"How're you feeling Ar? Finally pulled yourself out of bed?" Emily said, putting on the final coat of red nail polish in even strokes.
Aria hastily popped another chip in her mouth. "Finally. It was like three days of just throwing up. I finally started to feel better this afternoon." She went to reach for a cracker, but Aria's inner voice halted her; a reminder of having spent the better part of three days with her head in the toilet.
It was the same thing every day; get up, throw up and then spend the rest of the day feeling like she got run over by a truck. Ezra had been patient throughout the whole ordeal, making sure James was occupied while simultaneously making sure Aria was okay.
"I want to eat everything and nothing all at once, it's actually really annoying." Against her better judgment, she popped a scoop chip filled with salsa into her mouth. Her own nails had been done by Hanna, claiming that since she was still on sick relief that Hanna would 'fulfill her duties as a best friend' and paint her nails for her. Bright pink with a clear coat on top, they were more Hanna's taste than hers, but hey, she got a free manicure out of it, Aria wasn't going to complain.
She almost felt guilty for not telling them; but the moment the thought came across her mind she pushed it away. It was over and done with, she had nothing to worry about but making sure James hadn't caught her stomach flu.
Hell, Ezra didn't even know, and she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring it up with him. It was her secret to guard for now, thankfully harmless as a fly, but it was eating at her inside not to share what was on her mind.
"So Em, how's your love life?" Hanna asked nonchalantly adding sparkles to her toenails. Hanna was what she had deemed as being 'on an official break' with Caleb. Aria wasn't sure why they didn't just apologize for the whole ordeal and admit things had gotten out of hand. Hanna and Caleb were both the kind of people to let their pride get in the way of their decisions, so she felt it was best not to press on. There was no point in arguing with Hanna, she was going to be stubborn with her point until the very end.
"It's lacking, to put it nicely. Rosewood is currently out of stock of people that I deem dateable." Emily sighed.
"Well considering how things have gone lately for me and how stupid boys are, I've sworn them off for at least a month." Hanna said, making all of the girls let out a giggle, even Spencer, who had been surprisingly reserved that afternoon, only chipping in when addressed directly. "I could always join you on the other team." She joked.
"Yeah, and even then pickings are slim, Han."
Hanna shrugged and popped the last few chips into her mouth. "I guess. It's not like all of us have amazing boys who propose at the right time and stuff, right Spence?" When Spencer remained stuck in her thoughts for a few seconds, Emily flung a nail file at her.
"Earth to Spencer!"
"Yeah of course I totally agree." It was like speaking to a robot with the default response enabled. Immediately she glazed back over and drifted off into space. Hanna, Emily and Aria looked at each other and silently gave each other the 'should we ask her about it?' look.
Of course the answer was no, because if Spencer had a secret she would tell them when she was ready. Aria's stomach twisted into knots, thankfully not because she was going to throw up, but out of anxiety. Maybe if she spilled, so would Spencer? If there was going to be a point where she told them, it would be now. Ezra and James were at the apartment with Toby and Hardy for a guys day, the house was silent except for Aria's room, where they were. Jamie had insisted on taking Rex with them as well, seeing as technically he was a guy as well.
"I'm going to go grab some more food. We're out of salsa and the chips just aren't the same." Emily announced, grabbing the bowl they'd put in the middle of the room.
Hanna got up as well, announcing her need to pee. Delightful.
Spencer sat with her knees tucked up against her chest, leaning back on the soft duvet covered bed, her head rolled to the side. "Spencer. Spencer." Aria called her friends name at least five times before she made some kind of indication she heard her.
"Hm."
Aria got up from across the room and sat down next to her. "What's wrong, and don't give me some random excuse because all of us know something's up." Spencer looked up at her and gave her an unsteady look; it held a mixture of emotions, ranging from confusion to worry to insecurity, and Aria couldn't help but crawl over and wrap her arms around her.
"Whatever it is, it's going to be okay Spence, seriously." She could feel Spencer nodding, but before she could elaborate on that, there was a shriek from the bathroom.
"ARIA MONTGOMERY!" Hanna screamed, and came bursting out of the bathroom. "You're not sick at all, are you? Because there's a freaking pregnancy test box in your garbage can!" Aria paled. Well, the cat was out of the bag now, kind of.
"It's not what it looks like, really Han." Aria tried to argue her point but was cut off by Emily yelling from the kitchen. She heard a clatter and rushed footsteps get to the bottom of the stairs.
"There is no discussing this until I can get up there and hear it all!"
Hanna rolled her eyes, and impatiently tapped her foot against the ground and waited for Emily to come running up the stairs, a bowl of salsa in one hand and a bag of two bite brownies that she'd procured from nowhere in the other. "Okay now spill."
Aria started up immediately, the sooner she could squash their assumptions, the better. "So I was sick yes, and I was late, and then I figured well there's a possibility, you know-"
Hanna let out a squeal so high pitched that Aria was surprised her windows were still intact afterwards. "I call godmother!"
Emily smacked her. "You can't have both! You have to give me and Spencer a chance."
"Will you two just shut up for a minute so I can explain myself? It's not what it looks like, at all. You guys are jumping to conclusions.'' Hanna turned around and reached the garbage can from the bathroom, curving around the wall balancing on one leg while grasping the can and then putting it in the middle of the room for them to see.
Unfortunately the box that had been resting on top shifted to reveal the little stick itself, and Hanna's eyes bulged. "Holy fuck, it's positive!" And that's when Aria's words got caught in her throat.
Because last time she'd checked, it had been a little negative sign, glaring her in the face. She'd been so relieved at that moment, but at the same time felt just a slight pang of sadness. There was no way it had just magically formed another line in a few hours, that's not how those things worked.
Her eyes couldn't help but fly down to her stomach, surprised that Hanna and Emily were actually silent for a second while she took it in.
"I don't understand, it was negative this morning- I'm one hundred percent sure it was negative. Trust me, I didn't read it wrong or anything, it's pretty hard to mess that up."
They three girls clamored amongst each other debating reasons for the faulty test for a few minutes before they were interrupted by the smallest of sniffles. "It's not Aria's." Spencer murmured. Aria felt awful because she'd completely forgotten about Spencer.
It clicked, that was why she had been so introverted and silent for almost two hours.
"Oh my god, Spencer. You're pregnant." Emily whispered, the mood in the room shifting instantly. Spencer sniffled as a few tears fell down her cheeks. Without even thinking the girls gravitated towards her, forming a protective circle around her.
Aria admired Spencer for holding it in this long, keeping her worries inside. But as things always did, the moment the secret was out the girls were there for her.
"Don't cry Spencer, really, I'm sure everything will be fine, okay? Seriously you and Toby will be great parents, you're always so good with Rex-"
"That's a dog, Aria." She snapped.
Aria brushed some of Spencer's hair out of her tear streaked face. "And James. He adores you and Toby, really. Plus you have all of us." Hanna and Emily nodded in agreement.
"But what if Toby doesn't want it. Them. They're not exactly planned. We're not married- Oh my god the wedding. My mom is going to flip. I'm going to be really pregnant on my wedding day you guys." The idea was absurd to Aria; Toby not wanting his and Spencer's kid. For some reason he always seemed like he'd be a great father, and they way he looked at Spencer was the same way that Ezra looked at her, and Aria was so sure that he'd do anything for Spencer.
"Spence, Toby would follow you to the ends of the earth and back if you asked him to. Seriously, how cute would a little baby Spencer and Toby be? You know he's not the kind of guy to flip out or anything." Hanna read Aria's mind exactly.
"Little brown puppy dog eyes and sandy blonde hair, walking around? They'd be perfect, their parents are gorgeous." Emily said, popping a brownie into her mouth. "Want one?" Aria and Hanna declined, but Spencer woefully took one herself.
"Seriously Spencer, everything will be okay. Toby and you will have one of the most genetically flawless kids to grace the planet, and you can always push the wedding back. What if you had a winter wedding? That could be so pretty! Do it soon and you will barely be showing."
Spencer leaned her head back on the bed, exhaling deeply and wiping the tears that clung to her eyelashes away. "I have to tell Toby that we're having a baby. Oh my god."
"Trust me, tell him as soon as possible. I learned that mistake the hard way." Aria said, twirling a chip around in salsa. She marveled at how addictive they were, she hadn't even noticed reaching for one. "Wait, so why did you decide to take the test in my bathroom? If Ezra had seen that he would have flipped!" Aria felt guilty about laughing about what his reaction would be like, but the expression of his that had popped into her head on instinct was hilarious, all wide eyed and confused.
"I didn't want Toby finding it."
Aria could relate; she'd thrown her test into the deep recesses of the kitchen garbage, making sure there was no chance of Ezra finding it, even on accident. She wasn't sure if she was going to mention the little scare to him or not, there was no need to create unnecessary worry.
Just having the flu was good enough for her, and Aria was pretty sure Ezra hadn't even let the idea of pregnancy into his mind, even for a second.
"Are you excited? Even just a little?" Spencer looked up to Hanna and gave her the smallest of smiles and a nod.
"Even though they're a surprise, maybe it'll be a blessing in disguise." The girls had already been through the surprise pregnancy drill after dealing with Aria when she found out she was pregnant with James. Oh boy had that ever been a mess. Aria had cried for days when she found out and then days after once she'd left Ezra. Not to mention all the ones in between. If anything the four of them were over prepared for whatever Spencer could possibly face, they'd seen and done it all before.
"I just don't want to lose Toby."
Aria let Spencer lay her head on her shoulder, and gently patted her hair in sympathy. "Spence, seriously you look at me who was afraid of the same thing, look how much Ezra loves James. As soon as Toby finds out he'll be ecstatic. So what if the timing's off? You two will be fine, really."
The constant doubts that whispered in Spencer's mind were no stranger to Aria; she knew all too well just how terrifying of a situation Spencer was in, but she also knew that Spencer was worrying for nothing, and that Toby would love her no matter what happened.
Finally it seemed that everyone had calmed down, they left the topic of the new Hastings/Cavanaugh baby alone. It was clear that Spencer was freaking out about it. Even though she'd gotten pretty good at internalizing her feelings over the years, Emily, Aria and Hanna were still able to read her a mile away.
After popping in a chick flick and munching on popcorn for two hours, the girls were almost asleep on the couches. "I think I have a food hangover you guys. All we've done today is eat." Aria moaned, arching her back and grimacing as she heard cracks go all the way up her spine.
"Thanksgiving for a few days and then junk for the rest, sounds good to me." Without regret, Emily popped a rainbow chip cookie in her mouth, finishing off the box. Aria's mind wandered as the girls made small talk about little things, and she reached across to grab her phone from the table and sent a quick text to Ezra.
What are you guys up to? – A
"Aria! Girls day!" Hanna snapped. "I know you're texting Ezra, don't try and pull some random excuse either, okay?" Aria let a guilty smile creep across her face and tucked the phone in her back pocket. "Fine Han, I won't touch anymore, deal?"
"Deal. What movie should we watch next?"