47. Ocupado!

       The redhead’s eyes were as wide as could be. “Wynonna,” she said softly. So many thoughts were running through her head, but she didn’t know what she wanted to ask first. 

       “Don’t Wynonna me, ok, Nicole? I know . . . I really screwed up this time.” There was so much pain on her face.

       Nicole grabbed onto both of her shoulders. “No, don’t say that. This isn’t a bad thing, Wy.” 

       She looked up at her, eyebrows tightly threaded together. “Dude, I’m not fit to be a . . . a mom,” she whispered. Nicole swallowed. “I can barely take care of myself, how am I supposed to take care of a . . . a that.” She pointed to her stomach.

       Nicole wasn’t going to lie. Maybe the thought of Wynonna being in charge of a living and breathing human being did send a jolt of fear through her, but she was a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so it didn’t matter.

       “You’re not alone, ok? You’re not gonna be alone through this, I promise.” Wynonna shook her head. “Does . . . Who knows?” 

       She looked up at her through her lashes. “Just you,” she mumbled. “And I’d like to keep it that way.” 

       The redhead’s eyes widened. “You . . . You want me to keep this from Waverly? Wynonna, I can’-”

       “You can and you will, Haught. I’m not asking, I’m telling.” Nicole slowly nodded her head. “She can’t know until . . . She can’t know yet.” 

       “When do you plan on telling her!? When you’re pushing?” The Deputy asked breathlessly.

       The brunette clapped her hands on the top of her head. “Oh my Jesus, I’m gonna have to do that,” she breathed.

       Nicole grabbed her arms again, trying to calm her down. “Whatever you need, I’m going to help you with. We’re going to get you to a doctor soon so they can check you out and . . . confirm it. Ok?” 

       She nodded. “Ok . . . ok.” 

       “You call or text me whenever, alright?” Wynonna nodded again. “Ok. I’ve gotta go but we are not done talking about this.” 

       “If you say anything to Waverly, I swear to God-” 

       “I won’t, Earp,” Nicole mumbled as they both walked back into the living room.

       Waverly now had a bag over her shoulder. “Ready, Babe?” She asked, looking towards the redhead.

       She squeezed Wynonna’s hand, walking over to her girlfriend. “Yep,” she smiled. They handed out their goodbyes to everyone and headed off to Nedley’s house. 

       Nicole knocked on the door. He answered a few seconds later. “Nicole!” 

       “Hi, Sir,” she smiled.

       He waved them in the house. “How was your trip?” He asked, walking them into the living room. 

       “Amazeballs!” Waverly exclaimed, finding the large fur ball trotting towards them along the back of the couch. “I missed you!” She cooed, picking her up. The cat rubbed her face against Waverly’s. 

       “Yea, we had a great time,” she agreed, scratching the back of her head. “Did this one behave herself?” 

       The Sheriff chuckled. “Besides one toilet paper massacre, yes she did.” 

       Nicole groaned. “Seriously, Calamity, I thought we were over that?” She complained, tipping her face up with her finger. The feline meowed at her. “Don’t sass me, kid,” she tutted. 

       “You wonder why she doesn’t like you,” Waverly mumbled. 

       “She does too,” Nicole retorted. 

       She tipped her head at her. “Mhm, you hold her then.” She handed her off and Calamity Jane immediately started twisting around in her arms, hoping to the floor. “What was that again?” Waverly and Nedley laughed while Nicole pursed her lips at them. The brunette bent down, picking the cat back up. “Is Momma mean to you? Yes she is, I know.” 

       “That fatass knows damn well she’s spoiled,” Nicole grumbled, leaning back onto the arm of the couch. 

       Waverly shielded the cat’s ears with a gasp. “Nicole! She is pleasantly plump!” 

       “Does that make me pleasantly plump, too?” Nedley questioned. They all laughed. 

       “No, Dad, you’re just fat.” They looked to see Chrissy walking down the stairs holding her Yorkie. Waverly quickly set Calamity down and quickly rushed over, snatching the little dog from her hands, probably hurting the poor thing’s ears by the way she was squealing. 

       “Speaking of fat . . . We got you a present, Nedley,” Nicole smirked, handing him the box with the mug.

       He smiled, pulling it out and looking it over. “Are you calling me fat, Haught?” He asked, cocking a playful eyebrow at her. 

       “Definitely not, Sir,” Nicole assured with a chuckle. 

       “Awww! Nic, looook!” Waverly gushed as she and Chrissy walked over to them. They had put the little dog in the suit costume the couple had gotten for him. 

       “Why, Henry, you look quite dashing!” Randy smiled, adjusting the little bow tie around his neck.

       Waverly handed him over to Nicole and he proceeded to lick all over her face. “Hello to you, too,” she smiled. 

       The couple hung out there for a little while longer before packing up all of Calamity Jane’s things and saying goodbye to the Nedley’s. 

       They got to Nicole’s and Waverly curled up on her in the living room as they started their next episode of Friends. The redhead looked down at the smaller girl about 3 episodes in, noticing that she was chewing on her finger, not really focused on the show. 

       “Waves?” She gently pulled her hand away from her mouth, pausing their Netflix. Waverly rolled over, looking up at her, chin resting on her stomach.

       “What?” 

       “What’re you thinkin’ bout?” She asked with a tired drawl. 

       “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.

       Nicole tipped her head knowingly. “It’s something,” she pushed, raising her eyebrows.

       Waverly shook her head again, turning to her side. “It’s nothing, Nic,” she repeated. 

       “You’re bleeding finger tells me otherwise,” she sighed, picking up her hand, kissing said finger. Waverly sighed uncomfortably, flipping to her back. Nicole pulled her up closer to her face, peppering the side of her cheek with kisses. “You can tell me anything,” she reminded in a whisper, pecking the shell of her ear. 

       “I know,” she mumbled. “I just . . . I dunno. I don’t want you to get all weirded out.” 

       The Officer tutted, sitting up. Waverly turned around to face her. “You’re not gonna weird me out, Waves,” she said with a smile.

       The brunette leaned her head sideways against the couch, pulling at a string on Nicole’s sweatpants. She let out a nervous sigh. “I was just thinking about how nice it was in Vegas. How it was just the two of us . . . all the time. And I think it’d be cool if . . . it was always like that.” 

       A gentle smile made its way up the Deputy’s face. “Are you saying you want to move in together, Love?” 

       Waverly slowly looked up at her. “Maybe?”

       Nicole tugged on her arms, pulling her into her lap. “Maybe?” She questioned.

       The smaller girl bit her cheek, body stiffening up. “If you think it’s too fast or don’t want to, that’s o-” 

       “I would love for you to move in with me, Baby,” she smiled, brushing some hair out of her face.

       Waverly smiled brightly. “Really?!” She asked, gripping her hands in her lap. 

       “Really,” Nicole nodded with a laugh. The younger girl giggled, cupping each side of her face as she leaned in for a kiss. 

.  .  .

       10 days later and ironically on their 4 month anniversary, they were getting the last of Waverly’s things into Wynonna’s truck to take over to Nicole’s. Wynonna, Doc, and Nicole were packing it up and taking it over while Waverly and Gus were unpacking and starting to sort through things at the house. 

       “Jesus, why the hell are all of these boxes so heavy?!” Wynonna asked as she carried a larger one down the stairs. 

       “Wynonna.” Nicole walked over to her, taking the box from her hands. “What by take it easy did you not understand?” Nicole had taken her to the doctor and they confirmed that she was 6 weeks pregnant. And now the Officer was being maybe a little too protective over her. 

       Wynonna walked in front of her, snatching the box back. “I’m fine, Haughty,” she grumbled, walking outside. The redhead shook her head, heading back upstairs. 

       “What is this gadget?” Doc asked, jabbing his finger into buttons on the little machine in his hand. 

       Nicole laughed a little, taking it from him. “It’s a calculator.” She turned it on. “It does math and stuff so you don’t have to.”

       He cocked an eyebrow at her. “How?” 

       “Give me an equation.” 

       He thought it over for a few seconds. “2016 minus 1887.” Nicole typed it into the calculator, turning it towards him when the answer popped up. He nodded his head. “That little calca-whatchamacallit is smart. 129 years of my life I was stuck in that damn well,” he sighed, turning away and picking up a box. She blinked at the back of his head for a few seconds, turning it off and setting it back in the box filled with all of her girlfriend’s school stuff, carrying it out to the truck. 

       “I think that’s good for this load,” Wynonna said, looking at the full truck bed with her hands on her hips. 

       “Alright, let’s go.” They all climbed into the truck and Nicole pulled away, heading towards her house.

       “Why do you get to drive my truck?” Wynonna asked. 

       “Because I don’t trust you to drive it while all of her stuff is back there. I’ve seen how you take corners.” Wynonna rolled her eyes. She slowly snuck her hand up, tugging on the wheel, making the vehicle swerve a bit. Nicole righted it, smacking her arm with wide eyes. “Dude!” 

       “What?” Wynonna laughed. 

       “Do you want to kill us?!” 

       “I think she does,” Doc mumbled.

       Wynonna hit his leg. “You’re fine, 5-0,” she sighed. “Don’t get your khakis in a twist.”

       The redhead threw her a look. “You’re sitting by the window on the way back,” she grumbled, pushing a hand through her hair. 

.  .  .

       With one more trip, all of Waverly’s stuff was moved out of the Homestead. “Last one,” Nicole grunted, setting a box of books down in her living room. 

       “That’s it?!” Waverly asked, standing up from the floor. 

       “That’s it,” she confirmed, wiping her face off with her shirt. “Wynonna and Doc are taking all of your donation stuff up to Goodwill or whatever now.”

       The brunette walked over to her, standing up on her toes to give her a kiss. “I think . . .” She pulled away from Nicole’s lips, draping her arms around her neck. “That we should all go and get some celebratory Taco Bell.” 

       The redhead’s face lit up and she wiggled her eyebrows at her. “I agree,” she smirked. The brunette giggled, pulling her in for another kiss. 

       “I’ll take the three pack of those Dorito taco thingies,” Gus said from the floor, causing them to pull away from each other, looking down at the smiling older woman. “Oo, and one of them fancy Mountain Dews!” 

       “Three Doritos Locos tacos and a Baja Blast?” Nicole questioned with a laugh. 

       “That’s it!” She smiled. 

       “You wanna come with or do you wanna keep working here?” The redhead asked the smaller girl.

       She thought it over, looking towards Gus, who gave her a shrug. “We still have like 300 boxes to go through,” she sighed, pushing a hand through her hair. 

       “Ok,” Nicole said with a smile. “You just want what you usually get?” Waverly nodded, a blush popping up on her cheeks for some reason. Of course Nicole knew her Taco Bell order. “Alright, I’ll be back in a little bit.” She gave her one final kiss, sending Gus a smile as she walked over to the door, pulling her keys off the hook. 

       “Thanks, Love,” Waverly called. 

       “I’d do anything for Taco Bell,” she smirked, sending her a wink as she closed the door behind her, pulling her phone out to call Wynonna to see what she and Doc wanted for when they got back. 

.  .  .

       Nicole stood at the table, looking over the two bags of food in front of her. “Ok . . . veggie bowl thing, extra guac, and cheese quesadilla with pink lemonade for Waves. Three Locos tacos and Baja Blast for Gus. 2 Chalupas with a regular nacho and sweet tea for me. Nacho Bell-Whatever and 2 soft tacos, all with no tomato, and that weird mango tea for Doc. And two huge-ass-800-calorie-each-burritos and cinnamon twists with a slushie from 7-Eleven for Wynonna.” She looked up at the two faces staring back at her after she placed everything around the table. “I think I did it.”

       Waverly and Gus both laughed, giving her a slow clap. “I think you did,” the older woman chuckled.

       Nicole let out a puff of air. “Oh, yea. One more thing.” She tipped one of the bags over, a mountain of sauces piling up on the table. 

       “Should we eat . . . or wait for them?” Waverly asked. 

       Nicole pulled a chair out, plopping down onto it. “Psh, they could take 3 hours for all we know. Plus, I haven’t eaten today, so . . .” They both nodded in agreement with the first part, sitting down.

       But Waverly had a glare set on the redhead’s face. “Nicole, we talked about that,” she scolded. 

       She shrugged a shoulder, looking up at her as she ripped a packet of sauce open with her teeth. “Sorry?” Waverly pursed her lips, flicking a piece of lettuce at her. Nicole flicked it back with a smirk, nailing her right in the forehead. She gasped, peeling it off as the Officer snorted into her drink. 

       Several minutes later, the missing duo arrived back at the house from their Goodwill adventure. Doc walked over to the table with a large smile, sitting down in front of his food. 

       “Hey, Haught, where’s your bathroom? I hope it’s this way.” Nicole snapped her head around to find the older Earp zooming down her hallway. She stood up as she wiped her face off with a napkin, tossing it back onto the table as she followed in her dust, hearing dreadful noises fill her ears as she got to the outside of the bathroom. She pushed her way in, furrowing her brow at her. “So apparently this one doesn’t appreciate the smell of Taco Bell,” she mumbled as she sat back against the wall, placing her hand on her stomach. “And that’s a problem cause if you want to be an Earp, you must bow down to her.” 

       Nicole let out a sigh, leaning back against the sink. “You ok?” 

       “N-” A knock at the door cut her off. “Ocupado!” She shouted. The door opened anyway, Gus stepping in with an unreadable look on her face.

       She was quiet, arms crossed for a second. “So, when were you two going to fill the rest of us in on this?!” She demanded, raising her eyebrows at the girl on the floor.  

       “Uhh . . . Fill you in on what?” Wynonna asked obviously, eyes flashing to Nicole, but quickly back to her aunt. 

       “I’m not dumb, Wynonna,” she gritted through her teeth.

       The brunette stood up from off the floor. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said with a shrug. 

       “Do you think I haven’t noticed how you haven’t had a sip of alcohol in 2 weeks? And now you're getting sick from a smell? This is not something you can just hide from everyone!” 

       “I still have no clue what you're getting at,” Wynonna mumbled.

       Nicole threw her a look. “Ok, we were getting to the point of telling everyone, weren’t we, Wynonna?” She looked up at her with a pout but nodded her head. “And I’m making her take vitamins and she’s going to be going to the doctor accordingly. We were just waiting until she was ready, Gus, we weren’t ignoring the fact that it was happening.”

       That seemed to put a little ease on the older woman’s face. She gave a small nod as she thought it all over in her head. “And what about when you have the baby? Who’s going to raise it? Are you keeping it? Adoption? Are you going to raise it by yourself or with the father?”

       Wynonna gagged, putting her arms up. “And I’m out.” She pushed past her aunt, walking out of the bathroom. 

       “Wynonna, you can’t ignore all of that!” Gus said, following her down the hallway and out the front door. Nicole followed as well.

       To be fair, she hadn’t really considered the whole father situation. And frankly, she wasn’t too sure of who it was. Wynonna was certainly busy in that department. 

       “I’m not ignoring it. I’m just not thinking about it right now!” 

       “That is what ignoring it means!” Gus defended. 

       “She’s got a point, Earp,” Nicole mumbled.

       Wynonna shot her a look. “Look, it’s my kid. If I want the . . . father involved, he’ll know. But I don’t know yet, alright?!” 

       “Don’t know what?” The screen door opened, Waverly stepping out onto the porch.

       The Officer looked toward her wide-eyed. “Uhhhhm . . .” Nicole and Wynonna started. 

       “You’re sister is pregnant!” Gus shouted.

       “GUS!” The other two exclaimed.

       Waverly snapped her head towards the brunette. “WHAT?!” 

       “Whaaaaat?” Wynonna said quietly, looking away from her and scratching the back of her head. 

       “AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?! WYNONNA!”

       The brunette walked up onto the porch. “We were gonna tell you soon, Babygirl, I promise.”

       “We? Who is we?” She cast her eyes towards the redhead, who was looking off into the distance, rocking back and forth on the flats of her feet. “NICOLE?!” She stomped toward her. “You kept this from me, too?!” 

       “She made me, Wave,” the redhead said quietly. 

       “Why?” Waverly asked, turning back to her sister. “Why did you feel like you had to hide this from me? Why am I always unincluded?” Wynonna bit the inside of her cheek as the smaller girl traced over her face.

       “What are we hiding?” Doc asked, joining them on the porch. 

       “Wynonna’s-” Nicole clapped her hand over Waverly’s mouth. 

       “NO!” All three women shouted at the same time.

       Doc looked around at all the wide eyes staring at him. “Did I do something?” He asked, removing his hat.

       Gus took a step forward. “No, Henry, you didn’t,” she assured sweetly. “But, we’re having a . . . girl talk. So go on ahead back inside and finish up your lunch, alright?” He blinked at her for a second before tracing his eyes back around and placing his hat back on, tipping it as he walked back in. The three let out a breath and Nicole removed her hand from Waverly’s face.

       She looked towards her sister, still waiting for an answer. “Wave I . . .” She lowered her voice to an almost-whisper. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.”

       The younger Earp’s face softened and she walked closer to her. “Why would I be disappointed in you?” She asked, furrowing her brows. 

       “Cause I’m your screw-up of an older sister who can’t do anything right!?”

       Everyone went quiet for a few seconds. 

       “Nonna,” Waverly started. “That’s not true. You know that’s not true.” Nicole looked over to Gus, who nodded her head. The redhead squeezed Waverly’s hand as they walked past her, heading inside to give the sisters some privacy. The younger girl looked back to Wynonna. 

       “You know it’s true, Babygirl. What’s the last good thing I did, huh? What’s the last thing I didn’t fuck up?”

       Waverly grabbed her hand and sat her down, leaning against the front of the house. “Quit it, Wynonna. It’s not,” she insisted. “Stop looking at this as a bad thing. These things just happen.” 

       The darker brunette huffed. “I've been on two types of birth control since I was 13 years old. But the universe doesn't give a damn. It's never given me a choice, not whether I wanted to be the Heir or a m- . . . a mother.”

       Waverly wrapped her arm around her, pulling her closer. “I know you're overwhelmed, ok? But not everything is because you're an Earp.”

       “Yeah, it is. It always comes back to the curse, Wave, always . . .” She let out a shaky breath. “I really- I- I can't do this.”

       Waverly looked towards her, wiping the tears that started to spill out of her eyes. “Hey . . .”

       “No,” Wynonna cut, shaking her head. 

       “Hey,” she started again.

       Wynonna slumped sideways, laying her head on her lap. “This poor asshole!” She sobbed.

       Waverly held onto her tighter, letting out a sigh. “I'm not saying it's gonna be ok . . . But I'm just saying I'm here . . . We’re all here . . . And whoever the- the father is, he might . . . he might be here, too.” 

       “Oh yea . . . between a- an 1800’s gunslinger and a . . . a fucking dragon-man. This kid's going to be screwed either way.”

       Waverly’s eyes widened. “You slept with D-Dolls ?”