Chapter 29
May arrived quickly. The weather is nice. The few patches of green around the city are inviting you outside, even when you are used to the dark halls of the Dauntless compound. It is the middle of the month, two days after the meeting in Amity, and Natalie asked to meet us in the small park closest to Dauntless.
Tris and I are sitting on a blanket talking mostly about her upcoming initiation, while Rose plays with her stuffed animals we brought along. We will meet my mother-in-law shortly, as she asked us to, and while Tris and I will take a look over the files she and Mr. Black copied from Andrew's office, Natalie will spend some time with her granddaughter.
"What do you think they found?" I ask my wife as she leans against me. We found a nice place under a large tree. It provides us with shade, but the weather is warm enough to not make us shiver.
"I don't know. But I'm sure there is something. I doubt Marcus would have found anything other than work related issues to blackmail my dad with. I am actually hoping it is something similar to what happened to Mr. Miller here in Dauntless. If that is the case, dad might still be sanctioned, but I doubt it will get him in real trouble. Not to mention, if we can prove that Marcus used that to do something illegal, I'm sure even those faithful to Marcus won't be able to back him up."
"And what if your dad did something bad on his own?" I ask, while stroking Tris's hair. She stiffens slightly, but then relaxes. I know she thought of that too, but none of us ever uttered it out loud. Rose babbles away, and points toward a colorful butterfly. "That's a pretty butterfly, princess," I tell my daughter, and she smiles widely. There is still a long way for her to have all her teeth out, and right now, as awful as I might sound, she looks pretty hilarious.
Thinking of the time she was teething makes me flinch. Tris and I were so scared something bad was happening, but as per usual, we overreacted. Or at least, so think our friends. I don't give a rat's ass if they think I'm overprotective over my wife and daughter. They are my life. I won't apologize for that. But just like the time when she had colic, Rose would be fine, and Tris and I needed to find a way to help our little one through this new experience, as painful as it is for all of us.
"Buddafy," Rose babbles, and Tris chuckles. She holds out her arms for Rose, and my daughter pushes herself off the ground, and walks toward her mother.
Fuck! She is already fourteen months old. I can't believe how fast she grows. It sometimes seems only like yesterday that Tris was in the delivery room, screaming obscenities at the nurses, threatening to castrate me, planning to burn down the whole city if someone didn't bring her the fucking epidural. I felt so helpless, and scared, and sad, and so many other things that day. I wonder if Tris will ever go through with her plans of burning down places. She sure has expressed it often enough. I chuckle to myself, and hopefully Tris thinks it's because of the baby.
Baby! Rose is a toddler already. There are times when I want her to be older so that I can understand what her mind is coming up with when she babbles. But most times I just want my little baby girl to hold her all bundled up to my chest. We always had a special connection, just as strong as the one between her and her mom.
"Did you see how pretty the butterfly was?" Tris asks, as Rose sits in her mother's lap, and Tris kisses her temple.
"Pwetty," Rose imitates. "Mommy."
"Yes, baby, the butterfly was pretty like your mommy," I encourage. I lean in, and whisper into my wife's ear. "Actually, you are beautiful and smoking hot," I say in what I hope is a seductive voice, before biting her earlobe. By her shiver and the blush creeping onto her cheeks I can tell it worked.
"Behave yourself!" she chastises, as she turns her head slightly to the side, looking up at me, and smiles lovingly. I laugh at her cuteness, and lean down to capture her lips in a sweet, loving kiss.
"Gwanma!" Rose suddenly chirps, and we look up.
Before us stands Natalie, a bag slung over her shoulder, and a wide smile on her face. I know it would be polite to stand up, and greet her properly, but I'm sporting a raging boner thanks to my incredibly sexy wife who decided on a low-cut tank top today.
"Mom!" Tris says with excitement, but also a little nervousness in her voice.
"Hey everyone. And hello my sweet Rose. I've missed you so much," she says, reaching for my daughter who holds her arms up to be picked up. Natalie scoops her up with ease, and as Tris goes to stand up as well, I pull her back. She looks over her shoulder with a frown on her face, and I mouth the word "boner". Realizing that I am too embarrassed to sit for myself, Tris asks her mom to "watch" the baby, while we read the file. Natalie, whether not caring I didn't really greet her or realizing we might have a limited time on our hands, gives the bag to her daughter. "By the way, I baked c.o.o.k.i.e.s.," she spells, since Rose would go bananas if she heard her favorite word. God, she is just like Uriah with his damn cake. If she wouldn't ruin her appetite with the delicious treat I would let her eat them all the time. Fuck, I actually let her eat them a lot until Tris put her foot down. Well, more her foot up my ass, but that's another story. I know she is right, but I can't stand Rose's pouty lips. Tris calls me a sucker, but I don't give a shit.
Natalie moves a little away to the small swing set, and sits down, with Rose in her lap, starting to swing. It's rather gentle, much like I do when I'm in the rocking chair in the nursery. I allow myself a moment to just stare at my daughter and her grandmother, and smile. With each passing day, I see the happy face of my child, and I know Tris and I made the right decision to leave our birth faction.
Returning my attention to my wife, she hands me half of the file, while she reads the other one. From the sheer amount of papers in this file, I can already tell it will take us more than an afternoon. For now, though, we want to see what we are dealing with.
I read through several years-worth of balances, finance reports, expenses, acquisitions… this is so boring I can literally feel myself die a little inside. How can anyone stand to do this for a living?
"Got it!" Tris says excitedly, and a little loud.
"You did?" both Natalie and I ask at the same time. I look up for a moment, and watch as my mother-in-law cradles my daughter to her chest. Rose seems to have fallen asleep, and from Natalie's headshake I can tell she doesn't want me to take Rose away. I nod with a smile, and then turn my attention to Tris.
"How do you know?" I ask incredulous.
"I was right, Tobias!" she says, looking me straight in the eyes.
"Huh?" I ask like a moron. She rolls her eyes a little, and then starts to explain.
"I was right. I looked for the papers around the time dad suddenly decided it was a good idea to get me hitched. I didn't find anything, so I looked further backwards. Get this… three months before dad's ass-tastic epiphany," she cusses. One of these days Rose will say ass-tastic, I'm sure of it. "There was a large acquisition from Amity," she continues. I look over the file, having seen papers like this one before. It's basically a report of what and in what quantity we got from Amity, as well as the transferred credits to the faction of the kind. I take the piece of paper from Tris to inspect it.
I look over it, having seen dozens of others before, and nothing seems to stand out. I feel Tris stand up, and walk closer to the swing set. I want to keep my focus on the paper, but I look up to see Tris taking Rose from Natalie, and holding her sleeping form close to her chest. I watch in awe and admiration how she expertly holds our daughter, swaying gently to keep her from waking up. She leans down, and kisses Rose's forehead, smiling lovingly at her. My heart fills with so much joy, love, and pride that I think it might burst. I never had a nice childhood, not even normal, but having Rose offered me a chance to experience all those things. I thought I would be jealous to see how Rose would live a happy childhood, but just as soon as that thought crossed my tired mind in those first few days after she was born, just as soon it disappeared forever. I love my daughter with all my heart, and I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. I was so scared after I found out Tris was pregnant, and I doubted myself, doubted I would be a decent father. Tris, being the strong woman she is, assured me that it was all in my head, and that I needed to get my head out of my ass. I would never lay a finger on either her or any of our children. Children. The thought of having more children is daunting for so many reasons, but I am calmer now, more confident. Tris changed me. She made me stronger. She made me want more from this life than just exist. With her, I live to the fullest.
"We should go home," Tris suddenly says as she appears in front of me. I look up, not even realizing how she came over here without me noticing. I must have been so engrossed in my daydream that I didn't see her coming closer.
"What?" I ask her confused. We had planned to spend the afternoon in the park. But as I wonder what had gotten into her a loud thunder startles both me and Rose. My daughter immediately starts crying, hating thunder. I jump up, and let the file I had in my hands fall down.
"Daddy!" she cries, and Tris hands her over. I hold her close to me, while my wife and mother-in-law gather all our stuff. I wish I could help, but Tris told me to distract Rose from the constant rumbling in the sky.
"Shh, baby girl. Daddy is here. Daddy will keep you safe," I reassure her. She is sobbing bitterly, but she stopped screaming.
The women hurry, and within the next ten minutes we are entering Dauntless, just in time for a serious downpour. Rose is whimpering now, clutching her little hands into my shirt, and holding on tightly. We rush to the apartment, and Tris immediately goes to turn on the TV and look for a movie for Rose to watch. She directs me to sit on the couch with Rose until our daughter calms enough for her mother to take my place. A part of me wants to be stubborn, and stay with Rose in the living room, but I know Natalie misses her, and I need to help my wife figuring out what happened to Andrew Prior. Not to mention, I'm just as curious to find out how my father blackmailed my father-in-law.
It takes Rose a good twenty minutes until she is calm enough for Natalie to take my place. Rose gives me her pouty lip, and I almost give in, but then Tris scoops her up, and nuzzles the baby a little talking softly to our daughter.
"Baby, grandma came all the way from Abnegation to visit you. It is not nice to ignore her," Tris scolds Rose softly. Rose's eyes widen, and she sticks her lip out to her mom. Tris smiles, and kisses both cheeks of our child, before asking her nicely to spend some time with her grandma.
"Mommy?" comes Rose's tired voice.
"Hm?"
"Wanna cookie," she demands. I chuckle to myself. She must have smelled them or something.
"After dinner," Tris says sternly, but her voice is gentle and loving.
"Wan cookie now!" Rose insists, and Tris scowls.
"I said after dinner. And stop pouting," Tris stands her ground. How does she do that? I was never able to say no to her. Rose squirms, and starts crying again. She calls and reaches for me, but Tris is stubborn.
"Rose Eaton! You behave yourself. Mommy will give you a cookie after dinner." Rose, stubborn like her parents, pouts even harder, before she starts crying. My heart breaks hearing her so miserable. I know Tris is right, but damn. My little girl wants a damn cookie. Why can't she have one cookie?
I watch as Natalie picks up Rose, and sits down on the couch. Tris kisses our daughter's head, and comes around the couch to grab my hand. She pulls me toward the kitchen, and seats me at the kitchen island. She practically throws the file at me, and turns around to make some coffee. Uh-oh, she's mad. I look through the file, searching for the particular piece of paper I was looking over at the park.
When the coffee is finally done, Tris pours three mugs. She sets mine, with the inscription "World's Greatest Husband" before me, while adding sugar and cream to the other two. She walks into the living room with one, setting it on the coffee table in front of her mother. I look over toward where my mother-in-law is still holding my daughter, and it breaks my heart that she is still sobbing. Just then, Tris looks up, and glares at me. Fuck! What did I do?
"This is all your fault," she growls, as she sits down on the stool next to me. I look at her dumbfounded, not understanding the logic behind her words.
"Excuse me?" I ask her, some anger seeping through.
"You heard me. You let her have all the cookies she wanted, and now she is a little cookie monster. You can't fucking give in every time she asks for something," Tris scolds me. I glare at her. What the fuck? She doesn't even seem fazed by my so-called Four-stare. I know other people here in Dauntless would shit their pants, but not my woman. She is a tough cookie. I involuntarily chuckle at that thought. "What?" she asks irritated. I lean in, and kiss her soft lips.
"I love you," I tell her honestly. "My little tough cookie," I add, before kissing her again. For a moment, she remains completely still, but then pulls away slightly to laugh.
"You are such an ass sometimes, Tobias," she whispers. We make it a point not to call each other names in front of our daughter, even if it is in jest. We like to joke around a lot, and sometimes an occasional "ass", "bitch" or "shit" slips through our lips. We never mean those, and it's just to rile up the other, usually before a session of mind-blowing sex. But we never use those kind of descriptions for the other in front of our child. We don't want her to know of the words we use, but more importantly we don't want her to think we mean them. I love Tris more than I've ever thought I could love someone. She is it for me, and I would be lost without her.
"But you love me," I say cocky.
"Yes, I do, you bastard!" she replies with a chuckle, before her arms snake around my neck, kissing me soundly. My arms quickly find her waist, and I pull her closer to me.
"Kiss, kiss!" Rose shouts from the living room. We break our kiss, and look toward our daughter who stands on the couch, her hands resting on the backrest, while grinning at us.
"Yes, sweetheart. Your mommy and daddy kiss a lot, because they are very deeply in love with each other," my mother-in-law says, and both Tris and I blush. Shit! I smile at them, before I turn around to look over the file again.
We spend a good five minutes looking for the paper Tris showed me at the park, and when we finally find it, I read it carefully. I check the supplies Amity sent to Abnegation, and the corresponded payment. I trace every line on that sheet with my finger wanting to make sure. Everything seems to be alright. I don't understand what Tris means. I look up at her, and a wide smile is spread on her face. She hands me a second sheet of paper, and I read it. It looks similar to the first one, only it is a quarterly report to the faction leaders. And then, I see it. At the bottom, next to Andrew Prior's signature, is the sum of credits transferred in exchange for… what? It says way less than Amity supplied. The total amount of supplies for that quarter was exactly 1000 items – grains, milk products, vegetables and fruits. But Andrew signed for 100. Damn! It was a typo. Fuck! I mean, if it were me, fuck!
"You see now?" Tris asks confidently. "There's still a lot to check, but I'm confident this little typo was my father's doom."
"How did you even spot this?" I ask incredulously.
"The first few months, while I was still pregnant, and Max would randomly drop by to give me an 'assignment', I used your laptop to write down my reports. I often misspelled stuff because I rushed things or because I got often interrupted. It was usually because I had a craving or had to pee," she explains, and I remember those times. She hated how often she had to pee. And I, frankly, was horrified by what she could eat. Pickles and ice cream – yuck. "So, I can see how this could have happened. I'm not saying my dad couldn't have stolen the 900 missing items, but come on." I nod my head. Yes, that really sounds absurd. But to be completely sure, we will have to check every piece of paper. And we will have to hurry with it. These are after all only copies. Marcus or anyone for that matter could exchange the originals for some fake ones.
A/N: Thoughts?