Swan Song

Epilogue

I'm only up when you're not down.
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.
—————

Six Months Later

"Now I vaguely remember that the first time we had dinner with your family, you said that you'd give a kidney to fly with the angels, right?" Jake questioned and I nodded.

He pulled the blindfold off from my eyes and I saw the beautiful sight of the Blue Angels jets sitting right in front of us.

"I don't want your kidney, Dette. But I'd gladly take your heart if you wanted to continue to share it with me," he laughed as he handed over the distinct blue flight suit and my helmet.

"You're kidding, right?" I squealed as I quickly slipped the flight suit on and zipped it up. "I could get used to this!"

I was introduced to the crew before meeting the pilot that I would be flying with for the day.

It was easy to be beyond shocked that Jake had arranged for us to fly with the Angels as they did a demonstration but I also felt strangely at home flying with them.

Once I was in my jet, I watched Jake climb into his and couldn't help but smile to myself. Eight months earlier I would have loved to have nothing to do with Jake  and now I couldn't imagine my world without him.

As we took off, my heart fluttered as the ground moved further away and I wished that I could fly with the Angels every day for my job but I knew this one time would have to suffice.

"Lieutenant Commander Kazansky, we tend to have a certain protocol whenever we have passengers fly with us," my pilot said to me over comms. 

"What's your protocol?" I questioned, not knowing what that protocol might be.

"If you feel under your seat, there's a laminated checklist. Pull it from under your seat and read the instructions on top."

I quickly felt around and felt the plastic, pulling it out.

"Follow steps one through three to initiate ring engagement process. What the hell is a ring engagement process?" I questioned.

I knew everything there was when it came to flying and not once had I ever heard of a ring engagement process.

"What is step one?"

"Step one," I began as my eyes skimmed over step one. "Holy shit."

"Lieutenant Commander?" My pilot questioned.

"Will the occupant of this seat promise to love the rear occupant of the jet to your left forever?" I read, trying to hold back the tears that began to well up in my eyes before full on beginning to ugly cry.  "Jake are you kidding me right now?"

"Step two?"

I paused as I read the second step to myself.

"What's step two, Odette?" Jake asked over comms, his voice smooth.

"Will you marry Lieutenant Seresin and make him your forever wingman?" I read through my sobs.

I glanced over to my left where the angels were now flying in a tight formation and Jake was looking right at me from the next plane over, clearly laughing as he held up a box with a ring inside for me to see.

"Step three: Say yes and secure the ring in order to complete the ring engagement process."

Not only had Jake surprised me with a flight with the Angels but he used that flight to ask me to freaking marry him and I suddenly felt like I was on top of the world.

"So was that a yes?" Jake's pilot questioned.

"Yes," I chirped out between cries.

"Your dad gave me his blessing," Jake encouraged me.

He had known how important it had been for me to get his blessing before ever getting married and the fact that Jake had done that, even with how sick my dad was, made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

We met one another because of the Navy and now that we had been brought back together, we were getting engaged because of the Navy. My dad must have known how important Jake was to me or else he would have said no but now I have a lifetime to spend with Jake and I have my dad to thank for that.

Once the demonstration was over and we landed, we climbed out of our respective jets and made our way towards one another.

"There you are," he muttered as he picked me up and spun me around. "I love you so much, Odette. I can't  wait to spend forever with you."

"Forever sounds nice."

And it really did.