Shorty's
Waverly was behind the bar, busily pouring beers as the place was already half full despite the early hour. Ever since Shorty invested in a couple TVs and a cable package that included football games from all the major college conferences (Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-12), Saturday mornings at Shorty's had become the place to be. Of course all of the rowdy men at Shorty's had never even set foot outside of Purgatory or been to any of the colleges, but loved to bet against each other on the outcome of the games. The men could gamble and drink all day until karaoke on Saturday night which meant quite a lot of work for Waverly. Of course some of the men were still sleeping it off from the night before so the place wouldn't get packed until about noon. She glanced at the clock, realizing she still had a bit more peace before the real rush began.
"Waverly, can we get some snacks over here, cutie?" Big Bruno, a Shorty's regular, asked from a table near the bar.
"Sure thing, Big B" Waverly squeaked in her high-pitched customer voice she did when wanted to sound chipper. She got the snack tray loaded up and hauled over to Bruno's table and was headed back to the bar when she saw Wynonna burst through the door.
"Waves!" she yelled as she grabbed Waverly's arm.
"Wynonna, what the hell?" Waverly said, confused. "Aren't you supposed to be in the city?"
"Well, yeah but listen, you got to help me." She grabbed her arm and motioned her over to the bar, talking in a hushed tone so only Waverly could hear her. "I need your help."
"What's wrong?" Waverly said.
"I don't know what's going on," Wynonna responded, "and I'm not sure how to fix it."
"Not this again," Waverly said, shaking her arm from her sister and moving back behind the bar. "I thought you were finally okay with marrying David?"
"What? No, it's not about that," Wynonna answered, standing in front of the bar.
"Right, so you coming over to Uncle Curtis' house drunk a few weeks ago with the same look in your eye saying 'I'm not sure I can marry him' has nothing to do with what you're doing right now?"
"No, Waves look, something's wrong," Wynonna answered. "Look." She lifted her shirt up, exposing her abdomen and just stared at Waverly which elicited some hoots and whistles from a couple of the guys in the bar. Wynonna shot them a glare.
"What am I looking at? Oh my god, are you pregnant?" Waverly said, leaning on her elbows on top of the bar.
"No, I'm not pregnant. That's the problem." She lowered her shirt and put her palms down against the bar.
"I'm confused," Waverly replied.
"Waves, order up," Shorty said sounding slightly annoyed.
"Sorry, Shorty," Waverly yelled over her shoulder at him, moving to grab the food and take it to a table, but also listening to Wynonna.
"Wait…Shorty?" Wynonna asked, surprised to find the man alive.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the city with Willa?" Shorty asked.
"Well…we rescheduled," Wynonna shrugged. By this time, Waverly had returned to back behind the bar and was filling beer mugs for a couple men down the bar.
"Willa's going to flip," Waverly replied. "Rescheduling your dress appointment again this close to the wedding. What are you going to get married in, a sack?"
"Zip it, alright," Wynonna answered. A somewhat hurt look came over Waverly's face as it finally sunk in to Wynonna. "Oh my god, wait…why weren't you coming to the appointment with us today?"
"Me?" Waverly asked, sounding surprised as she delivered the beers to the guys down the bar before standing in front of Wynonna again. "Willa made it clear I was not to be involved in any of the planning, remember? Ever since you confided in me that night about how nervous you were to marry David, she's hardly spoken to me." Wynonna looked at her in surprise. "And neither have you. What are you even doing here?"
"Waves, I'm sorry for whatever…this is," Wynonna answered, implying that their relationship was obviously very different right now, but she had to convince Waverly that all of this didn't make sense. "But you and I are not supposed to be here. This isn't our life."
"Pretty sure it is, sis," Waverly answered, grabbing a towel and rubbing down the bar. "Once a bar maid, always a bar maid."
"No," Wynonna answered, "you're so much more than that, Waves. You've got to remember." Wynonna grabbed her arm, and talked quietly so that only Waverly could here. "We…we live at the homestead and put down revenants with Peacemaker."
"Peacemaker?" Waverly responded quietly in disbelief. "You mean daddy's old gun that used to be Wyatt's that doesn't shoot straight but he swears he'll get working again? And what the hell is a revenant?" Just then it dawned on Wynonna. The sorceress from the night before had granted her wish. She was living a life where there was no curse which meant no revenants. That meant Daddy was alive which explains why Willa was alive. The worst night of her childhood when she had shot Ward had never happened. What else had changed? But why did she have all of her memories if she was living in this life now? Shouldn't she be different too?
"I…I'm sorry, I probably sound crazy," Wynonna said, looking down at her feet.
"Well most of it sounds pretty cukoo bananas, but you do have a lot going on with the wedding coming up," Waverly said, sympathetically giving her sister's arm a gentle nudge.
"I hit my head pretty hard this morning and my memory is just really scattered," Wynonna said, rubbing her temples.
"You should probably get that checked out," Waverly replied, sounding a little worried. A ding from Shorty brought Waverly's attention back to her job. "Look, why don't you sit here and have a cup of coffee and I'll help you fill in the gaps, okay?" Waverly gave her arm a squeeze and went to move away until Wynonna grabbed her hand.
"Thanks, Waves, it means a lot," Wynonna said. Waverly smiled back at her as she quickly rushed off. Wynonna took a seat. Waverly set a cup of coffee in front of her, gave her a small wink, and then moved back to the kitchen to grab a bunch of orders that had piled up. Wynonna held the coffee up to her mouth and took a deep sniff. It had been awhile since she'd had coffee and it was going to taste amazing although she couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach realizing the baby was gone.
So many questions flashed through her mind. Was this her life now? Was this how things would always be? As she took a sip of her coffee, she heard boot heels click across the floor before stopping at the bar next to her. She turned to see Officer Nicole Haught set her stetson on the bar then fiddle with her uniform pants. Wynonna looked at her in surprise as her uniform was back to the classic khaki and dark blue shirt topped with her dark blue jacket. Nicole's red hair was pulled back in a tight French braid and the two top buttons of her uniform shirt were unbuttoned as usual.
"How are you doing today, Officer?" said Marleen, an older woman sitting at a table in front of the bar off to the left of Nicole.
"Doing well, ma'am, how are you?" Nicole replied in a friendly tone, moving slightly towards Marleen so the woman didn't have to talk as loud.
"Oh I'm good, dearie," Marleen replied. Wynonna shook her head at how friendly Nicole was with the locals before returning her attention back to her coffee cup.
She saw Waverly walk out from the back and then stop in place when she saw Nicole was in front of the bar. A smile crossed Waverly's face. Wynonna watched her brush off her jeans and run a hand through her hair trying to tame it to look perfect before she slowly moved up to the bar, looking very nervous.
"Well, looks like some things never change," Wynonna muttered to herself as Waverly pretended to get a tray of snacks together, her eyes wandering over to Nicole as she chit-chatted with Marleen.
"Well, ma'am, it was great talking with you," Nicole said as she dipped her head and gave Marleen's shoulder a gentle squeeze before returning to the bar.
"Good morning, Officer," Waverly said, turning her head for a moment towards Nicole before back at the tray, pretending she was busy even though her face lit up. "The usual today?" Wynonna shook her head but stayed quiet, sipping her coffee.
"Hey Waves," Nicole said, her tone friendly but not as loving as Wynonna usually heard her speak to Waverly. "That'd be great. Two actually. Thanks." Waverly gave her a smile and moved towards the coffee. When she returned with the two cups, Nicole also said, "Oh and uh…no…no, nevermind." Waverly noticed Nicole's attention went to the cinnamon rolls that Mrs. Johnson had brought in as a special for the morning before second-guessing her decision. "I'm trying to be good."
"Mmmm, how's that going?" Waverly said, flashing her a smile as she looked at the cinnamon rolls and then back at Nicole.
"Not well," Nicole said back, pouting. "Especially after working the night shift." Waverly smiled, a dorky grin crossing her face in response to seeing Nicole pout. She set the coffee cups down in front of Nicole and beamed at her. Wynonna continued to shake her head. It was obvious how smitten Waverly still was with Nicole. "Amy doesn't like all the sweets I've been eating lately," Nicole says, tapping her belly with her whole hand. Wynonna looked confused, turning her head towards Nicole.
"Well, you still look great in that uniform so…" Waverly blurted out awkwardly, her cheeks getting dark red. Nicole gave her a sympathetic laugh and was about to respond when Wynonna interrupted.
"Wait, you two aren't…" Wynonna started to say until noticing Waverly's eyes get large. "Going to talk about that football game? Damn, and I thought Northwestern was finally winning." Wynonna pointed up to the screen behind them and pretended to be really interested.
"Since when are you into football?" Waverly asked, both of the women staring at her.
"And aren't you supposed to be in the city finding a dress for your big occasion?" Nicole asked. Wynonna's brows furrowed at the way she said big occasion in a clearly mocking manner. Meanwhile Waverly looked pretty proud, as though Nicole were in some way standing up for her after her exclusion from all of the wedding plans.
"Well I…I dunno," Wynonna said, turning back to her coffee and trying to figure out what to say.
"We should take it easy on her," Waverly said, gently placing her hand on Nicole's on the bar, "she had a bit of a rough morning."
"Mmm," Nicole responded, not sounding convinced that was good enough reason given the hurt Waverly had gone through with being excluded. Wynonna noticed that Waverly hadn't moved her hand away from Nicole's, but Nicole had also not responded to the touch in any way.
"Hey Honey, are you ready to go?" a woman's voice said behind them. Nicole turned, her hands moving with her as Waverly looked disappointed.
"Yeah, sweetheart. Just chatting with Waverly," Nicole said as the blonde woman gave Nicole a kiss.
"Hey Waverly," the blonde woman said, looking around Nicole at Waverly.
"Hi, Amy," Waverly responded, a forced smile on her face as she went back to getting the snacks together.
"We better get going so you have time to change before we meet my aunt for lunch," Amy said, grabbing one of the two cups of coffee that Waverly set on the bar for the pair. "Oh honey, you've got a lose string on your pants."
"Yeah, I was messing with it earlier," Nicole said. Waverly looked jealously at the pair as Amy rubbed her hand over Nicole's pants where the lose string was hanging out.
"No biggie, I'll fix it at home," Amy said. Nicole smiled and set some money down on the bar which was far too much for the coffee, but meant a nice generous tip for Waverly. Amy grabbed her hand and started dragging her off.
"Thanks, Waves," Nicole said quickly as put her stetson back on her head, grabbed her coffee, and headed towards the door with Amy.
"Any time," Waverly said somewhat sadly as she watched the pair go.
"Got a bit of a girl crush there, do you Waves?" Wynonna asked, also turning to watch the pair leave, but keeping her voice low so only Waverly could hear her.
"Noooo," Waverly replied, glaring at her. "She's just…nice."
"And Haught?" Wynonna asked jokingly. Waverly glared at her before turning her attention back to the snacks again but Wynonna's flashed towards the door as she saw Nicole glance over her shoulder back at Waverly before she slipped out the door of the bar.