Here you go! Sorry it took so long, but it's a little longer than usual, so I hope that makes up for it! Also, if you haven't, go and read my one-shot "Later That Night" which I wrote after the last episode. It's a little extra Ezria scene that totally should have happened in the show, IMO.
And thanks again SO much to all the fantastic reviews I get for this story every time I update! It's so great that you guys are enjoying it...and I've nearly hit 100 000 words! In the words of Ezra Fitz, "Hooooly crap."
On Tuesday morning Aria and Lily were allowed to go home. The doctors were satisfied with Lily's weight gain, and despite her early arrival she was perfectly healthy and happy, so Ella picked them up in her car, complete with a new baby carseat, which she'd quickly had fitted that morning (the first opportunity she'd had to get it done since Lily's birth).
"I guess that'll teach us to leave things till the last minute," Ella said as she helped Aria to strap Lily in securely.
"And we didn't even finish the nursery," Aria sighed. "Oh, well. We thought we had five weeks!"
"Lesson one of being a parent: they're full of surprises," Ella remarked, wryly. "At least we've got the crib and bedding. And I went to the store on Sunday and got you some basic supplies: diapers, babywipes, and so on."
"Which we left because I was hoping to get some of that stuff at the baby shower!" Aria replied. "Maybe having it four weeks out was a bit too late. Have you cancelled with everyone?"
"Not yet; I wanted to check with you first, though I don't think you'll be up to a party in four day's time, to be honest," Ella said. "Aren't you getting in?"
"Oh – no; I want to sit in the backseat with Lily," Aria said, closing the passenger door Ella had opened for her, and getting in the back instead. "Just to make sure she's safe, and the seat's in properly, you know."
"I know," Ella smiled, remembering how she'd felt exactly the same when Aria was born. She waited until Aria had her seatbelt on, and then drew gently out of the parking space. She looked in the rearview mirror at Aria, who was bent concernedly over her baby, who in turn was fast asleep.
"Relax, honey," she said. "Lily will probably sleep the whole way home. Babies love being in cars."
"Yeah...I remember you used to drive Mike around a lot, when he wouldn't sleep," Aria mused.
"You remember that?" Ella asked, surprised. Aria was only two and a half years older than Mike.
"Yeah, it happened so often that I guess it ingrained itself in my memory," Aria replied. "What about me? Did you do that with me, too?"
"No, not really. You were a pretty good baby. I think you liked your sleep as much as I did!" Ella said, laughing. "I was always so thankful when you went off to sleep straight away, because it meant I could, too."
"Yeah; hopefully Lily's the same. Senior year's going to be kind of crazy, and adding a baby to the mix means double crazy, so if she's a good sleeper then that'll be such a huge help."
"Even a good sleeper isn't always good," Ella warned.
"Oh, I know. Still, it's a start," Aria replied.
"And of course, your father and I will help all we can," Ella said, glancing back at Aria.
"I know, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it," Aria said sincerely. "But I do want to do as much as I can without relying on you guys – you've got your own jobs and things to do, and she is my baby."
Her phone beeped loudly at that moment, and Aria quickly silenced it, with a concerned glance at Lily, before opening the text. She chuckled, and then swiftly typed a reply.
"Good news?" Ella asked, mainly because she wanted to know if the message was from the one person she didn't want it to be from.
"Ummm... just Ezra, checking to see if we're on our way home yet," Aria said, cautiously. Obviously her mother knew that she was in constant contact with Ezra, but that didn't make it any easier for her to mention his name.
"Uhuh. Did he come visit you yesterday?" Ella asked, evenly.
"Yeah, after school." Aria replied, not sure what else to stay. At least Ella wasn't screaming that she could never see Ezra again. That was something.
After a few moments of silence, Ella spoke up. "Look, I know you want to know if I've made a decision about Ezra yet. The truth is, I don't know how to make that decision. I've thought of little else for the past three days, and every choice still seems wrong."
"Okaaay. So, where does that leave us, then?"Aria asked, confused.
"It leaves us taking this one day at a time, I suppose," Ella replied. "Much as I want to do the whole "get out of my daughter's life!" speech to him, the fact remains that your baby is his baby, too. And for her sake, I want to try to understand what this...this thing you have is."
"Mom, that would –" Aria began, but Ella cut her off.
"Wait, Aria. I said I'd try to understand, but honestly, I don't know if I'll ever accept it. I'll certainly never condone it. But...I'm willing to try to understand, by letting Ezra into our lives a little."
"Mom! Does that mean – you'll let Ezra see Lily?" Aria gasped joyfully, throwing her arms round Ella's neck from behind. Fortunately they had just pulled into their driveway. "Thank you so much! I don't know what to say!"
"For now," Ella warned. "Just a little. Not all the time, by any stretch of the imagination. And your father isn't to know."
"I won't tell if you don't," Aria assured her, undoing her seatbelt and getting out of the car. "If you're sure, that is...I mean, we'll have to tell him next year, anyway. That was the plan all along, to tell you both after I graduated – until you found out, that is."
"Yes, well, we'll worry about that in the future," Ella said, dismissively. Truthfully, she was hoping that Aria and Ezra's "infatuation" (as she saw it) wouldn't last through the stress of having a baby, and Aria still being at school, and that by the time Aria went to college, Ezra would be out of her life and there would be no need to tell Byron anything. But in the meantime, her goal in allowing Ezra to see Lily was twofold: one, to keep Aria happy, and therefore keep Lily happy; and two, to allow her to see firsthand how their relationship was doing – or regressing, as she'd hoped. She was smart enough to know that if she forbade the relationship, Aria would just find ways to see Ezra anyway, and that the "forbidden love" aspect of it would just drive them closer together. By allowing everything to be out in the open, she felt confident that Ezra and Aria would soon realise that they had nothing on which to build a relationship in the real world.
"Mom?"
"Hmm? Sorry, what?" Ella said.
"Does this mean Ezra can come over this afternoon?" Aria asked.
Well, it had to start sometime. "I suppose so, as long as he's gone before your father gets home," Ella replied, resignedly.
"Mom, you're the best!" Aria declared, flinging her arms around her mother again.
"Don't get too excited. Remember it's just for now," Ella reiterated. Aria merely nodded, smiling hugely, as she began to unclick Lily's baby seat.
"There you go, baby girl! We're home now," she said softly. "Come and see your new house."
"Is she awake?" Ella said, coming over.
"Yeah. She woke up when the car stopped. I guess she likes it, like you said."
Aria carried Lily inside carefully, while Ella took charge of the suitcase and the huge baby bag the hospital had given them. Lily started crying as they got inside, so Aria unstrapped her from the babyseat and picked her up gently.
"What's up, baby girl? Are you hungry?" she said, soothingly, rocking Lily from side to side in her arms with little bouncing motions. Lily stopped fussing immediately.
"You look like a pro already," Ella commented, feeling strangely proud.
"Would you believe I read this in a book, and practised with one of my dolls?" Aria asked, laughing. "But I think she IS hungry, after all – it's round about her feeding time now. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm hungry! Three days of hospital food, and I'm ready for something REAL."
"There's some chicken pasta from last night in the fridge," Ella said. "Or salad? We've got lettuce and tomatoes, at any rate."
"Both. All of the above," Aria declared. "I'm going to go upstairs and feed Lily, and then I'll come down and eat when we're done. Is that okay?"
"Of course," Ella replied. "I'll get going on the salad so long."
Aria took Lily upstairs and propped up some cushions against her headboard, then lay down carefully against them. She took out her phone to text Ezra, while she got Lily into the right position.
Hey love! Guess who's home? And guess who said you can come over and visit this afternoon? YES! My mom is caving. So let me know when you can come. We can't wait to see you. Xxx
Nearly ten minutes went by before she received a reply, which was expected, since Ezra would be teaching at that hour.
I don't believe it! I'm coming straight after school before she changes her mind! I love you! E
I love you too, Aria typed, and then, feeling Lily pull away from her, indicating that she was finished feeding, she lifted the baby up higher on her body, and snapped a quick photo of the two of them. She knew Ezra would probably delete it as soon as he'd seen it, as they usually did with their texts to each other, but at least he'd have seen it.
Aria tucked Lily into her little moses basket, where she was supposed to sleep for the next few weeks, hemmed in with rolled up blankets so that she couldn't turn over, and left the room – for five seconds, before she returned and picked the basket up carefully, and carried it downstairs.
"Couldn't leave her alone upstairs, huh?" Ella asked sympathetically, as Aria placed the basket gently on the kitchen table.
"Nope. I wanted to watch her while I eat," Aria explained, a little sheepishly. "Is it weird that I don't want to miss a moment of her life, even if she's sleeping?"
"Not at all," Ella assured her. "Here's your salad, and the pasta's just finished warming up now."
"Thanks, Mom. Oh, and I spoke to Ezra; he's coming over straight after school."
"You should probably have a nap after you've eaten, then," Ella replied. "Especially while Lily's asleep."
"I could do with a nap for sure," Aria agreed. "No nurses stomping in and out, or people yelling outside my door...bliss."
After she'd finished eating, Aria went upstairs with Lily and proceeded to do just that. When Ezra arrived a couple of hours later, he was met at the door by Ella, who informed him that Aria was still asleep.
"Oh – well, we shouldn't wake her, then," Ezra replied immediately, as Ella closed the door behind him. "I'm sure Lily will wake her up when she needs feeding, anyway. I don't mind waiting."
"It's been a few hours now, so it probably won't be long," Ella said, awkwardly. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"
"Coffee sounds great; I haven't slept much since Saturday," Ezra admitted. "I can't stop thinking about Lily."
"Well, at least she won't be waking you up in the middle of the night every night from now on," Ella replied, a little nastily.
Ezra looked surprised, but decided not to reply, assuming – correctly – that anything he said would only antagonize Ella further. He merely nodded, and then, as Ella handed over a mug of coffee, he took refuge in it by taking long, slow sips.
"Did Aria tell you what we discussed about your, uh...situation?" Ella asked, after a lengthy pause.
"No. She only texted me that I could come over. We didn't actually speak; I had back to back classes today."
Because you're her teacher, Ella wanted to say. However, she restrained herself, and explained to Ezra what she had told Aria in the car that morning.
"For now, I'm going to allow you to come and visit Lily," she said. "However much I don't like it, she is your daughter, and I can see that she means a lot to you. I don't want to be the monster who keeps a child away from her own father. However, this does not mean that I approve in any way of your relationship with my daughter. But realistically, you have a baby together now, so much as I would like to tell you to leave town and never contact Aria again, I can't."
"Thank you, Ella," Ezra said, sincerely. "That means more to me than you'll ever know."
"However," Ella continued, "This is not a normal relationship, and I'm not going to treat it as such. "I'm going to allow you to see Aria and Lily for now, but I'm going to monitor things, and I reserve the right to change my mind. Like I told Aria, I want to try and understand what it is you two have together, but at the same time, I'm not going to condone it. But I know I'd get nowhere with Aria if I made her cut you out of her life altogether; that, and, as I said before, I can't keep a child away from a father that wants to be in her life. But it's thin ice over here, Ezra. There have to be rules."
"Okay. What kind of rules?" Ezra asked, nodding.
"Firstly, that you only come over here when I allow it. And Aria isn't allowed at your apartment anymore. Secondly, that you don't...have sex," she said with difficulty.
"Um...no offence, Ella, but isn't that rather like locking the stable after the horse has gone?" Ezra said. "I mean, obviously we've already...I mean-"
"That was a mistake which won't happen again," Ella retorted. "I'm letting you see Aria for Lily's sake. But there will be no more...intimacy. You're still her teacher, for God's sake."
"So, no sex for a year, then?" Ezra questioned, raising an eyebrow. He wondered if Ella had told Aria this part. He assumed not. It might have been the pregnancy hormones, but Aria had always been a lot more, well, horny, for want of a better word, than he had. He smothered a grin, remembering that free period in his classroom, where she had practically ravished him on a desk. He couldn't imagine she'd do anything other than hit the roof at this ultimatum. Not that he was exactly pleased by the idea himself, but he was willing to do whatever it took to be with Aria, and if that meant celibacy till she left school, then so be it.
Ella looked surprised at this response. Clearly Ezra honestly thought that he and Aria would still be together in a year, and that everything would just magically work out then. But things didn't usually do that; and certainly not when the situation was so complicated.
"That's the rule," was all Ella said, her eyes challenging him to protest.
"Okay," Ezra replied, meeting her eyes levelly, as if to say, you can't get rid of me that easily.
Game on, Ella thought, but merely continued out loud, "Of course, I want you to stay away from Lily and Aria at school, once Lily comes to the nursery. And to make sure you do that, I've applied for a job at the school."
This caught Ezra offguard. "What – what kind of job?" he demanded, coughing as he choked a little on his coffee.
"Teaching, of course. I used to teach before Aria was born, actually. But with kids it was easier to have a more flexible job. But then I heard that Liam Thurley was leaving, so I applied for his job yesterday."
"So you'd be teaching English, too?" Ezra asked. Surprisingly, this was upsetting him more than the sex ban. School would have been the one place where he could interact with Aria outside of her parents' rules. Well, apparently not anymore. AND now he'd have to deal with Ella in the workplace, too. Great.
Ella knew what he was thinking, and mentally hugged herself in glee at her plan. It was just by chance that she was friendly with one of the other teachers at Rosewood Day, and that she had happened to come by the museum the day before. As soon as the topic had come up, Ella had leaped at it, and by the end of the day she had applied for the job, with the promise of a glowing recommendation from her friend, with whom she had taught years ago.
"Yep. English and history," she replied. "It'll be nice to get back into it, actually. I've missed it more than I realised." And I can keep an eye on you and my daughter, she added mentally.
Ezra, for his part, knew exactly what she was thinking, too. For a moment they stared at each other with a bring it on kind of look, until a little wail from upstairs caused them to look away.
"Well, there's Lily, right on schedule," Ella remarked.
"Can I go up and see them?" Ezra asked politely, clearly wanting to keep on Ella's good side.
Ella nodded. "Yes, but leave the door open."
Ezra nodded, then, as he left the room, he rolled his eyes. What did Ella think he was going to do? Jump someone who had just given birth three days before? Honestly. He raced upstairs lightly, and pushed open Aria's door, which was ajar.
"Hey, you," he said, his face lighting up at the sight of her. She was sitting on the bed, leaning over Lily, who was in her basket, also on the bed, against the wall.
"Ezra!" Aria jumped up and threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're here!"
"Me too," he said, squeezing her gently, and then stooping down to give her a kiss. Mindful of Ella's words, he had only intended a peck, but Aria pulled him closer and kissed him harder, slipping her tongue into his mouth, and he gave in and kissed her back with full force, until they were interrupted by a cry from Lily, who was clearly hungry, and indignant at being forgotten.
"Just as well, really," Ezra said with a little laugh, as Aria released him from her grasp. "Your mother mightn't be too keen on that if she came upstairs."
"Pff, it's just a kiss," Aria retorted, picking Lily up out of the basket. "Ezra, do you mind moving that to the floor? Then we can both sit on the bed while I feed Lily."
Ezra did so, and then Aria handed him the baby to hold while she unbuttoned her pyjama top and got settled on the bed. He cooed at her in baby talk before he handed her back to Aria, and then came and sat next to her on the bed. Aria automatically snuggled in closer to him as she positioned Lily on her breast. They both stared down at her for a moment, before Ezra spoke.
"I had a ... shall we say, interesting conversation with your mother downstairs, while we were waiting for you to wake up," he began.
Aria turned wide eyes on him. "What did she say?" she demanded, worried.
"Some ground rules, which I don't think you're going to like. I'm only allowed over here when she says I can come, which I assume means when she's here to keep an eye on us. And you're not allowed to come to my apartment anymore."
"What? But that means we'll never get any alone time," Aria protested.
"Yeah, well, about that: we're also not allowed to have sex anymore," Ezra said wryly.
"WHAT?" This one was more of a shriek than anything else, and even Lily took fright and lost her grip, immediately bursting out crying. Aria put her back into place with soothing noises, and then looked back up at Ezra, aghast.
"Seriously? We're not allowed to have sex? We have a baby. Isn't that a bit late?"
"More or less what I said," Ezra agreed. "But I didn't argue, because seeing you without sex is infinitely preferable to not seeing you at all. Right?"
"Yeah, right. Come back to me in a month and tell me if you're still so happy about it," Aria grumbled.
"Oh, please! It's you that wouldn't be able to do it," Ezra teased her.
"Excuse me?" Aria said indignantly.
"Let's just say, if we had a no sex bet to see who would cave first, it would totally be you," Ezra replied, chuckling.
"Would not!"
"Really? Seriously? Aria, you've been the instigator of practically every bit of sex we've ever had!"
"That was baby hormones. I could totally do it now. You would SO cave first," Aria proclaimed confidently.
"Oh really? Because I seem to recall you pretty much instigating our first time, and there was no baby then," Ezra smiled, ruffling her hair.
"I think that was both of us wanting it," Aria retorted.
"I'm not saying I didn't want it. I wanted you like crazy. I just wouldn't have started it, in case you weren't ready. Which only goes to prove that I have the self control here."
"Oh, who am I kidding, you're totally right," Aria admitted with an exasperated sigh. "If I wasn't so...tender down there, I'd be jumping you right now. Making love to you is pretty much the best thing ever."
"I know," Ezra replied, kissing the top of her head. "But if your mother has her way, it's going to be a year of waiting, until you graduate and we can safely be together again."
"At which point, I'm skipping my graduation party and fucking your brains out," Aria replied firmly. She groaned. "Ugh, I can't even think about waiting that long. But I'm sure my Mom will come around after a few weeks. She just needs to see us together, see how perfect we are, and how much we love each other. She'll soon realise it's pointless to keep us apart for this year when we're going to be together once I graduate, anyway."
"I have a suspicion she doesn't think we'll last that long," Ezra confessed. "That's why she's trying to keep us apart as much as possible now, so that we'll find it too difficult and break up, or something."
"Well, then she's in for a rude awakening, because I'm never letting you go," Aria retorted.
"Ditto," Ezra responded. "You and this little girl are the best things that ever happened to me. And you're my family. I won't just leave my family."
"Well then, we're just going to have to prove that to my mother," Aria said. "By the time we tell my Dad, she'll know we're in this for the long haul, and she'll have to start supporting us at some point once we move away."
"Where do you want to go?" Ezra said, smiling as he played with a tendril of Aria's hair. It was one of his favourite things, planning his future with her.
"I don't know. Part of me wants to go to New York, like I've always wanted; go to college there, live right in the city, go for walks in Central Park with you and Lily..."
"That sounds amazing. What about the other part?"
"That part feels like we should live somewhere more child-friendly; a house with a backyard, and neighbourhood kids Lily can go and play with," Aria said, softly touching the fine hair on Lily's head. "Something like I grew up with here. It was great, when I was a little kid, to grow up in a small town. Now, though, it's kind of...stifling. And, of course, it's made it harder for us to be together. Not that I want Lily to have the same problems we've had," she added, quickly.
"If she ever dates a teacher, I'll kill her," Ezra said, and then burst out laughing. Aria joined him, and Lily pulled away and looked at them.
"Did we disturb you, baby girl? Or have you had enough?" Aria asked. "Where do you want to live, Lily? City or suburb?" She pulled Lily up to her shoulder, and sat up to wind her, carefully rubbing her back in circles.
"I think she'll be fine, wherever she has us as parents," Ezra said complacently.
"Seriously? Cos I don't know what the hell I'm doing," Aria confessed.
"No one does, love. You learn along the way. Think of it as a crash course," Ezra smiled.
"How did you get so clever?" Aria asked.
"I read a lot of books," Ezra replied, smirking. "Now let me have a turn at winding my baby, since you don't seem to have got anything up."
"It doesn't happen immediately," Aria protested.
"I know, love. I just want to practise doing it," Ezra explained. Aria handed Lily over, and he held her to his shoulder, rubbing her back as Aria had done. Lily promptly threw up on his shoulder, and Aria shrieked with laughter.
"Not funny," Ezra protested, nevertheless unable to keep from laughing himself.
"Everything okay in here?" said Ella, coming in the door. Ezra and Aria briefly wondered how long she had been standing there, and if they'd said anything that she shouldn't have overheard, before Aria, quickly buttoning up her top, explained. "Ezra told me I wasn't winding Lily properly, so he took her, and she threw up all over him!" she said, giggling.
"Well, it got the gas out, didn't it?" Ezra retorted. "Ella, may I use your bathroom to clean up?"
"Of course," Ella replied.
"Here you go, love," Ezra said, handing their baby back to Aria. "I'll be back in a minute."
Aria waited till she heard the bathroom door close, and then turned to her mother. "Seriously, mom? No sex?"
"Aria, you've made some pretty bad judgment calls this last year," said Ella. "You were grounded because you got pregnant, and that was before I knew that you'd been sleeping with one of your teachers! I think I'm quite within my rights as a parent to forbid you to sleep with him again, even though I'm allowing him to see his baby."
"I get what you're saying," Aria nodded. "It just seems a bit pointless, that's all. I mean, we've already HAD sex. A lot-"
"Aria," Ella said, warningly.
"All right, all right. I'm just saying, if it ever came down to it, it's kind of obvious to prove that we slept together while he was my teacher. We have a baby. So it's not really going to make much difference if we do it again, is it?"
"It will to me," Ella replied firmly. "I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of you and him together, and it will make me feel a lot better if there is no more intimacy between you."
"Fine," Aria rolled her eyes. "But it's totally pointless in the long run, because after I graduate we're going to have as much sex as we like."
"And when that happens, I'll deal with it then," Ella said quietly. "In the meantime, your father just called, and he's going to be home at five, so Ezra needs to leave before then – well before then, to be safe. In the meantime, you can stay up here as long as you keep the door open. Deal?"
"Deal," Aria sighed. Then, as Ella left the room, she picked up one of her throw pillows and screamed silently into it, feeling much better afterwards.