Free Falling

Chapter 20: A Happy Ending

"Thomas Bradley Floyd! How many times have I told you not to run off on your own on a carrier?"

"But mommy, we're going to miss daddy and Auntie Nat! I want to see them land on the boat!" 

"We aren't going to miss them. Now get over here so I can put your headphones on."

"Moooooommm, I don't like the headphones!"

"Tommy, you know the rules. No headphones and no safety vest means no going to the top of the carrier. That means no watching daddy land on the boat." Rolling her eyes from Annabelle's side, Bobbi was silently already putting on her safety vest and earmuffs, having done so plenty of times before and now being used to the process. She couldn't wait until her brother was older and actually understood the reasoning for certain things. Anna was finally able to get her five year old properly suited up despite his groaning and whining the entire time. If Belle wasn't so anxious to see Bob herself, she'd have scolded him much further for his current behavior. But as usual, they actually were cutting it close to the return time for the special units to return to the ship. The second Tommy's vest was strapped on and tightened, he bolted for the elevator that would lift them to the open deck of the carrier. 

"Tommy!" 

"I'll stay with him mom." Anna let out a sigh of relief, grateful to have such an angel for a daughter. At just eight years old, Bobbi was already considerably mature for her age and regularly took it upon herself to take care of her little brother when Annie was particularly stressed or fed up with the younger child's antics. 

"Thanks Bobbi. Don't let him run off the edge. I'll be up in a minute." Pulling her daughter into a side hug and placing a grateful kiss to the top of her head, she watched as the young girl jogged over to make it on the same lift as her brother, grabbing hold of his hand and leaning down to remind him of the rules once they were on deck. 

Annabelle relished in the moment of silence that she knew would end far too quickly. A year after having Bobbi, Annabelle and Bob had come up with a pretty neat solution to the working parent paradox and decided that they would each only work six months of the year, Annie the first half and Bobby the second. Thanks to their near perfect record as a unit, the navy had agreed with ease and reorganized as needed to accommodate the couple. Due to an unfortunate incident a few years earlier that left Payback paralyzed from the waist down, Fanboy was able to join the team as Nat's back seater when Bob was the one staying home, and Hangman and Rooster alternated replacing Anna in her months off. As much as Annie loved the months she spent at home with her kids, she was immensely grateful that she hadn't been forced to give up her career entirely. The thought of never flying again had really freaked Annie out when it initially came up as a possibility. She knew she had the right partner in Bob though when he assured her that he would never force her to stop flying. He knew how important it was to Belle, for more than one reason. 

As the lift made its way back down to Annie's level of the carrier, she eagerly jumped on and waited for it to raise her up to the outdoor portion of the ship. No matter how many times she stood on the top of an aircraft carrier, Annie would never get over the insane chaos, yet organization of it all. Watching carrier techs perfectly guide in the fighter jets was a sight to behold, and the sound of the jets hitting the runway was music to her ears. From the other side of the runway, Anna could spot a very excited Tommy bouncing up and down while his sister worked to keep him from jumping in the middle of the landing strip. Annie made to go across and help contain her son, but the jets were already incoming and quickly approaching the carrier deck. She instead just kept a close eye on her little ones from afar and allowed herself to also enjoy the sight of the jets returning home from their most recent mission. 

Rooster landed first and gave a silly and exaggerated salute when he noticed the kids off to the side of the carrier. Phoenix landed shortly after, and Annie could tell that she was chomping at the bit to exit the plane and scoop up her niece and nephew. As was predicted, Natasha had become a major part of the kid's lives to the point of practically living with the Floyd family. Being an aunt was her favorite thing in the world, and Anna was grateful for the break it gave her to constantly be able to hand them off to Nat when it was becoming too much. After being cleared to do so, Annabelle made her way to the other side of the carrier where Nat and Bob were exiting their plane, the kids already bursting with excitement at the base of the plane as Bob worked his way to the ground.