Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 29 (Step Up to the Plate, Coach)

After the reunion, Skyler had gone to the hospital so Dr. Reed could fill her in on a possible schedule and when she could start while giving the school district two week's notice. PJ stayed home while his cousins Chuck, Ginger, and Taylor visited. Petunia was with Amanda and David, who were seriously going to teach her to play Bridge. Charlotte had slipped out with Grace and was heading towards Spencer's apartment complex.

Regina texted her, saying that she'd been having a great day getting to know her birth father, that he wasn't so bad. They'd gone to see a movie, had lunch, took a stroll in some park hiking trail, where Spencer had to be sure her allergies wouldn't work up. They didn't. Now they were at his apartment complex and she'd decided take a nap before they did anything else.

The two girls were riding bikes, and Grace was questioning why she had to come along or why they were even heading over there. Charlotte had her plan of action in mind, especially considering Coach Walsh seemed like he actually cared. In that case, maybe he would listen to her. "I want to make sure he knows that he'd better treat Regina like a father should treat their daughter and not just be messing around." No one likes a faker, and if Spencer wasn't serious about this fatherhood of his, then he was in deep trouble. If Alice didn't maim him and tear him limb from limb, she would do it herself. There was no chance in hell she would let him hurt Regina. Of course, judging by what her friend was saying, he actually did seem to care. "I think he's been treating her like a daughter. Granted Alice has been against his seeing his daughter all these years, so maybe it isn't all on him."

"Maybe." Grace pedaled a bit faster, pulling up beside Charlotte. This was still good bonding experience for the two cousins, so there was no reason for her not to be there.

They turned into the apartment complex and started to lock their bikes with the nearest bike rack. The apartment complex looked like most, abundant with short green grass and a pool in the middle of the complex, sealed off for the winter. Spencer's apartment was the nearest, his green door had the number 409 at the top.

"Here we are." She felt a nervous pang inside and quickly brushed it away, opting to ignore it. She met Grace's gaze and smiled as she lifted her hand and knocked on the door. After a minute, the door opened. Spencer stared down at her with surprise and curiosity. He had a brief bit of stubble on his face. He was wearing a T-Shirt with a horse pictured in the center, tucked into jeans with a brown belt. He looked much cleaner than he had been when she saw him the other day, probably wanted to give Regina a good impression. "Hi Coach Walsh, I wanted to talk to you, but didn't want to wait until a school day. Can I come in?"

He did have the opportunity to shut the door on her now, but she would just find him at his school whenever she got the chance. He raised an eyebrow and lifted his shoulders. "You're Regina's friend. Charlotte?" Was he trying to pretend he didn't recognize her? Everyone pretty much assumed she was from the Duncan family. Even Jo had recognized her! "Regina's asleep right now, I don't want to wake her up, she's exhausted."

"That's okay, let her sleep, I'm here to talk to you." He stepped to the side and motioned for her to come inside. She graciously entered, Grace followed. "This is my cousin, Grace. In case you were wondering. Our friend Dee is spending the weekend with her parents." Grace introduced herself and Spencer gave her a nod in return.

The inside of the apartment seemed rather simple. The living room was bright from the window letting in all the sunlight. The blinds were down. There was a small TV stand with a black television and cable box, whatever show was on was paused. There was a blue striped couch a few feet in front of the television and it was nestled against a wall that had a large opening and a counter with some mail on it. The opening revealed the small kitchen. The doorway into the kitchen led out into a small alcove where a workout bench was resting. Past the small area was a tiny hallway with one open door that led into the bathroom, and another door that was likely the bedroom.

"Nice place." She moved to the couch and glanced to her right, a longer couch of similar fabric was against the wall. Grace sat next to her and Spencer sat on the other couch. She looked to the television and saw it paused on a native American talking with a cowboy. Her eyebrows rose and her lip curled into a smile, she loved westerns. "So you're watching a western?"

"Yeah, it's an old classic, but a good one. Can I help you to a soda or glass of water?" Charlotte shook her head and leaned back against the couch, sighing quietly as she gathered her thoughts. There was so much she wanted to ask him, to talk about, and she was pretty sure neither Skyler or PJ would want her to be here.

"Do you know who I am?" She blurted out her question, almost unexpectedly. She didn't know what else to say, so why sit there in awkward silence? Spencer stared at her for a second. She figured he had to know who she was, more than just 'Regina's friend', but maybe he'd been trying to ignore it. It was hard as hell for people to talk about this kind of stuff, that is, if they knew the Duncan family and the tragedy that happened. "And I mean besides me being Regina's best friend."

His face fell and his lips pulled back into a slight grimace. "Yeah, you're the youngest of the Duncan family, right? PJ's little sister…Do PJ and Skyler know you're here?"

"Not a clue."

"Would they want you to be here?"

"Probably not." He was avoiding her eyes, his face had become like rock, and his body was beginning to tremble. "You're not drinking? Ms. Wartheimer said you were a drunkard. You even hit on Skyler once while you were drunk…" He quickly turned his eyes towards her and swallowed hard. Maybe she'd struck a chord.

"I put my alcohol away and I'm attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but yes…I used to be a drunkard." So he was actually trying to fix himself? She turned her gaze down to the glass coffee table in between them and saw several books and papers strewn about. Some were about being a father, others were about kicking alcohol dependency. Others were national geographic magazines. "When your sister passed and Alice came to me saying she was pregnant, everything just spiraled out of control for me. Of course your sister wouldn't have anything to do with me. Hell, I wouldn't want to have anything to do with myself back then either. I wasn't even allowed to go to your family's funeral…"

"Skyler and PJ were that pissed with you back then?"

"I cheated on your sister, I made one of their closest friends pregnant, so yes, they were plenty pissed with me." He clenched his eyes shut and leaned back on the sofa. His hand brushed across his forehead while his lungs rattled out a breath of air. She was beginning to feel sorry for him, never even able to cope with the loss of the Duncan family. "I don't know what I was thinking when I hit on Skyler all that time ago, I went to work drunk and she was the first person who saw me. I mean once I threw up on school grounds, I was pretty much demanded to see the school nurse. I might have hit on anyone in that school, god knows." So, had the accident really messed him up so terribly? Was this just his way to cope?

"Yeah, who knows…I hope you're not still obsessed with Teddy, was that the reason for your years of being drunk? I know the reason you dated Regina's mom back then was in some messed up attempt to win Teddy back…"

"Part of it." He put his elbows to his legs and leaned forward, closing his hands in front of his face. "As for dating Alice, there was some hope that I'd win Teddy back, but not all of it." His eyes opened halfway and his sharpened gaze stared ahead at the wall. "I developed some very real feelings for her." Her eyes widened and her lips parted like a fish's, she wasn't expecting to hear that. In the back of her mind, she thought she heard a door open, but pushed it off. "I started to seriously care for her, one thing led to another and we had sex. We broke up because she caught wind that I first started dating her to win back her friend…"

"She wouldn't let you talk to her after that?"

"She was pretty pissed, Charlie."

"It's Charlotte, by the way…" He raised an eyebrow and turned his head to her, staring as though she had two heads. She took a deep breath and bowed her head. "Okay that might have been an inappropriate time to say that, sorry. Please continue…if you don't mind?" He took a slow breath and turned his gaze away from her. "You still try to win back my sis after that?"

"No. After being turned down by Alice, I kind of hid away from everyone like a coward. I realize now I should have gone after her. I tried to remain friends with your family, but they wouldn't let me near. Dad had liquor stashed away in his cabinets and I turned to alcohol…"

"Ouch." He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Yeah. When I got the news that Alice was pregnant, I tried to be there. I wanted to be a father, but she wouldn't hear of it..."

"Because you drank?"

"Mostly, yes. She didn't think I deserved to be a father and didn't want a kid growing up with a drunkard dad." Of course, something like that might make matters worse. Poor guy probably bathed in alcohol at some point of time. The thing was a depressant and it did make people feel good. Maybe now that Alice was opening up to him a little, letting him see Regina, he could have something important to look after and stop drinking. "All these years, I kept trying to talk to her into letting me spend some time with Regina."

"So why the issue of child support?" He chuckled nervously and leaned back in his seat, rubbing his hands along his pants.

"I'm a proud man, I wanted to see my daughter. I didn't want to pay child support unless I had the chance to see her. The more Alice refused to let me see my daughter, the more I refused to send child support." Charlotte narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a long moment. Both Spencer and Alice were full of pride, weren't they?

"Geez, you two really would make a good couple. Neither of you wants to listen to the other person! Granted, you know she's right. There's no way in hell you should spend time with Regina if your heart isn't in the right place." He lifted his eyes to her and frowned.

"I know. That's why I'm trying to change. I'm actually trying here. That was the big deal the other day…"

"I'm glad to see that, because that brings me to why I'm here." He raised an eyebrow as she put her hands to her knees and gazed strongly into his eyes. "I wanted to remind you to keep Regina's best interest in mind, to treat her like a father would treat his daughter, and to have a full heart. Shape up, stop drinking, be responsible, and above all else, do whatever you can for her. I think that's what Alice wanted all this time, and that's what I'm going to tell you, because if you ever let her down…if you were to ever hurt her…It wouldn't just be her mother coming after you. Dee and I can be pretty dangerous when it comes to looking after our youngest sister."

His lips curved up and his eyes brightened for the moment. He nodded his head and inhaled. "I plan on it. Thank you for that, I guess. It is what Alice was telling me a while back. She did visit a few weeks ago…" She paused and her lips fell flat as his words reminded her of that pregnancy test.

"Yeah, you guys…"

"I know. She was yelling at me about that the other day too." So he knew about the pregnancy too? It must have been harsh to find out in such a manner, and maybe was even more of an eye opener than anything else could have been. She wondered if Regina knew yet.

"Right." She reached over and gently pat his arm, then pulled away. "Who knows, maybe if you shape up again, she'll date you again. It would be great if you two got back together, if anything, for Regina."

"She's truly a gift. My daughter…and I love her so much. I do, without any doubt."

"I'm glad to hear that. Maybe there wasn't much need for me to be here, but I just wanted to come by. I had to be sure I knew you were an okay person."

"I understand, and I'm glad Regina has some good friends. Though from here, it might be best if you let Alice and myself work through everything. I'm going to be there for Regina, there's no doubt about that, and Alice has agreed, so long as I stay clean. I intend to remain clean from here on out."

"Good." It was time she left, she was satisfied with his responses. They sounded very genuine and his eyes gave away the truth that she suspected she was hearing. He did care, and that was what was important. "I'm going to go now."

"All right." He slowly rose to his feet and extended his hand. She stood and shook his hand. "Please tell Skyler and PJ I'm sorry about what happened back then. Also, I'm sorry about PJ's family…I never got to tell him that."

"I'll be sure to do that." Yeah, the minute she was certain they wouldn't kill her for actually seeking him out. "You miss them too, huh."

"I think everyone that's been involved with them…misses them. They were good people, and your sister was even more special of a person than you know. You have her heart, I think. That's important." She smiled and her cheeks started to turn red. Her heart was bursting with pride and her eyes were beginning to water. "Don't ever forget how wonderful they were, I know I won't."

"Thank you, Coach." She slowly started toward the door, stopping just before touching the doorknob. She looked back to see him walking towards the bathroom. "Hey." He paused and glanced back. "You know I'm dating the school's running back on the football team?"

"So?"

"He and my school's football team are going to kick your school's butts." She smirked at him and he started to laugh. The sadness in his tone left and was replaced by a determined feeling.

"Whatever you say. That's what Regina says, but I'm training my kids to be pros, so you tell your boyfriend that he'd better make sure his team are full of pros as well."

"Oh I will. Goodbye Coach Walsh."

"Bye." She smiled and watched him hurry into the bathroom. She and Grace stepped outside and stopped next to a stairwell. She looked at Grace and smiled. "So he seems to really be trying."

"Yeah, but it's good that you're looking out for Regina. You're a good friend to do that."

"Thanks." The front door opened and they turned to see Regina in the doorway. She was smiling and her eyes were wet with tears. Charlotte froze, she was concerned if Regina heard all that. "Regina? I thought you were napping."

"I was, woke up to go to the bathroom and I heard you talking…" She stepped out and hugged Charlotte close. "Thanks for looking out for me, Charlotte. I wanted to say that…just thanks." She smiled at her friend and slowly rubbed her back.

"Hey. You, me, Dee, we're sisters…we have to look out for one another. I wanted to make sure you'd be happy and that your dad wouldn't end up being just another deadbeat or asshole."

"Thanks, and you know, he's actually not…I mean, I was afraid of what I'd experience with him, but he's been so great today…We're about to go out to this farm and I get to ride some horses!" Charlotte laughed and crossed her arms, smirking playfully. Her mother would not be happy about that, so many opportunities for Regina's asthma to start up.

"And just what would your mother say to this?"

"Oh she doesn't mind. Exercise and doing things that can make my lungs stronger is a good thing. She says if I know how to handle my asthma and when to be alert, then I stand a much better chance of not being affected." Regina tapped her chin and inhaled deeply. "By the way, Mom and Dad have both told me some big news." Her eyebrows rose as Regina bounced once. "I'm going to get to be an older sister!"

"You know about that? I saw your mom's test on the table the other day…"

"Yeah, they told me this morning actually, when Dad came to pick me up. They sat down and talked about it with me. I was shocked at first, but, I think I'm okay with it…" Charlotte smiled and hugged her.

"I'm proud of you Regina. I'm glad you're taking it well."

"Well, as well as I can. I kind of want them to get together, but I don't know if they will or not." She took a quick pause and pointed her finger to Charlotte, smirking slightly. "And that's not an invitation for you to meddle either. If anything does happen, it would be better if it happened naturally." She laughed and put her hand to her chest, making a mock gasping noise.

"What? Me, meddle? Never!"

"I'm serious."

"I know, and don't worry, I won't say anything." The parent trap was still a classic movie that inspired many people, herself included. How she would love to pull a stunt like that for Alice and Coach Walsh, but she did know better. "But for the record, if you could get them to start dating, I bet if we can make them wind up going to the same restaurant together and-"

"Charlotte!" Regina put her hands to her hips and Charlotte smiled at her. Her friend's tone was stern, and it definitely got the message across.

"No worries, I got it. You have fun today with your dad."

"I will. You know, my dad has really good lungs, I think that's why my asthma isn't as bad as Mom's or the rest of her family…" This was good news indeed, maybe even her sibling would wind up not having problems with asthma. From what she understood, Coach Walsh did come from a long line of athletes and musicians, so they naturally had strong lungs. "After the horse riding, Dad's going to take me hiking. I'm think I'm going to start working out to make my lungs stronger. Do you think I should?" Well the tennis definitely would help, so working out would also add to that lungpower.

"I think you can do whatever you want to do, and if it helps strengthen you, go for it."

"Great! Dad wants to try and help me strengthen my lungs, so maybe one day I won't have to worry about lugging around an inhaler wherever I go…" It could also help her confidence too, since Regina always had been a shy girl because of that asthma problem. She put her hands to Regina's shoulders and smiled into her eyes.

"You're already becoming a stronger person, Dee and I take notice to that. We're proud of you too, I don't think you would have joined the tennis team a year ago." Regina smiled and hugged Charlotte again.

"Thanks." Regina looked to Grace and waved. "You're her cousin?"

"Yes," Grace replied, waving back. "It's great to meet you!"

"Did you come on your own will or did she drag you along with her?" Grace laughed and Charlotte's face fell flat.

"She practically begged me to come along, I just had to come."

"Yep, she tends to do that with me and with Dee. Sometimes Dee is able to thwart her plans…I'm not as strong willed." Grace laughed again with Regina. Charlotte rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Hah, hah, making fun of me now, I see. I think we should go…" Grace waved her hand in the air and grinned.

"I want to talk to Regina."

"Fine…" She wasn't going to win this one, so there was no use in fighting it.

Well what do you think?