Summary: SEQUEL TO FLYING TOGETHER…a continuation of the life and times of the mighty ducks…Focus on Dean, Charlie, Connie, Guy, Adam and Julie…again. What can I say, they're my 6 favorite characters!

Disclaimer: The Mighty Ducks and all its characters belong to Disney. I do not own any of it!

Grown-ups

By Rebecca

Chapter 18: Welcome to the World

            "Are you serious?" Julie squealed, mentally refraining from jumping up and down. "Oh Dean, I'm so happy for you."

            Adam slipped in the door and hung his keys on the rack, "Jules?"

            "In here honey!" she yelled from the kitchen, returning to her conversation, "Ok…ok…yeah I'll tell him…aww, congratulations…yeah. You too…bye bye." Julie hung up the phone and sighed as Adam unwrapped his scarf and plopped his bag on the table.

            "Who's that?"

            Julie smiled, "Dean. Tyler finally shook his hand yesterday. Dean asked Annalisse to marry him tonight."

            Adam gave and approving nod, "And judging by the glow on your face, she said yes?"

            Julie clapped her hands, "Mmm hmm. They're planning for an early holiday wedding next month. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas."

            Adam looked down at his wife's enlarged belly and chuckled, "Hopefully junior there will join us by then."

            Julie's face fell and she quickly turned back to the stove, striving to reach over her stomach to stir the sauce as she fought back tears.

            "Honey?" Adam asked, moving behind her, "hey, what's wrong?"

            "I'm only a week late. The doctor said-"

            "I know," he said quickly, "Hey, I was just kiddin' around." Way ta go cake-eater. "Shh, come on. I didn't mean it. Please. Come on sit down. I'm gonna go change and I'll come out here and finish ok?"

            Adam helped her to the chair as she sniffled, "I'm sorry."

            "Hey," he knelt down beside her and kissed her hand, "you don't have to be sorry. You're doin' great sweetheart. Honest."

            Julie smiled as Adam stood up again, kissing her forehead before he headed for the stairs.

            "How was practice?" she called.

            "Eh, all right. Scored 3 goals off of Tallman. Coach took me out for a while though, worked on strategy. Didn't see much of the ice after that."

            Julie nodded, not feeling like shouting the rest of the play by play. She pushed herself up from the chair and reached for a glass. She was about to turn on the faucet when a sharp pain shot through her stomach, up her spine and into a scream. "Adam!" she shrieked.

            Adam came bounding down the stairs, still pulling on his sweatshirt. "What? What are you ok?"

            Julie looked up with cartoon-ish eyes and glared, "It's time."

            The birth had lasted nearly 21 hours. For a while, the doctors weren't at all worried. But as the evening turned to night and night turned to morning, concern escalated. Finally, they tore Adam away from the bedside and discussed options.

            "She's not progressing like we would've hoped," Dr. Doyle had said as Adam strived to focus.

            "W-w-what does that mean?" he had stuttered back. Eventually they convinced him that the safest option for both baby and mom at this point was a C-section. Adam had watched in a panic as Julie was wheeled down a restricted hall and he was made to wait outside.

            "We're going to do everything we can," Doyle disappeared down that same hallway leaving Banks where he was not, sitting nervously in the waiting room, unable to shake the thought that this was exactly…what had happed to Connie. The idea of losing his child and wife was too wretched to comprehend. For two more hours, he sat…and waited.

            When the surgeon finally slammed through the door, ER style, Adam jolted out of his trance. His stomach coiled inward, pulling his arms across his waist as he stood to meet the doctor's eyes.

            "Mr. Banks?"

            "Yes," he breathed.

            "Your wife and daughter made it through with flying colors, Mr. Banks. Congratulations."

            Julie rested soundly in the hospital bed, exhausted from far more intense labor than she'd ever required of her clients. Adam couldn't believe her serenity, the glow about her as he was cautiously led into the room.

            Slowly, he wheeled a chair to her side and sat down, taking her hand in his, lacing her fingers protectively through his own. With his other hand, he reached up and stroked her hair. She stirred slightly and her eyes fluttered open.

            The last Julie remembered, her back, neck, legs and arms ached and throbbed with unbearable pain. Adam had been ripped from her side, and she'd been wheeled at warp speed through emergency doors. She'd been surrounded by pink, blue and green-clad personnel, spouting off alien jargon through their white tissue masks.

            Now all was quiet. The aches had softened to an echoing tenderness in her belly. The doctors were gone. And only her husband kept vigil by her side. These reflections passed through her head in seconds before she realized the hollowness within her.

            "Adam?"

            "Shh…it's all right," he said, reading her widened eyes.

            "Is it-"

            "Hellooooooo!" a tickled-pink nurse burst through the doors as two more nurses wheeled in a tiny hospital basinet. "There's mom and dad!"

            Ordinarily, Julie would've gritted her teeth at this sugary-sweet missy in her perfect little scrubs and Keds. But her eyes remained fixed on the cradle as they brought it closer.

            "Here she is," the nurse said softly at the gurgling baby as she lifted the tiny bundle from the crib. "Say hello to your new baby girl."

            Adam watched in stunned silence as "Nurse Betsy" placed his daughter in the open arms of his wife. "Oh my God…" he choked back tears, leaning forward for a glimpse of her precious sleeping face peering from beneath the pastel blanket. He kissed Julie softly on the top of her head. "She's beautiful," he whispered, unable to articulate anything else he felt inside.

            "She's perfect," Julie smiled, letting her own tears fall freely down her cheek and land softly upon the little one's blanket. "Hello," she whispered. "Yes you are, you're perfect."

            The nurses had quietly crept away, leaving the new family alone. Adam wiped his eyes as he squeezed her shoulder. "What are we gonna name her 'Mom'?"

            Julie looked up and smile, "I don't know. She doesn't really look like a Katherine."

            Adam chuckled. The two of them had had a variety of options for a boy, but never could agree on a girl's name. The closest they came was Katherine after Adam's Grandmother, but neither was really content with that, "Naw…she doesn't. How 'bout Jennifer?"

            Julie thoughtfully chewed her bottom lip as she shifted the baby in her arms, holding her close. "Hmm. Jennifer might work…for a middle name."

            Adam laughed, "Well?…Whadya think then?"

            Julie looked out the window of her private little hospital room. The snow had started to fall outside—late November snow in puffy white flakes. She sighed as she thought of the beautiful oak crib awaiting her daughter's arrival at home. She thought of the events of the past year, the journey she and her husband had taken through various dramas and scenarios, some their own…some not. Julie looked back to her sleeping babe and kissed her forehead.

            "Adam, let's call her Connie," she said timidly as she looked to her husband. He was smiling as if he expected it, nodding in silent agreement. "Want to hold her?"

            Adam stood and scooped his new daughter in his arms, the weight of the tiny bundle consuming his heart. "Hello Connie Jennifer Banks," he whispered, "Welcome to the world."

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