AN: I know it's a bit late for a Christmas chapter, but have one anyway :') please review guys! I really want to know what you think -Chloe :-)xx
Chapter 26- Here's To New Beginnings
It was a cold Christmas Eve as the Spencer and Toby danced around the living room blasting music through their stereo; they were making the most of Elijah spending the day with his Uncle Jason. Christmas decorations were being strung up around perfectly coordinated living room. They were preparing for their evening of festivities with Aria, Ezra, Hanna, Caleb, Emily, Samara, Jason and Melissa; it would be their first Christmas together with the 3 weeks old bundle of joy they all loved so much.
A familiar song played on the stereo; Toby looked over to his beautiful girlfriend and pulled her into his embrace.
Would you dance if I asked you to dance?
Would you run and never look back?
Would you cry if you saw me crying?
Would you save my soul tonight?
Would tremble if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh oh please tell me this?
Would you die, for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms tonight.
I can be your hero baby; I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
Despite it being the most clichéd love song any one has ever heard it still summed up everything that the pair felt about each other perfectly. They swayed rhythmically in each other's arms as Toby sang along perfectly.
Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind? I don't care; you're here tonight.
"Toby, you know that you can back out now don't you?" Spencer's voice was shaky, like she was scared.
"What do you mean?"He held her petite figure out at arm's length and looked deep into her eyes, this was a new experience for him.
"I mean, I've come with a lot of baggage and if you want out then I will completely understand; it might hurt but I will understand" it was in that moment that he could tell just could damaged she really was; after the 2 nearly 3 years that girls had fought with –A it had become apparent that Spencer was breaking. It was hurting her more now considering that she had more to lose.
"Spencer, I will never leave you. I swear I will be by your side every single day of the rest our lives and we will take it together. I wouldn't be here without you Spence and I will make sure you know just how much I appreciate that, I love you so much." The idea of Spencer doubting just how much he adored her broke his heart; after all they had been through together it hurt even more. "I can't live without you"
Rather a lot of people assume that when one person tells another they couldn't live without them it is just an overreaction of how much they really feel for that other person. However in the case of Toby Cavanaugh and Spencer Hastings it genuinely meant that they couldn't live without each other, they would lose all ability to function. Every day activities would become extremely painful and they would spend the rest of their lives in auto pilot; faking happiness for the benefit of their loved ones.
"How could you not want out? We've only together a year and we already have a son and a psycho stalker; we're not exactly the epitome of conventional are we?" She mumbled
"Who cares about conventionality? We're 18 with a son and as you put it, a psycho stalker; but we spend every day of our lives protecting our son and proving just how loved he is but we also do that whilst plotting to take down the opposing forces." As he pulled her back into his chest he felt her whole body tense then relax just like she needed to be. "We can get through absolutely anything together Spencer and I swear I will never walk away from you, or our family. I will spend the rest of my life proving that to you if I have to"
"You don't need to prove anything to me Toby; you're already perfect as it is. I love you" within seconds the next song blared throughout the room putting an end to their heartfelt moment. Spencer slowly started to pull herself away from the embrace.
"I love you too, and I love how you're so eager to keep to our schedule"
"We still need to wrap the presents; there's only a certain amount of time Jason can keep Elijah for until he has to sort his own stuff out" The hint of eagerness filling her husky voice. She ran off to their bedroom and reappeared with 4 huge bags filled with presents; they both felt the need to spoil all their friends this year considering what they had been through.
"Whose stuff do you want me to wrap?" Toby asked as he stood equip with a huge roll of wrapping paper, scissors and cellotape.
"How about you do Hanna's and Caleb's to start with; we both know they won't be looking how intricately the wrapping has been done" Spencer chuckled as she handed over another two bags she had pulled out of their bedroom before grabbing the final three. "I'll do Melissa's first because then she can't complain about how sloppy my wrapping will get"
"For some reason I don't think your wrapping will get sloppy, and if it does I will be here with an endless supply of coffee and ultra-loving kisses" There was a mischievous grin on his face as he thought of sparking his girlfriend back to metaphorical life with his lips.
"I think that would definitely wake me up" She giggled in reply "But we best get to work because the troops will be here at eighteen hundred and it is currently 14 hundred."
"Yes ma'am, your best elf is on the job" within seconds he had gone to work on wrapping Aria's presents exceptionally neatly even adding a precise bow on top of each of them. It took him a total of 10 minutes to wrap the huge bag that had the pixie girl's presents in it.
"Wow, I'm impressed!" Spencer guffawed in complete disbelief; it was the couple's proper Christmas together since last year they had chosen the appropriate moment to take a break due to –A's demands. "Who knew the pretty boy could make such a pretty bow"
"Hey, stop with the mocking! You'll be thanking me for this in years to come" He swatted her gently on the head with the roll of shiny silver wrapping paper.
"In years to come? Someone's a little optimistic" She teased in return.
"You're not getting rid of me Miss Hastings; I'm in it for the long run" He grabbed her hand and pulled her swiftly onto his lap so they were looking directly into each other's eyes.
"I would never want rid of you Mr Cavanaugh; not now I know how good you are at wrapping"
"I should have just confessed that I'm a secret wrapping ninja when we were on one of our infamous breaks; then this would have been our second Christmas together" As he snaked his arms delicately around her tiny waist he pulled her into his chest. "I wouldn't have had to go that whole 5 months without you and your beautiful face"
"Well now I know your dirty little secret I hate to say but you're stuck with me forever" She leaned forward so slightly but their lips were still brushing, proving just how close in proximity they were sat to each other. Within seconds their lips were locked in a passionate desire to be within one another, even if it was just an innocent kiss.
"I'm sure that is going to be absolute hell" He laughed as their foreheads touched affectionately.
"I could well be once I get my momma on when Elijah is older. I'll feel bad for the both of you"
"You are already a brilliant mother and you're only going to get better; we'll face this together"
"Thank you" a sincere smile filled her features at the thought of having the man of her dreams by her side for the rest of her life "We still have like 6 more bags to wrap so come on head elf, see how fast we can do this"
4 Hours later there was a knock at the apartment door as Hanna, Caleb, Emily and Samara let themselves in only to be greeted with a beautifully decorated living room with bits of tinsel and holly hanging from curtain poles and the Christmas tree. The whole place just screamed Spencer and Toby.
"Spence where are you? We get here and you leave us to fend for ourselves; what kind of party is this?" Hanna joked lovingly as she placed down the 4 bags she had carried into the apartment.
"You are absolutely hilarious Miss Marin" Spencer replied as she carried a huge bowl of chips into the room "You're no longer guests in this house so hop to it and come help me in the kitchen"
"How rude!" Hanna gasped "You invite me over to your party under false pretenses that I can sat around and be waited on hand and foot"
"I can assure you that you are entirely wrong there missy"
"Finally you guys are here! Everyone else is in the Elijah's room for some reason. I think Aria just wanted to show off her mural" Toby laughed as he walked down back down the hall to summon the other 5.
"So what's first on the agenda?" Melissa questioned politely from behind her sisters back; after spending every single Christmas Eve with their parents without her younger sibling it was obvious that she was used to there being some sort of plan.
"There isn't an agenda; we just do whatever we feel like doing" Spencer laughed as she switched on the tree lights.
"And right now I need some face time with my beautiful nephew; I haven't seen him all week and I miss him." Emily exclaimed as she rushed off to the nursery to retrieve the missing member of the party.
"I vote we do presents first; I can't wait to give you all what we got you" Hanna laughed as she pulled the 7 bags up onto the coffee table then proceeding to bring a huge 8th bag in from the hall.
"Jesus Han, who is that one for?" Samara chuckled with a look of complete confusion on her face "I'm guessing Caleb?"
"Why would I get Caleb anything that big? Especially now I have a new guy to spoil" the blonde jabbed her boyfriend playfully in the ribs before he pulled her into him so her back was against his chest.
"Technically we both have a new guy to spoil because he's as much my nephew as he is yours" Caleb laughed.
"Technically me and Mel have dibs on spoiling Eli; after all we are flesh and blood" Jason joked.
"Hey it isn't fair on everyone else to pull rank like that, but if we're playing it that way then I get dibs on spoiling him because I'm the reason he's here. My little guys are obviously pretty reliable" Toby joined in as he took the brown haired boy off of Emily.
"Right, let's all get this straight once and for all. I carried that lump around inside me for 9 months then had to squeeze something the size of a watermelon out of a place that should not be stretched that much so technically you should all be spoiling me for having the strength to carry him around..."
"Woah momma bear, I think we get it. No pulling rank whilst you're around." Melissa laughed as she patted her sister's hair affectionately "and Toby Cavanaugh I do not need to think about how your 'little guys' impregnated my 18 year old sister! In my eyes she is the Virgin Mary"
"Oh God, I don't need to think about that either. There are certain things you don't say when your girlfriend's brother and sister are in the room." Jason pretended to throw up at what he had just heard "I mean if you weren't my bro then I would have to kick your ass and believe me when it comes to these two beautiful ladies I would be relentless"
"I do not doubt a word of what you just said" Toby feigned fear as he shielded his son from the harm that could befoul him.
"Hey man, I thought I was your bro? Now you're cheating on me with him? You told me what we had was special Toby; you said our bromance was one of a kind" Caleb spoke up as he pushed his girlfriend gently to the side so he could go standoff with Toby.
"No Caleb you got it all wrong, I promise you're the only one for me! I love you and only you!" Toby's voice sounded genuinely broken like he had just lost the one person who meant the world to him.
"Caleb are you cheating on me with him? I can't believe you! I hate you biatch; here Aria, hold my weave" Ezra stepped forward pretending to unclip extensions from his curly brown hair. There were now four grown men stood in the centre of the living room, after handing Elijah over to Spencer Toby was now fighting Caleb off as Ezra tried to get to him and Jason battled with all of them. The girls and Mike were all stood in fits of laughter at the bizarre sight in front of them. Hanna had her iPhone at the ready, recording the play fight that was unfolding in front of them.
"TRUCE!" Toby shouted from the centre of the battle "I promise we make a truce and form a pact" the rest of the guys stopped fighting and nodded eagerly.
"And what do you propose this pact consist of?" Ezra spoke up trying his hardest to sound like a posh Englishman.
"We all say an oath" Caleb contributed
"That binds us together in a four way bromance" Jason said. "Toby, you make the oath"
"I say your name..." the four names were spoken in unison "pledge to stay faithful to my four bros for as long as we all shall live. I bromise to love them and cherish them and to never let a hoe come between us. Even if said hoe is one of the bro's girlfriends brothers. I love my brothers for other mothers. Bro out."
"This is so going on youtube" Hanna laughed "but now that they've resolved that, it's present time!"
Everyone handed their presents to their recipients and tore the wrapping paper off them all in complete silence. Melissa however being new to the group had agreed to not buy anyone else anything and they the same for her so instead she opened all of Elijah's presents in complete awe of how loved he was.
Hanna and Caleb had bought all the girls matching Pandora charm bracelets with "AEHS" on them and multiple other charms, with other bits and pieces of course. They had bought the four boys tickets to go see a band that they all mutually agreed were 'awesome' and finally Elijah had got a huge canvas painting of his beautiful family. It was taken when he was only a week old and they had somehow managed to round up all 9 of them since he had been born and took the most stunning picture they had ever seen. Tears were threatening to fall down Spencer's cheeks as she looked over the beautiful painting.
Emily and Samara had rented a villa on a secluded beach in Cali somewhere so they could all have the full summer away together, they knew it wouldn't be cheap but they all deserved it after the hell they had been going through.
Aria, Ezra and Mike had bought everyone the first editions of their favourite books and something else related to it. However they had to rethink what to get Hanna considering she didn't really have a favourite book so instead they bought her every single romance film they had watched together in their youth. For Eli they bought him the collection of Folk of the Faraway Tree books by Enid Blyton that they knew Spencer had loved so much.
Jason handed around his presents; he had bought each of them their favourite band/ artists CD. Inside each of the cases there was an extra disc with 'We're not letting this bitch get away' scrawled across it. There was confusion from the other members of the group but eventually they all understand what he was talking about.
Jason, Toby and Spencer had told the rest of the group about Jenna being his sister the day after Spencer found out and they had all been ridiculously supportive. He had finally come to grips with the fact that Jenna now had a legitimate reason to kill Alison and torment the girls.
To lift everyone's spirits after Jason's presents; Spencer and Toby handed around each of the huge bags to their respective owners. Inside there was a range of different things like alcohol and books and other small stuff. But right at the bottom there was a simple box for each of them; the girls each got a simple silver locket but there was a small stone embedded in the front, each a different colour to match their personality. Aria's was green, Emily's yellow, Hanna's pink and Samara's purple. The boys each had a beautifully engraved silver watch; in the back there was one simple date engraved into the glistening metal.
31.11.12
That was the day Elijah was born, the day that all their lives finally had a meaning because after all Elijah gave them the drive to figure out who the hell this monster was and they would never forget that.
"Right, I guess that's all done then" Spencer clapped her hands and went to get started on tidying away all the wrapping paper, wiping her eyes in the process after crying over all of the sentimental gifts they had received.
"Wait Spence, I have one more for you" Toby stood up and wandered off into their bedroom and walked back carrying what looked like a small black box.
"I thought we said we weren't getting each other gifts this year? Everyone else was more important" Spencer was wracking her brains to see if they had decided against not getting each other anything.
"Spencer, just sit down and listen" the blue eyed man laughed as he went and sat on the couch next to his girlfriend. "I need you to know that before I met you my life wasn't worth living, I would spend every single day in some stupid rut just because of the trouble I'd been in before. But that day when you showed up on my porch holding my mail so you could tutor me for French; I remember seeing your huge brown eyes through the gap in the door, not entirely sure what you were doing there but I decided that I should at least hear you out. My God am I glad I did. I didn't know that day that I had just had face time with the girl that would become the love of my life, the mother of my child and the most important thing in the world to me. Without you I wouldn't be here so I have you to thank for breathing life back into what was just an empty cage. I love you Spencer Jill Hastings, more than I could ever imagine loving anyone but I still manage to fall more in love with you every single day."
Spencer's hand clasped to her mouth as she fought with the tears that were trying to fall down her cheeks when she watched her boyfriend get down on one knee right in front of her.
"I want to spend every single day making you feel like the most loved woman in the world and I will never leave your side, so will you Spencer Hastings, do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
The tears finally began to fall down her beautiful features as she whispered the answer, gradually getting louder so she was shouting.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" The pair stood up and clung to each other like they would never let each other go as they both cried tears of mirth. "I love you so much Toby Cavanaugh"
"I love you the most Spencer Hastings-soon-to-be-Cavanaugh. Forever" He slid the beautiful ring onto her slender fingers as she admired the way it fit perfectly on her finger. They turned around to see 9 pairs of eyes blinking up at them, tear streaks down each of their faces. They were beaming at the happy couple, completely ecstatic for the newest development; even Melissa laughed with the group in complete joy as she held her nephew lovingly.