[AN] Well, this is the end.

So incredibly sorry it took so long, but I got a new job that turned out to be utterly insane and all-consuming — made it hard to find time to get into the necessary headspace.

However, I refused to leave y'all hanging forever, so here you go.

For all the reviewers, thanks for your thoughts. They were greatly appreciated...

:)

—

Nicole leaned back in 'her' chair with a sigh. It had been a long day and she was glad to be able to kick her feet up. She glanced over at where her uncle, Doc, Dolls, and Wynonna had been hunched around the kitchen table for hours, all staring at the cards in their hand.

"I'm in for a dollar," Doc announced after a thoughtful perusal, throwing two chips into the pot.

Dolls immediately matched him. "Call."

Doc's eyes narrowed as re-considered Dolls, who's face was impressively neutral.

"Come on, old man, what's it gonna be?" Wynonna asked Tommy impatiently, clearly wanting to make her own play.

Tommy ignored her, instead taking a long pull from his beer. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at his cards, then at the pot, and then at each of his opponents in turn.

"Tommy!" Wynonna whined. Her fingers twitched as she held her cards in a death grip.

He placed his cards face down on the table, fingertips tracing a soft pattern over the card backs, and everybody started to relax as it looked like prepared to fold.

Then, with almost insulting casualness, he selected new chip colors and pushed them forward. "I'll see your piddly one and raise you five."

Wynonna's hand dropped from her own chip stack as her jaw dropped. Doc and Dolls were similarly nonplussed.

"No way!" Wynonna glared at him. "You are totally trying buy the pot, asshole!"

Nicole chuckled as she shook her head, then tilted her head back in contentment as she felt Waverly's hands slide along her shoulders.

"Hey, baby."

"Hi."

Waverly brushed a kiss against Nicole's cheek before scanning "Is Tommy beating up my sister?"

Nicole nuzzled her cheek into Waverly's hand. "I did try to warn her."

Shouted curses filled the room as Tommy flipped his cards before raking in the now large pile of chips. His grin was unrepentantly wicked.

Doc tilted his hat back in grudging respect. "I do consider myself a learned student of the holy game of poker, but clearly I am in the presence of a master."

Tommy finished off his beer. "There's a saying about youth and skill versus old age and treachery."

Dolls rolled his eyes. "On that note, I think I'm done for the night." He pursed his lips at where Tommy was making a show of counting out his winnings. "We will be doing this again, right, Sheriff? Your luck has to run out sometime."

Tommy winked at him. "I'm always glad to part fools from their money, Mr. Dolls."

"Hey!" Wynonna yelled from the kitchen. She waved a fresh bottle of beer at him. "No sass from the man drinking my beer!"

"I'm pretty sure he brought that beer, Wynonna," Waverly called out.

"You stay out of this, baby girl." She pointed at Tommy accusingly. "He gave it to me, which made it my beer. Which he drank. Then he took all my money." She slammed the refrigerator door. "So freakin' rude."

Tommy laughed uproariously. He tipped his ball cap at Wynonna before shoving the pile of bills into his pocket. "I and my winnings will now retire for the night." He glanced sideways at Waverly. "Where it's peaceful." He gave a pointed look at Doc. "And quiet." He slid through the front door after Dolls, heading to the new camper he bought to sleep in when he came to visit.

Doc harrumphed, a flush tinting his cheeks. Nicole's own face burned hot and she refused to look at Waverly or Wynonna, both of whom after being temporarily stunned into silence burst into peals of laughter.

"Get your cute ass upstairs, Cowboy!" Wynonna finally yelled happily. "Time to make some noise!"

"Oh God," Nicole muttered. "Kill me now."

Waverly watched in amusement as her sister chased the still blushing Doc up the stairs. As they disappeared she ran a hand up Nicole's leg before leaning over and pressing a hard kiss to her mouth. Nicole's breath caught and she went to slide her hands around Waverly's neck.

"Ah, ah, ah," Waverly murmured teasingly. "We have to check on the babies first."

Nicole pouted. "I'm sure they're asleep."

Waverly fixed her with a stern look. "Who was it who gave me the exceedingly long lecture about proper care?"

"Fine," Nicole grumbled as she hauled herself to her feet. She grabbed her cane, unfortunately at times still necessary despite the best efforts of her doctor and physical therapist. But she had been on her feet most of the day, and was no longer bothered by needing something to lean on when she was tired. In fact, since her discharge from the hospital, she had felt a peace settle over her she would have sworn she'd never experience again.

With her free hand she laced her fingers with Waverly's as they made their way through the backdoor to the newly built barn. On one side two horses and three goat were quiet in their stalls. On the other side most of the stalls held young dogs, sleeping after their own long day of training. A heat lamp hung low over the last one, and they could hear soft whimpers and rustling as they approached. On a nearby wall, encased in glass, a police dog harness had pride of place — the leather, badge, and medals carefully polished on a regular basis. Below it, and equally pristine due to Waverly's careful ministrations, Nicole's old deputy badge and service medals hung in another frame. Her days in law enforcement were done, taken away by pain and despair and blood and violence. Despite it all, she had no regrets. Rather, she was grateful at where her life had ended up.

Nicole peered into the stall as Waverly threw back the bolt and entered eagerly. Before her Rowdy lay sprawled on his back under a pile of mismatched puppies. The puppies were different breeds, and clearly different ages, but they happily piled on top of each other in one happy brood.

"He is the best big brother ever," Waverly cooed as she leaned over to give the big dog a kiss on his head.

He opened one eye and huffed before he carefully rolled over and lurched to his feet, rubbing against her with affection.

Nicole knelt down a little stiffly before settling herself with her back against the side of the stall and her bad leg stretched out before her. The puppies realized they had company and stumbled over to them, wriggling excitedly and licking wherever they could reach.

"Okay, babies, calm down," Nicole called out, laughing. She grabbed two of the most exuberant pups each by the scruff and settled them on their backs, rubbing their belles. One was black with bits of brown around his muzzle and paws, and she thought he was at least part German Shepard, but would have to wait to see him grow a bit. The other was dark red with a dark muzzle and paws, almost certainly a Malinois. She tapped the nose of another puppy, this one a yellow lab, to stop him from chewing on her pant leg.

Waverly scooted over to lean against Nicole as Rowdy snuffled a greeting. The two youngest puppies were cradled in her arms. They were siblings, and each looked for all the world like a miniature Rowdy. Rowdy's days as a K9 officer were also done, a permanent limp and the scar creasing his neck and shoulder a reminder of his fight against Bobo Del Ray.

"Duke and Duchess here are gonna be the police dogs," Nicole murmured, tickling the black pup under the chin. "They're both smart, stubborn, and they already have a protective streak. And Lemon," she said, rubbing the ears of the lab, "is probably going to be a sniffer." At Waverly's raised eyebrow, she clarified. "Drugs, contraband, stuff like that. Super good senses of smell and they love to work."

Rowdy nosed each puppy in turn then took the smallest, a female pit mix Waverly had dubbed Sweetness, away from Waverly's lap and curled around her. The little pup yawned, licked Rowdy twice, then immediately went back to sleep.

"Therapy dog?" Waverly asked.

"Therapy dog," Nicole agreed.

Waverly resettled the last pup, Sweetness' brother, against her chest. "What about you, little man," she cooed, pressing kisses to his soft head. "What are you gonna be?"

Nicole chuckled, reaching over to rub the engraved name tag on his collar. "After your sister insisted on naming him Whiskey? There's only one thing this dog is going to be good for."

Waverly looked over at her, brows furrowed.

Nicole grinned. "He's gotta be Wynonna's. I try to sell him to a police department and she'll probably kill me." Nicole gave Whiskey a pat on his butt and Waverly a wink. "She doesn't know about all the times I've seen her sneaking in her to pet him."

Waverly laughed, causing the puppy to start licking her face.

"I'm gonna train him on protection work, though," Nicole continued thoughtfully. "Dolls could use some help keeping her safe when they go to pick up their losers."

Waverly's eyes shimmered. "You'd do that for her?"

Nicole shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I know she keeps after me to help her on take downs, but I can't see myself as a bounty hunter, can you? Besides, dogs are better than humans at taking an idiot out of commission."

You're a big softie, Nicole Haught," Waverly beamed. "And I think you being a dog trainer is way sexier than being a bounty hunter."

"Well, that's a relief," Nicole said drily. She gave a last round of love to the dogs before hauling herself to her feet. The puppies yelped sleepily before snuggling back in around Rowdy. Nicole smiled at him as she shut the stall door. The big pit usually stayed in the house, but whenever Tommy delivered a new batch of carefully selected rescue puppies he always wanted to help get them settled for the first couple of weeks. He was also very insistent at keeping the dogs in training in line, leading Wynonna to start calling him Sergeant.

"Good night, my babies," Waverly called softly. She laced her fingers with Nicole's. "And you, Miss Thing, need to get your sexy butt into our room."

"Yeah," Nicole agreed, hiding a smirk and faking a huge yawn. "I'm pretty tired."

Waverly thwacked her shoulder.

"Your day is not over, Nicole Haught."

Nicole nearly choked on her bacon when Wynonna burst into the kitchen, slamming the door against the cupboards in her excitement. Dolls and Doc followed her in with amused expressions.

"What the hell, Wynonna," she spluttered.

Wynonna grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee. "Some people get up and get to work early, you know."

Nicole glared at her. "Well, having lived with you long enough I know you have never counted yourself among that population."

Dolls chuckled.

"Well, today is a special day," and Doc smirked. "Worthy of an early rise."

"Yeah, so let's go!" Wynonna exclaimed. She turned to yell up the stairs. "Baby girl, come on!"

Waverly made her way down, her hands working quickly to finish putting her long hair into a braid. "Keep your panties on, Nonna. It's not going anywhere."

Nicole looked at her suspiciously. "What's not going anywhere?"

Wynonna pushed her out the door and hustled her past the stable and down the long driveway. Behind them Waverly and boys followed along at a more leisurely place.

In the distance where the driveway met the road, Nicole spotted Tommy leaning against Wynonna's truck, sipping coffee and eating what Nicole strongly suspected was a donut.

Behind them a happy bark and a skitter of gravel announced the arrival of Rowdy. The big pit pull wriggled excitedly, greeting each of them in turn before settling himself at Nicole's side. The chill of the night hadn't completely faded, and the steam of their breaths shone brightly in the morning light.

"'Bout time you got up!" Tommy called out. "I'm almost out of donuts!"

Wynonna whipped around. "Are you eating my donuts Haught-pants?"

Tommy did a little shimmy and waved the donut mockingly. Nicole shrieked and covered her eyes. "What the hell was that?"

Wynonna and Doc laughed uproariously as Wynonna reached over and covered Nicole's eyes with her hand.

Nicole sputtered loudly as she felt felt herself pushed along.

"I think what you mean, HaughtBody, is what the hell is this?"

She twirled Nicole around before leaping back. The tall woman blinked, confused, trying to figure out what was going on, then her gaze was drawn upwards.

When Nicole had met the sisters, the gate posts over the driveway leading to the Homestead had held a couple of rickety boards with a welded logo of a stylized E R brand, rusted and lopsided. Underneath had been smaller letters proclaiming Ea p R nc. Bullet holes had peppered the wood from Wynonna's more rebellious moments, or their father Ward Earp's drunken ones.

Now however, a brand new, richly polished sign now hung proudly, proclaiming "Earp Ranch" and below it, "Haught Dog Training." An inlay dog paw, presumably Rowdy's, punctuated the advertising.

"No." Nicole stated flatly.

"Oh yes," Wynonna smirked.

"No." Nicole turned to find Waverly.

Her girlfriend grinned widely, her eyes full of affection and barely repressed glee. "Oh, I'm sorry, but this is so much yes, baby."

"NO." She crossed her arms and glared at her uncle. The elder Haught collapsed against the truck, wheezing with laughter, the remains of his donut still clutched in one hand. Dolls stood turned away, his shoulders shaking from the effort of keeping his own chuckles hidden. Doc joined Tommy at the truck, his grin vicious as he selected his own donut. He saluted her with a waft powered sugar.

"HAUGHT DOG?" Nicole shrieked. "SERIOUSLY?"

The howls of mirth rang across the fields, even Rowdy joined in, his barks loud and joyful. Nicole held out for a long moment, arms crossed and scowling, then finally she too gave up and started to laugh.

A warm had gripped her shoulder, and an arm around her waist tugged tightly. She looked at her uncle, now standing next to her, and smiled at the loving pride that poured off of him. She turned and took in Waverly on her other side, breathing in the smaller woman's intoxicating scent and relishing her steady warmth.

"You people," she began, then paused as everyone turned toward her. "You complete nut jobs — " she paused, fighting back the tears she could feel prickling behind her eyes. "I'm so glad I came to Purgatory," she said finally. She looked at each of them in turn, and hugged Waverly tighter to her.

"I'm so glad I found a home." She swallowed hard but smiled through her tears. "I'm so glad I found my family."