Chapter 28

The following weekend, Eric's house was sold. That had surprised Ana about how quickly someone brought it. Apparently he had in on the market for a month or so.

"And you didn't think to tell me," Ana narrowed her eyes pointedly at Eric.

"You asked me to move in with you anyways, right?" He pressed a kiss to her lips before settling Jonah to the floor.

Jonah giggled and covered his mouth.

"And you," Ana looked at her son. "You took him somewhere today?"

"Am I not allowed to take him anywhere?"

"Yeah, is Daddy not allowed to take me anywhere," Jonah mimicked Eric's stance.

Ana wanted to be irritated that they had ganged up against her - yet again. But she thought that her son was being incredibly adorable at the moment. "No, Daddy can take you anywhere, as long as he lets mommy know about it," she turned her smile from Jonah to send a pointed look in Eric's direction.

"It wasn't anything important."

"Then why were you gone so long," Ana questioned, noticing the gleam in Jonah's eyes. She would try and ask her son when she'd be tucking him into bed tonight.

She must have given it away since Eric snatched Jonah up quickly and tickled him into submission. "The little guy and I are so tuckered out from today, we're going to head to bed already."

"Oh really," Ana asked with a smile, watching as they walked down the hall. "I made fried chicken!" The lure of food still didn't make her guys turn back. Her guys, she thought happily with a sigh.

She shook her head and turned to dial Eric's mother. Jillian Coulter was of no help either. Jillian didn't know why Jonah had been taken out of school early and neither did she learn where they had gone that kept them away all day.

"I'm sure it was something to do with the house."

"Did you know that he had placed it on the market," Ana asked Jillian as she turned from putting the plates away. She left the chicken out because she knew that Eric and Jonah would sneak down later on. "I swear it was just the other day that he started moving in and we were talking about his house."

Jillian sighed. "I really shouldn't say anything, but Eric was planning on asking you about living together a while back. That explains why he put it on the market and didn't say anything until today that it was sold. As for why they were gone for so long," another sigh, "you'll have to weasel that out of my son. I'm sure you're more than capable of doing such a thing. Now..."

Before Jillian could finish there was a dog's bark that could be heard in the back ground.

"Jillian Coulter," Ana chastised, lowering her voice and looking over her shoulder to see if Eric was walking back into the kitchen. "Do you have company at the house? Again," she asked in a teasing tone.

"A lady never kisses and tells," Jillian laughed as Ana heard the door open and Charlie's excited yips. "Charlie," Jillian exclaimed happily. "Look Ana," she sighed and lowered her voice as well.

Ana could only imagine that the woman was shuffling around to keep the conversation quiet. "Eric is a little concerned about it," Ana confessed. "I told him that you and Uncle Evan were just friends."

"The poor man lost his wife many years ago."

Ana nodded. "Aunt Betty and my mother were close friends."

"I lost my husband, too. And although nothing romantic is happening right now, it's nice to have someone to talk to again after all these years. I know that you've lost a husband as well and regardless of how your marriage was, I'm sure that you can relate that you did miss having a partner in life to help raise Jonah, or just to share the little things in life with," Jillian said as Ana could only nod and think about her husband, Eric Carter. "And I'm sure that my son didn't come looking to replace your husband, did he?"

"He felt like it," Ana admitted, closing her eyes and thinking about the earlier part of their relationship. "He confessed as much."

"I'm sure he did. But wasn't what you felt for both men, different?"

"Yes, it was."

"I love Eric's father. Jarvis Coulter was my first in everything. But I miss having a friend around."

"I understand, Jillian."

"I'm not telling you this so that you can defend me to Eric. I don't want to be the cause of tension between the two of you. You two have a long road ahead of you as is."

"Of course not, I know you wouldn't do such a thing."

"Thank you Ana. And thank you for being there for my son. I can tell that the two of you love each other so much. And that's why I'm so glad that he found you. Because I can tell the difference between the relationship he has with you and the relationship he had before. My son loves you, Ana. And I'm quite confident that he'll let you know eventually what he and your son have been up to. It's adorable to see how close they are."

"Like a real father and son," Ana said as arms wrapped around her middle. She yelped and turned quickly to see Eric smiling down at her.

"My mother," Eric mouthed as Ana nodded.

"I'm going to assume that my son walked back into the room," Jillian said with laughter in her voice.

"You could say that," Ana replied.

"I'll talk to you later, Ana. Kiss that son of yours goodnight for me."

"Of course. Thank you, Jillian."

She hung up the phone and leaned her head against Eric's chest.

"You tried to rat me out to my mother," he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Maybe."

Eric chuckled before picking her up and carrying her to their room. As they lay there, he explained that he had gone to meet the buyer for his house and they asked about meeting her. When she questioned who the buyer was, Eric started to chuckle before answering.

The house was snatched up by Hec's oldest sister and her fiance - who happened to be another long lost friend of Eric's. Eric helped show them around that first afternoon with Jonah and even had a late lunch with them at Johanna's. And after speaking with Eric's Captain, he had a job offer for Eric's friend as well.

Ezekiel Pedrad would have a house and job working at the Amity Police Department.

Of course, Eric had to go over to offer him the job - and introduce Ana to them.

"This must be the infamous Ana Carter," Ezekiel lifted Ana's hand to his lips.

Ana couldn't help but blush. Ezekiel was a handsome man. He winked at her as Eric came quickly to her side, pulling her close and tucking her under his arm. Eric smiled also before turning back to Ezekiel.

"Zeke," Eric started. "Congratulations by the way on the engagement. When Hector told me that his sister was getting married, I never would have thought that it would be to Zeke Pedrad."

"Yeah, I found me a nice one," he looked at Ana and winked again. "It seems all the nice women come from Amity."

"Don't you forget it," a curvy red-head came bounding from the back of the house to where she was standing with Eric and Ezekiel.

Eric released Ana to give the woman a hug. For a brief moment, Ana almost felt jealous and self-conscience. The woman was beautiful. Her red hair and body would rival Poison Ivy's and Jessica Rabbit's. And here was little, house-wife JoyAnna Summers. She grimaced slightly because her name didn't even sound exotic. It was just normal, plain.

"And is this your main girl?"

Someone call George R. R. Martin, Ana found the older version of Sansa Stark - or perhaps the younger version of Catherine Tully that made Littlefinger go insane, either way. Damn it, she was expecting the girl to look like Hector. Then again, Hector had a tinge of that 'ginger' hair style on him. And he was handsome in his own way. She should have known that his sister would have been a knockout.

"Yup," Eric turned to her with a smile, his eyes held all the care and love in the world that he had for her - like he was so damn proud to show her off. It made Ana want to melt. Despite the look, she still felt slightly insignificant. "Ana, this is Shauna Rodriguez, soon to be Mrs. Pedrad, unfortunately for her."

"Hey, come on man," Ezekiel held his hands out and laughed.

Shauna walked over and gave Ana a quick hug. "I'm so glad that Eric has found someone that makes him happy."

"Well," Ana pulled back, "he makes me happy, too."

"And what is this, I heard you have a son," she smiled and Ana couldn't detect a trace of dishonesty, judgement or censure on Shauna's voice. She was damn perfect! Ana would have hated to meet Tris now. "I adore children, it's one of the reasons I became a teacher. In fact, I remember your grandmother."

"Gamma Cammie," Ana asked with confusion laced on her voice and face.

"Camilla Summers," Shauna smiled and nodded. "That woman was a force to be reckoned with. She passed away the year we left Amity. My father couldn't live here anymore," her voice turned sad. "My mother had passed the year before and your grandma sort of took us in, kept my dad together. But after that, he didn't want to stay in Amity. He was super-pissed my brother wanted to come back here," she smiled.

"He mustn't be too pleased that you've decided to settle down here, either."

Shauna tilted her head back and forth. "He has his moments. But we have good memories of this place. And for us it still feels like home, even though I haven't been here for fifteen or sixteen years." She gestured for Ana to follow her to the kitchen and Ana did. "Hey, I meant it, about Eric finding someone to make him happy. He and Tris," she shook her head. "They just weren't right for each other. I think they would have killed each other in the end, they both know it. But having a family - that was everything to Eric. It broke him when Tris said Natalia wasn't his."

"Natalia?"

"That's right, Eric probably hasn't told you. But Tobias and Tris had a girl, a daughter."

"I think he may have mentioned it but we haven't really talked a lot about it," Ana explained.

"He loves you Ana. I can tell, can see it. And I'm pretty sure Zeke can see it, too," Shauna looked back towards the living room and smiled. "He's a good guy with a great heart."

"Thanks," Ana smiled and looked down.

"Just tell me one thing, because Tris never shared that sort of thing with any of us, but Eric," she smiled suggestively, "is he, well you know?" Her eyes looked down and she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Why are you asking me that sort of thing," Ana blushed before she covered her mouth to stop from smiling. She couldn't help it. It had been a while since she had 'girlfriends' to talk to about certain things. She couldn't very well talk to Hannah, since Hannah's experience was limited to Ana's brothers. At the same time, she wondered why was this woman asking.

"There's a running joke among the guys - since they've been best buds since their days attending University - that apparently Eric was well-built in certain areas."

"You worry about your own man, Shauna Rodriguez," Ana replied.

"Ah-ha," Shauna snapped her fingers and pointed them at Ana who was still blushing wildly. "You're not denying it. And trust me, honey," she made the motion of flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I aint got no complaints about my man, either," she winked at Ana just as Ezekiel and Eric walked in.

"Hey," Ezekiel eyed them out, "what you two ladies talking about?"

"Nothing," Ana answered quickly and tugged on Shauna's hand to get her to keep quiet. "So, did he take the offer?"

"Offer," Ezekiel's eyes widened before he smiled. "I didn't think you were like that, Ana."

"Like what," Ana's voice trailed until she saw Shauna walk over and slap Ezekiel.

"Like nothing, because we're not like that either," she narrowed his eyes at him, before turning to Ana. "Ignore him. He sometimes forgets that not everyone shares his sense of humor."

"Zeke is known to be a prankster," Eric explained to Ana, who still seemed a little confused. "I think he implied that we were going to share partners," he glared at his friend as recognition dawned on Ana's face. She quickly turned to Eric in shock and horror. "I know that's not what you meant. And so did, Zeke. He's just messing around, that clown. Besides," he pressed a kiss to her cheek, "you're all mine. My love is yours and only yours."

"Aw," Shauna gushed causing Ana's cheeks to heat up.

"Stop being a sap," Ezekiel pushed Eric. "Come on, what's the offer? Other than this house."

"Which by the way, is super charming," Shauna smiled and leaned her head on Ezekiel's shoulder. "I could totally see us raising a family here."

Ezekiel smiled back at Shauna before turning to Eric expectantly.

"Well, Hector is a little apprehensive about it, but Captain Rogers heard about your record. I gave him a full recommendation and you're welcome to join the department here in Amity." Both of their faces brightened, making Ana's face brighten as well at seeing their joy about the news - because she wasn't going to say offer again. "It'll save you a trip from driving back and forth between here and Dauntless. And apparently, it comes with a promotion. One of our Lieutenants - Evan Cullen," Eric prompted.

Ezekiel nodded. "Guy is a legend. I'm surprised they're not talking about making him Captain or something."

"He's a good officer, and from what I heard he might be thinking of retiring," Eric suggested, which wasn't news to Ana.

She heard Uncle Evan mention it several times.

"It's time to leave the work to these youngins," Uncle Evan had said that night they had dinner at Ana's house.

"Why don't you take it," asked Ezekiel.

"I'm sure the officers would like it if one of their own is promoted," Shauna pressed.

"I kind of like being Sergeant right now."

Ana snorted. "You obviously didn't tell them that you have a flag on your file."

"What?"

"You're kidding," Shauna exclaimed the same time that Ezekiel posed his question.

"What the hell did you do, bro?"

Eric glanced at Ana before turning back to Ezekiel. "I defended my family against a sadistic idiot. The only problem was that that sadistic idiot is the son of Amity's mayor."


Earlier in the week, Robert Black Jr. had his trial date moved up. They had him placed in jail without bail, since it was obvious that the last time he posted bail, he went straight back to his prior violent self. Unlike the other time, he wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he showed up at Ana's house. This had been premeditated and therefore changed the charges that were being filed against him.

And while the happiness had been felt for that brief moment, it all came crashing down in the next when the mayor felt that his son was being unjustly tried with prejudice since Eric was one of the officers involved in his son's arrest.

"You didn't even place the cuffs on him," Joshua argued as they sat outside. Ana was tucked under his arm as a blanket covered them while her brothers, Zeke, Shauna, Hector, Matt, his mother and Lieutenant Evan Cullen were scattered about in the yard around the fire.

"And neither did you," Hector added.

"I made sure that neither of them were involved because this sort of thing might happen," Evan shook his head.

No officer had fired a shot, which they owed in a large part to the Lieutenant who had been working on a non-lethal program of taking down offenders - something that Ana's father had been working on before he passed.

Jonah was amazed at any story that the Lieutenant had to share about his grandfather. And that was probably the one sad thing about the entire ordeal. When Eric proposed to Ana, Jonah would gain a grandmother but he would never know Jarvis Coulter, never know Jonah Summers - the man he was named after. And for that, Eric was glad that the Lieutenant was willing to share every heroic tale about Jonah Summers to his grandson.

As Eric glanced around the fire, he noted how Jonah wasn't the only one who appreciated the stories.

The Summers kids welcomed their 'Uncle Evan' back in their lives. Jonathan had been difficult at first. Seeing Uncle Evan opened up old wounds for Jonathan - things that he wasn't ready to deal with just yet. But he caved eventually and everyone had a good cry, a good laugh and of course beer to go around the fire as they spoke about their dad, their mom and even Aunt Betty Cullen - just as they were right now.

"I just feel for you, son," Evan lifted his bottle towards Eric.

"Robert Black is getting his just punishment," Eric tilted his head, "that's all that matters."

"You're a damn good cop. It would have been nice to pass on the Lieutenant position to someone I knew that would be taking care of Jonah's little girl," Evan smiled at Ana who was slowly drifting off to sleep.

She had a long day - better yet, a long week.

"Have you asked her yet," Jonathan questioned as he took a sip from his beer.

"Asked her what," Hannah sat up from Jack's side. "Wait a minute, are you asking about what I think you're asking?"

"What do you think I'm asking, Fields," Jonathan chuckled.

"Don't be mean," Hannah stuck her tongue at him before taking back to Eric with an eager expression. "So?"

"Whoa, man," Zeke began, shaking his head with a smile. "Tobias wasn't kidding. You're seriously whipped?"

"It's called being in love," Shauna slapped his arm before turning in her seat, "not whipped. As if we couldn't tell how in love you were with her when you brought her by. Why didn't you say anything?"

Eric glanced down at Ana, felt her slow breathing and knew that she was sleeping. He looked up at Jonah who was happily sleeping in his mother's arms, Charlie - the dog that he so desperately wanted - slept at their feet, protecting the little boy. Eric sighed and wrapped Ana closed to his side.

"I'm waiting for adoption papers to go through."

Jack, Jordan and Jonathan wore small knowing smiles that gave him their approval. His mother gasped as her arms tightened around Jonah. She pressed a kiss to his hairline and said that she was going to take him upstairs to put him to bed.

She paused just as she reached his chair. "I'm so proud of you, Eric. And your dad would be, too. This little boy is going to have a great man to look up to."

"Thanks mom," he replied softly, feeling the weight and power of his mother's words as she pressed a kiss to his head - the same as she had done to Jonah.

After she left, Joshua slowly stood up and raised his bottle in the air. "To Sarge, for wanting to put up with my sister," he said as a few of them chuckled. "For wanting to be there for my nephew." Joshua somewhat stumbled over the last words as a few them nodded. "Thank you," Joshua added as a couple of Ana's brothers turned to him and also said 'thank you'.

"It should really be the other way around," Zeke began. "Thank you to Ana for wanting to put up with Eric."

"Zeke," Shauna scolded him with another slap on the arm.

"I guess it could go either way," Eric chuckled and moved his head to rest on Ana's. "I'm glad she gave us a chance to put up with each other."