[Disclaimer: This is the second book in the series, so if you have not yet read the first, I strongly advise you to do so.]
It's been six years since the birth of Aria and Ezra's daughter. Although a teen pregnancy wasn't what they originally planne...
We've been in Maine for just about a week now. It's starting to grow on me; the ocean, the mountains, the forests. Piper and Stella love it too, they seem really good here, like they've finally started to relax since we left Rosewood.
I miss my friends. I know they must be so confused as to what happened, and I can only hope that they don't think of me as a horrible person for taking the girls away from Erza. They don't know the full story, they don't know the reason that I took Piper and Stella away is because Ezra is the horrible person. He'll never tell them that he's on the V team, so they'll just pity him for acting like he's the victim in this scenario, as if he has no idea why I left. Of course I feel bad, but mainly just for my friends because I left them in the dark. They don't know about Ezra, and the least I can do is tell them.
"Can we go yet?" Piper asks, tugging on my arm.
"Yeah, let me just find the bathing suits." I answer. I promised her and Stella that I'd take them to the beach today, which wasn't so hard of a thing to promise. I want to go probably just as much as they do.
"Okay, let's get going." I say, taking my daughters' hands and walking out of the cottage. We've been staying here since arriving in Maine, and I doubt I could've found a better place for us. We can't stay forever, but believe me if we could, we would.
Piper's always loved the water, ever since she was a baby she's enjoyed being in it. Even bath time has always been a big hit with her, so I'm not at all surprised when she runs down the beach and into the ocean. It's not near as cold as I thought it'd be, so I join her in the small waves, while Stella wades in the shallows with her floaties.
"Mommy look!" Piper exclaims, popping her head up from under the water.
"What's up?" I ask her.
She holds her hands out, which both hold a rock "I got you and Stella a rock from the bottom of the ocean!"
"All the way from the bottom of the ocean?" I reply "Wow, that's pretty special, thanks Pipe."
"You're welcome." She says "Stella come here, I got you something!"
"Mommy uppy!" She answers, standing shyly where the water is only up to her knees.
"Swim Stella!" I call "The water's nice!"
"No I want up!" Stella replies "Please!"
"Fine, but only because you said please." I tell her.
"Here's your rock." Piper hands her little sister the stone.
"Thank you." Stella replies in her adorable babyish voice.
"I love you two." I blurt, as if they'll feel any different "So much."
"I love you Momma." Piper answers, Stella not far behind.
~~~ Ezra's Pov
I sit on the couch in the living room, flipping through Aria and I's photo albums. We don't have very many, but as the kids grow, so does our collection of photos. The albums are so special to me, not only because of the pictures that document our lives, but because of who took the majority of them. Aria often has a camera in hand, she's always loved the art of capturing a moment in time. I think her passion for photography only grew when we had kids, and now, there's not a thing she'd rather aim her camera at than them.
I smile at a picture of a tiny Piper eating watermelon, making me wonder where the years went.
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