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Waverly could have passed out from excitement if she wouldn't have downed a glass of water and counted her breaths to keep her stomach from churning. It had taken several repetitions of this for her to fully be able to comprehend her thoughts, and when she did, the excitement just bubbled right back up. In her hand was nothing more than a piece of plastic and metal, not unlike many others in the recent past, but this was the determining factor of her future- Of her and Nicole's future, really- And finally, finally, it was in their favor.
"Positive."
The word echoed in Waverly's mind loudly and she let out a near shriek, clutching the pregnancy test tightly against her chest, unable to stop the stream of tears rushing down her face. She'd wanted to wait for Nicole, wanted her wife to be by her side when she got the news, but this was the sixth attempt, and each time it grew more and more heartbreaking to see the crushed expression that took on the ginger's face, and it was even worse to watch her try to hide it simply to console Waverly. If it wouldn't have been for the last attempt, she may still have waited.
But last time, at some ungodly hour of the morning, she had woken up in an empty bed next to cold sheets, and she'd gotten up to investigate, knowing it was unlike her wife to simply up and leave. When she carefully tiptoed down the stairs, she stopped about halfway down as the sound of muffled crying hit her ears. Through the darkness, Nicole's curled up form was just visible in the dim moonlight streaming through the window, and she clutched a pillow to her chest as she sobbed heavily, doing her best to keep it quiet. Waverly felt her own tears welling up in her eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to simply wrap her arms around the officer and console her, but she knew the best thing for Nicole was to leave her alone, so she'd simply made her way back up to their shared bedroom and curled up in the corner.
But now, all the failed attempts and heartbreaking aftermath, none of it mattered anymore. Waverly was finally pregnant. She and Nicole were finally going to have a baby of their own.
The idea of children hadn't been discussed in their relationship right away, not until a year after Wiley was born. After spending the night at the homestead with the one year old on his birthday, and seeing how taken with him Nicole really was, Waverly had asked her if she wanted children. They agreed that they did, but it was still too early to consider for the time being. But now, two years later, after the divorce with Shae was finalized and they'd gotten engaged after Nicole proposed on a special trip for Waverly to finally see the ocean, then married on the homestead in a small, family oriented ceremony, they were finally ready.
They had spent hours late into the night sitting curled into each other, scrolling through lists of possible donors online. It hadn't been the easiest of choices- Waverly was the one carrying the baby so Nicole wouldn't have to sacrifice time off work or risk injuring the baby before she was on leave, so the younger Earp wanted a donor that resembled her wife as much as possible, and it seemed like no one was good enough to satisfy her demands.
They looked through hundreds of donors, all falling short of Waverly's strict expectations and requirements. They were too old, or their hair was the wrong color, or they didn't have enough desirable traits. It was always something, and it became a task that Nicole dreaded because she hated seeing Waverly so stressed out.
Then finally, by some miracle or the grace of whatever god existed, they'd stumbled across a 27 year old man from Ireland named Liam, who had red hair a similar shade of auburn to Nicole's and dark brown eyes. His credentials included graduating from a reformed school for performing arts, playing guitar, piano, and the saxophone, and working for a small publishing company writing articles about upcoming music until he could get a career in managing music.
Nicole conducted a thorough background check- As per Waverly's immediate request- And after confirming he was clean and honest about his qualities, they'd contacted him. He was happy being anonymous on the donor applications and promised he was okay not having any involvement with the baby, but he gave them an email that he'd had since he was in college so if their child ever wanted information about their birth father he'd be happy to oblige.
Their first attempt had almost been a success. The test had read positive, but after a routine check at the doctor's office they had been informed that Waverly was most likely feeling the symptoms of phantom pregnancy. It was a bit hard to hear, but they were still optimistic, and had enough sperm from Liam that they could try more times.
But, with each failed attempt, both could see the other growing less and less hopeful that one would take. They hadn't officially agreed that this would be their last try, but Waverly knew they wouldn't likely be able to survive going through the process again, so she had decided that if this attempt was negative as well she would look into adoption.
But, none of that mattered now. She was finally pregnant. It was finally happening.
Waverly knew her wife would be home from work in an hour or so, and she slightly panicked. She had to make sure the announcement was special. She thought about recruiting her sister for help, but she reconsidered when she realized she wanted Nicole to be the first to know. But, that meant she was stuck on her own, and she would have to come up with an idea by herself. She made her way into the kitchen to start dinner- Cooking always helped her think anyways- And as she flipped on the stove, she felt her muscles beginning to relax. She pulled a bag of frozen vegetables, then paused as an idea suddenly hit. She smirked and set the bag back inside the freezer, then quickly turned off the stove and dialed the number for a local Chinese restaurant.
Nicole walked into the house she shared with her wife around 9:00 that night, and the smell of Chinese food immediately washed over her senses.
"Hey babe! I ordered take out!" she heard a familiar voice call from the living room and smiled, pulling off her uniform jacket and hanging it by the door then peeling her boots off before making her way into the room. Waverly was seated on the couch, a box of food in her lap and a documentary playing on the screen. Nicole grinned and leaned down, pulling the shorter woman into a kiss that lasted just a few seconds too long for a simple greeting, but neither of them minded.
"Hi," Waverly giggled against her lips, keeping her close with one arm around her neck.
"Hi yourself," the officer laughed back, pecking her once more before leaning back and taking a seat next to her on the couch. "You seem happy."
"Well duh, you're home," Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole the moment she was in vicinity and curled into her side, peppering light kisses along her collar bone and neck all the way up to her jaw. As the red head took a bite of food she couldn't help but giggle at her wife's antics, which continued throughout the meal.
"Okay, seriously, what's up with you? I know being a cuddle monster is in your blood stream, but you either broke something, ordered something expensive, or you got good news," Nicole laughed, leaning down and capturing Waverly's lips with her own, if only to stop the assault- Which was enjoyed and appreciated but an assault nonetheless- On her neck and skin.
"I didn't break anything! I may have ordered a new blanket, but that was awhile ago and it wasn't very much. Besides, that's not why I'm happy," she giggled, leaning up and nuzzling her nose into Nicole's neck, pressing another kiss to the skin and nipping gently at her earlobe.
"Well if it's not that, do you mind telling me why you are as excited as a kid on Christmas?" Nicole asked with a chuckle, pulling back just enough that she could look into the smaller woman's eyes.
"Well... Here, open this first," Waverly beamed and handed her a fortune cookie, and the officer looked up at her with a curious laugh.
"Why?"
"Just open it!" Waverly was practically bouncing in her position, so Nicole had no other choice but to laugh again and crack it open. She pulled apart the two halves and watched as a small piece of paper fell into her lap. It wasn't, however, an actual fortune, rather what appeared to be a small note that Nicole had no idea how Waverly had managed to get inside a fortune cookie without breaking it, let alone get the real fortune out of, but she decided not to question it and instead focused on the note, which- Until she turned it over and actually looked at it- She realized was not a note at all, but a picture.
A small, printed picture of a crib they had looked at months ago from IKEA, with a small heart drawn in the corner.
Nicole stared, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in shock, and she looked up at her wife who was grinning from ear to ear. She opened and closed her mouth several times in succession before managing to get any sound out.
"Does this mean..."
"Yes."
"We're... We’re-"
"Pregnant."
Nicole hesitated, only for a moment, and then couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around the brunette woman, tears pouring down her cheeks and uncontainable laughter spurting from her chest. Waverly was soon laughing through her tears as well, and she hugged back just as tightly.
They knew they had things to discuss, but for the moment all their focus was on the bubbling feeling of excitement brewing just below the surface of their skin. They sat holding each other long into the night, and when they finally did pull away, Nicole couldn't stop kissing or talking to her wife’s stomach. Waverly was more than happy to let her do it, and even if she wanted to, hiding the grin on her lips would have been impossible.