Chapter 37
I sat with Hanna at the island in her mom's kitchen as she showed me some of her designs. Ezra took Oliver and Malcolm to the park with Hardy since Aiden won't be here until later when Travis drops him off. Hanna flipped the page with two different dress ideas for the same design;one was a light grey spaghetti strap with a flowy ruffle neckline with big blue roses print going halfway down the dress. The other was a lace up corset bodice with the roses also going down the dress halfway.
"Han, these are gorgeous." I said as the front door opened.
"Aiden, go play outside so I can talk to your mommy." We heard Travis say.
"Mommy!" Aiden exclaimed, running into the kitchen.
"Hi honey, did you have fun with daddy?" Hanna asked as Travis walked in.
"Aiden, go outside now please." Travis said before Aiden could answer.
Aiden walked towards me, holding his little hand out for me. I took his hand in mine, standing up and walking him outside, god I miss when Ollie was this little. He tried opening the screen door of the sunroom, struggling since the door was locked. I unlocked the door and let him outside. He giggled before running towards the swing set that Ezra and Toby set up for him, making sure he was settled outside before walking back inside.
"I don't want that scumbag Mike around my son." Travis shouted.
"Do not insult my boyfriend like that and do I have to remind you that he is Aria's brother." Hanna told him.
"Is he always around Aiden?" Travis asked.
"Not twenty four seven. but he is around a lot." Hanna said.
"He was, I don't want him around my son anymore!" He snapped
"Our son, and I need one hell of a good reason to push him out of the picture after Aiden has gotten close to him. Did he hurt Aiden in any way or commit murder or Arson?" Hanna asked.
"Aiden called him Daddy Mike." Travis
"Wait, what?" Hanna and I exclaimed at the same time.
"I'm Aiden's father! NOT HIM!" He shouted
"Stop shouting, unless you want Aiden to hear and get scared. I will talk to Aiden, but that's all. Mike did nothing wrong, I'm not going to push Mike out of Aiden's life just because of one little accident." Hanna told him.
"Whatever. Give Aiden a kiss for me." Travis muttered and walked out.
"You okay?" I asked, seeing Hanna stare after Travis.
"He used to be so sweet, it's like he's a whole new person now. I honestly have no idea what driving him to Connecticut will be like." Hanna said and I remembered when we convinced her to move in with us.
Flashback - 2013
"Goodnight room, Goodnight moon, Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon, Goodnight bears, Goodnight chairs, Goodnight kittens." I read softly.
Looking back down at Oliver, I saw that he was finally asleep. It took reading 'Goodnight Moon' four times tonight, he was really fighting with sleep and I just hope he stays asleep all night. I carefully set down the book and kissed his forehead. He snuggled into me as I carried him towards his crib. I haven't really been able to spend a lot of time with him lately due to working so much and school, but bedtime cuddles and stories are my second favorite way to spend time with him.
"Goodnight Ollie." I whispered as I heard Malcolm's game despite the volume being low.
"You should be asleep too, babes and not playing your DS." I said, glancing over at Malcolm.
"You said five more minutes." He pointed out and I glanced at my alarm clock.
"That was fifteen minutes ago, babes. You can play this tomorrow. It's too late for a story now, why don't I read two chapters of your Harry Potter book tomorrow night instead?" I suggested
"I finished Harry Potter earlier on the bus, can you read my FableHaven book?" He asked and I nodded.
"Alright, get to sleep now babes." I said.
I held my hand out for Malcolm's DS and he slightly pouted as he passed it over. Slipping it into my other back pocket, I quickly pulled the blanket over him as he snuggled into the blankets and closed his eyes.
"Sleep tight babes, I'll be coming to bed in a little bit." I told him, kissing his forehead.
"Night mom." Malcolm yawned.
Walking out of my room, I turned to look at Malcolm. I hate the fact that I don't get to see him everyday, at least Ezra agreed that Malcolm could stay with me for the rest of the summer. It hurt too much being in Rosewood…. around Ezra and not be with him the way we were before I started college. Flipping the light off, I walked down the hall towards the kitchen.
"Did either of us check the mail today?" Caitlyn asked.
"I think I did, but I don't remember." I said.
"I'll check again." She told me.
She grabbed her keys before walking out the door. I looked to see how much of a mess the boys and I made with our paintings and crafts. Picking up Oliver's painting, I grabbed one of the magnets and stuck it on the fridge. Surprisingly, he only wanted the red paint….. then smacked his hands into it. Maybe he can give it to Ezra when I bring Malcolm back next week. Seeing Malcolm's paper snake not even close to halfway done, I carefully picked it up and placed it in the craft paper container as I heard the door open.
"Special delivery." Caitlyn said and I turned around to see her holding Aiden with Hanna next to her.
"Han? What's the matter?" I asked, seeing the pain in her eyes and pulled her into a hug.
"Apparently Travis dumped me. Came home to the apartment and all his stuff was gone. I know it's been bad between us lately, but I never thought he would leave instead of trying to work it out." She cried into me and I shared a look with Caitlyn.
"Stay with us, we're not too far from your school or your work." I said.
"Hanna, we can help you with taking care of Aiden." Caitlyn said before Hanna could argue.
"Are you guys sure?" Hanna sniffed.
"Han, stay. Trust me when I say a baby on your own isn't easy, but having friends help…. Makes it so much easier." I told her.
"Okay." She said quietly.
End of flashback
Snapping out of my flashback, Hanna turned the page of her design book and a dress caught my eye. It was a white short a-line dress with long bell sleeves and crochet lacing. On the waist there was what looked like sheer lace. The hem of the skirt had little
"I actually drew that one this morning. It came to me last night just as I fell asleep and thank god I remembered it when I woke up." Hanna said.
"Would you design it for me? You know… for the wedding?" I asked and she looked shocked.
"You really want me to?" She asked and I nodded.
"Of course!" I exclaimed and pulled her into a hug.
"To be honest, you were the inspiration for it. You're who I was envisioning it on when I designed it." She explained.
"So… I was your muse is what I'm hearing?" I joked
"Definitely." She agreed.
"Just let me know how much-." I stared to say but she cut me off.
"No, it's part of your wedding gift now!" She exclaimed.
"Wedding gifts? Pretty sure we don't need wedding gifts." I told her.
"Yes you do, you didn't get any wedding gifts when you got married the first time since you eloped. And I've been to your house. You guys just have the bare minimum of things you two need. If you don't make the registry, I will make it for you!" She challenged
"We could use wine glasses." I said.
"See! It's better when it's free, not what I meant and you know it.." She said, noticing that I was holding back a giggle.
"Have you stolen wine glasses before?" I questioned.
"No, just sunglasses and small things like bracelets and earrings." She admitted.
"How was your birthday?" Hanna finally asked.
"Perfect, but how did you not end up spilling the beans about him proposing again?" I asked with a laugh.
"Because I'm not Em." She responded, giggling.
"Also, he only asked me to help you pack for the city and a play. How did he like that little surprise that you packed for him?" She smirked.
"Couldn't keep his hands off me, not that I wanted him to keep his hands to himself… But he definitely enjoyed tutoring his failing cheerleader." I said with a smirk.
…
Ezra rested his chin on my shoulder as we watched the boys play with Fish in the backyard from the backdoor. They seemed to be pretty excited about Ezra and I getting remarried, especially Oliver since he found out they weren't with us when we got married before. He didn't get why they weren't, but we weren't going to tell him that Malcolm wasn't with us yet.
"Think we should wait a bit after the twins are born to get married." I told Ezra.
"Okay." He agreed.
"Unless we go to the courthouse right now." I tried, turning around to face him.
"You are getting your dream wedding Ar." He told me, caressing my cheek.
"I'm marrying you, that is my dream." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"We are not eloping again." He reminded me.
"How about September sixth?" He suggested.
Without saying another word, I wrapped my arms around his neck and brushed my lip to his. The exact day we met, Labor Day. There isn't another day that would be fitting for us to get married on. If we can't just elope, at least we're getting married on our anniversary. But I don't really want to wait to be his wife again. Maybe I could persuade him… no, he won't crack.
"Sure we can't just elope?" I murmured against his lips.
He slowly pulled away and caressed my cheek as he stared into my eyes. I know without him having say it, that we are definitely not eloping again and I can't convince him otherwise.
"You didn't get a wedding last time." He pointed out
"That's because I didn't want to wait." I reminded him
"I know love. But you deserve a wedding, not just another elopement. Aria baby, you can have whatever you want for the wedding…. just no elopement." He repeated
"Come here." He said, carefully pulling me closer to him.
He gently lifted my chin with a finger. As our eyes met, he brushed his lips against mine. I giggled into the kiss as he ran his hands through my hair and I wrapped my arms around his neck. All of a sudden, the twins hit me with a craving for Cheetos with teriyaki sauce. That sounds really gross, why can't they ever give me nice cravings? Reluctantly, I pulled away and Ezra seems to already know I have a craving.
"Do we have teriyaki sauce?" I asked.
"Yeah, what's your craving this time?"
"Nope. Not telling you, I need you to keep loving me if I have to eat this." I told him.
"Nothing could get me to stop loving you baby." He whispered, resting his forehead against mine.
"Do we still have Cheetos?" I asked and he nodded.
"Least they're not making you eat you-know-what." He pointed out.
"I would rather eat meat instead of this." I admitted.
He walked over towards the fridge, grabbing the bottle of teriyaki sauce as I opened a small bag of Cheetos. I giggled as Ezra slowly wrapped his arms around me and handed me the bottle of teriyaki. He rested his chin on my shoulder once more and I poured a bit of the sauce into the bag.
"Why don't we go up to the nursery and see if we can decide on anything?" Ezra suggested and I nodded.
"Lead the way." I said and he took my hand in his.
"We could go for a honey maple wood, or dark walnut wood stain. Unless you think white would be a better choice. Just have to decide on what color for the walls." Ezra said as we walked into the nursery.
"Purple." I said and he glanced at me.
"I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to see you frantically looking up color meanings again. Are you absolutely sure?" He asked and I nodded.
"Definitely purple, call it a gut feeling." I told him, sitting down in the rocking chair.
"We can go get the primer tomorrow and start getting the nursery ready to be painted." He said.
"Babe, you do realize that I could just end up staring at the paint swatches and cry right?" I pointed out.
"Yes I do. But if you start crying at the paint swatches, I'm going to do this."
All of a sudden, he leaned down and cupped my face before brushing his lips against mine. Dropping the bag onto my lap, I slipped my arms around his neck. He slowly pulled away and I slightly pouted at him. Just as he chuckled, I felt the Cheetos coming back and I rushed into the bathroom. Making it to the toilet in time, I felt Ezra holding my hair back and kissing the back of my neck.
"One of them must not have wanted that." He said.
"They should agree on what they freaking want." I muttered.
"This is only the beginning of their fighting." He joked as I sat up against the wall.
"Stop fighting and be nice to mommy you two." Ezra said, kissing my stomach as I wiped my mouth with toilet paper.
"You actually think they're gonna listen?" I asked.
"Well with them being half you, not at all." He teased and I playfully smacked him.
"How are you feeling?" He inquired
"Let's see; I feel like I'm gonna cry or throw up again or throw myself at you or throw something at the wall for no reason." I told him, receiving a chuckle.
"Always horny aren't you?" He teased, brushing his lips against mine.
"Complaining?" I murmured.
"Not. At. All." He managed.
…...
Next day
I followed Ezra into the nursery and set the paint brushes down next to the cans of paint. It took us a while to find the right shade of purple for the nursery, but Ezra had been the one to find it; magic wand by Behr. It was a medium light purple, almost like lilac or wisteria. Even though I had said pastel at first for the nursery, this is perfect and definitely a better choice for the nursery.
"Damn strap." I muttered, trying to fix my overall strap again.
"It would probably help if you had it actually secured, Aripop." Ezra whispered, taking my strap and fixing it.
"I ordered the changing table that'll hold both the twins." He told me.
"Thank you and thank you." I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his.
"Mhmm, as much as I would love to continue kissing you… we should probably start taping the creases and the window panes." He murmured.
"Well, I know where you sleep…. I'll find you later. But, where's the tape?" I asked.
He reluctantly let me go and grabbed the two rolls of painting tape off the cans of primer that he brought in. Handing me one of them, he went to start taping the ceiling and I walked over to the window. The house was pretty quiet even with the boys playing downstairs. I'm just waiting for either a fight to break out, or something to get broken. All of a sudden there were footsteps running up the stairs with Fish following whoever it was.
"What you doing to my room?" Oliver demanded, walking in.
"This is gonna be your sisters' room, you share a room with Malcolm now lil man." Ezra said, kneeling down to face him.
"No, this my room!" Oliver exclaimed and stomped his foot.
"Do not stomp your foot, I've told you that before. Oliver, do you want to move back in here?" I asked.
"No." He said.
"Then this is your sisters' room now." I told him.
"Goo!" He exclaimed, pouting and stomped out of the room.
"He either just cursed at us or put a curse on us." Ezra said as Oliver stomped downstairs and fish laid in front of the door.
"Most likely." I said.
I went back to taping the window pane as he did the same. Hopefully, we can get the walls done quickly and so we can order the furniture and get everything set up. After a while of trying to decide which wood would look better with the purple and even asking Toby for his opinion, we chose dark walnut. But it doesn't help that Oliver has most of the furniture that we used when he was a baby. But Ezra said that we could probably just put some of the furniture on our baby shower registry.
"Okay, that went faster than I expected." Ezra said as we dropped the rolls of tape.
"I feel like something is missing." I said, looking at the walls.
"While you and Spencer were downstairs hanging out this morning, we took down Oliver's elephant and put it on his wall in the boys' room." He said.
"Smart idea." I said.
"Why don't you start priming at the baseboard and I can do the ceiling?" He suggested.
"That would be more efficient than if I did the ceiling." I joked.
"That's because you can't reach the ceiling." He teased.
"You sir, are asking for trouble with that comment." I said, slipping my arms around his neck.
"Alright, alright, we better get to work now babe." He chuckled
He handed over a brush and a small tray of primer, before kissing my cheek and going towards the bathroom door. At least with the bathroom, we can stick with the duck theme until the twins are old enough to decide if they want something else. I started priming under the window frame. All of a sudden, Ezra had me up against the wall where it was free of primer. I giggled as he gently cupped my face with on hand and caressed my cheek. Wrapping my arms around his neck once more, I slowly pressed my lips to his. He let go of my face to run his hands through my hair. It's a good thing the primer on Ezra's hands are dry, otherwise the boys would probably be questioning why the primer would have been all over my face.
"Behave miss. Montgomery, we need the rest of the primer." He whispered
"Then you better behave too because you started this." I reminded him with a small smirk.
"I can behave. But after this." He chuckled.
He pressed his lips to mine, cupping my face with one hand. As he slipped his hands into my back pockets, I deepened the kiss. We pulled apart as one of the boys rushed up the stairs. I quickly started priming around the window again, and Ezra started over by the doors. Just as I finished the first window, Malcolm appeared in the doorway
"Brian invited me to have dinner at his house then go to the park, can I please go?" Malcolmm asked and I shared a look with Ezra.
"Alright, Bring your phone too and be home by nine fifteen." I told him.
"Fifteen extra minutes?! Yes, thank you!" Malcolm exclaimed, running back downstairs.
…
Ezra's pov
I sat Oliver down in his seat as Aria brought the pot of spaghetti to the table and set it down. Since Malcolm's having dinner at Brian's, it was just the three of us and wanted something easy to make. We already put some spaghetti away for Malcolm, for either lunch tomorrow or if he just wants to snack on it later. Along with a bit of the maple roasted butternut squash that we ended up getting from The Grille and a few pieces of garlic bread. Oliver started climbing onto the table toward the pot, but i quickly got him off the table and sat him back down
"You know you're not allowed to do that Ollie." I told him.
"But I wuv spagebby!" Oliver said, speaking like a baby again.
"We know you do, but that doesn't mean you can climb on the table." Aria explained.
"Darn." He pouted
"Stop eating with your hands Ollie." I reminded him when we saw he was using his hands.
"Goo goo." Oliver cooed and I shared a look with Aria.
"Oliver, you're a big boy. You have to use your big boy words." She told him and I could tell she had a headache.
"Why don't you go lay down for a bit Ar? I can handle it down here." I suggested, looking at her.
"Okay, and you behave down here." She told Oliver.
"Goo-goo, ga-ga." He responded and she sighed.
"Good luck." She whispered, grazing her lips against my ear.
"Eat up lil man, then maybe later we can have some ice cream. But you have to eat and eat with your fork." I told him.
"No!" He exclaimed, throwing his fork to the ground.
"Oliver, do not do that. You need to eat with a fork, or would you like a spoon?" I said, picking up his fork.
"Not spagebby!" He cried, pointing to the squash.
"It's squash, you might like it." I told him.
"Goo goo ga ga!" He cried.
"Ollie, just try it. You don't have to eat all of it, just try a piece." I said.
"Goo goo!" He yelled.
"Do not yell, mama has a headache and is sleeping." I told him.
All of a sudden, he threw his fork down again. He started flailing his arms up and down, sobbing about the squash not being spaghetti. Glancing to make sure Aria wasn't coming back down, I quickly kneeled down to face him. Hopefully he doesn't wake Aria up, or she can't even hear this. His tantrum isn't going to help her headache at all.
"You were told to stop that." I told him
"Oliver Scott if you don't listen you're going into time out." I warned him.
"No eat! Not spagebby!" He exclaimed, pushing his bowl away.
Standing up, I pulled another chair away from the table and brought it over towards the wall. I quickly glanced around and pulled the bench over towards the chair. Walking back towards Oliver, I kneeled in front of him. What has gotten into him lately? Acting like a baby, and today he's been behaving horribly all day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him.
"Oliver Scott Fitz, come and sit down over here. Mama and I told you multiple times today to behave. Now, you can sit and eat your dinner here facing the wall." I told him, setting his plate down.
He sniffled, as he got off his chair and walked over. I helped him up and grabbed his cup of apple juice off the table. I silently sighed at how tough I was on him, but he can't get away with acting up the way he was.
"Now, do you want a fork or a spoon?" I asked.
"Forky." He said softly.
"Okay. I don't like punishing you, and mamma doesn't like doing it either. But your behavior today has been very bad. You didn't listen at all, now you gotta face the consequences."
"I sorry daddy." He said softly.
"Eat up lil man, if your behavior changes then you can watch Frozen before bathtime." I told him.
…..
Aria's pov
Slowly opening my eyes, I groaned as I felt my head still slightly throbbing. The door slowly opened and I saw Ezra sneaking in. He set something on the dresser before turning to face me. Kneeling down, he softly ran his hand through my hair, when he saw that I was awake and I realized I was on his side of the bed. Hopefully Oliver started behaving after I came up here.
"Hey you. Figured I would come and check on you, how are you feeling?" He asked quietly.
"Head still hurts. How is it going downstairs?" I questioned.
"Good thing you came up here when you had." He whispered.
"Oh god, what did Oliver do?" I groaned
"Continued saying goo goo then threw the fork onto the ground. Also acted up even more, probably would've made your headache worse." He said softly.
"I did put him in timeout. He's now behaving and watching Frozen downstairs until bathtime. His teeth are already brushed too." He added.
"Lay with me?" I asked.
"Absolutely." He whispered.
He carefully got into bed behind me, draping his arm over me. Slipping my hand in his, I snuggled my back into his chest. My head is somehow still killing me, even though I've been sleeping since I first got into bed. Not a clue where it came from, but this damn headache needs to go away.
"Brought you some food in case you're hungry. Since you didn't eat at dinner," Ezra said softly.
"Pretty sure the twins will just send anything I eat back up." I muttered.
"Need me to get you anything?" He asked.
"Do we have anymore Tylenol?" I questioned.
"No, but it's on the list. I can grab Ollie and go buy some at the store now." He suggested.
"It's almost bedtime, he might think staying up a bit later might be a reward or encourage him to keep acting up. Plus, he needs a bath" I told him.
"Okay, then I'll be back as soon as I can. If you think of anything else you need, call me." He said.
