58. The One With Her Kid in a Bag

       After they cleaned up the Cheerios mess, Sharon decided to hop in the shower to get the smell of the night before off of her. Nicole wandered into the living room, climbing up on the recliner next to Waverly. 

       “Can you tell me what going on now?” She asked, curling into her side. 

       “She said she’s gonna try and be my mom again.” 

       The brunette’s face lightened up. “Really?” 

       She nodded, kissing her forehead. “I’ll never forgive her for everything, but it’s a start, I guess.”

       “An amazing start,” she added. 

       Nicole was quiet for a beat. “I don’t wanna get my hopes up, though,” she mumbled. 

       The smaller girl nodded, running her fingers up and down her side. “Let’s just wait and see what comes, ok?” 

       A slow grin pushed onto her face. She grabbed the back of Waverly’s knee, pulling her to straddle her lap. “I have a feeling I know what’s gonna come.” She pushed forward on her ass, making her hips press into her bare stomach. 

       Her eyes widened. “Nic, no.”

       The redhead pulled her down to meet her lips. “Why?” 

       “Because we can’t,” she mumbled as she tangled her hands in her hair and ground her hips into her lap.

       “You don’t seem too sure about that,” Nicole smirked. 

       “You’re mom’s, like, right there.” 

       “We’ll be quiet.” 

       The brunette rolled her eyes as she shifted to her thigh. “You’re lucky I’ve been horny all god damn morning.” 

.  .  .

       The next two days passed without issue. Nicole and her mother were getting on nicely. There were a few bumps here and there, but that was expected. 

       “Seriously, Nicole?” Waverly scoffed. 

       “How dare you?” Sharon added. 

       The redhead rolled her eyes at them. “I am not taking you to Dallas just so you can try Whataburger,” she grumbled. 

       Waverly rolled her body so her head was on her thigh. “Isn’t Dallas your favorite place in the world besides the ocean?” 

       "Obviously.” 

       “Sooo . . . take me so you can see your favorite place in the world and so I can try Whataburger . . . We can go see a Rangers game?” She coaxed, drumming her fingers on her arm. 

       “Next season doesn’t start till March,” she informed with a smile. Waverly sighed, pursing her lips. 

       “Ain’t that some bullshit? The Cubs and Indians?” Nicole’s mom asked. 

       She shook her head. “Chicago decided to step off their high horse and actually play some baseball.” 

       “Huh?” The brunette questioned, staring up at her with a cocked eyebrow.

       “They’re in the World Series this year. If they win, it’ll be the first time in 108 years or something like that . . .” She let out a huff. “The Cubs are one of the most overrated teams in the league.” 

       Waverly nodded her head with wide eyes, trying to figure out why she even asked. 

       “Don’t get her started on the Astros,” Sharon chuckled. 

       “Hey!” Nicole snapped. “We do not speak of them in this house!” 

       She put her hands up, holding back a laugh. “Sor-ry.” 

       Waverly blinked a few times, sitting up off of her lap as she felt her phone ringing in her pocket. The redhead pulled it out, pressing it to her ear. “Hey, Sheriff,” she answered. The brunette slowly watched her face fall as he spoke to her. She gently placed her hand on her thigh, looking at her with worried eyes. “When?” The redhead asked, pushing herself off the couch. Waverly stood up with her, grabbing her arm. “Uh-huh.” She nodded along with whatever he was saying, looking past her. “Yea . . . I’m on my way.” She hung up the phone, shoving it in her pocket as she turned away. 

       “Nicole, what the hell?” She called after her. 

       “I don’t know, Wave!” She answered, closing the door of their bedroom behind her. 

       She shook her head, quickly walking down the hallway and entering their room, finding the Officer already pulling her uniform pants up her body. “No, you do know. You’re just not telling me.”

       She buttoned them, yanking her shirt off and grabbing the other off a hanger. “I don’t know enough to tell you and I don’t want you to get worried, ok?” 

       “It’s a little late for that!” 

       “Baby,” she breathed, walking towards the door. “Trust me. I will tell you when I know more.” 

       The younger girl followed her down the hallway, rubbing her hands on her face. Nicole quickly pulled her boots on, lacing them up. “I don’t like this, Nic,” she mumbled. 

       Nicole clipped her belt on, grabbing her gun out of the gun safe and pushing the clip in. “I know, Love. I’m sorry.” She stepped towards her, cupping her cheeks. “It’ll be ok, alright?”

       Waverly slowly nodded. “Don’t do anything stupid.” 

       She smiled, pushing their foreheads together. “I won’t.” She pulled her in for a soft kiss. “I love you.” 

       “I love you, too,” she mumbled. “Gus’ll kill you if you’re not there tonight.” 

       “Exactly why I’ll make sure I’m there,” she said with a nervous smile. Waverly laughed lightly, pulling her in for one more kiss. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way.” 

       She nodded as Nicole walked towards the door. “Be careful, Nic, I mean it.” 

       “I will , Waves. I don’t even know if I’ll be leaving the station.” 

       A bit of relief lifted off of her chest with that. “Ok,” she breathed quietly. 

       Nicole gave her a small smile as she stepped out the door. Her eyes shifted to the other redhead. “I’ll see you later, Mom.” 

       “Bye, Pumpkin. Don’t be a dumbass!” 

       “You people have no faith in me,” she grumbled as she pulled the door closed behind her. 

.  .  .

       “I’m sure she just got held up,” Jeremy comforted with a smile. Everyone was at the Homestead. Wynonna, Gus, Waverly, and the additions of Sharon, Ina, and Jeremy. But it had been 6 hours since she had heard from Nicole. 

       And she was rightfully flipping her shit. 

       “I have texted her 14 times, Jeremy. 14! And she hasn’t even read any!” She pushed her hands into her hair, pulling at her roots. "And she said she'd tell me when she was coming!"

       “Babygirl, c’mere,” Wynonna called from the kitchen. 

       Waverly looked up at her and she motioned her over with her finger. She let out a sigh as she stood up, sulking over to her sister. “What?”

       Wynonna handed her a shot glass. “Drink.” 

       “Why?” 

       “Because you’re stressed. Drink.” 

       She looked up at her then down to the glass then back up to her and down again before tipping it back. Her face scrunched up as she tried to get the taste out of her mouth. “Ick.” 

       The older Earp pat her shoulder. “Better?” 

       “ No .” 

       She tipped her head at her, furrowing her brows. She let out a sigh as she took the glass and filled it with more vodka, handing it out to her. 

       “Wynonna, knock it off,” Gus scolded, taking the shot from her hand and pouring it down the drain. She looked towards the smaller girl. “She’s fine, Honey. Go sit down.” 

       Waverly swallowed the lump in her throat as she walked over to the table and sat down. The rest of the people gathered around, taking their spots. Everyone made their plates, beginning chatting up a storm and Waverly sat quietly, pushing her food around on her plate, eyes locked on the front door as her stomach tied itself in knots. 

       Finally , after 7 minutes and 48 seconds, the door quickly opened as the redhead rushed into the house, quickly finding her seat between Jeremy and Waverly. She pushed a kiss into the top of her head and rustled her hand through his hair before sitting down. “I am so sorry, Gus. I was finishing up at the station and then got a call to a hit and run and that led to a car chase and then an arrest and a lot of paperwork . . .” She waved her hand around, turning to look towards her girlfriend, who was slowly blinking at her.

       “ So , you didn’t answer your phone because ?” 

       Nicole’s brow creased confusedly. “What d’you mean?” She pulled her phone out of her uniform pocket, eyes widening. “ That’s probably why . . .” She turned her phone to face her, revealing the completely shattered front. 

       “ Nicole , you got this like two months ago,” she grumbled, taking it from her and pressing the power button, but the screen stayed black. 

       “I didn’t try to land on it,” she mumbled. 

       “ Land on it? What’d you do?” 

       Her eyes widened again. “Uhhh . . .” 

-  -  - 

       “Sheriff and Haught, he’ll be at your 20 in a minute or so. He’s speeding along at a good 140 now,” Lonnie called over their radio. 

       They had just stopped to get ready to throw out spike strips in order to stop the car before it left their jurisdiction. Nicole squinted up the road, seeing the red truck barrelling towards them in the distance. She let out a breath as she got ready, flicking her eyes between Nedley and the truck. 

       He quickly got within a few football fields of them. “Ready, Haught? 1, 2, 3!” They threw the spikes out on each side of the road. 

       The man in the truck realized what was ahead of him and slammed on his breaks, causing the vehicle to swerve out of control on the icy road. 

       Her eyes widened, seeing the front end coming right for her. “ HAUGHT !” She sprinted a few steps before launching herself into the snow-filled ditch just as hit the strips, sending the truck rolling across the road. 

       Nicole quickly pushed herself up and brushed herself off, trying to get as much of the snow off of her as she could before she drew her gun and climbed out, running towards Nedley as he approached the vehicle. 

       “You good, Kid?” He asked as they slowly walked forwards. 

       “Yea, I’m fine,” she assured, hearing the other cruisers approaching in the distance. 

       He nodded, looking back towards the wreck. “EXIT THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP!” 

-  -  - 

       “. . . Nothing, just when I tackled the guy,” she said with an innocent shrug. 

       Waverly shook her head at her, setting it down on the table. “You need a better case, Love.” 

       Gus cleared her throat. “Now that we’re all here-”

       “Not all,” Wynonna muttered under her breath. 

       Everyone at the table turned their heads to look at her. Waverly's brow furrowed sadly. 

       Doc had been missing for a month now and it had seemed to be making Wynonna spiral further and further into a fit of worry. She was terrified that there was the possibility that she'd be raising the baby on her own. 

       And it was hard for Waverly seeing her sister like this. She had never seen her care so much about a guy before. It had always just been fuck 'em and chuck 'em with all her previous boyfriends or whatever she called the majority of them. And it wasn't that she wanted him there for the baby. Waverly could tell she wanted him there for both of them. 

       And she wasn't the only one that missed him. They all did. Life gets boring not hearing that Georgian drawl every day. And not to mention that having the greatest gunslinger to have ever lived’s help during the more challenging Black Badge missions was pretty darn sweet. 

       “I’ve got a story,” Sharon announced. Nicole looked towards her nervously as she shoved a fork of mashed potatoes in her mouth. “So. A long while ago, I’d say about . . . 23 years or so ?” She met her daughter’s eyes with a sneer. 

       Nicole’s eyes bugged out. “ No ,” she warned, shaking her head at her. “Don’t you dare.” 

       “I was havin' my boss over for dinner- I had just switched to a new company and wanted to make a good first impression, ya know? So as I’m fixin' dinner, I put her father in charge of bathin' and dressin' her, wantin' to show off my wonderful parenting skills with my cute little 3-year-old .” 

       Nicole had slowly started to slide down in her chair, pulling up her jacket to cover half her face.

       “My boss and her husband arrived and everythin' was going great. We were drinkin' some wine , eatin' some appetizers as the food finished up. Now, little did I know, things on the other end of the house were not lookin' so pretty.” 

       The redhead sunk farther into her chair as slow smiles inched onto the faces around her. 

       “I’m chattin' up my boss, we’re gettin' to know each other, and I hear, “ Mama, look at my dress! ” come from behind me. So I turn around, expectin' to find her in somethin' cute or whatever. Mm-mnm, nope. There’s Nicole with her hands on her hips and a proud smile on her face, standin' in the middle of the kitchen in a goddamn plastic bag!” 

       Nicole let out a loud, exaggerated groan and her face went a deep red, hearing the laughter circulate all around her. 

       “Here’s what happened. The dumbass somehow forgot to get an outfit until after he got her out of the bath, so he left her in the bathroom all by her lonesome for about 3 minutes as he rushed off to go throw somethin' together. And this one wanted to make Mama and Daddy proud by dressin' herself, so she decided on the closest thing to clothes she could find: a white, basically see-through plastic bag from the trashcan in the bathroom. She grabbed it, dumped all the trash on the floor, and stuck her feet through the bottom, pulling the straps over her arms.”

       “ Mom ,” Nicole whined. 

       “You be quiet,” she tutted. “So, as you’d expect, I’m mortified because my daughter is standin'  basically naked in front of my new boss. And here comes her father, stoppin' like a deer in headlights in the door frame. He finally came in and scooped her up, carryin' her away . . . But yea. Still to this day, I’m known as the one with her kid in a bag.” 

       Waverly pat at her eyes with her napkin as she tried to calm down from her laughing fit and the taller girl dropped her head to her hands, leaning her forehead on the table. “Why do you always tell everyone that story?”

       “Because it’s fucking hilarious, Haught Shit,” Wynonna snorted. She let out another groan. 

       Waverly coaxed her to sit up, rolling her fingers around the tops of her red-hot ears with a giggle. “Don’t laugh at me,” she mumbled with a pout. 

       "I'm sorry," she giggled. "I'm just imagining you in a bag and it's-" She covered her mouth with her hand as she dipped her head in an attempt to hide her laughter. Nicole slumped back in her chair, pursing her lips at her mother. 

       "I'm telling that one at your guys' wedding," Wynonna sighed. 

       " WEDDING ?!" The rest of the table gawked. 

       The older Earp raised her eyebrows at all of them, blinking for a few seconds. "What? You people think that these fools aren’t gonna get married?”

       “Not any time soon, Wynonna,” Nicole reminded. 

       “Coming from the girl who got married to a stranger in Vegas,” she muttered. 

       “ WHAT ?!” Sharon exclaimed. 

       Nicole turned her head towards the brunette with wide eyes, putting her hand up to shield her face as she mouthed “I’m gonna kill you.” She looked over to her mother with a dimpled smile. “Hmm?” 

       “You were married ?!” 

       “Mhm.” 

       “To a man !?”

       The Officer let out a loud snort, laugher leaving Wynonna, Waverly, and Jeremy’s mouth at the same time.

       “That was a good one, Haught Momma,” Wynonna applauded. 

       She looked towards them with her brows pulled tightly together. “A woman ?” 

       “No, Shar, a traffic cone,” Ina groaned. 

       The other redhead stared at Nicole for a few seconds before slowly nodding. “Uh-huh.” She wiped her mouth off with her napkin before standing up. “A moment, please?” She said with a glare. 

       Nicole scooted her chair back and leaned towards the smaller girl, pressing a kiss to her temple. “ I’m in trouble ,” she whispered with a small smirk. Waverly smacked her arm as she stood up straight, shaking her head at her. The Officer made her way around the table and followed Sharon towards the door, pulling it closed behind her. 

       She made a move to stop on the porch, but Sharon pressed her hand into her back, forcing her to continue walking down closer to the cars. “Keep goin'.” She could hear her voice deep with the pent up anger she knew was about to be released on her. 

       “Mom,” she said with a nervous laugh. “I would have told you about Shae eventually, it just never came up.” 

       “No, Nicole,” she huffed. “I’m not mad that you didn’t tell me about Shae.” 

       The Officer’s face grew confused as her arms fell limply to her sides. “Wh- Then what?” She asked softly.

___

       “I’m really not good at the whole Haught Potato’s Mom is back thing,” Wynonna mumbled as they all watched the door close. 

       “You’re really not,” her sister replied, tossing a kernel of corn at her. Wynonna pursed her lips, chucking one back. Waverly shot her a challenging stare as she went to throw another. 

       “Quit,” Gus ordered. “Or you two are sweeping the floor tonight.” 

       "Noo," Wynonna whined. 

       "Then cut it out. Y'all weren't born in a barn." 

       Waverly and Wynonna slowly looked up at one another, slow grins creeping into their faces from being scolded. The younger one cleared her throat, biting the inside of her cheeks to keep a laugh down. Wynonna pulled her lips into her mouth, looking away from her. They calmed down after a second, continuing on with their meal. 

       After ten more minutes, everyone had finished up, yet the Haughts hadn't returned. Waverly and Wynonna cleared their plates, dropping them into the soapy dishwater Gus had started up.

       "Jeremy, Hun. Will you go check and see if those two out there are done? I want to start packing the leftovers up," Gus asked as he set his plate in right after the sisters. 

       "Aye, aye, Captain Gus!" He affirmed with a salute. 

       She smiled at the boy as he turned away. Wynonna cocked a confused eyebrow at him. "Why's he so weird?" She whispered to Waverly. 

       She scoffed, smacking her arm as she grabbed a cider out of the fridge. "He's sweet, Wyn." 

       "That doesn't make him not weird," she mumbled. 

       "Wynonna, sweep the floor," Gus said from the sink. 

       "What?! Why?! I didn't throw anything else!"

       "How'd that hunk of chicken hit Mrs. Chetri in the head then?" She asked, turning to look at her. The brunette pursed her lips, sulking off to the closet where they kept the broom and dustpan. 

       Waverly took a drink out of her bottle before setting it down and pulling her sleeves up, joining Gus at the sink to start rinsing. The front door came open and Jeremy walked back in. “Uh, guys . . . We might have a little problem . . .” 

       They all turned to look at him, stopping what they were doing. “What . . .?” Waverly asked slowly with furrowed brows. 

       “They’re gone.”