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The first note was in the bathroom cabinet, pink paper folded in half and propped up in a neat little tent in front of the toothbrush stand with Nicole’s name and a heart written on it. Nicole found it when she went to do her nighttime routine.
She picked it up and read:
Hi sweetie pie,
Since we won’t be able to talk again until I get my own secure BBD phone, I wanted you to know that I love you and I miss you already, right now when I’m writing this and you’re just downstairs.
One hundred and thirty-two days until Easter and I’ll be thinking of you every minute of every day until then.
Love, Waverly
And there were two spots of discoloration and smudged ink on the paper, like raindrops had fallen on it.
Nicole’s own eyes were teary as she brought the note up to her lips and kissed it.
She put the note on her nightstand, then curled up in her too big, too cold bed, and tried not to think about the last time she’d been left behind. She only fell asleep as the first light of the sun shone through her window.
*
The second note was in her truck, which she found the next morning when she and Wynonna were driving into work. It was a post-it stuck on the radio knob and it was much more practical than the first one.
Nicole,
Don’t forget your phone charger. Have a great day at work!
Waverly
“Gross,” said Wynonna with an eye roll, snatching off the knob.
“Wy-NON-na!”
She then engaged in a game of keep away with pinching and hair-pulling with her best friend and employee to get the note back, before going back in the house to put it next to her first note on the dresser. And to get her phone charger, which she had forgot.
*
“Oh, come on, Waves!”
Nicole perked up. “What did you say about Waverly?” she called out to Wynonna.
“Nothing! Don’t worry about it!”
“Oh, like hell,” she muttered, getting up from her desk and making her say to the station’s kitchen.
Where Wynonna stood, a frozen pizza in her hands, looking caught.
Nicole crossed her arms. “Wynonna, where did you get that?”
Wynonna flipped her hair back casually. “I, uh, I brought it from home.”
She snorted. “The only thing you brought from home was a hangover,” she said as she walked over to the freezer and opened it.
And then gasped as she saw that it was filled to the brim with her favorite frozen pizzas.
Another post-it note was stuck on one of them.
Nicole,
For when you forget lunch. But I also left a lot of fresh produce in the fridge, please eat that first.
Love, Waverly
“Ooo, you got a new toaster over, nice,” Wynonna said, sliding her pilfered pizza onto the metal tray.
“You can have half my pizzas if you eat half the vegetables at home,” Nicole bargained as she pulled the note from the pizza box.
“A third of the pizzas and I don’t have to eat any of the cauliflower.”
“Deal.”
*
The fourth note wasn’t for Nicole.
It was for Wynonna, who found it in Doc’s coat jacket.
Nicole had stayed late at the station, finishing up paperwork because, unsurprisingly, she was quickly discovering that Wynonna considering the office work of police work to be a waste of time. She’d built up a head of steam that she was ready to let out at Wynonna full force until she saw her on the couch, wearing Doc’s coat, holding a pink piece of paper, tears running down her face and dripping off her chin.
“What happened?” she asked gently, sitting down next to her.
Wynonna didn’t answer, just handed her the note.
Please forgive yourself, Wynonna. It’s what Henry would have wanted.
Your sister who loves you, always, Waverly
“Forgive yourself for what?” Nicole asked. “What happened to Doc wasn’t your fault, Wynonna. You know that, right?”
“I know,” she said, her voice gravelly. “But it’s my fault that he never got to live a life with Alice. That she might never … that if Jeremy and Waverly don’t find something, that Alice will never know her father. Because I didn’t know how to stop running.”
“Hey,” Nicole said firmly, putting a steadying hand on Wynonna’s back, “we’ll figure it out. The smartest people either of us have ever known are on it. Besides, Doc Holiday never did anything he didn’t want to do.”
That got her a weak smile. “That’s exactly what he said.”
“Well, then, there’s at least a fifty percent chance it was true. Maybe sixty.”
Wynonna giggled and let herself get pulled into a hug. “I miss him,” she whispered.
Nicole hugged her tighter. “Me, too.”
*
It was at the end of the first week without Waverly that Nicole finally went into the craft room.
She wasn’t sure what about it was harder to face than anywhere else in the house. Maybe it was that it was a project they had done together, when they were planning the rest of their lives here in this house.
Now some of the rest of Waverly’s life was across the world. And it wasn’t that Nicole didn’t want her to have that, because of course she did, but it broke her heart that she couldn’t follow. There was nowhere in the world that she wouldn’t go for Waverly, but because she hadn’t wanted to lose her, there was nowhere in the world she could go but here. She had to lose her a little not to lose her forever and she'd make all the same decisions again. It still hurt.
The craft room was also the part of the house that was the most singularly Waverly’s, and after several days without hearing from her, Nicole needed to feel that connection.
And she was very glad she did, because on the work table was another note, set on top of two beanies.
My amazing wife,
I made these for you to wear when you miss me. Also, to remind everyone that the Sheriff of Purgatory is very much taken. I’ve got matching ones, so that I can let all my fellow BBD agents know about my super hot wife. When I come home we can wear them together.
All my love, Waverly
One of the beanies was an deep emerald with white stitching that said, Mrs. Nicole Haught. The other was a powder blue that said, Mrs. Waverly Earp.
Next to them was a pair of polaroids of Waverly in her own beanies, one purple and one white with pink stitching.
Nicole smiled even as her throat got tight.
She picked up the green beanie and put it on her head. The second she pulled the brim over her forehead, her phone rang.
She pulled it out of her pocket and almost dropped it when she saw the caller ID. She managed to answer it instead, asking in a shaky, too hopeful voice, “Waverly? Is it really you?”
“Hi, baby,” came Waverly’s slightly staticky voice, sounding as excited and eager as Nicole felt. “Jeremy switched my cell number to my new secure phone. I’ve missed you so much, I have so much to tell you.”
“You have no idea how much I want to hear it. I could talk to you all night,” Nicole said, meaning every word.
And she did.
*
There were no more notes, or hats or pizza, after that, but she didn’t need them anymore. Waverly called every day after that - well, every day she could, which was most days - and she sent a letter once a week, too, all of which now sat with the notes on Nicole's dresser. She couldn’t come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but she managed to make video calls, even if they cut out a couple times, and it was all fine.
But now Nicole's birthday was almost over, and she hadn’t heard from Waverly at all.
“Cheer up, Haught,” Wynonna said, shoving a plate of cake at her. “Here, eat this. I got it at the frilly bakery you like instead of the grocery store.”
“But what if she’s hurt? What if she stuck somewhere and needs our - your help? What if -"
"She's right, Nicole, eat your cake," Rachel said, waving a fork full of it in front of her face.
"There's no use in worrying," Nedley added.
"How are you all so calm?" Nicole asked, looking at the clock for the hundredth time that night. "It's past ten, and nothing? I mean, it's not like ... she wouldn't have forgotten ..."
Before she could finish that horrible thought, headlights flashed through the front window of the homestead and Wynonna sighed. "Oh, thank fuck."
Nicole narrowed her eyes at her. "What's going on?"
Her best friend shrugged, grinning. "Better go find out, Haught. And this is your birthday present from me, by the way. Besides the cake and the booze."
Rachel and Nedley exchanged knowing glances, and everyone stayed seated at the kitchen table, leaving Nicole to go open the front door herself.
To see Waverly standing on the front porch, hand raised like she was about to knock.
They stared at each other in shock.
"Hi," Waverly said after a few silent moments. "I forgot my key."
"You're here," Nicole said, not quite believing it.
"I'm here," Waverly said, sounding a little nervous. “I couldn’t come back for Christmas and you’re birthday, and I wanted it to be a surprise. Are you surprised?”
“You have no idea,” Nicole breathed. Her cheeks already hurt from how hard she was smiling, but she didn’t care at all.
Waverly smiled her perfect, beautiful smile. "Happy Birthday."
At which point Nicole finally snapped out of it and laughed brightly before pulling Waverly close and kissing her.
It was her best birthday present ever.
*
Leaving Nicole was a little easier this time. Not that Waverly ever thought it was going to get easy, but this time they both knew she'd be back in less than two months. It still felt like ripping her heart in half, leaving her wife behind.
She sighed and put her suitcase on her bed and unzipped it. On top of her clothes was a piece of paper folded in half, with her name written on the front.
Hey cutie,
I'll take care of Wynonna until you get back. Be safe. No pyramid schemes. I love you so much.
Eighty days until Easter. I'll think of you every second until then.
Love, Nicole