You and Me, Kid

○ Chapter 11 ○

Looking out of the window of his cockpit as he flew, Pete Mitchell struggled to believe that it had been six, almost seven, years since their posting to Charleston, South Carolina. Pete hadn't spoken to Penny in the whole six years that he and the team, as well as Autumn, had been down here. Speaking of Autumn, she was now six-years-old and looking more like her father every day to the point where, instead of the usual nickname of 'Little Autumn' which those around the base had given her, the team and Pete had started to call her 'Dove'.

"Anything?" Jake's voice rang over the radio, everyone's reply sending the same message of 'negative'. "Alright. Permission to land?"

"Permission granted,"

Grinning, the team all headed into land. As they drove into the hangers, a beautiful woman stood with Autumn in her arms, the little six-year-old having ear defenders on so that she didn't damage her ears by the noise of the jets. "Good flight?" the woman asked, smiling as Pete kissed her cheek. During their six years at the base, Pete had met another female pilot called Sandra who was around his age, just a couple years younger, who was just stunning. Pete nodded, taking the child into his arms as they headed to the showers, his team following behind and teasing him at his tinted cheeks.

"Oh hush," he grinned, looking at them over his shoulder. "You lot will be like this one day, and then I'll be the one teasing you. Maybe Autumn will tease you as well." They all groaned at the idea of their captain teasing them but had to admit it was nice to see him being so care-free compared to how he used to be when he was still with Penny back in Miramar. After hitting the showers, the group headed to the commander's office to report the findings of their patrol, which was them just telling Commander Howard "Comet" Stuart that the skies were clear still.

"That's good," Howard nodded. "How about you all take the rest of the afternoon off? I'm sure you want to spend some time with Little Autumn." Thanking and saluting the commander, the group turned on their heels and left the room before racing down the halls to find their Dove. Eventually they found her with Sandra, the redhead listening to Autumn tell her about two of her friends that she had made at school recently.

"Hey, sweetpea," Pete greeted, picking the six-year-old blonde up and spinning her around, her giggles ricocheting off the walls. "How was school today? Make any new friends?" Autumn had started elementary school in the September and had quickly become a favourite amongst the staff.

"It was great!" She exclaimed, smiling a toothy grin at who she knew to be her father. Even if Bradley was her biological father, he had said in a separate letter to Pete that if she wanted to call him dad instead, he was fine with it. Pete originally was slightly uncomfortable with it but soon got used to the idea of Autumn Bradshaw calling him 'dad', or 'Papa' as she seemed to do. There wasn't a day that went by where Pete made sure she knew of her biological father who had died so heroically, risking his life to make sure they made it back to see another day. "I made two friends, Leah and Jamie. They're really nice."

"That's good." Pete smiled, setting the girl on the ground as she began to squirm in his arms and watched as she ran over to Mickey. Ever since she could walk and talk, Mickey had always been the one she would go to straight after Pete. "Maybe we could set up a playdate with those two?" Sandra hummed in agreement, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist as they watched their daughter play with the pilots and RIOs.

The two had dated for about a year or so after getting to know each other and eventually tied the knot in the December, now being happily married for five and a half years. Surprising most people, Pete had asked Jake to be his best man for the wedding, Sandra asking her close friend Leila, who the two agreed to be Autumn's godmother, to be her maid of honour.

Remembering the letter Bradley had written to give to Autumn when she started elementary school, he quickly grabbed it from his back pocket and called her over, kneeling down to get to her height. "Autumn, you remember how I told you about Daddy?"

"Yeah?" she nodded, head tilting to the side when he saw the neatly folded piece of paper in her father's hand.

"Well, he wanted me to give this to you when you started big girl's school," he told her, handing her the piece of paper. She gingerly opened it, like Pete had when he first read the letter Bradley had written for him just before that fateful mission and began to read it.

My Little Rooster,

Gosh, it's hard to think you're going to big girl's school now – six years old already! It's intimidating, isn't it? But I know you'll do amazing there. You'll probably be the teachers favourite in no time. You're going to do amazing things, I know you are, and I'll be with you every step of the way, as will Maverick, Phoenix, Coyote, Hangman, Payback, and Fanboy. If you need anything, just go to one of them and they'll help you. Have a great first day of big girl's school, little rooster, and just know Daddy's always with you.

Love you loads, honey bug.
Daddy

Pete smiled as he read the letter to the blonde child, having now sat down on the couch with her on his lap as he did so. After he finished reading the letter, he gently folded it and placed it on the coffee table, arms wrapped around the girl's waist as she leant back. "Daddy's really proud of you, sweetpea." Autumn just smiled, hugging her father tightly. "And we're all proud of you, too."

"Love you, papa." Kissing the girl's cheek, he murmured back an 'Love you, too' before setting her down and letting her go to Natasha, her favourite aunt. She's doing good, Roost. You'd be proud of her.