AN – Guys, please read the AN note at the end of this chapter, thank you.
Chapter 18 – week later
Spencer's pov
Toby intertwined our fingers as we sat with my parents, Alex, Melissa, and Wren in my parent's living room. My parents wanted to have an intimate family dinner, with only just us before the dinner rehearsal tomorrow and then the wedding. Melissa is currently is going on and on about how she and Wren were almost done remodeling their townhouse, I shared a look with Toby and we both knew it's time to tell my parents about the baby. Watching Melissa, I stood up as she finally stopped talking about the bathroom design and Toby stood up with me.
"There's something we want to tell you guys. Well, the thing is…. I am pregnant." I said.
"You're having a baby?" Mom squealed and I nodded.
"Yeah, we are. I'm actually fif-." I started saying
"So, you're getting married because you got knocked up?" Melissa asked, interrupting me.
"Melissa!" Dad snapped as Toby gently squeezed my hand.
"If you had waited, I was going to say that I'm fifteen weeks along. Anyway, I brought the finalized photos of everything for the wedding." I said, getting the album out and handing it over to my mom.
"Toby son, I think there's a bottle of scotch back in my office that's calling our names." Dad said, getting up
"Is he gonna kill me?" Toby whispered and I shook my head giggling,
"No but have some scotch for me." I told him.
Toby nodded and kissed my forehead before walking off with my dad, as mom and Alex looked through the pictures. As much as I would love to have Alex standing up with me and the girls, we just met and we still barely know each other. Even though we've already gotten quite close already, how could I ask someone I barely know to stand with me at my wedding? Plus, it would be so much work and money to add another bridesmaid in last minute.
"Oh, these flowers are just lovely Spencer." Mom said, looking up.
"It was Toby's idea to use white hydrangeas, so I cannot take credit." I told her.
"Excuse me, I must use the restroom and freshen up." Mom said
The phone in the office started ringing as mom handed the album back and stood up. Toby walked out with his scotch, which means my dad decided to take the call from whoever it was. Mom saw Toby and I could tell she was about to kill my dad. Even though after his heart attack last year and his doctor telling him to take it easy, dad really doesn't listen unless mom yells at him to take a break.
"I told him he should take it." Toby said, mom nodded before heading upstairs.
"You know, I was going to use white hydrangeas for our wedding next year." Melissa said, rubbing Wrens arm
"We had no idea you two were engaged. Congratulations." I said
"It'd be terrible if we both used hydrangeas for both of our weddings." Melissa said.
"Then don't use hydrangeas Melissa." I told her.
"But I've been dreaming of white hydrangeas as my wedding flower my whole life! Are you sure you can't pick another flower?" Melissa pouted
Oh my god, she is actually pouting over this! I'm shocked she's not stomping her foot and having a legit tantrum about it. And about all things to throw a tantrum about, she chooses to do it over flowers. As Alex and Wren looked at each other, both clearly unsure about what is happening I stood up and went into the kitchen. Instead of getting a headache from dealing with Melissa, I'm beginning to feel nauseous… which means my baby doesn't even like dealing with Melissa.
"Mel, I'm not picking another flower – a WEEK before my wedding. I know there are saltine crackers somewhere, god, where are they?" I told her.
"But I thought you hated white hydrangeas?" Melissa asked as Toby came up.
"It's yellow carnations that she doesn't like. But she chose the hydrangeas first, you can't guilt her into changing her flowers." Toby said.
As I gave him a small smile, he found the crackers and handed them over. My parents came back and we sat back down. Alex, Wren and Toby still seemed concerned about what had just happened. God, I cannot wait until tonight is over. Melissa kept going on about her and Wren's wedding as Toby wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my head. Alex glanced over at me and we shared a look, we were both annoyed with Melissa.
"We're planning for June sixteenth next year, it's just the perfect date." Melissa told us and I dropped my crackers in shock.
"Please tell me you're joking." Dad groaned
"Are you for real Melissa?" I snapped.
"It's just a date Spencer." Melissa said, as if she weren't just trying to get me to change my flowers so she could have them.
"This is a happy time right now; you girls are killing me." Dad joked.
"That's not even funny dad!" I exclaimed
"What are you going on about Spencer?" Melissa asked and I turned to her.
"Do you not remember dad's heart attack last year? Oh wait, you didn't even bother coming home when we called you!" I snapped
"I was in London Spencer." She reminded me
"So was Aria! But she came home early when she found out!" I pointed out, trying to keep calm.
"What happened to us trying to get back our old relationship? Why are you acting like your old bitchy self again?" I asked, not caring if I get yelled at.
"Things have changed Spencer." She said coldly.
"Things or is it people that have changed?" I asked
Without saying another word, I got up and ran upstairs into my old room. I'm a little surprised that my parents even kept it the same after I moved in with Toby. Sitting down on the bed, I put my face in my hands as I felt Toby sit down next to me and wrap an arm around me and I looked at him. Should have known he would have come after me, he knows how my relationship used to be with Melissa.
"I'm seriously wondering if I even want her at the wedding anymore." I said.
"We can uninvite her if you want, that's up to you Spence." He said softly.
"Pretty soon you'll be my wife." He whispered in my ear, getting me to giggle.
"I feel like time is going fast and slow all at once." I said softly, he chuckled and brushed his lips against mine.
"Can we go home?" I asked as we pulled apart
"Are you one hundred percent sure?" He asked and I nodded.
"I can't be around Melissa anymore tonight." I explained
"Alright babe, I'll go let Alex and your parents know. But take a few deep breaths before you come down, stress isn't good for you or the baby." He told me, kissing my nose and walked out.
I looked around and went over to my red chaise, memories of me and Aria both laying on it while planning our dream weddings when we were little came flooding back. But now, she and Ezra are signing the divorce papers tomorrow morning. We all thought they'd beat the odds like they had done before… but I guess it wasn't in their cards this time. Sighing, I walked out and headed down the stairs to see Alex waiting for me. I hate that she saw everything between me and Melissa, and the fact that tonight was how she learned about dad's heart attack. As Alex handed me Toby's denim jacket, Melissa walked over as if nothing happened between us and I secretly shared an annoyed expression with Alex.
"I saw mom the other day, she said she never received her invitation when I brought your wedding up." Melissa said.
"That's because, she wasn't invited." I told her, pulling Toby's jacket on.
"She's our mother Spencer." Melissa said, I held back a scoff
"No, Melissa, She's your mother. She may have had her moments throughout sixteen years of my life, but a majority of the time…. I was just a burden to her. She is not invited, nor was she ever even considered to be invited. You can invite her to your wedding." I told her.
Toby came over and took my hand in his as my dad walked up and handed us the leftovers. As the wedding gets closer, I keep feeling guilty about leaving Alex here when Toby and I leave for Hawaii. Aria said that Alex could always stay with her and the boys while we're gone, plus she has mom and dad here too and I'm sure they'd let her stay with them as well. Mom came over with a piece of paper and handed it to me, I opened it to see a list of different pre-natal vitamins and OBGYNs.
"What time is check in again?" Mom asked.
"Check in is at three, it gives everyone a little bit of time to relax before rehearsal dinner at seven." Toby told her.
…
The next night
Aria's pov
I stood with Carolyn, talking about Beth's gymnastics class. Beth is the spitting image of Emily and takes after her in the sports department but preferring non water sports. Ezra looked over towards me and gave me a small smile. It's been an emotional day for me, we signed the divorce papers this morning and I've been crying multiple times over our relationship and the fact Spencer and Toby are getting married. Things have been weird between Ezra and I since he admitted thar he still loves me; it doesn't help that he's been pretty attentive when it comes to me and the baby. Sooner or later, he's going to do something in front of Josh and I still haven't told him that I'm pregnant with Ezra's baby.
"Spencer's lucky I love her." Carolyn muttered, looking past me.
Turning my head, I saw Mrs. Fields had arrived and walking towards us. It's pretty clear that neither mother or daughter kept in touch since the day of Mr. Fields's funeral, where Pam lashed out at Carolyn for being there and for bringing Hudson to a 'family only' service. Despite Emily intervening and telling their mother that the girls and I were not family but we had been invited. Even though Carolyn never had a good relationship with her mother, it had gotten worse at the funeral.
"Hello Mrs. Fields, you look lovely this evening." I greeted her and received a small smile.
"Mother, how have you been?" Carolyn asked.
"Just wonderful, you and Hudson are still together I presume?" Pam asked.
She looked around the room, clearly in search of Hudson. I looked over to Carolyn, who carefully shook her head to indicate she didn't want me to say anything. Beth skipped over, pulling Emily and Ezra over to us. Emily gave Pam a quick hug before noticing Carolyn and mine's facial expression. From what Emily and Carolyn have said over the years, both Pam and Mr. Fields know that Carolyn adopted Beth from Emily.
"Beth aren't you a doll in your dress. I bet your breaking the boys' hearts in your class." Pam told Beth.
"No, boys are gross." Beth said, receiving chuckles from us.
"Oh. I see you're just like your mother." Pam said coldly,
"Mommy." Beth whimpered, hiding behind Carolyn.
"Mrs. Fields, I don't think that's appropriate to say to a child." Ezra said, as Maya walked over.
"Emily, you could have had such an amazing life if you hadn't had Beth or got with…. Her." Mrs. Fields said.
Oh my god, this is Mr. Fields funeral all over again! I looked around, searching for Caleb and couldn't find him. Toby noticed me and excused himself from Peter and Ella before heading over here. This is supposed to be a non-stressful night, but at least Melissa has been on her good behavior tonight. Toby told me and Caleb about what had happened yesterday with her, so we've been keeping our eyes on her.
"What did you just say?" Emily hissed as Hudson walked over.
"Hudson, take Beth to the bathroom." Carolyn said, Hudson took Beth's hand and quickly walked her away
"Having Beth and getting with Maya ruined your relationship with Ben and your future with swimming." Mrs. Fields said.
What's going on?" Toby whispered.
"It's like you wanted us to be exactly how you wanted us to be. You never cared about whether or not we were happy doing what you wanted, you only cared about these so called values. Maya and I are having kids, and all I want is for their grandmother to be a part of their lives." Emily snapped.
"I need some air; I'll be right back" She continued.
We stared after Emily as she walked outside, it was clear that she was in her own little world now. How could Mrs. Fields just pretend to have accepted Emily and Maya all these years? To pretend that she supports them… just to reveal that all of it has been a lie. Toby quickly went after Emily. None of us said anything as we all walked away from Mrs. Fields, Carolyn went after Hudson and Beth even though it was clear that it was really Emily that she wanted to check on. As I walked up to the bar, Ezra walked over and gave me another smile.
"Can we go somewhere and talk about something?" He asked.
Before I could answer him, Spencer came up with Caleb, who started ordering something from the bartender. By the look on Spencer's face, I could tell that she was about to uninvite Mrs. Fields from the wedding. I looked around, looking to see if Emily or Toby came back.
"They're still outside, Maya's worried about her. Pam is the only parent Emily has now, and she's now learning that her mother's approval has been a lie this entire time." Spencer said quietly.
"Spencer, you look lovely." Mrs. Fields said as Emily walked up with Toby.
"I changed my mind; I don't want you to have any part in my kids' lives…. Or mine. You saw me go through Alison's mind torture game, then I lose the one parent who honestly loved me no matter what. I'm so done with you." Emily told Pam, before walking off.
"Mrs. Fields, I'm going to have to ask you to leave… and not come tomorrow." Spencer said.
"All Emily needed was for you to love and accept her for who she is, not just pretend to accept her. You're going to miss out on watching her get married and raise kids." I said.
Hanna came up and seemed to know exactly what was going on. Before either me or Spencer could ask, she pointed towards the restroom and we followed her out of the ballroom. Walking down the hall, some ladies walked out of the bathroom looking very concerned. We could hear Emily talking with Maya about Pam, and that she was trying to muffle her crying. We slowly opened the door and Maya caught us.
"Em, are you okay?" Spencer asked.
"I'm sorry." Emily said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Do not apologize, you couldn't have known." Spencer told her, pulling her in for a hug
"There were signs Spence, and I ignored them. My relationship with her has been strained for a while, it got worse after my dad died. Especially after she found out that Beth was biologically mine. You guys saw her at my dad's funeral… yelling at Carolyn for showing up and bringing Hudson." Emily told us
"We love you, always have and always will." Hanna said, taking Emily's hands
"This is supposed a happy time, can we stop making me cry?" Emily joked.
None of us said another word as Maya, Hanna and I joined their hug. No matter where life takes any of us, I know we will always have each other. We've gone through so much together and there's still more of life for us to all go through. Hopefully soon, I'll be working with Emily and Maya at the high school while Spencer is working on her law career and Hanna bringing all her old design drawings to life.
…
Looking out at the entire garden, I sensed someone walking out and knew it was Ezra. And I know we're going to end up having a conversation about what he said about still being in love with me. But I'm not ready to have it yet, and it's not a good time when it's about Spencer and Toby right now. Plus, we're all still a little emotional from Mary and Peter's speeches, along with what happened between Emily and her mother. There is no way, he'd try to have a conversation about us tonight. Turning around, I saw that it was indeed Ezra behind me. As he got closer, he took my hands in his.
"Aria, I meant it when I told you that I love you. It was always going to be you in the end, I only got with Nicole because she reminded me of you. Aria…. You're the one I'm in love with, the only one I could ever be in love with." He said softly.
"Do you really think now is a smart time for this?" I asked, taking my hands back.
"Is anytime ever really a good time? I know that we have is what I want forever, even if it takes you a little while longer to figure out. You're the one I want to be with, it's going to be us in the end. It has always been you that I want to spend the rest of my life with." He said
"I never needed to figure it out Ezra, I made it clear since the beginning that all I wanted was us." I told him
"Aria, you needed normal school years that didn't include your eleventh grade English teacher. I'm not gonna step aside, I'm going to fight for you… for us. What we have is real, and in the back of your mind you know it too." He said.
"We don't have that anymore Ezra, remember why? You got into another relationship, ending everything for us. You say that you want to be with me, should have thought of that when you met Nicole. I made my mistakes that helped end our relationship, but you ended it first by getting with Nicole. And you're right about one thing, I didn't need my old English teacher… but what I needed was to be with you." I said.
Before he could respond, I turned around to see Toby at the door and I walked inside. Toby placed a hand on my back as we made our way towards the bar. If I weren't pregnant, I'd be shooting down a couple shots right now. Everything between me and Ezra… it's getting more and more confusing, I'm not completely over him but I have these growing feelings for Josh. Willing myself not to cry, I looked over at Toby and it was obvious he could tell. Luckily for me, Toby won't try to fight Ezra because if either one of them were to geta black eye… Spencer will be pissed off at both of them. Plus, it could ruin tomorrows photos.
"When did life get complicated." I asked.
"Come on, I'll get you a drink." Toby said and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"A virgin drink, how about a cherry coke… with an extra cherry?" He suggested and I nodded.
"Have I ever told you that you are the best big brother ever?" I asked.
"No, but you have kicked my ass a few times." He reminded me.
…
It was time for all of us to head upstairs, the boys had gone up to bed while ago with Emily and Hanna. Even though Emily was with them in the groomsmen suite, Ezra and I made sure Malcolm knew both our phone numbers in case of emergency since Emily is hard to wake up. Although, we all knew we'd be following suit soon after anyways. Looking around for Spencer, I glanced over towards the elevators to see her and Toby practically making out like teenagers and Caleb was trying not to laugh.
"We love you guys but come on! Both of you need your sleep, and frankly its gross seeing you two make out." I called out.
"Hey, you get to see her all day and I don't until she's walking down the aisle." Toby pointed out.
"At least keep it rated G!" Maya said, jokingly shielding her eyes.
"Or go hide somewhere, you're grossing out my baby." I added with a laugh.
Toby gave Spencer one last kiss before gently ushering her towards me and getting on one of the elevators. Walking up to me, she looped her arm through mine as I caught Ezra's eye. He gave me a small smile before I quickly looked away, why did he think that tonight was the right time to say that he wants to be with me? Especially after what happened between Mrs. Fields and Emily.
"We'll be up in a few minutes, just need to pee." Spencer told everyone as they watched us walk past the elevator.
"Alright, I need to know what the hell is happening between you and Ezra." She said, the second we were in the restroom.
"The night of my home warming party, we had a moment after everyone left. He had said that Nicole had reminded him of me… but I don't think he knew that I heard. Then tonight, he told me that he wants to be with me and isn't going to step aside." I explained.
"What are you feeling about all of it?" She asked carefully and we walked back towards the elevators and got in an empty one.
"Right now, anger and hurt. He knew exactly what to say, what I've wanted to hear for the past four years." I told her, pushing my other feelings in the back of my mind.
I quickly pressed the button for our floor and my other feelings about Ezra to the back of my mind. Now isn't the time to dig into my feelings about Ezra, or our relationship. Just because he finally broke up with Nicole, doesn't mean anything. I'm not about to push the blooming relationship I have with Josh just because Ezra said that he wants us again. That's what I would have done and did when I was sixteen, but I'm not that person anymore. The elevator door opened and we got off.
"Are you going to be okay sharing a room with him tomorrow?" She asked as we made our way down the hall.
"It'll be fine Spence, we're adults here. Besides, I could always make him sleep on the chairs if it comes to it." I said jokingly.
Spencer and I walked into our room to see Hanna and Maya already fast sleep in their bed. Since Emily is what I like to call a Groomsmaid, the arrangement is that she'll sleep in the guys' suit and then come over when it's time for our photos to be taken. We quickly changed into our pajamas, I set my alarm for us tomorrow and checked that the girls had their alarms set as well. I'm not risking there not be an alarm and then having us all be rushed to get ready; Spencer will be worried enough about time as it is.
"Okay, I set the alarms. We can go to bed and then tomorrow… you'll be Mrs. Spencer Jill Cavanaugh!" I quietly exclaimed, getting into our bed as Spencer struggled to keep her eyes open.
"I want you to…." Spencer murmured falling asleep.
AN – What do you think it was that Spencer wanted to tell Aria? Just wanted to let you all know I'm going to take a break for a little while, I'm starting to get drained/ unmotivated and I want to be able to give you everything I can for the rest of the story. But I promise that when I come back and start posting again… you're going to love the rest of the story.
