After lunch entered the conversation, it quickly became all Aria was able to think about. As she and Ezra left the parking lot of Babies R Us, they debated over where to eat. Aria was craving something greasy and Ezra was dutifully trying to remind her of the fact that she was vegan.

Or at least claimed to be.

Her stance on the matter had gotten significantly more blurred the further she progressed in her pregnancy.

In the end, Baby Fitz won out and Aria and Ezra found themselves on their way back home with one specific destination in mind: The Apple Rose Grille. Ezra could get whatever he wanted, and Aria would be able to satisfy her thirst for meat.

Ezra swiftly pulled up along the street and parallel parked, getting Aria as close to the entrance as possible. He threw the car into park, got out, and made his way around to help Aria do the same.

"You know, I'm not so pregnant that I can't open my own door," she said with a smile as he reached down to take her hand. He pulled her to her feet, and tried his best not to comment on the muffled grunt that came as she struggled to stand the first time.

"I know you're not," he said with a smile. He led her to the sidewalk and shut the door behind them, giving the key fob a punch, sending a short series of beeps into the air. "But that doesn't mean I can't still help you."

"You're very good at helping," she said, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes too good."

Aria's stomach growled the second they walked through the door. "Oh my god, that smells good," she said, closing her eyes and leaning into Ezra's side. "What do you think that is?"

He slid his arm around her back and let his hand rest at her waist, grazing the space where her belly met her hip. "I would say that's hamburger," he said, sarcasm lacing his voice.

She looked up to meet his eyes, her mouth hanging half open in mock surprise. "Dick," she said through a laugh.

"Dick," he said right back, mimicking her cadence. He pulled her in a little tighter and kissed the top of her head. "You know I'll love you even if you eat meat, right?"

All Aria did in response was lean back to look at him, raise her eyebrows and mumble something unintelligible in acknowledgement. "As soon as she's out, I'm going back to my vegan ways."

Just as he was about to make a retort, a hostess walked over and led them to a table. Ezra pulled a chair out for Aria, holding her hand as she seated herself and helping her scoot into the table before moving across from her to take his own seat. He knew that by being overly attentive, he was probably doting on her too much, but he enjoyed it and she had yet to push him away. The fact that she was pregnant, and getting further along as the days passed provided the perfect opportunity to hold her hand just a little longer and pull her in a little closer. There had been many days where all he wanted to do was absorb some of what she had to go through, but he wasn't able to, and so, he had made it a point to go out of his way to make her pregnancy as easy as it possibly could be.

He might not have been doing a perfect job, but he hoped that what he was able to do made her feel more comfortable. Or at the very least, loved a little extra.

Once Ezra was seated at the other side of the table, the hostess handed them each a menu and placed her arms behind her back. "Your waitress will be right with you," she said.

Aria leaned back in her chair, subconsciously resting a hand atop her round belly as she flipped through the menu. Ezra took a mental picture, memorizing the way her hair fell over her face in its small, messy pony tail, and the way she bit her bottom lip as she stared at the menu with intensity.

Even though he knew she would one hundred percent be eating a burger of some type, he appreciated the fact that she was at least giving the rest of the menu a shot.

When their waitress finally came by, Ezra and Aria each ordered water, and when she brought the drinks back to the table, Aria had pretty well decided that, as she expected, nothing else on the menu sounded as appetizing as a nice, greasy burger.

Damn Ezra's genes. Damn her hormones. Damn her vegan diet.

"Do you need a few minutes?" the waitress asked.

Ezra looked across to Aria who was still drooling over the menu. "I think a few minutes would be good," he said. "Thanks."

Aria looked up from where she'd been focused, trying to decide between fries or onion rings, and waited to speak until the waitress was out of earshot.

"Thank you for giving me an extra minute," she said. She reached out for her water and drank it halfway down before coming up for air. "I think I'll keep you," she said with a wink.

"Good," Ezra said. "I was worried you were thinking about exchanging me for Stacee."

"Ugh, no, she spells her name with two e's. I could never."

"Heaven forbid one have two e's in their name."

"It's a tragedy, really," she said. "Actually…" she looked over the menu, holding the edge so that it covered the bottom half of her face. "Do you care if I go use the restroom?"

Ezra smiled. "Do you want me to order for you?"

"Oh, god, yes," she said. "Please don't make me order a double cheeseburger and extra fries. I'll be mortified. I love you."

"There's nothing wrong with being hungry, Aria," he said quietly. "Plus, you're growing a whole human."

"I know," she said defensively. Then, thinking better on it, she quieted her tone and said again, this time sweetly, "I know," and gave him a soft smile.

She laid the menu down on the table and started to scoot her chair back but paused a moment later. She stared at him, a lazy grin spreading across her face.

"What?" he asked.

Her cheeks tinged slightly and she looked about, checking their surroundings. "I wonder if they have a family restroom…"

"Aria Montgomery," he said slowly, eyes wide.

"What? It's just a question."

"A very loaded question…"

She rolled her eyes, wondering briefly if he'd intended the pun or not.

She assumed not. He was a little too innocent to think that up on the spot.

She was about to slip her hand across the table and suggest that they satisfy a different kind of appetite first when she was interrupted by a kick to the bladder. Instead of sliding her hand into his, she moved it to her lower abdomen.

"Woo," she said, her face scrunching up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah; we're good. That was a hard one and she's still working on it." She smiled through the discomfort, looking down at a small, raised trail that was making its way across her waistline. "All jokes aside, she's sitting right on my bladder and I legitimately have to go now, or we might have an embarrassing accident on our hands." Letting her shoulders relax and sufficiently pushing all horny feelings aside for the moment, she forced herself up and out of her chair.

"No onion," she said as she left the table in search of the restroom. She let her hand trail over his shoulder, dragging her nails across the sliver of skin exposed at his neck as she passed and leaned down to whisper, "I owe you."

As soon as Aria closed the door to the bathroom stall, her phone started ringing. She bent to peek under the stalls, checking to see if there was anyone else in the bathroom before pulling her phone out of her back pocket and answering the call.

"Hi, Mom," she said, squeezing the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"Hi, honey, how are you?" Ella said on the other end. Aria did her best to maneuver into a sitting position while staying on the line.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice relaxing as her bladder was relieved. "Just using the bathroom."

"Oh, sorry, you didn't have to answer if this was a bad time…"

"No, it's fine. We're out at lunch and I'm afraid I would forget to call you back later if I didn't answer."

"Baby brain," Ella said.

"Yeah, something like that…"

Aria was trying her best to keep her voice down but it was hard in the tight, empty space. There was nothing on the walls to absorb the sound, so her conversation seemed to bounce from stall to stall. Just as she eased up and was resituating her pants, the door opened and she could make out the sound of footsteps coming inside and stopping at the vanity. Ella was in the middle of checking Aria's availability for her shower the following weekend when she had to cut her off.

"Mom?" She waited until she had Ella's attention. "I'll make sure that I keep my whole weekend free. I need to get going though. I can text you later if you need me to – or better yet, you just text me if you need something." She attempted to reach a leg up to flush the toilet, but the bump at her waist kept her legs from moving that high. Instead, she grimaced and reached a hand out, pressing down on the damp handle. She cringed as she pulled her hand back.

As she opened the stall door and made her way out, she told Ella goodbye and stuffed the phone back in her pocket. Then, there, staring back at her from the reflection in the mirror, was a face she had not expected to see.

"Aria," said the woman before her, "I thought that voice sounded familiar! How are you?"

"Mrs. Welch," Aria said through gritted teeth, hoping against all odds that it seemed like a smile more than dread. "What are the odds?"

"Well you know Rosewood…" the older woman said. "It's hard to go out without running into someone."

Aria continued to grin and tried her best to push down the awkward feeling that was rising in her chest. She moved up to the sink and began to wash her hands, and as she reached forward for soap, her waist hitting the counter at the perfect spot, she watched Mrs. Welch's eyes grow as she took in Aria's belly, it's size, and the ring on her finger.

"Oh, my," she said. "When are you due?"

Aria inwardly blanched. She had half a mind to play it off like she wasn't pregnant. How anyone thought it was a good idea to assume a woman was pregnant was beyond her. Out of nothing other than spite and slight amusement, Aria wanted to make her old teacher feel the repercussions of a question of that nature. However, as she too looked down at her belly and then up into the reflection of her body in the mirror, she realized that there really was no way around it at this point.

Her small frame only accentuated the protrusion, making it terribly obvious that she would be giving birth in the coming months. Gone were the days of hiding under sweaters and scarves, of pretending like she'd simply gained a little weight. She was round and the baby was no longer sitting as low as she had been. Instead of saying any number of the things she wanted to say, Aria instead smiled and continued to wash her hands.

"I'm due in about fourteen weeks," she said, looking to Mrs. Welch out of the corner of her eye. She pulled away from the sink and shut off the water, then reached for a paper towel to dry her hands.

"Congratulations. You have to be so excited."

"I am," Aria said. She threw the paper towel in a nearby trashcan and tried to finish the conversation by framing her belly and commenting on how exciting the whole experience had been so far.

Unfortunately, all that seemed to do was distract the woman from her tube of lipstick and cause her to think she was being given the go-ahead for more questions.

"So," she started, eyeing Aria's left hand. "I see there's a lucky someone in the picture…Are you still Aria Montgomery, or should I be congratulating you on more than one occasion?"

"Still a Montgomery," Aria said dryly, dragging out the word "still". She forced another smile, but her cheeks were beginning to feel taut. "We haven't set a date yet. Kind of waiting for this little lady to make her debut."

"I see," she said, seeming to finally catch Aria's reluctance to share anything further. "Well Ella must be very excited. I haven't seen her in a while—tell her hello?"

"I will," Aria said kindly.

Aria took this same moment to make her way toward the door, hoping that Mrs. Welch would stay behind and finish her business. However, as she dropped the tube of lipstick into her purse and followed Aria out the door, she realized that wouldn't be happening.

Now Aria was faced with another dilemma.

She could see Ezra straight on, though he had yet to see her on account of looking at his phone. Since Mrs. Welch was still rambling about what a great class Aria had been a part of, a fact Aria felt really should be debated, she figured there wasn't a good chance the woman would change course until she either arrived at her own table or Aria sat down first. And judging by her pace, it didn't seem like she'd be reaching her table until after they would pass the table where Ezra was waiting for Aria.

Which meant Aria had two options. Take her seat opposite Ezra and deal with whatever Mrs. Welch's comment would be… or to pretend like she wasn't with him and hope to god he picked up on what was happening.

Just thinking about doing that to Ezra made Aria's stomach hurt. She couldn't pretend she wasn't with him.

Just as they were approaching the table, Ezra looked up and Mrs. Welch was all too excited by the fact that she had now seen two familiar faces. There was no way she was going to keep moving without stopping to say hello.

"Oh my word," she said, cutting herself off from asking Aria about Mike and drawing the attention of a few nearby tables. "The chances of seeing you both here, and at the very same time? Aria, you remember Mr. Fitz, don't you?"

Ezra's eyes were wide as he looked between his pregnant fiancée slash ex-student and his former co-worker. His mouth had dropped a little in surprise and it was clear that he was fumbling as he tried to form words appropriate for the situation.

Aria cleared her throat and smiled between the two. "Yes," she said, nodding. "It's been a while since you two have seen each other, huh?" She chose her words carefully and lowered her voice as an attempt to keep listening ears from being privy to their conversation. She did not need a simple lunch turning into a scene.

I should have lost her at the bathroom door…. Aria thought.

"Ezra, how are you?" Mrs. Welch proceeded to ask. "Aria and I just ran into each other in the bathroom and we were talking about what a small town Rosewood is. Can't go anywhere without running into an old face…" Aria continued to stand, pleading silently for Ezra to fix this situation. Mrs. Welch just kept babbling. "How long has it been since you graduated, Aria? Has it been five years? I think it has… Five years—and to think so much has changed!"

She rather awkwardly stuck her hand out and placed it at Aria's midsection.

Ezra's mouth dropped open and he reflexively stuck a hand out to intervene.

Thankfully, Mrs. Welch was too much in her own world to notice.

"She's due in, what'd you say? Fourteen weeks?" She looked between Aria and Ezra. "And she's engaged. I tell you what, Ezra," she looked over to Ezra, her hand still on Aria's belly, "nothing makes you feel older than when you start running into students who are having babies of their own."

"I—" Ezra wanted desperately to say something, but he wasn't sure what. How do you bring up that you're marrying an old student…and that the baby she's carrying is actually yours?

Mrs. Welch let her hand drop back to her side and Aria visibly relaxed.

"I just can't get over the odds of seeing you both here. I'll tell you, this year's class is really just out of hand. We could use a teacher like you back at RHS. You always had a certain…connection. Don't you think Aria?"

Aria's mouth dropped open and Ezra's ears began to ring.

"Do you ever think of it?"

Ezra continued to stare at the spot where the older woman's hand had been resting on Aria's baby bump, weighing the awkwardness of telling her now or letting her find out some way later. His heart was beating too quickly. Surely she wasn't implying…

"I'm sorry?" he said.

"Of coming back and teaching," she said. "You had such a connection with the students! We have an opening, and the students this year could really use a good teacher like you; do you ever think of coming back? I'm sure I could put in a good word…"

"Oh," he let out a breath. "Well, I don't know if that it's really in the…" he looked to Aria, trailing off, his tone giving away his uncertainty. "I'm not sure that's in the plan right now."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure; between the coffee shop and your writing. I think I heard from someone that you have a new book out, is that right? Aria, you're really lucky to have been taught by someone as highly accomplished as Mr. Fitz," she said, looking to Aria, who quickly pulled her face together into an expression that showed less discomfort. She ran her hands down the front of her shirt and back, subconsciously wiping away the wrinkles and the awkwardness of the situation. By this point, she was sure the whole of Rosewood was staring at them.

"Uh, yes," Ezra said. This was his opening, his chance to say something…and he was going to take it. "Actually…Aria and I, we co-wrote that book. We're really excited about it."

Aria cleared her throat from behind Mrs. Welch's shoulder and made a face at Ezra, urging him to wrap the conversation up.

"Is that right?" she asked. "What a small world."

"Yeah," Aria added. The whole thing was moving painstakingly slow and it was clear that Mrs. Welch wanted nothing more than to stay for the rest of the afternoon catching up with Ezra. Which wouldn't have been any of Aria's business had the seat across from him not belonged to her.

But seeing as it did…and seeing as she was growing increasingly tired of standing with the extra weight she was carrying…

"Actually, uh, Ezra and I…" she eased herself into her seat and let a shy smile work its way forward, hopeful that it would ease the surprise of what came next. "We're engaged, and, well," she looked down and let her hands rest on her belly for the hundredth time. "I don't know if there's a lot else that needs to be said about this one," she said, her hands once again finding their resting place. She was genuinely smiling, and as soon as the words had left her mouth, she realized that she didn't care what Mrs. Welch thought. She wasn't a child anymore, he was no longer her teacher, and for all she knew, they'd reconnected sometime over these past few years and their whole relationship was totally kosher; totally without fault. "It's funny how things happen, isn't it?" she added for good measure.

Ezra was finally able to close his mouth as he watched Mrs. Welch process what was being said. It would be an understatement to say that the air around them was filled with awkwardness. It had far surpassed that and moved into a completely unknown territory.

Finally, it seemed she was able to speak—something that hadn't been hard at all until the curveball of all curveballs had been released.

"Well," she said quietly. "It seems many congratulations are in order." She visibly drew herself back, silently trying to wrap her mind around the situation. "I'm so very happy for you both," she said finally.

Aria nodded, her brow creased as she tried to assess whether or not there was any sincerity to her words. Ezra reached across the table, and held his hand out, silently asking for Aria's. When she placed her small fingers within his grasp, he traced his thumb over her knuckles.

Ezra looked like he was about to say something just as their waitress came back with a tray and their order. They dropped each other's hands and moved back, making space on the table for her to place their meals. Neither of them had ever been so thankful to see food.

"I should let you two eat then," she said.

"It was nice to see you," Aria offered.

"Yes, it was a great surprise. Tell your husband I said hello," Ezra said.

"I will," she said. She looked between them a moment longer but didn't say anything. She shook her head absently, as if to push away a distant thought, then adjusted her purse before making her exit.

Aria watched as she headed for the door and left the restaurant altogether.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" the waitress asked.

"No, thank you," Ezra said with a curt smile. As the waitress turned to leave, he gave Aria a wide-eyed glance. "I didn't think Mrs. Welch was ever going to leave," he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

"She was on her way out," Aria said. "I just watched her leave. No wonder she wasn't in a hurry." She picked up a fry and shoved it in her mouth, savoring the flavor and every ounce of grease. "You know, I always thought she had a little bit of a thing for you…I had her senior year for a lit class, and she'd always find some way to bring you up."

"Oh, stop, you're exaggerating," Ezra said before taking a bite of his own meal.

"No, I'm not," Aria said, a burst of laughter escaping between fries. "She seriously loves you. I could feel the disappointment oozing off of her as I continued to hover. Clearly she wanted you to invite her to take a seat."

"Now you're just being mean," he said casually. "She's never been anything but sweet, and I think that could have gone much worse. We should be thankful she's as daft as she is."

"Well there's no doubt there. God, she almost caught us in school, what? Three, maybe four times?"

"I don't want to think about it."

"That one time, when I was very obviously not there for help on an assignment...What were we even thinking? I was entirely too close to you, and in a public setting."

"At school," he added. "Really, if we don't change topics I might lose my appetite."

"Fair," Aria said, picking up her burger and taking a bite. They chewed in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, locking eyes every so often, each of them quietly remembering different instances when they could have easily been caught.

"It seems like you're getting more comfortable with announcing the baby," Ezra offered. He held a fist up to his mouth and talked around a mouthful of food. "Are you getting more excited?"

"I've always been excited," Aria defended, wresting her wrists on either side of her plate so that the grease from her burger didn't drip on her clothes. "It's merely gotten a little easier to embrace being more forward with the news now that she's nearly impossible to hide."

Ezra raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Well let's just hope it comes as easily when we're telling my mother," he said dryly.

Aria looked past him and out the window, lost in imagining what that scene would look like. "God," she said, her voice filled with dread. "I do not look forward to that day."

By the time they got home, the sun was starting to set and the sky was growing darker by the minute. After lunch, Aria got another phone call from Ella and they'd had to swing by the Montgomery home to pick a few things up.

Aria went around the apartment, turning on lights as Ezra heaved the last of their purchases through the door. They had both been well aware that the apartment was small—too small for three people to live in—but it hadn't registered quite as well as it was in this moment. Standing there among all the boxes, knowing that it was only a fraction of what was to come made the realization strike a little more powerfully.

In just fourteen weeks, there would be a baby, and with that baby came a lot of stuff…and all of that stuff needed a place.

"Where are we going to put this," Ezra asked, leaning against the box containing the baby's crib. It easily stood as tall of Aria.

She eased herself down onto the couch, resting her elbow along the armrest and propping her head up with her fist. "I guess in our bedroom?" she offered. "We really need to find a bigger place. I have no idea what we're going to do."

"I know, I've been looking through the listings…but…"

"You don't want to stay here either, do you?" she finished for him.

"No," he said. "Do you?"

"Not particularly." Aria leaned her head back along the cushion behind her. I can't imagine living here for the rest of my life. I don't want to raise my kids here. Is that selfish? I want to be near my parents, but… five, ten years? I don't want to get trapped here."

"Then let's look for something nearby, but outside of Rosewood."

"You think?"

He pushed himself off the box and walked over to sit next to Aria, swiveling her legs around so that they were sitting in his lap. One at a time, he removed her shoes and her socks and began to massage her feet.

"Why don't we at least look? I think we owe ourselves at least that much. This town has put you through hell."

"You saw how happy Ella was though," Aria countered.

"Right now, I don't care about Ella's happiness." He stopped his movement on her feet and reached a hand out, letting it rest on her knee. "You two are my top priorities, and we're going to do what's best for you. It's okay if what's best for you…isn't Rosewood."

Aria moved her feet off his lap and turned so that her back was to his chest. She leaned back and let her head rest this time on his shoulder before looking up and into his downward gaze.

"I love you," she said. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"It's my pleasure." He touched his nose to hers then angled his head so that he could reach her lips. "Why don't we scope out a place to put the crib," he said. There was a glassy look in his eyes.

Find a place for the crib, they may, but it certainly would not be the reason they ascended the stairs.

AN: I know that didn't really serve a purpose, but I thought it would be funny if they ran into Mrs. Welch. I was planning on taking the month of November off to work on NaNoWriMo (personal writing, not fanfiction)...but that got to be like a chore, so I wrote something fun instead haha I don't know if I'll get another update in before December. Hopefully I can get focused and do what I was supposed to do in November, but clearly I'm not on track right now. And if I stay off track, I guess that's better for you all...

Let me know what you thought. There are a lot of fun scenes coming down the pike, and hopefully we start to get a little closer to a little someone's arrival. I don't want to drag this out forever, but at the same time, I'm having fun throwing random stuff in here and there. Please leave a review! They make my day and they help me gauge what type of scenes you like to see.

Thank you to the guest who was concerned over whether or not I was doing okay - I am! I am 100% fine, just a lazy writer!

Oh - and I wanted to send a special hello to Laura, if you're still reading that is ;)