We just landed in Rosewood where my mother and Hanna's mother are supposed to pick us up. Tony and I have talked about it and we have ultimately decided that we are going to wait to tell mom about the baby. Right now is a time for her to mourn. Even though they were divorced, over the last few years they had grown together again. They had even moved back in together. This week is going to be our week to help mom with anything that she needs and be there for her in her time of mourning.

There is no denying that after that long flight I am tired and could go for some coffee, so I think the first thing that we need to do once we've retrieved our luggage is go to the Brew and get a coffee to go. I'm sure that there will be people to see and things that we need to do.

"Aria! Tony!" I heard my mother call after us. Hanna and Caleb have already left with Ashley, so it's just me, Tony, and my mother. I am so thankful that mom loves Tony. This would be a very stressful week if she didn't, it'll already be a stressful enough week as it is.

I smiled as she caught my view. Tony and I took our time in walking her direction, but she ran to us. She stopped just short of on top of me so I wrapped my good arm around her. "It's good to see you mom. I've missed you." I truthfully greeted her. I have missed my mom, even if I'm happier doing things on my own now that I'm a grown woman.

She wrapped both of her arms tightly around me, I can feel her body trembling. "I've missed you too, Aria. It's been a long week, but I'm sure that you can relate, you were in the hospital. How's the arm feeling? Do the painkillers make you feel sleepy?" she started the twenty questions game. This ought to be fun when I'm trying to keep the baby a secret.

I shook my head, "I decided that I didn't want to use the painkillers unless I just have to have them. I don't like to have a foggy mind. Especially with everything that has happened over the past week, I need to be able to think. Luckily, I have a high threshold of pain tolerance." I replied, keeping Gibbs rule in being specific when you lie in mind. I gave details as to why I didn't want the drugs entering my body.

Mom looked at me in bewilderment, "Well what are you doing for the pain then? You must be miserable right now. I do admit that you are looking great though." she questioned as she quickly hugged Tony and ushered the two of us to her car.

That's an easy one, "I try not to think about it. I keep ice on it a lot, I've been resting a lot, taking two to three naps a day. Speaking of which, can we stop by the brew so I can get a coffee. I'm usually on my third cup by now." I explained as I got into the passenger seat of her car.

Tony laughed, "She isn't kidding either. I have to cut her off at her fifth cup every morning." he tattle tailed me out to my mother about my coffee habits.

I playfully stuck my tongue out at him, "I'm not that bad. Unless we're in the middle of a case I cut myself off at five, you don't have to. Abby is worse though and you know it. How many Caf-Pow's does she have a day? Eight? Nine?" I retorted. I'm fairly certain that Abby only sleeps an hour a night at most. I'm honestly not quite sure how she functions to be perfectly honest with you.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I'm pretty sure that is just on the day's after she has a concert... Or while we're working on a case. The rest of the time I'm pretty sure she cuts herself off at five. How she ever sleeps is beyond me." he defended our little caffeine obsessed goth.

Mom looked at us confused, "What on earth is Caf-Pow?" she questioned having never heard of that before.

"Caf-Pow is pretty much pure caffeine with flavoring. McGee drank an unknown number of them, more than six last week and he was wired for sound. I had him run to go get me something that was a few miles away, and he literally ran. He worked at top speed for a little while after that then he completely crashed for the rest of the day. I have to admit it was hilarious." I explained to her giving her an example of how much caffeine is really in that stuff.

Her eyes widened, "That sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen." she replied as she pulled into the Brew's parking lot. She isn't wrong, I'm sure that it is only a matter of time if he makes a habit out of that.

I quickly got out of the car and walked into the Brew only to be greeted by Simone, the girl who babysat me when I was a little kid. Before I knew what was happening she had me in a hug, "I am so sorry for your loss, Aria. Byron was a great man." she attempted to comfort me. Okay, did she not get the memo that he was behind the murders of Rosewood, and tried to kill me? I'm thinking not.

This caught me off guard so I took a couple of steps back as soon as she let go of me. "I can't say that it was that much of a loss. He killed many people and tried to kill me." I replied, I don't think my tone was bitter, just that I don't think that I will ever miss him.

"Aria!" mom scolded me as she stepped beside me. "Don't talk that way about your father! He was a wonderful man that died much too soon." she went on. Okay, this is strange. She's talking to me like he was actually a good man, and like I'm a teenager again.

I let myself lean into Tony's embrace. "Excuse me, but I didn't say anything false. What are you telling people mom? Byron was a very sick man who took many lives away from this world and tried to take mine. Why do you think I have this mom?" I pointed at my cast, "Byron shot me that's why, he would have killed me too if I weren't trained to know what to do in those kinds of situations." I defended myself. What on earth is going on? Why is mom defending him?

Simone's face turned bright red, "I'm sorry if I said something wrong. I heard that Byron passed away and I knew that he had cancer..." she said taking a step back trying to put a little bit of distance between me and my mother.

I shook my head, "No, it's not your fault. I'm sorry. I just didn't know that my mother was telling everyone that it was the cancer that killed him." I replied getting a little angry at my mom. I knew that there wasn't something quite right about all of this, but she seems to be in denial.

Mom looked at me in horror, "Wait, you killed your father? Mike told me that there was a fight and he got shot and didn't make it through surgery." she asked. Okay, I think it's time we get her into some counseling. She is accusing me of a murder that I didn't commit.

Tony let go of my and stood in between us, protecting me from her. "Ella. Byron got into our house, he had a bomb strapped to his back and a gun. He was about to shoot her so she shot him in the shoulder and went for the bomb so it wouldn't go off. He shot her in the process. The bullet went straight through her arm. We got there and both Aria and Byron were taking straight to the hospital for surgery. He didn't make it. He only had a couple of weeks left to live anyway, it's not like this is a big deal." he rehashed the events of Byron's death to mom because she obviously didn't know what happened.

She crossed her arms, "Where would he get either of those things?" she asked looking at Tony like the story he just told was completely fiction.

As soon as she said this I pulled out my phone and called Mike. "Hey, Ar. We're at Hil's apartment whenever you're ready." he greeted me.

"Why didn't you tell me mom's gone crazy?" I hissed at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she doesn't seen to realize that Byron committed all of the murders and tried to kill me. You need to get over to the Brew, like ten minutes ago." I ordered. I don't want to deal with this right now. I'm supposed to be resting, mom putting this stress on me is not good for me or the baby.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

During my short conversation with Mike mom started to have a total break down. Tony and Simone led her to a chair and sat her down. I can't deal with this. I walked to the counter, "I need a milk chocolate cappuccino with whipped cream and topped with chocolate dressing." I don't care how much sugar is packed into that, I need it.

The kids working the counter nodded his head and rushed to make it for me. Mom's scene has got the attention of everyone in there, and I'm not sure if they are scared of me or feel bad for me. Maybe a little bit of both. I watched and Tony lift mom's arms over her head, she's starting to hyperventilate. I could see a blue hue to her lips. Okay, this isn't good. "I'll call an ambulance." I offered as I pulled my phone back out.

The next few minutes were a little crazy to say the least. Mike and Hilary got there at the same time as the ambulance did, so he went with her. She got herself too worked up and on top of hyperventilating, she started choking on her saliva and threw up. I've never seen my mom like this before, his death is really taking a toll on her. I knew that she would be mourning, but I didn't think that it would be like this.

When they left I couldn't help but to collapse into a chair with my drink, which I'm not sure I'll be able to stomach at this point. Tony and Hilary sat on either side of me and blocked me off from every one, mom's scene really drew up a crowd. "You okay?" Tony questioned as he protectively wrapped his arm around me.

I nodded my head, "I'm fine. I just didn't think that she would react that way. I hope that she is alright, she wasn't looking the greatest." I told him as I took a sip of my drink and offered the cup to him, I bet he'll like this better than my usual order.

Hilary sighed, "So do you want to go up to the hospital, or to my apartment, or to wherever Hanna is?" she asked, I think she wants to get to Mike, I can see it on her face but she knows that he is where he needs to be, and she is where she needs to be.

I looked at the time, it's four. I don't want to take a nap at this point, and I don't want to take Hanna out of babyland quite yet. "I guess we should probably head up to the hospital. Hopefully they can get her settled down and ready to go home fairly quickly." I said as I took my drink back from Tony and finished it off. My stomach doesn't feel the greatest from all of the sugar, but it was worth it.


We got up and left for the hospital, where we sat in the waiting room until Mike could come out and give us an update on her condition. I took this chance to call Abby and let her know everything that has happened since we were picked up.

"Oh my god, that's crazy. I thought that they were separated?" she replied once I told her what just happened.

"They were, but they were living together again. I think they were trying to work things out now that both Mike and I are all grown up." I informed her.

"I just brought up her medical history, it doesn't look like she's been doing the greatest this past year either. She's been hospitalized three times this year for anxiety, and she's got the early signs of dementia. It's not common for someone of her age to get it, but it isn't unheard of. That could explain her behavior." Abby informed me.

Why didn't anyone tell me? I looked at Hilary, "Did you know that she's been in the hospital three times this year?" I asked her. Mom tends to keep things such as that to herself, so I'm not surprised that I didn't know about it.

Hilary shook her head, "No, but I know that she's been sick a lot this year, but I didn't think that it was anything to worry about." she replied starting to get a little bit more concerned for her soon to be mother in law.

Tony's mouth formed a hard line, he's thinking what I'm thinking. Now that Byron is gone she is going to go downhill, and fast. "Abby, is McGee there?" he questioned. I'm sure that he wants McGee to hack into the system here and get a faster and more accurate update on how mom is doing.

"Right here, Tony. What me to see what's going on?" he asked, there is a bromance for you. McGee knows Tony like the back of his hand, I swear. It's adorable and I love it.

"Please and thank you. How's the shoulder holding up today?" he asked knowing fully well that McGee can multitask and Abby is probably helping him with it.

"Let's just say he is feeling no pain. He is on some pretty strong meds." Abby answered for him so he could keep focused at the task at hand.

I sighed, he should consider himself lucky, I wish that I didn't have to be feeling any pain. "Yeah, rub it in. McGee gets to be all high on pain meds, and I'm get to deal with the pain." I complained as I started to rub my arm again. It really does hurt, and I really do wish that I could take something for it.

"Yeah, well, perks of lacking the ability to be pregnant. Okay, since she's been admitted she has had some test run, that pretty much say the dementia has gotten much worse, they are probably sedating her as we speak, they can't get her to calm down." McGee updated us on my mother's condition.

As if right on cue Mike walked out so that he can talk to us about mom, "Mike just came back out, I'll call you back in a little while." I promised Abby and McGee and accordingly hung up my phone so that we can have a private conversation.

Mike took a seat next to Hilary and put his arm around her. "Well, with everything that has happened in the past week, she has pretty much gone off the deep end. They are going to move her to Radley for the time being. They'll release her for long enough for the funeral though. Luckily, everything has been planned, we just have to put up with everyone who thought that he was a great man." he updated us on the matter.

Radley? That place was a hell hole when Mona was there, and unless they've made some major changes to it, it must be ten times worse now. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with that. I think I want to take a look at this place before I agree to let her go there. "No. I don't think so. I've been inside there Mike, it is not a good place. I don't want mom to stay there." I said standing up. Between the pain that I am in, and everything that is happening right now, tears are forming in my eyes.

He shook his head, "They redid the entire place last year, it was all over the news. It's nothing like what it was like when you lived here... Now, when did you go to Radley? I know that I was pretty out of it when we were in high school, but I'd think I'd remember you getting put there." he said with both confusion and interest in his face.

I shot him a look, but then smiled. "I wasn't put there. Hanna and I broke in when Mona was there. We wanted answers, and that was the way to get them." I stated with a hushed tone, that isn't exactly something that I want to be common knowledge.

Tony boomed with laughter at me, "That sure hasn't changed! You're will to do just about anything to get the answers we need in a case. Remember back in May when you pretended to be a gymnast to get that coach to open up." he looked over to my brother, "She just up and threw a roundoff-back-handspring-back-tuck without even batting an eye." he bragged about my tumbling abilities.

This made Mike laugh, "You do know that mom had her in gymnastics from ages 5 to 10, then she took a tumbling class while we were in Iceland. It wasn't exactly new to her." Mike threw down my tumbling accomplishment.

I threw my good arm up in the air, "Hey, I might have taken the classes, but I hadn't even tried to do any sort of tumbling in years. Those skills don't stay with you forever. I was terrified, but at least I got the information that I wanted to know, that part was easy." I defended myself. I feel like I did a hell of a good job considering that I hadn't done a tumbling pass in years.

Hilary rolled her eyes at our brother-sister banter. "So what happens now? Do we need to stay for a while, or can we go home?" she asked getting back to the topic of interest.

He sighed, back to reality. "Let's go back to the house. We're going to have to get it presentable for everyone. It won't take long for the town to find out about mom's little show earlier, or the fact that she's been admitted into the hospital. We're all going to be held under a microscope." he said as he stood up and took Hilary's hand.

I nodded my head, "Yeah, you guys can clean, and I'll go hang out with Hanna. I want to see Mrs. Marin anyway." I informed them as we started to make our way to the car.


When I got to the Marin residence I told Hanna what happened since we've seen each other last. "Hey, mom. Has Mrs. Montgomery been acting strange lately?" she asked as we walked back into the kitchen where Ashley was sitting with her new grand-baby.

She looked up and shrugged, "Kind of, but you know when it became common knowledge that Byron had cancer they both started acting differently." she commented, not thinking too much about the question.

I sat down at the table next to her, "Did you know that she's been in the hospital three times this year?" I started digging, the thing that I do best. I just have to remember that this isn't a murder investigation, and I am not in the interrogation room right now.

She shook her head, "I only know of one time. They had to call an ambulance to the house, I saw Ella on the stretcher. I never got a chance to ask what was going on though. Why?" she asked, not sure about the types of questions that Hanna and I are throwing her way.

I sighed, "She's in the hospital. I didn't know that she was having any type of health problems until I came here today. She made quite the scene in the middle of the Brew this morning." I informed her giving her some valid reasoning for the pointed questions.

She looked concerned, "What happened?" she asked as she passed Ryder to Caleb who happily took his son. She got up and made herself a glass of water.

Hanna filled her in for me. The pain in my arm is starting to drain the little energy I have left even though it isn't anywhere time to be thinking about retiring for the night. Hanna wrapped her arm around me, "And to think you came in early so that you could rest. Are you still going to be staying at Hilary's?" she asked after she finished filled her mother and Caleb in on my afternoon.

I shrugged, "I really don't know. At the rate that things are going we'll probably just stay at the house. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid everyone. I'm beginning to think that I should have waited until Thursday to come out." Today has put a lot of stress on me that I really can't afford to have.

Caleb gave me a sympathetic look, "But since you came out today, you were able to go ahead and get your mom taken care of. If you hadn't come today you would have had to have taken care of that at the same time of the funeral. That would have been a disaster." he reassured my decision to go ahead and come on up.

Ashley nodded her head, "He's right, Aria. You can hide out here if you need to though. We're always happy to have you. I miss having you guys in the house whispering in Hanna's bedroom. It's been kind of strange living in an empty house these last several years." she admitted.


A/N Please leave a review and tell me what you think about this chapter so far!

XOXO ~ TotalCowGirl