Ezra was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, little bits of hair drifting to the sink's basin as he took his razor to the shaving cream that covered his face. He'd let his beard grow in a little, per Aria's request, but he couldn't stand the scruff anymore. Whenever he caught a glimpse of his reflection, it reminded him a little too much of the Ezra who drank all day and did nothing but mope around.
That wasn't the man he wanted to be and he didn't want any hint of it coming back. Not even in appearance.
From somewhere in the distance, he heard a muffled tumble. He stopped what he was doing for a second and focused on the reflection of the doorway behind him.
"Aria?" he called out, a fraction of fear beginning to course through his veins.
"I'm all right," she hollered, her voice carrying down the stairs and into the bathroom. His reflection visibly relaxed, his shoulders sinking down and loosening significantly. He was about to return to the left side of his face when she spoke again. "On second thought, do you think you could come here for a second?"
She didn't sound hurt, or terribly distressed, but there was some sort of catch in her voice, and he didn't quite know what type of situation he was going to be walking in on. Placing the razor on the counter beside the sink and wiping his hands with a towel, he made his way out of the bathroom and off to find his fiancée. He just hoped he was able to find her before she was eaten by whatever had caused all the racket.
He entered their room expecting to see a small, pregnant Aria standing in front of their full-length mirror, an assortment of shoes and bags around her, a small crease in her forehead her brow furrowed…but that wasn't quite the scene that greeted him. Instead, his fears from moments before came true as he entered to find Aria sprawled out on the floor, a mess of clothes surrounding her, tears streaming down her cheeks, and a helpless look of defeat on her face. She was still wearing a towel and had a second wrapped around her head.
"Oh my god, Aria," Ezra said as he knelt in front of her, reaching out and moving his hands over her body as if he'd be able to tell whether or not something was broken just by touching her. "Are you all right? What happened?"
"Nothing fits," she said.
"Wait, so you're okay? You didn't fall?"
"No," she said, choking back tears. "I'm fine, I'm just uncomfortable." Ezra could tell there was a sob building in her chest and he wasn't sure what would make it better.
Aria watched as he looked on at her, taking in her current state. She knew she was being a blubbery mess, but sometimes…sometimes she just couldn't help it. Sometimes she just wanted to let it all out. And sometimes, absolutely nothing in your closet felt comfortable, and you were pregnant and bloated, and your boobs were too big, and not in a good way, and the glow your mom promised would come hadn't yet, and all hope of ever feeling normal or beautiful or like yourself again was flying out the window.
She'd read What To Expect When You're Expecting from cover to cover and she had expected to be full of energy and excitement at this point in her pregnancy. Sure, she'd had moments of feeling that way, and it had spiked during her fourth month, but she hadn't expected to plummet back into a bloated nightmare at twenty-two weeks. She shouldn't have assumed or let herself get the idea that she'd have an easy pregnancy. Had she expected the worst, she wouldn't be feeling as disappointed in the small discomforts she was facing.
"Can you just hold me for a minute?" she asked, her voice cracking and a fresh set of tears making their way down her cheeks.
"Of course," Ezra said, throwing himself out of his stupor and moving to sit next to her on the floor. "Come here."
Ezra wrapped both his arms around her, pulling the towel off her head and letting it fall to the floor behind them. He brought her in close to his body and tucked her head in the nook of his shoulder and chin, pressing gentle kisses atop her wet hair.
"You smell perfect," he whispered.
Aria let out a stifled laugh but it quickly turned into more tears. Ezra felt his heart spike and plummet in a matter of seconds. He wanted to fix whatever was wrong, but lately it didn't seem like anything he did helped, and that was something he tried not to hold against her.
Instead of saying anything else, he just continued to hold her and rocked her body gently side to side. Sometimes it just felt good to be held, and Ezra knew that.
This wasn't the first time Aria had been completely beside herself, and this definitely wasn't the first time she'd been upset over her clothes not fitting the way she expected them to. Ezra had found out the hard way that suggestions usually weren't helpful. He just needed to be patient and listen and eventually she'd run out of tears or her mood would shift, or Ella or Spencer would call and magically make it all better.
Leaving him feeling absolutely helpless.
He had a place and a purpose, but consoling her on these matters didn't seem to be one of them.
It was something he'd just had to get used to.
Ezra could feel Aria take in a deep breath – her shoulders inched up, her chest expanded, and her protruding belly eased out just enough to shift his own body a centimeter. It wasn't enough for her to notice, but it was enough to make him smile. Her breathing was evening out, she was calming down, and Ezra was growing more confident as each second ticked by. He decided that he would try to console her as best he could one more time.
"You know," he started, "we're not doing anything really important today. Why don't you put something cozy on and I'll get us both a cup of coffee and something to eat…and we can take our time running errands today." His voice was quiet and calm, and he whispered everything to her as he continued to hold her arms and rock her ever so gently.
She arched her head back and looked up at him. Her eyes were glistening with the residue of her tears but the second she looked at Ezra's face she had a huge grin and erupted in laughter. Ezra hardly knew how to respond.
This is exactly what happened when she had a mood swing. Inconsolable tears one moment, and uncontrollable laughter the next.
"What?" he asked, his voice somewhat reserved, somewhat reluctant. He didn't really want to know what was so funny. Odds were: it was probably at his expense.
Between peals of laughter, Aria tried to spit out what had her in such a fit. "You—"she took in a deep breath and calmed herself, looking him square in the eye. "You've still got shaving cream covering half of your face," she said with a smile. She reached up and wiped a bit off his eyebrow. "How did it event get that high on your forehead? You weren't planning to shave your brow were you? You know my offer to touch them up still stands. One of these days I'll get you while you're sleeping…"
"You aren't touching my eyebrows, for the last time, woman. But…say I was planning on doing a little manscaping of my brow line. Would you still find me attractive if I shaved them both clean off?"
She bit her lip and seemed to assess his features one by one, scrutinizing each feature until Ezra was unreasonably uncomfortable under her gaze.
"It was a joke, Aria," he said, slipping his hand up her towel and tickling the back of her thigh so that she jumped away from him and squealed.
"Promise to not call it manscaping and maybe I'll still love you," she said. "That definitely refers strictly to another area – and you can do all the manscaping you want down there." She leaned forward until her face was a centimeter away from his. She let her nose touch gently against his and whispered, "But I'll always find you attractive, Mr. Fitz. No matter what."
Ezra smiled and leaned up, capturing her lips in his and successfully transferring half the shaving cream on his face from his cheek to hers. Aria squealed again and pulled away.
Mood successfully swung.
"So." Ezra was hesitant to continue. Aria took in a deep breath, knowing what was coming. "What are we going to wear?"
She leaned back so that her hands were behind her and she was putting most her weight on her wrists. Looking around at the clothes on the floor, she let out a long and slow breath. Nothing sounded comfortable. She was past even caring what she looked like. She just didn't want to feel like she was going to explode, or pee, or pop a stitch at any given second.
Spotting a pair of maternity yoga pants, she reached out and moved them to her lap. "There," she said. "I think I'll just go topless."
Ezra rolled his eyes and tried not to smile. "I would appreciate that, but I'm not sure the rest of Rosewood would let you get far. Plus, it's supposed to be cold today. Do you want one of my shirts?"
Aria looked over to him, one corner of her mouth drawn up in a reluctant expression of thanks. "You're being very patient with me. Thank you." She took in a deep breath. "However, I don't even know if your shirts will fit anymore. At this point, I'll probably just be stretching them out."
"That's okay," Ezra offered. "I really don't mind. Clothes are replaceable."
"I know…" She ran her tongue over her lips then bit down on her bottom lip again. "All right, if you're sure. Give me whatever is the biggest."
Ezra nodded and pushed himself up off the floor before reaching down to help pull Aria to her feet as well. She moved to sit on the bed, picking up her towel along the way and continuing to ring out her hair as she sat on the edge of the mattress while Ezra stood over his dresser ruffling through piles of clothes.
When he pulled out the mustard yellow Hollis tee, Aria's heart just about stopped.
"Are you crazy? Put that back." She pushed herself off the bed and walked over to stand beside him, elbowing him out of the way until she had a better view of the drawer. "That t-shirt is perfectly worn and you're insane if you think I'm going to let it get stretched out by this." She gestured at her midsection.
"That happens to be our daughter, and it's your favorite, I just thought it might make you feel better."
"It is my favorite," Aria said, trying to even her tone. "Which is why I want to keep it in perfect condition until I can wear it again. Now. What else do you have to offer?"
Ezra simply raised his hands in surrender and backed away.
"Why don't I let you pick it out?"
"Oh, good grief," Aria said, rolling her eyes.
"Will you be okay if I go finish shaving?"
Aria threw her head over her shoulder and gave him a death glare.
"Hey, I'm just asking," he said.
Her features eased up a little and she gave him a tight smile. "Go clean yourself up. You look like you got into a fight with the whipped cream. I'll find something and get dressed. I don't think I'm going to dry my hair or anything."
Ezra was already walking over toward the hall. "It's pretty chilly out," he said, stopping in the doorway. "At least dry it. I'll make coffee and breakfast and we'll leave when you're ready. Take your time."
About an hour later, Ezra was helping Aria out of the passenger seat of his car and they were making their way into a Babies R Us. As soon as they entered the building, they were overwhelmed by aisles and aisles of clothes and toys and diapers and cribs…the store seemed to go on and on and the thought that they literally needed everything was more than they could handle.
"Okay," Aria said. "All we have to do today is register for what we want and—"
"And buy a car seat. And a crib. And a diaper bag…" Ezra was standing in front of the doors, which were continuing to stay open, letting in little bursts of cool wind. "And learn to be parents, Aria. We're going to be responsible for a whole person. We need to find a place to live."
"Ezra, breathe." Ara took his arm and pulled him off to the side, bypassing the giant selection of adorable baby clothes and ducking down an aisle of congratulatory cards and picture books. She took both his hands and held him at arm's length, trying her best not to laugh at the dazed look on his face. These were the moments where she saw what a great team they made. He was able to calm her down when she needed it, and hopefully she'd be able to do the same for him.
"Let's just start off simple. My mom was talking the other day about wanting to throw a baby shower…and I know for a fact that Hanna has already spoiled this little girl with more outfits than we'll have room for. She sends me a picture of a new onesie or frilly dress almost every night. Sometimes more than one."
Ezra was about to say something when a young woman popped her head out from around the corner. He and Aria both turned to face her and she smiled before coming all the way out past the shelf.
"Hi there," she said with an overly happy tone. She was wearing a vest and a nameplate that said Stacee.
Aria internally rolled her eyes at the double 'e' – the poor girl never stood a chance at finding a pencil or license plate with her name on it as a child.
She tried to make her own tone match Stacee's sticky sweetness. "Hi, how are you?"
"Great, thanks. Can I help you find anything today?"
Aria watched as the young woman looked right past her and made eye contact with Ezra. Had Aria not been the one to speak, she wouldn't have been sure whether or not the girl even knew she was standing there. Aria had to keep her mouth from dropping open. While she found it mildly amusing that this employee was clearly flirting with the father of her child, she was also a little perturbed.
Clearly this was not the place to try and make a move on someone.
Aria cleared her throat and held onto one of Ezra's hands a little tighter while taking her other hand and smoothing it over her abdomen. "We're just here to start a registry for this little lady," Aria said, still keeping her tone sticky sweet. She felt Ezra's thumb tap lightly against the side of her palm, which she knew to be a gesture of warning. She felt herself grin. He knew what she was doing, and she knew she was being borderline rude, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. "Is that something you can help us with?"
Aria watched as Stacee's lips formed a tight line and she redirected her attention away from Ezra. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave Aria a look that reminded her terribly of Alison when they were in junior high.
"I'd be happy to. You can follow me to the counter. What are your names?"
Stacee made to move past them and as she did, Ezra eased out of her way, drawing Aria's body in close to his and snaking his arm around her hips, a movement that Stacee surely couldn't see but he hoped would make Aria feel a little better. He playfully swatted her on the butt and leaned down to whisper, "What do you think you're doing?"
There was a lilt of happiness in his voice. She could have her fun making a point, but he didn't want her to think that she really had anything to worry about. He pulled Aria along a little, making to follow the girl to the counter and opened his mouth to speak as he did.
"The last name is Fitz," he said. "Aria and Ezra Fitz." Aria nearly tripped causing Ezra to stop and reach out to balance her. "Everything okay?"
She was holding back a huge smile.
"Yeah, sorry – I lost my balance for a second."
Stacee had stopped momentarily and was giving them an odd, sympathetic look, but Aria didn't even care. She leaned forward and gave Ezra a quick, light kiss lingering just long enough to where he knew it wasn't for Stacee's sake, but a genuine 'thank you' to him for what he was doing.
Giving his last name for both of them meant more to her than he could have known. Maybe it was silly of her, but not being married yet and having different last names made Aria feel extremely self conscious.
Regardless of whether or not the kiss had been intended to get under Stacee's skin, it seemed that it had. She cleared her throat and looked at them expectantly from behind the computer.
"Should we get started?"
"Yes," Aria said evenly. She'd put her fun and games aside for now.
About ten minutes later, they were both glad to be walking down an aisle with the power to scan at will and without the obligation to make polite small talk with any Babies R Us employees. Aria and Ezra quickly got into a rhythm, Aria took her time to walk up and down each row and would pick up things she thought looked cute or knew they would need, and Ezra would scan its barcode without hesitance. They were glad to find that they had similar taste in which products seemed more necessary than others, and which patterns were less garish.
After they'd been scanning for some time, Aria stopped and leaned her elbow against a pile of plush pillows.
"Can you believe this is really happening?" she asked him quietly. She pulled back the sides of her jacket and framed herself, letting her bourgeoning belly show more noticeably. Right where her navel was jutting out was a picture of a Mister Softee ice cream cone and she lightly traced the outline, letting her forefinger stop when it got to the top. "I guess different things hit me at different times. I don't know that I've quite gotten used to what all of this means for us."
"I think my meltdown when we walked in the door was a pretty real depiction of the thoughts going through my head right now," Ezra said lightly.
"I know, I'm sorry, this is overwhelming."
"That's not something you have to apologize for, and besides, it's not a bad kind of overwhelming…It's fun." He sat the registration gun down on one of the shelves and stood in front of Aria, placing the palm of his hand over Mister Softee's face. "Mister Softee spells his name the same way Stacee does."
Aria burst out laughing. "So you noticed it too?"
"For the past two weeks, names have been about the only thing I do notice."
"I know. We have to figure something out for this poor little girl. Have you come up with anything else?"
"Not anything I like enough to be worth mentioning. I'm still leaning toward a family name. We just have to settle on the right one. It'll come in time." He smoothed the fabric there over Mister Softee's face, letting his hand drift off to the side and around her waist, drawing her forward and into his chest. He held her against him, kissing the top of her head, and when she drew back to look him in the eyes, he let her go just barely. "I couldn't imagine doing any of this with anyone else," he said.
"Me either," Aria said quietly.
She pulled back and leaned against the pillows again, but this time, her eyes drifted beyond Ezra's and locked onto a place above his shoulder. She seemed to be thinking about something and if the way she was biting the corner of her lip, or the way her arms were crossed meant anything, Ezra would have bet there was something she wanted to say.
"Everything okay?"
She tore her eyes off the display of blankets and looked at him. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm just thinking…" she hesitated but didn't move, she'd started saying it so she would finish. She just hoped she didn't regret it. "I was just thinking about Malcom; wondering how he is. Is it weird that I think about him from time to time?"
Ezra's eyes grew and he leaned his head back. That wasn't at all where he though she was headed. He put a hand at the back of his neck and rubbed the muscles there before answering. Did he think it was weird? It had been several years since Malcom had been in either one of their lives, and he wasn't afraid to admit that he was glad in a way that things had turned out the way they had. He tried to think of where he'd be in this moment if Malcom had actually been his son; if he'd had to fully accept parenthood all those years ago.
He'd also be lying if he said he never thought about him, or Maggie…how they were and what they were doing. When they'd been talking about names and Aria had briefly mentioned Maggie, Ezra had stayed up for about a half hour just imagining what things would be like if she were still a part of the picture. What scared him to death was the fact that said picture may not include Aria. Or the small family they'd started to create on their own.
Though he missed Malcom at times, it wasn't in a way that made him wish things were different. Malcom wasn't his son, and it no longer felt like he was. Those brief months of living under a misguided sense of reality were nothing in comparison to the years that had passed since then. Ezra was glad in a way that Aria had been by his side through all of it, and that she thought of Malcom and Maggie on her own from time to time. He was glad to know he could mention them without bringing up a bad taste in her mouth.
"No, I don't think it's weird," he said finally. He let his arms drop to his side and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. "I've actually thought about him several times since we found out you were pregnant."
Aria crossed her arms again and pushed herself off the pillows. "I just can't imagine how anyone could ever keep this kind of happiness from someone else. No amount of money or bribery could have kept me from sharing this with you. It makes me sick to even think about it."
"You're not trying to tell me my mom offered you money, are you?"
Aria scoffed and gave him a look that could kill. "Are you kidding me? You'd know if your mom offered me something to keep quite. If you haven't told her we're having a baby, I doubt she's even aware. I certainly haven't talked to her. Plus, I'm sure we would have gotten a surprise visit if Wes had spilled the beans."
"Maybe we should…"
"What?" Aria looked at him in confusion. "Wait, are you being serious?"
"I don't know, Aria, she is my mom. Maybe we should tell her. Why not?"
"Ezra, your mom hates me. She is going to do everything she can to get me to go away."
"She doesn't hate you, Aria." He nodded his head to signal that they should keep moving and they both turned to keep walking down the row of bedding. "She just doesn't want me to be living the life I am, and she's bent on changing my mind. But. You know as well as I that nothing is going to change that."
"I just hate the idea of having to stand in front of her and tell her that we're having a baby. Though, in a way, it'd be a little easier than telling my own parents. At least Diane already doesn't think very highly of me."
Ezra couldn't keep himself from laughing at this. "Will you at least think about it?"
"Yes. But if we tell her I'm pregnant, we should probably tell her we're getting married while we're at it."
"Ohhh…but then we'd have to invite her to the wedding."
Aria stopped and tilted her head, looking up at him with thought behind her eyes.
"That's not a good look," Ezra said. "Am I going to regret opening my mouth?"
"Probably," Aria countered. "You know what. I think we should tell her. It's not fair to let her miss out on two significant points in your life. If she doesn't want to be a part of it, fine, that's different. But we should at least give her the option. Keeping things from her is only going to make her more upset."
The intercom overhead called for assistance in aisle twelve, putting a stop to their conversation for the moment. Aria and Ezra both stood silent and absentmindedly turned to look at their aisle number as a reflex more than anything else.
Ezra reached out and grabbed a light purple receiving blanket from a shelf beside him. He flipped it over in his hands and ran his thumb over the small circle which was cut out of the plastic in the front, allowing you to get a sense of how soft it was.
"Let's get this today," he said. "Actually, you know what? Let's go ahead and get a car seat and a crib and a few essentials while we're at it."
"That's going to be a lot all at once. Are you sure?"
Ezra nodded as he continued to look at the receiving blanket. "Yeah," he said after a while. "I think it'll be good to go ahead and get things set up and ready. She'll be here before we know it."
Aria smiled but didn't say anything. As she tucked her arm through his and they continued to make their way through the store, she tried her best not to let the bubbly happiness she was feeling spill its way out. There were plenty of roadblocks still to come, but for now, things were looking good and she didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize this feeling.
"I'll call Mom tomorrow and see when she's available for lunch. Sound good?"
Aria nodded her head. She reached up and rubbed the space between his shoulder blades as they continued to walk.
"Want to get that stuff and call it quits for today? Now I kind of want to grab lunch before we head home."
"Of course you do," he said with a wink. Aria dropped her mouth open in mock horror and gave him a light slap on the arm.
"That's no way to treat the mother of your child," she warned. "Especially if you want any help building a crib later. Or to sleep in the bed tonight."
Ezra held up both hands in surrender. "I take it back. I take it all back. What dost the fair maiden desire for midday luncheon?"
At the exact moment the words left his lips, Stacee came bounding out from the side of an aisles a few rows ahead of them, her overly eager nature causing her to wreak havoc on an end display, sending a tower of chewable zoo animals tumbling to the floor. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Aria and Ezra both ducked out of the way, going down an aisle full of breast pumps and bottles. Aria had a hand over her mouth and Ezra looked like he wanted to turn around and help the poor girl put the display back together while equally wanting to be anywhere but in this store at this moment. As soon as they made eye contact, they both burst out laughing.
"Let's just finish doing this online," Aria said through muffled snorts.
"I think that sounds perfect."
Author's Note: Hiiiiiiii :) I missed you guys.
I don't know about you guys, but I have also missed this story. I'm sorry it took me forever to get this chapter out and that it was nothing but fluffy filler. Hopefully you still found it entertaining. Let's be real though. The whole story is fluffy filler. It took me a very long time to get back into the swing of this story for some reason. I would probably benefit from watching 7A again simply for the sake of getting back into the characters. But anyway. That's enough of my ramblings.
PLEASE review and let me know what you thought! I'm excited to hear from you guys - it's been a while. As always, let me know if you have specific scenes you'd like to see, and I'll try to work them in somehow if I don't already have a plan for it.