Promise Me // Bradley Bradshaw x OC

Eight.

*** Bradley's POV ***

The next two days came and went. We had long 14 hour days this time to prepare for the mission, and managed to work as a team while doing so.

Ever since Simpson dropped the ball on us at the beach that the mission had been moved up, I was trying to spend as much time with Jordan as I could before we officially had to leave. She was understandably crying more. Me leaving for these missions was never easy for her, but it's something she understood that came with the job. Only now, it was a million times harder to leave her now that she was pregnant.

"You're all dismissed for a couple hours," Maverick said tiredly as the screen in the debrief room went black. "We've run training exercises for the past two days, and you all are ready for this mission. Go home, say bye to your loved ones, and we'll see you back here at 4 a.m. to get on the carrier."

As he said "say goodbye to your loved ones," Maverick looked over at me with a sorry look in his eyes. He knew it wasn't easy for me, or for Jordan, to go through this again. Just because the job calls for having to leave every so often doesn't make the goodbye any easier.

One by one, everyone left the room. They were so tired, that not even Hangman had the energy for a smart ass comeback.

"Bradley," Maverick said softly. "You okay?"

I shook my head as I pursed my lips, rubbing my tired eyes while I slang my bag over my shoulder.

A horse "no," left my lips as I made eye contact with him. "I feel like shit for leaving. I feel like a bad husband for leaving when she needs me the most. People always tell us that this is what she signed up for when we got married. They don't get what it's like to be away from your loved ones when they need you the most. I just got lucky this time that the mission was before her due date so I could be there for the birth."

My voice had started cracking while I talked about Jordan and the baby. I couldn't talk about how scared I was around her because it was one less thing she needed to worry about while I was gone. I felt like the only person who could truly understand was Maverick.

"She's strong, and she'll hold everything down while you're gone," He encouraged as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "But you're also strong, Rooster. You've been through a lot in your life. You've been on tons of missions before. You just need to trust and believe me that as team leader, I will be with you the entire time."

"Even my dad?" I asked as I wiped my eyes. For once, I didn't feel weak for crying. "I want him to be with me."

"He's always with you," Mav said softly as he wrapped his arms around me to give me a hug. "Always."

Maverick told me to go home and say goodbye to Jordan while I still had the time to, and told me to try and get some sleep as well. Phoenix was waiting for me by my Jeep."

"You alright?" She asked as I got closer. "You stuck around with Maverick for a while back there."

"Yeah," I said as I threw my bag in the passenger seat, before leaning against the Jeep. "I'm just scared to leave Jordan again. I'm scared that the mission isn't going to go as planned, or that we're going to lose someone."

"I wish I could say that I relate, but I don't," She spoke as she looked at me. "But we're going to make it. "We'll be safe."

I gave her a hug before telling her I'd see her in the morning and got into my Jeep to go home. The time on my watch read almost 11 p.m., but I knew that Jordan was going to be awake and waiting for me.

I was as quiet as possible when I walked into the house and went down the hall to Jordan's room. I got to the beginning of the hallway when Jordan's dad stopped me.