Chapter 34
Aria's pov
Wiping my forehead with my arm, I looked around the living room to see that I wasn't even close to being halfway done packing either the living room or kitchen. Picking up my phone, I paused my music and headed up the stairs. The boys have been pretty quiet for a while, which means they're either actually packing or getting into mischief. Looking into their room, I saw the boys actually packing, I leaned against the doorframe and smiled as the realization of us actually being all together again hit me for the third time today.
"How's it going in here you two?" I asked, breaking my own thoughts.
"I'm not packing Bubba!" Oliver exclaimed.
"Ollie, no one is going to make you pack Bubba." I told him and he pointed at Malcolm.
"I didn't mean Bubba." Malcolm told him.
"Neither of you have eaten since breakfast this morning. Are either of you hungry for lunch or even a snack?" I asked and both of them shook their heads no.
"Alright, dad should be back pretty soon." I told them.
The boys didn't pay any more attention towards me as they continued packing. I'm surprised that Oliver's attention is still on packing and not messing around with his toys that he has to pack.. My stomach quietly grumbled and I quickly made my way downstairs. Walking into the kitchen, I started looking for either the white or the whole wheat grain bread and found one of the loaves. Reaching for the bread that had been tossed on the top of the refrigerator, I felt Ezra's arms wrap around me. He wasn't supposed to be back yet…. how come I hadn't heard him come in?
"Don't strain yourself Ar." He whispered.
"But I want a sandwich and I need bread for it." I told him and he gently led me towards the couch.
"Here, have a seat. Now what would you like on your sandwich?" He asked, sitting me down and walking back to the kitchen.
"Mustard, salami, ham, and bologna. Also, Swiss and provolone." I responded as he opened the fridge.
"Do you want some turkey on it?" He asked and I shook my head.
"The smell of the turkey has been making me sick." I told him.
"That explains why it's in the back of the refrigerator. Oh god, it's definitely old. Good thing you didn't want it." He said tossing it back into the refrigerator.
"Here you go love." He said, handing me the sandwich wrapped in a paper towel.
"Thank you." I told him.
"Anytime. Even though you could have made the sandwich yourself, I wanted to make it for you." He told me.
"Well, I am the one who is currently carrying the twins. And I'll also be the one who brings them into this world. So, you can make me food once in a while." I said giggling.
"How long are you gonna pull that card?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Until I give birth and my epidural wears off." I answered.
"So, you want an epidural?" He inquired, sitting down next to me.
"Ez, I pushed Oliver out of my body with no drugs whatsoever. That hurt like hell and I can't do that twice without medication for who knows how long. I'm saying this with love… I want a damn epidural." I explained.
"Noted, you want a damn epidural." He said, giving me a smile and I snuggled into him.
"What's all packed that we can bring to the house?" Ezra asked.
"Everything that is over there… I think that's it. There's some boxes upstairs too." I said, taking another bite of my sandwich.
"I'll bring those boxes to the house now. Then I'm gonna come back and bring you home." He murmured, brushing his lips against my forehead.
…..
I walked around the kitchen, making sure everything was finally packed up for the house. Malcolm had gone back to the house to help Ezra and Hardy with setting up some of the furniture and bringing boxes home. Caitlyn walked down the stairs with a couple of boxes and came over towards me. I tried to take them from her, but she shook her head at me.
"Think you should know there's a little boy, who decided he wanted to play and unpacked a bunch of his toys. I tried explaining that it's not time to play but he was not listening." She told me.
"Thanks, Cait." I said.
Walking up the stairs, I could hear Oliver playing happily. I got to the doorway and saw that the last two boxes were open and on their sides, spilling toys out. Currently focused on his trucks, Oliver didn't even notice I was right in front of him. God, of all the time he had to do this today, why now? He noticed me and smiled as he offered me his favorite green truck.
"Oliver, what are you doing?" I asked.
"Playing with my trucks." He said.
"You need to clean up your toys. Daddy is going to be back soon, and then we're going home." I told him.
"No, I wanna play!" He exclaimed.
"Okay, you can keep your trucks, but you need to put everything else back." I said.
"I need it all!" He said getting upset.
Sighing, I looked at all the toys that had poured out from the boxes and some thrown around the room. This isn't the first time he has done this, he did the same thing when we had started packing to come back from New York. Luckily for me, Rosie isn't here to help cause an even bigger mess. I sat down next to him as he pushed his trucks over the other toys.
"Oliver, we can't go home on time if all your toys are out." I told him.
"I. Want. To. Play!" He exclaimed.
"You can still play, just not with all your toys." I said.
He went back to his toys and opened another box, pushing it over and giggling as the toys spilled out. Sighing, I gave him the look that usually tells him that he's in trouble. Ignoring me, he pulled out his bigger trucks from the clutter of toys. Counting back from five in my head, I took a deep breath.
"Oliver, I'm getting angry." I told him.
Giggling again, he got up and grabbed a blanket from the top of another box. He walked over to me and wrapped it around my neck, tying it loosely. He took a few steps back, giving me the face that he uses when he's trying to get out of trouble and giggled once more.
"Now you super angry!" He said.
"Oliver Scott Fitz, I want your toys cleaned up!" I told him firmly, trying not to yell.
"I want to play Aria!" He yelled.
"You do not call me that, does Rosie call Caitlyn by her name?" I asked and he shook his head.
"But I want to play mama." He said, his voice breaking.
"Ollie, we can play when we get home, with daddy and I bet your brother would play too." I told him.
Watching Oliver ignore me and turn his attention back to his trucks, it finally hit me. Whenever we had to move the past four years and he'd act up like he is now, I always thought it was because of his schedule being interrupted. But it's him being afraid of the actual move, since each time we moved…. Ezra was never with us. With all the times we moved around, it would scare me too at his age.
"Ollie, talk to me baby. Is it because we're moving again?" I asked.
"We keep moving mama." He said quietly.
I held out my arms, and he quickly crawled onto my lap. Brushing some of his hair out of his face, I kissed the top of his head. Even though he hadn't mentioned Ezra, it's pretty clear that he's worried about us moving again… but without his father like we've done before. All the times we've moved between Rosewood and New York, Ezra was never with us.
"Yeah, we have moved a lot, haven't we? Oliver I can't promise that we'll never move again, but I can promise that daddy and brother will be with us." I told him.
"Pinky promise?" He asked.
"Double pinky promise." I said, hooking my pinkies with his.
"Clean up your toys." I told him.
"Can I keep my trucks out mama?" He asked hopefully.
"You can keep three LITTLE trucks out. Everything else goes back into the boxes." I responded and he scrambled off my lap.
"I'm sorry mama." He said.
"It's okay Ollie. Do you understand why I was upset?" I asked him, kneeling and taking his hands in mine.
"I didn't listen?" He answered.
"And you called me by my name." I told him.
"You called me Oliver Scott." He pointed out.
"Well, I'm your mama. Daddy and I can call you Oliver Scott, cause we're your parents and we named you. You're still little, you can't call us by our names." I explained.
"Am I getting time out?" He questioned.
"Not this time. But you might next time." I said.
He went to pick between his little trucks and I stood back up. Separating the boxes he opened from the ones that were still packed, I started pushing the packed boxes into the hallway. Should have seen this coming, but he hasn't been acting up until today. Stepping into my room, I saw that I had gotten everything out already. Just as I closed the closet door, I felt Ezra snake his arms around my waist. I giggled as he brushed his lips against my shoulder blade before turning me around. As our eyes met, I wrapped my arms around his neck and played with his hair a bit.
"Let's get you home." Ezra whispered before brushing his lips against mine.
"Eww!" Oliver complained, looking at us as he walked past the room.
….
Ezra's pov
Sitting back down next to Aria, I gently pulled her into my arms. She looked towards the boys as she snuggled into me and I glanced over to see that they were both fighting sleep while absorbed in the movie. Unlike Aria, who zoned out during Frozen which Oliver had insisted we watch first…. and we are now on the third movie. As she rested her head against my shoulder, I brushed my lips against the crook of her neck and she held back a giggle.
"We're watching the Lorax, but it seems like those two are done for the night." I whispered.
"They're definitely done for the night." She agreed.
"Bedtime lil man." I announced, scooping Oliver up.
"You too babes." Aria said, helping Malcolm.
"No bath." Oliver whined.
"Don't worry, you don't need a bath tonight." Aria told him.
Aria and Malcolm followed me as we walked up towards the boys' room. At least the boys are already in their pajamas and brushed their teeth a while ago when I was getting The Lorax into the DVD player. Laying Oliver down, it was clear that he was already out like a light and Malcolm jumped onto his bed. I held back a chuckle as Aria held out her hand towards Malcolm, it's definitely not the first time he snuck his DS into bed with him but is the first to try it in front of us like that.
"Nice try babes, you know no games when it's bedtime." Aria said as Oliver dropped Bubba.
"Worth a shot." He said handing it over.
"Can't I stay up a bit later? I'm older than Ollie by like… a lot, I should be allowed to stay up later." Malcolm tried as Aria turned on Oliver's Mickey Mouse nightlight.
"Bud, you were five seconds away from falling asleep in front of the tv. At least tonight, you cannot stay up later." I pointed out, tucking Bubba under Oliver's arm.
"We will talk about it tomorrow." Aria whispered to Malcolm.
"Night you two."
I took Aria's hand as we walked out of the boys' room. Quietly shutting the door, I turned around and pulled her closer to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck as I started planting soft kisses along her neck up towards her ear and led us towards our room. She slid her tongue into my mouth just as I pressed her up against the wall. Slowly pulling away, I cupped her face and rested my forehead against hers.
"Welcome home." I whispered and she giggled.
She took my hand, pulling me into our room and I shut our door. The second it closed, I carefully pulled her back towards me with her back to my chest and started kissing the crook of her neck, getting her to giggle. As I found my favorite spot, I slowly started unbuttoning her tank top, she turned around and pressed her lips to mine. I carefully guided her towards our bed and she started to undo my belt. Just as I tossed my belt aside, she quickly got out of my arms and walked over towards her vanity. Unsure of what she's doing, I followed her and gently rested my hands on her shoulders as she crossed her arms.
"What's the matter baby?" I asked, looking at her through her vanity mirror.
"You don't want to have sex with a blimp." She said.
"Listen to me Ar, you do not look like a blimp at all. You look absolutely beautiful." I told her and she rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I wanna put my lips all over you baby. That is never going to change. Not sure what made you think you're a blimp, but you are definitely not. Also, even in our hundreds, I'll still want to make love to you." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her.
"I'm starting to think you're just a horny old man." She said and I could hear a smile in her voice despite her not smiling.
"Hey, I'm only six years older than you." I reminded her and she arched an eyebrow at me.
"So, you're calling me old now?" She questioned.
"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" I asked her, turning her to face me.
"You're just trying to get yourself out of the hole." She said.
"The hole that you dug and pushed me in, if I may point out." I said.
"Promise I'm not a blimp?" She asked and I brushed my lips against hers.
"Ravishing. Irresistible. Alluring. Stunning. Exquisite. Sexy. drop-dead gorgeous. And God, you're crazy beautiful. But. Not. A. Blimp." I murmured between kisses.
"Hate these damn mood swings." She giggled as I kissed the ticklish spot on her neck.
"I know but they'll be over before you know it. Now, why don't you come join me in the shower?" I whispered into her ear.
"Definitely." She smirked as I took her hand in mine, leading her towards the bathroom.
…..
The next morning
Aria's pov
Looking through the cabinet, I couldn't decide which coffee flavor I wanted. Ezra had left me a note that said he went to drop the boys off at the park before getting us some breakfast. Mostly everything is unpacked, there's only my clothes left and I decided to take a much needed break from it since it's halfway done.
"If I have coffee, are both of you going to let me enjoy it and not make me puke it back up?" I asked, looking at my bump.
"Guess I'll have to have some and find out." I said.
He lifted his head at me with what I'm assuming is a confused look as Thinking out Loud by Ed Sheeran began playing in my earbuds. Lately, Fish pretty much hasn't left my side and is always somewhere near me. Pretty sure he somehow knows about the twins because he's been quite protective of me… even if it's just Ezra giving me a kiss. Normally it's the boys not me or even Ezra. Although, there are times where he sneaks in the boys room at night, instead of sleeping at our door or in his own bed. Pretty sure it's Oliver that goes to get him.
"Fish, vanilla and hazelnut or caramel?" I asked, receiving two barks.
"Vanilla and hazelnut, good choice boy. Here is a treat." I said, tossing one of his beef flavored treats towards him.
"Mommy needs this coffee, please let her enjoy this." I begged the twins, looking at my bump.
Looking through the coffee mugs, I grabbed the one that had a typewriter on it and put the coffee into the filter and pressed for it to start. As the coffee brewed, I grabbed the coffee creamer out of the fridge and got a spoon. My stomach grumbled as I watched the coffee pour into the cup and poured a bit of creamer in. Stirring my coffee, I giggled as I felt Ezra slip his arms around me. God, I wish we could just stay like this forever but sooner or later one of us would have to move. He placed the to-go bag of our breakfast on the counter.
"Well, this saved me a trip upstairs." Ezra murmured, kissing the top of my head.
"Felt like testing the twins." I giggled as he rested his chin on my shoulder.
"How long have you been up?" He asked.
"Surprisingly, not even ten minutes. But I somehow managed to get halfway through with putting my clothes away." I told him.
"And I see you're still sneaking up on me." I added, giggling.
He chuckled before grazing his lips against my shoulder blade. Without saying a word, he took my hand in his and twirled me into his arms. I slipped an earbud into his ear as he pulled me closer to him and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We didn't need to say anything as he swayed us back and forth. As the song ended, he twirled me in another circle and gently cupped my face with one hand as I faced him again. As much as I want to stay in his arms like this, pretty sure he is just as hungry as I am.
"I want every single dance with you... forever." Ezra whispered.
"Perfect." I said softly before pressing my lips to his.
