Author's Note: Guys! Just two more chapters after this one! Brad and Thea's first story is almost over! BUT there is another story coming your way after this one is over! How exciting is that?!

This chapter feels a little fluffy, but these are scenes that I wanted to write for you guys. So I did!

The breeze that fluttered through the french doors of her parent's deck was cool against her skin as she sat in the dining room with her pop. She loved this time of year; the weather was starting to warm up but evenings were cool and breezy and she could smell the salt of the ocean on the air.

Normally, she would be enjoying herself, sitting in the salty breeze and talking with her pop, but she couldn't stop herself from checking her phone again.

He put his glass down and chuckled. "It'll ring when he calls, ya know?"

She sighed and placed the phone back on the table. At her father's pointed look, she turned it face down. "I just wanted to see what time it is." She shrugged but they both knew that wasn't true. She didn't want to miss Brad's call and if he hadn't insisted that she go to dinner she would have stayed home to make sure she could answer.

Her mother came in with a dish of food and sat next to her father. "Leave her alone, Bill." She spooned some food for herself and passed the dish to Thea. "She misses him."

"She checked that phone constantly before he left." He pouted playfully at her mother. "He may as well just come to dinner with her."

Thea knew that wouldn't be happening. The only time someone outside of the family had been invited to their monthly dinner they had been rude to Pop, insulted her Mama's cooking, and been dumped by her brother that night. Her mother deemed that very night that no one was invited to their monthly family dinner and they had stuck to that ruling ever since.

"You know what, Bill?" Her mother took a sip of her drink before continuing. "He should."

"He should," Thea questioned, unable to help herself. "You never invite anyone to dinner."

"Well, that's not true," the older woman answered gloomily, no doubt remembering Charlie's one-time girlfriend. She cheered up as she said, "But Bradley is family and it's a family dinner!"

She turned her unbelieving eyes to her father, but his proud smirk let her know he had planned this. He gave her a wink and she laughed.

"As a matter of fact," her mother spoke again. "He'll be home next month. Bring him with you." Her mother beamed over the table at her and Thea was filled with gratitude. She was thankful, not only because her family had so completely accepted the man she loved, but also because she knew how much it would mean to Brad.

It had been a long time since he had felt like he was part of a family and every time her parents did something to include him, he felt more and more like he had a family again. He would try to argue that he didn't want to intrude on her time with her parents, but she knew he would be beyond touched and would eventually give in and join her. "Thank you, Mama."

Her mother didn't have a chance to respond as her phone started vibrating against the wooden table. Smiling, she picked it up quickly to see that it was indeed Brad calling.

"Told you it would ring," her father grumped from beside her.

She heard mother chastise him as she answered Brad's call. "Hi, darlin'."

"Hey, sweetheart." His smile was bright as he greeted her. He wore his regular black T-shirt under the shirt she had gotten him for Christmas.

She still couldn't believe he managed to wear the shirt around the carrier. He was supposed to be in some semblance of uniform at all times, yet there he was sporting brightly colored flowers. When she had first asked if he was worried he would get in trouble, he had said that didn't matter to him; he wanted to feel close to her and his shirt made that happen.

"I see you're still wearing the shirt," she laughed.

"Of course, I am." He smirked at her and she swore her legs turned to jelly. She couldn't wait until he was with her again and she could kiss those smirking lips and slide his shirt from his shoulders and…

"Tell him about dinner, dear!" Her mother's voice broke her from her thoughts and considering the turn they had taken that was probably a good thing.

When she focused back on the screen in front of her, she saw the longing in his eyes and knew he knew what she had been thinking and felt the same.

"Thea?" Her mother was still trying to her her attention so she looked away from the phone and said, "I will, Mama."

Focusing on Brad again, she announced, "You have been invited to dinner next month."

He cocked his head and asked, "Your family dinner?" When she nodded, he said, "Sweetheart, that's your time with your parents."

"She didn't invite you, dear." She hadn't noticed her mother get up and come around the table, but she stood bent over behind Thea so she could see the phone screen. "I did."

Brad looked shocked and Thea didn't know if it was because of her mother's sudden appearance or because of her invitation. He recovered quickly, however, and waved. "Hi, Miss Gwen."

"Hello, dear." She could see her mother's bright smile on the screen. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing all right, ma'am." He smiled at her mother. Thea knew he loved having a motherly presence in his life and wondered why she hadn't shared some screen time with her mother before.

"You're being safe?" These were questions that she used to ask Charlie every time he called on deployment and she realized for the first time that her mother must have missed having a son to care for.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Gwen." Her father's voice was gruff but there was warmth in his eyes. "You're mothering the boy."

Her mother stuck her tongue out at Pop. "You, shush." She turned back to Thea's phone. "Bradley, dear, you'll come to dinner next month?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good!" The older woman stood back up and turned to her father. "Bill, aren't you going to say hi to Bradley."

"He didn't call to talk to me, love." Looking at Thea, he jerked his head toward the hall. "Go on, girl."

She got up quickly from her chair and placed a kiss on her pop's cheek. "Thank you," she whispered as she left the dining room. When she got to the living room, she stopped and focused on Brad again. "Hey."

Chuckling, he said, "Hey."

She smiled at him. "Thank you for agreeing to dinner. It means a lot to her."

"It means a lot to me, too, sweetheart." His smile was sweet and Thea longed to hold him. Soon, she thought.

They spent a few minutes talking about how her days had been and how he, Logan, and Pheonix had been doing on the carrier. Before she knew it, he was looking down at his watch. "You have to go."

He nodded. "How long have I got, sweetheart?"

She didn't need to think about it. "Three weeks and two days."

"Then I get to come home to you." He smiled before looking at someone on the other side of the camera. When he looked back, he was frowning. "It's time for me to go." His smile returned as he said, "I love you, sweetheart."

She couldn't help but smile herself. "I love you, too." She still couldn't believe this wonderful man loved her. And soon he would be home with her again.

—

It had been a long day; he, Phoenix, and a few of their fellow pilots had run a fly-over mission that day. He loved his job and there wasn't anything that would stop him from flying, but even after all these years, completing any mission that involved flying over water frayed his nerves.

Brad wanted nothing more than to curl up next to Thea and rest. He would have settled for calling her, but he had called her the day before and didn't have more communications time for a couple of days. Since he couldn't see her or call her, he did the next best thing. He lay on his bunk, the sleeves of his flight suit tied around his waist so he could wear the bright Hawaiian shirt she had gotten him for Christmas over his customary black T-shirt. His hand rested over his single dog tag and he smiled, knowing that Thea wore the other.

His eyes were closed as he thought about how good it would feel to be in her arms again, how bright her smile would be and how warm her kiss would feel when he saw her again.

"Rooster."

When Brad opened his eyes, he saw Logan's tall, nervous form in the door. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "What's up, Logan?"

The usually confident catapult officer walked further into the room and pointed to the empty spot beside him.

"Sure." Brad moved over and let his friend sit next to him. He was starting to get worried about the other man. Logan was a self-assured man that faced anything thrown at him with determination. Today, as he sat next to Brad, he looked a little green around the gills. "You good, man?"

Logan took a moment before finally answering, "There's something I want to do, but I'm not sure I should."

Brad's mind went to the worst-case scenario he had seen too many times on deployment before he could stop himself. He knew Logan better than that, though. There was no way he would be unfaithful. "What do you want to do?" He hadn't noticed that the other man's hand gripped a small box until he lifted it to Brad. Taking the box, he opened it and saw the glittering diamond inside.

"Stef and I talked about it while we were home for Christmas." He rubbed his hands together anxiously. "She wants to get married and I love her." Looking up at Brad, he asked, "But what if it's too soon?"

He had to admit he was surprised to hear that Logan and Stef had talked about getting married when they were on leave. That had been months ago and this was the first he was hearing about it. Logan had obviously been thinking about and he wasn't sure why his friend hadn't shared such a big decision with him. He would have supported him through it just like he would now.

He just wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that.

Was he the best person to be asking about the speed of relationships? His and Thea's relationship was so unlike any he had been in before and that wasn't a large number. He could count on just a couple of fingers the number of girlfriends he'd been serious with and he had never thought about marrying them. And despite knowing that Thea was the woman he would spend the rest of his life with, he knew they were a long way from anything like marriage.

"I…" He started to speak but realized he had no idea what he was going to say.

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" Logan seemed a little panicked at Brad's lack of words.

"No!" He exclaimed. He tried to think of what he should say but realized that didn't matter. His friend wanted his honest opinion. What was his opinion? Suddenly, he remembered a story his mom had told him about when Nick had asked Pete the same question before proposing and he knew exactly what to say. "Look, Logan. You love each other. You know she wants to get married." When Logan nodded, he asked, "Are you ready to marry her?"

"I am." It was the first bit of confidence he had seen from his friend since he entered the room but it was quickly overshadowed by doubt. "But what if…"

Brad was quick to stop him. "What ifs don't matter. If you're both ready, if you both want it, that's all that matters." He shrugged. "Who gives a fuck if someone else might think it's too soon?"

Logan took a minute to think about what Brad had said. He held his hand out for the ring box still in Brad's hand and when it was back in his grasp he looked at it with a creased brow. Brad smiled when he saw Logan nod to himself and close the box. "I'm going to do it."

He clapped a hand on Logan's shoulder. "When?"

The other man didn't have to think about the answer and that told Brad he'd already put a lot of thought into proposing. "Day we get back." Smiling, he asked, "Why wait?"

"I can't think of a reason you should."

The room fell silent then and Brad took a moment to think about how much his life had changed since that fateful day that Logan invited him to hang out at a great little bar. He had the love of a woman he had almost lost before things even got started, a family that had welcomed him with open arms, and a friend that shared the biggest movements of his life with him.

None of that would have happened if he had spent another Friday night at the party bars with Robbie.

"You," Logan broke the silence, "look ridiculous."

"Hey, now!" Brad laughed at the dismayed look on Logan's face. He ran his hands over the material of his shirt proudly. "This is a great shirt!" He puffed out his chest in mock bravado. "My girl got it for me." He smiled brightly as Logan chuckled before becoming somber. Shrugging, he added, "You have to do what you can to remind yourself of home."

Logan looked down at his ring box again as he answered, "You sure do, man."

—

Thea rushed through the apartment, moving quickly from the kitchen to the bedroom. She had just thrown a frozen dinner in the microwave and needed to make sure her phone was charged and get changed while it was cooking. She normally allowed herself the time at the end of the day to unwind if she knew Brad was calling, but Jim had been running late due to car trouble and it had thrown her entire routine off.

The microwave dinged just as she pulled on the Hawaiian shirt Brad had let her steal from him. Making her way back to the kitchen, she pulled the too-hot meal from the microwave and sat down at the bar to eat. She had only taken a couple of bites when the phone rang. She swallowed the bite she was chewing and answered.

Brad's face filled her screen. "Hey, sweetheart." Smiling, he gave her a little wave. She noticed that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and he looked tired.

"Hey." She waved back. "You okay, darlin'?"

"I'm great."

She knew he was lying and she hated that he felt like he had to put on a front to keep her at ease. She couldn't blame him after everything that had happened. When they had first met, and even after they had become a couple, she had pushed him away out of fear and they were currently living through her worst nightmare.

His being away, where he was in danger every day, wasn't easy for her and she needed his support through this time. But it wasn't easy for him either and he needed her support.

"Nope."

"Nope," he questioned, brow furrowed.

"I don't believe you." She knew that he had flown a mission a few days earlier and since he was on a carrier that meant flying over water. He had confessed to her during his leave that was the only part of flying he hated. Water. Considering that he lost his father over water, she couldn't blame him. But he had flown several missions since returning to the carrier and he hadn't been rattled by it for this long. She had a feeling it was something else.

When he tried to argue, she simply said, "You can tell me."

He smiled sadly and sighed. "I'm just ready to be home." He looked down and Thea knew it was so he could collect himself. He was in a room full of other people, after all.

She remembered how tired Charlie used to be toward the end of a deployment. Logan was the same. She couldn't imagine being on a ship hundreds of miles away from your family for six months. It would exhaust her, too.

Brad had also confessed that he had never experienced being homesick on his previous deployments because he didn't have anyone waiting for him. Longing for home was new to him which had to make being stuck on that ship even harder.

"Hey!" She smiled as he looked back up at the screen. "How much longer have you got?" It was his line, meant to comfort her and remind her that he would be home soon. Today, she thought he needed the reminder.

Despite the fatigue in his eyes, he smiled brightly. "Six days."

"Then you have to come home to me." She couldn't believe she would see him again in less than a week. The past six months were some of the most terrifying of her life, but they were finally coming to an end.

"Can't wait, sweetheart."

Author's Note: Brad's deployment is almost over! Yay! I hope you guys liked it and I'll see you next week with chapter twenty-three!