Happy Reading Everyone!

Comment below, let us know your thoughts.

Chapter 21

Sunday, Funday, daddy day

Tris' POV

It's Sunday in the early afternoon, the sun is high and it's warmer than normal for this time of the year. But it's well welcomed for a day like today.

Every Sunday, come rain or shine… No matter the heartbreak or the fights, it doesn't matter… It's a tradition that was started when Junior and Emily were babies. A way for everyone to check in with the others as our schedules grew and our time grew more limited. Come rain or shine, no matter who was getting along with who… It didn't matter, you showed up. Sometimes we have additions that come. A parent or a sibling that is visiting or just simply wanted to see the group. They would join us, contribute by bringing something extra. But they were never turned down, the more the merrier.

Usually the assigned items never change. I am, of course, in charge of the baking. Chris, seeing she has no real skills in the kitchen… is in charge of a variety of chips and dips. Zeke is always in charge of all the meats, while on the other hand, his brother, Uriah, is in charge of anything but the food. No explanation needed there. Mar always brings some kind of salad. Shauna brings the drinks.

Once in a while we would have a change of venue. Someone else's house or even the Millennium park or a restaurant of some sort. Today we all agreed on the guest of honor for this week, Tobias. We also agreed that it would be at Chris' and my if we happen to have a guest this week, we will let them choose on another side to bring.

Things have been easier since the Chuck E Cheese event with Tobias. He calls often, checking in on both Emily and I, making sure all is well and that we don't need anything. Emily and I have met a few times with him at the park. Each time it gets a little easier between us. Sometimes we sit on a bench together and watch Emily play with the other kids. Other times I'm left watching the both of them taking turns playing tag with each other. It's adorable watching them together. But it often leaves me wondering what life would have been like all along if Marcus had not intervened on us and sent Tobias away.

On the times that Tobias and I sit back to watch Emily, we talk about the missing years. It took time for Tobias to finally open up about the past. Instead he wanted to hear about the years that he missed with Emily and I. Although if the shoe was on the other foot I would have wanted to know the same. I can't imagine missing out on every milestone that Emily has had. Sure I missed a few, here or there from working…. But I was there for the bigger milestones, like her first steps, her first words and her first day of school.

Eventually I learned about Tobias and where he has been all of this time. I was impressed that he went to Harvard and all the accomplishments that he has made along the way. I learned he is currently living in a condo in New York city, managing the New York branch of Marcus' company. Although he is more than happy to give it up to the next in line, or so he says. It makes it sound like everything he has in New York is nothing special, or very important. For what reason, I haven't asked. We haven't spoken about it too much, not wanting to pressure him on the situation more than it already is.

From the little that he has told me, his dating life is almost the same as his professional life. I get the sense that there have been a few girls here and there… But none of them meant anything to him. I know I have no reason to feel anything about that part of his life, but a small part of me is pleased by the thought that those girls never meant anything to him.

Zeke and Shauna are the first to arrive today, as always. Junior and Emily run after Zeke, both dying to get his attention before the others arrive. Tobias arrives next, looking a little out of place as he walks into the house. Emily quickly switches interest to Tobias, grabbing a hold of his hand and insisting on giving him the grand tour around the house. I laugh, watching how dramatic Tobias acts as Emily uses all her might to pull him along. They head down the hallway to the stairs, everyone is amused as we all hear my daughter's loud voice, excitedly pointing out all the pictures along the way.

I try to keep a small distance away from them. Wanting to give Tobias and Emily a little space, after all they both lost so much time together already. She shows him everything from her favorite teddy to her favorite reading corner. It's a light pink teepee tent with lights and pillows, it's always been the go to spot for her. You could always find her in it when she was happy, sad, or just straight up wanting to just be.

I sigh, busying myself with whatever needs to be done in the kitchen. I've been thinking more and more about our current situation. The part that wants to come clean to Emily grows more and more each day that passes. I find myself arguing with the pros and cons on a daily basis.

She deserves a father and to know who that father is. She is also warm hearted and stubborn. Fear that Tobias may or may not stay long in our lives also holds me back. I know he said he would give it all up, the company and the condo…. But he also promised me long ago that we would be together forever and he would never break my heart. Two things that he obviously was able to do after all. So how can I trust him this time and worse it's not me that he would be hurting this time, but our innocent daughter. I feel the Momma bear in me come out at the thought of anyone hurting her, wanting to stand as a barrier in front of her willing to place myself in danger so she is safe. That would include even Tobias on that list.

"Uriah, get out of the refrigerator!" Christina scolds him. I turn just in time to see his face scrunch up like a toddler that just got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. His finger is covered in chocolate frosting, as he places it in his open mouth and closes the fridge's door. He turns, looking half innocent and half guilty as he plays it off. "I was just looking for the condiments." He calls out, empty handed as he looks around confused.

"Oh really? And I suppose we all want chocolate frosting on our burgers tonight?" She points out. Mar laughs, knowing damn well Uriah would agree to do just that if he had to.

"Dude, did you at least clean your hands first before digging into that cake? The last thing I want with my dessert is a side of Mar sauce." Zeke accuses. Sending Mar into full red face as she gasps in surprise. Although why is she surprised, I have no idea, this is Zeke we are talking about here.

"Hey, I resent that… Mar sauce would be a great addition to the cake." Uriah fires back. Oh no, here we go….

"Mommy, can I have Mar's special sauce?" Junior asks, tugging on Christina's shirt innocently, sending most of the adults into hysterics.

"Not until you are thirty." She answers, taking his hand as she leads him out the back door.

"What did I miss?" Tobias asks, confused as he walks in. Emily finally decides to tear herself away from Tobias and runs out the back door following Junior. The room goes quiet as they all look awkwardly towards Tobias and then glance at me. I press my lips together, feeling the awkwardness in the air.

"Oh, nothing but Uriah wanting to add on to Tris' famous Dauntless cake recipe." Zeke laughs out, patting Uriah's back. I'm thankful for Zeke at the moment, breaking the silence and the tension in the room.

We all sat down around the long table outside. It was a gift from my parents many years ago when we first started this tradition. My mother and father both thought it would come in handy when Emily and I moved in here with Chris and Junior. They were well right. It was a custom-made project my father worked on for several weekends to finish. It seats about twenty people comfortably, with slide out benches and two end chairs at the end. It's gorgeous with a light brown, walnut finish and the wood has been treated so it can stand the outdoor elements. It's one of the best gifts we ever got.

"You want a burger, sweetie?" I ask Emily who is sitting beside me. She smiles up at me, nodding. I easily reach, placing a plain hamburger on her plate. I see Uriah's eyes roll backwards as he watches my daughter prepare her burger the way she likes it. It's been one of those long deep discussions… how to fix a burger.

Many propose cheese, ketchup, mustard, even some vegetables to go inside. But not my little girl. No. She needs to have it completely empty and plain. With a small bowl beside, it filled with her favorite BBQ sauce to dip her burger in. It's something I never showed her but was so surprised that she somehow picked up on it. There was only one other person in this world that I knew that loved their burger that way….

I glance between Emily and Tobias watching them in sync moving together, mirroring each other's movements. Both of them, pouring the same amount of sauce into a small container and pushing down on their top bun, flattening their burgers. They both lift it up at the same time, dipping it into the container filled with the brown sauce. They take a bite of their food when they are both satisfied with the amount of sauce on their meat and bun. The table is quiet, all staring at the show before us as we watch both Tobias and Emily mirror each other's movements, placing their burgers back down, reaching for their napkins, wiping their hands clean and then their mouth. It's only when they are preparing to pick up their burger again is when they stop to discover how silent and amazed the rest of the table is.

"Holy Shit…" Uriah says, his mouth gaped open.

"Like two peas in a pod!" Zeke charms in.

"Why didn't we catch on to this before?" Shauna asks, breaking the silence. That is a very good question indeed.

We spend the rest of the meal having comfortable conversations. All deciding to move forward from the burger incident that I admit after some time passed , everyone enjoyed their food. It felt like old times again, as if no time had really passed and Tobias never left. We all fell into old habits, helping each other clear the table, laughing and making jokes.

Of course, more than half of us decided to hand over the cake to Uriah, not quite trusting whether or not Uriah did indeed wash his hands earlier. For those that wanted a piece though, sliced from the other side of the finger marks. No one could blame them…Really. I decided to go the safer route of course by eating the fruit that had yet to be cut into.

"I still can't believe you both kept such a huge secret from us all that time." Shauna bursts out, glancing between Tobias and I, when the kids are happily playing in the background.

"Well at least he isn't gay." Uriah charms in.

"True, remember when you thought about hooking him up with that douchebag, Al." Zeke throws in. We all laugh, imagining awkward Al showing up on one of our outings, expecting to be on a date with the almighty Four.

"And here I thought he was just saving himself." Mar says. "I knew that couldn't be it." She laughs. For the next hour we continued joking and laughing. Enjoying each other's company for the first time in years. Feeling a weight being lifted off of all of our shoulders finally.


A/N

Thank you all for all the warm welcome backs and the support that you guys give to not only me, but to FDFobsessed… We really love to see our work appreciated.

You know there's nothing like good food, good company and laughter about the old times… I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, stay tuned for next week.

Revised By: FDFobsessed

Like always, happy reading everyone, be safe and stay healthy

Trini