Prologue

It is a cool Monday morning and the second week of summer and the weather report predicted tolerable outdoor temperatures for the day with mid afternoon showers which will be perfect for nap time. Ezra had just left for work and Hanna will be by soon to drop the girls off for the day. Aria walked into the playroom to check on the kids before going back to finish packing their things for today, she was planning on taking them to the zoo and possibly the park if they aren't tired after the zoo and the weather was still pleasant to be in.

"Mama!" Jax screamed and ran to her the minute he saw her enter the room. Jackson was 2 years old and a mama's boy. He was always following her around, that is, when he is not terrorizing his sisters and cousins. Aria stooped down and scooped him up as he ran into her arms.

"He buggy, what's wrong?" She asks him taking a piece of paper towel to wipe his tear stained face.

"Kennedy was trying to get him to leave us alone so she told him there were monsters under here" Sydney says from beneath their fort.

"Oh Ellie stop scaring your brother" Aria warns her before turning back to her 2 year old. "Its ok buggy, mama won't let the monsters get you ok." He nods. Just then she heard the doorbell followed by a knock. "That must be your aunty Hanna."

She opened the door to find a very annoyed looking Hanna with Callie in her arms. "Morning Hanna, Rylie, what's wrong with Callie?" Aria asks

"Morning, Callie isn't feeling well today. She had an Asthma attack this morning and she seems to be gaining a temperature." Hanna informed her

"Oh you poor baby" Aria says while stroking her hair. She looked up at her aunt for a moment and let out a faint hi before placing her head back on her mom's shoulder.

"We have to take Emily to her well baby exam today or I'd just stay home with her."

"It's ok, I'll keep an eye on her. Plus that would mean she wouldn't get to go to the zoo with us today" Aria replied. At the sound of the word zoo Callie's head shot up for a minute and she gave Aria a faint smiling before it returned to its resting place on Hanna's shoulder. Rylie who had been standing quietly by Hanna during all this also started smiling and jumping up and down "I knew you'd love that"

"Hey why don't you go on inside Ryls" Hanna told her and she said good bye to her mom and stepped inside the house.

"The girls are in the playroom go on a head I'll be in in just a minute" Aria informed her, she was about to run for the playroom when Aria stopped her. "Wait Rylie take Jax with you. Don't worry there aren't any monsters in the fort I promise" Aria assured him before placing him on the ground and he and Rylie ran off together.

"Ok here is their bags. Her Asthma pump in the side pocket and Rylie's epipen is in the pouch on the inside of the bag. Oh and I had Caleb put their booster seats in the garage." Aria took the bag then Callie and she said goodbye to Hanna before closing the door and headng back inside. She put the girls' bag in a couch in the living room before going to put Callie who had started to fall asleep down for a nap. She then grabbed the baby monitor and head for the playroom.

…..

Around 10 Aria gathered up the kids and took them to the car, she then packed the bags, stroller and carrier into the trunk, made sure everyone was secure then got in the driver's seat. When she got to the zoo she took out the stroller and carrier. As it was only a double stroller she had Sydney and Callie ride in it, she put Jackson into the carrier and strapped it on. Rylie and Kennedy had to walk beside the stroller.

They walked around the zoo and stopped at each enclosure to look at all the animals. All the kids enjoyed being at the zoo and learning about the animals, even Callie got excited when she saw the monkeys but Jax wasn't a fan of the roaring of the lion at which point the touring came to a hault and they had to stop and wait for him to calm down.

By 12 the kids were getting tired and hungry and so Aria took them to a seating area at the zoo and allowed them to have lunch. She was appreciative of the break because she herself was becoming tired. After they had lunch and used the bathroom she brought them back to the car and packed up while they got themselves seated in their respective seats. She checked they were secure as usual before getting in. As she noticed they were all pretty tired she decided to just head home with plans of if the rain held up after their naps she would take them to the park then.

As she drove into the garage she noticed they had all fallen asleep, so she parked the car and instead of waking them up and posibly risking the loss of nap time she decided to take them in while they slept. She grabbed Jax and Sydney first because they were the closest to her. It had been a long and tedious process but she managed to get all kids into bed without waking them. By the time she was finished she was too tired to go get the bags and found herself falling asleep on the couch clutching the baby monitor.

….…..

Ezra came home around 4:30 to find the kids watching a movie while Aria was in the kitchen preparing dinner with Jax at her heel trying to get a cookie.

"Peace mama cookie" Jax begged

"I said no Jax. No cookies before dinner" Aria scolded at which point Jax noticed Ezra standing there and turned to him for help with persuading his mother.

"Daddy cookie peace"

"Jackson your mom said no, so sorry buddy I can't help you" Ezra told him and ruffled his hair before turning his attentio to his wife. "Hi sweetie, how was your day?" he asks and kisses her

"Hi" Aria sighed and smiled "Long, tiering but very worth it"

"Yea? What did you guys do?" He asked and lift up Jax who was hanging onto his leg crying

"Yea, we went to the zoo"

"You went to the zoo? That must have been fun" Ezra replies this time talking to Jackson and wiping his tear stained face.

"Yea we saw monkey and lion scare me, make me cry" He replied

"Oh you had fun tho right?" Ezra asked him and he nodded enthusiastically. He then walked to the living room where the girls were watching their movie. "So you guys too caught up in tinkerbell to talk to dear old dad?"

"Daddy you're home" both Syd and Ellie says in unison jumping up to hug him

"Hi uncle Ezra" Both Callie and Rylie greated from their spot on the floor.

…..

They had just sat down to have dinner when the phone started to ring. "I'll get it" Aria says getting up to answer the phone. "Hello"

"Aria? It's Ashley"

Aria: "Oh hi Ashley is everything ok?"

Ashley: "Do you still have the girls?"

Aria: "Yea Callie and Rylie are here but Emily is with Hanna why?"

Ashley: "Oh no"

Aria: "Oh no? What do you mean oh no" She asks becoming alarmed. By this time Ezra was making his way over to her.

"What's wrong Aria?" Ezra ask to which she shrugged her shoulders

Ashley: "I just got a phone call Hanna was in an accident"

Aria: "Oh my God is she ok? Who was in the car with her"

"What's wrong?" Ezra asks again worriedly

"Hanna met in an accident" Aria whispered trying to ensure the kids don't hear her

"Oh my God is she ok?"

"I don't know, Ashley says that's all they would tell her over the phone." She answers

Ashley: "They took them to Rosewood Memorial. I'm going there now"

Aria: "Ok I'll meet you there"

End of call

"Could you call my mom and see if she can come over and watch the kids please so you can take me to the hospital. I don't wanna drive." Aria asks Ezra

"Yea sure, no problem. But Aria, what are we going to tell the kids?"

"Nothing yet. Let's just go to the hospital and see what happened before we tell them anything" Aria replied and then head upstairs to their bedroom to grab a jacket, her purse and shoes.

…..

That's it for the prologue guys. I have a lot planned for this story and I just hope you guys love it so far. I hold these characters near and dear to my heart and I just want to ensure I do them and this story justice. Please leave a review, good, bad or indifferent I love them all and all are welcomed. If you review with your penname I will reply whenever I can. Thanks in advance.

-Cavine