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Pete and I were asleep until he woke up the next morning, I was still asleep, he smiled, leaned over and kissed my head. He got up, went to the kitchen to make coffee. I woke up to the smell of coffee, I got up and went to pour myself a cup. I then walked to the room I saw my handsome husband in, he was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the table. I smiled, walked up behind him, slid my hand down his chest and wrapped my arm around him. He smiled, put his hand on my arm, and leaned his head back, "Well, good morning, sleepyhead." He chuckled, I smiled, "Good morning, baby." I kissed his head. He had papers beside him, I nodded to them, "What's all that?" I asked. "Just mission stuff, old ones, at that. Just going through and looking at them again." He said as he turned his head to me, "But I'd rather my wife be beside me." I chuckled, "Say no more, Mav." I came around the couch to sit beside him, he moved the papers on the table. I sat down and leaned into him.
He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. I wrapped my arm around his waist. He sighed, I looked at him, "What?" I asked. "Nothing. I just sometimes still can't believe that you married me, that's all." He smiled, I giggled, "Well, I've loved you ever since I met you. Wherever you went that night at the bar, Goose had a talk with me before you came back." I said. "What'd he say?" He asked as he rubbed my arm. "Basically how long was I gonna keep my feelings for you to myself. But I don't know, I was too scared to act on it and like I told you one night in your room, I didn't wanna mess up anything between us." I shrugged and looked up at him. He smiled softly as he pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Baby, it's like I told you that same night, you could never mess it up, it just keeps getting better and better. I'll always love how you told me." He laughed. "Yeah, you kept asking." I poked him and chuckled. "Well I can't stand to see my girl upset, so had to get to the bottom of it, one way or another." He smiled. "Then when we went outside the bar, I did just kinda yell it at you, didn't I?" I laughed. He nodded, "You did. I told Goose I loved you before we even went to Top Gun, he knew it all along. I would've told you sooner about my feelings for you, but I was in the same boat as you." I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I'm really surprised he didn't say anything to either of us." I said. "So am I." He said as we both chuckled, "But now, I've been married to you for years and it's still amazing." I kissed him, he kissed me back and pulled me closer, "It is amazing, isn't it? I finally got the girl I've wanted my whole life and I get to keep her forever." He kissed my forehead. "Forever, baby." I rested my hand on his cheek.
"I love you." He said as he rested his forehead to mine. "I love you, too." I hugged him, he hugged me back tighter. "So, what are we doing for New Years Eve, Captain?" I asked. He shrugged, "I don't know, Mrs. Mitchell. We could always sneak a ride in an F-18." He laughed. "And get in trouble, again?" I chuckled as I got up, he pulled me back down, "Or we could go to Lake Tahoe and bring in the New Year?" He said as he looked at me. "That sounds amazing. But are you sure you wanna go back there? You were just there." I said. "Yes, I'm sure. I know I was, but my wife wasn't there with me and that sucked." He said as he kissed me. "Okay, then let's go!" I kissed him back. My phone went off, he handed it to me, it was a text from Rooster, "You guys down for a New Years Eve party tonight at the Hard Deck?" I showed it to Mav, "I mean, why not? We can bring in the New Year with them. But first, we're going to where I said at first and then we'll meet them later tonight, sweetheart." He smiled. "Sounds good, baby." I smiled. I texted Rooster to let him know that we'd see them later tonight. We got up and got ready.
We got on his bike, I wrapped my arms around his waist. I leaned up to kiss his cheek, he smiled. He took off and headed to our destination. We got there, he helped off his bike. He held my hand and interlocked our fingers together. "It's snowing." I leaned up and whispered in his ear. "That it is and you know what that means, baby." He smirked. "Maverick, don't you dare." I said. "Or what, Midnight?" He winked. "I haven't heard you call me my call sign in forever." I chuckled. "Well, wasn't it always Maverick and Midnight?" He kissed my lips quickly. I smiled and nodded, "Mhmm." He picked up some snow while I wasn't looking, made it into a snowball and threw it at me. "Alright, so that's how you wanna play? You're going down, baby!" I said. "You'll have to catch me first!" He yelled as he ran off. I shook my head and laughed. I hid behind a tree, gathering up snow and making it into snowballs, I saw him out of the corner of my eye, I threw one at him and hid. He laughed, "Okay, now who's going down?" I hit him again with one, "You are!" I laughed. "Oh, yeah? Is that what you think, sweetheart?" He said. "Uh... Yeah, duh!" I said. I went to throw one at him, but he dodged it and got me instead, he laughed, "Ha! In your face, baby!" "I hate you." I chuckled. "No, you love me." He chuckled.
"Yeah, you're right, I do." I said as I moved behind a different tree and got him with one. "Ha! Now what, baby!" I laughed. We went on for a few moments longer then he moved on the other side of the tree where I was, I carefully moved around the tree to where he was, he wasn't looking and I took the handful of snow I had and dumped it on his head. "I won!" I exclaimed. He shook his head, "Or I just let you win." He winked as he grabbed my hips and pulled me closer to him. "Well, if that's the case then... I wanna win for real, not my husband "letting" me." I laughed. "But I love you, that's why I let you win." He laughed. "Uh-huh. I love you, too, Mitchell." I kissed him hard. He held my face and kissed me back. "Okay, if you wanna win for real... Then you'll have to pin me down." He smiled. "Pin you down, that's it, baby?" I asked and chuckled. He nodded his head, "That's it, baby." I shrugged and pushed him down in the snow playfully. I then got on top of him and leaned closer to his lips, "So, you mean like this?" I said as I kissed him and pinned him down. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me down closer to him, "Yeah, exactly." He whispered as he grabbed my face and kissed me hard. I smiled into the kiss.
We got up and sat down by the tree, "You know, I didn't ever tell you this, but that's the same thing I did to Rooster when he saved my life." He chuckled. "You pushed him down?" I laughed. "Yeah, I didn't expect him to come save me. It caught me off guard, I guess. I mean when I saw his jet get hit, a lot of thoughts went through my head." He sighed and looked at me. "Mav, of course he was gonna save you, you're all his got in the way of a father figure, sweetheart. I can imagine what kinda thoughts went through your head because we both know what that's like to lose someone like that. When I heard that you had been shot down and Cyclone told everyone to get back with you still out there, I was scared." I said as I looked at him. He smiled softly and turned to me, "But I promised you that I was coming home to you and I'll never break a promise to you, baby." He cupped my cheek, ran his fingers through my hair, keeping his hand there. I leaned into his hand, "I know, baby. Me either." I touched his arm and ran my fingers across it. He cupped my other cheek and pulled me in for a kiss. I kissed him back. "How about something to eat?" He asked as he nodded back to the building. I smiled and nodded. He got up and extended his hand out to me, I put my hand in his, he pulled me up, "Such a gentleman." I chuckled softly. He chuckled and kissed my cheek. I wrapped my arm around his waist and we walked into the building.
We sat at a table and ordered. We ate. I laughed to myself. "What is it?" He asked me. "This just reminds me of when we went to the airport with Goose to wait on Carole and Bradley." I smiled. He smiled softly, "Yeah, it does. And then I took your drink." He laughed and took a drink of mine. I shook my head and hit his arm playfully, "Really, again, Mav?" I chuckled. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "Good memories, baby." He said. "Indeed, baby. We have some really good memories and I'll always cherish them. Although, I miss them so much, Mav." I said as I leaned my head on his shoulder. He pulled me closer to him, "I miss them, too, sweetheart." He said, I sniffled. "It's okay, baby." He said as he kissed my temple, lingering there for a moment. "I'm glad I have you, Pete." I whispered to him. "I'm glad I have you, too." He hugged me, I hugged him back. "Wanna head back and get ready to go to the Hard Deck?" He asked, I nodded. He got up and pulled me up. We walked out hand in hand to his bike. We got on, I wrapped my arms around his waist and put my chin on his shoulder. "I love you." He smiled. "I love you, too." I smiled back and we left.
We went back to the hangar to get ready. We showered and got dressed. He put on a dark blue t-shirt and blue jeans, "I can't believe you're not wearing one of your white t-shirts, baby." I laughed. He shook his head, "Shut up." He laughed, "I own more than just white shirts, baby." He said. "I know you do." I said as I walked over to him, "Just kidding, I love whatever you wear." I kissed his lips. I had on a dark blue sequined shirt, "Now, this..." He plucked at my shirt, "This is beautiful." He smiled. I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I thought you might like it, Mav." I said. "Like it? Sweetheart, I love it." He kissed me, I kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around me, "Ready?" He asked. "I'm ready." I said. He kissed me again and took my hand, we headed to the Hard Deck.
He parked and we went inside. "There they are!" Rooster announced. We laughed and sat down. "Hey, guys." Phoenix said. "Hey, what's up?" I asked. "Nothing. We were just wondering when you two were gonna show up. I love your shirt." She smiled. "Well, we kinda had a day to ourselves before coming here and thank you." I smiled back at her. "You guys deserve it." Bob said. Penny walked over and agreed, "They do, don't they? After those missions, especially." She smiled as she put our drinks down. "Thanks, Penny." I smiled. "Yeah, definitely. It's always good when we get days to ourselves like that." Mav said. "Yeah, it is." I smiled at him. We all talked for a little while longer before Mav looked at me, I looked over at him, "Yes, baby?" I asked. "Wanna play a game of pool?" He asked. "You mean like you and me?" I asked him. "Yeah, let's see who beats who." He winked and chuckled softly. "Okay, but just remember you asked for it!" I winked back at him and went to the pool table. "Always a competition with these two." Hangman chuckled. We both got a pool cue. "You're going down, baby." He said. "Okay, we'll see, baby." I said as I shrugged. "Wow, Mav. Your wife beat you two times." Coyote chuckled. Maverick laughed. After we played two games, he came over and stood in front of me. "I've known you for years, how did I not know you were so good at this?" He asked. I shrugged, "You never asked me." I laughed. He smiled and took my hand, we sat down watching the others play.
He kissed my cheek, "Good game, sweetheart." He said. "You too, baby." I smiled. "Wanna go watch the fireworks?" He asked. "Of course I do, come on!" I said as I grabbed his hand, he laughed and we went outside. We sat down in the sand and watched them, I laid my head on his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. I kissed his cheek and rested my hand on his thigh, he smiled as he squeezed me gently. I wrapped my arm around his waist and kissed his jaw, I felt him smile. He took my hands and pulled me up with him, the countdown started, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" Everyone shouted. He grabbed my face and kissed me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and slid my fingers through his hair and kissed him back. He held my face in his hands, "Happy New Year, baby!" He said. "Happy New Year, baby!" I told him. He kissed me again, "I love you." He said, smiling. "I love you, too." I smiled back at him and kissed him again. "Another year of getting to love my best friend." I said. "Here's to another year of loving you, sweetheart. You're my best friend." He said. I kissed him, he kissed me back and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back tighter. We continued celebrating the new year with everyone and eventually went home.
We held each other tightly in our arms. "Thank you for today, baby." I leaned my head up from his chest and looked at him. "You're so welcome, baby. Thank you." He said as he pulled me closer. "You're welcome, Mav." I smiled, he smiled and kissed my forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart." He said. "Night, babe." I snuggled closer to him, he held me tighter in his arms.