E: I thought you and your mom would bring Ava, or at least come along.
Eric's text came while Tris was out to dinner with her parents, and it surprised her.
T: That's not how it works. A child is removed from foster care by a caseworker. I'm sorry, I thought you were told.
E: Sally said she was bringing Ava. I guess I just assumed you would come too.
T: Call or text me anytime. You and Ava need to bond, but I'm here if you need me.
.
Tris arrived at the mall on Saturday morning, and was waiting for her latte at the coffee shop when Eric texted again.
E: Good morning! She slept through the night in her new room. Yay!
The text was accompanied by a picture of Ava smiling in her highchair.
T: She looks happy to be home
.
Tris and Christina were having lunch when the next text came.
E: Max, Tori, and Lauren are coming over to visit. Ava's popular.
T: She is adorable. Try not to disrupt naptime too much, or you'll regret it later.
"Who are you texting, Trissy?" Christina asked.
"Baby's daddy," Tris replied.
"Is he cute?" she asked, ready to gossip.
"Yeah," Tris said, trying to be cool about it but blushing beet red anyway.
"Oh my gosh!" Christina squealed. "You totally like him! When can I hear the whole story?"
Tris looked around the restaurant. "I'll give you the short version, and tell you all the details next weekend at our sleepover."
"Okay, spill," Christina said eagerly.
"Birth mom abandoned the baby," Tris said, "and the dad didn't even know about it. We had her for a while when the baby's DNA hit a match with a woman who died. Through that investigation they found the dad, and my parents and I have been helping him get ready to take her home."
"I have a feeling that was a very short version," Christina said, and Tris nodded.
She flipped through the photos on her phone for a minute, then showed Christina a picture of Ava in her Christmas sleeper on her first night with the Priors.
"Wow," Christina said in awe, "she's so tiny."
"She was tiny," Tris said, flipping to a more recent picture of Ava with her chubby cheeks and bright smile. "She's four months old now. I named her Ava Hope, and her dad is keeping the name."
Christina oohed and aahed, so Tris showed her a few more pictures of the baby, including one of Caleb holding her before he went back to school.
"She's not Caleb's, is she?" Christina pressed. "I know you said before that it wasn't, but you can tell me more now, so is it?"
Tris laughed heartily. "No!" she exclaimed. "That would have to involve someone sleeping with my brother, and I don't think any girl is that desperate." The girls laughed. They both knew that Caleb was a nice, smart, and decent-looking guy, but Tris couldn't resist making the joke.
"I just thought maybe you blushed because you were embarrassed," Christina explained. "But if it's not Caleb, then you do have a crush on your baby daddy."
"He's not my baby daddy," Tris said.
"Not yet," Christina teased. "So you said he's cute, and he's not your brother. I assume he's single?"
Tris nodded as she took another bite of her lunch.
"Is he older?" Christina pressed.
"Three years," Tris answered.
"He's only twenty-one? That's young to be a dad."
"Shit happens," Tris said defensively. "He's working really hard and doing a good job. He may be young, but he loves his daughter. Besides, you and Will are going to end up in the same boat if you're not careful, lovebirds."
"We are so being careful!" Christina said, and Tris was glad her topic change worked, even if it did mean discussing her friends' love life.
.
Eric texted again in the late afternoon, when Tris was doing laundry and putting away her purchases.
E: Ava is fussy this afternoon. She keeps looking around and kind of whining.
T: Did you stick to the nap schedule?
E: I tried, but Max only has one volume setting, and it's LOUD.
T: Its ok for her to fuss. She's in a new place, and she's off schedule. Try to be calm and low stress. She takes her cues from you. If you're confident, she'll feel secure.
E: It's four hours until her bedtime. How do I keep her awake to get her back on schedule?
T: Compromise. You can put her to bed a little early since she missed some of her nap. Until then, maybe take her for a walk, then lay on the floor and play with her. Talk to her, stuff like that.
E: How do you know all this?
T: Practice
Tris didn't hear anything from Eric for a few hours, then he sent a picture of Ava peacefully sleeping in her crib.
E: I don't know what I'd do without you.
T: Google, YouTube. Call my mom, Tori, Lauren, Max's wife, or another friend. Hire a live-in nanny. Make very unnecessary trips to the emergency room. The world is full of resources.
E: I like you better.
T: 5 weeks and 5 days, Coach
E: Too long.
T: Get some sleep. Focus on your daughter.
.
When he couldn't calm the baby on Sunday afternoon, Eric called Natalie. He wanted to talk to Tris, but he was stressed out and didn't trust himself to stay professional when he really wanted her comfort. He also didn't want Tris to know that he was, in his own mind, failing as a father.
"Can babies this young feel anger?" Eric asked Natalie. "I feel like she's mad at me. She won't go to sleep, and when I hold her or talk to her, she turns away from me and cries. She keeps looking around like she's searching for something. I tried feeding her even though she had just eaten. She took the bottle like she was starving, then she spit up most of it!"
Natalie chuckled. "I think I know the problem. I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't feed her any more."
Eric paced around his living room and kitchen while he waited for Natalie. Ava threatened to deafen him as she laid on his chest and wailed in his ear. When the doorbell rang, he practically sprinted to the foyer.
Natalie held a finger to her lips and draped a pillowcase over Eric's shoulder when he opened the door. Without speaking, she indicated that he should move Ava to lay on it. The second Ava made contact with the pillowcase, she sighed and stopped crying.
"That's what I thought," Natalie said to the frazzled father.
"I… I don't get it," Eric stammered.
Natalie ushered him back to his living room and indicated that he should sit.
"Ava will adjust," Natalie tried to assure Eric. "But this is a common reaction in infants when they are separated from their mothers."
"Her mother?" Eric asked. "But Ava never knew Melinda. And what does that have to do with the pillowcase? That knocked her out like there was chloroform on it!"
Natalie smiled and reached across the sofa to squeeze Eric's hand. "Beatrice has been Ava's person since she tucked that tiny newborn into her vest to keep her warm. Ava's bassinet was next to Tris' bed. She handled all the late-night feedings, and more than her share of the diaper changes and baths. The two of them are deeply bonded, and they're both struggling with being separated."
"What do I do?" Eric asked, the five and a half weeks before Tris' graduation suddenly feeling like an eternity.
"Now that Ava is asleep, you should lay her down in her crib like normal," Natalie instructed. "She wore herself out crying, I'm sure. Don't put the pillowcase in the crib with her, but keep it handy. Pull it out if you get desperate again."
Eric nodded, and Natalie gave his hand another squeeze. "You're doing a good job," she assured him. "Ava will adjust as she bonds with you and gets used to her new home. I think it might be best if I came here to watch her this week. Beatrice will probably throw a fit, but Ava will settle better if she's not being pulled back and forth between you and your home and Beatrice and ours."
"Tris isn't going to like that," Eric warned.
"I know," Natalie said. "But unlike Ava, she's old enough to understand."
.
That night after Ava was in bed, Eric got a text from Tris that was nothing but a broken heart emoji. He sighed as he typed his reply.
E: I'm sorry. You're just too irresistible. You have to be kept away if I want a chance at my daughter liking me.
T: Mom practically had to sit on me to keep me from going over there when she told me how upset Ava was.
E: I love how you love her.
T: I told you - that's MY baby. I just didn't know she felt the same way.
E: Maybe Ava and I will bond over our shared desire to spend time with you. I'll discuss it with her in the morning. 5 weeks and 4 days.
T: I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that discussion. Right now, though, I have homework to catch up on. Have a good night, Warrior.
E: Sweet dreams, Duchess
.
The next week passed quickly for Eric as he learned to juggle his responsibilities as a working single parent. Ava began to settle in to her new routine, and Natalie began increasing her work with Andrew's campaign and preparing for Tris' graduation party during Ava's naps.
The same week passed slowly for Tris. She went to the community college in the mornings, then came home to an empty house for lunch. She went to high school in the afternoons. She worked out to stay busy, did her homework, read books, and socialized with her friends.
On Friday evening Natalie joined Andrew in Springfield for a weekend of events and campaign work. Tris was home alone, watching a movie with a bag of popcorn when she got a text from Eric.
E: Natalie told me she was headed to Springfield for the weekend. Did you go too?
T: No, I'm living the high life watching a movie in my PJs.
E: Magic Mike or Fifty Shades of Grey?
T: Pfft. I can do better than that. It's some hardcore European porn that I found under my brother's bed when he left for college.
E: (shocked face emoji)
T: I'm kidding. I'm watching Pitch Perfect. Again. And I'm not masochistic enough to look under my brother's bed. There's probably dirty underwear under there.
E: I teach teenage boys. You would be lucky if underwear was the worst thing you found under their bed.
T: Not my brother. As far as I'm concerned, Caleb and I appeared miraculously via immaculate conception, my parents have never heard of the concept of sex, and my brother is a saintly, virginal dork without human hormones.
E: Lol
T: Don't burst my happy bubble. You're going to need it someday when Ava makes you a grandfather.
E: That's a sobering thought. Thanks, Grandma.
T: Why am I grandma?
E: She's YOUR baby, you say that all the time.
T: When Ava grows up she and I will be besties and go shopping together while you watch the grandchildren that she and her adoring husband produce via immaculate conception.
E: Nice to know you'll still be around, Granny.
T: Now I'm Granny? I'm aging rapidly! You do realize that I'll be 39 when she's your age. She could make me a VERY young grandma.
E: We should probably go on a date before we make too many plans about our grandchildren. Graduation is 5 weeks from tonight. Can I get an answer now?
T: Nope. Ask again in a month. You're not very good at not fraternizing with your students.
E: Only you, Duchess. You're the only student - the only woman - I want to fraternize with.
T: 5 weeks, Warrior. Do the right thing.
E: Yes, ma'am. You're worth waiting for.
Tris grinned and hugged her phone to her chest.
.
The next afternoon, Tris received another text from Eric.
E: 4 weeks and 6 days. Only one day has passed, yet it feels so much closer. Will you answer me now?
T: My calendar still says April, Coach.
E: If I flip mine to May, will that help?
T: Stop. This is frustrating for me, too. I'm trying to protect YOUR career and reputation. Quit making it harder for me.
E: I'm sorry. You're right. I just miss you. I won't push.
E: Tori is coming over later to paint something above Ava's crib.
T: Great idea! You'll send me a picture, right?
T: Make sure she opens the window when she's working on it.
T: And if it still smells like paint, Ava will have to sleep in the playpen in your room or something.
T: I'm having friends over tonight, so I won't be able to talk, but don't forget to send me a picture.
E: Stop worrying. I'll do everything you said. You're not having a party, are you?
T: Sleepover. Four girls. No boys or booze. My parents know about it. I promised Christina I'd tell her about Ava. Do you want me to leave you out of it? She knows I'm friends with the dad. She refers to you as "Tris' baby daddy"
E: That won't start any rumors… (eyeroll emoji) Maybe you should leave my name out of the story for now. 4 weeks and 6 days, and all that.
.
Tris honored Eric's wishes. She told Christina, Marlene, and Lynn about discovering baby Ava on Christmas Eve. She told them about naming her, and even showed them the tattoo on her ribs. She explained why she had dropped out socially as she and the foundling bonded to one another.
She told them in more general terms about Ava's mother, her death by overdose, and the father who believed his baby had been aborted against his wishes. Tris explained that once the paternity test revealed that she was his daughter, the Priors had worked with the young man to prepare his home for the baby.
Tris showed off a few pictures of the nursery she helped decorate, and a few shots of the baby with Tris and her family, too. She was careful not to include too much information about Eric or show any pictures of him.
"And now Tris is hardcore crushing on her baby daddy," Christina told the others.
"Chris," Tris whined. "I am literally not allowed to talk about him, and I definitely can't go out with him."
"Is he married or something?" Lynn asked.
Tris shook her head.
"Is he a lot older?" Marlene asked.
"Twenty-one," Christina said. "I asked the same question."
"You're eighteen. He's twenty-one and not married. You like him. I don't see the problem," Marlene argued. "Is this about the custody stuff?"
"Kind of," Tris hedged. "I'm really not allowed to talk about it yet, but I promise I'll explain when I can. Can we drop it?"
"For now," Christina said.
.
Natalie and Eric decided that Ava was making progress in her new home, and they were reluctant to rock the boat by taking the baby back to Tris and the home where she had been living. Tris accepted the information graciously, but cried herself to sleep once she was alone for the night.
All the stress of Ava's departure and the weekend's sleep loss weakened Tris' immune system, and she ended up catching a bad cold. She missed three days of school, and Eric had to take vacation on Friday because Natalie had other obligations and Tris was too sick to be around the baby.
Eric and Tris continued to text daily. He sent her a picture of the painting Tori had added to the nursery. Ava's first name was written large with white paint in a cool font. Over that, Tori had written "Where there is life, there is hope" in dark teal. She had exactly matched the phrasing and font of Tris' tattoo on the nursery wall, and Tris was moved by the personal connection. Around the large white letters, Tori had painted little bits of paisley and flowers that exactly matched the crib bedding and accessories.
Eric also sent pictures of Ava, and checked up on how Tris was feeling. On the twenty-first he sent a text that said, "One month." On Friday he sent one that said "Four weeks."
Tris replied to each text. She complimented Eric on how healthy and happy Ava looked. She updated him about her cold, and assured him that it wasn't a big deal. She made small talk about school projects and the preparations for her graduation party.
On Friday the 30th, three weeks before her graduation, Tris was finally allowed to see Ava again. The baby had been at home with Eric for three weeks, and Tris was terrified that Ava wouldn't remember her. She left school after her last class and drove straight to Eric's house to relieve Natalie.
When she arrived at the townhouse, Tris parked on the street and practically ran to the door. Her hands were shaking as she knocked, afraid to ring the doorbell and wake Ava if she was still napping.
Natalie opened the door and smiled at her daughter. "Oh Sweetheart," she said when she saw the anxiety on Tris' face. "She'll remember you, I promise."
Tris nodded mutely and let her mother comfort her with a hug.
"Come on," Natalie said excitedly. "I need to leave in a minute, but I have to see this reunion."
The women walked down the hall to the living room, and Tris' eyes instantly landed on the baby reclining in her highchair. A sob bubbled up and burst from Tris as she hurried across the room.
Ava had a similar reaction. When she saw Tris, she let out a squeal and began waving her arms and legs wildly. The squeal quickly turned into full-on crying, and Tris struggled to unhook the safety straps as tears blurred her vision and the baby squirmed.
Once the baby was free, Tris held her close to her chest and dropped into a chair. She rocked them back and forth for a moment, then pulled Ava back so she could take a good look at her.
"You've grown," Tris told the baby, who flailed her arms and reached for Tris' hair and face. "I missed you too," she said, hugging the little one close again.
Tris looked up at her own mother, and saw Natalie wiping away tears as she recorded the reunion on her cell phone. "I've never seen anything like that from one so young," she said, tapping at her phone screen.
"We had a rough start," Tris said, referring to Ava's abandonment. "I think it gave us an uncommon bond."
"I think you're right," Natalie said, wrapping her arms around her daughter and the baby. "And I think that little girl will be calling me Grandma."
Tris laughed as she clung to Ava. Natalie gave her daughter a brief rundown on the baby's schedule and the dinner she had prepared and put in the oven.
"I expect you to be at home, by yourself, as soon as Ava is in bed," Natalie warned. "I know you miss Eric, too, but you have to keep it up for three more weeks."
"I know, Mama," Tris said, taken aback by how aware her mom was of their situation.
.
Ava was strapped in the highchair and happily smacking her lips around spoonfuls of rice cereal when the garage door opened. Tris wiped her hands on the dish towel just as the front door opened and Eric walked in.
She looked so natural, sitting there feeding his happy baby with the smell of dinner in the air.
He looked so good in his black Dauntless uniform, smiling from across the room.
Tris ran to Eric, and he caught her as she threw herself into his arms. Her feet dangled off the floor as she squeezed her arms around his neck and he held her torso to his chest.
"I've missed you," he said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
"I've missed you too," Tris choked out, and Eric realized she was crying on his shoulder.
"Your mom sent me that video," Eric said. "It made me cry. I literally sat at my desk and cried. Tomorrow is May first. We've waited long enough. Please tell me you'll go out with me on the twenty-second. Please tell me you'll be my girlfriend, Duchess. Ava and I miss you so much. We talk about you all the time. Your mom is pushing for Ava to say 'dada,' but I think her first word might be 'duchess,' because you're all I talk about."
Tris laughed through her tears. "That's a big word for a baby that can barely sit up on her own."
"Please say you'll be ours," Eric pleaded, sticking out his bottom lip like Ava did when she was about to cry.
Tris threw her arms around Eric and buried her face in his shoulder. "Yes," she said, and planted a kiss on the side of his neck.