The Captain's Daughter (Bradley Bradshaw)

Chapter 15

Katie's POV:

I had Fanboy take me home. I had to tell someone. I couldn't tell Rooster. I knew he would go ballistic on Maverick. Part of me was happy...happy I actually had a father, but I was more heartbroken. Heartbroken that I went my whole life without a father when I could have. Heartbroken that he made no effort to find me. Heartbroken that my mother lied to me...this whole time, up until she died, she lied to me. Commander Kazansky partially lied to me. He did know my mother, but that's not why he kept tabs on me this whole time. It was because of Maverick. When I left I could hear both Rooster and Maverick calling after me, but I couldn't handle it. I just couldn't. I felt like I was coming to terms with everything, but this just made the mountain I was struggling to climb up absolutely crumble.

After Fanboy dropped me off, I thanked him quietly and went inside. As soon as I shut my door, I slid down my door and cried. I was home alone, so I had a full on break down. Was my whole life a lie? I have a father when my whole life I thought he was dead, my mother lied to me from the minute I was born til the day she died, Maverick acted like he had no clue who I was, just that I was the daughter of someone he knew. Not to mention, my mother used Rooster's dad's death as to how my dad "died", when in reality, my dad flew that plane. My dad flew the plane that Bradley's dad died on. Would he be mad at me? Would he be mad that I'm closer to Maverick than he knows...when I know he hates him for what happened to his dad?

After crying for a good 15 minutes, I dragged myself upstairs...slowly taking off my uniform as I struggled to get upstairs. I left my shoes by the front door, along with my jacket and hat. I started running a really hot bath. I needed to feel somewhat numb. I left the rest of my uniform all over the floor in my room, shut the door, got in the tub, and cried quietly even more. I put my knees to my chest, laid my head on my knees, and just sat there...crying and absorbing all the information I had just gotten.

I heard my door open and shut. I realized I forgot to lock it, but honestly, I didn't car. I heard some rustling downstairs, and then I heard someone coming up the stairs.

"Katie? You up there?" I heard Bradley's voice coming closer to my bedroom door.

I didn't say anything. I felt too weak to do anything. I heard my bedroom door open and shut. All I heard was his footsteps in my room. I heard a little knock on my bathroom door, and then it opened a crack.

"Kat. Are you in here?" He asked as he peaked his head in. He looked over and saw me. I could see him out of the corner of my eye, and I could tell how upset he looked at seeing me like this.

"Baby...what's wrong? You left in such a hurry. No one knew where you went." He sat on the edge of my tub. He put a hand on my back, rubbing small circles in my back.

"Katie, my love, please say something. I wanna help in anyway I can." He brushed the hair out of my face to see my eyes. I could see his heart break behind his eyes. He was still in his uniform.

"I put your uniform in your closet for you. It was all over the place." He gave me a sad smiled.

"I feel so weak." I said with a stuffy nose. My eyes were red, my nose was congested, and my lips were all puffy from crying.

"Here. I'll be right back." He gave my back a light scratch and left the room.

He came back about five minutes later, in basketball shorts and one of his wife beaters. He got my soap, conditioner, and face wash from my shower. He grabbed a wash cloth from my small cabinet in my bathroom, dunked it in the water, and gently rubbed my back with the soapy cloth.

"I'm gonna wash you hair, babe. Just lean back for me okay?" He said so softly. It was like a feather.

I sat up and started leaning backwards, his hand gently holding my head as it went into the water. I shut my eyes to avoid water getting in them, but also, I couldn't really hear underwater. I savored the moment. He gently lifted my head out of the water to put the shampoo in it, and then put my hair back in the water to rinse it off. He did the same process with my conditioner. It felt great, because he gave me a really long head massage in the process.

"You're doing great. We're almost done." He assured me. I just quietly nodded.

He rinsed his hands before grabbing my face wash. He sat on the tub behind me, leaned myhead back on his thigh, and essentially gave me a facial massage with my cleanser. When he was done, he grabbed the wash cloth, rinsed it, and gently wiped off the cleanser. He bent down to kiss the top of my wet head.

"Okay. Stand up for me, babe." He stood next to my tub and gently helped me out. He wrapped me in a towel he grabbed, and I walked over to my counter. He sat me up on my counter, and put on my moisturizer. He grabbed, my brush and brushed my hair for me too. I took in everything he was doing. He quite literally was the perfect man. He picked be up bridal style and sat me on my bed. He grabbed me some shorts and some underwear and brought it to me.

"I'm pretty sure one of my shirts is in the dryer. I'll go get it." He kissed the top of my head again and skipped down the stairs. Everything he did made me melt. I didn't deserve this. I did not deserve him whatsoever. He's so perfect in every way.

He ran back up with a sweatshirt in his hand. I had thrown in my underwear and shorts. He took my towel, and slipped the sweatshirt over my head. He sat at the top of my bed and put me between his legs. He turned on the tv and there on a movie. He rested his head atop mine. He watched the movie he turned on, as I stared off into space. I wanted to tell him, but I don't know how he's gonna take it.

"You can tell me whenever you're ready, babe. I just wanna listen and see if I can help." He rubbed my shoulders.

"Maverick is my father, Bradley." I finally said out loud. He went so quiet that you would have a thought he stopped breathing.