Thank you so SO much for every single review I received on the last chapter! One of the most reviews I've ever received on a single chapter!
I love hearing your thoughts, so I hope you review again after this chapter :)
"Do you know how beautiful you are, my little angel?" Aria spoke gently as she lightly bounced Lily in her arms. "Daddy says you look like me, but you have eyes just like him; they're beautiful," she said happily as Lily cooed.
Ezra then came back into the room. "I called Ella while I was there, told her she's a grandma and she should probably get herself down here," Ezra said with a laugh as he resumed his seat.
It was just the three of them in the room now, as they sat and enjoyed their moment.
"Lily Olivia Fitz," Aria spoke proudly as she looked at Ezra. Ezra lifted his hand to touch baby Lily's forehead while her huge eyes looked between her parents ever so slightly.
The door slammed open, launching Aria's eyes to the door, and Ezra to his feet in shock.
"What are you doing here," Ezra said firmly, waiting for the person standing in the doorway to reply.
Ezra hesitantly walked towards the figure in the doorway. His face was puzzled and deeply disturbed by what he saw.
"Mike?" Aria spoke shakily, "what happened?" she asked, her voice breaking into a panic. Mike slowly walked into the room, into clearer light so the state of his face became even more obvious to Aria and Ezra, who both gasped at the severity of his injuries.
"As soon as Byron got out, he came to Ella's looking for information about where you were, Aria," Mike spoke clearly, before taking an agonised breath while looking down at his fumbling hands. "He only saw me there. Ella wanted nothing to do with him. I didn't particularly want to speak to him, but he was starting to scream through the door; I thought allowing him in would help the situation," Mike said as his eyes streamed tears.
Aria couldn't remember too many times in life when she had seen her brother cry. She sat up with Lily in her arms and patted the edge of her hospital bed, telling Mike to sit down before continuing. Mike sat where Aria had gestured and Ezra went to get a cup of water for Mike from the jug on Aria's side table.
"So, I let him in; hoping to get him to calm, to leave without a fuss. Instead, he began asking me repeatedly where you were, where you both were, and when I refused to answer; he smacked me in the face repeatedly, as you can probably tell," Mike said sadly as he gestured towards his bruised and cut face as Aria grabbed his wrist gently, holding Lily in just one arm and supporting her against her chest.
"I'm so sorry, Mike," Aria said sadly, in a lower voice as her and Mike stared at each other for a few moments.
"I was on the floor below in emergency," Mike began, "and Ella just texted me that you were here, and why you were here," Mike said happily, with a bright smile as he finally let his eyes fall on Lily's face. "So, I got here in about 4 minutes, I couldn't wait," Mike said honestly as Ezra and Aria looked at each other, grateful and happy looks across both of their faces.
"She is so beautiful, sis. Lily, did you say her name was?" Mike asked as Aria nodded her head at him.
"Yep, Lily Olivia. Here, Uncle Mike," Aria said gesturing Lily into Mike's arms.
Mike held her tightly, like she could break at any moment. His lips were parted in wonder as he stared at this amazing little person, her eyes already captivating everyone she met.
"Hi," Mike said through a sob as he began bouncing Lily, who was surprisingly calm for a newborn. She hardly stirred or cried since she had been born, a gift Aria was quite sure wouldn't last forever. Aria snuggled down in her bed more while Mike held Lily and Ezra stood nearby, just in case Lily began to cry.
"I'm your uncle Mike, and we are going to create hell for your parents when you're a bit older," Mike told Lily as Aria giggled against her blanket and Ezra laughed heartedly as he sat down in his seat. "Say when you're about 2, then the fun will really start. Pranks, you name it Lily," he said excitedly. Mike had clearly already planned on adopting Lily, and having a partner in crime against Aria.
"See, this will also be perfect, because when I'm home; I can set her up with tricks on the inside, this is great. Pranks just like from when we were kids Aria," he smiled at her as her smiled and eyes lifted immediately, remembering their epic childhood memories.
"Yeah, alright Mike," she said semi-giving him permission to recruit her daughter in his pranks while she laughed.
Mike's face shone as he gave Lily a kiss on the forehead. "Love you baby," he said as he placed Lily in Ezra's arms.
"I should get back, the doctor didn't know I left. I have to stay overnight for observation, to make sure Byron didn't damage anything," he said truthfully.
"Love to all, see ya," he said casually as he began closing the door, "Oh, and she's perfect sis, love you," he said straight to Aria.
"Love you too Mike, now rest up!" she said smiling at him.
"Yeah, you too," he said winking as he closed the door completely.
"Ahh hi," Aria and Ezra heard two people say happily from the other side of the door before an indistinct conversation was had. Their conversation then went silent, before a few knocks rung from Aria's door.
"Come in," Aria said with caution. The door opened immediately.
"Ella," Aria screamed as Ella came through the door.
"Where's my granddaughter?" She excitedly asked before she saw Lily in Ezra's arms and screamed as she began walking towards them. Her excited scream made Ezra jump, and Aria began laughing at his shock; he'd clearly zoned out staring at Lily and missed Ella coming in at all. He put Lily in Ella's arms as his open, nervous eyes looked at Aria, still attempting to recover from the shock and Aria's laughter grew louder. His hands were still shaking in response to the sudden scream. He needed sleep desperately.
"Ezra, you need to get some sleep. You look as tired as me hon, go home and have a sleep," Aria said compassionately as Ezra's legs sleepily shook slightly.
His smile was soft and exhausted. "It's okay; I don't want to leave you. I'll just sleep in the chair," he said as he slowly walked and collapsed into the chair. Ella took her post on Aria's bed, exactly where Mike had sat earlier.
"Well aren't you a cutie?" she asked her granddaughter, who began blowing tiny bubbles out of the corner of her mouth.
Ella laughed as she turned seriously to Aria.
"I think you should get a restraining order against Byron honey. I should have suggested it a long time ago. But the fact that now he's getting physical with his own son, I don't trust him at all near this little angel…" Ella trailed off, remembering she didn't know the baby's name.
"Lily, Lily Olivia," Aria told her mother who "aww'd" in response.
"That's perfect," she smiled before adjusting her arms around Lily.
"Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing, mum," Aria simply replied before adjusting the blankets on her bed tighter around her body.
Ella tightly smiled in response, before choosing to move on. "I'm so proud of you honey, congratulations to you and Ezra," Ella said, gesturing her head down towards Lily in her arms.
"Thanks mum," Aria tiredly spoke. "Would you mind holding her for a while, maybe getting her to sleep? I need sleep," Aria spoke with a slur as she let her head fall on the pillow.
Ella just smiled in response, before she slowly paced the room with Lily, pulling faces and bouncing her ever so slightly. Grandma and granddaughter were happy.
4 days later
"Ezra, come on," Aria said standing at the door of their apartment with Lily in her arms. It was absolutely freezing out, storms abound, and Aria wanted to get Lily into the warm.
"I'm trying, but, do you know how hard it is to carry 6 bags of yours and not lose the car keys," Ezra pleaded as Aria smiled at him.
"Oh, there they are," Aria pointed to the floor below a blue bag, before Ezra knelt down and retrieved them immediately. He pushed the key into the lock before turning and smiling at Aria like 'finally got it', to which she also calmly smiled.
"Tomorrow, we go and arrange the restraining order," Aria confirmed with Ezra as their door swung open. A red flash immediately caught Ezra's attention on the message machine, as Aria went to put Lily in the crib near opposite the bed that Ezra had assembled over the last few days.
"It's Byron. Ella informed me you're planning on getting a restraining order against me? She said it as a threat when I wouldn't leave, so I don't know if it's true," he said before scoffing into the phone angrily. "If you do that, I'm going to go to the police with a nice little piece of information of my own," Byron threatened before he hung up the phone.
Ezra's eyes opened wide in terror as they met Aria's, the same expression on her face. Lily was in the crib, tucked up in her blanket. Aria immediately chose to change her facial expression to calmer as her hands mirrored a 'calming' gesture towards Ezra.
"He's just playing. What could he possibly tell them?" She said attempting to comfort her fiancé as her arms snaked around his waist. Ezra smiled with closed lips at the flawless girl whose body was up against his, as his two hands delicately touched her cheeks.
"Our family's home," Aria simply stated with complete happiness, making Ezra's smile turn into a toothy grin. Aria admired how adorable he was in that moment, so proud and so happy of his family.
Ezra bent down and passionately kissed Aria's lips, not holding anything back. She kissed him the same way as her hands moved up and down his ribs. They broke apart and looked at each other, realising an obvious floor with their daughter's crib being not 5 feet from their bed.
Ezra happily sighed as he looked between the beds. "We need a bigger place," he told Aria, making her laugh in agreeance.
"Right Aria, just sign here and here and your restraining order against Byron M Montgomery is official and legal," A kind woman behind the desk spoke. Aria quickly signed away before looking at the woman again as she slid the paper back to her.
"After what you've told us, we have no hesitation granting this restraining order for 6 months. Please come back on this date if you want us to re-evaluate and possibly extend the order," the lady told Aria as she lid a form over to her.
"Thank you," Aria said tucking the piece of paper in her bag.
"How'd it go?" Ezra asked as Aria walked into the apartment. Ezra was holding Lily in his arms and rocking her calmly, before he walked to give Aria a tender kiss on the lips.
"Fine, thanks. Everything is good. We've got 6 months definitely, so that's wonderful."
Ezra smiled and breathed a huge sigh of relief. He grabbed Aria's hand with his hand that wasn't primarily supporting Lily, and sat down on the couch with Aria. The three of them curled up with each other, occasionally kissing each other on the forehead or cheek; their family was safe, together and happy; finally.
"Rosewood police station, how can I help you?" A lovely lady responded on the other end of the phone.
"I'd like to report an incident of child abuse I was witness to," Byron told her in a sad voice.
The lady paused and sighed on the other end of the line. "Sir, who is it you would like to report?"
"Ezra Fitz, for the abuse of his daughter" Byron spoke firmly. "This is his address."
Please review :)
Hahaa I know 'Christmas spirit', huh? I hope you all had/ are having a wonderful day with your families, or whatever you're doing. Be grateful for what you've got, and the health of your loved ones. And enjoy it all, every moment.
And just so we're clear, obviously Ezra didn't put a hand on Lily; Byron's just clutching at straws. One person's word against another ;)
Please review! Make that your Christmas present to me ;) ~St0ryTeller xox