MEDIA MUMBLINGS (Chapter 94)

Sophia and Warren walked down to the dining hall for supper together. Paul and Cait were already there.

"So, what's the verdict?" Cait asked Sophia.

"Well….you're going to be an Auntie." Sophia said with a broad smile.

"You're going to have it?"

"Yeah."

"All right, what is going on?" Paul bellowed, making the other three laugh.

"I'm pregnant," Sophia told him.

"Ah," Papa Bear said. "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"We've decided that it's a good thing," Sophia told him. "An inconvenient and difficult thing, but a good thing."

"You gonna be able to go to the Olympics?"

"Yup. Talked to a doctor about that today. The only problem is I'm dealing with morning sickness. That won't affect us much--we have no competitions in the morning--except that it makes me lose my appetite. So, I have to force myself to eat so I don't lose strength."

"No cravings for pickles yet?" Papa Bear joked.

"No, silly, that comes later, after the morning sickness," Sophia grinned.

"Who knows?" Paul asked.

"My mother knows. She was cool. I have to tell my dad. And Warren's parents know."

"Oh, and what a pleasant conversation that was," Warren said ruefully. "They're OK about it, now, after reading me the riot act."

"We need to tell Crash and Jessie," Sophia reminded him. Then she turned back to Cait and Paul. "The only other people that know are you two."

"We're not keeping it a secret, though," Warren said. Sophia nodded agreement. "In fact, we need to tell the USFSA."

"Yeah, the medical staff they bring along with them to the Olympics has to know."

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On the ice later that day, they told Kathy, their coach in Wisconsin.

"Oh, Jesus. Now I know why you've been so weak."

"Yeah, that's what we're most worried about--the doctor says we can go and compete, but the morning sickness is making me weak," Sophia told her.

"Listen to me. I have a two year old, I know what I'm talking about," Kathy said. "I didn't take my hiatus from coaching until the kid was almost born, so I coached through the first eight months of the pregnancy. Sophia, you absolutely need to eat. Even if food is unappetizing. Fruits and vegetables are best. The morning sickness sucks, but if you eat, you will not feel weak. Trust me."

"That's pretty much what the doctor said," Sophia told her. Then she smiled. "I had a massive salad for lunch, I held it down, and I feel pretty good."

"Good. Now let's see Romeo and Juliet, OK?" Kathy commanded.

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The morning sickness actually got better over the next week and a half. Sophia did manage to remember to eat, and their practices were good.

Word about Sophia's pregnancy had not spread to the wider world yet, though Sophia and Warren had no doubt that it would. In fact, they had no intention of hiding it, and would be making it public when they got to Switzerland and were interviewed.

However, the proverbial shit hit the fan before that had a chance to happen.

Sophia and Warren were semi-famous, and getting more so. The "story" of what had happened to Warren the previous year had gotten them some attention. Being the first dance team in twenty years from the USA to win a medal at Worlds had only added to that. Then, their impressive win at Nationals had cemented it. Daniels and Kelleher were getting as much attention as any of the skaters representing the USA in the Olympics--a novel position for ice dancers. The fact that Sophia turned every head the minute she stepped onto the ice didn't hurt--and the whole "love story" angle didn't hurt, either.

So, people knew who they were. They had gotten some media coverage. However, the media coverage that they got two days before they were to leave for Switzerland was not the type they would have wanted.

Warren was in the store that day, and saw Sophia on the cover of the National Enquirer. Curious, he picked it up, bought it, took it back to his room, and started reading.

"The Skeletons In The Closet Of America's New Ice Princess!" the headline screamed. Warren read the whole thing, the horror becoming more apparent on his face with every line he read.

"Sophia Daniels, the new queen of American Ice Dance, is not the sweet and innocent young lass she seems to be. In fact, her past reads like the erotic passions of a steamy romance novel!"

"Young Miss Daniels was known in her hometown of Oceanview, Massachusetts, as someone who was free with her favors. She plowed through a long line of young men, from a very young age, before apparently snaring her current love, her partner, Warren Kelleher."

"'Oh, she was wild,' one former boyfriend told The Enquirer. 'Anything you wanted to do, she did. And she was only thirteen when I met her. She had more experience than girls twice her age. I knew her when she met Kelleher, and it was pathetic how she turned his head. He was an innocent, and she lured him right in.'"

"' And she was a party girl, too. She'd drink or take anything you'd give her.'"

"What makes this even more depressing is that her relationship with her partner seems to be a scam! A friend from the University of Wisconsin, where she and Warren both attend, told the Enquirer, 'I personally know three guys that Sophia has slept with, and none of them are Warren.'"

"What's more stunning is that Miss Daniels apparently had an affair with another skater on last summer's Champions on Ice skating tour--and that the other skater was also female. 'She's gay, and she's using Warren as a beard, I'm convinced of it,' a skating insider told The Enquirer. "

There was more, but Warren had read all he could take.

He called Sophia. "Honey, you'd better get down here. We have a problem."