Dance of a Lifetime

by Frank Downey

  Warren had hit on a piece of music for her, a surprising one--"Finlandia" by Sibelius. It was different from the more lyrical pieces that Liz had skated to in the past. She was surprised at first, and then decided she loved it. "It's dramatic, moreso than my usual, and a lot more punchy. I like it--if we can come up with a program."

  They had, and were working on fine-tuning it by the time Thursday arrived. It was about eleven in the

  AM, and Warren was on the ice with Liz trying to fine-tune a transitional section before they broke for lunch. Sophia was in the stands, adding her input.

  "Guys," Sophia said, "is there any way she can turn in that section, so that she's facing the other way when she comes out of the triple flip? I think that's the big problem, the abrupt turn after the flip."

  "Oh, you mean change direction in the transition steps, so I do the flip going the other way?" Liz asked.

  "Yeah. Because you need to be going the other way to set up the spiral sequence. That quick turn after the flip is screwing everything up. If you can turn during the steps leading to the flip, and do the flip so that you come out heading up-ice from the corner instead, it would be smoother."

  "I have an idea," Warren said, "and I think it will work, but will you have enough room to set up the flip going the other way?"

  "Let's see," Liz smiled at him. "What did you have in mind?"

  Warren showed her. "Hmm," she said, "I think that would work."

  "Hey, Pookie, music?"

  "Coming right up. Starting it from the spin." It started, Liz picked it up, and did the sequence, including the flip.

  "I think that worked!" Liz said.

  "Looked good to me. We should do it again, though," Warren said. "Hey, Soph, rewind the music, would you please? How did that look to you?" Warren looked over, and saw Sophia sitting behind the boards, on the stands, looking down at her feet. "Soph, you OK? Did you see that sequence?"

  "Huh?" She looked up.

  "What's wrong with you, Sophie?"

  "Ummm... well... it seems my water just broke."

  "WHAT?"

  "I was sitting here, watching Liz start the sequence, and I realized my pants were getting soaked. And it ain't pee. My water definitely broke."

  "SHIT! We got to get you to the hospital!" Warren took an abrupt, ill-thought-out step in Sophia's direction, forgetting he was on ice skates. He ended up on his butt.

  "WARREN!" Sophia yelled.

  "I'm fine," he said as he scrambled to his feet. "Just think, you'll be able to tell the kid that her father bruised his tailbone getting her mother to the hospital because he forgot he was on skates."

  "There's a story," Sophia grinned. "We have time, Snugglebear. I have no contractions yet. Go get your skates off. I'll call the doctor with my cell phone."

  "Can I help?" Liz asked.

  "Yeah, go get your skates off, too," Warren grinned. "Don't want the blades scuffing up the hospital floors."

  * * *

  They were in the car driving to the hospital.

  "Are you OK?" Liz asked from the back seat as Warren drove.

  "I'm fine," said Sophia. "No contractions yet."

  "So, you're not actually in labor?" Liz asked.

  "No," Sophia replied.

  "Well, color me confused."

  Warren laughed. "She's not in labor, but she's going to have to be. Once the water breaks, the baby needs to come out, or there's an increased risk--of complications for the baby, and of an infection for the mother. If she doesn't go into labor on her own in the next few hours, the doctor will induce it."

  Suddenly, Sophia yelped, and hunched forward in the seat. "Oh shit," she gasped. "Well... don't think we need inducing..." She attempted to catch her breath.

  "Contraction?" Warren asked.

  "Oh, yeah. And this wasn't one of those puny Braxton Hicks ones, either."

  "Hey, Liz, got a watch? You mind timing those for me? Can't do it while I'm driving," Warren asked.

  "Sure. Damn, Warren, I can't believe how calm you are."

  "Well, I had one moment of not being calm, and fell on my ass on the ice. I figure I'd better stay calm or I'll really do some damage." Even Sophia managed to laugh at that.

  They drove along for a bit, chatting about Liz's program, moving quickly but safely towards the hospital. They had hit a bit of traffic when Sophia cried out again.

  "How long, Liz?" Warren asked when it was done.

  "Thirteen minutes."

  "Plenty of time, and we're almost there. How you holding up, Soph?"

  "Thank God you have a van. I wouldn't want to be contracting and be all squooshed in something like that damn tiny Geo I drive."

  "Hey, Liz, when we get to the hospital, you want me to get someone to drive you home?" Liz had been staying the week at Warren's parents' house.

  "Um, well... if you want..."

  Warren glanced at Sophia, who grinned at him. "Liz, you're welcome to stay. We'd love you to. But only if you want to. If you don't, I'll get you home."

  "I'd like to stay."

  "That's settled. You can herd the troops in the waiting room once they all show up."

  "No problem," she grinned.

  * * *

  They got to the hospital, got Sophia checked in and up to the delivery room. Warren got on the phone and called all the relatives.

  "You guys want me outside?" Liz asked after Sophia was settled.

  "Not yet," Sophia grinned. "The real action hasn't started yet. You can help keep me company while Warren calls everyone. "

  "I'm glad I was here for this," Liz admitted.

  "We're glad you were, too," Sophia grinned. "Although I must admit that I wish you weren't, only because I'd rather not be going into labor more than three weeks early."

  "Ah, everything should be fine," the nurse interjected. "Three and half week preemies usually don't have any problems."

  "I know, but it's still a little worrisome," Sophia admitted.

  "Hey. Think happy thoughts. Elizabeth will be fine. How could she not be, with her namesake here to see her grand entrance?" Liz joked.

  Warren hung up the phone. "That's everyone. Mom and Dad are on their way, as are your mom and Kate, and they are trying to get a hold of Dan. I got Michelle, she's going to call your Dad at work, and they'll head up, although it will take them a couple hours. And Jessie is coming, and she's trying to reach Crash."

  "I hope that's a big waiting room," Sophia joked.

  * * *

  Three hours had passed. Everyone has shown up, and had been into the room to check on Sophia. Warren and Liz were still there. Things were moving rather slowly--in fact; Sophia had been coherent enough to watch a videotape of Liz's practice with Liz and Warren.

  "Good thing we still had the video camera, it gave us something to do," Warren joked.

  "Just as long as you don't get any crazy ideas about taping the birth," Sophia joked.

  "How we doing?" Warren asked the nurse.

  "Still 8 minutes apart, but slowly getting closer. She's dilated about a centimeter. It will still be a while."

  "Why don't you guys go get something to eat? I'll be fine," Sophia told them. "Warren's going to need his strength!"

  * * *

  When they got back to the room, Sophia's doctor, Vicki Mullins, had arrived. "Everything's fine," she told Warren, "but we might want to try to speed this up a bit. Why don't you guys take her for a walk around the floor? That helps. Go to the waiting room, say hi to your family."

  "You up for that, Pookie?" Warren asked.

  "Sure, why not? Just be prepared to hold me up during those contractions!"

  Warren helped Sophia out of the bed, and they started walking around the floor. As they moved, slowly, they noticed a woman looking at them. "I think we just got recognized," Warren told Sophia.

  "Well, I ain't in no condition to be signing autographs!"

  They heard the woman who was staring at them talk to a companion. "Look over there. Isn't that..."
<
br />   "Yes!" Warren turned to her and interrupted. "Yes, we are. I'm Bruce Springsteen, and this is Stevie Nicks!" Sophia practically doubled over with laughter.

  "Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Nicks?" Sophia sputtered.

  "Hey, it was the best I could do at short notice."

  They walked into the waiting room.

  * * *

  Six long hours later, after a couple of walks and a trip into the tub, Sophia was finally in serious labor.

  "This is more tiring than skating that damn Riverdance program, three times in a row," Sophia said in between contractions.

  "You just remember that when we're skating Riverdance three times in a row," Warren quipped.

  "YEAUUGGGHHHH!!!!" Sophia screamed as another contraction hit.

  "Breathe, Pookie."

  "All those childbirth classes, and all you can think of to say is 'breathe, Pookie.' Lovely," Sophia muttered as the contraction passed. Warren just grinned at her.

  "You're doing fine," Vicki told them. "Dilation is almost at ten centimeters. Not long now."

  "Good," Sophia said. "This has been way too long."

  A couple more contractions passed. Vicki checked Sophia, and said, "OK,. Sophia, everything is great, you can start pushing with the next one."

  "Oh, finally," Sophia panted.

  "You're doing great, Sophie," Warren told her.

  Three pushes, and it was all over. Vicki held up their daughter for them to see, as she let out a healthy cry.

  * * *

  "She's a little small. 6 pounds even, but she's perfectly fine," Warren told the assembled throng in the waiting room a half hour later. "They're taking her up to the nursery to clean her up, and then you can all go and see through the window."

  "How's Sophie?" Ellen asked.

  "Great. They're taking her up to her room now, you can see her in a little while, too."

  * * *

  After everyone had left, the nurse brought Betsy into Sophia's room. "Time for the first feeding, Mommy. You think you need any help? There's a breastfeeding expert on staff if you need it," the nurse told them.

  "I'll give it a shot myself and call for help if I need it," Sophia grinned.

  "Good enough," the nurse said and left.

  "She's so tiny," Sophia said in wonder. "I still can't believe we made this."

  "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"

  Chapter 111 - Back On The Ice

  "I did it! I finally got through the thing, every day this week!!" Sophia was exultant.

  "Yup. And with time to spare," Warren said.

  "I still can't believe you got back this quick," June, their coach, commented.

  It was the beginning of October. Sophia had given birth only a month and a half earlier, and had pushed herself to get back on the ice right away. It was painful and difficult, but it had worked. They were almost right back in form, with over a month to go before Cup of Russia. They had been working hard at their

  Riverdance free program, as it required a lot of stamina. Sophia getting through it for five days in a row was an accomplishment.

  "The OD is fine, we just need to nail down those compulsories," Sophia said.

  "Did you hear?" June asked. "This is the last year for compulsories."

  "Really?" Warren was surprised.

  "Yeah. They just voted on it. Starting next year, there will be two original dances with different rhythms, each worth 25 percent," June told them.

  "Wow. Talk about playing into our strengths!" Sophia giggled.

  "Yup," June agreed. "Now, about this year-are you sure you're OK, Sophie?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine. The only problem is that I'm feeling... well... top-heavy."

  "Moreso than usual, you mean," Warren quipped.

  "You goof! Yeah, moreso than usual. Plus I keep leaking, that's damn annoying!"

  "Maybe you should try to stop breastfeeding," June said.

  "Nah. I can deal with it. It's healthier for Betsy. It's just that, with the damn things overinflated, I have to wear a really tight sports bra so I don't give Warren a black eye," Sophia said with a grin.

  "Yeah, but what a way to get a black eye!"

  Sophia and Warren were at home one Saturday when they got an unexpected couple of visitors.

  "Meggan? Josh? Hi!" Sophia greeted them.

  "Hi, guys! We wanted to come say hi, see how you were doing," Meggan said.

  "Great," Warren told them. "Home for the weekend?"

  "Yeah," Josh confirmed. "Meggan suggested we come up and visit. And get my Mom to do my laundry!"

  "Better than me doing it," Meggan grumbled. "We go to different schools, for goodness' sake, and he keeps bringing his laundry over to my place!"

  "That's only because it's cheaper. I still do it. BU seems to think that laundry is yet another way to make money off of their students," Josh grumbled.

  "I keep telling him to transfer to Northeastern," Meggan joked.

  "Just for the laundry, mind you. BU has better food."

  "Is it a pain going to separate schools?" Warren asked them.

  "Nope, not really," Josh said. "There's a bus route that goes from BU to Northeastern that takes all of, like, 15 minutes. We're very close, it's not a problem at all."

  "It's actually kind of neat," Meggan agreed. "We split the time, where we go, so it's almost like going to two schools, socially. I've made friends at both places, and so has Josh. But, enough of that. Where's the baby?"

  "Upstairs," Warren smiled. "Gramma's got her. We actually just got up about 20 minutes ago."

  "We had a really rough night last night, she kept us up all night, so Gramma took her for the morning so we could sleep a bit," Sophia added.

  "Oh. Did we come at a bad time?" Meggan asked.

  "No, of course not!" Sophia told her. "We're awake now. If we weren't, we wouldn't have answered the door!"

  "In fact," Warren said, standing up, "I'll go see if Gramma wants a break, so you can see the kid." He left to do so.

  "So, you're back on the ice?" Meggan asked Sophia.

  "Yup. Mom quit her job, you know. She didn't have to work anymore, anyhow. Dan-my stepfather-makes really good money. So, she quit her job, she was sick of it anyway, but she also volunteered to watch Betsy when we're practicing and competing and all that."

  "That's great!"

  "Yeah, it is. She's really enjoying being a Gramma. The only problem is that we occasionally have to drop the kid off with Warren's parents so they don't get bent out of shape about not having equal baby rights," Sophia giggled.

  "Is it that bad?" Meggan asked.

  "No, I'm just kidding. They're terrific. They just want time with their granddaughter, that's understandable. We take her over there a lot. So, enough about us-how are you guys doing?"

  "Wonderful," Meggan said.

  "Yup. Couldn't be better," Josh confirmed.

  "School's good?"

  "Yup."

  "No... ah... problems, Meg?"

  "Nope," she confirmed. "No backlash, no nightmares, no nothing. I'm not a victim any more."

  "Good for you. And it's nice to see you two still together," Sophia told them.

  "Yes, it is, isn't it?" Josh smiled.

  "How is it that, in our little circle, so many high school romances managed to stay together?" Meggan asked. "Us, you and Warren, Jessie and Crash. It defies the laws of probability."

  "Screw the laws of probability!" Sophia cried. "Actually, you know why? I think it's because most of us had really, really bad relationships before we got into our present ones. All of us except Warren, actually."

  "Warren just got lucky on the first try," Josh joked.

  "Do I hear my name being taken in vain?" Warren asked, as he and Ellen walked back into the room.

  "Of course, Snugglebear," Sophia joked. "Hi Mom. You remember Meggan and Josh, right?"

  "Sure do. Hi, kids. I got something here that Meggan wanted to see." She handed Betsy into Meggan's outstretched arms.

  "OH!" Meggan gaspe
d. "She's darling!" Betsy was wide awake, and looked up at Meggan with her big brown eyes, wiggling a little. "How old is she now?"

  "Two months," Sophie confirmed. "A couple days ago."

  "Boy, she's a good baby, isn't she?" Josh said. "No crying or nothing."

  "She's a real good baby," Ellen confirmed.

  "Yeah," Sophia agreed. "If she cries, there's a reason. She's a very happy baby most of the time."

  "So, when do you make this kid's parents all legal-like?" Meggan joked.

  "August 9th of next year," Sophia told her. "Oh, that reminds me. I haven't asked you yet. Would you like to be a bridesmaid?"

  "Me? I'd love it!"

  "Great. I have a ton of them. Jessie's my maid of honor-then I have you, my sister Tara, my stepsister Kate, my friend Karen Laskovich, my friend from college Caitlin, and Liz Cushman."

  "Liz Cushman the skater?"

  "Yup. That's who Betsy is named after, you know," Warren told her. "She's one of our best friends."

  "She was actually here for Betsy's birth, that was cool," Sophie said, then explained the circumstances.

  "Wow. Do you have any famous ushers, Warren?"

  "Jack Garrison and Evan Pogdar. Crash is my best man. The others are my brother Ryan, my friend Papa Bear from college, my cousin Pete, and Rick Kenney from my neighborhood crew."

  "And plans for the big nuptials are well underfoot!" Sophia crowed.

  "Oh, and Meg, you'd better get used to big skating stars being around. They're all invited," Warren smiled.

  Chapter 112 - Renewal

  "So," Warren said one evening in mid-November, "have you checked out these Grand Prix results?"

  "No, what's up?" Sophia asked him.

  "Yatserova and Vaglach won Skate America. Shawna and Evan were second, and a couple from Ireland, of all places, were third."

  "Ireland? Yeah, there's a well-known ice dance power!" Sophia giggled.