"Hey Ez-what's your mom like?"

As I asked this, he looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. I could tell that my statement had practically ripped him from an intense thinking session, because his eyes grew wide as he looked at me. His expression told me more than words could in this very moment: he didn't know what was going to happen when she got here.

"I mean-you never talk about her. So, I just assumed she wasn't involved in your life." I explained as I rocked Seraphina gently in my frail arms.

"Oh, no, no. It's fine. I never talk about her because she is the type of mother that no one would ever wish his worst enemy to have. She was either never involved or too involved with Wes and I." He said as he sat at the foot of the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry." I replied softly. I apologized because Ezra almost always changed the subject whenever I asked him about his family. I always assumed it was because of what happened with Maggie; and if it was, I completely understood.

"Aria, you don't need to be sorry. The reason I don't talk about her isn't because I want to keep you from my family. It's because I want to keep my family away from you." He said, laughing to himself. He caressed my cheek gently and I smiled. I leaned in to kiss him and we shared a passionate lip lock before we heard a knock at the door.

He let me go and got up to unlock the door. I sat up in the bed and watched closely as the door opened, and I watched as a very tired-looking Wesley Fitzgerald stumbled into the room.

"Hey, Z. And hello, Aria. It's good to see you again." He panted as he slumped forward. He had obviously been running down the hallway. As he stood up, he saw that I was holding Sera; and his eyes grew wide. "I almost forgot: congratulations, you two."

"Thank you, Wes." I said quietly as I held Sera closer to my chest. She had woken up now; and was reaching up towards my face. I held her tiny hand in my own and she instantly quieted down. Momma's girl from the get-go.

"What name did you decide on again?" He asked. He walked over to the bed and I smiled.

"Seraphina." Ezra said cautiously as he stood beside me.

"It's cute." He replied.

"Would you like to hold her? I mean, you are her uncle." I offered with a smile. Wes looked at Ezra before accepting. It was cute: the relationship between Wes and Ezra. I hadn't had a good relationship with Mike before, well, Ezra became a major part of my life. And I had always had my mom by my side. I never knew what it would've been like if Mike was all I had.

I handed Sera to Wes and he sat down in a chair beside me. He smiled as he held her, and that was when I noticed how similar the two Fitzgerald boys were. Ezra and Wes had the same smile and nose, which apparently had been passed down to Sera as well.

"She looks just like the both of you." He mentioned while still studying his newborn niece's face. He was probably still trying to take everything in. And who could blame him? I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was now a mother to the most beautiful baby girl. I wondered if Ezra felt the same way.

"Thanks." Ezra said, taking my hand in his. His thumb began moving in a constant assuaging circular motion on the back of my hand. Soon, Wes handed Sera back over to me and sat back down on the chair next to me.

"Wes," Ezra began, still holding my hand,"why would our mother call me saying that she was coming to visit?"

"Wait; she's coming here? Now?" He muttered in a worried tone of voice.

"Soon. Did you tell her?" Ezra replied. The irate tone of his voice was enough to make anyone run for the hills. But, I understood why he was so angry. Well, at least I thought I did.

"She must've overheard my conversation with my boss yesterday when I told him I had to miss a day of work. I'm sorry, Z." He said apologetically.

"It's not your fault, Wes." Ezra said, lowering his voice. Wes smiled, obviously relieved that his older brother wasn't going to ring his neck. "Do you have any idea how much she knows? She wasn't exactly clear on that over the phone."

"Well, I only told my coworker that I was going to visit my brother at the hospital. I didn't mention anything about Aria or Seraphina. I'm not sure how she put two and two together and realized that you were seeing someone." Wes explained quietly.

"How? Wes, this is OUR mother we're talking about. She has everything to track our every movement except a chip in our necks. And I'm not just seeing someone; Aria is my wife, and that's something she can't break up with a wave of her check book. I love Aria and Sera more than you can ever realize; and that is exactly why I'm nervous about this."

As he finished speaking, he kissed me on the top of my head and I smiled. I had heard him say that he loved me before, but only when he was talking to myself or my friends. It was a new feeling hearing him tell his family about his affections; and I had to say, it was very sweet.

"That's a cute nickname." He said, walking to the end of my hospital bed.

"Thank you." I said, quietly.

Just then, there was a knock at the door of my hospital room. I jumped at the suddenness of the noise, and Ezra noticed this. He held my hand and asked Wes to get the door. As soon as he opened it, a woman in her mid fifties burst into the room spitting ignorant questions. She didn't even realize that I was there; but maybe, that was for the best at the moment. So THIS is my mother in law.

"Ezra Fitzgerald, why haven't you called?" She asked as she wrapped her arm around her other son, whom she obviously liked more than Ezra.

"Do I really need to answer that? And Mom, it's Fitz. F-I-T-Z." He replied, a sarcastic tone in his voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw me waiting to receive the verbal beating of a lifetime. Then, he inhaled deeply and calmed down."You know what? Let's not do this here. Or ever. I need to introduce you to someone."

"The girlfriend? And-oh my god..." She said, beginning with a bit of cockiness but trailing off as she saw that I held her granddaughter. I smiled slightly and she sat down on a chair to take it all in. She scoffed and let her head fall into her hands.

"Oh my god? Don't you mean, your granddaughter?" Ezra countered sarcastically. His mother scoffed disapprovingly at him again and cleared her throat.

"I knew something was amiss when the nurses directed me to the maternity ward." She mumbled as she slumped back into the chair, dolefully. She was quite the actress.

"Mother, this is Aria, my wife." He replied, sitting down next to me and holding my hand. "And this is our daughter, Seraphina, born a couple hours ago. Aria, this is my mother: Dianne."

"It's so wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. Fitzgerald." I said optimistically. She obviously didn't even hear me, because she just began yelling at Ezra again.

"Ezra, of all the things you've done in your life, this has got to be the stupidest. You can't just go off and elope with a girl you barely know. And, what's more, get her pregnant! Was this another Maggie situation?" She spat, not taking anyone's feelings into consideration during her spiteful monologue. I didn't like her...at ALL. And I'm guessing that, in that moment, neither did Ezra.

"Mrs. Fitzgerald—we're so sorry for keeping something this important from you, and I know you are absolutely livid right now. I just hope you can overlook that and think of your granddaughter, your son's and my baby girl." I said, trying my best to dull her anger down.

Dianne shook her head and leapt out of her seat. "You need to leave my son alone! For all I know, that bastard baby isn't even his! Maybe you're just deceiving him for his money! Thus, I want nothing to do with you or your child."

As it's in his nature, my knight in shining armor valiantly came to my defense against my mother in law. Despite the bags beneath his eyes and the tangled strands of his hair in his face, he couldn't cease being his family's protector. Sera had grown fussy, and I eyed both my mother and brother in law with daggers as I tried to soothe the tiny tempest before it erupted.

"Dianne Fitzgerald, I am absolutely ashamed to call you my mother. You haven't a decent or kind bone in your body—hell, you can't even accept your own family! Aria and I have loved each other since the day we first met, and my love for Sera isn't any different. I love my wife and daughter more than you can ever understand, and it's fine by me if you don't want to do so. But, you have no right to insult my family like you have. And now, I'd like you to leave. Before I call security." Ezra yelled back, getting up to face her. She was obviously shocked by his anger, and rightly so. I had seen Ezra's 'passionate hate' before, but this was something else. He didn't just hate her. After today, he despised her.

"Gladly. Come on, Wesley." She murmured, motioning Wes out into the hall with her.

Unsurprisingly, he stayed put, and picked up a small creme colored teddy bear at the foot of the hospital bed. "No. No, I'd much rather stay here with Ezra and get to know my sister-in-law and niece."

As much as I tried to suppress it, I felt a smirk creep onto my lips as I saw the look of shock on her face form. Her son switched sides of the war in a blink of an eye, leaving her to fend for herself. Despite the dizzying atmosphere, she quickly flung open the door and stepped into the hall.

"Fine by me. Just don't come crawling back to me when your family falls apart. Trust me: they all do." She said quietly. She left and we all sighed: both inwardly and outwardly.

"Oh my god, she scared the living shit outta me," I suddenly breathed,"I am so sorry for not believing you before. Christ."

Ezra and Wes laughed at my remark, and Ezra gently helped me transition Sera from the arms of her mother to her father's.

After I handed Sera to Ezra, I sat up in bed to talk to Wes, who was still trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened.

"Look, Wes, I don't want to be the cause of your relationship with your mother being ruined. You can still go get her." I said softly, fixing my hair.

Wes smiled, but shook his head. "There is NO way I'm going to go back there, especially after what she said about you all. I never knew that my mother was such a—a..."

"...heartless, cold-blooded snake. I did." Ezra cut his little brother off. Wes gave him a sharp look and he smiled. "What? We were all thinking it."

From then on, I tried only once more to make amends with my in-laws from hell. My fruitless attempt only pushed her farther from her son, granddaughter, and I. Sometimes, life doesn't work out the way you hope it would. In that, however, the potential joyless experiences that would've come with your Plan A are weeded out.

Author's Note: I am SO sorry for not updating sooner! And I will apologize profusely for everything, but especially the length of this chapter. Pathetic, ain't it? Succchhhh a grrreeeeaaattt writer:((((

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading nonetheless. "Mere Chance: An Ezria Fanfiction" will be coming to end very soon, and as much as I am sad to see it fade into the deep dark abyss of forgotten AUs, I am eternally grateful for every one of you who have read, commented, and kept me going even through the rough and inspiration-less patches.

Thank you so much for reading, lovelies!

XOXO,

Dee R. L. (ezriaandliars)