Capítulo 16: 16. Chapter 16
Waverly wakes up the next morning nervous. She wasn’t at all yesterday, but now… holy shit. I’m getting married in six hours. She thinks to herself. She quickly gets out of bed and checks her phone. She has three unread messages.
Chrissy (08:11am): Hey Wave, can’t wait to see you tonight! Try to relax and enjoy the wedding. Text me if you need anything! XO
Waverly types a quick thank you to her before checking the other two. They are both from Nicole.
Nicole (10:23am): Good morning. Hopefully this doesn’t wake you up if you are still sleeping. Anyways, your dad invited me out to coffee this morning. I wanted to see if you would want to join us. We are meeting up in Shorty’s at 11:30. If not, that’s totally alright. I know you are probably busy.
Nicole (10:24am): But in all seriousness Waves, don’t stress out about today. I promise everything will be okay. If you are nervous, I hope you know you can always come to me. I will never judge you because your feelings are valid. I am here for you Waves. Always. See you later :)
Waverly bites her lip, smiling like a lovesick teenager as she stares at Nicole’s texts. Nicole always seemed to be able to predict her emotions and always knew how to make her feel at ease.
She quickly checks the time and sees she has a little less than an hour until her dad and Nicole are meeting. She quickly showers, braids her hair and gets dressed. She runs down the stairs and out to her jeep. She stops dead in her tracks when she looks at her SUV. For a second, she almost doesn’t recognize it. It is not only cleaned, but the paint… where it had once been faded, the jeep is now back to its original red coloring. It looks exactly the way it did when she got it as a teen. She smiles wide and grabs the card sitting on the hood.
Waves,
Consider it a little bit of an early wedding present. It’s not much, but I figured you and the jeep would enjoy a little makeover. Thank your dad and sisters. He helped me with the paint job and your sisters helped keep you busy while we did it.
-N
Waverly smiles and laughs, holding the card close to her chest as she looks at the jeep. It looks amazing. When Daddy had asked to borrow it yesterday for a project, she had never expected this.
She quickly jumps in and starts the jeep up. As she drives, she sings along to the music and in no time, she is pulling into the Shorty’s parking lot. She quickly hops out and looks towards Shorty’s. Nicole is about to walk in the door, but Waverly calls her name. “Nicole!”
Nicole turns to her, hearing her name called, and immediately smiles when she sees Waverly. The redhead walks over and is taken a little off guard when Waverly literally jumps into her arms squealing. “Thank you!”
Nicole laughs and wraps her arms around Waverly, hugging her back and holding her up. “Your welcome. Like I wrote, it’s not much. But I figured you would like it.”
“It’s amazing! And it looks like you got all the dents out too! Best surprise ever!” Waverly says, still hugging Nicole tight with her legs wrapped around Nicole’s waist.
“Well, I can’t take all the credit. I had help.” Nicole says.
Waverly pulls away just enough to grab Nicole’s face in her hands and place a kiss on the redhead’s cheek. “You’re the best. You know that?”
Nicole lets Waverly slide down and dips her head, hiding her blushing face. “Much obliged Ma’am.”
Waverly laughs as Nicole’s playful accent slip and loops her arm into Nicole’s. They walk into Shorty’s together and have coffee and breakfast with Ward and Shorty until both women need to go home to get ready.
Waverly walks out of her room and down the stairs in her dress. Robert is sitting on the bottom stair in a nice suit and checking his emails on his phone. He turns when he hears her coming and smiles up at her, standing and holding a hand out to help her down the last few steps.
“You look beautiful Waverly.” He says softly, bringing her into a warm hug that has Waverly smiling wide. She and Robert had their rough years as well, mostly because he was trying to be supportive of Willa. But he was never unkind to her and she is so happy to have him here today. Although they aren’t as close as she is with the rest of her family, she knows all she has to do is ask and he will always be there for her.
She thanks him softly and moves farther into the living room where Wynonna, Willa, Doc and her father are waiting. They are all in conversation when she walks in but stop and go silent when they see her.
Willa is the first to stand, immediately embracing Waverly and kissing the top of her head in a gesture she hasn’t done in years. She remembers the first and the only time she had kissed Waverly like that. It had only been once, the day her parents brought Waverly home from the hospital. Willa wasn’t sure how she felt about having a baby in the house at the time, but one look at the cute baby and she was sold. Wynonna got to hold her first (something that made Willa very jealous at the time). But once it was her turn, Willa carefully opened her arms as her father placed the newborn in her arms. Willa had loved her the moment she was set in her arms. Her mother and father had asked the girls what they should name her. Willa herself had no idea, but said it should be pretty. At almost eight years old, all she could do was stare at the tiny little baby in her arms and smile. Wynonna suggested the name Waverly. Both of her parents agreed, knowing their suggestion of naming her Welcomewould not be well received. “Waverly, it is.” Her father had said. Willa had smiled down at the baby and kissed the top of her head softly as the baby pushed her face into Willa’s chest and fell back asleep.
Willa pulls away and wipes the watery tears that are silently falling down her face. She smiles wide at her sister, so happy to be here and in her life. “You look beautiful Babygirl.” She says softly pulling her in to another quick hug before releasing her.
Waverly has light tears of her own, holding Willa close and whispering, “I am so happy you are here.”
“Me too.” Willa says with a nod.
She lets go of Waverly and moves so Wynonna, Doc and her father can have a turn.
Wynonna doesn’t say anything, just simply grips Waverly’s hand after a hug that says more than words ever could. Doc removes his hat and bows respectfully, kissing her cheek in a brotherly fashion that makes Waverly blush. Always the gentleman. Her father is smiling, but something in his features is a little sad. Wynonna lets go of her hand so Waverly can approach him. He looks down at her and holds out his arm to her. She takes it and allows him to lead her to the car, the others closely in tow.
They arrive at the city courthouse and stand near the door of their assigned room. Dolls quickly joins them and greets everyone, introducing Gus to Willa and Robert. Ward steps away and walks down the hall. Waverly watches him go and sees a flash of red hair in the entryway where he enters. The brunette watches intently as Ward exits the room with Nicole and they converse at the end of the hall. Nicole is talking to him, her face expressing the seriousness, yet gentleness of her words.
That small amount of sadness that was clouding Wards features begins to recede and his smile continues to grow as Nicole continues talking. Once she is done, Wards eyes are glassy and he quickly pulls Nicole in for a hug. She embraces him with a soft smile and nods in the direction of the group as they separate. He nods and says something to her that makes her chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand.
James Haught appears at their side with Judge Cryderman and Charlie with him. Nicole shakes hands with the judge and he says something that had the redhead smiling (although Waverly can tell it is not completely genuine). Nicole had mentioned a few times that her dislike for Judge Cryderman went beyond their professional relationship. He tended to be soft on punishment and that didn’t sit right with the redheaded officer.
The five walk down the hallway towards the ground and Waverly finally gets a good look at Nicole. Her dress stops just above her knees, hugging her body in all the right ways. The dress is a white, slim, stretch-jersey dress with a geometrically textured illusion overlay and sleek illusion sides. It is simple in concept, but the geometric cutouts that go along the dress give it a complexity that is so much like Nicole herself. They approach and Waverly is finding that she can’t take her eyes off her wife to be. She meets Nicole’s eyes and notices that the redhead seems to be in a similar predicament. The judge moves forward and greets everyone before opening up his office and motioning for everyone to enter.
Nicole finally looks away from Waverly and to the group walking into the office. “We just need a minute, we will be right in.” Nicole says, nodding to the group to go on. Once the door is shut, she turns back to Waverly and smiles down at her. “You are a vision.”
Waverly looks at Nicole and smiles at her. “I seriously don’t even know how to describe how beautiful you look Nicole, so I am just going to leave it at that.” Waverly says, stunned.
Nicole blushes and laughs softly, taking one of Waverly’s hands in hers. “You nervous?”
“A little.” Waverly admits.
Nicole squeezes her hand softly and pulls her into a hug. “I have something that I hope might help.” Nicole says softly. She pulls away from Waverly slightly and gets down on one knee. She pulls out a ring and holds it out in one hand. “This marriage, it is not something we chose. It was chosen for us. And I am not saying I am disappointed, I am just pointing out the obvious. But I told you that our relationship goes beyond this. This ring was my mom’s, the stones are actually. They have been in her family for generations, passed down to the first-born female. More importantly, this ring is a promise. I realized that we got engaged but I never actually proposed. So here is my proposal and my promise Waverly Earp. I promise you that I will always be here for you, in whatever way you want me. I promise that I will be your shoulder to cry on, your protector and your number one fan. I promise to never ask you to be something you are not or do something that you don’t want to do. I promise to never treat you with any less respect than you deserve or make you feel anything but proud of who you are. I promise to listen, respect and care for you. So, as long as you want me, I will be by your side. That’s my promise to you and this ring is the physical representation of that. Normally a marriage would be, but this ring means more to me than a piece of paper. I’d like to go back and do this the right way. So, Waverly Earp, will you marry me and hold me to my promise?”
Waverly nods her head and smiles wide. “Yes, Nicole.”
Nicole smiles and stands, placing the ring on Waverly’s finger. Waverly grabs her and hugs her, feeling the love that Nicole is giving her. She is offering her lifelong friendship and unwavering loyalty. That is something she has never been offered. She holds Nicole tight, happy when the other woman does the same.
“We better get in there.” Nicole says after a long moment. “You still nervous?”
“Yes.” Waverly answers honestly. “But I feel better with you by my side.”
Nicole smiles at her and holds her hand as they walk into the Judge’s office.
They walk out of the courthouse hand in hand with a new ring on Nicole’s left hand and two new ones on Waverly’s. Their families follow behind them, making friendly conversation. Ward catches up to the newlyweds and kisses Waverly’s cheek. “Hey ladies, sorry to interrupt but Babygirl, I need to borrow your wife for a few minutes.”
Waverly looks concerned but Nicole gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry, he and I just have to go pick something up really quick.” She reassures.
Waverly reluctantly releases Nicole, giving her a warning look. “Something I should know?”
“You will soon enough.” Nicole says with her charming smile, kissing Waverly on the cheek. “We will meet you all at the lunch spot in just a few minutes.”
Waverly nods and watches her father and wife walk down the street. He is speaking animatedly with her and she is doing the same in return.
“I believe as Nicole’s best man, it is my duty to escort you to lunch in her absence.” Dolls says, coming to stand next to her and holding out his arm for her to take.
Waverly laughs and takes it gratefully, following the others down the street in the direction towards where they are all eating lunch.
They had decided lunch before the party was a good idea and decided on a bistro down the street from the courthouse. It was probably the nicest restaurant in town and probably also the most expensive. None of the Earps had ever eaten there, so they were excited to try it (especially with James Haught paying the bill). James for his part, simply had the waitress charge his account, not sticking around for lunch. He was off to continue the party preparations with Charlie, leaving the Earp’s with Gus and Dolls.
“Any idea where Nicole and Daddy ran off to?” Willa asks Waverly.
Waverly just shrugs, not knowing either.
A few minutes later, Nicole walks in with Shorty and Ward at her sides.
“Shorty!” Waverly exclaims happily, standing from her seat and embracing the man.
“Hey ya Waverly. Congratulations.” Shorty says, hugging her tightly.
“You’re here.” Waverly says.
“We couldn’t celebrate without Shorty. He is family too.” Nicole says, smiling at the happiness on Waverly’s face. She knew Shorty couldn’t be at the wedding, but she made sure he could be here for lunch and the party.
Waverly moves away from Shorty and hugs Nicole. “Thank you.” She quickly turns to Shorty, confusion on her face, but doesn’t leave Nicole’s arms. “Wait, how are you here? Who is running the bar?”
“Bar is closed for the day.” Shorty says.
“Shorty, I love that you are here, you know that. But that is bad for business, you can’t afford that.” Waverly says, knowing Shorty keeps the bar running on a week to week basis.
“I agree, but Nicole and your father made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse… and when I say couldn’t refuse, I mean I really couldn’t. Two sheriff deputies threatening me with death puts things into perspective.” Shorty says with a laugh, patting Ward on the shoulder.
Waverly turns to look at Nicole with a raised and questioning eyebrow.
Nicole laughs. “I bought Shorty out for the next two days so he can enjoy the wedding festivities and not worry about losing profits. I knew you wanted him here but I also knew he couldn’t go without profit for two days.” She looks at Shorty and smirks. “And yes, your dad and I threatened him when he was refusing to take the money. Desperate times, desperate measures.”
Shorty laughs and moves to take a seat, winking at Nicole as he does. He greets everyone as Nicole returns her focus to Waverly.
“You bought Shorty out for two days?” Waverly asks, surprised.
“Yes. He deserves a break, you deserve to have him here and he shouldn’t have to lose profits or possibly the bar altogether for us to get both those things. Plus, I knew he really wanted to be here for you. He is your family Waves.” Nicole says softly, looking at her with those disarming brown eyes.
Waverly leans into Nicole more, laying her head on Nicole’s chest for a moment and sighing. “Thank you, Nicole. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“I probably don’t.” Nicole admits. “But what I know is enough. And there is no need to thank me, but you’re welcome Waverly.”
They all sit and eat what Waverly and Wynonna believe is the best meal of their lives. The lunch is fun and loud and full of laughter. Waverly can’t remember a time when she was this happy before.
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