Faction before blood?

Chapter 12

At 16 weeks my little bump could be seen through t-shirts and tank-tops, so to avoid the rumor mill, that had finally calmed down a little, I switched to sweatshirts and loose cardigans. Every time Eric would see me dress in something baggy, he would frown disapprovingly. He wanted to declare my pregnancy to the whole compound. Not that he had to wait much longer.

I've had my second ultrasound, again with Eric's brother being our doctor. I think he was one of the only people Eric trusted, to not fuck anything up.

The initiates have been here for a month now and I started to realize that the constant overseeing of the training, drained Eric's energy. He didn't only have the transfers to turn into suitable members, but he also had to make sure the dauntless born didn't get too cocky to fuck up their ranks.

The first stage would take 10 weeks in total. After that, 5 weeks of emotional training, also known as the sims and one final week to prepare them for the fear landscapes, with the final test, that would wrap initiation up.

The war games would take place in the last week of combat training, while visiting day was exactly two months after choosing.

My brother had made the first weeks of initiation hell for Eric. Defying him at every turn, Eric was close to snapping, especially since the tight knit group of candors caused a lot of problems.

The two girls from the training room were always found, wondering around the halls after hours. They spent a lot of time inside the member's apartments and I could only guess what they were up to.

The brunette one, Kayla, hadn't forgiven me for cutting her hair into a bob-style and glared at me every time I walked by, making me snicker in satisfaction.

The Redhead candor, Eric threw off the roof, managed to nail an erudite girls hand to the target, claiming 'the knife slipped'.

He earned himself a punch to the nose from Four and after waking up in the infirmary, with the latter being broken, he was sentenced to 4 weeks of cleaning duty in the mess hall.

I often met Belle for lunch or the others throughout my day, eventhough my new program was keeping me on my toes constantly. Metaphorically spoken, since I was really sitting all day long.

I tended to work out in the morning for at least half an hour, before going to the office, to make up for that.

I wasn't really going out at night, since I was way too tired. They usually consisted of a quiet dinner and some adult time.

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.

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Today marked the start of my eighteenth week. I had gained more than 13 pounds and I was slowly starting to show, despite my sweaters. According to all the pregnancy books I horded, my baby was now a little bit bigger than a pear.

For the last few days I had felt strange flutters in my underbelly, every time I sat down or walked. Since I didn't want Eric to worry, I never told him.

As I was walking towards our usual table in the mess hall, consisting of Eric, Wayne, and a few other leaders, I placed a hand on my belly, furrowing my brow.

Not being fooled by my smile, Eric looked at me concerned, pulling me into him.

"Is everything alright, Amy?" he asked. I turned my upper body towards him, wanting to answer his question, but I felt something inside me move and I gasped.

"Amy?!" Eric called concerned, making a few heads turn around to look at us.

"Everything's alright... I guess..."