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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AznIntegra- All in good time... I won't leave anyone hanging for much longer, I promise. I must agree, Adam is really not going to like hearing that his mother is in the hospital. As for Dani's personality, you pretty much hit the nail on the head, she's complex. She is sweet and caring friendly, and she is the tough girl. She is the athlete and the nerd. She wants to have a knight in shining armor, but she can take care of herself. But, no, she is not perfect. She has her share of issues, she just doesn't let them get in her way... Most of the time. As for you wanting to date her yourself, I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks!
Lilmonkey1507- I'm glad that you liked the last chapter. When it comes to capturing attention, I am everything like everyone else. Some chapters get more reviews then others and some stories get don't get as many reviews as I would like them to get. Even if you are just kidding about the 'writing hero' thing, I appreciate it.
Bad Best Friend- Well, I can say that it is a good thing that the good outweighs the bad... I thought about what would be a good Dwayne comment and the mixture of stereotypical country life with a sometimes over-intelligent answer seemed to be the best. As for Adam, he isn't the type of guy to call on someone about where they live, so he wouldn't bug Dean about his house. I said earlier that I wouldn't keep everyone waiting much longer, and I won't.
Thank you PrincessH and mdgirl18. And a special thanks to Dragon Tamer Ruth, who reviewed for chapter 51, but wasn't mentioned.
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Adam sat in the locker room at Eden Hall, sobbing almost uncontrollably. Although he had a very good reason. He had just gotten a message from his father saying that his mother had had an asthma attack. Normally Philip called them 'episodes', meaning that she was fine after a few moments rest. 'Attacks' were the bad kind that she used to get frequently when she was a child, and a teenager, but had subsided when she met Philip. She only got them on occasions when she was very upset or had sustained a serious injury, the pain causing her respiratory system to go into overdrive. So, this information withstanding, Adam was very curious as to what could make her have such an attack.
All of the Ducks had left and Adam thought over the idea of calling Jamie again. He had been thinking about doing about doing so for a while, knowing that Jamie would want to know, but not knowing how his father would react of Jamie showed up out of the blue and demanded to see her.
Swinging his hockey bag over his shoulder and wiping the tears off of his face, Adam charged out of the locker room as fast as he could, causing him to almost knock Dani to the ground, "It's good to see you, too." She joked as she leaned against the wall.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Dani raised her eyebrows and looked Adam over. He face was tear streaked and his eyes were puffy and red, "Okay, what happened?" She asked, walking over to him and placing her hand on his arm.
"Nothing." Adam replied.
"Right... And I'm Zulu, Queen of the Dwarf People." Adam chuckled, "Seriously, though, what's the matter?"
Adam sighed, no one could ever get anything passed this girl... Was it wrong that he found that extremely attractive? "Well..." Adam began, "My dad called last night and left a message for me saying that my mom had had an asthma attack and that she was in the hospital... And I Just got the message now, so I don't know how she is now. Plus, I want to call Jamie about it, but my dad would probably flip if he found out that I did, and..." Adam had begun to speak so fast that Dani could tell that he was going into a rant that he shouldn't go into... So to stop him, she pulled him to her and kissed him deeply. Backing away, Dani held her nose for a moment, "Wow. What was that for?" Adam asked.
"You looked like you needed it." Dani replied, "And you were about to start ranting."
"Thanks." Adam said.
"Look, Adam, if you want to call Jamie, then call him. He and your dad have their problems, but they both love your mother. You'd think that they would at least agree to disagree and try to make her feel better." Adam nodded, "And you just need to relax, okay?"
"Okay." Adam replied, placing his arms around Dani and hugging her. She always knew what to say to make him feel better. Hopefully they would get to tell Dean about them in a way that wouldn't get him thrown against a wall, "Have I ever told you that you are absolutely amazing?"
Dani smiled, "I don't know, have you?"
Adam pulled back and said, "You're absolutely amazing." Then he leaned forward and kissed her gently on her cheek. They hugged again before walking out of the building hand in hand, letting go just before they exited the building. Adam walked towards the campus exit and Dani turned towards her dorm building. Both were feeling better then they had been, but had they known that none other then Abigail Johanson, Biff Cole's girlfriend, had seen them. At the moment a little plan was forming in her head to make the Ducks lose that chemistry that they had. And it was a very good plan if she said so herself.
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Philip Banks sat at his desk, in his office, trying to keep his mind on the case that was currently sitting on the desk. Actually, he wasn't trying to keep his mind on the case, he was trying to keep his mind off of the situation his wife was in. She had been stabilized at the hospital, but the doctors had decided that it would be best for her to stay the night, or maybe two, for observation.
Trying so hard to keep his mind on other things, Philip didn't notice when his secretary, Karen, began speaking to him, "Mr. Banks? Mr. Banks? Sir?"
"Um... Yes, Karen?"
"Sir, there is a women here saying that she has to speak with you." Philip was a little confused. Why did Karen sound so timid?
"Uh... Tell her to come back later."
"Yes, sir." Philip sighed and went back to his papers, but he looked up when a commotion came from the other side of the door, "You can't go in there!"
"See if that stops me!" A loud female voice said as footsteps stomped towards his office. The door swung open and in walked a relatively tall women with dark brown hair that was put up in ponytail, "You could do with some more windows in this place." The women joked as Philip stared at her with his jaw dropped open.
"I'm sorry sir!" Karen said as she rushed in the room behind the women, "I'll call security."
"Security?" The women asked, "Well, you certainly are less hospitable then the last time I saw you."
Philip shook his head, "Um... No, Karen. That won't be necessary." Karen nodded and left, while keeping her eyes on the women in a way that suggested she feared the women would pull out a knife.
"Philip?" The women asked.
"Jennifer Foster-Knight? Jen, what are you doing here?" Philip asked.
Jen shrugged, "Apparently scaring the crap out of your secretary." Jen joked, "But that's beside the point, I heard from my niece that Corri was in the hospital because of an asthma attack."
Philip looked down, "That would be correct... But how did your niece know?"
"Alana is a Registered Nurse at the hospital that Corri is at." Philip nodded, "So, Ginny and I went to see her about a couple of hours ago and she told us that the reason she had the attack was because she was so upset that she was 'losing her family'. Care to shed some light on that?"
Philip dropped his pen on the desk and sighed, "I don't think that it's any of your business, Jen."
Jen slammed her hand on Philip's desk, "Damn it, Philip! This is one of my best friends that we are talking about. She told me that Jamie uninvited you to his wedding, Adam and Monica are spending increasing amounts of time away from home, you are spending more time at work then ever, and her parents are saying that she should file for divorce."
Philip stopped dead, "What?" Jen nodded, "She never told me that."
"She didn't want to because she doesn't want one." Philip sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "But I have the feeling that she is wondering whether or not her parent are right."
"Then why doesn't she file?" Philip asked, his voice breaking. He couldn't believe that Corrine would want a divorce.
"Because she loves you." Jen replied, "She always as and she always will. You are the only man that she has ever loved." Philip stared into space, tears threatening to drip down his face, "Is Corri still addicted to Crème Brûlée?"
"She always will be." Philip said.
Jen nodded, "Okay. Goodbye." Jen walked towards the door, but turned around, "Philip, I have one more question." Philip nodded, "What happened to you?" Philip furrowed his eyebrows, "What happened to the family man that would have given anything for his family? The man that would loosen up once and a while? The man that saved two teenage girls from believing that they were worthless and only good enough for slitting their wrists?" Jen pulled back the sleeves on her jacket and slid her bracelets down her arms, showing scars from long ago, "The man that protected two frightened girls from their father." Philip sighed, "Ginny and I have so much to thank you for and I want to help you and Corri as much as I can. If I can, let me know." With that she left, leaving Philip to his thoughts.
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After pacing back and forth in the hospital hallway for the past twenty minutes, Adam finally decided that it was time to enter his mother's room. He walked quietly up to the door and knocked, then he stepped back and waited for a response, "Come in." The familiar voice of his mother called. Sighing in relief, Adam stepped into the room, "Hi, honey."
"Mom?" Adam asked in confusion, staring around the room, "What's going on?"
Corrine sighed, "Of course, you haven't seen them in a while. Adam, do you remember Jen Foster-Knight and Ginny Channel?" Adam thought for a moment and suddenly remembered, causing him to go into a giggle fit, "What?"
"Um... Didn't dad puke all over one of their cars when he was Jamie's age?"
"That was mine." Ginny replied, "I would have made him pay for it anyway, but he offered before I had to forced him to."
"Honey?" Corrine asked, "How did you know that?"
"Jamie and I were going through boxes in his old room when I was 12 and we found one with a bunch of pictures and letters in it." Adam explained, "One of them was a letter expressing 'deep and sincere regret for the event at hand' that never got sent."
"Yeah, because I told him it was stupid to send a letter." Jen mumbled, gaining a slap in the arm from her sister, "Oh, please, you know it would have been stupid to get it."
"I would have had blackmail though." Ginny said.
"You already had it." Corrine broke in, "If his father had found out then he would have been strapped to a rocket and shot off to the moon."
"Hmm." Adam said, walking over and sitting next to his mother, "So, mom, are you okay?"
"Fantastic." Corrine replied, "But I'll be even better when I get my Crème Brûlée. Where is it?"
"It'll be here in a minute." Ginny said, "David's bringing it." Corrine smiled, it was good to know a women who's husband was one of the top chefs in the state.
A few moment's went by without any sound other then breathing from the occupants of the room. That was, until, the sound of someone talking quickly in what seemed like hysterics entered the room, "You know what, you need to chill." A female voice said as a young Asian women turned to Corrine, "Was he this bad as a child?"
"Worse." Corrine and Adam said simultaneously.
"Thanks, Mom." Jamie said. Turning to Adam, he mumbled, "Irritant."
Corrine smiled, "Jamie, what are you doing here?"
"I came to see my mom." Jamie replied.
"How did you get here so fast?" Adam asked, "I called you about two hours ago. It should have taken longer then that."
Thalia smiled, "My dad has two jets."
"Two?" Adam asked. Thalia nodded, "Wow..."
"Oh my god." Ginny and Jen said from their side of the room. They smiled and then Ginny spoke alone, "I remember him from when he was three and runniing around my house naked chasing Alana."
Adam burst into a fit of laughter while Thalia crossed her arms, "Um... Really?" She asked, "I think there are a few things that I would like to know about my fiancé. Who's Alana?"
"My daughter." Ginny replied.
"Honey, I was three." Jamie said in an attempt to defend himself.
Adam couldn't help himself when a more recent memory popped into his head, "But what about the time when you were 18 and your friends were playing joke on you so when you were showering at the pool, they stole all of your clothes and you had you run home naked with one of those floaty donuts that kids play with around your waist."
Jamie turned beet red as Thalia tried to keep from laughing for fear of her breaking a rib. Jamie sighed, "I'm going to kill you, you know that right?"
Adam smiled, "No you won't."
"Why not?" Jamie asked.
"Because my girlfriend would kill you if you did. What can I say, I have a good girlfriend." Adam replied.
"Your... What?" Corrine asked as she stared from one son to the next.