Mere Chance: An Ezria Fanfiction

IV. Mama

As Dr. Murphy started to ask me questions, I moved my hand to my stomach once again. It was officially my newfound source of comfort. I think he noticed, and he smiled at me.

"I can already tell you're going to make a great mother." He said whilst writing something down.

"Thanks." I replied, smiling back.

"First question: how old are you?" He said, getting his pen ready to write something down.

"I'm seventeen. I'll be eighteen in two weeks." I said, looking down at my feet. This was the first time I had ever felt like such a bad person.

"I see. Now, are you in a sturdy relationship at the moment?"

"It's complicated..." I said, twiddling my thumbs.

"Okay. Did you want to get pregnant, or was this a mistake?"

When he said the word "mistake", I just felt awful. I wanted to leave. I knew exactly what he was trying to ask me, but I wish he didn't word it like that. It made me feel very uncomfortable.

"I wasn't exactly planning on having a baby, but this is in no way a mistake." I said, but the words came out more harshly than I had intended them to. I was sure he was going to ask me if I was planning on keeping the baby given my young age, but my remark probably gave him the idea that I was not going to kill my child. I quickly apologized and he continued to ask me questions.

A while later, he finally put the clipboard aside and motioned for me to lay on the bed. I did, and he told me to lift up my shirt. I did. He did some tests with the computer monitor turned away from me, so that I couldn't see exactly what he was doing. I began to grow impatient.

"So, from what I can see, Ms. Montgomery, you are about ten weeks along. Does that sound correct?" He asked. I nodded and he clicked away at the keyboard. At least, I think that was accurate. I mean, the last time Ezra and I had sex, we were both a bit too tired from a short story reading at the brew. I don't even remember waking up that morning.

"Would you like to see your baby?" He said with a massive grin on his face. I could tell that he really likes his job. I nodded profusely and he laughed.

Then, he turned the monitor towards me and I saw a miracle on the screen. The image was fuzzy, but you could just make out the shape of a growing baby. Okay, it looked more like a blob; but my motherly instincts overtook my common sense, and I saw my baby on the screen.

"Look here," He said pointing to a specific area on the screen. "There's the head. And there are the arms and legs. Pretty amazing, huh?"

I tried to listen to him, but I was completely enraptured with the image on the screen. I was falling in love for the second time. I never thought I could love someone I haven't met yet as much as I loved my baby I saw on the screen, but I was wrong. Then, I lost it. I started laughing and crying at the same time, and both for the same reason. I could tell the doctor wanted to make me happy, so he walked over to me and placed a set of headphones over my ears. What I heard next would change my life forever.

I heard a little heartbeat. It was astonishing, amazing and incredible to hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time. This just made me cry even harder. Soon, I was bawling my eyes out and smiling uncontrollably. The doctor took the headphones off and pressed a button on his computer, and images of the baby growing inside me started spitting out of the printer. He gently handed me a folder with twelve copies of the pictures.

I got my things together and I shook his hand whilst trying to wipe the tears from my face. Then, he pulled me into a hug. I could tell that we were going to be great friends.

"I'll see you in one month, Ms. Montgomery." He said, opening the door for me.

"Please," I said, smiling,"call me Aria."

I could tell that that made him happy, and then I exited the room. I walked into the waiting room and I saw Olivia at the desk. I stopped and wiped my eyes.

"Honey, come here." She said, and she hugged me. "Are you alright? You look like you just had quite an experience."

"I really did." I whispered.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" She said, pulling out her very own ultrasound photograph from her bag. "This is my first daughter Dianna's ultrasound."

"That's absolutely incredible." I said whilst looking closely at the photo she held up.

"I'll see you in a month, okay hon?"

"Of course! Take care!" I said as I wiped my eyes and stepped out into the parking lot. I clutched the manilla folder which contained the pictures of the ultrasound. I couldn't stop smiling. As I sat down in my car, I lost it again. I held one of the photos in my hand and I began crying again. That was one of the best moments of my life.

.,.

"The hospital?" Spencer said to Hanna and Em as she looked out her window. She couldn't believe that she had followed her best friend. She felt terrible.

"So?" Hanna said, dragging a nail file across her left ring fingernail. "She probably had a doctors appointment. I think you're reading way too much into this, Spence."

"But she was practically hysterical walking out to her car! A normal person wouldn't do that." Spencer implied, trying to prove her case. No matter what she was arguing about, Spencer was a Hastings. And a Hastings never lost an argument.

"Since when did Aria become a normal person? The girl wears forks as earrings." Hanna replied before getting the death glare from Spencer, and she folded. "And I love her; weirdness and all."

"Just-what was she holding when she walked out?" Emily said, looking at Spencer from the back seat.

"Who cares?" Hanna said, completely preoccupied with her hangnails.

"Hanna!" Spencer and Emily said once again in unison.

"Okay, you guys have got to break that habit." Hanna said looking up from her cuticles.

"Whatever." Spencer said. "I think it was a folder or something."

"A folder? From the hospital? Either she has a disease or something really fishy is going on here." Emily said.

Then, all three of their phones beeped at the same time. They knew what this meant and pulled up the same text message on each of their phones. It read:

"I'm starting to like you guys better. You're starting to learn from my ways. You want answers? Get the folder.

Kisses - A"

"God, I hate him!" Hanna exclaimed, throwing her nail file onto the floor of Melissa's car.

"Him?" Spencer asked with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Or her! Why does it matter?" Hanna replied, leaning down to pick up her file.

"I hate to do this to Aria, but A's right." Spencer said. "We can't let any secrets tear us apart. Not again."

.,.

On the drive home, I couldn't help but think that I was lying to my friends and Ezra. I mean I wasn't, right? I just haven't told them yet. I really wanted Ezra to be there with me at my first appointment, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him before I had to leave.

I remembered that I was meeting Ezra at his place tonight, so I drove over to that part of Rosewood. I parked in my usual spot and I walked upstairs. Ezra had given me a spare key, so I let myself in.