42. Chapter Forty-Two

Waverly undressed her slowly. So painfully slow that Nicole was tempted to rid herself of the layers of fabric keeping her from feeling Waverly’s touch on her bare skin, from feeling Waverly’s bare skin against her own.

It was sweet, sweet torture. With each piece of clothing Waverly took off her, her lips trailed along every inch of Nicole’s skin she exposed, slow and unsure at first. Until she threaded her fingers in Waverly’s hair and arched into her lips, soft moans falling from her lips.

Waverly sat back beside her, those hazel eyes trailing over every inch of her naked body, causing goosebumps to erupt on her skin and a light blush to dust her cheeks. One hand wrapping around the sheet beneath her.

She wasn’t shy about her body, far from it actually. She knew that she had a nice body, muscular but soft in all the right places and this definitely wasn’t the first time Waverly had seen her completely naked before but there was something different about it this time.

This wasn’t them taking a bath together because she was afraid to be alone. This was so much more than that and the longer Waverly stared at her without saying a word, the more nervous she got and the tighter her grip on the sheets got.

“Say something,” Nicole whispered as she laid before Waverly and reached out for her hand. “Please.”

Waverly ran her tongue over her bottom lip before her eyes flicked to Nicole’s, the desire and love burning in them almost stealing the breath from Nicole’s lungs.

Waverly leaned down and kissed her slowly, gently and with so much damn love it made Nicole's heart feel so full of love that it was spilling over.

“How do you not know how gorgeous you are, Nicole Haught?” Waverly asked, not giving her a chance to answer before she's kissing her again.

“How do you not see how much I love you, how much I want you?”

This time Waverly kissed her jaw, the side of her neck, the base of her throat. Nicole let out something between a hiss and a moan when Waverly’s teeth sunk into the skin of her collarbone, where she left a mark on Waverly earlier.

After soothing her tongue over the spot, Waverly pulled back and traced her finger over the bite mark, her eyes locked on it.

Nicole's heart hammered in her chest as Waverly leaned down and sucked another mark on the opposite side.

“You look good with my mark,” Waverly breathed out, fingers tracing over the new mark.

“You've been awfully possessive today.”

Not that she minded. Quite the opposite actually. She found Waverly wanting her and wanting everyone to know that she’s Waverly’s is extremely attractive.

Waverly ducked her head and Nicole sat up, tilting her chin up with a single finger.

“Don't hide,” she whispered, kissing Waverly's nose and smiling when Waverly let out a soft, adorable giggle. “You never have to hide from me. Besides, I like it.”

“You do?”

“There's nothing sexier than knowing you want me, knowing that I'm yours and you're mine.”

“I do Nicole, God, I want you so much.” Waverly ducked her head again, her hand absentmindedly running up and down Nicole's leg. “I just need you to tell me what to do, show me.”

“Let's start slow,” Nicole said softly, cupping the back of Waverly's head and brushing their lips together. “Just kiss me and we can take it from there. We're still going at your pace baby.”

Waverly nodded, giving her a small grateful smile before kissing her again, just as slowly as before.

Waverly's hands drifted to her abdomen, stroking the skin there with a hesitant, unsure touch.

Nicole grasped her hands and dragged them up the plains of her stomach to her breasts until Waverly was cupping her breasts fully before letting Waverly's hands go.

“Just touch me the way you like to be touched,” she whispered against Waverly's lips and let her hands drop to tan hips, thumbs rubbing circles in the dip there.

She inhaled sharply through her nose when Waverly brushed one of her nipples with the pad of her thumb.

Waverly pulled away from the kiss, looking up at her with a look she couldn't quite decipher. “Okay?”

“Yes baby.”

“How about this?” Waverly asked, twisting her nipple between her thumb and forefinger causing Nicole to moan softly and arch into Waverly's touch.

Waverly smirked at her then bit down on her bottom lip and Nicole knew she was in trouble.

There was mischief playing in those hazel eyes and Nicole knew that whatever Waverly is planning just might kill her.

“And this?”

Waverly bent down and wrapped her warm, wet lips around one of her nipples while her hand gave attention to the other.

“God, Waves,” Nicole moaned, tangling her fingers in Waverly's hair, holding her close.

Waverly’s eyes flicked up to hers, that mischief still playing in them as she wrapped her tongue around Nicole’s nipple and sucked, hard.

“Fuck,” Nicole breathed out, her grip tightening in Waverly's hair as an intense throbbing started in her clit and the wetness between her legs grew, coating her inner thighs.

Nicole knew it wouldn't take much for her to come, not after she watched and felt Waverly come around her fingers, not after hearing Waverly moan her name.

“Waverly, please,” she whimpered, taking one of Waverly's hands and guiding it down her stomach, over trimmed red curls and to where she needed her most, much like Waverly had done earlier.

Waverly pulled away then and Nicole let out a whine from the lost of contact but stilled against Waverly, unwilling to push her into something she didn’t want, something she wasn’t ready for.

“I d-don't know what I'm doing,” Waverly whispered, her eyes drawn to their joined hands, hovering just over Nicole's drench center.

“Just touch me the way you like to be touched,” Nicole repeated her words from moments ago, though this time her voice was rough with her arousal. “Only if you want thought. We can stop, we don’t have to go farther.”

“Okay,” Waverly nodded, spreading Nicole’s thighs with her free hand and letting Nicole guild their hands to her wet folds. “I can smell you.”

The words came out as breathless as Nicole felt and Nicole almost missed them over the pounding of her heart.

Waverly ran one finger through her folds, painfully slow and gasped at the wetness she found there. “I did this?”

Nicole let a soft chuckle then nodded as she laid back on the bed, letting go of Waverly’s hand and grabbing the one not exploring her. “Yes baby, you did that.”

Waverly’s finger ran the full length of her slit with that same painfully slow pace, brushing her clit so softly that Nicole thought she may have been imaging it but the way her hip jumped at each swipe of Waverly’s finger told her she hadn’t.

Waverly’s touch became firmer as she continued to explore but, it wasn’t enough to make Nicole come and she was sure she might combust if she didn’t get the release she so desperately needed.

She wouldn’t rush Waverly though. No matter how much it killed her, no matter how much she ached to come and how her walls kept clenching around nothing, she wouldn’t rush Waverly’s first time touching another woman. At least, not until she couldn’t stand the build up anymore.

She let out a loud moan that had her biting down on her hand, fully aware that they weren’t alone in the house, when Waverly entered her slowly, watching her face the whole time.

“You’re so warm, so wet, so tight,” Waverly whispered, her voice a mixer of awe and want and all Nicole can do is nod.

Waverly pumped in and out of her a few times at an agonizingly slow pace that had Nicole rising her hips to meet each inward thrust until Waverly untangled their hands and placed one against her hip, pressing down and stilling her.

“Waves, please,” Nicole begged, unable to take the torturous pace, the teasing any longer. She needed more, she needed to come. She needed Waverly to make sure come, to send her spiraling into ecstasy.

She cried out when Waverly entered her with another finger and tried to bring Waverly closer, needing to feel Waverly against her, to look into her eyes.

Waverly shifted and laid next to her pressing their foreheads together and meeting Nicole’s eyes, trying to time her thrust with the rising of Nicole’s hips.

It took a bit for them to find a steady rhythm but when they did, Nicole was unable to stop the moans coming out of her mouth, not that she wanted to. With each moan Waverly forced from her lips, her thrust became faster, deeper and it was quickly sending Nicole to the edge.

“Just like that baby, right there.”

Nicole cupped the nape of Waverly’s neck as her other hand trailed down her torso to her clit, rubbing almost frantic circles with her middle finger.

A string of curse words mixed with Waverly’s name left her mouth as Waverly curled her fingers upward and the tightening in her lower belly grew. She could feel the tall-tale signs of an orgasm approaching and knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

“ Waves ,” she moaned, her eyes never straying from Waverly’s hazel eyes, so full of hunger and love. “Don’t stop….. Please, don’t stop, you’re gonna make…. me come.”

The words are forced out in between pants and low moans and Nicole could feel Waverly thrusting faster, losing her rhythm for a few seconds before finding it again.

Waverly brushed her lips against Nicole’s earlobe, nipping lightly. “Come for me, Nicky.”

Waverly pressed her forehead back against Nicole’s, whispering the words once more and that was all it took to send Nicole flying over the edge.

Nicole let out a shuttering breath, head thrown back, her body tensing as her walls clenched around Waverly’s fingers and her clit twitched against her fingers as waves of pleasure washed over her, Waverly's name leaving her lips like a prayer as she struggled to maintain eye contact with Waverly.

Her grip slackened on Waverly’s neck, panting heavily as she shut her eyes and Waverly pulled out of her gently.

When Waverly didn’t lay down next to her, Nicole opened her eyes to find Waverly staring at the cum glistening on her fingers before sucking one then the other into her mouth, letting out a sinful moan as she did so.

“I think you’re gonna be the death of me, Waverly Earp.” Nicole groaned, dropping her head back on the bed and staring up at the white ceiling.

Waverly’s eyes flicked to her face and she smirked as she released her fingers, leaning over her and kissing her softly, both of them moaning as Nicole’s tongue pushed its way in between Waverly’s lips.

“Don’t pretend you won’t enjoy every second of it, Nicky.”

Waverly grabbed the extra blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it over their naked bodies before settling against Nicole’s chest, tracing random patterns on her stomach.

“I love you,” Nicole said, pulling Waverly closer and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Cuddling after sex wasn’t something Nicole really ever cared for. She was always hot and sweaty afterwards, needed a moment to breathe but now? With Waverly? She wanted her close, needed her close.

“I love you too,” Waverly whispered then just as quietly and maybe with a hint of doubt, uncertainty. “Was that okay?”

“Was that okay?” Nicole echoed, shifting them so that she was hovering over Waverly underneath the blanket.

Waverly nodded, not quite meeting her eyes and that didn’t sit right with Nicole. Not when she was still feeling the aftershocks of her orgasm, her clit still twitching every few heartbeats. Not when Waverly gave her one of the best orgasm she’s ever had.

“Baby, look at me, please,” Nicole pleaded softly, tucking wild strands of hair behind Waverly’s ear.

Only when Waverly finally meet her gaze once more did she continue but not before pressing a kiss to Waverly’s nose.

“That was everything, do you hear me? Everything I could have asked for, everything I could have wanted, it was everything and it was amazing, Waverly Earp. And do you know why?”

Waverly shook her head and Nicole could see those insecurities shining so bright in her eyes.

She wished she could wash them away, rid Waverly of the doubt and insecurities put in place by the people in her life, by people tossing her aside and treating her like she’s second best, like she isn’t enough.

Not for the first time Nicole wished she had known Waverly as a child, had been there to protect her from the people in Purgatory, save her from the insecurities that plague her. She wished she had known Waverly as a child and had been able to shower with the love and friendship she deserved from a young again.

Nicole kissed her nose again, dragging her nose along Waverly’s and up to her forehead, laying another kiss there before pulling back.

“Because it was you touching me, you making me feel loved and wanted. Because I’m so damn in love with you and because, this was so much more than sex to me.”

There was a thousand and one things she felt about making love to Waverly but, she didn’t know how to put them all into words. She just hoped that was enough.

“I’m so in love with you too, Nicole Haught.” Waverly pulled her down for a soft kiss. “Can we cuddle now?”

Nicole grinned and rolled over, scooting up towards the pillow and opening her arms up for Waverly.

Once Waverly was settled with her head on her chest and a leg thrown over Nicole’s thighs, Nicole reached over and turned the lamp on the nightstand off.

Nicole ran her fingers through Waverly’s hair, careful to not get caught on any of the tiny knots there.

She let out a content sigh and blinked back the tears in her eyes. She was happy, so unbelievably happy. It almost didn’t feel real. It felt more like a dream than real life, than her life but Waverly’s warm breath on her chest and her body pressed against her let her know it was real.

“You know,” she said sleepily, tangling her free hand with Waverly’s, bringing them up to her lips and kissing each knuckle. “Sometimes I feel like I was meant to know you, to love you.”

Nicole was sure Waverly had already fallen asleep, not that she blamed her. She was half to sleep herself, she just needed to get that off her chest, to get the words out in the open.

“I think I was meant to love you too,” Waverly mumbled, nuzzling against her chest as her breathing even out.

Nicole kissed the top of her head. “Goodnight Waves.”

Waverly woke hours later to the feeling of fingers drawing random designs on her stomach and fingers combing through her hair.

She hummed her approval and snuggled closer to Nicole.

The fingers in her hair still and she felt Nicole's breathing pause. “Sorry, didn't mean to wake you.”

Her voice is rough with sleep and something else Waverly's half asleep state can't identify.

“What's wrong, baby?”

Nicole fingers resumed combing through her hair but Nicole doesn't answer.

“Baby?” Waverly sat up and looked down to where she knew Nicole was lying but couldn't see in the dark room.

“Hmmm?” Nicole hummed distracted, the fingers on her stomach stilling.

Worry and panic crept into her chest, it's not like Nicole to be distracted, to not be completely alert, to not hear her when she talked.

Nicole was the only person who listen to every word she had to say.

What if she regretted what they did hours ago? What if she thought them having sex, making love had been a mistake? What if after everything Nicole realized that this, that she wasn’t what she wanted?

No .

This was Nicole she was talking about. Nicole, who has gone out of her way time and time again to show her that she loves her and wants her. Nicole, who gave her the power to set the pace in their relationship. Nicole, who confessed to wanting a future with her, a life with her.

No.

Nicole didn’t regret them, it was just her insecurities eating away at her.

Waverly shoved them down, deep down because if there was one thing she knew for sure, knew to be one hundred percent true, it was that Nicole Haught loved her and wanted her.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, love. Just thinking.” Nicole shifted next to her, sitting up and laying her head on Waverly’s bare shoulder, an arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her side flush against Nicole still very naked body.

Heat settled in her lower belly when Nicole’s hardened nipple brushed against her arm and Nicole’s lips pressed against her pulse point.

“About?” she asked, leaning her head against Nicole’s.

“This place,” Nicole mumbled into her shoulder. “And how in barely two days you’ve managed to make me feel more love here than I’ve felt in my entire life.”

Nicole shifted until she was sitting in front of Waverly and pressed their foreheads together, a wetness hit Waverly’s cheeks that she knew hadn’t come from her.

Nicole was crying and she wasn’t entirely sure whether they were happy tears or not.

“You helped me reclaim a place so full of bad memories, so full of hate and the feeling of not belonging. You’ve given me everything by simply loving me and being here with me and I don’t know what I did to deserve you but, I am so thankful for you, Waverly Earp. So thankful for your love.”

“Oh baby,” Waverly wiped Nicole’s tears away and kissed her softly, slowly. Trying to put everything she felt for Nicole into that one kiss.

Some nights she had the same thoughts. For everything bad that’s happened in her life, for everyone who has left and everything the Earp curse took away from her, Nicole was the light at the end of the tunnel. Nicole was the one thing she didn’t think she deserved but was so damn thankful she had her.

“Is that what’s keeping you up?”

Nicole nodded against her, her voice low when she spoke again. “It all feels like a dream, every second I’m with you feels like a dream, feels too good to be true, to be real and at any moment I’m gonna wake up alone in my apartment.”

Waverly took one of Nicole’s hand that’s been lying limp at their sides and placed it against her chest, over her heart. “This is real, Nicky. We’re real, my love for you is real and when you get up in the morning it’ll all still be real.”

“I love you,” Nicole whispered.

Waverly guided Nicole back down on the bed and swallowed back any fear or uncertainty she felt and straddled Nicole’s thighs.

“Waves?” Nicole’s hands found their home on Waverly’s hips, those calloused thumbs rubbed circles into the skin there. “W-what are you doing?”

Waverly wet her lips and trailed her hands along Nicole’s chest, brushing her nipples lightly and smirking at the sharp intake of breath from Nicole.

There was nothing sexier in this world than knowing what she did to Nicole, knowing that she could turn her on with a few well placed kisses and bites. There was nothing sexier than being the cause of the wetness between Nicole's legs.

“I’m gonna show you this is real and help you sleep.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Nicole said, her grip on Waverly’s hips tightening just a bit.

Waverly leaned down, brushing her lips along Nicole’s. “I want to.”

And God, did she want to. A part of her had been disappointed that they had fallen asleep before doing it again, before she got the chance to touch Nicole again.

All that worry she felt about making their first time perfect and about not knowing how to touch Nicole, not knowing how to make her feel good disappeared when she felt Nicole come around her fingers.

It had been perfect because it was the two of them and because they loved each other more than anything.

“Okay,” Nicole said, pulling her closer and kissing her.

Sunlight shining on her face had Nicole groaning and pulling the blanket over her head, not quite ready to get up just yet.

She reached over to Waverly’s side of the bed and found it empty and cold. She lifted her head out from under the blanket and looked around the room through barely open eyes, well aware of the pout she was sporting.

Not seeing Waverly anywhere in the room, Nicole sat up, the blanket falling to her waist and exposing her bare torso to the chilly air in the room.

She held the blanket up to her chest and sat back against the headboard, a grin on her face as she remembered last night, remembered how it felt when Waverly came around her fingers. Remembered how Waverly touched her, hesitant at first then growing in confidence with each encouragement she offered and each moan Waverly drew from her.

Maybe it was because she was hopelessly in love with Waverly or maybe it was because she was a hopeless romantic but either way, last night was close to being the best sex Nicole had ever had.

Sure, there had been a bit of awkward fumbling from Waverly at first but, Waverly was a quick learner and she picked up on what Nicole liked fast.

But it wasn’t just sex to her. It was so much more than that.

Deciding to go find out where Waverly went, Nicole got out of bed, pulling a pair of sweatpants on and grabbing a tank top.

She slipped the tank top over her head and walked to the bedroom door, looking at herself in the mirror hanging there, eyes immediately dropping to the marks on either side of her collarbone. She traced the mark with a shake of her head and a smirk.

Waverly had taken great pleasure in marking every inch of her that she could and Nicole had taken just as much pleasure for it as well.

She never cared for hickeys, always thought they were distasteful but having Waverly's mark on her, scattered across her torso and along her navel, it filled her with a sense of pride.

She was Waverly's. She belonged to Waverly, heart and body and now everyone could see.

Though the one person she didn't want to see the hickeys was her grandpa. He had already caught them making out several times and she didn't need him to think they were a couple of horny teenagers. Well, more than he already did.

She stripped the tank top off, throwing it on the bed and dug through her bag for a t-shirt, finding one easily and slipping it on.

Then she dug through her bag once more for her splint. She may have overdone it a little last night. Her wrist was killing her but it was so worth it.

She grabbed her hairbrush and quickly brushed out the tangled mess of hair that sat on top of her head then tossed the hairbrush back in her bag before leaving the room.

She stopped off in the bathroom to pee and brushed her teeth then washed her face.

Once she looked less like someone who was up til the early hours of the morning having sex, she headed to the kitchen, picking up the quiet conversation between Waverly and her grandpa.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed over her chest and watched the two hunched over the small table in the kitchen, their backs to her and looking down at something in front of them on the table that Nicole couldn’t see.

“Who is that?” Waverly asked, reaching for an old Captain America mug that Nicole used to use every day growing up. The thing was chipped all to hell and Nicole was surprised that it hadn’t fallen apart yet.

“That’s my Nicole on our wedding day,” Joseph said, his voice taking on a hint of sadness underneath the obvious love there.

Nicole’s heart squeezed painfully in her chest at the mention of her Grandmother. She missed her so damn much and even after all this time it still hurt as much as it did the day they lost her.

“Nicky was named after her Grandmother?”

Joseph nodded, picking up his own coffee mug.

“She never said,” Waverly said, something close to hurt in her tone and Nicole’s heart squeezed painfully in her chest once more. “Actually, she hardly ever talks about her Grandmother.”

“Nicole took her passing hard. Nic may have been the love of my life, my best friend but to Nicky, she was the mother Nicky didn’t have, her protector. She was everything to Nicky and it nearly destroyed Nicky when she passed.”

Her grandpa was right. It had nearly destroyed her when she lost one of the few people that truly cared for her, truly loved her.

Her grief had been overwhelming, almost keeping her from the Academy but both her grandpa and Trent talked sense into her. Without them she’s not really sure where she would have ended up.

“She was beautiful,” Waverly said softly and Joseph nodded his head in agreement.

“Most beautiful woman I’ve ever saw.”

They went back to looking at what Nicole assumed was a photo album for a few moments before Waverly spoke up again.

“Why is your son, Nicky’s father the way he is?” Waverly asked, turning her head just enough to look at the side of Joseph’s face but not catch sight of Nicole. “Why is he so horrible to Nicole?”

There was a long stretch of silence followed by a long sigh from Joseph as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“I don’t know, Waverly. I honestly don’t know. He was never cruel growing up. We raised him the same way we raised his brother, the same way we raised Nicole and Trenten. He was a good kid, a good man.”

Nicole didn’t remember much about her father before he started to hate her. She couldn’t remember if he ever was a good man, a good father to her but she did know her grandparents raised him to be a good person, to be the best person he could possibly be.

Whatever made her father, Gregory Haught, into the cruel, hateful man he was was not her grandparents fault.

“When he came back from college to take a job under me, he was already married to Meredith ,” Joseph said her mother's name like a curse, like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “They had already had their first child Mike. He was a good father, loved his son more than anything but he wasn't the same man that left here. He wasn't the same man I raised him to be.”

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked as Nicole finally stepped into the room, heading for the coffee pot on the counter.

Both of them froze and stared at her.

“Please don't stop on my account,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee and moving to the table. Kissing Waverly on top of the bed, mumbling a good morning into her hair before sitting down across from them. “I'd love to know as well.”

She never understood her father's hatred of her for something as simple as her wanting to be a cop. It never made sense to her.

Joseph kept his attention on Waverly instead of her as if it was easier to try and explain it to Waverly than her.

As a kid, she asked him why her father was cruel to her, why he didn't love her. It was the first time she seen him cry as he whispered the words “I don't know, kiddo but no matter the person you grow up to be, I'll always love you.” and hugged her to his chest.

“He could be cruel and hateful on the job at times for absolutely no reason. He was a family man through and through. He loved each of his kids.” Joseph looked up at her. “He loved you.”

Nicole scoffed and took a sip of her coffee. Maybe her father did love her at some point in her life but, she couldn’t remember more than a handle of good memories with him.

Joseph turned back to Waverly.

“He became obsessed with tradition, with each of his children falling in line and following the plan he laid out for them. It worked fine with his first four kids. The boys wanted to be cops anyways and Hayley, she wanted to be a nurse like my Nicole.”

“But I strayed,” Nicole said, looking down at her almost empty mug.

She pushed away from the table and grabbed the coffee pot, refilling all of their mugs before starting another pot to keep her hands busy, keep her anger in check.

“I fell in love with the way you helped people, how you not only served the law but also the people in this town. I fell in love with the sense of duty to serve and protect people and that is why my father hates me,” Nicole said, then added as an afterthought. “Oh and the fact that I happen to like the same sex.”

“He became this unrecognizable person after Nicole became dead set on being a police officer. He stilled loved the rest of his kids….” Joseph trailed off, looking more than a little uncomfortable.

“But not me,” Nicole finished for him, sitting back down in her chair. “It’s okay, you can say it.”

Waverly reached across the table and took her hand, squeezing softly.

Nicole gave her a small smile and turned her hand over to intertwined their fingers.

“Since then, I could barely recognize my own son.”

“Did you ever try talking to him?” Waverly asked.

“I have. I’ve talked til I was blue in the face, he just doesn’t want to hear it, doesn’t care about the pain he’s put his two youngest children through. He only cares about a stupid tradition that no one else gives a shit about.”

Joseph looked at her again, meeting her eyes. “I’d do anything to change things, Nicky. I’d go back and keep him from becoming this person if it saved you all the pain and heartbreak he put you through.”

“I know Papa, I know,” Nicole whispered, giving him a small, sad smile. “But you are not responsible for him and his actions. You have done everything for me. You and Grandma, you saved me, you loved me and you chose me over your own son. You did right by me, Papa.”

Nicole parked the mustang next to an old police car that looked similar to hers back in Purgatory. She stared up at the small, one story brick house and the white picket fence around it. It was exactly the type of house she always saw her brother Blake living in.

Blake had always tried his best to be a good brother to her, tried his best to walk the thin line of being there for Nicole without completely inciting their father’s rage, his hate.

Admittedly, he could have been better. He could have done more. Could have taken her side the way Trent did, without hesitation, without regret, without fear of their father but like her, he was just a kid and he did his best. Nicole couldn’t and wouldn’t fault him for that.

She watched as the red front door opened and a little girl with long, dark brown hair ran into the yard. A tall woman with short blonde hair, that Nicole recognized as Blake’s wife, Heather chased after her.

“Hunter, get back here!” Heather called after her daughter.

Heather and her had been friendly in high school, not quite best friends but good friends nonetheless. Heather had always done her best to make sure Blake was there for Nicole and it was something Nicole would be forever grateful for.

“Are we getting out?” Waverly asked and Nicole could feel her eyes on her.

Nicole nodded and stepped out of the car, giving Heather and Hunter, now safely in Heather’s arms a small wave.

“Nicole,” Heather called out, walking towards the front gate and opening it for them, a smile on her face. “I thought that was you.”

Hunter squirmed in Heather’s arms squirmed as she stared at Nicole and Waverly as they approached.

“Hey Heather,” Nicole greeted her sister-in-law with one arm hug before turning to introduce Waverly. “Heather, this is Waverly Earp, the love of my life. Waves, this is Heather, Blake’s wife and this cute little girl is Hunter.”

“Love of your life, huh?” Heather quirked an eyebrow at Nicole, that had Nicole ducking her head, blushing.

The words just slipped out but that didn’t make them any less true. Nicole knew she would love Waverly forever and she knew that Waverly was the love of her life. She just never said it out loud. Never told Waverly that she was the love of her life.

She said last night that she thought she was meant to love Waverly and she meant it. She just didn’t know if Waverly remembered her saying it.

Heather held her hand out to Waverly. “It’s very nice to meet you, Waverly.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Waverly shook Heather’s hand, cheeks tinted pink at Nicole’s admission.

Heather sat Hunter down on the ground and Nicole kneeled in front of her.

“Remember me?” She asked gently, holding her hand out to the five year old.

The last time Nicole had seen Hunter, she had been two. So Nicole didn’t have high hopes that Hunter would remember her. Even with the off chance that Hunter did in fact remember her, Nicole wouldn’t push any kind of contact.

Hunter nodded shyly. “You’re Aunt Nicky.”

“Uncle Trent wouldn’t let her forget you,” Heather said smiling down at the two of them and rufflying Hunter’s hair. “And neither would Blake or Joseph. They’ve all told her stories about you and Trent showed her pictures every chance that he got. ”

Tears pricked Nicole’s eyes and for the second time since she set foot in town, they were happy tears. Of course, Trent and her Grandpa would tell Hunter about her but, she would have never expected it from Blake.

Not that he didn’t love her. She knew he did, in his own way but she underestimated how deep his love for her ran.

“Yeah, that’s me Hunt,” Nicole whispered, swallowing back her emotions.

Hunter ignored her outstretched hand and reached for her forehead instead. Her little fingers touching the stitches there lightly.

Nicole expecting the touch to hurt but Hunter’s touch was as gentle as Waverly’s had been the night she got the cut.

“You got a boo-boo. How?”

Nicole looked down at her feet then felt Waverly kneel beside her, their shoulders brushing together. Nicole lifted her head and gazed at Waverly, finding love reflecting in her eyes.

“She got it being a hero,” Waverly said softly, brushing Nicole’s jaw with the tips of her fingers.

Nicole’s gut twisted at the word hero . She didn’t think she was a hero, she didn’t think shooting anyone, human or not, made her a hero. She was just doing her job, just doing what she had to in order to save Nancy and herself.

“A hero like Daddy?” Hunter asked, her little fingers moving to the splint on Nicole’s wrist, trailing just as lightly as before. “A cop like Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetheart. She’s a cop like Daddy,” Heather said, crouching down with them as well.

“Ima be a hero when I grow up.”

“Yeah?” Nicole rasped, finally finding her voice. “How are you gonna be a hero?”

“Ima be a firefighter.”

Nicole could feel panic rise in her chest as she looked to Heather for her reaction on the information. Blake was nothing like their father but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t want Hunter to follow the same stupid tradition their father expected them to follow.

Heather laid a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. “She can be whatever, whoever she wants to be and we’ll love all the same.”

We’re not your parents is left unspoken but Nicole heard it all the same.

She let out a breath of relief and turned her attention back to the little girl in front of her.

“A firefighter, huh?” Nicole asked, a smile taking over her face for the first time since she kneeled in front of her niece. “You, Kiddo are braver than I.”

“Yeah?” Hunter asked, meeting Nicole’s eyes. Her blue eyes shining with happiness.

“Mhmmm. It takes guts to willing run into a fire to save people,” Nicole said watching the smile on Hunter’s face grow before the little girl launched herself into Nicole's arms, nearly knocking Nicole off balance.

Nicole wrapped her arms around Hunter's tiny frame and held her tightly, burying her face in silky hair that smelled like strawberry shampoo.

Nicole had always loved kids. Loved her nieces and nephews to death even though she never saw them and really only spent time with Hunter and not the rest of them. No matter how she felt about her siblings, she loved their children and would do anything for them .

She always wanted kids, wanted to shower them in love and affection and prove to herself that she was nothing like her parents. Though now, the thought of having kids gave her pause. She didn’t even know if Waverly wanted kids.

It was something they should probably have a talk about, that they needed to have a talk about at some point.

“She’s a hugger,” Heather smiled, pulling a phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and snapping a few pictures of them.

“So is Nicky.”

She heard Waverly say, feeling lips brush against the top of her head.

“Why don’t you guys come inside?” Heather asked, when Hunter finally pulled away from Nicole. “Blake took Joel for a walk, he should be back soon.”

“That would be great, thanks,” Nicole stood, looking back down when Hunter tugged on her hand.

“Uncle T says you give the best piggyback rides,” Hunter said, looking down at her shoes and dragging the toe of her little cowboy boots through the dirt.

It struck Nicole then how much Hunter was like her father in that moment. Blake didn’t have the same confidence her and Trent had. He could be this outgoing, charming guy then in the blink of an eye, he was this awkward, shy, nerdy guy.

“She does,” Waverly said with a soft smile at the little girl, still kneeling down to her height.

There’s a pounding in Nicole’s chest that she doesn’t understand at first as she continued to stare at Waverly and Hunter together, Waverly talking with that same soft, gentle voice she uses when comforting Nicole.

Nicole was staring at the two of them, she knew was but she couldn’t help it. All she could see was her and Waverly years from now, still so damn in love with each other and raising a family of their own.

She can see them at the homestead or just on Earp land in a house they’ve designed together, with two or three kids running around and Wynonna being that snarky aunt they love. Family dinners with Trent and Chrissy and the rest of their misfit family every week.

In that moment she could see their whole life played out before her. A future so full of love and happiness that she’s never imagined for herself before.

Her heart swelled in her chest at the image of her kind, sweet, loving Waverly as a mother, holding a tiny bundle of joy in her arms.

“Nicole.”

Nicole blinked a few times til Waverly and Hunter came into focus, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Sorry, what?”

“Piggyback ride? Hunter wants to know if you’ll give her one,” Waverly said, forehead wrinkled in that adorable way of hers when she was confused or trying to figuring something out, trying to figure out what Nicole was thinking.

“Right, of course.” Nicole shook her head, still trying to get the image of Waverly with kids out of her mind as she turned around and bent down in front of Hunter. “Let’s go, Kiddo.”

When Hunter is settled on her back, little arms wrapped around her neck, Heather made them pose for pictures and made Waverly take some with them as well.

With Hunter on her shoulders and Waverly leaning into her side, arm around her lower back, Nicole was struck with that feeling of home again, with that image her and Waverly and kids.

They were in Heather’s living room, Nicole playing on the floor with Hunter while Waverly chatted quietly with Heather, when Blake returned home, a mean looking black and white husky with black markings under his blue eyes and all the way up to back of his head, save for little white eyebrows, by his side.

Waverly isn't sure what she expected Blake to look like, maybe something close to Nicole and Trent. What she didn’t expect was the massive dude, both tall and muscular with slicked back black hair to be wearing these glasses that made him look like a Clark Kent wannabe.

Waverly leaned over towards Heather, who she really liked and was so kind to Nicole. “Do you ever call him Clark?”

Heather hid her laugh behind her hand. “He doesn’t like it but yes.”

Nicole stood when he entered the house and they just stared at each other in silence for a few moments, both of their faces unreadable.

Waverly was unsure of what was going to happen next. She wasn’t sure if Blake would react like their mother did or if he would be happy to see Nicole like Heather was.

She knew little about Blake other than the fact that he tried to be both a good son and a good brother to Nicole.

Trent’s dog, Joel nuzzled his snout against the palm of Waverly’s hand, drawing her attention away from the Haught siblings long enough for her to find his ears and scratch behind them before looking back.

The silence in the living room was awkward and uncomfortable, even Hunter just stared at her father and her Aunt in a stare down of their own.

Waverly was about to push herself of the leather couch she was on, about to introduce herself, place herself between the siblings to protect Nicole from whatever Blake might say  when a hand on her knee stopped her.

“He loves her,” Heather whispered just loud enough for her to hear and even then she had to strain to hear her. “He feels guilty for not being a better brother, for not being there for her like he should have been and he doesn’t know how to make it right, doesn’t know how to build a stronger relationship with her.”

“Nicole.”

Waverly is surprised at how soft Blake’s voice is. She was expecting something gruff, something that would match his appearance, something completely different than what she just heard.

“Blake.”

There’s another few seconds of them just staring at each other before their faces soften and they’re pulling each other into hug that looked almost too tight but the look on Blake’s face told Waverly that even if it was too tight, he didn’t care.

When the pulled back, Blake ran his finger along the stitches on Nicole forehead, brows furrowed with what Waverly believed was worry.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said, dropping his hand and turning towards Waverly and his wife. “Are you going to introduce me to the woman sitting on my couch, or did that whack to the head make you forget your manners?”

“Careful you’re starting to sound like Dad,” Nicole joked, moving towards the couch but stopping when she realized Blake wasn’t following.

There was hurt on his face as he stared at the back of Nicole’s head and something a lot like guilt and regret mixed into one.

“Shit,” Nicole mumbled when she turned around to face him. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Swear jar!” Hunter said, pointing to a jar filled with coins by the tv in the corner of the room.

Both siblings rubbed at the back of their necks, looking down at their shoes while Nicole dug in the pocket of her jeans for some change, dropping it in Hunter’s hands.

“I’m sorry,” they said at the same time, Blake shaking his head while Nicole rolled her eyes.

Waverly leaned towards Heather again. “Are all the Haught siblings so similar?”

“Just the youngest three, though Trent and Nicole as the most alike.”

Waverly nodded and turned back to the siblings, who were back to staring down at their shoes.

“Nicole,” Blake started, his voice still so damn soft as he reached out and took his sister’s hand. “I’m sorry for not being there for you like I should have, for letting my fear of our father keep me from being the brother I should have been, from protecting like I should have.”

He ran his fingers through his hand with his free hand and sighed. “I know saying ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t make anything better, doesn’t change the past or the hurt you’ve been put through but I am truly sorry and I’m not asking for your forgiveness because I know I don’t deserve it but I’m going to make it up to you, I’m going to be better, I’m gonna be the brother you needed me to be.”

Unlike when Meredith apologized, Waverly could tell that Blake actually meant it, was actually sorry for the things he did or didn't do for Nicole.

And he looked genuinely sorry. His guilt and regret was clearly written on his face, in his body language, in his voice.

Waverly didn't doubt for a minute that he was truly sorry and she hoped Nicole could see it as well.

“I-I don't know if I can forgive you,” Nicole said softly and Blake’s shoulders slumped, his head bowed as if he was curling in on himself.

Nicole touched his shoulder and waited until he looked back up at her.

“But, we can start over, rebuild our relationship into something better and you can earn my forgiveness.”

“Yeah?” He asked, that same hopeful expression on his face that Nicole always had.

He was smiling now, the one dimple on his left cheek showing and Nicole smiled back, both of her dimples on display.

“How about dinner?” Nicole asked, tilting her head to the side in that way that always reminded Waverly of a puppy.

“Dinner sounds great.”