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

Chapter 37 (Eric's POV)

I wake early in the morning to my beautiful wife laying beside me. She looks so peaceful in her sleep. I smile at how amazing our time together has been. Solitude with her is better than I thought it would be and gladly, no one from Dauntless has shown up here. Although, there aren't many cottages on this side of the pond.
I wasn't expecting to eat so well here at the cottage, usually we just ate whatever was simple in the past but Hosanna is changing that. She's planning on preparing most of the meals and so far dinner was fantastic. I tried to help a little but she did most of the work. She's teaching me how to cook more as we go though. So hopefully in the future, I can make her something nice or at the very least, be of more help.
We spent most of the day yesterday swimming in the pond, or relaxing by the water. Afterward, she insisted on cleaning up the cottage. I told her I didn't care if we cleaned but I guess she's not comfortable without everything being spotless. I laugh softly at my previous attempt of cleaning my apartment for her. The first time she set foot in there, she couldn't stop herself from cleaning and discovering where I shoved my mess to hide it from her. I bet that's how she discovered my clothes—they probably fell out of the closet on her as she did laundry. I grin as I imagine the avalanche of laundry consuming her as she opened the closet door.
I look down at my sexy wife. She's wearing some skimpy little nightgown one of her friends gave us as a gift. I've got to thank each of them for those. I can't help but admire how fantastic she looks in this. It's dark blue—almost black—see-through in some parts, and incredibly soft to the touch. I run my fingers across her nightgown to her cool skin. She's right—she is always cold, and I'm always hot. I never really noticed before.
I hear a soft sigh, signaling that I've woken her. She rolls over snuggling up to my body. She is quite cold. I wrap my arms around her and pull the blankets up. After a few minutes, I think she falls back asleep.
I kiss her cheek and I'm oddly reminded of when Jack did that at our wedding. I can't believe he told my fiancée that he was in love with her on our wedding day. That was pretty tactless. What kind of man does that? I didn't even approach her when we were younger because I thought she had a boyfriend. My father taught me to be respectful of other people's hearts and not to overstep their boundaries. I thought she was involved and I stayed back. Even though we were young, I still was raised differently I guess.
The more I think about it, Jack was eyeing her the whole time on our visit to Candor. I knew that something was going on after he kissed her hand but I figured that since she was in a different faction, he would back off. I was also hoping I was reading more into that gesture than I did, but clearly there was much more there than I thought. I am upset that he would do such a thing to her, to us, but I'm so glad that she dismissed him the way she did. I'm pleased that she agreed to stay away from him and other men. I was perfectly fine with telling her that I'll do the same. She was always the only girl I had eyes for and now she's mine forever, only mine.
I look down at her left hand resting on the pillow between our faces. I see her ring—my mother's ring—on her hand. I've got to admit, it still feels a little strange to be seeing it there after all these years, especially in this room. But it feels wonderful and kind of magical also. I sense as though my parents are still a part of my life and they've been watching over us, blessing our marriage with their presence.
I pull my wife closer and kiss her lips softly. I nuzzle my face into her hair. I can hear her sigh again. Her arms encircle me and soon we both drift off together in a completely restful slumber.

*****

After we eat breakfast and clean up the dishes, I pull the two larger bikes out of the storage shed. I make sure everything on them is tightened, fill the tires with air, and oil them before going inside to get my gorgeous wife.
I see her at the stove bending over with the oven door open.  She turns around with two pans in her hands, kicking the oven door shut.  I watch as she sets them down on a rack.  I notice the scent before me and I'm not sure what she made.  It smells both sweet and savory. 
"What's that?" I question.
"I baked a loaf of bread and banana bread," she tells me. 
"Oh.  They smell good," I say.  She smiles at me. 
I step closer and watch as she wiggles each of the breads from side to side in the pans while she holds them with hot pads.  I wrap my arms around her and laugh.  "What are you doing?" I whisper into her ear.
She giggles and turns her neck.  I must've tickled her.  "I'm making sure they don't stick," she explains.  I watch as she dumps them out one at a time onto the rack and she straightens them with gentle, cautious fingers. 
"Doesn't that burn your fingers?" I ask.
"Not if I move quickly," she informs me.  She wraps her arms around mine and sighs.  "These need to cool before I can slice them.  What should we do in the meantime?"
"I got some bikes out for us.  Do you want to ride with me?" I ask against her skin. 
She shudders in response before speaking, "I've never ridden a bike before."
I smile.  "I guess I get to teach you, too," I say thinking about how my father wasn't there to teach Lizzy.  It took a while because she was so afraid of falling but she got it after a couple of weeks. 
I coax her out of the kitchen and over just in front of the shed. I push up the kick stand with my foot and smoothly wheel the bicycle into place on the gravel path. She looks at me questioningly as if she has no idea what to do. I pat the seat encouraging her to come and sit down. She hesitantly comes over. Holding onto the handlebars for her with my legs on either side of the front wheel, I watch as she gets into position, toes touching the ground on both sides.
"Put your hands here," I instruct. She listens. "First things first, you need to know how to stop."
She laughs, "How do I stop?"
"These are your brakes. Pull on these," I say showing her how.
She smiles and practices. "Okay, I've got that down. What's next?" she jokes. I roll my eyes and laugh.
I step to the side, holding onto the handlebars and her seat. "You need to put your feet on the pedals and try to stay balanced. To move, just push the pedals forward. Use the handlebars to steer," I explain.
"That's all?" she questions.
"Pretty much," I tell her.
She looks up at me as I'm hunched over her still holding on. She kisses me once, twice. "That's really simple. I thought there'd be more to it," she says quietly. I smile.
"Do you want to give it a try?" I ask.
"Are you going to hold on?" she inquires in response.
"Only if you want me to," I reply.
"I'll try on my own, but you get to patch me up if I get hurt," she says.
I frown. "Are you sure you don't want me to hold on?" I question.
"Nope," she replies as she starts to move out of my hands. I watch as she pedals off into the distance like she already knew what she was doing. "Are you coming?" she asks over her shoulder before she disappears into the tree line.
I laugh running over to my bike. I start to follow her down the gravel trail and through the trees. I catch up to her after a minute. I can hear her giggling as I pull up to her side.
"You already knew how to ride, didn't you?" I ask.
"No, this is my first time," she says with a huge smile. "This is so fun."
"How are you so good at everything?" I mumble quietly.
"Don't know. Just lucky I guess," she answers.
I bike in front of her since I know the trail will narrow further ahead. I see a swarm of gnats approaching and I move my head to the side to avoid them but end up getting some on my shirt and arms. I brush them off with one hand. A moment later I hear Hosanna coughing and spit. "Gross!" she whines.
I laugh. "Baby, watch out for bugs," I shout over my shoulder.
"Now you tell me," she complains.  I laugh harder. "Not funny, Eric," she grumbles.
We continue down the path for some time going up small hills and around curves lined in trees and ground cover, the pond mostly within sight.  "There's a big hill up ahead," I say warning her when we start to approach my favorite spot. "If you start to go too fast, pull on your brakes a little."
"Okay," she responds.
I begin to pedal faster since this is the steepest hill on the path. I get to the edge and descend feeling the rush of the cool, crisp morning air blow past me as I careen down the hill. The scenery is breathtaking; the trees are full with greenery and the ground is covered in various plants and moss with a speckling of orange lilies. I hear my wife laughing behind me. She must've started down the hill. I find it difficult to describe how much I love the sound of her voice along with the chirping of the birds and the lapping of the water nearby. It's as if they belong in part to a hole that had existed inside my heart before, filling it in with joy and happiness, as if in this moment I've come the closest to peace that I've ever been.