I do not own Divergent.

TW: BIRTH

Tris gave one last cry—teeth grinding, eyes closed, hand clutching mine.

And then it was over.

Our little girl cried out, screaming at the top of her lungs. I wasn't sure I'd ever been so happy to hear such a God awful noise. The doctor at the end of the bed immediately began wiping down my daughter, and they had me cut the cord.

I was slightly disappointed when our daughter was whisked away to be evaluated and diapered, but once she was declared as perfectly healthy, Tris got to hold her and the disappointment faded.

One of the nurses gently maneuvered the tiny baby onto Tris' bare chest, turning the baby's head to the side to ensure she could breathe properly. A blanket was carefully pulled over the two. I watched in shock—that was my daughter. The perfect little baby was mine.

Tris looked over at me, sobbing and smiling at the same time.

I started crying as Eli made this little cooing noise—something between a gurgle and a sigh. My hand brushed over the back of her head, and I laughed as I realized she was very slimy.

I couldn't even believe my luck.

Within the first fifteen minutes, we picked out her name and were given her birth certificate with all the details of her birth—Eli James Prior, born at 10:29 AM on December 21st, 6.5 lbs, female, healthy. The nurses moved around us, doing things like cleaning Tris up and checking both of their vitals. And I simply kept my eye on my daughter.

"Hi," Tris breathed, patting the back of her head. "Hi, baby girl."

Eli gave another little babyish noise, and burst into another series of dramatic screaming. At Tris's distraught expression, a nurse came over and explained that Eli was hungry.

It took a couple of minutes for them to get comfortable, but when they did, Eli was drinking her mother's milk like a champ. And me? I felt like I was going to burst with joy. Tris and Eli. My girls. My family.

"It hurts," Tris sobbed, then made the very clear distinction that she was crying because she was happy. Not sad.

"It's normal," the nurse promised. "You'll get more and more used to it."

Sometime in what felt like five minutes, an hour had passed and a nurse was telling me I could hold Eli now. I stared at her for a second—kind of shocked and excited at the same time.

But when she was in my arms, I was simply in shock.

She was a warm little thing, skin a reddish pink and small enough that I could probably hold her in both of my hands without really trying. I was suddenly worried about hurting her. She looked so goddamn fragile. And when I asked the nurse, she laughed and reassured me about it. So I turned back to Eli, grinning.

I pulled the blanket around her a little, covering her toes.

And then she opened her eyes.

I was not ashamed to admit I was now crying.

Really, her eyes were dark. A little too dark to tell what color they might turn into, so I guess it was more of a surprise than anything. But they were beautiful.

Tris squeezed my hand. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

When the nurse told us there were people begging to see us, Tris laughed and told her to let Zeke and Christina in first.

I kept Eli tucked securely into my arms when the two almost ran through the door, Christina nearly knocking Zeke over by her speed. But apparently bursting into tears when seeing Eli was a common experience. It was kind of amazing to see two very tough people cry.

Eli sighed again, her feet kicking up out of the blanket.

"Shit. A baby is making me cry." Zeke said, sniffling. "Don't tell anyone about this."

Tris shrugged. "You want to hold her?"

He nodded immediately.

I handed over little Eli, and helped Zeke figure out how he was supposed to hold her. Once her head was supported by his arm and the rest of her by his other arm, I let him take over.

He kissed her nose. "Hello, little baby. I'm Uncle Zeke, and I'm obviously the fun one. Will and Uri are roadkill. You look.. like a tomato. Is that normal? I hope it is. I love you very, very, very, very much, little baby."

I gave the two a minute, and glanced over at the girls. Christina was now on the bed, gently hugging Tris and helping her brush her sweaty hair. And Zeke was still talking to Eli.

Christina looked between me and Zeke. "Does she have a name?"

"Eli," Tris said. "Eli James Prior."

"Eli. Hhm." Zeke muttered, looking down at her. "I agree. She's definitely a little Eli. But isn't that a little.. untraditional for Abnegation? Sounds Dauntless."

I snorted. "That's the point, idiot. She's Dauntless."

He grinned.

Christina butted in and gently whisked Eli out of Zeke's arms, apparently deciding it was her turn. Tris just shrugged and let her do her thing. It turns out Chris was really great with kids.

She bounced her in her arms, talking in a low voice to her.

Eli gurgled.

Eli drifted off to sleep just before one, lying under a blanket on Tris's chest again.

Tris looked up at me.

I'd slipped under the blankets of the hospital bed to join my girls, which allowed me to wrap an arm around her waist and keep a hand on Eli at the same time. I still couldn't get over how stupidly adorable our kid was. She was like the cutest thing in the world.

My phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Four!" Natalie Prior sighed. "Tris—is Tris alright? Christina called us and told us she was in labor, and we're packing as quickly as possible. The baby? Oh, please—"

"Hey," I laughed. "Yes, they're both okay. Baby is perfectly healthy."

"Andrew, she had the baby already!"

The conversation went on like that for a few minutes—me reassuring them that both girls were fine and that the doctors had done tests on them both, Natalie asking loads of questions, me listening to Tris and refusing to tell them the name. And then they said they were here and hung up.

A nurse entered the room, asking for our permission to let Natalie and Andrew Prior in.

I didn't like the fact that she sounded.. suspicious when she realized they were from Abnegation. And that she made it very clear to us that they were Abnegation. What was up with that?

But once they were in the room, I slid out of the bed and let Natalie take my place.

Andrew turned to me. "I assume she told you she hated you while she was pushing?"

"Only a dozen times," I said. "But it's.. it's really worth it now."

I glanced over to the bed, where Natalie and Tris were continuing to drool over Eli, who was peacefully sleeping in her little white burrito blanket. Hopefully they wouldn't end up waking her. I'd heard newborns could be a hassle in that department.

He smiled. "It's always worth it."

"Four," Tris called softly, and I turned. "Mom wants to know her name, and since I told everyone else.."

Natalie and Andrew both looked at me.

"Eli James Prior."

"Oh my goodness," Natalie exclaimed, keeping her tone low. "I'm glad you both agreed on the perfect name for my granddaughter."

Tris readjusted Eli in her arms. "I think it's perfect too."

Natalie and Andrew only stayed in the room for about thirty minutes before they decided it would be best to let Tris rest while Eli was asleep, and so they went back to the apartment to get settled in for the next day or so. I was very glad we'd have experienced parents to help us adjust to having a newborn for a little while. We wouldn't be completely on our own.

So while Tris took a nap, I sat back in the rocking chair and admired my baby.

She'd gotten a decent little nap and was now being just as cute as she had been hours ago.

I swaddled and unswaddled her with the help of the nurse, and eventually, I could do it on my own. And the same nurse showed me how to diaper and clean her properly. Again, I was very glad. The books I'd read hadn't really been too descriptive. Or informative.

Hhm.

Eli was our Christmas baby, wasn't she?

A goddamn Christmas miracle.

Under my breath, I hummed the song Sleigh Ride. I decided it was good enough for a baby's first real Christmas song. Though I eventually caught Tris watching me.

"Keep going," she urged. "I think she likes it."

I looked down at Eli, who was cluelessly looking up at me through dark baby-like eyes. How could Tris know she liked my out of tune humming? I didn't even like it very much.

Tris rolled her eyes. "Are you embarrassed, babe?"

"No. Just didn't know you were awake."

"Whatever you say."

During the long walk back to the apartment, we got so many compliments on how cute Eli was that we probably could've been mistaken for celebrities.

Seriously.

It was suddenly like we were best friends with the whole faction.

But it was better than being in the hospital, I guess.

We'd spent a whole twenty-four hours there before they'd discharged us and let us go home with Eli for the first time. Tris was told to be extremely careful and take nothing but care of herself. And I was to help the most while she was still recovering.

Previously, I had not known it took weeks to recover after birth.

I'd been the kind of guy to think it only took a few days to get back to your old self. But, as proven many times over, I'd been quite the idiot.

But now I knew and I was going to be the biggest help I could be.

When we got home, I locked the apartment door and set the hospital bag on the counter. It was mostly empty now. We'd used a lot of the diapers and extra clothes in the past day.

Tris and I settled on putting Eli down for another nap while she still looked tired.

We were definitely going to be sleeping whenever she did.

One day in and parenthood was already exhausting.

AHHH

she had the baby

i really hope i didn't disappoint :)))) bcuz i've never actually had a baby and i used like fifteen different baby and pregnancy websites to figure out how the hell it even works, but here we are

my chapters are getting so short ergh i hope no one minds

holy hell i'm like stress writing this due to the fact that i start highschool thursday and i'm honestly so scared for no reason (like i know where my classes are so? my nerves don't make a lot of sense)

anyway

i freaking love you guys

always here to talk if you need it

have a wonderful day and stay safe my lovelies xx

(no i'm not British i just wish i was)