					HAPPY THANKSGIVING (Chapter 65)

Sophia awoke in the morning, realizing quickly she was alone.

She stretched, and looked at the foot of the bed and saw Warren at his desk, headphones on his head, typing away at his computer. Sophia crawled to the end of the bed, so he could see her. He took the headphones off.

"Good morning, Pookie. Sleep well?"

"Best I've slept in months. What time is it?"

"8:30."

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Sending some emails. Jack, Christine, Liz, Evan and Shawna, a few others. Basically, I'm telling them we hit a rough spot but we're OK, and we'll see them at Nationals."

"Good." She got out of bed and stretched. She had slept nude. Warren looked at her with an appreciative eye. 

"What a great view."

"You like?" She smiled coquettishly at him. 

"I definitely like. Unfortunately, I have to finish these e-mails and then we need to think about getting ready." They had been invited to Elise's for Thanksgiving dinner.

"I know," she sighed. "Ah well. Oh, I didn't tell you this. I talked to Elise on the phone yesterday. Alexa is going to be there."

"Wow. Sounds like they're an item."

"Yup. Her parents, luckily, know about her and they're cool with it."

"That's good. Not to mention rare."

"Yup." She was slipping back into the clothes she wore yesterday. "I don't want to spoil my appetite, but I'm going to the café to get a cup of coffee. You want?"

"Love one. Can you get me a bagel or somesuch, too?"

"Sure." She kissed him and left.  She returned a bit later, with the coffee and bagel, and they chatted a bit. Then, they both went to shower and change. At about 11:00, they were ready to go. 

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"Hand me that spoon, would you?" Elise was in the kitchen helping her mother fix the dinner. Alexa was there.

"Here you go." Alexa handed the spoon over. "So, Warren and Sophia are coming?"

Elise sighed. "If they haven't killed each other by now. They had a huge fight in the psychiatrist's office on Monday. And, I talked to Sophia yesterday and Warren is driving her up a wall. You know he sprained his ankle? Well, Sophia has been taking care of him, and apparently he is not a model patient. She practically wanted to kill him. Considering the place they are in their relationship, this is not a good thing."

"Oh, goody," Alexa sighed. "So we might have fireworks?"

"Not here, both of them are too classy to do that here. However, I'm anticipating a lot of forced smiles and tense glares. Jesus Christ, I hope they don't fall apart again. I don't need Morose Sophia back.

"Tell me about it. Those two belong together. Maybe someday they will realize that."

They worked a while on the meal, and then the doorbell rang. "I got it, Mom!" Elise yelled. She opened the door to find Warren and Sophia, smiling and holding hands.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Greetings were exchanged all around. Elise took their coats and hung them up.

"Any trouble finding the place?" Elise asked.

"None at all," Warren told her. "Your directions were top-notch, and I'm blessed with the world's best navigator." He gave Sophia's arm a squeeze. 

"We love driving," Sophia told them. "I've been the navigator since he got his license, which was months after I got mine, but he likes to drive, I like to navigate. Of course, I had to yell directions so I could be heard over the stereo. He always turns it up too loud."

"Yeah, riiiigggghhhhhtttt. Who cranked 'Born to Run' and screamed along?"

"You were the one that started it, with 'Caddilac Ranch'."

"Hey, it's that line. 'Driving alone through the Wisconsin night'."

"It's daytime, and you weren't alone."

"Yeah, but we're in Wisconsin, aren't we?"

She kissed him on the nose. "You're so cute when you're being pedantic." She turned to Elise and Alexa. "He blasted that song when we first entered Wisconsin on the way here at the beginning of the year, too."

"Wait until we ever drive through Jersey, it'll be 'Fourth Of July, Asbury Park'."

Alexa and Elise looked at each other. This wasn't fighting, this was banter, and they still were locked arm-in-arm. And Sophia was glowing. What happened?

Elise just shrugged, and turned back to Warren and Sophia. "Come on in the living room, meet the folks."
They went in and met Elise's parents. They had just exchanged pleasantries when a girl of about 13 came bounding down the stairs into the living room.

"Hey, squirt. This is my roomie Sophia, and her boyfriend Warren. Guys, this is Sonya, my little sister."

Sonya bounded into the room, looked up at Warren and Sophia, and stopped dead in her tracks.

"OhmyGod. You're Sophia Daniels and Warren Kelleher!!!!!!"

Sophia couldn't help but smile. "Yes, we are." She took the dumbstruck girl's hand, and Warren followed suit.

"I don't believe it! Daniels and Kelleher, in my living room! Elise, you didn't tell me who your roommate was!!!!" Elise just shrugged.

"Are you two famous, or something?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

Warren grinned. "Sonya here must be a serious figure skating fan."

"We're skaters," Sophia added. "Ice dancers, to be precise."

"They're fantastic ice dancers who won the silver medal at Nationals last year and me and a bunch of my skating friends thought they should have won the gold," Sonya gushed. "I have it all on tape."

"You skate?" Warren asked her.

"Yeah, singles, but I'm not all that good."

"As long as you have fun, that's all that counts," Sophia told her. "We started this just to have fun. Even if we had never won anything, it would still be fun."

Elise had ducked into the kitchen, and ducked back out. "Hey, Mom, come check this bird. I think it's done."

It was, and they all piled into the dining room.

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"This is superb, Mrs. Davenport, Elise. You guys are in my Mom's league. And that, believe me, is a compliment," Warren said.

"It is. His Mom can cook," Sophie agreed. "And he's right, this is delicious."

"So," Mr. Davenport began, "We got a chance to meet Alexa, because she was here early helping, but not you two. You're from Massachusetts, Elise tells me?"

"Right," Sophia said. "Oceanview. It's about a half hour north of Boston."

"Right next to Salem, as in Witch Trials," Warren added.

"What made you guys come out to Wisconsin?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

"Well, we wanted to get away." Warren said.

"Yeah, and it's a good school, and has good programs in both our majors." Sophia added.

"Plus, we both got scholarships," Warren said.

"What are you majoring in?" Mr. Davenport asked.

"He's a pre-med like Elise. I'm majoring in meteorology."

"And you guys are dating?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

"Yeah," Sophia smiled. "It'll be four years in March."

"Wow." Mrs. Davenport said.

"Not without its rough spots, mind you, but we do love each other," Warren said.

"The internet said you guys had broken up," Sonya interjected.

"We had a bit of a rough spot this fall. And we were off the ice. But everything's fine now," Sophia told her.

"So, do you guys know lots of skaters?" Sonya asked.

"Sure," Warren told her. "Jack Garrison, Liz Cushman, Christine Arsenault....."

"He flirts shamelessly with Christine Arsenault on line all the time, and in person every time we see her," Sophia laughed. "Evan Pogdar and Shawna Vickers, Andrea Wallach and Brett Tomlinson. We know lots of skaters, but those are our best skating friends."

"We went to Jack Garrison's wedding the summer before last. That was a trip."

"You're friends with Elizabeth Cushman and Christine Arsenault?" Sophia asked. "Don't they hate each other?"

"All a media concoction," Warren told her. "They're actually good friends. In fact, both of them were at our table at Jack's wedding."

"What are they like?"

"Now, now, Sonya, I'm sure Sophia and Warren don't want to talk about skating all day," Mrs. Davenport said.

"We don't mind. Really," Sophia said. "It's kind of fun. Most of our friends are either in the skating community or, like Elise and Alexa, don't care one whit."

"That's not really true," Elise protested. "I knew you before I knew you were a skater, that's all. You were 'Sophie, my roomie,' before you were 'Sophia Daniels, skater.' Because of that, I never felt comfortable asking you anything."

"Oh. You can ask, you know." Sophia smiled. "To answer your question, Sonya, let me see.....Jack Garrison is just a hunk."

"I knew that," Sonya giggled.

"Yeah, but that's his personality, too. Strong, silent type. Shawna Vickers is a nutcase, always has a sarcastic remark or a good joke to tell. Evan, her partner, is logical and analytical. He's the guy who always has the standings figured out before all the marks are even posted."

Warren picked up from there. "Liz Cushman is just a sweetheart, I don't know how else to describe her. Her skating reflects her personality. She's a beautiful person. Never heard her say a bad word about anyone. Chrissy Arsenault is a boisterous, loud, shameless flirt. I've known Christine forever, we became friends online long before either of us got anywhere in skating. The fact that we've gotten some success at the same time is just wonderful. I consider her one of my closest friends. She's great."

"So, you guys finished second in the country?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

"In their first try at senior Nationals," Sonya supplied.

"How did that feel?" Mrs. Davenport continued.

Sophia and Warren both cracked up laughing. "Watch the tape," Warren said. "You'll see. 'Flabbergasted' would be far too mild a word."

"I've never seen that tape," Elise said. Alexa nodded her agreement. "We've both seen them practice, but I've never seen that Nationals tape."

"I know where it is," said Sonya.

"I'd like to see that myself," Mrs. Davenport said. "As long as Warren and Sophia don't mind."

"Not at all," Sophia said. 

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Elise cleared off the dishes, and Sophia helped her.

"So, what's going on?" Elise asked her. "You and Warren? You seem like you're, you know, back to normal, almost. I didn't expect that."

"We settled a lot of things last night."

"I notice you have your pendant and ring back on."

"Yeah," Sophia smiled. "We also had one of the great nights of sex a girl could ever hope for."

"Sophia! I thought you guys were going to wait!"

"So did I," she giggled. She described the basics of the previous night to Elise.

"Well, it seems to have helped."

"Yeah."

They went back in the living room, where Sonya was setting up the tape.

"Ah. This is our original dance, the Tango," Warren supplied.

They watched for a while. "Wow, is that hot," Elise said after a while.

"Elise!" her mother mock-scolded her.

"Well, it's a tango. If it's not hot, we're not doing it right," laughed Sophia.

"That was really good," Mr. Davenport said when it was over. "I don't know much about ice dancing, but it certainly was entertaining."

"That's nothing," Sonya said. "Wait until you see their free dance," She changed the tapes, and then found the right spot. 

"We've never watched this with other people," Warren commented. "It's kind of weird."

Sophia laughed. "Not to mention slightly embarrassing."

"Why?" Alexa asked.

"I'm not quite sure. It just is," Sophia smiled.

Sonya had found the right spot on the tape. "This is probably our favorite program we've ever done. It's all Glenn Miller big band stuff," Warren told them.

"What's the free dance this year?" Sonya asked him.

"Sinatra."

The familiar music started playing from the TV set. Warren and Sophia watched themselves swing around the ice. 

"Look how quick your feet move!" Alexa enthused at one point.

"I like the way you guys look like you're having so much fun," Mrs. Davenport said. "I watch skating with Sonya sometimes, and so many of the skaters look like their constipated." Everyone laughed at that.

"Especially the other ice dancers," Sonya agreed. "That's one of the reasons they are so popular. Plus, they really dance, they don't act, and they're so romantic."

"Funny, I thought we had some popularity because my partner is gorgeous," Warren quipped, to general laughter.

"Actually, I've seen a lot of posts like that. 'I never liked ice dance until I saw Sophia Daniels. Va va voom.' Always signed by a guy." Sonya smiled at Sophia, who was at this point turning bright red.

"She's the photogenic one," Warren agreed. "I'm just the slug that presents her."

"Will you guys cut it out!" Sophia complained. "You're gonna give me a complex!" 

It was the end of the program. "Look at Sophia swing her hips," Elise quipped. 

"Hey, it's swing music, right? Anyhow, now Warren gets to be embarrassed, in the kiss and cry."

"Why?" Elise asked.

"Just wait." They watched their ecstatic reactions in the kiss and cry, until the ordinals were posted and Warren let out that blood-curdling scream.

"That is why!" Sophia grinned at Warren, who was trying to crawl under the couch.

"That was great," Mrs. Davenport said. "Is that it, Sonya?"

"One more--their exhibition. It's on the same tape." She fast-forwarded to the spot.

"Warning. Watching this may make one of us disgustingly emotional," Sophia said.

"Make that both of us," Warren said, as he gripped Sophia's hand. She looked at him gratefully.

"Why so?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

"Well, most people who fall in love don't make a public declaration of it in front of 18,000 fans and a TV audience. And they certainly don't have to watch it again months later," Warren told them. "We've actually never watched this."

"Public declaration of love?" Elise asked.

"You'll see," Sophia said. "You'll Be In My Heart" started up on the TV.

The people in the room watched the program unfold on TV in stunned silence. When it was over, a few sniffles could be heard in the room.

"My God, we almost lost that," Sophia whispered so only Warren could hear. He just squeezed her hand tighter.

"So, what are you going to do for an exhibition this year to top that?" Sonya finally asked.

"We don't know yet," Warren smiled at her.

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They had a wonderful rest of the day, watching football, chatting, and eating pie. When Sophia and Warren got back into Warren's van to drive back to campus in the early evening, their mood got somber again.

"I didn't realize watching the exhibition would be so.......hard," Sophia said to him.

"Do you still feel the same way about me as you did when we skated that?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then what's so hard about watching it?"

"Well, lots of things. Let's face it, our skating sucks. Part of it was all three programs, seeing how well we skated then."

"I know, Pookie, but we'll get it back."

"Yeah. But it wasn't just that." Sophia sighed. "I think I'm going to be dealing with what I did to us for longer than either of us would like. I felt like I had a pile of bricks on my chest watching that program."

"Maybe we should skate it again this year."

"I thought of that. However, I don't think I want to do that. I think we need to purge what happened to us. And we need to do it on the ice. We need an exhibition that helps us--helps me--deal with what happened."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure. Think about it?"

"Of course. I'll play some music, see what I can come up with." He took a deep breath. "Sophie? I understand why you want a catharsis, and a program that helps with that. But, outside of that....." He took another deep breath. "Stop feeling guilty."

"Easier said than done, Snugglebear."

"I forgave you, the minute you asked. Please forgive yourself, OK?"

Sophia thought for a minute. "Forgive myself. I never thought of it that way." She took a breath. "Listen, I think I need to see Mary alone tomorrow. We'll reschedule the two of us."

"That's fine. Whatever you need, Pookie, you know that."

She reached over for his hand, and smiled. "I do know that."





















