Alright guys, here's the final chapter! I hope you enjoy it!
When I got back to the office after running into Dorothy at the bank, Vic was still out on a call so I couldn't ask her about the whole thing. I decided to head out early and go talk to Henry.
"Hello, Walt." He says as he looks up from behind the bar.
"Henry."
"You are a little early for the party."
"I know. I wanted to ask you something."
"Okay."
"What the hell happened with Vic and Cady during lunch?"
He looks up at me, a bit surprised at my question. "I was actually wondering the same thing."
At least I'm not the only one in the dark. "What do you mean?"
"When I came out to bring Vic the food that she ordered, she and Cady were acting weird."
"Weird how?"
"Well, for starters it looked like Cady had been crying, and she kept hugging Vic."
That certainly fits with the story that Dorothy told me. Cady isn't tough like Vic is. If there was any sort of altercation, I'm sure Cady was a bit rattled.
"Did you ask them what was going on?"
"I did. They told me it was girl stuff. I did not press the issue."
"Girl stuff."
"Yes. I figured if it was something that I needed to know, Vic would have said something."
I nod my head. I think he's right about that. I shouldn't really be mad at Vic for not saying anything, I'm sure she had her reasons. If I had to guess, Cady probably asked her not to say anything.
"Plus, after Vic left Cady seemed fine. It did not seem like anything was still bothering her, so I did not think it was a big deal."
He squints his eyes at me. "Why are you asking? Do you know what happened?"
"I think so, but I need to talk to Vic to make sure."
What happened is that I think I just feel a little bit more in love with my deputy.
"I gotta go, I'll be back here later tonight."
I decide not to go and find Vic and just wait to talk to her back at the Red Pony later. Plus, this will give me time to figure out what I want to say exactly.
I'm not really mad anymore, how can I be? I've been dragging my feet on letting people find out about us as a couple, but now I'm not really sure why. Why do I care what other people think? Henry and Cady are just about the only other people whose thoughts and opinions I actually take into consideration anyway.
Whether it's about our age difference or that she's my deputy, there may be people who have a problem with our relationship, but I'm not sure that I care anymore. I'm tired of focusing on others. It's been a long year, I want to focus on me. I want to focus on Vic.
I need to talk to her.
I head home to change before going back out to the Red Pony. Once Cady gets there we find a table to sit and chat. I decide not to say anything to her about my run-in with Dorothy, I want to talk to Vic first.
Around 7 o'clock, I spot her walking towards our table.
"Hey you," I say as I stand up to walk towards her and pull her into my arms. "I'm glad you're here."
She stiffens a little bit at my touch and whispers in my ear. "Walt, people can see us."
"I know." I let go and pull a chair back so she can sit at the table. "Here sit down."
I take a seat next to her before noticing that she doesn't have a drink.
"Do you want a beer?"
She's stares back at me, a look of shock still lingering on her face. "Uhh, sure."
"Okay, I'll be right back." I get up from my chair, but before heading to the bar I lean down and kiss her, fully aware that my daughter is staring at us from across the table. I hear Cady gasp as I walk away.
Henry is waiting for me at the bar with a slight grin on his face.
"Walt." He nods at me.
"Henry." I nod back. "Could I get a beer, please?"
He reaches down and grabs a beer from the cooler and slides it across the bar. "Do my eyes fool me, or did I just see you kiss Vic?"
"Your eyes are correct."
"Good. I am glad." He smiles in approval.
Walking back to the table, I see that Vic and Cady are talking. I have a good guess what the topic is.
"Here you go," I say as I set Vic's beer down in front of her. "Hey Punk, could you give me and Vic a minute?" I look over at my daughter who looks back and forth from me to Vic.
"Sure. I'll be at the bar."
As soon as Cady walks away, Vic turns to me. "What has gotten into you? I thought you weren't ready for this yet?"
"I wasn't," I reply honestly.
Not satisfied with my response, she prods me to continue. "Okayyyy… so what changed your mind?"
"You did."
Her golden eyes squint at me in confusion.
"I changed your mind today? 10 hours ago you said you weren't ready to be seen together in public, and so far tonight you've already hugged and kissed me in front of half the town."
I figure if I don't explain myself soon I'll be seeing the terror side of Vic's personality.
"I ran into Dorothy Hudson this afternoon at the bank. She was here at the Red Pony during lunchtime, when you came to pick up food."
Her eyes widen.
"She told me there was a bit of an altercation."
I see her start to panic. "It was nothing, I swear. I-"
I hold up my hand to shush her. "Hold on, just let me finish." I move my chair closer to hers before continuing. "She told me that some dirt bag came looking for Cady, and that you protected her."
"Well, I just-" She starts, but quickly stops herself. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"She said you put yourself in front of Cady and wouldn't let him at her. And when he tried to attack you, you broke his nose."
She stays silent for once and just stares back at me, her eyes unblinking.
"You can speak now… Is that true, did you break that guy's nose?"
She nods. "Yes."
"You protected her."
"Yeah, but it was nothing. That guy was scrawny."
"But you protected her. Thank you."
"Of course. I didn't even think twice about it."
She doesn't even realize how amazing she is. She jumps to help anyone in need, but especially those she cares about.
"I know you didn't. That's the point."
She stares back at me in confusion. I'm desperate to make her understand how much I appreciate what she did for Cady. I lean forward and grab her hands resting on the table.
"Vic, you and I are so alike when it comes to police work. We assess the situation, and act quickly. But you, you're like that with everything; you don't over-think things like I do."
"I'm not sure that's a good thing. I tend to act before I think a lot of the time, it usually gets me into trouble." She frowns.
She's still not understanding what I'm getting at.
"I've been so worried about what people will say when they find out about us… I realized I wasn't seeing what was right in front of me."
Her eyes are a little wide in anticipation, wondering where I'm going with this.
"If people watch you, they'll see that you don't take any crap and you stick up for other people, and for what you believe in. That's all I can really hope for in a partner."
The look on her face slowly curls into a smile as the realization hits her. Desperate to pull her closer to me, I whisper, "Come here," as I pull her off of her chair and onto my lap.
We sit there staring at each other for a full minute before she speaks. "You're in such a good mood, but I have to ask. How on Earth are you not mad at me about this whole thing? You're not pissed that I didn't tell you about it?"
I have to laugh that that's the first thing she's commenting on. She must have been nervous about keeping it from me. "Well, I was at first. Then I figured Cady probably begged you not to tell me, and I know how hard she is to say no to."
She nods, and frowns slightly. "I didn't like agreeing to it."
"I also knew that if it was actually something serious, you would have told me, even if you had promised her you wouldn't."
She smiles. "You know me well." After pausing for a few seconds, she leans down for a kiss.
Even though I think I'm okay with people knowing about us as a couple, I'm still not a huge fan of public displays of affection. I don't have the heart to turn her down, even though just before she leaned into me I saw Cady walking towards us from the bar.
I feel her hovering behind Vic for a few seconds before she clears her throat to announce her presence. Vic spins her head around instantly to look at my smiling daughter.
"I want you two to know that I'm totally okay with this." She waves a finger at the both of us, "But, can you not make-out in public please?" Then she winks, and I feel myself blush instantly.
Vic throws her head back and laughs. "Sorry, I got caught up in the moment," she says to me as I'm assuming she notices me blushing. She slides herself off of my lap and sits back in her chair.
Still smiling, Cady continues. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, I hear the karaoke machine calling my name." She makes her way past us and heads up to the stage.
Vic turns back to me once Cady leaves. "So, we could have came together tonight after all."
I smile at the thought of that. What an entrance we would have made. "Yeah, but we can leave together if we want."
She picks up a beer to take a sip and stretches her legs out onto my lap at the same time. A smirk appears on her face before she responds. "Can we leave now?"
I sure would love to. I rest my hands on her legs and rub them gently. "We could, but there's no need. We have all the time in the world."
She states back at me for a few moments, and I swear even her eyes are smiling. "I like the sound of that."
We spend the rest of the night laughing and drinking. Two normal people without a care in the world. Henry has to give us a ride back to the cabin at the end of the night; I guess we acted a little too carefree.
It's the middle of the night by the time we make it to bed, when she purposely lays down on my side.
"That's my side, remember?" I smile down at her.
"I remember." She says as she grins up at me. "Can't we share?"
She lifts up the covers, allowing me room to climb in after her. She doesn't budge, so I lower myself gently on top of her.
"You're a stubborn little thing, you know that?"
She smiles from ear to ear and barely replies with an "uh huh" before her lips touch mine.
I don't know why but I pull back after a few moments and just stare down at her. She cocks her head to the side and brings a hand up to my face, running her thumb on my lower lip.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." I gaze back at her golden eyes for another moment before leaning down to kiss her tenderly.
For the first time in a very long time, absolutely nothing is wrong in my life. I feel like a normal man again.
A normal man in love.
The end! :) Soooooo, what did you guys think? I added a little bit more after where Vic's story ended, I hope it fits! It was so fun writing from Walt's perspective, and I loved adding in a few scenes that weren't in Vic's. The scenes with Cady and Ruby are some of my favorites! Thank you guys all so much for reading and for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! MERRY CHRISTMAS! #LongLiveLongmire