Chapter 29 - Next morning

Aria's pov

Feeling the warmth of the morning sun on my face, I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was in Ezra's room and remembered that I had stayed the night with him. We've had so many nights like last night, but it was different and amazing and even felt new somehow. Glancing around, I saw my clothes and wedged ankle booties in the messy pile I left them in over by the bathroom. I felt Ezra carefully drape his arm over me and I rolled over, snuggling into him. He pressed his lips to my forehead as I realized I was in his Phillies hoodie. Of course, he's the only guy I would ever wear Phillies clothing for.

"Good morning sunshine." Ezra said softly

"Hi." I whispered.

"God, I've missed waking up to you." He murmured, slowly caressing my cheek with his thumb.

Giggling, I pressed my lips to his and cupped his face. He gently pulled me closer to him, slowly trailing his hand up and down my back. All of a sudden, I felt the nausea hit and quickly pulled away before running into the bathroom. Ezra rushed in after me and sat down next me, holding my hair back.

"Ugh, it never ends." I groaned as he slowly rubbed my back

God, morning sickness hasn't been hitting me lately. Thought maybe it was all over, but I guess not. Ezra kept his hand on my back and pressed his lips to my shoulder blade. Just as I choked out the last of it, Ezra flushed the toilet for me and scooped me into his arms.

"How bad is the nausea?" He asked as he laid us back into bed.

"Sucks like hell." I told him, snuggling into him.

"Do you want ginger ale or peppermint tea?" He asked softly.

"Tea." I responded, not wanting him to get up.

"I'll go make you some tea while you pick something out for us to watch." He said.

He handed me the remote and pressed his lips to my forehead again before getting up and headed downstairs. Turning the tv on, I sat up and leaned against the headboard before turning Netflix on. Scrolling through all the movies and shows, I saw Friends, which we both love. I turned it on just as the nausea hit me again and I jumped out of the bed and skidded into the bathroom, making it just in time.

"Ugh, can you two be nice to mommy today?" I managed, leaning against the wall.

"Guess not." I managed, as I felt the vomit started coming back.

All of a sudden, I felt Ezra rubbing my back again. He gently moved my hair back a bit with one hand. I could feel his lips on my shoulder blade again, he kissed the back of my neck as I finally got the last of it out. Flushing the toilet for me again, he scooped me up back into his arms.

"Come on you." Ezra murmured, carrying me back.

He laid me on the bed and brushed his lips against my forehead, trailing them down to my nose. I caressed his face as he stared into my eyes and gently traced my cheekbone with his thumb. He pressed his lips to my forehead again before kissing my stomach.

"You two need to behave for mommy today." He told the twins.

"Oh yeah, because they'll totally listen." I said sarcastically, he chuckled as he got up.

"And here you go, I read that scrambled eggs and toast can help with nausea." Ezra said, turning around and brought a tray of food over to the bed.

"Ez, you did not need to make me breakfast." I said as he sat down next to me.

"I wanted to. After all, you did stay over last night and you need nutrients." He pointed out and I raised an eyebrow at him

"Oh, so this is a one night stand breakfast… Just without the sex." I joked.

"And without it being for just one night." He whispered, brushing his lips against my forehead.

"Besides, I was not about to make love to you in a bar bathroom that had who knows how many germs." He told me.

"Yet, you made love to me on a pool table in another bar." I pointed out giggling.

"That is different, a pool table is a bit cleaner than a bar bathroom." He told me.

I giggled as he carefully pulled me closer to him and kissed my forehead again. Despite missing some of the pilot of Friends, I don't mind since I'm with Ezra. I cannot believe he actually made me breakfast just to help my morning sickness.

"Eat, it'll help with your nausea." He whispered, kissing my nose.

….

The girls and I are sitting on the couch at The Brew, waiting for Peter's call about whether or not the Judge decided to permanently release Alison. Waiting for the phone call is worse than having to be in the courtroom to testify. It scares the hell out of me, knowing there's a chance that she could still get out after my outburst in the courtroom. As much as I really want to go to Ezra for comfort, I don't want to risk the girls finding out yet… especially before we tell the boys.

"God, I feel like we've been staring at your phone forever." Hanna groaned.

"A watched pot never boils." I responded.

"What?" She asked.

"Time moves more slowly when we're waiting for something to happen." Emily explained, rocking Aaliyah in her arms.

"Still nothing?" Ezra asked, coming by with some coffee refills.

"Not even a cricket chirp." I responded.

"Let me know if any of you need anything." He said, giving me the old look he'd give back in junior year.

Emily and Maya went back to caring for Aaliyah and Hanna started flipping through a magazine. God, the only thing I want to do is to be over by Ezra but it's not like he'd be able to distract me forever. My phone began to ring, scaring all of us.

"Answer it!" Hanna said as I reached for my phone.

"I'm not doing arm stretches here Han." I said.

Picking up the phone, I took a deep breath and answered it before I lost my nerve. Peter must have known I was at the other end, since he started telling me everything the judge had said to both him and Alison's lawyers. God, why must I be the one who had to take this call? Be the one who has to hear it first?

"Okay, thank you Mr. Hastings." I managed before hanging up.

"Unless they see real changes in her… Ali is staying right in Welby." I told the girls, smiling.

….

I knocked on Hardy and Caitlyn's front door. She wanted me to come over so we could have some girl talk and the kids could play for a bit before I bring the boys to Ezra's. Well, more like Oliver and Rosie play while Hardy and Malcolm play a video game or something. Hardy opened the door and let us inside, the boys walking right over to Rosie and her tea party table that had been brought out. I really haven't seen her since the other night when Hardy proposed.

"Where's Cait?" I asked.

"Sleeping, she felt bad but she had a huge headache all day." Hardy said.

"Poor thing, let me know if I can do anything." I said.

"You hungry? It is leftover night, but there's plenty of options." He offered.

"Thanks, but I gotta get the boys over to Ezra's soon. And we both know I'd never leave if you feed me." I joked.

He chuckled as he pulled out a container of leftover spaghetti and I knew it would be for Rosie. That girl would eat spaghetti everyday if she could. Of course the way Hardy makes it, she also gets vegetables without her even knowing since it's all in the sauce.

"How is she? Actually, how are both of you?" I asked as he dumped the spaghetti into a pot to reheat it.

"We're both taking it one day at a time. I'm more worried about her, she seems to be doing better but sometimes… it's like she takes one step forward then five steps back. I feel like I can't help her at times." He said, I took his hand in mine.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do. Whenever, whatever it is, I want to be able to help." I told him and he nodded.

"So, I was going to wait until Caitlyn came down here to tell you. But I bought half of the Flyout yesterday." He said, giving me the same look he had years ago.

"Really? You bought half a bar?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't bring yesterday up.

"Yeah, I did. Frank was going to look for someone to buy half of the place to help him keep it running. I joked with Cait about it, then I really started thinking it through with her after she said I should do it." Hardy explained.

"Wanna hear something crazy?" He asked before I could respond and I nodded.

"Saw someone that looks exactly like you yesterday." He said, clearly trying to get me to tell him.

"That's so bizarre, I wonder if I have a twin that I don't know about. Twins do keep popping up in my life." I said, holding onto my poker face.

"Maybe. But when you're done dropping the boys off, come on back over. Whether you eat it here or not, there is still a piece of my infamous meatloaf with your name on it." He said.

….

Walking across the street, the boys raced each other to the porch. They had wanted to race across the street, so I told them they could since there's an adult. Suddenly, Malcolm pretended to trip over the curb as Oliver jumped up and ran towards the porch. I shared a look with Malcolm.

"You did not have to do that." I whispered as Malcolm walked with me.

"If I didn't, I would always win." He told me quietly.

"I win!" Oliver exclaimed happily.

"You just got lucky Ollie." Malcolm said.

Ezra opened the door before Malcolm and I even got up on the porch, letting the boys in and I followed suit. The boys ran up the stairs to put their stuff away, which also means start playing with whatever they have in their room. Making sure the boys wouldn't be coming down at any moment, Ezra took my hand in his and quickly pulled me into the kitchen. His lips were on mine in seconds and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"How was the rest of your day?" He asked, brushing his lips on the top of my head and I dropped my arms.

"Tiring." I mumbled.

"Did Peter call?" He asked carefully and I nodded.

"He did, Alison's not getting released." I told

"That's a relief, but what are you feeling?" He asked.

"Obviously relieved, but also scared that… us back together and Ali not getting released is just some dream." I told him.

Giving me a soft smile, he took my hand and once again pulled me back into his arms. He caressed my cheek with his thumb and gently brushed his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he ran a hand through my hair and reluctantly pulled away slowly.

"Definitely not a dream." He murmured.

"I needed that. But Hardy does know about us though." I whispered.

"Are you one hundred percent sure?" He asked.

"Remember the look he gave us when we got back together senior year?" I asked and he nodded.

"He gave me that look. And he told me he saw someone who looks like me." I explained.

"You and your doppelgänger have one thing in common; both of you like making out with random people in bars." He joked I playfully smacked him.

"I have only made out with one random person… turned out pretty amazing." I told him and pressed my lips to his.

"You sure you can't stay the night? We could just tell the boys that you're too tired to drive back to the loft." Ezra whispered.

"I am very tempted to say yes, but we can't take the chance of the boys finding out yet. There's also the fact that Hardy is across the street and already knows."I pointed out.

"The one crappy thing about being across the street from our friends." Ezra said and I raised an eyebrow.

"You're the one who had to tell him their house had been put up for rent." I reminded him.

"I didn't think he'd actually go for it." He told me.

Neither of us said anything as he gently pressed me up against the island and I pulled his face closer to mine. It's like we couldn't keep our hands off each other, not that I'm complaining about it. Just as he found his favorite spot on my neck, one of the boys came running down the stairs. Ezra and I quickly jumped apart and I grabbed the first piece of food that was in my eyesight. Ezra opened the fridge, pretending to look for something as I started nibbling on a graham cracker. Malcolm appeared in the kitchen and didn't seem suspicious of me still being here.

"Tyler, Brian, and Luke want me to go to the park to play basketball, can I go?" Malcolm asked with pleading eyes.

"Yeah go ahead, just be back for dinner and take your phone." Ezra said, mostly to himself since Malcolm ran outside the second he said yes.

"Pretty sure he's gonna be an athlete." I said the second the door closed.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Ezra responded

"Because I said so Bubba!" We heard Oliver yell.

"That's been happening… a lot. Good luck." I told him with a smile.

Turning around, I grabbed my purse off the counter and felt Ezra take my hand in his. He quickly turned me back around to face him and as soon as my eyes met his, he gently cupped my face and pressed his lips to mine. I carefully dropped my purse and wrapped my arms around his neck. All of a sudden, I was pressed up against the fridge with Ezra pressed up against me…. well, as much as he could be.

"And. We. Aren't. A. Dream." Ezra murmured between kisses.

"Keep kissing me like that and we'll end up on the floor." I whispered as we finally pulled away.

Winking, I picked up my purse and walked out of the kitchen behind me. Ezra was chuckling softly as he followed me to the door. Hopefully Oliver won't have any tantrums this week about wanting to stay with me.

"Bye Ollie, be good." I called.

"Okay mama!" He called back.

"Keep an eye on him, his arguments with Bubba have gotten bad a few times…. He threw Bubba the other day." I told Ezra quietly.

"I'll keep an eye on them." He promised me.

AN -I'm so sorry I haven't been updating. I've been trying to finish some more chapters but I have lost my concentration for it. I have a couple of more chapters that are done but I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again. I hope you guys can understand, and I'll try my best to get these chapters done.