CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

EZRA

Ezra had been wearing a silly stupid grin on his face ever since returning from their trip to New York. One might think that it was the result of reconciling with his mother, but he knew otherwise. He had learned without a doubt over the weekend that Aria was the one for him. She supported him through the situation with his family and everything she did screamed of her love for him. He missed her and Parker terribly when he wasn't with them and he was constantly thinking of them. Hopefully he could change that soon.

Leaving the last red mark on the stack of papers he was currently grading, Ezra stood from his desk and stretched out his tired joints. It was Wednesday afternoon and he had decided to stay at school, catching up on all of the work that had been neglected due to his weekend trip. He smiled as he caught sight of the framed photo resting on his desk of him and Aria from Hardy's wedding. He hoped that he could add one of Parker soon. His dress slacks suddenly started vibrating as he received a phone call. He quickly dug into his trouser pocket and pulled the phone out, smiling when he saw Aria and Parker's grinning faces staring up at him from the screen.

"Hey, You! I didn't think you'd be out of work for another hour or so," Ezra said as he answered the phone.

"I know and that's kinda why I'm calling…" In his mind Ezra could see Aria chewing on her bottom lip in thought before she continued. "I need your help."

Knitting his eyebrows in concern he immediately started packing his desk, cradling the phone between his head and shoulder as he moved. "Sure, anything. What's going on?"

He heard Aria let out a small sigh before she answered him. "Lucas had to suddenly leave because his baby's sick, leaving me to cover this photo shoot for the grand opening of the new football field over in Ravenna. That's about a half hour away and I need to leave now if I want to make it on time. My parents are out of town and Spencer's busy studying for an exam so I don't want to bother her…"

Chuckling, Ezra slipped on his coat and made his way out the door, turning to lock up before he headed towards the exit. "Do you want me to pick up Parker from daycare, Aria?"

"Would you mind? I'll only be a few hours at most. I promise that I'll be back for dinner, it's just that I didn't know who else I could ask," Aria told him nervously.

"Absolutely, we'll even make dinner for you. It'll be fun."

"Thank you so much, Ezra. I really owe you. I'll call the center right now and let them know that you're on your way."

"You don't owe me anything, it's my pleasure. We'll see you when you get back. Love you," Ezra told her as he reached his car, throwing his briefcase into the trunk and climbing in.

"Love you, too. See you soon." Aria hung up and after starting his car, Ezra went to pick up Parker from daycare.

When he walked into the daycare center Ezra couldn't help but to chuckle at the chaotic environment enveloping Parker's tiny classroom. He loved Parker but he couldn't imagine looking after twenty to thirty toddlers for an entire day. He was often exhausted enough spending time with just Parks.

"Eza!" Parker yelled excitedly, pushing himself up from where he had been drawing on the ground a few feet away. He ran towards him and Ezra didn't waste any time in scooping the little boy into his arms. He pressed a kiss to his cheek as he rested him on his hip.

"Hey, Buddy! Your mommy sent me to pick you up. Ready to go?" Parker nodded his head vigorously, scrambling to get down so that he could collect his things.

An elderly woman with curly grey hair and a warm smile approached Ezra as he waited on Parker to finish cleaning up. "Hi there, you must be Ezra? Aria just called and said that you'd be collecting Parker."

Ezra smiled before reaching out to shake her hand. "I am. Something came up at work so Aria asked me to pick him up. I hope that's not an issue?"

The woman shook her head before responding. "Oh no, it's not a problem. Though do tell Aria that she needs to add you to her approved list of people who can collect him if this is going to be a regular occurrence."

"I'll make sure to do that," Ezra responded, watching as she accepted his answer and turned to walk away. He turned as Parker came walking back, struggling to zip up his jacket. Kneeling, Ezra quickly helped the little boy put on his coat and grabbed his backpack from him before lifting him into his arms and making his way out to his car. "So what did you do in daycare today, Parks?" Ezra asked after he strapped Parker into the spare car seat he had installed in his car the previous week. He closed the door before climbing into the driver's side and pulling out into traffic.

"We'z got ta color! Our teacha says to draw a piture of our family so I made a piture wit you, me, Mommy, and Nemo!" he answered happily from the backseat. Ezra smiled at his answer, instantly falling in love with the little boy all over again. Parks was suddenly silently for a few moments before timidly asking, "Eza?"

Ezra shifted his eyes for a second to meet Parker's gaze in the rearview mirror before turning again to look at the road. "Yeah, Buddy?"

"My fwiend Evan drawed a piture of his mommy and daddy. It looked jus like my piture. Does that mean youz is my daddy?" He asked this so softly that Ezra had to strain to hear him. He sat there silently thinking about how to answer Parker's question.

Sighing, Ezra signaled his turn into the grocery store parking lot before pulling into a parking space and killing the engine. He turned in his seat so that he could meet Parker's questioning stare. As much as he wanted to answer in the affirmative, this was something that he needed to discuss with Aria first.

"You know how much I love you, right?" Ezra asked him, avoiding a direct answer to his question.

Parker nodded his head rapidly, grinning so large it was contagious and Ezra found himself mirroring the expression as he climbed out to extract the child from his seat. Grabbing his hand as they made their way into the store, Parker responded, "I luv you too, Eza."

The pair quickly found a cart and after Parker's adamant refusal to climb into the cart's seat, Ezra found himself holding his hand while pushing the cart with the other. They just needed to collect a few items to make dinner with, so he wanted to get in and out.

"Ezra?" Turning, Ezra saw Mrs. Miller, one of the early intervention specialists at the school, standing a few feet down the aisle that he and Parker had just turned down.

"Hi there, Wendy. How are you?"

She came closer to Ezra, shifting her eyes to take in the little boy clasping Ezra's hand. "I'm doing well, though apparently you're doing much better. I didn't know that you had a son, Ezra."

'Great, my day couldn't get any more awkward,' Ezra thought as he attempted to think of an explanation that he could give her with Parker right there. He soon lost track of time explaining (carefully) the situation to his elderly co-worker. Before he knew it, fifteen minutes had passed and he suddenly realized that Parker was no longer holding his hand.

"Excuse me, I have to go," Ezra said, panic suddenly filling his body. He turned to head down the aisle and quickly scanned through every aisle he passed, desperately searching for Parker's mop of light brown hair. He found Parker after a few minutes in the candy aisle but he wasn't alone. Standing over him, attempting to pick up the little boy, was a man who Ezra had never before seen. He quickly pushed his cart over to the two of them and scooped a now crying Parker into his arms.

"Daddy!" Parker cried hysterically, burying his face into Ezra's neck, attempting to hide himself from the man in front of them. Ezra didn't bother to correct him as he focused his attention on the man.

"So this is the infamous boyfriend who thinks he's going to take my son away from me, huh?" Noel snidely shot out, taking a step closer to Ezra.

Parker lifted his tear streaked face from Ezra's shirt to respond. "Eza is my daddy, not you!" Ezra quickly placed the boy into the cart and made to turn away from Noel, he wanted to protect Parker from what was quickly escalating into a hostile situation.

An angry scowl formed on Noel's face and he turned a rather interesting shade of red at the little boy's statement. "That quick mouth is something he learned from his mother. Don't get used to this, Parker, you won't be with them much longer. And you… take some useful advice and stay away from my son."

People had started to stare from the other end of the aisle and before Ezra could comprehend what was happening, Noel's fist was connecting with the side of his jaw. Pain radiated through Ezra's face but he ignored it as he quickly grabbed Noel and pushed him to the ground restraining him from throwing another punch. His only concern was for Parker. He signaled for someone to call 911 and what seemed like a short minute later, two police officers were handcuffing Noel and leading him towards the exit. Parker was full out crying now from his seat in the shopping cart and a steady throb had begun in Ezra's jaw. Turning, he picked up the boy and cradled him to his chest, attempting to calm him.

"Shush, come on, Parks. Everything's ok, I've got you. You're ok," he softly whispered to the child. A police officer came up to him carrying a pad of paper and a pen.

"Excuse me, Sir? We've already gotten statements from witnesses to the altercation but I'm going to need your statement as well. Do you have a moment? We could go to the station if you'd feel more comfortable doing it there."

Ezra shook his head, rubbing Parker's back. "No that's fine, let's just get it over with." After explaining what went down, Ezra decided it would be best to just leave the groceries that they'd collected and order pizza that night.

Driving towards Aria's house, Ezra used her spare key to let Parker and himself in before going to lay the now sleeping child down in his bed. No sooner had he descended the stairs than was Aria opening the door and shaking off her coat, unloading her purse onto the small table in the front entryway.

"Hey! I got out sooner than I thought I would. I thought we could- Ezra what happened to your face?!" Aria exclaimed upon getting a good look at him.

Ezra sat down heavily on the couch and leaned his head against the cushions, closing his eyes before answering her. "I met Noel today."

Aria, who had returned from the kitchen with an ice pack, automatically stilled her movements as she sat down next to him. "He did this?" she whispered. Ezra nodded in response and she let out a small sigh, gently placing the ice pack to his now black and blue jaw. "Where's Parker? Is he ok?" She suddenly asked.

"He's fine, Aria, just a little upset. I put him to bed, he's exhausted." Ezra lifted his head to look at her. Smiling, he reached forward to pull her to him and pressed a kiss to her hair. "I'm fine. I didn't even swing back… or speak a word to him, really," he chuckled.

Aria lifted her head from his shoulder, brushing his hair from his forehead. "I am so sorry, Ezra. I guess we've both got some pretty serious skeletons in our closets, huh?" She smiled timidly at him.

Smiling back, Ezra chuckled. "Yeah, we do but the good news is that this probably won't help his case to gain custody of Parker… who, by the way, called me daddy today," Ezra whispered. He waited anxiously for her response.

Aria gave him a small smile. "Oh, yeah? Well, you do kind of fulfill that role for him, but if you don't want him calling you that, it's-"

Ezra cut her off, pressing his lips to hers for a second before pulling back. "I would love for him to call me that. I just wanted to make sure you would be ok with it."

They both sat in silence for a few moments, just taking in the chaos that had consumed their day. Smiling, Aria got up from the couch and made her way towards the kitchen. "I guess we have to order pizza now, right? Gosh you take one small punch and you're suddenly incapable of cooking?" Aria teased, looking over her shoulder as she walked away.

Ezra laughed before rising to follow. "It was one large punch, and I was defending your honor!..."