Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Ducks.

AN: I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get this out. I've had a lot going on family wise and I walked away from this story. But, I am back now and I promise that I won't leave you guys hanging for two months before updating again.

She was a glutton for punishment, she had to be. What person in the right mind would invite their estranged, soon to be ex-husband to dinner? Julie shook her head in dismay as she set the table. She had invited him over so that they could talk about what would happen once the divorce was final. She wanted a civil relationship with him. If the kids saw that they got along it would make things a lot easier.

Charlie and Fulton had both told her that inviting Adam over was a bad idea. They had seen firsthand just how unstable Adam was. He was keeping a brave face for Julie so that she wouldn't see what was going on. She had seen him like that before and she was not looking forward to going through it again.

Peyton watched TV in the living room while Nathan sat in his playpen on the other side of the kitchen playing quietly. Julie would hear him gurgling every so often to let her know that he was fine.

She was putting yeast rolls into the oven when the doorbell rang. Peyton could be heard running through the house and Julie cautioned her to ask who it was before opening the door.

"Daddy!" she called happily.

Nathan raised his head, his eyes shining brightly; he was daddy's little man already. Adam came into the kitchen carrying a bottle of wine in one hand and a bag in the other.

"I brought them something," he explained when Julie eyed the bag.

"That's fine. Thank you for bringing the wine, I don't have any," she said with a pleased smile.

"You're welcome," he said placing the bottle in the refrigerator.

He made his way over to the playpen and picked up Nathan before kneeling down to Peyton's level. He reached into the bag and pulled out a coloring book and crayons for Peyton and a small teddy bear for Nathan. Peyton made a beeline for the table so that she could look through her book. Nathan clutched his bear, holding onto Adam's neck.

"What do you say Peyton?" Julie asked.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"You're welcome."

"Dada," Nathan said patting Adam's shoulder.

"Yes, I'm your Dada," he answered brushing his fingers through Nathan's hair.

Julie was glad that Adam was willing to get along with her for the kid's sake. She wouldn't have been able to take it if he had frozen her out completely. Even though they were no longer together, a part of her would always love him because he was the father of her children.

She was thankful that they were still on speaking terms. Not all relationships were easy and she had always been good at navigating her way through hard times, like now. She would hold her head high. She would never let Adam know how much she was hurting. She had done that while they were married and it had driven him away.

Adam set the table while Julie pulled dinner out of the oven. She had made baked spaghetti, which was Adam's favorite. They sat at the table and unlike when they were married Julie led them in prayer before dinner. Adam felt that she should do it since he no longer lived there. They talked idly through dinner, Peyton told them about school and Adam talked about his mom and brothers.

Peyton watched a movie in the living room and Nathan was put to bed after dinner. Julie told Adam about work while he helped her clean the kitchen.

"You're working an awful lot," he said in concern.

"I have to, I have a family to support," she reminded him.

"I can help with that," he stated.

"I don't expect you to," she said quietly.

"They're my kids too Jules," he said with a sigh.

"I know they are Adam, but I don't want to be one of those women who hound their ex-husbands for alimony and child support."

"Well then I'll only give you child support, and you won't be hounding me for money. I want to make sure that Peyton and Nate have the best of everything, just like you do."

"Is it too late to put it into the divorce settlement?"

"I don't think so."

"I'll call my lawyer about it in the morning."

Adam nodded his head in agreement before placing the towel that he was using to dry dishes in the laundry room. He gathered his things then said goodbye to Peyton before leaving. He was glad that he had talked to Julie. They had agreed to have an open and honest friendship. He wanted her to be able to tell him everything about the kids. If they needed something he wanted to help her provide for them. He never wanted her to feel like she was raising them on her own.

XXXX

The house was quiet when Guy came home from his date. He paused outside Charlie's room and heard Charlie's deep breathing through the door. He knocked lightly and Charlie answered the door with bleary eyes and disheveled hair.

"Can I talk to you?"

"It's almost midnight," Charlie said in observation.

"It'll only take a few minutes and then you can go back to bed."

"Come on in," Charlie said, opening the door wider.

Guy sat in the desk chair while Charlie sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know that you're dating Connie," Guy acknowledged.

"Did she tell you?" Charlie asked his eyebrows knitted in concern.

"No, I figured it out on my own."

"How?" he asked with wide eyes.

"I got the impression that something was going on when I had to find out from someone else that she had been here to see you. Gordon was the first person I called when you went AWOL. I figured that you would tell me when you were ready," he said with a shrug.

"I'm not the only one keeping secrets. Does anyone know that you're seeing someone?"

"My parents do, they are the only people that matter," he said with an even look.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up," he said apologetically.

"No worries. I invited her to dinner this weekend."

"Do you want me to make myself scarce?"

"No," he said with a laugh.

"What's her name?"

"Sky Harrison."

"Isn't she the girl who used to steal Averman's lunch money when we were elementary school?"

"She's changed a lot since she was ten years old Conway," he said with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Averman still can't hear her name without cringing," Charlie said with a chuckle.

"Now that I'm being honest with you I want you to be honest with me. No more lying and sneaking around. Agreed?"

"Yeah," Charlie said with a nod.

Guy stood silently and made his way to the door. Charlie got back into bed glad that Guy knew the truth. When had he gotten so perceptive? He was too busy running two businesses to pick up on things without a little prodding.

Charlie hadn't planned on Connie coming back into his life and affecting him the way that she had. He had been single for a total of two months out of the past fourteen years. Gone was the boy who believed that he was better off alone. Being with Linda had forced him to realize how much he relied on people to be there for him. It had taken him a long time to let people in because he was so used to his mom being the only one to care about what he did.