55. Watch Me

       “ DOC !” Both women exclaimed in anger at the same time. 

       Nicole let out a breath, shoving her knife back in her pocket and storming towards him. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Holliday?!?!” She snapped. Her eyes shifted to the pictures in his hand and they widened, mouth coming open. 

       “What in the sweet hell is this?!?” He demanded, flapping them at her. 

       “Where’d you get these?” She asked breathlessly, taking them from him. 

       “I walked into the kitchen and found them smack-dab in the middle of the counter! Pray tell that someway, somehow , the W. Earp this is talking about is her ,” he pointed a heavy finger at Waverly, “and not Wynonna !” 

       Nicole could see that behind the anger in his eyes, there was worry and fear. She pushed her hand through her hair. “Why’d you come to us and not Wynonna?” She asked, avoiding the question he already knew the answer to. 

       “Because I don’t know where she’s run off to! She wasn’t at the Homestead.”

       “How do you know?” 

       “Because I checked , Nicole.” 

       The Officer knew it wasn’t like her to leave something about the baby laying around, for she wanted to prevent this very situation . “Ok, look.” She walked over and sat on the couch, Doc following in suit. “I know this is weird and unexpected and probably really scary for you, but-” 

       The door swung open again. “ HAUGHT FLASH, WE’VE GOT A PRO -” The older Earp stopped just as fast as she came in when she spotted Doc on the couch. 

       “Does ANYBODY knock anymore!?” Waverly demanded, trying to steady her racing heart for the second time. Nicole shot her a pointed look as she stood up, looking between the terrified Wynonna and the angry/confused Doc. The man slowly got up and stalked over towards the darker brunette. She began to slowly back away, eyes widening more than they already were. The room was silent, besides the ragged breathing from Wynonna and the sound of Doc’s boots hitting the hardwood. He got within a foot of her and stopped, looking down at her face, lip twitching. 

       Nicole went over, grabbing his upper arm and pulling him back slightly. “If you lay a finger on her, don’t think that I won’t haul your ass up to the station,” she growled through her teeth. 

       He ripped her hand off and gave her a one-shouldered shove with a fiery glare. “I would never ,” he snapped. She narrowed her eyes at him with a snarl. 

       Waverly shot up with a start, marching over and forcing him to turn towards her, bitch-slapping him across the face. “You better watch yourself, John Henry!” She barked, sticking her finger in his face. 

       His eyes went soft as he looked down at her, regret storming through his veins. His mouth came open slightly as he traced his eyes around at the three women’s faces. He settled on older Earp’s, turning back towards her. He raised his hands, gently resting them on her cheeks. “Why didn’t you tell me, Wynonna?” 

       Her eyes traced desperately over his face, trying to find words. “I . . .” She took in a heavy breath, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I didn’t wanna lose you.” 

       He furrowed his brows tightly. “Why on Earth would you lose me?” He asked softly, seeming to not understand why she would think that would happen. 

       Nicole shifted her glance to Waverly as she took a step back and she gave her a nod in agreement, so they both turned back to the kitchen to finish their meal while the two worked it out in some privacy. 

       “Yo-You’re not going to want anything to do with this baby. I already know that. And I’m not going to force you to, s-so if you want to go, that’s ok.” 

       Doc slid his thumbs up, wiping the tears that were falling from her eyes. “If you want me to be here for this baby . . . I’m all in.” 

       She looked up at him with doe eyes. He gave her a happy smile and the wall that she had built up between them crumpled. She slid her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. He wrapped protective arms around her, squeezing her tight as she let the tears fall. 

       Nicole and Waverly put their bowls in the sink and the redhead leaned against the counter, Waverly leaning back on her and wrapping Nicole’s arms around her front. “I’d say they worked it out,” the Officer whispered, watching how Wynonna curled the back of his vest in his fists and how he stroked his fingers through her hair. 

       “Yea,” the smaller girl breathed with a smile. 

       Wynonna pulled away after another minute or two, looking up at his bright blue eyes. “Why’d you come here if you were looking for me?”

       “I saw Officer Haught drop you off today, so I figured she’d be the one to know something about it,” he answered with a shrug. 

       “Yea, but why didn’t you just talk to me?”

       “You weren’t home.” 

       She cocked an eyebrow. “Yea I was. I didn’t leave until I came out of the bathroom and saw that the ultrasound pictures had disappeared.” 

       Doc blinked slowly. “That is indeed the one room I did not check,” he said quietly. She rolled her eyes at him, pulling out of his arms. “So . . . I think there are some things we should discuss . . .”

       “Like . . .?” She asked nervously. 

       “Well, there are a lot of things, Wynonna,” he said with a chuckle. “Where will the baby be sleeping? Who will babysit while we are out and about with Black Badge?” 

       Wynonna spun around to the couple in the kitchen. “Waves, can she have your room?” 

       The brunette’s eyes widened. “What?! No!”

       “Why not?” 

       “Cause it’s still my room . Give her Willa’s room. It’s closer to yours anyway.”

       Wynonna thought it over for a second before giving it a shrug as she turned back towards the gunslinger. “Willa’s room it is. And I’m sure Gus will watch her if we need her to.” 

       “Alright . . . And, um . . . Are we sure that . . . she is . . . my daughter?” He asked cautiously. 

       Her eyes widened for a beat, but she quickly scoffed. “Obviously.” 

       Waverly’s head snapped back to meet Nicole’s eyes, both equally wide. “Oh no,” they breathed. 

.  .  .

       “Can I get . . . two red Gatorades, one blue Gatorade, two waters, a bag of popcorn, nachos, a hotdog, and a pretzel with cheese?” Waverly asked the high school boy behind the concession stand. 

       “Oo, and a bag of peanuts,” Doc added from beside her. 

       He looked at them with slightly wide eyes as he picked up the price sheet laying on the counter by the register. “Uhm . . .”

       Waverly smiled apologetically as she took the paper from his hands and did the math in her head. He turned and grabbed the drinks, setting them in front of her. “$16.50,” she said with a smile, handing him a $20. 

       He blushed as he divvied up her change, another teen handing the popcorn and peanuts to them. They got the rest of their food and walked back to their seats on the metal bleachers. Waverly handed the hotdog and one of the red Gatorades to Wynonna, one of the waters and the popcorn to Dolls, and set her red Gatorade and nachos down next to Doc, who was happily munching on his pretzel, feet bouncing on the seat in front of him. She walked through the dugout and snuck up behind the redhead on the side of the field, pressing the final Gatorade against the back of her neck. 

       Nicole let out a hiss as she quickly turned around to the giggling brunette. “That was cold,” she whined, taking the bottle from her hand and wiping the condensation off her neck with the sleeve of her jacket. 

       “That was the point,” she smirked. 

       “Rude,” she mumbled, holding her hip as she leaned in for a quick kiss.

       Waverly smiled, ghosting the pad of her thumb along her jaw.  “When’s the game start?” She asked after she pulled away.

       Nicole tugged her phone halfway out of her pocket, checking the time. “They’re announcing the players in about 10 minutes.” 

       She nodded. “Are you nervous?”

       “I mean . . . not really right now. We’re the top seed at 9-1 playing the 6th seed at 4-6. And we look to be doing pretty good today, so . . .” She trailed off, looking towards the boys warming up their fielding. “It is Regionals, though. You never know.”

       “Yea . . . I think they’ll do great. They’re ready.”

       “They better be,” she mumbled. 

       Waverly squeezed her hand assuringly. “Tell ‘em I said good luck.” She leaned up, giving her one more kiss. 

       “I will,” Nicole assured with a dimpled smile. She turned away, heading back to her seat. 

       The players soon returned to the dugout when the game was about to start. They called out the opposing team, the Littlefield Cougars, first. “ And on the Visitor’s team, we have the Purgatory Blue Devils !” Their side of the bleachers erupted into claps and cheers. “ For your starters, hitting first is #6, 3rd baseman, Reuben Paderson !” Reuben jogged out to the third baseline as the team whooped and hollered teasing nicknames at him. “ #99, right fielder, Trey Lincoln! . . .  #21, 1st baseman, Miguel Sanchez! . . . #00, left fielder, Callum Moore! . . . #66, shortstop, Owen Yarber! ”

       “Let’s go, Owie!” The boys boomed in unison. Nicole snorted, shaking her head at them as she clapped. 

       “ #1, catcher, Devon Hartford! ” There was a noticeable drop in the loudness of the boys' cheers, the narcissistic catcher definitely not being a fan favorite. “ #11, center fielder, Carson Smith !” 

       “Daddy Long Legs!” They hollered, making his face go red as he high fived the boys that were already out there. 

       “ #22, 2nd baseman, Robbie Sanchez! . . . #40, pitcher, Jaxson Carlton! ” The starters on the third base lime shifted to make room for the rest of the team. “ #83, Zakary Woods! . . . #16, Leon Harris . . . #75, Taylor Bennington Jr.! . . . #5, Oscar Shaw! . . . #69, Scotty Schlemmer! . . . And #50, Kaleb Knoxing! ” The crowd gave the team a round of applause. “ The Blue Devils are coached by Marty Fasbinder and Nicole Haught .” 

       Nicole and Marty jogged out, the redhead going to the far end and Marty staying by home plate. They stood there for the playing of O Canada and then the team ran out into the field to their positions. Nicole stood between home and third and Marty went to first as the Cougar’s first batter walked out. She adjusted the Aviators on the bridge of her nose, letting out a puff of air as her eyes glued on Jax as he focused in on the batter. 

.  .  .

       By the fourth inning, the Blue Devils were down 2-4. The Cougars had been playing better than expected so the boys got thrown for a bit of a loop. This is How We Roll by Florida Georgia Line played through the speakers, signaling that country hick Owen was stepping up to bat. “Let’s go, Owen!” Dolls cheered, leaning his elbows onto his knees. Miguel was currently on third and Callum was on first with 2 outs. 

       The Officer gave Owen the signal for a hit and run, wanting to at least get Miguel home. He circled his bat in the air as the pitcher wound up, firing a fastball at him.

       That he crushed. 

       Right as the sound of the ball dinging off the bat rang through the air, he was off. The left and center fielder chased down the ball as it flew towards the back fence, but some miscommunication left it falling to the ground right in between them. 

       Nicole swung her arm around in circles as she eyed the outfield, screaming at Callum to pedal faster. The center fielder snatched up the ball, chucking it to second base. Miguel and Callum were home and Owen was almost at third base. The second baseman threw it towards their catcher, but his throw was too high and it went over his head, hitting the fence 10 feet behind him. “GO, YARBER!” She screamed as the catcher took off to fetch the ball. He sprinted as fast as his legs could take him as the pitcher ran forward to cover home plate. Owen jumped forward and slid as the catcher threw the ball to the pitcher. 

       The redhead’s heart thumped in her chest as she watched the umpire, waiting for his call on the play. He swung his arms out. “ SAFE !” 

       She clapped her hands once, drawing her fist back as she smiled at the boy happy trotting towards the dugout. “There we go, Wheels!” She smacked the back of his helmet as he went past, Devon walking into the batter’s box. 

       “Nice hands there, Feet,” he smirked at the catcher, making fun of the previous error. 

       “He threw it high, what was I supposed to do?” He scoffed. 

       “ Jump , Fatty.” The pitcher threw a ball that he didn’t swing at. 

       The catcher stood, tossing it back to him. “What’d you just call me?” He demanded, turning to face him. 

       “ Boys ,” the umpire warned. 

       “I said you should have jumped, Fatty. I would have caught that with no problem.”

       The catcher threw his mask and mitt off, shoving Devon. “ Asshole .” 

       He threw his bat down, pushing him back. “ Don’t touch me.” 

       “ Shit ,” Nicole mumbled as she sprinted towards the boys as punches started to fly. She grabbed onto Devon, trying to pull him away from the boy. “Knock it off!” She snapped. Her head snapped towards Marty. “Keep the boys in the dugout!” The umpire and his coach were holding onto the other boy, attempting to pull them apart. She got him away from the catcher and pushed him towards the fence. “What the hell is wrong with you, Devon!?! Do you want to get the team disqualified?!” 

       “He pushed me first, Coach!” 

       “Oh, but I bet you started it!” He rolled his eyes, wiping his finger under his bleeding nose. She narrowed her eyes at him but saw the umpire ejecting both of the boys. “Go get your crap together and find somewhere to sit out there,” she grumbled. 

       “Automatic out! That’s three!” The umpire shouted. She sighed, rubbing her collarbone where one of the other boy’s punches landed during the dispute as she followed him back to the dugout. 

       “Idiot.”

       “That was stupid, Devon.” 

       “You’re a dumbass.” 

       “You just had to ruin it for all of us.” 

       “Hey! It’s over and done with. Now get out there! Oscar, get padded up,” Marty snapped, giving them all a stern eye. They continued to mumble under their breath as they jogged out onto the field. The pissed-off catcher made a scene as he gathered his things and shoved them into his baseball bag. “Hartford.” He turned towards Marty with a glare. “Do you know what the rule about fighting is?” 

       “Nope,” he sighed, zipping his bag. 

       “You’re off the team. We have a zero-tolerance policy,” he informed, crossing his arms. 

       “What?!? Coach, c’mon!” 

       “No. You’re done for the season. I’ll talk to your parents after the game.” 

       His lip twitched as tears gathered in his eyes. “ Screw you, Coach,” he spat, storming out of the dugout. 

       “Make that three days of in-school suspension, too!” Marty barked. He shook his head as he walked past Nicole, going back onto the field. 

       She blinked for a few seconds, still trying to comprehend the last 5 minutes. She let out a heavy breath, rubbing her hands up and down her face. 

       She was immediately torn from her thoughts. “ NICOLE !” A familiar voice yelled. Her head snapped up and she quickly ran out of the dugout to find Waverly. She rushed around the fence, eyes widening at the sight. 

-  -  -

       The catcher threw his mask and mitt off, shoving Devon. “Asshole.”

       “Oh shit,” Wynonna mumbled, standing up.

       “Oh no,” Waverly gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as they watched the shoving turn into punching. They all watched Nicole run over, her and the umpire struggling to break up the fight. 

       The older Earp jumped off of the bleachers. “I’m gonna help h-” 

       Doc grabbed ahold of her arm, keeping her in place. “Oh no, you’re not.” 

       She pulled her arm away. “Yea, I am.” 

       “ Wynonna , the baby. This could turn ugly might fast and you don’t need to be in the midst of it.” 

       Her eyes widened as she glanced over to Dolls. “ Baby ?” He questioned with raised eyebrows. 

       “Uhm.”

       “Did you not tell him, Wynonna?” Doc asked with a confused brow. 

       “ I actually haven’t told anyone ,” she admitted, which was technically true. 

       Dolls stepped down from the bleachers, moving in front of her. “Ok, hold on. You’re pregnant ?” 

       “Mhm,” she mumbled, chewing on the inside of her lip.  He widened his eyes, throwing his arms out in front of him. “. . . With Doc’s baby,” she added. Waverly blinked at her annoyedly. She hated the fact that she was leading Doc on, making him think that he was the father of the baby when she didn’t even know if he was or not. 

       “How do you know it’s his?” The Marshal demanded. 

       “Now you better watch your mouth there, Sir,” the cowboy warned, stepping in between them. 

       “Well, it’s a genuine question. She sleeps in a different bed every night!”

       “Xavier!” Waverly scolded, mouth dropping open as she wrapped an arm around her sister. 

       They both ignored her as Doc further closed the space between them. “You have no right to talk about her like that,” he growled. 

       “Oh, but I do. She hid the fact that I could be the father of that baby from me.”

       Doc’s lips turned into a snarl as he looked towards the darker brunette, who seemed to be in shock, showing him that he was telling the truth. 

       “Hell, half of Purgatory could be the father,” he continued with a scoff. 

       Doc’s eyes locked a venomous glare on his face as his fist clenched at his side, quickly connecting with his jaw, sending him stumbling back a few steps. 

       Waverly and Wynonna quickly backed away, Wynonna gripping her arm. “ Woah , Doc !” She cried. Dolls quickly gathered himself, body going tense as he stepped forward, swinging at the man. They began swinging left and right, spewing insults at one another. “ Guys! ” 

       The smaller girl looked towards her wide-eyed before rushing down the fence line a couple of steps. “ NICOLE !” 

       The Officer quickly ran out and around the fence, stalling as she watched the fight between the two. She went over and grabbed a hold of Doc’s arms, holding them back. “ENOUGH!” He drew a sharp elbow back, nailing her in the chest, winding her slightly. She took in a deep breath, moving in front and shoving them away from each other. “WALK AWAY!” 

       Dolls listened, staying where he had ended up after the shove, chest heaving with anger as he tried to calm himself down. 

       But Doc had different ideas. 

       He marched forward again, eyes locked on the larger man. The redhead blocked him, pushing against his shoulders. “Hey! I said walk away , Holliday!” She barked.

       He gave her a hard shove. “You best get out of my way, Nicole,” he ordered. 

       She almost lost her footing but caught herself from falling backward. “I’m not gonna tell you again.” She pushed him farther away from Dolls, walking them back a few steps. 

       “ I warned ya .” He unexpectedly pulled his fist back, knocking her across the mouth. 

       “ DOC !” The sisters screamed. 

       He must have underestimated the redhead, for she held her ground. She jabbed him with a lightning-fast one-two punch. He buckled to the ground but immediately tried to get up. She dropped onto his back, shoving her knee in between his shoulder blades as she grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back. She spit some blood out before whipping her head around. “Waverly, go get my cuffs.” She tossed the brunette the keys for her cruiser and she ran off to her car. 

       Doc writhed underneath her, trying to buck her off. “You can’t arrest me, Nicole!” 

       “Watch me,” she fumed. “Stop resisting.”

       He continued to struggle to the best of his ability as Waverly returned with the handcuffs. Nicole took them and slapped them on his wrists before standing to her feet and yanking him up. “John Henry Holliday, you’re under arrest for disturbing the peace, assaulting a US Marshal, assaulting a police officer, and resisting arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law . . .” Her voice trailed off as she walked him towards her cruiser. 

       Waverly and Wynonna stood tightly together as they watched her drag him away. They looked towards Dolls, watching him gather his things and stomp off in the direction of his SUV. The younger girl got Wynonna to sit down, hugging her close to her side and whispering reassurances in her ear.

       They both looked up at the sound of sneakers walking through rocks a few minutes later, seeing the redhead standing in front of them with gauze pressed to her mouth. “I thought you were taking him back to Purgatory?” Waverly questioned as she stood up. 

       She shook her head. “I called one of the local guys to come and pick him up. I’m letting him sweat it out in the cruiser,” she said, slightly muffled by the gauze. 

       The brunette nodded, taking another step closer, placing her hand on her arm. “Are you ok, Love?” Nicole held her hand out, opening her fist, palm up. Her eyes bugged out of her head. “YOUR TOOTH!”