Skylar's Wish • Rooster

Chapter 13: Teams

Waking up the next morning to the warm rays of sun hitting my face. I groan at the sudden brightness when I open my eyes. While rolling from my side to my back. I look around my sage green childhood bedroom, my library wall, black and white pictures of planes in picture frames. My eyes wander down to my white comforter. My eyes widen as I see a tan arm draped over my waist, hand resting on my lower stomach. I quickly lift the blanket, seeing that I'm still fully dressed. I let out a sign of relief. Letting go of the blanket, watching as it floats down onto my chest. My tired eyes are unable to figure out who it is by their hand. I follow the arm to a familiar face. His face looks peaceful, if you looked at him recently, you wouldn't be able to tell that we're going on a dangerous mission. There's no pain, no resentment, no worry. He's relaxed.

Slowly, I roll over to my other side, facing the man I've fallen head over heels for. It sounds creepy, but I could picture myself doing this for the rest of my life. Not watching him but, waking up next to him, waiting for him to wake up next to me. I bring my hand up to his face. I run my finger down the middle of his forehead, down his nose, onto his lips and over his chin, and follow his jawline to the side of his face. I cup his face in the palm of my hand, my thumb rubbing back and forth across his cheeks. Noticing his eyelids start to flutter, I retract my hand from the warmth of his cheek, back to my side. A small smile forming makes the corner of his mustache move upright. "Good morning." His voice is full of sleep, it's deep and raspy, and very attractive. "Morning," I manage to squeak out.

Feeling his arm pulling my waist in closer, I shuffle into his chest. Taking a deep breath of his comforting scent. I let out a happy sigh as I wiggle in even closer. I feel a rumble and movement of his chest underneath me. Laughter. Looking up, I find him staring at me with that look. The one I've only seen a person give to their lover. The look of pure happiness, like nothing else but the person in front of them matters. I've only witnessed hardly any people give that look. My mother and father being one example. Jackson and Lisa. And the main character and her lover are interested in the millions of cheesy romance books I've read and movies I've seen. No book or movie will ever prepare you for the amount of love that you feel in that exact moment. My heart is beating a million beats per minute, and my heart will explode. Never once, in all my past relationships, has someone ever looked at me the way Rooster is right now.

"What are you thinking about, beautiful?" Rooster asks, brushing a stray hair away from my face. "Everything.. You.. The mission." I mumble into his chest. "Hey," he says, rubbing up and down my back, "look at me." Lifting my head, my eyes slowly trail up all of his features. Feeling a hand cup my face brings my eyes the rest of the way to his eyes. "I will come home to you and will be together forever."
"Forever," I say with a smile on my face.

...

Rooster and I walk onto the carrier, US Teddy Roosevelt, after finding Phoenix and Bob waiting on the dock. The four of us make our way to the flight deck, waiting for the Teddy Roosevelt to leave the port. We watch as the crew hustles around the deck making sure everything is perfect. Once the carrier has left the dock, we make our way to our assigned cabins to dump off our bags. We then head to the meeting room to discuss what the plan is for today, while we wait for the carrier to be close enough to the target.

Walking in, see our superiors, waiting by a white board in the front. "Good Morning," Warlocks greets. He goes on to tell us that we are to stay out of the way of the crew while we have the day to relax. "Sir?" The voice asks from next to me. "Yes, Lieutenant?" "When are we going to find out who's going on this mission?" A strong voice male voice answers, "Tomorrow." I look over to the origin of the voice, "You are to be here at 0600. Don't be late." Cyclone turns his attention back to Warlock. "Anything else, Captain?" I see Maverick's lips move, but hear nothing. Warlock nods that whatever he's saying before telling us we're dismissed.