18. Daddy Wasn't Lying

Nicole hopped into her cruiser and unloaded the radar gun from its case. She figured she would be doing a lot of this with her hand screwed up. The look of disappointment on Nedley’s face when she had told him what happened hurt her heart a little bit. She shook off the memory and pulled out of the parking lot, heading for her specified spot for the night.

After an hour of being parked behind a building and holding the radar gun up, her brain was numb. She almost jumped out of her seat when she heard her phone ding on her lap, and she let out a shaky breath as she picked it up.

Jeremy : We need to talk about these results, Nicole.

Nicky: ???

Jeremy : Meet me at the Cafe by my house tmrw. U pick when

Nicole clicked out of messaging and went to her calendar. Her shift started at two the next afternoon. She tried to work out a time in her head.

Nicky: How long will it take?

Jeremy : No clue

Nicky: I’ll be there at 9. U better tell me exactly what’s going on, I stg, Jer

Jeremy : I will, trust me

Nicky: Good. Gtg, working

Jeremy : 

Nicky:

Nicole’s stomach churned. She could tell he was nervous, and Jeremy nervous made Nicole nervous. She didn’t know whaat the fuck could be so confusing about DNA results. 

Nicole shook her head and tossed her phone onto the seat next to her. 

It was going to be a long night.

-   -   -

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

 Nicole flipped over with a grunt and felt around on her nightstand to shut off her phone. She sat up and rubbed her face. “Seven is too early, Calamity.” She climbed off her bed and changed into her workout clothes.

Now in the kitchen, she opened a can of cat food and dumped it into a bowl for CJ. She placed it on the floor and slumped into the living room, strapping her Fitbit on and finishing off her banana. Nicole tied her running shoes before plugging her earbuds in her ears and heading out the door. She hadn’t been working out half as much as she usually did. Being with Waverly during all of her free time, she just never had a chance to. Not that she wanted to spend less time with her because, honestly, she wanted to be with her more, but she just needed to manage her time better. She stretched for a few minutes and then took off in a jog.

.  .  .

Nicole slowed up the sidewalk of her house about 30 minutes later, placing her hands on her knees when she reached the porch. She caught her breath and checked her Fitbit. “Five miles? Not too shabby.” Nicole made her way inside and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge, sipping some of it down. She wiped her face with a towel and headed upstairs to her makeshift-gym she had set up in one of the spare bedrooms. She did her post-run stretching and plopped down on a mat. She took one more chug of water and began doing some reps of sit ups and push ups. After a handful, she got up with a groan. She knew if she wanted to make it to the Cafe on time, she probably needed to start getting ready. She flipped the light off and headed back downstairs. Grabbing some clean clothes, she hopped in the shower.

At 8:30, she rushed out the door, dressed in a grey shirt with a red and black flannel unbuttoned over it, black skinny jeans, and high-top black vans. She even had her sling on, knowing Waverly would be so proud of her. She pulled away from her house and headed towards the cafe, stomach still churning with nervousness.

She saw Jeremy’s bike propped up on the wall when she pulled up, so when she walked in, she spotted him right away. “Hey, Jer, sorry I’m late. I lost track of time.” She sat down across from him at the table. He looked up at her, and she could see the bags under his eyes.

“Hey,” he mumbled, pulling some papers out of his backpack. “Go get coffee or whatever while I get this set up.” Nicole hesitated for a second, wanting to say something, but decided she would let him run the show. She tapped the table as she stood and walked up to the register, ordering a caramel frappe. The barista rung her up and she paid. Her coffee was done within a few minutes and she walked back to the table that was now scattered with papers.

“Woah,” Nicole mumbled, sitting back down.

“I need you to tell me if I’m going crazy or not,” Jeremy said, staring right into her eyes.

“Ok, how do you want me to do that?” The papers had charts on them with rows of numbers and words explaining what they meant. She noticed at the tops of all the papers, a sticky note was covering something up.

“You see these three papers?” he asked, pointing at the top row. Nicole nodded. “These are the three first tests, the ones I did that night you were there. I want you to look at these and tell me what’s wrong with them.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow at him and leaned forward, examining them. She noticed the first two had very similar numbers, but the last one was a bit different. “That one has different numbers . . .” she said slowly, looking back up at him.

“Ok, now look at the other two tests I did.”

She glanced across them. They all had the same results as the first tests. “They’re the same, Jer.”

“Right. So it proves I didn’t mix up anything, right?”

“Right.”

He gathered up the bottom two rows and shoved them back in his backpack, sliding the first test to the middle of the table. “Ok, so I’m gonna explain this in the most English way I can. The difference between them isn’t that big, proving that there’s still some relation there.” Nicole raised her eyebrows. “I tested further using mitochondrial DNA. They all have the same mother, but . . . this one has a different father, Nicole.”

“W-” She shook her head. “Why would Willa be their half-sibling, that doesn’t make sense.”

Jeremy let out a sigh and yanked all the sticky notes off the paper, sticking the last test in her face. “Whose name is that?” he asked.

Nicole snatched it out of his hands, and her eyes bugged out of their sockets when she read it. She stood up and ran her hand through her hair. “No. You- You must’ve mixed them up. There’s no way- No.”

Jeremy stood up and placed his hands on her arms. “I didn’t, Nicole, I know I didn’t.” She looked at him and shook her head again. “Waverly’s not an Earp,” he whispered.

She shook his hands off her and grabbed all three papers. The first one said Willa L, the second said Wynonna A, and the third said Waverly Y. “How . . . How am I gonna tell them that?!” Nicole questioned as she sat back down.

“I really don't know,” he mumbled. 

“I . . . She . . . Can I take these?” she finally stammered out, holding up the papers.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” He pushed his hands through his hair and took a sip of his drink.

“I’m gonna, uh . . . yeah. Thanks for doing this for me, Jer.” She stood up and grabbed her coffee.

“Yeah, no problem,” he sighed, gathering his own things. She gave him a hug and he walked out of the Cafe.

She blinked hard a few times and walked up to the counter again. “Can I get a mocha latte and two . . . vanilla dipped donuts?” She set her stuff down and pulled her wallet back out, handing her the cash. The barista placed the donuts in a bag and handed it to Nicole. She stuffed it in her sling and waited for the coffee.

Nicole somehow managed to get her car door open while holding onto all of her things. She placed the two coffees in the cup holders and the donuts and papers on the passenger seat. She sunk down in her seat and gave an attempt to piece it all together again.

She let out a long steady breath after a few minutes and pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards the Homestead.

.  .  .

“Hey, Red. What’s poppin’?” Wynonna answered after Nicole knocked on the door.

“Is Waves up yet?” she asked, swallowing the nervousness that was creeping up her throat as she walked in. 

“Nah, she was up late last night, reading or whatever,” Wynonna answered, looking down at all the stuff she was carrying. “Ooo, are one of them for me?” she asked, pointing to the donuts.

“Nope,” Nicole sighed, setting all of it down on the kitchen table. She flipped the papers face down and took a long drag of her coffee.

“So what are you here for exactly?” Wynonna questioned, eyeing the papers but quickly looking back up at Nicole.

“I, uh . . . just have to talk to her about some stuff,” she mumbled.

Wynonna squinted her eyes at her, sitting down across from her. “What kind of stuff?” she pressed.

Nicole shifted nervously in her chair.  “I’ll tell you after I talk to her about it.” She took another sip of her coffee, and Wynonna shot her a look.

“No! Get off me, Champ! Stop it! No!” Waverly’s screams filled the house, and Wynonna and Nicole looked at each other, wide-eyed. They jumped out of their chairs and ran up the stairs, hearing her screams becoming more forceful and terrified as they went. Nicole yanked her sling off on her way up and was the first to Waverly’s room. She swung the door open and saw Waverly thrashing around on the bed. She had never seen something like that before, so her legs stuck to the ground as she watched with wide eyes.

Wynonna pushed past her and leaped onto her sister, holding her arms down like she had done once before. “Waverly. Wake up, Babygirl. Waves, he’s not here!” Wynonna shook her and tried to get her to wake up. Nicole moved to the edge of the bed, watching the scene unfold in front of her. Wynonna kept at it for a minute or two, but it wasn’t working. Waverly was still thrashing and screaming just as much, if not more than she was when they entered.

“Alright, move!” Nicole jumped up on the bed and took Wynonna’s spot on top of Waverly. She pressed her arms down and used her feet to pin her legs down to the best of her ability. Wynonna pressed her hand over her own mouth as she watched her baby sister struggling. “C’mon, Baby, wake up. Champ’s not here, you’re safe, Waves.”

Waverly’s eyes shot open and she stopped struggling when she met Nicole’s eyes and registered who she was. “Cole,” she choked out as more tears started to fall. Nicole pushed herself off of her and Waverly sat up, wrapping her arms around her neck after she crawled into her lap. “I- I’m so sorry,” she sobbed, pressing her face into her neck.

“Noo, shhh,” Nicole whispered, rubbing her hand up and down her back.

“Jesus, Waverly! Ya know, some people are trying to get some sleep in this house!” They all looked towards the door, where Willa was now standing with her arms crossed.

“What the fuck, Willa?!” Wynonna snapped, walking towards her. “She had a nightmare!”

“That doesn’t mean she has to throw a fit about it!” Willa retorted.

“Wynonna,” Nicole growled through her teeth. 

“Go!” Wynonna pointed down the hall and Willa stomped off with Wynonna on her tail, slamming the door behind her.

“You ok, Wave?” Nicole whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead that was covered in a cold sweat.

“Yeah,” she sniffed, crawling off her lap and laying back on the bed. Waverly rolled the blanket up around her, and Nicole curled up next to her, holding her close.

About 15 minutes later, Waverly finally spoke. “Why’re you here?” she asked, turning to her with her brow raised.

“I, uh, brought you breakfast . . . And I need to talk to you abo-”

The door swung open. “Nicole, what the hell is this?!” Wynonna demanded, flapping the papers at her. Nicole sat up quickly and peeled Waverly’s arm off her waist, walking over to Wynonna.

“Wynonna, I was gonna-”

“You sure are gonna explain it. Right now, Haught.” She shoved the papers at her and sat on the edge of the bed. Waverly crawled over to sit by her sister, and Wynonna looked towards her, swallowing a lump in her throat.

Nicole cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her head. “Uh, wow, ok. This is really not how I wanted to do this, but someone decided to go through my shit . . . Uh, so, I met with Jeremy this morning to get the results bac-”

“Chetri?” Wynonna asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes, Earp, now if you want to know, shut up so I can explain it.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled as Waverly leaned her head on her shoulder.

Nicole cleared her throat. “Jeremy gave me the results back . . . and it wasn’t what he or I or probably anyone expected.”

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked, looking at her attentively.

Nicole pursed her lips, trying to figure out how to say it. She decided she would do it as Jeremy did with her. She folded the tops down on all of the papers and sat in between the sisters, handing each of them one. “So you see these numbers here?” she asked, pointing to her paper. They both nodded. “Ok, so compare them with the other two sheets.”

The girls looked at each one, bringing it up to their face and scanning down them. “This one is different,” Wynonna said, pointing to the one Waverly was holding. Nicole bit her cheek and nodded. “Ok, so what’s that mean?”

“It means these two are sisters . . . and this one is your half-sister,” she whispered.

“Willa’s our half-sister?!” they both questioned, raising their brows at Nicole.

Nicole felt like she was going to throw up. She bent the tops up on all of the papers with a shaky hand and stood up, walking to the other side of the room. “I’m not an Earp . . .” she heard Waverly whisper after a few seconds. Her heart shattered and she squeezed her eyes together. “Daddy wasn’t lying.” Nicole spun around with her arms to her chest and a hand over her mouth. “That . . . that’s why he hated me so much, Wy. He told me.”

“He didn’t hate you,” Wynonna mumbled, wiping a tear from Waverly’s face.

“Quit lying to yourself, Nonna. You know he did. Willa was the golden child, he kinda loves you, and I was always left behind or getting beat up on. He forgot my birthday . . . three times.”

“Babygirl,” Wynonna mumbled.

Waverly got up off the bed and slowly walked over to Nicole, and she put her head down. “Nic.” She tilted her chin up.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, bringing her eyes to Waverly’s. “I was just trying to he-”

Waverly shook her head. “It’s not your fault, ok? Don’t you ever think that it is.” Nicole dropped her head to press her forehead against Waverly’s, letting out a breath.

“I’m gonna go talk to Gus.” Wynonna stood and walked out of the room with the papers. Waverly tipped Nicole’s head up and pressed her lips gently against hers, tasting her salty tears on them.

Nicole pulled away, sliding her hands up and down Waverly’s arms as she met her eyes. “Are you ok?”

Waverly sighed, looking down for a moment before meeting her eyes. “I guess.”

“You guess?” Nicole questioned softly.

“I mean, there’s nothing I can do except . . . accept it.”

Nicole sighed with a nod, agreeing with her point. “Well . . . You better go get those donuts before Wynonna gets ahold of them,” she mumbled, giving her a small smile.

Waverly’s face lit up. “You brought donuts?” she asked softly.

Nicole nodded. “Vanilla dipped,” she added with a wink. Waverly grabbed her hand and basically dragged her down the stairs. "Your coffee is probably cold, though."

“HANDS OFF, WYNONNA! THEY’RE MINE!” Wynonna dropped the bag and dashed out the front door.