Responding to a guest who asked if I have any other/similar Divergent stories (and any of you who are new to my work): Yes, I do! I've written a number of stories - two for the Hunger Games, and the rest for Divergent. They range from one-shots to 39 chapter novels. There are some in the cannon universe, and others that are modern. Some are Fourtris (Four + Tris), and some are Eris (Eric + Tris - "my" Eric isn't book Eric. My Eric is Jai Courtney-movie Eric, who's more complex and sweet under his badass shell). The most similar to Blank Slate is probably Eaton and Associates.
On the top of the page where the author's name is in blue you can click to see my bio and a list of my stories.
My next project is a big, juicy, novel-length expansion of my one-shot The Email Hoax. It just wouldn't let me go, so I started writing it again... It will be a while until I start publishing it, but stay tuned.
As always, thank you for reading, following, and reviewing my work. I enjoy spending more time with the characters I loved and the community of readers!
XOXO, Libby
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Some Years Later...
"I, Alexander, take you, Charlotte-Strawberry, to be my lawfully wedded wife. In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, forsaking all others - sorry ladies - until death parts us."
My daughter - my beautiful, grown daughter - rolls her ocean blue eyes at the only man she's ever loved. There are no other "ladies" for Zander. There never have been. That child has had a one-track heart since the day Strawberry was born.
"I, Charlotte," she says, emphasizing her real name over the nickname she's never gotten away from, "take you, Zander, to be my lawfully wedded husband. In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death parts us."
I watch my daughter and nephew/godson/son-in-law exchange rings. Though we're not really family, Zander has always been one of my own. So have his younger brothers, twins Adam and Nate, who are currently standing at the altar beside their brother and Strawberry's little brother, Lucas.
After the rings, the minister announces that the couple will recite the vows that they wrote for each other. Zander goes first:
"Berry," he says, using the shortened nickname that he - and only he - had ever gotten away with. It had been one of his first words, though it sounded more like 'Bee-wee' when he was a toddler. "Today marks the third time you and I walked down the aisle together."
Our family laughs. Zander and Strawberry served as ring bearer and flower girl at Christina and Will's wedding when they were three and four, and again at Uriah and Marlene's when they were both five.
"You were beautiful every time," he continues with a grin, "but today is my favorite. I don't remember a single day of my life when I wasn't madly in love with you. You were my first friend, and you'll always be my best friend and my sweet yummy Strawberry."
Beside me, Tobias tenses a little. While he's as happy as I am, he still struggles with the idea that his little girl is a grown woman. The first time he caught Zander and Strawberry kissing, when they were sixteen, he'd blown a gasket. I thought we were going to end up in a Hatfields and McCoys-style feud with our best friends.
Lucas, who was thirteen at the time, was the one to calm his father down. Luke has always been calm and more sensitive than his stubborn sister, and he understood that his father's real issue wasn't Zander, it was accepting that his daughter was growing up. Once Tobias calmed down, we had a family meeting, and he was able to express himself in a less reactionary way. He explained that he supported the kids' relationship, but that they were young, and he didn't want grandkids for many years. We were able to calmly establish some ground rules, and Strawberry and Zander have been together ever since.
Zander and Strawberry graduated from high school a year apart. Zander attended the same university that Tobias, Zeke, and I graduated from. Strawberry chose the same, and at our insistance she lived in the dorms her freshman year. When she was a sophomore and Zander was a junior, the two of them got an apartment together. Tobias struggled with that decision as well, but I reminded him of the similar conversations we'd had with my parents, and he grudgingly calmed down and accepted it.
When Zander graduated from college and started working full-time, I called him one day under the pretense of talking about a Christmas surprise for Strawberry. We made plans for a secret lunch meeting when my daughter was in class.
"I lied about why we're here," I told him as soon as we were seated at the restaurant. Then I slid a jewelry box across the table.
Zander raised an eyebrow and popped open the box. "You want to run away together?" he joked, eyeing the diamond ring nestled inside. "No offense, Aunt Tris, but you're a little old for me."
"I should smack you for calling me old," I said. "And that's not for me, obviously. That's my mother's wedding ring. My mother was your Grandma Hana's best friend. She was amazing - my parents both were. Strawberry's middle name, Natalie, is after my mom.
"I know that you two are talking about getting married. I've had that ring put away for my daughter ever since my mom died. I wanted to give it to you before you start shopping. It's not big, I know, and the vintage style is dated, but I thought you might like to have the diamond put in a new setting or something. My only request is that you don't sell it or trade it in. If you don't want to use the stone, I'll give you some money instead."
"Are you kidding?" Zander asked. "I know this ring. Berry loves this ring. The first time we talked about getting married, she mentioned that she wanted me to borrow it so I could pick something similar. When we were kids we pretended to get married once, and she stole it from your dresser. We lost it in the backyard, and she freaked out! We found it, obviously, and she never dared to touch it again. She's going to be so excited!"
I cried like a baby.
After lunch Zander and I went to a nearby jeweler, and he asked to have the engagement and wedding bands separated, the prongs on the solitaire replaced, and the whole thing cleaned and polished.
Even with my encouragement, Zander was still a mess when he followed tradition and asked Tobias for his blessing to marry Strawberry. Since he knew it was coming, my big, bad husband had some fun with the boy. He grilled him quite unnecessarily about his feelings for our daughter, then refused to answer. "Come with me," he barked instead.
They got in the car and drove to Dauntless' sports bar where Zeke, Uriah, Will, Lucas, Adam, and Nate (all the men in our family who were old enough to drink) were waiting at a big corner booth.
"Gentlemen," Tobias said, grabbing a beer in one hand and putting the other heavily on Zander's shoulder, "this young man wants my blessing to marry my baby girl. What do you think?"
Everyone burst into cheers and whistles, then climbed out to smother Zander with hugs, mess up his hair, or smack him on the shoulders.
"I've been waiting for you to ask," Tobias said when the noise died down. "You have my blessing."
"And mine," Lucas said, holding up the beer he was barely old enough to drink.
"And mine," Zeke said to his son.
"Here here," Will added. "To Zander and Strawberry. I sure hope she says yes."
Of course she said yes. There was never any doubt about it.
.
"Zander," my daughter says. She looks nervous. Feisty as she is, public speaking has never really been her thing. "My earliest memories involve you. My best memories include you. You have been my rock and my defender all my life. You got in your first fight defending me from a bully. You were the one who called my mom and took my bike home when I broke my arm. You were my first kiss, and you'll be my last. You're the best part of me. You always have been, and you always will be."
The minister goes through his final words, and pronounces Zander and Strawberry husband and wife. They kiss, and Zeke, Uri, the boys serving as groomsmen, and the younger kids in the family - Uriah and Marlene's three teenagers, Will and Christina's thirteen-year-old daughter, and my niece Ashlyn's two elementary-aged kids - hoot and holler. Hana, listed in the wedding program simply as "Grandmother," cheers loudest of all.
I laugh, a choking, sobbing laugh through tears. Tobias squeezes my right hand, and Caleb, seated on my other side, reaches for my left.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister calls out, "may I present to you, for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander and Charlotte Pedrad!"