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- Thank you very much! Yes, it is quite possible to pop someone's back and massage it at the same time... But you have to be really good at it. I know a few people who can do it. I thought that Avalon Lee would be a cute name and I am glad that you agree. I was actually reading an excerpt from The Mists of Avalon in English class when I decided on the name. Thanks again!
Bad Best Friend- Thank you so much for the review! I really appreciate it! As for Jake, it said what he did to get arrested; assault, assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, assaulting a police officer, and sexual harassment. It happened in Mississippi, where he is originally from, which is why he lied to Casey about visiting his mother. He didn't go back so that he wouldn't get caught. I figured that Charlie and Casey had enough to deal with without birth complications, so I didn't make any.
sphinx005- Thank you! I'm glad that you liked Daisy, she's one tough women. I know someone who is exactly like her and that's how I chose to put her in. Yes, Jake is a jerk... But a jerk who got arrested. I figured that Dani should get to tell off Charlie because, sometimes, he is just plain clueless. My computer wouldn't let me do much either, so maybe something was wrong with the site... Or perhaps there is a computer epidemic of sorts... I hope not. Thanks again!
Thank you so much to Mrs. St. John Allerdyce and PrincessH!
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For the past several days, none of the Ducks had heard anything about Mrs. Conway's baby. All they knew was what Adam had managed to squirrel out of his father, and that was that Jake had been arrested for crimes committed in Mississippi and, therefore, would not be able to sue Casey for full custody, or any custody at all.
Everything had slowed down after the baby's birth and no one was taking as much advantage of that fact as Fulton. He had managed to spend a lot of free time with Tammy, which was what he was doing, "So, you don't know anything about the baby other then it was born?" Tammy asked as she laid on her side on his bed while he sat on a chair between his bed and Dean's.
"Not a thing." Fulton said, "But after everything that Charlie and Mrs. Conway had to go through, I'm not surprised that they want a little time with the baby before everyone meets it."
"This is true." Tammy replied, placing her long hair behind her ear, "I can't believe that it's almost over." She said, almost to herself, "It seems like only yesterday that Gia, Dani, and I were on a plane and swinging on Tommy and Dean's last nerves..."
"Yeah." Fulton said, "And now the school year is almost over." Tammy nodded sadly, "Cake-eater is going to cry... He's gotten really close to Dani and she's going back to Chicago pretty soon."
"That she is." Tammy replied, "May 2nd."
"I'll miss you, too." Fulton said.
"Why?" Tammy asked, causing Fulton's eyes to bulge, "What? Oh... I never mentioned..."
"Mentioned what?" Fulton asked.
Tammy took a deep breath, "Well, next year mom and dad are enrolling Tommy in Ambrose Rupert Hale High School, the math and science magnet school about 30 minutes away." Fulton raised his eyebrows, what did that have to do with him not missing Tammy? "And I have decided to continue my skating training... here." Fulton's jaw dropped, "I convinced my dad to enroll me here at Eden Hall and I figured since my first coach still lives in Edina, then I could continue with skating and she could coach me again. She loves me, she'll do anything I ask."
"Are you serious?" Fulton asked. He had figured that she would have to go back to the fancy, froufrou skating academy that her mother had placed her in. Tammy nodded, "Wasn't your mother pissed?"
"Of course." Tammy replied, "It was fun to watch. But she caved in after dad, Tommy, and I bugged her about it. She wanted me to go to Hale High with Tommy, but everyone in my family knows that I can't stand math and science, so I wouldn't do so great in a math and science magnet school."
Fulton was still caught off guard. Maybe this was some kind of dream that he didn't want to wake up from. Without meaning to, Fulton lunged from his chair and captured Tammy in a deep and passionate kiss. Tammy was enjoying Fulton's forwardness as she placed her hands on either side of his head to keep him close to her and she crushed her lips against his as he slid his tongue into her mouth.
Only an exclamation of, "Oh GOD!" pulled them apart. Fulton fell off the bed and Tammy sighed as Dean cringed across the hallway with his eyes covered, "Is it safe?"
"Shut up, Portman." Fulton said as he got to his feet.
"What do you think Dani and Adam are doing?" Tammy asked coyly, obviously getting under Dean's skin, "That was rhetorical question."
"Good." Dean said, "Because I hadn't planned on answering it." Tammy rolled her eyes. Whenever the subject of Dani and Adam came up, Dean avoided it, "I was coming to say that everyone is going to Mickey's to see Charlie... Do you two want to come, or are you too busy?"
"Ha ha." Tammy and Fulton retorted. Tammy slid off the bed and into Fulton's open arms.
"Come on." Dean said as he walked out the door, rolling his eyes at his best friends actions and the fact that Fulton had his hand in Tammy's back pocket.
Before walking out of the room, Tammy stood on her tiptoes so that she could reach Fulton's ear, "I love you." She whispered before kissing him gently on the cheek.
Fulton turned his head and stared at her, hoping that he had actually heard that. He wanted nothing more then to know that the words that had just come out of her mouth were the ones that he had heard. Only one way to find out, "I love you, too." Tammy smiled and hugged Fulton and he kissed her on the forehead... So, he had actually just heard that.
"What are you two waiting for? The flowers to bloom?" Dean called back.
Fulton sighed, "Way to ruin the moment, Portman." He said sourly, shaking his head at his best friend. Tammy giggled and wrapped her arms tighter around Fulton, "He's an idiot."
"I agree." Tammy said as they walked out of the room, their arms around each other.
"Oh, God." Dean said, "You two look like you just... Never mind." He sighed and walked out. Fulton shook his head again and Tammy was close to beating him into unconsciousness with the nearest thing that she could find. They followed Dean, who had stopped and was talking with Piper, asking her if she wanted to come and spend time with her sister and the Ducks.
"Sure." Piper said with a smile on her face, "Aww." She said, noticing Fulton and Tammy, "He's like a cute little teddy bear, isn't he, Tammy?" Tammy nodded and hugged Fulton even tighter, "You two are so cute together."
"Blah." Dean said, "I think I'm getting cavities."
"Ha ha." Dani said, coming up behind Tammy and Fulton, "Just because you haven't had a girlfriend in forever, doesn't mean that you can be a jack-in-the-box about Tammy and Fulton." Tammy smiled smugly and stuck out her tongue, "Hey, Dean?"
"What?" Dean asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Go flirt with Julie."
"What?" Dean asked in shock.
Piper sighed and grabbed Dean's face, "See that?" She asked as she made him face the sight of Scooter trying to talk to a very reluctant Julie, "She's miserable. She wants someone to get her out of that situation as quickly as possible."
"So," Dani said, "since you were the one who picked up the phone when Scooter called her right after he broke it off, you should be the one who gets the most out of him if you flirt with her." Dean raised his eyebrows, as if to say 'meaning?', "That means that if you flirt with her then he will squirm to his utmost potential." Dean shrugged, "So go flirt with her... Now!" Dean sighed and gave Dani a mock salute, "Thank you."
"I can't believe them." Dean mumbled to himself as he walked over to Julie and Scooter. He hid to make sure that Scooter couldn't see him and he sighed again. How could Dani twist his arm and get him into stuff like this? Taking his chance, not even sure how he saw this as a chance, he shot out his hand and grabbed a hold of one of the back belt loops on Julie's pants, "Hi Jules." He said as a very confused Julie stared at him, Scooter doing the same, "Can I borrow her? Thanks." He pulled Julie away with him, his hand still locked around her belt loop, and smiled at the indignant shock that was cemented on his face.
Once out of Scooter's sight and hearing range, Julie squealed and turn towards Dean. He let go of her belt loop and she smiled, "Thank you so much, Dean." She said, "He's been trying to talk to me and I can't deal with that right now... Especially with Abigail Johanson and Rick Riley around all the time trying to get with him."
"No problem, Jules." Dean said. Julie smiled wider and she reached over and hugged him. Dean couldn't help but notice that her hug was like no one else's. However, he almost fainted when Julie planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"So, are we going to Mickey's, or what?" Julie asked, racing off to join Piper, Dani, Tammy, and Fulton.
"The end of the earth if you want, Jules." Dean replied in a dazed whisper.
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Charlie sat in a booth at Mickey's, eating a cheeseburger and fries, and waited for his friends to come. Ever since Avalon had been born, he had taken to leaving them out in the cold, so to speak. His mother was still home with Avalon, not wanting to leave her for a second, and that was understandable. Now all Charlie wanted to do was figure out of it really had been Myrka that was at the hospital the day that Jake had been arrested.
"Earth to Charlie." A voice said, fingers snapping in his ear. Charlie looked up and raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"It was you." He said.
"What was me?" Myrka asked, sitting down across from Charlie and staring at his fries.
"You were at the hospital about a week ago." Charlie said, "I saw you."
"Did you?" Charlie nodded, "Nifty. Yeah, I was there. My dad accidentally knocked my Uncle Nick down the stairs and he broke Uncle Nick's foot, so I was there while he got a cast."
"You have an Uncle Nick?"
"Yes." Myrka replied, "And an Aunt Kennedy and an Aunt Deirdre. Didn't daddy ever tell you?" Charlie shook his head, "Oh, he didn't tell us either... We only met them when we came down."
"We?" Charlie asked. Myrka raised her eyebrows, "Oh, right... You and Julian."
"Yeah."
Charlie shook his head, "I find it hard to believe that the Minnesota State Police only just found out that Jake was a criminal wanted for crimes he committed in Mississippi. He's been living here for almost 7 years, after all... But they might have had a little bit of help." Myrka smiled, "What did your dad do?"
Myrka sighed, "Well, daddy called Philip Banks after you called him... I know because I pretended that I was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed, but I was listening in on your conversation... No one will know that if you want to live, by the way." Charlie held up his hands in surrender, "And he called the Minnesota State Police after I found out about Jake."
"How did you find out?"
"It was simple." Myrka said, "When we were down here last, your mother showed me a picture of Jake and she said that he was out of town. A couple of weeks ago, I got really bored, like I tend to do, and so I looked up random stuff on the Internet, including the public information on criminals. I found the name Jakob Talbot and I figured it was a common name, so I clicked on it, and low-and-behold... It was Jake... I told dad and he called the cops. Nifty, huh?"
"Nifty?" Charlie asked, "I'd say that's a little more then nifty." Myrka flipped her hair, "But you're just being modest." Myrka nodded, "You're eying my fries... Want some?"
"Thanks." Myrka said, taking a hand full and sticking them on a napkin. She looked around and found the nearest bottle of hot sauce and drenched the fries in it, "What?" Myrka asked in response to the look of utter disgust on Charlie's face."
"That's gross." Charlie replied.
"You are a wuss." Myrka said, talking a bite of a fry, "Yum." Charlie sighed and took another bite of his cheeseburger, "So, what is it?"
"Come again?" Charlie asked.
"The baby." Myrka clarified, "I saw you at the hospital, too, and I know that your mom was ready to pop, so I assumed that she had the baby. I wanted to know what it was."
"A girl." Charlie replied, "Avalon."
"Cute." Myrka said, eating another fry, "Charlie, can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
"Ha ha." Myrka laughed, deadpanned, "Seriously." Charlie nodded, "How long have your mom and my dad been doing this really irritating I-love-you/I-love-you-not tango? Because it's getting really annoying."
Charlie chuckled, "You've noticed, huh?" Myrka nodded, "Well, they met when I was 12... So it's been 4 years." Myrka slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, "Yeah, I know." He replied as the Ducks entered the diner.
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Much to Casey's delight, Avalon was a wonderful little girl who didn't wake up as much as Charlie had. Oh, Charlie... He could never sleep for more then 2 hours at a time and now it was a chore to get him out the door in time for her to get to work... Or it had been when Charlie was at home.
In the crib that Casey had put in Charlie's room, at Charlie's insistence saying that he would sleep on the couch whenever he was home, Avalon squirmed and Casey knew that her baby was about to squeal and holler about something that she wanted, "Oh, baby." Casey said, "What is it?" Casey picked her up and Avalon immediately stopped squirming, "You wanted to be held. You are almost exactly like your brother." Casey smiled broadly and kissed her daughter on her cheek. Now she could do all of the things that she so desperately wanted.
Casey was in a daze, but a ring of the doorbell woke her up, "Coming." Casey called, placing Avalon gently over her shoulder and walking towards the door. She looked out the peephole and smiled, "What on Earth?" She asked herself. Opening the door, Casey shook her head, "Gordon Bombay... Why am I not surprised?"
Gordon chuckled, "Well, I don't know... Why aren't you surprised?"
Casey sighed, "Well, my son did tell me that he saw your daughter at the hospital the day that Jake was arrested."
"Jake was arrested?" Gordon asked coyly. Casey raised her eyebrow, "Okay, okay... I might, possibly, may have had something to do with that." Casey sighed, "I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten involved..."
"Actually, I was going to thank you... But if you insist." Casey said.
"No!" Gordon said, "Thank you is good."
Casey laughed, "Do you want to come in?"
"Thanks." Gordon said, walking inside. He smiled as he passed her and the small baby in her arms that was wrapped in a white blanket with pink trim, "What's her name?"
Casey smiled, "Avalon. Avalon Lee." She replied.
"Really?" Gordon said, "That's beautiful. Just like her."
"Thank you, Gordon." Casey said, "I'll be back in a second, make yourself comfortable." Gordon nodded and sat down on the couch as Casey took Avalon into Charlie's room and laid her down. Walking back into the room, Casey sighed, "She'll be back up soon, but whatever."
Gordon laughed, "I never got to enjoy that part of children."
Casey smiled, "I'm sure that raising two abused children wasn't exactly the fun and games that most people expect from adopted or foster children... You know, get bored and ship them out for another."
"Bitter?" Gordon asked.
Casey sighed, "I haven't been in the best of moods lately." She admitted, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Gordon said.
Casey sighed, "Would you like some coffee or something?"
"Coffee would be great." Gordon replied. Casey nodded and walked into the kitchen. The sound of clattering dishes reached Gordon's ears and he sighed... He shouldn't have come, he was just going to end up doing something that both he and Casey would regret. Casey reentered the room with coffee and Gordon smiled, "Thanks." He said, taking the cup and sipping.
"You're very welcome." Casey replied, "So, how have you and the kids been?"
"Good." Gordon said, "We've been good. My idiotic brother broke his foot not that long ago and he, of course, blamed me, even though both of my sisters saw that I had nothing to do with it... But Myrka cheers for Nick behind my back."
"What?" Casey asked, "You have a brother and sisters?"
"Oh, yes." Gordon replied, "Nick, Kennedy and Deirdre." Casey nodded, "I never mentioned them?" Casey shook her head no, "Oh... I can't imagine why." Gordon felt like a complete idiot, why hadn't he told her about them before? An uncomfortable silence fell between them and it was broken moments later by the sound of Gordon's cellphone ringing, "Hello?" He asked, "Oh, hi mom." Casey smiled, his mother was checking in on him?
Gordon mumbled a few things to her, but soon hung up, "Is she worried?" Gordon rolled his eyes, "Are you leaving?"
"I have to." Casey raised her eyebrow, "What I mean is is mom hasn't been the most nimble as of late and she needs me to get a couple of things before I get back and she wants to start dinner soon."
Casey giggled, "How sweet. I hope Charlie does the same for me when I'm older." She stood and smiled.
"I'm sure he will." Gordon said, standing as well. They both realized how close they were to each other, but for some reason they couldn't make themselves move. They stared at each other for a moment and, before they knew what they were doing, Gordon and Casey had managed to find themselves in sometime before... They were locked to each other in a deep and passionate kiss. Time seemed to stop and Gordon lost all his cares, while Casey forgot about every bad thing that had happened to her in the past few months. What they didn't realize was that Myrka and Charlie walked in on them. Charlie furrowed his eyebrows and gently pushed Myrka back into the hallway.
"Here we go again." Charlie said bitterly when the door was closed.
"I know the feeling." Myrka replied, "Want to go get some ice cream and drown our sorrows like we are 16 year old girls who just found out that her crush is dating the head cheerleader?"
"What a lovely suggestion." Charlie replied with a voice that sounded like he had just been forced to swallow a lemon. Myrka linked her arm with Charlie's and patted him on the head, "Gee... Thanks."
Back inside the apartment, Gordon and Casey were interrupted by Avalon, who had woken up with a squeal, "I should go check on her."
"Yeah." Gordon replied, "And I should go." Casey nodded, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... What I mean is... I should go."
Gordon left and Casey sniffled, "I wasn't exactly complaining." She said, wiping a tear from her eye. Sighing, Casey entered the bedroom and cooed over Avalon, "What is it baby?"