Chapter 61 - Six Years

— Tris

"Happy six years, Beatrice." My eyes flutter open to my husband on the other side of the bed facing me. I hear Thomas fussing in the other room, but Tobias distracts me for a few moments kissing me tenderly and slowly.

Six years already.
Damn.

"I'll get him," Tobias says sitting up but I stop him.

"He's probably hungry."

"Then I'll bring him in here." He says matter-of-factly and leaves the bedroom.

Indy noses his way in through the unclosed once Tobias leaves and hops up onto the bed.

"Hi sweet boy," I push his hair out of his eyes and laugh as he licks my chin.

I smile when my husband returns with our fussy son on his bare chest.

He's getting so big.

"If you told me six years ago that this is where we would be," Tobias lays down as I attach Thomas to my breast. He looks up at me with his big eyes gurgling as he eats. "I would've never of believed you." He watched Tom eat and I blush remembering this day six years ago.

So much has happened.
 
 

The baby starts stretching his arms around and moving his fingers as he eats. Tobias gives him his finger which he grasps happily, allowing Tobias to beam with joy.

"Look at these little curls he's getting," I laugh rubbing my hand over his thin blonde hair.
His father's curls, but my blonde.
The prior nose, but those deep blue Eaton eyes.

Gosh, I love him.

"I can't believe he's six months old already." Tobias remarks as the baby grows fussy again, showing to me that he's finished eating. I hand him to his father as I pull back up my shirt. Indy is asleep at our feet, and Thomas is babbling on Tobias's chest. I curl onto his side, my head near his shoulder as he kisses my forehead.

All my boys, all in the same place.
I couldn't be happier.
 
 

+    +   +

"Hey! How is the trip?" I hear Chris and Will on speaker phone on the other line. There is one place in the next town over from where they are staying on their honeymoon that has cell service reaching to Chicago. They discovered this last week when Cara called them, and now they're calling today, two weeks after they left.
I think they come home at the end of this week, but I'm not sure.

"You didn't think I'd forget to with you a happy anniversary, would you?" Chris laughs referencing my return to Chicago six years ago.

She tells me about the snow and how they did this sport called 'skiing', and how nice all of the people are up there. They are in a town that has been fixed up since the world was destroyed: a town called Green Bay. I guess it's North of Milwaukee: the town where my mother grew up North of Chicago.

I sit on the couch as I watch Indy interact with Thomas. Thomas is giggling like crazy as Indy licks his little fingers.

"We're going to be back before decorating day." Will says when Tobias asks when they'll be home. "And visiting week."

We end the conversation to let them go about their last days of their honeymoon.

"I can't believe it's already almost December again," Tobias says picking Thomas up off the floor.

"Yeah." I say and Thomas babbles a little. I laugh cooing at him.

Tobias comes into the living room with the newspaper in his hands. We had neglected to pay attention to it because of Chris and Will calling this morning.

"Anything new?"

.

"Tris, it's not good." He sighs leaning against the headboard of our bed. I just brought Thomas home from my parent's house today, but he was unable to go because of an emergency leader meeting.

The Bureau is threatening Chicago. Apparently after West was murdered someone sent a message in his name. Tobias couldn't remember the specifics, but it was something about how the people of the Bureau caused the people of Chicago suffering and it was their fault for the way David was. The letter was a threat, saying that Chicago didn't need the Bureau to survive, and that it wanted to cut all ties to them.

The time stamp on this letter was the day before the new leader of Candor was put in position— seven months after West's murder.

Just this past week the Bureau decided to acknowledge the letter, over a year since it was sent.
"I'm worried that there's going to be a Cold War," Tobias says, his voice low.

"Chicago can't handle another war," I think about my son, my friends, my family.
We just went through a war about ten years ago.

"The leaders are trying to catch who sent the letter. It has to be someone living in Candor. But the Bureau has a right to be pissed. They have more power than us, and whoever sent that message was basically saying Chicago doesn't need them. They don't need Chicago, but we will fall without them."

"Is this why we haven't gotten news from outside the fence?" I ask.

"They're cutting us off from knowledge outside these walls, and who know what they'll cut next." He pulls me in his arms and I feel a tear slip down my cheek.

I never wanted to have a child if there was even a chance they would have a similar life to what Tobias and I had.
I didn't want my children to live through a war.
I thought we were safe.
That's why I told Tobias to not worry about protection: I didn't care if I had a child because I thought the world would be safe for them to live in.
.

"We understand that it was not your leader who sent this letter to our community," Tobias reads from the paper. "But we also want you to understand that if you did choose to treat us this way we would put you in your place."

The Bureau is much more powerful than Chicago could ever be.
So many people have left the city since the Faction War.
The Bureau is stable.
And Chicago is stable when we have active trade and financial stability from the Bureau.
Without the Bureau, Chicago will struggle.
With the Bureau against Chicago, Chicago will most certainly fall.

"So the Bureau is basically being a bully, and saying that if we act out again they'll attack us?"

"That's what it sounds like."

I sigh as Thomas starts to wail. Indy tucks his tail and runs out of the room from the noise as I try to calm him down.

"It's probably time for a nap," I go and try to rock my son to sleep in the nursery. After a few minutes of rocking and quiet music he seems to calm down and I lay him in his cradle.

"I know what you're thinking," Tobias holds waist once I'm back in the living room. His forehead is on mine and I rest my hands on his chest.

I hate myself for thinking it, but I wish we never had Thomas.

I cry, laying my head onto his chest.

"I'm not going to let anything hurt you or him." He tries to be reassuring, but he and I both know that that's out of his control.

Eventually we fall asleep in each other's arms, napping away two-thirds of the afternoon and don't wake until it's late in the evening.

I wake suddenly from a dream, more or less a memory, remembering the day Will and Christina left for their honeymoon.

"Keep an eye on Rose for me, please," she whispers when she hugs me. Her voice is only loud enough for me to hear.

"Of course, Chris." I smile. "Don't worry about it."

I hear my phone buzz at the same time that I hear my son begin to wail again.

The text is from Rose.
That's a weird coincidence.

The text was sent over an hour ago.
Why did it just come through now??

-Hey. Could you call me when you get a minute?-

That's all the text says, and all it is is suspicious to me.

"Tobias," I shake his shoulder and he moans. "Tobias wake up." My voice is stronger. He rolls over and looks at me angrily, making me laugh.

"Something's up with Rose, and Thomas is hungry. I'm going over to her place, there's bottles in the fridge."

"Take the gun," Tobias sits up slightly more awake. "And call me if there's something really wrong."

There isn't something that wrong.
I don't argue though and stick his gun in my back pocket along with my knife.

I decide against calling Rose and just go to her apartment.

Everything's fine. I try and reassure myself. She's probably just sick or needs help with something.

I don't believe myself though.
I just have a gut feeling that her text had much more urgency that it seemed.