After managing to get through the first 20 minutes of dinner, Aria decided it was now or never. Each time she had tried to bring it up before, she was always interrupted by an exhaustingly bland conversation about the weather, the government, or some other generic conversation-starter. Since Ezra had arrived, there had been at least some chatter, even if it was dull. Right when Aria had worked up the courage to speak, Byron beat her to the punch. "Ezra... we all know that I'm not exactly the biggest supporter of this relationship. Especially now that you're back teaching at Rosewood. So why are you here?" Ezra's jaw dropped. Mike, Aria and Ella exchanged nervous glances- no one knew just what to say to that. "DadI'mpregnant," Aria blurted out. The room instantly went silent. "You're... what?" Byron responded, an expression on his face that made Aria want to remove all sharp silverware from the table. "I've done a lot of thinking... we've done a lot of thinking, and we're gonna keep the baby." Byron was quiet for a moment, and his expression softened slightly. "Okay," Byron replied unexpectedly. "Okay?" Aria questioned. She had hoped that he wouldn't be too upset, but she didn't think he would be this fine with it. "Okay," Byron repeated himself. "But you can't stay here." Ezra and Aria shot Ella desperate looks, but Ella kept her eyes on her husband. "w-what do you mean... are you kicking me out?" Aria spat, tears forming in her perfectly-lined eyes. "You're not going to hang around here and play 'Teen Mom' with Mr. Fitz, Aria!" Byron screamed. "Byron!" Ella interjected, but it was too late. Byron had made up his mind about Aria, who was now sobbing uncontrollably. "Daddy, please just-" Aria attempted. "Don't you dare call me that," Byron cut her off. "You lost that privilege when you were out being a little slut." Ezra winced. "Don't call her that," Ezra demanded, looking directly back at Byron, who's face was angry once again. "Who do you think you are? I can call my daughter whatever the hell I want! Don't think for one second that I won't have you arrested for statutory rape," Byron threatened. "Dad, stop!" Mike wailed. "Stay out of this, Mike." Byron shot back. With that, Byron got up from his chair and headed upstairs, before stopping half-way and turning around to face the table. "Pack your things and be gone by tomorrow morning." With that, he resumed walking up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door shut.
okay, what do you guys think? to be honest, i'm not all that happy with this chapter but i really wanted to update tonight. What do you guys think will happen next? Please leave reviews! I will try to update as soon as possible, but i would love to get to 50 reviews before chapter 11! Thanks again for your reviews/feedback/PM's. it means a lot.
xoxo, TeamEzria13
p.s. - do you guys want me to make Dianne and/or Jackie a bigger part of the story? let me know! Also let me know if you want to see more of mike or the girls. :)