When Sam arrived at work the next day, she attended quarters and was sent to the administrative office for paperwork. Standing in front of the admin guys, they handed over her paperwork with a smile.
"Congratulations, Commander," PS1 said happily. "You're going back to your old ship as the Executive Officer. And word has it, the Commanding Officer is leaving soon so you'll take over."
Sam sighed and stared at the papers and forced a smile. This was what she didn't want, but it beat moving across the country for some billet that would have made her life miserable. So, she took the papers after signing off of them, and went back to her office where she sat and did her paperwork. Her replacement was showing up in a week before she left the next month.
The packet that held her new orders sat menacingly by her computer, taunting her with a certain degree of uncertainty. But what other billet was there that was open and would work in her favor? The more she thought about it and let it consume her, the more she realized this was her journey forward. But her gut was turning, and she was nauseous beyond nauseous. More so than the mission she and Bradley almost got lost on. That was pure adrenaline, and though she had been in the Navy for almost eighteen years, this shouldn't be coming across as straight anxiety. But she inhaled deeply before standing up and deciding to leave for the day. It was Friday, and coming onto lunch, she said fuck it and grabbed her things.
After logging out and packing up for the weekend, she decided to head by checking out with the rest of the squadron. Luckily, their offices were connected to hers, so when she walked out of hers, they were all there. She excused herself for the day and told them they were good to go for the day. But what she didn't account for was her getting home.
Sam had ridden her motorcycle to work, and though no rain or clouds showed themselves in San Diego that day, her nausea was too intense. And it didn't help that she then realized she had to tell her family. But why was this ruining her psyche?
When Sam arrived home, she was greeted by just Bradley. Her children weren't out of school for the day yet and wouldn't be for another couple of hours. Bradley, who was folding clothes on the couch in the living room, immediately diverted his attention to his wife walking through the door.
"Sammy!" He exclaimed with a big smile on his face, only to sour when he saw Sam's face. She forced a smile, but she couldn't hide it from Bradley. She never could.
"Hi, Bradley," she forced out a genuine happiness to be home, but being overshadowed by her not wanting the orders she got.
"You got a carrier, didn't you?" Bradley knew instantly. Sammy nodded her head and inhaled deep and slowly let it out.
"It's the best interest for my career, and it was inevitable," Sammy replied. "I'll get over it."
"You're worried about the deployments," Bradley piped up.
"I am," Sam pursed her lips briefly. "I am, because I don't want to leave you or the kids behind. I know you all will be okay, but I just can't seem to get this nagging feeling out of my stomach."
"This is a big promotion for you. One you need for Captain. It's a lot of responsibility, but nothing you can't handle," Bradley reassured. "And I know something that will cheer you up."
"Pizza?" Sam asked, and Bradley nodded.
"Pizza. And I know the kids are going to be thrilled over that."
"Promise me when I go out to sea that you will feed them a vegetable or two? And some fruit?" Sam joked around. Bradley grabbed her by the waist and twirled her around, kissing her quickly on the lips.
"You know I'll take care of them. And if I don't, your mom will," Bradley joked before kissing her again. "You need to change and go get comfy."
Sam agreed and pulled away from her husband to head towards their bedroom. Bradley was not far behind with clothes in hand for her, smiling big. He set down a set of comfy athletic clothes for her, patting them gently once placed on her bedside, before leaving the room to give her privacy. Or some privacy because he was leaking through the door crack.
"Bradley, you see me naked every day," Sam chuckled as she undressed and quickly redressed.
"And a sunset is still beautiful every time you see it," Bradley defended before shutting the door fully and walked away.
Sam and Bradley both knew that they had to break the news to the children and to her mother. Sam's brothers weren't too into the whole Navy scene nowadays, but loved knowing Sam was in town for holidays and such.
The family of four sat at their dining room table and picked away at the pizzas they had ordered. Sam looked at Bradley and then at her children with the best smile she could muster.
"Nicki and Tommy, I need to tell you two something important," Sam said, staring at her children. They looked at her like they were about to learn the coolest secret a child could imagine. Sam enjoyed the innocence a child under ten had. She fondly remembered her dad telling her, her brothers, and her mother goodbye when he left on a deployment. Sam didn't care much when that happened and focused on what was playing on TV that morning.
"What is it, Momma?" Tommy asked playing with his pizza crust. The Friday sunset caught his golden brown hair perfectly and gave Nicki a ethereal glow on her dirty blonde hair. Sam felt proud when she looked at her two kids before speaking up.
"In the military, you get a thing called orders every three years or so," Sam started. "Momma got hers today, and I'm going back to a ship. A big ship. So no more coming home when you two get off the school bus. And no more me being gone for a month or two."
"Where are you going, Mommy?" Nicki asked, holding onto her glass cup with both hands, nursing on the water within.
"I'm going to an aircraft carrier here to be in charge of a lot of things. My work day will end a bit after you two get home. I will have to work some weekends. And when we go out to sea, I'm gone for most of the year," Sam felt herself getting choked up before inhaling. "But Dad's going to take care of you. And Grandma too." Sam paused before smiling to herself.
"Mommy's orders for this ship are three years, and she's up for a promotion which will be good for all of us," Bradley took over, seeing the pain generate behind his wife's eyes. The children stared at their dad and smiled big.
"Since Mom is going to be gone more, does that mean I still have to shower every day?" Tommy asked, and Sam laughed loud.
"No, son, you're going to have to shower still," Bradley shook his head.
"He's your kid," Sam whispered.
"And he's yours too. I saw him come out of you," Bradley whispered back. "I wish I didn't see that but so be it."
The whole family cleaned up dinner before sitting down to enjoy a movie for the night. But Sam, before settling down, picked up her phone to call her mother. Luckily for her, her mother had already gone through all of this with her father some thirty years prior.
The phone call lasted about twenty minutes before her mother wished her a good night and hung up. Sam wandered back to the living room and sat on the couch next to Bradley and with her daughter in between them. Tommy got off the couch, and went from sitting next to his dad to asking to sit on his mother's lap. And there they all say for the next hour and a half.
Sam gently got off the couch with Tommy in her arms, sleeping peacefully. She walked towards the bedrooms of her children to put Tommy to bed and to tuck her daughter in. Bradley followed behind, holding his half asleep daughter's hand to guide her to her bedroom.
Sam sat on the edge of her son's bed and kissed his forehead goodnight before leaving his room for the night. She shut his door fully and then headed into her daughter's room where Bradley was telling a wild story, most likely the one about how her mother save him from dying out in the snow covered wilderness.
"Is it true, Momma? You're a hero?" She asked softly, sleeping lingering in the undertones. Sam chuckled and walked over.
"It depends on whose story we're talking about," Sam replied.
"You're my hero, Mommy." Her daughter replied before ultimately falling asleep too. Sam stood there staring at her child and smiled slightly to herself as Bradley stood up and walked over to her. His hand placed itself gently on the small of her back and slowly pushed her towards the door.
He shut the door behind them and grabbed the hand of his wife and took it from her side and to his lips.
"Sam," he whispered. "We're going to be okay." Sam stared off down the hallway, lost in her thoughts, and nodded. She stayed in silence and then felt Bradley's hand drop hers and his arms wrapped themselves around her, bringing her in for a hug.
Time had passed, and Sam found herself on her carrier with her new rank, following the Commanding Officer around. Captain Rowe was known for his unethical techniques of flying, getting him the callsign "Rogue." He took the same unorthodox approach to running the aircraft carrier, which to Sam, was not her cup of tea.
The two sat in the CO's office, discussing the day and what was coming up. Sam sat in the leather arm chair, relaxing back and with her leg resting on the other.
"I knew Grenade, did you know that?" Captain Rowe brought up out of the blue. Sam looked up and became a child again, staring at the Captain with softened eyes.
"He was a good guy," Sam piped up, trying to block out the memories.
"We went through flight school together. I'm sorry about what happened," Captain Rowe ended the conversation quickly, noticing Sam's uneasy demeanor.
"I'm also sorry. I didn't know," Sam replied, looking at her CO. "How did you know about me and Grenade?"
"He talked fondly about you. And who doesn't know the name Kazansky too," Captain Rowe smiled genuinely. "When I saw your name on the updates I got, I knew that you were going to step up and more."
"Well, I appreciate the sentiment, Captain," Sam smiled back.
"I hope to see what you'll do for this ship, Commander. And I see you're in for a promotion."
"Yes, sir. I am last I heard," Sam replied. Captain Rowe nodded and thought for a couple of seconds and looked at Sam.
"You have kids? I heard you were married," he asked.
"I am married with two kids. One is eight and the other is five," Sam replied. "I married Bradley Bradshaw."
"Goose's kid?" Captain Rose interrupted. Sam's brow furrowed, and she nodded.
"Yeah... Yeah, he is," Sam trailed off. "How do you know that?"
"Everyone knows about what happened to his father. Considering your father and your godfather were involved, and it happened at Top Gun," Captain Rose explained. "Shame what happened."
"Yeah," Sam replied before standing up. "Well, I should probably go do work in my office."
"Sounds good," Captain Rowe said, standing up with Sam. "We have our deployment schedule up, but I heard it was subject to change. So, I can't release anything right now, but we're supposed to deploy within the year."
"Alright, sir. Just keep me posted."
"Oh, and Commander?" Captain Rose piped up, causing Sam's body to turn back towards him. "I'll make sure your promotion package comes in right away."
"Thank you, sir," Sam nodded in response and went back on her way.