CHAPTER TWO

"Daddy wake up!" exacts a small voice. A fallacious groan escapes from my mouth.

"No not now! Ten more minutes please!" I say melodramatically. Abigail giggles and crawls in next to me.

"But you have to daddy." she pleads.

I turn my head and face her. "And why is that?"

"It's my birthday!" I ponder for a second and then turn away.

"Oh, it's not that important then."

"Daddy!" she squeals, genuinely convinced. I laugh as I pull her into an embrace.

"Just like her mother." I mutter under my breath; hardly audible. "Happy birthday Abigail." I say while kissing the top of her head. She snuggles into me and we lye there for a little bit longer before actually getting up.

Why must this be so complicating? I ask myself impatiently. For her birthday, Abigail had begged me to put her light hair into two braids,- where she got the idea, is still unknown to my mind.

I am trying to master the fine art of this concept when a sudden knock interrupts my attempts. "I'll be right back." I inform Abigail despite the look of disapproval etched onto her face.

As I open my apartment door, a girl with black hair and brown eyes comes into view. "Christina?"

She nods. "Hey Four." Christina pauses before continuing. "I just thought I'd come over, it being what day it is and all." She glances at the ground with a somber expression.

I freeze. What is she talking about, Abigail's birthday? The solemn look on her face tells me otherwise. I glance up at Christina, somewhat confused. All she is doing is staring at me waiting for my reaction; unaware of the fact that I can't remember the significant event of this day that she has mentioned.

I search my mind and- no. A cruel, cold, betraying thing called reality washes over me. How could I forget?

Christina lays a comforting hand on my shoulder. She had probably took note of the sudden change of expression on my face. "Remember what I said." I just nod and gesture for her to come in.

As we enter the room where Abigail sits (still frowning), Christina gasps. "Oh god, is that-?"

I don't wait for her to finish the sentence. "Yes." My reply is halfhearted and almost offensive to Abigail- as if I don't really care, which is not the case at all.

Christina examines her closely. "She looks exactly like her too." I stay silent, still caught in a state of disbelief.

My insides feel hollow and empty. I didn't think I would ever forget Tris's death; maybe get over it, but never disregard it. Abigail might just have that effect on me; cause me to forget the bad and embrace the good.

"Daddy?" I turn my gaze towards Abigail, who, at the moment is looking at Christina apprehensively. I walk over and tuck a blonde strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hey sweetie. This is Christina, a friend of mine and-." I stop myself.

"And mommy's?" Abigail asks, eyes sparkling with curiosity. I stare at her in shock. All the time I've had with Abigail I've had to pick and choose my words carefully, to keep from mentioning Tris, and to save her from having to carry the heavy, painful burden of loss.

"Yeah." I mutter, my eyebrows crinkled with confusion as to how this question came to her mind.

Christina turns her direction to Abigail. "What in the world did you do to her hair?" she asks looking at me pointedly. I shrug, forgetting the previous events for a second. Where was I suppose to learn how to braid? It was an Amity thing. "So you can shoot a perfect bull's-eye yet you cannot braid?" I freeze. Christina knows that guns can be a touchy subject for me, so why would she bring it up? She gives me a look that says "We will talk about this later."

Abigail sits on the couch fingering the two braids that make up her hair (compliment of Christina.) with a huge smile spread across her face. Christina pulls me aside into the other room. "Thanks for doing that." I say as she cracks the door to where we can still keep and eye on Abigail.

"Your welcome. If I wouldn't have, then her hair would probably look like a cross between frayed rope and a rats nest." she replies nonchalantly.

"Once a Candor always a Candor." I mumble, intentionally saying it at a volume in which she can hear. Christina scowls at me and then her expression grows serious.

"Listen, Four, there have been rumors going around about the genetic dilemma arising once again." I stare at her.

"You can't be serious."

Christina nods. "I am though."

"No!" I shout. Okay, so maybe I was still defensive over the fact that the Bureau made me feel ordinary, telling me that my Divergence was fake, and my genes weren't pure; but that is not the reason as to why I am so enraged now. I lost too many people close to me in the previous genetic problem, and I'm not going to let that happen again.

Unfortunately Christina continues. "Four, they need people to sneak inside the Bureau and make sure that they are not trying to repeat the past; they need a... prodigy."

My anger suddenly grows. "No! I told you, I'm done with guns! I-"

"You don't have to use a gun Tobias!"

I grow stiff. (A/N: No pun intended! Promise!) She used my real name. "Don't call me that." The label reminds me too much of Tris and I don't need that right now.

She nods. "Will you do it though?"

I shake my head. "Sorry Christina, but there is no way I can do this without my feelings getting the best of me." If I just so happened to run into David, well, lets just say I don't really care if his memory was erased. He left me without Tris, and Abigail without a mother; the guy is a monster, whether he knows it or not.

Christina narrows her eyes at me and then says, "Fine."

When we return to the room where Abigail sits she comes running up to me. "Daddy! Look what your friend did to my hair!" I smile despite what Christina just told me and pull her into to an embrace.

"They look great, sweetie." It's at this moment that I wonder if the potential genetic problem could effect Abigail and decide that if it does, I will do anything to protect her,- even if that includes sneaking into the Bureau.