A/N: I don't personally celebrate Father's Day, but I know a lot of people do, so I kind of came up with this thing. It's a spin to the prologue of Find Your Way Back (thus the title) only it's written primarily through Tris' eyes even though it's in third person.
I know it's been a long time since I posted anything, especially for FYWB. Real life has been, well, real - sometimes good, other times bad, then there days when it's just okay, times you're kind of in the middle. I'm not confortable sharing too much here, but rest assured, I've been getting help and am taking care of myself. I try to write as often as I can, though a lot of my drafts tend to go to the scrap bin.
Anyway, thanks goes to my friend and beta extraordinaire, Eunice339. She's just amazing. She caught all of my mistakes in the first draft and made this little thing so much better. I hope you enjoy this one even if it's pretty short. Also, the title of this chapter (and also the longer, multi-chaptered story) is from Michelle Branch song. Give it a listen if you have the time. It's a great song.
I'm at ourblue-eyedheroine on tumblr, btw. Also, I hope you all have a great day regardless whether or not you celebrate Father's day.
The day is bright and beautiful – a warm fall day by Pacific Northwest standards – and they make the most of it. Tris sits herself down under the taller of the two apple trees in their backyard, homemade bubble wand in hand, watching her husband work at putting together the swing set that is their birthday gift for Maggie while their daughter plays assistant, handing him the tools he asks for. She smiles at the sight of them.
They had never talked much about having kids when they first got together. Given how young they were back then, it isn't much of a surprise. She knew though, that at the back of his mind, Tobias had been scared to be a father – how could he not when the man he was forced to call 'father' only ever hurt him in every way possible? He once told her that the closest thing he had to a father was her own dad. From him, Tobias got glimpses of what a good father should be, and for that she's grateful.
"Daddy, can I invite Sam over?" Tris hears Maggie ask Tobias. "I told her I am getting my own swing for my birthday. She wanted one, too, but her parents won't get her one because she hurt herself on the swings at the playground at school, so I told her she could just come over when I have one and we can share."
"That's very nice of you, princess," he smiles down at their little girl, hand pausing over the steel chain of the swing set. He tugs at it, probably testing if he'd tightened it well. "And, of course, you can invite Sam over, but you both have to be careful. You're not allowed to play on it without an adult around."
Tris' smile widens at their exchange. Tobias is a great father to their daughter, no doubt about it. He wears it like a second skin, the love and care he has for Maggie as natural as breathing for him. Of course, there are still times when he doubts himself – times when he second-guesses the things he does for Maggie – and it is only then that she steps in, to reassure him and remind him that he's not alone; that she, herself, still feels like she doesn't know half the things she's doing. Parenting is one big cycle of trial and error.
A giggle breaks her out of her thoughts, making Tris glance toward the direction the sound came from. Maggie stands in front of her, hands on her knees and legs bent, her blue, blue eyes – so much like her father's – looking at Tris with such curiosity. Her brows furrow as if she's in deep thought before, finally, her lips widen into a grin.
"You look silly, Mommy," the little girl tells her and Tris laughs.
"Why do I look silly?"
"Because you're smiling at no one," Maggie answers. "Auntie Chris told me that only crazy people smile at no one."
"Well, your auntie can be wrong sometimes, baby. Mommy was just thinking about something happy," Tris explains. From her periphery, Tobias throws her a knowing look as he wipes the sweat away from his face. The back of his shirt is also wet with patches of it. She'll get it off of him later, definitely later once Maggie is napping. Tris clears her throat.
"Do you want to play with the bubble wand we made?"
Tris gets a resounding "Yes!" as an answer, and then Maggie is out like a shot, promptly running to her father to loop him into their little game. She shakes her head, laughing under her breath at her little girl's eagerness.
Watching her husband and daughter makes her grateful for love and family and second chances, grateful for forgiveness and the ability to admit you've been wrong – for the strength to right them and the courage to try again. It may have taken both her and Tobias a while to get to where they are right now, but Tris wouldn't have it any other way. She'd gladly go through it all over again, if it means having him and Maggie in the end.
This, him and her and their daughter, all of it is theirs, and it has been that way all along.
