63. Little Bird

       The white light of the cloudy morning shone through the bedroom window and Waverly was the first to stir under the arm draped across her stomach. She rolled to her side and rubbed her eyes, opening then to look at the Officer's still sleeping face smushed against the pillow. She smiled, scooting so she was pressed against her. 

       Nicole hugged her arm tighter around her a few seconds before her eyes actually opened, blinking open at her rather chipper morning face. Waverly smiled, tilting her head up and pushing a kiss to her lips as she almost went back to sleep. 

       That certainly woke her up. 

       The redhead rolled onto her right side to face her, gently running her nails up her waist. 

       "Merry Christmas," Waverly smiled. 

       "'Erry 'Ristma'," she mumbled, voice sticking to her throat. The brunette giggled, leaning in for another kiss. 

       After they took a few more minutes to wake up, they stumbled out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Waverly got some ingredients out as Nicole curled the blanket around herself, sitting down at the island, holding her coffee cup in her hands. “When’re they getting here?” She yawned. 

       “9, Wynonna said.” 

       They all had decided to celebrate Christmas at the Earp-Haught household this year for whatever reason, and that included Christmas morning presents, too. And being the 9-year-old that Nicole was, she was not too happy about having to wait another hour staring at all the boxes under the tree without being able to touch them. 

       “They need to hurry up,” she grumbled, leaning her head on her arm. 

       “Ya know, you could help me while you are waiting,” the smaller girl suggested.

       “I could ,” Nicole sighed with a nod, staying put in her chair. Waverly threw her a warning look over her shoulder and she jumped right up, walking over to help her with breakfast. 

.  .  .

       After Wynonna, Doc, and Gus arrived, they dug into breakfast, the majority of them going back for seconds thanks to Waverly’s amazing cooking skills.

       After they finished, Waverly and Gus cleaned up the kitchen as Nicole sat “patiently” on the couch, Doc laid on the floor to play with Calamity Jane and the little mouse toy he got her, and Wynonna kicked back in the recliner to catch a quick nap. 

       “Ok. Are we ready?” The brunette asked, walking towards the living room and drying her hands off. 

       The gunslinger scrambled up onto the recliner next to Wynonna. “ Yes ,” him and Nicole both confirmed with huge grins. 

       Waverly rolled her eyes, setting her towel on the island before walking over and hitting her sister on the face a few times to wake her up. “Presents, get up.” 

       Her eyes shot open and she sat up, now completely alert. “‘M ready.” 

       They all gathered around, watching the artificial Christmas tree that slowly spun because apparently that was necessary , in Nicole’s opinion, when they went out and got one.  They began to slowly tear through them as the Christmas music hummed lowly in the background. 

       Wynonna crawled to the tree to fish out a present that had gotten pushed back a little, reading the label on it. "To CJ, from Mommies." She slowly lifted her head, blinking at the couple. 

       Waverly squealed, grabbing the present from her hand as Nicole picked the cat up from her resting position on Gus' lap. She got a meow in complaint as Waverly ripped it open, holding the ugly Christmas sweater for her up in front of her face. Nicole held her steady as the brunette slipped it on her, cooing to her about how dainty she looked as she tried to escape the redhead's grasp. 

       "That poor cat," Wynonna mumbled, fishing out the next present. "Huh, would ya look at that. To Haught Pocket, from yours truly ." 

       Nicole let Calamity go and she scurried over, shielding herself from them with Gus. She grabbed the large box from her hand and began to pull the paper off. "I feel like I should be scared." 

       “Oh no,” Waverly murmured, looking down at it once she got it opened. 

       “Oh yes ,” Nicole smirked. 

       They both looked up at the sound of more paper ripping and Nicole’s smirk grew as Waverly’s glare hardened. 

       There Wynonna and Nicole sat, both with the newly released humongous Nerf Guns that they certainly were going to be having too much fun with in the future sitting on their laps. “You two are going to break something with those if you play in the house,” the brunette grumbled. 

       “Probably each other,” Doc chuckled. 

       “Did you seriously wrap a present for yourself?” Gus asked, tipping her head at Wynonna. 

       “Of course I did. That’s the fun part,” she grinned, grabbing the next present. “Waves.” She handed it to her. “From yo baby momma.” 

       They both scrunched their faces up at her. “Ew.” 

       Waverly looked down at it before looking up at the redhead, drumming her fingers on her legs that were laying across her lap. “What is it?” She mock-whispered, gently shaking it near her ear. 

       “I dunno,” Nicole shrugged with a smirk. “Open it and find out.” 

       She raised a questioning brow at her as she tore through it, eyes widening at the box.

       Now. There was nothing Waverly loved more than a good hardback book. There was just something about the feeling of one in her hands that she had always yearned for. But now that she was a college student (again) that had about 40 books that she was reading all at once, it was kinda hard to lug said 40 books around with her all the time. Not to mention her countless trips to the library. 

       So when the Officer had heard her mention once about two months ago that she’d love to have a Kindle to reduce her stress levels a fraction, she jumped right on that gun. 

       “How’d you know?!” The brunette exclaimed. 

       “I guess I am just a very observant listener,” she sighed with a proud grin on her face. 

       Waverly gave her some heart-eyes before leaning into a soft kiss. “Thank you, Baby.” 

       “You’re welcome,” she mumbled back into her lips.  

       “ Holy shit , this is heavy,” Wynonna gawked, plopping a larger box on Gus’ lap. “From Babygirl and Haughty.” 

       “What by don’t get me anything did you two not understand,” she huffed. 

       “And what by no, we’re getting you something did you not understand?” The brunette questioned with a smile. 

       She shook her head at her, pulling the paper off. “Well, I’ll be damned.” 

       There was only one thing that Gus loved more than cooking, and it was baking. And being the old soul that she was, she liked to do everything manually. She realized that as she got older, stirring cake batter and such by hand was not as easy as it used to be. 

       So the stand mixer sitting on her lap was the perfect gift to keep her hobby alive. “Thank you, Girls,” she said with an overjoyed smile.

       “You’re welcome,” they giggled as Nicole set the box on the floor for her. 

       The number of presents under the tree slowly faded as time passed with laughs and smiles all around. “Ok, next.” Wynonna grabbed the next one that was to her and Doc from Nicole and Waverly. She walked over to the recliner on her knees, handing it to him to open as she peered over his arms. 

       “Woah,” they both mumbled at the same time. 

       Doc began to thumb through a couple of the pages, looking up at the couple in awe. “This is wonderful.” 

       The gift had actually been Nicole’s idea. She remembered that her parents had filled a baby book for her that contained all of her firsts, special memories, and so on. They figured that one of them would be perfect for the Baby Earp on the way. 

       “Guys,” Wynonna mumbled. “This is really sweet.” 

       “I already stuck all the ultrasounds in there,” Waverly smiled. 

       Wynonna pushed herself up off the floor and walked over to them, wrapping them each in an annoyingly tight hug. They groaned, tapping on her arms for release. She gave in, letting them go, but not without pushing a wet kiss into their cheeks first. 

       Waverly wiped her cheek with her sleeve as her sister sat herself back down in front of the tree, grabbing the next present. Her heart rate quickened. 

       “Haught Shit, it’s your turn,” she smirked, handing her the box from Waverly. 

       “Ooooo,” she grinned at her as she began to open it. Her brow hitched as she looked down at the shoebox that her Jordans came in. She lifted the lid and a loud gasp left her throat. Scooting back, she pulled her legs criss-cross as she quickly removed the blue Rangers jersey that was neatly folded in it. She turned it around to look at the back, jaw hitting the floor. “ WAVE !” 

       Waverly could have just gotten her one with their catcher’s name or something on the back. But that was boring. So she had ordered a custom one that said Haught. 

       “How’d you know that was my number?” She asked with a huge smile, tracing her finger over the 96. 

       “I looked it up,” she shrugged. 

       She giggled as she bounced her legs, leaning into a kiss. “I love you.” 

       The brunette pushed against her shoulder after a second. “Look at the lid,” she whispered. 

       She furrowed her brow, looking down at the top of it. “What?” 

       Waverly huffed, lifting it up a little. “The inside, Dummy.” Nicole opened it all the way, seeing her neat handwriting Sharpied across the inside. 

April 28, 29, + 30

Rangers vs Astros

 @  Globe Life Park

       Nicole’s eyes popped right out of their sockets. She snapped her head up to meet her eyes before tossing the box off of her lap and barrelling her over with a hug as she squealed incoherent words right in her ear. 

       Waverly laughed as the Officer raised her head with a smile that could blind you, cupping her cheeks as she met her lips with every bit of love she could deliver. 

       “I don’t think Gus wants you making out on her leg,” Wynonna mumbled. The older woman threw a ball of wrapping paper at her as the couple pulled away from one another. Nicole pushed herself off of her girlfriend with a wince, leaning back against the arm of the couch and touching her hand against her left side. 

       “ Nicole .” Waverly took her wrist and turned her sideways, grabbing the bottom of her shirt. “You’re gonna let me see what the hell you- . . . did .” The redhead had surprisingly not resisted this time when she hitched it up. 

       When she had told her that she had dropped a weight on herself, she had only believed it about 75%. She didn’t know why, but she just had her suspicions that something else had happened. And it didn’t help her cause that she hadn’t once let her see it over the past five days. 

       But this?

       She had definitely not expected this. 

       “Nic . . .” She breathed softly as she ran a few fingers just below it, leaning forward for a closer look. 

       Her best guess had previously been that she had gotten hurt at work and didn’t want to tell her about it. 

       But she hadn’t. 

       She actually hadn’t gotten hurt at all. 

       Nicole Haught, of course, had gotten a tattoo . 

       On the side of her rib cage now sat a blue and white Hokusai-esk wave towering over its thick black upside down triangle border that contained the purple to red to orange ombre sky in the background.

       “Now my Waves’ll always be close to my heart,” she mumbled with a smile. 

       The brunette looked up at her with soft, teary eyes, crawling onto her lap and wrapping her in a hug. Nicole pushed her face into her shoulder, opening her eyes for a second to look behind her at Wynonna, who shot her a wink, for she had gone with her when she got it drawn up and when she got it inked on. 

       The smaller girl sat back after a few seconds and Nicole wiped under her eyes. She let out a small huff with a smile. “C’mon, Nic. I wanted to give the best Christmas present.” 

       Her eyebrows shot up. “Dude, you so gave the best Christmas present, what do you mean?! We get to go to Dallas!” 

       “Nuh-uh,” Gus cut in. “You both gave the best Christmas present. Do y’all know how much I’m gonna be baking for all of you now? Nicole ain’t gonna be able to run anymore.” 

       The room erupted into laughter and the redhead shook her head at her, knowing damn well she knew she had a hard time resisting her baking. 

.  .  .

       Waverly and Nicole stood at the sink, beginning to wash up the huge pile of dishes from their Christmas lunch before the redhead had to leave. “I can’t believe you have to work on Christmas ,” the brunette grumbled. 

       “Someone’s gotta do it,” she shrugged, smearing some bubbles on the side of her face. Waverly scoffed, grabbing a heap and getting her back. “Oh, you wanna go?” She scooped some up and Waverly scurried off with a shriek. In three big steps and an evil laugh, she had her arm wrapped around her front and was smearing them all over her face with her free hand.

       “ You got them in my mouth !” She gagged, wiggling out of her grip and wiping her tongue off with her sleeve. The Deputy laughed with an apology as she pouted her lip at her. “Meanie.” She poked her bony finger into her side. 

       “ Ow !” Nicole hissed, lifting her uniform up to look at it. 

       The brunette smiled, leaning her hip against the island as she admired it some more. “It’s really beautiful, Nic.” 

       She smiled. “Topher did a really good job.” 

       “Topher did it?!” 

       She nodded. “He’s been egging me to get one since I started with the Devils at the cages.” 

       “And you’re really bad with peer pressure,” she mused. 

       She rolled her eyes playfully. “D’you know he’s tattooed Drake and Justin Bieber?”

       “Really?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows. 

       “Mhm. His shop’s one of the top 5 in Canada, I think he said.” 

       “Well, seeing how fricking gorgeous this is, I’m not surprised,” she mumbled, running her hand down her front as she dipped her head even closer to it. She would stare at it all day long if she could. 

       “You see the little bird?” She asked, pointing towards the top left at the tiny squiggly line bird. 

       “ Little bird ,” she cooed. 

       “Wynonna made me put it in there. She says I have to name it after her.” 

       Waverly laughed, standing up straight. Nicole grabbed her waist, pulling her into a soft kiss as she leaned back against the counter. 

       “ Woah !” 

       They pulled away and Waverly looked around the redhead with a cocked eyebrow, seeing a very scared Jeremy with Robin in tow. “What?” She questioned. Nicole pulled her shirt where it had gotten stuck rolled up down, turning around to look at him with the same confusement. 

       “I thought you were . . .” His wide eyes finished the sentence for him. 

       “If we wanted to get a quicky in, we would at least have the decency to go in the other room,” Nicole snorted. 

       Waverly threw her a look as her face reddened, turning back to the dishes. “I was looking at her tattoo some more, Jer,” she informed. 

       “ TATTOO ?!” 

       She turned towards the redhead with raised eyebrows. “You didn’t tell him of all people?” 

       She laughed a little. “He has a small problem with secrets,” she mock-whispered, walking around the island towards them and pulling her shirt up to show him. 

       “Holy abs,” Robin said quietly, probably accidentally out loud. 

       “ Right ?” Waverly and Jeremy smirked at the same time. The Deputy rolled her eyes. 

       “That’s really sick, Nicky,” the shorter man smiled. 

       She ruffled her hand through his hair, walking back over to Waverly and tucking her uniform shirt back in her pants. “Ima get going, Babe,” she mumbled as she pressed a kiss into her cheek. 

       The younger girl frowned, turning around and tucking her fingers into her belt. “Noo.” 

       “I sowwy,” she pouted, pushing their foreheads together. “We can play that new Mario game when I get home tonight?” 

       A small smile tugged at her lips as she leaned up into a kiss. “I love you.” 

       “Love you, too. Call me if y’all need anything.” And with that, she turned towards the door, saying a goodbye to everyone gathered in the living room.

       Nicole pulled up to the station and walked inside, glancing in Nedley’s office as she walked past. She did a double-take, turning back and stopping at the door. “Sir?” The Sheriff lifted his head from his hands with a look on his face that she had never seen before. “What’s wrong?” 

       “Come here and sit down,” he mumbled, rubbing his fingers on his stubble. She furrowed her brow as she walked in and sat down in front of his desk. 

.  .  .

       Waverly smiled as she heard the front door open from the bedroom as she repainted her nails from red and green for Christmas to blue and gold for New Year’s. Nicole entered a few seconds later, pushing the door open all the way with her foot and setting the two large boxes she was carrying on the end of the bed. “More presents, Officer Haught?” The brunette joked with a laugh. 

       She stood up straight and rubbed her hands up and down her cheeks nervously a few times. “Make that  Sheriff  Haught.”