Chapter 24 - few days later
Aria's pov
Walking downstairs into The Brew, I saw Ezra was struggling a bit with some boxes of inventory and the dislocated wrist Josh gave him. God, it's always my fault when he gets hurt. It's like I attract danger to him. I haven't really really spoken to Josh since he tried to fight Ezra. There was no reason for him to attack Ezra, he hadn't done anything!
"Here, I can take those for you." I said.
"I got it. Besides, you're pregnant." He reminded me
"Ez, you have a dislocated wrist." I pointed out.
Before he could argue with me more on it, I quickly took the boxes from him. I started making my way towards the back with him following, where the rest of the inventory is. Even though there weren't many times that I had visited the Brew during college, I remember where everything is.
"Aria." He tried.
"Either tell me where you want these or go do your boring paperwork and I'll pick a random spot." I told him.
"How is your wrist?" I asked, setting the boxes down.
"It's like nothing happened." He lied.
"I should have broken up with him the second he punched you." I said.
"Do not break up with him over that, he's probably still pissed about us sleeping together." He said softly.
Looking into his eyes, the guilt of not breaking up with Josh started to weigh on me more. How could I not break up with him over that? Ezra had been safe from any type of harm until I came back, the last time he got hurt was when Mona shot him because Alison made her believe he was going to steal the game from her. Great, just made myself remember about having to deal with Ali again.
"It's my fault you got hurt, just like when you got shot." I said
"Hey! Stop blaming yourself, none of it was ever your fault. Aria, I don't want to hear you blame yourself again." He told me.
Without a second thought, he pulled me into a hug. God, this feels right… him holding me feels more right than anything else. But what if he's wrong? What if everything Alison did WAS because of me somehow? Byron could have lied about when Alison found out about him being her real father. Suddenly my phone beeped, scaring me. I hate the fact that my phone ringing still scares me at times. It's like when I least expect it, it rings and I'm terrified that it's an 'A' text or some warning from Alison. Ezra let go, taking my hand in his and I quickly glanced at our hands together.
"Hey, look at me. It is not some new 'A' or Alison, you're safe Aria." He said, looking into my eyes.
Unlocking my phone, I saw that Hanna had made a group chat with almost everyone in it. Ezra quickly led me towards his office, so we're not just standing in the back. I sat down on the couch as Ezra sat in his chair and picked up his phone.
Hanna: I had a great idea for a surprise for Emily and Maya!
Aria: Did you not put Spoby in here because they're in Hawaii?
Caleb: Lucky ass bitches, off in Hawaii.
Alex: I'm assuming this is happening before Spencer and Toby get back, therefore they're not involved in this chat.
Ezra: What's the surprise?
Hanna: Okay, we all know they adopted Darius and Aaliyah with like no time to prepare right? So. I was thinking of giving them a surprise baby shower!
Caleb: Don't those come before the baby comes?
Hanna: Obviously Rivers, baby showers are where you get most of everything that's needed.
Chloe: This is a different scenario here babe
Hanna: Focus! Aria, you split with Ezra, Chloe you get Caleb, Hardy and Caitlyn you two get together.
Aria: I'm already split from him Han, keep up.
Alex: Did you just…. Make a divorce joke?
Ezra: I wanna be hurt from that…. But it was pretty funny.
Hardy: Damn, now you're funnier than me.
Caitlyn: she always has been babe.
Hanna: *sent an attachment* ANYWAY. I made them a registry and was thinking around 4:30 to meet at their place? Just try to get the necessities.
…..
Alex and I were finishing setting the presents up on the coffee table. Malcolm and Dani are keeping Oliver, Rosie and Aiden occupied by teaching them how to play go fish. The guys are putting together the furniture that neither Emily or Maya have been able to put together yet. When we walked in it was clear that they had given Darius their bed until they could put together his bed. His racecar bed was still in the box and so was his mattress. Bed pillows were next to the couch, along with blankets, toys and a few baby clothes. Hanna said that she invited Carolyn, who agreed to come.
"Do any of us know when they even get home?" Caleb asked as the door opened.
"I'm so sorry I'm later than what I told you Hanna. My work meeting ran later than it was supposed to go. And then traffic sucked.." Carolyn said, rushing in with a present.
"Still have perfect timing. Here, I can take that for you." I said taking her present.
"Don't worry about it Carolyn, you're here now. Caleb, they should be home pretty soon; Emily told me that they were going to show Darius around town today and stop at Wayne's grave." Hanna said.
"When did you start calling our parents by their first name?" I asked her.
"Peoples!"
We all spun to see Emily and Maya standing in the doorway with Aaliyah and Darius, who looked excited to see everyone. They walked towards us as Darius went to go play with the kids. Before any of us could say anything, Emily saw Carolyn.
"Carolyn?" Emily asked as she made her way towards her sister.
"Hi Emmy." Carolyn responded, pulling Emily into a hug.
We could all tell there was more to Emily and Carolyn's hug then just seeing each other again. I haven't seen Mrs. Fields or even heard about her from Emily, which sounds like there really is no contact between them anymore. Besides all of us and Carolyn, Emily doesn't have any other family.
"Going to ask you since you're the only one who actually has a spare key to our apartment. What is going on?" Maya asked, looking at Hanna.
"Well, we couldn't give you a proper baby shower, this is the best thing." Hanna said
"It's not everything, but it should help a little bit for now." I added.
Maya took Emily's free hand as they sat down on the couch. We all found a spot surrounding them, with Hanna on the arm of the couch, so she could pass them the presents.
"Good news is that you two should have your bed back now." Ezra said, giving them a smile.
"Emmy, Hudson and I are thinking about moving back to Rosewood. It's a lot safer than where we are now, we'd be closer to you and you'd be able to see Beth more often If you'd be okay with us moving back." Carolyn said.
"Of course! I'd love it if you guys moved back, it hasn't really been the same since you left home. Plus, Darius and Aaliyah could always use more family." Emily told her
"Well, I'll talk to Hudson and see where we can get a house or something. You two will be the first to know anything." Carolyn promised her.
AN - This is a Trigger warning for anyone this might affect; there is a miscarriage and talk of it. If that could possibly trigger anyone; please skip over to the next line break. And there will also be a few more scenes covering it as well.
….
Aria's pov - Later
Josh and I were sitting in one of the booths at The Grille, he had randomly texted me if the boys and I wanted to grab a late bite to eat. Of course right now, I don't want him near the boys until we resolve our problems and he seemed to understand that. He looked over from his beef stroganoff and I gave him a small smile, even though I'm so confused on where we stand right now. One minute he's completely pissed at me for any reason, and then it's like we're not in the middle of some relationship triangle crisis or that he just attacked Ezra.
"Have I told you how pretty you look tonight?" He asked, and my phone rang.
Giving him an apologetic look, I pulled my phone out of my purse and saw Ezra calling me. Malcolm is off Dani again, and Oliver is having a sleepover with Rosie at Caitlyn's. There is no reason for him to be calling me right now, I sighed and quickly answered the phone. Pressing answer, Ezra spoke up before I could even say anything.
"Ar, you need to get to the hospital…. Something happened to Caitlyn." Ezra said worriedly.
"I'll be right there." I told him and hung up.
"I'm sorry, something happened to Caitlyn and she's in the hospital." I said, looking at Josh.
"I'll go pay, here you can start the car." He said, handing me the keys.
I took the keys and rushed out to the car, trying to keep myself calm. Unlocking the car, I got in and leaned over to start the engine. The car roared to life and I leaned back in my seat and pulled my seatbelt on. Hell, what if it was Alison that hurt Caitlyn? No, Alison wouldn't do anything to Caitlyn when her release trial is coming up. She wouldn't risk anything like that, would she? But she has never met Caitlyn and would have no way of knowing who she is to me… unless she still has people working for her and was going for Oliver. Oh god, what if the kids are hurt and Ezra didn't want to overwhelm me with telling me about the kids too? As I took a deep breath and stared out the window, I felt the tears brimming my eyes and couldn't hold them back. Josh ran out and hopped in before driving off. It didn't take very long for us to get to the hospital. Josh sped into the closest parking spot he could find and I jumped out of the car before running into the hospital.
"Ezra!" I called when I saw him in the waiting room with the kids.
"Just great, you're here … yay!" Josh said sarcastically and I spun around.
"Josh NOT NOW." I snapped.
"Ezra, what happened?" I asked, turning back around.
He quickly led me away from the kids and Josh. Leading me towards the coffee cart and vending machines, I felt my hatred for the hospital come back. So many bad things happened that caused me to be in hospitals; Scott crashing his car into the tree, Hanna getting hit by Mona's car, mine and Spencer's car crash, escaping Mona and the shed, Ezra being shot, Oliver's allergic reaction, Alison stressing me out, and now this. All the possibilities that could have happened raced through my mind; Caitlyn getting hit by a car, being attacked, Alison doing anything that could hurt Cait.
"I'm not even sure I really know what happened." Ezra told me.
"Just tell me what you think happened." I said
"We stayed at Emily and Maya's for a while after you left, then I brought her home as planned. The kids went outside to play for a while and I went to the bathroom. When I came back downstairs, she was on the ground crying and there was blood on her legs." Ezra said carefully and I realized what he was trying not to say.
"Oh my god." I said, covering my mouth.
"I've just been keeping an eye on the kids while trying to get information but none of the nurses will tell me anything." Ezra said
"Wait a minute, you haven't seen her since they took her? Where's Hardy, isn't he here?" I asked.
"Hardy had to close the bar before he could even leave." He explained.
"Thank you for calling me. I'm going to try to get a nurse to let me see her." I said.
Ezra nodded as I turned around and hurried over towards the nurse's station. They can't keep me from seeing Caitlyn, she's my sister – blood or not. And if Ezra is right…. she shouldn't be alone right now with only doctors and nurses. Oh god, she's alone and she shouldn't be!
"Caitlyn Woods, I'm her best friend. I know I'm not her family, but her boyfriend isn't here yet and other than her five year old daughter… I'm the only family she has." I said.
"The nurse will be out in a moment to bring you to her." The receptionist said and I turned to see Josh standing behind me.
"You should probably just head home, I'm going to be here awhile." I told him as a nurse came out.
"I'll take you to see Miss. Woods now" She said.
Following her through the door, my stomach twisted into knots. What am I supposed to say to Caitlyn? Ezra wasn't even one hundred percent sure if he was correct about her having a miscarriage. Walking into the room; I saw her just staring at the wall, almost as if she were in a whole other world. My heart broke when I realized there were tears in her eyes, she noticed me and gave a small forced smile.
"What are you two doing here?" Caitlyn asked, I turned around to see Josh had followed.
"Ezra called and I got here as fast as I could." I explained, walking over to her bed.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry for ruining your date." She said.
"It wasn't a date, we were just grabbing a late dinner. And besides, you're my sister and way more important." I told her and heard Josh's footsteps leaving.
"What happened?" I asked carefully.
"I got a text after Oliver's birthday party, it was my ex William saying he wanted to see Rosie and that I can't keep her away from him anymore. Then tonight with no warning - he showed up at the house the second Ezra was upstairs. One thing led to another….." She trailed off.
"I was pregnant, we learned a few days before the wedding. I lost the baby." Caitlyn cried.
Without saying another word, I carefully got into the bed with her. Wrapping my arm over her, I let out a few tears as she started sobbing into me. How could this have happened, was this happening all day or was it just all of a sudden? I have so many questions, but I can't even ask her. My best friend is in the goddamn hospital!
"The nurse said the baby wasn't growing properly, but I know it's because of my uterus." She whispered.
"I am so sorry." I said softly, unable to hold back my tears.
"When I went into labor with Rosie, I learned that my uterus is abnormally shaped. She ended up not being in the correct position… they had to do a c-section. Barely seventeen and being told I may not be able to have any more biological children unless through surrogacy. No one was with me, I was all alone. I couldn't understand what the doctor had been telling me until a nurse explained it to me. I knew having another baby was a risk, but all I wanted was to have at least one baby with Hardy and I can't be the one that carries them." She told me.
"My dad wasn't even there, he kicked me out of the house and his life." She continued.
Flashback – August 2010
Caitlyn's pov
William and I sat on the love seat, waiting for daddy to come home. I'm so nervous about telling daddy, a lot more than when I had told William. How could we have gotten so stupidly drunk? But we had gone to Jacqueline Lockwood's fourth of July party and then William and I kept having more and more wine coolers. God, I hadn't even wanted to go but William convinced me that the party would be fun. All of a sudden, I realized daddy was walking into the sitting room… this is the room my baby will end up opening their presents on holidays and where I'll be instead of getting out of this town.
"Daddy, there's something Will and I want to talk to you about." I said nervously.
"What's that Caitybug? Please tell me that you aren't breaking up, he comes from such a good family and he's the only guy who's ever going to take care of you." Daddy said, sitting down in his chair.
"Daddy…. I -I'm pregnant. William and I are having a baby, I plan on keeping the baby." I managed.
"When did this happen?" Daddy asked.
"At Jacqueline Lockwood's Fourth of July party." I said quietly.
"My parents know already, and they offered to let us stay with them for the first year of the baby's life. To help out and everything." William said looking at daddy, he hadn't told me that.
"I've already decided that if the baby's a girl, that her name will be Rosalie Anna after mama" I told them and William pulled a small ring box.
"Anyway. I got this right after you told me and it's only right I do this now, with your daddy as a witness. Caitlyn, will you marry me?" Will asked, opening the box to reveal some huge extravagant looking ring.
"Did you only ask me to marry you because of the baby?" I asked instead of answering him.
"You know Westdale will talk down on our family if you don't marry him, Caitybug." Daddy pointed out before Will could answer.
"So, is our family name more important than my happiness?" I asked.
"Come on darlin', you know we need to get married. Do you want our baby to grow up, known as the one born out of wedlock?" William asked
"Caitlyn, there are no other options. You and William are going to get married and you can either stay here with me to help you or you can stay in the Henderson's guesthouse like they offered." Daddy told me.
"I'll give you two a moment to talk. When I come back, I want to hear the wedding date and whether or not you're staying here. But it's best to pick a date early enough so you won't be showing, we can just tell people you got pregnant on your honeymoon." Daddy said
Looking down at my stomach, I saw that I don't have any bump yet. They want me to lie about when my baby was conceived? People will know the truth anyway, no sixteen year old gets married out of nowhere… especially down here in Westdale. People are gonna talk about us whether daddy likes it or not, because this town is chattier than a chatty Cathy doll. There's always someone talking about someone else's business or using their money to make their problems disappear. William took my hands in his again, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Darling, we need to get married. I'm not going to tarnish my family's name because you want to throw a hissy fit and be stubborn. We get married…. Or that baby isn't mine, and I will have nothing to do with either of you." He said and I took my hands back from him.
"If you think I'll marry you only to protect our family names, you're barking up the wrong tree. I want us to get married because we want to spend the rest of our lives together… not because we got pregnant and didn't want the shame. I love you Will, but I won't marry you just because of the baby. " I told him.
"That's not my child then." Will said before walking out of the house…. And my life.
Daddy came back in with a glass of bourbon and saw that Will was gone. I wiped the tears forming in my eyes with my finger, there is no way they actually expected me to get married just because of the baby! I want to marry someone because I know that I'll always want to be with them and they feel the same, not because they got me pregnant. Looking at my father, it was clear he knew I really wouldn't marry William and that he was disappointed in me. He sat down in his chair, watching me as I took a deep breath and waited for him to start berating me for choosing 'to ruin' our family name. God, I wish my mom were still here… maybe she'd be on my side here, I just know she would be. Being wealthy and being in a small town really sucks, I hate it here. Maybe I can get into some university out of Georgia, in some city like New York and just get away from it all.
"Daddy I'm sorry, but I refuse to get married just because of my baby." I said and he sighed.
"You have an hour to pack your stuff." He told me, rising out of his chair
"Daddy!" I cried as he walked off.
End of Flashback
"He gave me access to the trust fund my mama had set up for me right before I walked out the door. Haven't seen him since and all of a sudden he's here in Rosewood." Caitlyn said quietly.
"That's why you never really talked about your family or William… isn't it?" I asked gently and she nodded.
"Caitlyn!"
We looked up to see Hardy running in, I got out of bed just as careful as when I got in the bed. He didn't need to ask what happened, he knew by the look in her eyes.
"Thought you were at work?" Caitlyn asked.
"There's no reason why I should stay at work when I know my girlfriend is in the hospital." He said softly.
"I- I'm sorry." She cried.
"Shh, are you okay?" He asked her
"No." She cried.
"I'm right here, not going anywhere." He told her.
Without hesitation, he carefully got into the bed with her. She may not be leaving for a long while, and I'm sure Ezra won't mind if I crash on his couch again if we both watch Rosie.
"Let me know if you guys need anything, Ezra and I will watch Rosie." I told them.
"Love you." I said, kissing the top of Caitlyn's head.
"Love you too." She said quietly
'Thank you.' Hardy mouthed to me and I gave him a soft smile.
Walking back into the waiting room, I quickly wiped my eyes and took a deep breath before Ezra or the kids could see me. Really hope the kids don't notice that I had been crying. Ezra rubbed his wrist, crap! He drove with a sprained wrist that wasn't even fully healed yet! It could have gotten worse. Quickening my pace, I hurried over towards him and the kids.
"Go get your wrist checked out." I told him.
"Don't need to, it's fine." He said as if he wasn't just rubbing it.
"Will you just get it checked out?" I asked.
"I'm fine." He tried to reassure me.
"Well, I'm not. Can you just get it checked out… for me?" I pleaded.
"Okay." He said in defeat.
He gave me a soft smile before going to go talk to a nurse about his wrist. As I picked up a parenting magazine, I looked over to see Ezra already being taken back. Rosie and Oliver were playing with the emergency room toys that are set up for kids.
"Where did daddy go?" Oliver asked, noticing that it was only me.
"Daddy had to go get his wrist checked out." I explained.
"Why?" Rosie asked.
"Because his wrist needed to get checked out, make sure it's okay." I told them.
They went back to playing with the toys, seemingly satisfied with my answers. Going back to my magazine; Josh's response to seeing Ezra here tonight popped into my head. He knew that something happened to Caitlyn, yet he couldn't even hide his dislike towards Ezra for five seconds. I can't let this keep happening, the last thing any of the kids to see is Josh being rude to Ezra. It's bad enough they saw the start of the fight.
"Rosie sweetie, you're gonna stay with us tonight."
"Why?" She questioned.
"Because I miss seeing you all the time." I said.
"We go home with you?" Oliver asked.
"No, we're gonna stay at daddy's house." I responded
"Yay! Big sleep party!" Both of them cheered.
Even though it's not the real reason, it's true that I really do miss seeing her all the time. Moving out from Hardy and Cait's was sort of a hard adjustment for me; especially not seeing Rosie every morning. I've watched her grow up these past four years, I've helped with her potty training, and I helped take care of her last winter when she had the chickenpox.
"Everything was fine, I told you." Ezra said, walking up and snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Thank you. Oh, I told Hardy and Cait that we'd both watch Rosie." I told him.
"Is she okay? What happened?" He whispered.
"Not here…. and definitely not in front of the kids." I whispered back.
"Who's ready to get out of here?" Ezra asked the kids, getting both to raise their hands.
"Is mommy okay Ria?" Rosie asked worriedly.
"She will be." I said.
"Stay up late?" Oliver asked, giving us puppy dog eyes.
"Not tonight, but nice try lil man." Ezra said.
As we headed towards Ezra's car, I noticed a guy walking towards us and looking right at Rosie. Without a second thought, I took Rosie's hand and maneuvered her behind me. He glared at me and just as Ezra noticed, I stepped up in front of him when I realized it was William. What the hell, did he follow Ezra here?
"Ezra, take the kids to the car. I wanna have a few words with this guy." I said and Rosie squeezed my hand, frightened.
"Rosie, go with uncle Ezzy. I'll be right there." I told Rosie as she looked up at me.
She hesitantly let go of my hand before taking Ezra's other hand. Ezra wasn't quite so sure about leaving me alone with William since he has no idea who he is, but he ushered the kids back towards the car. I could see from the corner of my eye that Ezra was still watching me and William as he got the kids into his car.
"You stay the hell away from Caitlyn and her daughter." I told him
"What are you going to do about it?" He asked with a smirk.
"Try anything and you'll find out." I threatened him.
….
I pulled the car into the driveway, both Ezra and I looked through the rearview mirror at the kids playing with Oliver's toy dinosaurs. Even though we had told them countless times on the way home that they can't stay up late, half way here, Ezra and I had given in and said we can at least make cookies before bedtime.
"I know I am, but who's ready to make cookies?" Ezra asked.
"Me!" They both exclaimed excitedly.
"I don't think they want to make cookies." I joked, looking at Ezra.
"Yes we do mama!" Oliver told me.
"What kind of cookies do you wanna make?" I asked.
"Dunno." They said together.
"There's chocolate chip, sugar cookie, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, confetti, or oatmeal raisin." Ezra listed off the cookie flavors.
"Doodle!" Oliver and Rosie said laughing.
"Say again Ezzie." Rosie giggled.
"Snickerdoodle." Ezra said, doing a terrible Darth Vader impression and making the kids laugh again.
