Life's Full of Little Surprises
Disclaimer: I own absolutely none of the 'Mighty Duck' characters or the rights to the "Mighty Duck" franchise, that honor belongs to Disney. So I would appreciate that I wouldn't get sued over something I don't own.
Summary: Dani's life couldn't be going better. She has finally made it to the Olympics, doing the sport she loves the most. But... after arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota things change. First she is constantly badgered by her brother, then she falls for one of his friends, and, of course, there is always a stalker!
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PrincessH- Many thanks!
Thoughtless Drumming- I am glad that you liked, I hope that I continue doing well.
BrokenAngel1753- Yes, Jamie changed from prep to bad ass. I'm happy that you think that the change was interesting, just wait until his parents see him again! True, Adam is getting courage, I wonder what will happen next? Especially with Jamie around. Should be fun!
Lilmonkey1507- Yea! Three awesome's. Well, four, but who's counting? I am ecstatic that you can't wait to read more, and that you like the idea of Adam and Dani together, even if Dean does get ever so slightly overprotective and finds joy in ripping Adam into itsy-bitsy, tiny pieces. Let's all hope that that isn't going to be the case!
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Casey Conway was at work at Mickey's Diner, and she felt very sick. As she cast a glance at the clock over the door, Casey silently wished that Merci, one of the other employee's, would hurry up! It was almost time for the end of her shift, but she couldn't get off until Merci showed up. Looking over to one of the booths at the end of the diner she noticed at tall brunette women leaning over a mound of paperwork, a blue folder, and a muffin. Alyssa Portman seemed very flustered, but she was the only person that Casey could think of to help her with her current predicament. "Merci!" Casey gasped out in gratefulness.
"Sorry I'm late, Casey." The teenage girl said, "My car broke down! I had to get a ride. I'm not too late am I?" She had her brows furrowed and she was breathing hard.
"No, just get in your uniform and then get to work." Casey smiled as Merci heaved a huge sigh of relief and ran to the back room to change. Casey shot another look to Alyssa, who looked ready to plow her head threw a table. "Okay, just breath, Casey." She mumbled to herself. The urge to throw up her lunch was coming back.
"Okay, I'm back." Merci announced as Casey came back to life. "You can leave if you want to, you don't look that great." Casey sighed and nodded.
After she went into the back and got all of her things, Casey made a bee-line passed the door towards Alyssa's booth. "Mind if I sit down?" Casey asked. Alyssa looked up and stared for a few seconds.
"That would be giving me a reason to not work." Alyssa said, "That would make you 'all-mighty-goddess-of-the-world' in Alyssa Portman land." She ran her hand through her hair and then began to massage it. "Please sit."
"What are you doing?" Casey asked.
"You don't want to know, trust me. It is the epitome of all that is evil." Alyssa replied. "So, the matter with you? You have looked sick everyday that I have come in here for the past week."
"It's nothing," Casey said, without much conviction, "it's just that..."
"Hi mom." A voice said from behind Casey. She looked around and saw Dani standing with scratches on her face and a black backpack over her shoulder. "Are you two having an adult conversation that I am not allowed to join in on, or can I sit down?" She asked. Her eyes twinkled under her dark eyebrows.
"Sit." Alyssa said. Casey envied the relationship that the two before her had as mother and daughter. She loved Charlie to death and would do anything for him, but it had always been her dream to have a little girl, one that she could do girl things with. "Spill." Alyssa said as Dani sat down. "Now." She bit into her muffin and waited for Dani to reply.
"Wow mom," Dani said, "you have such a knack for those one-word sentences." Dani joked. Alyssa raised her eyebrows to show that her patience was running a little thin. "Fine, I got into a fight with Maria." Dani finally said.
"Maria? Wilson's new girlfriend?" Alyssa asked.
"The very same skankbag." Dani replied.
"Danielle Melita Portman!" Alyssa said indignantly, her voice was getting a very thick Italian accent as she spoke.
"Sorry mom." Dani said sheepishly, "It's just that she makes me so mad! She came all the way from Chicago to make accusations that I was calling him nonstop and that my wanting him to take me back. He's the one calling me!" Dani sighed in fury, "And if I remember correctly, didn't I break up with him, not the other way around?"
"Yes dear. You did." Alyssa put her arm around her daughter and hugged her, "You'll be fine."
"But what if I have the urge to kill them all?" Dani asked. Alyssa raised her eyebrows, "No, I didn't hit her first. It was a cheap shot and she completely screwed it up. That girl can not throw a decent punch!" Dani looked over in Casey's direction in her anger, "Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Casey replied, "It's just that, okay... How many kids do you have?" She asked Alyssa.
"Five."
"Okay, so how did you tell your kids when you were pregnant?" Casey was absolutely embarrassed when she asked that question.
"That depends." Alyssa finally said. Dani was completely stunned, was Casey saying what Dani thought she was saying? "Is this a hypothetical question or a real question?"
"Real." Casey said, though she didn't really want to answer.
"Oh! Wow that's, um, congratulations."
"Hello all." A voice said as the body sat down on Dani. "What did I miss?" Dean had come by with Fulton, Ken, Charlie, and Adam. Dani was hitting him in the back, "Hey, that feels pretty good!"
"Madre, il vostro figlio sta schiacciandolo!" (Italian: Mother, your son is crushing me!), Dani said from under her large brother.
"Dean Salvatore Portman! Get off of your sister, NOW!" Dean stood up, glowering at Dani. "Thank you."
"Wow, you like using our middle names today, don't you mom?" Dani asked as she rubbed her upper thighs. Her mother smirked and nodded. "Whatever. Well, I must be leaving. I have things to do and people to hurt."
"Dani?"
"Kidding mom." Dani replied. "Adam, Charlie, one question I've been wanting to ask you guys," Both boys perked up, "what the heck does 'cake-eater' mean?" Dani looked from one to the other, Adam looked somewhat embarrassed while Charlie looked gleeful.
"It's a long story." Adam said finally.
"Well Adam, I guess you'll have plenty of time to tell me on Saturday." Dani replied, Dean raised his eyebrows, "Movie marathon, stupid! Adam was nice enough to invite me, not like you would have." She turned back to Adam, "By the way, I talked to Tammy and Tommy about it and they can't come."
"Unfortunate." Adam said.
"Yes, very. Well, I must be going." Dani walked passed all of the boys, but stopped and walked backwards to Fulton, "Fulton, you know that Tammy is very old fashioned. That being said, if you don't grow some... well, you know what I'm saying, and ask her out soon, I will be forced to hurt you." With that she fixed the collar on his jacket, patted it down, and left.
"Lovely girl," Ken said.
"Strange girl." Fulton said.
"She gets it from me."
"You threaten people, Mrs. Portman?" Fulton asked.
"No, but from what I heard, I can understand what Dani is getting at. From what I gather, Tammy use to go on and on about one, how did she put this, 'godly stud-muffin' that she played hockey with." All of the boys tried to contain their laughter.
"Okay, well that was a nice piece of disturbing information," Dean said, "but we should be going, we have to meet up with Max."
"Max?"
"No mom, we aren't going to his house. Nor do the psycho loonies of the universe know that we are in the same state, much less the same school; at least not to my current knowledge. They didn't find out that Cami and Alec came to visit, either." Dean said.
"Good, keep it that way."
"Yes, ma'am." Dean replied.
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"'Psycho loonies of the universe'?" Fulton asked as the five boys walked down the steps outside of Mickey's. He grabbed a hold of Dean's jacket and pulled him around to face them all.
"Max's father and stepmother." Dean said, "I told you, they hate us. And they hate Cami for staying in Chicago with Alec and not going with them to Paris, even though she's eighteen and can make her own choices." Dean had a tone of loathing in his voice that no one had ever heard come out of his mouth. Not even when Coach Bombay had gotten all "Captain Blood" on them.
"Dude?" Ken asked, "What the hell is the matter with these people. We can tell that you don't like them, and Max said he agreed to come to Eden Hall to get away from them. What's the deal?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Besides, we need to get going or we are going to miss Max, which means we miss our ride." Yup, Max had his license. He was probably a full year older then most of the members of the Ducks, and was only in the 10th grade because his birthday was December 30th and his father felt it would be beneficial for Max to stay behind in the fifth grade. That had to suck!
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"What took you guys so long?" Luis asked as the group finally arrived, a big emphasis on finally!
"I had to wait for these five to show up! I'm not the reason that we are late for once." Max said jokingly. "What took you so long anyway?"
"Mother, sister, questions." Dean said vaguely. "It also seems that Dani will be a part of our little movie marathon on Saturday, why did you ask her to join in cake-eater?"
"It seemed like the polite thing to do." Adam answered. Connie and Julie, who had been the most in-tune with the growing relationship between Dani and Adam, smirked to each other.
"Whatever." Dean said.
"Speaking for the movie marathon, what movies are we going to get?" Connie asked, looking from on Duck to the next.
"Well, I don't know about you guys," Dean began, "but if I know Dani, and I do, she will request at least one scary movie, probably 'Saw' or something like that." Dean shrugged.
"Dani likes scary movies?" Dwayne asked.
"Oh yeah, she's a sadistic freak like that." Dean said, "She hasn't missed a scary movie, that was playing in Chicago, in years." With the end of his exclamation, Dean's phone rang. Out of pure habit, his eyes flicked to the nearest clock. He saw that the time was 8 minutes after 6:00. Out of habit as well, he called out, "NOT HIM!"
"Dude?" Fulton asked.
"Just a second." Dean replied as pulled out his phone, "Oh, it's just my grandfather!" He sighed, "Ciao." Dean said, (Italian: Hello.). Then he started to talk at about 110 miles an hour in Italian. Everyone looked at him with mass confusion, even Max had a hard time. Finally, "Arrivederci." (Italian: Bye.)
Everyone looked at Max expectantly, "Don't look at me, I didn't catch any of that, save 'hello' and 'bye'!"
"What was with the paranoid moment there?" Goldberg asked.
"It's nothing." Dean said, "It's just that, before I came to Eden Hall, Bombay use to call me everyday at some point between 6:00 and 6:10. I got into the habit of dreading that time period. Not just because I didn't want to talk to him, but because Dani would throw and apple at my head if I didn't pick up while she was home."
"An apple?" Russ asked.
"Yeah, an apple. She has good aim, and if they are thrown correctly, apples can be painful." Everyone was staring at him, "She always use to say that apples were the fruit of knowledge, and maybe if she hit me in the head with enough, I would gain some. She really wanted me to come here."
"Well that apple theory didn't work." Julie said.
"Screw you." Dean retorted.
"Not even in your dreams, Deany-bear."
Dean stopped dead, "She told you about that?"
"Nope." Julie said, "I just happened to be walking passed your dorm room on your birthday, when she was giving you your jacket. I overheard that lovely piece of information." She had a sly smiled crossing her face. "And you still owe her a birthday present." Something that Dean didn't have a rude comeback to. Damn, she was good.
"Speaking of Bombay, I wonder what he's doing now. Has anyone talked to him recently?" Charlie asked. Everyone answered no.
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In all factuality, Gordon Bombay's day was following the routine that he had just recently gotten use to. He was standing in front of his stove, cooking French Toast on his stove-top griddle. French Toast for dinner, he was owed for this. The table behind him was set for three and the radio across the kitchen was spill out a rock song from the 80's that he didn't remember the name to. He danced to it as he cooked, nonetheless.
"Daddy? Please stop, you have serious 80's dance moves." Gordon looked behind him to see his little girl in the doorway. Well, she wasn't that little. She was thirteen, and had something to say about everything.
"But I have to dance like that, it is 80's music." Gordon replied. "Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework and not worrying about my 80's dance moves?"
"I finished, and Julian is playing with his Matchbox cars." She said, "I was wondering if you wanted any help." She cast her eyes downward, as if this was a stupid question that she shouldn't have asked.
Gordon placed his hand under her chin and raised her head so that she was looking at him, "I'd love some help, Myrka." He said, she smiled. That was what he loved to see, her smile and be sincere about it. "Now, all you have to do is get that egg off of your chin." He joked. Myrka laughed and went over to grab a paper towel.
"What's so funny?" A voice asked from the door. Myrka's younger brother, Julian was standing there. "You look funny!" The 6-year-old exclaimed when she turned around. They both laughed and Gordon thought back to how they had been brought into his life.
Myrka and Julian had been placed in foster homes since Myrka was ten. Their birth mother had died of cancer when Myrka was 8 and Julian was 1, and after her death, their birth father (who was already unstable to begin with) lost all sense of reality. He had begun to abuse his children. Myrka was the oldest and got the full blast of the beatings, she had learned to accept them for her little brother's sake. After two years, Myrka had become sick of getting abused and dropped hints to her teachers, getting Children's Protective Services involved. Gordon found it extraordinary that Myrka had been so resourceful and gotten her and her brother out of that situation. The father had been found guilty of child abuse and went to jail. He died soon after from a heart attack. After wanting children for as long as he could remember, and no where close to being in a relationship that was that serious, Gordon had decided to adopt. He wasn't sure how far he would get, being a single man, but he had to try. And, behold, Julian and Myrka.
"Daddy? Are you alive in there?" Myrka asked as she sat at the table, mounds of French Toast in the center.
"Yeah, I'm here." He loved it when she and Julian called him dad or daddy. He loved knowing that they trusted his intentions enough to want to stay with him. He smiled and said, "Who wants syrup and powered sugar?" Both children excitedly agreed.
After dinner, Gordon made sure that Myrka's homework was really done and sent them both to bed. It was nine when they finally went into their room and got so sleep. Normally he would have let them stay awake until 10:00 or 10:30, but he knew that they had been staying up late all week long.
After he was alone, Gordon go to work. His desk was covered, yet organized, with papers regarding the cases he would be working. Then the phone rang. "Gordon Bombay." He said.
"Gordon, it's Stacy." The voice said. It was Stacy Jarvis, Myrka and Julian's social worker. Gordon sighed internally, he wasn't sure if this was good news or not.
"Stacy, hi." He said, trying to sound happy, "What going on?"
"I have a bit of information that might interest you." Stacy replied, "It seems that Judge Crabtree has decided to... approve Julian and Myrka's adoptions." Gordon stopped dead. Had he heard correctly? "Gordon? You still there?"
"Yeah," He said, "That... that's great!" He lost all thought. This was more then great, there were no words for what he was feeling at the moment. He ran his hand through his hair, "Thanks Stacy."
"Not a problem, Gordon." She hung up.
Gordon couldn't think. He was shocked and happy, more then shocked and happy. He was finally guaranteed the fact that he would be able to keep his kids. His kids! They may not have been his by blood, but they were, and always would be, his.
He walked down the hall and did the first thing he could think of. He opened the door to Myrka's room and walked in. She was sleeping peacefully, and Gordon didn't want to wake her. He slowly sat on her bed and stroked her hair. She moved around a little and moaned, then she opened her eyes and said, "Daddy? What is it?"
"Myrka, baby. I just got a call from Ms. Jarvis." Myrka looked very upset, "She said that Judge Crabtree decided to approve the adoptions." Myrka's eyes lit up and she lunged at Gordon with a shriek of happiness, pulling him into a huge hug.
"What's going on?" Julian asked. He had heard his sister's shriek and came to investigate.
"Julian! We get to stay! We get to stay!" Myrka said as she began to jump on her bed.
"They always say that, Myrka!" Julian said in a sad voice. He was young but he knew the trials of the Foster Care System, he wasn't sure whether he could trust what Myrka was telling him.
"No, now we really get to stay!" Gordon smiled and nodded. Julian smiled back and ran to Gordon, attacking his legs in happiness. "Daddy!" Myrka said, sitting down, "First thing after the adoptions are finalized, can we go to Minnesota and meet the Ducks?"
Gordon had told them plenty about the Ducks, "Sure. But first, you two need to get back to sleep." Myrka jumped back under her blankets as Gordon led Julian out. He got Julian and back in bed.
After the two had fallen back asleep, Gordon wondered what the Ducks would think if he showed up with a thirteen-year-old and a six-year-old. Russ and Jesse would probably say something like, "Bombay got with a sister?" Then he would explain about the adoptions. But beyond that, he wasn't sure what to expect. Oh well. He would cross that bridge when he came to it, and he would be crossing it with his children.