A/N: Sorry it has been so long since I've updated! Thank you for sticking with me! :*
The next few weeks passed in a blur. Fox's belly continued to grow and the twins become exponentially more active, kicking and elbowing her without mercy at times. Although sympathetic to a point, Eric nonetheless found this endlessly amusing, claiming his boys were fighting each other, Dauntless already in the womb. After two more weeks of bed rest, Tris had finally went into labour, a long, drawn-out experience that seemed to take more out Four than Tris, and gave birth to a beautiful girl with her daddy's brown hair that they named Madison. Eric had given his blessing for Four to name his daughter that; after all, with two boys on the way, Eric and Fox had no use for it anymore; and, as Fox now liked to say at the end of the day, 'one and done Coulter, if this is what your spawn are like, I'm only doing this one time'.
Eric was flat out busy at work, claiming reluctantly, and only when Fox cornered him in the kitchen one day, that Tris and Fox's maternity leave replacements were 'fucking useless'. He stumbled home every night and bee-lined to Fox's arms, snuggling tightly against her and covering her stomach with his massive hands, relaxing almost to the point of sleep as he stroked gently against her skin. The twins reacted to his voice and touch, putting a smile on Eric's face like nothing else.
Last night, Eric had been dead on his feet, bypassing even supper and collapsing directly into bed after his shower. He was stretched out, arms out flung, when Fox had come to bed a few hours later, mumbling when he sensed her near and rolling towards her to pull her to him, snuggling his head against hers with a hum.
Fox awoke the next morning to Eric's hands on her, him pushing into her from behind. He growled playfully in her ear as he began to thrust.
"This is for your stunt last night."
Fox was confused for half a second until it dawned on her that her dream, where she'd treated a moaning, sleeping Eric to a rough hand-job, had been a lot more real than her sleep addled mind had thought. Fox giggled and arched her ass back against Eric's loins, relishing his groan, his fingers tightening on her hips. A mumbled curse left his lips as his tempo increased and Fox gasped as he hit deep inside her.
Rolling suddenly, Eric pulled Fox on to her hands and knees, continuing to thrust roughly. His hand reached up and curled into Fox's hair, yanking her head back and Fox gave a breathless moan, Eric's name falling off her lips. Heat pooled rapidly in Fox's core and she embraced it, body tensing as she cried out, pulsing around Eric's cock. With a groan and muffled curses, Eric came with her, slamming inside her once more before releasing himself. Dropping back down to the bed, Eric pulled Fox against him and nuzzled his head into the crook of her neck.
"Fuck," he mumbled. "I wish I could stay home with you today."
Fox hummed in sympathy, "I wish you could too."
As if on cue, Eric's phone began to ring and he dropped his head into Fox's hair with a growl before rolling away to answer it.
"Coulter." He barked. He was silent for a moment before snapping. "Are you fucking serious!"
With a snarl, Eric rolled out of bed and stalked naked from the bedroom, began to pace in the living room. Fox stood and walked into the bathroom, emerging again just as Eric stomped back in. Seeing her, the anger in his eyes melted and morphed into anxiety. Reaching out, he took Fox's hands and pulled her to sit on his lap on the bed, with her expanding belly, it was becoming tight, but Eric wanted to look in Fox's eyes, touch her cheeks as he told her the bad news.
"I have to go."
"What?"
Eric exhaled angrily, looked away for a moment before returning his gaze to her eyes. "Fucking factionless...a band has formed out near the fence and is trying to disrupt the Amity shipments coming into the city. They've been lucky so far and the Dauntless fence patrol team out there hasn't been able to stop them. Max needs me in his office right now, I told him he better be able to fucking explain why I'm apparently the only one that can do something." He sighed and forced a hand through his hair before standing. Yanking on pants he pressed a quick kiss to Fox's forehead and left, growling under his breath. The door slammed behind him.
"Max?" Eric called, rapping sharply on the doorframe to Max's office.
Max glanced up and waved Eric in, he looked tired and drawn and Eric felt a brief moment of sympathy.
"I'm sorry, Eric. I need someone senior. This band is cagey, they've completely overwhelmed Jenson out there."
Eric snorted. Jenson was still pretty new to Dauntless, and he hadn't impressed Eric overmuch in initiation. Why he was in charge out at the fence to begin with was enough to make Eric shake his head. "And I'm the only one? Fuck Max, Fox is pregnant, she's due soon; I can't leave her."
Max sighed. "I know Eric, I wouldn't be doing this is I had any other choice. Uriah and Zeke are still laid up in the infirmary from that last skirmish and Will is taking over for both of them, in addition to being a new dad."
"Marlene?" Eric grunted.
Max chewed his bottom lip. "She's on her way to Erudite for tests. Something's wrong and she waited until it got real bad to say something. Her heart races, she gets dizzy. Lynch can't figure it out, so she's stuck in Erudite until they figure it out."
Eric tried to stay angry but felt it fading, Marlene was a hell of a leader; he hoped she turned out okay. "So that leaves me."
Max nodded. "Until Zeke or Uriah is back, then they can take over if there's still an issue out there."
"How long?"
Max sighed. "I want these fuckers decimated, I mean all the way; two, three weeks? Sooner if Zeke or Uriah heals fast."
Eric sighed heavily. It didn't look like he had much of a choice. Gritting his teeth, he nodded, accepting the folder Max pushed towards him. "You want me to leave right away?" He opened the folder and began flipping through it.
Max nodded. "The sooner the better."
Eric returned less than an hour after he'd left, slamming the door even harder than before. The folder was tucked under his arm and he stalked directly to the bedroom. Fox set his breakfast on the counter and walked in behind him, her heart sinking as she saw him pull his duffel bag out of the closet.
Eric finished throwing clothes into the bag and grabbed a few items out of the bathroom. He stopped when he saw Fox in the doorway and exhaled harshly.
"There's no one else who can go?" Fox knew the answer though, Eric wouldn't be leaving her if he absolutely didn't have to.
Eric shook his head. "Zeke and Uriah are hurt, there's something wrong with Marlene, she needs tests. It'll just be a few weeks baby, I promise."
"I'll be okay, I'm worried about you." Fox moved towards him and Eric pulled her gratefully into his arms.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine...but I hate leaving you here alone."
Fox pulled back enough to look into Eric's eyes. "I'm not alone, there's Four, Tris...shit, I can crash at Zeke's mom's place if necessary."
Eric snorted and shook his head. "The housing assignment will be coming through any day now, wait until I get back to help move everything, don't do it yourself."
Fox nodded absently and Eric gripped her chin, his voice serious. "I mean it baby. Don't overdo things; you're already higher risk carrying twins, the doctor said you'll deliver earlier than your due date anyways...and you were having those cramps too."
Fox shook her head. "He said those were okay, as long as they didn't get worse and they didn't; I haven't had any for over a week. Just come home safe to me, okay. The factionless are dangerous...and I'll be damned if I'm raising your demon children myself."
Eric chuckled and pulled Fox tightly against his chest. He nipped at her throat just to hear her squeak. "Fuck, I love you baby. I don't deserve you."
Fox snickered, "no, you don't, you big ox." She pressed a kiss to Eric's lips and tried to pull away but Eric curled his hand on the back of her head and held her to him, with a growl he licked against Fox's lips and groaned as she opened her mouth for him. Breathing hard he pulled away and rested his forehead to hers for a long moment before letting go and grabbing his duffel.
"I gotta go...I'll call you tonight."
Fox blew him a kiss and caught his grateful glance over his shoulder as he pulled the door shut behind him.
Two weeks passed. The factionless were proving more difficult to remove than Eric had first thought, and they'd had a few close calls he decided not to tell Fox too much about. They spoke every night on the phone, some nights longer than others and Fox carefully hid just how much she was missing Eric. The nights were lonely without him, her days boring. She was on light leaderships duties with weekly Erudite doctor visits and was rapidly growing tired of being pregnant. The twins were restless, missing their dad as much as Fox was, and with no one to massage her back, Fox was tense and sore more often than not.
Finally, after 16 days of hell, Eric phoned Fox mid-afternoon instead of night. Fearing bad news, Fox snatched the phone up.
"Eric? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Eric laughed light-heartedly. "No! I'm on my way home! Zeke and Uriah are healed up and coming out to relieve me. I'll be home in a few hours."
Fox shrieked in excitement, dancing on the spot. One of the twins elbowed her hard and Fox giggled. "Your sons are excited."
"Is their mother?" Eric teased.
"Yes, hurry home baby; momma's waiting."
Eric was still chuckling as he hung up.
Fox paced impatiently. Eric was due any minute and Fox planned on jumping his bones as soon as he walked through the door. They wouldn't leave the bed until starvation forced them out. Fox's blood hummed imagining riding Eric tonight, rocking into his thrusts and crying out as she-
The phone began to ring, a harsh sound.
Frowning, Fox grabbed it and pressed it to her ear.
"Eric?"
"Mrs. Coulter? This is Dr. Spence from the Erudite hospital emergency room. I'm sorry, but Mr. Coulter has been in a serious accident, is there anyone that can bring you here? I can't guarantee he will hold out much longer."
Fox's world collapsed and she dropped the phone, began to keen in anguish.