chapter twelve -:- forever times three

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Normani heard buzzing in her ears. It made her wonder if Lauren heard the same thing in one of her ears all the time. It must get annoying, she thought, trying to will away the noise.

As soon as the white noise dissipated her processed thoughts came rushing back, hitting her like a truck as she realized that Dr. Wilks just said that the little girl that was resting safely in her arms came from a home where the man she trusted possibly touched her in ways that no human should ever touch a child.

"It's only an assumption on my end, but memories like that, that are left alone could be detrimental to the development of a child. I think it would be best to get a therapist to help solve her issue of being undressed or even touched for that matter."

And suddenly it made sense. Why Lauren only wanted to shower. Why she didn't let anyone see her unless she had underwear on, even if Ally was being dressed right beside her. Why she refused to go into a room – or let Camila go into a room – if they were alone.

"Here's the prescription for the inhaler, and here's a card to one of the top Children Therapists in LA. I'll be sure to call her personally to ensure you get an appointment."

"Thank you, Dr. Wilks. You've been a lot of help."

"Of course. Call if you have any concerns, and I'll see you all again at the end of August."

Normani numbly nodded her head before leaving the room, heading to the waiting room to find Dinah holding both Ally and Camila in her arms. The two were fast asleep, much like Lauren was.

Together the couple left the pediatrics office, a heavy feeling settling over both of them, though Dinah couldn't figure out why.

Normani buckled Lauren into her car seat and took Ally from her wife so the woman could get their last child in, before finally taking a seat in the driver's seat and starting the car.

"Is everything all right?" Dinah asked carefully as she sat at the front and shut the door, looking to her wife who had a face of both sadness and frustration.

"No, Dinah. It's not," Normani grit out, reversing the car from the parking spot and starting to drive in the direction of their home.

"Talk to me, Mani. What happened?" Dinah asked, worried that Dr. Wilks did something to Lauren or said something to Normani about their parenting. Dinah knew how much Normani hated being critiqued on her parenting.

"It's so fucked up," the darker woman said, feeling a sob crawl up her throat. Dammit, their whole family was a fucking mess today with the crying.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's fucked up," Dinah said calmly.

"Dr. Wilks thinks that Lauren was sexually assaulted in her last home."

Dinah, similar to Normani's initial reaction, froze for a brief moment. She was stunned about the words that left her wife's mouth.

When she finally came around she instantly grabbed her phone, opening her contacts as she began to scroll through them.

"What are you doing?" Normani questioned, looking to her wife's device momentarily before looking back to the road.

"I'm calling Demi to get that son of a bitch locked up," Dinah gritted out, ready to hit the contact of the caseworker before her device was snatched away. "Normani."

"Dinah, it was an assumption. You call her and who knows what'll happen. We could get the girls taken from us. I'm going to get Lauren an appointment with a therapist, and hopefully, she'll help us figure out why Lauren fears things the way she does."

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