I was trying to heave the huge birthday cake, Eric had got for Theo´s second birthday, onto the table. Not an easy task considering it was the hugest dauntless chocolate cake I have ever seen. It was his favorite flavor, so Eric bribed the cooks to make the cake huge.
I guess it was either blackmail or threats.
Seeing my predicament, Uri hurried over and took it from me, lifting it up with no difficulties. Pouting at him, I crossed my arms.
"It´s unfair."
"Considering that your 35 weeks pregnant I think is reasonable that you can't lift such heavy things. Man, I think I´m in love." Uri stared at the huge cake with loving eyes, as I did the same with my belly.
I was rubbing it in circles, as Belle appeared out of nowhere and slipped under his arm. "And here I thought you would be in love with me, considering we only got married last week." She joked.
"Yeah, but we didn't have such an awesome cake. Can we switch?" He asked me, still pouting about the cake. "If Eric can get me such a cake, I´m sure you would love to leave him to me and take Belle in return."
His child-like grin was adorable, but didn't stop his wife from elbowing him in the guts. Doubled over in pain he wheezed. "Just joking."
"Damn right you are." Belle wiggled her eyebrows at me. "I´m way better than some cake."
Uriah looked ready to protest, but when he saw her threatening gaze, he was fast to agree.
"How´s my little niece doing in there?" Belle asked me, while staring at my bump.
"She´s great. Theo was a lot heavier, so I hope she will come when it´s scheduled and still not be as huge as he was."
I felt someone wrap his arms around me, caressing my huge bump. Relaxing into his chest, Eric pressed a kiss to the back of my head, before addressing the newlyweds.
"I´m sorry, Uriah, but only you learned some of the moves my wife here has perfected in
the last two years, I have to decline."
Swatting his biceps, I turned my head away to hide my blush. He still managed to make me uncomfortable with his jokes, no matter how often he used them.
"Yeah, that woman can use her hips." Belle agreed and I could practically hear her wiggling her eyebrows.
She always does that.
"When´s the birthday boy coming home?" I asked Eric, to divert the attention, while doing the finishing touch at the decorations, that were sprawled everywhere in the flat.
My husband loved to spoil his son.
"Four should be here with them, soon. I guess he´s picking up Tris and the other ones." And Uriah was right. He wasn't even able to finish his sentence, before the door opened and two toddlers came storming in.
Being only 3 months apart, Theo and Ben could have been twins. They had the same brown hair, coming from my part of the family, most likely my mother´s. Theo´s face was a little rounder, like Eric´s, while Ben obviously had his father´s chiseled jaw. My son had our grey eyes, while my nephew had deep blue ones.
They even loved each other like brothers.
Eric and Toby worked a lot, especially since my brother took over the senior position in the control room, so I spent most of my time with Tris and the children.
I had started working again, a year ago, but I only made visits to amity, when Theo was either with Tris or in the dauntless daycare.
I enjoyed spending time with my son and with my sister-in-law.
When they had started speaking, Ben wasn't able to pronounce Theo´s name right and so the nickname Teddy came to life. By now, everyone was calling him that and it was really sweet, but I was sure it would start to bother him, when he got older.
No dauntless man wants to be compared to a cuddle toy.
Said little man came running towards me with unsure steps, stumbling here and there. As I crouched down with open arms, he jumped into them. His little foot collided painfully with my belly, making me huff. Eric, the ever-observant one, noticed of course, and snatched him out of my embrace. Pouting at him, I got up, rubbing the sore spot, as Toby and Zeke came into the flat, closing the door behind them.
"Sorry that we´re so late. Teddy wanted to climb the climbing wall once more." My brother wasn't often breathless, but handling two hyperactive toddlers, that thought they were full-fledged dauntless members, was sheer exercise.
"I hope for you, you had him strapped in." I told my brother, raising my eyebrows at him, as I squatted down again to take something Ben was holding out for me.
"Banana." He said proudly, making me chuckle.
"Yes, Ben, that´s a banana."
My brother rolled his eyes and heaved up his son. "Those walls are no higher than 50 inches and the floor is packed with soft matts, there is nothing that could happen to them there. At least they´ll be tired tonight."
"There is always something that could happen." I contradicted him, walking over to my two men. Theo was telling a story, to his best abilities, as he waved his hands around in front of Eric´s face, who was smiling at him.
As he spotted me, Theo´s face lit up with new eagerness.
"Mommy. We climbing today!" He exclaimed, touching my cheek. "And I was soooo high." He stretched his arms as far up in the air as he could. "Wayyy higher than Ben."
He ended his little speech with a smirk, that would have suited his father. In fact, it did. Both of them were smirking at me. I didn't want to roll my eyes at Eric, because I didn't want Theo to think I wasn't interested in his tales.
But it was hard.
"That's great, munchkin! But next time you could help him. Then you both can get so high." I exclaimed with a lot of enthusiasm. "I will, mommy!" As Eric rolled his eyes, it was my turn to grin.
"This is dauntless. Competition is everything." He lectured me, shifting Theo´s weight on his hips, before setting him down, since he wanted to.
"Family is everything." Winking at my husband, I took my sons hand and let him pull me towards my brother and the rest of our little group, where Ben was sitting in the middle.
He let go and walked over to his cousin, before grabbing his shoulder and flopping down onto the carpet beside him. Since they shared everything, Ben immediately handed over one of his miniature dauntless trucks and both of them started to play and make grumbling noises, letting the cars crash into each other.
I watched the two of them, as I conversed with the people sitting around our coffee table and soon Eric joined us. We talked about the changes to come, like a retirement complex for especially dauntless, but available for every faction member, that wanted to spend the rest of their lives with people the same age, instead of living alone.
Or the huts near amity, where pregnant women or sick people, be it mental or physical, could spent some time, after getting permission from the leaders.
All that and a lot more work, was in progress, often build by the factionless in exchange for supplies and medical care.
Our city was becoming pleasanter each year, thanks to Andrew Prior as the head of our government. Interfaction relationships with family members were now permitted to a certain degree, even encouraged. It took away the pressure from the teenagers, that had to choose their faction.
Tris´ father was doing a great job at uniting our city.
Soon after, Tris herself was stepping into our flat, looking like she´d been hit by a truck, Christina and Will following.
Tris and Will were carrying two toddlers, as Christina held her newborn daughter in her arms. The two almost one-year-olds with the mischievous facial expression were in fact, Tris and Toby´s children.
I can't even begin to explain, how astonished I was, when Tris told me she was having twins, only a few days after Ben turned 4 months. Especially with them being from abnegation, I would´ve guessed Tris and Toby could wait a few more weeks, like we had, but I guess not…
And my brother tried to tell me to be careful. At least my second pregnancy was planned…
"Your sons thought it would be funny to paint the couch with baby food." Tris exclaimed, shoving her son, who was grinning like a thief, into his father's arms. "It´s your fault."
My brother´s voice went a few octaves up, as he tried to defend himself. "How is that my fault?!"
Tris turned around and glared at him. "Because," she pointed her finger at him. "You were you one telling me we didn't need to use condoms!"
Her reply made all of us laugh loudly, as my brothers face turned beet red. Muttering embarrassed to himself, he went over to the kitchen area to get some wipes, since Andrew´s face resembled a war zone.
Even if she was stressed out by handling 3 toddlers on her own and voicing that fact out loudly, I knew Tris would never change a thing about her family.
Not to mention that the twins were simply adorable.
Jonathan and Andrew both had dirty blonde hair and Tris´ doe eyes, with a certain sparkle in them. Taking a good look at them, I knew two things for sure:
Those two (just like Theo and Ben) would break a lot of hearts here in dauntless
They would replace the Pedrad brothers, as the kings of trouble
Never considering myself as a huge beauty, or even pretty, I knew that, if Theo only looked a little like his father or his uncle, he would never be amiss of female attention.
But for now I was happy with him playing truck driver.
Eric got up from the couch and slapped his knees. "So, who´s ready for some cake?"
The sentence you should never ask, when any children are near.
Theo and Ben threw away their trucks, before standing up, with some difficulties, and screaming in unison "I am, I am!", while the actual twins portrayed their enormous vocabulary by joining in with "Cake!".
Laughing, Eric and Uriah made sure Theo and Ben wouldn't hurt themselves while running towards the table. Tris was now carrying Jonathan in her arms.
All the screaming had woken up Christina´s daughter, who was now joining our little ones in shouting through our apartment, so she went into the bedroom to calm her down.
Exhausted from all the standing around, I took a seat beside Eric who was standing with Theo in his arms in front of the cake. Uriah had Ben on his lap, Tris Jonathan and Toby had Andrew. Zeke lit up the two candles for Teddy to blow out.
"Make a wish." I told him, before he could start.
Furrowing his forehead in concentration, Theo thought hard about what he would wish for. As his face lit up in pure delight, I knew he had thought of something.
"I wish to marry Ben. We can share a room like mummy and daddy an play all day long."
I burst into laughter, like the rest of the table, while Eric scowled. "You can't marry him."
"But whyyyy?" He whined, looking close to tears.
"Because he´s your cousin." Eric deadpanned, throwing me a `what-the-fuck´ look.
Knowing that Eric was a great father, but sometimes not the most talkative, I started to explain. "Look, honey. You can't marry him, because you marry someone to build a family. You two are already family so there is no need for that, okay?"
Theo nodded, seeming to have understood what I told him.
"Can he sleep here tonight?"
"Of course he can." I said, as I looked over to my brother, who looked relieved. One night without a toddler that is already able to walk around, must be pure bliss. Especially if you have two little monsters already crawling through the apartment, deliberately manipulating things.
Seriously.
Last time I was there, I witnessed how one of them made a mess in the kitchen, by throwing down a bowl of tomato sauce, as the other one was stealing the cookies from the coffee table.
Little devils.
Theo took a huge gulp of air, before blowing out the two candles. I hope our guests like cake with toddler spit on it. Oh well…
I took over the cutting of slices, while Eric was now sitting with his son on his lap.
We chatted and laughed a lot and after everyone got a slice of the infamous dauntless cake, the children were way too occupied with eating, to make any sort of ruckus.
At least that's what I thought.
"Jonathan, NO!" Tris screeched, but it was already too late. The mischievous little man had grabbed a handful of cake with a lot of frosting and hurled it across the table.
He hit bullseye.
As Eric brushed away the cake from his eyes, the only thing that was heard in the whole apartment, was a simultaneous chuckle from both of the twins, leaving me wondering, if they had planned this all along.
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There will be a few more of those chapters, where you can get a little insight of their lives. Sorry if there are any strange mistakes, I´m a little distracted and a lot tired :D
Thanks for reading & reviewing! :)
