When We Were Young (Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x FEM reader)

Chapter 20

Bradley walked us around for over 20 minutes. We even pasted a few of the same stores twice. But I didn't mind. But my heels were killing me. "Where are we going?" I ask, leaning into him more. He smiles and pulls me closer. "You'll see," he said, pulling out his phone to see him texting someone. I personally hate being noisy so I looked away, thinking it was just Maverick telling us our table is ready. Bradley leads me down a alley way. Flower petals lead to a gazebo. Fairy lights illuminated the small structure and pictures strung from the celing. Childhood pictures, pictures from the navy, and even pictures from the time we were separated. 

I stop and slowly look at him. "What have we got here?" I ask. He just shrugs and leads me towards it. As we walk up, I hear a guitar. An acoustic version of "PYT".  "Is this our song?" I ask. Bradley smiles and I raise an eyebrow at him. "What?" He ask, holding my hands to dance. "Is it our anniversary?" I ask. "No. I just wanted to do something romantic." He say pulling me as close as the rhythm of the music continued. I laid my head on his shoulder and smiled to myself. When  the music was coming to an end, I felt Bradley let go of me. I open my eyes to see Maverick, Penny, my siblings, my mother, and all of our closes friends surrounding us. 

I gasp and turn to Bradley, who in front of me, was down on one knee, cradling a black box in his hand. I let out a breathy gasp. He  lets out a breathy chuckle as he begins his speech. "I love you so much Miss Y/n Kazansky. And because I love you, I can't imagine my life without you. When we were teenagers, and my papers got pulled my whole life was shattered, knowing our future was no longer going to work. I went through so many phases, and after my mother died, I lost myself. And I could not find myself until that faithful day until that day in there bar. And I swore that night, to Payback actually, I would never let you go. So, Y/n Y/m/n Kazansky, will you make me the luckiest man alive and marry me?"

I let out a hitched breath. "Brad-Bradley," I stuttered, tears rushing into my eyes. "I know, we've only been together for a few months, but I've known it was you since-" I cut him off with a long sweet kiss. He smiles and stands up fully. He slide the beautiful ring onto my finger. The ring of my dreams. "How did you know?" "I may or may not have asked you mother to hack into your Pinterest account," he muttered into my ears, kissing my temple. "How did I not see this coming?" I laugh out loud. Bradley smiles and takes my newly ringed hand. "You ready to eat? We have a party set up at that new place." He asked  and nod. 

...

Day flew into weeks. Weeks turned onto months that turned into years. Rooster and I continued in the Navel journey, until our first baby was born. I then retired, but Bradley is very similar to Maverick, when it comes to being out of a jet. I decided to help Penny with bar. And I took it over after she retired. Bradley and I had 3 children in all. Being a military family is hard. But it works for us. Nights like theses though are my favorite. The day where Bradley comes home to us. 

Our oldest son, Nicky, who's 6 and his younger brother Tommy, who's 4 came running down the stairs into teh kitchen. "Mommy! Daddy's Jeep just pulled into the driveway!" I smile  and bounce up and down to calm Caroline, our baby girl of 7 months, who was strapped to my chest. "Ok, why don't you get your cards from your backpacks." They emailed and ran off. I hear the door to the garage open. I turn to see the distressed face of my husband. But before I could say anything, Nicky and Tommy come crashing through the door. "DADDY!" 

His face quickly changed to a bog smile. He knelt down to greet the boys. "What are these? Oh my pms, did you make me cards?" The two nod so hard their heads could have rolled off just as fast. Caroline squealed from my chest at the sight of her father. His eyes shifted to her and he stood. He kissed her head. "Hi, my babygirl. And hello to mommy." He said, closing the space between our lips. The yelp in disgust. "Oh ok you two. When you meet a pretty lady, like you mom, your gonna want to kiss her too," Bradley said, and chased them around. "Ok, boys calm down, and go wash. Dinner's almost ready." I say and watch the two younger boys walk out to teh half bath down the hall. Bradley was gonna fallow them when I grabbed his wrist. "You ok? You looked sad when you walked through the door." "I'm fine. Just needed too be home," he said, stroking Caroline's head. I nod and place hand on his cheek. He leaned into my tough. 

Dinner was interesting. Bradley was definitely putting on a front for the kids, but you didn't want to ask him in front of the kids. During bedtime he was soaking in every moment he could with the boys. And even after wrestling them into their covers, he still wanted to bathe Caroline and (after I fed her) rock her to sleep. After I checked on the boys to make sure they were actually asleep, I made my wya to the living room where Bradley sat with his head in his hands. It was time. I knee down in front of him and ever so gently spoke. "Bradley?" His head slowly lifted to meet mine. "Did something happen?" 

His eyes fill up again. And suddenly it all made sense. The clinging to the kids, but the separation from me, the sudden sent home. "You lost a wingman didn't you?" I whisper. His eyes filled with tears as his nose twitched. "Almost, I didn't want to break in front of the kids, but I was with Payback and Fanboy actually. And I lead them straight into a rainstorm. They went down, but ejected just in time. Fanboy fine." I placed my hands on his as I speak up "and Payback?" "Comma. He hit his head on the ground due to his parachute having a hole. They said they'll call me when he wakes up." I lifted his face so he could look at me. I didn't say anything, all I did was  move to the couch. I let him cuddle into my chest. "I was to prideful. I let that get in the way of my actual mission." "This is normal." 

He looks up at me confused. "What is?" "Regret of action. The death or injured of a wingman or two. And don't even get me started on prideful acts." He looked up at me a confused eye. "It's true. Mav lost your dad. I lost Ghost. Coyote almost lost Phoenix and Bod. But if we sot and think about all we did wrong were never gonna be able to move on. I'm saying you can't grieve or think about this. I'm saying you shouldn't let this determine what kind of pilot or the person you are." I say, smirking to myself. "How did you know?" "How did I know you were doubting yourself. Because I was just like you. That's what makes us work. We understand each other. We get it." 

Bradley smiles and sits up right. His tears had all dried. A small smile and been placed on his lips. "Thank you. For the past few years. You gave me the one thing I wanted." I snuggle into his chest. "Great advice and interrupted sleep?" I laugh. I felt his ribs move with laughter. "A best friend and a family. Thanks for not giving up on us." I smile and glance up at him. I place a small kiss on his lips. "What's our family staying? No target to high?" "No point to low." "I will be there. No matter what point you are at. Even if your are a little slow," I joke. "Ohh," he scoffed "slow?" Suddenly the feeling of his figures on my highly sensitive sides makes me shrill. I try my hardest to get his hands off me while also trying to be quiet so our kids don't wake up. When I finally do get the relief, I let out a sigh. "I hate you, like a lot." He smiled and cupped my cheek. "I love you too." He breathed sealing our night, with a kiss. 

And that Ladies and Gentalmen is the way our story ends. This was a awesome to write and a joy to watch all of you, comment and react to teh story. Hope you guys enjoyed and if you did, please go check out my other stories. 

Love y'all 

-E