Author’s note: the credit for the ‘dessert’ one-liner goes to my lovely wife, Aphrodite <G>

At the end of October, a week and a half after the Canadian Open pro-am, the real skating season started for the eligible skaters, the Grand Prix.

It started with Skate America, which would be held in Lake Placid this year.

All three American dance teams had been invited, and relations between all of them were very good. Since Courtney and Ryan had buried the hatchet, they all got along well. Amy was a little intimidated at first—you know, worrying if Ryan would want his old partner back—but Ryan assured her that that wasn’t going to happen. After that, Amy loosened up and was her charming self.

The night before the competition, all the American contingent took over a big chunk of a steakhouse in Lake Placid for supper. All the dancers were there, plus Eric, Jessie, and Shawna. Allison Bowman was competing (Liz Cushman wasn’t, she’d decided to do Skate Canada and Cup of Russia) so she was there, along with her boyfriend Eddie who had driven up from Albany to watch her skate. Brett and Andrea were there. As was Tom Bellamy.

"All this love," Tom said, "I can’t stand it. Where’s mine?"

"At Harvard, studying like a good girl," Warren teased.

"Yeah, I know," Tom grinned. "At least she’s coming the day after tomorrow, which is the first day I actually skate."

"Yeah, she’s going to miss our first OD, though," Warren mock-grumbled. "Some sister."

"I’m here," Eric said.

"You’re not my brother," Warren teased.

"Well, brother-in-law," Eric reminded him.

"And, somehow, even though you are my brother, I don’t think you’re here to see me," Sophia added.

"Why, Sophia, who else would he be here to see?" Amy grinned, then turned to Eric and batted her eyelashes. Eric blushed, leading to giggles all around the table.

"Jeez," Evan grumped, "is there anyone here besides me that’s not going to be having sex tonight?"

"I think we just established that I’m not," Tom said. "And, before you ask, no, I’m not bi!" Everyone cracked up at that.

"I’m not going to be having sex tonight, either," Courtney said. "And, I have to tell you, skating with my period isn’t much fun."

"I can see where it wouldn’t be," Warren said, "but why would that stop the other thing? You mean Shawna hasn’t earned her Red Wings yet?"

"EEEEEWWWWWW!!!!" Courtney blurted.

Shawna laughed. "Don’t blame me, I’m game for anything, but my sweetie’s a little squeamish."

"Ah, it’s fun," Sophia maintained. "Courtney, you just put a tampon in. Then Shawna can have dessert and floss her teeth!"

The laughter after that was so loud, it filled the whole restaurant.

The closest competition for Warren and Sophia at Skate America were the Irish pair, Dunphy and O’Riordan, who had finished fifth at Worlds. The French couple were there, but they were on a downward trend.

So, winning was almost a foregone conclusion. This was a place for them to show off the new programs in front of international judges and the TV audience.

The Quickstep OD went over very well, with the audience and the judges. The Rock and Roll OD, done to the Ramones, simply had jaws dropping all over the arena. It got 7 6.0s for technical merit, and a raucous standing ovation. And the new Singing In The Rain free dance also got a standing O, plus great marks on both sets. The win was easy, and the programs were quickly being talked about.

The upset was Amy and Ryan defeating the Irish couple for the silver, which shocked and delighted them. Evan and Courtney finished fourth, but weren’t upset with that. "We’re still gelling, we’re not worried," Evan told Warren.

The next week, in Quebec City, the Canadian couple of Damphier and Gaudler started the defense of their World Championship at Skate Canada. They also won easily, with a young German couple, Lignau and Beicher, in second. The other Canadian couple, Ackerman and Sherrick, finished third. The big upset was that the Hungarians, Krasvalyi and Szubacsko, sixth in the World last year, only finished fourth.

The next week, Sophia and Warren were in Marseille, France for Trophee Lalique. They won easily there, over the Russians, Kuznetsova and Vasilyevskiy. A new young Russian pair, Nina Nikolayeva and Mikhail Shlupin, finished third. That was an upset, as the beat the Ukrainians, who had finished 7^th at worlds.

The British couple, Brenneman and Watts, made their debut at Nations Cup the next week—and, in a huge upset, only finished third. They were defeated by the Irish couple, who won, and by Evan and Courtney, who were thrilled with their finish. The German team, competing at home, couldn’t match their great finish at Skate Canada and only finished fourth

Damphier and Gaudler won again at Cup of Russia, with Kuzntesova and Vasilyevskiy in second. The young Russians were third and the other Canadian pair fourth.

At the last competition of the Grand Prix, the NHK Cup in Osaka, Japan, Brenneman and Watts rebounded, winning the competition. Amy and Ryan again finished second, with the Hungarians third.

That got the British pair into the top six, assuring their appearance at the Grand Prix final, a few weeks hence in Berlin. But it also, to their complete shock, got Ryan and Amy into the final. The Kellehers, Damphier and Gaudler, Kuznetsova and Vasilyevskiy, and Dunphy and O’Riordan also would be travelling to Berlin.

Tom Bellamy also made it to the finals, joined by a young American male singles skater named Brian Joss. Liz, of course, made it, as did Allison Bowman. Andrea and Brett would also be there. As the last big international competition before the Olympics, they were all using it as a set-up.