79. Chapter 79

THE NEXT DAYThe Earp-Haught household was all a buzz, with the excitement that the triplets were going to be finally coming home from the hospital that day. Nicholas and Alberto had painted a Welcome Home banner, then Walden, Bach, Winona, Padma, and Jagna helped to decorate it with their handprints. As soon as it was completed and final touches had been made, Nicole grabbed the ladder and with some guidance from all of the pups, she was able to hang it up straight over the living room fireplace.

As much as the pups pleaded to stay home from School and Pre-School, Waverly and Nicole insisted that they all needed to go, but promised that they would have a special dinner that night, which usually meant Chinese Takeaway for dinner. Then Nicole and Waverly dropped Padma and Jagna off at the day-care center for a couple of hours, before heading towards the hospital.

Upon arriving outside of the hospital, Nicole unclipped the baby carriers from within their bases, and Waverly and herself took them up to the NICU ward. While they approached the doors to the ward, Waverly’s wolf sniffed the air and picked up the scents of each pup, a mixture of both her and Nicole’s scents. The moment they walked in through the door, Nicole and Waverly were greeted with the biggest smiles from all the nurses, who had just finished dressing the triplets, into the clothes that Waverly had dropped off the day before.

It wasn’t until after all the paperwork had been completed and all of the pups were given their last check-up, that was when Waverly and Nicole were able to embrace their pups, for the first time without any medical equipment being attached to the pups. Nicole had taken both the girls so that Waverly could hold Lucas, and it was only when each pup, was safely snuggled against their parent’s chests, that’s when they started to make cooing noises.

“Well, it looks like your all ready to go. We’re going to miss these little ones.” A nurse wiped a tear away as she caressed the top of Lucas’ head for the last time.

“We’re indebted to all of the staff, for taking such great care of our pups. We don’t know what we would have done if it wasn’t for all of you. (Nicole’s voice begins to break) When they …. were born …. we (Nicole breaks down and sobs).” Nicole cries as she holds Charlotte and Olivia tightly against her chest. Waverly knows just how her wife is feeling, it was true, if it wasn’t for the NICU ward, the nurses and doctors, their little ones wouldn’t have made it, so the brunette walks over and wraps an arm around her wife’s back. Pulling Nicole into her side, “When they were born, we never thought that we would be here, ready to take them home for good.” Lucas snuggles deeper into the crook of his Ma’s neck, while she rubs the back of his Mummy.

Final hugs and kisses were exchanged between the nurses and the pups, just before Nicole lowered each child into their car carrier. Nicole took extra care to make sure that all the seatbelts and buckles had been securely fastened, before leaving the ward for the final time. By the time the little family had reached the van, Lucas had fallen asleep and later didn’t wake at the sound of the roar of the van’s engine. Charlotte and Olivia yawned, but by the time Nicole had pulled out onto the road, the two had drifted off and joined their brother in sleeping peacefully, unaware of how special the day was.

The trip back to the homestead was a time where Nicole and Waverly just basked in the sound of little whimpering coming from their pups as they slept. As little whimpers filled the van, Waverly smiled as she turned around to check on her babies and when she was satisfied that they were alright, she turned around and took Nicole’s hand and held on tightly. Now and then, Nicole would glance in the rear-view mirror and check that her pups were safe. Inside her head, Nicole’s wolf was proud as punch, as it sat on its haunches and puffed its chest out. Nicole’s wolf moaned with pride and began to wag its tail.

Upon reaching the homestead, Nicole started to unbuckle the car carriers, so that she could carry them into the house. For the past month, they had been bringing home from the hospital, Charlotte, Olivia, and Lucas’ clothing, so that Max could climatize to the new scents. Now was the moment when Max would finally meet his new charges, and just like all the other pups, Nicole was nervous as to how Max would take them. The moment Waverly opened the front door, Max rushed out through the open door and headed over to where Nicole was standing beside the van.

“Max, sit. Mummy’s going to show you the pup’s.” Waverly strides over to stand beside a now sitting Max, with his tail wagging. Nicole lifts out of the van, the carrier with a still sleeping Charlotte, and lowered it onto the ground.

“Max, this Charlotte. You can smell her.” Nicole scratches behind Max’s ear, while he tenderly approaches the carrier and beings to sniff. Nicole looks up at Waverly with a smile on her face, and her nerves gone. For the next ten minutes, Nicole repeated this process with Max, who sniffed each pup and gave his tail a wag, as a sign of approval.

Later in the afternoon and with all the three pups fast asleep and Waverly taking the chance to catch some rest, Nicole headed into town to collect all of their other children. Heading into the grocery store, it started to hit Nicole, just how her life had changed from when she first arrived in the town. Now she was the Sherriff, married to a beautiful woman, who was her mate, the mother of ten pups, with a dog and cat.

Normally shopping for groceries was an easy routine for Nicole, as all the pups would be on their best behavior and help with little tasks, but not today, Nicholas and Alberto ran off and grab groceries off the shelf, before sticking them into the trolley, without asking if they could. Walden and Bach then started fighting with each other over who was going to grab the milk. And then when Nicole had wrangled in the boys, Winona and her sisters decided that they would wander off and out of Nicole’s sight, to go and look at the toys. As soon as Nicole realized that the girls were missing, a sense of dread filled the Alpha, who was now on alert and pacing up and down in Nicole’s mind. As Nicole grabbed the boys, they took off around the store, searching for the girls, it was when Nicole rounded the last aisle, she found Winona, Padma, and Jagna sitting on the floor of the store playing with some dolls. Before Nicole lost her cool, she realized that she needed to talk to her kids, and she had to bring out her best Sheriff’s voice.

When Nicole and the kids first entered the store it was empty, but now that Nicole had to discipline her children, suddenly there was a crowd watching.

Taking a deep breath in, Nicole steeled herself for the most important talk she has had to have with all her children. Nicole asked her kids to all stand and lean against the wall of the store. The redhead then stood before them, with her hands on her hips and her feet slightly apart. Looking directly at each child, she addressed them.

“This is not how your Ma and I have taught you to behave, Nicholas and Alberto, you know better than to go and put things into the trolley, without being asked. Walden and Bach, fighting over who grabs the milk is not how Earp-Haught’s handle things. And Winona, Padma, and Jagna, you know that you walk away and go out of my sight. I know you are excited about getting to see your brother and sisters, but you can’t be naughty. When people do something wrong, they are punished, that’s part of my job. So your punishment is that tonight after dinner, you are all going straight to bed, no TV, no playing. Now I love you all and as Earp-Haught’s we are going to change the way we are behaving.” Nicole had paced up and down in front of the pups. Each of the pup’s bottom lips dropped as they looked at the floor.

“We sorry Mummy. We will be better.” All the pups agreed and raced over to hug their Mummy with tears streaming down their cheeks. Nicole leaned down to hug her children.

Nicole wasn’t concerned about what people thought about her and how she raised her children, so when she turned around, she stood tall and proud, because she was showing her pups that when they did something wrong, they had to face the consequences. Once they had made their way through the checkout, and all the groceries had been packed into the van. Nicole and the kids walked over to the Chinese restaurant to pick up their dinner. While waiting for the food to be cooked, the waitress who always liked serving the Earp-Haught family when they came and dined in, took the pup’s over to the door of the kitchen. There they were greeted with the sight of the chef cooking with a wok, over a hot flame, and like magic, there was a large ball of fire rising out of the wok. Nicholas and Alberto thought that it was the best thing, while the others stood with their mouths gaping. Nicole quickly snapped a photo so that she could show Waverly later.

Nicole pulled into the driveway, but before anyone got out of the van, she turned around in her seat, “Now when we go in, we have to be super quiet, just in case the babies are sleeping. And remember, after dinner, it’s straight into the bath and then to bed.” Nicole was so proud of all her babies as they entered the house. Nicholas and Alberto led the way by tip-toeing into the house, but upon reaching the living room, they were greeted with the sight of Waverly sitting on the couch, nursing Charlotte, while Lucas and Olivia lay in their carriers. Nicole finished carrying in the groceries, as she knew that her kids needed time with their Ma and their new siblings.

After hugs and kisses were given to the little pups, Nicole took over the serving up of dinner, leaving Waverly to feed the pups, while the other older pup’s helped their Mummy set the table and get washed up for dinner. Waverly lay the last pup into their carrier, which she set near her seat at the table and joined her other children and wife for dinner. Once all the food had been consumed, Nicole took all the children and got them ready for bed, leaving Waverly to take the bedtime storytelling responsibilities. With last night's kisses and hugs exchanged with all the older pups, Waverly and Nicole said goodnight to their children.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief, as she collapsed on the couch with a glass of whiskey in her hand, Waverly looked at her wife with a curious look on her face, “Why are you drinking?”

“Are picking up all the kids, we went to the shop to grab some groceries. Nicolas and Alberto were grabbing things off the shelf and sticking them into the trolley, without being told. Then Walden and Bach were fighting over who grabbed the milk, and then to top it off, Winona, Padma, and Jagna decided that they would leave and go to the toy part of the store. I freaked out when I couldn’t see them. I had to rouse on them for their behavior in the middle of the store, and it felt as though the whole of Purgatory had decided to be in the store and watching their Sheriff lose control of her children. I’ve just been keeping it together since coming back and now I need a drink.” Nicole sculls her drink in one swoop.

“Oh, Baby. I could sense something must have happened while you were out, by the way, you came into the house and didn’t talk for at least ten minutes.” Waverly knelt beside Nicole and cradled her wife’s head in her hands and pulled the redhead’s head against her chest. Nicole wrapped her arms around her wife’s waist and they held each other until they were interrupted by the cries from their hungry pups.

That night Nicole insisted that the pups would be sleeping between them, as she was not ready to be separated from them just yet. It also meant that Waverly wouldn’t have to get out of bed to feed them during the night. Waverly caressed Nicole’s face as they lay facing each other, while three little pup’s slept between them, Lucas was in the middle with Charlotte laying next to Nicole, and Olivia was next to Waverly.

TWO DAYS LATERThe murmuring of little coo’s filtered through Nicole’s sleeping mind, as she dreamed of her and Waverly sitting around the table, sharing a meal with all ten of their children. As she looked at each of her children, Nicole noticed that streams of blood were falling from their eyes. Her inner Alpha was alert and on the guard, as it nipped at Nicole’s brain. Springing from her deep sleep and sitting up in her bed with such a startle, Nicole scanned the room for any signs of danger. Then looking to her right and checked the three pups, who were laying between her and Waverly.

“Sweetie, it’s alright. I just finished feeding them.” Waverly reached out to reassure her wife that their new pups, whom they had brought home the day before, and ever since Waverly had insisted that they sleep in their bed at night. Waverly placed a hand over Nicole’s fast-beating heart, “Nicole, it’s just Charlotte cooing. Trust me, Lucas was out like a light, the moment I burped him, and Olivia was not that far behind. Remember what the nurse said, about Charlotte taking a little while to settle after feeding. And Max is on guard, see.” Waverly tilted her head towards Max, who was laying in the middle of the bed, with his eyes on his charges.

Nicole was trying to bring her short breathing back under control, as she was worried that something was wrong, and she hadn’t been alert enough to protect her young pups. “I just ...thought that …” Nicole tried to get out before Waverly place fingers over her wife’s lips.

“Shh, it’s alright. There is nothing to be worried about. You were up all of last night attending to them, then spent the day looking after our other pups. You need to get some sleep; you can’t be alert and on guard all the time. (Waverly turns her head and they both listen to the silence within the room) See, Charlotte’s asleep.” The brunette smiled as she placed a tender kiss onto Nicole’s lips.

Resting their foreheads against each other’s, Nicole and Waverly stayed like that staring into each other’s eyes. “It’s just that it feels so unreal to have them here with us, after all this time. I guess I’m still coming to terms with the fact that we have all our pup’s under one roof.” Nicole pulls out the big guns as she flashes her famous dimple smile, the smile that always melted Waverly’s heart.

The quiet moment was soon disturbed by the sound of sheets being ripped, with curiosity Nicole and Waverly searched the room with their eyes, looking for the source of the noise. Their eyes rested upon their little ones, Charlotte and Olive were on the outside and Lucas was tucked in between his sisters. They found laying within their bed, were two little girls with a red-furred pup in between. Nicole’s eyes bugled out of their sockets, “What the ….” Waverly questioned. The bedsheets that were covering Lucas had been shredded, as his wolf nails were sharp and had ripped through the material.

“The nurses never said anything about Lucas, changing in his sleep. He’s never done this before, what’s happening?” Waverly began to shake with concern for her baby boy. Sensing her wife’s concern, “It’s going to be alright. We’ll ask the Doctor tomorrow at the appointment. I don’t want to go anywhere in the hospital for a long while. Lucas doesn’t look like it's affecting him, see his sisters are snuggling up to him.” Nicole slides her arm around Waverly’s shoulders and pulls her against her as best as she could, with three pup’s tucked in between them.

“What if he stays like that? We just got our baby boy home, Nicole.” Waverly’s voice quivers, as Max sits up and begins to sniff the new furry pup in the bed. As soon as Max deems that furry Lucas wasn’t harmful, the dog returned to his spot on the bed and nodded off to sleep. “Come on baby, you tired and need your rest. I’ll stay up and watch Lucas for a while, you get some more sleep.” Nicole shuffles down in the bed so that she could turn over and watch her children sleep while laying on her side. Waverly followed her lead and rested her head on the pillow and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

Waking the next morning to three screaming pups was what greeted both Nicole and Waverly. When they checked Lucas, they found that he had returned to his human form and it appeared to have not sustained any distress in shifting back to human form. They were defiantly bringing this up at the Doctor’s visit.

After dropping all of their other children off at School, Pre-School, and Daycare for the day, Waverly and Nicole with the pup’s in tow, arrived at their scheduled Doctor’s visit. Once the Doctor had finished checking the pups, Waverly decided to approach the subject of Lucas shifting in his sleep.

“Last night after I feed Lucas and burped him, he fell asleep. Then not long after, Lucas shifted in his sleep, ripping the bedsheets. The nurses at the hospital never said that he did that in his sleep. When I woke this morning to him screaming to be feed, he was back in his human form. Is this normal?” Waverly held a now sleeping Lucas in her arms, it was like he planned it, Lucas shifted and stretched out his furry arm over his head.

Nicole held Charlotte and Olivia against her chest as she looked on as the Doctor, checked her son as Waverly watched. As the Doctor examined the sleeping furry pup, he smiled as he turned his attention towards the redhead. “Sometimes we see this. There’s nothing to worry about. It's a trait that’s passed down through the Alpha line, I think the reason why Lucas didn’t shift while in the hospital, was because he wasn’t next to his sisters. This shifting will only happen when the pup sleeps next to his or her sibling, just like when they were in the womb.”

Waverly lowers her head down to plant a kiss on Lucas’ furry head, which felt so soft and warm to the touch. Now she realized as to why Charlotte and Olivia snuggled into their brother, it was because he was keeping them warm. “Well, it looks like we have another two mini-Waverly’s.” Nicole joked but soon realized that the joke fell flat by the look on the Doctor’s face.

“So, there’s nothing to worry about. Will he grow out of it? Do you think any of our other pups are sleep shifters?” Waverly tucks Lucas closer to her chest.

“Yes, there’s nothing to worry about and if you want to stop his shifting in his sleep, just let him sleep in his cot. Your girls will be alright, just add an extra blanket to their bedding. Sleep shifters usually grow out of it around turning 2 years. Your other pups might have been sleep shifters, but it doesn’t hurt them or cause them any problems for when they are ready to shift later in life.” Running his fingers through the red fur for the last time, the Doctor finished the visit, Waverly and Nicole left the office with three sleeping pups, although one was furry in their arms. Nicole had to fend off the Doctor’s office staff from wanting a hold of the cute little wolf, who all called the ‘Haught Wolf’.

A WEEK LATERNicole and Waverly headed into the station after they had dropped off their children at their School and Pre-School. Today was the day when Padma and Jagna didn’t have to go to daycare and would spend their day with their parents. While at the station, Nicole put together some work for Rachel to start working on, when she started her new job the next week. Padma and Jagna played with their toys on the couch in their Mummy’s office. Waverly took the triplets into the BBD offices, to catch up on any new cases that had come in during the past week.

The week before bringing the pup’s home, Nicole had brought in the playpen and set it up in the corner of the BBD office. Making sure that each of her pups had clean diapers, Waverly set each pup down on the rug in the playpen, so that she could peer through the files and begin to make notes for future research. It was around lunchtime, when Waverly’s phone buzzed, looking at the screen the brunette saw that it was the pre-school calling.

“Hello.”

“Mrs. Earp-Haught, this is Winona’s Pre-School teacher. There’s been an altercation between Winona and another child. Would you and Sheriff Earp-Haught be able to come in because we would like to have a talk with you about her latest behavior?”

“Yes, we’ll be there soon. Is Winona hurt?”

“No, but we think she should go home early today. We will discuss this when you come in. We’ll see you soon.” The phone clicks as the caller had hung up.

All kinds of thoughts fill Waverly’s head, as she replays her daughter’s behavior from the past week. Not only had Winona run away from Nicole in the grocery store, but every time Waverly also asked the little girl to do something, Winona would stomp her foot and cross her arms in a huff, before storming off with steam coming from her ears. Waverly was hoping that her first baby girl, was not taking after her namesake, ‘Wynonna’ even though it was spelled differently.

“Jeremy, could you do me a favor?” Waverly rushes to put all the documents back into a manilla folder.

Jeremy peeped up from his computer, “Yep, you need me to look after the pups?”

“Yes, Winona’s gotten into trouble and we have to go and get her. We shouldn’t be too long. Their feed is in the bag, along with a change of clothes and diapers.” Waverly looks into the playpen to find Lucas had shifted in his sleep, as his onesie lays shredded. “Just so that you don’t freak out, Lucas shifts in his sleep when he sleeps next to his sisters. You’re going to need to dress him after he shifts back, which is when he wakes.”

With a look of worry on his face, Jeremy stares at the sleeping pups and makes out the red fur poking out between the two girls laying on their back. “Ok, it is Purgatory, I’ve seen it all now. Don’t worry about them, I’ll take great care of them.”

After quickly kissing the top of her pup’s head, Waverly raced out of the office and made a beeline for her wife’s office. Nicole had been roped into playing dollies with her daughters when Waverly stormed through the door.

“Nicole, the pre-school called and Winona’s gotten into some trouble. Her teacher has asked that we come in and have a talk about her behavior before we take her home early for the day.” The look of concern that flashed across her wife’s face, made Nicole jump up off the floor and rush to grab her keys.

“Padma, and Jagna I need you to bring your dolls with you, your Ma and I need to go and have a talk with Winona’s teacher. Let’s go.” Nicole helped her daughters to pick up their dolls.

Nicole takes hold of Waverly’s hand, “It’s going to be alright.”

At the pre-school, Nicole and Waverly nervously sit in Winona’s classroom, as the children are outside having their lunch. Sitting across from them is their daughter’s teacher.

“I want to say first that up until the last week, it’s been a pleasure having Winona in the class. But today she came so close to hitting another classmate because the student had a crayon that Winona wanted. For the past week, she has been acting out when she’s been told, no. She’s also been ignoring instructions from myself and other teachers. And I was wondering if you’ve noticed any changes in her behavior at home?” Winona’s teacher places her hands together on the table. All the while Padma and Jagna sat on the floor and played with their dolls.

Nicole looks at Waverly and sees the tears in her wife’s eyes, “On the day we brought our babies home, while I was in the grocery store with Winona and her siblings, she ran off and went to the toy section of the store, and lately, she has not been doing what she been told. She’s also been storming off when we tell her that she can’t do something. I am so sorry about her behavior, I guess she is not handling having new siblings. We will talk to her when we get her home.” Nicole reaches out and takes Waverly’s hand in hers and squeezes it.

Once Winona had been brought to her parents, the little girl hangs her head and folds her arms over her chest as she sat in her car seat, while Nicole finished buckling Padma and Jagna into their car seats. Since leaving the classroom, Waverly had remained silent and was now sitting in the front seat, with a frown on her face and tears in her eyes.

Back at the station, Nicole takes Padma and Jagna to visit Jeremy, who was in the middle of changing Charlotte’s diaper. By this time Dolls had returned and was feeding Olivia. “I’m sorry to ask this, but could you look after these two. Waverly and I need to talk with Winona.”

“Not a problem, I was just about to order Jer and me some lunch. I think we could arrange to have some fries and nuggets added to our order. What do you say?” Dolls smile at the two little girls who were now climbing onto a pair of chairs. Two little brunette heads nodded and Dolls gave Nicole the thumbs up.

Back in Nicole’s office, Waverly and Winona sit in silence on the couch, before Waverly turns to face her daughter, “Winona, why did you almost hit that other student?”

“Because I wanted the crayon, and she had it and wouldn’t let me borrow it.” Winona sat facing straight ahead, and not looking at her Ma. By this time Nicole has arrived and stood in the doorway, she closed the door behind her, before walking in and taking a seat.

“When your Mummy and I have asked you to do anything this week, you’ve stormed off. We love you so much and it breaks our heart to see you so angry.” Waverly wipes away a tear that runs down her cheek.Nicole moves her chair closer towards Winona and reaches out her hand to take her daughter’s hand in hers. “Winona, tell us what’s going on?”

The silence in the room was deafening and uncomfortable as Winona sits quietly, refusing to speak until “You don’t want me now. You’ve got Charlotte and Olivia now, and Padma and Jagna have each other. Walden and Bach have each other, and I …. (Winona begins to cry).” Waverly and Nicole’s hearts break as they watch and listen to their daughter.

Waverly wraps her arms around Winona and pulls her into her side. “Oh, my baby girl. You were and will always be our first daughter. When I was pregnant with you, we were told that we were going to have another two boys, but when you were born, my heart grew so big with love for you.” Planting kisses to the top of Winona’s head, Waverly held her daughter so tight.

Nicole got up out of her chair and sat on the other side of Winona, with arms wrapped around the little redhead, “You are my baby girl and I will always love you. We would never want to lose you, that’s why I was so angry when you ran off in the store, the other day. I thought that I had lost you. Your sisters love you and so do your brothers.”

As tears were shed, Nicole and Waverly realized that these past months had not only taken a toll on them, but it had also affected their children. Winona hugged her parents and then snuggled into her Ma’s chest, which was always her and Waverly’s favorite thing to do when Winona was a baby. “How about I go and grab us some lunch, and then how about you, Padma, Jagna, and your Ma and I all go to the park to eat our lunch.”

Later that afternoon, Nicole and Waverly drove home and with all their children sitting on the couch, “Your Mummy and I want you all to know that we both love you all the same. And today, your Mummy and I realized that having Charlotte, Olivia, and Lucas home, is going to mean that we all are going to have to make some changes. There are going to be times when either Mummy or I am going to be busy with them, it doesn’t mean that we love you any less. Your Mummy and I are going to make time for all of you. And we don’t want you to think that we don’t want you, because each of you is precious to us.” Nicole has tears streaming down her cheeks, as she and Waverly have a family hug. That night they pulled out the blow-up mattress and had a family puppy pile, while the triplets slept in their little playpen.