99. You are My Happy Place

       "Doc, I think that's good," Nicole mumbled, watching as he rubbed yet another layer of sunblock on Alice. 

       He looked up at her from sitting on the towel on top of the sand with a furrow of his brows. "Well . . . I- I'd hate for her to burn," he mumbled, dropping his gaze to the little one sitting in front of him, chewing on the banana slice Wynonna had just traded her for the arm of her sunglasses. 

       "You're putting more on her than I put on Nic," Waverly chuckled as she pulled her hair up into a bun. 

       It was officially their last day in California. They had been there for five days now and had enjoyed every minute of it. All good things come to an end, though, and they would be on a plane home this time tomorrow, so they were having one last beach day before their time there was up. 

       They had experienced quite the vacation while they were there. They had swam a lot , explored Hollywood and LA, gone to the San Diego Zoo, watched fireworks (that Alice was surprisingly chill with) almost every night they were there since it was the week of the 4th, and even taken a trip to Disneyland. 

       Waverly couldn't resist it. They were too close not to go again. 

       She and Wynonna had totally bought Alice a Pumbaa stuffed animal there, too.

       Now they were just using their last day to relax, though. They had set up their beach umbrella, had some early lunch, and now they were all going to head out into the water. 

       "Speaking of . . ." Nicole pulled her t-shirt off and tossed it on the chair behind her, grabbing the bottle of their sunblock out of the bag and handing it to Waverly. "Please?" 

       She sighed, getting up out of her chair and turning her to face her. She squirted a blob on her hand and began to rub it all across her shoulders. "You could do this part yourself, ya know." 

       "This way's funner," she smirked. 

       Waverly rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Funner's not a word." 

       "Oh my God, she really is getting ready to be a teacher," Mama muttered.

       "Shut up," Waverly grumbled. 

       "Damn, Haughty, if those trunks were a little shorter, I could see your whole ass." Wynonna raised her brows at the view of her backside, the grey swimming trunks that were agreeably too tight and short, coming to rest about three inches below her butt. 

       Nicole grinned, looking at her over her shoulder as Waverly rubbed sunscreen on her neck. "How's the view from there? I've been doing squats recently." 

       "It's great, Dude, yea. Keep it up." 

       "Quit talking about my wife's ass," Waverly grumbled, tipping Nicole's head back forward so she could get her face.  

       "Can I talk about your sister's ass?" Nicole asked, regretting it when Waverly poked her tongue with her sunscreen covered finger. She let out a disgusted whine, spitting off into the sand to get the taste out of her mouth. 

       "Be quiet then," she smirked. 

       "Can I talk about your ass?" Nicole asked quietly, pouting her lip a little. 

       "All you want." 

       "Ew!" Wynonna complained. 

       "Look it." Nicole grabbed the brunette's arm and turned her around, hooking her finger around the hem of her shorts and pulling them down so she was just in her bikini bottoms, swinging her hand out towards it. "That is a piece of work right there." 

       "See, Babygirl's got a great ass, Haughty's got a great ass, I've got a great ass, Doc's got a great ass. We're such a sexy family." 

       "I feel so included," Michelle sighed with faux sadness. 

       "Sorry, Mama's got a great ass, too- And Gus. Great ass, Gus," Wynonna added, patting Gus’ back. 

       The older woman blinked at her under her sunglasses before deadpanning, "Thank you, Wynonna." 

       "You are very welcome," she grinned. 

       Waverly sighed, kicking her shorts off to the side and pulling Nicole back to stand in front of her. "Can you behave for, like, five minutes please?" 

       "No," she mumbled. Waverly threw her a sharp look. "Yes," she corrected with an innocent dimpled smile. 

       Thank you," she breathed out, smearing some more of the sunblock on her stomach before doing her arms. 

       She got her whole body done and dropped the bottle back into the bag, pulling her crop top off and dropping it on top of Nicole's shirt. 

       "God damn, you're gorgeous!" 

       Waverly jumped, turning and throwing Nicole a look as a blush stormed her cheeks. "You scared me." 

       "Your radiating beauty scared me ," Nicole defended, crossing her arms with a smirk on her lips. 

       "Oo," Waverly hummed, stepping forward and dropping her hands to rest on her chest as Nicole gripped her hips. "Good one." 

       "Thanks," she grinned, leaning down into a kiss. 

       "Yuck!" Wynonna groaned, flinging a banana slice at them. "No PDA on the beach." 

       "Says who?" Waverly questioned. 

       "Says me," she huffed, standing up and picking Alice up. "C'mon, Kid. We're going swimming to get away from your nasty aunts." 

       "I mean, she mise well get used to it now," Mama sighed. 

       "Them eating face is something none of us will ever get used to," Wynonna grumbled, continuing towards the water. 

       Nicole and Waverly rolled their eyes at her, following her out. "Let's go make sure Alice doesn't get eaten by a shark," Nicole sighed.

       "HEY!" Wynonna snapped. "If a shark is gonna eat anyone, it's gonna be me! Cause we all know damn well I taste the best." She turned around, walking backwards with a wide smirk on her lips. "Ain't that right, Doc?" 

       "EW!" They both gagged. 

.  .  .

       "If you pop one of my beanbags, I'm gonna beat the fuck out of you." 

       Nicole let out a huff from said beanbags, " Language, Mrs. Haught." 

       Waverly threw her a glare from her desk across the room. "I'm serious, those were really expensive." 

       "I'm being careful," the redhead assured with a smile, pushing herself off the bigger one and walking over to Waverly, leaning back against the corner of her desk. "Hey." She cupped her cheek, gently pulling her attention away from her desktop and getting her to look up at her. Waverly relaxed some, dropping her shoulders and unlocking her jaw. "Take a second. C'mere." Nicole reached down and grabbed the arm of her rolly chair, rolling her in front of herself and cupping both sides of her face. "Breathe," she said softly, tracing her thumbs across her cheekbones. 

       Waverly leaned into her hands, closing her eyes and pulling in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before opening her eyes and looking up at her. She reached up and wrapped her fingers around the Sheriff's wrists, sliding her hands all the way down her arms. "I'm just . . . thinking about Shorty's. And tomorrow." 

       Over a month had passed since they had gotten back from their family vacation, and everyone had quickly settled back into their routines. 

       But now that's what Waverly was most afraid of. 

       Her routine was about to be changing dramatically. Starting tomorrow. 

       The first day of school had crept up out of nowhere, and she suddenly felt like she wasn't anywhere near prepared for it. 

       She was, of course. She was more than prepared. But that didn't stop her mind from nagging her. 

       If her conscious wasn't telling her she wasn't going to be good enough, it was bugging her about leaving Shorty's behind. 

       Tonight was officially going to be her last night working there, and she was really upset about it. She really loved that job, and it would be hard to let go. 

       But she was starting a new chapter to her life, and it didn't include the bar that was laced with trauma and her own blood, sweat, and tears from the last 10+ years. 

       She knew her family was heading up there and that the bar was closing a little early to give her a proper send-off, and she knew it would be nice to let herself down slowly. 

       But ever since the day she had put in her resignation letter, it had felt like a fresh wound. 

       "Everything'll be alright. You know that," Nicole said softly. 

       Waverly let out a heavy sigh. ". . . I know. It's just a lot ." 

       "I know, Babe," Nicole sighed. "You've got it, though. I mean . . ." She traced her eyes around the room. "Look at all this." She looked back down at her with a smile. "You did this. That diploma?" She pointed to the frame sitting on her desk. "You worked for that. And this room? You turned it into your own even though I know you didn't wanna get rid of Mrs. Goddard's legacy." She turned and walked over to the wall on the other side of the room. "How hard was it for you to get the go-ahead to hang all these posters? How much did you fight against the school board for them to let you cover some of these since you're teaching a social studies class?" She began to walk along the wall- the wall in which every inch was covered by some kind of sign or poster, pointing to each one she passed and reading them off. "Feminism, equality for all, no human is illegal, climate change is real, Black lives matter, trans rights are human rights, love is love-" 

       Nicole pivoted around to face her. "And I know it hurts you deep down that parents have tried to pull their kids out of school and get you fired just because you're married to me. You don't show it and you didn't show it each time you had to deal with those parents at the open house the other night, and I know that'll probably be an issue every single year ." Nicole walked over to her with a soft smile. "But you, Waverly Haught, do not give a flying fuck what anyone has to say. You're true to yourself, what you believe in, and you're number one priority when those kids walk in the door is that you'll be able to send them out as better people . . . If anything, Baby, you need to be proud of yourself for everything you've already done."

       Waverly pushed herself out of her chair and walked over to Nicole, wiping her face. Nicole let out a soft huff when she wrapped her arms around her neck, looping her own around her waist. "Don't cry, Baby." 

       "I love you," she mumbled. 

       "I love you, too," the redhead said softly, squeezing her a little tighter. 

       The brunette pulled back from her, dropping her arms so she could grab each of her hands as she met her eyes. "Thank you."

       "For what?" Nicole questioned. 

       "For believing in me." 

       The redhead smiled, pressing their foreheads together for a beat before dropping a kiss to her lips. "I've always believed in you, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon."  

       Waverly sniffled again, dropping her head against her chest and moving her arms to wrap around her body, gripping at the fabric of the dry-fit Blue Devil's shirt on her back. ". . . You're definitely getting laid tonight for that." 

       Nicole chuckled, "Then I'm glad we're doing conditioning today at practice." 

       Waverly smiled, looking up at the clock on the wall. "You've gotta get going, don't you?"

       Nicole sighed, dropping her hands to her hips as she looked at the time as well. "Yea." 

       "Alright," she mumbled, hooking her fingers on the waistband of her white and blue joggers as the redhead leaned down into a kiss. "I've got a meeting soon, anyway . . . You'll come see me when you're done?" 

       "At Shorty's?"

       She nodded. "I'll get your dinner order put in before you get there. What d'you want?" 

       "Hmm." Nicole slowly slid her hands down to slip into her back pockets, pulling her closer. "Gimme a buffalo chicken quesadilla and some poutine." 

       "Ew," Waverly groaned. 

       "You're, like, the only Canadian that doesn't like poutine." 

       "Did you forget I went vegan or something?" She asked with a huffed laugh. 

       "God, no. D'you know how much meat I haven't had over the past few months?" 

       "And look at you, you're completely fine," Waverly said with a grin, bringing her hands up to frame her cheeks. 

       Nicole leaned down to press another kiss to her lips, staying there as she dropped her voice to a whisper. "I keep a bag of beef jerky stashed in my desk and Slim Jim's in my cruiser."

       "Nicole!" Waverly whined. 

       The redhead laughed as she backed away from her. "Sorry, Honey. I've gotta have my meat." 

       "No, you don't!" 

       "Baby." Nicole stopped at the doorway, pulling her shirt sleeve up and flexing her bicep. "If you want me to keep these,  I get to eat as much poutine and drink as much real chocolate milk as I want." 

       Waverly rolled her eyes, heading back over to her desk and shaking her head. "Get out of my classroom, Sheriff, before I tell Marty to make you run another lap." 

       She grinned, turning out of the room with a wink. "I might anyways, just for you."  

.  .  .

       "C'mon, Slackers! I'm literally almost 30!" Nicole shouted as she lapped them all with their 'cool down' sprints. 

       "Grandma!" Half of the boys shouted. 

       "What d'you mean Grandma?" She questioned. "Fasbinder's, like, 50!" 

       "He's not here today, so we can only make fun of you!" 

       "That's crap and you know it!" She huffed.

       The boys individually dropped to the ground after they finished, and Nicole began walking around with two green Gatorade sport bottles, squirting water on all of them as she ' aimed for their mouths’. 

       The Sheriff's eyes shot out of her head when one of them snatched the bottle out of her hand and pushed off the ground. "Hudson, no!" Another one grabbed the other one out of her hand and she let out a groan as she took off in the opposite direction from them, the water they were spraying hitting her back.

       "Get 'er!"

       "I hate all of you!" She whined, running towards the baseball field. She vaulted the fence she had unfortunately jumped once or twice already chasing criminals and continued forward after catching her balance. 

       "You started it!" Hudson yelled with a laugh as they caught back up with her. 

       Nicole let out another groan, cutting left to go from the outfield towards the dugout, slowing down as she approached it. "Ok, ok, ok!" She turned around with her hands up. "Go ahead. Do it." She closed her eyes, scrunching her nose up as the cold shots of water hit her face and chest. She opened her eyes again after a few seconds when they all erupted into laughs, sliding her hands down her face and through her hair to push it back. "Lil' shits," she muttered with a smirk. 

       "You deserved that for making us run so much today," one of them huffed. 

       "I'm getting you back into shape for when the season starts!" She argued with a laugh as she took the bottles back and dropped them by the dugout, using the bottom of her shirt to wipe some more of the water off her face. 

       "Ew, school starts tomorrow," one mumbled. 

       Nicole raised her brows, swallowing a little as she flicked her eyes over their heads. "All of you, c'mere." She walked through the group and led them to the space between home and the pitcher's mound, sitting down on the turf. They all sat in front of her and she hitched a knee, laying her arm across it. "Raise your hand if you're gonna be an 8th grader this year." She looked around, seeing the majority of their hands go up. "7th?" About half as much as last time went up. "What about 6th?" Only three hands went up and she nodded, looking directly towards them. "None of this really applies to y'all yet, but you can still listen." 

       "Uh oh, we're in trouble," one of the 8th graders mumbled. 

       "You're not in trouble," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Yet." They all went quiet, and Nicole let out a sigh as she picked at the turf. "So . . . I know most of you probably heard what happened with Mrs. Goddard over the summer, yea?" Her eyes softened a little when most, if not all of their faces fell as they nodded. 

       "Didn't you shoot the dude that did it?" One asked. 

       " Matt," the kid next to him mumbled, smacking his arm. 

       Nicole pursed her lips, letting out a sigh. "Yea, but- Ok, not my point." 

       "Wait, you killed him?" 

       "Guys," she huffed. 

       "He deserved it," the one that originally brought it up mumbled. 

       "He did," Nicole said with a nod. "Anyway. I know . . . I know from y'all that were 7th graders last year that you really liked her class. It's, like, the only one I heard any of you talk positively about." 

       "Yea, I was in her study hall and she brought us Krispy Kreme on Fridays sometimes if we were good that week." 

       "She took us outside if we got done with class stuff early, too."

       "We got to watch the new Jumanji movie on half days instead of having to still do work." 

       "I only heard her get mad once, and it was when Sam and Emmett were screwing around and broke Zoey's laptop."

       "I mean, I liked her cause she let us do test corrections sometimes." 

       "Yea," a few mumbled at the same time. "That, too." 

       Nicole smiled a little, dropping the piece of turf she had pulled out. "She seemed like a great lady from, uh, the few times I met her when my wife was student teaching with her last school year." 

       "Are you about to lecture us on being nice to Waverly?" Kaleb asked in a deadpan. 

       She threw him a glare. Kaleb was one of three , along with Leon and Oscar, that had been with her all three years she had been coaching since he had been in 6th grade her first year. "One, she's Mrs. Haught to you now. Two, you bet your ass I am." 

       "You really think we're gonna screw around with her? We all already know she can just tell you and we'll be running suicides all of practice," Leon mumbled. 

       "I'm glad you do know that, Harris," she said with a chuckle. "That's not really what I'm . . . Ok, look. I know y'all can sit here right in front of me and act like pretty little angels. I get it, I'm the old lady that decides whether or not you can feel your arms and legs the next day. And I also know that y'all like to pretend you're someone you're not when you're around your friends and stuff. To fit in or whatever. I get that, too." She held a hand up. "But." 

       "But," some of them echoed. 

       "But I'm telling you right now . . . being an asshole doesn't make you cool. Making offensive jokes doesn't make you cool. Making fun of people doesn't make you cool . . . It makes you an asshole. And going along with people who are doing all of those things, even if you're not yourself, makes you just as much of an asshole." She traced her eyes around at all of their faces. "I know it's easier said than done. And I know most of you aren't gonna listen to anything I'm saying. I'm not dumb, ok? And I'm not saying go be a snitch cause we all know ain't nobody like a snitch either. All I'm saying is that if someone's being an asshole, tell them to knock it off. What are they gonna do? 'Did you hear that so-n-so told me to cut it out when I called so-n-so a fag?' " 

       "They'd probably just tell everyone we're gay if we did that," one of them mumbled. 

       "Ok? So what?" Nicole huffed. "If they do, just tell them that you're not, you're just a decent human being and maybe they should try it out sometime." 

       "Coach," one of them sighed. "It's not that easy." 

       "I know it's not," she mumbled, running a hand down her face. "It's easier to just let it happen and not say anything. I know. I did it all the time when I was in school." 

       "In the one-roomed schoolhouse?" 

       She nodded with a smirk. "Yup. I did all my tests with a quill and ink, too. Got there on my horse. The whole nine yards." That got a couple chuckles. ". . . I just . . . I heard talk while I was roaming around at the open house the other night. Whether it was we've got a lesbo teacher or she's gonna try to make all of us march in a tranny parade. Like, I get it, Waves is opinionated and I expect her to try and share her beliefs with y'all since it is social studies . But think about it when those kinds of things come up on occasion. Don't just brush it off and head to lunch to hear all of your friends make fun of it. Listening in class is foriegn to some of you, but trust me, you'll actually enjoy school a whole lot more if you actually try and get something out of it." 

       "It's kinda hard to do any of that when you get made fun of for literally everything." 

       "Yea," some of them agreed quietly. 

       Nicole let out a loud groan, flopping back onto the turf. "Do any of you ever consider that maybe the idiots that you know'll make fun of you for being kind maybe aren't people you should be calling friends?" She lifted her head, raising her brows as she watched all of their gazes drop from her. "Or that getting made fun of is part of life? I'm a gay, female Sheriff. Do you think some people like me very much? No. Do you think that people haven't tried to get me fired simply cause I'm married to a girl? Of course they have. Or that people always take me seriously when a 6'5 dude bro doesn't show up when they're told the Sheriff is coming to deal with a situation? Nope. A lot don't. I've been called every name under the sun, and yea, it might sting a little. But do I care? No. Why should I?" 

       She sat up, leaning both of her arms on her hitched knees. "A drunk dude calls me a dyke when I'm arresting him at Shorty's. Good for him. He surely seems to have his life in order a whole lot better than I do. Some old lady calls me a pussy Sheriff for playing with my niece at the park instead of . . . I dunno what she would have rathered me be doing honestly. Ok? How dare I spend time with my family? Like . . . other people's nasty opinions don't really matter. If someone says something about you in middle school , I can guarantee you probably won't be affected by it by the time you get out of high school, let alone remember it by then." 

       She looked around at all their faces once more. "There is gonna be a few of you that won't even make it as far as that dugout to grab your things before you start complaining how stupid this conversation was. And that's fine. If that's how you see it, cool. I couldn't care less. But for those of you that are listening to what I'm saying, y'all gotta be the ones that make the difference. Don't wait for other people to make the changes you wanna see happen." She shrugged a little. "Cause you're gonna be in for loads of disappointment if that's how your mindset is . . . Capiche?" 

       "Capiche," they all echoed. 

       Nicole smiled, pushing up off the ground. "Alright, I'm climbing off my soapbox. Get outta here. I ain't need your parents hollering at me for keeping you late." 

       Nicole pulled her sunglasses off her face and hung them on her shirt as she walked into Shorty’s, tracing her eyes around to see that it looked just about average for four o'clock on a Monday evening. She spotted the brunette behind the bar chatting with a man sitting there, so she headed over. 

       Waverly happened to turn in her direction to grab a glass and saw her approaching, and Nicole raised her brows in question at the huge smirk on her lips as she called her over to the edge of the bar. Nicole walked forward with a little chuckle. "What?" 

       "Wanna screw with a guy?" 

       "Of course I do," she grinned, following her as she led her over to take a seat by an obvious out of towner. 

       "What d'you want?" Waverly asked Nicole, even though she was already reaching for a whiskey glass. 

       "Jack 'n Coke." 

       "Alrighty," she said as she poured it, sliding the glass towards her and leaning forward on her elbows in front of the guy, Nicole almost choking on her drink when she glanced down at the front of that evil Shorty's crop top. "So," she started, tipping the man's chin up when she saw where his eyes were, too. "What were we talking about?" 

       "Oo," the redhead mumbled, tapping the diamond on her ring with her pointer finger. "Who's the lucky one?" 

       "She's married to the town Sheriff," the man- Walker, judging by the name tag on his work shirt, said to Nicole. 

       "The Sheriff?" Nicole questioned, taking a sip of her drink to hide a smile. 

       "Mhm. She was just about to tell me about this, uh, Sheriff Haught. "

       "Well, I'd love to hear about the lucky son of a bitch," she smirked. 

       "I dunno if Nic'd appreciate that too much," Waverly said with a little laugh. 

       "Ah, but he's cool with his woman talkin' with guys like me and girls like her all day, everyday?" Walker questioned. 

       "Oh, I bet the Sheriff doesn't appreciate that at all," Nicole muttered. 

       "I guess it doesn't matter now," she sighed. "Tonight's my last night here." 

       "Really?" Walker asked. "Why's that?" 

       "School starts tomorrow, and it's my first year as a jr. high teacher."

       He let out a low chuckle. "If I had a teacher that looked like you in high school, maybe I wouldn't have dropped out." 

       "I'd surely know what class I'd be lookin' forward to each day," Nicole sighed. 

       "Waves, your food's out!" Rosita called as she walked out of the kitchen. 

       "Alright!" She called back, looking towards Nicole with a smile. "Ready to eat, Baby?" 

       "Oh, I'm starving," she grinned as she stood up, looking down at the very confused look on Walker's face. She pulled her wallet out of her pocket and handed him her card, smacking his shoulder when his mouth fell open as he read how her name followed the Sheriff title. "Keep that as a reminder of who you'll never be, and as a, uh, warm welcome to Purgatory." She gave him a tight-lipped smile as she walked past him and Waverly gave him a grin with a little wave as she walked out from behind the bar. 

       Nicole got them a table and Waverly brought their food out, setting the tray on the table next to her and sliding into the booth across from her. "That was fun," she grinned. 

       Nicole swallowed the bite of poutine she had already shoveled into her mouth. "I agree." 

       "That's the last time we'll ever get to do that," she said with a pouted lip. 

       "Oh, I'm sure I'll still get to scare people away from you while we're here," Nicole assured. 

       "You really enjoy people flirting with me in front of you, don't you?" 

       "Just as much as you do when girls hit on me at gay bars," the redhead grinned, and Waverly rolled her eyes, grabbing her napkin and wiping the smear of buffalo sauce off the side of her face. 

.  .  .

       BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! 

       Waverly shut her phone off and pressed her face right back into her pillow, slowly pulling her arms out from under the blanket and dropping one out in Nicole's direction, wrapping it around her middle and scooting herself closer to her. 

       Nicole hummed as the brunette snuggled into her, wrapping her arms around her. "Morning." 

       "Sleep," Waverly mumbled, hooking her leg over her hip and dragging herself on top of her. 

       "More sleep?" Nicole asked with a little laugh. 

       "Mhm," she mumbled into her neck as her eyes closed again. 

       Nicole smiled softly as she gently ran her hand up and down her back under the blanket. It took a few seconds, but Waverly lifted her head with her nose scrunched little. "Why's it smell like food?" She glanced down at her. "Why're you in your uniform?" 

       "Cause there's a tray of breakfast for us sitting right next to me that I got up already to make," the redhead answered with a smile.

       Her tired eyes softened when she looked towards the nightstand and saw just that. "You made me breakfast?" She asked softly. "Why didn't you wake me up already?" 

       "I just got done with it before the alarm went off, so I just laid down cause I knew you'd wanna cuddle before you got up anyway." 

       The brunette pouted her lip, sliding her hands up to cup her cheeks and pull her into a kiss. "I love you," she mumbled into her lips. 

       "To infinity and beyond, Baby." 

       Waverly hummed, pressing a couple more pecks to her lips before rolling off of her and rubbing her eyes as she sat up. "You didn't have to make me breakfast," she mumbled as Nicole grabbed the tray and set it on her lap, taking her own plate of waffles and coffee mug. 

       She flicked the TV on with a huff. "It's your first day, I wanna celebrate a little."

       "I thought we celebrated last night," Waverly smirked as she tugged on the shirt she was in. 

       It was, one, the only thing she was wearing, and two, the button-up Nicole had traded out for her practice clothes when she had headed back to Shorty's for her send-off the night before. 

       Nicole grinned as she popped a blueberry in her mouth. "I mean . . . we did. But who doesn't love a good breakfast?" 

       The brunette giggled into her mug. "Fair enough." 

.  .  .

       "Oo, does that make you feel powerful?" Nicole asked with a grin as Waverly unlocked the door to the front of the school with her key fob. 

       Waverly threw her a weird look but laughed anyways. "Sure, Baby." 

       Nicole chuckled as she pushed her hand against the door to hold it open for her. "I thought so." 

       They headed through the lobby and towards her classroom, surprisingly only stopping to chat with another teacher milling around twice considering how many had greeted her or gave her a good luck as she passed them. The brunette unlocked her door and flicked the lights on, letting out a sigh with a smile as she headed towards her desk and fired up her computer. " Alright." She glanced up at the clock on the wall. "There are 20 minutes before your booty needs to be out of here," she said, pointing at her with the pen to the smartboard on the front wall as she turned it on. 

       "Then I'm gonna play with your fancy board," she said, pulling the pen from her hand and tapping the board with it when it fired up, giggling as she pulled up the sketch pad. 

       "Don't-" Waverly let out a loud, agitated breath as she quickly hit erase with her computer mouse on the giant blue dick the redhead drew. "Behave." 

       "Fine," she sighed, opting to start drawing an alien dude in a spaceship instead. 

       Waverly shook her head at her with a little smile, walking around her desk to get to her wax melt. "You wanna pick the smelly thing for the day?" 

       Nicole was quickly right next to her, digging through her drawer of wax scents. "Hmmm." She chose one with a grin. "Birthday cake." 

       "Nope." Waverly pulled it from her hand, dropping it back in the drawer. "A simple one." 

       "Simple's boring," she mumbled. 

       "I'm thinking . . . lavender and lemon?" She questioned, lifting two of the containers. "Lavender's calming, so it'll calm some kids' first day back anxiety and the kids that are way too excited to be up at 8 in the morning. And lemon's known for helping concentration and task performance, so maybe they'll all be chill enough to listen to me." 

       Nicole blinked at her for a few seconds with her mouth open before closing it and nodding. "T- That works." Did she know any of that before? No. Was she surprised Waverly did? Nope. Not at all. 

       Waverly smiled as she dropped a cube of each wax into the bowl and turned it on low, tossing the containers back into the drawer. She did some other stuff around the room that needed to be done before moving back over to her computer. "Honey, I need the computer  now." 

       "Wait, I'm almost done," she mumbled as she switched colors. 

       Waverly let out a sigh as she glanced up at the clock. "Ok . . . hurry up." 

       Nicole put the finishing touches on her alien drawing before stepping back and swinging her arm out towards it. "Voila!" 

       Waverly smiled with a shake of her head as she pressed a button on her keyboard to take a screenshot of the screen before clearing it as she sat down in her chair and got onto her email. 

       She got everything pulled up for the day, including the two separate presentation slides that she was going to be going through with each class- one was the rules of her class and the other was a little about me one which mostly consisted of pictures of the cats. 

       "Why do you need so many pencils?" Nicole questioned, looking in her drawer that was just filled with packs of pencils. 

       "Have you ever met a 13 year old?" Waverly asked with a laugh, turning in her chair to face her. "They'd forget their ass at home everyday if it wasn't attached." 

       "Fair enough," she mumbled, walking over to her and hopping up on the edge of her desk. 

       "Yo, Haught!" They both turned their heads towards the door with raised brows. "Uh, Waves," the man corrected as he walked into the room, sipping on his iced coffee. 

       "Morning, Peyton," the brunette chuckled as she pushed out of her chair and walked around her desk towards him, looking back at Nicole as she slowly followed. "Nic, this is Mr. Hedrick. He's my room neighbor and the math teacher." 

       "Hey," she said with a smile as she shook his hand. 

       "Hey, Sheriff." The tall, skinny man looked back towards the brunette. "You ready for the herd?" 

       She let out a raspberry with a smile. "I hope so." 

       "I've heard mostly good things about the 7th graders, so you shouldn't have any problems with your homeroom." 

       "That's good then," she sighed. "D'you drop Macey off yet?" 

       He let out a sigh. "Yea, just did." He looked towards Nicole when he saw the question on her face. "My oldest's first day of kindergarten today." 

       "Ooh," she mumbled with wide eyes. "How'd that go?" 

       "Well, I basically had to pry her off of my wife, but other than that, it was alright." 

       "That's good then," Waverly smiled. "At least no meltdown like you were thinking, aye?" 

       "Thankfully," he breathed out. "I'm praying for them teachers, though. I'm surprised we can't hear some of those kids screaming from down here." 

       "Jeez," Waverly mumbled. 

       "Yea," he sighed, taking another drink. "Alright, I just wanted to pop in before the bell rings. Just holler if ya need anything, ok?" 

       "I will," Waverly smiled. "Thanks, Pey." 

       "No probelmo," he said with a smile, turning out of the room and heading back to his own. 

       "Pey," Nicole mumbled under her breath as she walked back over to Waverly's desk and sat in her rolly chair. 

       "What?" Waverly questioned, walking back over towards her. 

       "Nothing," she said with a shake of her head. 

       "No. What'd you say?" The brunette repeated with a raise of her brows. 

       "Y'all are . . . friendly." 

       "We went to high school together, Nicole," she informed with a cross of her arms. The redhead met her eyes. "He was a junior when I was a freshman, and we were both in Mathletes and scholar bowl together."  

       The redhead shrugged once. "Ok?" 

       Waverly huffed, grabbing her hands and pulling her to stand, turning her and letting her lean back against the desk so she could stand right in front of her. She cupped her face and squeezed her cheeks with a grin. "You're cute when you're jealous."

       "Who says I'm jealous?" She questioned. 

       "You get that little hitch in your lip when you're jealous. Trust me, never in a million years would I ever wanna be with Peyton. He's all nerdy , and that's not my type." 

       "But you're all nerdy," Nicole mumbled, flicking her eyes down as she finally let her hands settle on her hips. 

       "I prefer to nerd by my lonesome . Also, he's been with his wife since they were in seventh grade. They're adorable. And you're my wife, and we're also adorable." 

       "That's the only reason you're with me?" Nicole asked with a tiny smile. "Cause we're adorable?"

       "Eh, also maybe cause I kinda love you." 

       Nicole's brows raised with a hum. "Oh, do you now?" 

       "A whole lot actually, yea," Waverly assured. 

       Nicole nodded, licking her lips as she slid her hands down to her ass and tugged her closer with a tip of her head. "Prove it." 

       Waverly grinned as she leaned forward, pressing an opened-mouth kiss to her lips and grabbing her bottom lip with her teeth, opening her eyes to look at her as she tugged on it for a moment. She let go of it and lifted her hand towards her face as her other hand slid down her tie. "I wear these two fancy rings everyday, don't I?" 

       "You do," Nicole nodded. 

       Waverly grabbed her hand, pulling on her silicone one. "And I make sure you're not wearing yours when it can get damaged, don't I?" 

       "You do." 

       "You know why?" 

       "Why's that, Baby?" Nicole mumbled in that deep, rumbly voice as she glanced down at her lips that made her weak in the knees. 

       "Cause each time I look down at either mine or yours, I get reminded of the happiest day of my life." She tipped her chin up so she met her eyes. "The day I married my best friend." Nicole's eyes went soft and she watched all the tension and fears leave her body. "So that's why I annoy you about yours and why I'm wearing mine 99% of the time. Cause they make me happy- Thinking of you makes me happy." She pressed a kiss to her pouted lip. "Because you are my happy place. You always have been, and you always will be." 

       Nicole wrapped her arms around her middle as she pushed her face into her shoulder. "You've had my heart since the first time you said that." 

       "You've had mine since I realized it was true," she mumbled with a smile. 

       Nicole pulled back and cupped her cheeks, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "I love you." 

       "I love you, too." She pushed off of her and looked down at the Apple Watch that Gus had given her the night before for a congratulations gift, letting out a shaky sigh as she ran her thumb over Nicole's hand that she had grabbed. "Alright. You've got two minutes before you get trampled." 

       "No thanks," Nicole said as she pushed off the desk and walked around it, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Have a good day, ok?" 

       Waverly smiled, her moon eyes bright with hope for the day ahead of her as the redhead dropped her hand. "You, too."

       Nicole shot her some dimples before heading towards the door, stopping when she reached the doorframe and pressing her hand against it as she looked back towards her, tapping her thumb against the metal as she gave her one last smile before heading out. 

       Waverly sat down in her chair and pulled her cardigan closed all the way as she crossed her legs, clicking on the file that had her morning list of things all her homeroom needed to do as they got in there so it projected onto the board. 

       She did a few more last-minute things, like finishing off her coffee, silencing her phone, and grabbing the board pen that Nicole left on her desk and sticking it in her pocket. She watched the seconds tick away on her watch, grabbing her water and pushing out of her chair when the first bell rang. 

       She wandered out into the hall and leaned against the wall that separated her and Mr. Hedrick's classrooms, rolling her eyes when he walked out and wiggled his brows at her. "Wifey leave?" He questioned. 

       "Yea, just a few minutes ago." 

       He nodded, running his fingers across his bow tie with pi symbols all over it. "You scared?" 

       "Meh . . . More like terrified," she breathed out. 

       He gave her a comforting smile, nudging his glasses up his nose as they both looked down the hall when the hoard of students turned the corner. "You'll be ok. You're an Earp." 

       She smiled a little as she took a drink of her water. "Let's hope so." 

       "Hell, you've got 7th grade in your homeroom and your first three hours. They're just as scared coming into real middle school as you are of having to teach them." 

       She let out a sigh, feeling some of the tension leaving her body just as the slams of the lockers all around her started up when the kids reached them. "Fair enough." 

       She smiled at each student that wandered into her classroom, occasionally getting a good morning or something of the like out of one of them. 

       Once 10 or so were in there, she bid Peyton goodbye and headed in herself. She sat in her chair and cradled her water in her hands, tracing her eyes around as she logged their faces into her memory. 

       She knew having to memorize 130 kids' names from the grades she was teaching wasn't going to be a really fun time, but she was usually good with names. 

       Then again, she had never tried to do so many in such a short period of time. 

       "Wait, we just sit wherever?" A boy asked right as he walked through the door. 

       "That's what the board says, don't it?" She asked with a smirk as she nodded towards it. 

       He looked towards it, brows raising as he read it over. "Ooh." 

       "Ooh," she echoed, hearing a couple of snorts pass over the room. "If I were you guys, I'd choose wisely. That'll be your seating chart starting study hall today. But. I'll move you if you're being annoying or whatever, though, so find people you can stay chill around." 

       She heard a couple of mumbled acknowledgments, so she started to closely watch who was talking to who and who was choosing to sit by who. She knew it would help out if she ever did need to make a real seating chart if they got too rowdy for who to put by who. 

       She was quickly picking out the quiet kids. The loud kids. The popular kids. The lonely kids. The annoying kids. The sweet kids. 

       All within the five minutes before the tardy bell rang. 

       Everyone found a seat as it sounded off, and the morning announcements droned on for a few minutes since it was the first day of school, after all. 

       Waverly slowly pushed out of her chair and walked to the front of the room, sliding her podium in front of her and leaning forward onto it as she looked around the room once again, taking in all of the tired but alert faces, some eyes staring back at her, some examining the room, and some on their friends as they tried to secretly talk to one another. 

       Waverly swallowed as she looked down at her rings and spun them on her finger, glancing towards her desk and spotting the picture of all of her family at the beach together that she had framed and set there. She looked back forward as the announcements faded out, watching as all of their attention was slowly drawn to her. 

       It was in that moment that she realized it, and it pushed a beaming smile onto her face. 

       She was finally where she wanted to be at in life. 

       With the best wife she could ask for, a house she could call her home, a family offering nothing but their ever-lasting love and support for her, and the job of her dreams. 

       After years of being lost in the world barely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, she had finally found her place. 

       She had finally found her true happy place.

       Waverly pushed herself up on her elbows, grinning as she traced her eyes around one last time. "Good morning, Guys! . . . Who's excited for their first day back?"