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It takes Jake two weeks since he started having daily symptoms and one passing comment from Javy to finally cave in and buy a few different tests.
It takes one bottle of water, a minute of waiting and three sticks with all of them glaring back at him with a positive result for Jake to finally accept what he deep down already knew.
“Fuck.”
He wants to cry, he wants to throw things around, he wants to drop down to his knees and scream bloody murder.
He does neither of those things.
Instead, as he makes up his mind, he grabs his phone and prays he’s not making a mistake.
“Admiral Simpson? It’s Jake Seresin, sir. I was wondering if the teaching position is still available for me.”
After the mission and their subsequent leave, Admiral Simpson had offered him a permanent teaching position at Top Gun. Weeks ago, when the offer was made, Jake had declined, wanting to go back to his squadron. Now? Now Jake is thankful Admiral Simpson has a soft spot for him and takes him back even when Jake informs him of his situation.
It’s been two years since he’s made that call, and Jake is now a respected instructor at Top Gun and has a cute baby boy at home that doesn’t give him too much trouble, a trusted nanny approved by the DOD and the Military who works wonders with his son and whom his son in return adores.
Today Monique had taken the day off because she needed to do some personal errands so Jake had taken Nick to base, it’s not the first time he’s done it and he only gets away with it because Cyclone and Warlock are too fond of him. He works on his office for most of the morning but in the early afternoon he has to take his group of students up in the air for their scheduled hops. He asks an Ensign to keep an eye on his son.
He’s just finished said hop when the Ensign he put in charge of watching his son walks up to him sans his son.
“Where’s Nicky?”
“There was an incident, Sir. He bumped his head and is in the infirmary.”
Jake doesn’t even excuse himself, he simply runs towards the infirmary, chest aching at the idea of his precious son being hurt and him not being there to comfort him.
He hears his son before he sees him, and Jake’s chest hurts even more.
He doesn’t get to ask where he is, a nurse sees his panicking look and directs him towards a nurse trying to sooth his son.
The moment she sees him, she immediately passes his son over to him.
“Shh, baby. It’s okay, daddy is here.”
Nicky hides his face in his neck, one tiny fist holding tightly to Jake’s flight uniform. He lets out a few more pitiful cries before he starts to calm down.
Jake continues to whisper sweet reassurance to him, kissing the crown of his head and rubbing his back.
“Is he okay?”
“It’s a superficial wound on the forehead, nothing more than a scratch,” the nurse informs him. “I applied some pomade to help with the pain and swelling, the band aid is there so he doesn’t touch it.”
“Thank you.” He kisses his son’s blond curls once more before thanking the staff at large as he walks out of the infirmary. “I’m gonna grab our stuff and then we’re going home, okay, sweetie?”
Jake knows he should probably get out of his flight suit but he doesn’t have it in him to be away from his son even if it’s for less than ten minutes. He walks into his office, grabs their things and walks out of the building still in uniform and Nicky dozing off in his arms.
“Hangman?”
Jake freezes for a second as his brain recognizes the voice. Is it—? Jake turns around to face the other man.
“Hi, Mav.”
The Captain looks at him long and hard, eyeing the kid in his arms.
“Cute kid.” He jerks his head towards the small body in Jake’s arms. “Is he yours?”
“Yes.”
Jake rearranges his hold on his son, jostling him a little bit and making him turn his tiny face to the side for Maverick to see him. Jake wants to cover him but something akin to recognition passes through the older man’s eyes.
Too late then.
Fuck .
“Does he know?”
Jake huffs an unamused laugh. “Not even gonna do me the decency to ask me if he’s his?”
“I helped raise that boy, I would recognize those features anywhere.”
Well, Jake can’t argue with that. Plus Nicky does look a hell of a lot like his father, all round brown eyes and dark blond curls, even his adorable chubby cheeks get easily blushed when feeling strong emotions just like his father.
“No, he doesn’t.” Jake admits. But before Maverick can say anything else, Jake adds, “Look, I’m sure you probably have questions but I can’t answer them right now when all I want to do is take my baby home, cuddle with him so he can forget all about his little bubu on the forehead and have a shower, okay?” He starts walking towards his car.
“Do you have anyone to watch him while you shower?”
Jake stops in his tracks, looking back at the other pilot.
“What?”
“I can watch him while you shower if that’s okay with you. And then we can talk.”
Jake’s shoulders sag.
“Did you drive here?” When Mav nods, he continues, “Then you can follow us home, I guess.”
Once they make it to the house, Jake immediately settles Nicky down on his playmat with a few of his toys and turns to address Maverick.
“Can you watch him? He crawls really fast and always tries to run instead of walking so please keep a close eye on him.”
“Sure, no problem.” He sits down on the couch, smiling down at the child. “What should I call him, though?”
“Nicky. His name is Nicky.”
“You—”
“Named my kid after his grandfather? Of course, I did.”
Jake can see the other man trying not to choke up, looking at the boy with such wonder in his eyes makes Jake feel a little guilty for keeping the kid away from him.
Jake doesn’t say anything as he walks into his bedroom to change out of his flight suit and into the shower. Fifteen minutes later he walks back into the living room dressed in sweatpants and an old US Navy shirt. He sees Maverick still sitting on the couch but this time he has Nicky sitting on his knee, happily babbling and smiling as Maverick moves his leg up and down.
“He’s a great kid,” Mav tells him once he notices him.
“He’s honestly the best.” He leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Was it an easy pregnancy?”
Of all the questions he thought Maverick would want to ask him, that one wasn’t on the list Jake mentally prepared to answer.
“For the most part, yeah. Morning sickness was mild but still awful and around the sixth month he loved to play soccer with my insides. But yeah, no major issues, fortunately.”
“And the birth? Was it just as easy or was it traumatic?”
“I was all alone, so there’s that for a bit of trauma, but otherwise it was pretty easy — natural birth with no meds and no complications.”
“You’re telling me Coyote doesn’t know either?” He asks, confused.
“He does, but he couldn’t make it for the birth since his flight got delayed. He was here for two weeks after I came back home from the hospital, though, so there’s that.”
“We would’ve been there for you, Jake, if you’d told us.”
The worst part is, Jake does know that. Everyone involved in the mission had stayed in contact, and Maverick took in to treat them all as if they were his children, he knew the other would have been there for him had he asked him to, pregnant with Bradley’s kid or not.
“I’m too independent, Mav, and I don’t know how to ask for help.” Jake figures the man deserves an explanation, even if he knows Jake doesn’t need to defend his decisions. “I was raised by my grandparents and they passed away long before I got pregnant. I— I don’t know how to rely on people once we’re on the ground.”
Mav hums, understanding Jake’s point.
“Why doesn’t he know?”
“By the time I found out he was already back to his post in Japan.”
“Ice would’ve made it possible for him to be back in Miramar.”
“And then I would spend years wondering if he came back for me, for us, or if it was because of a misguided sense of doing what’s right.” He stands up tall, walking past the living room and into the kitchen as he says, “I’m tough, Mav, tough enough to go through childbirth by myself, but I’m not tough enough to survive a negative reaction from him.”
Maverick follows him, little Nicky still in his arms.
“Put him in his chair, please.” Jake asks as he pulls some strawberries out of the refrigerator.
“So, you and Bradley…” He doesn’t finish that phrase, wanting Jake to fill in the blank.
Jake shakes his head.
“We were never an item, if that’s what you’re wondering. What we had was a— a very fond goodbye, if you will.”
“Got it.”
They stay silent while Jake washes and cuts the strawberries so he can give them to Nicky.
“Were you not on birth control?”
Jake shoots him an angry look. “I did not plan this, Maverick. Okay? Besides my child, I did not gain anything from this, okay? So don’t you dare imply that I did that.”
Mav puts his hands up in a placating manner. “That’s not what I meant at all, Jake. I’m sorry. I’m just curious.”
Jake sighs, anger leaving his body just as fast as it had come.
“I was, I am , not that it matters since I’m not getting any, but that’s not the point. What I’m tryin’ to say is: due to the pressure of the mission I forgot to take quite a few of my pills, and then there was a lot of alcohol to celebrate the fact that y’all lived and I’m guessing the ones I did take ended up having their efficacy diminished.”
“And condoms?”
Jake laughs at that.
“After round two we forgot those existed.”
“So when you said fond—”
“I meant very fond, like three days of fondness.”
Maverick scrunches up his face, probably wanting to will the images his brain has conjured up away. Jake laughs again.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I know you would’ve been a great grandpa.”
“I still can be, if you let me. You don’t have to do this alone anymore, Jake.”
And doesn’t that sound nice as hell?
Jake doesn’t have siblings, nor does he have cousins he’s close with. His only family is Javy and the rest of the Machado family but they live in Louisiana and Javy is deployed somewhere in the Pacific and isn’t able to visit him all that often.
And although he does keep in touch with the rest of the Daggers, none of them know he has a kid, so he won’t ask to meet them.
So what Maverick is offering is something he gave up on long ago.
But he’d be damned if he doesn’t accept it.
“Yeah, okay.” Jake concedes after a few seconds of silence.
“Okay?”
“Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you.”
“Kid,” Maverick starts, eyes all soft but filled with determination. “You’re family now, okay? I don’t care what you and Bradley are or aren’t, I don’t even care how Bradley will feel about this once he finds out, me and Ice will always be here for you from now on, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He looks down at his watch then back at the younger man. “I have to get going now, but I would like you to join us for lunch this weekend, both of you, if that’s okay.”
“Send me the details and we’ll be there.”
Turns out having two very willing substitute grandparents means that little Nicky now has double the amount of toy cars and plush animals and clothes and more visits to parks and beach days. Nicky loves all the new attention and he gets along well with both Ice and Mav, Jake finds it exhausting but he likes having more people around — he tells Javy as much.
“Look at you being all happy and healthy, creating new relations.” Javy teases him on one of their weekly FaceTime calls. “I’m really happy for you, man. You need more company in your life.”
“I have company. I have you, and my little bird here.” He moves his phone so the camera catches Nicky curled up on Jake’s side.
“There’s my little guy. He 's so big now.”
“I know, I wanna stop time so he can stay just like this forever.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice? Hey, by the way, I won’t be visiting you for Christmas. My leave is shorter this time and I would rather go visit my mom, if that’s okay. You can come with me if you want, Mama Machado would love to see little Nicky.”
“I don’t think I’ll make the trip this year, Mav has been hinting that he wants us to be with them for the holiday, so I guess I’ll do that. Thank you, though.”
“Anytime, man. ‘Kay, gotta go. Love you, man. And kiss the little guy’s forehead for me, will you?”
“Will do. Be safe out there, okay? Love you. Bye.”
It’s been over six months since he last saw his best friend in person, and Jake misses him like hell but their weekly calls help the blond feel less lonely.
And having Mav and Ice around now helps a lot too, it eases a bit of the guilt he feels for not sharing the news with anyone else, and their company is nice and their stories are even better.
“Hey, kid. We have a situation.”
“What? Is it Nicky? Is he okay?”
Jake had worked out a new schedule with Monique so that Mav and Ice could take the kid two days a week, so earlier in the day Jake had dropped off Nicky at the older couple’s home. He trusts them to take good care of his son but kids are prone to accidents, so Jake worries whenever he receives a call.
“No, nothing like that. It’s just— Bradley is in Miramar.”
“What? Why?”
“He said he wanted to be home for the holidays, but I don’t know if he has other plans other than spending Christmas with us. And I know we invited you and little Nicky, if you don’t want to come—”
“No, I uh, I’ll still go if you guys want us there. And besides, I told you I would tell Bradley the moment I knew he was back stateside, so yeah. Thanks uh, thanks for the heads-up, pops.” In the distance Jake can see his students walking into the taxiway and towards their jets. “Look, I’m about to get in my jet, so I’ll call you later, okay? Give Nicky a kiss for me, will you? Okay. Bye.”
Fuck.
Jake knew that this moment was coming sooner or later, and although he was rooting for later, he’s glad Nicky is still pretty young and unable to ask questions. He’s also young enough to start bonding with Bradley without too much trouble.
Jake physically shakes himself off of those thoughts, wanting to focus on the class he has planned for today.
He gets into his F/A-18 and does all the pre-flight checks and when he gets the order to be airborne he flies into the skies and starts explaining what they are doing in that exercise and teases them a bit. With the first two groups up in the air he has no problem showing them why he’s the only pilot in active duty to have two confirmed air-to-air kills —Maverick being an Ace doesn’t count since he no longer is on active duty, having retired not too long after their Mission— but then the third group is up in the air and there’s this one pilot, callsign Torch, who loves to test Jake’s patience.
Torch is reckless in the worst sense of the word. He likes to put his teammates at risk and every now and then tries to imply that the hard deck is a suggestion and not a set boundary that should not be broken.
Jake is chasing Marilyn, getting tone on her when his jet is caught in the jet wash of someone, probably Torch, and then his jet is spinning out of control.
“Shit!” He tries to keep a clear head, acting quickly to stabilize his jet.
“Heads up, Hangman!” Torch says over the comms, coming at him from somewhere, Jake is still trying to recover from the spinning when Torch flies past him, too close to not be intentional.
‘This fucling kid,’ Jake thinks, trying to stay calm and avoid having to eject as he spins out of control.
But then there’s a bird strike and Jake is losing both engines and altitude, he’s in the hard deck unable to save his jet so he ejects and hopes for the fucking best.
His knee is swollen, his right shoulder hurts like a bitch, he’s pretty sure he bruised his ribs and there will be ugly deep purple marks on his chest from the parachute and there’s blood on the side of his face, Jake assesses once he comes back to his senses. He hopes the rescue team doesn’t take that long, his head is throbbing and wants to go back to sleep.
He wakes up when the rescue team prodes at him, securing him for transportation, and then he comes back once more when he’s being moved to a cot in the infirmary.
“We need to get you out of this suit, can you do that?” A nurse asks him.
Jake simply grunts in response and the nurse starts helping him out of his flight suit. His entire body protests in pain, especially when he takes off his undershirt but he’s able to get it all out until he’s sitting there in his underwear and socks, doctors and nurses prodding him, hooking IVs and asking him questions.
Jake just wants to be with his son.
Once everyone else is done putting him through hell in order to help him feel better and is finally able to rest, Maverick shows up with his son in his arms, the bag every parent out there has with every essential item is in his other hand.
“That one was hell on an ejection.”
“Sure was.” His words slurred a bit but he doesn’t care. He sits up better in the cot and makes grabby hands at his son.
Maverick puts down the bag next to the chair that’s in his room before carefully putting Nicky down on the cot. The blond child immediately crawls to his father’s awaiting arms.
“He’s been fed and changed and thoroughly entertained. Brought you a change of clothes for you and him in case you need it, I replaced the diapers inside and there’s fruits and other snacks in the bag, his bottle is filled with water but there’s no milk.”
“That’s okay, he doesn’t drink milk all that much, but I can feed him if he wants to.” He tickles Nicky on his sides, making him laugh — both adults smile at that. “Thank you for bringing him.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d like to be with him.”
“Did you, by any chance, bring a hoodie?” The doctor had ordered for his ribs to be bandaged and it had left half his chest exposed and since every now and then he still breastfeeds Nicky, he would rather not have his pecs hanging out for everyone to see.
“I brought one with a zipper.”
“Perfect. Help me up?”
Maverick does exactly that, helping Jake to put it on without jostling him too much, Jake zips it up so that his chest is covered.
They chat for a little longer before Mav decides to drop another bomb on him.
“He’s on base.”
“What?”
“Bradley. He’s here.”
Fuck.
“Did he hear about what happened?”
“The only reason why he isn’t here right now is because he saw the whole thing. He’s with Cyclone and Warlock, wants the Lieutenant to be discharged dishonorably.”
Jake rolls his eyes. “He’s always so dramatic.”
“You could’ve died.”
His hold on his son’s body tightens at that comment because he knows damn well Maverick is right. He doesn’t comment on that, though.
“Did he see you?”
“With Nicky? Yes.”
“So I should expect a visit from him then.” He nods to himself.
“I would assume so, yeah. So get as much rest as you can, now, so I’ll leave you to it.”
Maverick leaves and Jake tries to stay awake for as long as he can, watching Nicky play with his little toy car which he’s obsessed with, but the pain meds are doing their job so he lays better on the bed and Nicky happily crawls to half lay on top of his chest, little knees pressing to his sides and the car still firmly clutched in one of his hands.
Jake works his magic, gently rubbing his son’s back and humming a song and not long after Nicky is a death weight on top of him, that’s when Jake finally succumbs to a light slumber too.
Jake wakes up once again when a nurse comes to check on him, asking him questions and checking his eyes, apparently he has a mild concussion, so they’ll be waking him up every two hours. Once she’s done, he closes his eyes again, trying to fall back asleep, but he feels somebody else entering his room but the person doesn’t say anything.
It can only be one person.
“You’re staring, Roo.” Jake teases without opening his eyes.
“You have a kid.” Jake opens his eyes just in time to see him walking closer. He’s wearing his khaki uniform and Jake wishes they were meeting under different circumstances, once in which he would be in the sound mind to take into the image he presents to his heart’s content. “Apparently, so do I.”
After twenty plus months have passed since he found out he was pregnant, Jake finally gets to admit it.
“Yeah, you do.” Jake says, hiding his face in his son’s curls.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were all the way in Japan when I found out.”
“It was my right to know!”
Bradley’s voice gets so loud it startles Nicky from his nap, so Jake immediately soothes him, whispering sweet reassurance into the crown of his head and rubbing circles in his back. It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep again, tiny face hidden in Jake’s neck.
“I would appreciate it if you didn’t scream.”
“How could I—!” Jake shoots him a glare and Bradley sighs, trying to calm down. “How could I not scream and get angry, Jake? You kept my child away from me.”
“I know, Bradley, trust me I know. But I am in pain and our child is sleeping in my arms so whatever questions you want to ask and whatever it is you want to yell at me can wait until tomorrow.”
“You’re right.”
Jake thought that was it but Bradley surprises him once more, this time by sitting down on the very uncomfortable looking chair next to Jake’s bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting until tomorrow.” He answers as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why? It’s not like I’m gonna make a run for it.”
“Jake.” The way he says his name feels like it doesn’t leave room for arguing. “I’m gonna spend the night here, whether you like it or not.”
“Try not to snore, will you?”
“I don’t snore.”
“Your bed partners have been lying to you.”
“You didn’t complain.”
“Your d-i-c-k was too good to complain at the time.”
“Oh it was, wasn’t it?”
“Wipe that smug look off your face, Bradshaw, this is not the time or place for that.”
“You brought it up.”
“I brought up your snoring.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Jake rolls his eyes, dropping the subject because, as he said, this is not the time or place for that. He moves on the bed trying to get more comfortable with moving Nicky or upsetting his own very tired, very sore muscles.
“How are you feeling?” Bradley asks once he sees him wince.
“Like I had the worst ejection experience ever and survived.”
Bradley nods once, having had his own experience with bad ejections.
“I saw the whole thing.”
“Yeah? Mav told me you talked to Cyclone about it.”
“Yeah, not only was he kicked out of the program, they're gonna strip him of his wings.”
“Yeah?”
“That stunt he pulled was too dangerous, too reckless. Worst of all, it was intentional. He doesn’t deserve to have wings.”
“Good.” Jake closes his eyes, a hand coming up to play with Nicky’s curls, breathing in his baby scent, trying to relax and fall back asleep. “Did Mav tell you his name?” He asks, opening his eyes to look at the other pilot. When Bradley shakes his head no, the blond offers the name up. “Nicholas Seresin.”
“Best of both worlds.”
“Exactly.”
“Why my father’s name?” His voice doesn’t give anything away, so Jake can’t tell if he’s happy or upset at the news.
“Seemed right.” Jake closes his eyes again, sleep seeping through his body. “Are you mad?” Did his words sound a little slurred? Probably.
“About the name? Of course not. Everything else? Yeah, maybe.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
Jake finally falls back asleep, body laxed with the painkillers and nose filled with blond curls and baby scent, Bradley’s eyes trained on his figure.
As promised, the nurses come to check on him every two hours but each time he falls asleep immediately after, so when he wakes up again on his own accord is in the middle of the night, probably around four or five am, and is to Nicky’s low cries and him pawing at his chest.
“Are you hungry, sweetie?” Nicky simply continues to paw at his chest. “Alright.” He looks to the side and sees that Bradley is awake too. “Can you hold him for a second? I need to sit up.”
Bradley is immediately on his feet, grabbing Nicky from Jake’s arms. It’s an awkward hold, but he won’t call the other out on it, nor on his mildly panicked look because Nicky wouldn’t settle. He sits up better in bed, fluffing the pillows behind him as best as he can with his low range of motion. When he’s done, he pulls down the zipper from his hoodie and motions Bradley to hand their son over. The moment Nicky settles against his chest and starts feeding, he calms down again.
Suddenly Jake feels famished, remembering he hasn’t eaten anything of substance since lunch.
“Can you, um, can you pass me one of the snacks that are in the bag, please?”
When he looks at Bradley, the man’s eyes are trained on Jake’s chest, glued to where Nicky is nursing. Jake tries not to laugh at the entranced look on his face.
“What?” Jake notices how he physically has to shake away from continuing to stare at his chest.
“Snacks. In the bag. Please.”
He spurs into action, grabbing the bag from its spot on the floor and rummages through it until he finds two protein bars and a water bottle.
He offers his findings to Jake. “This okay?”
“Open one for me, please.” Bradley immediately does as he’s told and then hands one of the bars over. “Thanks.” Jake starts eating, eyes close.
“Does uh, does he— Do you feed him a lot? Like this?”
Jake looks down at Nicky before he focuses his eyes on the other pilot. “Not really. Maybe twice a week, three times at most, early mornings or late at night if he wants to, but he’s eating solids so I’m trying to stop it.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Jake is finishing the second protein bar when Nicky finally lets go of his chest. Jake looks down at him, smiling and wiping a bit of milk off his chin.
He looks back at Bradley. “Wanna hold him?”
“I um— no, I mean uh— Yeah, okay.”
Jake puts down the wrapper of the bar and holds Nicky out for the other to take.
“His front to your shoulder, one hand on his bum and the other on his back— yeah, like that.” Jake instructs in a low voice, zipping up his own hoodie and finishing his snack and grabbing the water. “He likes when you pat his bum, do that and rub his back every now and then and he’ll fall asleep in no time.”
“He’s very little.”
“Doctor says he’s on the average side of what his height should be so he’s developing correctly, but yeah, compared to us he’s very little.”
Jake moves down the bed just in time for a nurse to come in and check on him. She takes his vitals, checks his pupils, cleans the wounds on his face and redresses them with new patches and is nice enough to bring him an ice pack for his knee. Once she’s done, Nicky is asleeps on top of Bradley and Jake himself is ready to sleep for a bit more.
Very carefully the older man passes him the sleeping child, they settle into a comfortable silence and eventually they drift off to sleep.
Seven o’clock on the dot Jake wakes up with Nicky’s full diaper smell hitting his nose.
He settles better in the bed and wakes Bradley up so he can hand him the things he needs as Jake handles undressing Nicky even if the kid is still half asleep.
Bradley watches with utter fascination how well Jake handles everything, how naturally all the movements come to him; from handling Nicky, not scrunching up his nose at the smell, cleaning him, putting a clean diaper on and redressing him. Bradley disposes of the dirty diaper and puts everything back inside the bag.
A doctor and a nurse come in to check on him and after they seem satisfied with their finding they inform him he’s being discharged. They give him the rundown of his injuries, how to take care of them, what to take and at what times to do so.
“Admiral Simpson is waiting for you in his office, after that you’re free to go.” The doctor tells him before leaving them alone in the room.
“Hand me the pants Maverick brought me.”
He dresses in silence as Bradley plays with their kid, he puts on the snickers and puts all the things away. When they are walking out of the infirmary, thanking every nurse and doctor there, Bradley grabs the bag from him and walks next to him with Nicky still firmly perched on his arms.
Cyclone does a double take when he sees Bradley holding the kid and gives Jake a knowing look. During the past two years, Cyclone and his husband had been there for Jake, teaching how to change diapers and how to burp the baby after feeding him when he was a newborn. The only thing they never asked was who the father was.
Now, with them standing side by side, the answer is clear as day.
“I’ll make sure to update your personal file, Rooster.”
“I’d appreciate it, sir.”
Jake looks between the two of them. “You— You’re stationed here now? That’s why you were on base?”
“Starting next Monday, he’s a Top Gun instructor,” Cyclone answers him instead. “Now, the reason I wanted to talk to you is because even though we have reached a conclusion on what to do with Torch, as his former instructor and the one personally affected by his dangerous stunts, I need you to write a full report on what happened plus a formal complaint. After you’ve handed me both of them, you’re excused until the following Monday, alright?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alright, you two are dismissed.”
“So you’re relocating to Miramar permanently.” Jake says once they find themselves in his office, door closed so that Nicky doesn’t make an escape attempt.
“Yeah, got tired of deployments, wanted to settle down, stay in one place. Miramar is home.”
“Yeah, I don’t miss deployments at all.” Jake sits down at his desk, pulling in papers and turning on his computer. “Students are a pain in the ass though, but it gives the resemblance of a nine-to five job and time with Nicky. Guess it’s gonna be the same for you now.”
“Are we— Do I need to get a lawyer?” Jake looks at him, brows furrowed. “For custody?”
“What? Bradley, no, I— Okay. I wanted to wait for us to be back in my place and not smelling like antiseptic, but I guess this part can’t wait. Bradley, I want us to do this together, to be in this together and get along as best as we possibly can. I know I didn’t tell you I was pregnant, but I didn’t plan on keeping him away from you once you’ve found out. I want you in his life, I want you in my life, okay? Right now, all I ask is for him to not sleep at your place by himself because, well, we both have a little of separation anxiety, but if you accept me over we can both—”
“Jake, breathe.” Jake shuts up, looking at Bradley expectantly. “You want us to be civil? We can be civil, we can figure it out ourselves.”
“You’d be okay with that?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” He looks at his things then back at Bradley. “Can you watch him? He mostly plays by himself but, ya know, just in case.”
“Sure.”
It takes Jake about forty five minutes to complete his report and file the complaint, he sends the emails to Cyclone and goes in to hand the papers to the man’s secretary. Jake asks Bradley to wait for him there since he has to go pick some stuff from his locker.
“Like what?”
“Like my car keys.”
“I can drive you.”
“Do you have a car seat I didn’t know about?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you can drive us home in my car.”
After Jake has returned his flight uniform to his locker and grabbed his personal belongings, they finally walk back to his car and Jake lets Nicky walk on his own, and enjoys himself looking at how terrified Bradley looks, jumping every time Nicky stumbles.
“How do you do this every day?” Bradley asks him once they stop in front of Jake’s Jeep.
“You get used to it. It’s a delicate balance between him having to learn on his own and having my own heart shattered every time he falls, cries or gets a new bubu.”
“A bubu? Really?”
Jake shrugs, instructing Bradley to put the things on the front seat, because he’ll get in the back with Nicky.
Jake passes him his car keys and offers him his home address and Bradley, being from around, doesn’t even need to put in on his phone.
They make it to his home in less than thirty minutes.
“I’m sorry to ask this, but can you get started on breakfast? I wanna bathe Nicky and change him into something clean.”
“Uh—”
“I know you want us to talk, and we will, but Nicky comes first and I’m starving.”
“Yeah, I’ll do it. You don’t mind me looking around to find the things?”
“Suit yourself.” And with that he’s off, leaving Bradley to fend for himself as Jake disappears down the hallway with their son in his arms.
Even though Nicky loves to be bathed, he hates to be dried off or having his hair towel-dried, so it’s always a struggle Jake is more than accustomed to by now. It takes about thirty minutes for the whole thing to be done, but apparently is more than enough time for Bradley to do a whole breakfast buffet.
“I hope you still have a sweet tooth, because I made pancakes.”
Jake is surprised, he didn’t think anyone noticed, let alone Bradley of all people, that he has a marked preference for sweet meals rather than savory.
“I still do.”
“Good. I uh, didn’t make anything for Nicky, I don’t—”
“That’s okay.”
Jake puts their son on his high chair, passes him one of the toy cars that is stored in the back of it, then moves to the refrigerator to pick out an unsweetened yogurt and stewed apple he made the day before. He makes quick work of mixing the two and puts aside some of the strawberries Bradley had cut out for their pancakes and stops himself before putting in front of himself.
“Do you, uh, do you want to feed him?”
“Can I?”
“Yeah, just the yogurt, though, he eats the fruits by himself.”
“That’s um— Yeah, I’d love to.”
Jake passes him the yogurt and puts the plate with strawberries out of Nicky’s eager hands.
While Bradley gives his breakfast to their son, Jake focuses on serving them coffee —black with two sugars for Bradley, and Jake’s with a bit of milk and two sugars. Jake doesn’t wait for Bradley to be done with Nicky before he starts eating, it’s been too long since he ate something of substance.
“When did you find out?” Bradley asks once he’s finished feeding Nicky, passing him his strawberries to enjoy.
“I was back with the Vigilantes, I was I think around 10 weeks when I took the tests. At thirteen weeks I had a scan that fully confirmed the pregnancy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I panicked, completely froze. All I thought was I need to call Cyclone and beg him to take me as a teacher because I wouldn’t be able to fly with my squadron anymore, nor did I want to go on more deployments or be bound to desk duty. So I called him, asked him if he would be willing to take me in my condition and he didn’t even hesitate.”
“I was a phone call away, Jake. You could’ve called me.”
“Yes. I could’ve. But you would’ve stayed in Japan anyway, because orders are orders, and I still would’ve gone through my pregnancy alone. Hell, Javy was closer than you and he couldn’t make it to the birth.”
“I had a right to know.”
“Yes, of course you did, Bradley, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but you have to understand that I made the decisions at the time with the information I had, those decisions were made for my own good because I’m the one who had to go through all the changes. Tell me you at least understand.”
“I get that, Jake, I do, but—”
“There’s no buts, Bradley. You knowing I was expecting wouldn’t have changed the fact that I was going to be a single father.” Jake smiles at Nicky when the boy shows him his car, babbling happily, before he turns back to the other man. “I had no one with me. Besides Cyclone and Warlock and their kids, I was alone, I had no one to turn to, no one to share the burden of morning sickness or the happiness of hearing the heartbeat for the first time, I didn’t have someone to hold my hand while I was in labor, someone to share midnight feedings and dirty diapers. I was alone, Bradley, so you don’t get to judge me for the decisions I made, okay? Because in this particular situation only my feelings mattered, because I was the one pregnant, I was the one that changed careers and gained weight, I was the one crying in the ER because Nicky had a fever and I didn’t have anyone to hold me, to comfort me. You are entitled to your feelings, Bradley, but you weren’t the one going through all of it.”
Bradley looks down at his plate then back up at Jake.
“I’m sorry you were alone.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” They stay silent for a few minutes before Jake decides to break it. “Ya know, there was a time during my pregnancy where I thought about you a lot.”
“Was it during contractions? Because I’ve been told they are painful and I wouldn’t blame you if you were cursing my name.” Bradley teases, trying to disperse the tension. Jake is thankful as he chuckles.
“No, I— Well, I did curse your name a bit, but it wasn’t then that I was talking about.” He drinks the last of his coffee. “When I was pregnant with Nicky I used to sing to him a lot, I mean I still do, but back then he used to love playing soccer with my insides so to calm him down I would either play him some music or sing, and the change was almost instantaneous. So it always made me think of you, how you would’ve loved to play the piano for him, serenade him like you told me your father used to do with you. I uh, I always thought you would’ve loved that.”
“I think I really would’ve.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to experience it. No even from FaceTime.”
Brad nods, finally understanding that Jake was terrified back then, all alone and rightfully only thinking about what was best for him. He didn’t do it out of malice.
“Does he still like music?”
“He absolutely loves music, he’s been dancing since he’s like 4 months old, loves any sort of sound that has a rhythm to it. His favorite song is ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and not ‘Great Ball of Fire’ I’m afraid.” Bradley laughs at that, shaking his head.
“How old is he?”
Jake isn’t surprised by the question, he’s actually impressed that it took Bradley this long to start asking questions about Nicky out of his own volition.
“Fourteen months, he was born on August 5th of 2020.”
“God,” he elongates the word, sounding a bit overwhelmed. “There's so much I don’t know about him.”
“Luckily for you, I know absolutely everything about him, so just ask me. Whatever you wanna know, just ask me.”
“I don’t know, I— There’s so much, like would I even start?”
Jake guesses the beginning is as good a place to start as any.
“The only reason I took the pregnancy tests was because Javy made a passing comment after I bitch to him about how I was feeling, but despite the fainting spells it was an easy pregnancy. I only had one craving and it was fruits, all kinds of fruits, like I would wake up at 3am to eat pineapple.” Jake chuckles at the memory, shaking his head at the ridiculous amount of fruits he ate. “Um, what else? Oh, he was born on the exact date that he was meant to, my OB was really proud of that.” They both chuckle at that. “Natural birth, which I resent you for, my hips will never be the same so thank you for that.”
Jake doesn’t miss the way Bradley’s eyes roam through his figure, he knows if he were standing up, they would’ve spent a long time glued to his lower half. Jake clears his throat, snapping the other out of his inspection.
“He weighed 7lb and was 32cm tall, average for a baby that has our genetics but ‘s well otherwise. Um, ever since he was born he’s slept through the night, except for when he needed to be fed. Uh, what else? He loves to eat, he would eat anything and everything that you put in front of him, but strawberries are his favorites. He’s an absolute cuddle monster, whenever he sleeps with me he likes to tuck his little face in my neck and grab my shirt.”
“Like last night?”
“Exactly like last night.” Jake confirms with a smile. “His favorite person is Monique, his babysitter, she’s known him all his life and works absolute miracles with him, but ever since Mav and Ice entered the picture she’s had some competition. He is obsessed with cars, aren’t you, sweet cheeks?” Nicky smiles, playing with his car. Jake smiles back at him, fond of his child’s antics. “I don’t know why, but the kid loves them.”
“I was the same when I was his age.” Bradley admits a bit bashfully.
“Damn, like I needed my kid to be more like you,” Jake teases, making Bradley smile, his cheeks going a little pink.
“Shut up, Seresin.” Bradley says, rolling his eyes — Jake doesn’t take him seriously.
“His first word was Papa.”
“Bullshit.”
They are both taken aback by Bradley’s reaction, and to the man’s credit he does look apologetic enough so that Jake doesn’t reprimand him for it. Instead, Jake focuses on Nicky.
“Hey, Nicky, what’s my name? Is it daddy?”
“Daddy.” The boy calls out, smiling brightly.
“That’s right, baby, I’m daddy. And who is he?” Jake points at the other pilot.
“Papa!” Nicky yells, kicking his feet in happiness, arms moving around.
“You wanna go with Papa, baby? Ask him to get you out of chair.”
Nicky starts to lift himself up from his chair, wanting to be freed from it, yelling “papa” repeatedly. Jake gives Bradley the go ahead and the older man, with a lot of panic and a bit in awed, takes his son out of his high chair and settles him on his lap. Not once does Nicky let go of his toy cars.
“How?”
“I always talk to him about you, would show him pictures every now and then, and it was on one of those occasions that he pointed at you and said ‘Papa.’ I cried, mainly because he didn’t say ‘Dada’ first, but yeah.” Jake admits in a nonchalant way, trying to make a light joke of it.
“Jake.” There’s something so soft, so vulnerable in Bradley’s eyes, in his tone of voice — Jake’s chest aches.
“I never wanted to keep you out of his life, but with each passing day it became easier to not reach out even though it became harder to keep the secret.” He excuses himself, even if it’s true.
“How are we gonna do this?” Bradley asks, looking down at Nicky and lightly tickling his side, making him squeal with laughter.
“However you wanna do this, we can start small, like visiting on weekends, or as big as you’d feel comfortable.”
“Big like what?”
“Like you coming for breakfast everyday and we can go to your place for dinner. You staying over here today if you’d like.”
“But always with you present.”
It’s not a question, but Jake gives him an answer regardless of that.
“Unless you have a hell of a ton of experience with children, I can’t trust you enough to leave you alone with him for long periods of time — not because I don’t trust you, but because you’re not gonna be able to trust yourself, you’re gonna second guess everything and I don’t blame you, you don’t know him, he doesn’t know you, like, do you even know how to change a diaper?” When Bradley shakes his head, he continues, “Exactly. So for now, yes I’m always gonna be present, but with time and experience and knowledge, Nicky will be sleeping at your place with no problem.”
“Should I buy a crib for him?” He asks as he puts Nicky down when he starts to wiggle.
“I mean, for the meantime you can share your bed with him if you don’t mind, but in the long run it would be better for him to have his own space to sleep.”
Bradley nods, a bit lost in thought.
Jake leaves him to it, finishing what’s left in front of him before starting to clear the table. He moves slower than he wants to, but he went through labor with no pain meds so he can handle a couple of bruised ribs.
“I know you probably want to get out of your uniform,” Jake starts, startling Bradley who had been dutifully drying the dishes next to him. “But I would kill for a shower right now, so can you stay for a bit longer?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“If he points to the TV, just put on Netflix.” Jake points to where the TV remote is laying. “He likes Cocomelon and season one, episode two is his favorite.”
“Got it.”
Jake takes his time undressing and unwrapping his ribs, he takes off the patch on his face before hitting the shower. The warmth from the water works its magic against Jake’s tense muscles. He indulges himself, staying in there for longer than necessary — he definitely deserves it.
Once he’s out of the shower he dries himself off, puts on his underwear and clean sweatpants but before he can put on his shirt he remembers he needs to rewrap his ribs and right shoulder.
“Bradley?” He calls out from the bathroom door. “Can you come help me with something?”
When he hears the other man’s heavy steps he grabs his discarded towel to put in front of him, covering his naked chest.
“What is it?”
“I need you to rewrap my ribs for me, please.” Jake tells him, holding out the bandage.
“Um,” He looks from Jake’s outstretched hand to the living room where music from the television was coming off.
“Is he on the sofa?”
“No, he’s still playing with his toys on the floor.”
“Then he’s fine. He’ll come find us if he’s bored.”
“Okay, then.”
They both move into the bathroom and the door stays open for obvious reasons. Jake faces the mirror, one hand still holding the towel up as Bradley positions himself on his back.
“Jake.”
“Mm?”
“You need to drop the towel.”
“I know, it’s just—” He doesn’t finish answering, not wanting to say aloud what he’s feeling.
“Jake, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t look the same.”
Bradley lets his eyes travel down the expanse of the blond’s back, appreciating his muscles, the new found roundness of his hips, the fullness of his ass.
“Maybe, but the view from behind is a pretty good one, so I’m sure the front will look just as good.”
Jake huffs, rolling his eyes. But Bradley can see him blushing as he drops the towel, revealing his front.
Through the mirror Bradley lets his eyes wander once more, from the white stretch marks on his hips, the softness of his lower abdomen, his eight pack is missing but he still has some defined muscles there, then he stops on Jake's chest.
One of the things Bradley adored about Jake’s body was his chest, and during those three days they spent together he didn’t shy away from letting Jake know just how much he liked his pecs, and he remembers just how much Jake liked it when he teased them, bit them, and marked them. He idly wonders if Jake still enjoys that or if he feels differently about it now that his chest is being sucked by a very different reason.
Bradley loves how they have swollen a bit now compared to two years ago.
“Hangman,” Bradley starts, staring into Jake’s green eyes through the mirror, “You look good.”
Jake laughs, relaxing in the older man’s embrace as he starts to circle his torso with the bandage.
“Well, I am good, Rooster. I’m very good.”
“Good, because I mean it.” He gently turns Jake around so he can secure the bandage.
“Is your memory failing you, Bradshaw? Because you and I both know that I’ve looked better than this.”
“Mm, show me pictures from when you were pregnant and I’ll tell you if you look better now or then when you were heavy with my child.” His voice is so husky and sensual that Jake surprises himself by not dropping to his knees right there.
He does blush from the tip of ears down to his chest, though. He lick his lips before replying, and he doesn’t miss the way Bradley’s eyes trace the movement.
“I see your charm hasn’t been affected by your old age unlike your memory.” Jake makes an attempt to walk away from the other man but Bradley puts both his hands on the sink, entrapping Jake.
Bradley smiles when he feels Jake’s breath hitching up.
“I was wondering if I could stay here.”
“Here? As in here crowding me against my bathroom sink or…?”
“I meant your place for the weekend, but if this is an option, then I’ll take this.”
Jake smiles coyly, batting his lashes as he makes a show of moving his hands up Bradley’s arms, feeling the muscles flexing when his hold on the sink tightens. Jake’s hands come to rest on the side of the other man’s neck, thumbs tracing the line of his jaw.
Jake can feel when Bradley stops breathing as Jake moves forward, kissing him on the corner of his lips. It’s just a peck that lingers a second too long, but Jake moves faster than Bradley’s brain.
“Thank you for bandaging my ribs, now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go grab you a towel and some clean clothes.” This time, when Jake moves past him, Bradley lets him, too stunned to do anything else than say,
“You’re a tease, Seresin.”
“But you knew that already, Bradshaw.” Jake throws him a wink from over his shoulder for good measure.
Jake puts in his own shirt before he brings him the towel and some clothes. He definitely doesn’t ogle at Bradley’s naked torso and doesn’t blush but he does roll his eyes when Bradley winks at him.
He grabs his phone on the way to the living room, just in time to catch a call from Mav. Jake accepts the call as he sits down on the couch, smiling when Nicky immediately tries to crawl into his lap.
“Hi, kid. How’re you holding up?”
“I’m good, Mav. A little in pain but at least we are back home.”
Nicky perks up at the mention of Maverick, calling out to him so Jake lets them ‘chat’ for a bit until the boy loses interest and goes back to playing with his cars as a new episode of Cocomelon starts.
“You there, Jake?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Have you heard from Bradley? I’ve tried calling him but it takes straight to voicemail.”
“Yeah, he mentioned his phone is dead, but he’s here with me, I mean he’s in the shower right now but I can tell him to call you back if you’d like.”
“In the shower? Well, you two move fast.”
“Mav!” Jake exclaims, laughing loudly. “It’s not like that.”
“I’m not judging.”
“I know you’re not, but really it’s not like that. He um, he spent the night with us in the infirmary and drove us home — the least I could do was offer him the opportunity to be out of his uniform, we both know the man is allergic to his khakis.”
“That he is. Well, I’m glad you’re doing okay, kid. Let Rooster know he needs to call me whenever he’s able to, okay? Alright, bye.”
Jake hangs up but stays on his phone, updating Monique about his situation with Bradley and how he’ll introduce them soon. He informes her about his injuries and in return she tells him if he needs her to come help her to just sent a text and she’ll be there in no time.
Jake truly won the lottery with her.
“So how does an off day look for you two?”
Bradley’s voice pulls him out of his musings, startling him a bit. He looks down at Nicky sitting by his feet then up at the other pilot and Jake's mouth does not go dry at the sight of Bradley Bradshaw wearing his clothes.
He clears his throat either way.
“Well, since the last time I had a Friday off was when I was out on maternity leave and all I did was have this little nugget hanging off my chest around the clock,” he bends down to tickle Nicky, laughing alongside him. “We don’t really do much on the weekends, though. Nicky takes a nap after lunch so we usually don’t go out until after that, take him to a park or the beach. Monique usually takes care of buying the groceries so I don’t have to worry about that. Lately, we’ve been spending a lot of time with your godparents almost every weekend. And speaking of the devil, Mav called me, he wanted to know about you.”
“Yeah, my phone died the minute we got here, can I borrow your charger?”
“Yeah, it’s in my room, just grab it from there.”
They spend the day together, catching the other up with what their lives have been for the past years, sharing bits and pieces of themselves — Jake talks about how it was to become an instructor and how cocky his students are sometimes. Bradley in returns tells him about his time in Japan.
Jake also takes the time to show the other man how to change a diaper and clean him up, tells him how he plans Nicky’s meals so he eats from every food group throughout the week, which snacks he’s allowed to have. Bradley takes it all in, writing in his notes app on his phone about Nicky’s preference and schedules, and asks questions when he doesn’t understand something. Jake also sends him Monique’s phone number in case of emergency.
It’s after they have put Nicky down for the night that Bradley asks to see pictures.
“I’ll grab my iPad.”
Jake comes back from his bedroom with his iPad in hand. He settles right next to Bradley on the couch as he pulls up the Photos app on it.
“Here.” Jake pulls up a file called Nicky and hands the iPad to the other man. “You can skip the first few pictures, those are from when I was pregnant.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m dying to see those.” Bradley answers honestly as he clicks on the first picture, it’s the three positive sticks. He had taken the picture so he could send it to Javy. He tells Bradley as much.
Bradley swipes again, showing the first ultrasound he went to, then the video of when he heard the heartbeat. Bradley doesn’t skip a single photo, not of Jake being pregnant, or the videos he took when Nicky would kick him hard enough for his little feet to be somewhat visible or the ones where he would start to sing for Nicky to settle down.
“Pregnancy really did suit you.” Bradley comments, eyes glued to the screen in front of him, tracing the lines of Jake’s rounded cheeks, the bump he was sporting at eight months. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, because I’m happy you didn’t terminate the pregnancy, but why did you decide to have him?”
“I was 6 when I lost both of my parents. Car accident took them out. No siblings or cousins, no aunts or uncles. My maternal grandparents raised me and I lost them a few years ago. I have no family, nobody to call my own blood. So when I saw those pink lines staring back at me I knew I finally had someone to call my own.” Jake smiles a sad smile, thinking about the past. “Don’t get me wrong, I definitely panicked for a minute, and for a split second I thought about it but I always wanted to have children, although I thought I would be married before popping a child out but I’m okay with this outcome.”
“I’m glad you kept him.” He tells him honestly.
Bradley looks down at the iPad and swipes to see the next picture. It’s the one where he’s in the hospital, a nice nurse took it for him when he finally had Nicky in his arms — there the one where he’s freshly out of the oven and the one where he’s already cleaned, in both pictures Jake is looking down at him with pure adoration in his green eyes.
“He came into the world all red and frowning, truly upset about being born.” Jake tells him.
“Well, you took such good care of him for nine months, of course he didn’t wanna leave his cozy spot.”
With each passing photo and video Jake remembers little things and tells Bradley about them, about how Javy had decorated the house for him, and helped Jake settle into his new role, how he would usually keep his phone pointed at either Jake or Nicky. Jake tells him how he had cried when he had gone back to work, feeling like he was gonna die if he didn’t see his son right that second — Cyclone hadn’t allowed him to be back in his jet for another month until he was able to control his separation anxiety.
“What did you do for his first birthday?” Bradley takes his eyes away from the iPad for a minute.
Jake bites the inside of his cheek, both wanting and avoiding to answer that question.
“I took him to your parents grave to introduce him.” He admits.
“What?”
“That sounded really morbid.” Jake frowns, shaking his head before he tries again. “Javy had a short leave that fell on Nicky’s birthday so we traveled to Louisiana to celebrate, but that morning I went to your parents grave to introduce him to them.” Jake grabs the iPad from the other’s hands and skips ahead a few pictures until he finds the one he was looking for.
It’s Nicky dressed in a cute blue romper with a thin long sleeved shirt underneath, sitting among a bouquet of sunflowers and another one of tulips, the Bradshaws headstones visible in the picture. Nicky’s smile is so bright it competes with the sun itself.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped something, but I haven’t had time to take him to Texas to do the same with my family. Your parents are closer and I wanted Nicky to know who he’s named after.”
“When did you become this thoughtful man?” Maybe that’s a mean thing to say but the way he says it, makes Jake take it as intended: a lighthearted joke.
“I’ve always been thoughtful.” He hits him lightly in the arm before handing him back the iPad.
They go through the rest of the videos and pictures of one Nicholas Seresin: first birthday, with the Machado family, meeting the Kazansky-Mitchell dogs and the men themselves.
“Can I AirDrop myself some of these?”
“Sure.” He stands up from the couch, stretching. “Want a beer?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Jake leaves Bradley to select the files as he walks into the kitchen to grab two beers out of the fridge.
“There you go.” He puts down one beer in front of Bradley, sitting next to him once more. “After this” he shakes his own beer, “I’m gonna grab you some blankets and pillows so you can sleep here.”
“No guest room?”
Jake shakes his head. “The couch, or sharing Nicky’s crib.”
“So your bed is not an option.” Bradley observes, grabbing his beer and taking a drink. “Why? You seeing someone?”
Jake huffs out a laugh. “Being a single parent doesn’t leave a lot of room for dating.”
“There must be someone, you can’t look like this and not have people follow you around.”
“Oh, there’s a lot of following me around and a lot of flirting, hell, half my students have asked me out.”
“And?”
“What can I say, I’m too good to be true.” Jake moves from his position, back now resting against the armrest, both his feet on top of the couch. Now he can look directly at Bradley. “Or they see me with Nicky and run for the hills.”
“Their loss.”
“Oh, absolutely.” He drinks from his beer before asking, “What about you? How many hearts did you break while you were in Japan?”
Bradley shakes his head. “No hearts were broken.”
“Now that I don’t believe.”
“Last guy I was with made one hell of an impression, nobody could live up to it.” The look Bradley gives him is more than enough for Jake to understand he’s talking about him.
“Oh he did, didn’t he?”
“Mhm.” Bradley puts his beer down and grabs Jake’s to put it on the coffee table too. “With his green eyes,” he starts, moving towards Jake, hands on the blond’s knees, “And sharp tongue,” Jake opens his legs, making space for Bradley to settle between them. “And the most perfect pair of tits I’ve ever seen.”
Jake laughs, pulling his arms up to cradle the other’s face. “Charmer.”
“But you already knew that.” Bradley throws a wink in for good measure before he closes the distance between them, lips coming in contact in a searing kiss.
Jake moans into the other’s mouth, lips parted for Bradley to have his way with him. Their hips jut forward, their hardening dick brushing.
They’ve only been together those few days after the mission, yet somehow they know exactly how to get the other going. They know where to kiss, lick and bite. They know how to make the other moan the loudest.
It’s when Bradley’s hands make their way under Jake’s shirt that the blond comes back to his senses.
“Fuck— wait, no—” He breaks off the kiss and Bradley immediately stills on top of him.
“What is it? Did I do something? Are you in pain?” Bradley asks, obviously worried about having hurt Jake.
“What? No. It’s just— I don’t think you have any condom on you, do you?”
“What?”
“Condoms.” Jake repeats. “Do you have any? Because I don’t, and you’re not fucking me without one on.” The sound Bradley lets out is nothing short of a whine. “No whining, last time we did it without one I ended up giving birth. So no condom, no sex.”
Bradley hangs his head, defeated.
Jake plays with Bradley’s curls and the other man’s hips thrust forward, creating more friction between their hard ons. Jake has to bite his lips so he doesn’t moan shamelessly loud.
“Can I eat you out at least?” Bradley asks, kissing along Jake’s neck and jaw.
“You want— What?”
“You still like it, don’t you?” Bradley moves so he can look at the blond. “I remember you liking it.” He leans down, kissing Jake’s welcoming mouth. “I remember you liking it a lot, actually.”
Jake’s eyes go glazy at that, breathes coming out a little heavier.
Bradley Bradshaw is going to be Jake’s death.
Jake surges forward, catching the other’s lips in a kiss that is all tongue and broken moans.
“Is that a yes?” Bradley asks, barely breaking apart.
Jake nods, connecting their lips once more.
“It’s a hell yeah.”
They couldn’t scramble off the couch quicker if their lives depended on it.
The following morning Jake is the first one to wake up, body attuned with his son’s sleeping schedule. Against his will, Jake peels himself away from Bradley’s steel-like embrace to make a quick go to the bathroom before going into his son’s room, who is awake and playing in his crib with his stuffed penguin.
“Hi, my sweet boy.”
Nicky immediately makes grabby hands for him and Jake wastes no time picking him up. After quickly checking his diaper, Jake makes the decision of taking him to wake his father.
“You’re on Papa duty today, buddy.”
Jake kissing Nicky curls before putting him on his bed next to Bradley. The boy doesn’t waste time crawling next to the man, tiny hands smacking him on the back. Jake takes a few pictures before going to the kitchen to start breakfast once he sees Bradley start to stir awake.
Jake makes it to the kitchen just in time for his phone to light up with Javy’s incoming FaceTime call.
His best friend never misses a Saturday morning call.
“Where’s my little guy?” Javy asks after they have gone through their typical greeting.
“He’s um, he’s with his father.” Jake admits, making himself busy so he doesn’t have to see his friend's shocked expression.
“Say that again, seems like the distance made me hear somethin’ crazy.”
“Don’t be a dick, Machado, you heard me.”
“Yeah but I want you to look me in the eyes now when you tell me again.”
Jake sighs exasperated. “Bradley is here.”
“Why? What did I miss?”
Jake moves around the kitchen making breakfast as he retells the details of what has happened in the last forty eight hours.
“And he wanted to spend the night here, so I let him.” Jake finishes as he starts scrambling the eggs.
“You slept with him, didn’t you?” Javy asks in a deadpan tone.
“Well, he doesn’t fit in Nicky’s crib.”
“Jacob.”
“Don’t you dare judge me, Javier, when you know damn well it’s been too long and the man is talented, okay?” He turns off the stove and turns to stare down at his friend through the phone.
“I’m not judging, I fully support you getting your world rocked, I just worry about you, you know that.”
“I know, Javy.”
They continue to talk as Jake finishes setting up the table and making something for Nicky to eat when the other two enter the kitchen.
“Morning, you two.” Jake greets them, alerting Javy of their presence. He flips the camera so Javy can see them. And also so Javy doesn’t see the way Jake stares at Bradley’s naked torso — he doesn’t need to be teased this early in the day.
“Hey.” Bradley says, nodding in their direction.
Despite his callsign, Bradley is not a morning person.
“Is that little Nicky that I see over there?”
“Baby, you wanna talk to your uncle Javy? Yeah? C’mere.”
Bradley easily hands him over and Jake doesn’t waste time getting him into his high chair. Nicky makes grabby hands for his phone, calling out Javy’s name, and Jake gives it to him and leaves them to it for a few moments before Nicky needs to focus on eating.
“Say buh-bye to Javy, Nicky, buh-bye.” Nicky repeats and Javy absolutely melts, like he always does when he hears Nicky say full words or his name. “Text me later, okay? Love you, man. Bye.”
Not even ten seconds later Javy texted him, “I’m not into dudes but holy shit I understand why you lost your panties so quickly, bradshaw with a kid in his arms should be illegal.”
Jake can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him.
“Something funny?”
“Just Javy being Javy.” Jake answers, putting down his phone and passing his food to Nicky.
“Have you—” Bradley starts but stops to clear his throat. He looks at Nicky before he looks back at Jake. “Have you two ever been an item?”
“Who? Me and Javy?” When the other nods, Jake continues, “I lack something that Javy is very much into, so we never even tried to. But he did offer to be put down as Nicky’s father so he could get the full twelve weeks of parental leave to be with me and any other benefits we could get.”
“Jake—”
“It’s your name on the birth certificate, okay? So don’t get all weird and possessive.”
“Then why is his last name Seresin if my name is on the certificate?”
“Because my last name isn’t Bradshaw, now is it?” Jake teases.
Bradley doesn’t even miss a beat before he shoots a jab of his own. “Oh, baby, if you wanted to be mine all you had to do was ask.”
Jake scoffs at that.
“I may have gone down on both my knees for you a time or two, but I will not go down in just one to ask you to be mine. You’re gonna have to do that yourself, Roo, I’m old fashioned like that.”
Bradley smiles at Jake’s dramatics.
“Alright, sweetheart, you got it.”
It doesn’t take long for them to find a good schedule to co-parent Nicky that works well for both of them, and it takes even less time for them to become a terror for their students whenever they team up against them.
It’s Bradley who asks him if they can tell the rest of the team, and Jake doesn’t deny him. They post a selfie of the three of them at the beach, Nicky’s face half hidden in Jake’s neck, Bradley and Jake are both looking at the camera, flushed faces showered in the golden sunlight. Everyone in their group of friends goes crazy.
It takes three months of close proximity for them to start a relationship, nine months for them to move in together and two years for Bradley to go down on one one and ask Jake to be his forever.
Jake says yes in less than a second.