(Part 2 of 2)
The girls went back to their studies, then called it quits when they'd had enough. Spencer turned on some music and Emily braided Hanna's hair while the latter flipped through a magazine. When Aria got up to use the bathroom again, Spencer said, "God, Aria, you're as bad as Melissa!" Melissa, her very pregnant sister. "She gets up to pee every 5 minutes."
"Hehehe," Aria laughed as she turned the corner. Tell them. Just tell them already!
When she returned, everyone had changed places. Hanna was in the kitchen handing out glasses. Emily was on Spencer's computer adding songs to the playlist while Spencer looked over her shoulder approvingly.
"I made lemonade," Hanna said, pouring Aria a glass first, then the rest.
"Thanks," she said, and took a sip. "It's good." Aria tried to detect the residual flavor on her tongue. It definitely wasn't plain lemonade. "Did you put lime in there too?"
"Yep. Do you like it?"
"Uh huh," and she took another sip.
"Good, cuz 2 more of those, and you won't remember the rest of tonight. Or most of tomorrow I bet."
Aria spit the last sip back into the glass and wiped the dribble off her chin with her hand. I only had two sips. I'm sure it's fine.
Hanna gaped at her. "What are you doing! Since when have you become so anti-booze?" Hanna exclaimed. "I thought you drank all the time in Iceland. What are you, pregnant?"
Aria looked at her, then at Spencer and Emily who were also staring at her unusual behavior. She slowly began to nod her head.
"What!" Spencer cried. "You're pregnant!"
"No way!" Hanna said. "No, she's not guys, look, she's kidding." Hanna pointed at Aria's face, upon which sat a big grin.
"I'm not kidding," Aria promised.
"Well you have gained a little weight. I wasn't gonna say anything but…" Hanna said in her Hanna way.
"Hanna, shut up!" Spencer snapped. "Aria, you're serious? You're really pregnant?"
"Mmmhmm," Aria confirmed, nodding.
"Since when?"
"Since… April," Aria answered.
"April!" they all yelled in unison. "Why didn't you tell us?" Emily asked.
"I… I don't know! I thought I had a good reason, but now it seems so stupid. I should have told you guys right away! I guess I just needed to get used to the idea."
"For two months?" Spencer asked bitterly.
"More like one month," Aria said, less for accuracy's sake, more to make herself sound better. Spencer wasn't going for it. "I haven't told anyone," Aria said, trying to justify lying with another lie. "Not my mom or anyone." She had told a complete stranger, no, 2 complete strangers, and multiple medical professionals, before telling her 3 best friends.
"Have you told Ezra?" Emily asked.
"Well, yeah, of course I told Ezra…" Aria said, but she could see how hurt her friends looked and understood why.
Emily was the first to move. She went over to Aria and gave her a hug. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm okay," she said, as Emily released her from the hug. "I'm better than okay. I mean, I try not to let the mood swings get the best of me, and the puking is not fun, or the constant urge to pee. I'm tired all the time and my back hurts, but other than that, I'm fine."
They all stared. Certain occurrences over the past few weeks started to make sense - the crying, the excessive sleeping, the random outbursts and subsequent apologies, the refusal of drinks, the subtle weight gain, the constant munching on granola bars or pretzel sticks at school and the sneaking down to the fridge during sleepovers, the need to reveal her relationship status to her parents. One by one, it all hit them.
"I'm really happy, you guys, I swear." She looked at them expectantly.
Hanna was the first to speak. "I'm gonna be an auntie!" she shrieked and ran to Aria jumping up and down. Aria hugged her friend and bounced with her, for the first time getting truly excited unrestrainedly about the baby. After that initial freak out, she and Ezra were always so serious about it and she knew her mom wouldn't be jumping for joy when she found out. Her dad might go buy a shotgun, and not for the purpose most other fathers would. Aria should have known she could count on her friends to be excited for her, even though she had lied to them for so long.
"Okay, I gotta stop," Aria said. "I might be sick." Hanna stepped away alarmed while Aria grabbed the counter and found her seat. The others had also backed up a wee bit, in case she hurled in their direction. "I'm good, I'm good," she assured them.
"Sorry I kept trying to pour liquor down your throat," Hanna said, "literally."
They chuckled.
Emily picked up Aria's drink and brought it to the sink. "Hey, what are you doing with that?" Hanna called. "That's still perfectly good!"
"Did you not see her spit in it, Hann?"
"Oh, right."
Emily poured it down the sink.
"Well, this calls for a celebration," Hanna said, taking a big sip. "What, you guys don't want?" she asked the others when they didn't join in.
Spencer had been awfully quiet until now. The news brought her back to her own near brush with teen pregnancy. "Is this really something to celebrate?" she asked meekly.
"Spencer!" Emily admonished.
"No, it's okay, Em. She's right. I'm 17 years old, not exactly prepared for this. But as scary as it is, and it is really scary sometimes, I'm really happy about it. So is Ezra. We are just crazy enough to make this work. I hope you guys can be happy for us."
"Of course," Emily said. "If you're happy, we're happy."
The enormous smile plastered on Hanna's face said it all.
Spencer hesitated. "If you're happy, I'm happy," she said, then gave Aria a hug.
"Thank you," she replied and smiled at her friend.
Spencer asked, "So was that actually an engagement ring?" The thought just occurred to her. If she'd been pregnant since April, he probably knew when he bought the ring. Spencer surmised she could have helped him pick out something better, then remembered she didn't endorse getting married so young.
"No," Aria laughed. "It's a promise ring of sorts," she said, fiddling with the ring again.
"Cuz I was gonna say… no diamonds, no nothing. Fitz is a cheapskate!" Spencer said, then pretended to duck.
"No," Aria said with a grin. "He's perfect," she said quietly while staring at the ring, spinning it around her finger.
Hanna, having finished her first drink, poured herself another. "Are you gonna have to like drop out of high school?" she asked bluntly.
"No," Aria said. "I haven't talked to the guidance counselor yet, but I'm pretty sure I can take summer classes and do extra credit in the fall. That plus the pottery class at Hollis should give me enough credits to graduate early."
"You won't be here for senior year?" Hanna pouted.
"I'll be here. Just not at school."
"What about next year? College?" Spencer asked.
"I'll probably stick close to home. I'm thinking Danby…" The idea of moving to California for school wasn't really an option anymore, nor was it necessary. The point of considering that school was to be able to be with Ezra, someplace no one knew them or could judge them. Circumstances had changed though, for the better. And Aria had done her research. Danby had everything she was looking for in a college and was now her first choice.
Emily's eyes brightened.
"It's only 25 minutes away and I'll try to work my schedule so Ezra or my mom or someone can watch the baby while I'm at class. Maybe I'll do some online classes too so I'm not always away." Maybe.
"Seems like you thought of everything," Spencer said.
"I've had a lot of time to think," Aria said. "Guys, I'm really sorry for not telling you."
"We understand," Emily said. "We all keep secrets sometimes." They exchanged a knowing glance.
Hanna put down her drink and went back over to Aria. "You're gonna look so cute with a belly!" she exclaimed. "Can I touch it?"
The overenthusiastic girl placed a hand on Aria's stomach before Aria finished saying, "Uh, sure," and laughed as Hanna moved her fingers. "Stop that tickles!" Aria cried, pushing Hanna's hands away.
"Hanna, leave her alone!" Spencer scolded.
"Come on! Is this not the most exciting thing that's ever happened to any of us? How can you just stand there?" Hanna didn't give her a chance to answer before exclaiming to Aria, "Ohmigod, I saw the cutest top at the mall the other day. It was purple with teeny polka dots all over and the chiffon gathered at the waist here," Hanna described with her words and her hands. "You have to get it!"
"No, Hanna, I can't."
"You're right," she said, picking up her drink, "it might be out of style by then. When do you get the belly?" Hanna asked as if 'the belly' were some sort of electronic device you order through a catalog. She was trying to guess what color palette would be in that season.
"In a couple months probably, but that's not why I can't buy that shirt. No one knows about this. You can't tell."
"Well duh!" Hanna shouted and spilled a few drops of "lemonade" on the floor in the process. "You said that already!"
"You seriously can't say a word. You can't go to the mall tomorrow and be like, 'aww Aria would look so cute in this maternity dress' because anyone could hear you." She swiveled around on her stool to address the rest of the group. Spencer stopped tugging on the paper towels to listen. "You guys can't treat me any differently or make any references to babies while we're at school or within earshot of anybody. This secret comes out on my terms, got it?"
"We got it," Spencer agreed, as Emily said, "Of course, Aria, we won't tell. It goes without saying," though they both knew their secrets were rarely given the opportunity to come out on their own terms.
Aria turned again to face Hanna standing right next to her. "Hanna, swear." She pinched Hanna's lips together and said, "Your lips are zipped."
Hanna repeated what could only have been "my lips are zipped," though the words were impossible to distinguish. Aria released her, and said, "I'm gonna make you swear it again tomorrow when you're sober."
"I am sober," she retorted, but wasn't fooling anybody. "I know how to keep a secret." They all knew all too well how to keep a secret.
Spencer blotted up the spill with her feet then dropped the wet paper towel into the trash can. "Since you're not drinking the lemonade, can I get you anything?" Spencer asked Aria, "Water, cranberry juice…" and poked her head in the fridge.
"Do you have any chocolate milk?"
"Uhh, no, but I can make you some," she offered.
"Thanks. I saw someone with chocolate milk at lunch today and I've really wanted some ever since."
Aria proceeded to tell them all the crazy things she had been eating lately while Spencer stirred cocoa powder into a glass of milk.
"Here you go," Spencer said, setting the glass down in front of her.
"Good, now we can make a toast," Hanna said. She raised her half-empty glass while her friends raised their full ones. "To Aria."
"To Aria," they repeated and clinked their glasses all together.