Chapter 22

Aria's pov

I internally sighed as Oliver led me up to Chloe's apartment. Even though Ezra offered to take Oliver to hand out his birthday party invitations, I really need to talk to Chloe more about everything. Yes, I made a mistake but I hate how everything went down between us yesterday. Looking around the halls, Oliver looked at me confused. I kneeled down and pointed at Chloe's apartment door before it hit me that this was Ezra's old building.

"Coco is in 2B, that one right there." I told him and he started banging on the door.

"Oliver don't bang on the door, just knock nicely." I told him and the door opened.

"I thought I sensed my little Ollie Wollie." Chloe said, scooping Oliver up.

"Coco, I'm here on portant buttkiss." Oliver giggled.

"Important business baby." I corrected him.

"Why don't you two come in and you can tell me all about this important business." Chloe told him.

"I gotta go potty." Oliver told us.

"Come on Ollie, I'll show you where the potty is." Chloe said.

She took his hand and led him away towards the bathroom as I sat down. Her apartment isn't the same as 3B, there are two bedrooms with a hallway and 3B is a studio apartment. I saw the picture of me and Chloe in front of the Hollywood sign when we had gone on the road trip to California. Sometimes those days doesn't seem like it had been almost five years ago; days like today it feels like it was only yesterday. All of a sudden, Chloe walked back towards the couch.

"Aria I'm sorry, I was way out of line yesterday. There was absolutely no reason for me to say those things to you." She said, sitting down next to me.

"Yes, there was a reason. I cheated on your brother." I reminded her

"But you told me as a friend, not as his sister." She pointed out.

"And even though you cheated on him, I had no right to say what I had said. But Aria… I saw the look you had watching Alex and Ezra dance at the wedding; it was the same look you had when Spencer danced with him at the dance a thon junior year. No matter how much you may try to deny it, we both know you're still in love with Ezra." She added.

Before I could respond, Oliver came back from the bathroom. Chloe and I shared a look that we both knew that we'd come back to the topic another time, definitely when no kids would be around. But there's not really any reason to continue it, because we both know she's right about it. We watched Oliver as he struggled to get himself up onto the couch, Chloe offered her hand and he reached his arms up for her to help him. The second she got him settled on the couch, he looked at me and held out his hand. Knowing what he wanted, I quickly pulled the invitation out of my purse.

"Can I get the card pwease mama?" Oliver asked.

"Thank you for remembering to say please." I told him, placing it in his hand.

"Here you go Coco, this for you." He told Chloe and gave it to her.

"No way, you're already turning five? I'll be there, promise." She promised.

"Gonna be piwits and pwincesses." Oliver said.

"Pirates baby." I corrected him gently.

"No way! Pirates and princesses? That's the coolest thing ever!" Chloe told him.

"Daddy said there's cake too!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Which you still need to pick out what flavor you want." I reminded him.

"Mhmm…. The pwetty cake!" Oliver declared.

"What's the pretty cake?" Chloe asked.

"I dunno, there's sprinkles in it." He explained.

"Are you sure you want the sprinkle cake baby? Once daddy orders it, he can't change it." I told him

"I love spwinkles mama." He told me.

As Oliver started telling Chloe more about his party, I quickly pulled my phone out and made a quick note to ask Oliver again later. Even though he's completely set on funfetti cake now, there's a pretty good chance that he could want chocolate or even vanilla cake later. The last thing Ezra and I want is Oliver to end up having a tantrum because he changed his mind about cake, especially on his birthday.

I stared at my laptop, trying to get some writing done while Oliver was played with his baby doll. I secretly took a picture of Oliver pretending to give his doll a haircut with his little scissors. In a few years, he'll be playing with his little sibling like this. Even though it's probably a bad idea to even do it… I quickly sent it to Ezra, knowing he'd love the picture since he's the one Oliver begged to get the doll… despite he doesn't always play with it.

"Can mama have an appointment?" I asked, he nodded smiling.

"Sit right here please." He instructed, pointing to a spot in front of him.

He sat the scissors down as I sat down and crossed my legs as he picked up my hairbrush as he was using and began brushing my hair. Lately, he's been playing pretend from being a firefighter to a hairdresser and I love it. No matter what he ends up doing in life, I want him to love doing it. But it kills me that these past five years have gone by so fast, and that my baby is about to be five and starting kindergarten at the start of September. He ran his fingers through my hair and picked up one of his coloring books, handing it to me.

"I like your hair, it's soft like my blankie." He said and I giggled at his cuteness.

"Which hair you want mama?" He asked and I pointed to an orange halfway colored firetruck.

"May I get this one? I asked and he nodded.

He picked up his empty squirt bottle and started pretending to spray my hair. I looked through the coloring book as he started combing my 'wet' hair. He ran his little fingers through my hair and pretended to snip the ends with a pair of his safety scissors. Now that I think about it, I could actually use a haircut and so could he. Although, the last time he had a haircut was not a pretty sight; I pretty much had to drag him inside since he decided last minute to start throwing a tantrum about it and then he started screaming bloody murder halfway into his haircut. I just gave the poor hairdresser the biggest tip I could and rushed Oliver out of there before having Cait do the rest of it. Oliver hates when anyone touches his hair except for Cait… probably because she puts on Frozen and gives him a bowl of dry cereal to keep him occupied.

"Did you hear about Barney?" He asked.

"No, I didn't. What's going on with Barney?" I asked.

I hope Barney didn't get cancelled, it's his favorite show. He threw such a huge tantrum once because we were running late and he couldn't watch his barney, luckily for me he stopped throwing tantrums over not watching it. But I had also managed to move his time to watch it from the morning to the evening, where he could watch it more than once if he wanted. Oh god, what the hell am I going to do

"He gots new friend named Riff. And Riff is orwange." Oliver said matter of factly, getting me to giggle again.

"Do you like Riff?" I asked, receiving silence.

"Ollie?" I questioned.

"I - I didn't mean it mama." He said, bursting into tears.

Turning around, I saw Oliver crying as he held a pretty good chunk of my hair in his hand. Carefully, I removed the scissors and my hair from his hands, dumping them onto the table and pulled him onto my lap. Guess I'll be getting a haircut after all, maybe something shorter than I usually get. Oliver sobbed into my chest as I slowly rubbed his back and kissed the top of my head. The thought that it could've been him that got cut instead of my hair is running in my mind wildly and I hate it. Kissing his forehead, I checked his fingers and hands for any sign he got cut too.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, he shook his head.

"Shh, it's okay. Ollie, you're okay and that's all that matters." I said softly as he cried.

"It was an accident baby, and accidents happen. Right now, we're going to go lay down in mama's bed for a little while. We can either watch cartoons or a movie, you can pick." I told him, kissing his forehead.

His eyes were already puffy from crying, telling me he's already worn himself out. I held onto him and carefully stood up. Grabbing bubba and my tablet off the couch, I carried him upstairs into my room. Setting him down on my bed, he wrapped himself and bubba in his baby duck blanket that we keep in my room and I handed him the tablet to pick something to watch. Laying down next to him and he automatically snuggled up to me and I kissed his forehead as he picked out Frozen.

….

Hanna and I were watching Oliver play in the little playground in the King James mall, I needed someone to watch Oliver while I got a haircut and she was more than happy to come with. Especially since she convinced me to go shopping for a new wardrobe, which I'm thankful that she's here to help me find my new after college adult look. Malcolm offered to come with to watch Oliver when I texted him to let him know, but I told him if he's coming with that he's not on babysitting duty and he could bring his friends if he wanted. So, Malcolm and Dani were catching a movie instead. Oliver came back and I pulled him up onto my lap, he seems to be feeling a lot better since this morning.

"Are you getting hungry Ollie?" I asked, admiring his new haircut.

"I want nuggies." He said.

"We have to stop in a few stores real quick, before we meet brother in the food court. When we meet brother, we can get your nuggets Ollie." I told him.

"Have I told you how handsome you look?" I asked, getting him to giggle.

"I look like Tobby." He said happily.

"You do, but you're a lot cuter than Uncle Toby." I told him, kissing his cheek.

Malcolm and Dani led us into the brew with Oliver holding onto both their hands. It probably would have been a better idea to go through the back door since I have a lot more shopping bags in the car, some of them being stuff for the boys and the twins. Ezra looked over and went back to looking at the cash register before looking back up in surprised. Oliver let go of both Dani and Malcolm's hands to run towards Ezra, who picked him up and walked over towards us.

"I cut mama's hair." Oliver told him.

"He had a rough morning after that." I whispered as Oliver squirmed out of his arms.

"It looks amazing, I can't believe you gave mama that fabulous haircut!" Ezra told Oliver, getting him to giggle.

"Why don't you three go upstairs and figure out what you want for dinner. I'll be up in a few moments," I told the kids, handing Malcolm the key.

The kids rushed upstairs to the loft, without saying bye to either me or Ezra. Seeing that there was barely anyone in The Brew except for a few customers, now would be the best time to tell him about my interview tomorrow. Emily and Maya hadn't given me any tips for it, maybe Ezra has some good ones from when he interviewed with Hackett and Hollis.

"So, I'll be interviewing with Hackett tomorrow to possibly replace Mrs. Olsen." I said.

"You're going to get the job Ar, he'd be crazy not to hire you." He said softly.

"Got any pointers?" I asked.

"Well obviously, be yourself during the interview and keep eye contact. He'll ask you a series of questions about why you want to be teacher and how will you help the students succeed. At the end he'll ask you if you have any questions, and you should try to ask some questions of your own." He told me.

"Thank you." I said.

"Anytime." He responded softly.

Oliver held my hand as we made our way down the stairs into the Brew. He wanted to see Ezra before I brought him to day camp and went to my interview at the high school. I talked with Hanna on the phone for what seemed like forever last night, trying to decide what to wear for the interview. She ended up suggesting my short sleeve navy blue blouse and floral skirt that she had gotten for me. The second we were in the Brew; Ezra came over and handed me an iced hazelnut mocha and gave Oliver a chocolate milk.

"Is this too much?" I asked, motioning to my outfit and took a sip of my coffee.

"Not at all, you look great. Would it be any help if I brought him to camp?" He asked.

"It wouldn't be a burden?" I asked.

"Ar, you're forgetting that we're in this together. Besides, Ollie always win I spy and I think I could win this time." Ezra said, getting me to giggle.

"Okay well, good luck beating him though. He's the champion of that game." I told him.

"Hey lil man, how would you like daddy to take you to camp today?" Ezra asked, kneeling down to face Oliver.

"Yeah!" Oliver said happily.

"Be good for daddy, I'll see you later. I said, kissing the top of Oliver's head.

"Bye mama, good wuck." He said and I kissed his forehead.

"Thank you baby." I told him.

…..

Hardy's pov

I watched Rosie play the sandbox with the other kids, all day she has made it quite clear that she's not happy about not being with Oliver at camp. Those two are practically obsessed with one another, I'm surprised that they haven't tried getting married already with all the times they keep saying they're going to. My phone started playing Caitlyn's ringtone, her favorite song Reflecting Light and I checked on Rosie before glancing down to see her text.

'Babe, can you please pick up some milk on your way home?'

"You're NOT my daddy! DADDY STRANGER!"

I whipped my head up to see Rosie running towards me in tears away from some guy… shit. Getting up. I sprinted towards her and scooped her up. She held onto me tightly as she sobbed and I rubbed her back. Looking around, there was no sign of that guy and he better hope I don't ever find him near my little girl or any kid. Trying to calm her down, I softly made soothing noises and kissed her head.

"Shh, daddy's right here. What happened princess?" I asked.

"Scary man said he was you. But you are you! He's not daddy, you are!" She cried.

All of a sudden, a man about my height walked up and I realized it's Caitlyn's ex-boyfriend William from the couple of pictures she had kept of him. Rosie started crying again when she saw him and Hailey, one of the junior day camp instructors hurried over. I kissed Rosie's forehead before trying to give her to Hailey, getting Rosie to cling to me.

"No, stay daddy!" She cried.

"It's okay princess, go with Ms. Hailey for a minute. I'll be right back." I told her.

The second Hailey and Rosie were out of earshot; I spun around, wanting to punch the hell out of this guy. Who the hell just walks up to a little kid and say that they're parent? He looks just like he does in the photos; like the guy that best friends would fight over, the one mothers plan weddings the minute she meets him, and the guy that every would want for his daughter. His slicked back blondish brown hair looked stupid, why would anyone slick their hair back? Rosie is practically Caitlyn's twin except for the nose, which is the only thing she inherited from him.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you stay the hell away from my daughter." I told him.

"Tell Caitlyn to call me, we got some catching up to do." He said.

He handed me a piece of paper and walked off before I could respond. Does he seriously think he can just show up like this and demand to be a part of Rosie's life after refusing to be a part since the beginning? I quickly shoved it into my pocket and took a deep breath before turning around. Rosie's already scared enough; she doesn't need to sense my anger too. As I walked towards where Hailey and Rosie are by the oak trees, Hailey looked over to see me and I just knew Rosie was still crying by the look on Hailey's face. Rosie plopped herself down onto Hailey's lap and looked to see me coming,

"Daddy." Rosie cried, reaching for me.

"It's okay Rosie, daddy's here. We're going to go home to mommy now." I told her as Hailey passed Rosie back to me.

"Wainbow?" She asked quietly, and I knew she wanted ice cream.

"We can definitely get rainbow ice cream, even if we have to make multiple stops to find it." I told her, getting her to giggle.

….

Getting Rosie out of the car, she reached for the grocery bag that held the ice cream. I gave her the bag and shut the trunk of the car; she's still pretty upset about what had happened. I would have completely kicked William's ass, but kicking people's asses is something the old me would have done and Rosie was right there. That's not something she should witness at such a young age…. Or ever. We made our way towards the front door and I gave her the key to unlock the door as usual.

"Mommy!" Rosie cried, running to Caitlyn the second I opened the door.

"Rosie baby, what's wrong? What happened Hardy?" Caitlyn asked, looking at me concerned.

"Stranger said he was daddy. But Daddy is daddy!" Rosie answered for me.

"Princess, why don't you go play in your room for now and we can have ice cream in a bit." I told her

Without trying to get us to let her stay downstairs with us, Rosie walked upstairs. I waited a few moments before quietly making my way to the staircase to see that Rosie had in fact gone to her room. I made my way back to the kitchen table and sat down next to Caitlyn, taking her hand in mine. We both knew there was a chance of Rosie finding out about William, even if we were hoping it would never happen. God, maybe I should have told her sooner, but this isn't something to say over the phone.

"I hoped I never had to explain this to her, or at least wait until she's old enough to fully understand this." Caitlyn cried.

"It's going to be alright honey." I told her.

"What… If… He… Legally… Tries… To… Take… Her?" She managed between sobs.

"We're not going to let that happen." I said softly, rubbing her back

"Hardy… if William is here, that means my dad could somehow know where I'm at and could appear too." She whispered.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. There's only so much of her past that I know about, only very little about how things ended with William and her father. Before I had met Caitlyn; the mention of an ex-boyfriend or possibly meeting a father would've had me running for the hills, but I love Caitlyn and Rosie too much. Nothing is going to get me to leave either of them, so these two can try whatever they want to try to get rid of me but I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for the long run… even if it means having to deal with her ex or her father.

…..

Aria's pov - Few days later

There was a soft knock on the door and I quickly got up to go answer it. Oliver came down the stairs just as I opened the door to see Emily and Maya standing there, with a newborn in Emily's arms and a little boy hiding behind Maya. I quickly stepped aside to let them in. That was fast, I figured it would have been maybe a week or two before they came back.

"Oh my god, come in." I said quietly.

"We came back literally the day after we left, everything was already to go for us. Everything has been chaotic, so we decided to get a grip on everything before introducing them to everyone." Maya explained.

"Totally understandable." I whispered.

"This is Aaliyah, and this little guy is Darius." Emily said softly.

Oliver came over as he and Darius stared at each other. I glanced over at Maya, who had the same worried expression as me. Neither of them were sure what is going on, or what to make of each other. Darius slowly went to hide behind both Emily and Maya as Oliver hid behind me. None of us told Oliver that Emily and Maya are having kids, and all of a sudden they're here with two.

"Oliver say hi to Darius, Emmy and May-May are his new mommies." I told Oliver.

"Hi." He said, waving to Darius.

"Hi." Darius mirrored.

"Mommy, potty." He said, looking at Maya.

Maya nodded before taking Darius to the bathroom. Oliver tilted his head, looking over at Aaliyah before hiding behind my leg again. Emily and I shared a look before I gently ushered Oliver out from behind me. He looked up at me and then at Emily, who carefully motioned for him to come closer. I took Oliver's hand and slowly walked him over towards the couch. Sitting down, I pulled him up onto my lap and wrapped my arms around him. He's been around babies before, but not this nervous. Maybe it's because we hadn't prepared him for this.

"Ollie, this is Aaliyah. She's a few weeks old, so she's tiny. You know when you were a baby, you were about this big too. Since she's still tiny, we gotta be quiet around her." Emily told him.

"My sister?" Oliver whispered.

"No, she's Darius's sister. They came from a whole other country called Columbia. " I told him.

"Are they visiting?" He asked, looking between us.

"No, they're not visiting. May-May and I adopted them, we're their mommies." Emily said.

"A dolphin?" He asked, confused.

"Not a dolphin, adopted. It means their mommy couldn't take care of them, so Emmy and May-May signed a paper that made them Darius's mommies." I explained.

"Am I adopted mama?" He inquired.

"No, you came from mama. Remember, we talked about it?" I reminded him as Maya and Darius came back.

"Can Darius and me go play?" Oliver asked, receiving three head nods.

We watched Oliver and Darius head upstairs to go play, hopefully they'll get along. There have been a few times in New York that Oliver didn't get along with someone for various reasons, mostly if someone tried to steal Rosie from him. Turning my attention back to Emily and Maya, I knew that I was going to have to tell them how my interview with. Emily had been so excited for us to work together at the high school and had pulled strings to get me the interview pretty much right away after I agreed for her to do it. Maya took Aaliyah from Emily and placed her into my arms, it makes me miss Oliver being this little and impatient for the twins to come.

"Hackett already hired the new English teacher." I said.

"Really?" Emily asked disappointedly.

"Yeah, he did. I'll be teaching AP English, American Literature, and Creative Writing." I told them, enjoying the realization hit them.

"Which means I'll be the closest to you, since the Jazz band room is near the English hallway." Maya said.

"I slept with Ezra after the wedding." I blurted and they both stared at me, why do I keep blurting it out like this.

"Really? Does this mean you two are…?" Emily asked carefully.

"No, but everything is even more confusing. I had blurted out to Chloe about it and now we're not speaking. Frankly, I don't blame her for not speaking to me. But I'm just more shocked Josh didn't dump my ass." I told them, keeping what Chloe said to myself.

"You know, it never hit me that she now lives in Ezra's old building." I added, eating a grape.

"Aria you lived there too and now Chloe lives there. Almost where you and Ezra used to live…. As if it was a sign." Maya said carefully.

"Okay, Chloe now living where Ezra used to live is not a sign." I pointed out.

"She lives in the same building, the same side of the building, and almost the same floor. Now tell me how that isn't a sign." Emily said.

"It's not a sign, it's just… a really weird coincidence." I responded with a shrug.

"We just want you to be happy Ar." Emily told me.

"I know you do, Thank you. But I am happy…. With Josh." I told them.

"He took it well then?" Maya asked, clearly not believing me.

"Obviously, he was mad. Which is completely understandable, I'd be angry too if I were in his shoes." I said

The boys walked down the stairs, both holding a stuffed animal. Emily and Maya need to get Aaliyah and Darius home since they're still getting Darius used to everything and starting to ease both the kids onto a schedule. Looking at Aaliyah in Maya's arms, I realized they hadn't brought a car seat or a stroller in with them. I wonder how much stuff they need but don't have yet. Making a mental note to check later about what they might need, I noticed that Darius had Oliver's Lotso bear. Oliver loves that bear a lot, he got upset when Malcolm picked it off the floor and placed it on Oliver's bed. So, I'm a little surprised that Oliver let him even touch it.

"Darius sweetie, why do you have Oliver's teddy bear?" Emily asked.

"I gave him it." Oliver piped up, now it makes sense.

"Aw, you gave him your lotso bear?" Maya asked as I helped her with Aaliyah.

"I have bubba, so he can has lotso." Oliver explained.

"Darius, did you say thank you?" Maya asked.

"Thank you." Darius told Oliver.

"Can Darius come to my birthday?" Oliver asked me and I nodded.

Darius took Maya's hand as we followed them to the door. God, it only feels like yesterday the girls and I were graduating junior high. Now most of us are having kids: I have the boys and the twins on the way, Hanna has Aiden, Spencer's pregnant, Emily and Maya have Darius and Aaliyah, and there's Caitlyn with Rosie. I wonder if Chloe and Caleb will ever have kids; I just know they'd have pretty cute babies.

"Let me know if you need anything." I said before closing the door behind them.

"I know how much you loved your Lotso bear Ollie, and I am very proud of you for giving it to Darius." I told Oliver

"Anyway, did you two have fun?" I asked as we walked back to the couch.

"Yeah! We played with my blocks and trucks." He told me.

"Bout Rosie n Aiden?" He asked out of the blue.

"Tell me what you mean." I said softly, pulling him onto my lap.

"They my friends, but now Darius my friend." Ollie told me

"You can have more friends." I explained.

"Really?" He asked.

"Just because you already have a couple friends, doesn't mean you can't have more. Mama has a lot of friends; even though I'm not as close to everyone as I am with your aunties, they're still my friends." I told him.

"There's no limit on friends Ollie." I added, kissing the top of his head.

….

Ezra and I were sitting in his living room, going over our schedule of switching off with the boys for the next few weeks. I'll be staying over the night before Oliver's birthday, just so he can be with both of us equally for his birthday. Even though we're in this weird place now, there's no reason why we can't come together for our son's birthday. Glancing over at the clock, I saw I still had half an hour before it's time to go pick up the boys from their last minute playdate with Luna.

"Is Josh coming to Ollie's party?" Ezra asked.

"No, we agreed that it would just be family members and Ollie's friends. Why, you got a new surprise girlfriend coming?" I asked snippily.

"That's in the past, you don't get to be angry about that." He said.

"I have a right to be angry about that Ezra! You left me for another woman, KNOWING I'D BE HOME SOON! You know, it killed me when I realized you didn't love me anymore… but that didn't compare to the agonizing pain I felt watching you fall in love with her." I snapped.

"You don't know me very well if you think I was actually falling in love with her…. Let alone think that I could ever not be in love with you, there's no one else in this world I could fall in love with. Aria, you're in my mind twenty four seven! I'm crushed when I wake up in the morning and you're not snoring softly in my arms. I know you still love me, the way I'm still in love with you." He said.

"Aria, I've felt dead without you these past few years, I miss waking up freezing cold because you're hogging the blankets." He added.

"You're the one who sent me off to New York alone Ezra. And you say you felt dead without me, yet you got a girlfriend A FEW WEEKS before I came home!" I reminded him.

"I'm not bulletproof Ezra, you can't shoot me and expect me not to bleed." I said softly.

Before he could say anything, I grabbed my purse and walked out the door. That was not how I ever wanted Ezra to find out how I had truly felt about him and Nicole, but he doesn't get to say I don't get to be upset about it. Even though he got with her because he was missing me and she somehow reminded him of me… it still hurt really bad. Strangely enough, it had hurt me more than when I found out about his relationship with Alison and the book he had been writing. Opening my car door, I quickly sat in the car and sighed.

AN - There will be more about Caitlyn's past coming up, along with romance and drama and heartache. I'm working on a bunch of chapters that are coming up, but I'll try to get chapter 23 out as soon as I can. Also, next chapter will be Oliver's birthday, and a few faces from the past will appear.