Chapter 36 - A week later

Ezra snaked his arm around me as I snuggled into him. After the boys went to bed, we decided to take advantage of the silence and read in the office. We had turned on some sitcom and mute it, for whatever reason we had at the time. Turning the page of my copy of Wuthering Heights, I giggled as Ezra gently trailed his fingers along my stomach.

"Pretty soon these two will be kicking." Ezra said softly and I felt the tears start to well up.

"Wish it would hurry up." I muttered and he kissed the side of my head.

"Then they'll be kicking you all day while jumping on your bladder." He reminded me.

It feels like this pregnancy is going on forever! Dr. Hall says that twins are growing perfectly fine and they're also perfectly healthy for what I've been through so far during this pregnancy. All of a sudden, I couldn't fight the tears and bursted out crying. At least the boys are asleep since my mood swings have been scaring them a bit lately.

"What's the matter baby? I'm sorry, was it what I said?" He asked, rubbing my back.

"This pregnancy already feels like it's been forever, and I still have four or five damn months to go." I cried into him.

"Shhh, you're okay. It'll go by quicker than you think Ar. Hmm, I told you lately how adorable you are?" He whispered, and I sat back up next to him.

"Shut up." I muttered.

Crossing my arms, I rearranged myself so that my back was now facing him and felt him kiss the back of my head. How could he say that my emotions are cute to him? As I turned my attention to the television, I felt more tears welling up as I realized that Ezra didn't deserve it when I told him to shut up.

"I'm sorry." I cried

"Shh, it's okay baby. You can tell me to shut up as much as you want." He told me softly, pulling me into his arms.

"No it's not okay." I sobbed.

He softly rubbed my back and made soothing noises, trying to calm me down. All of a sudden, he was tickling me and I couldn't hold back my laughter. I tried grabbing his hands but he was too fast for me. As I finally caught his hands, he intertwined our fingers together and brushed his lips against my forehead.

"Come here you." He said, gently pulling me back into his arms.

"I love you." I whispered as he wiped the last of my tears away.

"And I love you." He said softly.

"Even when I'm crazy?" I asked.

"You're not crazy love, your hormones are just over the place." He said and gently pressed his lips to mine.

"Are you up for a fire?" He whispered as we pulled apart.

"Mhmm. Do we have any more pickles?" I asked and he nodded.

"Grabbed a few jars earlier on my way home from work, also grabbed more peanut butter. Wasn't sure what kind of pickles or peanut butter you would want, so I got a few different kinds." He told me.

"Perfect." I said, slipping my arms around his neck.

"Why don't you go wait outside and I'll go grab your pickles and peanut before starting the fire." He suggested.

"I can get my pickles, not sure which kind I want yet. Pretty sure neither of us want to see me cry over pickles." I pointed out.

He softly chuckled before brushing his lips against my forehead. I dropped my arms from his neck as he slipped his hand in mine, leading me out of the office. As we walked into the kitchen, he let go of my hand and went to go start the fire. I opened the fridge and stared at the pickles, there were like four or five jars in here already, and there's more in one of the cabinets. Looking back at the dill spheres, I grabbed that before getting my hidden jar of peanut butter out . All day I've pretty much been eating anything and everything with it.

"That was quicker then I thought it would take you." Ezra teased as I walked out.

"Oh hush." I said as he gently. pulled me down on the love seat next to him.

"Definitely a good thing I got quite a few jars of peanut butter too." He gently teased as I dipped my pickle.

"Yeah, otherwise either me or one of our kids would be crying because he can't have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch." I pointed out.

I took a bite of my pickle and dipped it back into the peanut butter. Offering him a bite, I held the pickle to him and he shook his head. He rested his finger under my chin, lifting my head to look at him. I chewed my bite of pickle as he stared into my eyes, giving me a soft smile. All of a sudden, he brushed his lips against my forehead. I cupped his face and he took my hand off his cheek before pressing his lips to my palm. As he slowly pulled away, he gently pulled me into his arms and I rested my head against his shoulder.

"Still think you're adorable." He whispered.

"By any chance, do you have any idea what Libra is?" He asked.

"It's a zodiac sign babe. You're a Virgo." I told him.

"I'm a what?" He asked confused.

"Virgo, your zodiac sign." I repeated.

"Definitely not what you heard." I said.

"Sloan was saying how they're Pisces and their little sister is Leo. So, are Pisces also signs?" Ezra questioned.

"Yes and so are Leo's." I told him

"So a Leo isn't what Leo DiCaprio fans call themselves?" He inquired and I giggled.

"Babe, it's a good thing you're cute." I teased and he kissed my forehead.

"If these two behave, they'll be Capricorns. Malcolm's sign is an Aries, while Ollie's a Gemini but I think he was supposed to be a Cancer like me." I explained.

"Think I'm good, not understanding any of it." He chuckled

"Well, I do have multiple books that talk and explain zodiac signs if you want to read them." I told him.

Neither of us said anything as we stared at the fire. I giggled as Ezra slowly caressed my lower back and brushed his lips to the top of my head. Looking up at him, I pressed my lips to his. I carefully set down my snack before wrapping my arms around his neck and he slowly ran his fingers through my hair. As we slowly pulled apart, my stomach grumbled.

"I just gave you five pickles already." I said, looking at my stomach.

"Come here you." Ezra said, gently pulling me into his arms.

"Tell them to stop making me eat the pickles." I said, getting my pickles.

"I've tried telling them to be nice to you but they don't always listen." He told me.

"What time is it? I asked as we both yawnedZ

"Eleven forty. Wow, it's later than I thought." He said, looking at his watch.

"That explains how I actually ate half the jar of pickles." I responded.

"I'll meet you inside after I put out the fire." He said

Before he could get up,I gently cupped his face and pressed my lips to his and he slipped his arms around my waist. As we slowly pulled apart, he brushed his lips against my forehead. Grabbing the jar of peanut butter and the pickles, I made my way inside. Fish lifted his head, as I walked by, but quickly went back to sleep once he saw it was just me. Placing the pickles into the fridge, I opened the cabinet that we keep some of the snacks and placed my peanut butter in there.

"Mama!" I turned to see Oliver crawling towards me, dragging his safety blanket along.

"Don't crawl on the floor, it's dirty. Ollie honey, what are you doing awake?" I asked as he lifted his arms.

"Uppy!" He cooed.

"Okay, now what are you doing awake?" I questioned as I picked him up.

"Baba." He responded.

"Ollie honey, I don't know what that means." I told him.

"Baba!" He repeated, getting upset.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, he shook his head

"Thirsty?" I tried and he nodded.

"You can have a little bit of water. But Ollie, I'm not playing these guessing games with you." I said, getting him a small cup of water.

"You did when I was a baby." He finally spoke.

"Exactly, you were a baby. You couldn't talk yet, like you can now. Since you have your water, let's get you back to bed." I told him.

He pouted as I scooped him up and brought him upstairs. Maybe tomorrow he'll tell us why he's been talking like a baby. Hopefully it's just a phase that will pass quickly. Turning on the hall light, I made my way towards Oliver's bed. He was still pouting as I laid him down and pulled his blanket over him, he kicked the blanket off.

"No go." He said, grabbing my hand.

"I'll stay until you fall asleep." I promised.

"Ollie stay with mama." He tried.

"Shh, don't wake your brother up. Ollie baby, you need to go to sleep. Mama will stay until you fall….." I trailed off, seeing that he was already fast asleep.

"Goodnight Ollie." I whispered, kissing his temple.

Making sure his cup wasn't near the ledge on his nightstand, I pulled his blanket back over him and placed both Henry and Bubba next to him. Looking to make sure his night light was on, I quickly turned it on when I saw that we had forgotten to turn it on earlier. I carefully stood up and walked out of the room, bumping into Ezra. He chuckled as he carefully closed the boy's door. Either I've been with Oliver longer than I thought or Ezra's really fast with putting out small fires.

"Decided to see if you were in bed already since you weren't downstairs." He said.

"Oliver woke up and decided to keep talking like a baby. He just wanted water, but I just put him back to bed." I explained.

Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, Ezra brought me into our room. The second we had the door closed, I could feel sleep finally hitting me. Pulling my shirt off over my head, I quickly tossed it into my hamper before grabbing one of Ezra's old band shirts and pulling it on. As Ezra got into bed, I pulled my shorts off and climbed into bed after him.

"How are your shirts comfier than mine?" I asked.

"No clue, but I'm definitely glad they are." He smirked.

"I bet you are." I teased.

Without saying anything, I snuggled up to him and he slowly caressed my back. He brushed his lips against my forehead, taking my hand in his and laced our fingers together. After what felt like a long day, especially with my mood swings a little while ago, this is what I needed. Looking up at him, I realized he had been staring at me softly.

"What?" I giggled.

"I love you." He whispered, brushing some hair away from my forehead.

"Love you more." I told him.

"What did you do today?" He asked.

"Besides making sure the boys didn't kill each other? I took a nap, and got some writing done. How was work?" I answered.

"Boring, I had to do the paperwork today. Luckily Ryan and Sloan are doing really well and don't even Sabrina's help that much." He told me.

"Let's go somewhere for a weekend, just me and you." He said, and I could tell he was serious.

"Yeah? Where would we go?" I asked, liking the idea of just us going somewhere.

"Anywhere, just take the highway and drive somewhere. We could go to the cabin, or even just to the city. Wherever you wanna go baby, we'll go." He said.

"What about the boys?" I inquired.

"We could find someone to watch them, or we can let Malcolm watch Oliver and just have someone check on them from time to time." He said.

"Tell you what, you pick out an actual place… and I'm all yours." I whispered, brushing my lips against his.

"You still have to tell me what you want for your birthday tomorrow baby." He whispered as I rolled over.

"What have I said any other time you asked? Just want you and the boys." I said softly.

He snuggled up behind me, kissing the tip of my shoulder as I took his hand in mine and pulled his arm over me. Our fingers automatically intertwined together and I closed my eyes.

"Okay you two, please be nice to mommy tomorrow." I heard as I fell asleep.

The next day

Caitlyn and I walked into the house to see Ezra and Hardy on the couch, waiting for us. The girls insisted on taking me out for lunch for my birthday, even though I had wanted to stay home with Ezra and the boys and do absolutely nothing. Of course, I had been late to lunch…. which only Maya and Caitlyn somehow knew it was because Ezra and I ended up back in bed. Despite the fact that I had told the girls numerous times that I didn't want anything for my birthday, they all got me something.

"This isn't suspicious at all." Caitlyn said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Ezra already told me no confetti poppers." Hardy joked.

"Even if he told you no confetti, I wouldn't trust you to listen." I teased as Ezra took my hand in his.

"I wouldn't either babe." Caitlyn told him and I sat down.

Ezra draped an arm around me as I snuggled into him. Frankie's cat started playing with one of her mouse toys, chasing it around the living room. None of us could come up with a name for her like Frankie asked. Any name that someone comes up with. It didn't seem to fit her at all, which was Frankie's issue with naming her. We all watched her as she stopped playing and went over by Fish, laying down next to him. The only thing we've been calling her is no name and even though she's not my cat, it hurts me to even call her that.

"Any names for no name yet?" Hardy asked and we shook our heads.

"I should probably tell you now that no name isn't Frankie's cat babe." Ezra said and I stared at him.

"Yes, she is. He asked if you could watch the cat and he dropped her off." I reminded him.

"He never actually asked me to watch the cat, he just dropped her off." He told me

"That makes zero sense. If she isn't Frankie's…. then who's freaking cat are we watching? And why did he drop off some random cat?" I asked, confused.

"Simple answer Ar, she's your cat." He told me and I stared at him.

"Think of what you wanted Mike to be when he was born." Ezra tried.

"Less annoying or nonexistent?" I answered and Hardy bursted out laughing.

"Aria baby, think about it carefully. Why would I tell you we're watching Frankie's cat and all of a sudden say that the cat is yours?" Ezra asked.

What is happening? She isn't my cat, I don't even have a cat. The last cat I had was Polo in Iceland, and technically Polo was a street cat and not my pet. This isn't my cat, this is Frankie's cat! Ezra even said that Frankie asked if we could watch his cat while he went to his sister's wedding. Now all of a sudden she's my cat?

"Are you trying to confuse me?" I asked.

"No baby, I'm not trying to confuse you. This is your cat. Frankie was watching the cat for us, not the other way around. No name belongs to you." He said as I felt the tears well up.

"You're not just trying to confuse me?" I asked and he shook his head and wiped my tears.

"Promise, I'm not trying to confuse you. She is one hundred percent your cat." He whispered before brushing his lips to mine.

"That's our cue to leave." Caitlyn announced, pulling Hardy up.

"But we should really come up with a name, she needs a name otherwise I might cry because she has no name." I told Ezra the second the front door closed.

"Could call her cat, like in Breakfast at Tiffany's." Ezra mentioned, as a name came to my mind.

"That seems just as bad as no name, but now I think Tiger is her name." I said.

"Tiger definitely fits her. Also, there is another present but that's for after dinner tonight." He told me.

"Do I get to know?" I asked.

"No, not yet. But you do get to know that we're staying in the city overnight and Hanna is coming over to help you pack." He told me.

"Bet I can get you to tell me." I told him.

Before he could respond, I pressed my lips to his and cupped his face. He gently pulled me onto his lap and I got into a straddling position, snaking my arms around his neck. As he slipped his tongue into my mouth, I quickly pulled his T-shirt off. He quickly tossed it aside before pulling me closer and pressing his lips against my neck. Cupping his face, I started kissing along his jawline and he gently brought my face back to his before kissing me again.

"Seducing me isn't going to work baby." He managed against my lips.

"It's. Working. For. A. Different. Reason." I murmured between kisses.

"How about we take this upstairs?" Ezra suggested, reluctantly pulling away.

"Lead the way." I whispered.

….

I watched as Ezra pulled the car out of my parent's driveway. Seems like everyone knows what Ezra has planned for us tonight, which is probably why Hanna insisted on taking me to get our nails done yesterday. No one has given any hints during my birthday dinner, not even Toby and Oliver and sometimes they're the easiest to crack.

"Can I know now?" I asked and he chuckled.

"Not yet, but you do get the gummy bears that are in the glove box." He told me.

"For all I know, you could just be bringing me into the city to kill me." I pointed out and he raised an eyebrow.

"Aria, even in some whacked up universe where that does happen…. why would I choose a city where there are probably about a million people?" He asked.

"Also, how would I been able to look your parents in the eyes to ask them to watch the boys just so I could murder you?" He added.

"I don't know, maybe you're physco. You know I can come up with whacked out ideas." I reminded him and he chuckled.

"I love all your whacked out ideas…. except for the one where I murder you." He said, kissing my hand again.

"Can I persuade you?" I asked, running my hand up and down his thigh.

He glanced over at me before taking my hand in his, bringing it to his lips once more. The way he looked at me was loud and clear - I wouldn't be able to seduce him into telling me. But I could tell that he was trying to hold back a chuckle at the fact I'm seducing him for the third time today. Of course, each time I seduced him, we ended up in bed and we don't have a bed to end up in this time. Plus, this striped strapless dress by Nicholas that Hanna gave me is too new for it to get thrown on the car floor.

"I'm not telling you yet love. But I promise I'll give you another hint when we're halfway." He promised.

"Now you're just turning me on by not telling me." I told him and he chuckled.

"Yet, you just tried a second time to get me to tell you where we're headed by seducing me. He pointed out as we stopped at a stoplight.

"There are two things you can know: not planning on murdering you at all. You also cannot seduce me into telling you Aripop." He murmured, brushing his lips against mine.

Ezra wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked through a park towards the hotel we're staying at. Despite it being mid summer, the park still had magnolia trees and some of the flowers were starting to fall from the branches. I can't believe he got us tickets to a play version of 'It happened one night' and managed to keep it a secret…. even with Hanna in on it. Now that I think about it, tonight must have been why Hanna picked out this dress and the black scout cage studded espadrilles that Caitlyn gave me, along with the star linked choker I got from Alex. Taking Ezra's free hand in mine, I stopped walking and gently pressed my lips to his when he turned to see why I stopped walking. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Thank you for tonight Ez." I managed against his lips

"Anytime baby. I was not about to actually get you nothing for your birthday." He murmured as we slowly pulled apart.

"It was definitely as good as the movie, but the movie is more iconic." I said.

"Agreed. Nothing could beat the actual movie." He responded.

"You sure you don't want your jacket back? What if you get cold?" I asked as he took my hand back.

"It's the middle of summer and I have sleeves, pretty sure I'll be fine Aripop. Besides…. it looks better on you." He reassured me with a small smile.

He started leading me towards the hotel again, his thumb kept caressing my hand. I watched him as he used his free hand to keep rubbing the back of his neck, he must not realize I'm watching him. Lifting his hand, I pressed my lips to his hand and he chuckled before stopping and pulling me back into his arms. His lips were on softly mine, almost like they weren't. Resting my hands against his chest, I felt his heart beating a bit faster than usual. He is definitely nervous about something…. but what could it be?

"This might contradict our agreement to take things slow…" He said, trailing off and he got down on one knee.

"Aria Marie Montgomery Cavanaugh Fitz, will you marry me again?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yes, but you can never use that full name again." I told him, giggling.

"Yeah… that is a mouthful for a name." He joked.

He quickly took my ring out of the box and slid it back onto my finger. I cupped his face as he looked at me and pressed my lips against his. This has definitely been my favorite birthday out of all of them, including my sixth birthday when Ella and Scott took me, Spencer, Emily, and Toby to Hersheypark - this birthday definitely beats that one too. But tonight does come second as best present with the coffee mug that has a collage of the boys that Chloe gave me.