Disclaimer: You know what's fun? Balloon animals. You know what's not fun? Getting sued for copyright infringement... soooooo I don't own Divergent in any shape or form. Rights go to Veronica Roth.

~Chapter 26 ~

Tris

I tried to get up, but I was failing. I was practically on the ground and had no way of getting a hold of anyone for help. My phone had fallen, and I knew the minute I went to grab it, I would fall- hard. I couldn't risk it. I tried my best to stand up, but the constant pain made it entirely impossible. Just as a contraction hit full on, I head the door open. Tobias. Oh thank God. He could help me, I knew, and now I would be fine, and so would our babies.

"Tris I'm home!" He called from the kitchen. I couldn't contain my pain anymore; I screamed. Louder than I ever had before, I think. He immediately ran into the room , where I was nearly sitting in the disgusting liquid that poured out of me. "Tris!" He yelled, before immediately coming to the rescue again, as he attempted to help me up. Unfortunately, he couldn't do a whole lot either. So, a minute later, he abandoned the hope of me getting up, and just picked me up and gently placed me on our bed that he had dressed with towels and blankets galore. "What's going on?" Sometimes boys could be so clueless... ugh... but now was not the time for sarcasm and snide comments. I decided to be straightforward. "My water broke. The babies are coming!" He out of breath as he tended to me. "When did this happen? We have to get you to the infirmary!" I knew that wouldn't work. By the time we hailed a cab or got a hold of a car and then drove through crazy lunch- hour traffic, it would be too late. We had to do it here.

I told him this, and Tobias stared wide-eyed as he stood stationery, right in front of me, in a world miles away from here. He looked terrified. It was a new look in him, and I didn't like it one bit. "Tobias! I need you with me for this!I need you here, not on Jupiter. I need my fiance, okay? I can't do it without you!" It was really hard to talk, as I was constantly interrupted with bolts of pain, resulting in screams and cries that in turn broke up my words. "Tobias! Please!" I stammered. "Get help- now!" He nodded as he took out his phone and dialed a number I recognized as Christina's. I could only here what was going on on our end, an barely that under my uncontrollable screams. "It's Four. The babies are whoever you can to help and get your asses to my place- Chandler apartment complex, room 232, immediately." He cut her off mid-sentence, I assume, and he hung up. He was forming logical thoughts now, and I was grateful. There was no way I could do any of this without him by my side, and earlier, it was clear he was in a completely different universe. He was back, and I hoped he was back to stay. "Be brave Tris," he said once again. It was the last thing he said before I was taken under by the pain.

What seemed like hours later, Christina arrived with Uriah and Will in tow. "Oh my God Tris! You look horrible!" "Gee thanks," I managed as I screamed again. I heard Chris mumble something about this being worse than she thought and that I was farther than she expected, whatever that meant. She instructed Will and Uriah to leave, apparently, because they vanished at some point. I barely noticed under the pain I was going through. "Tris? Tris!" I turned to face Christina, as hard as it was. "I'm going to check to see how far along you are, okay? This may hurt a little, just to warn you." I don't know what she did, but holy crap did that hurt. I was in tears afterwards. Clearly, it was painful. "Okay, okay, all done." Oh thank God. "Okay. You are almost six centimeters. We need to get you to ten before you can push, for the safest results. If you keep progressing like this, we should have two babies by the end of the night!" BY THE END OF THE NIGHT? Are you kidding me?! I had already been going through this for hours! I couldn't last until the end of the night! "How much longer?" I asked. "I would say worst case scenario, a few hours. Best? Within the hour. But I'm feeling pretty optimistic about this. I'll check you every half-hour or so." I groaned. It was absolute hell the last time. "Sorry sweetie!" Christina said. "I want to see you out of this as soon as possible. The more often we check you, the more accurate it will be, so you can push as soon as you get to ten, okay?" I guess it made sense, but holy cow, did his hurt. I had never known this pain before, and God so help me if I had to go through this again.

"Alright," Chris said. For the most part she was calm and collected, and I was really thankful for her patience in a time like this. "I'm going to hook up this machine now. It monitors their heartbeats," she said. I nodded, and then winced at the pain that radiated through me from the movement. "And then I'm going to turn this one on. It shows what's going on, okay?"she added. A rush of pain shot through me as I tried to nod again, and I screamed. Again. "Here, before that, we'll get you started with an epidural. It should help." She shot something into my back with the biggest needle I think I've ever seen, and instantly felt numbness from my chest down. Sweet sweet relief. It was like when I was able to walk around again, and function properly without pain, after my coma. I nearly forgot a time when I was not experiencing such hurt. I didn't care. It helped, and I was happy. For the first time today, I smiled. "How are you feeling now, Tris?" Christina asked. "Much better, thank you." It was true. I felt like a million bucks compared to only a few moments before. "Good. I'll leave you too alone for a little while. Enjoy it while you can." And with that, she left.

It occurred to me that this would be the last time ever it would just be Tobias and I. That moment I realized my life was about to change. I didn't know how I felt about that or anything, I just felt. The whole day was a blur. I remember bits the morning,which I have shared, and then recalled amazing soup and cake, and the next minute I was in pain again. Tobias went to get Christina, and I know she babbled how unlikely it was that the epidiral's stopped working, and the next thing I knew, she told me I was at ten centimeters. My brain registered what this meant. I could push. My babies would be here in minutes.

Tobias must have registered my pure anxiety, because he said "You're ready! You can do this! It's going to be okay! We're going to be parents in minutes!" I smiled. I loved seeing him like this, so giddy, so happy. "Are you ready?" I asked. He looked at me like it was the most obvious question in the world. "Yes," he said. "So ready. I have been ready to start a family with you since you jumped into Dauntless. I have had to wait for this for so long, and I am so ready, and most importantly I know it'll be worth it." He kissed me gently and whispered, "I love you," into my lips. I was ready. Now I knew I was. Chris made some smart-ass comment, and I remember shooting her a death glare before she said, "Push, Tris, push!" I did, over and over again. I tried hard as I could, and squeezed Tobias' hand for reassurance. I was ready to give up right then. My body was so tired, I was exhausted and hurting all over. I seriously wanted to give up right then. Then, I heard my baby cry.