75. You're Still in Ass-Beating Range

       Nicole’s mouth opened, eyes widening. She glanced over to Wynonna for a second before meeting her eyes again. “W-What?” 

       “You heard me.” 

       “You’re . . . Michelle?” 

       She blinked at her for a second. “You’re pretty dumb to be a Sheriff.” 

       “ Mama ,” Wynonna grumbled. 

       She pursed her lips before letting out a sigh. “ Yes , I’m Michelle.” It had seemed that Wynonna had mentioned that Waverly was dating the Sheriff, but had not gone into any more detail than that. And it most likely meant that the woman had expected a man.

       Nicole let out a breath, pulling herself together. “Uh . . . Yea. Waves and I are engaged. And I would highly suggest for you to be ok with that.” 

       “Oh yea?” She took yet another step closer to her, looking right up at her now. She was Waverly’s height, so Nicole towered over her, but that woman could make it seem as if she was 8 feet tall. “ Why’s that ?” She asked lowly, eyes alit with flame. 

       “Cause I’d be more than happy to send your ass high tailin’ back to wherever you’ve been for the past 15 plus years , and I’m sure Waverly’d rather have no mother at all than one who shames her for who she is.” Michelle kept her eyes locked on the redhead’s, Wynonna watching in horror as the two stood in silence. 

       Her mother finally broke it, taking a step back with a smile. “And you passed with flying colors,” she breathed out, almost in relief. 

       Nicole grinned proudly, having caught onto her game beforehand. “I aim to please.” She turned her head, feeling Alice’s hand flapping against her arm. She took her back from Wynonna, beaming down at her. “What?” She cooed. “You love watching me make a good first impression, yes, I know!” She looked back up at the duo. “So can you fill me in on what we missed while we were in Dallas, Wynonna?” She asked with a very questioning brow. 

       The brunette gave her a toothy smile, walking over and pulling a chair out for her. She threw her a glare as she sat in it, laying Alice down on her thighs as she stretched her legs out on the chair beside her. She turned her head, pushing the button on her radio. “Pearson, come in.” 

       “What’s up, Sheriff?”

       “I’m gonna be late. Make sure everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to.” 

       “And by that you mean tell Schmitt to stop watching Duck Dynasty on his computer?” 

       She rolled her eyes. “Exactly. Thank you.”

       “No problem.”  

       She let go of it, pulling her phone out of her pocket and pressing it to her ear. “I’m calling Waves. She’s gonna be here if I’m gonna be here.” Wynonna looked nervous, but she gave her a slow nod. 

       “Miss me already?” The brunette answered. 

       She rolled her eyes with a smile, running her hand up the baby's stomach. “Obviously.”

       Waverly giggled, “What’s up?”

       “Uhm, can you head up to the Homestead. Like, right now?” 

       “Why?” She asked slowly. 

       “Just . . . You’ll know when you get here.” 

       “Wait, you’re there? Why?” 

       “ Babe ,” she breathed out beggingly. 

       “Right, yea, sorry. I’ll be there in a bit.” 

       "Mk, see you." 

       "Bye, love you." 

       "Love you, too." She ended the call, setting her phone on the table. "Now we wait." 

       "Well, while we wait . . ." Michelle started. "When'd my Waverly realize she was a lady lover." 

       "Well . . ." 

       Wynonna cut her off. "After her ex-asshole of a boyfriend tried to rape her." Her mother's eyes went wide. 

       "That wasn't why, Wynonna," Nicole grumbled, throwing her a hard glare. 

       "Well it wasn't too long-"

       "I'm sorry, what ?!" Michelle demanded, cutting her off in need of a further explanation. 

       The redhead pursed her lips, lifting Alice into her arms, seeing that her voice had startled her. "Last year, she’d been with this guy since high school. She ended it cause he was . . . a dickhead , but he ended up getting drunk later that night and forcing her into a stall at Shorty's, making an attempt to . . . yea ." 

       "But he didn't actually . . ." 

       "No," Wynonna assured with a shake of her head. "Slicky Nicky, here, coldcocked him with a beer bottle before he could.” 

       “Don’t call me that . . . ever ,” she said with a grimace. 

       Mama continued to blink between the two women. “So who is this man and where can I find him?"

       “Champ Hardy. And he’s in prison cause she wasn’t the only one he did it to,” Nicole answered, glad of the fact. 

       “She dated a Hardy ?!” 

       “ Small town, limited dating options ,” Wynonna and Nicole both mimicked in their best Waverly impression at the same time. They looked towards each other with small smirks. 

       “That’s no excuse to date a damn Hardy,” she grumbled. 

       “You’ve got that right,” the brunette muttered. 

       It was only a few minutes later that Nicole heard a car door shut. She stood and handed Alice over to Wynonna before walking over to the door, opening it just as Waverly was about to, making her jump a bit. “ Jeez ,” she breathed with a laugh, placing her hand over her heart. 

       Nicole smiled an apology as she let her in. “There’s more where that came from,” she sighed, guiding her towards the kitchen with her hand on the small of her back. 

       “What do you mean?” She questioned, furrowing her brows after giving Doc a smile. Nicole decided to let her figure it out herself, keeping her hand on her as they passed the shielding wall in the kitchen, knowing her tendency of blacking out from shock. Waverly saw Wynonna first and gave Alice a little wave, but then her eyes caught the other woman. 

       She turned towards her, mouth coming open slightly as if she was staring at a ghost. She swayed back a step and the redhead slid her hands to her waist as she leaned slightly back into her. She rubbed her thumbs gently on her hip bones as Michelle stood up, taking her first look at her grown daughter. “You ok?” Nicole whispered gently. She nodded her head, so she coaxed her to stand on her own, giving her hip a squeeze before walking around the table and taking a seat. 

       Waverly wasn’t sure if her first impression of her, dressed in some sweatpants, one of Nicole’s academy hoodies, and a messy bun, was what she would have particularly wanted. But it’s what she got. She snapped herself out of it, face finally returning to normal besides her jaw opening and closing a few times in an attempt to say something. The ball of emotions worked it's way up her throat, sending tears to her eyes. “. . . Mama .” 

       Michelle took a few more steps towards her, reaching out and running her hands down her arms. “I’m back, Angel.” Those three words made her lose it. She immediately threw her arms around her shoulders, burying her face into her neck and her mother somehow hugged her back even tighter. 

       The older one pulled back after a minute, cupping her face and wiping her tears with her thumbs. She let out a happy sigh. “Well . . . Your fiancée passed the test. She’s already threatened me.” 

       Waverly’s head snapped towards her. “ Nicole !” 

       Her eyes went wide and she put her hands up. “I was defending you!” 

       She looked toward her mother with raised eyebrows and she nodded to confirm it. She looked back to Nicole. “You’re lucky,” she said in warning. 

       “The luckiest,” she smiled with a wink. 

       Waverly rolled her eyes with a blush, shaking her head as she looked at her mother. “. . . W-Why? Why now?” 

       Michelle gave her arm one more pat before pulling away. She took a seat where she had been and Waverly sat next to Nicole, taking the baby from Wynonna with a wide smile. “You asked why first, so I’ll answer the why . . . I came back cause I got word I had a new granddaughter.” The brunette smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of the little one’s head. “When? Last night.” 

       “She literally knocked on the damn door right after I had finally gotten her down,” Wynonna grumbled. 

       She gave her a sorry pout. “Where? That story’s a little more complex-"

       "Ya, and my back hurts, so we're moving." Wynonna stood, walking towards the living room. They all blinked at her for a second before following. Nicole sat at the end of the couch opposite to Doc, and with one look from the brunette, she turned sideways, letting her lean back into her. Waverly curled her knees up, holding the baby closer as she started to nod off. Nicole smiled, looking down at her and running her thumb on the brunette's leg, pushing a kiss to her temple when she leaned her head back onto her shoulder. 

       “Uhm . . . You know very well your father was not a nice man. Not to me. Not to you. Not to anyone but his Willa, really.” Waverly nodded in agreement. “And as time passed, it got worse. And I was young and stupid, so I left, telling myself I’d never come back until he was gone . . . So that’s what I did.” Waverly furrowed her brows, knowing that it was barely two years after that he had died. “I ended up on the edge of British Columbia, working on a fishing boat . . . And that’s where I’ve been since . . . No one told me about what happened. No calls, no nothing. It wasn’t until I ran into someone that used to live around here a few weeks back, and he certainly had a lot to say to me. How horrible of a person I was for leaving you three with him. And how it was a blessing of what had happened.”

       “And he told you about Alice?” Waverly asked. 

       She nodded, “Told me almost everything that’s happened with you two over the past almost 18 years . . . How Wynonna was in the nuthouse-” 

       “ Yea , buddy,” she smirked. The couple rolled their eyes. 

       “How you were valedictorian . . . He did leave off that bit, though.” She circled her finger around, pointing at them. 

       “ Shocker ,” Nicole mumbled. Waverly tipped her head towards her face, threading her fingers through the gaps on the back of her’s with her free hand. 

       “I promise you, if I would have known, I would have come back earlier. But I didn’t hear anything from anyone. And I had been promised to be kept in the know, but . . . I guess those ties were looser than I thought.” 

       “Who was it?” The younger one questioned. 

       She waved it off. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that I’m back, once and for all.” 

       The brunette obviously wasn’t passing over that question as easily as Michelle thought she would. She looked up at Nicole with a swallow before looking back to her mother. “. . . Was it my father?” 

       A quick hush passed over the room and Michelle’s mouth came open slightly. “Wave,” Nicole mumbled quietly after a few seconds, looking down at her with wide eyes. 

       She ignored her, looking back at the older woman. She wasn’t angry. She was just curious. The question had been swirling in the back of her mind for over a year and she was now able to try and get some answers. But Michelle had seemed to be sent into shock by it, probably expecting that to be the last thing to come out of her mouth. 

       "I know I’m not Daddy’s . . . We found out on accident when we ran Willa’s DNA against ours last year.”

       “. . . Angel ,” she finally breathed out. “I’m so sorry.” 

       “No.” She shook her head as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “It doesn’t matter to me.” She looked towards her sister. “We’re a family no matter the circumstances.” Wynonna nodded, rubbing her knee from her position next to Doc. “I just . . . kinda wanna know more about that side of me.” 

       Michelle took a few more seconds to let the last minute settle before nodding her head. “And I promise. I will tell you all about him. But I know Nicole has to get to work and I’m a little more interested in what is going on with you at the moment.” 

       "She's right, Baby," the redhead agreed. "Lonnie's gonna set something on fire if I don't get there."

       "Most likely himself?" She questioned as she sat up off of her and gently handed Alice over to John Henry. 

       " Yep .” Waverly walked her to the door, wrapping her arms around her to force her to stay just a few minutes longer. 

       "Please excuse them while they be gross," Wynonna mumbled. 

       "Earp, you ain't seen gross," Nicole corrected, having heard her. 

       "Uh, yea-huh. I walked in on you two that one time, remember?" 

       "Yea, I know . . . But like I said, you ain't seen gross," she repeated with a wink. 

       Waverly wacked her arm as her face stormed with a blush. " Go ." She grabbed her face and pushed a hard, chaste kiss to her lips before pushing her back and opening the door, forcing her out it. 

       "I love you!" Nicole laughed as she walked towards her cruiser. 

       "You are still in ass-beating range. I'd floor it if I were you!" 

       The Sheriff smirked as she climbed into the car and Waverly shook her head at her, waiting until she pulled away to close the door. She let out a sigh, leaning back against it. “Well. Now you’ve met my lovely fiancée.” 

       “She seems amazing, Dear,” Michelle smiled as she walked over and sat back down. 

       Waverly gave her a bashful smile. “She is amazing.” 

       “And from Dallas, I hear?” 

       The brunette nodded, “Moved to Calgary after high school, then to here a little over a year ago.” 

       “Why’d she country hop?” 

       Wynonna raised her eyebrows, looking towards her and resting her chin on her fist. “Good question.” 

       Waverly blinked at her sister annoyedly. “ Long story,” she answered, looking right at her. Mama got the hint, realizing that it was a personal matter, or rather, one that wasn’t to be shared with the older Earp. 

       But, as if on cue, Alice let out a whine from Doc’s arms. “What’s the matter, Darlin’?” He hushed, rocking her a bit. But it didn’t change anything. He looked up to the older brunette. “I feel she’s a bit hungry. She’s due for her next feeding soon if I’m not mistaken?” 

       Wynonna let out a sigh, gently taking her from his arms and standing up. “You are not,” she said, mocking his drawl slightly as she began to walk to the stairs. “You’re gonna suck some titty while I watch Netflix,” she cooed as she went up. Waverly rolled her eyes. 

       Doc stood, giving them a warm smile. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” And with a tip of his hat, he was outside. 

       Michelle waited until she was sure he was out of complete earshot. “ Doc Holliday? ” She questioned breathlessly. 

       Waverly chuckled a bit. “Sure is.” 

       “W- How ?!” 

       “He did some betting with the devil ,” she said with air quotes and an accent. “So now he’s immortal . . . And Nonna’s baby daddy.” 

       She leaned her forehead on her hand. “Lord, what has Purgatory come to?” 

       “We’ve got a half-dragon-half-US Marshal, too,” she offered with a smile. 

       Mama blinked at her for a few seconds in disbelief before shaking her head. She stopped, though, squinting her eyes slightly. “. . . Nicole’s not . . . some type of creature, is she?” 

       Waverly’s eyes widened with a laugh. “No!”

       “Hey! Demons could be migrating from Texas now, for all I know!” 

       “I mean, Nic tried to leave most of her demons in Texas, so . . .”

       Michelle furrowed her brows, but just in the short amount of time she spent with her, she could tell Nicole’s soul was a tested one, so hearing that wasn’t too surprising. “Ok . . . Enough about everyone else. I wanna hear about you .” 

       The brunette let out a breath, pulling her foot under her knee. “Where should I start?” 

.  .  .

       Nicole typed away at her computer, emailing out the time blocks for the couple of interviews she had over the next week or so. Hiring more deputies was one of the number one things she decided she needed to do when she became Sheriff, but it was easier said than done. No one seemed to have a wanting need to work in Purgatory for some reason. So she had to make her search far and wide throughout Alberta. In her five months, Pearson was the only one that took up the challenge so far, and she had hired him out of pure luck. 

       “Sheriff, come in,” the dispatcher called over the radio. 

       “Go ahead, Lucy.” 

       “. . . We just got a call about a dead body in The Lake.” 

       Nicole sat back in her chair, slowly pushing her hand through her hair. This would be her first call as Sheriff for foul play, if it was. “A dead hunter from Goose season? Or are we talking something else here.” 

       “No, Sheriff . . . This one’s no doubt murder.” 

       She swallowed, standing up and walking around her desk. “Who called it in?” She asked as she walked towards Pearson’s office ( her old office), signaling for him to come over. He was quickly next to her, listening to what she was hearing. She quickly explained to him the situation before Lucy continued.

       “That’s where we have a problem. The call was quick, straight to the facts and gone. So either the killer called it in or it was a hunter more concerned about getting in trouble for poaching out of season.” 

       Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose. “So you’re telling me that we could be walking through the woods to the lake where a murderer could be staked out?” Pearson widened his eyes at her.

       “Yes . . . That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Though it sounded like he wanted to get out of there quickly . . . So quickly, in fact, that we didn’t get a clear location to which part of the lake the corpse was in.”

       “ Fuck ,” she muttered. The Lake was easily 300 acres surrounded by woods on all sides. She pressed the button. “Should we call in Search and Rescue to help us look?” 

       “I’d say get all hands on deck out there today, and if you can’t find them, then call them tomorrow. It’ll take them a couple of hours to get out here anyways.”

       That was a fair point. Why waste their time if they could find it within an hour or so on their own? She told Pearson to go brief everyone that was there. “Alright . . . Did you at least get a description?” 

       “It’s an older caucasian female with greying-brown hair . . . And he said whatever happened to her was not pretty, that’s all.” 

       She walked back to her office and typed the limited information into the Missing Person’s database, saving the 20 or so hits from the surrounding area to worry about later when they needed a reference. She stood up straight, pressing the button once more. “Ok, Lucy, thank you. I’ll keep you posted.” 

       “Be safe out there, Sheriff.” 

       She sighed as she began to call in all the off-duty officers. They started to file in as she went to grab her yellow safety vest and backpack filled with things they might need for this type of situation. Once everyone was in the loop and ready, she gave a call to Waverly to inform her of the situation, telling her she’d most likely be home late. And after that, they were off towards the lake. The eight of them wouldn’t be able to cover much, especially since Nicole figured it would be safest to go in pairs. But they were determined, nonetheless. 

___

       Waverly and Michelle talked. For hours. Besides the fact that the brunette was giving her the story of her life that she had not been there for, it was almost like they had known each other forever. Conversation was flowing easily between the two and Waverly couldn’t be happier. 

       “It was definitely the best day of my life. Who else gets engaged and gets a niece on the same day?” She said with a laugh. 

       “Definitely not a lot of people, I’d say.” 

       “Ali came fast, too. Within two hours of Wy’s water breaking, she was born.”

       Michelle nodded with a heavy sigh, “That’s how I was with you three. You were all late, but when you were ready, oh you were ready.” 

       Waverly giggled but looked towards the door when it opened, seeing Gus come in from her shift at Shorty’s. She turned and closed the door behind her, walking into the house. “Hi, Honey-” She stopped, staring wide-eyed at her sister, who was staring right back at her. “What in the hell?” She breathed out. Waverly's brow furrowed. She had thought Gus would have known she was here by now, considering she had been there since the night before.

       Michelle stood up, taking a few steps towards her. “Gus . . .” 

       But the older one backed away from her as many steps as she took towards her, putting her hand up. “Now you better have an explanation for me, or I swear, Michelle-” 

       “I did what I had to.”

       “Oh, no you did not . Anyone with common sense would have fled with the girls, not leave them with that son of a bitch.” 

       “I know, Gus. Trust me , I know. And I would have-” 

       “But you didn’t! You left knowing damn well he was taking his belt to that one every goddamn night!” She pointed a heavy finger at the brunette, never breaking eye contact with the woman in front of her. 

       “ Gus ,” Waverly mumbled, but the two ignored her. 

       “And you don’t think I regret doing what I did?! I was selfish . I was stupid -” 

       “Damn right, you were! All those girls needed after the attack was their mother , but you were long gone! So I had to be their damn mother! I had to step up and clean up your mess just like I always do !”

       Michelle’s face twisted up. “Oh yea, what a mother you were! Sending my daughter off to an insane asylum? That was real sweet of you!” 

       “ Guys ,” Waverly said a little louder, but it seemed to be no use. 

       “She shot her own father and blamed it on demons , Michelle! She was 14 , how was I supposed to believe that!?” 

       “Well maybe if you would have taken your head outta your ass for one second , you would’ve-”

       “ HEY !” Wynonna’s booming voice cut the two off as she stomped down the stairs, face red with anger. The three looked up at her. “Do you mind not screaming at each other right after I put the baby to sleep cause I’d really fucking appreciate it!” 

       “Well, Wynonna , maybe if I would have gotten a call, telling me my estranged sister had finally decided to come home, we wouldn’t have this problem!” 

       She threw her arms out. “She was here this morning before you left, Gus!” 

       She quickly furrowed her brows, looking between them. “What!?” 

       “I got here last night,” Michelle added. “And slept upstairs.” 

       The older one blinked between the two for a few more seconds before shaking her head and walking towards the cabinet, grabbing the whiskey bottle and sulking off to her room, giving her door a hard slam. Wynonna let out a huff, turning and climbing the stairs to tend to her crying child. 

       Waverly relaxed back slightly into the couch, watching her mother as she roughly dropped down on the opposite end where she had been before. “Since when does she live here?” She grumbled, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and middle finger. 

       “Since Champ,” she answered in a mumble. “She was gonna leave after I moved out, but then she found out Nonna was pregnant, so she stayed to help her.” 

       “Ah,” she said with a nod, planning to quickly brush off the subject. “So . . . Where were we?” 

       “We were done, I guess,” the brunette shrugged. “Nonna had Alice and Nic and I went to Dallas, came back, and now you’re here.”

       “Well, that’s one hell of a life story, Waverly Earp,” she said with a small smile. 

       Waverly’s face twinged a little, hearing her last name. It was a constant reminder of who she was not. “. . . Can you tell me now?” She asked quietly, pulling her sleeves over her hands and looking up at her through her lashes. 

       Mama clenched her jaw, knowing the question would pop up again sometime soon. The brunette pulled her legs criss-cross in front of her as she turned on the cushion to face her. “. . . What do you want to know?” 

       She leaned her chin on both fists that were still covered by the fabric. “Everything, Mama.” 

       She nodded, turning herself so she was facing her as well. “. . . I did love Ward, you know. Well . . . I thought I did. It faded not too long after the whiskey began to take my place. But. I eventually found a new love, a true love . . . And his name was Julian.”