I'll Be Your Family Now

Chapter 9: Change

"It's Tobias..." Caleb whispered. No. This couldn't be true. I look over at Beatrice, tears are running down her freckled cheeks and she jumped from the table she was sitting on. 

"Daddy!" She screamed. She wrapped her arms around me and I was too stunned to even think about hugging her back. I shook my head and pulled her arms off me.

"No, Beatrice. I'm not your dad. This must be some sort of mistake," I told her solemnly. She stepped back and pulled her arms around herself, rubbing one hand up and down her other arm. 

"But...you have to be," she said softly while turning to Caleb. "Right? Tobias has to be my dad. It was a blood test. That proves it," she says quickly and in a matter-of-fact tone. I was taken aback by the fact that she used my actual name and that she seemed to really want to be considered my daughter. Suddenly, I was hit by a thought that I hadn't even contemplated, and I blurted it out bluntly. 

"Who's her mother?" I asked, my voice very orotund. I couldn't believe that this wasn't the first question to pop into my mind. I'm also confused, because I've never come that close to doing anything like that except with...Tris. No. Caleb shuffled out of the room briskly, probably to perform another test with Beatrice's blood to find out who her mother is. We sat there for the next few minutes in agony, Beatrice refusing to even glance my way. She's stared out the window, silent tears were still making tracks down her face. God. I'm a horrible person. This poor girl had probably wondered about her father for her whole life and when she finally got to meet him, he told her that there's no way he could be her dad. I told her that it must be a mistake. How cruel of a person am I? He came back in eventually and confirmed that her mother was Tris. I lost it, which was a rarity for me. I've always been good at concealing my emotions and putting on a tough and intimidating mask, but now Tris's death hits me again full force. I was  forced to accept that Beatrice is my daughter. Nonetheless, some pieces of this puzzle still weren't adding up, and I turned to Caleb, seeking answers. 

"But how could this have happened?" I asked Caleb. She died in mere hours while I was gone. She would have had to had Beatrice before she died, but that didn't make sense...

"Tris must have been alive longer than we thought, because that gunshot didn't kill her. Perhaps she is still out there right now," Caleb mumbled. This was the biggest change I've ever come to face in my life. And change, like healing, takes time. But now I knew one thing. Tris might still be alive, somewhere, maybe outside the fence, and it was my dying wish to find her again. I would find her. I would learn to love again. I would be brave. 

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Idk guys! :) I'm thinking about wrapping this story up soon! It seems slightly sloppy to me, and I haven't read Allegiant in a year, so I think some stuff may be inaccurate.(Yikes!) Please comment and tell me if you would like me to continue or perhaps begin writing a sequel. I also have some hunger games fics that I'm editing and hope to be posting soon! Thanks to everyone who actually took the time to read my fic! :) You guys are kinda awesome.