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.

"He's fast." Guy was sitting up high, his knees drawn up and his elbows resting there. He spoke through his fingers, his eyes squinted down at the ice, and Beau found herself looking at him in a whole new light. Aw hell, he's an adult now. Guy considered her from the corner of his eye. "He reminds me of you on the ice."

The thought struck her and she watched as Devin streaked down the rink, clumsily passing the puck to a teammate. He was fast. "Yeah." She said it with pride, knowing even as she heard her own voice that she had nothing to do with his natural speed. "What do you think about his puck handling?"

"It's sloppy." Guy leaned back, resting his head against the cinderblock wall. He pointed at the overweight man with a whistle around his neck sitting on the bench, barely watching practice. "But it doesn't look like he's gotten much instruction, so I would imagine that could be cleaned up. What high school district is he in?"

Beau thought for a minute, racking her brain. "I think he said it was Harris High. Does that sound right?"

Guy grimaced. "Yeah. Decent part of town. Bad hockey team. It's not a good place for him if he wants to play college puck."

"How flexible are the rules about districts?"

"Not very." But now he grinned at her. "However, teachers can get their relatives in pretty much anywhere. I certainly think, with my flawless past, that I could get the school board to make an exception for my 'godson'." He sad the word with obvious sarcasm and a raised eyebrow.

Beau grinned before planting a huge kiss on her friend's cheek. "I knew I loved you for a reason, Germaine. I'm missing you something terrible up there in Detroit."

He winked before going back to watching the young boys practice. "Well, obviously."

Across town Charlie sat slumped in the oversized leather chair wondering how on earth things had gotten to this point.

"Mr. Conway?" He looked up at the receptionist's desk and forced a smile for the young woman. She had been alternating between starting at him and blushing for the past thirty minutes while his lawyer kept him waiting. "Mr. Burns will see you now."

"Thanks. Julie, right?" When she only smiled and blushed again Charlie couldn't help but lay it on thick. "One of my best friends is named Julie. Pretty name." He gave her the 100 watt grin before heading through the thick oak doors and into his overpriced lawyer's massive office. Charlie was pretty sure he had paid for several pieces of furniture that sat about the room.

Kevin Burns was what you expected a lawyer from a slick law show to look like. Think Dylan McDermott meets James Spader. He was young, his hair was done just right, his suit was expensive, and he was cocky as hell. He reminded Charlie of Adam Banks and for that reason he absolutely adored the man. He held the smile, despite the reason for the meeting, and stuck out his hand. "Kevin!" Burns had a strong handshake and put his left hand on Charlie's shoulder, his smile way too white, but genuine to the core.

"Charlie! Good to see you!" He strode around to stand behind his desk and indicated several chairs facing him and the massive windows at his back. "Have a seat." Charlie dropped into a chair and crossed one leg over the other, trying to seem casual, although he was having a hell of a time keeping his nerves at bay. "How are things? Saw your last game. You're something else."

He smiled. "Thanks. Things are good. Yourself?"

Kevin flashed his pearly whites. "Hey, can't complain." He wrinkled his too smooth forehead. "How's your girlfriend? I'm sorry. I can't remember her name. I know it's a boy's name. Sam?"

Charlie laughed. "Close. Beau. She's good. She's actually in town today as well, visiting some friends and family." He didn't even notice that he had referred to Devin and Nora as Beau's family. Funny how that happens.

"Good good." Kevin propped his elbows on the desk, steepling his fingers. "Let's get down to business here, Charlie. I kept you waiting because I was on the phone with your mother's lawyer."

Charlie couldn't help but roll his eyes, even as his stomach was turning. "Feel free to just call her Casey."

"I hear you, man. So, it seems that Casey is lowering her demands. She's making it pretty clear that she wants to settle out of court." He waited for a response and when he got nothing but a sigh he continued. "She's asking for half of what she was asking before. As your lawyer, I think it's my duty to advise you to at least think about this."

There wasn't even a pause in the conversation. Charlie shook his head once. "She doesn't get a dime. We'll go to court."

Kevin shook his head as well. "Are you sure that's what you want? Do you want to sit through that trial? Because that's really what this is a question of. Are you willing to pay to get rid of her?"

"I won't give her the satisfaction. Let me know when the court date is."

Burns looked down at his personal organizer and flipped a page. "Two weeks from tomorrow. Her lawyer will try to drag you through the mud, Charlie. You need to be prepared for that, and I need to know of any indiscretions now so that I can prepare a rebuttal. So let's have it."

Charlie couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I got suspended several times in high school. I wasn't what you would call a model student, but I was never expelled or anything like that."

"This is serious, Charlie." Kevin was writing things down. Actually taking notes on the suspensions. "What about in college?"

"Nothing."

"No drinking tickets? No failing grades?" The lawyer in him had him questioning everything. What college kid didn't have those kinds of things?

Again, Charlie laughed, a bit sad that this was what it had all come to. "I got a D in my Entomology class because I was distracted by a girl. But I passed." He raised his hands and then let them drop back to his legs with a light smack. "Really. Nothing. I got sent to the penalty box a few times last season. I'm serious, Kevin. Nothing."

"Okay then." He smiled. "That gives us plenty to work with."

"So it was good?" Beau had her hand securely under Charlie's on the arm between their seats as the plane hurtled through the air at 30,000 staggering feet. Just thinking of the height had her palms getting clammy and her eyes focusing on Charlie. What she saw tugged gently at her heart.

"I don't know if good is the way to describe it. I guess it went as well as could be expected for a meeting with a lawyer discussing your mother trying to take all of your money." He grinned at her, but she saw through the façade and squeezed his hand. "The court date is in two weeks. Can you be there?"

"Of course I can be there." It was a simple statement, but it carried a lot of weight for both of them. Their lives had come back around to that place where being there for each other was the priority. If Beau had to move Heaven and Hell to do something for Charlie, she would.

He nodded once, making it quite clear that the subject was closed. Now he really did smile. "How was lunch with Devin and his mother?"

Taking a drink from the flight attendant, Beau busied herself with lowering her tray. "It was great. Devin was so excited to hear what Guy had to say. I think the ball is rolling to get him to play high school hockey, and at least to get him on the road to college." She smiled, thinking about the almost teen-ager skating restlessly around his back porch on roller blades, rolling his big eyes when his mother had thrown out phrases like 'let me talk to Beau for a while, huh?' and 'calm down, Devin, and let someone else have a conversation.' The pair had a great dynamic. "Nora is amazing. I'm so glad that we've started talking. I think she needs the female companionship as much as I do and her personality is so much like my mother's it is scary. I was telling my dad the other day that it's what I imagine Mom being like when she was 35."

Charlie poured an entire bag of peanuts into his mouth and attempted to talk around them. "How did she seem, health wise?"

Beau grimaced a little. "Eh. Thin. At least from what she was in the pictures that were around the house. It's not as if I have a huge frame of reference. OH!" She widened her eyes. "Guess where I bought lunch from to take over?"

Charlie looked at her in exasperation. "One of the fifty million restaurants in town." She rolled her eyes. "What? Like I'm a mind reader?"

"No, you're an ass." She hit him and smiled. "From Goldberg's Deli! Greg wasn't there, but I left a note with his mother." She screwed up her face. "The woman pinched my cheeks three times, hugged me like I was her own, and told me more than once that I was too skinny and should eat more."

How could you not laugh at that? Charlie composed himself. "That sounds like the typical refrain of Mrs. Goldberg. Once you are friends with Goldie, you're part of the fold. Get used to it." He reached over and pinched her stomach. "And I wouldn't say you are too skinny. You're just right."

"Well, obviously."

Joank: I don't think bickering is bad, if you make up, you know? I think I'd be bored if I didn't have someone to banter with. As for what I do now, I have a full time job and just got married this year. Scary stuff. Probably a little sad I'm still writing MD fanfics, but they're so damn fun!

Urban: No more crying! The story will end on a happy note, I can promise you that!

Hockey-girl90: Glad you enjoyed. Hope the exams went well!

Cc: I LOVE your rambling massive comments! What is it with you guys and all your tests. Hope yours went well, too!

Johnny: The male ego is a very fragile thing. Mostly, they are all idiots. Hard to explain why we love 'em!