Aria's POV

I got out of bed, and looked over at the empty bed I left behind me. I thought about the last week, when I had been sleeping alone, banishing Ezra to the couch. I couldn't be around him right now. I couldn't be around anybody right now. I couldn't see my children. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. I couldn't look at Ezra. I couldn't look at my parents, I couldn't even look at the pictures in the hallway.

I silently poured myself a cup of coffee and made myself a waffle by putting it in the microwave because our toaster had been broken and nobody but I had noticed. Ezra was still asleep and was about to fall off the couch, one foot on the floor. He had one arm under a couch pillow, and a smile on his face. He whispered my name, as his expression became more and more troubled. I pushed a curl out of his face and I knew at this moment I was wrong. I wasn't mad at Ezra. I was mad at me. I couldn't believe how I had pushed him away, how I had locked the door of our bedroom so that he couldn't get in.

I turned so he could sleep in peace. I made myself a waffle, and then realized it just wasn't enough. This baby was making me so god damn hungry, and the doctor told me not to drink any coffee, and as I had been harboring an addiction to it from a young age, it was reeking havoc on my ability to function. Or wake up for that matter. I poured myself a bowl of cereal, and as Ezra walked into the room (I had obviously woken him up), I turned to face him. He looked at me with a quizzical look on his face. I ran into his arms, and felt safe in his embrace.

"Your parents are coming today," he said, looking down at me with those eyes. Oh, the color of his eyes were so deep I felt as though I would die looking into them. They conveyed every emotion, spoke every word, without his mouth opening.

"Oh, they are..." I said. I hadn't seen them since the day of the accident. Their kindness made me want to disappear. They loved me even though...everything.

"Yeah, they want to see the kids. Thats okay right?" I looked up at him, and nodded half heartedly.

Ezra's POV

The doorbell rang at about 10:30 am, and I opened it. Outside stood Ella and Byron, bearing coffee and gifts. Ella smiled and hugged me, but Byron just gave me a nod and kept walking. Byron never liked me much, ever since the day he found out about me and Aria. He always thought I was just a phase, but when Wyatt was born unexpectedly, and then Lily, he knew he was stuck with me. I'm not a phase. I am here to stay.

"Hi to you too Byron," I mumbled to myself, shutting the door behind him. Aria hugged her mom and dad, as the kids came running down the stairs to jump into their grandparents arms. They handed them their gifts, which were just sugar highs wrapped in paper. I smiled as Lily tore into the paper and Wyatt carefully undid the tape. Aria looked over at me, as Ella talked to her at 200 miles and hour. I could see Aria trying to keep up with Ella as best she could, which wasn't well. Byron took me to the side.

"Ezra," he said, looking at me sternly, "you have to help her through this. You've never been my favorite person, I'm going to be honest. But thats my little girl, you need to keep her safe," he turned his head to look at her, then turned back to me, and said, "you're the only person who can do it, you're the only one she trusts."

I turned to look at Aria, who was running her long fingers through her hair, and biting her lip ever so slightly. She was beginning to fill out, and even with the healthy glow surrounding her, she looked so stressed, unlike when we had the other two. When we had the other two, she was always smiling, always happy, now she put on a fake smile and laughed as though every time she did so, it was a knife in her heart. I watched her and her mother and thought, maybe this was all my fault. Maybe...it was me.