We arrive back at my house from picking up Waverly's belongings around dinnertime. My mother tells Waverly to go get settled in my room so she can talk to me for a few moments. Waverly nods silently, looking thankful for the alone time and heads up the stairs. When she moves out of ear shot I ask my Mom what occurred between her and Mr. Earp.

"What did you say to him after we left last night? I didn't get a chance to ask you since we were all so exhausted."

"I told him to do what was good for his daughter once in his miserable life and let her leave his house so she could finish school and start applying to universities without the distraction he provided."

"Oh. How did that go over?"

"Mostly there was a lot of indistinguishable slurred shouting that sounded as if he wasn't going to let it go so easily."

"And…?"

"And so I told him I would call the police if he didn't let Waverly come live with us. I told him it would be easier on him and on Waverly, so they didn't have to go through with dealing with the law, if he just let her go. I reminded him that she's 18 now and doesn't need his permission, anyways, but that I was informing him, nonetheless, because he was her father. He proceeded to say some nasty things. I pulled out my cell phone to make as if I was dialing 911 and he finally agreed. I gave him a time that we would be by today to collect Waverly's belongings and told him if he happened home when we arrived I would not hesitate to call the police immediately. I also told him if he contacts Waverly I would do the same. So we'll see, I guess. He wasn't there so that's a good sign."

I rush to my mother and hug her tightly. I knew she didn't need a verbal thank you but my heart felt as if it was swelling with enough gratitude to burst.

"Have I ever told you that you're the most badass mother in history?"

"Once or twice."

"Well, let's make it a three times, shall we? You're the most badass mother in history and I cannot thank you enough for doing this…"

"Nicole, she's the person you love. If she suffers, you suffer. If you suffer, I suffer. It's the very least I could do."

"How'd you know I love her?"

"Your puppy dog heart eyes. Really, I could tape hand cut construction paper hearts over your eyes and you might be less obvious."

I grin, impossibly wide despite the circumstances.

"Yeah, I've never been super great at hiding things."

"Nope, but that's what makes you exactly who you are. She's a great kid, Nicole. Now get your butt on up to her and take an ice pack or two for her face. I'll order us some Chinese food and get Waverly a whole carton of fried rice for herself. If you try to eat it you can sleep on an air mattress on the lake."

"That sounds like fun."

"Naked."

"None of Waverly's fried rice for me. Got it!"

I run away from my mother before she makes any more threats, like sending me to a nudist colony (which she's threatened to do before because she's bizarre) to grab the ice packs and check on Waverly. When I get to the door of my room, it's closed. As odd as it feels to knock on my own bedroom door, I do so. Waverly's voice is soft when she invites me in and I find her sitting on my bed clutching my pillow to her chest. I make my way towards her, kissing her forehead briefly before sitting down beside her.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Okay as I can be, I suppose."

"Could you please lay down so I can hold this ice pack to your face?"

"Only if you kiss it better first."

A small smile appears on her face that reminds me of how resilient she is. Waverly has told me all about her past. Her mother running away, her sister Willa's death, her sister Wynonna up and leaving in the middle of the night without word and, of course, her father. She said she felt so lonely growing up because she was a lot younger than Willa and Wynonna so they never wanted her around. They were thick as thieves and she was completely alone living in the pages of books. Yet all of this hardship has just made her an incredibly kind and caring person. How easy would it have been for it to harden her heart? Yet Waverly has the softest and most compassionate heart I've ever seen. There is absolutely nothing about her that isn't strong and beautiful. She moves herself to the crook of my arm and we slide down together. I lean over, gently peppering kisses all over the damage marring her gorgeous face. When I've finished her smile is as bright as a 100-watt bulb. I twist myself just enough to hold the ice pack to her face and look into her eyes.

"And what are you smilin' about, my gorgeous darling?"

"What do you think your patronus would be?"

She blurts it out so quickly and randomly I have to ask her again.

"Like in Harry Potter if you had a patronus charm to protect you, what would the animal be?"

"Uhhh…"

"Never mind, yours would be a giraffe. I was just thinking I'd like a patronus charm so when I was scared or in danger I could summon it to feel safe. I always thought they were so cool when I was a kid."

"Did you ever think about what yours would be?"

"An otter, like Hermione's. Hermione is my favourite character; I wanted to be just like her when I was younger. Pretty cool that in a lot of ways I am, huh? You know, I read J.K. Rowling made Hermione's patronus and otter and Ron's a Jack Russell Terrior because they chase otters. I always thought that was cute.

"Nerd."

She smiles at me before continuing.

"But giraffes don't chase otters, those two animals don't interact at all."

She frowns slightly, as if this really bothers her.

"Maybe in the wizarding world they do. Maybe the giraffe sees the tiny cute little otter and decides it hasn't seen anything more adorable in its entire life and resolves then and there that it needs to protect the otter at all costs."

"Do think the giraffe gives the otter rides around the magical zoo?"

"Why, Miss Waverly, are you saying want to ride me?"

I grin at her, my dimples on full display. I must admit, I'm pretty proud of myself for that comeback.

"I…"

A slight moan escapes her lips and she slides her eyes down to stare at mine. Too bad before I get a chance to kiss her she's back to her rambling.

"You know what else just occurred to me? I get to come home with you every day. At the end of the night, I don't have to leave. I just get to climb into this bed and fall asleep in your arms and I can't think of anything more perfect than that."

I lean down and kiss her to convey that I feel the very same way. She breaks the kiss shortly thereafter and is beaming at me again.

"Plus, you know what?"

"What's that?"

"Now I can kiss you anytime I want!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep!"

"Prove it."

I smirk at her, but she must see the challenge in my eyes because she moves on top of me, forcing my hand with the ice pack to slip from her face. By the time my mother calls us down for food twenty minutes later, Waverly's hands are up my shirt and the button and zipper to my jeans is undone. Her breathing is ragged as she grinds her hips down on my thigh.

"Coming!"

I announce to my mother and reluctantly pull away from Waverly. She leans down to my ear and whispers into it while climbing off me.

"Not now, but later."

With a wink she's fully off of me and headed towards the bedroom door. I scramble to follow her, nearly tripping on the rug on my floor because my legs feel like jello. She chuckles at my expense and dashes down the stairs. I stop in the bathroom before heading down to splash some cold water on my face. The last thing I need is my overly perceptive mother connecting any dots because of what she sees on my face. When I arrive at the table my mother is handing Waverly her very own carton of fried rice.

"I told Nicole if she tries to take any of your fried rice I'd make her sleep out on the lake."

"Well, it's mostly frozen now so maybe she wouldn't fall through the ice." Waverly interjects.

"Naked."

"Oh, yikes! Stay away from the fried rice I don't want you to get hypothermia and die."

I scoff at her and take my seat beside her, quietly listening as her and my mother talk comfortably amongst themselves.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch, Ms. Haught? Now that you know about…well.."

She moves her hand back and forth between the two of us and smiles bashfully. It's the cutest damned thing.

"Don't be silly. It's fine of you to sleep in Nicole's room. You're both 18 and you can't get her pregnant so I'm golden with that arrangement."

Waverly laughs when my mother winks at her. It makes me so happy to see Waverly so at ease after the events of yesterday. Suddenly Waverly's tone grows very serious and I look up at her to make sure she's okay. When she meets my eyes she gives me a small smile before looking at my mother.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you for everything you're doing for me… I don't even have the words. Which is funny since I'm usually a talker. Yep…I babble. Babbling won't do this time, though, and I…"

Without finishing her sentence Waverly gets up and darts at my mother colliding into her with a big hug. My mother mouths "Help me!" over her shoulder to me, but she smiles and tightens her grip around Waverly. I shrug at my mother, silently telling her she's out of luck and she rolls her eyes at me. When Waverly breaks the hug and steps back they share a smile.

"Finally! I have two people to slave away to take care of me now. I'll never have to clean another particle of dust in my life! No dishes for me! No laundry! I'm so brilliant."

"We hardly ever have dishes, you don't cook."

"You won't let me!"

"I'd like to keep living for a few more years, Mom."

She flings a forkful of rice at me.

"Hey!"

"You know what's great about that, Nicole? I'm not the one that has to clean all that rice up!"

With that she gets up and skips off to the living room.

"Your Mom is something else, love..."

"Yeah, like another species. Come on, we'd better get this all cleaned up so we can see what Tom Cruise movie the alien has in store for us this evening."

"I kind hope it's The Firm!"

Waverly proclaims with a grin, the excitement for the events of the evening evident in her bubbly tone. Living with these two was going to be a handful, that's for sure.

"It's probably going to be Risky Business."

"Care to make a wager on that?"

"You're on, Waverly. What are the stakes?"

"Well, if I win we finish what we were doing upstairs before we were called down to dinner and I get to call the shots. If you win, you call the shots."

The breath catches in my throat and my heart starts racing.

"Y-you're on."

I take a moment to steady my breathing before finishing cleaning up of the Chinese containers. We head to the living room and sit down on the couch beside my Mom.

"What are we watching tonight, Mom?"

"Risky Business."

"Ha! Called it…I…."

The rest of my triumphant words die on my lips when I see the lust burning in Waverly's eyes. She leans in, brushing her lips against my ear whispers her reply, her breath is tickling my ear and sending sparks down my body.

"I was hoping you'd win."

She pulls back and winks at me. She grabs my hand and starts running her forefinger and middle finger up and down the length of my palm.

This was going to be the longest 98 minutes of my life.