omg! one more chapter left! and then the epilogue! wow, this took me more than a year to finish!

Later That Day…

Vlad and Nadia spent his entire free day out in the cold walking though the cold New York air and snuggling together to keep warm on benches. When they ran out of places to walk, they decided to go ice-skating at the rink in Lake Placid.

"It will be just like when we met!" said Nadia, happily.

Vlad smiled, "Yeah, except then, we were still young… now, well… we have experience."

"Yeah…" said Nadia, "And now…" She grabbed his hands, "I can skate better!"

"Yeah, like when you fell coming to get me on the ice!" he said, laughing, "That was a picture of perfection!"

Nadia laughed along with her boyfriend, happy to almost be carefree with him. But one thing hit her hard, like a bullet, and she had to mention it to Vlad right away. She stopped and faced him, eyes full of concern, and asked the question that all men dread hearing.

"Do you think I'm pregnant?" she asked softly, her cheeks getting red.

This made Vlad's smile fade and become replaced with a slight frown. They stared into each other's eyes, trying to read one another's thoughts. They stood like this until the felt a great force hit them. They fell over and immediately looked up to see Cady and Kit along with two large men that Vlad recognized from the West Germany Team. Cady and Kit had their arms hooked with their boyfriend's arms.

"Um, excuse me?" said Vlad sarcastically, wondering whom these people were, "But that was really rude!"

"Yeah, and like what you did to us wasn't!" said Cady with a raised tone.

Vlad stared at the brunette with wonder. 'Who is this?' he though.

"Um, yeah… I think you've got me confused with someone else." He said calmly.

"No Vlad… we know exactly who we're dealing with!" said Kit, "Why did you leave us for this whore anyway?"

"Leave you?" asked Vlad, looking worriedly at Nadia who was glaring at the girls, "Who are you? I've never seen you before in my life!"

"I told you!" said Nadia angrily, "He was drunk when he met you! He wouldn't remember you if he tried!"

"But seriously, come with us!" said Kit, "We've got a few things to show you!"

Vlad looked at the girls skeptically. 'They are hot' he thought, 'but I don't know them! And anyways, I love Nadia and probably just got her pregnant!'

"Get lost you sluts!" he said.

A wave of relief swept though Nadia. "Yeah, you heard him!" shouted Nadia in return, thankful that Vlad didn't leave. She knew that these girls were much prettier than her and didn't want Vlad to fall into their trap.

Kit gave Nadia and Vlad the finger as she and Cady walked away with their large boyfriends who continued to be silent. Vlad looked at Nadia, who spoke immediately.

"Vlad, I know that they're prettier than me but I—" Nadia started to say but was interrupted by Vlad.

"No, I was a jerk… no one is prettier, smarter, funnier, or more fun to be with than you…" he said, "I really, honestly, and with all of my heart… love you…"

Nadia felt like she was going to cry with happiness but felt no need to. She knew all along how he felt about her. Now that things were falling into place, with Tikhonov not on there back, Chelsea and Tina blown off by the Americans, Halley free from their wrath, and Sally finding love, this seemed like the perfect time for Vlad to truly express his feelings.

"I love you too Vlad, with all of my being… I truly do." She said in return.

They kissed right in the middle of the rink, hearing some children say, "Eww!" and some teenage girls say, "Wow!" They'd never felt so good now that they were finally together at last…

But Nadia still felt like something was missing between them and Vlad thought of the perfect way to make their relationship last forever…