By the end of April, Aria was 38 weeks pregnant and determined to put off labor until after her midterms. If she succeeded, she wouldn't have any other assignments until finals in mid-June, and with any luck, she would actually be able to study enough for said finals to pass her classes. The first step, however, was to complete the midterms.
Keeping Aria from delivering before her due date became a team effort. Aria went to class and then lay in bed writing her midterm essays for the rest of the day. Ezra did the grocery shopping, made dinner (he'd learned a thing or two over the years) and served Aria in bed. Essentially, Ezra's job was to ensure that Aria remained calm and limited her activity as much as possible.
By 39 weeks, when Aria finally turned in her last essay, the couple's goal changed immediately. Now, they had to get the baby out. Aria hadn't seen her feet in weeks, her back hurt and it was safe to say that she was getting very, very grouchy. Aria dragged Ezra on long walks around their neighborhood and ordered take-out items with names such as "fiery chicken" or "fair warning burrito".
Three days before her due date on May 7th, one of her methods finally paid off (or at least that's what she kept telling herself, as her mouth still hadn't fully recovered from the spices in that last burrito).
Aria woke up to Ezra crouching by the bed, shaking her gently as he said, "Aria, you have to wake up. It's time to go."
Aria was still semi-conscious, but as she came to, she quickly realized that her bottom half was very damp. Flinging the covers off of her, she looked down to see that the sheets around her body were soaked as was her huge pregnancy pillow.
Ezra removed the long pillow from Aria's grasp and as he helped her stand up, Aria noticed something. "What happened to your pants, Ezra?"
"You may have replaced me with a pillow, but I still want to snuggle. After you fell asleep, I snuck over to your side of the bed for a little spooning." Pointing to his moist PJ bottoms again, he continued, "I guess waking up covered in amniotic fluid is the price I pay."
Aria couldn't help smiling. Ezra leaned down for a kiss and asked, "So you ready?" Aria nodded and took a single calming breath.
In no time, the two soon-to-parents had changed, made the necessary phone calls to the doctor and were on the way to the hospital.
"Ezra, you can stop counting her toes. None of them have disappeared since five minutes ago."
Ezra blushed slightly, "I know. I know. She's just so tiny. I don't want anything to happen to her." At his statement, Ezra shifted the baby slightly in his arms and rubbed one of his thumbs gently over the baby's cheek.
Aria couldn't help smiling at how adorable Ezra was. They'd been parents for less than two hours, but he'd already mastered the overprotective parent act. "Come here," Aria said, as she shifted over in the bed to make room for Ezra to lie down beside her. As he did, he gently lay the sleeping infant in Aria's arms.
"Have you thought any more about the name?" Ezra asked. They'd been trying to decide on a name for over a month and nothing seemed quite right.
"I was thinking maybe Isabelle," Aria suggested.
"A girl named Isabelle teased me when I was in elementary school. It was traumatic, so no."
"She probably had a crush on you, you know."
"Well she had a funny way of showing it. She was absolutely terrifying."
Aria laughed. "What about Clara? Smirking a little, Aria continued, "Anyone by that name bully you?"
"Not that I can remember," Ezra responded, playfully. "I like it. What about Elizabeth?"
"Clara Elizabeth Fitz?"
"Has a nice ring to it."
Aria leaned down to give her daughter a light kiss, "What do you think? Are you a Clara?" When the baby didn't make a single move at this, Aria continued, "I guess she doesn't have a problem with it. It's settled."