A/N: Charlie accidentally calls Ted and Gordon "Dad" after he gets a concussion during the state championship.

Two Dads

Sitting in the hospital room with Gordon and Charlie, Ted remembered what Casey Conway had told him recently.

"Between you and Bombay, he feels like he has two dads."

While Ted had initially felt shocked, he was also honored. Going into this, he knew he couldn't replace what Gordon had been to the team. But that was the point. He couldn't be Bombay. He wasn't going to treat the Ducks like they were children. He would treat them like adults and train them to play at a more advanced level. He knew at first that Charlie resented him for that. But when Charlie decided to return to the team, Ted sensed a new openness in the boy, a will to try and change.

And change he did.

The school's mascot changed from the Warriors to the Ducks. The kids played hard for the rest of the hockey season until their state-final game.

It was at that championship game, though, when things took an unexpected turn. They were playing against the Edina High School Hawks when one of the players, McGill, who had it out for Charlie and the others ever since the Ducks defeated the Hawks during Peewees, decided to retaliate. Charlie had the breakaway and took his shot at the final goal, which would break the tie. But right after Charlie shot the winning goal, McGill viciously cross-checked the kid.

Ted's heart nearly stopped beating when he saw McGill grab Charlie, ramming the boy into the boards. Charlie's head slammed into the glass as his helmet flew off, and he hit the ice, not moving. Although they won and broke the tie at ten to nine, that didn't matter. Ted instantly leaped over the guardrail as Fulton and Banks angrily demanded a fight with McGill, and Moreau, Germaine, and Gaffney surrounded their fallen captain, who lay there unconscious.

Ted knelt at the boy's side as he sensed Gordon joining them, leaning over as Ted gently rolled Charlie over, placing his folded-up jacket underneath the boy's head.

"Conway? Can you hear me?" Ted pried the boy's eyes open and flashed a light in them. His eyes were dilated. But it was clear the boy had a concussion and would be out of commission.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Gaffney asked anxiously.

"He's gotta be," said Banks. "Nothing's stopped him before."

"God, Charlie," Gordon whispered, kneeling next to Ted as the boy let out a pain-filled moan.

"Hurts." The boy's whimper was so pitiful that Ted felt his eyes sting.

"I know," Ted whispered. "I know."

"Dad ... Don't feel so good."

That took Ted aback. Surely, Charlie wasn't calling him "Dad." He had to have misheard it. Still, he whispered, "I'm right here."

"You're gonna be okay," Gordon whispered.

"Dad ... Dad, don't leave." This time, it seemed to be addressed to Gordon, and Bomaby was just as unprepared to hear that as Ted had been. The former and current Ducks coaches glanced at one another in surprise, their mouths agape as they stared at the boy, who was delirious with pain. They watched as Charlie nearly nodded off again.

"No, no, Conway, stay awake, don't close your eyes," Ted demanded, leaning a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You gotta stay awake for a little bit, just until a doctor looks at you."

Charlie shook his head stubbornly, closing his eyes and groaning. Ted could've sworn he saw tears leaking from behind Charlie's eyes as Gordon shakily reached his hand out, stroking the boy's hair softly as the medics approached them.

Ted now sat in a chair at Charlie's bedside in the hospital, Gordon sitting in the other chair. The boy's mother had yet to arrive; she was going to come to the state championship game, but got called into work at the last minute to cover a shift for somebody, so as a result, she couldn't come and was now stuck in traffic on her way to the hospital. So, Ted and Gordon asked Charlie's doctor if they could sit with the boy until Casey came. Plus, Ted had a feeling that Charlie was going to want him and Gordon there anyway. The doctor had even said Charlie kept asking for them.

"He keeps saying he wants his dad. But I think he means the both of you."

Charlie was peacefully resting with his eyes closed. Ted observed Gordon leaning in to plant a gentle kiss on Charlie's forehead and tousle his hair. Ted, feeling unsure of what to do, remained in his chair, silently pondering his place in Charlie's life. It wasn't easy for Charlie to accept someone new after Bombay had been like a father figure to him for so long. It took some time for Charlie to realize that there was room for more than one mentor in his life. Charlie had grown accustomed to Bombay's nurturing approach and his role as a forward scorer. On the other hand, Ted made it clear that he wouldn't coddle anyone, especially Charlie. He believed it was time for Charlie to prepare for the challenges of the real world, to understand that the world wouldn't treat him like a child, especially at the high school level where more responsibility was given to him. Ted knew that Charlie needed to step out of his comfort zone to grow. He didn't just hand things to Charlie; he believed in letting Charlie earn his place, and Ted was confident that Charlie had done so fairly and squarely.

As Ted watched Gordon tenderly kiss the sleeping boy's forehead and fuss over him, a pang of sadness tugged at his heart. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he observed how effortlessly Gordon interacted with Charlie, knowing just what to do and say. Though Ted was no stranger to fatherly gestures with his own children, he had never felt the same level of connection with Charlie and didn't even know Charlie felt that way about him, until now, and he wasn't sure how to process these sentiments.

Sighing, Ted hesitantly inched closer to the bed and grabbed the boy's hand, squeezing gently. He heard Charlie mumbling, "Did we win?"

"Yeah," Ted whispered. "Yeah, you did it, kid." He allowed a small smile to grace his face as Gordon rubbed the boy's hair again.

Charlie hummed quietly.

"Do you remember anything?" Gordon asked.

"Yeah ... Broke that egg on you in our third practice," Charlie slurred out.

Gordon chuckled. "What about today's game?"

"Yeah ... Didn't Portman strip in the penalty box again?"

Ted laughed quietly. "Yeah, he did." If Charlie could remember that detail about the game, he was going to be okay.

"You can go back to sleep if you want." Gordon smoothed his hand over Charlie's forehead.

"Stay ... Please."

"We're not leaving any time soon, son." Ted grinned gently, squeezing the boy's hand again.

Charlie nodded off again, sighing contentedly and snuggling a little more into the pillows, his head leaning into Gordon's touch as Ted rose from his chair and sat on the edge of the bed. Despite Charlie being injured, Ted figured he could get used to this, the thought of almost in a way co-parenting, albeit not conventionally, but then again, there was nothing conventional about the bond that he and Gordon shared with the Ducks captain, who'd been without a father for most of his life.

But if Charlie was accepting him as another father-like figure, Ted welcomed it.