Pretty Little Liars: 16 & Pregnant (Sequel)

Now You See Me, Now You Don't

The Next Day
Aria's Pov

I turn the shopping cart up the next aisle, scanning for anything that we might need.

"Those Momma!" Stella cries from the cart, pointing to a box of Oreos.

"We don't need those." I reply, walking past them.

"But Mommyyyyy," She whines "I need it."

"No you don't," I chuckle "You eat enough cookies as it is."

"Can I have those then?" Stella begs, pointing at the chips.

"Which ones?" I ask.

She shrugs "Any."

"Well, if you agree to share the all-dressed ones with me then we can get them." I tell her with a grin.

"Okay!" Stella agrees quickly. After grabbing a few more things, my toddler clearly growing impatient, we begin to make our way to the tills. For the middle of a work day, the store is surprisingly busy, making the lines long. I choose the shortest one and push the cart up behind the last person, going over the mental list I made to make sure I got everything. I hear my phone vibrate from my purse, kind of glad to have a distraction from thinking about a grocery list. I dig my phone out and turn it on, seeing I have a new text message.

I may not come across as a people-person, but here's a fun fact about me; I've always had a soft spot for kids. There's one little girl you and I both know who is currently attending her kindergarten class, and I thought it'd be nice if we became further acquainted. Won't Piper enjoy an early-pickup from her Mom's old friend? Hasta la vista!

-V for Vendetta

"Oh my god." I say quietly. I don't give the whole thing much thought before scooping Stella from the cart and running from the grocery store. I have to get Piper from school before V does.

"Wait ma'am!" Someone calls after me "Your groceries!" I don't so much as glance back before running out of the exit and into the parking lot. After strapping Stella into her car seat as quickly as I can, I pull out of the lot and drive quicker than I ever have through the streets of Rosewood to Piper's elementary school.

Once I've pulled into the parking lot at the school, I grab Stella and run inside the building to the office. It's stiflingly quiet, the woman at the front desk looking up expectantly.

"Piper Fitz," I huff "I need to sign her out for an early pickup. There's a-a family emergency."

"Okay." The woman says, turning to her computer. After a moment, a frown comes over her face.

"It says here that she's already been signed out." She tells me "Just about twenty minutes ago." My heart plummets, and my ears start ringing so loudly that I can hardly focus on anything else. This can't be happening. My daughter couldn't have been kidnapped.

"Is there a problem?" The secretary asks, snapping me from my thoughts. I go to answer, telling her that yes, there's a huge problem. That my little girl has been kidnapped, and that it's her fault for letting an anonymous person sign her out. That this isn't fair, and that a six year old certainly doesn't deserve this. But before I can say anything, I bite down on my tongue as I realize that anything I tell this woman won't make a difference. All it'll do is cause a commotion and slow down the process of getting Piper back.

"N-no." I stammer "I forgot, I had someone else pick her up already."

"Oh okay, all the better." She shrugs "I hope the family emergency gets resolved quick enough."

"Thanks." I reply as I hurry out of the office, Stella on my hip. I frantically pull out my phone, shakily dialling Ezra's number. It's rings for a while before going to voicemail, and I immediately call him again.

"Pick up, pick up." I plead, on the verge of tears. But again, it goes to voicemail. I bite my lip to keep the tears back, not wanting Stella to see me cry. But as the chances of Ezra answering his phone quickly seem to diminish, staying calm starts to get harder and harder.

I put Stella in the backseat of the car and go to the front seat, calling Ezra one more time. Once again, it goes to voicemail, and I can no longer keep the tears back. I place my head in my hands and begin to sob so much that my entire body trembles. Why does this have to be happening, and why does it have to be to Piper? It should've been me, she has nothing to do with any of this. She's an innocent little girl who doesn't deserve to be targeted by someone who's after me, I want my children out of this.

"Momma?" Stella asks in a small voice, noticing me crying.

"I-It's okay." I try and convince her, wiping my tears.

"What's wrong?" She continues, concern written over her features. It breaks my heart, although I know I can't tell her the truth. What am I supposed to say, that her sister was kidnapped?

"Did I ever tell you about the day you said your first word?" I ask, hoping it'll take both our minds off the scenario at hand.

"No." Stella answers, looking at me curiously.

"Well," I start as I wipe my tears and pull out of the parking spot "I'm gonna tell you all about it on the way to Daddy's work." I tell her about that day as we drive to Hollis, and luckily it helps distract me from bursting into tears. My hands are still shaky as I grip the wheel, although my ongoing blabbering about Stella's first word helps prevent the trembling from taking over the rest of my body.

I quickly wrap up my lame-attempt at a story as we pull into the Hollis parking lot. I carry Stella inside and down the hall to Ezra's classroom, tears beginning to well in my eyes again. I stop outside the closed door and suck in a sharp breath, then knock and twist the handle. Every student turns and looks at me, their pens still in hand from taking notes. Ezra looks up, an excited looking coming over his face as soon as he sees Stella and I.

"What a nice surprise," He says happily "Come in!" A lump grows in my throat, and I struggle to find the words to reply.

"Can you come out here for a second?" I choke out, trying my hardest to stop the tears from welling in my eyes. Ezra notices that something's wrong, and quickly gets up from his chair and walks toward me.

"Okay, uh, take a little break for a few minutes." He tells his students before stepping into the hallway and shutting the classroom door behind him.

"What's going on?" Ezra asks worriedly, looking at me and Stella "Is everything okay? Do you—"

"Piper's missing." I interrupt him with something I'm sure is even worse than what he could be imagining. He gives me a look of disbelief, staring at me as though he didn't understand what I said.

"W-what do you mean?" He stammers. I can't help but let the tears pour down now; saying it out loud makes it so much worse.

"She's gone," I sob "V took her. He k-kidnapped her. Our baby girl, she's gone, she's gone, she's—"

"How do you know!" Ezra cuts me off, clinging to any chance that I could be wrong.

"I got a text, then I-I went to her school and they said she was already picked up." I explain, my words nearly incoherent from my crying "That means V has her, he got to her b-before I could." Though Ezra looks about ready to break down, he shakily takes a breath and starts talking.

"We're gonna find her." He whimpers "She's gonna be okay." With that, we run out of the building, Ezra calling Hollis' front office to notify them of his sudden absence once we're in the car.

This can't be happening, Piper can't be gone. Once the realization of it really starts to sink in, I begin to cry harder than I ever have in my life, more pain behind each agonizing sob than I've ever felt. V has my baby girl.