BUILDUP (Chapter 165)

Sophia and Warren had less than a month. Nationals had ended on January 15th. That was a Sunday, the day of the exhibitions. The Olympics would begin on Friday, February 10th.

They were still working. They wanted those programs down cold before the Olympics, so they were working hard. Sophie was so tired that she wasn't even in the mood for sex for about a week.

"Are you sure you're all right, honey?" Warren laughed.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired. We might be working too hard."

"Yeah. We'll want to ease off some as it gets closer. Are we putting too much pressure on ourselves?"

"Of course we are," Sophia laughed. "But, it makes sense. This is it. Except if we decide to go to Worlds, but still, this is it. This is the only thing we haven't won. This is what we've been gearing up for. And, you know how it goes in figure skating. The audience, what, quadruples or something for the Olympics? If you don't win an Olympic gold medal, you're an also-ran, even if you've already won a World Championship. Plus, there's that 'first American ice dancers' thing. We'd go down in the history books. If we weren't feeling pressure, I'd be amazed."

"Too true," Warren said with a wry grin. "And we've certainly traveled a long and winding road to get here. Our life has been so wrapped up with skating. So, when we've had a twist in life, we've had a twist in skating."

"And we've had a lot of twists," Sophia laughed. "Nine years. We met each other almost exactly nine years ago."

"And I wouldn't change a minute. Well, except for being attacked, that I'd change. Everything else, I wouldn't change."

"Even me breaking up with you Freshman year?" Sophia asked.

"It made us stronger. If we hadn't gone through that, I don't think we would've been able to deal with Betsy."

"You're right. I never quite thought of it like that, but you're right."

"It's been a hell of a nine years. And a big part of it is almost over."

"Just in time for you to go to Med School-and for me to start popping out more babies," Sophia laughed. "And it'll never be completely over. I still want to choreograph."

"And I'm leaning towards sports medicine, so I can stay involved. But the skating part's about to come to an end." 

"Do you regret that? If you want, we could turn pro and still skate, and you could put off med school for a while. It's up to you."

"No," Warren said. "Pro skating actually holds no appeal for me."

"Me, either, actually."

"And as for eligible competition, it's time to move on. We don't win this year, we never will, and I don't want to stick around for the downward slide. Plus, I've wanted to be a doctor since I was 8. The problem is, being a doctor isn't going to be something I do with you. That's the biggest loss, actually. I wouldn't have cared about skating so much if I had done it with someone else."

"That's so sweet," Sophia smiled. "I do know what you mean, though. We're going to spend less time together. Med school's a grind, and you'll have to drive back and forth to Boston every day. So, yeah, I'll miss the closeness aspect of it. But there's a lot of it I won't miss."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Most specifically, the keeping-in-shape part. That I am entirely sick of, I'll admit it. I think we'll always skate. Even when we're like 90, I think we'll put our creaky bodies out on a public session and waltz."

"Most likely," Warren laughed.

"Yeah. But the rest of it? I'm done, and glad to be done. As of the end of this season, I have lifted my last weight. I have run my last lap. I have counted my last calorie. If I gain thirty pounds from the next kid and it doesn't bleed right off, so be it." She stopped, and looked sideways at Warren. "You will still love me if I gain thirty pound from the next kid, won't you?"

"You really have to ask that?" Warren chuckled.

"No," Sophie smiled. "I know you will. Hey, I want to keep myself in reasonable shape, especially when I get older. But I don't have to care about keeping myself in animal shape anymore. It comes as a relief."

"For me too, actually," Warren agreed. "Getting back after the knee was brutal."

"No doubt," she said. "So, anyway, that I won't miss at all. I've loved skating. I've especially loved skating with you. But it's time to go out."

"Right. So let's go out on top."

"Damn straight!"


A few weeks before the Olympics, Warren and Sophie, along with Warren's parents and Tom, traveled into Boston. Cambridge, to be more accurate-they were headed to Harvard.

Because of their crowded autumn schedules, neither Tom nor Warren and Sophie had had a chance to do this. But the second semester was just underway, and they had a chance to squeeze in a trip to go see Kristin sing.

When she arrived at Harvard, Kristin-to the shock of everyone that knew her-got up the gumption to try out for one of Harvard's a cappella singing groups, the Veritones. "Wow, what a change that is!" Warren had told Tom when they had first found out. 

To Kristin's shock, she was accepted. "They must be hard up for mezzos," she joked to Tom. She'd always considered herself a pianist first, a singer second-but she was a good enough singer for the Veritones.

The only problem with the whole thing was that the Veritones kept up a pretty busy schedule, which cut down Kristin's time with Tom. Plus, being a freshman pre-med at Harvard was no picnic. But Tom understood, and was secure enough in his relationship with Kristin to deal with it. Plus, it was a pretty busy time for him, too.

So, it hadn't worked out yet that Tom would be able to see her sing. It finally would. Tom was thrilled-Kristin was even more thrilled.

"You're particularly nervous tonight," Karen, one of the seniors in the group, said to her before they went out to perform.

"My boyfriend's here. He hasn't had a chance to see me sing, yet," Kristin told her.

 "Her boyfriend's a figure skater," Regina, one of the other girls in the group, told Karen. "He's been too busy winning to come watch Kristin sing."

"Yeah, and my brother and sister-in-law, too," Kristin laughed. "They're here as well. Since they're also figure skaters, they've been busy, too."

"Ah. This is why you're leaving us for a week in February-you're going to the Olympics," Karen realized.

"Yep. Got to go watch  my honey win a gold medal. Oh, and my brother, too."

"Is that realistic?" Karen asked.

"Tom won the silver medal at Worlds last year. Warren and Sophie won the World Championship a couple years ago. They won silver as well last year, but Warren was coming off a knee injury. Both Tom and Warren and Sophie won the Grand Prix back in December. So, yeah, it's realistic. Warren and Sophie actually won the silver medal four years ago."

"That's cool," Karen said. "Well, then, you don't have to be nervous. They know what the performing thing is like."

"Too true," Kristin agreed.

Kristin and her colleagues went out and sang wonderfully. Kristin's family and Tom thoroughly enjoyed it.


A week before the Olympics, Warren and Sophia were on the ice. Warren, on a whim, decided to pop in the CD that had most of their program music on it, and hit random. This had a lot of what they had skated to throughout the years. 

The first thing that popped up was "As Long As I (Can Be With You)," the Patti Scialfa song they'd used as an exhibition years ago, and only a couple of times. They cracked each other up with their efforts to remember it.

The next thing was the Riverdance free dance. That they remembered just fine.

The Springsteen free dance was next. They'd just skated that at the Grand Prix final, so they didn't miss a step.

Their old swing OD, "If You Can't Rock Me," came on. They hadn't skated that in four years and were surprised at how well they remembered it.

Next up was True Colors, which they remembered well. "Of course, this is the first time we've ever skated it fully clothed," Sophia laughed.

Then it was a real blast to the past, back to Phil Collins' "You'll Be In My Heart," their very first exhibition. It had been years since they skated it, but remembered a lot.

The Sinatra free dance followed, another oldie. They forgot a lot of the beginning, but remembered most of the "I've Got You Under My Skin" section.

"Damn, this is a lot of fun," Warren said. 

Next came REM's "At My Most Beautiful." It was only a couple years old, but they forgot a huge part of it, which made them crack up.

"One more," Warren said. Sophia nodded agreement. The last one, fittingly enough, was Romeo and Juliet. They remembered every single step.

"We going to exhibition that at the Olympics?" Sophia asked.

"Definitely. If we do two, we'll do the Beach Boys first, then end with that."

"Sounds like a plan," Sophia agreed. "Damn, I love that program."

"Yep. But Singing In The Rain is pretty special, too."

"I know. It's so us!"


The opening ceremonies would be on Friday, February 10th. On the 8th, they arrived in Quebec City, ready to go for the gold.



