A Different Divergent: Everyday Love

13

Chapter 13

The ride home from the park is a leisurely one. We listen to the rhythmic love songs softly playing through the speakers of the car stereo in companionable silence. Tessa sways in her car seat until she actually rocks herself to sleep. Tyler gives in to pure exhaustion and his head hangs forward, nearly touching his chest as he naps. Teagan mumbles something incoherently in her sleep every once in a while but those little whispered words are like music to my ears after seeing her lying in the sand beneath the swings so still. My hand is still resting on Tobias' knee with his hand over it, our fingers threaded together.

I stare out my passenger window, the passing scenery one big blur, thinking about what he said he was going to do to me tonight. Pampering? He takes care of every single need I have and those I don't even anticipate on a daily basis. What more could I ask of him? I couldn't have asked for a better husband but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm looking forward to locking myself away with him tonight. We may have made love last night and twice this morning but that slightly irrational need to rip each other's clothes off when we're stressed is running like a current just beneath the surface.

After looking in the rearview mirror and confirming that the kids are still sound asleep, Tobias pulls the car to a gentle stop alongside the curb in front of the Pire and turns the engine off.

"How about I get the girls and you get Tyler?" he softly suggests. "I'll put the car away later."

"That sounds like a good idea," I say. We get out of the car after a soft kiss, and he easily lifts Tessa into his arms then I carefully hand him Teagan. After moving her car seat out of my way, I lean across the back seat and drag Tyler into my arms, miraculously not waking him up. We carry our worn out kids by our offices, up to our apartment, and into their rooms to continue their naps. I grab the baby monitor from my nightstand and set it on the end table before Tobias and I collapse side by side onto the couch.

"Did you have a good time today?" he asks as he puts his arm around me and pulls me close to him. I tuck my legs under me then rest my head on his chest and my hand on his thigh.

"Everything about today has been wonderful so far … except for what happened in the bathroom," I say with a frustrated sigh. "The worst part is, I'm not entirely sure exactlywhat I saw and heard but it … terrified me." The last two words are little more than an embarrassed utterance. "I guess we've become so complacent that just the thoughtof her coming back into our lives to terrorize us freaked me out. It literally made me sick, Tobias."

"I'm so sorry, love," he says, tightening his hold on me and kissing the top of my head. "I'm never going to let you go to that damn bathroom by yourself ever again. First Molly confronted you and now Olivia! It's not safe."

"I probably wouldn't have been so scared if Tessa hadn't been with me," I softly say, remembering the fear that tightened my chest making it almost impossible to breathe, and a shudder moves through me. "I was frightened for her not me. I didn't know how I was supposed to keep her safe. I didn't know if I could. I was worried the bitch was lying in wait for me and that my baby would be an innocent casualty. I couldn't stand it if something happened to Tyler, Tessa, or Teagan … or you because of some crazy girl's vendetta against me. I still can't believe the hospital thinks that she's better."

"I'm only playing devil's advocate here but what if…"

"What if she really is better?" I finish for him a little irritated at where his thoughts are taking him. "She deluded herself into thinking she was having a relationship with you and that I was standing in the way of your happiness. She wanted me dead, baby. Thoughts like that don't simply go away." At least that's what her doctors told Zander. "I will never trust that she just woke up one day and thought, 'Tobias belongs with Tris. I'll leave them alone from now on.'" I scoff at the thought. "She was manipulative, calculating, depraved, dangerous, and she set her sights set on you. What's the quickest way to try and win your love? Convince her doctors that she's changed, that she isn't a threat anymore so she has access to the outside world."