Chapter Seven: The Ellen Show
Novak moaned in his sleep when the arm around his waist tightened. Roger pressed his lips to his husband's neck, knowing he will wake up after that. Soon enough, Novak turned around and put his arms around his neck. "I'm up," he said and Roger chuckled.
"Clearly," he said. Roger moved his hand down Novak's back and underneath the cover. Novak gasped out when Roger's hand clenched onto his ass. "Congratulations on winning the tournament, baby," Roger said into his ear.
"You congratulated me plenty last night, Rog," Novak said and Roger chuckled.
"Just being thorough," Roger said. "Ellen gets us all to herself today."
"What time do we have to be there to tape the episode?" Novak asked.
"Couple of hours," Roger said. Novak groaned as Roger withdrew from him and got out of the bed. "Get up and get dressed."
"Something sexy?"
"Sexy and decent for Ellen. Wear something green to bring out your incredible eyes," Roger said as Novak got out of the bed.
"Something that is sexy, decent and green. I can do that," Novak said before heading over to his chest of drawers. He found the clothes he was looking for and headed into the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, Roger and Novak were dressed and ready. They kissed the twins goodbye before heading out. A two hour drive had them arriving at the studio. They were greeted by an assistant of Ellen's and brought to a green room. "It'll be about fifteen minutes while we get you through make up and wired up with your mics."
"All right, thank you," Roger said. The assistant smiled as Novak sat down on the couch taking off his coat.
"I'll be back in two minutes to get you two for make up."
"Thanks," Novak said before getting up. "I need to use the bathroom," he said before heading to the bathroom at the back of the room. Just has he entered the bathroom, someone shouted out at him and he screamed out, placing his back to the wall. There stood Ellen laughing hysterically. "Oh, she got me!" Novak shouted and Roger came running over. He was smiling as he found his husband on the floor in a fit of laughter.
"I got you," Ellen laughed out. "Oh, that was great." Roger and Novak were both laughing. "Welcome to the Ellen Show."
Half hour later, Roger and Novak were standing back stage waiting for Ellen to introduce them. "Why did we agree to this?" he asked.
"Because she asked nicely," Roger said.
"Wasn't nice when she scared me in the bathroom."
"Was a little funny," his husband said. Novak chuckled as Ellen was preparing to introduce them. They kissed softly as their host said their names.
"Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer!" The audience applauded as they came out holding hands and smiling. Novak couldn't help but do a little dance causing Roger to chuckle and the audience to get louder. Novak reached Ellen first and gave her a huge hug. He was always a big fan of hers. He moved to the side to let Roger have his turn before they waved to the audience. They sat down, causing the music to stop, but the audience continued to cheer. "All right, settle down!" Ellen shouted and the audience slowed their applause and cheering. "We only have them for so long and then they have to be in Miami," she said. "Welcome to the show guys," she said.
"Thank you," Roger said.
"Thanks," Novak said at the same time. "I heard your audiences were loud, but wow," he added causing everyone to laugh.
"Congratulations on winning the Indian Wells tournament," Ellen said to Novak. This caused the audience to applaud.
"Oh, thank you," he said. "I had a good coach," he added and everyone laughed.
"And you guys celebrated a wedding anniversary, too."
"Yes, we did," Roger said and the audience clapped together. "Three years," he added.
"But you've been together longer."
"Ten years," he said and the audience clapped and cheered even louder. It caused them to smile and laugh.
"They love you two and you are the best couple I've had on the show so far," she said and they laughed. "And you have kids."
"Yes, we do," Novak said and a picture came up behind them on the big screen. It had all four of them with Rosie and Theo running ahead of them. The audience cooed at the picture. "Theo and Rosie."
"How old are they?" Ellen asked.
"They'll be three in June," Roger said.
"They are so adorable," she said and they beamed with pride.
"We always love it when people praise our kids."
"They are so cute," she added, "and so are you guys. I heard you were going to be in California and I just had to have you on the show." Roger and Novak chuckled. "I'm being told we have to go to commercial," she said and the audience groaned. "We're coming back," she said. "We'll be back after these messages."
As the crew went to commercial, Ellen leaned over to Novak. "You are quite the dancer," she said.
"Thank you," he said. "I like to dance."
"What about him?" she asked about Roger.
"Not so much," Novak said and Roger chuckled. They talked for a few minutes before they came back from commercial.
"We're back with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. I wanted to talk about the photo," she said and they glanced at each other. "I'm talking about the one that outed you two." They both groaned in despair as the photo came onto the screen. The picture was of Novak and Roger, both in white, in the locker room, in a passionate embrace, mouths locked together in a deep kiss. "Has the culprit been caught? The one who released the photo?"
"No. We still have no idea who took it and released it," Roger said.
"I want to know why they waited so long to release it," Novak said. "That photo is from 2012."
"Really? They waited five years to release the photo?" she asked.
"For some reason," he said.
"Now, judging from the attire you two are wearing, this was taken at Wimbledon."
"Yep," Roger said.
"I know when it was taken during the tournament too," Novak said.
"Was it before or after he beat you?" Ellen asked the audience laughed.
"After," Novak said and they all laughed. "But it was before our shower," he said which caused Roger to grab his arm. "Oops," he said slamming his hand on his mouth and the audience went nuts.
"You guys took a shower together?" she asked.
"Only to conserve water," Roger said.
"Uh, huh," Ellen quipped and everybody laughed. "How often did you two conserve water at a tournament?" she asked. Novak couldn't help but answer with an answer.
"At a Grand Slam or regular tournament?" he asked and the audience went even crazier that caused Roger to turn a bit red. Novak just laughed.
"Wow, okay," she said. She noticed Roger with his head in his hand. "It's the Ellen show. You're bound to get embarrassed," she said.
"Yeah," he said.
"So, basically every tournament you guys both played in, right?" she asked.
"Yes," Novak said and the audience laughed.
"And on that note, we're taking a break. When we come back, we're going to play a game," she said.
During the commercial break, Novak and Roger got up as they set up the game, Know or Go. Ellen explained it to them as they watched the set up and then called audience members to come up. Three women, Amber, Megan and Tracy were called up. They were giddy and happy as they came down the stairs to the stage. They hugged Ellen and then the girls before being taken up to the game tower to stand on their circles.
"And we're back with Roger and Novak. We're going to play Know or Go. If the contestant gets it wrong, we push this button and down they go."
"Sounds dangerous," Novak said.
"Yeah, it's why we love it," she said and everyone laughed. "I'm going to ask questions and we'll keeping asking questions until they are all down. The last one to go down, will get tickets to this years US Open in New York," she announced. "Are we ready?"
"Yes," the contestants said.
"All right. First question is for Amber," Ellen said. "In 2012, Roger won the Wimbledon Championships to take his Major titles to 17, at the time," Ellen said. "What is Roger's birth date?" she asked and everyone chuckled.
"Augusteigtthnineteeneightyone," she said all at once.
"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" Ellen asked causing everyone to chuckle.
"I heard it," Roger said. "It was close together, but I heard it." Everyone chuckled as Amber took a deep breath.
"August, 8 1981," she said calmly.
"Correct," Ellen said and she jumped up and down. "Careful, the floor might give way if you jump up and down on it," she said and the audience to laugh. "Next question is for Megan. Novak was 12 years old when war broke out in Serbia, uh then Yugoslavia and he had to bunk with family. What year did this all happen?"
"Oh, uh, 1998," she said.
"Nope," Novak said causing her to shriek.
"Why don't you push it since you told her it was wrong?" Ellen suggested. Novak reached over causing Megan to squeal.
"She really doesn't want me to push it," Novak said. "Ready?"
"No!" she shouted.
"Too bad," Novak said before pushing the button. Megan let out a scream as she fell and the other girls got scared. "Does Tracy get a chance?" he asked.
"She does. Do you know the answer, Tracey?" Ellen asked.
"1999," she said.
"Correct," Novak said and she let out a holler.
"Amber, Roger is an 18 Grand Slam winner. What did his country give him as a gift after he won his first Grand Slam?"
"Uh, oh, a cow," she said.
"Not many people get that right," Roger said.
"She did," Ellen said causing the audience to laugh. "Tracy, Roger and Novak spent most of their relationship in secret. Where did Roger take Novak for their first public date?"
"Oh," Roger and Novak groaned.
"Not many people saw us," Roger said. "It was the reason I chose the specific place," he added.
"Happened in Melbourne," Novak hinted.
"No hints," Ellen scolded and Novak shrugged.
"It was a restaurant," Tracy said.
"Yes, but that wasn't the question," Ellen said causing everyone to chuckle. "Do you the name of the restaurant?"
"No," Tracy said in shame.
"My turn," Roger said reaching for the button. Tracy let out a shriek before his hand made a connection. "I didn't even touch it yet," he said and everyone laughed.
"Sorry," she said but she let out another shriek when she fell. Amber was giddy as she clapped.
"Amber, do you know the name of the restaurant Roger took Novak for their first public outing?"
"The Grove," she said.
"Correct. You win!" Amber shouted out in delight. "Though, there's only way to come down from there," Ellen said and she groaned. "Ready?" Amber squealed as Ellen reached for the button. She yelled out as she fell down. The three of them came out from behind the game with smiles on their faces. "Amber, you lasted than everyone else, but it doesn't matter because all three of you are going to the US Open this year," she said and the girls got excited. An assistant handed them tickets to the US Open. "Of course, this wouldn't be the Ellen Show if I didn't give tickets to everyone, so you're all going!" The audience cheered and applauded as more assistants came out with tickets for everyone.
Hours later, Roger and Novak were on a plane heading to Miami. Novak had a first round bye, so they had an extra day before Novak had to be on court for a match. Roger was watching Novak's performance from the Indian Wells final looking for things to fix or change. He look across from him and saw Novak was fast asleep. The kids were already in Miami with his mom and the nannies. There was no reason for them to be in California while they did the Ellen show.
Roger put the video away and got down on his knees beside the row Novak was sprawled out on. His shirt had rode up when he rolled over and Novak's side was exposed. It had become a recent favorite spot of his to kiss, lick or nip his husband. Roger blew on Novak's side causing his husband to groan. "Roger, stop it," he muttered. The Swiss chuckled before kissing the exposed skin. "Roger," Novak complained. Roger put his mouth up to Novak's ear and gave it a kiss. Before Novak could protest, Roger whispered into his ear.
"I love you."
"I love you, too," Novak said back. "Can I go to sleep?" Roger chuckled before getting up and then putting a blanket over his husband. He sat back down in his seat and reclined back. He let out a sigh as he put his head back and closed his eyes.
End of Chapter Seven
