Work Text:
PART ONE
Nicole had noticed a while back that her girlfriend’s mattress was older and not very supportive of any sleeping person. It was never that bad; the mattress was worn in a comfy way and smelled like Waverly’s home, and therefore like Waverly. But still, Nicole always seemed to wake up with a crick in her neck or an ache in her lower back after a night over at Waverly’s.
She didn’t say anything, of course, knowing how sentimental Waverly can be about her belongings. It was actually Wynonna who suggested that Waverly order a new mattress, after she had fallen asleep sandwiched between the redhead and the brunette after a night of deep talks and laughter- a night which neither Wynonna or Nicole care to acknowledge though it’s one of Waverly’s favorite memories.
So begrudgingly, Waverly began to admit that her mattress wasn’t great and had eventually invited her sister and girlfriend to go mattress shopping.
As Nicole sits alone in the station, working through a pile of paperwork before she closes up, she looks back on that day with a smile on her face. Nicole loves doing domestic things with Waverly, and as much as she hates to admit it, the older Earp can be a lot of fun as well.
Waverly and Wynonna had spent the morning arguing over mattresses at various stores in the next town over, and Nicole had done her best not to pick sides. It’s my bed, Waverly would say. And you should get a good bed, not a hunk of crap like this, Wynonna would retort.
At some point Wynonna stormed away in the superstore to get a soda at the cafe, and Nicole had pulled Waverly down to sit with her on one of the mattresses.
Waves, I’m not trying to rush you, because I could test out mattresses all day, but it doesn’t have to be a magical mattress. Just find something you’re comfortable on, Nicole had said once Wynonna was gone, laying back on the mattress. Waverly had sighed, laying back to relax into Nicole’s open arms. I know, Waverly had said, you’re the factor that makes it magical.
Nicole had laughed at Waverly but pulled her closer, and by the time Wynonna had returned they had decided they liked the one they were sprawled out on. Waverly had waved over an employee to help her order it.
Sometime today while Nicole was working, Waverly’s new mattress had been delivered and Wynonna and Doc had helped her unpack it. She’d been sending pictures to Nicole along the way. One picture was of the mattress being delivered, another of Wyn and Doc unpacking, and a third of the mattress on its boxspring. The latest picture was a selfie of Waverly lying back on the pristine white sheets, wearing her silky pajamas, light from the sunset coming in from an open window.
It doesn’t feel magical yet, Waverly had texted her.
I’ll be there by 9, Nicole had responded a few minutes ago before turning back to her work. The sheriff is just finishing up at her desk when she gets one last text that makes her smirk, moving the paperwork aside and grabbing her keys.
Be ready to break it in ;) Waverly had said.
PART TWO
Waverly had put off buying a new mattress for the last few months on the off chance Nicole would ask her to move in. She knows Nicole has always been moving at Waverly’s pace, and Waverly doesn’t want to give her the wrong impression by buying a new mattress for the homestead.
It makes her a little irritable on the day they’re shopping for a mattress, and she maybe takes it out on Wynonna. She knows she needs to talk about it with Nicole, but she doesn’t get the nerve until they’re already shopping and Nicole pulls her down onto a mattress and holds her close.
That’s when Waverly realizes Nicole probably isn’t reading as much into things as she is, and they talk about it there in the middle of the mattress section while Wynonna is off getting a drink.
Waverly opens up to Nicole, feeling safe to in her arms like this, with the nearest people being strangers and several aisles away. Nicole doesn’t seem shocked at her mention of moving in together, and Waverly even looks up at her to see a smile at some point.
Nicole had let Waverly ramble for a good while, but eventually cut in to remind her that the homestead will always be a piece of home to Waverly, still her safe place , and even when she moves in with Nicole she should have a good mattress at the homestead.
You said when, Waverly had said. When I move in with you.
I know what I said, baby, Nicole had reassured her, and Waverly decided on that mattress then and there. Waverly’s home is wherever Nicole is, but her girlfriend is right, the homestead will always have a piece of her.
Now that she has the mattress, she realizes just how better it is than the one she grew up with. It was great but was past its prime when she finally threw it out, and it was refreshing to lie down on a new one.
Waverly is sitting back on a new mattress and clean sheets, but all she can think about is her girlfriend sitting up at the station working. She wants to send Nicole another text, but she forces herself to turn her phone facedown on the bedside table and read instead because fewer distractions for Nicole means that she gets here sooner.
It feels like forever, but eventually, Nicole knocks at the door. Waverly tosses her book aside and bounds down the steps at the sound. Swinging the door open, Waverly grins and yanks her unsuspecting girlfriend inside, barely giving her time to adjust before leaning up to plant a quick kiss on her lips.
“Baby, you’re gonna love it so much, it’s super comfy,” Waverly says, taking Nicole’s hand and pulling her further inside.
“I’m glad you like it,” Nicole says with a laugh. “But do you mind if I shower real fast before I test it out? I promise I won’t be long.”
“Yeah, sure!” Waverly says, dragging her girlfriend up the stairs. “Take a hot shower and I’ll leave a set of your pajamas out. This way you get the full comfy experience!”
Waverly doesn’t miss the smile that spreads across Nicole’s face as she steps in the room, eyes scanning the new mattress.
“I mean, it looks the same,” Nicole teases, shrugging.
“Well hurry up and shower so you can test it out and see that it’s not,” Waverly says, pushing Nicole towards the bathroom.
“You don’t want to join me?” Nicole responds, her eyes raking up and down Waverly’s body unabashedly.
Waverly’s already in her pajama shorts and a silk tank top and has clearly showered already, so she knows Nicole is just teasing, but she can’t stop the blush that warms her cheek and her chest.
No matter how long they’ve been together, Nicole still manages to fluster Waverly. But Waverly has plans that require them both to be in a lighter mood, not hot and bothered.
“Nope, I think I’ll wait here,” Waverly says, flopping onto the mattress.
“Your loss,” Nicole draws out, working on the buttons of her uniform shirt as she steps back into the bathroom.
“You better hurry before I fall asleep,” Waverly says, faking a yawn and stretching out dramatically against the mattress.
PART THREE
After helping Waverly unload her new mattress, Wynonna and Doc decided to spend the evening at Shorty’s. They got somewhat drunk and then sobered up over pool and wings. After everything they’d been through, Wynonna had told Doc she wanted to start over, to start fresh.
Doc had agreed, and they had taken things slowly so far. It was different this time around. So when Doc drops Wynonna off at the homestead, they say their goodbyes on the porch, trying to keep their kisses chaste and light.
Wynonna had been through hell and back, had been in a place at some point where she thought she could never trust Doc again. But he needed her, and she was beginning to realize she needed him. Not in some dependent way where she couldn’t go on without him but in a way where she just didn’t want to.
So she lets him back into her life slowly, and that means when she goes inside the homestead she goes in alone, Doc heading back out to his car. And she doesn’t feel bad. She feels good, and hopeful, and knows that within the next few months she’ll have Alice back home and maybe she and Doc can raise their baby together.
So she’s smiling softly when she closes the front door and leans against it. Then she hears that sound again- the bed frame in Waverly’s room banging into the wall like she and Nicole are trying to break a hole through it.
A mix of annoyance and amusement course through her, and she isn’t sure which one leads her up the stairs, ready to bang on the door and yell at her little sister for being gross.
“Waverly, be careful,” Nicole chastises from the other side of the door, loud enough to hear over the sound of bedsprings going crazy.
“Okay, ew!” Wynonna shouts, knocking on the door. “Cut that out! I’m home!”
The door swings open under her heavy knocking, and Wynonna freezes, squeezing her eyes shut. Waverly is breathing heavily as the bedsprings and headboard slow, but Nicole has started laughing her ass off.
Wynonna cracks one eye open, then the other, to see that everyone’s clothed and take in what’s going on. Waverly is on the bed, still bouncing a bit with the mattress, a wide grin on her face. Nicole is sitting on the edge, on foot on the ground and the other leg crossed on the mattress, her phone open on the camera.
“You’re jumping on your brand new mattress?” Wynonna asks incredulously, directing her first question at Waverly and her second at Nicole. “And you’re letting her?”
“We’re breaking it in,” Nicole says, pausing the video on her phone as Waverly bounces into a seated position next to her.
“I’ll say,” Wynonna says with a scoff, still playing the adult role. “That’s one way to do it.”
“Oh, come on,” Nicole says as she tosses her phone aside, standing on the mattress and pulling Waverly back up with her.
“Jump with us,” Waverly says as she takes Nicole’s hands and starts to bounce again. “No shoes though!”
Wynonna watches for another moment from the doorway, observing how Nicole can barely jump up a few inches with her height while Waverly bounces erratically in front of her. Then she kicks her shoes off into the hallway and launches herself onto the bed, bouncing around with the two as their ankles get tangled in sheets and comforter.
“Fine, this is pretty cool,” Wynonna says with a laugh, holding onto one of her sister’s hands as they alternate jumps the mattress.
Soon enough Nicole has grabbed her phone to take pictures of Waverly again, being sure to get pictures of Wynonna too in case she ever needs blackmail. At some point, Waverly even turns on her speaker, and they jump and dance until they’re tired enough to call it a night.