Chapter 12:
"Ezra Timothy Fitz!"
Ezra jumped at the sound of his mother's voice echoing through the waiting room.
"Mom, what-" Ezra started but his mother quickly cut him off.
"How dare you not tell me that your father is in town!" Dianne said angrily, glaring at her son. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out?!"
"Mom, I was going to-"
"No, you weren't. Don't lie."
"Mom." Ezra said firmly. "People are staring. Please lower your voice."
Dianne looked around the waiting room, just realizing that people around her were looking at her curiously. "What are you looking at?" she snapped to a man sitting nearby. He quickly averted his gaze. Ezra gently grabbed his mother's arm and lead her outside.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you." Ezra said gently.
"Honey you can't just keep these things from me. Can you imagine what would happen if I just happened to be out getting a coffee and I ran into Todd?" Dianne stressed.
"I know mom, I'm sorry." Ezra said.
"What did he say?" Dianne asked.
Ezra sighed. "He said he heard about Daisy and wanted to see how we were doing."
"But?" Dianne asked.
"But he mentioned some stuff about how he never wanted to leave and just a load of crap. I can't believe he'd think I'd just up and forgive him!" Ezra said, starting to get angry again.
"He's full of it. Don't listen to him and if he ever tries to get in contact with you again, let me know." Dianne stated firmly although something in her expression seemed off.
"Mom, are you okay?" Ezra asked.
Dianne looked him in the eye and nodded. "Yes, sorry. I'm just...a little shaken, I guess. I didn't expect to see your father again."
"It's okay mom, we'll figure this out." Ezra said, smiling reassuringly at his mother. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
"Thanks honey." she said, hugging him back. "I'll be fine. I'm sorry, you've already got enough to deal with, with Daisy still recovering and another baby on the way.
"It's fine mom. Don't worry about it." Ezra replied. "Although I should probably head back, visiting hours end soon and I want to say goodnight."
"Of course!" Dianne replied, watching him go and trying to hide her sadness as she thought of how long it had been since he'd hugged her before today, and knowing that he would never hug her again if he found out the truth about his father.
*PLL*
"Hey, where were you?" Aria asked, smiling up at Ezra as he entered Daisy's room.
"Long story. I'll explain later." Ezra replied and bent down to kiss his daughter's forehead. "Hi sweetie." he cooed.
"Dada." Daisy gurgled, lifting her tiny hand and touching her fist to Ezra nose. Ezra smiled and placed his finger on Daisy's nose, chuckling.
"How is my baby girl doing?" he said, gently lifting her up, thankful that there were no more tubes attached to her.
"The doctors said that we can take her home tomorrow." Aria said with a huge smile on her face.
Ezra smiled too as his eyes met hers. "That's great!" he exclaimed. "Hear that baby, you're coming home with me and mommy tomorrow!" Ezra said, kissing his daughter's forehead.
Daisy gurgled in response.
*PLL*
On their way home from the hospital, Aria noticed that Ezra had been distant, not saying a word.
"Everything okay?" she asked him, taking his hand.
"I don't know." Ezra replied after a pause. "My mom found out about Todd."
"What? How?" Aria asked.
Ezra shrugged. "She's mom, she finds out everything. Remember the first time you met her?"
Aria cringed. "I try not to..."
Ezra chuckled softly. "Yeah well, she knows that he's in town and I'm just worried that she's going to do something crazy."
"Like what?" Aria asked, running her hand up and down his arm.
"I don't know. I'm not sure if she still has feelings for him or not. This could range between he doing something insane to try and win him back, or her trying to get back at him for leaving."
"Maybe you're not giving her enough credit. Isn't there a chance that she'll just move on?" Aria reasoned.
Ezra shook his head. "Not if she's the same mother that I grew up to know."
Aria sighed. "Is there anything we can do to prevent her from doing anything?"
Ezra hesitated. "I don't know. I called Wes and he said he'll keep an eye on her but I don't think that will do very much. I guess we're just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out."
"Are you sure there isn't anything we can do? I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm taking your father's-"
"He's not my father." Ezra said stubbornly.
"Fine, I don't want to sound like I'm taking Todd's side" Aria emphasized "but I wouldn't want to unleash your mother's wrath on my worst enemy. And...okay don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way..."
"What is it?" Ezra asked.
"Well, from what you told about your conversation with your fa-...Todd, I was thinking and, what if he came back for a reason?"
"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.
Aria hesitated. "What if there's more to the story than you know? I mean, when we first started dating, my parents were going through some major stuff because my mom found out about my dad's affair with Meredith. Back then you told me that sometimes parents work through things on their own, just adults, and the kids don't know about it. What if something like that happened with your parents?"
Ezra shook his head. "No, trust me Aria, there was no agreement, there couldn't have been."
"Why not?" Aria asked gently.
"Because..." Ezra struggled to find a reason. "Just because. I would know."
Aria decided not to push him on the subject, remembering how she'd felt all those years before when Ezra suggested the same thing about her parents. But Ezra started to wonder if maybe there was some truth to what Aria was suggesting.
What to you think? Did Ezra's parents reach some sort of agreement? And is Dianne going to do something crazy? How many of you thinkDianne still loves Todd?
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Everything's just really crazy with school these days and I barely have any time to write. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up soon though, if I can.
Let me know what y'all thought of the chapter and if you have any ideas/suggestions, I'd love to hear them :)