Chapter 5:

Previously:

"Ezra? Is that you?" a feminine voice asked.

Ezra stopped in his tracks, frozen. He recognized the voice immediately although it had been at least 4 years since he'd last heard it."Maggie?"

Now:

"Ezra, I need to talk to you." Maggie said, sounding scared and nervous.

"About what? The fact that I have a son that you've hid from me for seven years?" Ezra said angrily.

"How did you-" Maggie started but Ezra cut her off.

"It doesn't matter how I know, all that matter right now is that you lied to me for seven years about something so huge. What the hell were you thinking?" Ezra said harshly.

"I was 18, and I was scared! And your mom came along and said she'd help me raise my baby if I promised not to contact you. What was I supposed to do?!" Maggie said, frustrated.

"I could have helped you raise him! Our son was fatherless for seven years, Maggie! Did you ever stop to think how that might impact him?" Ezra asked.

"EVERY DAMN DAY! Don't you think it hurts me when he asked me if his daddy would be at his birthday party every year since he was 4? Don't you think it hurts me when I see him staring at a picture of you, looking lost and upset? Don't you think it hurts me to know that I've deprived him of a father's love because I needed money to take care of him?" At this point she was sobbing hysterically.

"Maggie, listen to me. Just-just calm down for a moment, okay? We need to figure out what's going to happen next but we can't do that unless we're both in our right minds." Ezra said, letting his more sensible side take over. After Maggie's outburst, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the woman. It couldn't have been easy to be a single mom and 18, especially alone. He was still mad about this whole situation but he wanted to work through it, so he needed to keep his emotions in check.

"I'm so sorry." Maggie whispered into the phone.

"Shh, just take a deep breath." Ezra soothed. "Now, listen to me. I want to meet him."

Maggie sighed. She wasn't crying anymore, but Ezra could hear her sniffling through the phone. "I know. And Malcolm's been dying to meet you for years. Just...can I have some time to talk to him about this first? Just a few days, please?" Maggie asked, sounding desperate.

Ezra thought for a moment. As much as he wanted to meet his son, it was only fair to give Maggie a chance to try and explain some of the complicated situation to Malcolm. He had waited all these years, a few more days wouldn't kill him. Besides, Aria would be getting discharged in a day and maybe, if she was strong enough, she could go with him. Ezra didn't think he could face this alone. "Fine, you have until the weekend." he said firmly.

"Thank you so much, Ezra! I'll talk to Malcolm and you'll meet him soon. He looks a lot like you, he has your eyes." Maggie said, and Ezra could hear the smile in her voice. He smiled at the thought of meeting his little boy.

"I can't wait to meet him." Ezra said, before hanging up.

*PLL*

"Everything okay?" Aria asked, as Ezra walked back into the room. She could tell that he'd been crying, his eyes gave that much away. But he didn't seem sad exactly.

"That was Maggie. Aria, I-I'm going to meet my son in three days." Ezra said, looking up at his girlfriend who reached for his hand and squeezed it.

"That's amazing! How do you feel?" Aria asked.

"I honestly don't know. Everything's just so...surreal. I'm excited, scared, happy, nervous, and about a million other things." Ezra said, sounding lost.

"Hey, everything's going to be fine. Malcolm's going to love you and you're going to be a great father." Aria said, smiling reassuringly at him. Ezra lifted his hand to push a stray lock of hair away from her face.

"Thank you. I honestly don't know what I would do without you." Ezra said, love and affection evident in his gaze.

"Hey, I'll always be by your side. The doctor said I can leave tomorrow, do you want me to come with you when you meet him?" Aria asked.

Ezra smiled. "You're conveniently forgetting the strict orders for bed-rest."

Aria laughed. "Darn it! You always manage to catch me." she teased, then became serious. "But seriously, Ezra if you want, I can come with you. I feel totally fine, and you're more important to me than some silly bruises." she said. Her attempt to look strong utterly failed when she winced while leaning back against the bed.

"Aria, I saw that. And you're not going anywhere like this. I'll tell you what, I'll ask Maggie to bring Malcolm to my apartment so that you can be there. I really don't want to meet him without you. I need all the support I can get." Ezra said. "Thank you for being there for me. I know it can't be easy finding out that your boyfriend has a son, but I'm really glad that I have you through all this. I don't think I would be able to do this without you." he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently.

"I'll always be there for you, no matter what." Aria promised.

"I love you so, so much." Ezra said, looking into Aria's hazel eyes.

"I love you too." Aria said, gently pressing a kiss to his lips before leaning into his chest. They were sitting like this when Ella walked into the hospital room.

"Ezra, could I borrow you for just a minute?" she asked. Aria sensed something was wrong right away. She knew her mom well enough to know when something was up.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just needed Ezra's help for a minute." she assured her daughter but Aria could tell she was lying.

"Mom, please don't lie to me. What's going on?" Aria asked, dreading what was coming next.

"We'll be back." Ella said, leaving the room.

Ezra got up, promising to be back soon. He followed Ella into the hallway and Aria could see them talking through the window of her room. At one point, Ella started to cry and Aria just wanted to get up and hug her mother. Byron came then and he comforted his wife, letting her cry into his chest.

Ezra came back a moment later, his face white. He sat down next to Aria, taking her hand in his.

"Ezra, what's going on? Why is my mom crying?" Aria asked, fear making her voice shake.

"Aria..." Ezra looked at her, tears in his own eyes.

"Ezra, please just tell me what's going on." she begged.

"Spencer's...Spencer's dead."

Please don't hate me for this, I know many of us love Spencer but I had to do this. Please review and don't stop reading yet. There's more to come!