Chapter 9:

Aria looked away from the book she was reading as she heard a key fumble with the lock on the door. She stretched her neck to see Ezra walking in with bags of groceries in his arms. She smiled at him and placed her bookmark in the old novel.

"Hey," she said, walking over to the counter and beginning to unpack all of the groceries, "Had fun shopping?"

"It was alright," he said, walking up to her and turning her head to give her a kiss, "Had fun watching movies with David? Speaking of which, where is he?"

Aria gave a laugh, "He fell asleep after the first thirty minutes. He hasn't been feeling all too well this morning. I think it is his nerves of starting preschool in a few weeks. He asked me a few questions about it during the movie."

"He's going to be in preschool," Ezra said, leaning against the counter as reality hit him. "Can you believe that?"

"No," Aria replied, shaking her head and wrapping her arms around his waist, "And I don't want to even think about it. It scares me. It feels like he should still be an infant, not four years old."

"Maybe it isn't such a bad thing," Ezra shrugged his shoulders, "We have always discussed having another child when he did start school." Aria looked at him, opened her mouth like she was going to say something, and then quickly shut it and went back into the living room. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," she waved her hand in the air as he took a seat next to her on the sofa.

"Aria, please," he said softly, "Don't you want another child? You used to talk about it all the time, remember?"

"Of course, I remember," she said, looking into his blue eyes, "That when all of this wasn't happening. Ezra, believe me, I'd love to have another one of you or me running around the house, but right now isn't the time. Our next therapy session is in three days. We need to stabilize our marriage again before we bring another child into it." She watched as he looked away, processing what she just said.

He sighed sadly and grabbed her hand, "You are right. One step at a time." Aria nodded in response, embracing Ezra lovingly. He squeezed her back tighter, burying his face into her hair. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Aria breathed, rubbing up and down his back.

"Mommy," she pulled out of Ezra's embrace at David's cry. "Mommy, come see."

She stood up and walked to his room, "Baby, what's wrong." He pointed to his stomach and let out a small whimper. Aria kissed his cheeks, and put a hand to his head, finding him to be a bit warmer than usual. "Ezra," she called as she looked at her son worriedly, "Get me a thermometer, please."

"Here," he replied, walking into the room after a few minutes, "What's wrong?"

Aria shrugged and stuck the thermometer into his mouth, "I don't know. Maybe what I thought was nerves were really a virus or something. He says his stomach hurts and he is really warm." A beeping was heard as his body temperature was checked. Aria took it out of his mouth and read it aloud, "103.4."

Ezra pushed David's hair back off of his forehead with his hand, "Daddy will go get you a wet washcloth, okay? It's going to be okay, buddy." He glanced at Aria before going into the bathroom and wetting a hand towel. He rung it out and brought it back to his son.

"I gave him a fever reducer and something for vomiting, just in case," Aria told her husband as he put an arm around her to calm her. Every time David had a fever, she freaked out. When he was really little, a new born, he had to stay a week or two in the hospital because of his high body temperature. That was a rough week for the two of them. He also had a seizure one time, and that made Aria almost have a panic attack. It was just terrible.

Ezra kissed David on the head as he put the small cloth underneath his neck to cool him down, "You should fall asleep from your medicine, Dave, but Mommy and I will check on you, I promise."

He nodded his head, "Can you stay with me until I do fall asleep? Could you sing to me?" Aria nodded and leant into Ezra's arms. She grabbed his hand and kissed it softly.

"I remember what you wore one the first day. You came into my life and I thought 'Hey, you know, this could be something'," Ezra squeezed Aria softly in his arms as he cooed the lyrics to "Two is Better Them One" by Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift to their son. Soon enough, he was breathing deeply and dreaming. Aria gently eased her hand out of David's. Ezra pulled her up and out of the room.

"Do you think he is going to be okay," Aria asked hesitantly as she stood in the hall, still keeping an eye on him.

Ezra pulled her into an embrace and kissed her head softly, "Baby, children get sick all of the time. He is going to be fine. You gave him medicine, and he is sleeping. He is going to be alright, okay?"

She let out a big sigh, "I know, I know, but all of those memories from when he was born and not being able to take him home until two weeks after birth haunt me. I'm scared he will end up back in the hospital." She looked up into his ocean of eyes with worry.

"He is going to be fine. It is just a fever," he repeated to her, "If you worry anymore, you will panic, and if you panic, you will have a panic attack. Didn't you say you got those a lot in high school?"

"Very often," she admitted, placing her hands against his chest, "You're right; I need to calm down. Where is my chill pill?"


Aria and Ezra were sitting in the living room a couple hours later watching "The Lake House". They checked on David every ten minutes, making sure his fever was going down and not up. He stirred when they checked his forehead, but he never fully woke up. The couple was holding hands and whispering loving things into each other's ear during the movie.

"Momma," a little voice said hoarsely across the room, "Momma, I don't feel so good." Aria hopped up from the couch, Ezra close behind her. They saw David standing in the hallway, looking pale and clutching his stomach.

"Ezra," Aria gasped, as David started to cry. All of a sudden, he lurched forward and got sick.

"Aria, go in our room," Ezra said, pushing her down the hallway away from them. She protested, but Ezra whispered, "You'll make him freak out if you freak out. Go into our room, and I'll take care of this. Do you hear me," he said in a stern voice. She nodded and walked into her bedroom and shut the door. She climbed in bed and waited.


Ezra tucked David back in bed and gave him a sad smile, "Are you feeling a little better?"

"A little bit," David choked out, "Is Mom okay? I didn't get her sick, did I?"

Ezra shook his head, "No. She is just worried about you. Do you need anything else?"

"I think I'm good," he replied with a yawn, "Thanks, Daddy."

Ezra tapped his chest lightly, "It's my job, son. I love you, David."

"I love you, too," he breathed before turning over and shutting his eyes.

Aria looked up from the sheets she was fiddling with between her fingers as Ezra shut the door behind him, "Is he alright? Did he puke again? Is his fever still really high? Talk to me!"

"Chill out," Ezra put his hands up, "He is fine. Yes, a few more times, but he said he feels better. His fever went down to 101.1. Sweetheart, you need to learn to take deep breaths and calm down. You can't flinch every time he gets sick, okay? It happens. What he has now is just a virus."

Aria put her head in her hands and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I just can't help but picture his little face in a room by himself with us staring at him through the glass. He stayed in the hospital for two weeks before coming home. We couldn't even touch him." She felt Ezra wrap his arms around her body and kiss her cheek.

"I remember that all too well," Ezra replied with a sigh, "But we can't let him know we are scared or it will make it worse. I'm scared, too, but I am hoping and praying he will be alright." Aria nodded and kissed Ezra chastely prior to burying her face in his chest.

"It is six thirty, so how about I make your favorite dinner," he asked, lightly tickling her stomach. She giggled and nodded her head.

"Chinese Stir Fry sounds like heaven right now," she smiled as he led her out of their room.


It neared one o'clock in the morning. The moon was full and bright, casting dark shadows across Ezra and Aria's bedroom floor. Aria was curled into Ezra's side as he had a firm hold around her waist. Their deep and slow breaths filled the room, in sync with one another. Their door squeaked open as David drug his rocket ship blanket with him to Aria's side of the bed. He climbed up gently and looked at his mother and father sleeping. He tapped Aria on the arm lightly, but with just enough force to wake her.

She turned over on her other side, focusing her eyes on a hesitant little boy, "Hey, baby."

"Sorry I woke you up, but I couldn't sleep because I feel sick," David whispered as his eyes got teary, "Are you mad at me?"

Aria slipped out of Ezra's arm and embraced her crying son, "No, no, David. Don't be sorry, honey, it's okay. Wake me up anytime. Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" He nodded and snuggled into his mother's arms. She cradled him as he settled beneath the blankets, whispering a little lullaby in his ear. Ezra shifted slightly, uncomfortable without Aria in his arms. He scooted closer and draped an arm across her waist, spooning her body.

She looked down at David's now sleeping face. She wondered how she got so lucky to have him as her child. She never fully understood what her mother meant when Ella said she was her world until she had David. Right after she gave birth, everything revolved around him. She couldn't imagine watching him go through so much pain again.

Then, she turned her head slightly to catch a glimpse at Ezra breathing in her ear. He is the one who showed her true love. He always made her feel like she was the only person in his world. Of course there was that horrible time when he didn't, but that was once. Out of the whole marriage he only made one wrong, and she was in the process of forgiveness. She couldn't imagine losing him.

"I love my boys," she whispered to their limp bodies as she pushed her thoughts aside and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Note: Sort of a filler chapter, but it gave you some interesting background on David, which I enjoyed. I feel like he is just as important in this story as Aria and Ezra. I really hope you liked it! And thank you to all of you who followed and favorite me and my stories! I just figured out that my email tells me when someone does that. Took me long enough, right? And thank you to all of my amazing reviews! Sorry for the wait, by the way. I feel like I've neglected all of my readers, and I hope you forgive me.

Please review(:

~Laura