𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 | 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲 "𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫" 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞

12: charlie

flashback
four years earlier
aged 22

it was hot despite the fact that it was almost october. but then again, it was san diego, california. rooster and i had been dating for about a month and i had decided this would be a good time to bring him home for the first time as my boyfriend.

my parents had known goose, his late father, and carole, his wife, since their days at top gun. therefore bradley bradshaw and i had been friends since birth or at least close to it. so my parents knew bradley bradshaw pretty well. they knew him as bradley, my mom knew that he was allergic to pineapple, and my dad knew that he didn't like bradley bradshaw's odd little affection towards me.

but despite what my dad thought, my mom absolutely adored him and thought he was a good man for me to be with. and she reminded me constantly. she also tried to convince my dad that bradley was good for me but he wasn't buying it.

"why are you nervous?" rooster asked me as we pulled up in front of my parents' place. "i've known your family for my entire life."

"it's different this time," i replied.

"is it because your dad doesn't like me?" rooster asked.

"what? no..." i replied and he raised an eyebrow, "okay, yes."

"i knew it," he said.

"my mom adores you," i reinforced.

"but your dad can't stand me," he said.

"yeah but my mom would do anything to make sure i'm happy, especially if it's with you," i answered.

"fair point," he gave in.

"just don't play into my dad too much, okay?" i said. he was quiet for a while. "okay?"

"okay," he finally said.

we got out of the car and started walking towards the front door. i knocked and we stood there for a long while holding carole's famous lemon tarts in a casserole dish that we'd somehow made at top gun before coming over.

"i hope you know you're making me nervous," rooster said.

"how am i making you nervous?" i asked.

"you're way out of my league and everyone here knows it," he answered.

"shut up, bradley bradshaw," i replied and we laughed together.

the door opened and there my mom stood. her beautiful blonde curls were bouncy like always, a smile was painted across her cherry lips and her green eyes lit up when she saw us standing there in the doorway.

"(y/n)," she hugged me first and looking back, i would have given up everything in my life just to hug her one more time.

she then turned to bradley, "oh bradley dear, how are you?"

"wonderful, mrs. mitchell," he replied.

"bradley, call me charlie," she said, "are those your mother's lemon tarts?"

"yes ma'am," he answered, "freshly made by (y/n) and i."

"that top gun staff kitchen sure comes in handy," she smirked knowingly. "come in! come in!"

we walked into the house and it smelled like cinnamon and vanilla bean. my mom had vanilla bean tea-sized candles burning in the living room. rooster looked at me knowingly. i had those same candles in my dorm at top gun.

"they're here, pete!" she called out to my father who emerged from the kitchen wearing his 'kiss the cook' apron. "and take that damn thing off."

"my sexy apron?" he raised and eyebrow and she chuckled, going over to kiss him.

"she certainly took the apron seriously," rooster whispered to me and i smacked his arm playfully, stifling my laughter.

"you're going to embarrass our daughter, pete mitchell," she said.

"and is that so bad, charlie?" he smirked.

"i'm standing right here," i said.

"hello, honey," my dad walked over and engulfed me in a hug, his apron still very much on.

"hi dad," i hugged him back.

"bradley," he said moving on to my boyfriend.

"mr.mitchell," he extended his hand and my dad took it after a moment. i could sense my mom's stare on my dad and i'm sure he could too.

"a pleasure to see you, son," he shook it.

"same to you, sir," he replied.

my dad walked back towards my mom and the kitchen. rooster looked at me and i shrugged as we walked after him and found that the table had already been set.

"mom, bradley and i would've helped with the table," i said.

"you two are guests," she said, "you really don't need to worry about anything like that."

"besides, we're hungry," my dad said.

"pete," she said. "dinner is done, we're just waiting on the mashed potatoes."

"a charlie mitchell delicacy," my dad grinned.

"it was a charlie blackwood delicacy long before it was a charlie mitchell one," she smiled.

"those two are the same to me," he replied.

we all sat down to dinner once the mashed potatoes were done. and as we did i thought of how nice it was that one day rooster and i would be just like maverick and charlie, my parents. and i think it was somewhere in that moment when rooster passed the mashed potatoes to my dad and they had a brief second of liking one another that i knew rooster was it and the search for the right man was over. i'd never admit that to anyone though.