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Carole stood at the head of the room, back to the crowd, and eyes shining brightly up at her sister for a moment. This was one of those times where she wished with her whole being that Momma was here to see this. Lifting the mic to her mouth now she turned to face the crowd.
“So have you ever met a person and then instantly knew. Doesn’t matter what you know. You just know it?” She got a few muttered agreements and saw a few smiles in the crowd. “When I first met Thomas Kazansky he tried to tempt me. Boy did he try.”
“And failed miserably!” Slider cackled from where he sat beside the man in question while the rest of the room laughed and Maverick snickered into Ice’s shoulder while the man in question mockingly glared at his RIO.
Carole smirked and turned to face the head table, “Of course he did. I had my eyes on a better prize.” She slyly grinned now and winked at both Goose and Slider in turn before looking back at the crowd that was still laughing. Raising her voice a bit to be heard she continued on, “But as soon as he opened his mouth I knew. I just knew, like something in my gut was telling me Oh honey, you are not for me. Ice had this aura about him. Like he knew he was the shit and he was gonna flaunt that to the best of his ability.”
She looked back at the man and grinned for a second before turning back again, “And before that, I met Mitch.” She motioned back to her sister now, “For those that don’t know, I call Pete- Maverick- Mitch. That has to do with a story from when we were kids, about a dickhead bully that tried to hurt my sister’s feelings and instead she turned it back on him and wore her new nickname as a badge of honor.” She smiled as that got a few laughs, “But I met Mitch when we were 12 years old and I was brought into the home- by the Foster System, of a one Natasha Yilaina Sergorovitch-Mitchell. She was the widow of Duke Mitchell. A man I never met, but he is my father. I wear his last name as my maiden name and I am proud to know that had he lived, I would have been just as loved by him as I was by Momma.” She took a steadying breath and was slightly startled by Viper stepping into her space to hand her his handkerchief. Taking it she smiled up at him, “Thank you Uncle Mike.” He gave her a hug and a kiss to her forehead before returning to his seat by Jester.
Wiping her eyes she smiled still, “I met Mitch and I knew right then, she was destined for something amazing. At 13 when I was adopted I immediately changed my last name and found myself taken along for the best ride of my life. Mitch is loyal, protective, and she loves with her whole being. And I didn’t know it at the time, but I knew Thomas wasn’t for me. But maybe, just maybe, he was for Mitch.” She grinned back at Iceman and Maverick for a moment before looking back to the crowd, “Because something else I could see in Thomas- that I’m not sure even his friends could see- was that he may be the hot shot wanna be pilot- but he was also the kind of man that is just as fierce and protective of those he loves as my sister is.”
She cleared her throat now and took a deep breath, “I saw it that first night- after I shot him down- when later someone tried to start a fight with one of his friends and he stepped in. His eyes turned dark and his smile went cold. I’m sure some of you have seen it, that shark-like grin that does not meet his eyes in any way whatsoever. He took that dumbass down without laying a single hand on them. Now I don’t know what he said but I could see the way that guy’s face went white as a sheet before he slunk off into the bar while Thomas turned to that friend, checked in with them and proceeded to buy them a drink and never left their side.”
She grinned impishly now as she winked at the crowd, “I would later marry that friend. Because I knew that if Thomas would protect a friend like that, what wouldn’t he do for that friend’s loved ones?” The room as a whole let out a collective ‘Awww’ before Carole continued on.
“Later, in 1986 I would come across Thomas again. But this time when I saw him, the wheels in my head started turning. Because I’d recently had an entertaining conversation with my sister.” This got a few snickers from around the room before she looked back at Iceman, “You’re not wrong. She tells me everything.” With her back to the rest of the room she looked between Iceman and Slider with a knowing smirk before schooling her face and turning back to the room at large while both men’s eyes went wide and the pair blushed heavily and Maverick practically giggled into her water as Goose snickered into his own.
“But the wheels in my head were turning and watching them together that day at lunch and through the rest of the day I knew I was right. He had not been for me. And he was very much for Mitch.” She grinned again, “Before anyone gets it in their heads that I interfered and manipulated it so that they were thrown together just so they had to interact, I promise you, I had no hand in any of it. Those two took care of that all on their own. We are here today all because of them.”
She inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly, “But they did that all on their own. I called my sister the next morning to see if anything happened that night when she took him home and over the course of that phone call would find out that though nothing had happened- aside from a kiss goodnight, she did have a date set for later that day.” She grinned now as memories of that day came back to her. “About forty minutes after my husband had come home from being threatened by my sister, I got a phone call. Maverick is having a panic attack- one she can’t afford to have so she says; TopGun is too important to be having this kind of panic attack right now. Carole I think I’m in love! I’ve barely known the man long enough! What the actual fuck, Carole? I laughed, calmed her down and told her that sometimes that’s just how it goes. It took me fifteen minutes to tell her I went through the exact same thing when I met Goose- she remembered, this phone call was a mirror of the one we’d had not a week after I met Nicky. But I told her to calm down, she had studying to do, and everything would work out how it needed to.”
She smirked now and looked back at Maverick, “I was right.” She turned to smirk at the rest of the room now, “I always am. It’s an annoying habit she says I picked up from Momma. But I knew. I mean, look where we are.” She motioned to the room as a whole and smiled before picking up her champagne glass now to turn and face the head table, “Thomas, I’d love to warn you off about being’ with Maverick, but I just love her to death!” She smirked knowingly up at the man now, “You know, I’ve known Pete a lot of years now and I’m tellin ya one’s thing for certain! ” He answers her smirk with one of his own as she continues on, “There are hearts breaking wiide open all over the world tonight !”
He cocks his head to the side and winks as he asks, “Why?”
Glad that he was catching on, Carole's face splits into the brightest smile ever, “Because unless you are a fool ,” Carole motions to Maverick with her glass, “This girl is off the market!” The room behind her is scattered with laughter as she continues on, “She is one hundred percent, prime time, in love with you! ”
This has Maverick grinning brightly and calling out, “Damn straight!”
Ice is smiling brightly and knowing at Carole before turning to look at Maverick, “And I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
Carole turned to the rest of the room and lifted her glass, “To Maverick and Ice!”
As everyone else lifts their glass to cheer the happy couple Carole’s voice rings out above it as somewhere off to the side of the room Goose- who had moved seemingly unnoticed by the crowd- began banging out Great Balls of Fire on the piano, “Hey Goose, ya big stud!”
“That’s me, Honey!”
“Take me to bed or lose me forever!”
“Show me that way home, Honey!”