The drive from Dauntless to Candor is a relatively short and smooth one. A little before 1:00 p.m., Tobias, Will, Christina, and I pull up in front of the tall, wide, weather-darkened, cement building that houses Candor headquarters, which once was known as the Merchandise Mart and now is simply referred to as the Merciless Mart by all the other factions since Candor members are known to be uncaring because they are so brutally honest.
Tobias parks the car, and we get out and walk up to the oversized glass doors that lead into the building. Christina takes a deep breath then opens the door, and we follow her into the large, well lit lobby. Below our feet is a large expanse of black marble with a ring of white marble tiles in the middle of the floor that form the symbol of Candor: A set of unbalanced scales representing weighing truth against lies.
I notice a tall, beautiful, dark-skinned woman with dark brown eyes and shoulder length black wavy hair wearing traditional Candor colors of black and white standing by the elevators at the back of the room. When she sees Christina, her eyes widen, and she quickly approaches her. I immediately recognize her as Christina's mom from when I saw her across the Pit on visitation day. When she sees her mother, a wide smile crosses Christina's lips, and she walks directly into her outstretched arms. It's obvious from the expression on her face her mom wasn't expecting to see anyone else with Tobias and me.
"Mom, I would like to introduce you to some very important people in my life," she says, releasing her mother and turning back to the three of us. Christina motions to Will, and he steps forward and takes her hand. "This is my boyfriend, Will Drake; my best friend, Tris Prior; and her boyfriend, Four. Everyone, this is my mother, Stephanie Misner."
"It's a pleasure to meet Christina's friends," she says eyeing Will. I imagine she'll have several questions for him later. "So Christina, what are you going to do while I meet with Tris and Four?"
"Will and I were going to wait here until their meeting was finished then I was going to catch up with you. I wish I could visit with Rose, too," Christina says, sadness crossing her face. Rose must be her sister's name.
"It's Christmas break so she's at home. I'll call her down here so you can surprise her. She'll love that," Stephanie says. Christina's eyes light up. Then Stephanie addresses Tobias and me. "Please follow me."
Tobias takes my hand, and we follow Stephanie to the elevator and take it up to the fifth floor. We exit the elevator into a nondescript hallway with black marble floors and bright white walls. Everything in Candor must be black and white. Stephanie leads us through several identical hallways to her office. I hope she plans on taking us back to the lobby when we're finished, or Tobias and I will probably get lost and never be seen again.
I assume Stephanie's office looks like most every other room in the building with its bright white walls, black marble floors, and minimal furnishings also in bright white. I would think that would be hard to keep clean but everything is spotless. Once we are inside we sit down in the two white leather chairs across from her glass and white metal desk, and she makes a quick call to her younger daughter and tells her to meet her in the lobby immediately then hangs up the phone. Tobias and I sit side-by-side holding each other's hand waiting for her.
"So, Tris, Four, what is it I can do for you today?" she asks getting right down to business.
"Everything we say is confidential and won't leave this room, is that correct?" Tobias asks.
"That is correct," she says. Tobias takes a deep breath, and I squeeze his hand.
"My name is Tobias Eaton," he says. Recognition lights Stephanie's face. It seems most everyone reads the Erudite news reports making Tobias and Marcus Eaton household names. Now I understand why he prefers to go by Four. "When I was 9-year-old my father told me my mother died giving birth to my baby sister who also died. It turns out that story was a lie. My mother left my father and became factionless after having an affair that produced a child. She gave the baby up for adoption. I didn't know any of this until a little over a year ago.
"She contacted me earlier this week and is pregnant again. She can't stand the thought of giving another child up for adoption and not knowing where she will be so she wants us to adopt the baby. Before Tris and I make our final decision, we want to know what our rights will be as adoptive parents. Our greatest concern seems to be that Evelyn will come back for the child and be able to take her from us. I don't think either Tris or I would survive that."
"I have to say I'm impressed you are checking into what your rights are. Not a lot of adoptive parents twice your age do that. That being said, is there anything I can do to change your mind about even considering adoption at your young age?" she says. She definitely is Candor, not afraid to speak exactly what's on her mind.
"Mrs. Misner, all due respect," Tobias says.
"Please call me Stephanie, Tobias," she interrupts.
"Please call me Four, Stephanie," he says.
"Stephanie," I say, interrupting them both, "age is just a number. We at Dauntless don't consider age a restriction to anything. Four and I have not decided whether or not to go through with the adoption, which is why we're here seeking your legal advice but let me assure you we are not making this decision lightly. We both are considering all our options."
"Very well, Four, Tris," she says with a smile that seems genuine. "Your rights as adoptive parents really depend on what kind of adoption you are seeking. In our city, when a child is given up to a stranger, there is standard adoption paperwork stating the birth parents are signing over their rights to the child to the adoptive parents, meaning the birth parents do not get to know where the child is or how the child is doing, and they do not have the right to come back and say they have changed their mind.
"With private adoptions, which is the type of adoption being proposed to you, there is a window of 90 days in which one or both of the birth parents can change their minds; however, if the birth parents sign away their rights to the child before the child is born, the 90 day window disappears. That being said, anytime until the child is born, the birth parents have the right to change their minds. After the adoption is finalized, the child is 100% your responsibility and your rights are that of any other parent.
"There is one additional thing you two should be made aware of. Four, since the baby is your mother's you would be adopting this child, and Tris, you would have no legal rights to it if you and Four were to split up." My eyes widen and Tobias frowns at this news.
"Why would that be?" Tobias asks. "If we decide to do this, we want to do it together."
"Unmarried couples are not eligible to adopt children," she states matter-of-factly. "Our city's government has decided if two people haven't made a commitment of marriage to one another it isn't in the best interest of the child and adoption will not be granted."
"That seems harsh," I say.
"Aren't you on the council?" she asks. "Maybe adoption laws are something you would like to change, although it wouldn't be in time to help the two of you."
"What if we were married?" I ask. I can feel Tobias' gaze on my face but I avoid looking at him. We need to know what all our options are.
"If you two were to get married, there would be no problem. I would first draw up the papers for the birth parents to sign giving up all rights to the child, and then I would draw up the adoption papers to be signed by the birth parents and by the two of you. When the child is born, he or she would be transferred immediately into your custody."
"So the only way Evelyn or the birth father could change their minds is before the baby is born?" Tobias asks.
"That is correct, Four," she says.
"Is there someplace Tris and I could speak alone?" Tobias says. Stephanie cocks her head to one side and looks at us, thinking.
"How about I go and retrieve my daughters and Christina's boyfriend. It won't give you a lot of time to speak alone but it will give you a few minutes," she says.
"Any time you could offer us would be appreciated," I say. She walks to the door and leaves us alone.
"Do you want to get married?" he asks, his Four mask in place, not betraying any emotion at the moment.
"Do you want to get married?" I ask him.
"I asked you first," he says, still not revealing his feelings. I think about his question. Do I want to get married? I stare deeply into his dark blue eyes and see my other half. I don't know how that's possible since I'm only 16 years old but there it is, the absolute truth.
"I have to be honest with you, Tobias. Until this week, marriage and children never seriously crossed my mind. But after talking to you, talking to Christina and Will, going through my fear landscape, and seriously thinking about it, all I want is to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to have babies with you. I want to make a home with you and those children. I want to live a long and happy life with you. So yes, I want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?" I can feel the moisture in my eyes threatening to spill. He looks at me blank-faced for a moment causing me to hold my breath. God, how I wish I knew what was going through his mind right now. He gets up from his chair and sweeps me up into his arms. His lips land on mine in a love-filled kiss, and I get my answer. When we pull away from each other he sits me back on my feet.
"I love you, Beatrice Prior, and if that was a proposal, yes, I will marry you," he says with a huge smile on his face, caressing my face, wiping my happy tears away with his thumb. "Does this mean what I think this means?"
"I think so," I say.
"Are you sure, Tris? Just yesterday you wanted no part of this adoption. Now not only are we adopting a baby but we're getting married. I hate to think I'm pushing you into something you're not ready for," he says, suddenly sober, concern on his face.
"You aren't pushing me into anything, Tobias. I want this," I say, wrapping my arms around his waist, pulling him close to me, "more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life. I love you, Tobias." Someone clears their throat, and we jump away from each other, startled. Standing in the doorway is Will, Christina, Stephanie, and a young dark-skinned girl with dark eyes and short dark hair who is just as tall as Christina. She must be Rose.
"Did we interrupt something?" Christina says, her face full of innuendo.
"Not at all, Christina," I say. "Stephanie, Four and I have made a decision."
"Christina, Rose, Will, would you please wait out in the hallway for just a moment while we finish our business?" she says.
"It won't take long," I say. Will and Christina look at us expectantly but I'm not ready to reveal anything just yet. They leave the room and close the door behind themselves.
"Do we have to be married before you start any of the paperwork?" Tobias asks.
"No but you do have to be married before you sign the final adoption paperwork," she says.
"We are meeting Evelyn next Monday night. Is there any way to have the first set of papers together by then?" he asks.
"I will get them together while you are in your next meeting and give them to you before you go. They are standard documents. I only need your full names and birthdates. I also need the full names and birthdates of the birth parents. If you don't know them now, I can leave that section blank and manually insert them later," she says. "I will also need a copy of your marriage license when you get married for the file."
"I don't want to take up any of your time with Christina," I say.
"I promise, it won't take me more than 10 minutes to get this particular document together but thank you for your consideration, Tris. I can tell you are a good friend to my daughter. Thank you," she says. I smile at my best friend's mother. If you were to take Stephanie and put her in Dauntless, I imagine she would be a lot like Christina.
"Thank you for all your help today, Stephanie," I say reaching my hand out. She takes it, and we shake hands then she and Tobias also shake hands. While we write down the information she needs for the forms, she lets Will, Christina, and Rose back in the room. I look at the clock and see it's 2:10. Caleb will be here in a few minutes.
"Tris, Four," Christina says. We both turn at the sound of our names. "This is my kid sister, Rose. This is my best friend, Tris, and her boyfriend, Four." Her sister looks at Tobias like a kid looks at candy in a candy store. She is too young to make me jealous plus we just decided to get married so nothing is going to take away my high.
"It's nice to meet you, Rose," I say to her, extending my hand. She takes it and shakes it, not once taking her eyes off of Tobias.
"Are you pregnant, too?" she asks, finally looking my way. My eyes widen at the question, and I see a confused look cross Stephanie's face. I try not to look appalled but I don't quite manage it. I'm not used to direct questions like that coming from anyone let alone someone as young as Rose.
"No," I slowly say, not knowing what else to say.
"Christina Louise? Do you have something to tell me?" her mom asks, her arms across her chest and a stern look on her face.
"I'm sorry you learned this way, Mom," Christina says. She glares at Rose and adds under her breath, "Big mouth. Yes, Mom. Will and I are expecting our first child in June." She and her mom stare at each other for a long moment, and I start to feel very uncomfortable.
"Rose," I say. "Could you do me a huge favor? I have to meet another member of the council in front of the building in just a few minutes. Could you take me back down to the lobby so I don't get lost then show us the way back up here?"
"I can do that," Rose says, seemingly unaware of the strained silence in the room.
"I'll come with you," Tobias says looking relieved to be leaving this drama behind. Tobias, Rose, and I quietly exit the tension-filled room and escape to the lobby.