Chapter Text
*BEEP* BEEP* BEEP* BEEP*
Katie groans as her alarm blares beside her head, awaking her from her peaceful slumber. She reaches over and nearly knocks her phone off her night stand in order to shut it off. Opening the phone, she see's a text and smiles at the name of the sender. She replies to the text and gets out of bed to start getting ready for school. Katie could hear her mothers already up and moving around in the kitchen as she lays out her clothes for the day, a tight black t-shirt to put underneath her red and black flannel with a pair of dark wash jeans and her favorite pair of Timberland boots.
20 minutes and one shower later, Katie walks downstairs to see her ma dressed in her sheriff's uniform drinking her morning coffee and reading the paper while her mama finishes making breakfast for the three of them. She places her backpack on the back of the chair to her ma's right and takes a seat.
"Well good morning sleepy head." Nicole chuckles as she watches her daughter text someone on her phone and blush as she puts it away. She glances over to her wife with a knowing look in her eye.
"I was up late doing homework last night so I slept in a few extra minutes." Katie mumbles while avoiding looking either of her parents in the eye. She thanks her ma when a plate of pancakes and a glass of orange juice is placed in front of her and quickly begins to dig into her breakfast. Again, Nicole and Waverly just glance at each other with a smirk on each of their faces and knowing look in their eyes.
"You know sweetie, you've been up doing homework a lot these last few weeks. If you need help, you know your mother and I can always help you if you need it." Waverly says while sitting down to her wife's left and placing a bowl of oatmeal down for Nicole and another plate of pancakes down for herself. She watches her daughter tense slightly at this and continue to shove her food down her throat. She nervously glances to her wife in hopes that she might be able to get their daughter to open up to them. They had both noticed that their daughter had become very engrossed in her phone over the last few weeks and spent more time in her room texting than she usually does. They both thought that Katie had met someone and was just nervous to tell them, but she'd been very secretive about where she's been going and staying behind at school longer than normal. They trusted their daughter, but her behavior had them a little worried.
"Kiddo, you know you can tell your mom and I anything right? We know you've been talking to someone, but we're just concerned that you haven't told us who it is yet." Nicole softly says watching for any reaction from her daughter. She watches as Katie stills and finishes what is in her mouth and continues to sit with her red hair covering half her face from view. The silence drags on for a few more minutes before Katie lets out a breath and looks at her parents. She sees the worry and concern in their eyes, but also their love and support. She takes another deep breath and smiles at her parents, of course they knew she'd been talking to someone. She guesses she hadn't tried all too hard to hide it but she also has a cop and a literal angel for parents so not much is missed by those two.
"I know I haven't been keeping you guys in the loop, but I promise I was going to tell you what is going on soon. It is just a difficult situation and I don't mean that to sound like anything illegal is happening," she laughs a bit as her parents worriedly look at each other and back to their daughter, "The other family is where the concern and hesitancy has come from. I promise I will tell you guys more soon, but I need you guys to trust me just a little longer, please." Katie watches as her parents mull over what she just said. She watches as they have a silent conversation with just their eyes and hopes that they understand and do as she asks and trust her. A few minutes passes and Nicole and Waverly come to an agreement without words.
"Okay sweetie. We've always trusted your judgement and if you say you need a little more time, then we'll give it to you." Waverly smiles at the relief she sees wash over her daughter as the tension leaves her body.
"Just please be careful kiddo. Families can be a hard thing to get past." Nicole says with a careful tone. She looks to her wife and back to her daughter and smiles to show her support of Katie's decision. They continue with their breakfast and talk about their plans for the day. Eventually they hear a car pull up outside the house and two doors open and close seconds apart.
"YOU BETTER NOT BE DEFILING MY SISTER HAUGHT" They hear Wynonna's voice outside their door just before it pushed open and Wynonna walks in with Alice following behind shaking her head and rolling her eye's at her mother's behavior.
"You're lucky you weren't here an hour ago Earp. Waverly was the one doing the defiling though." Nicole says with a smirk as she gets up to put her bowl in the sink and move out of striking distance of her wife. Wynonna gags and Waverly just rolls her eye's at the antics of her wife and sister. Alice and Katie just laugh at the crazy people the call family.
"You ready to go babygirl?" Alice asks Katie.
"Yeah, just let me grab my stuff." Katie stands up and picks her plate up and walks it over to the sink and gives her ma a hug and then moves to kiss her mama on the top of the head and fist bump her Aunt Nonna. She grabs her bag off the chair and walks over to Alice, nodding towards the door. "Bye mama! Be safe at work ma! Stay out of trouble Auntie Nonna!" Katie yells back as she walks out the door.
A chorus of love you's and laughter follow the girls out the door. They shake their heads and walk towards the old red jeep, throwing their bags in the back. Katie gets in the passenger seat while Alice jumps into the drivers seat. "So. When you going to tell your parents about this chick you've gone head over heals for?" Alice asks as she starts the jeep and pulls out of the driveway. Katie reaches over and smacks her cousin on the back of the head. "Ouch! What the hell was that for you brat? Just pointing out the obvious." Alice rubs the back of her head and keeps driving.
"That was for being nosey and no I haven't, but they asked me this morning about what's been going on with me. I gave them an answer but not the whole story. Now be a good older cousin and get me to school safely. A good education is important you know." Katie turns the music up and looks out the window.
"Hey. Babygirl, you know I was only messing with you. I just care about you and want to be kept in the loop so I know you're safe. That's all I'm asking here." Alice softly says, glancing to her right in hopes she can catch her cousin's eye so she knows she meant what she said. She had a tendency to be like her mom, abrasive and callous without meaning to.
"I know you're only looking out for me and I promise I'll tell you what is going on soon. We'll have a whole family night to talk about it, ok?" Katie turns toward Alice with smile on her face. They continue their drive in silence. Eventually they pull up to the high school and get out, they grab their bags and head into the school. They head to their lockers to grab their books for the day.
"You staying late again or are riding back home with me?" Alice asks with a smirk.
"I don't know. You want to go straight home or do you want to sit and watch the baseball boys practice?" Katie asks with an even bigger smirk.
"Okay smartass. Just let me know before the end of the day." Alice laughs back and gently shoves Katie as they walk towards their first classes of the day.
Back at the Haught household, Nicole helps Waverly clean up the mess from breakfast while Wynonna makes her Irish coffee for the day. "So did you two finally ask mini Haught what's been going on with her? Alice doesn't even know and is starting to get worried, wouldn't be surprised if she brings it up on their drive to school."
"All we got out of her was there is someone but it's a complicated situation, one that she has promised to tell us about in time. She asked us for time and trust, so we're going to give it to her. Go easy on the whiskey Wynonna. it's supposed to be Irish coffee, not whiskey with a dash of coffee." Nicole says while putting the last plate in the dishwasher. She watches Wynonna shrug and continue to pour the whiskey into her coffee. Nicole just rolls her eyes and Waverly giggles at her sisters antics. Waverly walks over to her sister and grabs the whiskey from her sister and puts it back in the shelf despite Wynonna's protests.
"Come on you two, we don't want to be late for work. Nicole, will you grab jacket? Please and Thank you!" Waverly says while she kisses Nicole on the cheek. Nicole just nods and moves to do as her wife asked, ignoring the whipping noises Wynonna is making. She smacks Wynonna on the back of the head as she passes by her. They get their stuff together and pile into Nicole's cruiser to head to the precinct. They get precinct and begin their work day, Nicole doing paperwork and handing out assignments to deputies, Waverly researching anything she can get her hands on, and Wynonna causing trouble where ever she can.
Lunch time rolls around and Nicole and Waverly are in Nicole's office eating their lunch and talking about random topics when Nicole's phone begins to ring. Groaning at the interruption, she gets up and answers the phone while Waverly giggles at her wife. "Sherriff Haught........ I'm sorry, my daughter did WHAT?!?!" This catches Waverly's attention and she gets up to go stand beside Nicole to try and hear the other side of the conversation. "Yes, my wife, sister-in-law, and I will be down shortly. Thank you." Nicole hangs up the phone and turns toward her wife.
"Nicole what is going on? Is Katie ok? Who was that on the phone?" Waverly worriedly asks her wife.
"Apparently our daughter has gotten into a fight that Alice tried to break up and was not successful. We need to grab Wynonna and get down to the school now." Nicole answers while gathering their things and moving Waverly towards the door. "Earp get your shit and lets go. The girls got into a fight and now we need to go bail them out." Wynonna jumps out of her chair and follows close behind Waverly and Nicole.
"A fight? Did Alice start it and Katie jump in? Ooooooh this is going to be a good story!" Wynonna questions.
"No, Alice did not start the fight. She actually tried to break it up because Katie was the one to start it apparently. So get your ass in gear and lets go!" Nicole answers back. "Scott! You're in charge till I get back!" Nicole yells back to one of her deputies as she races through the door with Waverly and Wynonna in tow.