The Heart's Melody | ✅

Chapter 21: You have got to be kidding me

"You're getting married?" Shauna was the first to speak.

"Yup," Tris answered smiling happily.

"You?" Uriah asked pointing at her.

"Ahem," she replied.

"Tris Prior, who thinks marriage is for losers, gets married?" Lynn asked and some of the married women scoffed, while the men mostly laughed or chuckled.

"Yeah," Tris confirmed again.

"The same Tris Prior that said that she would only get married if she were abducted by aliens, forced to eat Brussel sprouts, made to watch "The Brady Bunch" and forced to wear pink floral dresses, since those scenarios were just as unlikely as her getting hitched?" Marlene asked and Tobias started laughing.

"Yeah, dude. I'm getting married," she said with a wide grin.

"Are you dying?" Uriah asked.

"No," Tris said appalled.

"Do you have a brain tumor that makes you all crazy?" Marlene asked and her brother replied for his fiancée.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? That she would have to be insane to marry me?" he asked and could almost swear all four of them would reply.

"Yeah," Marlene, Uriah, Lynn and even Tris answered which prompted most of the people gathered there to laugh.

"You're really getting married?" Lynn asked more calmly then before.

"Yeah and I know what you think. It's true that I've always considered people who get married to be really messed up shits," she said and avoided to look at anyone who was married. "But Tobias and I love each other and he is it for me," she added.

"She is it for me," Tobias agreed with his fiancée. "We thought things through and decided that we want to do this. We could have lived on just as boyfriend and girlfriend, but we want to commit to each other and in front of our loved ones."

"Oh, my baby, I'm so happy," Natalie said and stood up to go and hug her daughter. She embraced her tightly and kissed her head while whispering how much she loved her and that she only wished the best for her. She then hugged her future son-in-law and one by one everyone congratulated them until only Andrew remained.

"Dad?" Tris asked uncertain. She knew that he had a rough time accepting that she was a grown up and overreacted when he found out about her relationship. But since then he seemed supportive.

"I can't believe my baby girl is getting married," he said with tears in his eyes.

"Tell me about it," she joked. Andrew hugged her tightly and tried to think of how to ask her what he needed to without Tobias hearing him.

"Are you sure, sweetheart? I don't want you to do something just because I or your mother or even Tobias expect you to do. We will all love you regardless," he said in a whisper, trying to reassure her that even if she opted otherwise they would still support her. Andrew and Natalie learned a lot about their daughter and somehow regretted many wasted years. They did their best raising all three of their children, but somehow their youngest gave them more headaches than the other two siblings combined. But nevertheless they loved Tris just as much as they loved Shauna and Caleb. They both felt betrayed and disappointed whenever they learned of yet another lie the girl told them. They also knew that Tris felt rejected and worthless compared to her older siblings, nothing farther from the truth, but the mind of a child is often misunderstood by a parent and one could only hope to be the best parent one can be. He and Natalie swore to be more open-minded and supportive when it came to Tris' choices, but hearing that she wanted to get married seemed odd to them, as it did to everyone else. The girl was always very verbal about not wanting to be like her sister and brother and yet there she was announcing her engagement. Andrew felt it was his duty to both question her reasons and reassure her of an alternative in case she did it for anyone other than herself.