Chapter Text
Maverick pulled up to the Bradshaw family home in Virginia on his motorbike.
Nearly four months had passed since Goose’s death, and it was only the second time that Maverick dared to return to the Bradshaw family home since. And he only returned the first time because of Goose’s wake and funeral.
But after quitting—or being let go, depending on who was asked about it—as a TOP GUN instructor, blowing up his relationship with Charlie in about ten minutes flat, and being told by Ice in general terms ‘to get his fucking shit together before he hurt himself or someone else,’ Maverick decided to drive out to Virginia to spend his leave with the Bradshaw family.
The five days that it took him to drive from San Diego to Virginia were meant to clear his head. And Maverick admitted to himself as he pulled into the driveway that driving was a good idea. Flying, even when he wasn’t the pilot, would have brought far worse memories to his mind and the drive allowed him to find some semblance of peace before seeing the Bradshaw family again.
But now was truly the test.
Shutting off his bike, Maverick stared up at the Bradshaw family home for a moment, collecting himself. He glanced down at the rickety step that Goose talked about fixing all the time, worried that Bradley would trip on it. Maverick noted the paint chips along the window frames and the one window on the second story that had a crack in it from a confused bird.
Maverick made a list in his head of all the little projects around the Bradshaw house that Goose mentioned to him that still needed to get done. He was only supposed to be with the Bradshaw family for two weeks before driving to Virginia Beach to start his next posting. But it was enough time to definitely get started on the list.
The screen door slamming open pulled Maverick out of his thoughts and back to the present.
Bradley went flying out the door, ignoring his mom’s call for him to slow down and be careful. Maverick slid off his bike, smiling widely at Bradley called his name excitedly. Maverick knelt down a bit to scoop an energetic Bradley into his arms.
“Mav! You came!” Bradley exclaimed, wrapping his little arms around Maverick’s neck.
“I’m here,” Maverick agreed, squeezing Bradley tight. Maverick moved Bradley to his hip and ruffled his hair. “You behaving for your mom?”
“Always,” Bradley replied with a smile that reminded Maverick all too well of Goose’s own.
“Good because I brought you something,” Maverick replied, reaching for his bag on the back of his bike.
“What did you bring me?” Bradley asked excitedly, practically bouncing in place.
“Bradley Nicholas Bradshaw, did you at least say ‘hello’ before you demanded a present from your uncle?” Carole called, walking out of the house.
“I did!” Bradley protested, before turning back to Maverick. “I did, right?”
“Yes, he did,” Maverick chuckled, causing Bradley to turn back to his mom with a bright smile.
“Thanks for coming, Mav,” Carole replied, pulling Maverick into a tight hug.
“Thank you for having me.”
“You’re always welcome here. You know that,” Carole stated, pulling away. She patted Maverick’s shoulder, seemingly lost in her own thoughts for a moment, before gesturing towards the house. “Now, come inside. Dinner is just about finished up.”
When Carole’s back was turned, Bradley tugged on Maverick’s jacket, causing Maverick to turn back to him. Bradley leaned up, moving to whisper in Maverick’s ear. He even cupped his little hands around Maverick’s ear, just to be sure that Carole couldn’t overhear him.
“What did you bring me?” Bradley asked quietly.
Maverick laughed loudly and set Bradley on the ground. Unzipping the duffel bag that he brought along, Maverick pulled out the toy plane that he bought somewhere out in Arizona. He handed off the plane to Bradley, who immediately started jumping up and down with excitement at the sight of a new toy to add to his collection.
“Thanks, Mav! I’m going to go show Mom!”
Bradley clutched the toy plane to his chest and turned to run inside. He started to climb up the front stairs but tripped on the rickety one—the one that Goose was worried about.
“Be careful!” Maverick called out, concerned.
“I’m fine!” Bradley called back, getting to his feet without a scratch.
Maverick grabbed his bag and followed Bradley inside, but not without inspecting the rickety step in question. Testing the slightly splintered wooden step, Maverick made a quick note to himself about how to fix it before heading inside. He intended to repair the step as soon as possible and Bradley tripping on it on his way inside only solidified that fact.
And besides, it was the least that he could do for them. It was the least that he could do for Goose.
“Can I talk to you, Mav?” Carole asked, walking back into the kitchen.
Night had fallen and the kitchen and dining area was lit by a dim bulb above Maverick’s head. Carole went to give Bradley a bath and put him to bed while Maverick cleaned up from dinner. But now that it was just the adults left, Maverick could see the extra weariness to Carole’s appearance that wasn’t present when Bradley was around.
“Of course,” Maverick replied immediately.
Carole moved to sit at the table and Maverick followed after her, taking the seat beside her. His heart started to beat harder, feeling like it was bruising his ribs, as his mind flew to all kinds of dark places about what Carole needed to talk to him about.
“What’s wrong, Carole?” Maverick asked urgently.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Carole stated, causing Maverick to nod, a little more relaxed but still on alert. Carole fiddled with her wedding band as she stared down at her hands. “It’s just . . . different.”
“Different? Different how?”
Carole paused, pursing her lips together. She fiddled with her wedding ring, which she had yet to take off for even a second. Folding her hands across her abdomen, Carole turned back to Maverick as she struggled to find the words. It didn’t matter that she’d rehearsed this conversation in her head as soon as Maverick told her that he was coming to visit.
Because as soon as she shared her news with Maverick, then it was going to be real.
“About two or three months ago, I felt a little off. I was exhausted all the time and I just felt not like myself. Something was different, but I just didn’t know what. I thought that it was just grief or something to do with that, so I didn’t think too much about it at the time. But after the days went by and it didn’t go away, I went to talk to a doctor about it. Just to be safe.”
Carole paused, tilting her chin up in an attempt to force herself to remain calm and in control of her emotions. Maverick, however, looked anything but calm. Doctors meant that something was wrong in Maverick’s brain, so Carole’s words did little to settle him.
“They ran some tests and they came back and . . .”
Carole let out a breath, tears coming to her eyes. She looked down, fiddling with her wedding band again as a single tear dripped down. Wiping it away quickly, Carole sniffed and turned back to Maverick, a small, tragic smile tugging at her lips.
“. . . I’m pregnant, Mav.”
Maverick immediately withdrew, looking like someone just electrocuted him at the news. He didn’t blink. He didn’t breathe. He didn’t do anything but simply stare at Carole with a relatively dumfounded expression. And despite Maverick’s initial reaction and despite the tears steadily dripping down her cheeks, Carole’s smile didn’t dim.
“You’re pregnant?” Maverick repeated back to Carole, keeping his voice low.
“I’m pregnant,” she confirmed with a nod. Carole ran her hand down her abdomen and her wedding band reflected the light above her with every stroke. “I’m about four months along now, which would mean that I got pregnant sometime during family weekend at TOP GUN.”
Maverick nodded, the tears starting to build, but he forced them back.
He didn’t get to cry in front of Carole about the fact that Goose would never meet his second child. He didn’t get to cry in front of Carole about the fact that Goose died not even knowing that he had a second child on the way. He didn’t get to cry in front of Carole about the fact that Goose would never hold or kiss or hug or do anything with his second child.
A baby that would never know their dad. A baby that would never even have a picture with Goose.
“Guess we got a little carried away,” Carole joked at her own expense.
But it was at her own words that Carole finally broke down. She forced herself to be strong for hours, days, weeks, months. But she couldn’t hold it together anymore.
The sound of Carole’s sob broke Maverick out of his own thoughts. Quickly standing up from his chair, Maverick hurried around the dining table and gathered Carole in his arms. She quickly buried her face into his chest, letting out months of pain and grief and suffering all at once. And Maverick quickly joined her in that as well.
They cried together with the loss of Goose still so painfully fresh in their minds. They held each other tight, just rocking together as they tried to stop crying, but failed at every attempt. They consoled each other, trying to remember that this was a happy moment, that there was one last little gift that Goose left behind.
Finally pulling themselves together, Carole and Maverick took their seats again.
“And you’re both healthy?” Maverick asked, earning a quick nod from Carole as she wiped tears away.
“Yes, we’re both healthy. Very healthy.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Nothing short of a miracle,” Carole agreed softly.
Maverick got up to grab some tissues, which Carole took gratefully. They both took a moment to compose themselves before Carole turned back to Maverick again.
“I didn’t want to tell you, or anyone else earlier because I . . .” Carole trailed off as a fresh wave of tears came to her eyes. “I was worried that with all the grief and everything . . . I was worried about losing the baby. And I was worried that if I talked about the baby, I would just . . . and after everything else, I couldn’t . . . I didn’t want to risk it.”
“You don’t have to explain any of that to me,” Maverick assured Carole, grabbing her hand from across the table. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Carole. And it’s your news to share. You share it however you like whenever you like.”
“Thank you.” Carole sniffled, wiping some more tears away. Letting out a breath to steady herself, Carole managed a smile. “Did you want to see the ultrasound?”
Maverick quickly nodded and Carole stood up to grab it. Returning to the table a few moments later, Carole held out a small square photo to Maverick. He took the photo carefully, like he was handling top secret documents, and stared down at the photo incredulously.
He wasn’t an expert on ultrasounds or pregnancy or anything related. But Maverick remembered when Goose found out that Carole was pregnant with Bradley. He remembered how Goose carried the ultrasound photo around everywhere—kept it in his locker, in his flight suit, in his bunk; everywhere—and about how Goose showed it to everyone and anyone that would pause to see it.
Maverick sucked in a sharp breath before turning back to Carole.
“Do you know if the baby’s a boy or girl yet?”
“No, not yet,” Carole replied, resting her hands protectively over her small but forming bump. “We waited with Bradley, so I saw no harm in waiting the second time. around”
Maverick nodded, staring down at the ultrasound photo for a minute longer, before he handed it back to Carole. When Carole took the photo back, Maverick noticed Carole’s handwriting on the back of the small photo. She had written one simple word in her usual loopy style.
Miracle
Maverick lowered his head, taking a moment to compose himself, before he turned back to Carole.
“What do you need?” Maverick asked, causing Carole to raise an eyebrow.
“Right now?”
“Yes. But also, in general. Around the house. With the baby. With Bradley. With your family. With Goose’s family. Anything. Everything. You name it, and it’ll get done, I promise you,” Maverick stated firmly, having every intention in the world of keeping his word to Carole. “Anything you need, that Bradley needs, that the baby needs, I’ll make sure that it gets done.”
“You don’t have to do any of that, Mav.”
“I do,” Maverick replied, looking all the more determined to carry out his promise. “Anything and everything, Carole, and I’ll do it. I have two more weeks before I need to be in Virginia Beach and I’ll stay here and help you with everything that I can in the meantime.”
“Thank you, Mav,” Carole whispered out, more tears coming to her eyes.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
They shared another tight hug, trying to grapple with their own sets of emotions. Maverick stared down at the photo of the ultrasound that was lying on the table. And even though Maverick didn’t know what he was looking at with that photo, he vowed to himself that the little baby would be cared for, would be loved, would know their father—all of it.
He would make sure of that.
Five months later, Maverick walked through the hospital hallway with Bradley.
“Are you ready to meet your baby brother?” Maverick asked Bradley, carrying some flowers for Carole.
“Yeah,” Bradley cooed, trotting along beside Maverick. “Is he small?”
“He was a little smaller than you were when you were born, but all babies are small when they’re born,” Maverick explained softly. He leaned down and grabbed Bradley’s hand, leading him towards the maternity ward of the hospital. “Come on, they’re down this hall.”
When they reached Carole’s recovery room, Maverick let go of Bradley’s hand. Bradley immediately ran over to his mom, who smiled brightly at his appearance. Carole looked exhausted—and rightfully so—but she was all smiles as she cradled her second baby boy in her arms.
“Hi, Mommy,” Bradley called out to his mom, standing at the side of her hospital bed.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Maverick set down the flowers on one of the tables and picked Bradley up. Maverick set Bradley down beside Carole on the hospital bed, earning a thankful smile from Carole. Bradley peered curiously over his mom’s shoulder, staring down at the sleeping baby.
“Meet your brother, Bradley,” Carole replied softly, adjusting her hold on her newborn.
Maverick helped Bradley straighten out his arms to properly cradle the newborn. Carole supported the baby’s head with her own hand as Bradley held his baby brother for the very first time. Maverick carefully slipped back once he was sure that Bradley was secure with the baby and reached for the bag placed beside the bed.
Pulling out Goose’s camera, Maverick set it up to take a photo of the tender moment.
“What’s his name?” Bradley asked his mom, staring up at her with wide eyes.
“His name is Robert,” Carole explained softly. “It’s the name that your dad wanted to name you, actually, after you were born, but I convinced him to name you ‘Bradley’ instead. Grandma Floyd helped a bit too with that.”
Grandma Floyd was Carole’s mom, who was held down the fort at the hospital with Carole until Goose, who was in the middle of training when Carole went into labor, could get to the hospital. Grandma Floyd lived down in Florida now, but Maverick knew that she would be there soon.
“But we’ll call him Bobby in the meantime. And his middle name is Nicholas, after Daddy.”
“That’s my middle name!” Bradley protested, earning a smile from his mom.
“I know, baby, but you two can share one.”
“It’s allowed?”
“Yes, it’s allowed,” Carole chuckled, rubbing Bradley’s back.
Maverick subtly took a photo of the moment before slowly lowering Goose’s camera.
Carole talked quietly with Bradley, answering his questions about his new baby brothers with a motherly smile and press of a kiss to his head. Baby Bobby Bradshaw remained calm and swaddled in his brother’s arms, simply sticking his tongue out as he wiggled a bit.
And Maverick couldn’t help but picture Goose sitting right next to Bradley, smiling down at his sons.
“Did you want to hold him, Mav?”
Carole’s question pulled Maverick out of his thoughts and forced him to blink back into reality. Maverick turned to Carole, who smiled encouragingly, and motioned for him to walk over.
“Sure,” Maverick breathed out eventually.
Setting the camera back in the bag, Maverick slowly walked over to Carole’s side of the bed. He was more than a little intimidated about holding a newborn but Carole’s smile and careful direction could soothe even the most nervous of guests. Maverick carefully cradled Bobby in his arms, making sure that his head was properly supported by Maverick’s elbow.
Maverick subtly bounced the baby, like Goose taught him when he was helping with Bradley.
Bobby cracked open his eyes a little, squinting up at Maverick, but he didn’t cry or otherwise protest. Maverick noted that Bobby seemed to have his mom’s blue eyes and not his dad’s brown eyes, like Bradley did. And that was probably for the best because if Maverick saw his best friend’s eyes staring up at him in that moment, he probably would have shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Hey, Bobby,” Maverick breathed out quietly. “I’m Mav. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Bobby let out some kind of noise before curling slightly, tucking himself further against Maverick’s chest. Maverick continued to bounce Bobby carefully, willing the tears back.
I’ve got him, Goose. I’ve got them.
Maverick returned to the Bradshaw family home after a few weeks away at Oceana.
He walked up the newly fixed front steps up to the front door. Slipping inside, Maverick placed his duffel bag on the ground and walked further into the house. He spotted Bradley and Bobby together in the living room first and smiled at the sight.
Bradley stood behind Bobby, who was holding onto Bradley’s hands, and helped him take a few steps.
“Hey, Bradley. Hey, Bobby,” Maverick greeted the two boys.
Bradley instantly snapped his head up, but he, like the good big brother that he was, didn’t drop his hands and send Bobby tumbling to the ground.
“Mav!” Bradley called out, smiling widely. “You’re home!”
“I’m home,” Maverick agreed, squatting down a few steps in front of the Bradshaw boys. “Is Bobby walking now?”
“He’s taken a few steps, but not very good ones,” Bradley explained with a shrug. “Mommy says that he’ll walk when he’s ready.”
“That sounds about right.”
Bobby let go of Bradley’s hands to reach for Maverick, who held out his hands for him. Maverick was ready to scoop Bobby up into his arms just in case he took a bit of a tumble. Bradley ran over to Maverick’s side and climbed up on his back, watching over Bobby too.
Bobby Bradshaw took a shaky step towards Maverick. But then he took another shaky step. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then Bradley called out for his mom.
“Mom! Mom! Bobby’s walking!”
Maverick stared with wide eyes as Bobby Bradshaw took another heavy and shaky step towards him. Carole came flying into the room and gasped when she saw her baby boy starting to walk across the living room carpet.
“Oh, go, Bobby!” Carole cheered, standing on Maverick’s other side.
Bobby smiled up at his mom and in a lapse of concentration lost his step. But Maverick was right there to scoop Bobby up before he fell flat on his face and onto the carpet.
“Good job, Bobby!”
“I taught him! I taught him!” Bradley cheered, earning a ruffle to the hair from Maverick.
“Yeah, you did, Brad! You’re such a good teacher!”
Carole took Bobby from Maverick’s arms and peppered kisses onto his cheeks, causing Bobby to squeal, before she set him back down on the ground. The three of them sat in a triangle and took turns trying to get Bobby to walk to them. And Bobby was far too happy to stop and take a rest, even after a few small trips and tumbles.
After another minute of watching Bobby walk around, Maverick slipped away to grab Goose’s camera.
Kneeling, Maverick took a picture of the Bradshaw boys after Bobby fell into Bradley’s lap. And he took another of the two brothers smiling at each other after Bobby sat up on his own accord. Maverick couldn’t help the photo of Carole cradling Bobby to her chest either, since Bobby was smiling far too big to not take a photo of it.
Maverick took the photos from the camera and set them on the table to let them develop. Setting the camera down as well, Maverick glanced up at the photo of Goose up on the wall. Maverick smiled sadly at the photo, which was from Carole and Goose’s wedding day, before turning back to Carole and the Bradshaw boys.
“He’s walking now, Goose,” Maverick mumbled to the picture. “How long do you think we have until he starts running?”
Bradley and Bobby Bradshaw were brothers, but they weren’t twins.
Bradley had his dad’s brown eyes; Bobby had his mom’s blue eyes. Bradley was always tall and big for his age group; Bobby fell a little bit behind the growth curve. Bradley seemed to look more like his dad; and Bobby seemed to look more like his mom.
And, of course, there was also the matter of how they carried themselves.
Bradley was louder and more outgoing; Bobby was quiet and shy. Bradley could talk to just about anyone and everyone; Bobby buried himself into Carole or Maverick’s side when meeting new people. Bradley seemed to be a natural-born leader capable of taking charge; Bobby’s leadership was much more subtle, and he usually followed his brother’s lead at his age.
But if there was one underlying difference between the Bradshaw boys that popped up in the most painful way, it was their connection to their dad. To Goose.
Bradley remembered his dad.
He remembered how Goose used to play the piano. He remembered which of Goose’s shirts were Goose’s favorites to wear. He remembered his dad teaching him how to ride a bike and how to throw a baseball. He remembered helping his dad clean the Bronco and he remembered his parents swinging around the living room to old records.
Bobby didn’t.
Bobby didn’t remember Goose because he was born after Goose’s death. Bobby didn’t have a single memory, a single photo, or a single anything with Goose. Carole had a thousand photos of Goose up and around the house to keep Goose’s memory alive, but that didn’t create memories in Bobby’s head that never existed in the first place.
Bobby knew that Goose was his dad. And he referred to him as such.
But Maverick was the one to teach Bobby how to throw a baseball. Maverick was the one who taught Bobby how to ride a bike. Maverick was the one who put Bobby up on his shoulders in a crowd and brought him gifts after he came home from deployment.
And that led to a small discrepancy, a small misalignment in Bobby’s brain.
“Can you open this, Daddy?” Bobby asked Maverick one day, holding up a banana.
It was the magical banana that managed to freeze time in the Bradshaw home for a few seconds.
Bradley, who was sitting at the table working on homework, snapped his head around so fast that it nearly fell off his shoulders. Maverick stared down at Bobby with wide eyes as the color fully drained from his cheeks. He didn’t even look like he was breathing. Carole dropped the mail that she was looking through, stunned, before she quickly strode over to Bobby.
But Bradley was the first one to actually react to Bobby’s little slip up.
“He’s not Dad,” Bradley insisted harshly, clearly upset with his little brother.
Bobby withdrew his arm from Maverick’s direction, startled with the tone that his brother used. Sure, they were brothers and they fought sometimes, but Bobb wasn’t used to that tone from Bradley. Cradling the banana to his chest anxiously, Bobby looked between Maverick and his mom for some kind of direction, completely. Maverick was still frozen in time.
But Carole finally arrived on the scene to take control of the situation.
“Brad, he didn’t mean it like that,” Carole cut in, trying to mediate between her sons. “It just slipped out. And Bobby’s young. He’s allowed to make mistakes. We all are.”
“But Mav isn’t Dad,” Bradley stated, causing Maverick to snap out of his daze.
“I know that I’m not, Bradley,” Maverick replied softly, hoping to diffuse the tension.
It was at that moment that Bobby burst out into tears, mostly because he was confused about what he did wrong and Maverick and Carole were more focused on Bradley than him. Carole quickly scooped Bobby up into her arms and rubbed his back, trying to soothe him, as Maverick tried to hide his own building tears from the boys.
Bradley slipped off his chair and headed out of the room, ignoring his mom’s call for him.
“I’ll take Bobby,” Maverick offered after a moment, causing Carole to nod thankful.
Carole handed Bobby over to Maverick before hurrying after Bradley. And Bradley seemed to have followed his brother’s direction this time because by the time that Carole reached him, he was crying as well. Maverick held his head in his hand for a moment to gather himself before quickly wiping his tears away and turning back to Bobby.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Maverick urged Bobby. He grabbed a tissue and wiped Bobby’s tears and a little bit of snot away too. “It’s okay, Bobby. Brad didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Maverick gently plucked the banana out of Bobby’s small fist. Peeling it, Maverick offered a small piece of banana to Bobby, who was still sniffling. But after his second piece, Bobby seemed to have calmed down on his own. Maverick brushed Bobby’s blond hair soothingly, relieved that the toddler recovered quickly from that incident.
Because Maverick knew that he wasn’t.
Carole pulled Bradley upstairs to his room to talk away from Bobby. And about fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Carole and Bradley returned downstairs. Maverick watched Bradley enter the room, more than a little anxious, but it seemed that Carole managed to restore peace to the Bradshaw family home once again.
Bradley gave Bobby a hug, which the younger Bradshaw boy immediately returned. Maverick let out a breath of relief as Bradley retook his seat from before without incident. Carole walked over and pressed a kiss to the top of Bobby and Bradley’s heads, and squeezed Maverick’s shoulder supportively, before she went back to her earlier work.
“Mav?” Bradley asked, causing Maverick to whip around to face him.
“Yeah, Brad?”
“Can I have some banana too?”
“Of course, you can,” Maverick immediately replied, notably relaxing in his seat.
It was the first time that Bobby’s attachment to Maverick got him in trouble with Bradley. But it wouldn’t be the last.
Maverick held the Bradshaw boys close as Carole’s casket was lowered into the ground.
She was buried next to her husband, separated for twelve agonizing years, before finally being reunited in that little cemetery in rural Virginia. As her casket was lowered, Maverick could clearly read the name ‘Lt. Nicholas P. Bradshaw’ on the left side of the headstone with the Navy symbol below it. The right side of the headstone would be where Carole’s name would go.
Maverick squeezed Bobby tighter into his side as the boy let out another sob. The eleven-year-old hadn’t stopped crying since the hospice nurses gently informed them that Carole was no longer with them. And Maverick hadn’t let Bobby out of his sight since then either.
Bobby Bradshaw was a mama’s boy through and through and now that Carole was gone, Maverick wasn’t sure how Bobby would recover from that kind of loss. From all of it, honestly. From the three years of treatments, of small victories followed by even greater lows, of building his hopes up only for them to be absolutely shattered at the end.
While Bobby cried into Maverick’s side, Bradley stood stoically as he stared down at his mom’s casket.
Maverick was worried about Bradley in a different way than he was with Bobby. Bradley just seemed to completely disassociate with the world after his mom died. When the doctors made the final call, he left the room, almost rabid to get away from that little room while Bobby’s sobs reached a higher volume every passing second.
Maverick had yet to see Bradley openly cry. He had seen the remnants of Bradley crying—the red eyes, the tear tracks, he could hear the sniffles, and he saw the tissues—but Maverick hadn’t actually seen Bradley cry or breakdown after Carole passed. It was like he just shut down and tucked everything inside. Maverick was worried that he was going to just explode one day.
And Maverick wasn’t sure which was worse—crying nonstop or not openly at all. So, he just hugged the boys tighter.
The crowd started to filter out to the reception. Merlin and Slider were already at the venue to set up, so Maverick wouldn’t have to worry about it.
But Maverick, Bradley, and Bobby remained by the gravesite. Bobby didn’t want to leave yet. Bradley didn’t want to leave yet. And Maverick wasn’t leaving until the boys were ready to leave. They lost their dad. And now they lost their mom. He wasn’t leaving until they were ready to say goodbye.
Ice eventually approached the three of them with some flowers for the boys. Bobby broke off of Maverick’s side for a second to take the flowers, while Bradley remained standing completely still on his other side. Bobby, with some help from Ice, started to pull the roses out of the arrangement and threw them on top of Carole’s casket one by one.
But Bobby had to stop after a few flowers as a fresh wave of tears crawled to the surface. Maverick gathered Bobby in his arms again, rubbing his back and whispering soft words while Ice finished placing the flowers. As Bobby continued to sob, Maverick stared up at the gray sky, searching for any sign of Goose or Carole among the clouds. For any sign of direction.
His mind drifted to the papers back at the Bradshaw family home that sat in a pile in the office.
There were the legal guardianship papers that made Maverick Bradley and Bobby’s legal guardian until they turned eighteen. There was Carole’s final will that was signed after she was given the terminal diagnosis from the doctors. There were the less formal notes that she left behind for Maverick about the house and the savings accounts for the boys and everything else that went into raising them.
And there were two piles of letters wrapped in a single elastic band each. Handwritten letters for both Bradley and Bobby that Carole wrote for special occasions, milestones, and birthdays that she would not live to see. Maverick was supposed to give them to the boys when they were ready for them.
But that wasn’t his promise to Carole that made Maverick’s knees wobble.
It was the promise to keep both boys—particularly Bradley, who wasn’t shy about his desire to attend the Naval Academy to become a naval aviator—firmly on the ground. Where they would be safe and avoid the risk of sharing Goose’s fate. Bradley and Bobby needed to live, to experience the life that the world or fate or whoever deprived Goose and Carole of. They needed to survive.
But Maverick wasn’t sure if he could do it. Not to Bradley. And not to Bobby either.
Two years later, Maverick watched as Bradley stormed up the stairs, taking two at a time, before disappearing around the corner to his room. Bobby was still standing at the base of the stairs, seemingly in shock about what just happened. Maverick and Bobby shared a look before Bobby ran up the stairs after Bradley.
Bobby knew his brother. Bobby knew that his brother was someone who bottled up his emotions and was prone to explosions from holding in everything for too long. Bobby knew that his brother was someone who was naturally cautious in most situations but could fly off the handle in others. And Bobby knew that his brother was just operating off emotions right now.
And Bobby wanted to try and stop Bradley from making any split-second decisions.
Bobby walked down the hall and opened the door to Bradley’s bedroom. The room was a complete mess. The drawers were all off of the dresser. There was a suitcase that Bradley was trying to slam closed with his clothes in it—including some of Goose’s old shirts that he dug out of the boxes from their childhood home. And he was still steaming mad and red in the face.
“Brad,” Bobby stated calmly, shutting the door behind him. “Just take a breath.”
“No, I’m not going to take a fucking breath, Bobby,” Bradley snapped, finally getting the suitcase to close. “I’m fucking leaving, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Where are you even going to go?” Bobby tried again, remaining calm despite his increased heartrate.
“Anywhere but here.”
“Brad, just stay the night and we can find somewhere else to go in the morning, and I’m sure that I can convince Maverick to—”
“—I don’t want to talk about Maverick,” Bradley snapped angrily, rounding on his brother.
“Okay, we don’t have to talk about him,” Bobby stated calmly, holding his hands up a little to try and soothe his brother. “But please, just take a second. We’ll figure this out.”
“You’re seriously defending him? Are you fucking kidding me, Bobby?”
“I’m not defending him!” Bobby finally cracked, raising his voice too. “He shouldn’t have pulled your papers! And I know that you’re confused—I am too! Something’s not adding up. But that means that you should definitely not make any kind of important decisions right now, Bradley. And you still have other options.”
“Yeah, stay here with that lying piece of shit or leave,” Bradley scoffed, throwing some more things into a duffel bag. “And I know which one I’m picking.”
“Brad, where are you even going to go?” Bobby stressed, taking a step forward.
“Does it matter?”
“It matters to me!” Bobby yelled, pointing to himself. “And becoming homeless isn’t how you get back at Maverick for this!”
“Stop talking about him! Stop defending him!”
“I’m not fucking defending him!”
“Yes, you are! You’re either on my side or his side! That’s it! And you’re clearly not on mine, so—”
“—I told you that he shouldn’t have pulled your papers! I told him that! What else do you want me to do, Bradley!?”
“I want you to give a shit about me! I want you to give a shit about yourself! I want you to stand up to Maverick for once in your goddamn life!”
“I did!”
“No, you didn’t!”
“Yes, I did!”
“No, you didn’t!”
“Then I’m sorry!” Bobby snapped, reaching the end of his rope. “I’m sorry, Brad! Okay? I’m sorry! Now, can you stop packing so that we can talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Bullshit,” Bobby spat, causing Bradley to round on him.
“Stop trying to convince me to stay! I don’t want to stay here anymore!”
“I’m just trying to help you!”
“Well, I don’t need your help!” Bradley shouted angrily, standing up to his full height. “I need you to get a reality check, that’s what I fucking need.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bobby demanded, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“You think that Maverick’s your dad and he’s not,” Bradley snapped angrily, causing Bobby’s eyes to widen in surprise. “You defend him like he’s your dad, even to me—your actual brother—and he doesn’t even have to do anything to convince you to do that for him!”
“I know that Maverick’s not Dad,” Bobby replied, quieter than before.
“Then act like it.”
Bobby’s eyes flashed with anger and he seriously contemplated strangling his older brother. Stepping towards Bradley, who was still furiously packing, Bobby found his words.
“Ever since Mom died, you’ve treated me like a baby!”
“Don’t bring Mom into this,” Bradley warned, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “I’m serious. That’s not fucking funny.”
“I’m not trying to be funny,” Bobby snapped back. “But you think that I’m a baby! You think that I’m helpless! You, for some reason, think that you have to take care of me or make up for Dad or Mom not being here or whatever! And I never asked you for that!”
“I know that you didn’t!”
“Then why can’t I have my own opinion about this!?”
“Because your opinion is wrong and you’re defending the man who just fucked up my life!”
“Your life isn’t fucked up completely!” Bobby took a breath, trying to steady himself. “Look, all you have to do is wait two months and then go to UVA, finish up NROTC there, and then it’s just like you went to the Naval Academy, and—”
“—It’s not, and you know it.”
“There’s more than one way to become a naval aviator,” Bob tried to reason with his brother again, even though the entire conversation was really starting to drain him. “And you know that. I know that you had your heart set on the Academy, but you can still achieve all of your dreams if you just take a breath and give it a second before making a rash decision.”
“I’m not spending another second in this goddamn house with Maverick,” Bradley snapped, spitting out Maverick’s name like a vile swear.
He reached for the keys to the Bronco and picked up his duffel bag, before eventually staring up at the poster on the wall. It was a Blue Angels poster that Maverick bought both of them after he took them to an airshow. But now it was just a reminder of how Maverick dangled that dream in front of him, only to rip it away at the last second.
“Are you coming with me?” Bradley asked quietly, still facing the wall.
“What?” Bobby questioned, staring at his brother incredulously.
“Are you coming with me?” Bradley reiterated, turning to stare down his younger brother.
“I can’t go with you,” Bobby stated cautiously.
“Why not?”
“I’m not eighteen yet. I can’t just run off like you can. And Maverick’s technically—”
“—Stop talking about Maverick!” Bradley snapped, causing Bobby to fold in on himself. “Do you want to come with me or not!?”
“No,” Bobby breathed out a moment later. “Not when you’re like this.”
Bradley let out an indignant noise and shook his head at his younger brother. Then he picked up his other duffel bag and threw it over his shoulder.
“Call me when you find your spine,” Bradley told Bobby, earning a sharp glare back.
“Call me when you find your brain,” Bobby returned, causing Bradley to stop in his tracks.
Bradley shot Bobby one last harsh glare over his shoulder. Bobby didn’t have as much venom behind his stare, but it was clear that the brothers were on opposite sides here. Bradley shook his head, glancing over the room one last time.
“Don’t come crying to me when Maverick does the same to you,” Bradley warned, before storming down the stairs.
Bradley missed the subtle way that Bobby burst out into tears after he left, too caught up in one last argument with Maverick, and hurrying out to start the next phase of his life.
Eighteen years after that fateful night, Maverick found himself staring up at Bradley’s photo.
Cyclone immediately noted Maverick’s lingering gaze on Bradley’s photo and shared a look with Warlock. Maverick stopped breathing for a moment before his eyes drifted over to Bobby’s picture on the other side of the screen.
Just Bradley was one thing. Just Bobby was another. But both of the Bradshaw boys on a suicide mission made Maverick’s knees wobble.
“Is there a problem, Captain?” Cyclone’s voice cut through Maverick’s thoughts.
“You know there is . . . sir,” Maverick replied, trying to keep the tension out of his voice.
“Yeah,” Cyclone sighed, tapping twice on the smaller screen in front of Warlock. Bradley and Bobby’s profiles were brought up on the screen side by side. “Bradley Bradshaw AKA Rooster and Robert Floyd AKA Bob. I understand that you flew with their old man. What was his callsign?”
“Goose, sir,” Maverick replied quietly.
“Tragic what happened. Especially because as I understand it, Lieutenant Floyd was born after his father’s death.”
“He was . . . sir,” Maverick added half-heartedly again.
“Tragic,” Cyclone repeated, to hit home his point.
“Captain Mitchell was cleared of any wrongdoing. Goose’s death was an accident,” Warlock stated to Maverick’s defense.
“Is that how you see it, Captain? Is that how Goose’s sons see it?” Cyclone asked calmly, gesturing up at the screen.
Maverick stared down Cyclone for a moment, keeping his emotions tightly tucked in his chest.
He couldn’t speak for Bradley, whom he hadn’t seen nor heard from in eighteen years. And Maverick knew that Goose’s death haunted Bradley throughout his childhood, and most likely through his adulthood too. If Bradley didn’t outright blame him for Goose’s death, he certainly didn’t completely absolve Maverick of the blame either.
Bobby, on the other hand, had talked to Maverick about it numerous times. Including a conversation right after Bobby got access to the file on Goose’s accident and read the entire report from start to finish. Bobby didn’t put any blame on Maverick for what happened, Maverick knew. But that didn’t make Maverick feel better about the fact that Bobby never met his dad.
Pretty much everyone who knew Maverick knew how he felt about his personal role in the accident that cost Goose his life. And now, he was in an impossible position to try and prevent Bradley and Bobby from sharing the same fate as their dad.
Maverick swallowed down some bile before turning back to Cyclone and Warlock.