Our black sedan rolls to a stop in front of my parent's simple house, the sounds of an unseasonably warm Sunday morning coming through my open window. As Tobias is turning off the ignition, Tyler is in the backseat between his sleeping sisters bouncing up and down excitedly in his car seat. He's been extremely hyper since we told him our plans for the day after baths and breakfast were over.
"Tyler! Calm down, buddy," I quietly say, turning in my seat to look at him. "Don't wake your sisters."
"I sowwy," he says. Usually scolding him makes him pout but not today. His eyes are bright and his mood is light. He's so excited to see my mom and dad. Tobias and I quietly get the girls out of the car then unbuckle Tyler. Once he's free, he flies up the walkway. Almost like she has a sixth sense, my mom opens the door just in time for Tyler to launch himself into her open arms.
"Hello, my sweet boy," she says, hugging him tightly.
"Hi, Gwamma!" he says returning her hug just as fiercely then he leans back and gives her a big, wet kiss right on the mouth. "I miss you this much." He stretches his arms out as far as he can.
"That's how much Grandpa and I missed you," she says.
"I thought I heard a racket," Dad says with a chuckle as he steps out of the house, a bright smile turning up his lips. I study their faces, and they look so much more relaxed than the last time I saw them. He holds his arms out to Tyler who immediately goes to him. Tobias and I walk up to the happy reunion carrying Tessa and Teagan who are still napping in their car seats.
"You look tired, Beatrice," Mom says as she ushers us inside the house. The aroma of a typical plain Abnegation meal welcomes me when I cross the threshold.
"I am," I sigh unable to hide my fatigue. "Neither of the girls are feeling very well, and they had me up most of the night."
"Poor babies," she says as she gets Tessa out of her seat. I pick up Peanut and realize she's a bit warm so I take off her gray, mint green, pastel pink, and white hoodie with cute little ears, leaving her in matching mint green pants and a white short-sleeved onesie with a mint green bow on the front. Her eyes flutter open, and she starts crying. "Ssh. You're okay." I press my lips to her forehead and can tell that she's feverish without having to retrieve the thermometer from her diaper bag. I then check to see if she's hungry, and she grimaces when she tries to suckle my finger.
"What's wrong with her?" Mom asks, concern clear in her voice.
"Double ear infection and something called thrush," I say.
"Oh, yes," she says, nodding her head. "Unfortunately, you and your brother both had it more than once when you were infants so I know what you're dealing with."
"I'm going to try and nurse her," I say. I first give her a dose of acetaminophen then try to put her to my breast. She latches on and suckles for a couple minutes but releases me and cries louder. "It's been a very trying 24 hours with Teagan, and poor Tessa is cutting her first tooth so she's been really moody. As a matter of fact, I think it popped through sometime early this morning but it's very faint so I'm not 100% sure." Mom sticks her finger in Tessa's mouth, and a huge smile curls up her lips.
"I can feel it," she says. "The worst should be over for her until the next tooth comes in." After working really hard, Peanut settles into a nice, steady rhythm and stops making faces like she's in pain. I don't know what helped but I'm grateful for whatever it is. "Your father told me a little about the reason for your visit today not that you need a reason to come over. How are your friends, Will and Tori is it?"
"Tori isn't doing so well. She's stable, which is good but when Dr. Parrish tried to talk to her about what happened her vitals spiked, and she had to be sedated again. He's not sure if her reaction is because she remembers what she went through and she just wants to forget or if she can't remember and she panics whenever she tries. She's resting in a private room in the infirmary. Four and Dr. Parrish have talked about transferring her to the hospital in town for specialized care but we're not sure that's the best course of action for her or not," I say. "Will was able to go home this morning. We're all thrilled. He still has some memory loss and headaches. The doctor says the headaches should resolve within the week but, unfortunately, he isn't optimistic about his memory returning. His case reminds me a lot of Dad's."
"Did I hear my name?" he says as he comes into the room carrying Tyler followed closely by Tobias. He sits in his chair, and Tobias sits down next to me and lays his arm on the couch behind me.
"Mom and I were just talking about my friend, Will," I say. "He has some memory loss from the attack he sustained the other day at the Navy Pier."
"Him comed home today!" Tyler brightly says but then his face falls. "Chwissy cwied." He sticks his bottom lip out remembering Christina in the hallway bawling like a baby when Will knocked on her door and surprised her. Tobias left before breakfast while I was getting the girls ready for the day to see how the patients were doing and shocked us all by escorting him home.
"Dad, did your memory ever come back?" I ask. We all know what I'm talking about. The details don't need to be rehashed.
"No, I'm afraid it didn't," he says. "It was odd having to learn the details of a very important event in my life from a third party. When I was sitting there in Candor listening to what they did to me during their interrogations, I could picture every single detail and I thought maybe they were coming back to me but I finally realized that instead of the images playing like memories they were playing more like a movie. It took a long time to come to terms with the fact that I would never remember. Thankfully, the assault didn't take any other memories. That morning nearly destroyed me in more ways than one." I knit my brows together confused. What's he talking about? "Tyler, why don't you go upstairs and play? There are some new books you can look at and a few new puzzles Grandma and I got especially for you. Your Mommy told me that you love puzzles."
"Okay, Gwampa," he happily says. He gets off his lap and very calmly walks to the nearly hidden staircase and disappears.
"I'm sorry to send him away like that but I thought it best we speak in private and before Caleb and Cara get here," Dad says with a warm smile on his face. Mom gets up from her chair, hands Tessa who just woke up to Tobias, then sits down beside Dad on the arm of his rickety old easy chair. Hopefully it hold up under the weight of two. He puts one arm around her lovingly and reaches across his body to grasp her hand gently. "Beatrice, you were always a perceptive girl and very inquisitive. I wasn't as surprised that you left Abnegation as you thought. That curious nature certainly hasn't changed now that you are an adult. You saw that your mother and I were…" He pauses like he's searching for the perfect word.
"Struggling," Mom quietly says, finishing the thought for him.
"Yes, struggling since the day of the shooting at the council meeting," he says. He glances up at my mother and gives her an apologetic look, and she squeezes his hand. "This isn't easy for me to talk about. Your mother and I are highly private people, and as you know, it's selfish to talk about one's self but you are the only one to voice your concerns so we thought we'd put your fears to rest.
"That second brain injury changed me and, unfortunately, not for the better. It made me moody, critical, irritable, irrational, and so full of anger; anger at myself for being weak, at your mother for coddling me, and at the men who hurt me, well, simply for what they did. I was even angry at you and Four for a time in my irrational state, thinking you were to blame." That's painful to hear because there were many times I blamed myself for his injuries because the people were after Tobias and me, and he was only collateral damage to them. "My memory has suffered also. Words no longer come to me on demand as you just witnessed. I sometimes call people by the wrong name. I've been terribly depressed, almost to the point of suicide." I can't silence my gasp before it flies out of my mouth, and Tobias tightens his grip on me. "I said almost, Beatrice. I could never do anything so hurtful and selfish. It's totally against my nature. I know that now." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and when he opens them he continues.
"There was a time not that long ago I couldn't see anything because anger and frustration were consuming me. I would be fine, perfectly content one minute and raging about something inconsequential the next. I started taking my frustrations out on your mother. I would verbally attack her for no apparent reason then hate myself for doing it but I wouldn't allow myself to apologize because I felt that was a sign of weakness, and I was already feeling impotent." He stops for a moment, hanging his head while he remains eerily silent.
"It all came to a head right before you gave birth to Teagan. Your mother gave me an ultimatum: Get help or we were done, and I didn't have to think twice. There was no way I was losing the love of my life and the mother of my children but, to give us both the time and space we needed to heal, we separated while I sought treatment." They both look at me for a moment, probably thinking I'll say something but I'm too stunned to speak. "I contacted Dr. Wilson for help. Before I left the hospital after my procedure, he told your mother and me to be on the lookout for changes in my behavior but I thought I could handle it myself, and it nearly cost me everything. He arranged for me to stay in a room at the hospital for four weeks. I had so many tests run to see if there was an underlying cause to my symptoms and after everything else was ruled out, I was diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury because of repeated blows to the head. Dr. Wilson and another doctor named Dr. Phillips have helped me a lot. They've given me strategies and tools to use when I feel myself spiraling out of control. I joined a support group for others with injuries like mine. I meditate and jog." He chuckles. "That took a lot of convincing on the doctors' parts because Abnegation considers focusing on one's self selfish. But they persuaded me that taking care of my health is not selfish, it's the right thing to do. I've been home with your mother for nearly a week and things are wonderful." He looks up at my mom, a bashful look on his face. "Well, I think they are wonderful."
"They are," she says.
"I know you were worried about us, Beatrice," he says. "Now you know that we have things under control. The last five weeks have not only helped me personally but professionally as well." He pauses for a moment, looking at me like he's debating something. "There's another reason why we decided to tell you this. Your friend Will has had multiple head injuries, right?"
"Yes, he has," I say. After thinking about it, I remember that Dr. Young and Wesley Harkin also knocked him unconscious during the whole Maria fiasco. "But what does this have to do with Will?"
"It might not have anything at all to do with him," Dad says. "Not everyone develops what I have but a large number of people with head injuries do experience some level of changes in their behavior and personality. You saw that there was a problem with me before your mother and I did. Talk to your friend, watch him, warn him and his wife. Don't be afraid to confide in them if you think you see changes. He'll thank you one day."
"I don't know what to think," I say. "You're sure that everything is back to normal?"
"That's not what I said," Dad says. "I'll never be the same man I was before I hit my head during the shooting. He's gone forever. I know that. Your mom knows that. It's been difficult but I've come to terms with it."
"So have I," Mom says. I take a deep breath then slowly blow it out.
"I'm sorry that this happened because of me," I say and everyone starts talking at once. "Wait, guys! I know that what happened wasn't my fault and I put the blame squarely where it's due ... on Maria, Erin, Dr. Young, and Wesley Harkin but if they hadn't been after Four and me in the first place, they never would have targeted you." I get up and start pacing in the small space. "Now we have someone else who is targeting us. We've been warned about her plan by someone I believe. First, she's going after our friends and then she's targeting our family. If she learns you are vulnerable to another head injury, you would be next on her list. I'm not sure how much more of this I can deal with." Tobias gets up and stops my pacing by putting his free arm around me.
"Is this where the Frankenstein Serum comes into play?" Dad asks.
"Yes," I say. "She's killed three people using it and administered it to a fourth but, luckily, she pulled through."
"How is that possible?" Dad asks, his brows furrowed.
"She's not in stable condition so we haven't been able to confirm it but ... we think she's Divergent and was able to fight off the death serum component like I was," I say.
"Why is this girl attacking your friends?" Mom asks.
"Peter Hayes," Tobias says. I hate myself but I flinch at the sound of his name. "The bastard is causing trouble from beyond his grave."
"Until recently we thought that Molly and Drew, two of my fellow initiates, were just close friends with him but the truth is they're family," I say. "She also holds me personally accountable for her being thrown out of Dauntless, which is the furthest thing from the truth. I'm not responsible for her low ranking and the old leaders' rules. I don't think she suspects that I'm Divergent but she does think that I cheated my way to my ranking and that Four helped me. We recently learned that she went to at least one of the old leaders right before they were arrested and lodged a formal complaint. She's told multiple people that I'm living the life that should be hers and that I should be factionless."
"That will never happen as long as I'm the leader of the council," Dad says. A knock on the door interrupts us and I know that Caleb and Cara are here. "Please don't mention our problems to Caleb. He doesn't know anything about them, and that's how we would like it to remain."
"You have our word," Tobias says while I smile and nod. Mom and Dad give us each a hug as they pass by then we sit back down on the couch. "We have a lot to talk about later, don't we?"
"Yes," I say with a sigh. "I'm glad I can talk to you about it. I love you, Tobias."
"I love you, too, Beatrice," he says.
"You're very lucky I love that name rolling off your lips," I say as I place my mouth on his. The kiss is tender and love-filled but very quick. He pulls away then kisses my temple. I check on Peanut and find that she fell asleep and I sigh.
"What is it, love?" he asks.
"She's asleep again," I say. "I hate to wake her but I've got to give her the thrush medicine." I lay her down on my legs and dig the medication out of the diaper bag. After getting a small amount of it on the swab, I hold her mouth open with one hand and tend to the patches with the other one, being extremely careful not to let any of the gel spill from the swab and choke her. Miraculously, she sleeps through the entire thing. "Maybe I should do it when she sleeping from now on. That wasn't bad at all." I pick her up and hold her against my chest and pat her back, hoping to get her to burp again.
"Hello, everyone," Caleb says as he enters the room. "Mom wanted me to tell you that lunch is ready."
"Hi," I say. "Can you do us a favor? Tyler is upstairs playing in your old room. Can you go get him?"
"Too late, little sis," he says. "Dad already went to get him. Are you sure the people who live in this house are our parents?" He laughs heartily. "Can you believe they turned my room into a playroom? We weren't even allowed to have toys!"
"I've had the same thought before," I say. Tobias and I get up and follow Caleb into the kitchen. I try to put Peanut in her car seat so she can nap while we eat but she immediately wake ups and starts crying so I pick her back up. She seems to only be content in my arms right now.
"Tessa and Teagan are joining us for lunch," Tobias says as we sit down around my parents' table, which they put the leaf in. When I was growing up, I often wondered what it would look like.
"The more the merrier," Dad says as he sits Tyler in the booster seat between Tobias and me. We catch up over the simple fare. Dad tells us all about Abnegation business then Mom speaks about her new job, which she obviously loves. Caleb and Cara talk about wedding planning, and I get the feeling she's having problems with her mother. Tobias and I regale the table with stories of our children. When did we become those parents? We try to keep the subject off of Dauntless and its troubles during the meal. There will be enough of that later. After we finish lunch, Tobias gives Tessa to my father and I give Peanut to my mother, and we help Caleb and Cara clean up the kitchen as a thank you to our parents for a wonderful meal. Tyler goes upstairs to play but since he was yawning through the second half of the meal, when I check on him I find him curled up in a little ball in the middle of Caleb's old bed sound asleep next to a couple open books.
"Sleep well, buddy," I say as I kiss his forehead then I drag the soft gray blanket from the bottom of the bed up to cover him. I close the door behind me as I get ready to go downstairs and run into Tobias coming out of the bathroom. "Hi."
"Hello," he says. "Is Tyler asleep? He looked exhausted."
"Yeah," I say. "I think his excitement got the best of him."
"Shall we get business out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of our day?" he asks. I cup his cheeks and pull his mouth to mine. His soft lips are firm as they move slowly against mine. As the kiss deepens, his tongue slips into my mouth and strokes mine. We cling to one another as the kiss intensifies. Suddenly, he pulls away from me, panting rapidly. "You know I'm all for public displays and Abnegation is on both our lists but," he puts his lips right up against my ear, "I'm not having sex with you in your parent's house."
"I'm sorry," I quietly say. "I guess we got carried away."
"You could say that," he says, shifting slightly and my mouth falls open. He's aroused … very, very aroused. I release him from my embrace and take a step back, embarrassed. His state isn't good for either of us. If we were any other place, we'd find a quiet corner and satisfy this sudden, crushing desire we're both feeling but he's right, I'm not having sex in my mom and dad's house. I'd be mortified if they caught us. "Why don't you go downstairs and I'll be down soon. I love you."
"I love you, too." I unthinkingly move to kiss him again and he stops me and shakes his head. I mouth "sorry" then skulk down the stairs and into the living room.
"Mom, do you mind if I make a pot of coffee?"
"There's a fresh pot brewing on the stove," she says as she makes faces at Tessa who is giggling as she chews on her fist.
"Does anyone else want a cup?" I ask. Everyone nods and I go into the kitchen and pour 6 mugs. I deliver them two at a time and when I return with mine and Tobias', he is sitting on the end of the couch. "Here you go." I hand him the mug of black coffee then sit down beside him.
"I don't want to put a damper on the day but I think we need to talk about what I called you here for," Tobias says. "Tris and I need some help. We have a deranged ex-initiate who is wreaking havoc around Dauntless. She and her coconspirators have killed three people and injured one other using what our infirmary doctor refers to as an advanced death serum. Andrew, Tris remembered a conversation she heard between you and Natalie one night at the dinner table stating that new serums or changes to existing ones have to have council approval. Is that true?"
"Yes," Dad says. He sits his empty mug on the small table next to his chair and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Although, we haven't given any approval for new serums for quite some time. As a matter of fact, when Jeanine had the long distance simulation serum created, she did it without consent from the council. I double checked our records."
"She was an expert at circumventing the rules," Caleb says. "I'm ashamed I ever looked up to the woman."
"You referenced a Frankenstein Serum, Dad," I say. "What can you tell us about that?"
"About seven years ago, Jeanine Matthews put a request into the council to begin experimenting with the death serum," he says, opening a folder beside him and retrieving an official-looking document then hands it to Tobias. "We talked at length about what the ramifications of such experimentation would be. The council was split down the middle but the vote that bore the most weight, Marcus', pushed the vote Jeanine's way. Although, I was under the impression that their tests failed since there was no approval sought for a new serum. I think we all know better now."
Tobias turns to Caleb and Cara and asks, "What did you learn about this from your end?"
"I went to our records room to search our files, and when I couldn't find any information associated with serum experimentation or new serum formulation, I went to Gavin to ask him if he knew anything about it," Caleb says. "During the timeframe you gave me, he was our top researcher, and researchers and scientists usually keep meticulous notes so I knew it was strange that the data was missing."
"Gavin Scott?" Tobias asks, interrupting him. "The current leader of Erudite?"
"Yes, and before you ask, I know we've all been burned in the past by Jeanine and Asher but Gavin is completely trustworthy," he says, not unkindly. "Don't you agree, Cara?"
"Completely," she says. "He's a great man, Four, brilliant, too."
"I wasn't questioning his loyalties," Tobias patiently says. The last thing we want right now is a pissing match over which faction is better. "I'm just trying to get the facts straight. Go on."
"Gavin knew exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned advanced death serum and was very forthcoming and apologetic when we spoke. At the time the serum was first made, Jeanine was a junior leader with high ideals and some interesting ideas for our faction but she was already showing signs of discrimination against Abnegation. She had such a persuasive, charming personality that people went along with whatever she had to say, right or wrong, with little to no question. She had been promoted to her position within that year, and one day out of the blue with no input from her fellow more experienced leaders or the rest of the faction system for that matter, she decided the city needed a new and improved death serum. Since serum work was not her specialty, she enlisted the help of Asher Parrish, Gavin, who like I said was at the top of his field at that time, and a few lab assistants whose names he doesn't recall. They drew up a plan as to what they wanted to accomplish and approached the council with the request to develop a new serum. It took a few weeks but they were given the approval they sought. Jeanine sequestered the team away in a remote laboratory outside headquarters, which he said has since been closed down to do the experiments. She was looking for a specific result so she had them experimenting extensively with all the serums, not just the death serum."
"All the serums?" Tobias says, brows furrowed, and Caleb nods his head. "Did he ever find out what the reason was?"
"Apparently, she kept her reasoning to herself and never shared what her specific plan was but he became more and more suspicious of her motives. The longer the team was locked away together, the more the real Jeanine showed through. She spewed hate about Abnegation and spread misinformation that the others ate up like it was their last meal but it only caused Gavin to mistrust her. After he mixed various serums together, creating numerous new ones, and testing them on lab rats, literally and figuratively, he feared that she was wanting to use the final product on specific targets for personal reasons."
"Wait a minute," I say, horrified. "Back up. These serums were tested on people?" I can't hide my hatred of the woman who could have singlehandedly destroyed our city. She truly was an evil monster.
"Yes, they were administered to prisoners who had been handed death sentences at Candor after they were tested on the mice and rats," Caleb says. "Some of the serums did absolutely nothing at all while others were extraordinarily cruel. Those seemed to be the ones she was drawn to and wanted to perfect. The death serum is meant to hand down swift justice. It's administered and within seconds you die. It's humane. The worse serum they created once took over 24 hours for the recipient to die." Sounds of shock, horror, and disgust echo around the room. "That's when Gavin had enough. He went to the other leaders and exposed the experimentation, and they shut everything down and ordered all the serums destroyed. But all they gave Jeanine was a slap on the wrist and it was never mentioned again … until you called, Four."
"Do you know if anyone survived the serum during the trials?" I ask, thinking of Tori.
"There was one," he says. "He was given the Frankenstein Serum as Dad calls it but instead of succumbing, he regained consciousness after approximately six hours. This was exciting for them, especially Jeanine so she ordered him to be studied but they never made any headway as to why he was immune." I'm sure he was Divergent, which she probably suspected.
"Gavin told me an interesting tidbit I thought you should know about. Who knows, it might come in useful one day," Cara says. "When they were experimenting with combining all the serums, they found out through trial and error that peace serum counteracts the effects of the other serums. His example was mixing truth serum and peace serum allowed the participant to lie under the truth serum interrogation."
"Andrew, are you sure the council knew nothing of this?" Tobias asks. I know where his mind is. Maybe Marcus isn't Divergent like we thought. Maybe he has a strange laboratory set up in Tobias' childhood room, concocting serums for his own personal use.
"I'm confident the council knew nothing of Jeanine's plans," he says but then he pauses. "I also can't imagine that she would have confided in your father what she was up to. They were the very definition of bitter enemies." Ah, his mind went to Marcus' interrogation where he was able to lie under truth serum, too.
"Gavin gave me this to give to you," Caleb says, pulling a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. "I told you researchers keep meticulous notes. Well, he looked through some of his personal files and found the formulas for the various serums that were tested. He wants you to compare the ingredient lists and if they are the same report it to him immediately." Tobias reaches over and takes the list from him.
"I'm going to have to wait until I get home to compare the two but I already know the simulation aspect will be different," he says. "Whoever made the Frankenstein Serum being used today used the long range simulation serum Jeanine created to overthrow Abnegation."
"But that's impossible," Cara says. "It was all destroyed. Andrew, you were there."
"He already confirmed for us that what was stored at Erudite was destroyed but Jeanine didn't keep an accurate inventory. Someone could have taken a few cases and no one would ever know it."
"Do either of you know how difficult it is to mix serums?" I ask. "The new serum is made up of a stimulant, a sedative, the long range simulation serum, and death serum. Does it need to be mixed in a lab or is it as easy as pouring the proper amount of each ingredient into a beaker then filling a syringe?"
"I really don't know," Cara says.
"It's definitely not my area of expertise," Caleb says, "but it seems like from what Gavin told me, if you have the formula and the ingredients you can mix up a batch at home."
"Where would factionless get the ingredients?" I ponder out loud. I notice Caleb and Cara steal a glance at each other. "What is it?"
"We had a breach in security approximately six weeks before initiation began," Caleb says. "Security cameras were accessed remotely and turned off but we didn't know it until after the fact because they created a loop that played for our security team. It wasn't until your phone call that we decided to do an inventory of the serum storage. There was discrepancies with the counts of all serums, expect for the simulation serum, which now makes perfect sense if they are using a serum we didn't know existed anymore."
"Did you find the culprit?" Tobias asks as he rakes his fingers through his hair.
"No," he says. "We've had our best programmers trying to trace the hack but they've had no luck."
"That's because she's probably smarter than your top 10 programmers put together," I say.
"She?" Caleb sits a little straighter, definitely interested in this information.
"Yeah, her name is Lauren Jones, and she's one of ours," I say. "She did the same thing at Dauntless. She accessed our surveillance feeds and turned everything off for a certain amount of time that let Molly and her minions kill our friend Tori's boyfriend and then kidnap her."
"If she's so good, how did you catch her?" Cara asks.
"Well, we haven't exactly caught her yet," Tobias says, "but I honestly think we're getting closer. We just need some physical evidence that irrefutably says she did it."
"I wonder if Callen could find any evidence of her digital intrusion," I say, noticing everyone's curious looks. "He and his girlfriend are the ones who identified some software installed on Four's work computer that allows Lauren to remotely access it. They're also the ones who confirmed our suspicions about her in the first place."
"I don't think it would be safe for him to go to Erudite," Tobias says. "He doesn't have a good excuse for going there. He might be able to talk to one of your programmers and tell them what to look for. Apparently, she hides her tracks well. They stumbled onto them quite by accident on my computer." Tyler comes bounding down the stairs then, suddenly remembering where he is stops dead in his tracks.
"Sowwy!" he says then he walks up to Tobias and me. I can tell that he's just woken up. "Can I have a dwink?"
"Of course, you can," I say as I get to my feet. He holds his arms up to me, and I can't help but pick him up. He lays his head on my shoulder and wraps his arms around my neck as I hold him tightly. Tobias hands me a sippy cup out of the diaper bag then I go into the kitchen to get him some milk. I manage to get the cup filled half way without putting him down because he's very clingy at the moment. "Here you go, buddy."
"Thanks," he says as he takes it from me and drinks almost all of it.
"Wow, you were thirsty," I say. "Would you like a little more?" He nods so I refill his cup then head back toward the living room. Just as I'm walking by the door, someone knocks, and I jump nearly a foot. "I'll get it." I open the door, and I can't believe my eyes. Tyler can't believe his either. He starts whimpering and his sippy cup slips from his fingers and bounces on the floor, coming to a rest against the closet door. He tightens his grip around my neck, nearly cutting my airway off then buries his head in my shoulder. "What the hell are you doing here?" I spit.