67. Now I'm Lying to My Fricking Cat

       “This is some bullshit,” Wynonna grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. 

       The couple threw her a glare. “A due date is just an estimate , Nonna,” her sister reminded. They were all sitting in the Homestead living room, and it was late on the 4th of March. Let’s just say that she wasn’t too happy about still having to haul around the full-grown baby that was living in her uterus. 

       “Get out of me!” She groaned, poking her finger into her stomach a few times. 

       Nicole sighed with a shake of her head as she raised a beer to her lips, tapping her toe against the air as her foot laid across her knee.

       “Your water better not bust all over that damn couch, Girl,” Gus warned from beside her, looking up from her crossword puzzle. 

       “What do you want me to do, go sit in the bathtub?” 

       Gus threw her a look, smacking her leg with the book. “If you go wash that cup I watched you set in the soapy water , she just might decide that you’re worthy of her presence.” 

       “Well when I go and evict her, she isn’t gonna have a choice, now is she?” 

       Gus raised her eyebrows in warning. “ Go .” She pushed herself to her feet with a sigh. 

       “You ready to get going?” Nicole asked, tapping on Waverly’s shoulder with the hand she had draped across the back of the couch.

       She pushed herself up from leaning back into her, standing to her feet with a stretch. “Yea,” she yawned. 

       Nicole smiled as she got to her feet. “You call us right away if anything changes and we’ll be right back up here, alright?” She said to Gus.

       “I will,” she said with a smile. “But I don’t suspect anything to. Their mother was at least a week late with the three of them, I’m sure it will be the same for her.” 

       “Better not fuckin ’ be!” Wynonna shouted from the kitchen. 

       The trio laughed quietly at her. “Bye, Wy!” “See ya, Earp!” The couple called as they waved to Gus and made their way to the door. 

       “Bye, Shitheads. I better see you soon.” 

       They walked out to the Jeep, shaking their heads with smiles. “Can you drive?” Waverly asked, holding out her keys. 

       She cocked an eyebrow at the request but took them anyway. “Sure, Baby.” They climbed in and Nicole pulled away, dropping her right hand to its usual space on her thigh and pulling gently at the inside hem of her jeans with her middle finger. “You ok?” 

       “Hmm?” She lifted her head slightly from the window. “Yea, I’m just tired.” 

       She looked at her for a second before turning her attention back to the road. “Just tired?” 

       “Mhm,” she sighed. “Long day at Shorty’s.” 

       “Mk, Love . . . We’ll head to bed when we get home.” Nicole knew she was lying, but she wasn’t going to push it. Waverly knew she was lying, too. And not that she wasn’t tired and that she didn’t have a long day. It was just that she wasn’t tired because she had a long day at Shorty’s. 

       She was tired because she had been on edge since 3 PM when one of the waiters walked behind her, touching her hip and brushing his front against her back as he squeezed between her and the kitchen door. He wasn’t doing it to cause harm or to be like that . He just literally needed to get through with the tray of food for the usual impatient customers that came in to eat right before the dinner and bar rush, thinking that the kitchen staff would magically work ten times faster then. 

       She didn’t know what it was about it that freaked her out, but it did. She had spun around with a shriek, and in doing so, spooked him and made him drop the tray on the floor. He wasn’t mad or anything. He actually felt bad and made it clear that it wasn’t her fault because he was the one who scared her while she helped him clean it up. And maybe he should have been because he ended up not getting a tip, for the people had to wait longer to get their food because a new batch had to be made, and he was a High School kid just trying to rake in some cash. But he wasn’t. And she was glad because that would have just made it worse. 

       But she really didn’t know what it was about it that scared the shit out of her. She had been touched by drunk guys plenty since her attack and been able to go back to her old ways of politely declining their usually sexual offers or telling them off, depending on the situation. One unfortunate drunk that had decided to vigorously grab her ass right in front of Nicole a few months back had almost gotten choked to death against the bar and probably would have gotten his throat slit if she wouldn’t have left her switchblade at the Station on accident. The only reason he hadn’t been suffocated was because the brunette (with the help of Shorty) had pried her adrenaline-infused body off of him. 

       The redhead most definitely got a talking to after that. 

       Maybe it was that it was her hip and back specifically or that the anniversary of it was coming up in nine days. Or maybe it was a mixture of the two. But whatever it was had her freaked the fuck out. 

       The couple arrived at the house and went inside, changing into some pajamas before climbing into bed. Nicole leaned over as Waverly was putting her hair up in a messy bun and planted a goodnight kiss on her lips before dropping down onto her stomach and tugging the blanket around her body. 

       Waverly laid down and looked over at her with a frown. She flipped on her side to face her and ran her thumb over her hand a few times. Nicole opened her eyes slightly, seeing her pout. She smiled and flipped to her back, flopping her arm out on the bed as an invitation. The brunette scooched closer, hitching her leg over her’s and resting her head on her chest as Nicole hugged her arm around her. Waverly let out a content sigh as she balled up the extra fabric of her t-shirt in her fist near her shoulder, closing her eyes and focusing in on the sound of her heartbeat. “Love you, Cole.” 

       “Love you, Wave.” 

.  .  .

       Eight days went by and Wynonna was still pregnant. And still crabby. Doc was having a hard time being around her for more than 10 minutes at a time, though he was trying his best to be the best baby daddy he could be. 

       Waverly had tried to go spend the day over there on her day off, but after a few hours, she had made up an excuse to go home. 

       So. Now she was making an attempt to grind through some school stuff. She was doing great on her Bachelor’s degree so far. She already knew it was going to take a bit longer than her Associate’s did, which she completed in 8 months. But that was just a checkpoint. She had always been “working” on her Bachelor’s, she had just picked that up at the halfway point. Now that she was on the last half, the work was harder and more time consuming and she already knew 6 months down the road would have to be spent actually student teaching. There was no way to shorten it like she had with her school work. 

       To her luck, though, she had tested out of a couple of her classes. She didn’t have to take a math, English, science, or French course anymore, so that shaved a huge chunk of time off. 

       Right now, she was typing up a paper for her Philosophy of Education class. And she wasn’t gonna lie, it was pretty boring. She usually didn’t get bored with her school work, but there were a few exceptions. And maybe it was the fact that she’d rather be hanging out with Nicole, for she hadn’t seen her since 7 the night before and it was noon. But she was busy stacking an assembly at the High School about drunk driving with Nedley on top of her 20-hour shift. Either way, she was getting it done slowly but surely.

.  .  .

       Nicole had texted the brunette after she left the High School around 2, saying that she could come hang out with her at the station for a bit if she wanted, but she was now on her way home after her shift, never having gotten a text back. She figured she was busy with Wynonna, so she hadn’t pushed it. 

       She was a little confused, though, seeing the Jeep parked outside the house when she pulled up. She shrugged it off, grabbing her jacket off the seat next to her and heading up to the front door, trying to keep herself awake long enough to get some food in her and change out of her uniform before passing out, preferably on the bed. 

       “ Champ, no! Get off me! Stop it!! ” 

       Nicole’s heart jumped to her throat as she spazzed the key around on the door handle, getting it unlocked after a few tries. She swung the door open and rushed in, her eyes falling to her girlfriend flailing around on the living room floor between the couch and the coffee table. She tossed her jacket onto the recliner and shoved the table out of the way, pinning Waverly’s limbs down as she continued to scream her lungs out. 

       “Waves, Baby. He’s not here, it’s just a nightmare, Love. C'mon, wake up.” 

       The brunette’s eyes popped open after a few more seconds, tracing over her terrified face. Nicole let go of her wrists, sitting up and leaning back onto her feet in between her legs so she didn't crowd her. “Oh my God,” Waverly breathed, chest heaving in and out as she brought her hands up to cover her face. 

       “C’mere, Baby,” Nicole said softly, leaning back against the couch. She sat herself up, moving to her lap and pushing herself close to her chest as she tried to hold the sobs in while the tears rolled down her cheeks. The redhead hugged her arms tightly around her shivering body, pushing her face into the top of her head. “You’re ok,” she whispered. “Just breath, Love.” 

       She took a few minutes to calm herself down as the older girl whispered reassurances every so often. She finally lifted her head a bit, looking up at Nicole as she rubbed her puffy eyes. “I didn’t even know I fell asleep,” she mumbled. 

       Once she had finished her paper, she had laid down and messed around on her phone. But she must have dozed off at some point, and when the nightmare started, knocked herself to the floor. 

       “Is this the first one you’ve had in a while?” 

       “First one like that, yea.” 

       Nicole pushed some hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “What d’you mean?” 

       She bit the side of her lip, looking away from her face for a millisecond. “. . . I’ve been having them all week, just not like that .” 

       Her brow furrowed sadly. “Wave . . . Why didn’t you tell me?” 

       “I dunno,” she mumbled. “They weren’t that bad . . .” 

       “Still.” 

       She let out a sigh, snuggling her face into her neck. “I’m sorry.” 

       “No.” Nicole rubbed her hand up and down her arm. “Just tell me when stuff like that happens, Baby. I mean, tomorrow is . . . a year . I expect it to be hard.” She felt another shiver travel through her body, so she hugged her tighter. “I . . . I think you should take off tomorrow, Love.” 

       “No . . . I’ll be fine,” she mumbled, wiping her face once more and slowly standing up off of her lap. 

       The Sheriff pushed herself to her feet. “It’s gonna mess with your head having to be where it happened all day.” 

       “I said I’ll be fine.” She turned, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle. 

       Nicole pursed her lips, following her over. “It’s better to be safe than sorry, Waves.”

       Waverly whipped around to face her, slamming the bottle down on the counter. “I’m not a baby , Nicole! If I think I will be fine going into the place where I wasn’t even raped , might I add, then I’m gonna go!” 

       Her eyes went wide at the sudden outburst. “Would you stop saying that? God, Waverly, it doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is that it did happen and that he did hurt you.” 

       “Yea, he pushed me against the wall and tried to make out with me! Big whoop!” She waved her hands in the air as she pushed past her. 

       “Hey!” Nicole grabbed her arm, turning her back towards her. “I just came home to you screaming in your sleep on the living room floor. Don’t you dare try and act like it didn’t affect you! I was there, remember? I saw what he was doing. So don’t fucking tell me you are fine, Waverly Earp, because I can’t walk in and find a knife next to the bed again.” 

       The brunette’s eyes went wide and her mouth came open slightly, having heard how much her voice broke with the last sentence. Nicole glanced down as she swallowed the ball of emotions in her throat, letting go of her arm and walking past her with a sigh. She knew she had just made her mad and was too tired to get yelled at without snapping back again. 

       “. . . I meant it when I said I’d never do it again.” 

       The redhead stopped, turning back toward the soft voice, now seeing the tears running down her cheeks. “I can’t know that for sure,” she mumbled, hugging her arms around herself. 

       Waverly walked towards her, taking her hands in her own with a sniff. “But I can. And I’m telling you right now that I won’t.” 

       Her face had an almost-childish look to it when she raised it slightly to look at her. “Promise?” 

       Waverly nodded, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug. “Promise,” she whispered. Nicole let out a breath as she hugged her arms around her waist. 

       They held the embrace for a minute before the Sheriff pulled back, wiping the final tears from Waverly’s face. “. . . I think I’ll take off tomorrow,” she said quietly, looking up at her with a small smile. 

       Nicole smiled back, leaning into a soft kiss. “I’ll make Lonnie cover my shift then.” Waverly giggled, messing with the hairs on the base of her neck. “You wanna go cuddle me to sleep?” 

       She pushed their foreheads together, landing another kiss on her lips. “If you let me read.”

       “Girl, I don’t care what you do as long as it ain’t botherin’ me,” she laughed as they both walked into the bedroom. Nicole switched out her uniform for some basketball shorts and a hoodie, climbing under the covers as Waverly grabbed her Kindle off the charger. 

       “C’mere.”

       The redhead scooted towards her and Waverly pulled her into a spoon, wrapping her arm around her middle and gently running her hand across her warm stomach. She leaned forward and pushed a kiss to the back of her neck before propping her Kindle up to lean against her pillow, diving into her book about Canadian Independence. 

.  .  .

       Waverly had ended up dozing off again couple hours later around 7:30. 

       But only to be startled awake by another nightmare at 1. 

       She let out a shaky breath, pushing her face into Nicole’s back for a few seconds to calm herself down. She rolled onto her back and wiped her face of tears. She heard a quiet but concerned meow and then felt a weight walk onto her chest and sit down. She moved her hands, seeing Geronimo staring at her with a tipped head. That pushed a small smile onto her face. She sat up and pet him in her lap for a minute before picking him up and gently sliding off the bed in hopes to not wake Nicole. 

       She wandered into the kitchen and set him down on the dark kitchen counter, pressing a kiss to the top of his fluffy head. “I’m ok, Buddy,” she mumbled. She looked up at the ceiling, letting out a quiet laugh at herself. “Now I’m lying to my fricking cat.” 

       Geronimo meowed, walking closer to her and rubbing his side against her chest with a purr. She leaned forward onto the counter, tapping her fingers on it, and he pawed at them with his short arms for a few seconds before pouncing on her hand. She smiled, rolling him to his back and wiggling her fingers around on her stomach while he gnawed on her pinky. 

       Though she froze when she felt hands on her hips.

       She spun around with a shriek, pressing her back to the counter as she tried to push them off of her. 

       “ Baby, baby, baby . Hey . It’s just me.” Nicole grabbed her hands and cupped them on her cheeks, staring into her eyes in the dark room. 

       Waverly tugged her hands back, covering her face and dropping to the floor before bringing her knees to her chest as she pressed herself as close to the bottom of the island as she could. Nicole flicked the kitchen light on and sat down in front of her with a worried brow, wrapping her hands gently around her ankles and rubbing her thumbs along them. “I’m sorry, Love. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

       The brunette’s whole body shook as she moved her hand down, gripping Nicole’s left that was on her foot. She gave it a small tug towards her and Nicole got the message. She moved beside her and lifted her into her lap, wrapping her arms tightly around her body. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t even think about that.” 

       Waverly turned her body, leaning her head on her chest and holding one of NIcole’s arms to her front as the shakes turned into sobs. They echoed off the walls, alerting Calamity from the bedroom that something was wrong. She waddled into the kitchen, rubbing her face against her leg. The brunette laid her legs over Nicole’s left, pulling her into her lap and squeezing her like a stuffed animal. Not that she minded, though. Geronimo was soon to join the party, having been watching the ordeal from the top of the counter. He hopped down and crawled onto her legs, squishing himself between her and the orange feline.  

       The cats and Nicole seemed to help calm her down. Within a minute or so, her breathing was back to a reasonable rate. She let one more puff of air out into CJ’s fur before lifting her head and leaning it against Nicole’s shoulder. “Fuck , Nic,” she mumbled, wiping her face with her sleeves.

       Her voice cracked. “Babe, I didn’t-”

       “S’not your fault. I just thought . . . I woke up from a nightmare and came in here to getta drink, but I got distracted with him . . . I thought I hadn’t actually woken up or som’n.” 

       “I felt you get up ‘n figured you were goin’ to the bathroom or whatever, but then I didn’t hear the door, so I came out to see what you were doin’." She pushed their foreheads together, closing her eyes. "I'm just so sorry, Wave." 

       "Stop." She cupped her cheek, making the redhead open her eyes. "It's ok. I'm ok, alright?" 

       Nicole slowly nodded, meeting her lips softly. "Back to bed, yea?" 

       The smaller girl let out a little laugh as she climbed off her lap, setting Geronimo on Nicole as she picked Calamity up when she stood. "You've been asleep since 4, how are you still tired?"

       Nicole moved to get up. "I could sleep for a whole da -" 

       "Watch your-" 

       Thunk. 

       Nicole flopped back to the ground and put her hand on the top of her head, having just hit it on the bottom of the countertop. "Ow! God damn counter."

       The younger girl covered her mouth to hide a laugh as Nicole tried again, successfully standing up as she continued to rub the top of her head. "Are you ok?" Waverly giggled as she rubbed her arm. 

       “Yea,” she mumbled, face storming with a blush as she dropped the hand from her head. 

       Waverly shook her head as they walked back to the bedroom. “What’m I gonna do with you,” she sighed, setting Calamity down and crawling into bed. 

       Nicole set the grey one down next to her at the foot of the bed before laying down and pulling her closer to her front, running her short nails up and down her back as she mumbled something she couldn’t understand into the top of her head. 

       “What?” 

       She resituated her head on the pillow, pushing a kiss to her lips as the brunette looked up at her with a questioning brow. “Nothing,” she smiled.

       Waverly squinted at her for a second before sighing and pushing her face back into her chest. “Ni’ night.”

       “Night, Baby . . . Wake me up if you need to.” 

       “Mmhmmm,” she breathed out sleepily, eyelids already drooping closed. 

.  .  .

       When they ended up coming to around 8, Nicole already knew she wanted to make it an easy-going day for them, while still keeping her distracted as much as possible. 

       So obviously the 1000-piece Disney puzzle Gus had gotten for Waverly for Christmas that they still hadn’t touched yet was the way they started their morning. 

       Though maybe she should have already tried doing a puzzle with her before she decided it would be a good idea on their relaxing day.

       Because when Waverly puzzles. 

       She puzzles . 

       Nicole dried her hands off on the towel in the bathroom, flicking the light off as she walked out and poured herself a cup of coffee. 

       “Alright. Let’s do this,” the brunette grinned as she returned from the bedroom and sat down at the island where they had dumped the box out. 

       Nicole turned around and glanced up at her as she raised her first sip of morning sunshine to her lips.

       Rightfully almost choking on it. 

       She clapped her hand over her mouth as she set the cup down to make sure she didn’t drop it out of shock while she tried to swallow the liquid in her mouth. 

       “I don’t see how you got through Academy if you can’t even drink coffee without dying,” Waverly laughed as she got up and walked over to her. 

       “ Who gave you permission , Jesus fucking Christ,” she breathed as she ogled all over her face. 

       “What?” She questioned with a cocked eyebrow. They went up with a smile after a second or two. “Oh, my puzzle glasses?” She adjusted the black, roundish-framed glasses on her face. 

       Her eyes widened. “ Puzzle glasses?” She asked with a slow nod. 

       “Yea! Aren’t they cute!?” 

       Nicole swallowed dryly as the smaller girl toyed with them some more. “Yea, uhm-” She cleared her throat. “T-Those puzzle glasses better stay puzzle glasses cause I don’t think you could handle being bent over the nearest surface every time I saw you.” 

       Her mouth fell open slightly, eyes visibly darkening as they widened. “W-What?” 

       Nicole gave her an innocent smile as she gently pulled them off her face and sauntered over to the island, spinning in one of the chairs. She stopped herself to face her, now wearing the pair herself. “Cause these , Darlin’ . . .” She slowly pushed them down the bridge of her nose as she leaned her elbows on the counter. “Are way, way, way . . .” She removed them with a shake of her head, rolling her bottom lip down a little with one of the arms when she bit down onto the tip of it, staring right into her eyes. “ Too sexy .” She pulled the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth, hitching the opposite side of her top lip with a smile as she shot a wink her way. 

       Waverly stared at her for a good five seconds before rubbing her face and walking back over, sitting next to her and snatching them back out of her hand, putting them back on. “ They help me see the itty bitty patterns without having to have my face half an inch away from the pieces,” she informed as she began to start separating the border pieces from the middle ones. 

       Nicole looked up at her from doing the same thing with raised eyebrows. “Is that right?” 

       “It is right,” she confirmed. 

       “So Miss Perfect Pants’ vision is not so perfect?” 

       She wacked the side of her leg. “It is. These are just like a magnifying glass for my face.” 

       “. . . So they’re for what normal people wear glasses for? To see things better?”

       Waverly glared at her. "I only need them for puzzles," she grumbled quietly. Nicole laughed a little, interlocking her right hand with her's and pushing a kiss into the back of it. The brunette shook her head at her. "Sort your damn pieces and be quiet."