The morning was colder than usual. Aria felt her nose becoming cold, she could feel her toes freezing over too. It was times like this when she thought about Ezra. She remembered how they would curl up in bed, her head on his chest, his arms wrapped around her petite body. But well, she had to force those thoughts out of her head.

He isn't coming back.

She sighed and looked at the time. 4:45am. Why is life so unfair? She loved Ezra. Scratch that. She still loves Ezra. She knows Ezra loves her too. She understood that he had to leave because of his stupid family pulling him away. What kind of a man chooses a horrible family over love? Apparently, Ezra. His mother offered Aria $500 000.00 to get out and never return. They humiliated her at the last family dinner, and when she told Ezra about it, he didn't believe her.

She closed her eyes.

Get out. Get out. Get out of my damn head, Ezra.

Aria rolled over to her side. Then rolled onto her stomach. Finally, she sat up, tied her hair and groaned. She finally excepted that she'd have to wake up at 5am. She walked out of her room and into the kitchen. The house was different now that Ezra wasn't there. Almost ghostly. They've planned on moving in together just after she had finished school. Arias parents disowned her when she confronted them about her pregnancy.

Flashback to eight months ago.

"Mom please, don't do this," Aria said, feeling the lump in her throat get bigger. "I thought you would understand," she sobbed. "I think your mother has been too lenient on you, Aria. When she found out about Ezra, I was the bad guy for putting my foot down. Well, Ella, this is exactly what I warned you about. You never listened to me. Always took her side for everything," Byron gave Aria a distasteful look and shook his head. "I'm giving you until the end of this month to find a place and move out. It's not that I'm being harsh about this, it's just that you took advantage of my good nature. You thought you could get away with everything because I was never strict with you," Ella teared up, "Your father is right. I blame myself, ever since you were a kid I would take your side over his. Now look at where it got you. Graduation is this week, I suggest you start looking for a job so you can maintain yourself and this child. Once you're gone, we don't want to have anything to do with you. It's embarrassing, Aria. Do you know how highly I speak about you to everyone? What do I say to them when they find out about this? 'My daughter is pregnant and the father of the child is her highschool teacher' Any of those words sound like something to brag about?" All Aria could do was shake her head. She felt dizzy and knew that there was no point in arguing, it would only make matters worse.

The next month, Ezra and Aria moved into their new house. Ezra bought it with his teaching money and some of his inheritance. "You okay?" Ezra asked her. He took the frying pan off the stove and turned to Aria. "You've been quiet for a long time. What's on your mind?" He asked. Aria hesitated. She didn't want to tell him about his family's money offer, but it did hurt her. "We need to talk about something," she said. Ezra sat on the chair next to her, at the island. "Okay," he nodded. "Last week your family offered me money," she said softly. "Oh as a gift for our baby?" He asked. "No. As a 'we will pay you to leave our son' kind of thing," She avoided eye contact, afraid that if she looked at him she would burst into tears. "What do you mean? My family would never do that," Ezra said. Aria raised an eyebrow, "They did it with Malcom. And are you saying that I'm lying?" She asked. Ezra didnt know what to think. His family has come back into his life after they've apologised for the incident with Malcom and promised that they wouldn't interfere. He was NOT about to make the decision to live his life without them again. "Aria. I'm not about to have a fight with them just because you were hurt about something that they may have intended to be a joke." "What do you mean? It wasn't a joke, Ezra." "Pretty sure it was. I think that your past with A has affected the way you interpret things. Look, I'm not gonna lose them over this. You don't understand what it's like to live alone all your life. Away from everyone you loved. They're finally in my life again and I am not willing to ruin that again," he explained. "Ezra, I never thought I'd say this but, it's me or your family. I am hurt. How could they offer me money to leave? Did they think I was cheap enough to take it and forget you?" Aria was standing now. Ezra followed suit and stood as well. "I'm sorry, Aria. But I can't lose them," He said. She was shocked. She couldn't believe that he would make this decision as quickly as he did, she couldn't believe that he wouldn't fight for her. "Thanks, Ezra. I'll get packing," she said and walked upstairs. He sat at the island again. About 20 minutes later, Aria was done packing. She didn't have much. With the rush she was in to get out, Aria never worried about making things look neat. She stuffed as much as her clothes as she could into a large bag and carried it downstairs. She waited in the lounge for Spencer to pick her up.

Ezra finally stood from his seat and walked into the lounge, seeing that Aria was done packing. He didn't want to speak to her, nor she him. But he had to. "Aria," he said, softly. Arias eyes were puffy and red, she looked at him. "Don't go," he said. She felt a little hope build within her. Then, he snatched that small amount away, "I'll go. I know you're carrying my child. You have nowhere to go. Take the house," He said. Ezra loved Aria, he knew it and so did she. He did't have the heart to let a pregnant woman, especially one with his child, be homeless. She would have the girls, but how long could she stay with them? "No, Ezra. I don't want anything from you," Aria said, crying again. "You're carrying my child. It's not for you, it's for my child," he said.

Present day

Aria let out a groan, frustrated that she was pregnant. "Only one month left," she caressed her belly. After a while she decided to shower and do laundry. Aria walked into the bathroom and took the basket of clothes down to the small laundry room. It didn't take her long to finish, considering the fact that she lived alone. Every day felt worse than the last.

She would occasionally meet the girls but never at the house. They understood that she needed her space and didn't want to push it. Hanna got into a paid internship programme that allows her to work from home for most of the week. The pay wasn't good but it helped her get a start on her future. She would spend most of her time on video calls with Aria. They would have the call running while going about their lives, as if they were in the same room as each other. "That's the best type of friendships," Hanna would say. "The one where you call your best friend and have them in the background as you get things done." Emily was almost never around. Always traveling with her volunteer group that made her a permanent member and started paying her. She was in Africa this year. Spencer was part time studying and part time working at her mothers firm. She barely had time to breathe, but still made it to meet Hanna and Aria at least twice a week.

Needing an income, Aria had to work too. She was lucky enough to get the house but Ezra didn't want to help her with anything else. So she did the only thing she knew how to do - Photography. Spencer, Hanna and Emily lent her money to start off her business. She rented out a shop and converted it into a studio, in two months she made enough money to pay the girls back. The only problem was that she was her own boss. Which meant she had no maternity leave and had to work to make enough money to put food on the table. Five month in and she became friends with a guy. Liam, a writer from Boston. They became close enough for him to offer to work in her studio until she was able to get back in. She refused the offer, but after Liam refused to back down, Aria accepted.

"Hi, Han," Aria smiled into the camera. "Hey Ar," Hanna responded. They set their laptops to the every day position. Aria had hers against the kitchen wall and Hanna's was on her bedroom table, facing her bed. "Tell me, how cute is this?" Hanna asked, picking up a high waisted pair of jeans. "That is cute. I could only dream of fitting into those soon," Aria laughed then pointed to her belly, "Once this little one is out, I'll be ready to go." Hanna smiled, "So what will chef Montgomery be cooking today?" She made an exaggerated thinking face. "I was thinking mac and cheese. I don't really feel like having anything at all but I can't think for me anymore," Aria looked at her belly and rolled her eyes. "Oh," Aria said, remembering what she needed to tell Hanna. "Liam phoned last night," she started.

Hannas face fell. She wouldn't admit it but she was jealous of Liam. What did he have that she didn't? Oh, right. A penis. She could sense that Aria was slowly falling in love with this guy and as far as anyone knew, Aria is straight. She struggled with her crush on Aria for a long time. Her world fell apart when Aria told the girls she was pregnant, but then the next few months things went downhill for Aria. It sounds like Hanna was a terrible person for secretly being happy that Ezra was no longer in the picture. She did want Aria to herself, after all. Everything was fine until Liam walked into Arias life. Sorry, crashed into, as Hanna would put it.

"What did he say?" Hanna tried to sound like she didn't hate the guy. "He wants to visit me," Aria said while looking for her packet of uncooked macaroni. "What? Aria that's insane. You don't allow us to visit you, why would you let him?" Hanna had a hint of annoyance in her tone. Aria took out a pot, filled it with water and put it on the stove. She then emptied the packet into the pot and turned up the heat. "Hanna I don't want you guys here because as it is, I feel guilty. If I had a place to go, I wouldn't be here. In this house. And besides, I'm not allowing him to come here. We're going to meet at some restaurant." Aria sat on a chair that faced the laptop. "As in like a date?" Hanna asked. Aria shook her head, "No. Just two adults meeting at a restaurant to have something to eat. Okay fine. It's a date. But I haven't been with anyone for a long time, I think I deserve to go out," Aria shrugged. Hanna rolled her eyes, "You don't even know this guy," She said. "Uh Han, I've known him for a while now. I wouldn't leave him with my studio if I didn't trust him," Aria explained. Hanna was getting agitated, she didn't want HER Aria to go ahead and be with some guy. She wanted Aria to herself. As selfish as that sounds, it's how she felt. "Well, I don't feel comfortable with him taking you on a date. You're pregnant and vulnerable," Hanna said. Aria was surprised at that comment. "Would it make you feel better if we went on a double date? I'll get Liam to ask the guy from opposite my studio?" Aria asked. Hanna weighed her options. Either stay at home and worry about Aria falling in love or go out and ruin the date for them. In typical Hanna fashion, she chose the latter. "Seems like a good idea. Get back to me on that," Hanna shrugged. The girls said their goodbyes and ended the call.

That Saturday, Aria curled her hair and put on a short peach dress. Liam picked her up, instead of meeting her, and took her to the restaurant. Hanna was already seated next to her "date" when Aria and Liam got there. "Hey," Aria smiled and kissed her friends cheek. Hanna smiled back then took a sip of her almost finished margarita. Aria sat across from Hanna and Liam sat across Dylan. "So Dylan, what kind of store do you own?" Hanna asked after they've all ordered. "I don't own it. I'm working there to pay off my student loans," he laughed a little. "It's a hardware store," Dylan became serious after seeing that Hanna didn't laugh or even smile back at him. Liam and Aria were lost in their own world. Hanna noticed and didn't like it at all. She downed her second margarita and ordered a fourth, while her third came around. "Han, do you want to slow down? We didn't even have starters," Aria said. Hanna shook her head. Liam gave an awkward look to Hanna. Aria picked up on this and asked Hanna to accompany her to the ladies. As the girls stood up, Aria felt a trickle down her legs. Her eyes widened at the sudden realization that she was officially in labor. Aria didn't know who to turn to so she just closed her eyes and spoke, "My water broke." Liam immediately stood from his seat, "We've got to get you to the hospital," he grabbed his wallet and took out cash for the bill. He gave the money to the waitress and told her to keep the change. "Meet us there?" Liam asked Dylan and Hanna. They nodded. Hanna thanked her sober self for agreeing to Dylan picking her up.

Three hours later

Hanna sat in the waiting room tapping her fingers against the wooden handrest of the chair. Spencer promised to come to the hospital after work. Dylan left Hanna and went home. It was just Liam and her in the little waiting room. They would occasionally see one or two patients being rolled in. Liam studied Hanna. He has been for a while. She did notice but chose to ignore it ths first few minutes. "What's the deal, Liam?" She finally asked. He sat beside her, "There's something about you, Marin," he said. "What?" She asked, confused. "I can't quite put my finger on it. But I will figure it out eventually," Liam shrugged. Hanna narrowed her eyes at him, "Why?" She asked. "Because. I've fallen in love with Aria. And if you think you can get between us, you're absolutely wrong. I plan on marrying her, of course, when the time is right." Liam grinned. "I've spent a lot of time with Aria over the past couple of months. From the first time I saw her, I knew she was special. I'm willing to take this child in as my own. Imagine having a child with two moms," he laughed, "Not only is it rare, it's ridiculous. Who's gonna wear the pants? You?" He sat back. Hannas eyes were wet from her tears. She stood up and left.

Not a second later, she bumped into Emily. "Come here," Emily hugged Hanna. She whispered into her ear while stroking her hair, "I heard everything he said," Emily pulled herself away from Hanna, grabbed her hand and went back to Liam, who was sitting smugly on the chair. "Liam?" Emily said, she was angry. He noticed her holding a teary eyed Hanna and he smirked, "Can't fight your own battles huh?" "You don't know Hanna. There isn't anything wrong with a kid having two moms. You can talk about how much you think you'd be a good father to this child but let me tell you one thing, what you just said, proves to me and everyone who heard you, that you're just a narcissistic asshole who thinks only about himself. If you were a real man, you wouldn't belittle a woman or anyone, for that matter. Aria doesn't deserve someone like you. With all the trauma she's been through, she deserves someone who would respect the world. Someone who will stand for what's right, who would love her unconditionally. Who would raise this child with morals and ethics. And darling, that ain't you. Your chances with her are slim. Considering the fact that Hanna is her best friend and Aria will never choose a guy, especially you, over Hanna. If you're smart, you'd walk out that door and keep things between you and Aria on a strictly professional level." Emily glared at him. A security guard was sent over to the three of them, "Is there a problem?" He asked. Emily shook her head, "He was just leaving." Liam looked at Emily then at the officer, "I'll help you out," the officer smiled at Liam. He didn't seem to have much of a choice. Liam grabbed his jacket and left.

"Thank you," Hanna hugged Emily again. "Also, how in the world are you here?" She asked. "Weren't you supposed to be in Asia?" Emily pulled away from Hanna and they sat. "Africa. And my group recruited over 250 new volunteers this year. More hands, more work. Project was finished before we knew it. Spencer phoned me when I was at the airport, I was gonna surprise Aria." Emily shrugged. "If it weren't for those volunteers, who knows when I'd be home. Enough about me. Tell me about you and Ar," Emily smirked.