Chapter 14:
It was nearing three o'clock in the morning. Aria was curled up on Ezra's lap, her tears that lay on her cheeks dried up. Ezra was twirling a strand of hair around his finger, listening to the light rain pouring outside. It had been a few hours since they had gotten the phone call, confirming that Ezra has muscular sclerosis. They cried together for a while and eventually ran out of tears. So they just scooted back on the bed, draped a blanket over them, and just laid together in silence; not being able to form any words.
"I used to think rainy nights were romantic," Aria whispered playing with the collar of Ezra's shirt. "Now I just think they are bad news for us."
Ezra sighed softly, kissing her cheek, "Baby, it is just a coincidence. Plus, I remember a few certain nights where the lights cut off and we had a great time." Even when it felt like their world was falling apart, he could always find a way to make her smile.
"I'm serious," she said after another second, "I don't want to lose you again."
"You won't," he breathed into her ear, rubbing his nose against her hairline, "I'd never leave you or Dave behind again. Ever. I made a promise to you that that would never happen."
"Yeah, but you can't control-," Aria began, but Ezra placed his finger to her lips, silencing her from going any further.
"I promised," he repeated, retracting his finger away from her mouth.
She sighed, snuggling her head into the crook of his neck. They became silent again, lost for words once more. The brunette lifted her eyes to meet her husband's, whispering a soundless "I love you" to him. He smiled sadly and brought his lips down to hers for a soft, assuring kiss. "Go to sleep, sweetheart. We will discuss this again when you wake up."
Ezra kissed Aria on the cheek as she closed her tired and heavy eyes; partly from the crying, partly from the lateness, and partly from the stress. A few minutes later she was breathing heavily and her body went limp in Ezra's arms. He rubbed her arm lovingly as he closed his eyes. Even though he knew it was no use to try and sleep, he wanted to be still.
A few minutes later, he felt a little hand pull on his arm, ever so gently. His eyes opened to see David, standing near him with his rocket ship blanket in his hand. "Hey, Dave. What are you doing up so late, little man?"
"I had a bad dream," he said, clutching his blanket tightly in his hands.
"Oh," he said, placing Aria gently on the side of him. He pulled her sheets up all the way to her shoulders, kissed her head, and slid out of their bed. David reached up as Ezra scooped him into his arms, "Come on, buddy. Let's go tuck you back in."
"Daddy," he said once they were back in his room, "Could you hold me?"
Ezra looked at the slight fear that was still in his eyes from the dream. He kissed him on the head and brought him over to the rocker in the corner of the room, "It had to have been one bad dream." David nodded his head, snuggling into his father's neck.
"Can you sing to me," he asked meekly, letting out a small yawn.
Ezra smiled with a small chuckle, "Baby, you know your mother can sing way better than me."
"I want you to do it," he clarified, looking up at him with big puppy dog eyes.
"Okay, okay," he said, letting David lay on his chest as he rubbed his back, "What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive. I can't keep up, and I can't back down. I've been losing so much time." He began to softly whisper "You and Me" by Lifehouse, comforting his son in his arms. "Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose. And that's you and me and all of the people, and I don't know why I can't take my eyes off of you." By the time Ezra finished the song, David was fast asleep in his arms. He looked down at his son who was carefree; dreaming peacefully in his little mind that had yet to learn and explore everything he would soon grasp. He pushed the four year old boy's mess of hair, letting Ezra get a good view of himself from whenever he was that age.
"I love you so much, little man," he whispered, feeling his eyes becoming wet. He placed a kiss on David's head before gently placing him back into his bed. "Daddy will always love you. I will always be there for you. I will always be proud of you. No matter what happens, remember that."
He looked at his son for a second longer before leaving out of the room. He barely made it to the end of the hall before he hit the floor, sobbing into his hands silently. He placed his head in his hands, quietly rummaging through his thoughts and whispering to himself, "You have to overcome this. You can't let this control you. You need to be there for your son and for your wife. You have to fight this." He wiped the tears from his face and folded his hands in his lap, "Please, please hear me, God. I know I have made a lot of mistakes, horrible mistakes, and I also know I don't go to you often enough except when I need you, which is entirely wrong. I just really don't want to see Aria go through another tragedy because of me. I want to be there for my wife and for my son to the fullest. I know I don't deserve the help, but Aria and David do. I'm not going to ask you to heal me, because that is selfish, but please help us get through it. For my family." He got up from the floor as he finished, walking into the living room, where he stayed for the night.
Aria's eyes opened slightly, seeing an empty space beside her. She sighed softly, all of the memories from the night before flooding back to her. The brunette looked around the bedroom and into their open bathroom. After no sign of her husband in either place, she threw on her robe and made her way across the house. As she entered the living room, she saw Ezra, who was lying on the sofa and staring out of the window.
"Hey," she said in a groggy voice, "You look really tired. Did you sleep at all last night?" He glanced up at her with heavy eyes and she nodded in understanding, "Right. How could you get any sleep?" She sat beside the sofa, placing her face in front of his. Her fingers lightly traced the stubble on his face, causing a soft smile to form on his face. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"Everything will work out," he assured the both of them, "You'll see."
"I know," she replied, reaching her hands around his body and squeezing him tightly, "You are strong, and you have me supporting you every step of the way. You can do anything, Ezra. I'm not just saying that because I am your wife. I am saying that because I see who you are, and when you are determined to do something, you do it."
"You are the most amazing person in the world," he told her, stroking her hair lovingly. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too," she said, closing her eyes tightly as they continued to hug.
"What is happening," they both looked at the end of the sofa, seeing a wide eyed four year old boy looking at his parents with alarm, "Why didn't Daddy sleep?"
Ezra sat up, motioning for him to come and sit on his lap, which he did immediately, "Daddy is sick at the moment, buddy. I might be really sick, and right now we are trying to find the right stuff to fix me."
"But why," he asked, getting tears in his shining sapphire eyes, "How sick are you?"
"I don't know, Dave, but I know that I will be okay," he said, bouncing the little boy up on his knee, "I'll be fine. You don't have to worry."
"Yes, I do," he said quietly, "You are my Dad, and I love you. I hope you get better."
Aria smiled sadly at David, and then at Ezra, "He got you there, honey."
"I love you, too," he said, kissing his son on the head. He pulled Aria up next to him and wrapped his arms around them both, "I love you both, so much. Too, much."
"You're already back," Aria asked from the kitchen as she pulled out ingredients to make lunch.
"Yeah," Ezra replied, taking his shoes off and walking over to her, "David didn't waste any time running up to Henry's room, and Mrs. Johnson looked like she was busy, so I didn't want to intrude on whatever she was doing." He kissed her cheek as she closed the cabinet.
"So, is he spending the night, or is it just a play date," the brunette asked as she bent down to one of the lower pantries, in search of a mixing bowl. As she was rummaging through all of the different sorts of bowls, she felt a pair of hands snake around her waist and lock on her stomach.
"Either way it is going to be a play date for us," he whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle lightly. All of a sudden, he pulled her off of the ground as if she weighed nothing, swinging her around, and finally placing her on the countertop. "I think it would be nice to keep up this mood instead of the other. How about we bake a cake for lunch instead of a boring salad?"
"Okay," she agreed, tossing the head of lettuce behind her with a smile on her face, "But we have to bake it together."
"Fine with me," Ezra said, pulling the extra rubber band from around her wrist and pulling her hair up into a high ponytail.
Aria astonishingly looked at her reflection in the microwave, "How are you so good at this?"
"Well, you used to get drunk a lot, remember," he asked with slight amusement in his voice.
"Bull," she punched him playfully in the arm, "You were the one who was getting me drunk all the time."
"Only because I wanted to practice doing your hair for moments like this," he answered her with a boyish smile.
"Mhmmm," she said, putting a finger on his nose lightly, "Okay, Mr. Prince Charming. Let's see if you can bake a cake."
Ezra scoffed and crossed his arms, mocking offense, "It is on to see who can bake the best cake. And who can do it fastest. Oh, I am going to prove you wrong."
Aria smiled and hopped down from the counter, "Bring it."
They began to scurry around the kitchen, grabbing random cake mixes from their pantries. "No," Aria laughed, bumping Ezra out of the way. He punched the box out of her hand and grabbed her waist, pulling her out of the way. "That was not fair!"
"We never assigned rules," he said, pushing her away as he made his way to the mixing bowls. He quickly poured the mix in with all the proper ingredients. Then, he took the mixer and turned it on low, but Aria came up behind him and pressed the highest setting, causing chocolate batter to fly all over him and the kitchen.
Aria's loud laugh rang out of the silence. Ezra turned and looked at her. "No rules?"
"Well if there is no rules, then I can do this," he grabbed a handful of chocolate and smeared it on her face, soliciting a soft squeal form her. Now, it was his turn to laugh.
"You think this is funny," she asked, looking at him with amusement, "Uh huh. Come and kiss me, honey. Come on. I want a big fat kiss!" She grabbed his neck and rubbed her face all over his. They were both laughing uncontrollably as they continued throwing and rubbing ingredients all over each other. "You like that, huh, baby?" Ezra asked her, putting a finger full of chocolate into her mouth.
"Not as much as I like you, Mr. Fitz," she said, doing the same with her finger and sticking it into his mouth.
"And I like you just as much as you like me, Mrs. Fitz," he said, giving her a gentle kiss on her lips.
"Then, that is love," Aria confirmed with a smile.
"It's love," he repeated, giving her another kiss.
"You know this will take forever to clean up, right?"
"Don't ruin the moment."
Note: I feel like I have neglected all of you:( You have been so patient with me. So, here is a mushy gushy paragraph about how you guys are amazing. Firstly, you review and tell me your honest opinions which make my writing better. Secondly, you all keep reading every chapter and checking for updates. Last month I had so many views, I almost cried. I find that to be amazing. I just love you guys for taking time out of your life to read what I put on here. It just makes me happy all the time to know people enjoy my writings and support me. Thank you very much. Please review:)
~Laura