Waverly opened her eyes, glad to be waking with the familiar redhead in her arms. She looked down at her little spoon and smiled. The blanket was pulled up to their shoulders as the winter morning chilled the old house. Waverly looked around the dark room, glancing over her shoulder to check the time. 5:09. She turned back to Nicole and cuddled into her. The redhead twisted into Waverly, a hand lightly placed on her bare chest. Waverly smiled and kissed her forehead, closing her eyes and falling back asleep.
She awoke again to the slight disturbance of her partner waking up. Waverly opened her eyes to see the back of Nicole's head. She heard her sigh and wrapped her arms across her torso.
"Good morning." Nicole greeted.
"Morning."
"What time is it?" She asked turning to face her.
"About 7:50." Waverly answered checking the clock.
"Should we get up?" Nicole asked.
"Should we, yes, but I just want to eat and lay here next to you."
Nicole smiled, her dimples showing, and slowly sat up, the blanket falling off of her shoulder. She placed her hand on Waverly's shoulder and looked out at the window.
"Hey, Waves. If it's almost 8, why is it still dark?" Nicole asked getting out of bed.
She walked to the window, her flannel neon pink and salmon pants being the only thing Waverly saw moving in the room. The young Earp got up onto her elbows, shivering in the cold. Nicole opened the curtains and wiped the window with her hand. She was met by a partially snow covered window. She turned around to face her girlfriend.
"We should wake the others." She told Waverly.
Waverly nodded and hopped out of bed, pulling on her clothes and grabbing a thick jacket, heading out of her room to wake the others. Nicole quickly dressed as well and followed the young brunette. She was buckling her pants when Wynonna came out, half asleep, still pulling on her pants and buckling her belt. She nodded at Nicole and walked to the hatch in the roof of the house, pulling it so a ladder slowly unfolded. She climbed up, the redhead at her heels, and turned on the light, going to the small door on the roof and opening it. The air quickly became crisp, but they looked out to the snow that piled up about a yard below the door.
"Well uh-oh." Wynonna remarked, closing the door and smiling at Nicole. "We need shovels."
Nicole nodded and went down the ladder to the hallway closet. She and Wynonna grabbed some shovels and climbed back up to the attic, walking to the front door to dig themselves out. Waverly and Dolls joined in five minutes later, Doc following behind by another minute or two. They miserably dug through about 13 feet of snow within two hours. Doc and Dolls packed the snow while the Earp sisters began to dig a ramp to get to the barn. Nicole walked inside and put away the shovel, going to grab the industrial salt and pouring it into a bucket. She went back outside and began to spread it, grinding the crystals into the dirt. She sighed and set it down, watching as the boys jumped down from the packed snow and walked in. Dolls smiled and Doc tilted his hat. The young redhead walked in with them, going over to Waverly's room to grab her keys. Nicole closed the door behind herself and searched for her keys. She found her keys laying at the end of the duvet. Nicole picked them up and shoved them in her pocket before leaving. She heard a knock on the door before it opened. Dolls was standing there, a towel around his waist and his skin still wet. He smiled.
"Everytime. Sorry about this. Waverly has my razor though."
"Razor?"
"Yeah. I can just get it, don't worry." He said walking in and grabbing the black and silver electric razor from the corner of Waverly's desk. "You know, you two are really cute together. I'm glad she's found someone who treats her right." He said with a smile as he walked out the door.
"Thanks." Nicole said looking at her phone before leaving for the barn.
She jogged back down the steps and found Wynonna on her way back into the house. She smiled at her and continued off. The ramp they created was nice, though going down, Nicole almost slipped down it. She caught herself on all fours, standing up and wiping the snow off of her jacket. She opened the doors to see Waverly sitting on the ground petting the goats. Nicole sat down next to her, and arm wrapped around her back.
"Dolls likes me with you." She told Waverly. "Doc hasn't said anything neither Wynonna, but she has a pre-existing condition."
Waverly chuckled and looked down as a speckled red and white kid climbed onto her, bleating in her face. She jerked back then nuzzled the young goat, petting it.
"This is Jeremiah, he's a confident little guy." She informed Nicole.
The redhead smiled and leant against Waverly, petting the small animal. She looked up at her girlfriend and pecked her cheek. Nicole tucked her hands in her pockets and curled into Waverly. She smiled when her brunette girlfriend and closed her eyes.
"You share a razor with Dolls?" The redhead asked.
"Oh, yeah. Mine broke, so I'm waiting for my new one to come in."
"Why do we always run into each other when he's half-naked?"
"Yeah, he talks about that. It's weird because he's almost never topless."
"I guess I'm just lucky." She sighed, smirking. "Lucky to be with you, to be working, and to see half-naked Xavier."
Waverly laughed and nudged the goat back out with the others. She smiled as it jumped and ran back to the others. The young woman stood up, wiping the hay off before helping her back up. Wynonna walked in, knocking on the barn door.
"Hey, Nicole, there's some narc outside looking for you." She informed the redhead.
Nicole walked out, seeing a clean shaven redhead man in a thick jacket and black slacks was sitting on the porch. She approached him, looking at the young man before her. He smiled and went to hug her.
"Hey, Nicki." He greeted, pulling away. "You look great. I see you couldn't stay away from farming."
"Hi Andrew, how's everything going with you?"
"It's been good, I haven't seen you in a long while."
"Yeah, I… look, there's no easy way to say this, but the farm's in trouble. I might have to sell the farm."
"What about grandma? Where'll she go?"
"That's the other thing." He said, looking down. "She's been sick for a while."
"Wait what?" Nicole asked, pulling away. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I didn't thi-"
"How long has she been sick?"
"...last year."
"Andrew!"
"I'm sorry."
Nicole sighed. "What does she have?"
"Stage four pancreatic cancer." He answered.
"When was she diagnosed?" Nicole asked quietly, looking at her brother.
"5 months ago."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to come back with me."
"When?"
"As soon as you can. She doesn't have long, Nicole."
She nodded sat against the wall, hands covering her face before going inside of the homestead. Nicole clocked out and walked back out to her brother who was already walking to his car. She got in and closed her eyes, feeling her brother's hand on the back of her shoulder.
"I'm sorry I had to break the news." He said before driving off.
Nicole shook her head, looking down as her phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket and looked down at the texter. 'Shit,' she thought, 'Waves.' She sighed and unlocked her phone.
"Where r u?"
Nicole looked out of the window and texted her back. "I'm taking a leave of absence for family matters. I've already clocked out."
"What happened babe?"
"I'll tell u l8r waves."
"Nicole" Waverly texted, waiting three minutes before texting again. "Nicole"
"I love you Waverly."
"Nicole?!"
Nicole silenced her phone, turning it to do not disturb. She leant against the door and looked out the window, listening as the wind whipped past them in the tundra-like terrain they sped past. Her brother was focused on the road, not looking at her nor gazing at the new land he was in. They drove down south for about two hours, non-stop. Through all of the snow and sleet, they found their way back home. Andrew pulled up to the beautiful and old house they grew up in. Nicole exited the car, closing the door and walking in side. She saw her aunt and uncle in the parlor room. Riley and Tommy's signature ginger hair tussled as they cared for their mother. Nicole walked in further, smiling at her family members. Riley came up and hugged her, smiling and brushing a hair from her face.
"Dia duit." (Hi) She greeted, pulling away to look at her. "How are you?"
"Not too well to be completely honest. I just learned about all of this, so-"
"Andrew! Cén fáth nár chuir tú in iúl di? Ba chóir duit a bheith náire!" )Why didn't you let her know? You should be ashamed!) She berated him in her native tongue.
"Tá a fhios agam, I should've, I'm sorry." (I know)
She shook her head and walked to the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No thank you."
"Ní dhéanfaidh aon ní? Caife, tae, beoir? anything?" (Nothing? Coffee, tea, beer?)
"Gan buíochas a ghabháil leat, Riley." (No thank you, Riley.) She answered as she sat down. "Where's Alli?"
"Sa bhaile." (At home.) She called from the kitchen.
"Okay, tell her hi next when you go back."
"Will do." She said walking back inside. "So, what've you been doing?"
"Working on another farm over in southern Calgary, a place called… well Purgatory."
"Purgatory?" Tommy said with a hearty laugh. "What kinda name is that?"
"The name of where my girlfriend lives."
"Leannán cailín, cad é a ainm?" (Girlfriend, what's her name?) He asked.
"Waverly. She's insanely smart. Too smart to be working in such a simple town, but it also fits her personality."
Tommy smiled up at his younger half-sister as she reentered the room. "Fuaimeanna sí go hálainn." (She sounds perfect.)
"Tá sí." (She is.) Nicole answered, her smile turning into a slight grimace. "How's Mhamó?"
"Not well. The doctors say she won't get any better." Andrew informed her.
"It's gone too far." Tommy added.
"There's nothing we can do?" Nicole asked.
"Nothing."
Nicole nodded and looked at her phone. "Oh boy."
Waverly had texted about ten times and called five times. Nicole left the room and checked what she missed.
"Nicole, answer, please baby. What's wrong? You're not alone. Where are you? Babe. Baby. Nicole, please pick up. I love you."
Nicole called up Waverly, sighing as she looked out on her old property. A few seconds passed before the phone picked up.
"Where are you? Are you safe?" Waverly urgently asked.
"Yes, yeah. I'm back home."
"Home home?"
"Yeah, at my grandma's. The 'narc' was Andrew, my brother. He told me that grandma was really sick and…" Nicole stopped, tearing up, trying not to cry into the receiver. "... she may not make it."
"Nicki." Waverly whispered. "If you need anything, I'll be here, just call or text me. I love you."
"Love you, too." Nicole answered, locking the phone before she finally broke down on the porch.
She covered her face and wept into her hands, muffling her sobs in her arms. She felt a hand rubbing her back. She looked up at her aunt, holding a cup of hot coco. Nicole took the cup and drank it even though the hot liquid burnt her tongue. Riley smiled and walked back inside, leaving Nicole to calm down until she was ready to come back inside. The younger woman sat out there far twenty minutes, thinking back on all of her memories with her family, the summers together with their small amount of relatives. She smiled when she remembered her aunt getting caught sneaking out when they were younger. Her uncle was about 47 helping out on the farm with his wife and very young children. They were about 5 and 9 years younger than Andrew and herself. Her and her brother would mess with their neighbors and classmates in that little town, going to church every Sunday and helping out whenever they could. Nicole remembered her first crush being during the school year when a new girl came to their town. She was in 8th grade just like Nicole and Andrew. They both liked her, but she only liked Nicole, though neither dared to be in a public relationship like her aunt had been at the time.
Waverly locked her phone, the whole group was in the parlor room.
"So?" Dolls asked. "She doesn't seem like the type to just leave with someone random."
"I agree. Should we call the police?" Wynonna asked.
"No, she's fine, just dealing with some family issues right now." Waverly answered.
"Okay." Dolls answered.
"Hey, why don't you two rest up?" Wynonna suggested.
"Of course." Doc said tipping his hat before the two gentlemen left.
"What happened?"
"Her grandma's really sick and might pass away." Waverly said. "I just wish I was there for her. She shouldn't be going through this alone, Wyn."
"Give her space, I think she just needs sometime to think this all through while she's going through this moment of her life. Remember after Daddy and Willa passed away?"
"Yeah, you just took off without saying a would like mom. You tried to take on the world while leaving your helpless little sister behind in the dust. As if you didn't care about me. But I stayed, I saw Daddy lowered into the ground next to Willa, their cold lifeless bodies stuck in those closed caskets because of how severe their injuries were while you were in Greece getting into trouble."
"I'm sorry."
"No, don't be. It's too late for that." Waverly said standing up and leaving.
