54- We May Never Fully Heal

**Zuri's POV**

Ever since we found out about the twins, Sav and Daveed have been treating me like a fragile piece of art. Daveed was already super protective over us, but it has intensified by a thousand. Not only towards me, but towards Sav as well because she's carrying his little princess. I'm worried that he's going to burn himself out by working so hard and trying to be responsible for every little thing. He doesn't let us work too much in the babies' rooms anymore, so he asked Caroline and Armoni if they would be able to help with it. They are more than happy to help, but I know Sav was looking forward to doing it herself. It's one of those things that make her feel like she's doing something important for our family. She can still do the light stuff, but she said it isn't the same. She's so stubborn.
As far as school goes, I will only be doing online classes once the fall semester comes around. Being home will be less stressful for the twins and I refuse to take any risks. Today, Sav and I are finishing our plans for our gender reveal, but we still haven't told anyone that there is a bonus baby. I can't wait to see how everyone reacts. This weekend we're going to have everyone over at our house, so this whole week is being spent preparing the house and getting the things we need.
Daveed comes out of the bathroom while Sav and I remain in bed, "I'm leaving for work. My credit card is on the island in the kitchen, so if you two need anything, use it. Just shoot me a text if you need to leave the house and when you get to where you are going so that I know you make it safely. I love you." He gives us both kisses.
Sav is still asleep, so I speak for her, "We love you too. Have a good day at work."
I fall back asleep and we don't wake up again until after eleven o'clock. Pregnancy seriously is exhausting, but it has its rewards. We get to sit here and brainstorm names for the millionth time, but nothing ever sounds good enough. It's like the world is running out of names or something.
"I'm going to post a status on my social media page and ask for baby name suggestions for either gender to see what everyone comes up with," Sav said. At this point, I think that's a good idea. We don't want to name them after anyone for their first names because we want them to have their own identities, but I do want to use Daveed's first and middle names for the twins' middle names for sure. I just need to find first names that go with their middle names. Within ten minutes, the status was overflowing with baby names. One comment, in particular, stands out and Saviera and I fall in love with the idea.
Our old friend from high school, Jackie Froeb, commented, "*If one of you has a boy and the other has a girl, you should do Jackson and Jillian. Jack and Jill for short.*"
"That is brilliant! And so freaking cute!" Sav exclaimed.
"It seriously is! Jackson LaVaughn Laurens sounds perfect." I love it.
"So what should we do for baby boy number two? We obviously should stick with J names."
"How about Julian? Julian Daveed Laurens." It sounds just as good.
"I love it. Now, Jillian's middle name. I say, she has our middle names. Jillian Mirabella-Rose Laurens. It's long, but Mirabella-Rose is adorable together and I want our kids to have a piece of all of us. Besides, she's the only girl so we have to be extra." She said.
"I like it, but what if we have other kids? Our middle names will be all taken up." I don't think I want more than three kids, but once they're here I might change my mind.
"Then we can use your mom and dad and my mom and dad for middle name inspirations. I don't see us having more kids anytime soon though. We're already starting to catch up to Daveed's parents." She laughs, but she isn't joking. Our plates are about to be very full.
"I guess it's settled then. Jackson, Julian, and Jillian. We should go get three onesies and have their names put on them at the graphic design place by the mall. It'll only take them about fifteen minutes for something that simple. We'll do Jillian's name in pink and the boys' will be blue." I suggested.
"Okay, let's go. Shoot Daveed a text and for his sanity, we will use his card." She grabs his card and I sent the message.

**Daveed's POV**

My phone sounds with a message from Zuri: *We're going to get onesies made for the babies at the place by the mall. Let you know when we get there. love you!*
I text back: *You're taking my card right?*
Zuri:*Yes, I promise.*
Me: *Okay drive safe. Love you too*
This class is dragging on today. I only assigned a short essay for the students to write and turn in by the end of class. I like having easy days on Wednesdays because it's like taking a breath before finishing the week strong. It also gives me time to get caught up on grading other assignments while they work instead of doing a lecture the whole time.
Thirty-five minutes pass and I realize Zuri never texted letting me know they made it safely. I step into my office and call her cellphone, but it goes straight to voicemail. When I check her location, it says her location cannot be found. I check Sav's location and it says she's at home, so I call and get no answer from her either. At this point, I can't breathe. It's like the past is happening all over again, so I can't sit around here and wait.
"Class is dismissed." I announce to the class, "If you're not finished with the essay, just turn it in on Friday."
I grab my keys and leave the classroom before the students even get out of their chairs. When I get home, Zuri's car isn't there and neither are they, but Sav left her phone in the living room. I leave home and go to the graphic design place and they aren't there either.
"Has two women showed up to make onesies for three babies?" I ask the employee.
"I'm sorry, I don't give out that kind of information." He responded without even looking at me.
"If you don't tell me, I swear I'll beat your ass and knock all this shit over! They might be in danger right now, so I have to know." I threaten.
"Okay, okay! Calm down. They just left about ten minutes ago. Maybe a little longer, but yes they were here." He said.
"Can I use your phone?" I ask.
"Our phone line is down right now, unfortunately. Sorry man. One of the women asked me the same thing, but I don't have a phone of my own." Okay, so at least I know Zuri tried getting ahold of me. But I still need to know where they are.
I get back in my car and check my online bank account. I need to know if they might have made any extra stops or something. If they swiped the card, it'll show up on my recent transactions. I don't know why I didn't think to do that before going inside the graphic design place and threatening that hippie, but fuck it. I'm panicking. My account shows a transaction for a fast food place nine minutes ago. That doesn't mean my card couldn't have been stolen though, so I can't be relieved until I see them. When I get to the food place, they aren't there. An employee easily confirmed that they did stop through the drive-thru though, so that's a relief. I head home to see if that's where they are now.
When I pull into our driveway, I see Zuri's car. Relief floods me and I rush inside to see them looking around for something.
"Thank God you're both okay. I've been looking everywhere for you. What happened to you letting me know when you get to the shop? Did something happen?" They come and hug me.
"I'm so sorry. I dropped my phone in the parking lot at the graphic design place. My phone completely shattered because my case wasn't on it and they didn't have a working phone, but they're pretty fast so I was going to have Sav text you when we got back home, but we can't find her phone and it took us a few extra minutes to get home because we were really hungry so we got some fries and burgers." Zuri explained. I'm still holding on to them as my life depends on it and I can't seem to let them go. What happened with Sav has permanently affected all of us. I don't want to control where they go and tell them they can't live normal lives when I'm not around, but if I could keep them with me twenty-four seven, I would. We may never fully heal from that tragedy.