Chapter 3
Family dinner didn't go how i'd expected. Tris took her time arriving and barley are anything during the time she was here. I don't think I heard her speak a full sentence the entire night.
Christina and Robert shared news that they were adopting a set of twins within the next month. That surprised everyone being that they were certainly not in the prime of their child rearing years, but we were all happy for them nonetheless. They'd wanted kids for years and I guess this was finally their chance. Susan seemed to be the most excited I guess her brother had wanted this more than the rest of is realized.
Caleb and Susan came bringing only their oldest son Thomas. It wasn't something new, Henry chose erudite at his choosing ceremony. Nobody was completely surprised he left abnegation except for me. Apparently Caleb had once chosen erudite but after the war when the factions were reestablished he stayed in abnegation to be with Susan.
Thomas brought a girl with him this week. Her name was Victoria and her and Thomas were engaged. I guess they must have really loved each other considering they are getting married at 19. Luckily however, their PDA was practically nonexistent.
My dad's brother, zeke, and his family stayed at our place that night after a lot of convincing by both me and dad. When we explained to him what we wanted he filled with excitement, probably of the idea of his brother back in dauntless, even if just for a week.
Once it all seems settled uri offers the last words, "I have one condition. No one can tell him. He has to figure it out himself."
"Of course dad! What makes you think I'd make this easy on him?"
Everyone laughs before heading to bed. I'm help zeke push his wife, shuana's, wheelchair into my room where they will be sleeping.
By the time I make it back to the living room, Zeke's son Ezra is already asleep on the couch.
I watch Ezra as he sleeps. I've always loved him, he was always like a little brother to me and I've always been his big sister. Like me, Ezra was adopted at a young age. I remember the night it happened, I was 8 and he was 4.
Loud knocking came from the door to Tris' apartment. Uriah got the door and there stood Caleb clearly out of breath holding a little brunette boy.
"Is zeke here yet?" Caleb says barley able to say the words between breaths. The boy looked scared, tears streamed down his face and he was visibly shaking.
"No but I'll go check and see if he went to my place by accident." Dad says. Caleb nods and looks at the poor boy.
"You go with him, Caleb. I'll take the child." Tris said moving to take the shaking child from his arms. She held him and I told him the stories they use to tell me when I was his age about Heros and happy endings. He stopped shaking soon enough.
The boys returned with zeke this time.
"Caleb can you tell me everything now?" Zeke asked once the front door closed.
"As you probably understand being a faction leader brings a lot of secret responsibilities," Caleb said. Zeke nodded urging him to continue, so he does, "well this morning I was entrusted with a child. A sick child. His mother gave him to me this morning. The situation in his home meant she had to give him up to save him. She made me promise that Ezra would be adopted tonight and to a family outside of abnegation that would care for him."
Zeke and shuana were the perfect fit. They had wanted children more than anything but because shuana was paralyzed they were unable to.
"So that's it? He's my son now?" Zeke said the biggest smile crossing his face.
"Well I just need you to sign for the closed adoption which means you won't know who his birth parents are and they can't know who you are either" Caleb said in his voice that proved he'd once belonged in erudite.
Light filled the room around me, prying my eyes open. It was only a matter of time until I'd been in the home of the brave. Face to face with the man that I made a coward.