A/N: At least Ted was there after Connie and Guy's son was born, and he was able to see what Charlie has become after all this time.

A Missing Flock Member

The birth of someone's child was a time where family got brought closer together.

Or at least, that was what they were supposed to be. Emphasis on the supposed.

After Banks texted him the news, he wasted no time driving over to the hospital. He regretted having not made it to the wedding of his two former players, but Lucy had a daddy-daughter dance at her school the same night, and he hadn't been able to make it. Of course, Connie and Guy graciously understood why; they knew how important every milestone was for Ted and his daughter, especially since it was said by the doctors that Lucy would never be able to dance at all.

Luckily, her doctors found a treatment plan for her that worked and she eventually got started on physical therapy. She was walking again. Here and there. But it was a start. She still needed the chair. But they'd been able to dance together at that affair. And he knew Connie and Guy knew how much that meant to him. But he had sent them a gift letting the couple know he was thinking of them and that he wished them happiness.

But when he saw the news on Facebook that Connie was pregnant, he wasted no time calling them to congratulate them. The Ducks' on-again-off-again couple worked out. And the proof now existed.

Their son had been born.

Ted couldn't help the elation jump through him as he raced into the waiting room of the hospital, approaching the nurse at the front desk.

"I'm here to see Guy and Constance Germaine; their son was born the other night," he said.

"And you are?" the nurse, Rebecca, asked.

"I'm Theodore Orion; I was their hockey coach at Eden Hall Academy," Ted explained.

"They're in room C-15."

"Thank you." He accepted his visitor's pass from the nurse and headed down the correct hallway to Connie's hospital room, clutching the stuffed mallard duck he'd spotted in the window of a local toy shop on the way here, and figured it felt appropriate.

When he arrived outside the hospital room, he was quick to spot the familiar face of his former Ducks captain. He'd grown a face full of facial hair, but the blue eyes and head of dark curls still remained the same even after all this time. He was no longer the eighteen-year-old he'd written a college recommendation letter for years ago when he was applying for schools. He'd grown into a mature, twenty-seven-year-old man with a degree in special education and a license to teach K-12 English.

"Conway?" he asked.

Charlie turned his gaze him. If Ted weren't mistaken, there was a bitterness there that belied the happiness in his blue eyes. Still, Charlie put a grin on as he and Ted briefly shook hands before joining in a brief, firm hug.

"I'm glad you could make it," he said.

"Where's Bombay?" asked Ted, wondering if his old friend and Eden Hall roommate was in the room.

Charlie's expression darkened considerably. "He didn't call back. We called him to let him know Connie had her son. He must've gotten a new phone because his number was unavailable. So we tried Facebook messaging. He follows none of us. But we tried telling him."

Ted winced. It was no mystery that Gordon lost that coaching job all because he helped a kid get a fair shot. All he did was give that kid some money for tape for his hockey stick. But that was enough to penalize him. It went to show that even good deeds didn't go unpunished. Ted had tried reaching out to Bombay after that. Only for his messages to be ignored.

Knowing Gordon was reverting back to what he used to be, hating hockey and kids, isolating himself from the people that cared about him, cutting himself away from his family, Ted couldn't help but feel a bit of that sting as well. After all, it had been Gordon who entrusted him with coaching the Ducks at Eden Hall.

"I know it's been rough on him after losing that coaching job."

"None of us know where he is. It's like he . . . disappeared." There was no denying the hurt in Charlie's gaze. "He hasn't even called me to congratulate me on getting my teaching job. Or acknowledge that my fiancé is pregnant."

Ted peered into the hospital room, seeing Connie and Guy cooing over a little bundle of blue blankets, as well as a beautiful, blonde woman who had similar facial features as Adam, her hands holding her pregnant belly indicating she was nearing eight or nine months.

"Your best friend's sister?" Ted asked, his gaze flickering to Charlie.

"Yeah. Me and Olivia." Charlie smiled gently at that. And Ted knew despite Gordon not being present, Charlie was happy, happy that he'd found someone to have a life with, happy that he was going to have a family of his own and have a chance to be a better husband and father than his biological dad had been to him, because he undoubtedly was going to put his wife and child first. Ted found it fitting. Charlie was going to make one incredible dad. After all those years he'd spent leading the Ducks and keeping the flock together, he had a chance to have a little family of his own.

"So you and Linda didn't end up working out?"

Charlie nodded quietly, though Ted didn't detect any bitterness there. The happiness was still very much present as he marveled at the sight of his fiancé who had their little baby inside her. "We were better off apart. You were right. She wasn't willing to grow with me. But I was lucky when Olivia started taking an interest in me. Granted, she'd always had a huge crush on me from the time Adam was in Peewees with me. But it wasn't until I began hanging out with her that I saw her as more than just Adam's little sister."

"Well, I'm happy for you. And I'm glad that you're having Adam for a brother-in-law."

"After our baby is born, we're having the wedding. Would you like to come?"

Ted felt his breath hitch slightly. "I'd be honored."

"And walk me down the aisle?"

Ted could only nod at that. He knew that would've been an honor Charlie would've given Bombay. But seeing as Bombay wasn't there, Ted knew he needed to step up for the Ducks and fill that void, if he could.

"Come on. I'm sure Connie and Guy's little man would love to meet you."

Ted smiled, following Charlie into the hospital room. As he approached the railed bed, he glanced down at the little bundle swaddled in Connie's arms; the little boy had a head full of beautiful blond curls, and Ted was willing to bet when the boy opened his eyes, he'd see either Guy's baby blues or a pair of hazel orbs staring up at him.

"Hey." Connie glanced up at him tearfully as he handed her the stuffed duck, and she smiled at the toy.

"He's so precious," Ted whispered.

"Gordy, say hi," Guy whispered, and Ted felt that sting return as he realized Connie and Guy named their son after the man who'd fallen off the grid and seemingly out of their lives. Still, he couldn't help his smile as he took the baby from Connie, smiling down at the little guy who just yawned and snuggled a little closer.

"Thanks for being here," Guy whispered.

Ted nodded. That was all he could seem to do as he turned his gaze toward Adam's sister, who smiled at him warmly and walked over to Charlie, who wrapped his arm around her. And the way Charlie looked at her with so much admiration and adoration, Ted knew part of why Charlie was going to be such an incredible husband and father was because of him, because he'd taught him how two-way hockey applied to real life, about how you needed to keep having confidence even when things were out of your control because the choice was ultimately yours. And he was glad to see that Charlie was carrying that advice with him.

Ted grinned a little wider at baby Gordy, who yawned again widely. "Well, little one, I guess all I'll say is, 'Quack.'"

"Quack," Connie and Guy chorused.

"Quack," Charlie laughed.