Christina and I walk to the train out of habit but once we arrive at the tracks, we both remember Isobel's recommendation for Christina not to jump on and off moving trains, so we decide we should walk back to the Dauntless compound. Thankfully, it warmed up nicely today so we don't freeze. We shadow the train tracks since we don't know exactly how to get back to the compound from here. I offer to let her borrow the car, which I only found out about when I had to go to Amity for the leader's meeting, to go to her appointments from now on. She gratefully accepts my offer.
"You know I came to talk to you this morning because I have a proposition for you," I say after we walk several blocks in silence. This piques her interest. "Apparently, there's a big Dauntless Christmas party each year, and I volunteered you to help me plan it. If you're not up for it, I understand."
"Tris, I'm pregnant, not dying. Of course I'll help you plan it. When is it?"
"December 19. Not quite two weeks away. You think we can pull it off?" I ask jokingly. If anyone can do this, she can.
"Of course. I already have some great ideas," she says. We spend the rest of the time walking back to Dauntless talking about the Christmas party. Since I'll be gone to Amity Thursday and Friday next week we decide to get together this Friday after lunch to finalize the party plans. "It's a great excuse to buy new dresses, especially since I probably won't fit into anything I already own."
"When have you ever needed an excuse to shop, Christina?" I ask her lightheartedly. She smiles brightly at me.
"You know me so well," she says then sighs. "What should I tell him?"
"I think the direct approach is best. Just get it out there. When do plan on telling him," I ask.
"I need to do it soon. I'm just not sure how to do it. How do I change his life so completely? It's one thing to change my life but to force this onto him also. Maybe I'm being selfish." Sadness returns to her face, and I see tears swimming in her eyes.
"It's not selfish, Christina. This is his child, too," I say putting my arm around her waist.
"I know," she says patting the hand that's on her side. Gratefully, I see the Dauntless compound ahead of us.
"It's still early. Why don't you come up to my place, and I'll fix you something warm to eat. I told Zoe you wouldn't be back today anyway, and Will's still at work. We can spend the afternoon talking, party planning, or watching a movie. Whatever you want," I say as we reach the door. She agrees and we slip up to my apartment unnoticed.
I tell her to make herself at home, and she lounges in the oversized club chair, which seems to be her favorite spot in my apartment. I heat the oven then place half a small loaf of French bread in it to warm up. I take two bottles of spring water out of the refrigerator and place them on the end table between the couch and club chair. Tobias made homemade beef stew with extra potatoes and carrots last night so I warm up enough for Christina and me. I get two dinner plates and two soup bowls out of the cupboard. I take the bread out of the oven and lightly butter it. I cut the bread in half and in half again then place a piece on each plate. I fill each bowl with stew and set them on the plates. I hand Christina one plate and sit down on the couch with mine. We eat the comfort food in silence. When we're done I take our dishes and put them in the dishwasher and start it.
"That was really good, did you make it?" she asks as I sit down on the couch.
"No, Four made it. He's a much better cook than I am," I admit.
"Four cooks?" she says, disbelief plain on her face. I stop myself right before I tell her everyone from Abnegation has to help with the cooking. She doesn't know where he transferred from.
"Yes, he does. Uriah and Zeke's mother, Hana, has helped him a great deal." That's a partial truth. "She's given him a lot of family recipes, the stew being one. Do you want to talk, party plan, or just relax and watch a movie?" She thinks for a moment before answering.
"I think I just want to relax and take my mind off of everything for a little while if you don't mind. I'll jot down my ideas for the party before we meet on Friday."
"You pick out a movie, and I'll put it in," I say. She picks a romantic comedy I've never seen before. I put it in the DVD player, and we spend the next two hours laughing at absurd situations the leads get themselves into and out of. When the end credits roll, I realize how much I thoroughly enjoyed that one. We decide to watch another movie, and being the gracious host I am, I once again let her pick. This time she picks a favorite of Tobias', an action-adventure movie that quickly loses my interest.
After about 30 minutes, I look over at her, and she's fast asleep, rolled up in a little ball in the oversized chair. I go upstairs to the closet in the spare room and get the fuzzy dark gray throw, which is the precise color of our furniture that Christina and Will gave us as a housewarming gift. I go back downstairs and gingerly place it over her, making sure not to wake her. I turn off the TV, eject the DVD, put it back into its holder, and slide it back onto the shelf. I check my phone for messages but there aren't any. I lounge on the couch with the book I've been reading. Soon I hear a light tap on the door. I jump up and softly pad over to the door to open it. A tall dark-skinned woman with short blue spikey hair and multiple rainbow-colored earrings is standing at the door with a bouquet of flowers.
"Delivery for Four," she says. I tell her Four isn't home but I'll sign for the flowers. I sign her tablet, add a point for a tip, and take the vase from her. I set the flowers in the middle of the island and stare at them. In front of me is a beautiful lead crystal vase full of multicolored pansies. I didn't send Tobias flowers so immediately I wonder who these are from. Reading the card momentarily enters my mind but that would be an invasion of privacy, and I trust Tobias completely.
I let Christina sleep while I ruminate over who could be sending Tobias flowers. I have my book open on my lap but I haven't looked at it in at least an hour. I know I'm obsessing but I can't help it. Although I trust him implicitly, I don't trust many other people, and I can't think of a single person who doesn't know he has a girlfriend. We were the subject of a lot of gossip when our relationship first came to light after initiation but it fizzled out quickly once everyone saw nothing untoward was happening. I find myself dissecting conversations and analyzing casual glances when my phone buzzes. It's a text message from Tobias asking where I am. I look over my shoulder at the clock and realize Christina and I are late for supper. I shoot him a text back telling him we'll be there shortly.
I get up and shake Christina lightly on the shoulder to wake her up. Finally her eyes flutter open, and she seems disoriented. Finally she comprehends she fell asleep during the movie. She sits up and stretches. Suddenly her hands fly to her abdomen.
"Are you okay," I ask her, alarm in my voice.
"Yes," she said. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just ... remembered."
"Well it's time for supper. Four texted me, and we're late." I remember my earlier texts to Tobias and Will and turn to Christina. "Crap, Christina! I told Will you were helping me with a project, and I told Four I had an emergency meeting in town. Why didn't I tell them the same thing? Stupid, stupid," I say under my breath admonishing myself.
"You can tell Four about our day once you get home tonight. I don't want you putting your relationship in jeopardy because of me," she says. "At supper if you wouldn't mind just saying we were planning the Christmas party. We technically did talk about it." She hugs me, comforting me. She is a great friend. "Did Four send you flowers? No offense but he doesn't seem like the type. I was shocked when he got you the jewelry."
"Actually someone sent them to Four," I say.
"Who?" she asks.
"I don't know. I didn't want to read the card. I thought it would be invading his privacy."
"If someone sends Will flowers, I'm reading the card and hunting her ass down. I could look at the card," she says innocently.
"No," I say putting my hands on her back and steering her toward the door. "If we don't get to the cafeteria soon, they're going to send out a search party." She lets me drag her out of my apartment and down to the cafeteria. We talk about the party a little on the way. She really does have some great ideas. I know if I had to plan the party myself, it would never be as glamorous or memorable. I think I'll nominate Christina to be Dauntless' official party planner at my next meeting with Tori and Tobias. That'll give her a bump in pay for the work she does.
We walk into the cafeteria and straight to our table after we get our plates. I slide in beside Tobias, and Christina slides in beside Will. Everyone else is already close to finished with supper. I try to avoid Tobias' speculative side-ways glances. He knows something's up, but he won't say anything until we're alone. I take a bite of my hamburger and look at Christina. She's telling Will they'll talk later. Maybe something happened I don't know about as it seems like neither Tobias nor Will bought the excuses I sent to them earlier. Maybe that's just it, maybe they compared notes. I might be in trouble later. I try some friendly conversation to cut the silence.
I look directly at Tobias and say, "Someone sent you flowers today, any idea who?"
"Flowers?" he questions, surprise in his eyes. This tells me no one's ever sent him flowers before.
"Yeah. A big bouquet of beautiful pansies every color of the rainbow in a lead crystal vase."
"Pansies are a sign the sender is delivering loving thoughts," Will says. Everyone at the table stops what they're doing and looks his way. "What?"
"How do you know what flowers mean, man?" James asks dumbfounded.
"Erudite," he says pointing at himself with his left index finger. "Some things just stuck with me. My brain is full of useless facts." That answer elicits laughter from the entire table.
"Loving thoughts?" Uriah says stuffing another bite of cake in his mouth. "Sounds like you have a secret admirer, Four."
"Secret admirer," Tobias scoffs. "Yeah right. Which one of you idiots sent the flowers?" We all look at each other. I never thought about them being sent in jest. I like Uriah's theory. Tobias looks directly at me. "Did you?"
"No, I swear," I say, putting my right hand over my heart. "As a matter of fact, I spent a lot of time this afternoon wondering who did, so if it is anyone at this table, speak up now." I try out my best Four impersonation but it isn't very intimidating. I'm going to have to work on that. If the sender is at our table, they aren't say anything.
"So what were you two doing all afternoon?" Will finally asks after a lull in conversation, sending a shiver of ice down my spine.
"We were talking about the Christmas party," Christina says. Then turning her attention away from Will she adds, "Hey girls we get another shopping trip soon. We better do it before Tris goes to Amity next week." I notice Will and Tobias share an apprehensive look. Through the rest of supper the conversation is centered on the Christmas party, shopping, and the "Christina Experience," which is better than any of us expected. Even though I still don't like getting all dolled up – it just isn't me – we all had such a good time before the last party we decide to do it again but this time at my place since Ciara, Ella, and Kirsten said they'll join us to get ready. There's more room and a built-in makeover station with the kitchen island. Soon Tobias leans over and puts his mouth next to my ear sending a jolt to the pit of my stomach.
"I think we should go home, Tris," he says before he kisses the valley right below my ear. I moan a little then blush bright red, hoping no one heard me. He gets up from the table expecting me to join him immediately but I linger at the table for a moment. I need to talk to Christina before I go.
"Why don't you go ahead, Four," I say over my shoulder looking at him. "I'll catch up with you in a minute." He gives me a suspicious look then turns and walks out of the cafeteria.
"Will, can you give Tris and me a minute?" Christina asks. When my eyes meet Will's, they have the same suspicion in them that Tobias' had a second ago. He nods and leaves the cafeteria. Soon we're sitting alone at our table.
I lean in close to Christina and say, "If you need anything you know where I live. I'm here for you, both of you." I give her a quick hug then head off after Tobias.
I walk slowly up the steep path out of the Pit. Running straight toward me are two children about five or six years old. I look at the children and wonder what it will be like in a few years when Christina and Will are running after their little one. Three things happen at once: One, I step to the outside of the path to let the children pass me on the inside like I've done hundreds of time since joining Dauntless; two, I feel a sudden, crippling pain in my right ankle; and, three, I lose my balance. As I'm searching for something, anything to balance myself, I realize I'm going to fall and let out a blood curdling scream.