ezra's side. When they reached their room, Aria looked around fondly remember all the making up for lost time they'd done.

"Are you going to help me, or are you just going to daydream?" Ezra said softly coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

Her light, melodic laugh filled the air, "Come on then," She said removing his arms from around her, "I'm helping." She started by picking up all of their discarded clothes from the floor. Out of the two of them, he was definitely the messiest; she sighed as she picked up sock, after shirt, after boxers off the floor, wondering if their child would inherit Ezra's untidiness. She stuffed them into the already over flowing suitcase and wandered into the bathroom. She carefully placed all her makeup into her toiletries bag and wrapped up her straighteners.

"I don't think we're going to have enough room in the case." Ezra called from the other room.

"Don't worry, we'll make it fit." Aria said returning to the living room and placing her toiletries and hair products into the suitcase.

Ezra looked at her sceptically, "I'm telling you it's not going to fit."

"And I'm telling you it is!" She said defiantly, "Here help me up."

He picked her up and sat her on top of the suitcase, squishing the contents down.

"You see!" She said triumphantly as he zipped it up, "Told you it would work!"

He lifted her off the case and pulled her in for a tight hug. He'd missed things like this. He forgot how much fun he had with her when they were just together. They finished gathering up the rest of their things and did a quick sweep of the room before checking out and, setting off for the long journey to Rosewood.

Ezra pulled up to his apartment building and looked over at Aria. She looked so peaceful as she slept, her dark hair falling softly around her fair face. He took their suitcases upstairs, before coming back down to pick up Aria, literally. He easily lifted her in his strong arms and carried her up to his apartment, no not his apartment, their apartment. Carefully, he navigated the doors and gently placed Aria down on the bed. Quietly he worked around her to un pack all their things, knowing how she hated his mess. Every so often she'd mumble something in her sleep making him give a little laugh. Before leaving the room, he paused at the door to study Aria's sleeping form. Sometimes he still couldn't believe that this was real, that she was actually there. His life had been so bleak after she left and now it was like everything had regained its colour; like when Dorothy steps into Oz for the first time.

Leaving the room, Ezra wandered through his apartment. It was nice to be home after such a long stay in the city. He browsed the floor to ceiling shelves that adorned his walls, deciding on Catcher in the Rye, a book he's read many times but loves nonetheless. He settled down on his worn leather sofa and lost himself in the novel. It was only when he felt Aria's small body press into his side that he was broken from his trance. He looked down at her, she wore only an old t-shirt, her bare legs tucked up underneath her, and she smiled up at him.

"Hello sleepyhead." Ezra said affectionately placing a kiss on top of her head.

"I'm sorry I slept so long, this baby is sucking all the energy out from me." Aria laughed placing a hand on her stomach.

"Don't apologise, you're incredibly cute when you're asleep."

"And what about when I'm awake." She said softly, moving to straddle his lap. "Am I just as cute then?"

Before he could answer she leaned down placing a soft kiss on his lips making sure to be careful of his cuts from the fight with Liam, then moving onto his cheek, behind his ear, down his neck, onto his chest.

"Aria," he said strained, "You're just recovering from a concussion."

"It was barely a bump." She said ignoring him, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked titling her head up to look at him.

"I'm fine." She said honestly, stroking his hair. "I just want to be with you." And she did. After all the drama of the previous days she wanted to be held and caressed and loved by the one man she loved more than anything. She wanted to feel his hands on her bare skin, his lips on her neck. He looked up at her, all apprehension floating away upon seeing the lust and love in her eyes.

He leaned up as she leaned in their lips meeting for a feverish kiss. Aria ran her hands through his hair, revelling in its soft touch. She broke away trailing kisses down his neck and chest unbuttoning his shirt as she went. He leaned forward allowing her to discard the item of clothing, then slowly lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom. Softly, he placed her down on the bed, she leant up on her elbows and threw off her t-shirt exposing her emerald lacy bra, and matching knickers, it was his favourite bra that she owned.

His heart pounded at the sight of her. He unbuckled his trousers leaving him only in his underwear and he crawled onto the bed with her. She giggled in anticipation, running her hands along his defined chest. He shifted so that he was hovering above her, then he started a trail of tender kisses along her body pausing at her abdomen placing a special kiss there for their baby. He continued lower kissing along the line of her underwear before removing them completely.

She smiled down at him her heart beating fast and full of love. She beckoned him back up to her needing to feel his lips on hers. They kissed passionately, Ezra reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. He placed tender kisses across the curve of her breasts causing Aria to moan out in pleasure. The sound of her cries was too much for him, after looking at her for consent, he lowered himself into her, both omitting gasps from the connection. They moved together in their familiar rhythm, the pleasure building inside of them. Harder and faster. Their breathing became more laboured the deeper they went. They kept their eyes locked together and their foreheads touching as they finished together.

The next afternoon, Aria sat on the edge of the bed playing with the hem of her dress. She knew being back in Rosewood for good meant that she needed to tell her parent's about Ezra and the baby, and today was as good as any day to drop a bombshell. She went over all their possible reactions in her mind; joy, disbelief, sadness, disappointment to name but a few. It wasn't as if she needed her parents to raise this baby, she was financially stable and could support the baby. But still she needed her parent's approval, she hated feeling like she'd disappointed them in some way.

The need for approval started with Alison, being friends with her meant constantly being on edge waiting for the nod confirming that they'd done enough for that day, to remain her friend. That need for approval then extended into all aspects of her life. She started trying harder in school. Doing more chores around the house, never breaking her curfew. But all that changed when she met Ezra. For the first time in a long time she threw caution to the wind and let herself be rebellious. For the most part she enjoyed it, it was liberating not having to answer to answer to anyone. But as their relationship became harder to hide and the thought of telling her parents loomed on the horizon, Aria began to feel her veins turn cold at the thought of the looks of disappointment she was sure to receive.

Ezra walked out of the bathroom, a towel slung low around his waist. She looked up when she heard him enter the room. Her breath hitched, it still amazed her how beautiful he was. He sat down next to her on the bed, sensing her anxiety.

"What's wrong?" He asked rubbing small circles on her back.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just thinking maybe today we should go speak to my parents? You know tell them I'm back in rosewood, tell them we're living together, tell them-"

"About the baby." He finished for her. "Whatever you want to do I'll be right there with you."

He gave her a gentle kiss and got up, to get dressed. Aria stayed frozen on the bed, just watching him. She was so in love with him it hurt sometimes, he was her rock, he kept her grounded and gave her the confidence to follow her dreams and be the best person she could be. She knew that whatever happened today she would get through it, because he would be standing beside her. But that didn't lessen the fear of returning to her childhood home.

She realised she'd zoned out when Ezra trapped her on the shoulder all dressed and ready to leave. She stood up and took his hand as they headed for the door.

As they pulled into the Montgomery drive way Aria's stomached turned. She looked over at Ezra and found he was already looking at her. He looked relatively calm but she could tell that under the surface his nerves were threatening to spill over. She closed her eyes to compose herself and she was suddenly transported back in time. She was seventeen again and about to tell her parents that she was in love with Ezra. She shuddered at the memory of that day, she could only hope that today would not end with Ezra being punched in the face again. She leaned over to caress his face, tenderly placing her thumb on the cut on his lip. He reached up and placed his hand over hers.

"You thinking about the last time we did this?" He asked, reading her mind.

"Yeah, hopefully this time it'll turn out better."

"Hopefully I don't get punched."

Aria laughed, "You've been hit quite a few times haven't you? Maybe you just have one of those faces?"

Ezra clutched a hand to his chest in mock hurt, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have a very attractive face so people feel the need to hit you?" Aria said, but it came out as more of a question.

"Nice save Montgomery." He said leaning in for a quick kiss. "Are you sure you're up to this you look a little pale."

"I'm fine, just a little queasy is all." She said hopping out of the car before she lost her nerve and told Ezra to drive back home.

She looked behind her to check that Ezra was following and made her way up the porch. She rang the bell which seemed foreign to her as she was so used to just letting herself in. She took a step back and took Ezra's hand. A figure began to emerge from behind the opaque glass. The door swung open frustratingly slowly, to revel a shocked and very confused Ella. Aria let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding in at the sight of her mother.

"Aria?" Ella said opening her arms out for a hug.

"Hi mom." Aria said stepping into her mother's embrace.

"What in god's name is Ezra doing here?" Ella whispered quickly.

Aria just pulled away giving her a tight smile and a little shrug, something she used to do when she was upset but didn't want to talk about whatever it was in front of people. It was a little way of letting her mother know she would be getting an answer, just not right now.

"Well, come in you two." She said ushering them inside and taking their coats.

"I was just making dinner; would you like to join us tonight?" Ella asked and the couple nodded enthusiastically.

"Well make yourselves comfortable I'll just be in the kitchen." She said, walking out the room backwards, not being able to take her eyes off the strange sight of her daughter and Ezra together again.

Ella almost stumbled as she staggered backwards into the kitchen. Never in a million years did she think she'd see her daughter with Ezra again, and never in a million years did she think she'd be happy about it. She liked Liam, she did, but she never saw a spark between him and Aria like she did between Aria and Ezra. She was desperate to know what's going on between them, but she knew better than to push an answer out of her, Aria would tell when she was ready.

Having said that, they might not even be together again she thought. They could just be friends? But she could've sworn she saw them holding hands when she opened the door?

Although a part of her would never forgive Ezra for betraying her trust, she did like him and it was obvious how happy he made Aria, and that's all she really cared about when all was said and done.

However, as she began preparing the dinner, coincidentally Aria's favourite, the deep, contented feeling she'd got from seeing the smile on Aria's face, began to dissipate. Soon Byron would be home and there was no telling how he would react to Ezra being back. Although she had warmed to Ezra, it didn't look like Byron ever would. This situation scared her; she had a strange premonition that Ezra would be sticking around for the long haul and she desperately wanted her family to get along. They'd been torn apart so many times, it was like they were a broken vase being held together by glue, and she feared that the glue wouldn't stay sticky for much longer.

She found herself lost in her thoughts, only faintly registering her daughter's melodic laughter from the living room. It was nice to hear Aria laugh like that, she only hoped Byron's reaction would not diminish her daughter's happiness. She'd become so lost in her thoughts in fact that she'd slipped while cutting a tomato and put a tiny slice in her finger. She swore under her breath as she ran cold water over the wound, why did the smallest cuts always hurt the most? Her finger continued to throb as she stuck on a plaster, but suddenly the pain was overtaken by fear. She took a deep breath as she heard a key in the lock of the door and made her way out to greet and possibly calm down her husband.

Ezra and Aria looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. Byron wasn't home yet and that gave them more time to try and get Ella on their side

Aria felt odd being back in the house she used to think of as home. Nothing had changed. The furniture, the pictures the wallpaper it was all exactly the same. She ran a finger across the sideboard as she looked at the pictures that cluttered the wall. She felt Ezra's presence beside her and was suddenly very self-conscious about him seeing all these pictures of her as a child.

Over the years she had seen many pictures of him when he was little. There'd always been pictures of Ezra and Wesley scattered around his apartment and albums stacked on the shelves. But given their circumstances he'd never been around her home to see her childhood pictures adorning the walls. She watched him as he smiled at all the pictures, finding one where a little Aria had a tiny Mike in a headlock particularly amusing. He turned and caught her staring at him.

"What?" He asked bemused.

"Nothing." She smiled reaching out to run her hands through his hair.

"Careful," He said slowly, "Your mom's only in the other room."

Aria sighed, "I think she knows somethings up, speaking of which, when do you want to tell them," She paused lowering her voice, "about peanut?"

"After dinner, give us a little time to warm them up to the idea of us before we drop the baby on them, metaphorically of course."

"Good Idea." She said leaning up to give him a kiss, only to abruptly turn away at the sound of the door opening.

"Ella, who's car is that I didn't know we were…" Byron trailed off when he noticed Aria and Ezra.

"Hi dad." Aria said meekly, not sure how to approach him. It had been a while since they'd last seen each other and she could feel the anger that was radiating from him, at seeing Ezra in his front room.

"Aria." He said curtly his eyes ablaze with emotions she couldn't untangle. "How are you?"

"I'm fine thank you," She said cautiously stepping forward, "How're you?"

"I've been better." He sniffed ignoring Aria's attempt for a hug.

Sensing the uncomfortable situation, Ella quickly got to work diffusing.

"Well dinner is almost ready so why don't we all move to the dining room and you can tell us why you're here."

"I'll help you set the table." Ezra offered following her out of the room, he may be a grown man, but Byron still scared him half to death. Aria sent daggers his way, she could see straight through his kind offer. She could feel her father's steely eyes on her and she had to resist the urge to rest her hands on her stomach, a nervous habit she'd picked up recently. Slowly, they walked into the dining room and sat down opposite each other. Aria could feel the queasiness returning, but she was unsure whether it was due to her nerves or the baby.

"You seem nervous." Byron said, stating the obvious.

"I'm fine." Aria lied, "Just tired is all."

Byron eyed her suspiciously until Ella and Ezra brought out the plates, causing Byron to turn his glare back to Ezra. They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, just the sounds of cutlery scraping on plates filling the room.

The stilted silence was beginning to make Aria panic, she felt hot and sick and like the walls were closing in on her. She couldn't take it any longer.

"Ezra and I are in a relationship again." Aria blurted out, causing her father to choke on his mouthful of pasta. Ella slapped him hard on the back and handed him some water. Ezra gave her a 'what the hell?' look but grabbed her hand under the table in a show of support.

"How, when, what, why?" Byron spluttered, although he'd guessed as much hearing Aria say it was still a huge shock.

"Well the publishing firm I worked for is the same firm that published Ezra's book and so I was put in charge of getting the chapters for his second book and when we saw each other again it was like nothing had changed, like the past five years never even happened."

"Wait what do you mean the publishing firm you worked for?" Ella asked worriedly.

Aria and Ezra looked at each other uncomfortably, remembering the showdown that had taken place only a few days ago.

"There was an incident, I resigned a few days ago." Aria said hoping they'd drop it.

"What kind of incident?" Asked her father.

"There may have been a fight, at an important book launch party." Aria said, not being able to meet her father's eyes.

Ella and Byron looked between Aria and Ezra, stopping on Ezra when they both noticed the cut on his lip.

"Oh Aria you didn't?" Ella said quietly putting two and two together. "How long did it go on before you told him?"

"Three months."

"And Liam didn't suspect anything?"

"Not until he found out."

"You didn't even tell him?"

"I was going to, but it was hard we worked in the same place I was waiting until I was going to hand in my notice, but the fight happened before I could do that."

"Well what's your plan now, how are you going to support yourself?" Asked an agitated Byron.

"Well I'm moving in with Ezra, so I'm coming back to Rosewood and I want to pursue my photography." Aria said confidently, it was the only question they'd asked that she already had an answer for.

Ella looked pleased that Aria was pursuing her dreams and trying to do something that makes her happy, but Byron looked sceptical. Aria had had a promising career in the big city and now she was moving back to her hometown to be with her ex-boyfriend, that didn't sit well with him.

"I can't believe your throwing your life away for him again!" Byron yelled, "You almost didn't go to college because you wanted to be with him and now you've lost a job at a prestigious publishing firm because of him."

Aria felt like she'd been stabbed straight through the heart at his words. If he thought this just from them being together, what would he think when he found out she was pregnant? The walls were closing in on her again, the meal that she once loved tasted sour in her mouth. Her stomach turned and she couldn't keep it down this time. Abruptly she stood up and sprinted up the stairs to the ensuite bathroom off her bedroom, emptying the contents of her stomach.

Ella and Byron turned to Ezra their faces a picture of shock and concern.

"Would this be a bad time to mention we're pregnant?" He asked rhetorically before sprinting after Aria. Leaving a stunned Ella and Byron to process the information.

"Hey it's okay." Ezra soothed, knelling down to hold back her hair.

"What did you tell them?" She asked sitting back on the cold tile floor.

"The truth."

"How'd they take it?"

"I don't know I left before they could ask any questions."

"Coward." Aria chuckled resting her head on his shoulder.

Slowly she stood up, she took a few deep breaths, a swig of mouth wash and took Ezra's hand. They descended the stairs and found that Ella and Byron had moved from the dining room to the lounge and they were sitting in the exact same position they were seven years ago when they first found out about Aria and Ezra. The couple stood in front of them like they did all those years ago, their hands intertwined, anchored to each other. She felt the nausea returning when she saw the disappointment in her mother's eyes.

"How could you be so careless; how could you make such a big mistake?" Byron yelled. "You're throwing your life away!"

"Dad I'm twenty-three, we're financially stable, this may have been an unplanned pregnancy but they're by no means a mistake, how dare you call your grandchild a mistake?" Aria countered.

Byron decided to ignore her judgement, "Well when are you getting married? You have to get married."

"Byron!" Ella yelled, "It's 2015 not 1955!"

"But what will people think?" Byron hissed.

"They'll think that we're two people very much in love, starting a family together." Ezra seethed tired of Byron talking about Aria like it was all her fault, after all it takes two to tango, "And so what if they don't think that, you didn't care what people thought when you had an affair."

Byron stood up and Ezra instinctively pushed Aria behind him. He could feel her clutching onto the fabric of his shirt. Byron took a step forward closing in.

"Get out of my house." Byron spat.

Aria began to cry; this wasn't how she had wanted or even expected this scene to play out. Ezra gripped her hand tightly and led her towards the front door. Ella handed them their coats and whispered,

"I'll come see you tomorrow, we can talk this through without your father."

Aria nodded, wiping the tears that were refusing to stop falling, away. Ezra thanked Ella for a lovely meal and helped Aria into the car.

The ride home was silent apart from an occasional sniffle from Aria. When they eventually arrived back at 3B all Aria wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for the foreseeable future. Ezra opened the door and held it for her to go through, she bent down momentarily and picked up the post. She flicked through the envelopes of bills and advertising until she reached an envelope with an all too familiar scrawl. Shakily, she opened the letter. Her eyes roamed over the words, she let out a small whimper, which turned into body shaking sob. Quick as a flash Ezra was by hr side, pulling her close and gently tearing the letter away from her tight grip.

"Aria, Aria breathe, what is it?"

"The letter," Aria stuttered, "The letter.

Ezra unrumpled the letter, and then promptly crumpled it again hurling it at the wall when he'd read the poisoned words. Aria sobbed into his chest, this really wasn't their day.

"It's going to be okay." He soothed rubbing her back, but for the first time he wasn't sure if he believed it would be.

The letter lay in a crumpled ball on the floor long after they'd gone to bed, and it stayed there all morning taunting them. Eventually Aria plucked up the courage and retrieved the letter so they could figure out their next move. She smoothed it out, still not quite believing the words on the page.

$50,000 dollars in my account or I tell how you and Mr Fitz really met.

-Liam.

I hope that was enjoyable for you, it's like one of the longest chapters I've ever written I think!
Please leave a review so I know what you're thinking of the story, I really appreciate all of your kind words and support :)