To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series

Chapter 73

Several months later...

(Hosanna's POV)

I lay in bed with Eric in the morning.  We just hold each other as we wake. Eric nuzzles his face where my neck meets my shoulder. I squeal when he tickles me, the stubble on his jaw scratching my skin. He runs his strong fingers gently down my neck tattoo, along my collar bone. Lower he strokes my skin until...
"Eric?" I ask.
He hums a reply. "We should probably get up soon," I comment.
We've been so busy the past few months.  There haven't been any issues with the Factionless since we spoke to Mama, so that's good, but we've been meeting with Jeanine lately.  Eric wasn't kidding about the leaders' workload.  Once we return from our weekly trips to Erudite, we have a ton of work to get done in our offices.  We've luckily had our workload shortened on those meeting days though.  On top of that, I'm Mia's matron of honor and her wedding plans are occupying most of my evenings after work.  I find it difficult to believe we had such a beautiful wedding planned out in part of a day and it's taking her months to plan hers, but then again it's absolutely huge.  All of our friends are standing up and she does have a taste for extravagance.
Eric groans but nods his head in agreement.  At least Jeanine is meeting with all of the leaders here at Dauntless after lunch today.
I toss the sheets off and stand up. I turn around to see Eric staring at me in a daze. "What?" I ask confused from the expression on his face.
He sighs, raking his eyes across me. "Can't we just...?" he asks looking back at my eyes.  I grin wildly at him. I know what he wants and he knows he's won this time. He slides across the bed and pulls me onto his lap.

*****

I can't keep the smirk off my face as I sit next to Lydia at breakfast. "Why are you in such a good mood this morning? I heard Jeanine is coming today," she inquires.
I just shrug and start on my omelet. I take a sip of my coffee and Mia chimes in beside me. "You'd think after all this time, the honeymoon would be over," she jokes.
"Well... considering yours will be soon, I'd hope that every day after the wedding would be bliss," I comment before taking another bite.
Eric gives me a look signifying that he likes my answer. I know he's pretty proud of himself and how well we're still doing. Married life really is wonderful.
Mia rolls her eyes. "Yeah, but you two are like rabbits," she says crinkling her nose.
"You never know. Maybe Ryan is half rodent," Eric teases causing Ryan to spit out his coffee. Mia pats his back as he coughs.
"Not funny, Eric," Mia pouts. Eric shrugs, meanwhile Lydia is actually chuckling.
When Lydia calms down, she asks, "But seriously, what's this about today?"
"We all wanted to discuss our plans for the seminars," I respond and leave it at that. That'll help her to not say too much in public. This is a leaders' only conversation and I'd like to keep it that way.
She cringes.  I know none of us enjoy meeting with Erudite, especially with what's going on with Jeanine but we'll suck it up, deal with it and try to make this city a better place in one way or another. 

*****

Eric and I arrive at the conference room and I realize that Sam isn't here.  Now that I think about it, he wasn't around this morning for our workout either.  I stop before Zander.  "Where's Sam?" I ask.
"He took the day off.  That's all I know," he replies.
I nod noticing that one of my brother's guards is here instead, Ray.  I try to smile at him and take my seat beside Eric. I should have my mind on this meeting but I can't stop thinking about Sam. He's never taken any time off. I hope nobody in the family is sick.
"What's the matter?" Eric whispers to me as Ryan and Lydia enter the room.
"I'm just worried about Sam," I tell him.
"He's fine. He's just busy today with something personal," he explains.
I look to him in question. He gives me a confident smirk. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough," he replies.  He can't contain the actual smile on his face.  He must know what's going on.
I nod as Max joins us and sits next to me.  After a moment, when it's about time for the meeting to start, I hear a clacking on the hall floor increasing in volume as Jeanine nears.  She's escorted into the conference room by a few of our guards as well as hers and a couple of her assistants. 
We all stay seated, as is Dauntless tradition.  It's been a rule from the beginning of Dauntless that we don't put any outside faction leaders above ourselves while in our own faction.  I was always raised to stand for guests so this is difficult for me to do out of habit. 
Jeanine walks to the head of the table and addresses us.  "Thank you all for making time out of your busy schedules and agreeing to join us here today," Jeanine starts before taking her seat.  "I believe it is of the utmost importance that we go into the seminars this year with the same perspective.  If we want advancement in this city, we need to present our desires together and all must back the ideas for this to work."
Her assistants pass around a stapled packet of papers to each of us while her personal guards stand behind her.  We discuss each point in depth beginning with the issue of food, how there is a lack of it within Erudite and Candor. We don't have much of an issue in Dauntless but we're content with backing their needs. Jeanine and I had previously planned out some points based on statistics she has of Amity's past harvests.  The rest of the issues almost seem minute in comparison to this but we discuss them regardless.  We turn to the final page of the packet to see that she wants to discuss prosperity in the city. 
Max clears his throat and responds, "I don't think this point in particular will sit well with Abnegation."  I agree and I've told her this on numerous occasions.  I tried to explain to her that we should attempt to sway them by accomplishing something great like the food production issue first before requesting this.  She still insisted that this is just as important as the other issues. 
Jeanine examines Max as if his opinion here doesn't matter.  "Nonetheless, I believe we should reveal all of our desires in the first place.  If we don't make our intentions known at the start of change, they can just be denied later," she attempts to explain.  Her voice she uses sounds like one you would speak to a small child with.  It's condescending in this instance and I don't like her speaking to Max in that manner. 
He gives her a cold stare and then turns to me.  "What do you think of this?" he asks me.
I clear my throat.  "I can see why Jeanine would want to lay out all intentions initially.  But I do agree that such a demand is not something that the Abnegation value.  They will most likely reject this request," I state. I know she doesn't like hearing it, but it's the truth.
I notice Jeanine's eyes, how they pierce a hole practically through me in this moment, but she takes a deep breath before responding.  "Well, if they respond in that manner, then we'll deal with it.  Again, I believe it's crucial to present all of our demands up front to get our point across," she replies.
Max nods, conceding this point.  I already spoke with him about all of our recent meetings.  If she's going to push this issue, we'll have to wait and see what direction everything will go.  There is no talking her out of what she has her mind set on.  I was hoping previously to talk some sense into her, but this confrontation at the seminars will cause further discord between Erudite and Abnegation.
Max looks to each of us in turn.  We know what this means.  "All in favor?" he asks us.  We all raise our hands.  "We're in agreement with you on this," Max tells Jeanine. 
She smiles wickedly and I see where Eric gets it.  I have the feeling that this will be the beginning of something tragic. 

*****

The elevator door opens to our floor late after a long day of work. We ate dinner in the cafeteria but then returned to our offices. With all of us in the meeting this afternoon, the workload was divided evenly and we're just coming home. I look to my phone and see a message from Mia.
"Shoot," I say.
"What?" Eric asks turning his head in my direction.
"I was supposed to help Mia pick out some decorations for the wedding," I explain biting my lip and texting her an apology.
Eric shakes his head. "This wedding of theirs is a little too extravagant in my opinion," he responds.
"Oh? And what if that's what I had wanted?" I grin sending the message.
He pushes me up against the wall, pinning my arms over my head. He roughly kisses my lips, then slowly my cheek and neck. "If you wanted that," he whispers blowing in my ear making my legs quiver. "Then I would have happily given it to you."
He continues to kiss my neck and then nibbles on my ear. "But that's not you," he states quietly and releases me abruptly.  I shake my head laughing when he laces our fingers together. He's such a tease.
His key is already in hand as he looks to me smirking. I think he loves the fact that he can cause such a reaction in me so easily. Eric unlocks the door and we walk in to dim lights with romantic music playing. He backs up and shuts the door quietly. I look to him in confusion.
He shakes his head at me. "Whoops, just play along," he whispers.
He stomps his feet and clears his throat loudly. He unlocks the door again but jiggles the handle a bit before opening the door, taking his time to do so. We step into our living room to see the lights on now. No music is playing but Ava and Sam are seated on the couch. She looks like she's fixing her hair and Sam is grinning like mad. I glance to Eric and he's staring at them.
"So?" he questions as we still stand in the doorway.
I look back to Sam as he grasps Ava's hand and lifts it. "Oh my goodness!" I exclaim covering my mouth. I seriously wasn't expecting this.
"We already called Pastor Roberts. He'll be performing the ceremony tomorrow afternoon. I called Charlotte and she'll be there. Zander is coming, too. I was hoping you both would come. Sam still has to tell his mom and sister but that's all," she explains and I'm blown away.
I run over to Ava and hug her. She laughs and hugs me back. "I'm so happy for you," I tell her. I look over to Sam as Eric places something in his hands.
"What's this for?" Sam asks Eric.
"These are the keys to your new apartment. It's near the tattoo shop but at the end of the hallway so it should be pretty quiet," Eric says.
"So we got it?" Sam confirms.
Eric nods. "It's fully furnished, so no worries there," he explains.
"Really? I thought only new members got furnished apartments," Sam questions.
"Well..." Eric says looking to me. "The furniture is all new. It's our gift to you both." I smile at the admission of my sneaky husband. I grasp him by the front of his shirt and kiss him. Ava laughs at us. I release him and hug Sam as Eric hugs Ava.
"I really want to thank you for the raise, the help with my sister in school, and the job for my mom," he tells me. I smile. I never told any of them about all of that.
"You're welcome," I reply quietly.
"I told you," he says to Ava. "She thought it was just a coincidence."
I shrug. "Well, all of the leaders' guards got a raise," I explain in my defense.
"It's almost double my previous pay. My sister and a few other kids get a ride to the school. My mom is working with the children in the nursery as one of the managers," he points out.
I shrug again. "You all deserve it. You've worked hard to get where you are and ensure the safety of your leaders. It's a prestigious position. The pay should accommodate the hard work," I explain. "About your family... someone should have stepped in. You should have had some help after your father's passing. That will change after today."
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"The leaders and I came to a decision today. We will be paying part of the rent for those families who lost the sole provider in a work related accident. Your mom and Zander's will have to fill out some paperwork but we'll allocate funds to them for that," I elaborate.
"Seriously?" he whispers. I nod in reply. He hugs Eric and me again. I know this has been a heavy burden for him and a few other families in Dauntless.
"This is our way of saying thank you to the families who gave so much for the faction. Your father's service and sacrifice means as much to us as it did to you," I say.

*****Thanks so much for reading!*****

Words of Wisdom:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬