Story title: Ezra and Aria: Double Infinity
Chapter 14: Hummingbird Heartbeat
Summary: Sequel to Ezra and Aria: A Romance to Last a Lifetime. Ezra and Aria have been living in New York for six years with their children and their dog. What happens when something throws a wrench into their nearly perfect lives?
Disclaimer: If I owned PLL, Ian Harding would have his biggest fan beside him every day. ME!
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A gentle shake on her shake woke Aria. She slowly blinked open her hazel eyes to meet her father-in-law's gaze. He gave her a small smile, resembling his oldest son greatly as he did so, "Time to wake up. You have a big day today."
That was when she remembered. Today was the first ultrasound that she would have in her pregnancy. She'd been pregnant for around fourteen weeks and living in Alaska for almost nine. It was different in Juneau. Since it was in the beginning of February, the days were short and cold. There was snow everywhere, but her children enjoyed playing in it with Snoopy. Derek Phillips, her gynecologist from when she was pregnant with McKenzie had a private practice downtown the small village. He was happy to have Aria as his patient again and he held appointments with her once a week.
Ezra was working at the local university part time. Nick, the president of Columbia University, was not happy when he quit out of thin air. Ezra didn't mind what the older man thought, though. He'd rather spend time with his family and take care of his wife while she endured her fourth pregnancy.
The only people who knew where they were Emily, Spencer, and Hanna. Hanna and Caleb moved into their house for the time being since their apartment lease was up. Then of course Issac knew. But Sarah, Ella, and Byron had no idea where their children and grandchildren were.
Issac, Ezra's father, seemed to enjoy having them up in Alaska with him. He retired early and finally decided to move to where his former vacation spot was; a large, beautiful log cabin on a small mountain right off of the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. He had had a nasty divorce with his now ex-wife, Jackie, as well as custody battle over their two year old daughter, Maggie. He eventually got full custody of her since Jackie decided that she didn't seem to want to be a single parent. Issac was happy to finally have a daughter, even if he was almost fifty. He loved his little girl very much, finally understanding what it's like to be a real father to a child, and not what he was to his two older children, Ezra and his other son, Daniel.
He used to be a very heavy drinker and when Ezra lived with him after his first divorce with Sarah, he beat him terribly. Eventually, Ezra got emancipated and moved in with his grandmother while his father was sent to prison and then to rehab. He was sober now, but he was still hesitant around alcohol as well as young children. He was afraid that he would hurt them.
Aria nodded at Issac and gave him a small smile, "Is Ezra still here?"
He shook his head, "He took the kids and Snoopy down to the harbor. It's the first time since you guys have been here that the sun has been out. He wanted them to enjoy it."
"Alright then."
Issac narrowed his smoky dark blue eyes as he looked down at his daughter-in-law, "Are you feeling alright this morning? You look kind of sick."
She slowly sat up and he helped her gently with his rough fishing hands, "I'm okay, Issac. I really am. Just morning sickness."
"Ah. A woman thing. I'll, uh, leave you to get ready then." He shot her one last smile and exited the large bedroom.
She looked after him with a relieved sigh. Aria could remember when her and Ezra went to Hilton Head before they got married and Issac had been there with his then fiancée, Jackie Molina. Aria had made the mistake of getting very defensive over Ezra's childhood and slapped the hell out of Jackie's cheek. When Issac found out, it was not a good situation to be in, for any of them….
A half hour later, Ezra watched his fiancée sleep, her face facing his, gently murmuring his name. He took his finger and tucked a loose hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek with his thumb. He leaned in to kiss her forehead just as pounding on the door sounds. Aria groaned but didn't wake up, her breathing deepening as she fell back into dreaming. Ezra slipped out from under the bedspread and puts a pair of board shorts.
He opened the door just in time for a fist to meet his nose. He yelled in pain as the small bone breaks and looks into the blue eyes of his attacker.
Issac's blue eyes were bloodshot and angry, "That...that slut of yours attacked my Jackie!"
Anger rushed through Ezra immediately and he didn't hesitate to tackle his father into the wall across from the room. He felt strong movements from Issac, pain soaring through his ribs as he constantly felt a knee meet them, hearing the air being rushed out of his lungs as Issac constantly pounded him. He collapsed on the ground, gasping.
"EZRA!" He squinted his eyes through the pain to see Aria run into the hall and hop onto his father's back, ripping out the curly black hair on his head. Issac twisted and got the girl off him without any difficulty, shoving her into the door, having her cry out in pain as her back slams into the wood.
Something snapped in Ezra, an angry so red, he couldn't see. Without thinking, he ignored the pain in his chest and stomach, getting up off the carpet and tackling his dad into the suite, throwing punches at the man's spine. Issac didn't react except for swinging around his leg to Ezra's head, kicking it sideways.
This can't be happeningwas all that Aria could think of as she watched Issac's leg swing around and hit her fiancé at the side of his head.
SNAP
Aria heard a moan escape Ezra's bloody mouth as his long legs crumple underneath him and he collapsed on the floor, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
She knew that Issac had done all that he could to change his old ways. Aria knew that Ezra still had some issues with his own father, but that was to be expected, especially after all that he went through. But they were all at peace up in Juneau and nothing could disturb their peace. They were away from the stress of living a big city and all of their burdens that they left in Rosewood.
Aria felt like there was still something missing though. She didn't know what it was. She felt like she was finally on the mend to emotional recovery from her miscarriage and losing Mason, but she knew that she'd always somewhat blame herself for his death.
She swung her legs around to the edge of the bed and looked down at her stomach, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips as she caressed her tiny baby bump. She murmured to her unborn child, "I will always keep you safe, baby. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you, sweetheart. Mommy loves you."
Aria didn't realize that she had been sitting like that for over fifteen minutes and she looked up when she heard a knock on the door. Her eyes met her husband's as Ezra watched her, leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed. He flashed his boyish smile at her, "Good morning, beautiful." He paused before continuing, looking at her up and down before finally meeting her gaze again, "You nervous about today?"
"A little bit."
Ezra nodded in understanding and walked further into the room, kneeling on the carpet in front of her, taking her hands in his. He gazed up into her eyes with a loving twinkle in the dark blue depths, "To be honest, I am too. But you know what? We're going to see our baby today. We're going to see our son or daughter for the first time. So, my enthusiasm overtakes my nervousness."
She leaned down to kiss him and when their lips parted, she shoved his curly bangs out of the way of his beautiful eyes, a smiling finally sprouting on her face, "How's the weather outside today?"
Her husband's face lit up at the question, "Well, for Valentine's Day, it is a cool sunny day at a steady twenty degrees." He lifted himself onto the bed to sit beside her, wrapping his arm around his wife, hugging her gentle, his other hand sliding over the small baby bump, pausing there. He leaned over to press his lips into his wife's hair as he whispered into her ear, "We better get going. We don't want to be late, do we?"
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Ezra escorted his wife into the small doctor's office and was met by a warm smile and hand shake by Derek Phillips. In all the years that they have known him, he hadn't changed at all. He was still stocky and used way too much hair gel in his silver locks. He was near seventy and he was still working hard. He loved his job all too much to retire.
"Ezra! Good to see you again! How are you enjoying Alaska so far?" Derek asked as he led them back into the sonogram machine was located.
Ezra shrugged and chuckled, "It's different but our family is adjusting well to the colder weather."
Derek smiled brightly at him and Aria, "It takes a while to get used to, but by the time that this pregnancy is over and you guys head back to New York, you won't want to leave." He whistled as he helped Aria lay down on the retractable chair, "So, sweetheart, how have to been feeling this past week?"
She shrugged, "The morning sickness seems to be taking hold of me more than anything. But after being pregnant before, it's something that I've just adjusted to."
He took some notes on that statement and then looked up with a wide mischievous smile, "Are you ready to see your baby now?"
Ezra and Aria both nodded and watched as he flipped on the machine and put the warm gel on Aria's stomach after folding her blouse over her belly button. He took the sonogram machine's wand and slid it over her stomach.
Holding his wife's hand, Ezra glanced up at the screen. There, just ten weeks into the first trimester, was a small unborn baby. He grinned, wiping a tear from his eye, "Is that him-or her, I mean?"
"No, Ezra, that's just a magical leprechaun, looking for a pot of gold in Aria's womb." Derek rolled his eyes and then his smile widened as he turned the volume to the machine on, "If you listen closely, you can hear your child's heartbeat. It's going to be like a hummingbird, light and quick."
And that's when they heard it; a hummingbird-like heartbeat. Ezra and Aria exchanged a look of love and excitement as they listened to the rhythm of their child's heart. It was soothing, like a piece of music by Mozart or Beethoven. It was magical.
It was the sound of the life that they had made.
A sweet little chapter for some Turkey Day spirits. In the next chapter, we'll see what kind of a person Issac has turned into and what kind of a father he is to his young daughter. Then a little Valentine's Day romance for Ezra and Aria. I know all of you are going to enjoy that. But please remember: This is Rated T for a reason. I am very conservative and when it comes to the details of their physical relationship…..well, I don't like to go into that much. I will do my best, though! Check out Chapter 51 of A Romance to Last a Lifetime is you want to re-live the most description I have put into the physical stuff. It's just the way I like to write; clean but still enjoyable.
I Do Cherish You readers: I will continue after Double Infinity is complete. It is too hard for me to keep up with both. So, please forgive me!
I officially do not know when this sequel is going to end. It may not be as soon as I thought it would. I am aiming for 25-30 chapters now. So, just to let you know that it won't be ending anytime soon.
Big thanks to my 'unofficial' beta and as I like to call her, my "Yoda." So, a big applause to my Twitter pal, my writing guide, and a fellow spiritual warrior, h8tedit. You rock!
My favorite part about writing this story is definitely you guys cheering me on. You guys review, PM, tweet, and send me messages on Tumblr. That all makes me more encouraged to continue writing. You guys are the reason I didn't stop nine months ago, with just the ten shot I had planned on. It turned into a 52 chapter story, much to my surprise. Then it grew into this sequel. You guys convinced me to come this far. So, thank you so much for being there. I mean that, from the bottom of my heart.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving. Does anyone else eat ham like me, since turkey, in my opinion, is disgusting and makes me sick to my stomach? Just a random question. Update to come Friday or Saturday. Love y'all!