Happy Little Accidents

bigger than the whole sky

eight years ago...

There were times Bradley Bradshaw couldn't believe his luck. Good or bad.

He listened to his mother and got a bachelor's degree in engineering. He liked the work. He liked to be busy. But it wasn't his dream.

He wanted to fly like his old man.

But mom said no. She couldn't lose him too.

Which. Arguably? Totally fair.

But when Carole Bradshaw died at the end of his sophomore year in college, Bradley ignored the icy hand of guilt and enlisted in the navy that summer.

He wasn't accepted.

So he finished college and tried again.

And when he showed up for bootcamp he felt a mixture of relief, excitement, and guilt.

Now four years into his Naval career, he felt stuck again. Each application to the aviator program denied or flat out ignored.

D.C. wasn't so bad. The museums were cool. Point Lookout Beach wasn't far. And there were decent bars around. He has finally reached a high enough rank to get housing off base, too.

The next step in his plan - aside from becoming an aviator - was to find a girl and settle down. Date for a couple years, engaged for a year. Followed by marriage and kids.

It surprised him how difficult that step was.

So when he walked into The Founding Fathers bar and saw a pretty young thing wearing a tiara and laughing with her friends - his heart skipped a beat.

He had to know her.

At first he worried the tiara was because she was engaged. But for the first time since boot camp, his luck had changed for the better.

Her name was Zak. It was her twenty-first birthday. She was in DC finishing up an internship at an architecture firm so she could graduate in the fall.

And by the end of their fifth date he was ninety-nine percent sure he was going to marry her.

-&-

seven years ago...

"There's my girl." Bradley grinned, closing the door to their shared apartment with a soft click. Zak looked up from the chicken stir fry she was making with a wide smile.

"Hey, hot shot." she giggled when he slid his arms around her waist and pressed a sloppy wet kiss to her cheek. "How was your day?"

"Hmm. Better now." He said, pulling her away from the stove. He gently turned her around and pressed her to a nearby wall, slotting a thigh between her legs and kissing her deeply. Hungrily.

"Dinner's gonna burn." She murmured when he kissed down her neck.

"Don't care." He sucked a bruise to the hollow of her throat, soothing the red spot with a swipe of his tongue. "You taste better."

"At least turn off the stove this time."

Bradley whined about having to stop kissing her for the five seconds it took to turn off the burner and move the pan.

He gave her a look as if to ask if she was happy now and when she nodded, he grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder to carry her off to the bedroom. She shrieked with laughter the whole way, even as he dumped her on the bed.

-&-

Bradley had the perfect day planned.

Breakfast in bed to start. Followed by mani-pedis at her favorite salon. Lunch at their favorite cafe and then a trip to the museum of architecture. Dinner at the bar where they met (he knew it wasn't that romantic, but he felt he should get points for sentimentality). And lastly, a walk through Malcolm X Park where he would ask her to marry him at the top of the cascading fountain.