Chapter 41
Quick AN: please read the AN at the end : )
"Higher daddy."
Malcolm and I looked over to see Oliver still perched on Ezra's shoulders, looking around. The boys had been excited to come to the zoo since they didn't have soccer today. Of course, Oliver wanted a piggy back ride not even five minutes of being here and having somehow made his way onto Ezra's shoulders. I nearly had a panic attack when Oliver climbed onto Ezra's shoulders, but I know Ezra won't drop him.
"Ollie, you're already up on my shoulders. You can't go up any higher. And no you cannot sit on my head, mama's already anxious about you being this high." Ezra told him and threw me a small smile.
"At least I know you won't drop him." I said
"If you drop me, I won't like you." Oliver told him.
"Not gonna drop you lil man." Ezra promised
"You dropped me once." Malcolm reminded him
"Onto the couch," Ezra and I both said.
"And you told me to do it." Ezra added
"Scared mom doing that." Malcolm laughed.
"Because I thought you were hurt. All I heard was a thud." I pointed out.
"Go see the ellapants daddy!" Oliver demanded.
"We just saw them lil man, we still have other animals to see too." Ezra reminded him
"Yeah, like rare animals!" Malcolm pointed out.
"Ellapants!" Oliver exclaimed again.
"Why don't I take Malcolm to see the rare animals while you take Ollie to see the elephants… again." I suggested.
"Ellapants." Oliver repeated
"We know you want to see the elephants again." Ezra and I said at the same time.
"Meet you guys at the tigers." I told Ezra, kissing his cheek.
Malcolm and I went right as Ezra kept going straight towards the elephants. Pretty sure if Oliver had his way, we wouldn't have left the elephants to go have lunch. I wrapped an arm around Malcolm's shoulders, it's clear that he does miss hanging out with his friends. Ezra and I briefly thought about letting Malcolm bring a friend, but then Oliver would want to bring a friend too and we don't want Malcolm to think he's no longer grounded.
"I know, this isn't as much fun as hanging out with your friends." I said softly.
"Yeah, but we're all together and a family." He told me.
"Absolutely, and we're gonna stay that way. But just think, it'll be over before you know it." I told him.
"Promise that we're gonna stay a family?" He asked, looking up at me.
"Yeah, I definitely promise. Dad and I don't want to lose each other again, or be with anyone else. Also, I meant your grounding will be over soon." I told him as we walked into the rare animal center.
"Look mom bats!" Malcolm exclaimed, looking through one of the glasses.
"Not just any bat, those are fruit bats. They can be found in Africa, Asia, Europe, and even Australia. Hearing is not important for them and they're not blind, they also eat mosquitoes at night. Oh, they're also endangered." I read out loud.
"Can we get one?" Malcolm asked, not listening to what I just read.
"No. First of all, fruit bats are endangered and our house isn't their habitat. Plus we have Fish and Tiger, a fruit bat wouldn't stand a chance." I joked.
"If you really want one. You can get a stuffed one from the gift shop and we can also check online to see if we can adopt one later." I told.
"But I thought you said we couldn't have one in the house?" He questioned, confused.
"It would be staying in their habitat, but the money towards the adoption would help fight to keep it safe." I explained.
….
I crossed my arms, not looking at Ezra. We've been at therapy for who knows how long now, most of it was us arguing until five minutes ago when we both stopped talking. It had been fight after fight with one somehow leading into another. Pretty sure we've somehow had at least three or four arguments, but I feel like I'm miscounting. The only reason we're having this appointment is because of how the last one ended.
"Seriously, you didn't even tell me about almost hooking up with Hardy!" Ezra broke the silence.
"Oh. My. God! Wanna go that route? You didn't tell me about you and Alison!" I exclaimed.
"Those two are two complete different things! I never almost had sex with Alison!" He snapped.
"You know what, you're right. It is different because you didn't tell me because you thought I wouldn't forgive you. I thought by not telling you, I would protect you from the same pain I felt when I learned about you and Ali." I exclaimed.
"Didn't tell me that Caleb moved to New York either!" Ezra said annoyed.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I questioned.
"You usually tell me everything!" He said
"Caleb moving to New York had nothing to do with you! And he didn't want anyone to know! I exclaimed again.
"Besides, you didn't tell me about your ex fiancee!" I shouted.
The timer dinged, indicating our session was over. I grabbed my purse and walked out, barely hearing Dr. Angela mention another hour. Last thing I want is another hour arguing with Ezra. Walking outside, I leaned against the wall and started digging my purse for my phone. The door opened and I finally found my phone. Damn, I really should clean this purse out, pretty sure the majority of the stuff in here is Oliver's.
"What are you doing?" Ezra asked.
"Getting my phone, so I can get a ride." I told him.
"Ar, please just let me bring you home. It's sketchy over here and I don't trust anyone around here." He begged.
"You picked this location." I reminded him and he sighed.
"Come on please, I'm not leaving you here by yourself or letting you get into a ride by yourself." He said as I couldn't turn my phone on.
"Fine... only because my phone died." I sighed.
…
Spencer, Emily and I were walking around the baby store. We had decided to go into the city since there were more baby stores. Which I'm okay with because I need some distance from Ezra after that crap therapy appointment. Emily came to get some more clothes for Aaliyah, who is already growing out of her clothes. Opening my purse, I quickly checked to make sure I still had Ezra's american express card in my wallet. He insisted that I use his card and reminded me that it's our money, not just his. Pretty sure he was just trying to lessen the tension since I couldn't scroll through my phone while it was charging during the drive to Spencer's.
"Maya and I are looking into a bigger apartment or even a house to rent. Because well you've seen our place, there's no room." Emily said.
"I saw an apartment for rent over in Old Hollis the other day." Spencer told her.
"There are also the apartments over by city hall. Those are two bedrooms and reasonably priced." I added and they both looked at me.
"What?" I asked as they continued to stare at me.
"Are you and Ezra okay?" Emily asked.
"No… yes.. I was looking at them when I was moving out of Hardy and Caitlyn's house. Ezra and I are fine…ish." I said, muttering the ish.
"Okay, what's going on that you two are only fine-ish." Spencer questioned, damn she heard.
"It was just a crappy therapy appointment. All we did pretty much was argue. If we weren't arguing, we were silent." I explained.
"You two have been through a lot Ar. Some things may not have been said before were going to come up at some point, whether in therapy or later on in life." Emily pointed out.
"Of course, this appointment had to suck right after we had a date last night." I complained.
"Oooooo." They both said with smirks, getting me to laugh.
"It didn't go that route, but it was literally one of my favorite dates that we've had." I said.
Seeing some onesies, I walked towards them and heard Emily and Spencer following me. At least Ezra and I already decided that we weren't going to dress the twins identical, especially if they are identical. Hopefully it won't be hard for us to tell them apart, the last thing either of us want is to mix the twins up early then find out later on. Looking through the different onesies, I saw a bunch of different pacifiers from ones with animal on them, to ones with flat tops so that babies can't pull them out.
"Ollie's been acting up. Crawling around, talking like a baby. It wouldn't surprise me if he tries using any of these pacifiers." I said, grabbing a couple different packages of pacifiers.
"Maybe he's acting up because he realizes that the twins are really coming and that he won't be the baby anymore."
"Yes, he's still going to be your baby boy and still your baby…. but all he knows is him being the baby, the youngest and now there are going to be two babies." Emily explained.
"I knew it was going to be hard with him, it just didn't occur that it could be this hard." I said.
"Do you think it would help if Toby and I took him for a weekend?"
"You want to hang out with a five year old for a whole weekend?"
"Well pretty soon, Toby and I will have our own five year old that we'll have everyday. We could try to help show that nothing is going to change after the twins." Spencer explained.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, you're my sister… by law now too. Plus we could use some more practice." She admitted and I nodded.
"Yes, you can steal Oliver for a weekend. Just wait a bit, I want to be in a slightly better stance with Ezra when I bring it up." I told her and she smiled.
"We should probably get some diapers. Especially you since you're gonna need twice the amount" Spencer said with a small smile
"Lucky me, and lucky Ezra if the twins are gonna be how Ollie was and give him all the poop diapers." I said laughing.
…..
"Someone's waiting for you." Spencer said with a small smile.
As she pulled into the driveway, I saw Ezra sitting on the porch steps. Of course he waited to make sure I got home safely. Unless he's waiting so we could fight some more… no, he wouldn't do that. I grabbed my leftovers from lunch, even though the smell is starting to make me nauseous and the few bags of baby stuff.
"Talk to him." She said.
"I will." I replied.
"Good. Now get out and take your nasty smelling leftovers with you. I love you, talk to you later. And let me know when Toby and I can steal Ollie." She told me and I nodded.
"Bye, tell Toby and Alex I say hi." I told her, getting out.
"How was shopping?" Ezra asked as I walked up.
"It was fine, didn't do too much damage to the bank. You want some leftovers?" I asked, sitting down next to him.
"Won't you want them later?" He asked
"Probably not, halfway home the smell was starting to make me nauseous and Spencer already refused them because she had the same issue with all of our leftovers." I told him and he quickly moved the food away from me.
"Find anything to put on the registry?"
"Yeah, just a couple things. Want to see?" I asked and he nodded.
Going into my photos, I saw multiple photos I took of the boys along with a couple of me and Ezra when we weren't fighting. I clicked on the first photo that I knew was from the shopping trip. We looked at the double stroller, another double stroller that also turned into car seats. I forgot I had taken photos of a few different video monitors… Was one of them for Spencer? No, she took her own photos. Finally getting through the few different bouncers I couldn't decide between, I got to the baby swing that we already have one.
"Don't we have one of those?" Ezra asked.
"Yes, but we have two babies this time. And since the one we have still works, we could just get another of the same one." I explained and he nodded.
"Those looked great." He said, giving me a small smile.
"I miss us, it seems like all we do now is fight." I said quietly and he took my hand in his.
"I do too. We knew this wasn't going to be easy, Ar. But without rain, there won't be a rainbow." He pointed out.
Without saying anything, I cupped his face with my free hand and brushed my lips to his. As usual he knows exactly what to say, and he is right. We both knew that working through everything was going to be hard, it's not like we can just skip through all of it to the 'happily ever after' part. He slowly let go of my hand and cupped my face, his thumbs caressing my cheeks.
"Still pretty early, why don't we go do something?" He suggested.
"Whatever you wanna do, I'm game." I told him.
"Also, Spencer just took our diapers because I forgot them in her backseat." I remembered and Ezra chuckled.
"I'll text her and see if we can stop by there and pick them up." He said.
….
Ezra's pov
As the basketball game went to the commercial break, I looked towards the office door. Even though we made up earlier, somehow we ended up bickering about Aria's hookup with Greyson again while we were putting the stuff she bought for the twins away. The second the last thing was put away, Aria had walked out of the nursery and locked herself in the office to work on her book. We didn't even get to go do anything like we were going to, but I took the boys and went to pick up the diapers from Spencer. All she said was to give Aria a tiny bit of space but also to talk to her… and made me take her leftovers too. Sighing, I took another sip of my beer as Malcolm came downstairs.
"Are you and mom okay?" Malcolm asked, walking into the living room.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." I said and he just stared at me.
"Bud, there are going to be times where mom and I fight. Our relationship isn't rainbows and sunshine, everything that mom and I went through together... we're working through it." I told him.
"You don't need to worry about it." I added.
"Can I have a sip?" He asked, pointing to my beer.
"No." I responded.
"Aww, why?" He whined.
"First of all , this is beer and you're twelve. Secondly, you're twelve and it's beer. And thirdly, I said so." I responded.
The office door opened, Aria walked by a few moments later and Malcolm followed her into the kitchen. She hasn't been out of the office since she went in there hours ago except to pee. I hate that there's this silence between us right now. Hearing a cereal box open, I held back a chuckle. Some things really haven't changed with her, like the fact she'll eat dry cereal when she's writing, even if it was a report for class.
"One, I know dad just told you no. Two, you're twelve and that's alcohol." I heard Aria say.
"Why do you two keep bringing up that I'm twelve or that it's beer?" He asked, following Aria back in here.
"Because that's why you're being told no." I said.
"Tell you what, you can try it... when you're twenty one." I told him.
"Get back to bed babes, it's late and no you can't stay up." Aria told him.
Malcolm groaned, turning and going back upstairs. Aria opened the box of lucky charms as she sat down next to me on the couch. As much as I want to hold her, I don't want to push my luck. The tension feels like it's slowly fading away, and I'm hoping she feels it as well. I watched her reach into the box and pull out a handful before eating them. Looking up, she caught me watching and I gave her a small smile. She offered me a handful but I shook my head.
"Don't think lucky charms and beer would be a good mix." i joked and she smiled, holding back a giggle
"Who's playing?" She questioned.
"It's the 76ers and Boston Celtics." I told her
"Almost had him." I chuckled, looking at Aria motioning towards the stairs.
"And me." She said, giving me a small smile.
"Cause that makes sense that I say no and then when you say no I change my answer." I joked.
"Maybe you just want to be the favorite." She teased.
"If I was your favorite, you would've told me about hooking up with Greyson." I muttered.
Shit. She glared at me as she stood up and walked up the stairs. I quickly turned off the tv and went to go dump the rest of my beer down the sink. Why the hell did I even say that? Trying to be quiet, not to wake up the boys, I rushed up the stairs and into our bedroom.
"Aria." I said, receiving no response as she pulled her dolphin shorts on.
"Baby, please say something." I begged, receiving silence.
"Ar, it just came out." I tried.
"But clearly that's how you feel. What, do you want a list of people I've slept with in New York? I didn't tell you because I felt like I was cheating on you!" She snapped and shut the bathroom door behind her.
"Aria… baby, please talk to me." I said, knocking on the door.
"Greyson and almost 's it!" She exclaimed, swinging the door open.
"Aria, what are you doing?" I questioned as she grabbed her pillows.
"Sleeping on the couch." She answered.
"No, you take the bed and I'll sleep on the couch." I said.
"Not kicking you out of your bed." She responded, not looking at me and I gently turned her to face me.
"Hey, this is our bed Aria. I am not sleeping in this bed without you anymore. Either we both sleep in the bed or I'm sleeping on the couch, but I am not sleeping in this bed without you." I told her
"What do you want from me?" She sighed.
"Just you. Even if it means you're pissed at me while sleeping next to me." I told her.
"I'm sorry." We both said as I pulled her into my arms.
"I hate fighting." She whispered.
"Me too. Now, since we're not fighting…" I trailed off and brushed my lips against hers.
Feeling her melt into the kiss, I ran my fingers through her hair and she managed a giggle as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Slowly pulling away. I lifted her chins and brushed my lips against her once more. She tried holding back a yawn and I pulled away chuckling. Without a second thought, I scooped her up into my arms and laid us down in bed with her back to me. I draped my arms over her and she quickly rested her hand on top of mine, slipping her fingers between mine.
"Aria, I don't care who you did or did not sleep with. I have you back with me, that's what I care about." I told her as she rolled over to face me.
"That's one of the reasons I sent you to New York alone, to meet new people. Even if it meant sleeping with them." I reminded her.
"I may be the favorite parent, but you're my favorite person." She whispered, snuggling into me.
"And you are mine. Although you can do better than me." I said softly and she glared up at me.
"Ezra Nathaniel, you are the best for me. I don't want anyone else. No one else is better for me than you. You have my heart, and I don't want it back." She whispered, brushing her lips against mine.
"I. Love. You." She said between kisses.
"And I love you." I murmured.
….
Aria's pov
I snuggled into Ezra, as the sun shined through the blinds. His alarm had gone off awhile ago but he's still in bed for whatever reason.
"Good morning, beautiful." He whispered,
"You're gonna have to get up Ez, it's six forty." I said, gently nudging Ezra
"Decided not to go in, Sabrina can run The Brew for the day. Already told her I'm not coming in unless they absolutely need me there." He told me.
"You just don't want to get out of bed, do you?" I teased and he kissed my forehead.
"I would rather stay here with you in my arms." He whispered.
"Can't promise we can lay here for long, we have two kids and one of them could break something." I told him and he chuckled, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Yes, they both could break something but the one I'm talking about has a better chance at breaking crap." I pointed out.
Snuggling into him, I slowly caressed his chest as he pressed his lips to the top of my head. We both know that pretty soon we will have to get out of bed to give the boys breakfast. Hopefully, that won't be for at least a little while. Looking up at Ezra, I smirked before cupping his face with one hand and started kissing along his jawline. He carefully pulled me on top of him as I ran my hands through his hair, trailing more kisses along his jaw.
"Baby…" He moaned and I pressed my lips to his ear.
"I think we have some time before they wake up." I whispered.
Our eyes met and he gently rolled us over, so he was hovering over me. I giggled as he started kissing along my neck. Just as our lips met, there was a crash in the kitchen. Fish barked from downstairs and I barely heard Tiger running up the stairs and into some room. Ezra and I pulled apart and he plopped himself onto his back, rubbing his face with a hand.
"Damn, that didn't last long." He muttered and I giggled.
"At least when we go to the cabin, we won't be interrupted." I reminded him.
"Again…. I cannot wait." He said.
…..
Hanna and I sat at a small booth at The Grille, having lunch. Ezra ended up going into work because either Ryan or Sloan got sick and had to leave, plus customers are apparently being ruder today. I dropped the boys off at the arcade with enough money for them both for a while. Malcolm knows to come here in case they somehow need more money or there's an emergency. Ezra said they could go head to The Brew, but I didn't want Oliver to disturb Ezra or Sabrina if it's busy- especially if there's rude customers. When I told Hanna what happened the other night with Maggie messaging Malcolm, she said that she would've called her and cursed her out. Which is funny since I almost did that but realized it could've been a bad idea.
"Can't believe Chloe left without a warning." Hanna said, poking at her salad.
"I know, but she doesn't do well with goodbyes. Remember how she was when Caleb left to start college? She was barely holding herself together, then when we left she couldn't even say anything." I reminded her
"Han, are you okay? You've barely touched your salad." I asked carefully.
"Travis gave me an ultimatum when I dropped him off at his motel." She admitted.
Flashback
Hanna's pov
I stared at Travis, waiting for the door to shut behind my mom and Aiden. So glad my mom came to help Aiden say goodbye to Travis, and because she knows that I also need support. It has not been unnoticed by her that Travis has been wanting to get back together. But for whatever reason, Travis decided to mention me and Aiden moving here in front of him. Which upsetted him until my mom mentioned the snack machines and he got happy about the 'fancy' snacks.
"Have you lost your mind? Why would you mention me and Aiden moving here in front of him like that?" I asked.
"Why wouldn't you two move here? I'm here now!" He exclaimed.
"Because we have a life in Rosewood! We have family and friends in Rosewood, you chose to come here! I'm not moving him away from his home." I told him.
"You had great offers around Rosewood and even in the city, yet you're choosing to move this far away. How are you going to see him when you're practically four hours away?" I asked.
"I wouldn't be four hours away if you just moved here with me!" He exclaimed.
"I'm not packing up Aiden and moving us over here just so you can be happy. We have friends and family in Rosewood."
"Hanna, don't be like this, move here with me. We could be a family." He said.
"We were a family, then you left when things got hard between us. I am not packing up Aiden and moving us over here so YOU can be happy!" I exclaimed.
Travis didn't say anything as I stared at him. How does he think that any part of his idea is good? He wouldn't be begging me to be with him again like this if i hadn't told him it was starting to get serious between me and Mike. Three years, he had the chance to try and make it work for us but he chose not to. For weeks, almost months until Aria and Cait finally got me to stop, I tried to get him to take me back. But NOW, he wants me back? He's way too late.
"You all but wanted nothing to do with me when you dumped me, but the second I tell you about Mike - you want to give it another try? Now all of a sudden, you want to be with me again and say we could be a family." I pointed out.
"Hanna for once think about someone other than yourself! We have a kid and need to do what's best for him."
"Oh, that's funny Travis! I am thinking about Aiden, unlike what you're claiming. Aiden didn't do well when we moved back to Rosewood, now you want me to move him again! Away from my mom, away from all his friends! He wouldn't have any familiarity out here!" I snapped.
"He'll make friends Hanna! Seems like you're just using every excuse you can think of not to do what's best for him! Do what's best for Aiden, not what Hanna wants!" He exclaimed.
"That's what I've been doing ever since the plus sign appeared on the pregnancy test! And even more since you left us high and dry! I've been working my ass off to provide for him, reminder - I have not asked you for child support at all since you ended things." I reminded him.
All of a sudden, he pulled me to him and pressed his lips to mine. I pushed him off and glared at him. He knows I'm with Mike, and thinks he can kiss me to win me back? Maybe I would have gone back to him or even kissed him long before Mike and I started flirting with each other, but not now. Travis lost me long ago, even more when I started falling for Mike.
"What the hell Travis! I'm dating Mike!" I shouted.
"We need to be together." Travis said and I stared at him.
"I'm actually happy and now you're giving me an ultimatum? One I might point out would not do any good for any of us in the long run!"
"How will Aiden turn out if we're not together?" Travis asked.
"He'll be just fine. You don't want me to be happy, you just want it your way, that's the problem. Wanted me to quit work and school to be a stay at home mom. Being a stay at home mom was not what was best for him. Again, the only income we had was mine since I wasn't asking you for child support like I should have been and you were just doing whatever." I told him.
"I'm his father and he needs me in his life!" Travis tried.
"You left when he was three months old, only seeing him on your weekends - which is every other weekend! There's so much of his life that you missed and it seems like you don't even care. I've tried to get you to see Aiden more but it's excuse after excuse!" I said.
"Ezra did the same-." He tried but I cut him off.
"No, you are not comparing tomatoes to potatoes. Ezra had actual reasons, you, Travis just had excuses." I snapped.
"Either we get back together… or I won't see Aiden. You know, gas and miles and who knows how my schedule will be." Travis said.
"You wouldn't see Aiden just because I refuse to get back together with you? Do you hear how bad that sounds? Like I said, you want it your way or not at all. Grow up Travis, actually think about what is best for your son. Because us being together or moving him here is not it." I told him and walked out the door.
End of Flashback
I stared at Hanna in shock. After everything Travis knows about what we had gone through with Byron and Mr. Marin… he would practically do the same to Aiden? When it came to Travis seeing Aiden, Aiden didn't grasp that Travis was his father. Poor kid thought he just had three mommies for the first couple years.
"I'm so sorry." Hanna said and I knew she meant about Travis kissing her.
"Han, it's not like you knew any of that was going to happen. Does Mike know?" I questioned and she nodded.
"Told him right when we got back." She told me.
"What's going to happen with Travis seeing Aiden?"
"I sent him a long text about that on the way home. Said we're not getting back together but he will see Aiden, even if he has to FaceTime him or something." She said.
…
The boys and I crossed the street, Oliver holding onto Malcolm's hand as they hurried ahead of me. We were meeting Ezra at The Brew before going to see what's playing at The Rosewood Theater. Last time we checked, they were playing The Wizard of Oz but we don't know if the boys would want to watch it. Also, the flying monkeys might frighten Oliver. They waited for me in front of the music shop like they know to do.
"Can we race?" Malcolm asked as I walked up.
"Alright, but be mindful of other people and don't race right in front of the doors." I said
"Say one, two, three go." Oliver told me.
"Ready? One, two -." I started but they cut me off.
"Puppy!" They both exclaimed before running towards the puppy.
"Ask to pet the dog first!" I yelled after them.
"Aria."
Hearing his voice, I froze. This cannot be happening, there is no way. He cannot be here, this close to me or my kids. The restraining order should still be in effect even though he's supposed to be in jail. Holding my breathe, I turned around to see Jason Dilaurentis standing there, his hair longer than it was since he's been in jail.
"They could've been our kids." Jason said, watching the boys.
"You stay away from my kids, stay away from Ezra and stay the hell away from me." I snapped.
"We can be together now." Jason said and I bursted out laughing.
"Yeah right! Like I want to be with someone who wouldn't leave me alone despite being told no and who also kidnapped me!" I said.
"I did my time, counting the days until we could be together." He told me.
"We are NEVER going to be together. Leave me alone." I exclaimed.
"Why are you denying your feelings for me?" He questioned.
"I have ZERO feelings for you! Get that through that head of yours!" I snapped.
"We got to pet the puppy mama!" I looked to see Oliver and Malcolm.
"Malcolm, take your brother and I'll meet you at The Brew. Here's some money to get something for you and your brother." I said, quickly handing him
"If you want coffee, get decaf." I told him, hoping it'll work.
"Come on Ollie, let's go." Malcolm said, trying to figure out if he knew Jason.
"Just admit it, you want to be with me." Jason said as soon as the boys were out of earshot.
"The only thing I want that involves you, is for you to leave me the hell alone!" I exclaimed.
"Who do you think protected you from Mona in the shed!" He exclaimed.
"It sure as hell wasn't you! It was Toby! You on the other hand beat Toby up anytime he protected me!" I shouted and I remembered something that I haven't remembered before.
"Then there's the times you smacked me because I was crying for Ezra!" I snapped and Ezra appeared.
"You stay away from my fiancée!" Ezra exclaimed.
"Or else what?" Jason smirked.
"You don't want to find out. Remember last time? It'd be worse than that!" Ezra snapped at him.
Neither of us said anything as Ezra wrapped an arm around my shoulders, leading me away. How the hell did Jason even manage to get out? Oh… my… god, what if he escaped? Mr. Hastings hadn't mentioned Jason being released or escaping
"Aria baby, are you alright?" Ezra asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I am now." I said, realizing he had me leaning against a wall.
"Want me to go beat him up?" He questioned and I shook my head.
"No, then you might get arrested." I pointed out.
"Defending you is worth it to me." He said and I arched an eyebrow.
"Fine, but if it comes to it… I'm beating the crap out of him." He said.
"We might want to get a move on, if we want to get to the theater." I told him and he looked worried.
"Are you sure you're still up for a movie?" He asked.
"I could use a distraction." I said, my arms around his neck
"I won't be able to distract you the usual way…. they'll just interrupt." Ezra said and I knew he meant the boys.
"Malcolm said you said he could have coffee." He told me.
"I knew he would get the message to you….also, I told him decaf." I said as Ezra let me into The Brew
"Malcolm, Ollie, let's get going." He said, looking at the boys.
"Hope they have sour green apple and watermelon icees." I said as the boys walked out.
"Fifty fifty shot, but what if they don't have them? Ezra asked carefully.
"I'll be sad but then I'll get my backup of cherry lime with a mix of pina colada." I told him.
"Want me to call ahead and ask?" Ezra asked and I shook my head.
"Your backup sounds pretty good actually." He said, after a moment of silence.
The boys raced each other, stopping at every parking meter or tree. Ezra slipped his hand in mine and I laced our fingers together. The Rosewood theater has been through a bunch of renovations thoughout the last couple years, playing slightly more modern movies - at least from the eighties and nineties. Now there's three medium sized theaters in there instead of the one big one. Ezra lifted our hands up and pressed his lips to my hand, throwing a wink at me when I caught his eye.
"I called earlier and they're playing Hedi, safety First, and Wizard of Oz." I said.
"What movie do you guys want to see?" Ezra asked, looking at the boys.
"Poppy corn!" Oliver said and Ezra chuckled.
"You can have popcorn lil man, but we gotta decide what movie to watch." Ezra told him.
"The Wizard of Oz might scare Ollie." Malcolm said.
"Nu uh!" Oliver argued.
"Yeah huh! There's a witch and flying monkeys." Malcolm argued back.
"Nu uh!" Oliver repeated and I shared a look with Ezra.
"Alright you two. Either pick a movie or we will. Or. we could just go back home and there won't be a movie" I said.
"I'm not raid of mokeys." Oliver pouted as Ezra stood him on the ground.
"What about Heidi?" Malcolm suggested, pointing to one of the Shirely Temple movies.
"Good idea, why don't you guys go get the snacks while I go get the tickets." Ezra suggested and handed me his card.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Surprise me." He said, kissing me.
"Ugh, are you two gonna do that the whole time?" Malcolm complained.
"We would, but you two are here." Ezra told him and I giggled.
"Ew." Malcolm groaned
"You asked." Ezra reminded him.
"Okay, okay. Stop torturing our kid Ez." I said
I took Oliver's hand and walked with the boys into the theater, towards the concession stand. Malcolm grabbed a bag of sour patch kids and Oliver raised his arms for me to pick him up. He is the only kid I know that wants just popcorn during a movie, someone could offer him a big bowl of candy to eat during a movie and he'd want popcorn instead. Which, I'm not complaining about, since I don't like him having too much candy. Seeing the icee flavors they had, I saw that I'll be getting my backup.
AN - Ya'll are gonna hate me for this. But I'm taking another hiatus from Home. Lately I have not been motivated to write the chapters I have planned out, but I still have a few chapters left that are all ready to be posted. I'll keep posting those chapters but then after that it might be awhile before I post again. I'm sorry this keeps happening during this story, it's just been a struggle for me to get chapters done and now like I said before I have no motivation for Home or very much time between work and taking care of a family member. Plus, I kind of started a new story and I've been focusing more on the new one. I hope you all understand. I'll try to make myself write Home during my hiatus, but I also feel like maybe I need a small break from it.
