71. Chapter 70
A week after returning Nicolas started to wake through the night and make his way into his parents’ bedroom. With his favorite Police teddy bear tucked under his arm, the little redhead would creep into his parent’s room, approach a sleeping Nicole, and wake her by touching her hand, to find her sleepy son standing next to her. “Bubba, what’s wrong?”
“Bad lady, in my dream. Need to sleep with you to be safe.” Nicolas points to the side of his head before rubbing his tired eyes. Not speaking any more words, Nicole lifts the bed covers and moves over to allow Nicolas to climb in and snuggle into her body. Not only did Nicole have her son clutching onto her front, but Waverly’s baby belly was being pressed against her back. And the small kick that was coming from within the belly, brushed against Nicole’s skin it caused the redhead to stifle a giggle from escaping from her lips, as the little movements started to tickle her.
This routine played out over the next three weeks, until one night when Waverly and Nicole were awoken by ear-piercing screams coming from Nicolas. Turning on the lamp beside her bed, Nicole watched as Nicolas tossed and thrashed his arms around in the bed. Waverly reached out to lightly touch him, as she didn’t want to startle him, she found his pajamas were drenched from sweat. Gently calling his name, Nicole was able to wake Nicolas. When he saw his Mummy and Ma, Nicolas cried and wrap his little arms around Nicole’s neck. Holding onto her son and stoking his red hair, Nicole reassured her pup that he was safe, and no one was going to hurt him. Running her fingers through the thick red hair of her son, Waverly cooed as she kissed the top of his head and wrapped her arms around both Nicole and Nicolas.
Nicole would take Nicolas into the bathroom and bathe him so that he would relax, as they had been talking to a therapist as to how best they should handle these new signs of Nicolas’s signs of trauma. It had been suggested that a warm bath would assist Nicolas in relaxing as well as give him the chance to get clean from the sweat. It also was recommended that Nicolas should have some form of therapy so that he can develop healthy strategies to help him to cope with his trauma. While Nicole assisted Nicolas with his bath by making sure that the little boy saw it as a positive experience and not a negative, meanwhile Waverly changed the bed linen and retrieved fresh clothes for Nicolas. After Nicolas had his bath, the three of them enjoyed a nice cup of warm Almond milk before heading back to bed.
Alice was just the same, but instead of experiencing panic attacks, she would scream in her sleep. The little girl had started to develop a fear of the dark almost within the first week since she returned, and Wynonna and Doc found that they had to purchase a night light for the little girl. Seeing his baby girl in such torment, broke Doc’s heart as he just wanted to take his daughter’s pain away, but just like Nicole and Waverly, Doc and Wynonna had been advised that with the help of therapy, their baby girl would eventually return to them. Wynonna would be the first one to reach Alice in the night with Doc right behind, when Alice started to scream, the brunette would rush to her daughter’s side, holding her until the little girl calmed down enough for her to talk.
“She’s here. The bad lady’s going to eat me.” Alice would eventually say before clinging to her Mum.
Alice was happy to return to school but only for half a day, as it proved to be all too much on the girl’s emotions. For the rest of the day, she would either spend the time with her Mum or Dad, of which Alice preferred spending time with Doc because she got to help him with fixing the cars in the shop.
Nicolas on the other hand found it hard to go back to school for the first two weeks, each time Nicole and Waverly drove him and Alberto to School, Nicolas would refuse to exit the vehicle. And when Nicole tried to lift him out, Nicolas would scream and thrash his fists against Nicole’s chest. The school understood the situation and Nicolas’s teacher sent the work they were learning in the classroom, home with Alberto so that Nicolas didn’t fall behind in his learning.
Nicole knew all too well the benefits of therapy and in her heart, she wanted the best for her son, even if it meant having to attend a therapy session once a week. After talking with Dolls and finding a therapist that dealt with children who had suffered trauma, Waverly and Nicole explained to Nicolas that they were going to see a special doctor, that worked with children who had been through things like he had been through. The first visit was just so that Nicolas could meet the doctor, although to the little boy the woman didn’t look like a normal doctor. Nicolas made sure that the woman understood that she was not a doctor, “You no doctor. You don’t have a white coat. And you have toys in your room.”
This only made the doctor laugh and she leaned down so that she was at Nicolas’ level, “You know, I think you might be right. I don’t have a white coat, but we still can have some fun with these. What do you say, Nicolas?”
Looking at his parents for reassurance and when they both smiled, Nicolas turned back to the doctor, “I like to play.”
Over the next four weeks along with Waverly, Nicolas would attend his therapy sessions with the woman doctor. During these sessions, Nicolas was shown a couple of puppets, which the doctor utilized to allow Nicolas to talk about how he feels, or to tell what he experienced with the Wendigo. This form of therapy had been chosen by the doctor, as she told Waverly one day, “By telling me his story with the help of the puppets, it’s letting Nicolas sort through his feelings and communicate his fears, at his own level and pace. The whole purpose of these sessions is that he is to not feel threatened when dealing with his trauma.”
After every session, the pair would stop at the Doughnut shop and pick up enough doughnuts for both the Police station and BBD (mainly for his Aunt Wynonna). Walking into the station and heading directly towards the Sherriff’s office, Nicolas would waltz into his Mummy’s office with a special box of doughnuts for him and her to eat. “Is that my special delivery of doughnuts?” came from Nicole as she picked up on her son’s scent within the room.
Nicole always made sure that she was not on duty when it was Nicolas’ therapy day, because she wanted to make sure that her son knew that he was important to her. As this was their special time and even Waverly didn’t interrupt their time of eating their doughnuts and drinking their hot chocolate. It was only after an hour later when Waverly would join them in Nicole’s office, and they would talk about what happened with the doctor.
By this time Waverly was about 28 weeks into her pregnancy, and she was becoming more tired by the end of the day, with all the hormones running around her body and the constant need to rush to the toilet. Two days after Nicolas’ last session, Waverly had just finished the school and daycare run before heading into Black Badge. By this stage, Nicolas had chosen to go back to school, as he said, “I miss all my friends.” Leaving Waverly to be free to work on the research that Dolls had assigned her, without the worry of her son being underfoot.
Waverly had a craving for some spareribs, covered in a hot sauce that burned her tongue, but even with the pain, the brunette couldn’t get enough of them. Therefore, it was this that led her to be driving across town to Levi’s Steakhouse, to purchase for herself, Nicole, and Wynonna a serving to go. As Waverly sat waiting for the traffic light to change, she wasn’t to know that within the next couple of minutes that her life would change in an instant.
Nicole had just gotten herself another cup of coffee and was walking through the bullpen, and was talking to Emily, who was monitoring the dispatch when a call came through.
“Car crash on the main street. Pregnant female driver injured. Call for backup.” Came from the officer on the other end of the dispatch.
“Does the injured driver have a name?” Emily responds before waiting for an answer.
“Yes, it’s Waverly. The ambulance has been called.” Before Emily could respond, she heard the breaking of a cup on the floor and the rush of footsteps towards the Sherriff’s office. Looking over at the door to Nicole’s office, Emily just had enough time to radio back that she and the Sherriff were on their way.
“Sherriff, I’m coming to assist.” Emily grabs her Police jacket and rushes out behind her boss. Meanwhile, Wynonna hears the noises coming from outside Black Badge and she thinks that Waverly’s returned with lunch, so she sticks her head out the door. Emily almost collects Wynonna as she rushes past, only stopping long enough to convey that there was an accident and Waverly was involved. Pushing her way through the double front doors of the station, Wynonna runs after Nicole and Emily, “Haught, keep me posted. I’ll look after the kids. Go and see to our girl.” All Nicole can do is breathe as she sits in the passenger seat of her cruiser as Emily drives them to the scene of the accident.
Upon arriving at the scene, Nicole takes the sight in, Waverly’s vehicle has been hit on the driver’s side and the brunette looks like she is sleeping, but Nicole can sense that her wife is injured and the pups were in danger. As if she was stuck in slow motion, Nicole eventually made her way over to her wife, but she was stopped by the rescue crew, who were trying to free the brunette from the wreckage.
Standing watching as the rescue crew cut open the mangled metal that once was a vehicle, Nicole prayed that her wife and unborn children would come out of it alive. Emily came over to Nicole’s side and relayed the account of the accident, as per the statements from the witnesses. It appeared that Waverly was waiting for the light to change and when it did, the brunette proceeded forward when an out-of-control car veered onto Waverly’s side of the road and hit the driver’s side.
Eventually, Nicole was permitted to come closer to her wife, as the Paramedic indicated that Waverly was hysterical and calling out for Nicole. Gingerly Nicole climbed into the wrecked vehicle’s passenger’s side and took hold of Waverly’s hand, “Shhh, it’s going to be alright. The Paramedic and the rescue crew are working to get you out of here. I need to you focus on me. I love you, baby.”
“Nicole, it’s too early.” Tearfully Waverly cries as she squeezes Nicole’s hand.
“Too early for what?” Nicole asks but soon realizes exactly what her wife was trying to say.
“Baby, as soon as we get you out of here, they’ll take you to the hospital and then we can stop these littles from coming into the world early. You need to trust me.” Nicole says trying to reassure her wife. It was not much longer before Waverly was finally free from the wreckage and being placed onto a gurney and helped into the back of the waiting ambulance. Nicole climbed in before she could be told that there was not enough room, but once the Paramedic saw the determined look on the face of the Sherriff, they knew that there was no way in hell Nicole was leaving her wife’s side.
Throughout the journey to the hospital, Nicole never let go of her wife’s hand, even when the Paramedic had to place a cannula into Waverly’s hand so that they could administer medication. As far as Nicole was concerned, she was responsible for Waverly and she was nothing was going to stop her from completing her duty as Waverly’s wife. Once at the hospital it was a different matter, as the doctors took Waverly into the Emergency Room to assess her injuries and if there were any damage done to the pups. Leaving Nicole to pace up and down in the waiting room, something her Alpha struggled with as it wanted to be by her mate’s side, taking care and protecting her, something the redhead was unable to do at that moment.
By the time Wynonna had arrived, it had been just over an hour since Waverly had been taken into the ER, and Nicole was still none the wiser as to her wife’s condition. Wynonna explained that Doc offered to take the children home, while she comes to the hospital to wait with Nicole, which the redhead appreciated in having someone else there with her in that waiting room.
“Waverly Earp-Haught’s family.” A man dressed in surgical scrubs called out as he walked into the waiting room.
Nicole jumped up out of her seat, “Yes, that me, us.” Wynonna stood behind Nicole as she placed a reassuring hand on the redhead’s shoulder.
“Your wife’s sustained some bruising, and a dislocated shoulder. But the impact of the crash and the pressure from the steering wheel upon your wife’s pups, has caused her to go into early labor. We have tried to stop it, but these little ones are determined to come into the world today. We have to prep your wife now so that we can perform the delivery, which she will be awake for. If you come with me, we will get you gowned up, so that you can be there in the delivery room with your wife.” All Nicole could do was reach a hand back to grab hold of Wynonna, before she turned around to look at the older brunette.
“She’s an Earp and these little ones are part Earp as well. They're all going to pull through. Go in there Red and kiss our baby girl from me.” Wynonna reaches out and places both hands on Nicole’s shoulders before pulling the redhead in for a hug. Nicole follows the doctor into the scrubbing room, where she is shown how to scrub her hands and then dressed into a gown, before being led into a delivery room.