I look over at my younger brother, and we're both in shock. Genevieve has a kid. A Child. And depending on the kid's age, that could mean only one thing. I'm not the first to have a kid anymore.
I look back to Miles, and then back at Liam for an explanation. "I-I . . ." He starts, and he closes his eyes for a moment, "I've got nothing, my visions still say Natalie's the first to have kids. Something's not right." Liam says aloud, and I gasp, and shove him with my power, and then gesture over to dad. Who of which was now choking on his next sip of wine, "Excuse me!?" He says standing, he comes straight over to me. "What's going on out here?" Mother comes out the kitchen asking, "Our eldest here might've gotten a girl pregnant and our middle child supposedly is going to give us our first grandchild. Are you confused and angry? Cuz I sure as hell am." Our dad explains, quite pissed. "What?!" Our mother questions, nearly dropping her teacup.
"Good job Liam, that mouth of yours is pretty big." I say, "And it's about to get bigger, is there anything else me and your mother should know?" Dad asks with his arms crossed in front of me, "Well uh, Natalie is also the first to," I shut his mouth with my mind, he tries to talk and then points at me. All my father does is give me a certain look, and I let him go. "Also the first to what?" He asks looking back at Liam, "The first to get married." He answers. My dad gasps and looks at me in disbelief, "Tomorrow I expect Tobias to come here, by himself, no exceptions. I think its time we have a chat." He says, and I shake my head, "No, if he needs to come tomorrow then I'm coming with him. Like I always do." I say, and my dad looks at me crazy, "No you won't, just him." - "But dad," - "Listen to your father young lady." My mom interjects, and I huff.
You've gotta be kidding me. "Why didn't you tell me she had a kid Nat?" Miles eventually asks me, I had no idea. I'd always go to her parents house and she'd answer the door, no baby in sight, not even baby stuff. "Miles I didn't know, can you explain what happened?" I ask and he does, he says he popped by her parents house, and her younger brother answered and told him she was at their grandmother's, just around the corner. He went straight there and spotted Genevieve heading to her back garden with a baby in her arms.
They made eye contact, and he ran off back home, not knowing what to do. "What if I'm the dad? That'd mean I left her all alone. Liam you gotta have something, I need to know something!" Miles says, and Liam squeezes his eyes closed this time. He opens them, "It's still the same, Nat first. And I don't see Gen or this baby in your future Miles, I see something totally different." Liam confirms, and I see where this is going, unfortunately, "That could mean only one thing," I say, "That baby? Is not yours." I finish. And Miles takes a deep breath, "But, it was a brand new baby, three-four months old tops. And if you do the math, four months plus eight months is twelve months. And don't ask me why I remember the exact date but, we did the thing exactly a year ago, before we transferred. The math doesn't lie." Miles calculates out loud, stressing himself out. "Well, Liam doesn't lie either. He's our own personal psychic remember?" I say, and Miles rolls his eyes.
"All he's ever done is tell us about the future future, never the next day type-of future. So how can we even know If his power is reliable?" Miles argues and Liam scoffs, "First off, don't talk like I'm not standing right here. Second off, you guys don't ask! Not once have either of you asked me 'the fuck's gonna happen tomorrow little bro?'" He rebutals. He's not wrong. Both me and Miles have been focused on the bigger picture when it came to asking Liam about our futures. And speaking of the future, I get an idea. And hopefully an answer to this mystery.
"Okay both of you shut up, Liam is it possible for you to show our brother what this child of her's looks like in the future?" I ask, and he puts up his pointer finger while closing his eyes. After awhile he scrunches his eyes together, seeming to be struggling. "What age?" He asks, eyes remaining closed. I think for a moment, our age exactly would be an appropriate age to estimate whether or not we're related, based off only looks. "Eighteen." I answer, and he takes a few more moments, and reaches out his hand for Miles.
"Gimmie your hand, and lock your knees so you don't fall." He directs, and Miles does as he's told. Miles closes his eyes too, "The image isn't as clear." He eventually says, and Liam opens one eye, looking straight at me. I nod and place my hand on Miles, having the image pop clear into my mind. "Woah." Miles says, "I can see her now.." He adds. This girl was gorgeous.
She had brown hair, blue eyes, full lips, and a button nose. But in my opinion, she looked nothing like my brother. Not even a hint of him to be seen. She looked more like Genevieve. I lift my hand off of Miles and blink my eyes, just as Miles releases Liam's hand.
"What do you think Miles? Do you think she looks like you?" Liam asks him, and our brother runs a hand through his hair. He shakes his head, "No, I don't." He answers, "I think you're right Nat. Genevieve doesn't even have blue eyes." He points out, and I sense the tinge of sadness in his voice. Why is he upset? Did he want the little girl to be his? He did seem pretty upset with himself when he first barged through the door and told us.
Or, could it be what Gen did? If the timeline matches up so perfectly, but this baby girl really isn't his, that would mean Genevieve slept with another person other than my brother back then. "Did you want that little girl to be yours?" I ask him, and he hesitates on answering, "I mean, a little yeah. But obviously I'm thankful she's not, I'm not entirely ready to be a parent yet." He finally says, and our father comes over and puts his hand on Miles's shoulder. "I admire that son. How you instantly felt attached to this young lady and her little girl. But, I'm glad you also feel that way, cuz none of you," He emphasizes, rolling his eyes over to me, "Are ready to take on that responsibility, at least not yet. Especially you missy. I find out you got a bun in the oven anytime soon, and I might just go to Amity jail for the murder, and disposal of that boyfriend of yours." My dad threatens, and I laugh-scoff, "My father wants me to be a single parent, how lovely!" I joke, and he grunts out of frustration. "You know what I mean by that! That young man will never hear the end of it. Nor will he have my approval if he ever asks me for your hand." My father says, and I gasp.
"That's a little much." I say, and he scoffs, "And having a kid when you're not married and damn near still a kid yourself is a little much too, don't you think?" He asks rhetorically. "And anyways, it's marriage and then babies, not the other way around. He better put a ring, before he puts his thing," - "AHH! Okay dad I get your point, please stop talking." I interrupt him quickly, and my brothers start laughing. "I don't know why you two are laughing, same goes for both of you." My mother chimes in with, walking over to both of them. "But Miles already sealed the deal, you heard him. There ain't no ring on Gen's finger." - "And there isn't one on Lauren's finger either." Miles tattle-tells, and Liam gasps. "You fuckin snitch!" My little brother hisses at our eldest, right before our mom grabbed both by the ear and pulled them into the kitchen. I try so hard not to laugh.
"Hush young lady. I'm just getting started." My dad starts back up, and he paces back and forth while he continues to lecture me. While he does, I take a second to listen in on what mom had to say to my brother's. And it's just about the same as what I was getting from my father, no babies till marriage, which means no sex till marriage. And since it was clear to him that my brother's were not virgin's anymore, my father was forced to ask me the question himself. And even though it was a little odd, I tell him the truth, which was yes, I'm still as innocent and as pure as can be. In a sense.
"Good, I'm proud. And keep it that way. You may be growing up but, in my eyes? You're still my little girl. And I'll be damned if I have to hand off my daughter to a man that couldn't wait." He tells me, "And if he suddenly can't wait, no matter how much it may hurt, I want you to let him go. You hear me?" He asks, and I can hear Tobias's rebuttal to that now. That man loves me, I'm pretty sure he doesn't mind waiting a couple years. To him it won't be waiting. It'll be making memories, being happy, and spending time together. "I hear you dad, but I want you to put your worries at ease now. He loves me. He's in love with me. Just like you are with mom. You hear the way he talks to you about me." I point out, yet regardless of it, he makes me pinky promise him.
I do it without hesitation, because A. Me and my father's promises are sacred, and B. I have faith in my partner, and according to my dad, its more than I should have. Just then, my brother's and mother come out of the kitchen. "Have we all come to an understanding about this?" My mother asks, mainly looking at me and my brother's. All three of us nod, "Good, now, sit down, and let us hear about initiate training." She asks of us, and just as our butt's were about to hit the couch's, a knock is heard from the front door. Who on earth could that be?
Miles answers it since he was closes to the door. And even though I couldn't see who it was from where I was standing, my brother's facial expression gave away exactly who it was. "Hey uh, can we talk?" I hear Gen ask, and Miles looks back at his family. We all wave him off, letting him know it's okay. He nods and steps outside with her, closing the door behind him.
"Hey Nat, listen in, I wanna know how he handles this." Liam says, and I shake my head. "No, I'm not eavesdropping this time. And anyways, he's most likely gonna tell us afterwards." I say, and I start explaining how initiate training is going so far to our parents. Liam helps by chimeing in here and there, and our mom mention's how it felt like just yesterday, she was visiting us on visitation day, hearing how our years training was going. "Y'know, that was the day she told me and Miles about you. About our little brother." I tell Liam, and he raises his eyebrows. "From that moment on, we looked for you. And yet, you were right beside us that whole time. Do you remember when we all first met?" I ask him, and he nods laughing.
"Ah yes, I nearly shoved my sister out the way trying to fight my brother. Great first impressions by the way." He says, and our parents are shocked. "Wait so, when you all met for the first time, you three immediately started fighting?" Our father asks and me and Liam nod. Our parents start laughing, "You three should've known right then and there." Mom says, and we laugh too. She's right, we've should've guessed Liam was our brother then. After that though, we just continue to talk, leading to topic after topic.
Until finally, the front door opens again, and Miles comes through it. And just like last time, he came in with dismay plastering his face. "We need to get back to Dauntless. Now." He demands, and me and Liam stand. "Oh god, what happened this time?" I ask, and his expression changes from sad to mad in mere seconds. Miles swallows hard, "Ben." He blurts, "Ben is that baby's father."
***
"You're mad aren't you?" I ask my older brother, and I had to shout a little due to the wind wooshing in and out of the fast moving train. "Mad?" He questions, "Mad is an understatement in this case. I'm angry, hurt and confused. One of my bestfriend's betrayed me." He tells me, and in a sense, I know how my brother feels, due to his blond Ex-girlfriend. I lean my head on his shoulder, and he leans his head on mine. He of all people don't deserve this emotional trauma. Nothing good has happened to my brother when it comes to relationships, and that alone makes me wish things were different.
After awhile, I stand up, and pull my brother to stand too. Not because Dauntless headquarters were near, I did it because I knew he needed a hug. We release and he ruffles up my curls, before heading over to see who Liam was talking to. I sigh, and hold onto the inside bar, while I slightly lean myself out the open train car. I see that Dauntless headquarters was just up ahead, and I start walking to my brother's.
Suddenly though, a slim cold hand gently grabs me, and I stare at the hand for a moment. Whoever was grabbing me, had a freckle, right in-between their pointer and middle finger. I turn to see who it was before reacting. And from what I could see, it was an older factionless lady in a large hoodie. She had brown hair, and semi-pale skin.
But that's about all I could see. She slips a crumpled up piece of paper in my hand, and leans towards my ear. "Tell Tobias to get on this exact train, at this exact time tomorrow." Is all she says before heading to the back of the train. I stop her by grabbing her wrist, "look, I don't know who you are, or how you know me or Tobias but, I'm gonna need at least a name lady." I say to her, she lifts her hood and smiles. "Evelyn. My name's Evelyn."
***
For was seems like the millionth time, I fall fast and my back hits the net, bouncing me back up. I land again, roll over and hop off the big black net. I hug my brother's goodnight, and head off to go find Tobias. Evelyn. Why does that name sound familiar?
I get lost in my head trying to figure out who this woman was. As I look for my love I can my feel myself getting closer and closer to figuring this mystery out with each given thought. I listen for Tobias and when I recognize his voice, I follow it. And as it gets louder and louder, clearer and clearer, the clearer this whole fiasco in my head gets. I repeat the woman's name in my mind.
Evelyn. Evelyn. Evelyn. And then it hits me, just as I spot Tobias. I stop in my tracks and a shaky breath exits my lips, Tobias spots me and starts walking over. I want to meet him half way but, my mind won't make my legs move. Physically, I'm frozen in place.
I know where I've heard the name from now, I heard from Tobias himself. He places his hand on me and I look down at it, and spot the same freckle, in the same place. Evelyn, was the name of Tobias's deceased mother. "Natalie? Are you okay?" He asks me, making me snap out of it. I look up at him, and without saying anything, I pull him out the cafeteria by his hand.
"What's going on? Did something happen?" He asks me, and I continue to ignore his questioning. I pull him all the way to our apartment, and I close the door behind us. "Okay tell me what's going now. You're kind of scaring me." He says, and I let out another shaky breath. Why did it have to be me? How did she know I was his girlfriend?
Why do I have to break this to him? "Tobias . . . I," I try to start but, I fail. How do I tell him this? I don't know how to tell him this. "I don't know how to tell you this." I confess, and he puts his hands on my arms.
"Just tell me. Tell me what's wrong." He says, lifting my chin up so our eyes could meet. Brown on Hazel. I suck it up and take a deep breath, "On the way back to Dauntless, not even ten minutes ago, a lady stopped me on the train and told me to tell you, to meet her on that exact train, at exactly," I pause and take his wrist to look at his watch, "6:00 p.m. tomorrow." I add, and he looks at me in confusion. "I asked for her name and . . ." I trail off, as he searches my eyes. "And?" He asks, "What was her name Natalie?" He adds, uneasily. ". . .Evelyn, she said her name was Evelyn. And she gave me this without explanation." I finally say, and his eyes widen as he looks at me, and then down at my balled fist.
I hand it to him, and he takes it, quickly uncrumpling the piece of paper. When he does, he pulls out what looked to be a necklace. A silver, heart locket. He drops the paper, and opens the locket. He stares at what's on the inside as tears build up in his eyes, my bottom lips quivers and I pull him to me.
I embrace him around his neck, as he dropped the locket and hugged me back. He hugged me tight as he cried on my shoulder, I shed a tear as well, seeming I've never seen him cry like this. Yes I've seen him cry but, like this? No. Never.
He falls to his knees and I fall with him, still holding him just as tight. When he releases me, he quickly wipes his tears, and gets off his knee's by sitting on the floor. He left his legs uncrossed, and arched, giving me room to scoot in-between them and sit on my calves. He notices that I got closer and takes his hands from his face, resting his forearms on his bent knee's, and letting his hands hang along with his head. I pick up the locket, and look inside.
On one side, there was an old picture of a little boy, about ten years old. And on the other, was a semi-clearer, and newer picture of a little girl. I know for a fact that cute little boy is Tobias but, who is this little girl? My love sniffles, "That? Was my mother's, it was around her neck for her open funeral service. I was ten, and there she was in front of me. Cold, lifeless, and laying in a casket." He says, and I can tell he's getting choked up from his own words. I scoot even closer and wipe his tears away.
He laugh-scoff's a little, "Was." He says, "I can't even talk like she's alive. And she is." He adds sorrowfully, and he scoff's again. "My mother's alive." He repeats, but with anguish coating his tone. "She left me alone," He barely mutters, "with him." he adds clearly, with sudden hate in his voice. I can tell he doesn't really know how to feel about this yet. I wouldn't know how to feel either, if I were in his shoes.
Just then, he lifts his head, clenches his jaw, and stands up, while helping me stand up. He sheds off his jacket, and takes off his shoes. And he makes me do the same, before pulling me to the bed and laying me down. He lays down on top of me, laying his head on my chest, and wrapping his arms all the way around me. I play with his hair, "The piece of paper has writing on it my love." I let him know softly, and he grunts.
"And? If my supposed mother has anything to say to me, she can say it to my face tomorrow." He says with a raspy and tired voice, "Don't you wanna know who that little girl is in the locket?" I ask, and he sighs. "I have pretty good assumption to who that is. My mother dedicated that locket to me, her only child. There used to be two pictures of me in it. So, if she took one out, to put that little girl in," He pauses, "That could mean only one thing." He says. "I have a little sister."