Family night

Tobias' POV

The kids, Tris and I decided a long time ago to reserve one night a week for family night, which is usually on Sundays. Tonight we decided to play some Pictionary with the kids and then watch one of their movies. Initially we wanted to go to the park and spend the whole day there, but it started raining yesterday afternoon and didn't stop at all.

The kids wanted to play boys v. girls and because all us Eaton boys are gentlemen we let the girls start by picking the first card. For the first game Rose and Andy draw the first picture.

"Ball" Milo says excited.

"Circle" Jo chimes in.

"Moon?" Tris asks.

"No, look closer mom" Rose says.

"Apple" Jo shouts.

"Yes!" Rose replies happily.

"Oh, man. How could you not see it?" Andy asks looking at me and his brother.

"Maybe you should have put a leaf on the apple" Milo says back.

"Maybe you should pay closer attention" Andy replies.

"Hey, that's enough" I say, calming them down.

"We won this round" Rose says with a smug grin on her face.

"Yeay" Jo squeals.

"Johanna Eaton, stop bouncing" Tris chastises our youngest daughter. I look over at them and smile.

"Sorry, mommy" she says.

Our game continues and I watch mesmerized as my family has fun. Each of my kids are a blessing and I will be eternally grateful to Tris for allowing me to father her children. I'm so proud of them. Andy is in second grade now and even though he is very smart, he doesn't really like Erudite. After we saw his grades Tris and I talked about what might happen if he would choose Erudite instead of Dauntless when he turns sixteen. It's still early to worry about that and even if he would leave our faction we would still be able to visit him. Thanks to what Tris did over the years in the city our society changed a lot from when we were just teenagers. Whatever his decision might be we will support it and love him nonetheless. Rose will start school in September, which is basically around the corner. She is both excited and nervous about it. Up until now she only stayed here in Dauntless, either in daycare until she was old enough for kindergarten and then kindergarten and pre-school. She is smart, but more artistic. She loves to draw and sing and Tris taught her how to read so she always asks either me or Tris to get her a new book. She even got mom and Natalie to buy her books. She has got quite the collection.

Milo and Jo are still in their silly phase. They play a lot and even though they are twins they are two different people. At times they enjoy playing with each other only to get bored and seek solitude. But whenever one of them is picked on the other steps in and defends his or her sibling. Tris and I were often called to daycare to take them home for fighting with other kids. The first time we were asked to pick up the kids Tris picked up Jo and I picked up Milo. The four of us went home and we both sat the kids down in the living room. They both started making up excuses and talked over one another. I told them to be quiet, using my Four persona to keep them that way. They all know I would never hurt them, but thankfully my Four stare works on the kids too.

"Now, tell us what happened, one at a time" I told them. They both looked up at me and tried to figure out where to start.

"Jimmy started it" Milo told us.

"What exactly did he do, that made you hit him like you did?" I asked.

"He pushed Jo and she fell" he said and looked at his sister. Both Tris and I looked at her too and saw a bruise on her left cheek. Tris crouched down in front of her to get a closer look.

"Do you have an owie anywhere else" she asked. Jo nodded and held her left arm just above her elbow. Tris pushed Jo's sleeve up to inspect the damage. It wasn't bad, but it still angered me that some kid pushed my little girl.

"Did you tell your teacher that this boy pushed your sister?" I asked Milo and he looked down ashamed. I sighed and crouched down in front of my son. "Listen to me, both of you. I am proud of you that you want to protect each other, but beating someone up isn't okay. If this ever happens again you go straight to your teacher and tell her what is going on. She will then call us, if necessary. But I don't want any of you to pick fights, for any reason. Violence is not the answer and I will not allow you to solve problems with your fists. Have I made myself clear?" I asked them sternly, but tried to keep my voice soft. I never want to frighten my kids, under any circumstances.

"Yes, daddy" Jo was the first to answer.

"Milo?" I asked.

"Yes, dad. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Now you know better" I told him and hugged him.

"Come on, sweetie, let's get you cleaned up" Tris said and took Jo into the bathroom.

Of course they both ended up fighting with other kids, but by the time we or the parents of those other kids got there our kids already reconciled and where friends again. Even though it's troublesome to leave work because our kids decided to have a little fight I would rather miss an entire week of work than not be there for any of them.

"Dad!" Andy shouts and I look up at him.

"Where were you?" Tris asks amused.

"Just thinking" I say and she furrows her eyebrows.

"Please tell me it wasn't work related" she says hopeful.

"No. I just thought of the kids" I say.

"Why, daddy? We are all here" Jo asks bouncing on her mother's knee.

"I was just thinking of all of you and how much I love you" I say and Tris smiles warmly.

"We love you too" she says. "But if you don't get your head in the game, Four, your daughters will beat you" she says smirking and I look toward the boards where the kids wrote down the score. Right now my girls lead 5-3.

"Oh. Well, then, we need to do something about that score" I say and Milo and Andy grin.

We play a few more rounds, but don't manage to beat the girls. We conclude our game and while the girls clean up the game I take my sons into the kitchen to help me prepare plates with Dauntless cake, that Tris baked earlier today, somehow managing to hide it from the kids. When we get back into the living room Rose and Jo look over their favorite movies and ask Andy and Milo to join to pick one out. I look at my watch and realize it's early enough for two movies, if they manage to decide on them. While the kids argue which movie to watch Tris and I just sit on the couch cuddled together and eating our cake. We watch the kids as they somehow manage to agree on one movie. I put the movie in and soon it starts. Great. Another animated movie about talking animals. I really need to get me and my wife out of the house and spend some quality couple time just with her. Maybe we can convince Natalie and Andrew to spend some weekend at our place while Tris and I escape.

"I know what you're thinking" Tris whispers in my ear and I turn to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "I've already talked to mom. She and dad agreed to watch the kids next weekend and I have made a reservation for the two of us" she tells me smirking.

"Amity or Candor?" I ask.

"Candor." Oh, good. It's closer anyway. To be honest we could lock ourselves in our bedroom and I would be happy.

"Can't wait, Mrs. Eaton" I say giving her a smug grin.