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The warm grains of sand shift beneath Bradley’s weight, and he sighs as the gentle breeze ruffles his curls. He stares out to the endless horizon, the ocean glittering under the afternoon sun; arms resting on his bent knees.
Nat and Bob, and the rest of the Daggers had invited him to join them for a barbecue on the beach, but Bradley had said no. Said he had other plans. A lie, obviously. He wanted to say yes, it was just..
Mav would be there, because he was Dagger One and he should be there. And Bradley had been fucking beastly to him. For years, not just during the mission training.
Bradley had said some horrendous things. Things he’s been aching to take back from the moment he’d said them. But it’s not that easy. Because how can a simple ‘I’m sorry’ make up for all the years Bradley shut Mav out - the man, the Omega, he viewed as another mother - when even after he’d acted like a fucking asshole and said some horrendous things, Mav still hadn't hesitated to take a missile for him?
He’d cut himself off from the one person who could always soothe his nightmares, and for what?
Pride?
Stubbornness?
Bradley hadn’t even given Mav the chance to explain why he’d pulled his papers; just spat venom at him. Venom that had festered over the years, corroding away at the soft Alpha that he’d used to be.
It’s why he’s sat here, tucked up in a secluded part of the beach by himself - he’s ashamed. And he has no right to ask Mav to let him back into his life, no matter how good it had felt to have his Mom’s arms around him on the carrier. He’s done with being cruel.
Bradley rubs a fist over his sternum, trying to ease the ache of loneliness in his chest. It doesn’t help. Nothing ever does. Except Mav, his mom. But that isn’t an option. He’d told Mav all too eagerly, viciously, to get the fuck out of his life, and just like that saying - be careful what you wish for - well, now he’s having to deal with the consequences of screwing up his life. And honestly—
It’s what he deserves.
Mav had just been trying to protect him, Bradley gets that now. If he’s honest, deep down he’s probably always known. Bradley had just thought he’d been old enough that he didn’t need protecting, that he was an Alpha that Mav could view as his wingman, not just his pup, and the metaphorical arms around him that up until then had always represented safety, had chafed.
But Bradley knows now, that Mav will always protect him, no matter how old he gets, because that’s just how Mav is. He’s an Omega who loves fiercely, and Bradley hadn’t appreciated back then, how privileged he was to be loved like that.
But just because Mav had taken a missile for him, and Bradley had gone back to save him, didn’t mean Bradley could just waltz back into the man’s life like nothing had happened. Not after the things he’d said.
"No mate, no kids, no one to mourn you when you burn in.”
Yeah, Bradley deserves to be on his own.
Even if Mav hadn’t even flinched when he’d said it, giving no reaction except a disappointed tilt to his mouth, it was still an awful thing to say. Mainly because it had been fucking bullshit. Bradley would mourn Mav even if he didn’t have the right to. And he has no idea if Mav has a mate. Back when he’d been growing up, Mav had been with Ice. He figures they’re still together as they were like the stuff of soulmates, but he doesn’t know.
Doesn’t deserve to know.
Mav's reached out to him since then, but Bradley had just made excuses even if he'd yearned to say yes. Doesn't want to sully Mav's life with his presence.
Bradley tilts his head back, letting the sun warm his face and sighs sadly.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah!" Bradley jumps at the unexpected voice and frantically looks around. He frowns in confusion when he spots a young girl of about five or six standing just to the side of him, staring at him. She has dark hair plaited into French braids, blue eyes and a curious tilt to her head. She's wearing a shimmery, rainbow swimming costume and there's grains of sand clinging to her knees where she's obviously been playing. "Jesus, kid. You can't just sneak up on people like that."
"What are you doing?" She repeats.
"Uh...I dunno. Sitting?"
She hums, obviously not impressed with his answer. "Where did you get this shirt?" She plucks at the printed fabric of his Hawaiian shirt where it flutters around his bare chest. "It's kinda ugly."
Bradley snorts out a surprised laugh. Looks down at the blue shirt with pink hibiscus flowers and palm trees on. "It's not ugly. It's stylish."
"Right." She wrinkles her nose like she doesn't believe him, and it reminds him so much of the way Mav's nose crinkles when he smiles in that really soft, soppy way that Bradley hadn't been on the receiving end of for years before the end of the mission, his chest aches where he misses his mom.
"Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?"
"Yeah," she says. "But you're not a stranger."
"What? I think I'd remember knowing a little girl—"
"Can I climb on you?" She asks, apparently done with the other conversation. Jesus, she's gonna give him whiplash in a minute.
"Wait, what?"
"Can I climb on you?"
Bradley twists in place following where she walks around him in a circle. "Why do you want to climb on me?"
"Why not?"
Well, she's got him there. Bradley shrugs and chuffs in defeat. "Alright. Fine. But mind my dogtags."
"Don't worry I will. Mommy and Daddy wear them, so i know not to play with them." The little girl then scrabbles up Bradley’s back, until she's sitting on his shoulders. Her tiny hands thread their way through his hair, gently gripping the copper strands.
"Happy now?"
"Yep."
Bradley reluctantly smiles. She's a cheeky little thing. They sit there just watching the waves for a while; her small fingers playing with his hair. He kinda feels like a monkey being groomed.
"What's your name anyway?" Bradley loosely cups her ankles where her legs dangle over his chest, keeping her in place.
"Dorothy. Mommy and Daddy call me Dottie though."
"Cute. I'm Bradley."
"I know."
Okay. Now it was getting really confusing. He doesn't know any kids, so has no idea why she'd know his name. He's just about to ask her that very question when he hears someone shout--
"Ladybug! Where are you?"
"Ladybug? Is that you?" Bradley tries to turn to look at who's calling but he doesn't want to unbalance Dottie so he just sits still.
"Mmhmm. That's mommy." She then raises her voice to shout across the beach. "OVER HERE, MOMMY!"
Bradley rocks in place as Dottie waves enthusiastically to her mom. He has no idea how he's going to explain all this to some random Omega, so just hopes she can.
Except—
"Ladybug! What have we told you about running off?" A man huffs fondly coming closer. Bradley goes rigid all over, because he's pretty sure he recognises that voice.
"But, mommy. He looked so sad. And it's Bradley!"
Bradley risks a glance at the person approaching, and yep. It's Mav. Fuck.
He feels like he's swallowed rocks because its obvious now that the little girl on his back is Mav's pup and he'd been so fucking wrong when he'd shouted those cruel words at Mav, he should just walk into the ocean and never come back.
"I can see that." Mav stands in front of them, hands on his hips. He's just in a pair of jeans rolled up to his calves; dogtags resting over his sternum and a pair of aviators on his crooked nose. There's a mating bite on his neck that had been covered by a privacy patch during the mission and it’s obviously been put there with love. "Hi, Bradley."
"Hey, Mav," he says weakly. "Sorry. I didn't know Dottie was yours."
"S'okay. I had planned to tell you, but you've been hard to pin down these past few weeks since the mission. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're avoiding me. Though I can't think why..."
Bradley flushes, ashamed. Averts his gaze; using the gentle touch on Dottie's ankle to stop himself from bolting. "No, you're right. I have."
"Why you been avoiding mommy, Brad?" Dottie’s face appears in his peripheral, scrunched up in confusion. Like she can’t understand why anyone would want to avoid her mommy.
"Dottie, bug, he doesn't have to say—" Even now, Mav is still trying to save him.
"No, it's fine. I just...I didn't feel like I deserved to see you, Mav. Not after... not after what I said. Especially now I know you have a pup and I'm guessing going by the bite on your neck, you’re mated to Ice."
He keeps his gaze averted, and so the touch of Mav's hand on his knee takes him by surprise. Bradley sucks in a sharp breath and glances up. Mav's pushed his sunglasses into his hair and his eyes are so green and there’s no judgement there. Just love. Just like there used to be when Bradley was younger.
"M-Ma..." he whispers; throat thick with tears he fails to fully swallow down.
"Baby Bird...you saved my life.” Mav crouches down in front of him. “You're my son. You're always welcome in my life if you want to be in it. I never stopped loving you, and I never will. Whatever you said has been forgotten about, okay? The fact that we're both here, getting a second chance? That's what's important. Alright?"
Bradley’s bottom lip trembles as the loneliness and aching need for his mom overwhelms him, and then he just starts sobbing. Burying his face in his hand, so ashamed of how how he's acted and just desperate to be hugged by his mom again. Mav seems to be able to tell what he needs as does his daughter - Bradley’s sister if he thinks about it - because Dottie clambers off Bradley’s shoulders to squeeze his torso from the side in a hug, and Mav pulls Bradley into him, until Bradley’s face is tucked into his neck, and he can breathe in Mav’s comforting scent of home.
"I'm sorry. I’m so sorry, Mama. I really am."
"I know, Sweetheart. I know. And I forgive you, okay?" Mav strokes Bradley’s hair, murmuring to him in soothing tones. "You don't need to beat yourself up anymore, alright? You're a part of this family forever. And that's not going to change."
"Are you sure?" Bradley blinks at him through watery eyes. “You really still want me?”
Mav cups his cheek. "I've always been sure about you, Baby Bird. And yes I still want you. You're my son. You're Ice's son. You're Dottie's big brother. Those are just facts, kiddo."
"Is that why she knew who I was...?" He asks, because if he focuses on the other bits that Mav has said he's going to start crying again and never stop.
"Yep," Dottie says, beaming up at him where she's wrapped around him like a snake. "Mommy has photos of you all over the house, and he said I'd get to meet my big brother soon. And I saw you and decided I didn't want to wait any longer."
Bradley huffs out a rusty laugh; brushing his hand over Dottie's braids. "You are very much like your mommy, you know that?"
"I know."
Mav grins, pride etched into every line of his handsome face. "Does this mean you'll come to ours for dinner tonight?" He sounds painfully hopeful, like all he wants is for them to be a family. It’s what Bradley wants too.
Bradley still doesn't think Mav should be so easily forgiving, but it's an Omega’s prerogative to be that way, and he can't deny he's ached to have a homecooked family meal again. To have a family again.
"Uh, yeah. If you want me there."
"We do."
Bradley glances up at Ice who's joined them; looking the same as before just with grey hair now and a raspier voice.
"Hey, Pops," he says. Still can’t quite believe this is real.
"Hey, kiddo." Bradley had thought Ice would still be angry with him for chucking them out, but Ice's blue eyes are kind a they gaze down at him. "Thank you for saving my mate's life."
Bradley flushes again. This time with bashful pride - saving Mav, one of the only good things he’s done in his adult life.
"It's only fair. You both saved mine so many times.” More than they knew. Mav was his mom, and Ice was the kind of Alpha Bradley had looked up to, and dreamed of being. He knows he’s failed in that regard, but he hopes there’s still chance to turn it around.
"Can we go get ice cream?" Dottie asks, obviously having had enough of adults talking.
"Sure, Ladybug," Mav chuckles; standing up and giving Ice a slow, lingering kiss on the mouth. Bradley’s happy to see they’re still as strong and happy as in his memories.
"Yay! Come on, Brad. We're getting ice cream."
She yanks him up, full of boundless energy like her mother, and Bradley has no choice but to stumble after her. "Okay, okay. Jesus, she’s just like, ma."
"Imagine how I feel," Ice drawls. "I've been outnumbered for years now."
"Well, not anymore, I guess."
Ice loops his arm around Bradley's shoulders and ruffles his hair; easily keeping step as Dottie drags Bradley towards the ice cream van, Mav holding her other hand, giggling alongside her. "S'good to have you back, Gosling."
"S'good to be back, Pops."
Dottie starts chattering at him about ice cream flavours and Bradley glances at Mav and can't help but smile, still not sure if he deserves to be do easily forgiven, but happy to have his family back all the same.
Mav smiles back at him, and the horizon no longer seems so far away.