Ghost • Tom Kazansky

• Chapter Eleven •

The following day, Kara had found herself seated at a booth between Pep and Carole - with Terence seated beside his wife, and Charlie next to him while Pete was beside Carole; all six of them watching as Nick played the piano with Bradley sitting on top of it.

"You shake my nerves, and you rattle my brain. Thinking about your love drives a man insane." Nick sang.

He had been learning and playing that song for as long as Kara could remember. It was his song, and he couldn't help but broaden her smile as Bradley sang with his father.

"Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!" The father and son duo continued, which earned a loud whoop from Pete.

"Maverick, would you go fetch him?" Carole laughed and nudged the dark-haired pilot softly. "Doesn't he ever embarrass you?"

"Goose? Hell no!" Pete replied with a grin.

"Your husband is the life of the party, Carole." Terence added and took a sip of beer.

Pete nodded fondly. "Although, there was the time--"

"Admiral's daughter." Kara, Carole, Terence, and Pep said in unison, cutting the pilot off in mid-sentence.

"What?" Pete exclaimed with bewilderment as he looked around the table, only to be met with amused glances.

"He told us all about the time you went ballistic with Penny Benjamin." Kara stated with a smirk as Carole nodded her head with a bright smile.

"Did he?" Pete quizzed rhetorically before nodding his head slowly. "Well, that's great."

"He tells me about all of them, Maverick." Carole replied as she munched on some popcorn. "How my little angel, Goose goes home early for church and you? You always go home with the hot women."

"Alright, thank you, Carole." Pete said. "I'm gonna go and embarrass myself with Goose for a while."

"I'll join you." Terence responded, grabbing hold of his beer and sliding out of the booth, which gave the women time to catch up.

Carole shifted her gaze towards the blonde instructor. "I would love to be able to warn you off about Maverick, but I just love him to death." She said and popped another piece of popcorn into her mouth.

"We all do." Pep added. "He is truly something and tends to grow on you."

The blonde woman nodded her head in agreement. "You know, I've known Pete for a lot of years now, and I'm telling you one thing's for certain. There are hearts breaking wide open all over the world tonight."  

"Why?" Charlie asked.

"Because unless you are a fool, that boy is off the market." Carole replied with a smile. "He is one hundred percent, prime-time in love with you."

This caused a smile to form across Charlie's lips.

"And Maverick isn't the only one in love." Pep commented and shifted her gaze towards the youngest Bradshaw sibling with a grin.

A blush dusted across Kara's cheeks at the statement. "What?"

"Hmm, yes." The pilot's sister-in-law hummed. "And where is Mr. Kazansky today? We all would've loved to get to know him a little better and make sure that we can trust him with our Kara's heart."

The pilot rolled her eyes with a smile. "His family flew in last night, so he's spending the afternoon with them." She answered.

Carole hummed with a nod of her head, a soft smile gracing her features at how happy her sister-in-law had been over the recent week before she shifted her gaze towards her husband.

"Hey, Goose, you big stud!" She exclaimed, which grabbed Charlie's attention as both Kara and Pep giggled.

"That's me, honey!" Nick replied with a love-sick grin.

"Take me to bed or lose me forever." She said.

Nick twisted in his seat, his fingers still dancing across the piano keys as he continued to play the melody of his favourite song, as he stared at his wife. "Show me the way home, honey." He responded and turned around with a bright smile.

With that, all four women had gotten up from their seats and followed Carole over to the piano as she led them over. 

"Come on, Bradley, let's sing with the family." Nick said as Carole sat down on his lap and immediately wrapped his arm around her waist before letting out a loud whoop with Pete.

"Where's my little man?" Kara grinned at Bradley, who simply let out a laugh, before she took him into her arms and began dancing with him.

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain. Thinking about your love drives a man insane. You broke my will, but what a thrill. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"