Tris POV

I wasn't thinking when I landed in Eric's office while visiting Max. Every single action that day was so out of character for me, it felt like someone snatched my body and was doing things with it that I could hardly believe. Yet I clearly remember every second of it, every touch, every sound and all those feelings…

I feel like fanning myself just thinking about how alive I felt with Eric, how my body reacted to his and his to mine.

His words, so sure and full of conviction that I was the one for him.

I pray to God that he is a man of his word for fate has stepped in and intervened on his behalf.

My body feels like it's burning me from the inside out and I am breaking into cold sweat before leaning over the toilet bowl and emptying what could possibly be left in my empty stomach.

Cold hands touch my forehead before a wet cloth is rubbed all over my face. I hear the water run and then the cloth is back, gently placed onto my exposed neck as I dry heave and drool into the toilet.

Gentle hands rub up and down my back and when my body finally releases the iron fist around my stomach, a wad of toilet paper is gently nudged into my clammy hand.

I flush the toilet and rinse my mouth before turning around to face my mother. Her face is a carefully crafted neutral mask but I know she knows all that is important when she asks me one simple question.

"Who?"

Did I say simple? Yeah, not really, I tell myself when I am struggling to voice my answer.

"I am asking who had the audacity to have unprotected sex with my underaged daughter, Beatrice," Mother repeats more forcefully.

"Mom…"

I can't get more words out for the dread I feel turns into a churning stomach that demands immediate action.

Mother growls words about castration and painful death while I dry heave, but when I feel like I am done with this bout she is as gentle and loving to me as ever.

I turn and bury my face against her chest while the tears spill over. She holds me while I cry, crooning words of comfort until I am ready to face her properly.

"Eric," I whisper, and I know she heard me, judging by the sharp intake of breath.

"Good grief, Tris. Jeanine's nephew? That's just what you needed in your life," mom deadpans.

"Connections never hurt," I disagree before what she said fully sinks in. "She won't be able to force me to come to Erudite, will she?"

"Don't be silly," mom chastises. "Now tell me how you met him and how I missed this. Max never said a word to me…"

And so I spill my guts. Not literally but I don't leave anything out either.

Mother hears me out, for that I am thankful, but her face is saying all that she is trying to hold back.

"I will see about getting you an appointment and we will need to talk about your options when I get back," Mom states.

"I can't go to the hospital, everyone will know," I cry.

"Shhh, Tris. Let me go and see what I can get done. Get some rest and try to eat some bread later. I will be back before you know it," she promises and leaves with haste.

I know she will do something drastic and I hope to god this will not come back to bite me in the arse.

…

Max POV

"Take a walk with me," Natalie demands as soon as I open the door.

"Come in," I invite instead but she glares at the office beside mine and shakes her head.

I sigh but follow her when she starts marching down the hall.

When I catch up she just looks at me and I know something is up and it's concerning me.

"Is Tris alright," I blurt out.

"No," Natalie growls and doesn't elaborate.

"Where are we going," I dare ask.

"Some place where we can talk and rid ourselves of any anger," she states.

"Good grief," I mutter but take her arm and lead her over to the training room reserved for leadership.

I lock the door and activate the 'Do not disturb' sign above it before I am willing to face Natalie.

"Tris is pregnant," she blurts out immediately.

"What?!" I gasp. "Are you sure," I double down.

"I did not dare take her to see a midwife, if that's what you are asking, but all the signs are there and she admitted to having had unprotected sex at the right time," Natalie screeches, now that she doesn't have to hold back.

"Damn," I exclaim. "I didn't think those Abnegation boys had it in them."

"He is not Abnegation!"

Natalie's statement has my head jerk despite me looking at her already.

"Please tell me it wasn't one of those hippies. I know I should have asked Tris to not volunteer for any other faction. She is too good to be stuck in Amity, Nat. She won't do well with all that peace serum flowing around. Didn't she have an adverse reaction when she was little and snuck a piece of bread? That alone should barr her from being allowed to consider Amity."

I am rambling, I am aware, but I feel panicked.

"He is not from bum-fucking Amity either," Natalie screeches. "One of your precious Dauntless dared to touch my underage daughter and then fucked her without protecting her…"

My relieved laugh interrupts Natalie's rant and she is not pleased by this.

"Shut the fuck up, Max. You might think it great news that Eric knocked Tris up but I am telling you right now, that boy better get ready to do as promised, bend down on one knee and make an honest woman out of my daughter before he applies for paternity leave so she can keep working."

Her words are like an ice cold shower.

"Eric and Tris?! How the fuck did that happen? That boy never stops working, when did he find the time," I wonder.

I am stunned and Natalie takes great pleasure in sharing all that Tris told her. Every sordid detail.

"So let me get this straight. Eric met Tris when she fell through his door right into his arms and they went at it right then and there. He had the audacity to tell her she would marry him on the last day of initiation and all of this occurred during the five minutes we talked in my office," I ask, trying to recap what she just told me.

Natalie nods.

"Damn, he is fast!"

Natalie gasps, then starts to giggle before it turns into a full on belly laugh.

"Let's hope he improves his skills or else Tris will question her good fortune," she giggles. "What are we going to do, Max," Natalie asks, becoming more serious again.

"Make sure Tris finds her way to Dauntless. She is not the first pregnant initiate but she sure is the first one I needed to rank first. I have to talk to a doctor and get some input on the improved fear serum. The old one was safe to use for pregnant women and… oh shit, Eric was supposed to supervise initiation. I need him to do this, I have no substitute until he is cleared for physical activity."

"Tris mentioned he got hurt," Natalie admits. "What happened?"

"Got hit in the face by a loose wire, lost his footing and fell a story down the wall. Got lucky that he just broke his jaw and suffered a concussion. They'll cut the wires holding his mouth shut this week so he has a few days to practice talking properly. He'll be on pureed food for a bit longer," I add for good measure.

"At least he won't be up to mauling my daughter any time soon," Natalie sighs. "Throw them together for training. If they can survive this then they should be allowed to marry on ranking day. Make sure everyone knows Tris is not slacking," she warns.

"Nobody will dare question her ranking," I promise.

"Good," Natalie nods. "Are we going to tell Eric about the baby or do we keep him in the dark for a bit longer?"

"Everyone needs to be aware that we'll most likely have a pregnant initiate. I don't need to tell them who it is yet as there hasn't been an official choice," I admit.

"Tris thinks Eric might not be aware of who she is," Natalie throws in casually and I gape at her.

"Yeah, he probably made the wrong assumptions when he met her during school hours," I admit. "I am surprised he hasn't sought her out yet."

"Maybe he tried and figured out he might have done something wrong," Natalie hedges. "All he needed was to type in her name into the Dauntless register to know that either it was not her real name or she isn't Dauntless. Tris talking about waiting until initiation is over might have clued him in after the deed was done... I hate not being able to help my baby," Natalie complains loudly.

Then she growls and heads for one sandbag that is shaped like a human, lifts her skirt and kicks the poor dummy right in between the legs, repeatedly.

"Better," I ask cautiously when she takes a step back.

"Not really but I'll manage. How will I be able to keep this from Andrew? He'll kill Tris for sure just thinking about the gossip this will crate," Nat laments.

"Does he have to know? Once Tris is here she will be Dauntless. Nobody in Abnegation will ever have to find out when her baby is born."

"It doesn't work this way, Max. We, as her parents, will receive a notification of the birth, transferring out doesn't stop those. God forsaken Marcus Eaton will rub his nose right into it and that means he will dig it out every time Andrew dares to disagree with him on something."

"Why don't you ask him how his son is doing," I suggest with a wink.

"You think that would work," Natalie asks me doubtfully.

"Just say how happy Tris was to reconnect with Tobias and that they rekindled their friendship," I suggest before something else comes to my mind. "Aw, shit, he was supposed to train the transfers. Why did I not think things through properly," I chastise myself.

"Nobody is neutral in regards to Tris but you can have more than one person give their opinion and take it all into consideration. Ask them for a written evaluation to cover all the bases," Natalie suggests, and I nod eagerly.

"Good idea. Sure you don't want to defect?"

"I am too old and stubborn to change but I will visit more often," she promises.

"Good, you are always welcome here," I promise.

"Thanks for taking this better than I have, Max. Do you think Eric will make Tris happy," Natalie questions quietly.

"He is matching her in stubbornness. She is smarter than him but not too far ahead so their discussions should be lively. He can be ruthless, maybe Tris will round him out," I muse.

"As long as Jeanine doesn't hover around him, he should do well then," Natalie quips.

"Eric stays away from Jeanine whenever he can. She drives him nuts, thinking she has a shoe in to get us to agree to all the new things we should try out and take on board," I explain.

"So he can hold his own when he doesn't hide," Natalie follows up.

"I wouldn't call it hiding. The way I see it he tries to avoid the argument for he knows what the result is going to be and just saves himself from an hour of his time being wasted."

"Sounds logical," Natalie teases.

"Oh shut up, we can't all be emotional like you," I deadpan.

"Thanks, Max. I needed this."

Natalie hugs me and leaves without another word.

I stare at the closed door for a while, different scenarios and options running through my mind as I try to calculate the best way forward. There is so much that needs to be done and I am unsure where to start.

Hunter, I decide. Talking to Hunter will help me make some decisions and he is bound by oath not to breach patient confidentiality.

With my mind made up I decide to forgo my lunch break and track down Hunter.

Luck is on my side and Hunter is just walking past the reception when I enter the infirmary.

"Hunter," I call out.

"Max," he greets me.

"I need to talk to you privately and it might take some time," I start right off the bat.

"If you get someone to drop a lunch tray off at reception I can make time right now," Hunter offers.

"Deal!"

Two phone calls later I am following Hunter down a side corridor to his office. The receptionist will message him when our lunch arrives.

"Take a seat, Max," Hunter waves his hand towards a visitor chair while walking behind the desk to take his own seat. "What I can do for you?"

"I need your advice on some topics and I need you to keep this conversation confidential. You are on my ethics commission and also my chief medical officer. I need you in those capacities as well as my friend," I start.

"I am not sure all three go together but I will do my best," Hunter promises.

"One of the dependents likely to choose Dauntless seems to be pregnant. Her mother just came to me," I start and Hunter nods.

"I assume she has not gotten the pregnancy confirmed yet or else you wouldn't say 'seems to be pregnant'," Hunter clarifies when I take too long to continue.

"I don't think she will have the pregnancy confirmed before Choosing Day," I admit.

"Avoiding issues?"

"Kind of," I admit. "Can we talk about the easy stuff like restrictions and whether the new fear serum can be used," I ask, almost begging him to let me ease into the topic at hand.

"Sure," Hunter agrees with a frown. "I need to ask a question first, though."

"Go ahead," I encourage.

"Are you going with Eric's new idea or are you keeping the tried and tested score points?"

I see immediately where he is going with this.

"We'll have to go back to the points system. This way she can train and fight using pads against selected opponents and still score full points. That knock out challenge Eric created can't be circumvented while keeping things fair," I surmise.

"I am relieved to hear that. The injuries last year were more severe than we ever encountered," Hunter admits.

"Were you going to tell me," I ask, honestly curious.

"Yes, if this year would have been the same I would have come to you," Hunter assures.

"Okay, so we go back to the points system but what about the fear serum?"

"I need to establish how far along the girl is and if there are any complications that could arise, Max. It is best to bring her in after she officially chooses Dauntless."

"Shit, so there is no way to keep it under wraps for a while?"

"I am sorry, but no. I need to confirm the pregnancy and a safety notice needs to be put into her file." Hunter pauses and thinks for a moment. "Why don't you put Eric in charge of ensuring she stays safe? It will give him something to do and he can even do some mild workout with her," Hunter suggests and I gulp.

"Nothing said here leaves this room," I urge.

"Max!?"

"I need to know I can trust you as my friend to keep something I am telling you confidential for now."

"If it's illegal I can not honour your request, Max," Hunter warns.

"It is not illegal, just not sure if I am digging my own grave," I assure.

"Doesn't make it sound any better," Hunter quips. "Just spit it out, Max, I can see you dying to tell me."

"If she is confirmed to be pregnant then Eric is going to be a daddy," I say quickly.

"You've got to be kidding, Max. That boy has no private life. Hell, he doesn't even collect the condoms he is entitled to… Probably the reason why he didn't suit up." Hunter is mumbling to himself about Eric and condoms until something else dawns on him.

"He had sex with a dependent," Hunter asks, surprised. "That doesn't sound like Eric at all."

"Nothing about this sounds like Eric, I assure you. It took him five minutes total to meet the girl, knock her up and propose marriage. I am not joking, Hunt. Natalie was in my office for just a few minutes and that was all it took," I ramble on.

"Oh my god, Eric got Tris pregnant?!"

"Why do you think I am talking about Tris," I hedge.

"You just said Natalie was in your office and Eric met the girl for the first time. He met with all the dependents for this year's Choosing Ceremony a few weeks back when I did their physicals," Hunter exclaims. "That would explain why she didn't get the pregnancy confirmed and I think it is safe to assume that this happened before Eric's accident."

"Two days prior," I admit.

"So she'll be around eight weeks along when she transfers," Hunter moves back to doctor mode. "Natalie trained and prepared her? She is in good physical health and shape?"

I nod.

"Good, we need to get her on vitamin supplements right away. Maybe you can drop some off for her to start on immediately and I will arrange for her to pick some up when she comes in… This is great, Max. Tris won't fail and Eric will be highly motivated to help her… Oh, I see your problem now but I don't think it will be an issue. The points system calls for more than one person to evaluate and score an initiate and you can move the two groups together. Uriah, Lynn and Marlene will take care of her during down time and otherwise it's Four or Eric who will be with her. This will be good, Max. Eric needs to learn to live a little and Tris is just the one to do it. She won't sit down and wait for the baby to come," he chuckles, clearly remembering how many times Tris ended up in our infirmary despite being Abnegation.

"Natalie thinks we should keep everything under wraps. They are still in Abnegation, after all," I caution. "I am not sure if we should tell Eric all the details. He is unpredictable on a good day and Tris seems to bring his wild side out." I shudder but plough on. "Ethically speaking, am I obliged to tell him or to keep him in the dark?"

"That's an excelllent question," Hunter admits before going silent.

Two loud beeps interrupt his musings.

"Lunch is here," he announces after checking his pager.

"I'll get it," I offer, happy to leave him for a moment.

Hunter doesn't speak while we eat and I am not pushing him. He is Dauntless born with an Erudite mind and I trust his counsel will be well thought out.

Finally, he steeples his hands and begins.

"Tris is not Dauntless yet," he starts and I nod. "She also did not get her pregnancy confirmed so we need to work with the assumption she might not be." He raises his hand to stop me. "I am aware that if Natalie shows up here she is indeed pregnant but it is not official yet either, Max. At the moment we only know through heresay that there will be a pregnant initiate. Eric doesn't need to know more than the possibility exists when he asks for a reason to the last minute changes to initiation. The same goes for Four and Lauren. As for telling Eric anything else, I think we should leave that to Tris, for when she chooses Dauntless, she becomes an adult and is allowed to make her own choices from then on. On the other hand, it is not a private matter in the formal sense. She is an initiate and the father of her baby a leader, this changes things, in my opinion, and we need to find a balance between cutting them some slack and ensuring things are done properly."

I nod, for I get it all.

"So it is a waiting game," I conclude.

"It is more a 'waiting for the right legal aspects to fall into place' situation, the way I see it. This will allow us to keep our obligations to everyone. I know it won't be easy, Max. The real question here is how both Tris and Eric will handle the situation. Eric hasn't come to you for advice yet," Hunter asks.

"In the time between Tris' visit and his accident he did not say one word about marriage or Tris herself…"

"He likes to solve problems himself," Hunter agrees. "Well, he will need to open up a bit more and maybe he needs to come and talk to me about sex. Abstaining for years and then getting someone pregnant during their first encounter just begs to question his ability to keep Tris happy."

"I think she was pleased enough," I blurt out, stunning myself with my crass words.

"At least it looks like they don't have to worry about STDs," Hunter continues as if I hadn't opened my mouth. "I'll do the full blood work though, on both of them, as soon as I find them. Eric is due to get his wires removed day after tomorrow so I can poke around a bit and he'll need to talk for me to assign him some physical activity. I'll see what I can find out and where he stands," Hunter promises and then we finalise all our plans.

…

Eric POV

Finally I am getting the wires removed. God knows how often I had to bite my tongue over the last weeks and Max has been driving me nuts these last days.

All the changes he wants to do to my initiation, okay, not my initiation but the ideas I started implementing. We are back to square one and all just because one teenager got herself knocked up. Why couldn't she wait just a few weeks until initiation was over? Now everyone has to bow to her for making the wrong choices. It is not so hard to abstain, I have done it for years and I am a man!

That thought leads me right back to Tris. Where the fuck is she? I was hoping she would come and visit me while in hospital and then while I was recoveringt home. It should have been her sleeping in my apartment and keeping an eye on me instead of Max. She was there when I got injured, she knows! She better have a really good excuse for all of this but I still want her. I long for her every second that I am left alone with my thoughts, and those are way too many since I met her. Now I wish I had more of a social life to keep me distracted.

How will I find her? Do I really have to wait until Max announces her as his choice to replace Jonathan? Maybe we can make it a double announcement… Tris Coulter is to be the new leader in training… Tris Coulter…

The thought of her soon to be name gets me hard like a rock in seconds and it is a good thing I already am standing in the shower.

I just have to imagine those eyes looking up to me when she was kneeling on the floor with my dick in her mouth.

Ungh.

I watch the water rinse off the white liquid that stuck to my skin when I came and use my hand to wipe down the tiles.

Time to go and regain some freedom, I promise myself when I get dressed and walk out the door.

…

The faction is buzzing with activity now that we are nearing Choosing Day and I encounter many people rushing around on my way to the infirmary.

"Hunter is waiting for you in room three, Eric," the receptionist greets me.

I ignore her overly flirtatious smile and head over to the exam rooms.

"Come in, Eric," Hunter calls out when he sees me.

He is busy getting some things out of the cabinets and I take the liberty of closing the door behind me.

"Sit down, I am just getting everything ready for you. I am sure you want this done as quickly as possible," he suggests with a smirk before turning back to his task.

I take a seat in the chair beside his desk and look on as he keeps adding items to the silver tray he stashed on a small trolley.

"I'll cut the wires first and then we will talk a bit while I go through a few more tests," Hunter promises and I am relieved to know I will finally be able to flex my jaw.

"Don't move right away," Hunter adds, trashing my hopes immediately before he even starts.

It is rather anticlimactic when I am finally freed.

"I am going to massage your jaw a little bit and then I will move it around. Be honest about how things feel, Eric. You lie to me, I will know and wire the whole thing back shut for another month or two," he threatens.

It hurts like a bitch, no matter what he does, but Hunter seems to be happy with my responses.

"Give it a few days and the muscles will work more smoothly. Keep taking your pain relief and don't skimp, Eric. If you hurt, you will avoid certain movements and I need you to do the exercises we just went through. It will get better, I promise, and you can ease up on painkillers in three days. See how it goes before you stop altogether."

Hunter takes a deep breath like he is bracing himself for what comes next.

"You won't be cleared to fight for the foreseeable future," he starts and I wince when my jaw hurts as I open my mouth to protest loudly.

"We will work on relaxing those muscles first," he nods towards my jaw. "Then we will move on to regular fitness and lumpy food."

"I have to stick with drinking my meals," I ask in horror.

"You need to keep it easy for a bit, Eric. It would be better to avoid setbacks by taking things nice and easy. You shouldn't be yelling at the initiates or grinding your teeth over them either, so Max and I concluded the old points system is so much better suited for your recovery."

"I thought that was because of a pregnant dependant and not because of me," I complain loudly.

"As far as I am concerned the pregnant initiate to be is a rumour and nothing else at this point. You, on the other hand, are clearly in need of a simplified set up where you can do more paperwork than yelling," Hunter counters.

"Fuck you,' I state with enough heat to scorch the smirk off his face,

"Bite me," he retorts and I am tempted to prove to him that I can accomplish that feat. "Save it, Eric. There are a lot of different reason coming together to go back to the old system for now. Learn to accept that some decision are made for you, okay?" I don't respond, so he continues with his lecture.

"Now that you are freed I am going to draw some blood to run all the tests in our repertoire on you. Pull your sleeves up," he damands and grabs the tourniquet from his tray.

"Why," I get out.

"I want to make sure you really are okay Eric. The simplest things, like an iron deficiency, can throw off your recovery," he explains.

Makes sense that my changed diet could cause issues so I don't question the amount of vials he labels and draws.

"Good, now what's next?"

Hunter digs into his drawer and comes up with a sheet of paper.

"Feel free to talk but you can shake your head 'yes' and 'no' if your jaw hurts too much," he begins.

"Any lingering headaches?"

"No."

"Blurry vision?"

"No."

"Constipation?"

"No," I groan.

"Diarrhoea?

"Sometimes," I growl.

"Easy, Eric. It's just the lack of fibre, that's all. Every little bit helps me get a better overall view."

I sigh deeply as a reply. I know he is right but some topics are just things people don't normally talk about.

"Heartburn?"

"No."

"Shaving feels alright?"

"It still hurts," I admit.

"Maybe ease up and shave every other day for a week," Hunter suggests. "We might have tried that too early but you looked really miserable so I wanted to give you a resemblance of normalcy. Keep rinsing your mouth for the same time before you try a soft toothbrush. I mean it, Eric. You'll be sore and bitchy," he warns.

I chuckle and then moan in pain. Hunter digs a bottle of water out of his desk and pours some into the small cup he has on the tray. He uses a straw to dissolve the powder it contained and hands it to me.

"That's fourhundred milligrams ibuprofen. It will take the edge of."

I appreciate the gesture and happily suck in the liquid.

"More water?"

"I am good," I decline.

Hunter looks back down to his list.

"Are you sleeping enough?"

"No."

Hunter makes another note.

"Are you still sleeping on your back?"

"I am trying but my body rolls over and I wake up when it hurts," I admit.

"Did you try adjusting your pillows?"

I just stare at him to show how dumb I find this particular question.

"Would you like to try a reclining chair? We have one or two we lend to members who need to keep upright," he offers.

"You think someone can sleep in that," I ask, successfully suppressing the derisive laugh.

"Don't diss the chair! I might give it mostly to women but some men took advantage since I took over the infirmary."

"What injuries did they have," I ask curiously.

"The women were mostly due to pregnancy related complications. Heartburn and oedema, to name the easiest ones. Do you want to try sleeping in the chair or not?"

"Nah, I think I will survive a few more weeks."

"Fine, but the offer stands whenever you need one for your apartment. Moving on… no kissing!"

"What?!"

"No kissing or anyting sex related," Hunter doubles down. "Kissing should be obvious but no giving oral sex either and you better not be having sex, Eric."

"Why can't I have sex,' I ask, stupefied.

"Maybe because you never collect your allocated condoms," Hunter deadpans and I gape at him.

"Ow, shit," I curse when my jaw just about kills me.

"That's one of the reasons why you should abstain, Eric. Honestly, did you masturbate since you got injured?"

I nod.

"Do you usually clench your jaw before or while you come?"

I shrug. My jaw still hurts and I am not going to verbalise my answers just yet.

"Did you have sex in the last two months?"

The last two months! Not since my accident?

I nod my head.

"Did your jaw hurt?"

I shake my head no and Hunter looks at me calculatingly.

"You had sex before but not since you sustained your injury?"

I nod.

Hunter let's out a deep sigh of relief.

"Keep it in your pants for a little while longer," he suggests and moves on. Well, kind of.

"You shouldn't rely on any hookups providing birth control. Grab some condoms on your way out unless you are ready for kids."

Kids?!

Hmmmm… Kids? With Tris?

Somehow I can imagine how cute they will look with their blonde hair and either my grey or her blue eyes. They'll be fairly tall for Tris is not as tiny as one would suspect looking at her frame from a distance.

I mean, I only saw her from a distance seconds before my accident but she looked small and fragile in my mind.

Maybe I can talk her into going off birth control once she gets her leadership bars?

"Eric?"

I look at Hunter and see him frowning at me.

"Are you alright? Were the painkillers too strong for a top up? I tried gaining your attention for at least a minute after your eyes glazed over."

Aw, shit!

I give him a thumbs up and he continues with his questions. Some are intrusive and some are plain weird but I am sure he has a reason for each and every one of them.

Thirty minutes later I finally leave the infirmary with more questions swirling around my mind than good for me.