Title - Ezria in LA.
Characters - Aria and Ezra
Story Summery - Following the adventures of Ezrias life as the years passed by. Starts 10 years after Arias High School Graduation. Ezria is married and they live in a big house in Los Angeles, California. Ezra is a teacher at LAs most known private school and Aria is a singer still struggling to become famous. Can they balance their relationship and a family or will their marriage fall apart when Aria gets offered an opportunity of a lifetime?
The court ordered paternity test
Ezrias POV
A few weeks later.
Aria still won't tell me what Jason and her where fighting about the day I interrupted them. Every time I try asking Aria about it she just tells me that it was a stupid fight and there was nothing to worry about. Aria used to tell me everything so what ever she is not telling me it must be something bad enough that she thinks I would leave her over.
Today was Rileys 11th birthday. Aria and I had promised her a day full of fun. We had even planed on skipping church since her birthday fell on a Sunday this year. Unfortunately Riley had woken up with a bad case of the flu. It is never fun to get sick on your birthday and I would know because I was sick one year on my birthday.
Aria was helping Lucy make a birthday card for Riley. Aria and I had bought a birthday card for Riley but Lucy wanted to make her own. I thought it was really cute for a five year old to want to make a homemade card for her older sister. I felt bad for Riley because no one wants to be so sick on their birthday so you can't enjoy the day.
"Daddy." Riley cried out from a different room
I knew that Riley must be feeling really sick because last year when she turned 10 she started referring to Aria and I as mom and dad instead of Mommy and Daddy. I didn't know exactly where Rileys cry's were coming from. I found her a few moments later hunched over the toilet throwing up.
"How are you feeling?" I asked
"Icky." Riley said
"Is your tummy any better?" I asked
"A little." Riley replied
"At least you made it into the toilet this time." I said
"Sorry about that daddy." Riley said
"No worries, sometimes your tummy doesn't give you a warning before you throw up." I said
"Why is this happening to me on my birthday?" Riley asked
"I know of all days this was the worst one for you to be sick on. Do you remember last year when your mom was sick on mothers day and we all helped to make her feel better." I said
"Yes, Well at least I wasn't sick last night at my birthday party." Riley said
"I think you might have ate something bad last night at that party. Your mom thinks those bounce house places also contain a lot of germs." I said
"Then why did you and mom let me have a party there?" Riley asked
"Well that's where you said you wanted it. Some of your friends have had parties there in the last few years and you said you had fun so we figured it would be ok." I said
"It was a lot of fun." Riley said
"You looked like you were having fun. I think Lucy was upset that you were spending more time with your friends then her but overall I think it was a great birthday party." I said
"Does my head still feel warm?" Riley asked
I checked her head. It felt quite a bit better since the last time I checked it. I gave Riley the digital thermometer so we could get a actual team. It was 100.3 degrees. She still had a fever but it was down from 102.3 just a few hours ago.
"Does that mean I'm getting better?" Riley asked
"Yes it does. Your mom was about to rush you to the hospital with a temperature that high. I told her that was should wait a little while before we made that call." I said
"Good, because I hate going to the doctors." Riley said
"Your mom and I are still going to call your pediatrician in the morning and get you in for a checkup sometime tomorrow. I'd call right now but it's Sunday so they are closed." I said
After that Riley was feeling a little better so she had something small to eat. Lucy gave Riley her homemade birthday card which made Riley feel even better.
"Can you take her to the doctors tomorrow cause I have a meeting at 10 AM and I have no idea how long it is going to take?" Aria asked
"I suppose I can just use a sick day tomorrow. The school has to understand that when your kid is sick the parent has to stay home with them." I said
The next day Aria took Lucy to school and then went to her meeting. Riley has not gotten sick since 9 PM last night and her fever was gone by bedtime last night. I took Riley to the doctor anyway. It turns out that not only did Riley have the 24 hour flu bug, but she also had an ear infection and sinus infection.
"I was supposed to have a test today." Riley said
"Your mom called and excused you from school so you have an excused absence meaning you will be able to make it up." I said
Riley and I had eaten lunch together. Then I was going through a pile of that days mail when I saw something that I wasn't expecting. The return address was from a Lawyers office in downtown LA. I went through the rest of the mail first and then I was going to open the letter. Aria was usually the one that got the mail but she always told whenever she was expecting something important. It was addressed to Aria but I didn't think she would mind if I opened it. I opened the envelope and was surprised at the document I found inside. At first I thought they where going to be divorce papers but Aria and I weren't having any major marriage problems. We were going through a little bit of a communication issues but almost all married couples with kids go through that.
As I was reading the letter I realized what it was. It was a court ordered paternity test. Jason DiLaurentis was claiming that Riley Fitz was his biological daughter. This must have been what him and Aria where fighting about. She didn't want to tell me because she was scared of how I would react. I was so upset right now that I wanted to rip up the letter but I knew that I couldn't do that. I went upstairs to call the lawyer in private so Riley wouldn't hear. He wouldn't tell me anything because I wasn't Aria and he also said that I shouldn't be opening up mail that is not addressed to me. I know that but Aria and I are married so most of the mail we get has both of our names on it.
Aria got home at 2 PM and ate a late lunch. I decided that I was going to ask her about the Jason thing after she was done eating.
"Guess who is going to be singing at a charity Christmas show in early December." Aria said
"You." I said
"Yes, I got asked to sing an original Christmas song and cover another one." Aria said
"Thats great but how will you have a Christmas song written in time?" I asked
"I already have one written. I have been writing one in secret and I was going to surprise you and the girls this Christmas with it." Aria said
"Rileys pediatrician diagnosed her with the 24 hour flu bug that is now all gone, a sinus infection, and an ear infection. She also prescribed Riley some medicine and she should make a full recovery in about 10 days or so." I said to Aria
"See I knew there was something else wrong beside the flu bug." Aria said
"Well I am glad that she went to the doctor." I said
"Whats wrong? you seem like you are upset about something." Aria said
"You should have told me about this." I said and then I gave her the envelope with the legal papers inside.
"You opened my mail?" Aria asked
"Well normally you tell me when you are expecting something important so I know not to open it." I said
"What is this, I wasn't expecting anything from a Lawyer." Aria asked
"You should have told me Aria?" I said trying not to yell because I didn't want Riley to hear.
"Told you what?" Aria asked
"That Riley could be Jasons daughter." I yelled and Riley probably did hear but I was really upset with Aria at this point
Aria read the contents inside the envelope before saying another word.
"I didn't tell you because I told Jason that this had to stay between me and him. Apparently he didn't listen to me." Aria said
"Cut the crap Aria, Shes 11 years old and your're telling me that you didn't think that Riley could be Jasons kid at all until he mentioned it?" I asked still yelling
"No, to be honest I didn't even remember that I slept with Jason at a Christmas party while you and I were broken up. Jason is the one that brought it up and competently blindsided me with the possibility that Riley was his." Aria said
"Well now this changes everything." I said
"It doesn't have to change a thing. As far as you and I know Riley is just as much your daughter as she is mine. It doesn't matter what Jason says okay. In your heart you love Riley no matter what." Aria said
"It's not about Jason any more, This is about that paternity test. If that test says that Jason is the biological father of Riley you know he is going to take us to court and fight for custody." I said
"I'll talk to Jason and we'll work something out without having to get a custody agreement." Aria said
"No, I don't want you ever talking to him or seeing him again." I yelled and then left with the envelope and it's entire contents inside.
General POV
Ezra got into his car but Aria followed him. I was inputting Jasons address into the GPS
"Where do you think your going?" Aria asked
"I just need to talk to Jason and hopefully maybe get him to back down from all of this." Ezra said
"Oh, so now you can talk to him but I can't." Aria said
"I will be back later tonight Aria, just let me do what I need to do?" Ezra asked
With that Aria went back inside the house and Ezra left to go talk to Jason
"Mom is everything ok?" Riley asked
"We need to go pick up your sister, if we don't leave now we are going to be late." Aria said
"Where did dad go?" Riley asked
"Your dad and I got in a fight. I'd say it's one of the biggest fights that we have gotten into since we've been married." Aria said
"I heard the fight. He's coming back home though right." Riley asked
"I think so sweetie. I don't want you to worry about what your dad and I were fighting about. " Aria said
Aria and Riley went to go pick up Lucy from school. Meanwhile, Ezra had arrived at Jason's apartment. He reluctantly agreed to a conversation.
"What are you here to talk about?" Jason asked
"You know what I am here to talk about." Ezra said and then showed Jason the papers
"I only wanted a paternity test because I want to know. I respect that you and Aria are happily married with kids." Jason said
"What is going to happen if you find out that Riley is indeed your biological daughter and not mine?" Ezra asked
"If Rileys mine then I have a right to see her. You and Aria can work the custody thing out with me so the courts don't have to get involved with that." Jason said
"Even if you did have the right to see Riley outside of school, she will never call you dad or think of you as her dad. Aria and I are the one's that raised her and the one's that Riley is going to consider her mom and dad." Ezra said
Then Ezra left, he thought about going home but he decided against it.
A few hours later Aria was really worried because Ezra had not returned home yet. She made dinner for her and the girls. The three of them ate dinner and Aria put the leftovers away. She got Lucy ready for bed as it would be bedtime for her soon. Riley also got her pajamas on and brushed her teeth. Aria decided that she would call Ezra and see why he wasn't home yet. She called his cell but it rang a few times and then went to voice mail. So Aria decided to leave a voice mail
"It's your wife Aria in cause you didn't notice the caller ID. I'm sorry about our fight earlier. Both the kids are wondering when your going to get home and so am I. I am really worried so please just call me back. Even if your not coming home tonight just call me and let me know that your ok. I love you and I know it's only been 5 hours but I miss you." Aria said in the voice mail message to Ezra.
A little while after that both of the kids were sleeping and Aria still hadn't heard from Ezra. She went to bed that night worried that something was seriously wrong. Aria couldn't think of very many times that she and Ezra hadn't slept in the same bed over the last 10 years. Yes they have had fights in the past but they always made up really quickly. Aria was also worried because she knew that Riley had heard some of the fight but she didn't know how much she heard and what she understood.
The next morning Aria had to take both Riley and Lucy to school. Aria returned home because she wanted to work on the song that she had been writing. Later in the morning she gave Ezra another call. This time it went straight to voice mail. Aria left another brief message.
"Hey it's me again just wondering why you didn't come home last night or at least give me a call back. Anyway your're probably teaching right now and that's why you didn't answer. Love you and please just call me to let me know that your ok." Aria said in the voice mail message.
A few hours later she had yet to her from Ezra. Aria went to pick up Riley.
"Was your dad at work today?" Aria asked as Riley got into the car.
"I wouldn't know he techies on the high school side and I am on the middle school side." Riley said
I'll be right back, just stay in the car for like 5 minutes." Aria said
Aria got out of the car and walked into the school. She went up to where Ezra's english classroom was but he wasn't there. She even checked his little office behind the classroom. Aria then walked back downstairs and went into the office.
"Is their something I can help you with?" The lady at the front desk asked
"Yes, was Ezra Fitz at work today?" Aria asked
"He was but he must have left right after school. There is an english department meeting going right now in the conference room but Ezra is not in there. Is there a message that I could give him tomorrow morning." The lady said
"Thanks, no not really. I'm his wife and I was just wondering why he didn't call me back yet." Aria said
Aria went back to the car.
"Did you talk to dad?" Riley asked
"No but at least I found out that he was at work today" Aria said
Aria went home and tried to call him again. She handed the phone to Riley thinking that if Riley left the message she would maybe get a call back.
"Hey dad, it's Riley mom wants to know where you are and when you're coming home so please just give her a call back. We all miss you, Love you, Bye and call mom back as soon as you get this message." Riley said and gave the phone back to her mom.
Aria got on her laptop and looked something up quickly before it was time to pick Lucy up.
"Hey Riley normally you could stay alone for a few minutes while I go pick up Lucy but I need you to come with me because we have to make a little stop at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites." Aria said
"Why do we have to go to a hotel?" Riley asked
"That is where your dad is?" Aria said
"How do you know that?" Riley asked
"According to his credit card there is a pending charge at the Holiday Inn and Suites that has been pending since yesterday." Aria said
Riley went with Aria to pick up Lucy then they went to the hotel. The kids went with Aria into the hotel. Aria knew that if she had the kids with her he would be more likely to come home. She walked into the hotel lobby and walked up to the desk. She showed the guy behind the counter her drivers licence for ID.
"What room is Ezra Fitz staying in?" Aria asked
"I can't tell you that because that is confidential information. How ever I can call up to his room and tell him that he has guests staying in the lobby." He said
"So he is staying here then?" Aria asked
"Yes he checked in around 5 PM yesterday and told us that he didn't know what his checkout day was yet." He said
"Sir, I am his wife. So could you please just tell me what room he is staying in. You can trust me, If I had any bad intentions then I would not have brought the kids with." Aria said
"This one time, but I could get fired for telling you this. He is staying in room 407." He said
"Thanks." Aria said and then got in the elevator with the girls.
Once they got to the forth floor the elevator door opened. They walked down the hall until they arrived at room 407. Aria calmly knocked on the door and within a minute Ezra answered. Riley and Lucy were really happy to see their dad even though it had only been one day. Aria wanted to scream at Ezra for not calling her back and worrying her but she stayed calm so the kids hopefully wouldn't be witness of another fight between them.
"Aria, What are you doing here?" Ezra asked
"Well I could ask you the same question, Can I come in so we can talk?" Aria asked
The kids had already ran in the room when the door opened so Ezra let Aria in the room and shut the door.
"How did you find me?" Ezra asked
"It was easy, All I had to do was go online and look at the transactions on your Visa account. Once I saw the pending hotel charge I was able to figure out that you where here." Aria said
"I didn't think that you would be that smart and track me down like that." Ezra said
"Ezra, I was worried about you. I left you three messages and you hadn't even bothered to call me back." Aria said
"I was about to call you back before you showed up, I was just busy grading papers." Ezra said
"Oh so grading papers is more important then calling your wife back and letting her know that you were ok so she doesn't think that you crashed your car and you where lying in a ditch somewhere really injured or worse." Aria said
"Thats what you thought happened to me?" Ezra asked
"Yes, I was about to report you as a missing person. I even went as far as asking the office people at LA private academy if you had showed up at work today. When she told me that you had shown up for work I was so relieved." Aria said
"I'm sorry I made you get all worried about me. I just needed some time alone before I was ready to come home." Ezra said
"Well are you ready to come home? I know its only been like a day but I think the kids where even more confused last night then I was." Aria said
"Just give me one more night." Ezra said
"What difference is one night going to make. If your not ready to talk about our issues now then your're never going to be." Aria said but she almost yelled it
"We can't talk about this now in front of the kids." Ezra said
"Riley knows what our fight was about. So the only kid we have to worry about is Lucy." Aria said
"So you told her about the Lawyer stuff and everything?" Ezra asked
"I didn't have to tell her anything, Riley heard the whole fight." Aria said
"What did you tell her?" Ezra asked
"I just told her to not worry about it, I told her that you and I would figure something out and everything would be okay." Aria said
"I talked to Jason, He said that if the test went the way he thought it was going to go then he would work the custody thing out with us so we didn't have to let the court decide for us." Ezra said
"Thats good I guess but hopefully the test will go the way we want it to go so we don't have to worry about the custody thing at all." Aria said
"Well the test can only go one of two ways so we have a 50/50 chance. I guess its better to get it done sooner then later." Ezra said
"Are we going to be okay, Relationship wise?" Aria asked the question that she was dreading to hear the answer of.
"If your willing to work things out between us then so am I. So instead of saying yes or no I am saying that I hope we can." Ezra said
"So can you promise me that you will come home after work tomorrow. Even if you sleep on the couch until we work through things. Just as long as you are home and there for the kids." Aria asked
"Actually Aria, I think I am ready to come home now." Ezra said
Ezra checked out the hotel. He got in his car, then he followed Aria and the girls home. Ezra ordered Pizza and went to pick it up. While he was getting the Pizza Aria made a salad. Aria didn't usually eat pizza but since Ezra was nice enough to get one half plain cheese and half veggie she ate some. The cheese half was for Lucy and Riley while the veggie half was for Aria and Ezra. They ate dinner that night in almost silence. Aria and Ezra still had to work their issues out but they would need time to work on that.
Discussion Questions
you think it was right for Jason to get a court ordered paternity test?
do you think the results of the paternity test will be?
will Riley think if she has to deal with Jason being her biological father? How will she react to the situation?
it right for Ezra to spend the night at a hotel without telling Aria where he was?
you think that Aria and Ezra will work things out?
Thanks you so much for reading and please review. Reviewing helps me write this story. Also PM me if you would like.
What I would like from you readers is a few other characters that I can use in this story. They can be adults or children of any age. I am planning on using other PLL characters in this story but they will have minor parts compared to Aria and Ezra. Submit your character by either a review or by private message.
I also would like ideas for this story. You can submit those ideas either by a review or private message. I would love it if my readers can help me write the story along the way.
Also the title might be changed. So any title ideas can be submitted in a review or by private message.