Tobias pulls into our regular parking space in the Dauntless underground garage and turns the car off. I glance over my shoulder at the two peacefully sleeping innocent faces in the backseat. Tessa was already napping when I buckled her into her car seat, and she's yet to stir. Tyler, on the other hand, was out like a light before we exited the park even though he was constantly telling us he wasn't tired right up until the point he fell asleep.
"I'll get Tyler and you get Tessa then I'll come back and get the rest of the stuff," Tobias says.
"Why don't you move the car to the Pire so you don't have to walk as far," I say as he's getting ready to get out of the car. He thinks about my suggestion for a moment.
"We're already parked," he says. "I don't mind the walk but I'll move the car if you would like to shorten yours." I roll my eyes at him, and he grins.
"Come on," I say as I open my door. "Let's get the kids home." We manage to unbuckle Tyler and Tessa, take them out of their seats, carry them through the garage, up the steep path to the Pire, and to our apartment, then up to their rooms without waking them. I turn the baby monitor on and decide to take a nap myself or at the very least rest while the kids are down.
The smell of taco meat wafting through the apartment wakes me up, and I get out of bed. I first check Tyler's room but find it empty. He obviously is downstairs with Tobias while he's making supper. I walk into Tessa's room, and she looks like she just woke up as well. I change her diaper and put her into a short sleeved pink onesie that she can sleep in and put her romper in the hamper. I watch her carefully as I head for the kitchen, checking for signs that she's hungry but don't find any.
"Hi, Mommy," Tyler says when he sees us. "Daddy's making tacos." His grin is splitting his face in two. He loves tacos. It's one of his favorite foods.
"I know," I say, kissing his head. "That's what woke me up." I put Tessa in her swing, set the timer, and walk into the kitchen to offer my assistance.
"You can kiss the cook," Tobias says, pointing to his mouth with the bamboo spoon he's holding when I ask what I can do. I go up on my tiptoes and gently press my lips to his. We move our mouths together gently until Tyler starts giggling. We look at him, and he's covering his face with his hands. I roll my eyes and start laughing at his innocence.
"How about I get the plates ready," I say. I take a step closer to Tobias, and he looks down at me. I lower my voice so we can't be overheard before I continue. "Let's show Tyler the new place after supper and see what he thinks."
"That's a great idea," he says. "We have plenty of time before Avery comes over. I'm looking forward to his reaction." I set up a little taco bar in the middle of the island and get plates out of the cupboard. "Hey, Tyler, come here. I'll get you in your seat." He comes running over, and Tobias lifts him into his booster seat. We have a wonderful dinner just the four of us. I like eating with our friends in the cafeteria but it's our home cooked meal nights that I absolutely cherish.
Tyler makes funny faces at Tessa causing her to laugh while Tobias and I clean up the kitchen after we finish our meal. I'm so stuffed that I feel like I'm moving backwards. Once everything is sparkling clean, Tobias and I sit down on the couch to rest up before heading across the hallway.
"Tyler, can you come here?" I ask as Tobias gets up to retrieve Tessa from her swing. He sits Tessa in my lap, and I check to see if she's hungry. She could probably wait a little while longer but since she's refusing bottles I need to make sure she's finished before we leave tonight. I get a receiving blanket out of the diaper bag and cover us up as she nurses.
"Mommy and Daddy have something we need to talk to you about," Tobias says after I have Tessa situated. "After thinking long and hard about it, we are moving to a new apartment." We don't say anything more. We just let the news sink in.
"Why?" he asks.
"With Teagan Grace coming soon, we need a larger place with more space," I say. "Would you like to see it? It isn't far."
"Not faw?" he repeats.
"It's down the hall," Tobias says. "Come on, let's go see it." Tobias got the key when we decided to make this little field trip so we head down the hall. He unlocks the door, and we let Tyler in first so he can explore. He walks around with wide eyes and his mouth ajar. We explain what each space will be used for as we tour each room.
"And this will be your bedroom," I say as Tobias leads us into the largest of the four children's rooms, which is almost twice as big as his room right now. He walks around much like we did the first time we saw the place, a look of awe on his face. "Maybe Mommy and Daddy will take you to the furniture store tomorrow night, and we can look around and get ideas on how you want your room decorated."
"I get to pick?" he asks.
"That's right," I say.
"Thank you, thank you," he says, hugging my legs tightly. Tobias has to put his hands on my shoulders to steady me.
"Careful, buddy," he says. Tyler holds his hands up to him, and his father picks him up. He whispers something in his ear and smiles. Tobias moves closer to me, and Tyler leans over and kisses my cheek.
"I love you, Mommy," he says. "I love you, Daddy. I can't wait!"
"There's another place Mommy and I think is pretty special. It's this way." Tobias leads us to the laundry room and the spiral staircase leading to the rooftop deck. Tyler's eyes nearly pop out of his head when he sees the third story.
"We're going to have to get a gate for each of the staircases once this one starts crawling," I say, nodding toward Tessa who is still nursing. We stand back and watch Tyler as he takes everything in. "Do you like it?"
"Yeah! It weally neat," he says. "What that?" He points at the covered hot tub.
"That is a hot tub. It's for Mommy and Daddy," Tobias says. "You must never touch the cover. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Do you understand?" He nods as he tries to figure out exactly what he's looking at.
"Show him," I quietly say.
"Go stand by Mommy, and I'll show you what I mean." Tyler runs up to me and wraps his little arms around one of my legs. Tobias carefully unlatches the cover and takes it off then picks Tyler up so he can see over the edge. "If you or one of your sisters were to fall in there you could get seriously hurt or worse, we could lose you. That would make Mommy and Daddy very sad." I have a feeling a gate and fence of some sort will be added just for our peace of mind.
"We better get home so we don't miss Avery," I say.
"When we move?" Tyler asks as we head back inside.
"I'm going to have the new apartment cleaned from top to bottom and painted, then we'll move in," I say.
"Wow!" he says. "I cited!"
"I think we're all excited," Tobias says as he hoists Tyler onto his shoulders. He wants to see each room again just like Tobias and I did the first time we saw it so we quickly look into each room as we pass it by. He seems very impressed not only with his bedroom and private bathroom but the sun room and the fact that Tessa and Teagan will have their own rooms, too. Avery is standing in the hallway knocking on our door with a somewhat worried look on her face when we exit the apartment.
"Avey!" Tyler excitedly screams when he sees her. She whirls around, surprised to hear us coming from behind her. Tobias sets Tyler on his feet, and he runs full bore toward Avery who scoops him up into a big hug.
"I hope you weren't waiting long," I say, as I check on Tessa who seems to be nearing the end of her feeding. "We were showing Tyler our new apartment."
"I get my own woom, Avey," he says to her. "I get to deco … deco."
"Decorate," I say, helping him along with the unfamiliar word.
"Yeah, decowate my woom," he says. "I cited."
"I can tell you're excited," she says, stepping out of the way to let Tobias open the door.
"If you'll excuse me, Tessa's about finished nursing," I say heading toward the stairs. "We'll be back down soon." As I'm walking up the stairs, I hear Tyler ask Avery if they can watch Cars and I chuckle. I shut Tessa's door behind us and turn on the lamp next to the rocking chair, which bathes the room with a soft white glow. I sit down and within a couple minutes, Tessa pulls away from my chest. She burps after only a couple pats then I change her diaper. "You have a good time with Avery tonight, little one. It might be the last time you see her. I hope that's not the case though." When she's well fed, in a clean, dry diaper, and ready for bed, I head back downstairs.
"I'll take her, Tris," Avery says as I start to put Tessa in her swing.
"Okay, here you go," I say and place a content Tessa on her lap. "She has double ear infection and can be happy and smiling one minute and very cranky the next. She just ate, I put a fresh diaper on her, and she's in her PJs. When she falls asleep, put her in her crib. As for Tyler, we'll treat this as a special occasion. I'd like him in bed after the movie is over. There's popcorn in the cupboard and juice in the fridge. Call Four's phone if you need us for anything. We'll see you at 11:00." We'll talk to her then about her choice tomorrow.
"Thanks for letting me watch them tonight," she says. "Now go and have a couple hours to yourself."
"Thanks, Avery," I say. I kiss Tessa's head, and she gives me a big coo then Tyler stands on the couch so I can give him a big hug and kiss. "You both be good for Avery. Mommy loves you." I watch Tobias say his goodbyes then he leads me into the hallway. "Where are we going?"
"I have an idea," he says.
"Lead the way, Mr. Eaton," I say. We slowly wander by our offices, out to the path that leads us anywhere we want to go in Dauntless. I look over the edge at the bustling Pit floor below and remember the awe of first seeing it one year ago tomorrow. I glance up at Tobias, and he's looking down at me with a very relaxed smile on his face. "You smile a lot more than you did when I first met you."
"You make me happy, which keeps this smile on my face," he says. "I wasn't happy before you. I didn't know I could be happy. I thought I didn't deserve it." I wrap my arms around the arm of the hand I was just holding and hug him tightly, then rest my head against his upper arm as we continue our way along the path.
"Where are we going?" I ask when we reach the Pit floor but are traveling away from the chasm.
"I'm taking you to the place we first met," he says. He's taking me to the net. I kiss his cheek as we continue walking. Soon I find myself in front of the double doors, which I've only used twice in the past year. He takes out a key and unlocks the doors so we can enter into the dimly lit tunnel. I once again remember the panicky feeling I felt the first time I took this journey. I feared losing myself to the darkness ... that it would somehow swallow me whole but every time I stepped into the dim light, I once again felt safe. I was so timid and meek then. Now the darkness doesn't bother me at all. "What are you thinking about?"
"I was just remembering the first time I walked this hallway and how far I've come," I say.
"We've both come a long way since that day," he says. The darkness of the tunnel gives way to the light of the evening sun pouring through the massive hole in the ceiling. He leads me the remaining way up the tunnel to the platform that stands a good 10 feet above. "After you." He steps aside and motions with his arm to go up the stairs.
"Why thank you, sir," I say. I slowly ascend the stairs to find a romantic scene before me. On the platform under the taut net is a red blanket scattered with extra-large throw pillows surrounded by dozens of lit candles dripping wax onto the platform. A bucket of chilled sparkling cider and two champagne flutes sit next to a tray of gourmet cheese, crackers, and red, white, and black grapes. A sprinkling of red rose petals brings everything together.
"How?" I ask, emotion threatening to choke me.
"I have my resources," he says, wiping my happy tears away. "I know it's one day early but happy anniversary, Tris." I go up on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck.
"I love you so much, Tobias," I say. "Who would have thought that when you helped me out of that net it would lead to all this." I draw his lips to mine and kiss him passionately, thoroughly exploring his mouth with my eager tongue. When we break away from each other breathless, he drags me down onto the blanket.
"I wanted to do something special for us and when Avery offered to babysit, I knew what I had to do," he says. We lounge on the pillows talking about our wonderful life, kissing often as the setting sun fades into billions of stars shining brightly above us. We drink glasses of sweet, bubbly cider and take turns feeding each other grapes, cheese, and crackers.
"I have something for you," he says. I sit up and watch as he reaches behind the ice bucket.
"What's this?" I ask as he hands me a familiar-looking small black wooden box.
"Open it and find out," he says, adoration lighting his eyes. I flip the lid on the box to find a narrow black leather bracelet with platinum beads that set off the platinum infinity symbol being held in place with leather stitching. On the magnetic closure is an engraved IV and VI with the two Vs intertwined, looking almost like a W but not quite.
"Oh, Tobias, it's beautiful," I say. "But we said we we're going to get each other anything."
"I couldn't resist," he says.
"But I don't have anything for you," I say.
"You know that I don't need anything other than you," he says. I shake my head at him. "Are we going to argue?"
"No, we're going to make out," I say, admiring my new bracelet as he puts it on my right wrist. I lie back onto the pillows and pull him down on top of me making sure my belly isn't in the way. Our mouths move together as one for a few minutes before I whisper, "Thank you for my gift. I love it," without taking my lips off of his.
"I'm glad you like it," he says. "When I saw it I thought of you." He leans back, propped up on one elbow looking down into my eyes while his other hand gently caresses my belly.
"Maybe we should call it an early evening and go home so we can talk to Avery," I say. He furrows his brows at me, not following the direction my thoughts are taking me. "It's our anniversary, Tobias Eaton. I can't wait to take you to bed." His grin unfurls into a breathtaking smile right before his lips land on mine. The kiss is need filled, passionate, and loving. I lift my hands and twist them in his hair, pulling him as close to me as our bodies will allow.
"How about I make love to you right here," he says. My eyes widen at the thought. "We're alone. The tunnel door is locked." Yeah, I remember him quickly testing it before he led me up into the darkness. "There isn't a camera around." He sees the acceptance of his proposal in my eyes, and we lunge at each other, removing each other's shirts. I reach behind me and unhook my bra, and he peels it down my arms placing soft kisses on each heaving mound. I feel his hands worshipping my aching body and realize just how much I want this. He unbuttons my shorts and lowers the zipper while he scatters kisses over my neck, jaw, and exposed chest. I help him remove my shorts and panties leaving me naked then move my hands to his zipper. I slowly lower it, raking my nails over his denim-clad erection. I gasp when I feel two fingers ease their way into my moist center. I rest my head against his bare chest, panting as he thrusts in and out of me. After I regain my senses, I lower his jeans and boxer briefs over his hips, freeing his massive manhood and down and off his body.
"I need you inside me now," I pant. "I want to feel you." He removes his fingers from my depths and lies me back on some pillows, making sure I'm comfortable. He sits back on his heels between my spread legs and grips my hips and pulls me toward him. He lifts me a little higher and puts two more pillows under my backside then positions himself at my entrance. I groan as he pulls me closer to him as he pushes into me.
"Are you okay?" he asks, his voice need-filled and husky. "Are you comfortable? Is your back okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, loving how much he cares for me. "I love that I can look into your eyes. You know how much that means."
"I love you, Mrs. Eaton," he says as he starts moving inside me. My hands are resting on his thighs, feeling his contracting muscles beneath my fingertips as he picks up the pace with each powerful thrust. He surprises me by moving both my legs up onto his shoulders and pulling me closer to him still. I call out at the deeper penetration and he stalls.
"No, please don't stop. Please," I murmur and he resumes his movements. "Oh, God this feels good." I moan as he grunts with each of his vigorous thrusts. I grasp the pillows on either side of my body and twist them until I think I'll see feathers flying around as I explode into a million pieces around his hammering shaft. My release triggers his, and he throws his head back with my name on his lips and shudders violently, pouring himself into me. We stay frozen, statue-like, as we wait for our heartbeats to normalize and our breathing to slow. He carefully puts my legs down on either side of his hips and pulls out of me then draws me up into his lap. He kisses my hair and then my temple before finally finding my lips. Both of his hands travel down my back until they are massaging the spot that just started to ache.
"How did you know that it's hurting?" I ask. Something close to panic flashes over his face. "My back just started aching, and you're massaging right where it's sore."
"Oh," he says, calming a bit. "I really didn't even realize what I was doing. I just like touching you."
"I like when you touch me," I say then groan.
"What is it, love?" he asks.
"I'm never going to look at this platform the same way ever again." He chuckles at my honesty.
"Yeah, I'm going to have a hard time concentrating tomorrow," he says. "I'm going to be staring at this spot where I had you naked and writhing."
"Naked and writhing, huh?"
"Oh, yes, Mrs. Eaton. Naked, wanton, writhing, sexy as hell. Although this wasn't on my list, I loved every minute of it. But you should know that one day I'm going to make love to you up there." He points above us and my mind goes to the gravel-topped roof thinking that wouldn't be very comfortable before catching his meaning.
"The net?" I ask.
"Yes, the net," he says. "I'd have had you there tonight if I could have figured out how to safely get you up there."
"That's on your list, I take it?" I ask.
"Yeah," he says with a grin.
"Tell me, what places are on your list?" I ask.
"Okay. The chasm, the train, in our car, at the carousel, in my office, in the Amity apple orchard, and here in the net. I'm sure the list will grow and change as time goes by. What about you, Tris."
"Well, a couple of places are the same," I say. "I also have the chasm and the train but I also have an elevator, in our car in a parking garage somewhere."
"One far away from your mom," he says interrupting me. We both shudder at the thought of mom catching us actually having sex.
"Yeah. Far away from Mom," I say laughing. "There's also Erudite and Abnegation, which I can't believe I'm saying but we've made love here in Dauntless, obviously. And you know I'm quite partial to Candor bathrooms, and I love both the lighthouse and our little farm in Amity. So basically, three down and two to go. And like you, my list grows and changes. When Zeke caught us and then you mentioned the lists, I wanted to do away with them but this was wonderful."
"It was but we should get dressed and head home," he says. "We can always have round number two after we go to bed." I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him slowly.
"You gave me a wonderful, loving anniversary tonight, Tobias," I say. "I'm a very lucky girl. I married my best friend who just happens to be the most romantic yet slightly scary man in Dauntless if not the entire city."
"I'm losing it if I'm only coming across as slightly scary," he says with a chuckle. "I should practice before tomorrow." He puts on his serious, you-just-pissed-me-off Four look and stares at me. I look at him for a moment before I laugh. He narrows his eyes at me, and I laugh harder.
"I was just thinking that if I took "Four" to bed it would be like sleeping with two different guys."
"And that's funny?" he says, trying to maintain the rigid persona of Tobias' alter ego.
"Not really," I say, ceasing all laughter. I stare into his eyes while I caress his face. "I prefer Tobias but if I'm being completely honest, I fell in love with Four." His face smoothes over and a small, shy smile turns up his lips.
"I'm glad that you fell in love with him," he says. "It made it that much easier to show you the real me. I worked hard at not letting people in but you broke through that barrier. I couldn't help but fall in love with you."
"You better stop with all the romantic mushiness or I'm going to take you again right here, and if I'm not mistaken, you were the one who said we need to get home." We release each and start getting dressed.
"Hey one last thing, Tris," he says, his severe tone making me turn to look at him. When he catches my gaze, his serious eyes bore into mine. "If you ever want to take Four to bed, I'm sure he'll rock your world." I can't help but smile and roll my eyes at him.