"Good, she's still asleep." Gus breathed as soon as they'd eased the door open to the rather Purgatory Homestead esk rancher style house.
"Hey what took you so- Wynonna?" a man one Eve guessed was the already mentioned 'Per' greeted them from the living room. Eve's limited access to Wynonna's memories didn't include this man's other than him being chosen as the second person to look after her child with John Henry Holiday.
Arms she wasn't used to locking around her trapping her arms by her sides as Perry pulled her in for a greeting hug. The attack not so unlike the times in the snippets of the real Wynonna's mind from when her failsafe of a half-sister would attack like this if she was excited enough.
"Hey, Per." Eve huffed hoping her awkwardness would be enough cover for him to release her.
"Oh sorry." The human man realized dropping his arms back to his sides then reaching up to straighten his tie and straighten out the nonexistent wrinkles of his business suite. "Al's room is—"
"I'll show her. You get to that meeting before they fire you from your own company." Gus steps in returning to the pair still standing in the pathway between the door, living room, and kitchen after depositing the food bags in the kitchen.
'Per' gives a slight nod of his head in acknowledgment "See you later then." He shrugs sidestepping Eve on the way out the door.
"Mind going to check on her while I go sort out supper?" Gus offers already turning toward where Eve guessed was the way to the kitchen. "Placement wise just think of Al's room being Waverly's back home." Her aunt offers giving Eve a little push toward the steps leading to the second floor.
Why her legs start to shake as she grips the railing on the stairs puzzles the immortal as Eve begins her climb toward the second floor of Gus's home. "This isn't my daughter." Eve reminded herself in a low whisper the closer she got to the closed door of Alice's bedroom. Not even that mantra could quiet the nervous twisting in her stomach as she reached for the door handle with shaking hands.
The first thing Eve noticed was that the bed was much larger than she was expecting for it to be used by such a small human child. A twin she thinks it's called. Much too much room considering its primary user is a three-year-old. Next was that the black cowboy hat and a child-sized leather jacket similar to the one Eve herself was wearing right now were hanging from the right-hand bedpost whilst the blue blanket the child seemed to favor was entangled around the sleeping girl.
A glance toward the small bedside table showed a small collection of four carefully selected photographs all of them angled toward the sleeping child sprawled out on top of the sheets.
The largest of the four made her gasp when the immortal realizing she recognized it instantly.
Eve blames the lingering emotions of her current skin for the wetness stinging her eyes as she carefully lifts the image from the bedside table. A duplication she knew considering the original was safety tucked away back at the Earp homestead in Purgatory.
The last gift Xavier Dolls had left the real Wynonna Earp sealed away in the manilla envelope Waverly and Nicole had recovered from his hotel room.
Setting the framed image back down as she scrubbed at the water leaking from her eyes Eve moves on to the other images the child had chosen to keep so close even in sleep.
The one to the right of the more 'family group' as Eve chose to call it no matter how much the thought made her stomach twist uncomfortably was a single figure this time one that was more than a little familiar to her until Eve remembered her current face wasn't actually her own true appearance.
Wynonna Earp a few years younger than when Eve had met her yet emersed in her element sitting at a bar Eve recognized even in the low lighting of the room to be Shorty's her leather jacket in place on her shoulders with Peacemaker ready at her hip, a long-chained necklace around her neck and a line of whiskey shots in front of her as she smiled over at the camera.
The one beside it was of Waverly and Nicole also smiling wide for the camera with the plain-clothed officer's arms wrapped tenderly around the shorter woman's shoulders in another tender display of affection that once again had Eve's stomach twisting to witness.
"Was wondering where that went." Eve chuckled lifting the last of the collection into the light.
Doc Holliday
The same one Waverly had first gotten her hands on during her widespread research into the Earp curse.
"Mama?"
Eve started in surprise at the whispered question. Nearly dropping the framed image as she looked over at the little girl now pushing herself up on the bed.
"H—hey-baby girl." Eve stammers reaching her limited access to the real Wynonna's memories and feelings for how to handle her current situation.
"You come back for me." Alice cheered her little voice still tick in sleep as she threw herself into Eve's arms when the more adult of the pair knelt beside the bed.
"Mama." Alice murmured nuzzling her face against Eve's shoulder just as she had that morning at the park only this time the little girl was far more awake as her hands fist against the back of Eve's jacket.
The click of a camera had the nervous immortal breaking the 'mother' daughter embrace to look toward the door finding Gus camera in hand leaning against the doorframe.
"What'cah think Daisy girl? I think this deserves a few apple shots?"
Eve's face immediately contorted in disgust at the idea of ingesting anything involving apples considering the last time she'd done so had earned her a sentence of spending the rest of her days trapped within that ever-shrinking ring of godly light that only grew stronger the longer the blood flowed.
"Yeah." Alice cheered squirming around enough that Eve dropped her arms only for the younger girl to immediately begin tugging on her hand as soon as her bare feet had touched the floor "come on Mama we do shots now."
"Not those kinds." Gus corrected noticing the amused smile pulling at the corner of Eve's lips as she allowed the younger human to pull her along back toward the door only to pause with a whispered: "hang on I haveta get something." As she drops Eve's hand and hurries over toward her closet instead.
"Sorry to burst your bubble Nonna girl, but I don't allow any harder sprites in the house other than child's cough medicine considering that little spitfire of yours gets into everything and I'm not risking her liver like Ward did with you girls by keeping a bottle in every room of the homestead." Gus explains her eyes following the toddler with an adoring smile. "Apple juice looks the most like whiskey and since her favorite picture of you involved you have liquor, I had to come up with an age-appropriate substitute."
"But did it have to be apple?" Eve huffed
"What you suddenly have some kind aversion to apples?" Gus accused her eyebrow raised as she turns her more probing gaze toward the imposter wearing her niece's face.
"No. Of course not." Eve stammered at once thankful that a distraction came hurrying back to them in the form of little Alice carrying a rather familiar-looking sign in her hands. "Whatcha got there?" Eve wonders once again taking a knee as Wynonna's daughter drew closer.
"Gramma gave dis last year." Alice explains holding up the sign with a proud grin.
"We only use it when I allow a few apple shots." Gus adds in ruffling Alice's dark chocolate locks earning a giggled laugh from the toddler whilst Eve gets a better look at the sign Alice seemed so proud of.
'Alice Earp Drinks Here'
"Cute," Eve comments tucking the sign under her arm as she like Gus notices the hungry rumbling of the younger girl's stomach. "I heard there was mention of shots?" she questions tucking a few stray strands of dark hair out of the child's sky-blue eyes. "You really do have your father's eyes." Eve notices.
"Told yeah." Gus chuckles while Alice blushes pink at the comparison before hurrying back toward her bed to grab the jacket from the bedpost after noticing her 'mother' had yet to remove her own. "Okay, Mini Nona let's get you fed." Gus decides while Alice giggles louder as she tugs on the jacket and reaches out for Eve's hand once more.
"You sit by me?" the toddler asks her blue eyes hopeful as they hold Eve's copied hazel.
"Try and stop me." Eve murmurs fussing over the fit of the smaller leather jacket only to be stopped yet again by two strong little arms being thrown around her neck in a tight hug.