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JACK

Rumi is finally cleared to leave the hospital, and I had been dreading this day since she woke up.

Not because I didn’t want her to heal and go home but because the fire left nothing salvageable, nothing left to go home to.

Both her and Ava lost almost everything in the fire, anything that they didn’t have on them or in their car.

Ava handled the news fine, just thankful that Rumi and Evee were okay, but I was worried Rumi wouldn’t feel the same.

She’s worked so hard to get to where she is, and everything in that house stands for the life she made for herself after leaving Minneapolis.

And now, it’s all gone.

But I should’ve known she wouldn’t care, that the tangible stuff didn’t matter to her, that it’s all replaceable.

I’m not scared of starting over, firefighter , she told me when I broke the news that the house and all of her things couldn’t be saved.

Emerson offered the girls to stay with her, having already chatted with Ava about possibly moving in—knowing about my plan to ask Rumi to move in with me the day of Trevor finding her—but I convinced Rumi to stay with me.

“I could get used to living in your clothes,” Rumi says from her spot on my couch.

Her hair is damp and brushed back, having showered when we got home from the hospital.

The bruises on her face and neck are fading, the cut on her lip almost healed from the wound Trevor inflicted almost a week ago, but the skin around her eyes is still pretty swollen.

Her feet are in my lap as we watch one of Evee’s favorite movies. She’s barely staying awake on her mom’s chest, and I want to show them both the surprise I have planned before she falls asleep for the night.

“I need to show you two something,” I say softly and then gently move Rumi’s legs off me, so I can stand.

“Right now?” Rumi asks, surprised, and I hide my smile at the slight annoyance in her tone.

“Yes, pretty girl. Right now.” I lift Evee from Rumi’s chest, her arms stretching before rubbing her eyes with her palms as she looks at me with droopy eyes.

Rumi stands, still moving a little stiffly from the injuries to her side along with the bruises on her arms and legs, and anger stirs in my gut. I tamp it down, keeping my face neutral, wishing there was more to do than just wait for that fucker to get what he deserves.

I interlace my hand with hers and lead her down the hall to one of the bedrooms, the one I’ve been working in the last two weeks—since the last night Rumi was here.

I was driving myself crazy when I wasn’t at the hospital with Rumi. When Evee slept in the Pack ’n Play, I worked in here, wanting it to be perfect for when I finally got to ask Rumi the question that’s been heavy on my mind since the first night she spent here.

Opening the door and turning on the light, I lead Rumi into the nursery I put together with the help of Emerson.

Deciding to do a jungle theme with rainbow accents, I wanted it to capture the children’s book Rumi is writing, The Rainbow of Emotions, and her main character, Callista the Chameleon.

I know the book is her dream, but I also know that she is writing it with Evee in mind.

With Emerson’s help, we were able to create a space that is perfect for her.

Rumi’s hands go to her mouth as her eyes take in the room, and I wrap my arm around her, pulling her into Evee and me.

Knowing Rumi lost all of Evee’s things in the fire too, I might have gone a little overboard with replacing it all.

But I couldn’t help it.

These two deserve the entire world, and I vow to do everything in my power to give it to them.

“Do you like it, Evee girl?” I ask her, bouncing her in my arms. She’s more awake now as her eyes roam the space.

I wanted the nursery to feel like you were walking into Rumi’s book, the sage green walls wrapping the room in warmth, the hand-painted vines and animals Emerson did to make the space feel even more playful.

A rug in the shape of a rainbow in the center of the room ties everything together, and the wooden crib is filled with rainbow-striped pillows and every stuffed animal I could find at the store.

“Okay, well we’re going to have to find another place for those if we want Evee to have any room to sleep,” Rumi says with a laugh, her eyes glistening as she turns to me. “I didn’t realize how closely you were listening when I told you about all my ideas for the book.”

I look down at Rumi, watching as she wipes her eyes, a smile on her face as she notices frames lining the walls. “Oh, those are for the book pages. Thought it would be a nice touch.”

“Jack,” she breathes, looking up at me. “I can’t believe you did this.”

I press a kiss to the top of her head. “Well believe it, baby. You and Evee deserve the best, and I plan on spending my life giving it to the two of you.”

We both look around the room in comfortable silence, only Evee’s claps and squeals filling the air, and I notice Rumi looks at the wooden plate above Evee’s crib—it’s blank for now, only because I didn’t know her middle name.

“Oh, Emerson is going to finish that, but I need Evee’s middle name. We wanted to put both on there. And I wasn’t sure if you’d want it to say ‘Evelyn’ or ‘Evee’.”

Rumi rolls her lips together, like she wants to say something but doesn’t know how.

After a moment, she finally says, “Her middle name is Jade. Evelyn Jade.” It comes out as some sort of admission, but I’m not sure why.

“Okay,” I say carefully. “I’ll let Emerson know.”

Rumi shifts her weight back and forth on the balls of her foot. “I didn’t realize it until recently, but I named her after you.”

There’s no way I heard her right. “What?”

Rumi lets out an exhale. “The night of my accident, I saw you but I didn’t remember.

Or, I thought I didn’t. But, when the nurse asked me for her name, I knew it was going to be Evelyn.

I had that name picked out for most of my pregnancy, but I was between a few middle names.

” I nod my head, watching her as she looks at Evee and then to me.

“But for some reason, I knew her middle name was Jade. And now, I know why.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because of your eyes. Some part of me remembered them, remembered how they looked at me, how they made me feel like everything was going to be okay, that I was safe.”

“Evelyn Jade,” I whisper, absorbing Rumi’s words.

She named her daughter after me .

She remembered me , remembered that I saved her.

But she was truly the one to save me.