A/N: I've actually been thinking of turning this into a longer story. But for now, I'll keep it under this title.

Story 3: After Rosewood

Chapter 5

Five months later

When Spencer heard the light knock, she raced towards her door and swung it open. A huge grin that went from ear to ear spread across her lips. "Daisy!" she squealed as soon as she saw the little infant in Aria's arms. In response, Daisy smiled shyly and buried her head in her mother's shoulder. "Spence, you need to stop scaring her," Aria giggled while entering the house.

"But Aria," Spencer protested, "Daisy loves me." Then she cooed, "Come here," and gently took the baby in her arms and snuggled her nose into Daisy's soft mop of curly hair.

Seeing her best friend and daughter get along so well spread a warm sensation throughout Aria. When she turned her head around, she saw Keenan playing with some toys on the floor, banging them together; he hadn't even acknowledged Aria. "Hey, Peanut," Aria said in her baby voice, getting down on her knees and tickling his stomach with her index finger. He immediately started giggling like the happiest baby in the world, swatting at Aria's finger, and caused Aria's eyes to beam with joy. "It's so hard to believe Keenan is going on to his eighth month."

"Oh, I know," Spencer whined as she headed to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Daisy intently studied the Scrabble necklace around Spencer's neck, occasionally leaning her tiny head on Spencer's shoulder. "It's like just yesterday he was born. And same with Daisy."

After having a tickle fight with Keenan, Aria distracted the baby with a plush dinosaur and stood back up on her feet. "I just finished painting Daisy's room today."

"Oh, really?" Spencer gasped, causing Daisy to drop the necklace pendant from her tiny hands. "I can't wait to see it! You've only shown me sketches."

"Yeah, well," Aria sighed as she took a seat at the counter and gratefully accepted the coffee Spencer placed in front of her. Soy latte with two Splendas, just how Aria liked it. "I didn't want to go too girly like I was originally, so I went with a zoo animal theme. She's probably going to want to change it when she gets older, though, maybe into something with princesses and castles and then she'll be angry at me for choosing cute animals over pink princess land."

At that moment, Daisy made a cute whimpering sound that melted Spencer's heart. With an "aw," Spencer placed her pinkie finger over Daisy's tiny nose before rubbing her nose against the baby's in endearment. "You've been painting for months. Do you like how it turned out?"

Aria pursed her lips and thought about the cute lions, giraffes, and elephants she'd painted on the walls in soothing, mellow colors. According to Ezra's, and even Toby's, opinion, the animals were friendly and looked like they'd stepped out of a children's book. To Aria, that was a compliment; she hadn't painted in a long time. But after Daisy was born, and even before, she'd been wanting to do something special for her child.

"Ezra and Toby like it," she finally said.

"Wait, when did Toby get to see it?"

"When he and Ezra went out on that boys' night. Toby stopped by to pick up Ezra and he walked in on me adding the final touches. He was impressed."

Spencer scoffed and adjusted Daisy in her arms so that she could regain circulation in her bicep. "Toby's impressed with all works of art that don't involve drawing because that's all he can do. One time, he made me a ceramic pot and it looked like it was made by a third grader. It was sweet, but I told him he should stick to the sketchpads and woodwork."

"Oh, I remember that!" Aria snapped her fingers. "One day you asked Ezra to help with an English paper and I was bored, so I called up Toby and asked him how he felt about a fun art class." Aria giggled and reached out for a chip from the bowl Spencer placed in front of them. "He was terrible at the potter's wheel!"

"I think I remember that day," Spencer said slowly as her brain tried to catch the memories. While Spencer brought a chip to her mouth, she was given a rude awakening when Daisy grabbed for it and instead made Spencer drop it. "I think you might have a future troublemaker, Aria," Spencer joked as she bent down to pick up the smashed chip and throw it out. "Just make sure Ezra watches her like a hawk in case she thinks it's a good idea to date her teacher."

Aria gave Spencer "the look." "Ha ha," she said sarcastically. "It's not funny, Spence." Shrugging, Spencer strode to the living room and sat Daisy down in front of Keenan. The two children blinked at each other, both recognizing each other but just taking some time for their little brains to comprehend that. Though both babies were strikingly different—Keenan had lighter, straighter hair and slightly darker skin while Daisy was pale and had dark brown, almost black, locks—they both had been born with their father's blue eyes and, thanks to genetics, had developed green flecks in them, too. Unlike Keenan, who could crawl, Daisy only knew how to sit, so Spencer and Aria watched the two with hawk-like eyes in case Keenan did something crazy.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Spencer continued after taking a huge sip of black coffee. "So Ezra and I made plans, right? He was supposed to meet me at Panera at noon, and instead he gets stuck in traffic and isn't there until nearly one. By that point, I was starving and I hadn't ordered anything because I was waiting for him, so when he finally arrived the poor guy had to listen to me scold him. Then, when we ordered coffee, I spilled it all over his new tie. For as long as we'd known each other, it was mortifying, because then he spilled his coffee over mine, and it wasn't even close to on purpose."

"Oh my gosh," Aria gasped, her large eyes widening. "That explains those stains. Ugh, Spence!" she berated her friend through gritted teeth. "Those took me days to remove!"

"I'm sorry!" Spencer laughed and put her hands in the air in innocence. "But it had dog silhouettes on it."

"Oh, I know," Aria sighed dreamily. "Wasn't it cute?"

"Umm…" Spencer wasn't really sure what to say. Last time she'd bought Toby a tie for some private dinner event, she'd fretted over every single pattern and color, not really sure what guys looked for in a decent tie. She would have called Aria because she'd bought ties for Ezra all the time, but from the some she'd seen Ezra daringly wear she wasn't sure if she could trust her judgment. Her brown eyes wandered to the two children on the living room floor. "Oh, no!" she shrieked and bolted.

When Aria looked to see what the commotion was about, she shook her head sadly. "Spence, what are you doing?"

"Keenan was throwing his toys at Daisy," Spencer explained while scooping Keenan up in her arms and shaking her finger in front of his face to scold him. Instead, he grabbed for her finger and put it in his mouth, and Spencer shook her head, not really sure whether to laugh or stay serious.

"Plush toys," Aria pointed out. "They couldn't hurt a fly. Come on, Spence, they were just playing." She got down on her knees and crossed her legs next to her tiny daughter, grazing her finger across Daisy's little head of hair. "Plus, she kind of likes it when I throw things at home." To prove her point, she picked up the dinosaur plushie and waved it in the air to get Daisy's attention. The little girl started to clap and bounce excitedly, and when Aria lightly threw it at her she squealed in delight. "I don't know why, but Ezra found that out one day when he was getting up and he dropped her stuffed pig on her head. Accidentally, of course. And she went wild; I'd never seen her so happy."

"Wow, she's just as strange as you," Spencer said, bewildered. That was probably one of the most bizarre things she'd ever heard. "Meanwhile, Keenan is a normal boy who will grow up to have his daddy's handsome looks and his mother's crazy smart brains."

"Chill, Spence," Aria said while pulling her daughter closer to her crossed legs. "He isn't even a year old yet."

Spencer sighed and brushed a lock of hair out of Keenan's face, the green flecks in his eyes standing out. "Oh, I know. I'm excited for him to grow up, but at the same time I don't want him to."

"At least Keenan will always have Daisy," Aria pointed out. "It's a good thing they're opposite genders, too, because what if I end up having, like, ten daughters?"

"Oh God," Spencer laughed. "No! Then you're jinxing me to have all boys, and I really want a girl."

"I could have never guessed." Aria snorted, rolling her eyes. She was referring to the amount of times Spencer stopped by her and Ezra's place to snuggle with Daisy while watching Keenan at the same time.

"Let's not think about more kids right now," Spencer announced. "Instead, let's enjoy the fact we can drink coffee and alcohol again."

"And we have husbands who adore us," Aria pointed out.

"And children who adore us."

"And parents who adore their grandchildren, no matter whatever problems they had with the father."

"And fathers who adore their children."

"Great, now I have to think of something else," Aria complained. After a moment of thought, she said, "We have each other who adore the other."

"Of course!" Spencer exclaimed. "As I once said in high school, we're Team Sparia!"

…

It was a Friday, the night of the Montgomery family mixer. Every year Aria's parents threw a party for their coworkers, friends, and family, and everyone basically talked pleasantly for an hour before getting drunk and laughing until one in the morning.

In a decent black dress and heels, Aria crouched down next to her six-month-old daughter and looked straight into her eyes. "Behave," she told her before straightening up, taking a deep breath, and walking out of the apartment.

Ezra, all fancied up in a tuxedo and interesting tie choice (gifted by Aria, of course), watched Aria storm out with raised eyebrows and heard the car door slam. He turned to Spencer. "Thank you so much for this."

Spencer, in sweatpants and a sweater, rolled her eyes and waved him off. In the background Toby was making Keenan laugh and squeal, slapping his father's face a couple of times from excitement. "Really, it's no problem. I remember the first time I had to leave Keenan at home. It was torture." Two months after Keenan was born, Spencer had to attend an important dinner for work that she just couldn't miss; Toby practically had to buy five locks on the door just to keep her out. There was just no way Spencer could fight the motherly instincts she wasn't used to.

Six months earlier…

"Toby, let me back in," Spencer commanded outside Aria and Ezra's apartment door, knocking harshly. "I forgot my purse!"

"Where is it?" Toby asked from the other side, obviously not opening the door for her to find it.

Spencer sighed and gritted her teeth. What was wrong with wanting to hold Keenan in her arms for one (actually the tenth) time? "On the counter next to the door."

"Got it!" Toby exclaimed. Then he turned to Aria, who was sitting on the couch with one hand on her swollen stomach and the other tickling a playful Keenan. "Thanks for this," he sighed. "I can't imagine how Spencer would be if we had to leave him with a stranger."

Aria crinkled her nose in horror. "Oh God, she'd turn into a monster and tear down the door. Then she'd probably eat everyone."

"Aria," came Spencer's pleading voice. "I didn't say bye to Daisy!"

"Daisy's not even born yet, Spence," Aria called back, then, to come up with another excuse to further discourage Spencer, she added, "Plus, she's asleep." The last part was a lie because the baby had been kicking her for the past hour. Sighing, she returned to her conversation with Toby and tickled Keenan's foot. The child squealed happily, causing Aria to beam from the cute reaction. "Besides, this is good practice for me," she told him.

"That's right. Spencer keeps telling me every morning, 'Any day now.' She's anticipating this so much."

"Well, that's Spencer. We've been friends for so long, now her best friend is having her first kid. Sometimes I feel like she's more protective than Ezra."

"She's gonna worship Daisy like her own."

Aria giggled. "Yeah. Or at least until you guys have a daughter."

"Toby," growled Spencer, still stranded in the hallway. "Now we're going to be late."

Getting up from the couch, Toby placed a final kiss on his son's forehead before patting Aria's shoulder. "You'll be fine. He usually goes to sleep around this time anyway." At that moment, Ezra appeared from another room, paint smeared on his Hollis t-shirt. "See ya, Ezra. We still up for poker this weekend?"

"Of course!" Ezra exclaimed, sitting next to Aria and propping his arm behind her on the couch. "Later. Keep an eye on Spencer."

"I think I'll need both eyes. Good thing her parents are going to be there, so that makes six," Toby joked. When he opened the door, Spencer tried to barge past him, but it was a fruitless attempt. "We'll be back by eleven!" Spencer cried through the crack of the door. "Remember, he can't sleep without his blanket and—"

"They know, Spence." Toby rolled his eyes at Aria and Ezra and finally closed the door. There was a final "Can we just turn back now?" from Spencer, and then the hallway was quiet.

Leaning into the pillows she had stacked to support her aching back, Aria grinned at Ezra and pointed at the blue paint smear on his shirt. "What were you doing for so long? For a second I thought you had jumped out the window to avoid babysitting tonight."

"No, I was, uh…working on my concoction on the wall."

"What?" Aria stammered, sitting forward. With his large, infant eyes, Keenan watched the couple while chewing on his blanket. "Ezra!" she whined, standing up despite the struggle she had without help. "We talked about this! Since you and Toby practically sweated blood to build the crib and furniture, I would paint the walls!"

It was true. Back when Spencer was seven months along and Aria was four, the girls returned to Aria's apartment after a frozen yogurt craving and found Toby and Ezra huddled over blueprints in the nursery that had barely been started. "Oh no," Spencer had whispered, covering her eyes with her hand. "Not again."

Aria remembered something like this back when she didn't know she was two months pregnant and Toby had asked Ezra if he could help build all of the baby's furniture because it was cheaper and he had the abilities, plus it was a loving gesture. Spencer had called Aria over the night before to paint the walls a light, simple blue, and then Aria had attempted to teach Spencer how to paint a border of clouds around the wall. Spencer's had turned out as white lumps while Aria's had been blended and swirled like she had pulled them from the sky. Spencer copied Aria's technique and they turned out better, but not perfect; she shrugged it off and said they had character before offering to take Aria out to a steakhouse because she was craving a steak, her hidden way of payback. So they went and Aria ordered a salad, not knowing that Spencer secretly wanted to sneak a piece of medium-well beef between the lettuce leaves when Aria wasn't looking.

The next morning Spencer had woken up to the sound of a saw roaring. "Toby!" she yelled with a groan; they had an agreement that he couldn't build before ten A.M. Of course he couldn't hear her, so Spencer stormed out of the bedroom and was shocked to find Toby and Ezra huddled over the electric saw with goggles over their eyes. "Ezra?"

Ezra waved as though this was a normal situation. "Good morning, Spencer," he greeted her while Toby pasted a toothy grin on his face and apologized telepathically with his puppy eyes. "Toby invited me over."

"To do what?" Spencer strode into the room and waved her hand across her nose as the wood shavings flew around her. "And where's Aria?"

"To build a crib, a dresser, maybe some toys. It's a two-man job," he said while unrolling a blueprint.

With the same wide smile on his face Toby piped up, "And I'm building a rocking chair all by myself." This provoked a grin to cross Spencer's lips; only she and Toby knew the meaning behind that.

"And Aria's at work."

"Wait, she got the teaching job?" Spencer gaped.

Ezra nodded and handed Toby a box of nails. "She was going to tell you later after her first day, but she almost didn't go in. She complained about feeling nauseous all the way out the door, but then she texted me a few minutes ago saying she feels fine now."

"Well, I'll pretend I didn't hear any of that and she'll surprise me later." Spencer strolled out the door, hands crossed above her slightly bulging belly. "Continue with your manly job, boys." The roaring of the saw commenced again. (Let's just say the whole building escapade lasted a month and ended with celebratory scotch and poker.)

Now they were at it again, crouched on the ground with the same exact goggles and determination on their eyes. Quickly Toby explained, "Since Ezra was kind enough to help me, I couldn't say no when he wanted to do the same thing for his daughter," and Aria fought back with "Then I'm painting the room."

"No," protested Ezra. "The doctor said—"

"I know what the doctor said," Aria snapped. She was only four months and Ezra was already extremely protective. "But I'm not helpless yet, Ezra. Please just let me paint the room." Spencer and Toby stood around awkwardly as the couple fought then made up, finally clapping for them after they hugged it out and Ezra agreed that she could paint the room, but only if she monitored her time spent on her feet. Thanks to Toby's help, the furniture turned out safe and sturdy. And thanks to Aria's more delicate condition, she had to stop painting after her seventh month even though she still had the elephants and tigers to do.

Now Aria stood above him, her feet hurting, and she was overly upset that he had touched her work. "Aria," Ezra said softly and grabbed her hand. "Sit back down. Doctor's orders."

With a disproving grumble Aria sat back down, hands crossed at her arms. "What did you do?" she sighed.

"No idea. I just doodled something on the wall behind the door and it came out kind of friendly."

Aria glared at him, then got up again (with some struggle) and picked Keenan up. "Well, we might as well see what the actual baby thinks of it."

Flipping on the lights of the almost complete nursery, Aria closed the door and immediately raised her eyebrow at the painted blob. "Oh my God," she laughed, putting a hand over her mouth. Ezra watched as she sniffled and blinked her teary eyes, still laughing as Keenan cooed and pointed to the splotch. "That is so funny!"

Later that night, when Spencer and Toby returned and Spencer immediately grabbed Keenan from Aria's hands screaming, "Give him to me!" the four of them studied the masterpiece. Spencer's guess was that it was a cuddly cloud monster because she had experience with painting clouds. Then Toby picked up a brush and added a mustache. Spencer asked for it next and, giggling, painted a monocle over one of its eyes. Ezra, not surprisingly, gave it a tie. Aria unprofessionally added stick legs and arms. Despite Spencer's uncertainty, she let Toby dip Keenan's hand carefully in the paint—covering his tiny nose with a blanket, of course—and gave the creature its own palms, causing Spencer to huff over Keenan while giving him a bath and complained about his father and their friends. After Daisy was born and Aria continued with the mural, she couldn't find the heart to paint over it, so instead she kept it there. Then one day, when Spencer walked into Keenan's room and sat in the rocking chair, she was startled by the same friendly monster on the nursery wall. Toby confessed to inviting Aria and Ezra over because they wanted to do the same thing for Keenan but with Daisy's two-month-old handprints.

It was no surprise the kids were embarrassed by their parents crazy antics later in their lives.

…

An impatient car horn honked outside, jolting Spencer and Ezra from their recollections. Peeking out of the window, Spencer saw Aria hunched over in the passenger seat. "That's your cue," she said, shooing him out the door. "Go before she changes her mind and takes another hour to leave."

On the way out, Ezra ruffled both Keenan and Daisy's hair. "Knowing Aria, we'll be back before the drinking starts."

"Oh, so see you in an hour," Spencer joked and leaned against the door. "By the way, monitor Ella. If she starts fawning over her granddaughter, Aria will go crazy. Trust me, Toby had to dig my nails out of the dinner table at that work thing when my mom kept going on and on and on…"

Another honk resonated outside, and tears clouded Daisy's. "Oh no!" Spencer's voice rose. "Go, before she starts crying! One time Toby was so upset to hear Keenan crying, we cancelled a party invitation. And I thought Toby was the stronger one—"

"Let him go, Spencer," Toby said while picking up a whimpering Daisy.

"Oh, sorry," Spencer apologized and gave him a guilty smile. Then she closed the door slowly and waved one hand, indicating him to go away. "Bye, see you later, have fun!"

Shutting the door, Spencer turned to Toby and the two children, one starting to cry and the other jumping up and down impatiently. "So, what do you say we get these kids calmed down and watch a movie?"

Toby smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she plopped down next to him. "I like that idea."