Hope everyone is staying safe! There's too much craziness going on right now in the world. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter! Let me know what you think of this one!


The Saturday after Thanksgiving the young people in the family decide to use Tris's birthday gift for Ziplining. It turns into a huge trip with Tobias renting a van 15 passenger van for the two-and-a-half-hour trip. Rose, Caleb, Will, and Marlene join them with Andrew and Hana taking Jalen, Justin, and Jada for the day.

The van is full of jokes and laughter with Zeke taking the first shift driving and Uriah calling dibs on being the DJ. When they stop two hours outside of Chicago at an IHOP for breakfast.

"Jeez Uriah, I know they said all you can eat pancakes but don't you think three plates is excessive? You're going to hurl on the zipline" Rose teases before taking a bite of her omelet.

"Ha, You've been away too long Rose" Uriah responds before digging into his plate of pancakes.

"Christina, don't you feed him at home?" Rose retorts back laughing.

"I try, but it's a hard job, you have no idea how high our grocery bill is, I already know Jalen and Justin are going to eat us out of house and home," Christina says with an eye roll.

"I feel your pain," Shauna says in agreement looking at Zeke who was on his second plate of pancakes.

Tris looked over at Caleb who looked amused but was also on his second plate.

"Don't forget about Caleb over here, I have no idea how the parentals could afford to feed the three of you" Tris chuckles looking down at her small portion of eggs, fruit, and one pancake.

"Zeke, remember when we came home from school and ate that whole casserole Auntie Hana had made for dinner" Caleb laughs out.

Zeke cracks up leaning back in his chair. "Ma was so mad"

"The two of you ate the whole thing by yourselves?" Marlene asks for clarification giggling.

"Yeah when we were in high school we got home first and we had like an hour before the younger kids would get home. I was 15 and Caleb was 14. We knew we were supposed to grab a snack when we came home but it was sitting on the stove, we really thought we could eat it" Zeke reminiscences.

"It was good and we were hungry" Caleb laughs out. "Auntie Hana had to order pizza for dinner, she fussed at us the whole night when we told her we were still hungry"

Tris lets out a belly laugh at the memory. Even though there were so many tough times, memories like those were priceless. She was glad Caleb remembered the good times they had as a family.

"Speaking of high school, Caleb guess who I ran into at the grocery store yesterday" Christina sing songs reaching for her orange juice.

Caleb looks at her with furrowed eyebrows not sure who she was talking about.

"Susan Black" Christina sing songs again with a big smile on her face. "She's back in Chicago, her grandmother is sick and she wanted to take a job closer to home to be with her family. She said she never really liked California anyway"

"Ooohhhh, you better lock that down C." Uriah laughs, stealing a piece of bacon off Christina's plate as she smacks his arm.

"Who's Susan?" Will asks, noticing that Caleb was wide-eyed and looking flushed.

"She went to school with us, lived in the neighborhood. Her parents were friends with ours. She and Caleb made googly eyes at each other all through high school"

"We did more than make googly eyes at each other," Caleb defends.

"Ohhhh," Zeke, Rose, Uriah, Christina, and Tris all say looking down the table.

"So was she your first girlfriend?" Tobias asks leaning back and putting his arm around Tris's chair.

"Ummm yeah first everything, we went to prom together and stuff"

"First everything?" Shauna teases.

"I don't want to hear anymore!" Rose announces with a laugh that causes everyone else to laugh too.

Ziplining is a pure rush of adrenaline. Tobias is nervous at the top of the tower, the height was too insane for him. Tris on the other hand felt like she was flying. It was the most beautiful site as she looks around taking in the wind on her face,

"Man that was fun," Uriah says he takes his harness off.

"Is that why you screamed like a girl all the way down?" Zeke teases and everyone laughs.

"Hell, he wasn't the only one screaming!" Tobias adds shaking his head "I am never doing that again"

"Oh Come on T. you can't tell me that wasn't a little bit of fun" Marlene teases.

"I'm so serious Lene!"

After a long day, Tris lays against Tobias in the van on the way home interlocking their fingers. It was a perfect day.


The family booked a large house on VRBO for Rose's graduation. There was a lot of coordination but everyone helped out so that everyone could fly down. Uriah and Christina thought the kids would never make it 14 hours in a car for the trip. Max, Harrison, and Caleb were planning to stay a few extra days to drive back with Rose since she had her apartment to pack up and they would alternate driving the moving truck. Everyone managed to all thier luggage loaded up and make to the airport in time for thier flight to New Orleans.

"What are they plotting over there?" Tobias asks Zeke as they waited for the gate agent to start the boarding process.

The girls whisper in the corner huddled to themselves sneaking looks back at the group while they wait to board the plane.

"I think how to get Ma and Uncle Harrison to share the same room"

"Ha, devious" Tobias chuckles

"Yeah, they are determined. I told you that you have to watch out for them plotting"

They rent two large SUVs to transport everyone the few days they are in New Orleans and as soon as they get to the house the girls take off to various rooms. Shauna and Tris had sat next to each other whispering again looking at their phones.

"Okay, where is everyone sleeping?" Harrison calls out, dropping the last of the bags in the living room from the cars.

"Oh you are the second bedroom upstairs," Uncle Harry Christina says, breezing past to pick her bag off the floor.

About 15 minutes later Hana and Harrison come down the stairs together.

"Okay I know you all did this" Hana says pointing around the room realizing that they purposefully claimed all the other bedrooms so she and Harrison would have to share.

"We have no idea what you are talking about," Tris says with a shrug of her shoulders while Tobias chuckles. Zeke was right, they were determined when they had a plan in place. Hana and Harrison realize that they will have been boxed into sharing a room together. Tobias does miss that Harrison gives Hana a kiss on the forehead when he thinks no one is looking.

The group has a fabulous time cheering Rose on at her graduation. She gives everyone a tour of the Xavier campus while Christina makes sure she takes pictures in various places in her cap and gown. The next day Hana shows them the neighborhood where she and Natalie had grown up. Hana had made sure that the kids in the family knew all about Creole culture just like Harrison and Andrew taught them about Grenadian culture. They take in all the sites of Jackson Square and have lunch at the famed Muriels. Rose fills everyone in on her plans to move back to Chicago and work at the restaurant for six months or so while she worked on her graduate school applications and saved some money up. She plans to go into epidemiology. She and Caleb have a lively discussion about master's programs and where she should apply with going back to New Orleans at Tulane her number one choice if she's accepted.

That night Rose and her friends have everyone meet them at a bar on Bourbon Street while Hana, Max, Andrew, and Harrison stay in with the grandkids for the evening. Tris is a bit overwhelmed with all the people, the beads, noise, and music at first. Tobias keeps her close when she grips his hand tightly as they make their way through the crowded street. Tris better after she has a few drinks and they settle on the dance floor. The night is lively with Uriah and Zeke end up in a drinking contest that results in both of them passed out in the SUV with Tobias driving everyone home at the end of the night.

That night as Tris crawled in bed Tobias was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. He pulled her back close to her chest and pressed his erection against her. She was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of panties so she could feel all of him.

"You better stop that" Tris giggles in a whisper. They had been teasing each other that night. Tobias had whispered all his naughty thoughts in her ear while they grinded on each other to the music at the bar. Tris had drunk two Hurricanes and was feeling wonderful for a few hours while Tobias threatened to carry her back to the SUV to have his way with her. She had sobered up as Uriah and Zeke took their drinking contest to the next level but now that they were alone and Tobias had on nothing but his boxers she could feel the heat rising through her body again.

"We can be quiet" he whispers sliding a hand between her thighs as he nibbles on her ear lobe. When she lets out a moan as he moves a hand to slide into her and he pulls back to remove her panties and quickly rids himself of his boxers. He moves back to pull her close to his chest. She reaches around to grasp his thigh as he moves slowly inside of her. It's not long before each of them climax trying to keep it quiet. Tris snuggles into him with Tobias whispering a promise to come back to New Orleans alone so he can make love to her properly for thier bucket list.

The next morning Tris fixes herself a bowl of cereal while Shauna fixes coffee as Uriah and Zeke drag in to sit at the table while everyone else lounges in the living room having gotten up earlier.

"Somebody had fun after we got home last night," Shauna says nonchalantly while pouring two cups of coffee.

Tris stiffens and looks at her before groaning and looking down at the counter realizing she and Tobias hadn't been as quiet as they intended.

"You are never going to let me live this down are you?"

"Not a chance in hell" Shauna grins before carrying Zeke and Uriah their coffee.


The weeks after New Orleans are quiet and peaceful. Tobias has Tris decorate for the holidays complete with a small Christmas tree that Pharaoh inspects thoroughly when he brings it in the house. He found that he missed little things like this and the house just felt more like home with Tris there cooking for him on her days off and adding things like the decorations. They still hadn't formally moved in together but she was usually there half of the week. Tobias was starting to find it difficult to sleep without her. Tobias was excited for his first Christmas with Tris and her family. The gatherings were always loud but also filled with love and full of laughter. Christmas Eve had been great with the family providing meals at the Abnegation Community Center. Tobias feels good really giving back instead of writing a check and smiling at a function which was his family's version of community service. On Christmas morning, He slipped out of bed to let Pharaoh out. He grabbed her Christmas gift from under the tree as he made his way back upstairs to slide back under the covers with Tris on that chilly morning. She made him promise not to go all out with gifts after how much he spent on her birthday but he couldn't help himself. He had Marlene help him but he felt confident she would love his gift. She stirs as he repositions himself back in the bed after removing his clothes.

"Go back to sleep baby"

"It's Christmas, we should be opening presents" she yawns and stretches causing Tobias to chuckle.

"You were that kid huh?"

"Absolutely"

"Well, I have a pretty good one for you" He waggles his eyebrows and pulls her close as she giggles.

"You are insatiable" she laughs as he runs a hand over her thigh. Even though she said it in jest, she felt the same. She couldn't get enough of him either.

"Well I guess I could give you this now" he teases rolling over and grabbing the small wrapped gift off the nightstand.

Tris smiles as she sits up and opens the gift, unwrapping the paper and the box slowly.

"Tobias, it's beautiful," she says softly looking at the diamond heart-shaped necklace.

"I know you have a new heart but I thought this one could symbolize that you have mine"

"Baby" Tris coos as she moves to straddle him and he places the necklace on her. "That might be the sweetest thing I've ever heard. But you have my heart too"

Tobias grins as he moves his hands under the shirt of his she wore to bed the night before. She had straightened her hair earlier in the week, he gently pulled off her scar and put his hands in her hair watching it fall around her shoulders. Tobias doesn't know how long they kiss and caress each other, he found that he lost all track of time when he was intimate with Tris. He reached down and saw how wet she was. Tobias leans back and moves her hips over him but he notices she was biting her lip and looking unsure.

"What's wrong Tris?"

"I.. Ummm, we've never been in this position before," she says quietly. "I'm not sure, how to, or, umm"

He leans up and kisses her while he pushes her hips so he slips inside, she gasps against his lips.

"I always got you baby" he whispers in her ear before laying back. He grabs her hips and guides her on how to move. "Move with me Baby, ride it nice and slow" he instructs and runs on hand up the center of her chest the same path as her scar before moving it back to massage one of her breasts. Tris loved how he always made her scar feel sexy, whether it was the way he touched it with his hands or his tongue.

"Tobias, Fuck that feels so good" she pants loving the angle and how it made her feel.

He grins when she throws her head back. He watches her as she becomes more confident in her movements. She pitches forward placing her hands on his chest picking up speed. He sits up to pull her against him and she gasps again at the change of the angle. She wraps her legs around his waist and places her hands on his shoulders.

"I love you," he says against her ear.

"Baby I love you too" she pants out moments before she climaxes. He rolls them over to chase his own end crying out her name as he lets go.

"Well, I can already tell you that my present isn't half as good as yours" She teases after their breathing steadies and he smiles down at her.

"Oh, that was definitely a great gift even if that's all you got me but I won't complain if you feel you need to think you could top it" He challenges when she chuckles and pulls him down for another kiss.

Tris and Tobias have to drag themselves out of bed to make it to the restaurant to open gifts. Tobias was very happy with the gift basket of fraternity paraphernalia Tris got him along with a new pair of Jordans he didn't have. Since the family was so large they always drew names. Justin, Jalen, and now Jada always received gifts from everyone. Tris had drawn Caleb and Tobias drew Andrew. Caleb loves the tablet that Tris got him knowing that he didn't have much stuff and was rebuilding after selling most of his things to make ends meet after getting fired. Tris helped Tobias get a gift certificate for golf lessons since he had always wanted to learn.

"This is from your Uncle Harrison and me, we had to pull in a few favors but we hope you all will enjoy this gift" Andrew smiles as he passes out envelopes to everyone.

Shauna screams when she opens her envelope seeing a gift certificate for a five-night stay for two at the Spice Island All-Inclusive Resort in Grenada. Christina and Tris all squeal as they open the exact same envelope.

"Daddy, how? This has to cost a fortune. We can't afford this!" Tris exclaims handing her envelope to Tobias to look over.

"I know Uncle Andrew, this is too much" Zeke protests looking over the brochure that was included in the envelope.

"Easy everyone, all of your stays were complementary, you all have to be responsible for your airfare. Andrew and I had lost touch with our first cousin, Beth on the island. We were as thick as thieves, just like all of you. We would send letters after we first moved to the States but eventually lost touch. She found us through Facebook and we've been talking the past month and are trying to get time to see each other. She's married to the founder of the resort. We told her we had a large family and she insisted that you all be able to spend some time at the resort free of charge to get to know Grenda" Harrison explains.

"This is amazing, you didn't have to do this for all of us," Uriah says, getting up to hug Andrew and Harrison. This is what made their family so special, no one was treated differently. Even though Tris and Caleb were Andrew's only biological children, he and Harrison just like Hana and Max loved all the kids in the family equally.

Everyone chatters away about when the best time would be for all of them to go to Grenada together. Tris and Tobias spend the late afternoon with his parents and Marlene exchanging gifts. Evelyn is polite but Tris can sense there is still some tension in the air. She hopes Evelyn will ease up over time.


New Years' is quiet with a small gathering at Tobias's place for everyone include Tori, Bobby, Amar, and George. Will and Marlene seem to be more comfortable together and Tobias notices how happy she is. Things with Tris and Tobias are so perfect he starts to think about if he should propose soon. He doesn't want anyone but Tris and the connection they had was growing stronger every day. In early January he was at this desk working on the plans for the community center. Construction was slated to start in March and Tobias wanted to tweak the plans that he had drawn out to accommodate some additional features since the fundraiser had exceeded the goal. His phone rings and he picks up when he sees it's his sister.

"What's up, Sis?"

"Check your email" she insists

"Why?"

"The production associate from Bravo sent over the plans for the Real Housewives and take a look at what they are offering"

Tobias groans as he moves over to his computer and clicks open his personal email account. He hadn't really thought about it anymore and he thought Marlene was completely against it. He sees the emails she's referring to and opens it up.

"Damn, $20,000," He says as he leans back in his chair.

"No T. That's per episode" Marlene clarifies.

"No way, are you fucking serious?" he replies and leans back to the computer to look at the numbers again. "How many episodes?"

"13 for the pilot season"

Tobias does a quick calculation with the calculator on his computer.

"Holy Shit, Lene, that's…."

"Yeah, I know a nice sum, and Mom and Dad are looking at $75,000 per episode each"

"No wonder Dad said he could retire early. Wait, are you changing your mind about this?"

"T. I don't know now. Even after paying taxes on it, I could pay off all my med school loans in the next year"

Tobias could see why his sister was on the fence now. Marcus and Evelyn had made sure that their undergraduate program was paid for. Marcus had pulled some strings to make sure Marlene was able to be matched and do her residency in Chicago so she could cut down on expenses and stay at home but even with that, she was still $200,000 in student loan debt. Tobias was in a good position since Lauren's death and her life insurance policy had helped him put up a chunk in savings and still cover the cost of the brownstone.

"Well, it's something to think about for sure. When do we have to decide? I need to talk to Tris about this"

"Next week, let me know what you decide"

Tobias hangs up the phone and goes to read through the email again. He really did need to talk to Tris about this. Money wasn't everything but it sure did change things.


Tris is setting up the tables for the restaurant to open for lunch on a Thursday afternoon when she hears a knock on the door. When she opens it she sees a woman standing there with several bags. She was shorter than Tris with warm sepia-toned skin and long black hair that had been straightened that was pulled into a ponytail. Her big brown eyes darted around like she couldn't focus.

"Hi, We don't open for another hour or two"

"I'm actually here looking for Caleb Prior, do you know if I can leave a message for him" the woman shifted on her feet moving her large bag on her right shoulder to the left.

"Sure, why don't you come in and I'll go grab him from the back for you, Can I get your name to tell him who's here to see him?"

"Yeah it's Cara"

Tris nods in response and sets down the box of salt and pepper shakers she was putting out on each table. She heads back into the kitchen where Caleb was helping Max and Hana with the food prep for the day.

"Caleb there's a Cara here to see you"

Tris furrows her eyebrows when she sees Caleb drop his knife and stare at her with an astonished look.

"She's here?"

"Yep," Tris replies popping the p and making a face as to why he was acting so weird.

"I'll be right back," He says hastily, taking off his apron and hanging on the hook next to the double doors in the kitchen.

"So anybody going to tell me why everyone is acting so funny?" Tris says looking at Max and Hana who are looking at each other and don't look happy.

"Tris where's your father?" Hana asks, setting down the spoon she had been using to stir with.

"He's in the storeroom with Uncle Harry doing inventory" Tris replies motioning with her arm as Hana quickly exits the kitchen followed by Max.

Tris huffs and rolls her eyes as she goes back out to the dining room of the restaurant and sees Caleb pulling his lips away from Cara.

"I really am sorry, I missed you so much baby, I promise I'm good this time, I just needed to get out of New York"

Tris clears her throat and Caleb turns around. She eyes him, he didn't necessarily look thrilled like his companion did.

"Tris, this is Cara, my friend from New York, we worked together at Erudite Labs"

"We did more than work together" Cara clarifies, lacing his fingers with hers.

"That I can see" Tris comments

"Cara's in town for a few days. Is Dad still in the storeroom?"

"Yep," Tris replies just as Andrew comes out with a worried look on his face.

While Caleb introduces Cara to his father Tris takes the opportunity to go to the storeroom where she finds Harrison, Max, and Hana deep in conversation.

"She looks like she has no place to go Max" Hana finishes when Tris steps in the door and they stop talking.

"Will someone please fill me in on why the four of you are freaking out" Tris huffs and puts her hands on her hips.

"You know while Caleb was in rehab, we did two family sessions with his therapist" Hana starts. Tris nods. Because they had such a large family the therapist decided to have the parentals go for it to not be so overwhelming.

"Caleb told us that one of the main reasons he got caught up with stealing and long term use of the pills was the girl he was dating" Max adds

"Ughhh" Tris grunts out and wipes her hand over her face. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll figure it out, Bumblebee," Harrison says as he pats Tris on the shoulder and walks out of the storeroom.

Tris had been the first to admit that rehab been good for Caleb. He had done well in his return from rehab even though she had been skeptical before he went she could see the difference in him. As part of his treatment, he had to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings which he had been attending. Zeke, Max, Hana, Andrew, Tris, Rose, and Harrison were all there to cheer him on when he received his 30-day chip. Caleb was having normal conversations and there was hardly any tension between him, Uriah, and Zeke now and Tobias had warmed up to him, he was pleasant and helpful around the restaurant. He had been working up the courage to call Susan Black to catch up after Christina saw her again and she seemed excited to know that Caleb was back in town too and she wasn't seeing anyone. He really was getting his life back on track. She didn't get a good feeling off of Cara and now Tris was worried that her brother's sobriety was going falter.