''Aria wake up.''

I opened my eyes to find Ezra sitting on the edge of his bed with a tray in his hands. ''What time is it?'' I asked groggily.

''It's just after 8am. I made you breakfast, and you need to take your medication.''

I propped some pillows up and leaned back against them. Ezra sat the tray that held a plate of pancakes and syrup, two cups of coffee – decaf, I assumed. - as well as my medication that the doctor prescribed me on my lap. ''Can you get my vitamins, please? They're in my bag.''

''Sure.'' He got up from the bed and grabbed my bag from the couch, received my bottle of vitamins, before returning to the bed. He picked up my fork and helped himself to my pancakes, while crawling under the blankets.

''How are they?'' I asked. ''I love you and all, but you are not the best cook in the world.''

He chuckled. ''Delicious,'' He picked up a piece of pancake with the fork, then fed me. ''I used to make pancakes with my Mom when I was a kid, every Saturday, before she left.''

I smiled sympathetically at him. ''They are good,'' I took another few bites of my pancakes before passing them to Ezra, to finish. ''You should call your Mom.''

''No.'' Ezra said coldly.

''Why not?''

''She should be the one to call first.'' He answered.

''Maybe she's afraid too.'' I picked up my cup of coffee and took a slow drink from it.

''How can you forgive her?''

''I don't know. I guess I kind of expected that to be her reaction. It's the same with most people we meet. I mean, look at my parents. At least she didn't pretend to accept us.''

''Can I ask you something?'' He asked.

''Of course.''

''Are you happy?''

''Happiness is a feeling that I rarely feel. I often feel content and even joyous, but rarely happy. Honestly, the only time I truly feel happy is when I am with you.'' I reached for his hand and let our fingers interlace.

''What about right now, how do you feel?'' He asked.

''Well, right now I have cramp – which the Doctor said was normal for my condition, and I am tired, thanks to you for waking me up,'' I smiled. ''But I am with you, so I am fairly happy.''

''What about the situation with your parents?''

''I'm not sure whether I am upset or angry with them yet. Yesterday I was basically saying that I am grown up now, but I'm not sure if I can do this without them. I can't help but feel that I am alone in all of this.'' I answered honestly.

''You have me. I'm not going anywhere.'' Ezra replied.

''I know. Thank you,'' I leaned into him and kissed him passionately. ''I love you.''

''Always.'' He smiled.

''Can I ask you something?''

''Anything.''

''Do you think that maybe you are not angry with your Mom because of her reaction to us, that it's because she left you, Noah and your Dad when you were fifteen? That maybe you still haven't forgiven her, after all this time.''

Ezra didn't answer me, instead he sat in silence. A tear slid down his cheek and he wiped it away, probably hoping that I wouldn't see.

I felt a pang of mixed emotions inside of me; sadness, because Ezra was upset. Anger, because his Mother left him when he was fifteen. And annoyed, because after nine years, she still hasn't apologized to him. ''Baby, you can talk to me. I'm not going to judge you.''

He looked at me. ''You're right. I have never forgiven her.''

''Why don't you talk to her? Ask her why she left.''

He shrugged his shoulders. ''I don't know.''

''I'm not saying that you have to forgive her, but you should try talking to her. It might do the both of you some good,'' I wiped away another tear that sneakily fell from his eye. ''I hate seeing you upset.''

He sighed. ''Okay. I'll talk to her.''

I leaned in and pecked him on his lips.

There now, steady love, so few come and don't go
Will you, won't you be the one I always know?
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down

The next four weeks passed by and before I knew it I was almost eighteen weeks pregnant. My bump had gotten fairly bigger and although I did my best to try and hide it, people in school were starting to notice. The town also became more aware of my relationship with Ezra. There wasn't a day that went by where I didn't get called a name by some kid in school, who doesn't even know me. My relationship with Ella and Byron was not any better, in fact, it was probably worse. I hadn't spoken to my Dad since I left home and the only time I spoke to my Mother was when she was teaching me in school, and the words we spoke were mostly to do with school work.

I considered filing for emancipation, but it would have been pointless, considering I will be eighteen in less than five weeks time. My parents haven't said anything to me in the last four weeks about coming home and I begun to think that they didn't care about me, not while I was choosing to be with Ezra and have his baby. Being a pregnant minor means that I am medically emancipated, so I didn't have to worry about any decisions my parents could make about me or the baby, medical decisions, anyway.

After our talk, Ezra called his Mother and she agreed to meet him to talk. I didn't go with Ezra to meet his Mom, but it must have went well because they call each other two to three times a week. His Mom went back to New York a couple days after my fall, but I spoke to her on the phone and she apologized to me for her reaction. She admitted that she was shocked and that she had no right judging Ezra's decisions, considering she left him when he was a teen. She also apologized to Ezra for everything and admitted to being a terrible mother. Ezra hasn't fully forgiven her, yet, but he is allowing her to be part of his life, as long as she accepts me, which she has. She came to Rosewood to visit us last week and told us she wants to move back to Rosewood to be here for us and for the baby. She seems to be really excited to meet her Grandchild. Ezra's father has also been even more involved with Ezra and I, since finding out he was going to be a Grandpa.

With Ella and Byron not being supportive of my decisions, I am truly grateful for the support system I have in Ezra, his Mom, Dad, brother and the girls. Spencer, Emily and Hanna are ecstatic about meeting the baby. They are always talking about their niece or nephew and often join Ezra and I at our scans.

My Doctor said that my condition hasn't gotten any better, but hasn't gotten worse either, so has allowed me to go to the hospital every two weeks for a check-up and scan. I have an appointment for a scan in three days and I can find out the gender of my baby, but I'm not sure I want to find out. I like the idea of a surprise, but Ezra wants to know as soon as possible. He said he can't wait another twenty-two weeks and is determined to get me to agree to finding out.

''Please, Aria.'' Ezra pleaded.

I was in Hollis, sitting on the couch in Ezra's office. I had finished school an hour ago and instead of going to Ezra's apartment, I decided to wait for him to finish grading papers. ''We've already talked about this. I don't want to find out the sex of the baby, I'd like for it to be a surprise.''

''Where's the fun in that? I hate surprises.'' He replied.

''It'll be a magical moment when the Doctor announces the sex after I've just given birth.''

''It'll be a magical moment whether we know the sex of the baby or not,'' He stood up from his chair and stuffed some papers into his bag. ''Look, Aria, if we know the gender of the baby then we can buy coloured things for he or she. That beats having to buy everything neutral. Would you prefer our baby boy to wear blue or beige? Or our baby girl to wear pink or beige?'' He walked over to me and put his hands on my hips, pulling me closer to him.

''I don't even like pink.''

''Well, purple. You like purple.''

''Okay,'' I sighed. ''We can find out.''

He kissed me quickly, before pulling away from me to do the little dance that he usually does when he is happy or excited.

I watched him while giggling. It was great to see him so happy. ''Okay you goof, can we go home? I'm starving.''

He stopped dancing and leaned in to kiss me one more time. We then walked out of his office, hand in hand and headed home.

Home. It's not my childhood home, where I grew up, any more. It's Ezra's tiny one floor, one room (minus the bathroom) apartment. I don't care how small it is, as long as I am with him, I am home. Though, it is too small for Ezra, me and a baby, so we have agreed to look at bigger apartments, soon. I need to find a job, which will be extremely hard, because no one to want to hire a pregnant school girl. But I will find one, I hope. Ezra has repeatedly told me not to bother looking for a job at the moment, that he can afford to look after us with his wage, but I can't help but feel guilty every time he pays the rent, or for dinner. So I have been applying to a few jobs without telling him. If we get a bigger apartment, in which we need one very soon, then he will need some sort of help paying the rent.

Maybe you want her, maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it, maybe you need it
Maybe it's all you're running from
Perfection will not come

We arrived home around twenty minutes later. I immediately grabbed my phone, that I forgot to take to school with me, while Ezra ordered take-away for dinner. I had some messages, but none were from Ella or Byron. I sometimes hope that I will receive a phone call or even just a text message from them, but I never do. I decided to call the girls to let them know that Ezra and I are going to find out the sex of the baby during the next scan. I called Spencer first.

''Hello.'' Spencer answered.

''Hi Spence, it's me. I have some exciting news to tell you.''

''And what would that be?'' She asked.

''Ezra and I have decided to find out the sex of the baby at the next scan.''

I pulled the phone away from my ear for a moment as Spence squealed down the line. Once she was done I put the phone back up to my ear.

''Oh. My. God. Can I come?'' She asked excitedly.

''Actually Spence, I was hoping that Ezra and I could go alone. You know, be the first two people to find out.''

''Oh, but I want to be one of the first people to find out.'' She whined.

''I know you do and you will. As soon as we find out I will call you. Hanna and Emily, too.''

''Oh, well okay. But you better call me as soon as you guys find out.''

''I will. I promise.''

''Great. Oh Aria, I can't wait. I hope you have a boy. A boy would be so cute. Can you imagine a mini Fitz? How adorable!''

I giggled. ''Yes I can imagine a mini Fitz, but as long as my baby is healthy then I don't really care whether it is a boy or girl. Anyway, I have to go call Emily and Hanna and let them know. See you tomorrow.''

''See you tomorrow, mama.''

I called Hanna and Emily and told them exactly what I told Spencer. I told them that I wanted to go alone with Ezra to the scan. Emily understood, but Hanna just whined about it not being fair that she cannot come with us. All in all, they seem really excited about finding out whether they are going to be aunts to a niece or nephew. Hanna said that she really wants me to have a little girl so that she can dress her up, I had to repeatedly tell her that this baby is not a doll, but she kept going on about buying her niece dresses. Emily on-the-other-hand said she'll be happy whether it is a boy or girl, as long as he or she is healthy.

By the time that I had finished my phone calls with the girls, dinner had arrived. Ezra was waiting for me at the table, with dinner already set out on plates. He smiled at me, while I joined him at the table. ''How did they take the news?'' He asked.

''They are ecstatic. Spencer wants a mini Fitz and Hanna wants a niece so that she can dress her up.''

He chuckled. ''And Emily?''

''She doesn't mind as long as the baby is healthy.'' I shoved a forkful of rice into my mouth.

''She knows what she's talking about. Although, a mini Fitz would be adorable.'' He smiled.

''Don't be so big headed.'' I giggled.

''You never let me finish.''

''Go ahead.''

''But a mini Aria would be even more adorable. A mini Aria would be beautiful, like her mother.''

''Ten points, babe.'' I smiled, then reached my hand across the table and gave him a high five.