Dance of a Lifetime

by Frank Downey

  Kate took a closer look. "Look at the workmanship in this painting! This is incredible!"

  "What a wonderful gift," Sophia sighed. "What else is in there?"

  Warren reached in, and giggled. "Look. Baby rattles with pictures of St Basil's Cathedral on them."

  Sophia withdrew a few woolen sleepers. "These are darling!"

  "Look," Warren said, "A woolen blanket, with the Russian flag on it."

  "A tee shirt. What does that say, Warren?" Sophia asked, gesturing towards the writing.

  "It says Moskva. Russian for Moscow. That must be the Moscow skyline."

  "Look at this!" Sophia said, withdrawing a music box. She opened it up, and a ballerina appeared on top of it. "This is great!" she enthused. She wound up the music box, and the ballerina spun on top of it, while it played a tune. "Swan Lake!" Sophia realized.

  "Check this out!" Warren said to her. He held up a tiny baby-size version of the traditional Russian fur hat.

  "Wow! Look at all this stuff!" Sophia said. "Is there a card? There's got to be a card."

  Ellen and Warren reached into the box. Ellen found a card, withdrew it, and opened it up. "Well, yeah, there's a card, but it seems to be in gibberish."

  Warren peered over her shoulder. "Nope, that ain't gibberish, it's Russian. Different alphabet and all that. Let me see." Ellen handed him the card. "OK, I think my translation skills are up to this. 'Dear Warren and Sophia. I see... no, I hear I am to have a new American niece. This is to'... hmmm... I think it means 'this is to make sure that my new American niece is a little bit Russian.' Yeah, that's it. 'I hope everything is well with you, and you will make sure to let me know when the baby comes.' Or something like that." Everyone laughed at that. "'And you send pictures of new baby!' And then it is signed, 'Love, Olga Bradochkina.'"

  "Wow." Sophia sighed.

  "Olga Bradochkina? Olympic Champion Olga Bradochkina?" Ellen asked in amazement.

  "The same," Warren replied. "She is one special lady."

  Sophia sighed and then stared into space suddenly. "Warren." Warren looked at her. She turned to him and smiled. "Elizabeth Olga Kelleher."

  "THAT'S IT!!!

  Chapter 108 - A Tour Visit

  Warren walked into Sophia's house, grabbing the mail on the way in. It was a warm sunny day towards the end of June. He found Sophia and Ellen in the kitchen.

  "Hi, folks. Here's your mail. Champions on Ice tickets came, Pookie."

  "Good ol Ted," Sophia commented. Ted Kantor was a former show skater who ran the COI tour. "He came through."

  "Yup," Warren agreed. "Six tickets for the Boston show next week."

  "Who are you going to take?" Ellen asked them.

  "Jessie and Crash, for sure," Sophia supplied.

  "Yeah, we've turned them into quite the skating fans. Even Crash," Warren joked.

  "I'm sure Kate would like to go," Sophia commented.

  "Yeah," Warren agreed. Just then, Kate walked in the door.

  "Hey, Kate! We got tickets for Champions on Ice. Next Thursday. You and Dave want to go?"

  Kate gave Sophia a rueful look. "I'd love to go. However, there won't be any Dave."

  "Huh?" Sophia asked.

  "We broke up last night."

  "WHAT?" Sophia was incredulous.

  "Yeah," Kate said. "It just wasn't working. It wasn't going to work. We've both changed so much in the couple of years we've been going out, and we just don't want the same things anymore."

  "That's rough. You OK?" Warren asked her.

  "Yeah, I'm OK. It's for the best, it really is." She looked up with a sad little half-smile. "I'm just not looking forward to going through the summer lonely."

  "Oh, Kate," Ellen sighed.

  "No, really, Ellen. I'm OK. It had to end. Neither of us have been happy for some time." She brightened up, and looked at Sophia. "I'd still love to go to COI, though. Does that leave you with an uneven number of tickets?"

  "Yeah," Sophia said. "We've got one left, if Jessie and Crash go."

  "Can I make a suggestion, honey?" Ellen asked.

  "Sure."

  "Tara would love to go."

  "Good idea," Sophia grinned. "She would. We're going back stage and everything. OK with you, Snugglebear?"

  "Absolutely," Warren agreed.

  "I'll go tell her." Sophia ran up to Tara's bedroom upstairs. A few minutes later, the folks downstairs heard a delighted scream.

  * * *

  A week later, they were at the Fleet Center in Boston, trying to get back stage.

  "Look, we have backstage passes, right here," Warren said.

  "That's not good enough," the guard at the door said. "You have to be on the list. One of the skaters had to put you on the list. Which skaters are you friends with?"

  " All of them!" Sophia shouted. "These tickets didn't come from a skater, they came from Ted Kantor."

  "Who's he?" the guard asked.

  "The guy who runs the tour! We know every skater in this show. We are skaters! We're the Olympic silver medallists in ice dance, and we'd be in this show if I wasn't pregnant!"

  "That's a good story," said the guard.

  "JESUS!" Sophia was really working herself into a snit.

  "Hold on, Pookie." Warren picked up his cell phone. "I hope she has hers with her... it's ringing... Liz! It's Warren. Not only are we coming, we're here, but some dunderhead guard won't let us in. Yes, we have back stage passes, but, evidently, we were supposed to be on some kind of list, too. OK." He looked at Sophia and the guard. "Liz is on her way." When she arrived a few minutes later, it was with Ted Kantor.

  "What the hell is going on here? Why aren't you letting my guests in?"

  "They're not on the list," the guard said stubbornly.

  "Jesus, I sent them backstage passes. Now, let them in."

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm the boss. I'm Ted Kantor, I run the tour. Now let them in."

  They finally got in, got wrapped in a hug by Liz. They thanked Ted, as he walked off to go back to organizing the show.

  "How are you doing?" Liz asked.

  "Great," Sophia said. "You know these guys, right?"

  "I've met Jessie and Crash, and your sister Kate..."

  "Ah. You've never met my other sister, Tara."

  "Cool! Hi, Tara!" Liz shook her hand. Tara was awestruck.

  "Hey, Liz, we have something to tell you, but we need to tell you and Olga. Is she around?"

  "Olga Bradochkina? Yeah, she's in the locker room." Liz led them to the door, and then went in and got Olga.

  "Varren! Sophia! Darlings! How are you?"

  "Great, Olga, how are you?"

  "Vunderful. Ve just get back to tour, ve took break."

  "We know. You went back to Moscow. Thank you so much for the package, it was wonderful," Sophia told her.

  "You are velcome. Baby is good, da?"

  "Da," Warren smiled at her, "Listen, we wanted to show you two something." Sophia dug into her purse and took out an ultrasound picture.

  "Cool!" exclaimed Liz. "Pictures before birth!"

  "Well, we wanted you to see them," Sophia said with a huge grin, "because we wanted to give you an early introduction to Elizabeth Olga Kelleher."

  Liz and Olga looked at each other, dumbstruck, and then at Warren and Sophia.

  "You're kidding," Liz whispered.

  "Nope," Warren said with a smile.

  Olga reached over and wrapped them both in a bear hug. "You are too sweet. It is, how you say, an honor."

  Liz still couldn't believe it. "I'm so touched. I think I'm going to cry."

  Warren laughed. "Well, you should know we're going to call her Betsy, not Liz."

  Liz smiled up at him. "My father calls me that occasionally. I'm still touched. You two are something else."

  * * *

  The show was great, and the six of them joined the cast for the after-show get together backstage. Warren and Sophia were sitting with Liz and Andrea Wallach.

  "You
guys have a good time?" Liz asked.

  "The best. And it's so cool to see everybody. I only wish Renee and Christian and Jennie and Denis were here." Sophia said.

  "Yeah. They're cool people. They are all doing Canadian Stars on Ice right now, though." Liz said.

  "Hey Pookie," Warren said, "have you noticed that Crash and Jack Garrison are getting on like a house afire?"

  "Yeah, and Jessie's making fast friends with his wife."

  "Did you see your sister? The little one, Tara?" Liz asked.

  "Yeah. She's being thoroughly charmed by Olga."

  "Where's Kate?" Warren asked.

  "Over there, being hit on by Yuri Kadrachenko, the Ukranian pairs skater. I don't think she minds," Liz giggled.

  Liz sighed. "I wish you guys were here."

  "I second that," Andrea agreed.

  "We do, too," Sophia said. "Ah, well. Next year."

  "You should have skated anyway," Christine said. "You could have done 'Having My Baby, '" she added with a smirk.

  "Or 'A Child Is Born' from Messiah," Liz added.

  "At this point, the only thing I'd be qualified to skate to is 'Fat' by Weird Al," Sophia said with a laugh.

  "When are you due?" Liz asked.

  "Second week of September. Not too much longer."

  "Good, because I wanted to ask you guys something," Liz said. "How would you two like to choreograph my long program for me? We can do it in August, I can fly out here."

  "Us?" Sophia asked, surprised.

  "Yeah, you. I need something different. I want you guys to pick the music, even. I'll pay you, standard fee for choreography, of course. You guys know my skating, but I need someone with a different approach. I want to do something different this year."

  "I don't know, Liz," Warren said. "This would be very different for us, because we've only choreographed for ourselves, and you're not a dancer. We've never had to worry about jumps and spins."

  "Oh, I can help with that part," Liz said. "I can tell you what jumps and spins I want to do, and help you place them--it's the actual choreography that I want your ideas for. And the music--I'm in a musical rut."

  "You know what? It could be fun. Even if I have to do my bit from the stands," Sophia said.

  "You think so?" Warren asked. Sophia nodded, smiling. "OK, Liz, we'll do it."

  "Great!" Liz enthused.

  "Yeah, that is great," Andrea interrupted, "because Liz beat me to it."

  Warren laughed. "You and Brett want us, too?"

  "Yeah. For our short program. We want to do big band, but we don't know what, exactly, and you guys know big band like the back of your hand, and can choreograph it. Same deal as with Liz, we'll fly out here, and we can help with the tricks."

  Sophia and Warren looked at one another. "What the hell--this could be a second career!" Sophia enthused.

  "I wouldn't doubt it," Liz agreed.

  Chapter 109 - Hormones

  It was early August. Sophia was seven and a half months pregnant, and was feeling and showing the effects.

  "I'm a whale. I'm a beached whale," she complained to Warren one night as they lie in bed, watching TV.

  "Best looking beached whale I ever saw."

  "You're biased," Sophia pointed out with a giggle.

  "Who, me?"

  "Yeah, you." Sophia looked down at herself. "I'm so fat."

  "You're not fat, you're pregnant."

  "Yeah, well, I'm huge. And my back hurts."

  "Of course it does." Warren maneuvered on the bed so that he was behind her. "Lean forward a little bit." She did, and Warren started massaging her back.

  "Oh, honey, that feels good," Sophia moaned. "Oh, my back is so sore."

  Warren rubbed her back for a while, then snaked one hand around the front of her body and grabbed a breast.

  "You cheat!" Sophia laughed. "Mmmm, I think I like this better than the backrub."

  "Uh-huh," Warren smirked. "You know what? These things are huge."

  "Why do you think my back hurts? It ain't all baby, honey. This bra is a double D, and it's tight. My normal D-cup ones are useless at the moment."

  "Hmmm. Looks like this kid will be in no danger of going hungry, eh?"

  "Warren, you're a sick puppy."

  "That's my job."

  "And you do it so well," Sophia giggled. "I just hope I lose some of these things after the baby's born."

  "You probably won't, not if you breastfeed, which you said you wanted to do. And why would you want to lose them, anyway? Spoil my fun?"

  "You're a sick puppy and a pig. Listen, dear, you try skating with these things on your chest. I have to wear a damn sports bra, which is binding and uncomfortable, and I still have to hope I don't take an eye out during the footwork. And that's with my normal boobs, not these baby-inflated ones."

  "I suppose you've got a point."

  "You're damn right I've got a point," Sophia snorted. "And we're skating to Riverdance this year? These things are going to be bouncing around to beat the band. Now I know why ice dancers have no tits."

  "Hmmm. There should be something we can do. Maybe something with costuming. We have to wait until after the baby to fit your costume, though."

  "I can't think of anything besides a sports bra that would help." She looked up at Warren with a wry grin. "Of course, I can't think of much of anything at the moment, not with where your hands are. They might be too damn big, but boy are they sensitive right now."

  "Well, that's a bonus."

  "Uh-huh." Sophia sighed. "Considering how sensitive they are, and how worked up my hormones are at the moment, if you keep getting me all wired up, you'd best be prepared to do something about it."

  "Aren't I always?"

  "True." Sophia settled back onto the pillow, as Warren's hands moved down to slip under her top. He lifted it up over her abdomen to get at her breasts. She giggled. "Less room in there now, huh?"

  "Well, I do have to work a little harder."

  "Honey, you ain't seen nothin' yet."

  "Oh, really?"

  "You'll find out."

  "Hmmm." Warren had her top pulled up around her neck, and was unhooking her bra. He quickly went back to work on her breasts, using a hand on one and his mouth on the other

  "Oh, Snugglebear, that feels heavenly."

  Warren looked up. "I don't know what was such hard work about that."

  Sophia giggled. "Wait until you try to get the pants off."

  "I'll leave that to you," Warren teased, and leaned back over her breast.

  "Oh, thanks, how generous of you."

  "Fine. You want I should stop what I'm doing to pry your pants off?"

  Sophia giggled. "OK, point taken."

  "I thought so." He leaned back down into her breast, and came back up again, licking his lips. "I do believe there's a wee bit of something coming out of these things."

  "Really?"

  "Just a little."

  "Keep it up and there might be more than a little, with all that stimulation you're giving them."

  "That could be fun."

  Sophia stared at him. "Fun?"

  "Sure."

  "You wouldn't care if you got breast milk out of me?"

  "Why should I?"

  "Hmmmm. I never thought about it."

  "I'm actually rather looking forward to it," Warren grinned.

  "Oh, you're going to make Elizabeth share, huh?"

  "Nah. There will be excess."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Really."

  "Hey, guess what?" Sophia asked.

  "What?"

  "Managed to get my pants off while you were doing that."

  "Very smooth," Warren said appreciatively.

  "I thought so. So, what are you going to do about it, big boy?"

  "Hmmm..." he reached down and undid his own pants button. "This, perhaps?"

  "I think that's a good idea." She reached down and helped him slip his pants off, and grabbed his cock. "Hmm. I still turn you on. That's
good to know," she smiled impishly.

  "Are you kidding? You have no idea how sexy you are like this, do you?"

  "Pregnant women never feel sexy, Warren."

  "Well, you should."

  "Hmmm." Sophia pushed him back on the bed, and straddled him. "I think this is the only way this is going to work, now, Snugglebear."

  "Well, we could try from behind."

  "Nah. I always liked this better." She sank down onto him. "Oh YEAH!" She rocked up and down on him, while he grabbed her hips to help her leverage. "Oh, this feels so good..." She was moving slower than usual, because of the added weight, but neither she nor Warren minded. They built it up slow, which made it particularly intense when they both came almost simultaneously.

  "Oh, damn, I needed that," Sophia said after she had rolled onto her side next to Warren.

  "How's your back?"

  "Remarkably fine."

  "You're one sexy woman, you know that."

  "Keep telling me. Keep doing that to me. I might even believe it," she grinned at him.

  "I don't know how much longer we'll be able to do that, though. Don't want your back to go out on you."

  "Hey, just keeping those muscles toned for skating, right?"

  Chapter 110 - Early

  It was mid-August, and Warren and Sophia were at the Oceanview ice rink with Liz Cushman.

  Andrea and Brett had already been out, and Warren and Sophia had choreographed them a short program to "Opus One" that they were thrilled with. Warren and Sophia had originally tried to find a big band piece that they had never skated with, but, as Sophia said, "There's so few of them!" "Opus One" really suited Andrea and Brett's skating, plus Sophia and Warren had skated to it years ago, when they were still juniors. Everyone loved the program when they were done.

  Liz had come out next. It was a Thursday, the fourth day of them working together, and they had planned a fifth, then Liz would go back to California to finish the program with her coach. The choreography of it had to be done this week, and they had made great progress.