Prior Rings

Chapter 37: Tris - Rehearsal Dinner

A/N: Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews of the last chapter! I really appreciate the support. Thank you also to my fantastic beta reader, Rosalie.

Chapter 37: Tris – Rehearsal Dinner

In Abnegation, there's no such thing as a wedding ceremony. It would be selfish for the couple to focus on themselves, so instead they do the minimum required to make the marriage legal. The two stand before one of the faction leaders as they exchange vows and rings and then sign the paperwork, and that's it.

The closest thing they have to a celebration is that the families share dinner together afterwards, if they live in Abnegation. That formalizes the union.

For a brief time after Tobias and I became engaged, we considered following that tradition. Neither of us wanted to wait long to be married, and since we didn't grow up with any expectation of a ceremony, we didn't have anything specific that we wanted to do for it.

But it didn't take long for us to realize that our faction-mates would kill us if we deprived them of a celebration. So, we opted instead for a service similar to Zeke and Shauna's.

And then spent the next two weeks panicking about how to actually make that happen, given our total lack of experience with the subject…. Fortunately, our friends and family members began stepping forward to help at that point, as soon as they saw how much we needed it.

Christina took charge of coordinating the event – and of taking me shopping every weekend to find the perfect dress. Anna enthusiastically agreed to officiate, and Caleb was beyond thrilled when I asked him to escort me down the aisle. Margaret begged to be our flower girl before Tobias even had a chance to ask her, and Kevin volunteered his son to be our ring bearer before we had time to begin wondering who, if anyone, would fill that role.

Even the location was handed to us, when Amar and George revealed the rooftop garden that they'd spent weeks carefully putting together on top of our building. It's a breathtaking space, yet simple, and is absolutely right for us.

Between all of their efforts, everything comes together smoothly with barely any work on Tobias' and my part. Instead, we spend our days renovating the second floor of our building, since after considerable debate, we decided to move into an apartment there once we're married. The faction needs more common space, and we want the extra privacy of living a little apart from the others, so it seems like a better choice than moving into Tobias' current place.

Besides, sooner or later, the faction is going to need a second floor, given how many people have been asking to join. And since Shauna is now pregnant.

Oddly, that reality makes me more nervous than the upcoming wedding. I know that I want children someday, but not yet, so I'm glad when Tobias makes it clear that he doesn't think he'll be ready for kids for a few years. That timing definitely works for me.

We finish the new apartment several days before the wedding, moving most of our possessions into it but keeping just enough in Tobias' current one to stay there for now. We want our first night in the new place to be right after we're married.

Once we're done with the renovations, we immediately turn our attention to setting up my old apartment for Micky and Luella. They'll be staying here during their visit from Pittsburgh, while Lauren will stay in the room next to Zeke and Shauna – the one they'll use as a nursery after the baby is born.

Our three guests arrive the day before the rehearsal dinner. Adam must have driven them, but he doesn't come upstairs – presumably instead heading to his room in Anna's house so he can sleep after the long drive. That's okay. We'll see him soon enough, at the wedding.