Friend in need
All the ducks were waiting at the lobby of their hotel ready to go to class before the practice of that day. They had defeated Canada and waited for Germany now in the Semi Finals.
"Is everyone here?" Jan asked to the team looking around.
"Julie is coming down in a bit. She got a call from her home." Connie told the coach before she returned her attention to her boyfriend Guy.
"I'll get her. I forgot something in my room." Charlie said to the others remembering that he had forgotten a t-shirt.
"Ok, I'll see you two at the rink after class." Gordon Bombay told the captain arriving then and motioning the other ducks to move.
Charlie ran to the room that he shared with Adam and Guy but before he reached there he heard some sobs coming from the room that was shared by the only girls of the team. He went to the door and knocked softly. Not getting an answer he opened the door and found Julie lying on the bed crying.
"Julie, what's wrong?" The Captain asked her worried sitting next to her.
The girl didn't answer him; she just hugged him and cried harder. Surprised with this and not knowing what was going on, he hugged her back trying to comfort her, wondering what had happened.
"Did something happen at your house?" The boy asked remembering what Connie had said to Jan.
The goalie just nodded still crying. Seeing that whatever had happened was bad, Charlie let her cry on his shoulder till she could calm to talk to him.
"My Grandfather died." Julie said between sobs and tears hugging Charlie tightly.
"I'm sorry." The captain said hugging her back. Julie had told him that it was her grandfather the one who taught her to skate and how to play goalie.
The girl went on crying on his shoulder for another hour before the phone on the room rang. Charlie moved his hand towards the bed table where it was and answered it, never leaving Julie's embrace.
"Hello?" The boy said in a low voice.
"Charlie, this is Ms. MacKay. Is something wrong?" The tutor asked. Obviously she was worried after not seeing them at class and wanted to know what the matter was.
"Julie's Grandfather died. She got the news before we left. I'm with her now." Charlie explained to the lady in a low voice not wanting to disturb Julie.
"Oh my God!" Michelle exclaimed as soon as she heard the news.
"Is something wrong?" A voice from behind the teacher asked: Bombay's.
"Give me a second, Gordon." Michelle asked the coach before she talked to Charlie: "Ok, you two stay there. I'll tell Coach Bombay so you are excused from practice. I'll try to go to check on you as soon as I can."
"Thanks." The boy said before he hung the phone and tried to calm Julie who went on crying.
- -
Michelle MacKay arrived to the hotel and went straight to the room that the girls shared. It had been 4 hours since she got the news and she had informed the rest of the team.
"Crap! He's the one who taught her to skate!" Fulton said as soon as them heard the bad news about their teammate.
"Who's with her now?" Connie asked obviously wanting to go to be with her. All of them wanted to go too.
"Charlie was there. He informed me and I asked him to be with her till I could go to the hotel." The tutor explained to the team.
"Geez! Not even here he can save himself from opening the sanctuary!" Averman said to the original ducks who nodded with a soft laugh.
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked to the others.
"At home, Charlie's place is known as the sanctuary. Whenever one of us has some problems at home, we can find a place where to sleep there always." Jesse explained to everyone.
"Last year I spent more nights at his house than in mine." Guy informed the others. All the original Ducks knew that his house was a war zone almost every day.
After finishing the class, Michelle spoke to Mr. Tibble and gave him the news. He promised the tutor that he would get a ticket for Julie for that night if she wanted to go home for the funeral. They decided to talk to her and then they would see what to do.
Once she reached to the room, she knocked the door softly and got no answer. She opened the door silently and found both teens sleeping at the bed. Julie was hugging a stuffed duck. Michelle had seen those ducks: all of the original members of the team had one. They were a gift from Hans for winning the pee wee league. Next to her was Charlie who had no t-shirt. The tutor found it near the bed and saw that it was wet at its left side. It was obvious that Julie had cried there for a while and he took it off before they fell asleep.
Not wanting to disturb the kids, Michelle took a blanket and covered both of them with it trying to not make any noise or wake them. Unfortunately, Charlie did and opened his eyes and saw her.
"Continue sleeping. I'll get you a t-shirt from your room." MacKay whispered to the captain showing his cloth before she left and returned a few moments later with a white t-shirt.
"Thanks." Charlie muttered to her putting it in before he hugged Julie again and fell asleep once more.
Michelle left the room once again in the most complete silence and put a sign of "Do not disturb" at the door before she went to the team practice.
- -
When Julie woke up, she found herself hugging Connie's stuffed duck and being hugged by Charlie. At first she didn't understand the reason of this till she remembered the news that her brother had given her that morning. She could feel the tears coming from her eyes and went to the bathroom to cry alone for a while.
When she got up from the bed, she woke Charlie who gave her a worried look and saw the tears that started to run down in her face.
"Come here." The boy told her hugging here once more while she began to cry again on his shoulder.
In that moment, Michelle and Gordon arrived along Connie who went to her friend and gave her a hug. Julie let go Charlie and embraced her roommate and cried on her shoulder while their captain went to speak with the adults.
"How is she, Charlie?" Gordon asked with a worried face.
"She cried all morning till she fell asleep and she started again now when we woke up. She told me nothing besides the news." Charlie told them realizing that he needed to change the t-shirt again.
"Go to change it and get something to eat." The Coach instructed.
"Want something to eat, Jules?" Charlie asked the goalie.
"Bring her something, Charlie." Connie told her friend. The boy nodded and left the room and went to his.
Inside, Adam was changing his clothes after taking a shower while Guy was on the bathroom taking his. Charlie took off his wet cloth and got a new one that had the words "U. S. A. Team" written on its back.
"How is Julie, Charlie?" Adam asked his friend when both of them finished changing their clothes and the blond placed his arm on the sling again.
"Cried all morning and now she's crying on Con's shoulder." Charlie told his friend, before he asked: "I need something to eat and don't want to be alone. Care to come with me?"
"Let's go." Adam said before he went to the bathroom's door and said to Guy through it: "I'm going with Charlie to eat. If someone looks for us, we are at the hotel's restaurant."
"Ok!" Guy shouted to them before they left the room.
"You have a real bad luck, Charlie. You thought you could save yourself from the sanctuary here but that didn't happen." The blond said to his friend in a joking tone. But Charlie knew him well enough to know that he was worried about Julie as much as he and the rest of the team was and that comment was to calm him a bit too.
"Real bad luck, eh Cake Eater?" Charlie laughed before they took a seat at one of the tables and Charlie ordered some food for him. Adam told him that he had already eaten along the rest of the team and was no hungry.
"How is she, Charlie?" Adam asked, this time with a serious tone of voice.
"As you can expect I guess. I mean I never lost someone so close to me besides Karp." The Captain said referring to their old teammate who had died last year in a car crash with his family.
In that moment, Julie arrived with Connie and Michelle. Charlie made them signals for them to sit with him and Adam. The two girls went to their table while the teacher went to ask some food for Julie.
"I'm sorry, Julie." Adam said to his friend hugging her.
"Thanks, Adam." The goalie said with a little smile at the moment Michelle took her some food along Charlie's.
"Did you call to your house?" The blond asked while she and Charlie started to eat. The boy ate almost the double that her, both of them having missed their lunch, and in Charlie's case his breakfast too for having overslept that morning.
"They told her that she could stay or go for the funeral." Connie answered while her friend went on eating, although she it did it very slowly.
"I decided to stay. I'm not sure if I could stand some members of my family right now. Besides we play in 3 days and the tournament ends in less than a week. I don't want to say goodbye to all of you yet." Julie explained to her teammates.
"We appreciate it." Charlie said with a smile and his mouth full of food.
"Charlie! Hasn't your mom taught you to never speak with your full mouth?" Connie lectured his friend with a stern tone of voice.
"Sorry." The captain apologized to the others cleaning his mouth after swallowing his food.
"Manners, Conway. You are in front of 3 ladies." Adam teased his friend.
"Sod off, Cake eater. Not all of us can be so good mannered as you." Jesse said entering the restaurant along Dwayne, Dean, Fulton and Ken.
"In name of all us, we are sorry for your loss, Julie." The cowboy said to the blond girl before they hugged her.
"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it." Julie smiled softly to her friends while they added a big table to theirs and sat down with the group.
"You are welcome." Fulton said before the kids asked some sodas for them.
"What will happen now?" Ken asked the blond girl not having heard her choice.
"I'll stay here till the end of the games. My brother told me that most of my relatives will be at home and I prefer not seeing some of them. My mom told me it was up to me to decide what to do and that they would support my decision." Julie told the others before she stopped eating and turned to Fulton and asked him saying: "I can't eat the rest. Do you want it, Fulton?"
"Sure." The Bash Brother said taking her plate and starting to eat.
"Here you are." Mr. Tibble said entering at that moment with Bombay and the other Ducks who hugged Julie and gave her their condolences who thanked them with a sad smile.
"Have you decided what to do?" Gordon asked Julie taking a seat in one of the tables that were added and everyone sat too while the waiters of the restaurant brought some food and drinks for them,
"I'll stay till the end." The goalie informed the coach and the rest of them team and gave them the same reasons that she had given to the others.
"With Michelle we decided to give you a free day. You need some free time." The Coach informed before he added: "We thought of leaving someone with you to not be alone completely."
"Want to have a day off?" Julie asked Charlie. She was returning him the favor of staying with her all that day.
"Sure." Charlie nodded after receiving a nod of permission from their coach and tutor.
The rest of the day, the Ducks stayed with Julie trying to not leave her alone. Charlie and Connie were with her all the time for her giving all the support they could.
When it was the time to go to bed, Charlie went to Connie and told her: "Do you mind if I stay with her? You can sleep at my room with Guy and Adam."
"Do you think that they'll let us do that, Charlie?" Adam asked in a whisper having heard his words along with Guy, pointing to the adults.
"No one has to know it if we are careful. We stay here till everyone else goes to sleep and we do it silently." Charlie said to his friends who nodded.
The 5 of them stayed at the lobby watching a movie trying to think in something else than the bad news till everyone went to bed. As soon as Michelle went to her room, the friends waited another while to be sure before all of them went to the rooms.
"No one is here." Connie said checking the floor to make sure that they weren't caught.
"Ok, goodnights guys." Charlie said to his friends while they went to the room and he and Julie went to the girls'.
"You know that if we are found, we are dead, right?" The blond girl asked the captain while they changed into their night clothes and went to bed: Charlie in Connie's and Julie in hers.
"They'll be more worried about Connie in my room with Guy then me in yours, trust me on that one, Cat." Charlie said in a serious tone of voice before he tried to sleep.
While being on the bed trying to sleep and couldn't, he heard some quiet sobs coming from Julie. He got up and went to her side and entered in the bed.
"Cry on my shoulder if you need to, Julie. I won't leave." He whispered softly on her ear, before he hugged her and the girl started to cry again.
Julie cried for 2 hours before she fell asleep. Charlie was about to do it when the door suddenly opened with a loud noise and the lights were turned on. In the frame of it were Connie, Adam, Guy, Michelle and Gordon. The 2 adults didn't seem very happy with the sleeping arrangements done by the teens.
"We are dead." Charlie thought seeing the angry faces of the coach and the tutor. His friends had the same look at their faces.
Fortunately Julie didn't wake with the sound of the door and didn't see the adults. Bombay pointed a finger to Charlie and motioned him to the door with his head. It was obvious that he wanted to talk with the 4 of them but didn't want to wake her. Charlie left the bed in silence and went to the door with the adults and kids.
"Ok, does anyone here have a good explanation for this?" The coach asked to the group.
"I didn't want to leave her alone so I asked Connie to switch rooms for the night." Charlie explained to the adults.
Why didn't you ask permission, Charlie? Why did you have to do it in secret?" Michelle asked.
"You wouldn't have allowed them to sleep at the same room, that's why. If we asked you, the switch of rooms would have been bigger. You would have sent Connie to sleep at another room and the guy who slept in that room would have gone to ours. It would have been a mess." Adam explained to them pointing to the couple of lovers of the team.
Michelle looked at Gordon and they knew that the kids were right. First they wouldn't let Connie sleep at the guy's room with her boyfriend and second, to let Charlie sleep there and Connie at another room than his would have meant making a triple switch of roommates.
"Ok, we'll do this. Tonight we'll leave things like this. Tomorrow we'll see if we make the switch." Bombay informed his players seriously before he told Adam: "Get some clothes for Charlie for tomorrow morning and a new t-shirt for tonight."
"Be right back." Adam said running to their room and returning later with a jean, a couple of t-shirts and a jacket and handed them to his friend.
"Everyone go to sleep now!" Michelle ordered to the players who nodded and went to the rooms before she and Gordon went to theirs. Bombay had left the house that Tibble had provided him and now lived at the hotel along the rest of the team.
"Are we dead?" Julie asked Charlie when he returned to the bed. She had heard a bit of their chat and was curious about what the adults had said.
"They'll decide tomorrow if we need to make new sleeping arrangements. But for sure, Con won't sleep at my room anymore." Charlie laughed before they hugged each other again and fell asleep.
- -
The next morning Charlie woke up and saw that Julie was still sleeping. Being careful to not wake her up, he took the clothes that Adam had handed him last night and went to the bathroom to take a shower before he would wake her and go to have some breakfast.
While he drying off and before he could start to change his clothes, Julie, who obviously had forgotten who had slept in her room that night and thought that it was Connie the one in the shower, entered at the bathroom and found Charlie naked and about to put in his briefs.
"Charlie! What are you doing here?" The goalie asked surprised to see her friend. Then she remembered what had happened yesterday and the sleeping arrangement that the team had done.
"Julie, would you mind leaving for a minute while I change my clothes? In case you didn't notice I'm naked." Charlie asked his teammate blushing furiously.
"Sorry." Julie said as red as her friend and leaving the room to let him change and started to arrange her clothes to take a shower as soon as he left.
"You forgot the arrangement?" The boy asked leaving the bathroom a few moments later.
"Sorry." The girl answered before she went to the bathroom still blushing.
While he waited for her, the phone rang and Charlie answered.
"Is Julie Gaffney there?" A man's voice asked as soon as he had picked the phone.
"She's taking a shower right now." Charlie explained before he asked: "Who's speaking?"
"I'm Alex, her brother and you?" The man asked wondering why there was a boy at his sister's room so early in the morning.
"I'm Charlie, one her teammates." The kid informed before he added: "Sorry for your grandfather's death."
"Thanks." Alex said before he added: "Tell Julie to call me as soon as she's out of the bathroom, ok?"
"Sure…" Charlie started to say before the girl left the room and told the man: "Hold on, she's out." Then he turned to Julie and said handing her the phone: "Your brother, Alex."
"Hi, Alex." Julie said as soon as she picked the phone.
"I'll go to get some breakfast. I'll wait you at the restaurant." Charlie whispered to her.
"See you in a minute." Julie said with a nod to his friend before she turned her attention back to her brother: "He's a friend, Alex. He answered because he spent with me all the night."
Charlie left her to talk in private, sure that she would like some privacy and went to the restaurant and asked some breakfast for them. At the place he saw some of the players from France, team that would face Island in the other semi final.
"Hey, Charlie." One of the players said as soon as they saw him.
"Hi, Pierre." Charlie greeted to their Captain and they shook hands.
"We heard about your goalie. How is she?" Pierre asked worried.
"As fine as you can expect, Pierre." Charlie answered sitting with them and shaking the hands of the rest of the players.
They talked for a bit about the tournament before Julie arrived and went to sit with them. Both teams were the last ones of all the teams that had been at the hotel and had become friends between the members of both.
"Accept our condolences." Pierre spoke in name of his teammates who nodded respectfully to her.
"Thanks. I appreciate them." Julie smiled to them.
"Don't you have practice?" Charlie asked to the other team while they continued their breakfast.
"We are waiting for our coach." Other of the players explained, before he arrived and went to his players. He shook hands with both Charlie and Julie before the French Team left.
After both players finished eating, they left the hotel and started to walk towards the mall that was a couple of blocks away from the hotel, one of the few places that they could go without the need of having an adult with them.
"What did your brother say?" Charlie asked while they saw some shops. He still had to buy a couple of gifts for his mom and Scott, his step-father. Although at the beginning he didn't like the man, he was starting to have some kind of relationship. It wasn't near father-son, but at least they could spend some time together in peace.
"He wanted to know how I felt and to see if I was ok. He also told me how it was." Julie said with a sad tone of voice.
"And are you ok?" Charlie asked with a worried tone of voice.
"Not yet, but I guess I'll be soon." The girl said sadly. Then she added: "Thanks for what you did yesterday."
"Julie, trust me when I say that you aren't and won't be the first or last person who cries on my shoulder. Everyone on the team has done it at least one time" Charlie said with a smile.
"Connie told me about the sanctuary." She said before they entered at a child's shop and bought a brown teddy bear.
"My little sister is 4 and she loves them almost as much as I do it." Julie told her teammate before she paid for it and they put it in a bag that she took in one of her hands.
"You took a like on Con's duck eh?" Charlie asked while both of them continued.
"If my sister saw it, she would like one of them for sure!" The goalie said laughing.
"Believe me; all of us love those ducks. Connie sleeps with it and the rest of us have them near the bed." The captain said with a smile.
They continued their shopping for a while. Charlie bought a jacket for his mom and a shirt for Scott. He also bought some things for himself as t-shirts, a cap and one or two more things. Julie bought clothes for her brothers (she had 2 more besides Alex and her little sister), a bag for her mom and a tie for her dad besides some thing for her too.
"What do you say if we go back to the hotel to leave these bags and we continue our trip?" Julie suggested beginning to feel the bags heavy for her.
"You read my mind, my cat girl."
Both of them went to the hotel and left their bags in their rooms. Charlie went to his and got some extra money too and went to Julie so they could go out again.
"Let's go." The girl said a few moments later.
They continued seeing shops, this time not in a mall and after some time walking they decided to go to have some lunch at a little restaurant that had no problems attending to kids, specially after the owner had recognized some of the players when they went there once. They ordered some pasta and while they waited for them they started to talk about their families.
"I live with my mom and my step-dad." Charlie started to talk about his. "They married last year. At first I didn't like the guy but I saw that mom was happy and I had no right to ruin her happiness."
"What about your dad?" Julie asked.
"Mom and I left him when I was a child." His hard answer told Julie to not ask anymore questions about that subject from that moment.
"Any step brothers or sisters?" The girl asked before the food arrived and they started to eat.
"No, Scott was single and never got children. I have a step aunt and some step cousins that are a pain in the ass to tell the truth."
"That bad?" Julie asked.
"They said at the rehearsal; to which all the ducks were invited, that Hockey wasn't a real sport and that basket and baseball were true ones. Let's say that the phrase wasn't liked very much. Most of the guests were fans of the ducks." Charlie said with a disgusted face at the memory.
"Nice way to make yourself to be loved." Julie said with an ironic smile.
"Never saw one better." Charlie said with the same tone of voice, before he continued:
"I never had a father figure and my only family is my mom. So I learnt to love the ducks as a family. I've always been there for them and when I needed someone, I was never left alone.
"My house is not called the sanctuary for nothing, Julie. It's a place where they can land and spend the night if there are troubles at their houses. There are place enough to hold a sleepover with the whole team. Most of them would end up at the floor but I never heard any complain from them about it."
"Why would they if they know they have a free place where to sleep instead of their houses?" Julie asked before she added: "If it was me, I would thank that I have a place where to sleep."
"I know it." Charlie nodded with a smile before he said: "Your turn to talk about families."
"My mom" Julie started to talk "works in one of the most important law firms at Maine and my dad is the president of a big business company.
"As I told you at the mall, I have 4 siblings: Alex, who's the oldest; Katie, Mary and Olivia who's the youngest and the future owner of the bear."
"What do they do?" Charlie asked before they paid and started to walk again.
"Alex is 25 and owns a hockey shop with his boyfriend." Julie said before she added: "He's gay."
"I have no problems with gay people as long as they don't try to flirt with me." The captain said with a laugh.
"You are too young for his like. He prefers older boyfriends." Julie laughed before she went on:
"Katie is 20 and goes to the university. She's studying art. She likes hard rock and wears gothic clothes. For sure she would have a great time with Dean and Fulton.
"Mary is 16 and she won't survive this year." Julie said trying to hold her tears when she talked about her.
"What do you mean with it?" Charlie asked shocked and surprised with her words before he hugged her.
"She has terminal cancer. Her doctor said that she has 6 months of life and it was before I came here." Julie informed him before she started to sob hard on his shoulder.
"Julie, I'm sorry." Charlie led her to a bench and both of them sat there where the girl cried for half an hour before she could calm herself again to speak.
"When Alex called me yesterday the first thing I thought was that she had died. Every time that the phone form our room rings, I'm scared that it's someone from my family to give me the news." The goalie explained still tearful.
"It must be hard for you." Charlie said trying to comfort her.
"More than you can ever imagine, Charlie." Julie said with a sob while she tried to calm again and said: "You never get used to the idea of that one day someone will give the news. I'm scared of it all the time."
"It must be hard." Charlie said letting her talk all she needed.
"It really is, Charlie, it really is." The girl said drying her tears before they started to walk again and she went on with her story:
"Olivia is 4 and so far the youngest of us. According to mom, she's her last hope of having a normal child after all the things that they went through with me and the others."
"What about you?" Charlie asked.
"I'm a bit of a though girl when I want. Although you don't see it very often I can fight really well. And last year I broke 2 teeth to my former best friend when she stole my boy friend." The blond informed her friend with a sweet smile.
"Ouch."
"Hey, Charlie, Julie!" Both teens heard someone shouting their names and turned around to see Russ and some of his friends wearing hockey stuff and ready to play.
"Hi, Russ." Both kids greeted the black boy as soon as he skated to them and shook hands.
"What are you 2 doing here alone? I thought you would have practice." Russ asked them while the rest of the group went and said hi to them.
"My grandfather died yesterday and Coach Bombay gave me the day off and Charlie came with me so I wouldn't be alone." The goalie explained.
"Sorry for that." James, Russ' brother, said to her. Julie just nodded in thanks.
"Want to play? We were about to start a game." Russ asked them.
"We don't have our stuff here, Russ." Charlie said with a shake of his head.
"We can get you some in a minute." One of James' friends said while the others nodded.
"Why not?" Julie asked Charlie and both nodded while some of the guys ran to get them rollers and sticks for them to get ready to play.
- -
Almost 3 hours later, Charlie and Julie returned to the hotel along Russ. With Adam being injured they needed a player and both ducks convinced Russ to talk to the coach to see if he could be on the team till the end of the tournament.
"Relax, Russ. We can convince him." Charlie assured him while they reached to the hotel at the same time that Jesse, Connie, Guy and Adam left for shopping.
"Hey, Russ." Jesse said when they saw him. He had started to like the guy despite his attitude towards the team at the first matches.
"Hey, Guys." Russ shook hands with them.
"What are you doing here?" Guy asked curiously.
"I thought that he could play with us as Adam's replacement till he recovered. We came to discuss it with the coach." Charlie explained to his friends before he asked if they knew where he was.
"Try at his office." Banks said before he added: "It would be nice to have you here."
"Thanks." Russ said before the 3 entered at the hotel.
"I'll go to my room while you 2 talk with the coach." Julie said to Charlie before she left and the 2 boys went towards the office.
- -
Next day, the ducks, Russ, Tibble, Michelle and the Coach went to the rink. The adults wanted to see how good was the black kid before deciding if he would make the team or not.
"Show them your shot, Russ!" Charlie shouted to the boy.
"I'm at your orders, Charlie." Russ said before he made his special shot and the 3 adults saw it in shock as the puck went to the net.
"What do you think of that, Coach?" Goldberg asked Gordon who was shocked with it. Tibbles looked at Russ as if he was Santa Claus.
"Welcome to the team, Russ." The coach said before he shook hands with him. And that was how he had made the team and now the ducks were ready for that day match and hoped to face Iceland on the final game to beat them. They wanted revenge from the last time both teams had seen each other on the ice.
- -
After beating Germany, the ducks made the finals and would face Iceland once more. The night before the game, the team was nervous and all the things that the 4 adults did to try to calm them failed, specially because they were almost as nervous as the team.
Near 10 p.m. Bombay sent them to bed or to try to rest. Some players went straight to bed but others gathered at some of the rooms to chat or to play something for a while before they went to bed.
Connie and Julie went to the room that was shared by Charlie, Guy and Adam and started to chat trying to calm their nerves but no one could.
"I'll answer it." Charlie said when the phone of their room rang.
"I need to talk with Julie Gaffney, please." A man's voice said.
"For you." The captain told the goalie handing her the phone before he added: "We are here." He saw the worried look on her face and knew the reason of it.
"Hello?" Julie answered wishing that it wasn't the dreadful call in which she was informed of her sister's death.
"Julie, honey? It's dad." The man said with a cheerful tone that calmed her immediately. He wouldn't use that tone if he had to deliver the news.
"Hey, dad! How are you? How is the family?" Julie asked more cheerful now.
"I want to talk to her!" A little girl shouted on the phone before her father could answer.
"Olivia wants to talk to you." Her father said before he handed the phone to his youngest daughter.
"Hey, Olivia! Do you miss me?" Julie asked her sister before he mouthed to Charlie: "Everything's ok." She had seen the look on his face that relaxed as soon as she said those words.
"Did we miss something?" Guy asked Charlie confused with those words. Adam seemed to be lost too, but Connie shared the look of Charlie. She knew the reason of their fears because Julie had told her about her sister's illness.
"Nothing to worry about." Charlie answered his friends. All of them had called their homes or they had been called that day to talk with their families before the big game. Julie was the only one who hadn't been able to talk any of them besides her brother Alex.
"Time to sleep, kids." Jan said entering at their room at that moment.
"She's talking to her family." Charlie explained while Julie talked now to her mom after talking with her father and 2 sisters and her brother for second time that day.
"Mom, I have to go. The coach's assistant came to tell us we have to go to bed." Julie said to her mom before she made a signal to Jan to give her a minute. The old man nodded and left the room after wishing good nights to all of them.
"Ok, Julie, good luck tomorrow for you and the rest of them team and remember that we are proud of you no matter the result. We have something to tell you and the others." Her mom said before behind them all her relatives, chorused:
"GOOD LUCK, USA TEAM!!"
"Thanks, Mom, love you too. I'll call you after the match." Julie promised her before she hang up the phone.
"Good nights, guys." Connie and Julie said to the boys before they went to their own room.
"Night, girls." The 3 answered before falling asleep.
- -
The hotel was in uproar when the Ducks returned form the arena after the match against Iceland. They had made a miracle and had won the medal with Julie's catch of Gunnar's shot at the shootout.
The team was leaded to the restaurant where it had been set a celebration for them. Mr. Tibbles had left instructions to have it ready when they returned both if they won or not. Of course that if they would have lost, it would be more little and quiet the celebration but that wasn't the case.
"A toast for Julie and her catch that made us win!" Dean shouted when their glasses had been filled and they were ready to toast. The adults' had been filled with champagne and the kids with coke.
"Cheers for the Cat!" All of them chorused and made the toast.
"Thanks." Julie said with a shy smile and blushing.
"I told you that you would have your chance and only had to wait for it, Julie." Charlie said to his friend hugging her.
"And a hell of a chance she got!" Connie laughed hugging her. They had been the 2 people that she most wanted to hug after the end of the match and Charlie was her first.
"Thanks guys. I owe you 2 a lot." The blond girl said with a smile to the 2 ducks that had helped her at the hard times she had gone through at the tournament.
"We always told you, Julie. The ducks always stick together. You are one of us and never forget that." Charlie told her with a serious tone of voice while Connie nodded to his words.
"I know it. Now all of us are officially ducks!" Julie laughed while Tibbles brought some boxes and gave one to all of the players.
"This is a gift from Hendrix to all of you for winning." The man said to the kids with a broad smile.
Inside the boxes there was a new pair of skates, a new stick, gloves and all the stuff they would need to play hockey. Also there was an invitation for a camping trip that would begin next Monday and would last a week.
"Sorry but I won't be able to go. My mom is sick and I have to stay here." Russ said to Tibbles declining the invitation, although it was obvious that he really wanted to go there.
"Then accept the box, please." The man said accepting the ticket. The rest of the ducks were sad that he couldn't make it but he had a rally good reason to stay.
"I wouldn't decline it for nothing in the world." Russ laughed putting his box at the corner where some of the other players had left theirs, to take them to their rooms later.
"There are another 2 gifts for everyone." Tibbles announced taking 2 boxes, before he continued giving each a small box to all of them and said: "They are a check to be used at a mall for you to buy more souvenirs although all of you probably have done it."
"Oh my god!" Averman cried when he, along the rest of the team, saw the check: it was for 1500 dollars each.
"Yeah, I know it. It's big!" Tibbles laughed before he added about the second item of the box: "It's a photo camera with 5 rolls of film to be used here and in the camping trip. Of course you can keep them after it."
"Shopping day for everyone tomorrow!" Coach informed the team taking his own check.
"I hate shopping!" most of the boys said with a groan at the same time after hearing the news.
The party went on till very late in the night. Some of the French players went to congratulate the ducks and ended joining the party. When it was almost 3 a.m., Bombay sent everyone to bed, order that no one complained and went to their rooms with their medals on the neck.
- -
"RRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!"
The sound of the phone next morning woke Connie at 8 o'clock. Muttering a curse, she got out from her bed and answered it.
"Hello?" She asked with a yawn.
"I need to talk to Julie, please." A girl's voice said.
"Hold on, I'll wake her up." Connie said before she shook her roommate and said: "Phone for you."
"Speak?" The goalie said not completely awake.
"Julie? It's Katie." The girl said.
"What's wrong?" Julie asked now fully awake seeing the hour.
"Chill out, little sis. Mary's ok." Katie informed her sister knowing the reason behind her question.
"Katie, what do you want to call me so early?" Julie asked a bit more calm now.
"Well, I wanted you to be the first person to know it. I'm getting married this summer." The punk girl said with a smile.
"WHAT??" The blond girl asked with a shout.
"I'm getting married with Jeff. You remember him, don't you?" Katie asked to her sister.
"Jeff's the guy with the size of a gorilla and brain of a troll?" Julie asked trying to remember the guy that her sister talked about.
"Nah, that was Matt. Jeff is the guy who plays in the rock band." Katie laughed.
"Ah, the one full of piercing and tattoos and almost gave a heart attack to mom when he came home." Julie said remembering the guy now.
"Yeah, that one. You'll be the bridesmaid and you better have a date to bring." Katie informed her sister.
"Ok, Katie. Next time call me a bit later, please? We went to bed at 3 last night! I know you are used to party all night and be bright and shine 2 hours later, but I really love to sleep!" Julie shouted her sister before she hung the phone with a bang and went back to bed.
"What happened?" Connie asked her friend.
"My punk sister is getting married." Julie said before she fell asleep.
- -
None of the ducks went to breakfast that day, using the morning to sleep till noon. Ken had been the first to leave his room along Dwayne at 11.45 a.m. while the bash brothers showed up when the lunch had been served and were the last to leave their beds.
"Talk to me about your brother in law." Connie asked Julie while they were eating.
"I saw him once, Connie. My sis has had so many boyfriends that I lost the count of them and barely remember their names." Julie told her friend before Gordon and Michelle told them that it was time to go to the mall.
As soon as they arrived, most of the ducks decided to go in groups of 2 or 3 most: the groups were formed by the bash brothers; Connie and Guy; Jesse, Russ and Banks; Luis and Dwayne; Goldberg and Averman and Charlie went with Julie while the adults went on their own.
"Let's meet at the food court in 3 hours, ok?" Gordon asked the kids who nodded and started to walk around the mall.
"Any idea what will you buy with that money?" Julie asked her friend checking clothes shops.
"I'll buy some cloths for mom and Scott, a disc-man for me, some CDs and there I run out of ideas. But for sure, I'll keep some of it for me. You?" Charlie said before he bought a couple of ties for Scott and a bag for his mom.
"Some toys for Olivia, clothes for Alex and his boyfriend Mike. I have no idea what to buy Katie. I'll ask Fulton and Dean before we leave and music for Mary and something for me. As you, I'll keep the rest." Julie said buying the same things that Charlie at the same shops.
"Do you think we should buy something for the others?" The captain asked while they entered at the toy store and Julie looked around for toys for her little sister.
"Let's see what they did before we leave. If they bought something, we buy something too." The goalie said after thinking about the matter a few moments.
"Sounds fair." The boy said before he went and picked a teddy and paid for it.
"Who is it for?" Julie asked curious about the bear while she paid her presents.
"It's for a friend who loves them." Charlie said before they left and went to buy informal clothes and Julie bought some t-shirts for her brother and brother-in-law besides another 5 that looked for teens.
"Who are they for?" The boy asked confused with them.
"They are for you for all the t-shirts where I cried on." Julie said with a smile and handing him the bags with them.
"You didn't need to do it, Cat." Charlie protested.
"They are my way to thank you for being with me those 2 days and supporting me and my tears, Charlie. I beg you to accept them as a gift." The blond girl begged with puppy eyes.
"My mom taught me to never deny a gift, especially if it comes from a nice girl." Charlie said with a smile.
"Very good advice, Conway." She laughed while they went to the electronic store.
Some of the other ducks were watching little TVs for their rooms. Charlie thought better about the disc-man and went to see the televisions. They weren't really expensive and would leave him some money at the end. Julie looked at them too but decided she didn't need one. She had a TV on her own room and she didn't need another one.
"We'll have to talk to Tibbles to get them sent home." Goldberg said to the other ducks after they paid them.
"You are the ducks, right?" Asked one of the sellers of the shop when he heard Tibbles' name.
"Yeah, why?" Adam asked. He had bought a disc-man too.
"If you leave the address, we'll send everything to you by mail. Mr. Tibbles thought that you could come here to buy things. So we made an arrangement to send your shopping to any address you want." The man explained to the kids.
"It sounds a great idea to me." Averman said and everyone nodded. The seller called the manager to take care of that.
Twenty minutes later, all the players that had bought something at that shop left it to continue.
"How much do you have?" Julie asked her friend.
"I must have about 700 dollars and you?" Charlie asked. He had kept a mental count of the money he had spent at the shops.
"Almost 900." Julie had kept her counts too. Then she asked him: "Do you have something else to buy?"
"Yeah, I have to buy some music tapes."
After they had bought them (Julie had used the bash brothers knowledge to buy something for her sister), the 4 of them went to the food court and set the bags on the floor of the tables that were ready for them. A few moments later, Michelle, Jan and Gordon went to them and started to talk about what each of them had bought,
Most of the other players had bought the same things for their families. One thing was sure, all of them had kept at least 500 dollars for themselves.
"No one told us we had to spend it all, did they?" Jesse said with an ironic smile to Gordon when they discussed how much money each of them had.
The coach was about to open the mouth to answer him but thought it better and shut it. It was true: no one told them anything about the money and how they had to use it.
"First thing we do when we arrive: call home to tell them about the TVs." Goldberg said to the others who nodded. All of them had to warn their families so it wouldn't shock them when all of them were delivered.
- -
Casey Conway was at her apartment getting ready for work when the phone rang.
"Scott, can you answer it please?" She shouted to her husband while she finished the make up.
"Conway residence." Scott said picking up the phone.
"Hi, Scott, it's Charlie." The kid greeted his step-father.
"Hi, how is the little champion?" The man asked with a smile before he shouted to his wife: "Case, It's Charlie!"
"Fine thanks, Scott." Charlie answered before he heard the second phone being picked and knew that his mom took the extension: "Hi, Mom."
"Charlie, honey! Congratulations! I saw the match at Mickey's last night! Everyone sends their congratulations to you and the team!" Casey said with a smile of pride to her son.
"Thanks, Mom! Listen I need to warn you about something." Charlie told his mother.
"What happened?" The woman asked worried.
"Nothing, don't worry." Charlie tried to calm her before he added: "In a couple of days, there will be a delivery of a TV that I bought today at the mall. I wanted to tell you so you wouldn't be surprised when it came." Then he told her about the shopping trip that the team had done with the money that Tibbles had given them.
"When will it come?" Case asked making a note to remember it and warn Scott.
"It will be in a couple of days. I'm not sure when." Charlie said before he added: "Hold on, Adam." This was for his roommate that tried to talk to him.
"Ok, I'll tell Scott too so he won't be shocked if it arrives when he's here." Casey said before she added: "When are you leaving for the trip?"
"Tomorrow afternoon." Charlie answered before he added: "I have to go. Adam and Guy want to use the phone too."
"Ok, honey. Good luck and have fun. I'll see you in a week." Casey said to her son before they hung up.
"What happened?" Scott asked to his wife before he drove her to her work.
"Charlie bought a TV for his room and wanted us to know so we accept the delivery when it comes home." The woman said before she arrived to work, kiss her husband and got ready for her day.
"Hey, Casey! How is the little champion?" One of the regular customers asked when she entered. All of the regular customers of the restaurant knew that her son played hockey and when there was a match of the ducks, it was heard on the radio or as in the case of the Good Will Games, watched in TV.
"He's fine, Allan. I just talked to him before I came here. He bought a TV for his room and just called me to tell me about the delivery." Casey said with a smile.
"Surely he bought you something nice too." Mike, the owner of the restaurant, said when he entered at the moment and said hi to all of them and went to his office.
"I want to believe he did." Casey laughed before she started to attend the customers.
- -
After the trip and the calls to home about the deliveries, the Ducks were trying to decide what to do that day and tomorrow before they went to the trip.
"Let's go the rink again. We can continue the fun we started the other day." Luis suggested to everyone.
"What if we have a rematch against your friends? This time it will be in our ground." Charlie asked Russ turning to him.
"Give me 30 minutes and you'll have it." Russ said after everyone nodded in agreement to the idea and the boy went to make a few phone calls.
Less than 45 minutes later, both teams were on the ice and ready for the rematch. They got ice skates for Russ' friends and they got ready to start.
"We want Russ." James said to the Ducks, who nodded and all of them went to the ice for the face off that would be between Charlie and James.
No one took care of the time or the score, no really cared to tell the truth. It was just to have fun and they didn't need those things to have it.
The games lasted for about an hour before they called an end. Everyone tried to see how many goals were scored just to know it more than to know who had won.
"Let's call it a tie, ok?" Charlie suggested after 20 minutes of discussion in which no one could reach an agreement.
"Besides, does anyone care who won? I thought we were playing to have fun." Dwayne said a bit confused.
"Cowboy's right. Who cares who won? I don't." Jesse said with a smile.
"Neither does us." The rest of the teams said with a nod.
With that settled, when all of them were about hit the showers and went to eat something, Gordon arrived with Michelle and Jan. They shook hands with James and the rest of his friends and sat to eat with them.
"What do you think if we take some pictures now? I want to keep some with you, guys?" Russ asked the rest of the team before he and his brother left.
"Won't you come to say goodbye tomorrow?" Averman asked confused.
"I wish I could but have things to do here. I go to school, remember? Perhaps you are here with a tutor but I can't miss anymore days." Russ said to his friends.
"Let's get the jerseys and make a group session with them at the ice." Charlie suggested to the others, understanding Russ' problems.
"That, Spazzway, It's a really great idea." Guy agreed getting nods from the rest of the team.
So it was decided. All of the players went to their room to get their stuff back and went to the rink Russ told his brother that he would go with them and then he would return home.
"Hold on, Russ! Let's take a picture with both groups." Banks suggested looking at his friends to see if they agreed to one.
"Cake Eater, that's a really great idea too." Jesse said before both teams returned to the ice and the pictures began.
- -
The first picture was of both groups together. After it, James and his friends left after shaking hands and wishing them good luck. He told Russ to not be too late at home.
The whole team decided to take pictures with other players. Instead of using everyone's cameras, they picked one and it would be used to take the whole lot of them.
At the end, all of the players had a picture with every other player alone or in group. When the session ended, 25 rolls of pictures were used. Each of them gave one or 2 of their own for them. The rest would be used at the camping trip or they would be saved for when they returned home.
Julie wanted 2 pictures above any other. One was with Charlie and the other was with Connie. Charlie suggested having one of the 3 together and they had it. On the pic, Charlie was in the middle with his left arm around Julie's shoulders and the right around Connie's and both girls had an arm around his shoulders.
"Thanks." Julie thanked her friends before the 3 continued the session with the others. Both kids nodded with a smile.
The whole thing lasted another 2 hours before they called an end. Everyone was satisfied with the pics they had been taken and went to the restaurant for the last dinner before the trip. Russ stayed with them till it was bedtime and said his goodbyes to all of the players before he left to go home.
As soon as they arrived to the lobby, Julie was told that her family had called and asked her to call ASAP. She rushed to her room to call fearing the worst as every time that she was called by her parents or siblings. Charlie saw this and ran after her in case she needed a shoulder to cry and a friend to support her.
"Julie was called from her home." He said to Connie before he went to the room. She said something to Guy before she ran after them to her room.
"Mom! Do you want to give me a heart attack? Next time don't use the words 'Call as soon as you can'!" They heard Julie shouting to the phone as soon as they arrived to the door.
"Sorry, Kitty. That phrase was Katie's idea." Her mom apologized knowing that her daughter had been with the heart on her throat since she got the message till she was told that Mary was ok and her health wasn't the reason of the call.
"I'll kill her! She loves to make me suffer! First she calls 8 a.m. and now this! Wait ill I'm at home!" Julie said in an angry tone of voice before she turned to her friends and mouthed them:"False alarm. She's ok." Both of them nodded and left here to talk to her mom alone.
"First let me see her getting married, Julie. Then kill her if you want." The woman laughed and feeling pity for her second oldest daughter. She, like the rest of her family, knew that Julie had the worst temper of all of them.
"I'll have it in consideration, Mom." The goalie said before she asked: "Why did you call?"
"Kitty, you promised to call us today, remember? Tomorrow you'll leave on a camping trip and we won't talk till you get back home. I wanted to hear your voice, you know?" Her mom lectured the girl.
"Sorry but we have been rather busy here. We went shopping again after lunch and we just got back from a group picture session. I was going to call before I went to bed." Julie explained her mom sitting on the floor.
"I'll let it go because you won." Said the woman before she added: "Congratulations Honey! The whole family saw it at the living room and we are really proud of you."
"Thanks, Mom. I thought I would die last night. I never felt my heart ran so fast as before I saw the puck on my glove." Julie told her mom with a wide smile.
"Is it Julie?" A girl from behind her mom asked and Julie knew who she was immediately: Mary.
"Let me talk to her, Mom." The duck asked.
"Here she is. Good luck on the trip and we'll see you at your return." The woman said before she handed the phone.
"Hi, little cat, how is the hero of the family?" Mary asked as soon as she got it form her mom.
"About to kill Katie for using the phrase 'Call ASAP' when you left the message." Julie said before she asked: "How are you doing?"
"As fine as I can be: tired most of the time, a bit weak, you know it." Mary said sadly.
"I really miss you." Julie said trying to hold her tears.
"We'll see each other soon, little cat. I'm not planning on leaving soon, don't worry. Alex promised me to get drunk me soon and I will make him keep his word." She laughed before she took a deep breath. She was tired most of the time and spent most of the day laying on her bed reading, sleeping or reading some books or magazines.
"Don't tell Katie or she'll join you too." Julie laughed drying her tears, without noticing that Charlie had entered again on her room and stayed at the door watching her in silence.
"Tell me, sis, what was what I heard from Alex about you sleeping with a guy?" Katie asked taking the phone in that moment. Mary gave it to her because she was too tired in that moment to talk.
"You, little asshole, wait till I get home! I will kill you!" Julie shouted to her sister ignoring her question about the night that she and Charlie had shared the room.
"Chill out, little sis! If you do that, you'll never meet your niece or nephew." Katie said laughing.
"WHAT??" Julie asked with a shout. On the other side of the line, she heard her mom and sister asking the same question with a shout louder than hers.
"Yeah. I was told today that I'm pregnant of 2 months and half." Katie said to her family.
"The baby's father is Jeff, right?" Julie heard her Sister Mary asking.
"Of course he's the father!" Katie shouted offended with the comment.
"We'll set counts when I arrive. I won't kill you but you are going to suffer, believe me on that one!" Julie threatened her sister.
"Now, honey," her mom said taking the phone, "why don't you answer Katie's question about you sleeping with a boy?"
"He spent the night after granddad's death at my room to console me mom. We didn't sleep at the same bed." Julie said with a blush before she noticed Charlie at the frame and invited with her hand to sit next to her. He nodded and sat there, while he heard her chat with a smile.
"Really? Just that's what happened or something else?" Her mom asked not sure if her daughter was lying or not.
Julie was about to answer when Charlie whispered something on her ear She looked at him and saw a naughty smile on his lip. She laughed before she turned her attention back to her mom.
"Actually, Mom, we did every position that we found in the Kama Sutra that one of our teammates bought last week." The goalie said with all nature, trying to hold her laughter.
"WHAT??" Her mom and sister cried in unison after her words.
"Yeah, it was really fun. When I get home I can give you 3 some tips about what we did." Julie continued as if she was talking about something natural, while Charlie was rolling in laughter on the floor.
"You are joking, right?" Asked Katie shocked with it. Obviously her mother had turned on the speaker so Julie could hear the 3 of them and all of them could talk to her.
"Of course I'm not, Katie! He's next to me and… OOOOOhhhhhhhhhh, Charlie that feels really good!" Julie moaned while her friend started to laugh harder.
"What's going on there?" Her mom asked with a shout.
"He had put his hand under my pants and… Continue Charlie, please don't stop!" The goalie said with another moan and trying to hold her laughter at the same time Connie, Guy, Adam, Michelle and Gordon enter at the room and heard her moans and saw Charlie at the floor.
"What's going on?" Bombay asked Julie before she put a finger on her lips to ask him to not speak.
"This guy is incredible, Mom. We had sex 15 times that night and since then we do it every night, at least 6 times each." The blond girl continued talking to her family.
"They asked about the night I slept here and we told them that we did some positions form the Kama Sutra." Charlie told the others between laughs.
Guy, Connie and Adam burst out in laughter while the adults looked at them with concern. All of them knew what the Kama Sutra was of course.
"We'll have an orgy tonight. Three of our teammates just got in and are taking off their clothes now. I have to go, Mom. I don't want to make them wait for me." Julie continued. Her 4 friends continued laughing harder than ever while Gordon tried to suppress a smile and Michelle tried to do the same.
"JULLIANNE KAREN GAFFNEY!!" Someone shouted joining the talk.
"Hi, Dad, how are you doing?" Julie asked gulping at hearing his voice. The 4 kids stopped laughing immediately.
"What's going on here?" The man shouted angrily.
"I was talking to mom and the girls about the sexual life I'm having with my teammates." She said with a smile.
"Is it a good one?" Alex asked joining the chat in that moment too.
"Beautiful one, Alex." Julie said with a smile before she added: "I have to go. Love for everyone!" Then she hung the phone before she and the rest of her friends burst out in laughter.
"Oh my God! That was incredible!" Charlie said drying off his tears of laughter.
"That's my revenge against my sister." Julie said to her coach and tutor before she explained what had happened that morning and the message that they had left at the lobby.
Then the phone rang and Julie answered it with a smile guessing that her family had called again.
"Hey, didn't I tell you we would be a bit busy doing the Kama Sutra with my Captain?" She asked laughing before she realized it wasn't her family before she said: "Yeah, he's here. Hold on." Then she turned to Charlie and handed him the phone saying: "Your mom."
"You are a dead Duck!" Connie, Adam and Guy said at the same time before their Captain took the phone with a gulp.
"Hi, Mom." He said with a nervous tone of voice.
"Do I want to know what your friend meant with that?" Casey asked confused.
"No, it was a joke. She thought it was her family and we had played a joke with them with it." Charlie explained to his mom before he asked: "Did something happen?"
"You'll have a sibling." Casey said with a smile.
"WHAT?" Charlie asked with shock.
"I'm pregnant." His mom said happy with the news.
"Congratulations, Mom! It's really great news!" Charlie said before he turned to his friends and said: "She's pregnant!"
"Congratulations, Mrs. Conway!" Connie shouted to her while Guy and Adam said their congratulations too.
"Thanks, kids." Casey said to her son's friends before she went on talking to him: "I wanted you to be the first to know it."
""I'm happy with it, mom. Congratulate Scott too."
"Ok, honey. I'll see you in a week and behave yourself. And nothing of Kama Sutra!" Casey told her son sternly.
"Ok, mom, No Kama Sutra on the camping." Charlie said with a smile before they said goodbye to each other and hung the phone.
"Everyone to sleep now." Gordon said to the players seriously. The 5 nodded and the girls went to change their clothes and the boys went to their room.
- -
Next morning at 8 a.m. the phone of Connie and Julie's room rang again. This time the blond girl was the one who got out of bed to answer it, knowing that it was her family.
"Hi, Alex." She said picking up the phone, guessing who the one calling was.
"Wrong family member, kitty, want to try again?" Her mom asked with a smile.
"HI mom, how are you doing?" Julie asked carrying the phone to the bathroom and closing the door to talk without disturbing Connie.
"How was the orgy?" She asked instead.
"It was a joke, mom. It was my revenge for Katie's actions." Julie explained with a laugh.
"Good to hear that. Your father was about to kill someone." She smiled before she asked: "How is everything?"
"Quiet now. Connie's sleeping so I can't talk too loud."
"Don't worry. I just wanted to see how you were doing." The woman said.
"I'm doing great. This team is nothing like the old one. I feel like a part of a big family here and not just another player." Julie said to her mom.
"It's good to hear that." The woman said before she said: "Olivia just came down. Do you want to talk to her?"
"Of course I do." Julie smiled before he said to her little sister: "How is my baby sister doing?"
"Julie!" Olivia exclaimed when she heard her voice.
"Hey, Olivia, how are you doing? Do you miss me?"
"I do! When are you coming home?" The little girl asked.
"In a week, Olivia. Besides I have some gifts for you." Julie said before Connie entered at the bathroom and saw her with the phone. The goalie made her a signal to give her 5 minutes. The other girl nodded and left the bathroom.
"What did you buy me?" The young girl asked anxious to know it.
"You'll have to wait, Olivia." Julie said with a soft laugh.
"It's not fair!" Olivia said not happy with the secret,
"Sorry, but you'll have to wait." Julie told her before more noise was heard at the kitchen and guessed that the other members of the family had went down to have breakfast.
"Cat, hold on so I turn the speaker and we can talk to you." Her mom said taking the phone for a minute before she added to the others: "Say hi to the champion."
"Good morning, Cat!" Her whole family chorused.
"Good morning everyone." Said Julie before there was a knock in the door and Connie entered.
"I'll go to get breakfast. See you there." The girl said before she added: "Charlie wants to see you. He's at my bed." Julie nodded and Connie went to eat while she continued her talk.
"Who's waiting for you in a bed?" Katie asked having heard, like the others, Con's words.
"Not your business!" Julie answered in a bad mood.
"Julie has a boyfriend!" Olivia shouted suddenly.
"NO, I don't, Olivia." Julie said to her little sister before she added: "I have better things to do than listening my family asking about my personal life. So, unless you have something to add, I'll see you next week."
"The little cat has become the lioness." Alex muttered to himself.
"Yes, I have. And wait till I get my hands on Katie as soon as I get back. See you in a week. Bye-bye." Julie said before she hung the phone not letting them answer her and started to take a shower.
"Problems?" Charlie asked as soon as she left the bathroom after the shower with a towel around her.
"Only my family is capable of getting the worst of me at this hour." The girl muttered before she asked him: "Can you turn around or leave while I change my clothes please?"
"Sure." The boy said turning around to not see her before he started to talk: "Listen; with the old ducks we collected some money to buy something for my mom and the baby. Seeing that your sister is pregnant, I thought we could go together so you could buy her something too."
"Let's go." Julie said a minute later taking her wallet, when she had changed into a jean and a t-shirt that said 'U.S.A. Team'.
Both kids went back to the mall and went straight to the shop that sold clothes for pregnant woman and bought some clothes and blankets for cribs. They went to the toy store and bought a teddy bear too.
"You never told me for who was the bear that you bought yesterday." Julie said suddenly.
"For you. I wanted to give you something to remember me." Charlie said with a smile and blushing.
"How sweet of you, Charlie! Thanks!" She hugged her and kissed his cheek.
"I should do these things more often to get these kinds of rewards." He laughed before they walked back to the hotel.
- -
Mr. Tibbles said he would send their luggage back to home while they were at the trip and they only needed to take clothes for a week, so they had made one bag for them with some clothes for those days. They also got some everything they would need to have fun there,
The first thing they did when they arrived was to lift the tents. They would be shared too, but instead of by 2 or 3, there would be 3 or 4 in each: Michelle, Connie and Julie would share one; Dean and Fulton would share another; Goldberg, Jesse and Averman would be in another; Luis, Ken and Dwayne in other of the tents; Tibbles and Gordon would share the little one and Charlie, Adam and Guy would be at the last one.
The whole group decided to have as much fun as they could and the 3 adults made them do activities in group and to not stop their fun. No one knew if they would ever be together as a team again, and that could be the last time that they could share some time as a group.
Every night, the team sat next to the fire to talk or to tell ghost histories. Sometimes Dwayne would play the guitar and they would sing together. The first night they sand 'We are the Champions' from Queen and everyone ended hugging the duck that was to their sides.
But the trip would end eventually and the sadness of it was visible in all of them. They tried to act normally but they couldn't.
The afternoon of the day before the trip back to their homes, Charlie sat and watched the little lake that was near the camping. He heard someone sitting next to him and turned to see Julie.
"It's hard to believe that this finishes tomorrow." Julie said to her friend with a sad tone of voice.
"Too hard. We became a team and no one wants to believe that this is the end." Charlie said drying off some tears that showed up at his eyes.
"I'll miss all of you." She said hugging him and burying her face on his shoulder. Charlie returned the embrace having the same feeling that her.
"We'll miss you and the other too." Charlie said running a hand on her back to calm her.
"You and the rest of the guys are different to my old team. They are too cold; they don't care about anything except themselves. With you I met a different team. You showed me that no matter what happened or who we were, we still could be a team and be together when one of use was in need." Julie started to talk and she went on:
"When we met, I saw you as the ducks and me and the others as outcast, people out of place and that we were added just to make you a complete team to play. You and the others proved that I was wrong. You accepted as we were, not as intruders. You opened your arms to us and that's something I'll always thank you and everyone else. You made us feel as part of the family you became. I never felt like this with my old team."
"We are different, Julie. We aren't really good. We won the pee-wee by chance." Charlie started to talk after a few moments of silence.
"We love hockey, we want to play it. We are not closed people who hate changes, ok? Only me, Jesse, Connie, Guy, Goldberg and Averman are part of the original team that later became the Ducks. Fulton and Adam joined us later and you can see that they are part of the team as much as we are.
"We don't care about money, religion, and color of skin or anything else. The only things that matter to us are how good you are on the ice. You were introduced to us as an addition to help to win. We accepted you and the others as we accepted Banks and Ful when they joined us.
"And I agree with you: we became a family and it's hard to say goodbye to a member. But remember this always: ducks fly together. If you ever need one of us, you won't have one; you'll have all of us trying to help you. Perhaps, we won't be able to do much, but we'll try to."
Both kids hugged each other in silence with tears running down in the cheeks and went back to the camping. When they arrived, Charlie saw that the mood on his friends was the same that his.
Connie went to them and hugged them. One by one the rest of the team joined the hug, crying in silence and trying to comfort each other. None of the adults said a word, knowing that this was really hard for them and there was nothing they could do or say to make them feel better.
The team stayed like that for a while before they separated and tried to calm themselves. But their mood was too bad to do anything in that moment, so all of the sat neat the fire in silence.
"We have a last gift for you. Jan sent them today." Gordon said taking 2 boxes and opening them. Inside there were stuffed ducks like the ones that the old ones had. These ones had the newest version of the Ducks Jersey and had their names written on the back.
"Thanks." All of them said with a smile to the adults with the animals in the hand before all of them returned to their seats.
"One last thing: for those who have little siblings, Jan sent more ducks for them. If any of you want one, ask it." Bombay said opening the second box full of the stuffed ducks.
Julie, Dean, Fulton, Connie, Goldberg, Jesse and Charlie took ducks and returned to their seats. All of them had younger siblings. The rest of the ducks either didn't have or their siblings were older.
Dwayne took his guitar and started to play it. This time the song was from Queen too, but it was 'Friends Will Be Friends'. And like the first night, all of them sung it,
'It's not easy love but you've got friends you can trust
Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention
Friends will be friends
When you're through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out your hands cos friends will be friends right till the end'
Once it was over, Dwayne started to sing something else: 'I'll be there for you" of The Rembrandts:
'I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...'
At the end of it, everyone was in a big group hug crying again and no one tried to stop the tears knowing it was useless to do it. Gordon went to hug them too one by one. There was nothing he could do to make the goodbye less harmful for them and he knew it.
That continued for a while before they decided to sleep. They were too tired and too depressed to do anything else. Slowly and quietly, all of them went to their tents without a word.
After a while of trying to sleep and not being able, Charlie got up and took his bag outside. Adam, who couldn't sleep either, saw him and followed him after inviting Guy to go too. The last boy of the tent left after them and the 3 laid their bags on the floor.
"Can we join you?" Connie asked going to them with Julie and their bags.
"Feel free to join us." Adam said with a nod. Both girls placed their bags near them and laid on them awake. None of them said a word; no one was sure about what to say.
"It looks like I wasn't the only one with the idea to sleep outside." Ken said going to them and placing his bag too. Dean and Fulton joined them a moment later and they placed themselves near the group.
"Why don't we call the others?" Guy suggested. They nodded and Charlie went to Goldberg's tent and woke the 3 players on that one and invited them to go outside to sleep with the rest of the team. Ken did the same with the other kids who shared his tent with.
"No camping trip is full without sleeping a night outside under the light moon while eating marshmallows." Dwayne said opening a bag of marshmallows and handing one to the others before they turned the fire again.
"The cowboy's right." Charlie agreed to that before they started to eat in silence.
"Can I say something?" Ken asked quietly.
"Go ahead, Ken." The others nodded to him.
"I want to thank all of you for this great time we shared together. Thanks for accepting me in your group and let me tell you that being on this team has been wonderful." Ken said to the rest of the ducks.
"I think the same that Ken. You guys were a team before we joined you but had no problems to let us be part of that. Thanks." Luis said to the old ducks.
"They are right. We must thank you." Portman said to the others. Dwayne and Julie nodded their agreement to those words.
"Guys, as Captain of this team, let me tell you something in name of all of us." Charlie started to talk:
"We love this game as much as you. We love to play it and enjoy it. You joined us and you become part of this team by your own skills and we don't care that Tibbles made you join us. We accepted you since the first day. We played together and we won together. This is not something about the old and new ducks. You became a duck by own right.
"And as we learnt from Coach Bombay the day we stopped being the D5 to become Ducks, the ducks always fly together. If any of you need something, call us. As I told Julie today, perhaps at the distance we might not be able to do something, but you'll have always someone to talk to. Once you become a Duck, you'll always be one." The Captain said. The rest of his friends nodded to show their support to his words.
"Thanks." Julie said hugging him while the rest hugged the other ducks.
"What's going on here? Why is everyone out?" Michelle asked leaving her tent in that moment.
"We couldn't sleep and we decided to try it outside, Ms. MacKay." Charlie explained to their tutor.
"Give me a second then." The woman said before she went to her tent and returned with her sleeping bag and placed it near them.
"What's all the noise?" Bombay asked taking his head out of the tent. Seeing the team and Michelle sat around the fire with their bags, he left the tent with his too and sat next to the tutor.
"It's hard to believe that this ends, doesn't it?" Tibbles asked joining them with his own bag and placed it next to Gordon and Michelle.
"A lot. We would love that this never ends." Jesse said with sadness.
"It's been a great experience to be with you, kids." The man said with a smile to them.
"Thanks for bringing us here and for making us a team." Adam said to Tibbles before he said to Michelle and Gordon: "Thanks for helping us when we needed someone to be at our side."
"It's been a pleasure for me." MacKay said with a smile to the team.
"It's been great to train all of you." Gordon said to his team.
"With the rest of the team, "Charlie started to say to Michelle and Mr. Tibbles: "We decided to name both of you honorary ducks." The rest of the kids clapped while both adults nodded in thanks and made a bow to them.
The rest of the night went on with chats, marshmallows and jokes before all of the ducks, one by one, fell asleep. The 3 adults closed their bags before they went to sleep a few hours before they went to the airport where all of the ducks would take a plane to get back home.
- -
The next morning, everyone took the bus that would take them to the airport to catch their flights back to home. The ride was noisy as any of the rides they had taken to go somewhere. They laughed all the way to there while talking about how would be their life now.
"We arrived!" Tibbles shouted when the airport was in seen.
As soon as they were down, Tibbles gave them their tickets and went with them to the gates where their plane would leave from. All of the ducks went to say goodbye to who left.
Ken was the first to leave. He had his bag and the duck in hand and the medal around his neck. They had decided to have it all the trip with them. After hugging them and saying goodbyes, he walked to the gate and went to his plane.
The next one was Dwayne. The process was the same that with Ken. It also happened with Luis, Dean and Julie who were the next in that order. After the goalie left, the rest of the ducks went to the gate that would take them back to their home.
In order, the kids and the Coach sat down together in their seats: Greg and Averman; Jesse and Banks; Connie and Guy; Fulton and Charlie while Gordon travelled alone.
After placing their things on the compartments over the seats, some of them took their music players, while others like Charlie, Fulton, Bombay and Banks took something to read. The captain started to read the book 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." He had read the first part that some months ago and now wanted to read the second. Fulton took the first book of that series. He had asked it to Charlie and he wanted to read the second as soon as his friend finished it. Adam took a hockey magazine and started to read it with Jesse. The coach started to read a book too. Connie and Guy started to talk and kiss each other discreetly. Greg fell asleep and Les started to hear some music.
The Ducks were going back home.