Under the Mistletoe

News

It was a perfect Friday afternoon.

Mav had sent Rooster and Hangman on a trip to bring some supplies from Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada and the plan was for them to use my space to transport. The rest of us had the afternoon off and we first went to grab lunch before going our separate ways.

I laid on the couch, the warm sun beaming through the floor to ceiling windows, when I heard footsteps. I turned my attention away from the book I had been reading to see my dad standing above me.

"You got your wish."

"My wish?" I questioned. "You mean you finally got me that pony I've been asking for since I was three?"

"Not quite," he chuckled.

"My stuff is here and my house is ready?"

"No," my dad replied. "Freight was held on your stuff while we waited to see how things went with the Daggers. You're headed back to Italy just like you wanted."

"I- I don't want to," I replied. "I want to stay here. I love it here."

"Brooklyn, I don't know many times I've heard you say you don't want to be here, that they don't accept you, so on and so forth."

"That was before," I replied. "I'm happy. I don't want to go back. Didn't you see us all getting along at that dinner last week?"

I sat up and tears filled my eyes.

"I will do anything! Just please let me stay here! Let me finish my time with the Navy stationed here. It's only three more years," I pled as I grabbed his hand. "Dad, please!"

"Brooklyn Kennedy, you can never make up your mind so I had to."

"Dad, you can't send me back to Italy," I replied before sucking in a shaky breath.

"Why not?" He questioned. "Brook, look I'm sorry. You know it's all business."

"You can't send me back because I can't raise a child there all by myself."

My dad finally met my gaze and his face dropped at my confession. Tears streamed down my face, terrified of what my dad would say or think but he seemed calm.

"What did you say?" He questioned as he sat next to me.

"Jake doesn't know. You're the only one," I replied softly as I looked at the ground. "I didn't know how to tell anyone."

"Y-you're pregnant?"

My dad turned to face me but I couldn't look him in the eye. I had been at North Island for eight weeks and according to the pregnancy test I had taken earlier in the day, it noted that I was at least four weeks pregnant which placed conception around Christmas and my birthday.

"I'll see what I can do."

I finally looked at my dad and he swallowed hard. He looked to be in disbelief as his eyes shifted around the room before falling back to me.

"You're going to be a great mother," my dad muttered. "A better parent than I ever was."

"Dad, you've always been the best parent, even if I didn't always see it that way. You and mom did everything for us," I muttered as I curled up and leaned against my dad. "You gave the three of us lives that others only wish they could have."

He put his arm around me and sighed.

"When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I'm kind of scared if you want me to be honest. I'd hate to be the reason his career is toast."