Aria's POV
"Higher, Mommy! Push me higher!" My five year-old daughter Hope squeals, as the swing she's sitting on begins to drop.
I don't know if I should push Hope higher. If I do, she might fall and hurt herself. I don't want Hope to get hurt... It's my absolute worst nightmare.
"Honey, let's go play with Gregory and Daddy." I suggest as I grab the swing by its chains, so it will stop moving up and down.
"Okay, Mommy!" Hope exclaims before jumping off the swings, and running over to the grass field, where my husband and eleven year old son are playing catch.
Gregory immediately sighs when he sees Hope. Even though he loves his little sister, I can tell the fifth grader wants some alone time with his father. I don't blame him. Gregory spent the first five years of his life away from Ezra, and part of me thinks he still hasn't gotten over the shock of actually having a father.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Hope shouts as she sprints to Ezra, and holds her arms out as wide as they can go.
"Hi there, princess. What are you doing here?" Ezra asks as he scoops the little girl into his arms, and offers her a soft kiss on the forehead.
"I want to pwway with you, Daddy." Hope says with an adorable little giggle.
Ezra chuckles before putting the five year-old down, and walking a few feet away from her. Next, Ezra grabs the football and tosses it softly. Hope holds her arms out, but misses the football completely. Gregory laughs a little, and I immediately shake my head, hoping he won't make his sister feel badly.
"I'm bad at pwaying catch, Daddy." Hope says, as her chin begins to quiver.
"No-No you're not. All you have to do is keep your eye on the football. I'll throw the ball again, and you'll watch it until it's in your arms. Understand?" Ezra asks, as he grabs the ball.
Hope nods, and Ezra throws the ball even softer than he did the first time. Hope does what her daddy says, and watches the football until she catches it cleanly. Hope begins to squeal in excitement, and run around like a little maniac. She's too adorable to resist, so I quickly grab my phone, and snap a picture of my beautiful daughter...
"Aria! Earth to Aria!" My husband exclaims as he takes a seat next to me on the king sized bed in our temporary hotel room.
"Sorry." I mutter before looking up from the photograph, and focusing my attention on the love of my life.
"You seem a little distracted. What were you looking at?" Ezra asks me curiously.
"Just this old picture of Hope." I say before handing Ezra the picture.
Ezra's lips curl into a smile, as he stares at the picture of our baby girl. After a few minutes of admiring our daughter, he puts the picture down, and wraps his muscular arms around me. Even after all of these years, I still feel sparks when Ezra holds me like he's doing now. I feel so safe and loved when I'm with him.
"She's beautiful, Aria. Just like her Momma." Ezra says before planting a soft kiss on my forehead.
"Hope was so small when we took that picture of her." I say with a long sigh.
"No need to start reminiscing, Aria. In case you're forgetting, Hope's still incredibly small. She takes after you in that department." Ezra says with a playful smirk.
"Shut up. You know what I mean." I say as I punch my husband softly.
"I do indeed. Hope's growing up way too fast, and so is Gregory. Speaking of our little squirts, do you miss them?" Ezra asks me curiously.
"Of course I miss them." I say as I cross my arms over my chest.
"I miss them too, but I'm glad we have some time to ourselves." Ezra says with a mischievous smile.
"Oh really? Why is that, Mr. Fitz?" I ask with a smirk.
"Because we can do this." Ezra mutters before leaning closer to me, and pressing his lips against mine.
I moan, and Ezra continues to kiss me passionately. Yeah. I'm definitely glad we're alone right now...
"And this." Ezra says as he breaks the kiss, and squeezes my ass playfully.
"What about this?" I ask as I pull away from Ezra, and take off the over-sized t-shirt I've been wearing.
"Oh yeah. That's wonderful." Ezra mutters as his breathe hitches in his throat.
Before I can respond, my cell phone begins to ring. Who the hell is calling me this late at night? It's midnight, and people should assume that I'm either asleep or spending quality time with my husband.
"Damn it." Ezra says with a disappointed sigh.
"It's okay. We'll let it go to voicemail." I say as I lean into my husband, and attack him with my lips.
We continue to kiss, and eventually the call goes to voicemail. Thank God. Or not... Less than five seconds later the person calls back. Maybe I should answer the phone. Whoever is calling seems persistent, so it must be somewhat important.
"Ezra, I should get that." I say as I reluctantly pull away from him.
"Seriously?" Ezra asks with a breathy sigh.
"Yes. It could be important." I say as I pick up my cell phone, and realize that Gregory is the person calling me. What does he want this late at night? I hope everything is okay back in Rosewood...
"Hello?" I ask as I pick up the phone.
"M-Mommy..." I hear Gregory say through his heavy sobs.
Mommy? Even though we're extremely close, my son hasn't called me that since his twelfth birthday. What on Earth is the matter? Could he be having problems with Kennedy? Maybe he's nervous about something?
"Honey, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" I ask as my voice begins to soften.
"N-No. It's not okay." Gregory says through his tears.
Now I'm starting to get nervous. Gregory is just like Ezra. They always try to put on a brave face for me. If Gregory says that something is wrong, it must be really wrong.
"You're scaring me. Are you safe? Is Hope..." I start to ramble.
"No. Hope got hurt tonight. She got really, really, really hurt..." Gregory says as he begins to cry even harder, if that's humanly possible.
"What happened?" I ask, with panic in my voice.
"Someone raped her." Gregory says in a barely audible whisper.
W-What? I try to process this, but I can't. H-Hope? My little Hope? No? This isn't real. Gregory is just playing a joke on me. A terribly cruel joke.
"Hope told me she was sleeping over at Rebecca's house, but she went to a huge party instead. A senior completely took advantage of her. I'm so sorry Mommy." Gregory says as he begins to choke on his own tears.
"C-Can I please speak with Hope?" I ask, as tears begin to pour out of my eyes.
"No. They're doing a rape kit on her right now..." Gregory starts to ramble.
"And she's alone?" I ask as my eyes grow wide with shock.
"Yes. She wanted me to stay in the room with her, but I couldn't take it. I kept thinking of you." Gregory says as he begins to hyperventilate.
This isn't the Gregory I know. My Gregory would have stayed in the room with his little sister, and held her hand through the entire process. That's how I raised him, and that is who he is. How could he abandon Hope at a time like this? What happened to the little boy who used to hold my hand when I couldn't sleep, and hug me after a nightmare that seemed all to real?
"Gregory, I need you to listen to me. Go back into that room, and stay with Hope while they collect all the evidence. Do you understand me? Do not let her out of your sight!" I say, practically screaming at my son on the other end of the line.
"B-But..." Gregory starts to ramble.
"But nothing! Hope is your baby sister. You have to be there for her. Your father and I will meet you at the hospital." I say, as tears begin to spill out of my hazel eyes.
"Okay." Gregory mutters before hanging up the phone, and leaving me with thousands of unanswered questions.
As soon as I put my phone back on the nightstand, I burst into tears. How the hell did this happen? Gregory had to grow up extremely fast due to our circumstances, but Hope? Hope was supposed to be our ray of hope. All of us wanted to shelter her for as long as possible, and protect her from all the evils in the world. This wasn't supposed to happen to my baby girl! It's not fair!
"Aria, what's going on? Please just tell me. I'm getting nervous." Ezra says as he rests a hand on my shoulder.
I take a good look at my husband. Moments ago, he was overjoyed to be enjoying a weekend away with me. Now he's apprehensive, and in a few moments, his life with change forever. What did we deserve to do this? Why is it always one problem after another for us? For our precious children?
"It's Hope. Someone raped her." I say, as I avoid looking into my husband's blue eyes.
"O-Oh my God." Ezra says as his voice begins to tremble.
I finally build up the courage to look at my husband's face. He looks the same as he did the night I opened up to him about what happened to me in that room. He seems hurt, angry, and confused all at the same time. Even though I'm upset, Ezra is probably even more sad than I am. Both his wife and his daughter have been victimized at the hands of another man, and there's nothing he can do to change it.
"E-Ezra..." I start to say.
"Who the fuck did this to her? I'm going to KILL him, Aria.I swear to God!" Ezra says, as he begins to raise his voice.
"I-I don't know who did this to our baby, Ezra. I don't even know the full story." I say as I shake my head slowly.
"Well, we're going to get the full story. We're going to ask Hope what happened, and then we're going to go after that son of a bitch!" Ezra says, practically screaming.
"Ezra, no." I say, as I rest a hand on my husband's shoulder.
"No?" Ezra asks as his eyes grow wide with shock.
"We have to make sure that our daughter is okay, before we start lighting the torches. Hope is probably still in shock, and all of us need time to process this. We're going to go to the hospital, and make sure that she's stable physically and emotionally. She can tell us what happened in the morning, if she's feeling up to it. We have to be patient with her, Ezra. Rape isn't an easy thing to deal with. Especially when you're a fourteen year-old girl, who hadn't even had her first kiss..." I say as I begin to cry so hard, that I'm physically shaking.
Ezra begins to cry even harder, as he pulls me close to him, and begins to stroke my long hair. He doesn't say anything for a moment. Instead, he holds me in his arms, and rocks me gently, as though I'm a small child who needs to be comforted. I do need to be comforted. This is so difficult.
"Sh-sh. It's going to be okay." Ezra whispers into my ear.
"B-But that's the thing. It's NOT going to be okay. You have no idea how hard it is, Ezra. Do you know how many nightmares she's going to have over this? How many times she'll cry herself to sleep because she feels so violated? Hell, it might take her years to open up to another guy! She might never be able to fully trust anyone ever again." I say, as I begin to raise my voice.
"Jesus Christ, Aria! Don't think that way! Hope is going to be fine. She's a fighter, and she has us to help her through this." Ezra argues.
"How am I supposed to help her through something like this, Ezra? We haven't even told her about Nick, the room, or anything that happened before she was born! I won't be able to talk to her about it because I'll start crying, and it will be so damn hard for me to stop!" I say, practically screaming.
"So we tell her once we get back to Rosewood. She'll understand why we kept the truth about the past from her, Aria." Ezra says, trying to calm me down.
"No! She's dealing with enough! Do you honestly think we need to dump all of that on her too?" I question.
"Aria... I don't know. I just don't know. We don't have to worry about that right now though. Like you said earlier, the only thing we have to worry about tonight is making sure that our daughter is okay. Let's drive back to Rosewood, and see her. We don't even know what happened." Ezra says with a breathy sigh.
I nod my head slowly, and Ezra offers me a soft kiss on the forehead. I know he's right. We have to get to Rosewood, as soon as possible. The only thing that matters right now is our hazel-eyed baby girl.
Line Break
After a three hour car ride from New York City, my husband and I finally arrive at the Rosewood Memorial Hospital. We sprint up to the front desk, and my husband immediately begins to speak.
"We're looking for our daughter. Hope Fitzgerald." Ezra says through his heavy breathing.
"Are you her parents?" The woman working the desk asks us seriously.
"Yes. We came all the way from New York. Please just tell us where she is." Ezra says, practically begging.
The woman nods, before typing something into her computer. After a few seconds of scrolling, she finally speaks up.
"Your daughter is in the ER. Second floor, room 209." The woman tells us softly.
"Thank you!" Ezra exclaims before grabbing my hand, and hurrying us up the flight of stairs.
Once we get to room 209, my husband doesn't hesitate to barge in, without knocking or asking questions. My heart stops when I see Hope laying on the hospital bed, with tears pouring out of her hazel eyes. Hope's eye makeup is completely smudged, and she honestly looks broken. Gregory, who is holding her hand, looks even worse. My son seems like he's had all the life sucked out of him in a single night. I know exactly how he feels.
"M-Mommy!" Hope exclaims.
"Hope!" I exclaim before sprinting to my daughter, and wrapping my arms around her lovingly. I begin to kiss her forehead repeatedly, and silently thank God that she's here with me, and not with the asshole who hurt her.
"Let's give Hope some time with her mother." Ezra says before gesturing towards the door. My son and my husband exit the hospital room, leaving me alone with my daughter.
"Mommy, he hurt me..." Hope says as she begins cry even harder.
"Sh-sh. I know, honey. I know someone hurt you. It's going to be okay though. We don't have to talk about it tonight if you're too tired and upset. Let's just focus on making sure you're healthy, and then getting you home. We'll deal with everything in the morning, or whenever you feel like opening up to me." I say as I stare into my daughter's hazel eyes.
"It hurts." Hope says through her heavy sobs.
"What hurts?" I ask her gently.
"Everything." Hope says, as her voice begins to tremble.
"I know, baby. Trust me, I know." I say with a breathy sigh.
"B-But that's the thing. You don't know." Hope says as she shakes her head slowly.
She's wrong. I do know. I probably know even better than she does. Hope doesn't need to know that though. I can tell her my story another time, when she's not so upset. This isn't about me, or what I went through with Nick. It's about Hope, and what happened to her tonight. That's the only thing that matters in the entire world.
"You're right. I don't know how you're feeling. All I know is that I love you, and that you're going to be okay." I say, as I try hold back tears.
Hope doesn't say anything else. Instead, she buries her face in my chest, and continues to sob. I begin to stroke the girl's curly brunette hair, and hum to her softly. I close my eyes, and pretend that Hope is five years old again. She fell of the swing set, and broke her arm. That's why she's crying. Her bone broke, but her heart is fine. Except that it's not...
"Hope, who did this to you?" I ask, in a shaky voice.
At first, Hope doesn't respond. She sighs, and begins to shake her head vigorously. Maybe she's not ready to talk. That's okay. I'm not going to push her tonight.
"I don't know who did it. The room was dark, and I couldn't see anything." Hope finally spits out.
"So someone just... Attacked you?" I ask, as my eyes grow wide with shock.
"Yes. I didn't even see the person's face, or hear their voice." Hope mutters.
This is worse than I thought. How are we going to catch the person who did this, if Hope didn't even hear his voice? What if he gets away with hurting my little girl?
"It's okay. We'll figure out who did this to you. The police probably already have his DNA in their system..." I start to ramble.
"When can I go home?" Hope asks me suddenly.
"Soon, baby. I'll have Daddy talk to your doctors, okay?" I ask her gently.
Hope nods, before closing her eyes and curling up against my side. This is going to be a long night for all of us.
AN: What did you think of this chapter? Do you like Aria and Hope's bond? How will this effect Aria? Why did Hope lie to Aria about what happened? Please review and tell me your thoughts! I'm going to start updating every Thursday, so make sure to look for my updates :)
Side Note: Two guests have left me reviews regarding Hope and Gregory's relationship. Just so everyone is clear, there will NOT be incest in this story. If I have made it seem like Gregory and Hopes relationship is unhealthy in anyway, I apologize. The reason I included that scene with Gregory in the room during the tests was because one of my best friends was raped this summer, and her Dad was the only person at the hospital. Even though she felt uncomfortable with her dad seeing her naked, she really didn't want to be alone, and that's how Hope was feeling towards Gregory. To be honest, I was a bit concerned too when I saw the reviews that asked for Hope and Gregory to be in a relationship too. Honestly I just assumed that people were confused and didn't realize that they were siblings, or they meant it in a different way somehow. Now that I have that cleared up, I hope everyone is comfortable reading this again. Thanks for your support!