Until Forever

22

Tris's POV
A little while later, Dr. Scott comes in with nurse Violett. Violette rolls in River in her little crib. I sit up in the bed as she is wheeled over to my side. Tobias sits next to me and leans over to look at River. The way he looks at her is the most precious thing. His eyes light up and he gives one of his rare smiles. I look back and forth between the two of them.

"You know," I whisper in his ear. "I think your daughter is making you soft." He smiles and kisses me.

"You already made me soft," he says. I smile as he wraps his arms around me and looks back at River. Dr. Scott clears her throat.

"So, we do have some official business to take care of," she says. Tobias and I avert our attention from River to her. "First off, we believe that Tris must have had some stomach bug that put stress on River causing her to go into labor early. Now usually we would like to keep River here for at least a month since she is so small, but, she seems to be almost fully developed. You will be able to take her home after a week. As for you Tris, you are able to go home in five days." Tobias and I nod. As Dr. Scott leaves, Violette comes over to us and River.

"So you guys can hold her and do skin to skin, just when she falls asleep or you guys want so peace, press this button so we can take her back to the NICU," Violette explains, pointing out a button on the side of the bed.

"Are we allowed to have visitors?" I ask. She nods.

"I can call your friends if you like." I shake my head.

"That's okay, we want some time with just us for now," I tell her. She nods.

"Just press that button if you need anything. And congrats, Tris," she says, leaving. I smile.

"You want to hold her?" I say to Tobias. He nods and gets out of the bed to take off his shirt. I reach down and pick up River. "Hey baby," I coo. She giggles and opens her beautiful eyes. Carefully, I unswaddle her so she is only in her diaper. I hand her to Tobias. He gently places her on his chest and holds her close. He sits back down on the bed, wrapping one arm around me. We lean back and I place my head on his shoulder. He lets River lay flat on him, stroking her small lock of hair with his free hand. I place on hand on her small back. I look up at Tobias.

"I love you," I whisper.

"I love you both," he says. He places a kiss on RIver's head, then one on mine. I have never been happier.

~

"She's adorable!" Christina whisper-squeals. At 10:00, the whole gang came over. Christina, Shauna, Lynn, Marlene, and I sit on the bed passing River around. The boys went back to Dauntless to get Tobias, River, and me some clothes and toiletries, along with some Dauntless cake.

"So Tris," Marlene says. "We all picked out a little outfit for River." Christina pulls out a bag from behind her. River hasn't been put in any actual clothes yet. We have just had her swaddled in a black blanket.

"Okay," I say. I hand River to Mar as Christina hands me the bag. I pull out a small black onesie and a black beanie. "Aww, it's cute," I tell them. They all smile, even Lynn.

"Can I put it on her?" Christa asks. I nod my head and hand her the outfit. Marlene hands River to her and she quickly changes her into the new outfit. We all talk and play with River for a while. Soon the buys get back and pass out cake to everyone. Tobias shows RIver to all the boys.

"Can I hold her?" Uriah whines.

"Uri, there is no way I am trusting you with my baby," Tobias tells him. Everyone laughs except for Uri.

"Uri, if you sit down you can hold her," I tell him. He smiles and quickly takes a seat. Tobias glares at me. I give him a look saying, it's fine. Tobias carefully hands River to Uriah. As it turns out, Uriah is very good with babies. For the rest of the day, the gang hangs out. Around 5:00, they all head home.

"River probably has to go back to the NICU," I say to Tobias. He nods and presses the button to call the nurse to get River. I kiss River on the head and hand her to Tobias.

"I love you," he whispers to River before kissing her on the head and placing her in the crib. A nurse comes in and takes her back to the NICU.

"I am going to take a shower," I tell Tobias. He nods. I take as quick of a shower as possible, though I can't move that fast. A single scar runs down the middle of my stomach from my stitches. I hop out of the shower and pull on the shorts and t-shirt Tobias brought me. He comes in and we brush our teeth together. We both crawl into the bed and fall asleep. I dream of the future with River.

For the next few days, we spend at the hospital bonding with River. Since I am still supposed to be resting, Tobias is running back and forth to Dauntless to get the things we need. I finally get to go home today, but it will be strange going without River. We still have to wait two more days before she can come home. Around 9:00 in the morning, Tobias leaves to go back to Dauntless grab me some clothes. He takes all our other belongings back when he goes. It's about 10:15 now, he should be back soon. I'm left in the hospital room with River. I walk over to her changing table. I gently set her down and unbutton her black onesie. She starts giggling.

"Aww," I coo. "You are always so happy, huh?" She smiles again. I start to change her dirty diaper and her smile quickly fades. She starts whimpering. "Oh baby, I know it's uncomfortable," I tell her. Dr. Scott says I should talk to her as much as I can, even though she doesn't understand yet. I quickly change her into a new diaper so she stops crying. I change her into a black and white striped onesie and a little black beanie. She immediately starts laughing again. I pick her up and cradle her in my arms. She starts sucking on her thumb.

"Are you hungry, Ri Ri?" I walk over to where the nurse left a bottle for River. It's already heated up for her. I sit back down on the bed and hold River in my arms. I fed her the bottle. Once she is done, I burp her and play with her on the bed. At 11:00 Tobias walks in with a large bag.

"Hey," he says kissing me on the top of my head.

"Hey, what took so long?" I ask.

"Christina insisted on getting you a new outfit." I laugh at that. Of course, she did.

"Okay then, I'll go get changed. I'm allowed to leave at noon." He nods and I stand up. I grab River and the second she sees Tobias, she squeals. She already loves him so much.

"Hey baby," he says, kissing her nose.

"What about me," I say pouting my lip. He laughs and pulls me into a kiss. I smile and head into the bathroom with the bag of clothes. I end up wearing a denim overall dress over a black hoodie and black tights. I have my combat boots on and I leave my hair down. I still haven't taken off my necklace from Tobias. I walk back out of the bathroom ready to get out of this place, but also anxious to leave River for the first time.