Ted gives Charlie a call after seeing the announcement about the birth of Charlie's son.

Jan Theodore "J.T." Banks-Conway

"Dad!" Teddy Hans Orion came running from downstairs, and Ted winced; even though Teddy had come a long way with his treatments, Ted still had to remind his boy to use his "inside" voice.

"Teddy, we're inside," he said, peering up from the sports column of his paper.

"Sorry," Teddy said sheepishly. "But you really gotta see this!" He shoved his cell phone in front of his dad's face, blocking the view of the newspaper, and the image of a newborn baby boy greeted Ted's vision.

"Uncle Charlie and Olivia had the baby!" Teddy said excitedly, and Ted grabbed the phone, viewing the Facebook post of the newborn, who lay there in his crib sleeping.

Ted's eyes misted as he saw that the baby looked exactly like Charlie; from the shape of his head to the curve of his mouth, he was Charlie's twin. Even the patch of dark curls were Charlie's. But as Ted read the post, he felt the air knock clear from his chest.

Welcome to the world, J.T Banks-Conway

Ted wondered at what the nickname "J.T." stood for the longer he sat there, staring at the photo of the beautiful, healthy baby boy. But he had his guesses as to what the initials represented the longer he sat there, drinking in the images of Charlie's boy . . . the same little boy whom Gordon Bombay wouldn't be meeting, because Bombay was nowhere to be found . . .

Ted tried his hardest to fight down the anger he felt bubbling up. Bombay had missed so much – Connie and Guy's wedding, the birth of their son, the birth of Charlie and Olivia's son, Teddy's high school graduation, Ted and Bella's rough patch they'd been going through in their marriage . . .

The things that Gordon should've been there for.

But Ted tried his best not to allow his bitterness to take over. He knew Gordon. He knew his old friend probably thought it easier to run and hide from his problems, or at least attempt to. He had to keep reminding himself every day that if Gordon wanted help, he would reach out when he realized that he needed it, and that Ted and the Ducks would have to open that door up to him should he decide that he wanted to come back to them.

Still, it stung. It especially stung knowing that Gordon was missing something as happy as the birth of Charlie's boy.

"I'm sad Uncle Gordy's not here for it," said Teddy off-handedly.

"Yeah, I'm sad too, bud," Ted whispered in quiet agreement, that hole in his heart growing bigger the more he thought about what Gordon was missing out on. "I should give Charlie a call."

Teddy nodded and returned to his bedroom, prompting Ted to grab his phone. He selected Charlie's number from his contacts and chose the FaceTime option. He watched as the phone rang several times before Charlie picked up.

Charlie smiled tiredly at him. "Hey, Coach."

"I saw the Facebook post," Ted said, smiling weakly. "I can imagine you're exhausted."

"Little man wakes us up every few hours," Charlie yawned. "I'm on my fourth cup of coffee today." Ted watched as Charlie refilled his mug, not even adding any milk or sugar to it, just taking it straight up.

"So, you graduated to pure black coffee," he noted.

"Yeah." Charlie sipped it again before rubbing his eyes. "J.T.'s already a handful. But he's peaceful when he sleeps; he's a great baby. He reminds me of Teddy after he was first born."

"J.T., huh?" Ted asked, grinning. "What's that stand for?"

"'Jan Theodore Banks-Conway,'" Charlie answered, and somehow, the revelation that the baby's middle name was "Theodore" was what caused the dam to break as Ted felt his eyes fill.

"I love it," Ted whispered, fighting to stop choking on the sobs that threatened to come. Hearing that Charlie had named his son after him was too much, more than he'd ever expected. But he also knew that Charlie felt he owed Ted everything, considering that Ted came back around for the things that mattered most.

"I knew you would," Charlie grinned. "You wanna see him?"

"Please." Ted's heart pounded with anticipation. Even though he wasn't there in person to see the baby, just knowing he got to be part of this made his heart jump with an unspeakable elation.

Charlie grinned a little wider as he carried his cell phone into the baby's nursery, and he flipped the camera around so that Ted could get a video view of J.T., who lay there wide awake, staring up in curiosity.

The baby looked absolutely perfect – so handsome and innocent. His face was rounded with chubbiness, and his smile was contagious. The longer Ted sat there looking at the little guy, he couldn't help smiling that much more; maybe it was because he was staring at a mini version of his former Ducks captain, or maybe it was the knowledge that the little family he had with the Ducks expanded immeasurably.

"Hey, buddy, smile for Grandpa Ted!" Charlie sang out, and almost on cue, the baby smiled at the camera, little hands waving as if to say hello. When Ted got a closer view, he saw the little guy had Charlie's eyes.

"He's your twin," Ted laughed, wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah, I've been told," Charlie chuckled, and Ted saw the man's fingers reach down to tickle at J.T.'s belly, prompting the baby to let out little coughing noises, which Ted could assume were giggles. "Oh, how I can't wait to get him on skates. And I'm gonna take him to his first Wild game. And when he gets big enough I'll be putting him on the Ducks."

"You're fantasizing about him following in your footsteps?"

"You know it." Charlie turned the camera back around so that Ted could see his face, but that didn't stop Charlie from lifting the baby up to cradle him on his shoulder.

"Well, let's hope he grows up loving hockey. Could you imagine if he'd grow up loving football or baseball?"

"I would not care, because anything that makes him happy, I will do it," Charlie said, grinning as he leaned over and kissed the baby's head. But then his face dropped as he said, "I tried calling Gordon to tell him."

"He didn't answer?" Ted guessed solemnly.

"Yeah." Charlie leaned over and kissed the baby's head again. "But I'm glad you're still around."

"I said I would be, right?" Ted assured him.

"You did." Charlie nodded. "And I'm grateful for that. I can't wait for you to meet him."

"Give me a time, and I'll stop by," Ted assured him.

"How about tomorrow? Dinner?"

"I'll bring Teddy with me."

"Good." Charlie turned to the baby and adjusted the little guy until his head was cradled in the crook of his arm. "Say bye to Grandpa!"

"Charlie," Ted whispered, "I'm not –"

"I know," Charlie said seriously. "But you're there. That's what matters most. And . . . And I want you to be there. For everything."

"I will," Ted vowed. "That little man's gonna have more family than he knows. And speaking of which . . . if Gordon ever decides he wants to come back . . . if and when he says 'I need you,' you'd forgive him and step up, right?"

"I'll have to think about that," Charlie admitted.

"And you're entitled to that," Ted said gently. "It's just . . . I'm not ready to give up on him just yet, you know?"

"Even though he's given up on us."

"Charlie," Ted said, his voice going from gentle to stern, "ducks fly together, remember? Yeah, Gordon's lost his way. But we've just gotta hope that one day, he'll come back. I know he will."

"Yeah, we'll see," Charlie whispered, voice full of doubt. "But if he ever does, I'll take him back. I wouldn't want J.T. not to know him." He turned his gaze back to his son to make his point.

Ted smiled sadly. "He hasn't got a clue what he's missing. But just know you're gonna be a great dad, Conway."

"Because I have you," Charlie whispered.

At that, more tears filled Ted's eyes. "I'm proud of you, son. So proud. I love you."

Charlie clearly had to take a moment after Ted had said that; in all the years they'd known each other, the words "I love you" were never spoken between them, despite Charlie having grown to view Ted as another father figure in his life. But Ted knew the love was very much there between them. That love translated over into Charlie's son, his baby boy who bore Ted and Jan's namesake.

Finally, Charlie said hoarsely, "I love you, too."

This concludes the Orion and Charlie short stories series.

I came up with the name Jan Theodore, because I wanted to show that this is distinguished from my Game Changers rewrite saga, given that different things were established in this series of short stories for Orion and Charlie. Plus, it felt appropriate to have Charlie name his son after either Hans or Jan, but I went with Jan because it's a variation on the name John, and I gave the baby the middle name Theodore after Ted Orion, because I feel that Orion would've been a constant in the Ducks' lives after Gordon went off the grid for all those years.