It was getting to be that time of the day again. That time when I usually send Gene home and mix myself a drink. However, tonight would be different. I had a debt to settle. Gene had been one hell of a dude since he's been with me. That includes going above and beyond the call of duty. He carried my drunk ass to the couch and fed a line of bullshit to my overly protective ex-husband for me. Gene is a good man. He may also be blackmailing me into having dinner with his family, but how bad could this be?
I looked in my closet for something a little more family friendly. I mean, I know I look cute in a crop top, but first impressions and all that. I put on a longer shirt and a slightly longer skirt. Leggings? Maybe leggings? I had a pair of black ones covered in glitter that I got when I went shopping with Victor today. Glitter can't hurt anything. And they look cute under a while skirt. Hot damn, I looked cute!
"Hey, Vi," Gene called out from my living room, "Are you ready yet? I just got a text from my wife and she wants to know when we'll be there."
"Just about," I finished the sharp wing on my right eye. Usually, Victor would do this for me, but I didn't need to bother him. I did need a few Q-tips to clean it up, but I didn't do half bad. I put my heels on and walked out to the living room, "Well? Do I look ok?"
"Adorable as always," he gave me a spin, "Ready?"
"Yep," I pulled the charger out of my phone and threw it in my bag. I was totally flying blind tonight. It was sweet of Gene to invite me to dinner, but I'm not sure how this is going to work, if it would at all. Relax, Violet. If all else fails, you have your mini flask in your purse. Just a little something, something to take the edge off. It'll be nothing to excuse yourself from the table, slip into the bathroom, and do a quick emergency shot. Everything'll be fine.
When we got to Gene's house, I took a quick look around. A nice, little townhouse in Brooklyn. Nothing overly extravagant, but it's cute. I like it. Nearest bathroom looked to be just down the hall under the stairs. The dining room to the left. The living room to the left. I'm guessing the kitchen was just off the dining room. Amidst this concrete jungle, this little townhouse in Brooklyn truly felt like a home.
"Sonia!" Gene called out, "I'm home!"
"Daddy!" a dark haired little girl bolted down the stairs, jumping into Gene's arms.
"Sophie!" he hugged her tight, "Hey, princess!"
It's safe to say I already loved her. She reminded me a lot of Yuri. I don't know why, but something about her reminded me of Yuri. Sophie looked over at me, "Who is she, Daddy?"
"This is Violet," Gene introduced me, bouncing his daughter on his hip, "She's a friend of mine from work. Violet, this is Sophie. You know all about her."
"Yeah," I awed, my insides turning to mush, "Hi, Sophie."
She buried her face in her daddy's shoulder, playing shy. Ok. It's very safe to say I adored her. It's too bad I couldn't bring the boys over. I'm sure Chris and Victor wouldn't have had a problem with it, but like I said, I didn't need to bother them. Maybe next time. Or I'll invite everyone to my place. After the season's over and I have a better gauge of where things are at with Mike, if that's even anything over casual.
"It's alright, peanut," he assured her, "Violet's good people. When she wants to be."
"Thank you, Gene," I grumbled sarcastically, "There's nothing I love more than a backhanded compliment."
"That's what I'm here for," Gene beamed, "Sonia, I'm home!"
"I'm taking food out of the oven!" a husky voice called back, "Hold on!"
"Hey, Soph," Gene put the little angel in his arms down on the floor, "Why don't you go help Mommy in the kitchen, ok?"
"Ok!" And just like that, Sophie ran off to find her mom. I want to keep her in my pocket forever.
"Light of my life, that little girl," Gene gushed.
"I know the feeling," my heart ached a bit. I missed my boys. It feels like ages since I last saw them, but they're both just a floor away. I needed to spend some time with Yurio again like we did last weekend. But with Chris and Victor leaving for Malta in a couple days, I'll have a whole week with those two. And I couldn't wait.
"You know, Vi," he suggested, "Next time we do this, you should bring Victor and Chris and Yuri and Yurio with you. I mean, we'd have to plan it a week in advance and line it up on a day when both Sonia and me have a day off, but it sounds like it'd be a hell of a time."
"I was thinking the same thing," I agreed, "But what about doing it at my place instead? God knows I have the room and the culinary skills to pull something like that off."
"I don't know about that," Gene smirked, "You've never seen Sonia and me in a kitchen together. We work like a well-oiled machine. She cooks, I bake. We balance each other out."
"Sounds like the way Victor and I were," I giggled, feeling for the flask in my bag, "When we were both off for the season and we make pirozhkis together, it's a tornado, but it works."
"Alright," a striking, dark haired woman came out of the dining room, "Dinner's out of the oven. It needs to rest a few minutes. I'm exhausted."
"Sorry we're late, baby," Gene gave her a warm, welcoming kiss, "Traffic was a bitch."
"I don't doubt it," she chuckled, setting her big, brown eyes on me, "You have to be Violet."
"Yeah," I smiled, "That's me."
"It is so nice to finally meet you!" she hugged me tight, "I'm Sonia. Gene's told me so much about you."
"It's nice to meet you, too." This is awkward. I didn't know a thing about Gene's wife. I've heard all about Sophie, but I don't think Gene's ever talked about Sonia before. If he did, I was either drunk or half asleep. Although, I have a feeling that the two of us are going to become fast friends, whether I wanted to or not.
"Come on," Sonia invited me in, "I got a bottle of merlot on ice. You wouldn't want any, would you?"
"Absolutely," I nodded, perhaps a bit too eagerly. Gene gave me a little nudge in the back. Once his wife was out of earshot, I looked over at him, "What was that all about?"
"You really think you should be drinking?" Gene worried, "Your drinking was what got you here in the first place."
"Yeah," I rolled my eyes, "Thanks, Dad. It's merlot, not absinthe and melon midori. I think I'll be fine. It'll be one glass. Two, tops. Relax."
"Alright," he let it go, "Go ahead. Pick a spot at the table. Boys! Dinner's done!"
A thunderous stampede of footsteps rumbled down the stairs as two young boys, the spitting image of their father, ran into the dining room. One shoved the other out of the way, trying to see which one can sit down first. The bigger one of the two declared himself the winner. Gee. A pair of brothers that are hostilely competitive with each other? Where have I heard that before?
"Who are you?" the smaller one of the two scoffed insolently.
"She's cute, Dad," the bigger one, who couldn't have been much older than thirteen, winked at me. I'm uncomfortable.
"Boys!" Sonia came in with a casserole dish in her arms, "You were both raised better. Apologize."
"Sorry..."
"Sorry..."
They both sat down with their heads hung in shame while Sonia put down the most incredible smelling manicotti I've set my eyes on in a very long time, "Please forgive them, Violet. Sometimes, their mouths operate faster than their brains."
"Forgiven and forgotten," I let it slide, trying not to drool on myself, "That looks magical."
"My grandma made a killer manicotti," Sonia boasted, "Before she died, she shared the recipe with me. I'm the only one in the world that's got it and it burns my mom's ass to no end. If I were to tell her, Grandma would come back to haunt me."
"I haven't had a good manicotti in so long," I groaned, "I spent a summer in Italy with my coach's mom while I was sick and I've never eaten so much in my life."
"Old Italian women are the best," Gene agreed, "Sonia's grandma was a peach. Right off the boat from Italy. She grew up in Tuscany."
"I couldn't imagine."
"By the way," Gene made more introductions, "The little lug head is Wesley. The big lug head is Grant. They're getting to be that age..."
"I got two boys, Gene," I reminded him, "I know Yuri and Yurio are a little different, but honestly, at their cores, they're the same. And to answer your question, guys, I'm a friend of your dad's. Not to mention, I'm currently taken and I have kids that are just a little younger than you, so there's no way that would ever happen."
"You have kids, Violet?" Sonia gasped, shuffling plates around the table, "You're practically a baby yourself."
"I adopted," I explained, "And I love them as if they were biologically my own."
"If you don't mind me asking," she tiptoed, "Why didn't you ever have any of your own?"
"Because my husband at the time wasn't..." I thought how to phrase this for a second. There were small children present. I'm sure the oldest has had the talk, but I didn't need to make that weird, "My ex-husband is gay and I wasn't doing the artificial thing, so instead, we adopted our sons and we've been our cute, little, dysfunctional family ever since. The adoption laws in Russia are weird and they were more likely to allow a couple to adopt. It's kind of complicated."
"I understand," Sonia finished cutting up Sophie's plate for her while Grant and Wesley tore their plates apart themselves.
I took my first bite and I could see where they were coming from, "I may have to come over for dinner more often."
"Told you," she grinned proudly, "Grandma's manicotti never disappoints."
"Not as good as Mama Cialdini's," I clarified, "But if I said anything was better than Mama Cialdini, she's hunt me down and kill me."
"I'd love to go back to Italy," Sonia groaned, "We haven't been since our honeymoon."
"My ex-husband and his current husband are going to Malta this weekend for theirs," I told her, "And I'm sure I'm going to be back in Italy come October."
"What for?" she wondered.
"I'm a professional figure skater," I explained, "I'm sure I'll have to go there for competition. And to see my coach's mom. She's adorable."
"I want to go ice skating, too," Sophie chimed in.
"I think all the rinks are closed for the night, sweetheart," I figured, "But when I was still living in Russia, I got in good with one of the owners and he gave me a key to the place. That way, I could skate whenever I wanted to."
"Yeah," Gene teased, "Because your husband being a six-time gold medalist had nothing to do with it."
"Hey!" I squeaked, "I have gold medals, too!"
"How many?"
"A couple," I stood my ground, "You saw me at practice the other day, Gene. You know how good I am."
"She is pretty good," he admitted.
"Violet," Sophie pulled at my skirt, "Will you take me ice skating?"
"Any time," I promised, "Whenever I'm not at practice or my dance lessons, I'll be more than happy to take you with me."
"Tell you what, puddin'," Gene bargained, "Next time Violet's got practice, you can come to work with me and watch."
"And if you ask Celestino first," I added, "He can get kind of persnickety when I have an audience."
"There's no way Celestino could say no," he shot his baby girl a wink, "She's cute as a button. He'd turn to butter with her."
"Oh yeah," I confirmed, "He's been that way with Yuri and Yurio since the day they came home."
Bzzz...
I looked down at my phone in my lap and saw the goofiest picture I had of Victor staring back at me. Oh, New Years...We will never forget the night Victor had a bright red pair of my panties on his head, pretending to be a superhero called Ass Man. In his defense, we were all pretty drunk that night and Celestino was watching the boys. Good times...
"What's that?" Gene asked.
"Hold on," I excused myself, "Sorry. I have to take this."
"Go ahead," he allowed as I got up from the table.
I snuck around the corner near the under stairs bathroom and slid my finger across my phone screen, "Hello?"
"Hi, Violet," Victor chimed on the other end, "Where are you right now? I just checked your condo and the only one there is Nadya."
"Did you feed her?" I asked, "I forgot to put a cup of food in her bowl before I left."
"I can," he assured, "But seriously. Where are you?"
"I'm at Gene's," I settled him, "He invited me over for dinner a couple days ago and here we are."
"Oh," Victor sounded like I just took all the wind out of his sails, "I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to our place, but if you already had plans...Wait, Violet, are you really at Gene's or did you sneak off to the strip club?"
"I'm really at Gene's," I rolled my eyes, "And Cosmos isn't a strip club. Although, if you wait around long enough, you'll likely see someone naked. Do you hear loud techno?"
"No."
"I'm at Gene's," I swore.
"Ok," he let me go, "Are you coming home tonight?"
"Most likely," I bit the inside of my cheek, "Unless something comes up, but chances are, I'll be home tonight. Besides, I have practice in the morning and if I blow this one off, Celestino will kick my ass personally. I'll take a raincheck on coming over, though."
"Good," Victor chirped, "Well, I shouldn't keep you. Send Gene my love and I'll see you later."
"I will."
"Love you!"
Click.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love that man? No matter how scatterbrained or over protective he is of me? Because I do. With all my heart. And no one could ever replace him in my eyes. Victor was in a class all his own. However, not a minute after I hung up with him, my phone buzzed yet again. This time, with a text message
Where are you?
-M
Having dinner with my bodyguard.
-VP
I turned my phone screen off and sat back down, "Sorry. Victor."
"Is everything alright?" Gene worried, "The boys are good? Victor's in one piece? Chris is in one piece?"
"Yeah," I brushed him off, "Everything's cool."
Bzzz...
I glanced down at my lap.
Dessert at my place? ;)
-M
I bit down hard on my tongue to keep myself under control. But food was already making me feel like taking a nap. I don't think I could handle another...session...with Master right now. Even though I knew it was going to piss him off, I had to stand up for myself.
Not tonight.
It's been a long day and I'm exhausted.
-VP
"So," Sonia asked, "What did he want?"
"Just checking in," I took my last couple bites.
Bzzz...
Dammit, Mike. Not tonight. I'm tired and I got practice in the morning.
Sleepover?
-M
Sleepover, huh? Because I didn't know what that really meant. Come on, Mike. Give me a little more credit than that. Your pet is pretty smart. But I really shouldn't go to his penthouse tonight. I did need to rest up. Besides, there'd be way too much temptation there. It'd be like a mine field.
Just sleep?
-VP
Bzz.
Yes.
-M
I thought it over for a second. Did I really want to? Of course. There's nothing wrong with getting the rocks off, but Mike had me testing the limits of my flexibility. Sure, it'd probably do wonders for me when I have to do the perfect splits both in the air and on the ice. It'd be something that's seldom seen. I don't know. I'm still torn. I told Victor I'd likely be home tonight, too. I don't want him freaking out, wondering where the hell I am.
We'll see.
-VP
I put my phone back in my bag and left it alone. Where were we? Sophie, rink, "Maybe in a couple days, ok, Sophie? I'll talk to Celestino tomorrow and I'll let you know then if you can come practice with me."
"Yay!" Sophie squealed, lighting up like a Christmas tree.
"You really think you can swing that, Violet?" Sonia thought, "We wouldn't want to impose like that."
"It's no imposition," I assured, "Sophie wouldn't be the only one to have Celestino instantly wrapped around her little finger. He's already wound pretty tight around mine. He'd do anything for me."
"It's true," Gene agreed, "I've seen it firsthand."
"Now," I finished my wine, "I really should be going. If I'm seeing Celestino tomorrow, I'm going to have to suck up and showing up on time can't hurt."
"Going already?" Sonia awed, "It feels like you just got here."
"I know," I rubbed my eye gently, making sure not to smear my eyeliner, "But I got a long day tomorrow. I should be getting to bed soon."
Sophie wrapped herself around my leg, "Don't go, Violet."
"She really has taken quite a shine to you," Gene smiled.
"Don't worry, Sophie," I promised, "I'll be back."
"Ok," she still didn't want to let go.
"Hey," I lifted her chin up, "We'll be going skating together soon. And if we're lucky, I'll see if I can get my boys in on it, too. I'm sure they're back in the swing of things."
"Ok…" Sophie gave me one last hug goodbye, "I'll miss you, Violet."
"I'll miss you, too, Sophie," I sent her off.
"You really can't stay just a little longer, Vi?" Sonia begged.
"Hard to tell where Sophie gets it from," I teased, "But yes. I need to get some sleep. That's one of those things I've been kind of neglecting lately."
"Fine," she hugged me tight, "It was really nice meeting you, though."
"You, too, Sonia," I couldn't hold back a smile if I wanted to, "Thank you for tonight. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't sorely needed."
"Any time you need to come back," Sonia promised, "You are more than welcome."
"When it's not being used as blackmail," I stuck my tongue out at her husband, "My place next time."
"Alright," Gene shooed me out the door, "Night, Vi."
"Night, Gene." And just like that, I turned on my heel and started heading for the nearest empty cab. It was time for little Violets to go to bed. But which bed does little Violet want to go to? I loved my own bed and there really was no place like home. But then, there was Mike. Not only would I get a wickedly comfortable bed, but I wouldn't have to sleep alone. Decisions, decisions.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
Where to, indeed, friend. Where to…I knew where to, "Uptown, please. The Rochester building."
"Nice place," he praised, "What's a girl like you doing there?"
"Going to bed, if it's all the same to you." Like it was any of his business.
I gave him his fare and headed up to the top of the building. The only thing I could think about right now was that giant bed that was going to swallow me whole. So nice to sleep on. So nice to nap on. Right after a big meal and a couple glasses of wine, it's all I wanted. I've had days of full on, balls to the wall practice that have worn me out less. Maybe all the sleep deprivation I used to be able to take is starting to take its toll.
Knock, knock.
"Well, well," a warm voice hummed on the other side of the door, "Look who came back."
"I'm really tired, Master," I laid my head on his shoulder.
Mike looked me over, "Tired, huh?"
"Uh-huh…" I turned on the innocence. Something in his tone sounded kind of pissed. Was it because I was in no condition to put out tonight? Or the more likely scenario, he's pissed that I'm still hanging around my ex. But Victor and I had more history than just our marriage. Maybe if I up my cuteness, it'll soften the blow.
"Well then," Mike scooped me up into his arms and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, "Let's get you to bed, shall we?"
Or maybe I was just overreacting. The way he held me in bed damn near knocked me out right on the spot. I curled into his embrace and shut my eyes. It made me wonder how things are going to be when I have to go on the road again and I'm out of the country.
A/N: So…Violet's crashing at Mike's. Dinner at Gene's was a success. Sophie is downright precious and has become Violet's little buddy. Now, before I go, I want to run something by you guys. Since you're all here from Adopted (If you haven't read Adopted by now…Why are you even here?), do you remember when I did the Victor chapters? Well, I really want to do another Victor chapter and I have a hell of an idea for one and I think I might do that next week. Either next week or week after. Would that be something you're cool with? Would you be into that? Either way, see you next chapter! xx