Chapter 37: Vacation at Erudite. Monday morning

D POV

I wake up in Zeke's arms. I cannot believe that I am leaving for an entire week. I will be leaving the warmth of my husbands arms, the love and smiles from my wonderful baby girl. Maybe I shouldn't go, I mean my family needs me and while Zeke is here dealing with Anastasia, changing diapers and dealing with her tantrums while I'm in Erudite sitting by the pool and relaxing with my friends. No, I have to go, it's not just a vacation, It's work. Zeke wakes us and looks at me.

"Hey pretty girl… what are you thing about?" He asks and I instantly smile. "Wait… Let me guess. You don't want to go to Erudite because you don't want to leave me and Ana."

"You don't know me Ezekiel Pendrad." I say and turn to him

"Oh I think I do D Pendrad." He says and kisses me. We stay like that for a while. Just laying there in bed, just gazing into each others eyes, kissing, and being grateful that this is our life. We finally get up and get ready for the day. I put on a tight black dress with four inch heels and I throw on my mothers leather jacket. Zeke still wears his and it touches my heart and it that second, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around but Zeke is still fixing his hair across the room. Then I know that it was my mother. I turn to Zeke and he looks at me with a smile. I walk over to him and wrap his arms around my waist.

"Did you feel that too? Or am I just crazy?" He says to me and I just smile and nod. We look at each other and I look at him and I am just so in love with him. I can not believe that I am so lucky. I wonder if this is how my mom felt when she had to go away from my dad too, from her family, from her life. Regardless if it was only for a week, it is still away from the life she built and was so proud of. Then I hear Anastasia crying and we walk out of our room and all of our friends are already there. Uriah is already holding Ana in his hands and Marlene was warming up her bottle. I look at the couch and Tris, Nadi and Lane were all attending to Tobias and Mark, Eric and Four are playing on the Xbox. I can't help but smile at the life I built for myself. Zeke puts my bag by the pile of bags consuming my front hallway.

"Uriah… What the hell are you doing with my daughter?" Zeke asks and I just laugh. I see Uriah holding my daughter in the most awkward position ever. I hope him and Marlene have a soon, mean then all of our children can be around the same age. I go to the kitchen and get some water. "Babe, can you take her?" Zeke asks me handing me Anastasia. He then turns off the Xbox and I can hear the simultaneous "Hey!"

"We have to go…" Zeke says. "We have to walk them to the tracks."

"Alright Girls! Time to go!" I say and we all grab the kids, the dogs stay. The guys carry our bags as we carry the babies and walk to the tracks. We all walk in our couples and we finally reach the pit. We walk through and the room goes silent. I know that they are only silent because they are waiting for me to say something. So I do.

"Okay. I'll be back in a week. I have eyes and ears everywhere so beware. Choosing day is in one week precisely. If you mess anything up I will mess up your futures in dauntless. Understood?" I say. I see nods but that's not good enough "I said am I understood!"

"Yes D." They all say at once and I smile and walk out of the pit towards the tracks. I wonder if I was more or less intimidating because I said that with a baby in my hands.

Stranger POV

They all came into the pit at once. The Round Table is only to be feared. Even though most of them are mothers, they are even more intimidating. Their children will grow up to be exactly like them and then they will be the ones who are feared. The pit goes quiet and she addresses us. I wouldn't dare mess with the leader, D. She does have eyes and ears everywhere in this damn city. When she leaves I can see people actually start to breathe again. I swear I almost pissed my pants.

Lane POV

Eric and I walk hand in hand to the tracks. He puts my bag down and I kiss him. I'm going to miss him so much. I am going to my old faction, in which my evil bitch sister is now the leader. I know that Caleb moved up the leadership ladder, so he will be at the meetings. Luckily they are only for three days. Maybe we won't even stay the entire week, maybe we'll only stay for the meetings and then we can go home. I hope that's the case. I'm going to miss Eric. I see Tris kiss Tobias on the cheek and then Four on the mouth, same with D and her family. I see Mark whisper something into Nadi's ear and she blushes… They're totally doing it. Marlene and Christina both kiss their husbands goodbye. Then the train comes and I pick up my bag, I kiss Eric one more time and I start running. It is now surprising easy to jump onto a moving train in four inch heels. All of us get on easy, but Nadi has a little trouble, she has only been one of us for about a month, maybe two but she has conformed really well. We all sit down and get comfortable.

Nadi POV

I had a little trouble while getting on the train in my heels, but I am still doing better than I did when I first started wearing these shoes. I fell on my face, but whenever I did fall, Mark was somehow there to help me or even catch me. I drop my bag and the girls and I sit in a circle. I think about Mark and the last thing he whispered in my ear just a few minutes ago.

"Earth to Nadi!" Marlene said.

"What?" I ask and they all laugh.

"Well, since we are only in a train cart, it's just candor." D said and I nod. "And we asked you what Mark whispered into your ear before you kissed him."

"Ummm…" I say and they all look intently at me. "Fine, he said last night was fun."

"And…" Christina says

"Wait, no! We are not going to talk about my brother. It's gonna give me nightmares." D say and we all laugh.

"Come on D, just pretend it's not your brother." Lane says. "Nadi is like our little sister. Just pretend that she's talking about some random guy she's in love with."

"Fine…" D say "Go on Nadi…"

"Well, then he told me that he loved me." I say and blush. All of the girls shriek and hug me. We spent the entire train ride talking about what happened with us, reliving every detail of last night, which I had no problem with. When I finished all of the girls looked at me like I was someone new. I was no longer the same beaten girl who left Erudite. I am dauntless and proud.

Tris POV

After about thirty minutes, Nadi lived through every detail of last night with us. She didn't say I love you back but I think he already knows. We reach Erudite and we jump off of the train. We all did it with Grace and four inch heels. We walk with our bags over our shoulder. We walked to the main entrance and there we saw people form all of the factions. I see people wearing white with hints of black, red and brown and grey. Of course there is loads of blue but then there's us. All girls wearing tight short black dresses. It didn't take long to get my body back, so I look like me again. My long blonde hair is hanging over my shoulder and it's length by my but. I walk with D and the rest of the girls and then I see him, my brother talking to my father in law and my actual father. The woman with whom he was holding hands with, was pretty, she had long brown hair and was white, but not too white. She has good features I guess, she was wearing a blue dress that revealed a lot according to erudite standards. D checks with the front desk and we walk towards the elevators. We were waiting by the doors when I felt a hand on my shoulder, my brother, I turn around but then I see that all of the girls have their hands on their belt ready to draw out their guns.

"Caleb…" I say and then realize that he has brought his girl along with my two fathers. I don't know if I should even use the word father for Marcus since he was never a father to Tobias, and he sure as hell was not a grandfather to my son. "What go you want?"

"Hello Beatrice." Caleb says. "good to see you again." I look over at Lane and she is staring down his girlfriend. Was she jealous? "Katheryn, you do remember your sister?" All of the girls were in awe. Lane has a sister?

"Eleanor..." Lane says "Still a bitch I see. Nothing changes around here does it?" She says sarcastically.

"Kathryn, always a…" Eleanor begins but is cut off by Lane.

"Lane. My name is Lane. I had to paralyze our mother for calling me Katheryn. I'm a pretty good shot now. You want to see?" She asks with a smug smile. While she is speaking with her sister, I look over at my father and Marcus. They look at me, I don't know weather to smile or to look away.

"Hello Dad." I say.

"Beatrice, do you mind taking a walk with us?" My father asks, I give my bag to Marlene and I go along with them, leaving my friends.

Lane POV

I turn around when I feel something on my shoulder. It's my bitch sister. We are only about two years apart, but she acts like she is so above me. It's quite annoying. Caleb and My sister are holding hands, I am really annoyed because apparently my sister is willing to go low enough for her to date my ex just because she is jealous and just because she can.

"Katheryn…" Caleb begins. "You remember your sister?" All the girls look at me and I am pissed ff. It is taking every ounce of self control not to punch him right now.

"Eleanor… Still a bitch I see. Nothing changes around here does it?" I say and smile, she called me Katheryn and then I immediately shut her down.

"You what?" Eleanor asks surprised. "You paralyzed our mother!"

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" I say and smile. "She was resisting, so I shot her. But death would be too easy. She needed to suffer. Now she can live the rest of her life doing it."

"Lane… I just wanted to share my greetings to the dauntless ambassadors. I can assume you aren't staying since you are just an assistant." She says and plasters on a fake smile.

"Oh I didn't know that an Erudite could be dumb as fuck!" I say and the girls laugh. "I can see that Erudite is getting as stupid as the people that lead them."

Eleanor smiles and moves away a piece of brown hair from her face, she is smiling but I can tell by just one look that just my presence here is tearing her limb from limb. "Well, I hope you enjoy your week here." She says as she turns away and the elevator door open. I walk in and smile. I have won this fight and I will win the war against my sister. The elevator doors open and all I see is the view. It is floor to ceiling windows with a view of the city. It looks like the view from my office, but something about this one makes me feel more contained if that even makes any sense. Being here again is like a shot to the heart. But it feels good to be back at the same time, I have seen how much I have grown and that I have changed. I look around and see that this place is huge. It had two stories and a huge kitchen. I walk up the stairs and there is six bedrooms, just like the one I grew up in. It has a living room and a separate family room. The dining room is all set up for a fancy occasion. Everything in this apartment can be summed up in three adjectives; clear, blue and clean.

"Damn! This place is big." Christina says.

"Well, Nadi and I grew up in one of these." I say

"What!" Marlene yells from the upstairs. "You grew up in one of these?!"

"Yeah…" Nadi says. "It may seem big, but it's really like a prison."

"Well, I personally like the kitchen." D says and we all laugh.

Tris POV

I walk with my father and Marcus in the Erudite gardens. My father knows this place very well. Maybe he transferred from Erudite to abnegation, I just didn't know it. I come to a bench and sit down.

"Hello Beatrice." My father says. "How are you?" He says as he sits down next to me.

"I'm fine dad." I say looking at Marcus.

"Please, details. Your mother will surely be asking me questions when I get home." He says as he touches my hand.

"Well, dad. I'm married." I say and he looks shocked. "And you're a grandfather."

"Oh my Beatrice!" He says and looks at Marcus. "Well, who's your husband? What's his name?"

"Four." I say proudly and they both give me an odd look. "Well, it's not his real name, he changed it when he transferred."

"Well, what's he like? Is he good to you? Is he a good father?" He asks and I look at Marcus.

"Marcus, Can you give my father and I a minute alone?" I ask and he nods and walks off.

"Well, you know him." I say and he looks at me "Do you want to see a picture of my family?" I ask and he nod. I pull out the picture of us at the chasm with Me, Tobias and Tobias Jr. and their mouths drop. My father looks at me with confused eyes. "My new name is Tris Eaton." I say and he looks back at the picture.

"Beatrice…"

"Dad, I asked Marcus to step aside for a reason." I say and he looks confused. "The rumors that we talked about the night before the choosing ceremony about Marcus were true. He beat Tobias, that's why he defected."

"How do you know this?" He asked still holding the picture.

"I have been with Tobias for almost three years now. I know him dad, and he was almost broken."

"I am so sorry." He says. "I never would have thought…"

"Neither would I." I say. "But, I love him. I have a child dad. I love the life that I built." M father looks at the picture and the looks at me letting a tear slip. I quickly wipe it away. "Daddy…"

"Beatrice, can I ask you something?" he asks and I nod. "Why did you defect? I mean, was it something I did or didn't say?"

"Daddy, it was nothing you or mom did. It was me. I loved the way you and mom and even Caleb would be so selfless all the time. I envied you all for it, but no matter how hard I tried, I was never good enough to be Abnegation. I wasn't selfless, so decided to be free." Now my dad is crying even more, so I started to cry too. "Dad, I'm happy. With me knowing that you loved me, and mom loved me and would support me whatever I choose to do, it gave me the courage to define who I was."

"Thank you Beatrice." He says and I nod

"Dad, it's Tris. Just Tris." I say and we both smile. "Don't show Marcus that picture, I don't want Marcus to know where Tobias is. Nor do I want him to know about Tobias."

"You said Tobias twice."

"That's my son's name. Everyone knows Tobias as Four, so we gave him the name." I said and he smiled. I stand up and hug my father. "Come to our room for dinner tonight. I want to introduce you to my best friends." He nods and I walk away. I go to the elevator and I press the button and I go up. When the doors open, I am greeted with numerous hellos and hugs. They were all in the kitchen. They all had glasses of wine, except for Lane because she is pregnant. I join them and it smells really good. I think it's D's famous pit roast and we continue to laugh and have fun.

Nadi POV

I am really happy I'm here. I have all of my friends here, I look hot. I just hope that I don't run into anyone here. I just want to relax in my time here. D, Tris and Lane have to go to that Ambassador thing tomorrow, so Chris and Marlene have decided that we are going to be pool loungers and just relax. That's gonna be fun week.