I sit in the ultrasound room with Ian smearing gel over my stomach. Eric just sits in a chair with the biggest grin on his face, holding my hand as we wait to finally see our baby.
"Alright, everything is set. You'll feel a bit of pressure." Ian starts to move the sensor over my stomach and I finally see it. My baby; it's so small, but I can see it. Its little head and body stick out on the image, although the other details aren't that clear. It reminds me of a little bean the way it is right now.
"There it is. Definitely eight weeks." Ian points out the baby and Eric laughs and holds my hand tighter. I'm so happy I start to cry. That's my baby…our baby. It's absolutely amazing.
"She's so beautiful already," Eric says. I don't think he'd ever admit to it, but I can see a tear or two welling up.
"Or he," I say, "Our baby can still be a boy." Ian laughs.
"Already arguing about the gender I see," he says, "Well, we won't be able to tell until it's twelve weeks along at the earliest. And that early, I can be wrong; it's more definitive at eighteen to twenty."
"Four more weeks until I'm right," Eric says with a smirk.
"Cheeky bastard," I say with a laugh.
"I have one more surprise for you two," Ian says and then he pushes a button on the monitor and suddenly I can hear a fast, rhythmic thump. It's a heartbeat…our baby's heartbeat. It's the most amazing, beautiful noise I've ever heard. I could listen to it for hours. Eric laughs and kisses me before looking back at the screen and laughing once more.
"That's my new favorite sound," he says.
"I couldn't agree more," I say. I can't wait to be able to hear it without a machine. I find my arms already craving the touch of my child. To see its face with my own eyes. I'll have to settle with the image on the monitor for now. I look at my child again and find its little arms and legs; then I see it move one of its arms. I'm watching it, amazed that that is what's happening within me.
"Looks like your baby's waving," Ian says and I have fresh tears upon my face. This day has been the most amazing day of my life.
"I can't wait to say hello," Eric says as he places his forehead against mine.
"We're going to have to say bye for now," Ian says, "But I can give you a copy of the imaging and audio."
"Thank you." Eric shakes his hand, something he doesn't do often.
As we leave, we have an audio file, image file, and a picture of our baby waving to take with us; we're slowly turning into doting idiot parents and I really don't mind it.
"Apartment first then food?" I want to drop off everything, except the picture. I feel like showing off right now.
"Whatever you want," Eric says, giving me a kiss. As soon as we walk into the Dining Hall, our table erupts in cheers, which the whole hall joins into; I doubt half of the people here know what they're cheering for, but they are. Eric just spins me, tips me down, and kisses me, prompting more cheers from our newfound audience. When he finally tips me back up, I place an arm around his waist as we get our food and head over to the table.
"Ring now!" Christina yells and I happily present my hand with my ring of fire.
"It looks amazing!" Coraline says as she and Christina manipulate my hand.
"How did you all pull it off?" I've been wondering this the whole time. Mostly how they were all able to keep quiet.
"With difficulty," Eric says, "I asked everyone to be in place before you were set to arrive. I asked them all the day after we found out and set the date for today." He holds me close and kisses my ear.
"I don't think I'll ever experience Eric asking me for a favor again," Four says, "It was like witnessing a miracle."
"You know, you owe all of us now," Zeke says, "And I don't think any of us will forget any time soon."
"I think viewing the chasm up close might make you forget," Eric says. Him and his chasm; we've all grown quite close.
"By the way, we're planning your wedding," Christina says, indicating Coraline and herself, "I figure it'll be like a wedding planning test run for us. Don't worry, all final decisions will be yours." I have the greatest friends.
"You guys are wonderful," I say, "And I came with more than a ring." I pull out the picture of our baby waving and everyone takes turns looking at it.
"It's so tiny!" "How precious!" "Oh my God, it's waving!" "This is so adorable!"
Even Lynn who usually doesn't make very many remarks says, "It's…cute" before blushing a bit and handing off the photo.
"It's even melted Lynn's heart of steel!" Uriah shouts and she punches his shoulder. I don't think I could be surrounded by better people, but there's one last person I want to see.
"Think we can take a quick trip?" I ask Eric. I think he knows where I want to go right now.
"Sure," he says and we collect the photo and head over to the train tracks. I feel that it's about time I finally tell my mother. We take the train all the way to Erudite headquarters and I find my feet don't want to move forward.
"Are we going in?" Eric asks with his ever-present smirk.
"Yes," I say and I will myself to go inside. I know that she'll be done with work by now, so I head over to my old home. It's insane to me how I'm still so familiar with the walls of this building. That I don't even need to think about where I'm going. Too soon, I arrive at the door. I lift my hand to knock, but find that I can't. Eric ends up knocking for me, which I give him a little shove for. My mother opens the door, but she doesn't have the look of surprise I was expecting. She just smiles at us and hugs me. I've missed this feeling; I'll never grow tired of it.
"I've missed you," she says, "You, too." She adds before pulling Eric into a hug as well.
"Come in." She moves out of the doorway and we walk in, moving over to the sofa while she takes the armchair.
"So, to what do I owe this visit?" She asks and I find myself for once lost for words.
"Well, mom," I start, "The thing is…um…a lot of stuff has happened recently and, despite being together for a little while—" My mom puts up a hand and laughs.
"Audrey, you can stop," she says, "I already know." My mouth drops open; how does she know? How much does she know?
"What exactly do you know mom?"
"I know that I'm going to have a grandchild," she says with a smirk, "And I also know that you've gotten engaged." I find myself wondering if she secretly has a wire or camera planted on me. I always thought that as a child when, no matter what I did, she always knew. Then I also think of how she must be the most approving mother in the world. She really does love and trust me.
"How did you find out?"
"Eric told me," she says and I turn to Eric as he gives me an innocent smile. I was scared this whole time and here he's already gone and told her for me.
"When did you tell her?"
"The same day I started making arrangements to ask you," he says, "I figured you'd be happier with your mother's approval." He was right, I am happier that my mother gave her approval.
"Now, let me see the ring," my mother says and I show her my hand, "It looks as beautiful on you as I hoped it would."
"You've already seen it?" I didn't know Eric had already gotten the ring by then.
"Audrey, I used to own it," she says, "It was the same ring your father gave to me." I find myself looking at the ring again with new awe. She'd never shown it to me before. Her wedding ring and everything else had been put away when my father died.
"You didn't mention that," I say to Eric and he just smiles to me.
"It would have ruined this if I had." I look at the ring again, this time with curiosity. Most Erudite engagement rings have regular diamonds, blue diamonds, or sapphires as the center stone, but this one is black; black is typically reserved for Dauntless rings. How could my father have this ring? But then I realize there's only one way he could have and my mother smiles.
"I take it you figured it out," she says, "Yes, your father was from Dauntless. We were in the same year, but didn't talk at all; we were from two very different factions. But I caught his eye, so he decided to leave Dauntless and switch to Erudite to pursue me; he even bought a ring, he was so sure of himself. Your father had quite the ego, you see. He pursued me and I would have none of it. But he eventually won me over and here we are." Her eyes are filled with nostalgia as she speaks. I know this is a moment that probably won't be repeated so I savor it. Her letting me see a brief window into the past.
"Thank you, mom." Those are the only words that I can think of to say. She helped make one of my happiest moments even more perfect.
"Now, I think you have something else to show me," she says and I show her the ultrasound picture.
"It's absolutely gorgeous," she says, "Definitely eight weeks. My granddaughter's going to be big." Am I really the only one who wants a boy?
"Then I hope you two aren't disappointed when I get my boy."
"Even if we're wrong, we can always roll the dice again," Eric says with a laugh. Eight weeks in and already talk of a second.
"If it's alright, can I keep this?" She's given me so much and asks only for a photograph. There's no way I can give any other answer.
"Of course you can," I say, "And there'll be more, apparently."
"Then I have one for you, too." She takes the picture with her to her the bedrooms and comes back with another. I recognize it immediately; it came from my room, I could never forget it. It's a photograph of her, my father, and me. I'm still a baby, so my father is holding me, a smile on his face that is like my own. Knowing that he's from Dauntless, I look for signs of it on him. I notice that his ears have scars from healed piercings as does his bottom lip. I never even noticed before; then again, I wasn't looking for it. He's dressed in Erudite blue and wearing glasses; he looks so much like he belongs in that lifestyle, I never would have expected Dauntless. I smile to myself, knowing that I'm more like my father than I thought I was.
"Thank you." For the second time, she's given me something of infinite importance.
"I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you earlier," she says, "I didn't think it a good idea to give it while you were still an initiate, because these sort of things aren't usually approved during that time. Faction before blood and all that." I just smile to her and give her a hug; I have it now and it's something I've missed.
"It's getting late, you two should go," she says, "Until the police force is running, it's dangerous to be out at night."
"Alright, bye mom, I love you."
"Bye, Natasha."
"Eric, you can call me mom, too, if you would like," my mother says with a smile, "You're going to be my son soon enough."
"Then, bye, mom." The way he says it, it's like he's never used the word. I don't think he ever did. But he's able to say it with a smile, now and it's the greatest sight.
A/N: This chapter got me thinking: what would everyone think of a spin-off for Audrey's parents? It would feature Tris', too, and Jeanine, seeing as they would all be in the same year. Thoughts?