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“And if I could get anything but strawberry jam with my toast, that’d be great,” said Nicole, smiling to the waitress gratefully as she handed over her menu. The waitress nodded, tucking the two menus under her arm and making a note on her pad. She smiled and excused herself from their table to place their order. Nicole grinned back at Waverly, extending her hand across the tabletop in offering. “I still can’t believe we actually skipped town to The Big City in the middle of the week. Great idea, baby.”
Waverly placed her hands in Nicole's with a bashful smile. "Well I've learned to make the most of a shared day off. We don't get anywhere near enough of them."
“Sadly true,” Nicole conceded, running her thumbs over the backs of Waverly’s knuckles. “But I wouldn’t mind making these little getaways a semi-regular thing, if you wanted,” she winked.
Waverly almost blushed, the delicate touch of Nicole's hand reminiscent of another familiar movement. "I wouldn't say no to getting out of Purgatory on a... semi-regular basis."
Nicole smirked, and quickly glanced around the diner. The waitress was occupied and the only other customers were a family of four - parents, a toddler and an infant - near the back. The parents had their backs to Waverly and Nicole, so Nicole stretched across the small table and placed a soft peck on Waverly’s lips, and then slid back into her seat, grinning like the cat that had got the canary.
The blush emerged, not at Nicole's cockiness, but at how even the briefest of contact filled Waverly with warmth. She'd never known anything like it. She never knew what love could really do to you. Like right now, turning her into a brainless idiot. "Not as fun as in uniform, but I'll take it..."
Nicole chuckled and gave Waverly’s hands a little squeeze. “You know I--,” she found herself cut off by a small voice next to the table.
“Dis for you,” said the little blonde girl, not even tall enough to bonk her head on the underside of their table. A pudgy toddler hand deposited a scrap of paper covered in haphazard scrawls of crayon. “Is a fwower,” she explained, just as a woman, her mother, swooped in and scooped her up.
“Alicia,” she scolded gently. “I told you not to bother these ladies.” The woman looked to both Waverly and Nicole, face apologetic, but warm and cheerful. “I’m sorry,” she said, “Ali here has a thing about giving ‘gifts’ to strangers.”
Waverly picked up the paper and offered an expression of suitable awe. "This is just beautiful. It's the nicest flower I've ever seen." She smiled warmly at the child, sharing in the childlike enthusiasm.
Nicole beamed at Waverly, watching her interact with the little girl with such natural affection. Then she watched as Waverly turned her gaze toward her expectantly. “Oh yes,” agreed Nicole enthusiastically, “it’s the prettiest flower I’ve seen here in the city! We’ll have to display it in a place of honor when we get home.” The girl blushed and ducked her head into the crook of her mother’s neck shyly.
“Isn’t that nice of the ladies to say,” her mother questioned her. Alicia nodded, and sucked on her fist. “Thank you,” said the mother, addressing Nicole and Waverly again, “we’ll get out of your hair.”
“No trouble at all,” said Nicole, “she’s precious.”
“Well, most of the time she is, anyway,” said the mother, fatigue evident on her face as she adjusted her daughter against her hip. In the corner of the diner, the baby started to fuss.
“Babe,” called her husband.
“Coming,” the woman called, starting back toward their table, Alicia clinging tightly to her. “Just wait until you have your own,” she said over her shoulder to Waverly and Nicole, “they’re a handful.”
Nicole watched them go and then looked back to Waverly sheepishly. A weird, warm, tingling sensation had crawled up her spine at the mother’s last words. She watched Waverly carefully, trying to gauge her reaction.
Waverly was smiling in that ethereally cheerful way of hers. "A place of honor, really Nicole?" she teased lightly, "I thought I was transported back to a palace in a Chinese dynasty for a second." She sipped her water through the straw and laughed softly to herself when she accidentally blew a bubble. At that point, she noticed Nicole was still staring. "What is it?"
“Nothing,” Nicole blushed, “just... you were so good with her. You lit up.” She couldn’t have stopped the mile-wide grin on her face if she’d tried.
"Well she was adorable," Waverly replied, smiling again, "Don't you just love that little toddler pudge?"
“Yeah,” sighed Nicole. She picked at her napkin, suddenly nervous. “What did you think about the other thing?”
"The flower?" Waverly asked, picking up the paper again and holding it front of her face to try and decipher the squiggles appropriately.
“No, the um,” Nicole swallowed a small gulp, “the thing her mother said... at the end.”
"That kids are a handful?" Waverly questioned, "Well, it's hardly the revelation of the century."
Nicole blinked. Was Waverly willfully ignoring the lede? “No... never mind,” she said softly, taking a sip of her coffee and wincing. It was still too hot.
Waverly lowered the paper and left it back down away from the drinks. She noticed Nicole's wince and lifted the cup, softly blowing on it. "Did I miss something?" She asked as she set the cup back down on Nicole's side.
And just like that Nicole was a lovestruck puppy again. Waverly had blown on her coffee to cool it, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. “What,” she asked, still dumbstruck.
Waverly smiled affectionately. "That's what I was asking you, silly."
Nicole shook her head quickly side-to-side, trying to jostle out the parade of unicorns, rainbows and bubble hearts currently occupying her brain and forestalling further thought. Finally, slightly more clear-headed, she began, “Oh, I... before... I was wondering what you thought about what Alicia’s mother had said... about... about waiting until we had our own.” She peered at Waverly closely.
Waverly peered back. "What I thought about her saying that...or what I thought about having our own?"
Now Nicole was convinced Waverly was being purposefully obtuse. “We don’t have to talk about it, it’s ok,” she said reassuringly.
Waverly settled her hands in her lap. "It's hard, Nicole. To imagine a future we might never have."
Nicole felt as though she were an unwitting entrant in a surprise ice bucket challenge. She felt her scalp tighten uncomfortably as a bolt of cold shot down her spine. "It's not like we haven't talked about it before," she said carefully. Another, even more worrisome thought occurred to her. "I...I haven't been forcing this idea on you, have I, Waves?"
"No, Nicole," Waverly started, then glanced around uncomfortably for a second to make sure no one was listening to such a personal discussion, "I love talking about our ideal future and... all that that entails. I love the plans we make. But when you get a slap of reality like...," she waved the drawing, "It doesn't pick and choose which parts it hits you with. I see a little girl and then I imagine all the bad things that could hurt her or stop us from ever having her in the first place. I wonder at what point will we have to give up on her and on Alice and on ever being in control of our own lives." She looked at the drawing and tears sprung to her eyes. "And then I see these stupid little squiggles and I know we have to fight and we have to win because if there is something so pure in this world that believes in all their heart that this is the most beautiful flower in the world then maybe the impossible is possible as long as we look at it the right way."
"Waverly, I--," Nicole found herself cut off as their waitress suddenly reappeared at the table.
Waverly looked down, blinking rapidly to draw back the tears in her eyes.
"Okay so we have the tofu scramble with home fries and wheat toast," said the waitress, placing the plate in front of Waverly. "And the California omelet with bacon, avocado and sourdough toast," she set this by Nicole. "I made sure to give you boysenberry," she added, pointing to the small pot of jam on the plate. Nicole nodded and tried to smile in gratitude. "Anything else I can get you ladies?"
"I'm good, thank you," Waverly replied evenly.
"N-no," said Nicole, her voice breaking slightly in the middle of the word. "Thank you." The waitress smiled and excused herself. Nicole poked at her omelet with her fork for a few moments while she gathered her thoughts. "I will never stop fighting for our future," she said at last. "As long as it takes."
Waverly looked up slowly. "What if that's forever?" She paused before asking the real question. "What if it never happens?"
"Then it never happens," Nicole answered, unable to stop the quaver in her voice. "But you and I, baby? We're a sure thing. As long as you're with me, I can live without the rest." She captured and held Waverly's gaze with intensity. "I mean it... ok?"
Waverly nodded once. "I believe you baby."
"I'm sorry if I ruined our breakfast," Nicole said, uncertain whether to let the subject drop or not, but giving Waverly the out in any case.
Waverly chuckled. "Nicole this doesn't even reach the top ten ruined breakfasts in my life." She met Nicole's gaze again. "But you didn't. This stuff is important. With our lives as they are...we need to know we're on the same page."
Nicole reached her left hand across the table again, grasping Waverly's hand in her own. "Sometimes it helps to... to make a plan," offered Nicole, knowing how much Waverly loved plans. "A 'just in case plan'. 'Just in case' we win."
Waverly eyes flashed with intrigue. "A plan?"
"Yeah," grinned Nicole, glad to feel the mood shift back to something a little lighter. "Like, say we win tomorrow. Or next month or next year?" She offered. "What's our next step?"
"Getting Alice home," Waverly replied without hesitation.
"Well, right, that's a given," agreed Nicole, taking a bite of her omelet and cheeking it. "But I mean for us, what's next?"
"Well, we would revisit the whole moving in together conversation maybe?"
"Okay," Nicole nodded in agreement. "How about this. If we win in less than year, you move in with me - after Alice is settled, of course," she added hastily. "But if, a year from now, we still have work to do, I move in with you. At the homestead."
Waverly's eyes brightened as much as they had done in a while. "Really?"
"Yeah," she shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. "I mean, it makes sense, right? We're together for the long haul so we should be... together."
Waverly reached across and brushed her fingers against Nicole's wrist. "It doesn't just make sense. It's makes me incredibly happy. You make me incredibly happy."
Nicole's eyes softened to an umber glow. "You make me incredibly happy, too, Wave. I love you."
"I love you, Nicole," Waverly returned, so softly spoken it was almost a whisper but her eyes spoke loudly enough, shimmering across the table with unbridled affection.
Nicole felt her heart squeeze at the look of adoration Waverly was directing her way. "So...," she began again, slowly, "so... we win... we're living together... how long do we wait?"
"For what exactly?" Waverly prompted, cutting up a lot of her food without eating it as her mind raced from the topics of conversation, "Are we talking...a ring...or a sling?"
"Both? Either?"
"Well, both are expensive," Waverly reasoned, "And take time to plan."
Nicole smirked, "Just how fancy do you want our wedding to be, baby?"
"Well you know we'll have to invite everyone in Purgatory, right?"
Nicole's eyes got very big.
Waverly grinned. "I'm the nicest person in Purgatory. I would lose my sash if we didn't."
"Well then," she squeaked, "surely... being the nicest person in Purgatory means a few complimentary services will be offered...?"
"Always hope but never expect. Gus taught me that."
Nicole did a quick mental calculation of the population of Purgatory, and then multiplied that number at $13 a plate for a reception and felt herself blanch. "Ok... what about...," she couldn't believe that they were planning their wedding when they weren't even engaged yet, but hey, it was her own fault, she'd walked Waverly into this conversation. "What about private ceremony, public reception? And we could do it at the homestead, barbecue-style?" Doc could donate the beer and liquor from Shorty's, her mind raced, and she thought she might be able to call in a few favors on the food side of things.
"You know what Nicole?" Waverly replied in an even breath, "It doesn't really matter. As long as I get to marry you." She paused. "In a really pretty dress."
"Pretty dresses can definitely be arranged," grinned Nicole.
"So then I guess it would be reasonable to say we have a 2-5 year plan?" Waverly asked, purposefully open-ended
"Yes, I'd say that we do," Nicole replied, puffing her chest up a little proudly. She lifted her coffee mug in toast, "To plans?"
Waverly raised her glass of water and knocked it against the mug with an exuberant smile full of renewed hope. "And to seeing them through."
Nicole took a sip of her coffee, now finally cool enough to drink, and set her mug back down. "Speaking of plans," she said, a mischievous twinkle settling in her eyes. "What time do you want to plan to head back to Purgatory? I mean, we technically still have the hotel room until noon..."
Waverly returned the look. "Why don't we go see what short-term plans we can come up with?"
Nicole caught the attention of the waitress. "Check please."