Rooster Top Gun A Love Story

T H E A D M I R A L S D A U G H T E R

The girls enojyed a day out. Today, no men were allowed on their girl time, and that included texting. It was a rule Nat and Ava had come up with in the past. Amelia tagged along, and Ava didn't mind it. She loved spending time with her teen cousin, who sometimes irritably whined about having fun. But Ava knew it was a facad, Amelia stirred herself, away pretending to be a salty teen who felt the world was falling into her domin. And Ava too understtod such behavior. Ava herself had gone through so much pain during her teens.
Ava hoped Amelia would try to have fun, lately with Maverick being around and her dad calling in only to talk about his wedding anniversary trip which included Amelia going to Hawaii again didn't really sound...to much like fun. So today, Ava took Ameila out to keep her mind away from the wedding. "It's just mountains and sands,"
Ava had rolled her eyes. "Hawaii is more than that girly."
Amelia was having a hard time accepting her father's new life.
The girls had decided to go get ice cream over at Sweet Unique Flavors when Nat's car, for some reason, decided to not start. "Noooo!" Nat said fustradley." Great!" She sighted. She was really looking forward to going to the city to buy a black mini dress. Jake had a supise dinner planned out she just didn't know we're.
"Chingao!" Nat cussed in spanish.
"Ay, callate!" Ava looked to Amelia in the back.
"Shiit, no, sorry..." Nat apologized.
Nat had to call Jake to come help fix her car engine. When he got there. He greeted the girls. "Bar girl, shorty," He greeted Ava and Amelia.
Ava didn't argue with him, and Amelia rolled her sassy little eyes at him. "What does Nat see in him?" Amelia wondered
Ava winked over at her. "Love can be blind,"
Jake was taking a while and after a moment.
Coming up behind them was Rooster and Danny. Hangman had called Danny for help, not knowing that he was out running with Rooster before they headed to the basketball court.
"Yo, what's up, Hangman?" Danny asked as he closed the door to Roosters blue bronco.
Rooster got off his car with his sunglasses on like always and looked over at Ava as she licked the spoon free of ice cream. Rooster gave her a seductive mischievous grin. Ava rolled her eyes but not before flirtatiously taking another lick. Rooster's jaw hardened, and he turned away. Ava hoped Amelia had not seen that. Rooster made his way over to Nats' car.
"Let's see if these men can fix a car better, then they fly," Nat joked as she went to go sit with Ava and Amelia. They moved her ice cup toward her. And sat under the shade where the sitting tables were at. They enjoyed their ice cream and watched the men.
"No, it's this right here!" Hangman growled.
"No, que no!" Danny disagreed in spanish gesturing with hands.
The girls laughed.
Rooster watched as the other two bickered before yelling. "Alright, both of you are wrong it's not..."
"Come on, let's go to the beach," Nat told them before Rooster could finish.
The trail to the beach wasn't far. As soon as they got there and were already done with their ice cream, the girls dumped their stuff on the sand and took their clothes off. Underneath, their bathing suits were now fully exposed. Then, they rushed into the water.
Meanwhile, back at Sweet Unique Flavors parking lot, the men began to start the car.
"Bradley Bradshaw?" A female voice made the men turn.
A tall woman had just come out of the shop, with a cup of pistachio ice cream. She smiled half-heartedly at the tall boy, well man now. The women recognized that face anywhere. "Goose," she mouthed.
Rooster heart reacted to that he spoke first. "Sorry, do I know you?"
She laughed. "I have changed a lot since you lost saw me, I don't expect you to remember me, I knew your parents, my names Charlie Blackwood," she had dirty blonde hair with strands of white now. With wide eyes of green and a beaming smile.
Rooster was a proper gentleman, so he stepped away from the vehicle and moved away from hangman and Danny.
"Hi, Charlie," he greeted. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't remember you-you said you knew both my parents?"
Charlie laughed. "Yes, both," she looked up at him. Wow, he was tall. He looked so much like Goose.
"How did you know my parents?"
Charlie clenched her teeth before speaking. "Through Captain Mitchell, I was his girlfriend,"
"Oh," Rooster nodded awkwardly.
"Your mother and I used to go shopping together, oh how your father and Pete ran when we arrived," she laughed. "We had bags and bags of things, and sometimes mostly it was all for you,"
Rooster was intrigued. "For me?"
"Yes you-you were one spoiled boy, your dad always kept you with him and Pete, when we left, they would have cookouts take you to the various bars to play the piano, baseball games, you name it,"
Rooster looked at her.
"I heard what happened, I'm sorry,"
"Thank you," Rooster pressed his lips together. "And for giving me a little more,"
Charlie smiled. "Anytime, time goes by fast with a blink of an eye," she mustered. "To me, this feels like it wasn't too long ago. It's just a memory,"
"I'm a pilot now," Rooster told her. He felt as if he had to mention that.
"That's good. I wouldn't have expected you to be anything, but," Charlie said. "Your mom really didn't want that for you after the accident...i'm glad she changed her mind, I heard you were top of the best,"
Rooster grew slightly confused. "You heard I was one of the top best?"
"I'm retired, I was an instructor at the marine corps air station, my father was the Admiral, for the air station back then, I go back sometimes for events or informative training, just to watch,"
"Oh, wow, I'm engaged to the Admirals' daughter," Rooster found himself saying. How ironic. 
"Congratulations!" Charlie mouthed. "Word of advice, don't let anyone make a decision for you,"
Rooster took this to heart. "I won't, I have to get back to helping my friends. It was nice talking to you."
Amelia swam way over toward Ava. "So..." her little cousin said, laying in the water floating around Ava. "Where's the ring?"
Ava nearly choked on the salty water. Her eyes wide with shock. "Whatever do you mean?" Ava played dumb.
"Oh, please! I saw the ring on the nightstand in your room,"
"You little butt you were in my room this morning?! Snooping while I showered, weren't you?" Ava hissed through her teeth. "It's not snooping if it's out in the open," Amelia answered smartly.
Ava sighted trying not to let this bother her they were near the shoreline now. She turned to see Nat swimming about.
Ava was soaking wet as she took a deep breath and sat on the sand. Ameila following prusit.
"Does Uncle Beau know?" Amelia said.
"It's complicated," Ava turned to her. Rooster had explained everything after they had made love that night.
"Promise, you won't say anything," Ava told her.
Amelia knew somehow that Uncle Beau wouldn't have agreed on their marriage, and she always wondered why he never liked Rooster. It must have been hard being the admiral's daughter. When Amelia was younger, she admired Ava. She still did, but Ava was different now. Back when Ava was younger, she had a completely different image. A perfect one, her appearance was precise, her approach toward people, the way she laughed, walked, and spoke. Ava even did as her father said. Then, one day, everything changed.
What Amelia did see was someone who loved Ava and respected Uncle Beau even when he didn't deserve it.
Amelia was flushed pink around her cheeks. The heat usually did that to her pale complexion. She looked over at Ava, who seemed worried and nodded. "I pinky promise," she stuck out her pinky. At this point, Ava was someone she loved dearly and one of the few people she could talk to aside from her best friend Cherry.
Ava and her twined their pinkies sealing the promise. A small smile forming on their lips. Both girls looked over to see Nat running out of the water. She looked like a beach babe, swinging her long wet hair in the air with a short white crop and a black high bikini.
"Hey!" She yelled, waving them over. "Come on!" She threw herself back into the waves.
Ava waved back and laughed. "Come on," she told Amelia.
The girls once again ran into the water and jumped around while picking at shells as the waves pushed them forward. They soaked up in the sun for another hour before the girls heard a whistle.
"Yooo girls!" Hangman yelled just in time from the main path. "Let's go!"
The girls grabbed their towels and wrapped them around themselves before running to the main path.
The start of the engine for Nat was the perfect sound. It was working.
"Hey," Rooster walked over to his fiance he grinned widely at the thought almost stupidly as he reached her. But it was cute.
"Hi," Ava teased a smile.
"I'll see you later?" Rooster kissed her head, pulling her in for a hug, resting his arms around her thin waist. His lips tasted the saltyness of her ocean hair. Rooster and Danny were going to go finish playing ball with the guys. Hangman was now joining them.
"I have to meet with my dad today," Ava commented.
"Oh," his expression changed. His forehead creased with worry now.
Ava smiled softly. Though it wasn't the smile Rooster wanted to see. "I have to tell him,"
Rooster let out a sight. "Should I go with you?"
Ava shook her head. "No,"
She wasn't scared to face her dad alone. Ava had to do this, and having Rooster get heated wasn't going to make things any easier.
"You sure?" Rooster asked. His forhead once again smooth.
Ava nodded. All this time, she had been trying to make Rooster and Maverick see where they were both standing that she didn't see where she stood with her own father. Ava wanted to fix things and, most importantly, tell him about her future with Rooster.
That evening, Ava prepared herself to meet with her dad. Her heart was pounding on the way over to her father's. She could do this. She would like this. She had, too. Still, she felt nervous. Ava hadn't bothered cooking. Instead, she ordered from Tobies crab place. She couldn't ask her aunt for free food, not right now, not with the way she was feeling nervous and anxious. Her Aunt Penny would see right through her.
"So, how was your week?" Her father asked as they ate.
"It was a busy week," She bit into a salty roll. It was buttery and soft. "How was yours?" She took a sip of her wine.
"Work as always, a bit hectic with the entire training going on," he took a bite of his lobster tails.
It was quiet for a moment or two. The only sound that was heard was that of their forks and their chewing. After dinner, her father began to take two clear glass bowls out of the cabinets. He had already cleared the kitchen table. The counter was now clean with help from Ava as she took the takeout containers and disposed of them.
While her dad did that, Ava went out of the backyard. "Wow!" She breathed. Her dad had really done it. The backyard looked like a set-up commercial. It was beautiful nonetheless. The little hanging lights were already on. The walkway had pebbles and bricks lined up to keep them in place. The sitting bench was in the far corner were red and blue cushions rested. Flowers of pinks and yellows with white gave life to the yard.
"Here you go, sweetie," he handed her a bowl of ice cream butter pecan her favorite. Her father always did this after every meal or when little Ava was having a bad day or nightmare. It made her think about the safe haven he had created. "Thanks, Papi. I love what you did with the backyard it looks beautiful,"
"It was about that time," he took a scoop of his ice cream. When Ava went to go live with his sister, that's when the project started. Beau had remembered how much Ava wanted a cozy space in the back to relax and view while she worked on her photography.
Ava took a deep breath. She stared at her bowl of ice cream for a second and let out a sight.
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
"I want to talk to you," Ava eyed her father now.
"Sure, honey, what about?" Admiral Beau placed his bowl down on the table. Ava did the same.
"I wanted you to be the first to know," Her feet shifted, and then she looked over at him. "I'm engaged," she breathed with relief. "Rooster proposed to me, and I said yes," Ava waited for her father to say something. Nothing. "Can you accept him? Can you accept this?" She eyed him carefully."I'm an adult Beau, and I love him." This was everything she ever wanted.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Admiral said, upset as his brows met. He hated it.
"Will you accept him then?" Ava pressed. She loved Rooster. He was her joy, her laughter, her forever.
Finally, she said. "Rooster told me what happened, Papi,"
Papi and Papa, in the different tone of voices, made Beau understand how she meant it. Today, Papi was bolder and stringent.
Her father spoke. "I just want you to be happy, sweetheart," he smiled softly at her. The edge of his eyes filling with wrinkles. He was smiling.
"I am," she promised.
"Oh, sweetie, don't cry," Beau wiped her tears and pulled her in for a hug. She was crying not only for his approval but because after everything she and her father had endured. All she ever wanted was to be able to feel warm and comfortable with him again, and after tonight, that was happening once again.
"I couldn't picture someone taking you away from me," Beau whispered. "You're my little girl,"
"That's the thing, dad. I'm not a little girl, I'm an adult who still needs her father,"
Growing up as the Admiral's daughter was a blessing and a curse. Of all the three guys Ava ever dated, one stayed. And he was now going to be her future.
"Papi, I want to apologize for everything..."
"Shh! Sweetheart, you don't have to do that,"
"But I do," Ava pulled away, eyeing her father.
"No, honey, you don't," he eyed her. After her mother left, Ava fell apart while Beau digged deeper into work."I blame myself for everything and how I made you grow up, dragging you around after your mom left... taking you with me to work and having you wait for hours until I was done working on the new jets working for other positions as a pilot. because I couldn't move on from my own loss,"
Ava shook her head. "Papi noo, even before you became who you are now, I loved those times more than anything,"
When her dad gained his title as the Admiral, he still didn't let his rank change him. He still sent over to see what more projects he could get his hands on. He was still the best man she knew.
"I wouldn't change anything about our lives then, I learned to be strong because of you, I don't miss her anymore, no mas, I have stopped missing her for years, I just miss you," she missed the old them the funny conversations they had. The great field trips to the camping sites. "I love you, Papi. I was too young to understand everything... mom, Uncle david.
He cupped her face. "Ava, sweetie, my heartbreak was for me alone, and I twined you along and know that I am sorry," Beau kissed her head. "I'm always going to be here, I love you more than you'll ever know,"
"Good because I'm going to need you to walk me down the aisle,"
Beau pulled away and smiled at Ava. "I would love nothing more."
He dropped his arms and went toward the box on the side of the table and pulled out a familiar binder out.
"My photographs," Ava gasped. "Dad, you kept them?"
"When your old man is your number one fan,"
Ava laughed. "I stopped taking pictures when she tried to return back into our lives during my sixteenth,"
"I remember," her father said. "But you started taking pictures again when you met Bradshaw,"
Ava flung herself at her dad. "Thank you, Papa."