Enjoy! :)

Chapter 5:

Aria stood outside Ezra's apartment. Today was the day. Today, she was going to meet the seven-year-old boy that called her boyfriend "Daddy". She wanted more than anything to walk back to her car and go home, but she knew she couldn't do that. She had promised Ezra that she would meet Malcolm today, and she knew how disappointed he'd be if she bailed on him. So Aria took a deep breath and opened the door.

Ezra and Malcolm were standing over a train set, concentrating hard on where each piece went. When the door opened, the two of them looked up. Ezra smiled when he saw his girlfriend and got up to greet her, his son following close behind, looking at Aria curiously.

"Hey babe." Aria said, giving Ezra a peck on the lips.

"Hey. Are you ready?" Ezra asked her, quietly.

Aria nodded, although she felt anything but.

Ezra leaned down to Malcolm's height and said. "Hey buddy, this is Aria."

Malcolm stepped forward and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you." he said, smiling.

Aria smiled back. "Nice to meet you too, honey." she bent down and shook his hand. His brown eyes were identical to Ezra's, and she automatically felt better looking into them.

"Dad, can we go to the park now?" Malcolm asked, tugging on Ezra's leg.

Ezra looked at Aria, who shrugged. "Sure, let's go bud." Aria laughed as Malcolm started running around, grabbing his jacket, shoes, and toys.

LATER:

At the park, Ezra pushed Malcolm and Aria on the swings, both of them screaming to go higher. It was times like this where Ezra marvelled at how adorable Aria was when she acted like a child. She was so mature, most of the time he forgot there was any age gap between them, but seeing her like this made him remember how much older he was, and frankly, he didn't care. He loved her no matter how old they were.

"Higher dad! Aria's gonna beat me if you don't push harder!" Malcolm shrieked, trying to push himself higher than Aria.

"Ezra! No fair!" Aria mock-complained as he pushed Malcolm higher.

Ezra laughed. "Hey, I can't make both of you win!"

Malcolm and Aria grinned mischievously. "Well, I guess you're going to have to pick one of us." Malcolm said.

"He's got a point. Who's side are you on?" Aria teased, high-fiving Malcolm when their swings came level with one another's.

"Hmm...who to choose..." Ezra said, pretending to think. Then, catching them both by surprise, he held out his arms and stopped both swings.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Both of them shrieked as they chased Ezra around the playground. Soon enough, Ezra had to catch his breath and his son and girlfriend attacked him. The three of them fell to the grass, laughing.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here!" someone sneered behind them. Aria and Ezra froze, immediately recognizing the voice, but Malcolm turned around, staring at the brown-haired jock. Before Aria or Ezra could stop him, he ran up to the boy.

"Hi! I'm Malcolm. That's my daddy!" he said pointing at Ezra. "Want to play with us?"

Noel looked between Malcolm and Ezra repeatedly and then looked at Aria for a moment, before resting his gaze on Ezra. "You have a kid?"

Ezra stared at Noel for a moment before responding stiffly. "Yeah."

"Wow! Because and I thought your relationship couldn't be any more messed up." Noel sneered.

"Back off Noel!" Ezra said, threateningly.

"And if I don't?" Noel challenged.

"Noel, what do you want?" Aria said, interrupting them.

Noel ignored her and turned back to Malcolm, who was still standing in front of him, looking slightly confused. "Hey buddy, you wanna know a secret?"

"Malcolm, come here." Ezra said to the eager little boy.

Malcolm looked between Noel and his father. He slowly started to back away from Noel, towards his father and Aria. Noel grabbed his arm to stop him, and Ezra got up.

"Noel. Let. Go. Of. My. Son."Ezra said, enunciating each word. He was standing in Noel's face now, but the teenager just laughed.

"And what if I don't?" he challenged.

Ezra's muscles tightened as he restrained himself from hitting Noel. Aria quickly moved between the two, trying to prevent something from happening. "Ezra, let's go. We don't have to deal with this." she said, glaring at Noel as she yanked his arm off of Malcolm's.

Malcolm quickly moved away from Noel once his arm was free and he went straight into Ezra's arms. Ezra picked him up and, with one more glare at Noel, he started to walk away. Aria started to follow, but then stopped.

"You're really a jerk, you know that?" Aria said, coldly.

"So I've heard." Noel drawled.

Aria slapped him. "Stay away from Ezra. Stay away from Malcolm. And stay away from me." she said, leaving a stunned Noel holding his cheek as she went in the direction of Ezra's car.

"Damn, that was awesome." Ezra said, grinning at her.

Aria rolled her eyes. "He deserved it."

Ezra leaned towards her. "That is one of the many reasons why I love you." he said before pressing his lips gently against hers.

"EWW!" They broke apart, remembering there was a seven-year-old in the backseat. Aria blushed, and Ezra couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked as he drove off towards home.

Next chapter, there will be trouble in paradise. Sorry for the wait! March break is in a few days so hopefully I'll update more then. A HUGE shoutout to HarrylovesGinny09 who gave me the idea for this chapter! Shoutout to Brennan'Ezria Lover, who was the reason I updated today.

Don't forget to review, leave me you suggestions. Let me know what you want to happen next chapter. :)