Again a massive thank you for all the wonderful reviews you're all awesome!
Chapter Eleven
"What do you think we should have Daisy?" Ezra said as he placed Daisy onto the kitchen counter.
"Mexican food," Daisy replied without hesitation. "Mommy likes it."
Ezra nodded and opened a few cupboards, "I don't have any tortillas," he said, "But we'll write mommy a note in case she wakes up and we'll go to the store and buy some and anything else you think she might like."
Daisy smiled, "Yeah daddy lets go shopping."
Ezra chuckled and lifted Daisy back off the counter. "Okay," he said as he carried her into the hallway, "You put your boots, coat, hat and gloves on and I'll write mommy a note."
Daisy nodded and Ezra put her down the floor and got her things out of the hallway closet for her, he then went into the living room and wrote a not for Aria explaining that they'd gone to the shops and they'd be back soon making sure to leave it where she could see it if she woke up.
"Are you ready Daisy?" he asked once he went back into the hallway.
"Yes daddy," she replied.
Ezra grabbed his own coat out of the closet, picked up his keys and wallet from the console table, put them in his pocket and then reached down to hold Daisy's hand.
Once they reached the store Ezra got a basket and they went around picking up items for dinner and other things that Daisy decided they 'needed' which included amongst other things ice-cream, almond milk, chocolate and 'flowers for mommy'. They were waiting in line at the checkout when Daisy said, "Daddy, that's my Aunty Spencer."
Ezra looked in the direction that Daisy was pointing and saw a tall brunette near the door. He recognised her instantly from photos that he had seen in Aria's apartment. Spencer looked over and Daisy waved at her, she made her way over to them both. "Hi Daisy," she said her hand reaching down to touch the top of Daisy's head.
"Hi Aunty Spencer," Daisy replied excitedly. "This is my daddy."
"Ezra," Ezra replied he let go of Daisy's hand briefly to hold it out for Spencer to shake.
Spencer smiled, "Spencer, it's good to finally meet you Ezra."
Ezra nodded, "You too," he replied. "Aria talks about you a lot."
"Likewise," Spencer replied she glanced around. "Is Aria here?"
"No," Ezra replied shaking his head. "It's just the two of us."
"Mommy is sleeping," Daisy said. "So we're getting things for dinner. Daddy wrote mommy a note so she won't worry."
"Daisy wants to make mexican food and I didn't have tortillas." Ezra explained.
Spencer glanced into Ezra's basket. "That's a lot more than tortillas," she replied with a smile.
Ezra chuckled, "I know," he said. "Daisy is helping me."
Spencer smiled knowingly.
"We're getting things that mommy likes." Daisy told Spencer.
"Your mommy will get a nice surprise when she wakes up." Spencer said to Daisy.
Daisy smiled and nodded her head.
"Aria never mentioned that you live around here." Ezra said to Spencer.
Spencer shook her head, "I don't," she replied. "I'm meeting my boyfriend we're going to one of his friends' apartments for dinner and he asked me to get wine. In fact I should probably get going it was nice meeting you Ezra and we should organise a proper meeting soon. We could have dinner maybe?"
Ezra nodded, "Definitely," he replied. "I'll speak to Aria."
Spencer bent down in front of Daisy, "I'll see you soon munchkin."
Daisy giggled, "I'm not a munchkin Aunty Spencer."
"Yes you are," Spencer replied reaching out to tickle Daisy. "You're my little munchkin." She hugged Daisy and they said their goodbyes, made their purchases and left.
Aria stretched her arms above her head and slowly opened her eyes, the room was dimly lit and quiet she could smell something cooking in the kitchen and could just make out Ezra and Daisy's voices. She slowly stood up and stretched her limbs once more before making her way to the kitchen.
"Mommy," Daisy said, "You're awake."
Aria walked over to Daisy and kissed her forehead. "I am," she replied stretching up to kiss Ezra, "and something smells delicious."
"Did you have a good sleep?" Ezra asked.
Aria nodded and glanced into the pot that he was currently stirring. "I did," she replied. "I can't believe I slept for so long. Can I help with anything?"
"No mommy," Daisy replied. "We're making dinner aren't we daddy?"
Ezra nodded, "We are," he said. "Sit down and relax."
"I've been asleep for most of the afternoon." Aria replied.
"We're almost done." Ezra said, "I was just about to ask Daisy to go and wake you."
Aria lifted Daisy up from the counter and carried her over to the table; she placed her on a chair that they'd placed cushions on to boost her up and looked back at Ezra. "Could I at least get our drinks?" she asked.
Ezra turned around and nodded, "I'll have a beer thanks."
"What would you like to drink Daisy?" Aria asked.
"Apple juice please mommy." Daisy replied.
Aria nodded and walked over to the fridge; she got two beers out for herself and Ezra and filled a glass with apple juice for Daisy. She went back over to the fridge to put the juice away and whilst her back was turned Daisy mouthed "flowers" to Ezra he nodded and opened up the cupboard where he had hid them, he got the flowers out just as Aria turned back around.
Aria smiled when she saw them, "What are these for?" she asked.
"Because we love you mommy." Daisy replied.
Ezra nodded, "What Daisy said," he told her. "We love you."
"Thank you, both of you." Aria replied kissing Ezra on the cheek. "They're beautiful. Lilies are my favourites. Do you have a vase for me to put these in?"
Ezra opened the cupboard underneath the sink and got a pink vase out and handed it to Aria. "Manly," she chuckled as she filled it with water. She removed the cellophane wrapping and placed the flowers artfully into the vase before placing it in the centre of the table.
"It came with flowers that I bought once." Ezra offered as an explanation. "I didn't end up giving them so I just kept the vase."
Aria grinned and washed her hands; she got their drinks and brought them over to the table whilst Ezra put their food out.
"Mmmmm," Aria said. "This looks really good."
"We've got lentil chilli with vegetables," Ezra said as he sat down and placed a small bowl in front of Daisy. "Salsa not too spicy and guacamole, and a special not too spicy chilli for my little girl."
"Thank you daddy." Daisy said happily as she reached over and took a tortilla from the pile.
They all talked happily whilst they ate.
"Daddy," Daisy said once Ezra had cleared their plates. "Don't forget ice-cream."
Ezra opened the freezer and got out several cartons of ice-cream. "Okay," he replied, "We have Chunky Monkey, Milk & Cookies, Cookie Dough, Red Velvet Cake, Peanut Butter Cup and plain old Chocolate."
"Did you buy everything they had in the store?" Aria asked.
Ezra nodded, "Pretty much," he replied. "We couldn't decide could we Daisy?"
Daisy shook her head, "No," she said. "So we got everything that sounded delicious."
"What would you like Daisy?" he asked as he got clean bowls out of the cupboard.
"Milk & Cookies, Cookie Dough, Red Velvet and Chocolate," she replied.
"Aria?" he asked.
"Chunky Monkey and Peanut Butter." Aria replied.
"What're you having daddy?" Daisy asked as Ezra brought the three bowls over.
"Red Velvet, chocolate and Peanut Butter," he said as he sat down with his own bowl. "But I may steal some of your cookie dough."
Once they'd eaten ice-cream Aria filled the bath for Daisy, just as she was about to get her out Ezra's phone rang he glanced at the screen. "It's only Hardy," he told Aria. "I can call him tomorrow."
Aria shook her head, "Answer it," she replied. "I know you've ignored other calls from him this weekend."
Ezra nodded, he had in fact ignored several calls from Hardy starting on Saturday evening when he'd gone with Aria to pick up their food from the restaurant. He hadn't told Hardy the news about Daisy yet or that both Aria and Daisy were spending the weekend with him. He walked out of the bathroom and called his friend back.
"Hey Hardy," he said once Hardy answered.
"Ezra," Hardy shouted over the music. "I've been trying to call you since yesterday, you need to come out. I've found this new bar and it's amazing."
"I don't think so," Ezra replied. "Aria and Daisy are spending the weekend with me."
"Oh," Hardy said, "Maybe next weekend then. Seriously Ezra you'll love this place."
Ezra sighed even before he met Aria and Daisy he'd been growing tired of partying every weekend and now that he had them both in his life it was the last thing on his mind. "Maybe," he replied although he knew had no intention of going, "We'll talk more tomorrow okay? We're still on for our Monday night dinner."
"Mommy," Daisy asked Aria as she lifted her out the bath. "Did you sleep with daddy last night? You weren't there when I woke up this morning."
Aria bit her lip as she tried to think of something to say.
"It's okay mommy," Daisy said, "I know that mommies and daddies sleep together. I've seen it on TV."
Aria raised her eyebrows, she monitored what Daisy watched but could she have seen something without Aria knowing? "What have you been watching?" she asked.
"In Home Alone Kevin's mommy and daddy are sleeping in the same bed when they wake up."
Aria breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh," she replied. "Yes I slept in the same bed as daddy last night."
"Okay," Daisy said. "Do I have to go to bed straight away or can I stay up for a little while?"
Aria smiled, she loved how despite being a lot brighter than most children her age that Daisy still had a childlike innocence and how she would accept answers to some questions with a simple 'Okay' without wanting to know 'why.' "You can stay up for twenty minutes." Aria told her. "You have school in the morning."
Later on with Daisy fast asleep in bed, they sat down to watch some of the videos that Aria had brought of Daisy when she was younger.
"Did Daisy mention that we ran into Spencer?" Ezra asked as Aria opened up the correct file on the laptop.
Aria turned to face him, "No," she replied. "You did?"
Ezra nodded, "She was meeting her boyfriend at a friend's house for dinner and was getting wine."
"Did she say anything?" Aria asked.
Ezra shook his head, "We introduced ourselves, she asked if you were around and she suggested dinner soon."
Aria nodded, "Yeah we should. Daisy might not be as shy around Wren if she has you there."
She turned back to the laptop and clicked on a video file. Ezra smiled when he saw a younger Daisy sitting on a blanket on the floor of Aria's apartment surrounded by toys.
"She's seven months old here." Aria said, "I was filming her to send it to my mom. I used to send her videos every week."
"Daisy," Aria said as she pointed the camera at her little girl. Daisy looked up from her toys and gave a gummy smile, her one tooth clearly visible.
"Say 'Hi' to grandma," Aria asked.
"Hi, Hi." Daisy replied. Something on the floor near Aria's feet caught her eye and she leaned over onto her side so she could touch her hands to the floor. Aria smiled, crawling was a skill that Daisy had learnt in the past two weeks and she'd yet to catch it on video. "What have you seen Daisy?" she asked. Daisy looked back over towards Aria's feet a look of concentration crossing her face and ever so slowly she pushed herself onto her feet and walked slowly and unsteadily over to Aria. "Daisy," Aria exclaimed the camera shaking slightly as she leaned forward and touched Daisy's face with her free hand. "Daisy baby you just walked, you're such a clever girl."
Daisy smiled and clapped her hands together in excitement, she then placed a hand on Aria's knee and bent down to retrieve the toy she had been after in the first place, she slowly turned around and walked back over to her other toys before sitting back down on the floor.
"Wow," Ezra said, "she walked at seven months?"
Aria nodded, "Yeah and it came right out of the blue, she had only started crawling a week or so before. I switched the camera off and called my mom I was so happy. Do you know how old you were?" she asked him.
"I think I was about fourteen months old." Ezra replied. "I was a master crawler though. What about you?"
Aria smiled, "My mom told me I was eleven months old and I'd been standing against furniture for a while so my mom said she knew it would be soon. Our neighbour came over with cookies. I guess I wanted one so I stood up and walked over to my mom with my hand held out for one."
Ezra chuckled, "What about talking?" he asked, "When did Daisy start?"
"She was making sounds from quite early," Aria replied. "She said 'Mama' at three and a half months, I didn't think it was intentional until one day when Spencer had hold of her and I walked back into the room she held her arms out and said it clear as anything." Aria chuckled as she remembered something else, "Her first sentence was 'I don't like it' when I tried to give her pureed pears, it was just after this video. After that she was learning new words constantly, she started trying to repeat everything that she heard so I had to be extra careful what I said around her."
She clicked on another video, this showed Daisy dancing in front of the TV; she was holding the hands of Aria's younger brother Mike who was kneeling next to her every so often she'd giggle, a sound that Ezra had grown to love.
Aria smiled, "Mike was pulling faces at her," she told Ezra.
"Is this at your mom's house?" he asked.
Aria nodded, "It was Spring Break so we went to Rosewood Daisy loves spending time with Mike he's like a big kid."
They spent the next few hours watching more videos and looking through photos of Daisy before eventually going to bed and making full use of the condoms that Aria had bought.
"Hey man," Hardy said as Ezra opened the door to his apartment the following evening. "Why don't I smell food?"
Ezra chuckled and shut the door behind his friend. "Because," he replied, "I've been busy so I thought we could order in."
"What have you been doing?" Hardy asked as he followed Ezra into his living room.
"This," Ezra replied pointing to his furniture. He had spent the afternoon re-arranging it; there was now a space in the corner of the room.
"Why?" Hardy asked glancing around the room.
"Because I need something bringing in here," Ezra replied. "Why don't we order our food and then you can help me?" He walked back out of the room and in to the kitchen.
"Help you with what?" Hardy asked.
Ezra got a handful of menus out of a drawer and handed them to Hardy.
"Thai," Hardy said handing a menu back. "I'll have the crispy duck, with steamed veg and sticky rice."
Ezra nodded and pulled his phone out of his jean pocket; he called in their order and turned back to Hardy.
"So what do you need my help with?" Hardy asked again.
"I'll show you," Ezra replied. He left the kitchen and walked down the hallway to the small room he'd been using as his office. He pointed to the desk, "I need help moving this into the living room."
"Okay," Hardy said, "Any reason why?"
Ezra nodded, "I want to make this Daisy's room."
Hardy raised his eyebrows, "You want to make your office into a bedroom for your girlfriend's kid?"
Ezra smiled, "No," he replied, "I want to make this into a bedroom for my daughter."
"Wait, What?" Hardy asked his attention now fully on Ezra.
Ezra smiled widely, "Daisy's mine Hardy. She's my daughter."
Hardy shook his head, "What? How can you even know this?"
Ezra had been expecting this; he walked into the room and picked a letter up from the desk handing it to Hardy. The letter had arrived in the mail that morning and it was the written confirmation of the results they had been given on Friday. "We worked out that I was the guy Aria had a one night stand with so we got a paternity test done and the results showed that I am. I'm Daisy's father."
Hardy lifted his eyes from the letter. "Damn," he said. "You have a kid?"
"I do, and she's amazing," he replied proudly. "I want her to feel at home here."
Hardy stared at Ezra he was still in shock from the news. "They're moving in?"
Ezra shook his head. "Not yet," he replied, "but hopefully they're both going to spending a lot of time here and I want Daisy to have a place that's just hers." He took the letter from Hardy's hands and placed it back on the desk. "Shall we get started?"
Hardy nodded his head slightly still trying to digest the information. "Everything is going to change now isn't it?" he said as he lifted the desk up.
Ezra started to slowly walk backwards out of the room. "Yes," he replied truthfully, "But if we're completely honest things have been different for a while now. I've not been going out anywhere near as much as I used to for a long time."
They were both silent for a few moments whilst they placed the desk in the corner of the room.
"I know," Hardy replied leaning against the desk. "But a kid man that's big."
Ezra nodded, "I know."
"Yet you don't seem in the slightest bit freaked out by this." Hardy responded.
"I'm not," Ezra replied. "I love them both so much Hardy and I'm ready for this. I'm ready to be a father. I just wish…"
"What?" Hardy asked.
"I wish I'd been there from the start. I know it was a struggle for Aria to do it alone physically and financially and if I'd been there….I could've helped."
"You didn't know Ezra." Hardy replied. "You had a one night stand and you had no way of knowing that you got the girl pregnant."
"I really liked her Hardy." Ezra told his friend. "I should've got her number."
"Ezra," Hardy replied reaching out to touch his friends shoulder. "Even if you had…You barely knew each other, throw a baby into that how do you know things would've worked out between you two? Three years ago were you ready to be a father?"
Ezra sighed, "I don't know," he replied.
"Don't feel guilty for not being there from what you've told me despite doing this alone Aria has raised an amazing little girl."
Ezra nodded, "She has," he replied proudly. "Daisy's perfect."
Hardy chuckled, "See, you can't change the past Ezra but now that you know you can be an amazing father to Daisy and doing this making sure she has her own room is proving that you will be."
Ezra smiled and nodded his head. "You're right," he said, "So let's get a move on I want to have it finished by the weekend."
"Okay." Hardy replied, "And I want to meet this kid okay."
"Yeah," Ezra said, "I really want you to meet her too."
Ezra stood outside of Daisy's school and took a deep breath, the last time he had been to her collect Daisy was the day she was sick and he'd been here as a 'friend' now he could walk in there and say his was her father. He smiled and walked over to the door, pushing the buzzer and introducing himself. He was buzzed in and had to buzz again at an inner door where he was visible to a several members of staff. Somebody pointed him in the direction of Daisy's classroom, he hadn't gone here when Daisy was sick, she had been in the nurse's office that day. He opened the door and looked around the room for Daisy; he spotted her sitting at a desk with a pencil in her hand. The teacher nodded and Ezra made his way over to his daughter. Daisy lifted her head up from her work, and smiled widely. "Hi daddy," she said happily. "I didn't know that you were coming."
Ezra smiled back, Aria had told him at lunch time that she had mentioned to Daisy that he'd be collecting her from school as she thought it would be a nice surprise. "Yeah," he replied. "We're going to get toppings for our pizzas and meet mommy at home." He sat down in the chair next to Daisy and looked down at the book in front of her. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Daisy turned the book around so Ezra could see it properly. "I was writing my name daddy," she said pointing to the words on the page. "But Montgomery is very long."
Ezra chuckled and nodded his head. "It is," he replied looking at the writing properly. "But you've done a very good job Daisy."
Daisy beamed, "Thank you daddy."
Abby the classroom assistant approached them, "Hi," she said holding her hand out for Ezra. "I'm Abby. I'm the classroom assistant."
Ezra nodded his head as he shook her hand. Aria had filled him in on the names of everybody at lunch time. "Ezra," he replied.
Abby smiled, "It's good to meet you." She handed him a piece of paper. "This is a permission slip for a school trip Aria will need to sign it though at least for now."
Ezra nodded he knew that until they officially named him as Daisy's father that he wouldn't be able to do things like this. "Thanks," he replied. "I'll get Aria to sign it tonight."
Abby smiled and knelt down next to Daisy, "Did you finish your writing?" she asked.
"I did," Daisy replied pointing to the words. "See? Daisy Harper Montgomery."
"It's very good," Abby said. "Why don't I put your things away for you and you can go home. It's pizza night tonight right?"
"Yeah," Daisy nodded as she stood up. "We're going to get the toppings aren't we daddy?"
Ezra nodded his head, hearing her call him 'daddy' would never get old. "We are."
"Well then Daisy," Abby said. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"
"Okay," Daisy replied taking hold of Ezra's hand. "Bye Abby."
"Goodnight Daisy." Abby replied. "Goodnight Ezra."
Ezra nodded, "Night," he said as Daisy led him over to where her coat was.
Once Daisy had her coat, hat, gloves and backpack on she reached up to hold Ezra's hand once more and they walked out of the building.
"Hi mommy," Daisy said as Aria walked into their kitchen. "You can pick your topping."
Aria bent down and kissed Daisy's cheek. "Hi sweetie," she replied. She then stretched up to kiss Ezra chastely.
"Everything okay?" she asked him.
Ezra nodded, "Perfect, the bases are ready we just need to decide what we're putting on them and Abby gave me a permission slip for a school trip that you need to sign."
Aria nodded, "Where are you going Daisy?" she asked.
Daisy looked up from the pizza that she decorating with mushrooms and peppers. "I don't know," she replied with a shrug.
"They're going to the Children's Museum." Ezra replied.
"That should be fun Daisy." Aria told her daughter. "Do you want to decorate my pizza too?"
Daisy nodded and started to smear tomato sauce all over the base.
Aria reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic sleeve filled with sheets of paper. She looked over at Ezra who had just finished his own pizza. "I printed these out today whilst Jackie was out for lunch."
Ezra furrowed his brow and took the papers from her. It was an acknowledgment of paternity form and information on how to fill the form in. Ezra looked back towards Aria his eyes glassy. "Aria…"
Aria smiled, "We'll talk about it later, but I thought…"
Ezra grabbed Aria's hand and pulled her towards him, he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you so much."
I debated whether or not to write more or to end there and I decided to end there and have the BIG discussion in the next chapter along with Ezra/Daisy cuteness.
Please review.
Amelia