Nicole was asleep, holding onto Waverly's arm as it draped over her waist. She awoke, glancing over at the clock, 7:15. She turned around and looked at her girlfriend, curling into the smaller woman. Nicole watched as she Waverly slept, though something sank in her heart. She couldn't explain it. There was something about being her that felt wrong. Just leaving her family so abruptly made her sad. She missed them so much, but she knew that she belonged here. She just didn't want to bring such an amazingly positive woman into this depressing mess. Nicole closed her eyes and sighed against Waverly's warm body, listening to the soothing rhythm of her heart. She knew she belonged here.

Waverly stretched, kissing the back of her partner's neck. She smiled at the woman in her arms and nuzzled into her. The young redhead stirred as she woke up, turning into her and looking at her sharp features. She traced the shadow of her profile on her chest, smiling as Waverly chuckled lightly. Her hand went up to her jaw, pulling the brunette into a kiss. She sighed out of the kiss and looked down, placing her palm on her chest to feel the slightly rapid pace of the young woman's heart.

"I love you." She whispered to her. "Thank you for being here. I need it."

Waverly smiled and pulled her into another kiss, getting pulled forward by her waist. She chuckled and pulled away, brushing the tip of her nose against Nicole's. The younger woman sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She tossed her hair back into a ponytail before she got ready. Nicole followed her and changed as well. She pulled on her pants, walking over to Waverly and rested her head on the other's shoulder. Her girlfriend smiled as she pulled on her shirt. She kissed her cheek and went out the door as the day began again. Nicole grabbed her jacket from the window sill and pulled it on, jogging down the steps to start her shift with the goats. Dolls stood up and followed her out while the other three stayed and ate. He jogged up to Nicole, trudging through the snow and catching up to her. The young man huffed, his breath freezing in the early morning air.

"Hey, I heard you were thinking about going into the law." He said. "Any idea of when?"

"Maybe June or May. I just need to get through all of this first. I'm gonna be sad to leave you guys. You're the closest thing to family outside of my blood." She said shoving her hands in her pockets as they walked to the barn.

"Yeah, though it will be nice to not accidentally run into you… well you know." He joked.

"Yes. Though, impressive. As a lesbian, I compliment you on your… body." She awkwardly stated.

They laughed as Dolls opened the door, shaking his head slightly embarrassed. He grabbed the clipboard as Nicole began to milk the goats. He looked at the board and took a pen, taking the counter and accounting for all of the livestock. He recorded it while his partner worked. He then went through checking their health and hooked up the clipboard, grabbing the pails of milk and beginning to chill them in the holes dug in the snow under the awning. Nicole got up after an hour of the work and brought the last two pails to Dolls. She helped him by checking the temperature while her partner brought the truck around. They took out the three large 15 liter milk containers and funneled the milk into the canisters. She wiped the sweat from her brow and watched as the young man began to funnel milk into the next container.

"How is all of this going?" He said.

"Good. My uncle's taking care of all the stuff even getting ready to sell the house. He want's it to go the the state to become a school or be used for something good. A park or community center."

"That's fantastic. What about Waverly?"

Nicole glanced down passing him the next pail. "Yeah. I don't know. I love her, but I don't know if she'll stay here or leave. I don't want to control her. It's her life not mine."

"She loves you and follow you to the end of the world and back just to see you smile. I've honestly never seen her so happy."

"I just don't want to push her."

"She's amazing, but I need her to know that she shouldn't change her life to fit into mine. Police academy isn't too long. But then it also depends on where I get placed."

"It just feels like excuses."

"Realistic ones though. Maybe I'll be here, but there's also a chance I'll be placed somewhere else. I just don't wanna displace her."

Dolls nodded and took the last two buckets, draining them and handing them back to Nicole for her to clean. She piled all of them up and carried washed them out with soap and water, and put them back inside while the other worker screwed on the tops and closed the fridge before driving off. Nicole closed the door and walked back to the homestead. She sighed and opened the door to see Doc and Wynonna talking about the Spring and Waverly reading something on her phone. She sat next to her girlfriend and held her hand. Waverly looked up and smiled.

"How's it been?" She asked.

"Good, got about 45 L of milk this morning. I tracked their amount and left it on their board. It's good so far."

"Great."

"You okay?" She whispered.

"Yeah, why?"

"You seem distracted usually you ask about Goatlet."

"Oh yeah."

"He's good by the way." She said. "I was thinking about going to the police academy after the Spring crops are planted."

"Oh, okay. So soon."

"Yeah. It's just a good time to be in the academy."

"Okay. Well, you always have a place here." She said. "Are you sure you want to leave?"

"Well, yes. I've always wanted to be a police officer." She explained.

"What about us?"