Chapter 40

I groaned, hearing both mine and Ezra's alarms going off. Ezra turned his off as I sat up and grabbed my phone to shut off mine. Placing my phone back on my nightstand, I giggled as I felt Ezra gently pull me closer to him. Looking up at him, I snuggled closer and he chuckled as I wrapped a leg over his hip. Part of me really wants to stay in bed but I have to go to the high school to get all my stuff and start getting my classroom ready for the school year.

"You're gonna make getting out of bed harder aren't you?" He teased.

"Pretty sure neither of us want to actually get up." I pointed out.

"Why don't you and I go to the cabin next weekend? We could leave Thursday night and have a long weekend." He suggested and I pressed my lips to his

"I'm gonna take that as a yes." He managed against my lips, carefully pulling me on top of him.

"You better take it as a yes." I giggled, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Pretty sure, there's a chance of one of our kids coming in." Ezra whispered, slowly pulling away.

I got off his lap as we got out of bed, and Ezra tossed a white undershirt and light blue short sleeve button down onto the bed. Before he could see. I slipped my tank top off and pulled his shirt on. Luckily for me, his shirt was already buttoned. Ezra turned around and chuckled before pulling me closer, brushing his lips against mine.

"Mhm… hope you plan on stealing my shirt next weekend too." He murmured against my lips

"Think that can be arranged." I managed as he started slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

"What time do you have to be at the high school?" He asked.

"Ten." I responded.

I slipped my arms out from his shirt and we pulled away. He chuckled as he pulled his undershirt on and I walked to the closet. I grabbed my yellow floral blouse and a pair of jeans, and we could hear the boys in their room. How Oliver hasn't tried coming into our room yet is a mystery since his favorite thing to do in the morning is to wake me up one way or another. Turning around, I saw Ezra pulling on his button down. I walked towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck, I pressed my lips to his. He cupped my face and I slowly removed my arms from his neck and started buttoning his shirt.

"There." I said, pulling away as I buttoned the last button.

"Thank you." He whispered, leaning down and kissing me once more.

"Babe, you are going to be late if you don't stop distracting yourself… or I may not let you leave." I giggled as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Technically, The Brew can run without me there for a bit. But I'm going to go see if the boys want to come with me today, give them something new to do. Plus, it could definitely give Malcolm something to do besides sulk inside all day." He said.

…..

I looked out the kitchen window to see Malcolm playing fetch with Fish. He didn't want anything to eat when Oliver had a bowl of cereal, or want to go with Ezra and Oliver to The Brew today. Pretty sure he's still not over Maggie coming out and messaging him out of the blue the other night. Walking away from the window, I made my way towards Tiger's food and water bowls. She stared at me as I scooped a cup of food into her bowl. I gave her a head scratch as she nudged her head against my hand and picked up her water bowl to fill it up.

"Come on Fish." Malcolm called, letting Fish back inside.

"Is hot out there?" I asked, seeing a bit of sweat on his forehead.

"Little bit." He said

"We should be home at the usual time." Ezra said, walking into the kitchen.

"I should be home, got nothing else planned except going to the high school." I replied, following him towards the door

"Let's get going lil man." Ezra called out.

"Bye mama." Oliver called out, walking past us.

"Have fun Ollie." I said and Ezra brushed his lips against mine.

"And you have a good day." I managed against his lips.

"Ew! Let's go daddy!" Oliver yelled from his car door.

"Don't stay outside for too long today, I heard that it's supposed to be in the nineties today. And I will see you later." He whispered before walking out the door before turning around and walking back to me.

"Also, don't make any plans for dinner." Ezra murmured, kissing my cheek.

He threw me a wink before walking to the car before I could say anything. Just as he got Oliver into the car seat, I turned around and went back inside, already feeling the heat. Looking over, I saw Malcolm laying upside down on the couch. Maybe he'd want to come with me to the high school. The last thing I want him to do is to be inside all day watching tv. Since he's not allowed to go in the pool when there's no adults around, there's not much for him to do except watch tv or play video games.

"Malcolm, do you want to come with me to the high school today? I'm going to be there for a while, getting my classroom set up and stuff." I asked,

"Okay." He said, not really interested.

"Want me to make you some breakfast or do you just want a poptart or granola bar? You need to eat honey." I asked.

"Can I have cheesy scrambled eggs?" He asked and I nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. Go get dressed and I'll start making the eggs." I told him.

He got off the couch and ran up the stairs as I made my way into the kitchen. Fish looked at me then at the door before looking back at me, I opened the door and he ran outside for the second time. Closing the door. I saw that the kitchen clock said it was eight ten. I grabbed Fish's water bowl and brought it to the sink, filling it with more cold water.

"Have you been drinking Fish's water too?" I asked, looking at Tiger as she rubbed her head against my leg.

"Here you go, even though you do have your own bowl." I said, setting the bowl down and Fish barked at the door.

I quickly let Fish back in, and went towards the refrigerator. As I grabbed the egg carton, package of shredded cheddar cheese, and the milk, Malcolm came running down the stairs. He had an old Green Day T-shirt on that he got from Mike when Mike cleaned out his closet a couple years ago.

"Can I help?" Malcolm asked and I nodded.

"I would love that." I told him.

….

Malcolm looked around as we walked towards the front office. The school really hasn't changed much since I was in school or since my interview with Hackett. They've put fresh coats of paint, but that seems about it for the hallways. God, so many memories here with the girls and now Emily, Maya and I will be making new ones but as the teachers. Pretty soon, Malcolm will be going here then he'll be off at college. He looked at me and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, kissing the top of his head,

"Seems big doesn't it?" I asked and he nodded.

"That's how I felt when I started freshman year." I told him.

"Aria, glad you could make it." Hackett said when he saw us.

"Hi principal Hackett. I hope you don't mind, I brought my son Malcolm to help me out." I said, even though he may have already met Malcolm when Ezra was substituting near the end of my senior year here.

"Don't mind at all, will he be starting high school this year?" Hackett asked.

"No, I'm going into seventh grade." Malcolm told him.

"But he'll definitely be a shark in a few years." I added.

"You'll have classroom twenty two four." Hackett told me, handing me my stuff.

"Thank you." I said before he walked off.

Of course, I have Ezra's old room. It was also Ella's room for a few years before she got switched to the room across the hall. Now she just substitutes again, she said she missed the art gallery too much. Although, I'm pretty sure that once Toby, Mike, and I were all out of here she missed seeing us all day everyday. Plus, she's able to bring Luna with her to the gallery everyday if she wants.

"This had been dad's classroom when he taught here." I said, as we walked into the classroom.

"Really?" He asked, seeming a bit more interested then he did earlier.

"Are you excited about the soccer game coming up?" I asked, hanging up a poster with paradox examples.

"I guess." He said, sounding uninterested again.

"You guess? Do you still enjoy playing soccer?" I questioned.

"I dunno, it just doesn't seem fun anymore." He told me.

"If you're one hundred percent sure, we can talk to dad about you quitting. Unless you want to finish the season?" I asked and he shrugged.

"What would you rather do?" I inquired.

"I dunno, all I really know is soccer. But that's all I've ever done since I was six. It's kinda boring to me now, I wanna do something fun." He explained.

"Is there anything that you want to try?" I questioned.

"Pottery seems kinda cool, it looks messy which is awesome." He said.

"How about after this, you and I go to a place I went to when I was a kid? We can make our pottery and paint it." I suggested and he tried to hide his excitement.

"Thought I was grounded?" He questioned.

"From your phone and going out with your friends." I reminded him.

"Please, just wait a few years before saying you want to wrestle because wrestling scares me." I told him, out of the blue.

"Mom, clowns scare you too." He pointed out.

"Okay, okay, clowns scare me more than wrestling. But the thought of you wrestling and getting hurt scares me way more than anything." I said, kissing the top of his head.

"How do these posters look?" I asked.

"The foreshadowing one is a bit lower than the symbolism. The rest are all good to go." He told me.

"How's Dani? Is she still playing too?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, but we don't really get to talk since we now have to start practicing once we get to the field and her dad has been picking her up right away after practice." He explained.

Opening another bag, I pulled out the grammar punctuation posters that I had bought online. They were all canvases that look like blackboards with rainbow lettering. There had been a lot of different things I wanted to get, but didn't want to overdo it. I looked around the room, there were already some posters of Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and even Jane Austin. Not really sure where these could go, I glanced towards Malcolm.

"Where should I put the grammar punctuation posters?" I asked, sensing he didn't really want to talk about Dani.

"On that wall by the door." He told me pointing to the side wall.

It's pretty quiet at Chez Mirabelle tonight, especially at seven fifteen at night. There were at least three other tables occupied. Even though he tried keeping it a surprise, I knew where Ezra was taking me once we left Rosewood. The boys were off with Hardy and Caitlyn, more like Oliver is with Rosie while Malcolm hangs out with Hardy and Caitlyn. If Malcolm were to try anything, both Hardy and Cait know what he can and can't do while he's grounded. I giggled as Ezra fed me the last petit four appetizer, even though our food should be here any minute.

"I'm not going to be able to eat my quiche if you keep feeding me." I told him, getting him to chuckle before noticing my hair.

"There's something in your hair… is that clay?" Ezra asked, picking a piece of clay from my hair.

"Thought I got it all. Malcolm and I went to the pottery place after we left the high school. Seems like he doesn't want to play soccer anymore. I asked if he wanted to quit but he wasn't sure if he wanted to quit now or finish the season." I explained.

"Is Dani still playing soccer?" He asked and I nodded.

"I had wondered that too But it seemed he tried changing the subject pretty fast when I brought her up." I said

"What does he want to do instead?" He questioned as our waitress came and brought our entrees.

"The only thing he really mentioned wanting to try was pottery." I responded

"That explains why you two went to the pottery place and got clay in your hair." He joked.

"How was your day? Since you know how mine went." I asked.

"Oliver actually behaved and helped Sabrina bake. Also took a nap in my office, told you the couch would come in handy. I just did paperwork and dealt with complicated customers," He said.

"Oh, I ran into Mike at the pizzeria at lunch. Hanna's back from taking Travis to Connecticut." He added.

"Yeah, I'm meeting with her for lunch sometime soon. We haven't picked a day yet though." I said.

"Apparently Travis has been difficult towards Hanna about everything the entire time they were gone." He commented, taking a bite of his mushroom bourguignon.

"She told me that too, just didn't get into details of it through text and I wasn't about to ask." I replied.

"I also talked to Peter about Maggie contacting Malcolm and the possibility of taking her to court." He added.

"She's lucky I didn't call her. I would've cursed her out like a sailor." I said.

"That makes two of us." He responded.

"I think we should do something with the boys this summer before school starts. Besides taking them to the zoo tomorrow." I said taking a bite of my quiche and he nodded.

"Well, the Philly carnival is coming up in a few weeks. Or we could look into a weekend at Triple star resort or even South Point." Ezra responded.

"Knowing us, it'll be last minute but we'll figure it out." I said and he chuckled.

"What?" I giggled, seeing he was softly staring at me.

"You look beautiful." He whispered.

"You don't look bad yourself." I said softly as he brushed some hair behind my ear.

"Ez, you're not going to believe this." I said, taking a sip of my sparkling water

"Aria, you could tell me the earth was flat and in the shape of a square and I'd believe you." He joked and I lovingly rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay, tell me the earth is flat. I can handle it." He said, pretending to brace himself and I giggled.

"Ezra… babe, you kinda went into a frenzy when you heard the theories that the world was going to end in two thousand twelve. You would not be able to handle hearing about the earth - real or not." I reminded him.

"I'm gonna regret telling you that, aren't I?" He asked, chuckling and I nodded, giggling.

"Alright, tell me what you were going to tell me Ar." He said, giving me a small smile.

"You're not going to guess what classroom I have." I said, sipping on my water.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say your classroom." He guessed.

"Two twenty four." I said with a smirk.

"Can't tell if that's ironic or not." He chuckled.

"Did I ever tell you about the time Hardy tried to convince me zombies were going to take over the world?" He questioned.

"No, did you believe him?" I asked.

"Maybe just for a minute." He said and I giggled.

I watched Ezra as he made his way over towards the loveseat of a coffee house that we stopped at after seeing 'Minions'. It was the only movie that seemed interesting to us, plus 'The Longest Ride' and 'Age of Adeline' had already left theaters. Of course, once we walked out of the theater Ezra suggested coffee before we went home. He had me find a spot for us since he could somehow tell my feet were hurting from my heels.

"Here you go love." Ezra said, returning with our drinks and sat down next to me.

"Turning this into a full date here aren't ya?" I teased as he handed me my chai latte.

"Indeed, it's all part of my evil plan to romance you." He whispered.

"It's definitely working." I said, playing with his hair a bit.

"Well Minions is definitely a movie that Oliver will want to watch over and over again." Ezra joked, setting his coffee on the table.

"If I don't have to listen to Let it Go five hundred times a day, I'd be okay with that." I told him

"You know, I like not having to share you with the kids." Ezra admitted, wrapping an arm around me and I giggled.

"It's definitely quieter without them. But just think, you'll have me all to yourself next weekend." I whispered before pressing my lips to his.

"God, I can't wait." He managed.

"Heads up, Spencer and I are going shopping tomorrow for stuff for the babies after we get back from the zoo." I told him as we pulled apart.

"Isn't that what a baby shower is for?" He questioned and I nodded.

"But we're also looking for stuff to even put on the registries. It's easier to do it in store than to look stuff up online. Or at ;east that's what Spence said, but I'm pretty sure she just wants to get out of the house." I told him.

"Just don't forget we have therapy tomorrow too." He reminded him and I stared at him.

"Thought that was on Friday?" I asked, confused.

"Think you need some sleep babe, tomorrow is Friday." He gently teased.

I playfully smacked him and he took my hand in his. Intertwining our fingers, his eyes met mine and he brushed his lips against mine. As much as I hate comparing all of our dates, I think this has to top them all. It went from just dinner, to also seeing a movie and now having coffee. Plus it seems like we're really connecting again after being apart for so long. We've connected since we've been back together…. But it's different tonight somehow. We slowly pulled apart and he quickly pecked my lips once more and I giggled.