The Ironies of Life (Part 3) - Rooster
Pairing: Rooster/ Fem!OC (Naomi)
Word Count: 2.9k
Warnings: (Unplanned) Pregnancy; Exes; Emotional Angst; Named Female OC (Naomi), but No Physical Descriptions
This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.
Naomi is referenced as being a woman and she was previously an officer in the Navy. But otherwise there is no description of her physical features or her surname, so fill in as you wish.
Summary: Rooster flies in for Naomi's baby shower. They struggle to communicate normally.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 4
Master List
Having nightmares wasn’t odd for Rooster. Having nightmares about the uranium facility mission specifically wasn’t odd for Rooster. He relived those seconds where he thought that he was going to die countless times. The first time that he was shot out of the sky. The second time that he was nearly shot out of the sky with Maverick as the pilot. Getting caught at the enemy base. All of it.
But this time, it was different.
It started out the same. He and Mav were flying through the sky and the fifth-generation fighter had a lock on them. The missile was coming straight for them and Rooster had been down this particular nightmare path enough times to know that Hangman wasn’t going to arrive in time. The missile hit and everything flashed to black, just like it usually did in his nightmares.
But this time, it didn’t end there.
He didn’t wake up. He didn’t sit up immediately and gasp for breath while he sat in practically a pool of his own sweat. He didn’t stumble out of bed and scramble out of his soaked shirt as he crawled for the shower or something else to try and calm himself down.
No, the nightmare continued. But not in the direction that Rooster was expecting.
After the flash of light, Rooster found himself staring up at a house. And not just any house. It was the house that he used to live in with Naomi. The house that they moved into together about a year and a half into their relationship. The house that he promptly moved out of the night that she broke up with him. It was the center of their relationship. And it looked just like how Rooster remembered it.
Minus the fact that Phoenix was standing on the front porch in her dress whites.
She stood rigid, but there was an added shakiness to her form when she raised her fist. Phoenix knocked on the door three times in a short staccato fashion before taking a step back. She let out a breath, trying to steady herself, before she straightened up even further.
Naomi answered the door, slowly pulling it back. She must have seen Phoenix from the window because looked like she was in the middle of mentally preparing herself for this conversation. But, for whatever reason, Naomi wasn’t pregnant in this nightmare. Or maybe she was, but she didn’t look it. She looked exactly like she did the day that she dumped him.
Naomi gripped the door tightly and held a hand over her mouth as tears sprung to her eyes. Phoenix opened her mouth to speak, but no words seemed to come out. She simply shook her head as she fought her own tears. Phoenix cleared her throat and opened her mouth again, but she was cut off by a distinct cry from inside the house.
A cry that caused a new wave of fear to flow through Rooster’s soul.
Naomi tried to dry her tears and turned inside the house, leaving the door ajar for Phoenix to come inside. Rooster watched as Naomi headed into the living room and over to a little white crib. she leaned over the crib and carefully scooped up a little baby—his little baby, Rooster realized with absolute horror—and held them to her chest.
“It’s okay,” Naomi cried softly. She pressed a kiss to her baby’s head and rested her head over their own as tears openly streamed down her cheeks. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
~~~~~
Rooster shot up in bed, gasping for breath. Sweat dripped down his chest and forehead, making Rooster feel too hot and too cold at the same time. He leaned over his bed, feeling his stomach run through somersaults as anxiety and adrenaline took over. Gagging and gasping, Rooster held a hand to his face and tried to calm down.
It was just a nightmare, he repeated to himself. It was just a nightmare.
Rubbing his face, Rooster reached for his phone and checked the time. 2:19 AM. Rooster let out another sigh and kicked the blanket off of him. Eventually padding out of his room in Maverick’s house, Rooster headed towards the kitchen. He planned to sit on the back porch or go for a run.
But when he saw Maverick sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a newspaper, Rooster stopped in the entryway. Maverick slowly looked up at Rooster with a knowing look in his eye. Rooster did not comment on Maverick’s stare and simply walked over to take his seat. Grabbing a banana, Rooster started to mindlessly peel it while Maverick finally opened his mouth to speak.
“The same one?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah,” was all Rooster offered.
“Are you all packed?” Maverick questioned, changing the subject.
“Yeah. I’m only going for the weekend,” Rooster stated softly, glancing up at Maverick.
It was a little over a month since Rooster found out that Naomi was pregnant with his child. She was now over seven months pregnant and this weekend was her baby shower, which her mom and sister put together for her. Naomi gave Rooster an invitation before she left Miramar, but Rooster was still worried that he was unwelcome there.
After all, he was the jackass who refused to talk to her for six months about the baby.
And Rooster didn’t doubt that Naomi’s sister Sydney was going to make his weekend a living hell as punishment for that. Sydney wasn’t always Rooster’s biggest fan. And she wasn’t exactly subtle. But they were in a good place for the last four years or so of Naomi and Rooster’s relationship. And then he blocked her when she tried to reach out to him on Naomi’s behalf.
So, yeah, she was going to make his weekend a living hell.
“You’ll be fine,” Maverick insisted calmly, offering him a supportive expression. “You’re flying up for the weekend for this. If you were really a complete deadbeat, you wouldn’t drive ten minutes down the road for this baby shower. They’ll recognize that. And Naomi already knows that.”
“I know,” Rooster sighed, holding his head in his hands. He let out another sigh before picking his head up. “But I can’t fuck this up, Mav. I can’t.”
“It’s pretty hard to fuck up attending a baby shower,” Maverick pointed out softly.
“Oh, I’ll find a way,” Rooster muttered, shaking his head.
~~~~~
Rooster did find a way to fuck it up. Or rather, American Airlines found a way.
Delayed three hours. His flight, which was barely long enough for the flight attendant to walk around and hand out in-flight service, was delayed three hours. And that meant that all of Rooster’s planning went completely out the window.
Well, if Sydney didn’t hate him before, she definitely did now.
Rooster hurried up to the venue and simply hoped that the first person that he ran into was not Sydney, but maybe Naomi’s mom instead. But, of course, the second that he pushed the door open, the first set of eyes that he locked with belonged to one very annoyed Sydney.
“God-fucking-dammit,” Rooster muttered under his breath before forcing a smile. “Hey, Sydney.”
“Brad Brad,” she greeted him coldly, folding her arms over her chest. “Get lost on your way up?”
“Flight got delayed,” Rooster explained, knowing that it wasn’t going to help his cause either way. “I texted Naomi about it.”
“I know,” Sydney replied calmly. She stared him down for a bit, letting Rooster squirm for a little bit, before she finally put him out of his misery. “My sister is out back. Try to not disappoint her any more than you already have, Brad Brad.”
“Thank you, Sydney,” Rooster grunted out, quickly making his way past her.
Keeping his head down as he maneuvered through the few guests that remained, Rooster made his way out to the back patio. Stepping outside, Rooster took a quick glance around before spotting Naomi over on a patio couch with her mom. He cleared his throat, straightened up a bit, and made his way over to her. Naomi’s mom was the first to spot him and offered him a small smile.
“Hi, Bradley,” she called, getting up from her seat. “How was your flight?”
“Very late,” Rooster replied apologetically.
“Well, nothing you can do about that,” Naomi’s mom assured him, giving him a quick squeeze. “Did you eat lunch?”
“No, I was—”
“—I’ll grab you some then. You two just stay out here for a bit,” Naomi’s mom interjected, earning a look from Naomi, who was still sitting on the couch. “I’ll bring it out to you.”
“You don’t have—”
“—No, no, no, I insist. And some cake too,” Naomi’s mom stated before hurrying off.
Rooster watched her go before turning to Naomi, who now sat on the edge of the couch. She offered him a small smile and gestured to the seat across from her.
“You know that you’ll never win against her.”
“I’m remembering very quickly,” Rooster replied, walking around to sit on the couch.
He set his bag down and awkwardly cleared his throat. Turning to Naomi again, Rooster opened his mouth to apologize, but Naomi waved her hand before he could even speak.
“I was checking your flight status. You don’t have to apologize,” she stated softly. “It wasn’t your fault that you were late.”
This time, Rooster added on his own accord.
“Did you get the gifts that Penny and Mav sent up?” Rooster asked quietly, forcing a smile.
“Yes, I opened them earlier. Thank everyone for all of it,” Naomi replied kindly, nodding along with a wide, genuine smile. “I appreciate it, really. Especially the little mobile with all the birds. I’m assuming that Penny helped Mav pick out.”
“I picked it out, actually,” Rooster added softly.
“Oh, sorry,” Naomi quickly correctly herself, “well, thanks for picking it out. It looks beautiful.”
“Of course,” Rooster mumbled out, trying to relax just a little bit. “How’s . . . everything? Your health and all of that.”
“Healthy. We’re both healthy,” Naomi assured Rooster with an encouraging look. “Everything’s normal and progressing as it should be.”
“Good. That’s . . . good.”
“Yeah,” Naomi breathed out, looking like she was forcing confidence as well.
“I grabbed you a little bit of everything,” Naomi’s mom called, breaking up the unresolved tension. “I hope that’s enough for you.”
“No, no, that’s plenty,” Rooster assured Naomi’s mom, taking the plate from her hands. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. And I was going to bring you some cake, but it’s color coded, so . . .” Naomi’s mom trailed off, sharing a look with Naomi.
Rooster turned to Naomi, who straightened up a bit when she realized what her mom was referencing. Naomi turned to Rooster with nervous smile. Fiddling a bit with her fingers, Naomi smoothed down her dress and rubbed her bump.
“Well, um . . .” Naomi took a moment to compose herself before meeting Rooster’s curious gaze again. “I decided to learn the gender of the baby. And Sydney had a cake made for it and . . . I was going to tell you about it when you got here and so, if you want to wait some more, that’s fine.”
“Oh,” Rooster realized, nodding slowly. “I’ll, uh . . .”
Rooster trailed off, looking away from Naomi as he tried to piece together his thoughts. Did he want to know the gender of the baby? Did it really matter if he found out now or if he found out later? He didn’t think so. But there was also the nagging little voice deep in the back of his mind, the part that tended to bring out his more avoidant personality traits, flashed a giant warning sign in front of his eyes.
“. . . I’ll just wait the few more weeks,” Rooster finally decided, picking his head up.
“That’s fine,” Naomi immediately assured him. “Sorry for throwing that decision at you.”
“Don’t apologize,” Rooster told her. “It was your decision to make.”
Naomi seemed a little surprised at his particular phrasing, but she quickly pulled on a smile. Shuffling a bit in her seat, she turned back to Rooster.
“Oh, well, then no cake. Don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
~~~~~
Rooster knew that he had some making up to do to Naomi and her family.
And if there was any way to try and make it up to Naomi, turning himself into a pack mule was probably a good start. Grabbing all of the huge, heavy boxes from the car and dragging them upstairs to the nursery without any help had to win him a couple points.
He hoped, at least.
After she entered her third trimester of her pregnancy, Naomi moved back in with her mom into her childhood home. Her one-bedroom apartment in the city just didn’t seem like the right place to raise a baby, so she moved home. It took a sizeable dent out of her pride, but this wasn’t about her anymore. The baby deserved a backyard to run around in and a driveway to ride their bike.
And, well, Rooster quietly agreed with her. And he wanted to appear supportive, so if he had to act like a pack mule for a bit, he would act like a pack mule for a bit.
“You didn’t have to carry all of that,” Naomi assured Rooster, walking into the nursery. “We could have helped you.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Rooster insisted, straightening up. “It’s the least that I can do.”
Naomi nodded with a small smile, glancing around the nursery. She licked her lips nervously before straightening up and folding her arms over her bump. Turning back to Rooster, Naomi offered him a gentle expression.
“Did you want to help set up the nursery? While you’re here?” Naomi offered to him quietly.
“You want my help with that?” Rooster asked, a little surprised at her offer. “I would have thought that you wanted your mom and Sydney to help you out with that.”
“Well, they already helped me pick most of this out for the registry,” Naomi replied, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. “And you didn’t get to do any of that. So, if you want, if you’re not too tired, we can do it together.”
“Okay,” Rooster agreed, nodding along slowly. “I, uh, I’d like that.”
“Okay,” Naomi returned with a small smile.
They worked together, reminding Rooster of the happier times between them. When they felt like a team. When he felt like there was nothing that they couldn’t have solved together. When he thought that he finally found the one person that he was going to spend every last breath with.
But it was hard to remember that that was months ago and wasn’t his reality anymore.
Rooster still did most of the heavy lifting, but Naomi was very much an active participant. But it didn’t take long for Rooster to notice how she was shifting uncomfortably on her feet. Her ankles were swollen and with the baby shower earlier that day, Rooster had to assume that Naomi was exhausted. And, so, when they finished up with the crib, he started on the chair.
“Here,” Rooster called, gesturing to the chair.
“No, no, I’m fine,” Naomi insisted, going back to folding blankets.
“Naomi,” Rooster called again, “you’ve been shifting on your feet ever since we started.”
Naomi shot him a look of protest that Rooster had seen about a thousand times before, but eventually when the pain in her feet became just a bit too much, she begrudgingly switched over to the chair. Rooster moved to put the bassinet together while Naomi arranged and sorted through the various miscellaneous gifts that she received.
“Alright, that’s all set. Where did you . . .” Rooster trailed off, glancing back at Naomi.
In the minute between her handing him some pieces and him finishing up the bassinet, Naomi seemed to have fallen asleep on her chair. She was curled up a bit with her head resting on the edge of it and her lips slightly parted. It looked like an awkward position but given the day that Naomi had and third trimester exhaustion, she probably could have fallen asleep anywhere.
Slowly standing up, Rooster quietly walked over to Naomi. He waited a few moments, just to make sure that she was, in fact, asleep. Glancing at the open door, Rooster bent his knees. Rooster carefully slid his arm underneath Naomi’s knees and back to slowly lift her up. She barely even stirred as he shifted her head to his shoulder.
Carefully walking out of the room, Rooster turned the corner and headed for Naomi’s childhood bedroom. The door was open, so Rooster carried her inside. Laying her down on her bed, Rooster adjusted Naomi’s pillows and blankets for her, trying to get her as comfortable as possible given her large baby bump.
Straightening up again, Rooster couldn’t help but stare down at Naomi’s bump. It was larger than it was the last time that he saw her, and Rooster found himself searching for any sign of the baby—their baby—moving around in there. He reached out a hand, about to brush his fingers along Naomi’s bump, when he caught himself.
Immediately reaching back, Rooster cleared his throat and turned for the door, leaving Naomi to sleep peacefully in her bed.
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