Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to The Mighty Ducks. I only wish I had thought of them first…
Italics indicate character thought.
Devin was staring at his computer screen when his father walked in.
"What's up, kiddo?" Archie Kellerman bent over to squint at the email his son was apparently lost in. "Whatcha reading?"
Devin turned to him, eyes so wide they threatened to pop out of his head. "No. Way." He was breathless. His father laughed, trying to figure out what was so special about the note.
"No way what, son?" His only child reached up and grabbed his shirt, shaking him animatedly.
"Do you see who this email is from? Beau Mayland, Dad!" In a fashion typical to parents all over the world, Archie was clueless. The name was ringing a bell somewhere in the back of his head, but he wasn't quite getting it. Fathers, Devin thought to himself. Sheesh. "The girl you met at the airport. She writes The Mighty Ducks." He said it with a tone of completely childish disdain. "They are only my favorite books in the entire world. C'mon, get with the program!"
Mr. Kellerman laughed at his son and focused back on the screen, realizing that the email was indeed from Ms. Mayland. "I've got it, Devin. Back off!" He laughed when his son rolled his eyes. "That's nice of her to write you already. What did she say?"
Devin laughed, eyes sparkling with excitement. "She said, get this, that the movie of the first three books is filming right here in LA and that her boyfriend is Charlie Conway!" He looked at his father, assuming this name would ring a bell. When his dad only stared blankly at him, he sighed. "Charlie Conway. Geez dad. Rookie of the year? Plays for the Detroit Red Wings?" He dad smiled, obviously pretending to get it now. He shook his head. "Anyway, only like, one of my favorites. He played at Pennington State. And now he's working on the movie like making sure all of the hockey stuff is right. And, here's the best part. Beau, I mean Ms. Mayland, I mean Beau…" He was still confused. She had said to call her Beau, but his dad had kept calling her Ms. Mayland. Parents. "She invited us out to the movie set tomorrow to be in the crowd when they are filming a hockey scene!" He had said it all in one breath and the last few words had come out as whispers. When his dad only looked at him smiling, he rushed on. "We can go, right? Because it would only be, like, the coolest thing in the world."
"Oh man." Devin looked up and around at the ice rink. It was just a normal rink, but the stands filled with people and the lights and cameras everywhere had him dumbfounded. "This is so cool. Wait until I tell Jeremiah." He spoke of his best friend with reverence, already imagining the look on his face and everyone else's when he told them.
"Devin!" Beau was walking across the edge of the rink, a thick packet of papers in hand. She was helping to answer a script question, purely as a favor to the director, and then had found herself sucked in to answering twenty more. Charlie walked with her and was secretly thrilled when he saw the boy's eyes widen with recognition upon seeing him. He was already learning to love his fans.
When she reached the star-struck boy she held out her hand and shook his. Devin couldn't believe he was being treated like such a grown-up.
"Mr. Kellerman." Beau shook his hand as well. He nodded and smiled.
"Ms. Mayland. It's a pleasure. You have no idea what this means to my son."
She smiled, looking down and tousling Devin's hair. He was taller than she had remembered. At least 5'6. Not bad for 12, she thought. He could be a formidable hockey player one day. She grinned up at his father. "Call me, Beau, please."
Devin elbowed his dad in the side. "See, Dad," he whispered.
Beau laughed before continuing. "And it's a pleasure to be able to do this. You have no idea the kind of day I was having when I met your son." She winked at Charlie. "A real 'change your life' kind of day, and I wasn't sure it was changing mine in the right way. Devin really brought me out of my self-important funk, and for that I will always be grateful! That and for buying my books of course!" She pointed to a bleacher and they all settled into seats as they laughed. Beau sat between Devin and Charlie and couldn't help but smile at the way the boy was craning his neck around her to get a look at the man. She leaned back. "Devin, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Charlie Conway."
Charlie also shook the boy's hand, knowing how important it was to act like a grown man when you were meeting your idol. He fondly thought back to the day Wayne Gretzky had shown up in their locker room during the Goodwill Games.
"Nice to meet you, Devin. So who's your favorite character in the books?"
Devin blurted out his answer and blushed right away. "Cooper of course. That's you, right? The triple deke?" When Charlie nodded, the boy seemed to think about it a little more. "I also really like Colton Davis. I cant' really control my shot very well, so it's cool to read about him getting better."
Charlie laughed, looking over at Beau. "Well, Fulton will be happy to know that someone likes him best."
Devin looked from one to the other in astonishment. "You guys still really all talk? All the Ducks I mean?"
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, man. We all are really close, but especially those of us that went on to play at Pennington together. Fulton Reed, Adam Banks, Guy Germaine, Jesse Hall, Lester Averman, and Greg Goldberg. Then Mayland here came along and we added a few more to the group. Her, Cole Procida, and Beau's best friend is dating Fulton now. I actually talked to him last night."
Devin was hitting star-struck level again. "Doesn't he play for the Hurricanes? And Adam Banks as in the Adam Banks? He plays for the real Ducks!"
Beau nodded. "Yes sir. The Adam Banks. He'll like being called that. And Cole Procida just got drafted to the Maple Leafs, so that's pretty exciting."
"Oh. Man." Devin punctuated the statement in his typical expression of awe. "I am so on cool overload right now!"
They all laughed, and Charlie excused himself as the 'team' made their way on the ice for a run-through. Beau sobered. "Mr. Kellerman, Devin, I wasn't exaggerating when I said that you really made my day much better in the airport. I needed it. So I'd like to do something in return."
Mr. Kellerman interrupted. "This is enough, Beau. Please don't feel like you have to do more." Devin agreed with a fervent nod.
She smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way, but this is something I'd really like to do. Right now I'm working on the sixth Duck book. It's going to be called Coach Gordon and Team USA."
"About when they went to the Goodwill Games," Devin interrupted, explaining to his dad. He was a frequent visitor to the Beau Mayland website.
"That's right," Beau agreed. "Anyway, I'm working on finding names for all of the new characters - Luis Mendoza, Kenny Wu, Dean Portman, Julie Gaffney, Dwayne Robertson, Russ Tyler…" She grinned. "I think Devin Kellerman is a great name and I'd like to ask your permission to use it."
She couldn't help but laugh at Devin's slack-jawed astonishment. She looked at him expectantly until he snapped out of his daze.
"Of course you can use it!" He looked at his father who clapped him on the back and smiled. "This is so cool. Thank you so much, Beau! Oh. Man." He was breathless and Beau took that moment to jump in.
"I'm assuming you'd want to be Luis Mendoza, the ladies man who can't stop and has to learn. But if you'd rather be any of the others, that's completely okay."
He grinned. "So. Cool. That sounds perfect." At that moment the assistant director walked over to let all of the extras know how and when to react. Beau made the decision to stay where she was and play a fan in the crowd. It only seemed appropriate. Charlie waved to her and winked from the ice.
"So, I think it's pretty safe to say that you made Devin's day." Charlie held Beau's hand as they dropped her suitcase on the floor and turned to face each other near a window in the ticketing area of Los Angeles International Airport. She poked him in the chest.
"I'd say you were the one who made his day. Taking him out on the ice to teach him the famous triple deke." She said it with an air of superiority. Charlie laughed.
"Hey, don't know the triple deke until you've tried it, lady."
"I have tried it. I sucked at it! You must just be a better hockey player than me, Charlie Conway." They hugged tightly and let a moment of silence descent on them. "I don't want to go," Beau bemoaned pathetically. She dropped her head against Charlie's chest and leaned into his touch as he brushed a hand down her hair and rested it gently against her lower back. He spoke against the top of her head.
"I don't want you to go either, but you can't miss graduation." Pushing her away gently, Charlie held her at arm's length. He smiled but dismayed when her big brown eyes filled with tears. "Oh man, no crying. I'll be a mess if that starts, and I have to go to the set after this and it won't do for all those teenage boys to see me be blubbery."
His attempt at a joke had Beau laughing softly before rising on her toes to kiss him squarely on the mouth. "I love you, Charlie."
He smiled broadly before kissing her more deeply. "I love you too, Mayland." His face screwed up in thought. "Should it really be this easy to fall back into things after two years? It just seems…"
"Too much like a fairy tale?" Beau finished his thought for him. Charlie nodded. "I don't know what it is, Charlie, but it feels right. I'm not willing to question that." She let her hand rest on his shoulder, playing absently with a curl covering his neck. "Are you happy? Does it feel right to you?"
"Of course it does. It feels more right than anything did when we were apart."
She nodded, resolute. "Well then, why don't we take that for the sign that it is. Maybe some things are just meant to be."
Charlie mimicked her nod before lifting her off of her feet against him for one final kiss. Beau's heart raced with the urgency of it all and laughed when he dumped her back on the floor. "You always were one for unceremonious endings to those kinds of kisses."
He smiled, flicking her nose. "You love it." He looked over her shoulder to the security gate. "You better get going. I don't want you to miss your flight. Plus, I know you're anxious to get back to your final days of harassing Cole."
"It's true." She grinned, turning. Looking back at him she felt her heart stutter. "I love you, Conway."
He threw her a cocky wave, tempered by an over-the-top cheesy thumbs up. He knew she needed the moment to be lightened, as her eyes were shining with threatening tears. He flipped up his collar. "Right back atcha babe."
Joank: Thanks for the input. I think I'll finish this story up with B/C and think about something for later. As for after this I'm toying with an Adam/OC fic, or Cole/Connie, or maybe Guy/Connie. We'll see. Either way, I think anything I write will tie back to B/C so that they can make cameo appearances.
Hockey-girl90: Thanks as always!
Johnny: Thank you. I'm glad you like surprised. I have one or two up my sleeve!
antiIrony: I'm not sure how much damage you could do with plastic, but maybe that's the point! Yeah, Casey is psychotic in this.
Cc: Thanks! You rock!
Flyinghawk: Thanks as usual. I've been trying to keep the grammar in line. I think a Kenny fic by you would be fun. Give it a shot!
Duckfluff: Thanks. I like your Adam idea. I don't think she'd be a hockey player, because that's definitely too Mary Sue. I'll give it some ore thought and maybe it will be forthcoming!
urbanCOWGirliee: Thanks for reviewing. Nice to have a new voice! I'm sorry I've turned you against Casey, but that's what writing is for, right? And here's your little breath of fresh air, Devin!
Aradia-rising: Thanks for the help. Any suggestions for an OC for Adam?