I own nothing but Kate. The movie and it's characters belong to their owners respectfully. This story was inspired by Carrie Underwood's song, "See You Again", I would suggest reading it while listening to the song.
Kate McNealy looked over the picture of her fiancé one last time before she tucked it back in her breast pocket and stood up from her seat and walked to the plane exit. The last year-and- a half had been hard on the newly engaged couple; it was the first time she had been deployed since meeting him and for the first time she had someone other than her uncle Mitch to come home to.
Now she had her birth father and her self-appointed 'uncles', Brian and his coworkers waiting for her, she had more care packages and letters than she knew what to do with. While away, her paternal grandmother and one of Brian's female co-workers had been invaluable in helping her plan the wedding while she was overseas. They helped Brian and her plan the venue; pick the dress and a million other details she didn't have a clue about.
She finished her walk through the gates and made her way to baggage claim, collecting her duffle bag. As she started to the gates she saw the face she had been waiting for over a year to see, waiting at the gates for her. He was in his typical jeans and button-down and never looked so good. She started walking to him, then gradually faster till she was at a dead run and her duffle hit the ground with a thud and her arms and legs wrapped around him, laughing and kissing every inch of his face. He squeezed her to him before taking her lips with his, putting everything into that much awaited kiss. She was thrown back to all the memories they had made the year before. Their first meeting in town, dating and falling in love for the first time for her and finding out he was a guard for a well-known Texas prison.
They broke away, breathing hard. Reluctantly she unwrapped herself from him, realizing the audience they had. She gave him a teary smile, "I missed you." His thumb brushed a tear from her cheek, "Ditto." She couldn't help the laugh that bursted from her and hugged him again, "Oh God, how I've missed you!" His tender expression morphed into a wicked one that sent a hot shiver threw her body, "You can show me how much later. I know I plan to show you how much I've missed you. Repeatedly."
They couldn't get home fast enough for her liking. She grabbed her duffle bag and they walked out of the gate, hand in hand, "We might as well enjoy time alone while we can, because once Dad's released-it'll be a no-naked zone at my place and it's another six weeks till the wedding."
Brian's grimace was enough to make her laugh, but she bit her lip to keep it in. While Brian and her dad would never be best friends-the prisoner and guard deal kept that from happening-they got along a lot better than when Brian and her first announced they were dating. Who knows the wedding might go off without them trying to kill each other!
He swung her hand up, kissing the back of it, "Remind me again why we're abstaining till after the ceremony?" She gave a heavy sigh, "Cause Grandma Patty said it was tradition, supposed to make it more special and blah, blah, blah." He gave a belly laugh at her annoyed expression, "If you don't want to do it no more than I do, why we are?"
She gave him a smirk, "Lynnette said she had a tradition of her own. She and her husband didn't want to want no more than we do, so a friend of hers gave her a special wedding gift that would make waiting worthwhile. She sent me a very interesting care package." Now he looked interested, "What was it?" She smiled wickedly at him, "The Kama Sutra. She also threw in The Complete Guide to Tantra and something called Tickle His Pickle in case the Sutra was too tame." By the look on his face, he knew exactly what she was talking about. He shifted his feet and cleared his throat, "You know, maybe waiting isn't that bad. I mean it's only six weeks, we can wait till then." She barely hid her smile before he looked over at her, "Yes," she thought. "I'm definitely sending Lynnette a thank-you card."
They continued walking and talking as they left the airport waiting area, and continued to the lobby when she saw someone that made her pause. He was tall, with a clean-shaved head and from the back she saw he wore an old leather jacket and worn jeans. As he turned around she felt her breath catch in her throat. He had the muscular build of a football player or a wrestler and had the look of a man that had seen a lot in this world. His neat beard was more grey than it had been before.
It was Brian's whispered, "Surprise," in her ear that told her it wasn't a coincidence look-alike. He turned to face her fully and the big grin on his face said it all. For the second time that day she dropped her duffle and ran at the man full-out, "Dad!" and hugged him to her tight. Tears bright in her eyes as she hugged her father for the first time as a free man.
Battle hugged his daughter tight to his chest, tears in his eyes as he looked to the sky and thanked whatever god was watching for bringing his daughter back home to him.
Alittle background note here: Kate is Battle's daughter, she's the result of a one-night stand he had with her mother when they were teenagers. Her mother died when she was young and she was put into foster care; as soon as she aged out of the system she enlisted and had been on assignments nearly from the beginning since her basic training was completed. She was on leave for several months and finally had the chance to look into her birth records, that's when she found Battle. Battle had no idea a child came from that night. So to say he was shocked to find he had a grown daughter is an understatement!