Chapter Text
Everyone stared back with tilted heads and confused looks. This was a joke, right? It had to be a joke. There was no way it was real. Could it?
“I’m sorry. I think I misheard.”
Everyone turned towards Penny before heads whipped back to Maverick to catch his reaction.
“Because it sounded an awful lot like you just invited everyone to spend the holidays together.”
“I did,” answered her husband, his grin widening proud of himself over this asinine idea.
“Tom,” Penny sighed, glancing at the silent blond looking anywhere but at the gathered group “please tell me he’s joking.”
“Oh, come on, Pen,” complained Maverick loudly, regaining everyone’s attention. “It’ll be fun!”
“It’ll be a shit show,” muttered Amelia, glancing at her older brother and catching his silent nod.
“These things don’t just happen without a reason. So, let’s take advantage for once and have a big family vacation for the holidays. Immediate and extended. Military and civilian. All of us.” He then grabbed her hands squeezing them. “Please?” He even batted his eyes for good measure, knowing she couldn’t resist that look. Rarely anyone could. It helped him get his way a lot.
Penny’s eyes darted behind him instantly again. Glancing back at her husband, she sighed deeply when Ice still refused to step in. “I can’t just close the bar down out of the blue like this.” Not so soon after the last time at least. She was losing money each night it wasn’t open. Money she couldn’t use on Jimmy or even Bradley. Or to pay any vendors either. “What are my customers supposed to do?”
“Go to a different bar?” he offered with a light shrug, not seeing the issue.
“Pete!” God, sometimes she just wanted to shake her infuriating dumbass.
“It’s only for a week,” he argued. “And I promise. It’ll be worth it.” He flashed a lopsided grin to her. “You need a vacation. We all do. So, let’s have one, sweetheart. Just you, me, the kids, your dad, the ’86 flyboys—hell, everyone’s invited. Let’s make it a week to remember.”
Oh, it was definitely going to be that.
“Please?” he begged.
A moment later, Ice finally spoke. “Let’s go for a walk, shall we?” he asked to Penny.
She nodded, glancing back at her daughter, who was currently holding her three-month-old little brother carefully. Penny gave both kids a quick kiss to the forehead. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Amelia bit back the quip and forced a smile. She wasn’t worried. It was only her dad’s secret not so secret side piece walking off with her mother to an unknown location for an indeterminate amount of time after supposedly faking his death or something. What was there to be worried about here really?
“By everyone, do you mean, like, everyone?” asked Bradley.
Their dad shrugged again. “I mean, I was thinking roughly thirty people or so. It depends on if Ice can get Omaha and the others transferred back in time. Why?”
“So, Ethan can come?” asked Amelia hopefully, glancing at her dad.
“Yeah, if it’s okay with Cyclone,” he replied. “They’re a part of this family now, I suppose.” It was hard to claim otherwise, considering Ethan’s selfless actions while Amelia remained unconscious for two months in the hospital. There was no denying their places in the growing messy family.
Bradley glanced at his husband instantly. Oh, this was going to go so badly.
“How exactly are you planning to get thirty people to wherever we’re headed, Pops?” Jake wondered aloud, crossing his arms with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Fly us there.”
“Commercial?” squawked Coyote and Payback simultaneously.
“Oh, no, no, no. I’m out!” declared Payback, shaking his head. “I hate flying commercial.”
“Me too!” announced Coyote, nodding in solidarity with Payback. "Hell, I don't even celebrate Christmas, sir." Not really at least.
“Guys, it’s okay. Honest.”
“And how exactly is it ‘okay,’ sir?” asked Bob skeptically.
“Because I happen to know a very good commercial pilot,” grinned Maverick.
“Oh, hell no,” scoffed Slider, raising his hands. “I am not taking part in any of this shit show of yours, Mitchell.” They could do this very much without him, thank you very much.
“Wait, so you don’t want to spend time with me?” Amelia’s head hung when Slider didn’t respond. “Oh. I thought maybe we could, seeing as how it’d be Christmas.” Her eyes fell to the floor.
“It’s not . . . I . . .” Slider’s broad shoulders then slumped as his head fell forward. One of these days he’d know how to do this whole thing without messing it up. “Damn it,” he muttered, glancing upwards at the ceiling. He drew in a sharp breath a moment later. “Actually, you know what, why not?”
“Really?” She cheered up instantly as if someone flipped a switch.
“Really,” he confirmed, nodding with a small smile. He didn’t have anything better. Plus, Maverick was right. The chances of everyone being around at the same time was a damn miracle. He knew he could use the break. They all could after this past year. What could it hurt?
“Thank you!” Amelia smiled widely.
There was no doubt in his mind how if she weren’t holding her baby brother, he probably would have had an arm full of fifteen-year-old after that. As it was, he only inclined his head to her before he stepped back into the crowd towards the other gathered ’86 bros.
“Dude, you so just got owned,” snickered Hollywood, shaking his head.
Wolfman full-bodied laughed at him, not even bothering to hide his amusement.
“Oh, fuck off, assholes,” Slider bristled, shaking his head. “And if I have to go, so do you two.”
“Are you nuts? Course we’re going.”
“Wouldn’t miss this shit show for the world.”
“Between the awkwardness of Mav and Ice and Penny and you, hell, this is gonna be a riot.”
Slider groaned. “I hate all of you.”
That was one of many reasons why it wasn’t a good idea. He and Ice still hadn’t had their long overdue conversation yet. Something always came up, so they’d push it aside. At some point, they’d have to speak to one another, though. Hash out all the bad feelings that were now there between them.
“Sure you do, Grumpy,” chuckled Hollywood, slinging an arm around Slider’s shoulders. “And we so believe that, too, don’t we, Wolfy?”
“Yep, sure do, Woody.”
“Dad?” Bradley sighed, stepping closer to Maverick. “Are you sure about this?”
“Spending a week with our family? Of course I am,” he answered. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
Bradley scratched at his scruffy jaw, glancing around at the others hesitantly breaking off into small groups to discuss the latest January bombshell.
“It’s just . . . sometimes you have this habit of biting off more than you can chew.”
“Kid, it’s okay. Really. I talked it all out with Ice beforehand, and he agreed it’d be a good idea.”
Bradley bit his tongue to keep back the quip how Ice would approve anything to get back into good graces after the bullshit stunt pulled a year ago. He knew how his dad would react to that.
“How exactly are we going to do this, though, Pops?” Jake pressed a little harder this time. “We’re talking roughly thirty people.”
“Possibly more even.”
“All right. And how are we going to do that exactly?”
“Jake, relax. I’ve got this covered.”
Seresin’s eyes darted to Bradley in a clear ‘Pops is being mental again.’
“Dad, it’s just . . . Phoenix can’t fly in a few weeks, domestic or otherwise because of—”
“I know,” Maverick stated with that proud grin of his he’d worn since they informed him and Penny about Phoenix’s pregnancy. “I’ve worked it out with Ice, though. I won’t jeopardize her or the baby’s health. I swear it, Bradley. They will be fine.”
“You honestly want the whole family there for this?” he asked instead. “It’s only been a couple of weeks since Ice returned—”
“—exactly!” interrupted Maverick. He forced a smile, patting Bradley’s forearm gently. “There’s no better time than this for that very reason. Guys, trust me. This isn’t me being my usual dumbass self. I’ve thought this out this time.”
“Where are you going to house all of us?”
“Found a resort actually. Some of us might have to double up, namely Daggers, but the math works if everyone agrees to spending a week together in close quarters.”
“All thirty of us?”
“Well, if everyone says yes, then it’ll be thirty adults, three kids, and one baby split up between seven cabins, but yes.”
Damn, that was a lot of people.
“You have the sleeping assignments already made up, I take it?” asked Jake.
“A rough draft of it, yeah. I’ll finalize once I get a hard number.”
Bradley wasn’t necessarily against it. They did need the break. They needed something that wasn’t going to punch them in the gut yet again. Maybe the week away would help. It couldn’t hurt.
“Is Ice going with us?” he asked, unable to help himself. He caught his husband’s quick look of surprise before Jake managed to school his face again.
“Of course.” Maverick’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “He’s our family, Bradley.”
Yeah. He was, and Bradley did still love Ice a lot. It’s just . . . this was a lot still.
“All right. I suppose we can spend a week away.”
Maverick’s smile grew ten times larger. “You won’t regret this, Bradley. Promise. This will be the best family vacation ever.”
Bradley nodded slowly. Yeah . . . somehow, he doubted that.
When the final numbers came in, it ended up being twenty-nine adults, three kids, and one baby. The only person who declined was Hondo’s wife, Lin, who insisted her husband go without her since she already made her usual plans to stay with her parents in Hawaii for Christmas.
“Holy swanky digs!” whistled Coyote as he stepped inside the private jet.
“Damn! Whose plane is this?” scoffed Fritz, shaking his head impressed.
“Don’t look at me,” Maverick huffed out a laugh. “The only thing I know is Ice managed to call in a favor or two to get us to use it.”
Amelia slid into the window seat, glancing at her dad as he silently folded up her cane she was still using to steady herself. “Is he planning on joining or are we going to have to wait forever?”
“He had a last-minute meeting,” her dad answered, brushing off her tone like he had been doing since the whole Ice was alive debacle finally erupted. “But he said he’ll be at the resort when we arrive.” He forced out a low chuckle, gently running a loving hand over her head. “One of the few perks of being COMPACFLT, I’ve been told.” He then turned away to take baby Jesse from Penny’s arms.
Amelia forced herself to relax when Ethan took the empty seat beside her a moment later, grabbing her hand with a soft smile. He was single handedly saving her dad from yet another of her bitchy remarks. This whole thing was a mess from start to finish honestly. Her dad had to see that.
“There will be no making out on this plane, you two,” Jake stated flatly from where he stood near the cockpit. “Or we will turn this damn plane around.”
“Oh, sit down already, Seresin,” scoffed Slider, yanking him down into the co-pilot seat beside him. “And help me start on this damn checklist.”
“Aye, aye, Cap.”
Those already on board chuckled quietly.
“So, I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t really say where this resort was exactly, Mav.”
“Somewhere warm, I hope!” called out Halo, smiling as she slipped her hand into Phoenix’s.
“Uh . . .” Maverick cleared his throat loudly, scratching the back of his neck.
“Oh no,” groaned Penny. She knew that look. “Pete, what did you do now?”
“So, it’s not, um, warm outside per se,” he stated with an awkward shrug.
“What does that mean exactly, Mitchell?” glared Cyclone.
“Dear God. What did you two idiots plan now?” Sarah sighed heavily.
“Mav? Buddy, out with it,” ordered Hollywood, snapping his fingers sassily at him.
“Where the hell are you taking us, Dad?”
“—the fuck?!” Slider called out suddenly before he whirled around with the flight plan in hand, finally taking the time to glance at it. “Montana? You want us to fly to fucking Montana?”
Everyone immediately whirled on Maverick.
“Dad?”
“Okay. Before everyone starts panicking, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“We have a three-month-old, Pete, a preemie at that,” Penny scoffed in utter disbelief “and you want to drag him to Montana for a week? Are you insane?”
“He’ll be fine, Pen.”
“Uh, Cap? The current temperature in Montana is anywhere from -5℉ to -10℉,” Fanboy announced, glancing up hesitantly from his phone.
“That’s just . . . wow . . . wow!” Clearly, Penny was thrilled about this idea.
“All right. Fine! Raise your hands if you’ve ever seen snow,” Maverick ordered a second later, glancing at everyone. There were only a couple of hands. “Exactly! We can head to the beach any day we want. How many times can we actually say we’ve had a White Christmas—well, a belated White Christmas?” he amended a moment later. Christmas actually had been a few weeks ago.
“None of us have cold weather gear, sir,” Omaha piped up from his seat in the back.
“There will be some in the cabins for us. Every detail has been accounted for here.” He then sighed heavily, seeing the unenthused looks. “I knew if I told you about my snowy Montana Christmas idea, you would have all backed out.”
“So, instead you resorted to kidnapping,” Ethan remarked dryly. “Great choice there, sir.”
“Just trust me, all right? We’re going to have fun. All of us. This is going to be the best week ever. I guarantee it.”
Hollywood and Wolfman glanced at each other skeptically but didn’t reply.
What was there to say exactly to that?
It was Mav being his usual dumbass self again. Honestly, by now, they should’ve known better.
“Are the cabins at least close together?” sighed Amelia, deciding to help her old man out.
“For the most part. Ours is going to be off the side but theirs will be just below ours.”
She supposed that was a start at least.
“Do you have the sleeping assignments so we can at least see how amazing this week really will be, Dad?” Bradley stated wryly, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Um, I think I’ll wait until we land.”
“Why wait? You already told us we’re spending a week in subzero temperatures, Uncle Mav,” remarked Rachel Kazansky, sounding very much like her dad right then.
“Exactly. You might as well rip that Band-Aid off completely, Maverick,” Sarah said with crossed arms.
“Unless you’re afraid we’re going to throw you out mid-flight?” inquired Evan Kazansky, dark eyes narrowed on Maverick. “Is that it, Uncle?”
“No, it’s not that,” he argued.
“Pete, stop messing around already and just tell us.”
“Fine.” He silently took his seat, as he had been the last one standing. “The assignments are as follows: Bob; Payback; Omaha; Yale, you’re in Ponderosa 1.” The lieutenants nodded in response. “Coyote; Fanboy; Fritz; Harvard, you’re in Larch 1. Vice Admiral Simpson; Admiral Benjamin; Ethan, you’ll be Larch 2.” So far not so bad yet, all things considered. Though, Payback and Coyote already nodded in silent agreement to switch. “Bradley; Jake; Evan; Phoenix; Halo, you’re in Ponderosa 2.”
“And where exactly are you putting us, Maverick Mitchell?” Wolfman drummed his fingers against the armrest expectantly.
“You; Wood; Hondo; Warlock; Sarah; Slider are all going to be in Aspen 1.”
“Oooh, sounds fancy. We accept.”
Green eyes rolled instantly. “Penny; Amelia; Jesse; me will be in Tamarack with Ice.”
Cyclone’s brows rose to his hairline as others visibly winced.
“I’m sorry. He’s staying in our cabin?” gasped Amelia in absolute disbelief. Her dad had to be joking or suffering from a massive brain bleed if he thought that was a good idea.
“There’s a spare bedroom upstairs,” replied Maverick simply, as if that fixed everything.
Ethan squeezed her hand sharply to keep her from saying anything else. It really wasn’t their business what was going on between her parents and Ice.
She partly agreed. It wasn’t. However, if her dad was planning on abandoning them for his lying scum boyfriend, she figured it’d be nice to find that out before they got stuck together in a stupid cabin.
“Um, Uncle Mav?” Rachel said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t say where I’m staying.”
“He didn’t say where I am either,” Cassie Simpson pointed out with a nervous laugh, turning towards Rachel. The young ladies were roughly around the same age.
“You ladies will be in the Aspen 2 with our mystery guests.”
“Mystery guests?”
“Who the hell are the mystery guests?”
“Wait. Did Merlin or Cougar get back to you then?” Hollywood questioned.
“No. I mean, yes, they did, but they declined. As did Sundown and Chipper.” Nothing new there.
“Then who—”
“It’s a surprise.” Yeah, that wasn’t suspicious in the slightest.
“Just tell us this. Are we going to want to punch you over it, Dad?” inquired Bradley, deciding he’d take a page out of Amelia’s book for once and be blunt.
“Hopefully not,” Maverick answered honestly “but the jury is actually still out on it.”
Well, that didn’t help any.
Bradley glanced out the window, though. He was trying not to be bothered by Jake earning his commercial license or asking why he had one. He wouldn’t look the gift horse in the mouth. Maybe Dad would be right. Maybe this would be the best week ever. It couldn’t be worse than the past year anyway.
He still wasn’t sure where he fell on the whole Ice saga. A part of him wanted to scream at being put through such terrible, unimaginable grief yet again, but the more rational side reminded him how it hadn’t been Ice’s decision. Ice was just following orders. Stupid, fucking orders, but still orders.
Maybe this time together would help them work through the messiness. Move past it. He was glad Ice was back. He considered him a father figure like Mav. Everything just was messier now. But Ice was alive, and it gave him time to work on his deep regrets. He just had to get off his perch and try.