Inspired by a scene from 9-1-1's episode Kids Today:

Adam's wrist gets injured by an opposing player; determined not to let his Ducks alternate captain wallow in self-pity, Coach Orion forces Adam out of bed and makes him babysit his children for the day. A day at the zoo leads to a moment of realization for Adam.

You'll Be Okay, Banksy

The feeling of the stick breaking across his wrist was a familiar sensation, reminiscent of when Sanderson had done it during Team USA's game against Team Iceland when he was thirteen. It stung so bad, and he knew it happened because that player from the Blake Bears was feeling like a sore loser due to Adam getting that shot. The moment he scored first, the Bear didn't hesitate to go up to him, hook his arm around Adam's neck, and steer him toward the boards while his buddy broke his stick down over Adam's right wrist.

To make matters worse, the refs called nothing.

The umpires were the absolute worst, some of the most incompetent, giving the Bears several penalty shots while the Ducks didn't get a single one yet.

He heard Orion roaring angrily from the bench.

"REF! WHAT KIND OF CALL WAS THAT? HE ALMOST TOOK HIS ARM OFF!" Orion snarled, going into full "Papa Bear" mode as the Ducks dubbed it – they all called Orion "Pops," "Dad," "Papa Bear" or, in Luis's case, "Papi," at one point or another.

Adam felt Portman and Fulton shove the Bears player off of him, and he skated back to the bench, hissing as he felt the pain flare in his wrist when he bent it. He fought to keep the tears out of his eyes, especially since college scouts were out there – he recognized some from Brown and Princeton; he wanted so badly to go to Princeton and play for the Tigers because of their law school program. He could do four years of pre-law at Princeton and finish getting his law degree at Harvard Law School or John Jay. And playing hockey at this level looked amazing on a college application.

When he took his seat on the bench, Orion cast him a concerned glance. "You okay, Banks?"

"Fine, Coach," he said weakly.

Orion narrowed his eyes. "You're going to a real doctor later to get that wrist looked at. And until it heals, I'm benching you."

"You can't do that!" Adam argued. "People from Princeton are here watching me!"

"A wrist injury won't hurt your chances of going to Princeton," said Orion dryly before he barked, "Conway! Change it up!"

Charlie hopped over the bench and took Adam's place, and Adam felt his anger at those Bears players increase. This injury could potentially harm his chances of attending college away from home. He couldn't afford anything like this to happen, especially when it counted.

Even though they ended up winning the game, Adam was still pissed. He sulked the entire time his dad drove him to the hospital to get looked at, and when the doctor ordered him to wear a brace and not play any hockey for two weeks straight, Adam's bad mood only increased even more. He went to bed without eating dinner, as he wasn't at all hungry. His appetite tended to disappear any time he dealt with injuries like these.

He was woken up early the next morning to his covers being ripped off his body and Coach Orion standing over him.

"Get up," Orion said.

Adam groaned loudly. "Why? Come on!" He pulled the blankets back over his head, determined to sleep off his misery of not being able to play for two weeks.

"Because it's morning," Orion said, removing the blankets once more before walking over to Adam's blinds and opening them up all the way, letting the glaring sunlight stream into the room. "And you have things to do."

"No, I don't," Adam said stonily. "So, leave me alone. Weren't you the one who told me years ago to speak up against bullies and to stand up when I want something? I want you to leave!" He knew his behavior was juvenile. But he didn't care. He wasn't up for doing anything today. He wanted to sleep in and enjoy his Saturday without having to get up early for any sort of practice, since they got that win last night.

"Yes, you do have something to do. You need to get out of this house; the weather is still nice out. Go outside, go to the park, take a walk around the block, get some fresh air and sunlight," Orion said sternly. "I know this injury is a setback. But guess what? It's still early in the season. You'll have plenty of chances to impress college scouts all season long."

"That's not the point," Adam stressed. "My dad's counting on me, Coach!"

"And your dad will be proud of you for just being your best," Orion said sternly as he led Adam downstairs. "Now, how about I cook you some breakfast?"

Adam sighed. Since Orion was offering . . . "The pancake mix is in the pantry cupboard. Chocolate chips are in the refrigerator."

Orion nodded and went off to the kitchen to start cooking. "Just be glad that this injury is temporary. And you helped us get the first win of the season. So take those two things as part of a win and quit feeling sorry for yourself."

Adam sighed heavily as he watched Orion pull everything out that was needed to make pancakes. But when he turned to go to the den so he could put some TV on, he saw little Lucy and her brother, Teddy, sitting on the couch; Teddy was staring off, playing with a stuffed animal and not paying much attention, which was common for him with his autism diagnosis – he'd been diagnosed almost a year ago. He was making a little bit of progress with his therapies (actually a lot of progress since Charlie was the one babysitting him on the weekends and doing all of the exercises and therapies the therapist was having Teddy do). Still, he wasn't really at the point of acknowledging others' presence in the room. Still, Adam smiled when he saw the two-year-old who was about to turn three in November and the nine-year-old.

"Hey, guys, what are you two doing here?" he asked, bending down to try and get Teddy's attention. Teddy briefly looked up at him and went back to playing with his stuffed duck.

Orion grinned as he entered the den, taking a break from cooking breakfast. He leaned down and lifted his son into his arms, kissing Teddy on the nose before saying excitedly, "They're hanging out with their Banksy today!" He then turned to Adam, saying, "Because I owe my wife a romantic couple's trip to the spa and a nice early dinner tonight since she finally got a Saturday off from work all day."

"Well, what about Charlie and Linda?" asked Adam, listing Orion's first choice of babysitters.

"They're going to the movies," said Lucy.

"Yup, and Connie and Guy can't because they're going to be touring some colleges this weekend," said Orion. "So, take the kids out. Have some fun. Maybe you'll learn something."

"And what could I possibly learn from a two-year-old and a nine-year-old?" Adam asked, curious about what point Orion was trying to prove.

"You're looking at a two-year-old who struggles to express himself verbally, and a nine-year-old who had her ability to walk stolen away from her when she was six months old. They live every single day loving life. And they never once feel sorry for themselves," Orion explained, placing Teddy into Adam's arms, and Adam could feel the toddler running his fingers through his hair, going up his nostrils, stroking his eyelids, familiarizing himself with the details of Adam's face as if to remind himself who was holding him.

"So, why don't I finish cooking you guys breakfast, and you take them out wherever you want? The park. The zoo. The mall. The skate shop. Maybe you can help Teddy work on his roller skating a little bit. And Lucy could use some pointers; she's got her next game tomorrow morning," Ted said. He gestured to the kids' backpacks. "I already packed a lot of their stuff. They've got their toys in there as well as their lunch boxes with all their snacks and lunches; in Teddy's, there's his carrots, his yogurt, his PediaSure, his chicken nuggets, and if he won't take the chicken nuggets, there's a peanut butter and honey sandwich in there, too, as backup. Just make sure he eats one or the other. And please do not allow them too much time in front of the TV. I don't need them addicted to screentime, and it's bad enough that Charlie allows them to stay up all night long watching movies when he babysits," Ted explained as he walked off to the kitchen to continue making the pancakes.

After they ate breakfast, Ted made his way out of the Banks's house, kissing his kids goodbye, and Adam couldn't help the envy that went through him – for a while, he'd thought his father's love had been conditional; what he would've given for his dad to show him affection like that after he'd quit the Hawks and joined the Ducks, instead, his dad had acted ashamed of him, sitting in the Hawks' stands at that State Championship, only showing a hint of care after McGill did that illegal check. Part of why Adam had been scared to give up playing Varsity his freshman year had been because he didn't want to disappoint his father; he'd been told by Rick Riley how ashamed his father would be of him if he were to go return to J.V. Seeing Orion displaying so much open affection with his kids, particularly with his daughter who was a year younger than the age Adam had been when he quit the Hawks, his chest felt tight; try as he might, he couldn't shake off his insecurities that his father only loved him if he was playing hockey, regardless of how much Orion and Bombay said that he being his best was enough.

"Bye! I love you guys!" Orion said, breaking Adam out of his reverie – the words "I love you" were seldom spoken in the Banks's house – his father wasn't one to verbally express love and emotion toward his children; he put on that stoic façade to appear tough, especially in the courtroom. Orion at least made an effort to show he was soft and affectionate.

"Love you, Dad!" Lucy said, waving goodbye, and once the door shut, Adam turned to the nine-year-old, who'd already decided to make herself busy by grabbing a Goosebumps book out of her backpack.

"So," he said, "where would you guys like to go today?"

It turned out that Lucy wanted to go to the zoo. It was an easy drive for Adam, who'd gotten his license last year and had been gifted his car for his seventeenth birthday back in February – a brand-new 1998 Alfa Romeo 166, and he kept Teddy strapped in his car seat, which luckily converted into the stroller so that Adam need not worry about strapping the little guy in. Once they arrived at the zoo, the very first thing the kids wanted to see was the birds, particularly the ducks, so he walked them to the Tropics Trail to look at the ducks, who splashed along in the man-made pool of water.

As they sat there and watched the ducks swim, Adam kept glancing at the kids, who stared in awe at the animals. Lucy tried several times to feed the ducks crackers from her lunch bag, but Adam had to keep telling her not to try feeding the animals. Still, he couldn't help smiling as he watched the kids have fun looking at the birds. He rocked Teddy back and forth in the stroller, watching as he clutched his stuffed duck closely to him, suckling at the stuffed toy's beak. And as he watched them, he was in awe of Lucy's optimism and independence, how she denied Adam's offers of pushing her in her chair, saying she could maneuver her chair herself. Even Teddy insisted on some independence here and there; Adam let him out of the stroller a couple of times to let the toddler walk around and peer at the different birds in the exhibit of the Tropics Trails.

As he watched the children look at the animals and listened and nodded as Lucy told him all sorts of fun facts she learned about the different animals ("African penguins nest on warm, sunny beaches," "Madagascar teal ducks nest in tree holes," "River otters are the best fish hunters in Minnesota," and "Did you know the Victorian crowned pigeons live in swamps?"), and Teddy oohed and ahhed at the Rhinoceros hornbills, who flew from tree to tree throughout their enclosure.

After a while, they sat on the benches, continuing to watch the ducks in the man-made pond, and Lucy still kept on trying to feed the smaller birds that passed through that weren't part of the exhibit.

"You shouldn't feed them, you know," he said.

"But what if they're hungry?" asked Lucy.

"They'll find their own food. It's in their nature." Adam looked out at the ducks and managed a smile, watching how they swam without a care in the world. As he glanced down at his wrist, while part of him knew that this injury was temporary, there was still a part of him that desperately wanted to get back out onto the ice. Still, he also knew Lucy never let anything stop her, and she was confined to a wheelchair, possibly for the rest of her life.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, breaking him from his thoughts briefly.

Adam tried to smile. He really did. But his heart wasn't in it.

"You can play again," said Lucy. "In two weeks. It's not forever."

"Yeah. I know." He reached over and took her hand. "Lucy? Have you thought about what you wanna be when you grow up?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe a hockey player. I mean . . . there's the Paralympics."

At this, Adam smiled. Nothing was going to stop that girl from playing hockey. She was so undeterred. She never gave up even when so many people told her she couldn't do something. Hearing her say she'd want to be a hockey player filled him with a sort of happiness, a sort of hope he'd thought had all but been shattered the other day when that Bear injured his wrist. Where there was darkness, light shone through. Lucy was exactly that, a bright little light when he hadn't realized he'd needed it. To think he'd been determined to lie in bed all day . . .

"Yeah, at one point, I wanted to do that, too," he said. "I wanted to be the next Wayne Gretzky." He heaved a sigh, continuing to stare at the ducks in that little pond. "But if that career path doesn't work out, I hope you find something else that you love, you know, something else that you're good at and makes you feel like you matter. 'Cause when you do, it's amazing."

Lucy smiled before tilting her head up and kissing him on the cheek. "You'll be okay, Banksy. And you're gonna play again, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I do," Adam said before glancing down at his watch. "You guys hungry?"

"Yeah," said Lucy.

"All right, let's go eat something." He grabbed Teddy's hand before lifting the boy up and placing him in his stroller, and as he led the kids to the picnic area of the zoo, he couldn't help think of what Orion said earlier that morning, how those two had every reason to roll over and give up and just quit, that they had every reason to believe they couldn't do anything, yet nothing could break their determination and never once did Teddy or Lucy feel sorry for themselves. They just kept moving. It made him think of a scene from that movie, St. Elmo's Fire, which he and Julie had rented a while ago, how maybe, due to his wrist injury, he'd just been making excuses, that while part of him wanted to get back out there on the ice, another part of him had been filled with self-pity, only seeing himself as worthy if he was playing hockey; the theme song for that movie said, "I can make it, I know, I can. You broke the boy in me, but you won't break the man."

He could suddenly hear John Parr's raspy voice echoing in his ear as he walked with the kids, and he smiled a little more easily. Lucy was right. He was going to be okay. His wrist just needed to heal, and he would be back.

Now he knew what Orion meant when he said Adam could learn something from spending a day with the kids. The Orion kids were just as stubborn and driven as their old man.