AN: Thank you all for taking this journey with me. When I started cleaning out my story drafts, I didn't know if the ship had sailed and the fandom gone. Your comments, feedback, and investment in this story motivated me to keep going. This one was a mess at first, and edits were intense because the person I am today is definitely different than who I used to be. I appreciate every single one of you, and enjoy our finale :)
She got him in his dress uniform, and he got her in a dress he'd seen hanging in their closet, but she hadn't yet worn. Almost everything in Dauntless was solid black, and when Tris had initially bought it at the Amity market, she'd thought it was beautiful, but she had no idea if she'd ever wear it.
She never expected to actually have a wedding.
It's long, slip style, silky and a cream color with a high slit, a low back and a modest neckline that showed just a hint of her cleavage. She couldn't wear a bra with it, and Eric couldn't wait to get it off of her.
When she texted Uriah and Christina, they'd immediately met them in Tori's office, they gathered all of the leadership team, their significant others, where applicable, and Harrison brought Natalie Prior to Dauntless himself so she could watch her daughter get married.
Eric didn't bother inviting his parents, he finally felt closure for their estranged relationship. Instead, he had all four of his brothers and their significant others, and he couldn't have been happier.
Once they had their entire group of family and friends present, they had Tori perform their ceremony. They exchanged the simple vows of Dauntless, promising to always love each other, to never go to bed angry, to never interfere in each other's battles, and to always be a united front. They pledged their loyalty to the city they called home, and they finally had their own signatures on their real marriage license.
"I'll get this one filed, there's nothing Jack can do about it this time." Harrison grins at them and their group heads down to The Pit to continue this party like true Dauntless.
Somehow, word of their impromptu wedding had spread, and they're showered with confetti and streamers flowing from the upper levels down to The Pit as they enter the room. When they look up they see Four amongst the well wishers, smiling as he helps toss the confetti down to the group below.
Four nods once in their direction, and Tris smiles at him while Eric nods back. It's unspoken, but it's a small step towards peace.
About an hour later Tris is leaning against Eric, who has one arm wrapped around her front and the other hand tangled in hers when her eyes land on Harrison dancing with her mother. He's keeping a respectable distance, but their hands are entwined and their eyes are on each other while they have an animated conversation.
"They're cute together." Eric whispers in her ear before dropping his lips to her shoulder, "Maybe Harry will be your step-dad."
"Shut up." Tris replies with a laugh.
"Hey, that would make him my father in law. That's gotta make it so he can't fire me the next time I piss him off." He rests his chin on her shoulder.
She shakes her head and he chuckles behind her, "You're ridiculous."
"Come dance with me." He whispers in her ear.
"I thought you didn't dance." She raises her eyebrows at him.
"While true, I made a decision a long time ago that I would dance with you on our wedding night." He tugs at her hand before she can say no.
The music slowed down, and they're faintly aware of an announcement going over the loudspeaker congratulating them on their marriage, but their eyes are just on each other. His hands trail up and down her exposed back and she runs her nails over the shaved part of his head.
"What are you thinking about?" She asks him and he smirks at her.
"Getting you out of this dress." He replies.
"I have a confession." She whispers directly in his ear.
"What's that?" He whispers back to her. He buries his nose in her hair, taking in how good she smells, all floral and clean. It reminds him of when she took care of him in his bunker.
"I'm not wearing a bra." She giggles and he tickles her bare back.
"That's obvious." He whispers back before pressing a kiss to her earlobe.
"I'm also not wearing any underwear. There's nothing but me under this dress."
She feels him drop his forehead on her shoulder and she knows she's won.
"Tris, I'm not going to be able to wait until we get home." Eric almost whines.
"We'll have to be quick." She whispers and he nods against her.
"Lead the way babe."
She takes his hand in hers and they make their way through the crowded dance floor. Once they're out of The Pit, she runs through the hallways with him chasing after her, and she leads him to the chasm, except they're on the ground floor looking up at the tall waterfall. She slips behind it, having found a little alcove that is completely hidden by the waterfall and rock formation. She pulls him to her, kissing him fully as he slides his hand into the slit in her dress and finds her center wet and ready for him. He can feel her trying to slide his stiff jacket off and he helps her, pulling it off and dropping it back on the ground. He drops to his knees and pulls one of her legs onto his shoulder before dragging his tongue through her folds.
"Oh God." She drops her head back against the wall.
The rushing water drowns out the noises they're making, and after he brings her to an earth shattering orgasm with his mouth, he shoves his pants down and buries himself inside of her. He can feel it building, she's just so hot and wet, and she's been sucking her own essence off of his lips as he takes her roughly. She pushes him away suddenly and he looks wild when she turns towards the wall and braces herself against it, holding up her long dress up and sticking her delectable ass out towards him.
He doesn't waste time, or mince words, he slides into her slowly from behind and quickly loses all control, pounding against her roughly. He props one hand on the wall, and wraps one tightly around her waist, and when she's calling his name again he finally spills inside of her. He's panting, struggling to catch his breath, and he drops his forehead to her shoulder.
"Happy anniversary baby." She says and all he can do is nod, breathless and sated.
Later, after they cleaned up, they're sitting around a large table in one of the twenty four hour restaurants off of The Pit that serves breakfast all day and night. They are all in various levels of sobriety or intoxication, nursing their drinks and eating their meals while sharing stories. Everyone is relaxed and laughing, and there's almost a lightness in the room as their two separate worlds unite as one.
Tris is still in her dress, but also wearing Eric's jacket, and he's lost his tie somewhere along the way. All four of his brothers and their significant others are there, laughing and joking with each other like no time has passed between them. Harrison has his arm draped around the back of Natalie's chair and she leans into him, the two talking about something only they know. Tori is sitting with Bud, the two sharing occasional kisses and laughs, then Christina and Will, the couple who fell in love at first sight back in their own initiation, Uriah and Marlene who've been together since they were kids, Shauna and Zeke, who ran away from commitment, but always back to each other, their one true love. Peter and Lynn denied their relationship longer than anyone at the table, including Tris and Eric, but they were happy and in love.
"These pancakes taste familiar." Eric whispers in her ear and she turns to him and grins.
"They should, I brought them out to you every morning for weeks."
"They were so good, I'd eat yours too." He grins and she smiles back at him.
"I know my man." She smirks.
He presses his lips briefly to hers, "You have always been so good to me."
"You have always been worth it."
He meets her eyes, "I love every part of this, babe. I'm so fucking happy." He says before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Me too." She replies with a soft smile.
"I love you." He says quietly before pressing one more kiss to her sweet lips.
Much later, after everyone has said goodbye, Eric is carrying his new wife up to their apartment as the sun comes up as she protests she can walk just fine. He wouldn't have it, and said he would be carrying her across the threshold of their apartment since they had eschewed most other wedding traditions, and when he closes the door behind him he sets her gently on her feet.
She balances herself on him, then slips each of her high heels off, "My feet are killing me." She shakes her head.
He picks her up again, bringing her over to their oversized and comfortable couch and sets her down, he sits next to her and pulls her feet onto his lap and rubs them gently.
"We're spending our wedding night with you massaging my feet?" She quirks an eyebrow at him.
"It's technically now our first morning as a married couple." He smirks at her.
She kisses him chastely before jumping off of the couch and running back to their bedroom with him on her heels, laughing the entire way before he tackles her to the bed.
She has her serum reversed and birth control implant removed two weeks after their wedding. They'd finally taken a week off at Harrison's insistence, and they spent it in one of the guest cabins in Amity. They barely left the cabin, or their bed, and they enjoyed having peace and quiet for at least a brief period in time. When they returned to the faction, they'd learned that Tris's mother had been spending more time with Harrison, with one reported overnight that Uriah had spied with his own two eyes when his camera caught Harrison sneaking her out in the very early morning hours. Uriah redirected the feed, protecting their head leader's budding relationship, however he did share his observation with Tris and Eric once they'd returned from their honeymoon.
"I have to ask her. I do, right? I need to tell her I know? Or, would that be too much?" Tris asks when she's at lunch with the girls, a rare occasion that they could line their lunch breaks up during work hours.
"Do you really want confirmation that your mom is boning Harrison?" Lynn asks.
"Jesus Lynn, could you possibly not be crude at least once in your life?" Shauna grumbles at her sister.
"Nope." The younger sister quips.
"I mean, I don't think it's just sex for them. Your mom is from Abnegation." Marlene replies.
"She was born and raised here. It's weird right? Her and Harrison?" Tris asks.
"All kidding aside, your mom is still young, she went through a lot of shit, and she probably wasn't truly happy for a long time. If her and Harrison have something going on, good for them." Lynn says.
"Harry is such a good guy, Tris. If they are involved, would it bother you?" Christina asks.
Tris shakes her head, "I don't think it would. He is really an amazing person." Tris replies.
"I say you call her, feel her out, see if she'll tell you on her own." Marlene says as she twirls her straw in her cup.
"I think that would work." Christina nods.
"Okay, say you do that, are you ready to hear the answer?" Shauna asks before she takes a bite of her pizza.
"I don't know." Tris shrugs, "I mean, I saw a lot of unhappiness from her when I lived there, and as an adult I started to see fear as well. She deserves happiness, and I saw a glimpse of how she could be at the wedding. It was almost like an alternate view of her life had she never left Dauntless."
"Maybe she can have that again." Christina replies.
"Maybe." Tris smiles.
"If nothing else, she gets to bone Harrison, he may be old, but he's hot." Lynn replies and Shauna actually smacks her before everyone at the table breaks into laughter.
Almost two weeks later, Tris had finally gathered up the courage to ask her mother about Harrison, and over lunch in Abnegation she admitted to having started seeing Harrison right after that first lunch with him and Eric. Natalie admitted with a deep blush that it had started as casual fun, but they'd enjoyed the time they spent together doing nothing at all, like when he'd call when he was stuck at work to just go over a problem with her. Or when she'd bring him homemade bread or other goodies, and they'd spend the evening watching a movie. They knew their relationship was against the old rules of the city, but with them closer and closer to stopping the faction lines as well, soon they'd be able to be out in the open.
"But for now, we have to keep it quiet, much like you and Eric when he was factionless." Natalie had finished with a smile.
"Your secret is safe with me." She'd smiled back.
Defining the factions had been easy for the founders of the city. Reversing those antiquated laws was proving to be a bit more difficult than the city leaders had first imagined, and suddenly there were late night meetings, where they discussed everything from the choosing ceremonies, faction initiations, and how the city would look without the very borders that separated them.
"Babe, wake up." Eric says softly during one of the later meetings, gently nudging her where her head rested on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"I'm exhausted." She sighs as she sits up straighter. He looks at her with concern, tucking her hair behind her ears and feeling her forehead, "I'm not sick, I'm tired from working twelve to fourteen hour days." She scowls.
"You're adorable when you're grumpy." He grins at her and she rolls her eyes, "Now, the break will be over in a few minutes, think you can participate with words instead of snores?"
"You're such an asshole." She huffs.
"That makes you Mrs. Asshole." He retorts with a smirk.
"Don't let Jack Kang hear that, he'll find some way to deem our marriage dissolved again." She frowns at him and he kisses her forehead.
"Wake up, pay attention, and we'll go home soon." He says quietly as Josiah calls the room back to order.
"My apologies for the delay, however I think it was a productive delay. I feel like we've made headway in how we can remove borders while keeping factions. We had a wonderful suggestion from Harrison McCall from Dauntless, and I want to say it's downright genius. The motion is to remove the restrictions for the factions by doing the following," He points up at the screen and they see an outline, "There will be absolutely no border restrictions within the city. The faction names will remain, but this will open the city for living outside of the faction borders. The faction will represent your job, and instead of a choosing ceremony and initiation, you will apply for a job in the faction of your choice. If you make it through the qualifications for that job, it is yours, but if for any reason you lose your job your home will not be tied to it. You can then apply for new jobs, whether in the same faction, or another, and you'll go through the training regimen again. Live wherever you want, work wherever you choose, as long as you meet the minimum qualifications for the job."
There are murmurs around the crowd, but when Eric and Tris look around they see smiles and positive reactions.
"This can work," She whispers to him and he nods.
"This will work." He smiles at her.
The motion passed unanimously.
A few weeks later Tris sees her mom in Dauntless herself, when she stops by to have lunch with her. Tris is at her desk, rubbing her eyes after sending an email to Josiah, and when she looks up her mother is standing in her doorway.
"Oh my gosh, am I late?" Tris checks her watch, "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired, and it seemed to take forever for me to even write an email that made any sense at all. Am I making sense now? I'm not am I?" She rambles when her mother takes a seat across from her.
Gone are the long, prairie type dresses her mother always wore, today she has on grey pants and a black sweater, her hair is down, and she even has light makeup on. Tris loves seeing her like this.
"It's okay dear, I know my way around and had no issues finding you. Are you having trouble sleeping?" She asks.
"No, quite the opposite, all I want to do is sleep. I wake up tired, I go home and fall asleep on the couch while Eric makes dinner, and then I'm usually asleep in no time when we do go to bed." Tris shakes her head.
"Have you found yourself moody?" Natalie asks and Tris continues to type.
"Yeah, I'm constantly snapping at everyone. I don't get it." She huffs.
"Possibly more... amorous than usual?" Natalie asks with a knowing smile.
"Mom….you might not be Abnegation anymore, but this is totally awkward." Tris blushes.
"Well, have you?" Natalie presses.
"Mo-om…." Tris drawls, covering her face.
"I'll take that as a yes. Honey, I'm asking you these questions for a reason. Have you missed your menstrual cycle?" Natalie asks.
"Oh it's all over the place from coming off the serums and birth control." She shrugs her off.
"Beatrice, you're probably pregnant." Natalie finally says.
"What?" Tris finally gives her mother her undivided attention, "No, they said it could possibly be more than a year before we'd be able to get pregnant after reversing the serum and removing the implant."
"Come on, let's go find out for sure." Natalie smiles and they head down to the infirmary.
They continue talking, and Tris tries her best to concentrate, but all she can think about is possibly being pregnant. The symptoms are all there, and for over two month's she's just shrugged them off as the heavier than usual workload. Yes, she and Eric agreed to stop birth control several months ago, right after they were married, but they were told not to be discouraged if they didn't get pregnant in the first year. They certainly have been trying.
A lot.
Marriage only made them want each other more. Even though they had been working long hours, and even some weekends, they still made time for each other. There's likely not one surface in their apartment they haven't had sex on, they've christened both of their offices, multiple times. There were the showers in the leadership gym, and even one of the supply closets after they spent an entire meeting sitting across from each other sending each other dirty texts. If they didn't have time to have sex, he'd drop in her office and spread her across her desk with his head buried between her legs until all she could do was pant his name. Or she would go to his office, with a mere fifteen minutes between meetings, and use her mouth and hands to bring him sweet release.
They certainly did nothing to not get pregnant.
Tris is happy to see Lynn working, and her friend takes her back immediately once she realizes why Tris is there. Two tests and one ultrasound later proves that Tris is approximately eleven weeks pregnant. She swears Lynn to secrecy until she can tell Eric, and they can decide when to share the news with their friends.
"Oh my god, Eric is going to be so mad he missed this." Tris says when she and her mother are sitting together in the Dauntless cafeteria, fawning over the printed pictures.
"He will understand." Natalie smiles.
Tris traces her finger on the printout, "It looks like a peanut."
"Or a walnut." Natalie says with a wistful smile.
"Why are you two talking about nuts?" Eric asks as he approaches with a tray, dropping down next to his wife and giving her a quick kiss.
Natalie looks down and notices Eric has unknowingly covered Tris's ultrasound pictures with his tray and she shares a look with her daughter.
"You're back early." Tris says and he nods his head.
"Johanna had a farm emergency. Apparently several cows are giving birth today. I don't exactly know why that constitutes having their entire leadership council there, but we left after that."
"You could have visited Christopher." Tris says and he shakes his head.
"I wasn't kidding when I said it was the whole leadership council. Christopher was there to oversee the births, and of course he said I could stay and help, he's such an asshole sometimes." He makes a face and Natalie laughs.
"Not interested in delivering calves?" She smiles at her son in law.
"No, I'm not meant to be a farmhand. I'm meant to handle weapons and engage in hand to hand combat. Besides, I don't want to watch my lunch give birth." He shrugs as he takes a bite from his burger.
"Eric, you should move your tray." Tris prompts.
"It's not even touching yours." He replies grumpily as he continues to eat.
"But it's on top of something important." She replies and he sighs.
"Why would something important be lying on a cafeteria table?" He grumbles as he lifts it and Tris grabs the paper from under it.
"Because my mom and I were looking at it."
"Oh, is this the nut list?" He asks while opening ketchup packets and not paying attention to them.
"You should look for yourself." She holds it in front of his face and he drops the packet onto his plate.
"That's...that's not you? That's you? Tris..." He stammers as he takes the paper from her hand.
"We're having a baby." She rests her chin on his shoulder and watches as he runs a finger over the tiny picture.
"It does look like a walnut." He says while staring at it, "This is ours? Tris, this is our baby?" He asks and Natalie smiles warmly at the young couple across from her.
"Yes Eric, this is our baby, we are going to be parents." Tris replies and he presses kisses all over her face until she's giggling.
"We're going to be parents." He smiles as he continues to look at the printouts, "You're having our baby."
"Congratulations you two." Natalie smiles warmly at them.
She's almost five months pregnant when her bump is finally noticeable. She stands in front of the bathroom mirror, turning from side to side, marveling at the curve she finally sees.
"Babe, have you finished showering?" Her sleepy husband pads into the bathroom without even looking at her, going straight to relieve himself.
"I haven't even started." She muses as she continues looking at her reflection.
"Mind if I jump in with you? We have a city meeting today, and I overslept." He finally turns to wash his hands and he notices her belly, "Oh wow." He reaches for her and she moves away.
"Wash your hands and then you can touch. I'll start the shower." She grins at him.
He does as he's told, watching her through the mirror and he finally wraps his arms around her, caressing her small bump, "Baby C certainly made an appearance this morning."
They'd taken to calling their unborn child Baby C, the nickname stuck after their circle of friends needed something to refer to the baby, especially when Tris and Eric refused to find out the sex of their child.
"Harrison is running late too, apparently Mom turned the alarm off by accident. She texted me a few minutes ago." Tris says as she steps into the steamy shower with Eric following behind her, "I still can't believe they eloped." She shakes her head.
"I can. Harrison is absolutely crazy about her, and Natalie him. They just needed the faction border restrictions removed so they could actually be together in the open." Eric replies as he scrubs her back.
"They've been together less than a year." She scoffs.
"We weren't together at all when you married me." He counters.
"That was different, we knew each other." She replies.
"They are both from Dauntless, even if they didn't know each other well back then they still grew up together." Eric argues.
"So did we." Tris replies quietly.
Tris and Eric realized how long they'd actually known each other once the new serum had been developed by Erudite. It was deemed safe for pregnant women, as most of their serums were, and Eric and Tris decided to go under it to see if they could recover more of their suppressed memories.
It was amazing what they saw.
They'd first been put through the simulations together when Tris was four and Eric six, and they remained in the program for ten years together. Through their own suppressed memories, Cara's research, Jack's order to release as much information to Eric and Tris as they legally could, and what little information Eric's brother Jeffrey was able to obtain from their parents they learned that Jeanine and her father had been studying a phenomena that was later labeled as Divergence. There were at least fifty children in their group, including Eric's brother David years later, but none that worked together as Tris and Eric had. They were referred to as the bonded pair, a connection that grew stronger as they had gotten older, to the point where it began to concern Jeanine. They'd test different serums, awareness in simulations, antidotes and even vaccinations on the children in their group. When Jeanine realized how close Eric and Tris were, she began to up the memory serum they'd receive at the end of each session in an effort to break their bond.
It never worked.
Every single day, the research team watched in wonder as the two children, at first grade school age, then preteens, and finally teenagers gravitated to each other even though they'd been programmed to forget each other just the night before. No matter how much of the serum they gave, and different variations, they were only successful in making Tris and Eric forget the program so they didn't talk about it outside of the labs. They never once forgot each other, until Jeanine herself developed the compound that finally worked. One day, the teenagers who were obviously falling in love simply forgot each other. After each was given the new formula of the memory wipe for specific memories, the new versions of Tris and Eric despised each other, and eventually it was necessary to separate them when she was fourteen and he was sixteen.
A mere two months after being separated from Eric, a ten year old boy with curly light brown hair and grey eyes took his place. Tris felt the need to protect the younger boy, and even though their bond was more like siblings, she found herself caring about his well being.
Tris now knows that she spent the last four years of the program testing with the youngest Coulter boy, another known Divergent named David.
Eric and Tris had remained in the program separately until the week they each chose their new factions, where they were both memory wiped of specific memories of the program, and each other, one more time.
Even though it made them forget what they'd been through, the programming portion of the serum still failed them and they were the first two who'd broken free from the group and chose a faction other than Erudite. Eric chose Dauntless at eighteen, and two years later Tris did the same, without knowing who he even was. The day she jumped on the gravel covered roof of Dauntless was the first time the two had seen each other in four years, and neither recognized the other.
When David joined them four years later, she'd sat across from him in Harrison's office believing the only reason she felt drawn to him was because he was Eric's brother.
Therapy was helping them all to deal with the myriad of emotions this realization evoked in them, and even though all were rightfully angry at their willing parents for allowing them to be put through this as children, they found comfort in knowing there was always a bond between the three of them that would never be broken.
Eric and Tris also found comfort in knowing they were each other's first taste of love as teenagers, and that they were always meant to find each other and fall in love again.
"I hate your logical side sometimes." She pouts when she turns around.
He rubs her belly and grins at her, "I still love you."
Their baby was born three days before Tris's due date, a tiny six pound healthy baby girl. Everyone was convinced Tris was having a boy, even Tris herself, and everyone thought he'd be huge like the Coulter men all were as babies.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
Tris and Eric had decided on the name Hayden almost immediately after learning she was pregnant, and it fit their beautiful little baby girl.
"She looks just like Beatrice when she was a baby." Natalie had exclaimed when she first saw Hayden.
"She's never leaving the apartment. Never. Tris, do you hear me? Our daughter is not to leave our apartment." Eric says as he marvels over their tiny baby.
"She'll eventually have friends, go to school, date-"
"Our daughter will not date until she's thirty." Eric says from his spot next to Natalie.
"Yes dear." Tris smiled sleepily.
Hayden was a carbon copy of her mother, with delicate features, big hazel eyes framed by dark lashes, and they could almost guarantee she'd have the same smattering of freckles as her mother as soon as she was exposed to the sun.
Eric had gained back all of the weight he had lost while factionless, and even more muscle, and he looked like a giant when holding his tiny swaddled daughter. It was the most precious thing that Tris had ever seen. All of the bulking Coulter men came to visit her, and each took a turn holding her and convincing her that they were her favorite uncle.
The first time Harrison held her, they saw their strong leader shed tears. He'd never had children of his own, but he became a stepparent to an adult when he and Natalie had married, and he had no idea what he had missed. The first time he held his granddaughter the normally stoic man broke down, and it touched them all.
Hayden's first night at home was a quiet event, and when Eric and Tris put her in her crib that first time they must have each checked on her a hundred times. The last time was right before they finally went to bed themselves, after ensuring every monitor was working.
"We made her. She's ours Tris, we did that. I can't believe I was involved in making something so innocent and sweet. I just can't…" He trails off as they watch her on the video monitor.
"She truly is an angel." Tris replies softly.
"I love you, so much. Thank you for never giving up on me." He says before dropping his lips to hers.
"Thank you for loving me when I had a hard time loving myself." Tris replies when they break apart.
"I know I'm not perfect, but for you and Hayden I will try everyday." He promises.
"Together, we are perfect Eric. You, me, our daughter, our family. Don't ever doubt that."