Falling For Hermie #pllfanfic

Chapter Five

Aria's POV:
I wake up bright and early to see and feel the sun flowing in through my blinds covering my bedroom's window, on the same wall as my bed's head. I slowly sit up in my bed and stretch the upper-half of my body, and yawn. I then let my legs flow down from my bed and search for my maroon, fluffy slippers. Once I've slipped them on, I walk across my room to the door, and enter the hallway. I then hear voices coming from downstairs. Loud, angry, muffled voices. I creep down the hall towards the top of the stairs and hide behind a nearby wall, as the muffled voices become clearer. My dad and my brother are arguing. But over what?
"...she has done terrible things to Aria, and this family, Mike-" Dad's tone is a harsh.
"Mona is not the one who broke up our family! You did, Dad! Sure, your affair could have been kept a secret for a little while longer before Mona sent that letter to Mom, but eventually Mum was going to find out anyway! Better sooner that later. Mona was only the messenger! Regardless of anything Mom would have found out!" Mike's voice is full of outrage, "You have no right to say those things about her. You're no better."
A door slams shut and all to hear is a stunned silence throughout the house. I follow the staircase down to the living room; in the centre of which, Dad is standing, frozen and expressionless, staring at the front door, which my little brother had just exited out of the house with. He doesn't acknowledge my presence until I'm standing right beside him.
Dad's gaze is still towards the front door as he says; "Can you cut up the carrots left on the chopping board, Aria? I need to go somewhere."
'Go somewhere'? Should I be worried? Or does he just need to go somewhere unrelated to the argument, where no further conflict is involved? I hope the latter, because in terms of 'brokenness' our family has already had its fair share.
"Dad?" I ask uneasily.
My father suddenly turns around after a moment, to look me in the eyes; a quizzing expression on his face.
"Yes, Aria?"
"Where are you going?"
"Just to, umm..." Dad hesitates. "I need to sort something out. You stay here, sweetie, and get ready for the day."
"What do you need to sort out?" I quiz Dad, slowly.
Dad sighs.
"I suppose I should be honest with you, Aria," he says, sincerely. But then his tone changes to one chirpier. "But, later. Have a shower, put your make-up on, and remember that if you're going to leave the house, lock up."
Dad kisses my cheek, pats me on the shoulder, grabs a coat of his from the coat rack sitting at the front door, and closes the front door shut behind him, leaving me, then standing in the middle of the living room, my attention to the front door.
What is going on? Whatever it is, today is definitely not the day to drop the 'pregnant bomb' on my parents, or at least my dad, anyway. But, like Spencer said, sooner or later I'm going to have to tell Ezra, or I could lose him. With that in mind, I run up the stairs and find my phone on my desk in my bedroom, sitting next to my diary. I unlock it; go into 'contacts'; scroll down the list of names until I find 'Ezra'; select 'call'; and press my phone to my ear, the intense ringing sound isolated. A thought proceeds into my head as I wait for Ezra to answer my call. I need to check to ensure that he's home first, before I share the news with him. Either way there's the chance that I could lose Ezra. I mean, if I don't, I've kept, perhaps his 'future child' a secret from him, which judging from past events is not what he wants. But telling him could make me lose him too. I mean, he may want to flee town to protect his reputation. When things get tough for him, he's known to leave town, too. So I'm kind of in a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't situation'. But, given our history, Ezra wouldn't leave me pregnant like this, all on my own, would he? To deal with my reputation being crushed and his support not around to help me get through it all. My friends' support matters so, so much to me too, but Ezra's in a different respect. I need both to survive this.
Finally, after a long time of ringing, the phone on the other end is connected to mine.
"Hey, Aria," Ezra's sweet voice speaks from the other end of the line. "I'm just about to go into a meeting - that job interview for the position of Dean at Hollis. Is this important?"
"Very," I want to say. "This news could change your whole life, Ezra. It's extremely important." But of course, I don't say that. Not now, anyway.
"Uh, yeah," I hesitate, but quickly continue knowing that he'll have to disconnect from the call soon and I need to tell Ezra about our being pregnant as soon as possible... before "A" or anyone else does. "Can we meet up at your apartment later?"
"Sounds good to me," Ezra confirms. "Afternoon or evening? I won't be finished before midday."
"After," I begin, but then interrupt myself. First I need some further advice from my guru, and I know that she's with Toby this morning. "Evening's good. I want to catch up with Spencer some time today, anyway. So, does that suit you?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll prepare one of the dishes I actually can cook, for you, if you like. How about we make a romantic evening out of it?" Ezra says, in a playful tone.
'You mean, a 'romantic evening' like the one that make me pregnant?' I think.
"Sounds good," I say in a flirtatious tone. "I have had a bit of a craving for a Thai Beef Salad lately."
"Thai Beef Salad we'll have. I'll go shopping for the ingredients when I get the chance. I better go now though. To get this position would be an honour. It's very life-changing."
And so is the news I have to tell you, Ezra.
"Alright, you go. Good luck. But, what time should we meet, at your apartment?"
"Is seven good? Love you."
"Seven's fine. Love you, too."
"Okay, bye," Ezra says just before a constant beeping begins on the phone line to signal the end of the call.
I'm left standing in the middle of my room, with my cell phone in one hand, and the other on my hip, just thinking. I hope Ezra is overcome with joy regarding my news. I really do. This is a huge deal and will come to change our lives as we know it. Maybe in time I will begin to accept the fact that in about nine months, we'll have a kid of our own - smart and beautiful, like Ezra. I'm just praying that my news doesn't tear us apart.
After a while of thinking I decide that it's time to have a shower, so I pick out my clothes for the day - eccentric but modern - and grab my toiletry and make-up bags, and go to carry them to the bathroom. But just as I'm leaving my bedroom through the doorway, my phone beeps, so I turn back to check who is contacting me. Hey, I'm not that obsessed with my phone - it could have been an emergency. But it wasn't an emergency. It was not an important text at all.
"How are you going to screw this one up? If Ezra doesn't bark, I bite. -A."
Great. Just another text from 'A'. I'm practically an adult now. I don't need to worry about him or her or it anymore. I dismiss the message and walk towards the bathroom, rolling my eyes.