A/N: Hi, guys! So, I think I asked you this last week, if it was cool that I did a chapter or two from Victor's perspective like I did in Adopted (I miss Adopted…I miss those days…When things were still pure.). To no surprise, I've gotten approval. So, friends, here we are. It's a Victor chapter this week. If you're one of the weirdos that aren't too big on when I switch up the perspective, we'll resume to our regularly scheduled programming next week. But for those of us that love the occasional peek into Victor's day to day life when Violet's not around, let's continue on, shall we?

I see she came in early this morning. Again. What could Violet possibly be doing coming back home at seven o'clock in the morning? Hard night, maybe? Things weren't like they were when we lived in St. Petersburg. She couldn't go down to our practice rink in the middle of the night when she can't sleep. I doubt Violet even slept at her place last night. That is, if she slept at all. Between her hair being an absolute mess and her carrying her shoes, I couldn't pick a better poster child for a walk of shame.

Regardless, I couldn't worry about her right now. I still had two little boys to wake up and get to their practices. Let's see...Yurio does dance lessons, then skating practice, right? That sounded right. Waking him was never an easy thing for me. That was usually a Violet job. She had a natural talent for it, but I was getting better. And the oven mitts were for my protection. I said I was getting better, but that doesn't mean Yurio doesn't still bite.

"Yurio," I tiptoed into his bedroom and spoke softly to him, "It's time to wake up. You have a big day ahead of you. Before you know it, it'll be time for competition. But before you enter any sort of competition, you have to wake up."

"I don't want to," Yurio grumbled into his pillows, lazily reaching over to find one to throw at me, "Come back in twenty minutes. And I'm not Yuri. That early morning motivation line isn't going to work on me."

"Come on, Yurio," I sat at the edge of his bed, bringing his pillow back, "You have to wake up."

"Why?"

"Because," I had one ace in the hole. The one bluff I knew he would never call. Mostly because of the consequence, "If you don't get up, I'll have to have Mama come here and get you up."

"I miss Mama," Yurio started coming around, "Get her."

At least I never thought he'd call my bluff. I had no idea what kind of shape she was in from last night. By the looks of her, she was still out of it and odds are, she's going back to bed. Dammit, Yurio. You weren't supposed to want her to come over, but I understood where he was coming from, "I miss her, too. But I don't think she's even awake yet. Besides, you'll probably see her a lot next week."

"Good," he rolled back over, attempting to go back to sleep.

"No," I pulled him back, "Wake up, Yurio."

Bite.

There it is. It's a good thing I did get the oven mitts. Yurio's jaw strength was incredible. He took a few more chews on the oven mitt, "It tastes different than usual."

"Does it?" I wondered, trying to think of what it could possibly be, "Uncle Chris might have done laundry and threw them in. And unless you want him to come and get you out of bed, you'll do it now."

"FINE!" he snarled, getting out of bed on his own, "That was low, Victor. Not cool."

"Uncle Chris loves you and you know it."

"Yeah," Yurio scoffed, shuffling toward the bathroom, "A little too much. It's nauseating."

Oh, Yurio...So angry, but so precious. Like a chihuahua. But now that he was situated, I had one more stop to make for the morning. Just across the hall slept a lovable little piggy that melted my heart every time he woke up. Sometimes, this was the best part of my day. I slipped into Yuri's bedroom and sat on his bed with him. This boy wouldn't want to move much either, but at least he was easier than his brother.

"Yuri," I held a gentle tone with him, turning into a puddle when he curled up on my thigh, "I know you're tired, but you need to get up. We have work to do."

"Ok, Daddy," Yuri mashed his fist in his eye, slowly coming to. He blinked a few times and looked down at my hands, "Daddy, why are you wearing oven mitts?"

"Because your little brother gets scrappy in the morning," I giggled, helping Yuri out of bed, "You know that."

"What are the oven mitts going to do?"

"If he bites hard enough," I explained, getting his glasses down from his dresser, "He'll break the skin and I'm not in the mood for a tetanus shot today."

"Oh." Bless you for being so simple, Yuri.

Alright. I had my boys taken care of. They were more than capable of getting themselves ready. Now, I could stand some coffee. Coffee sounded like a damn good idea. I turned the pot on in the kitchen and got my usual cup. Nothing too extravagant. If I remember correctly, Violet got this for me a long time ago. I want to say we were in Ger...man...y...? Maybe? Berlin? Could've been. Good times...

"Good morning," a familiar kiss made its way to my neck.

"Morning," I smiled a bit. Chris always knew, didn't he?

"Are you alright, Vitya?" he jumped up onto the counter, "You seem off."

"It's nothing," I shook him off, "What's today?"

"Friday, I think," Chris took his own cup from the cabinet, "One more day before Malta. Anything we need to get done?"

"I think we're good," I ran over the checklist in my head. Our bags were packed. The boys were taken care of. Makkachin would be taken care of. We had our tickets. One final thing popped into my head, "I have an appointment today. You don't have anything going on, do you?"

"I have to get to practice," he jumped down, filling his coffee halfway, leaving room for his creamer, "Why?"

"Damn," I grabbed my phone off the counter, "I can't do Yuri's practice today and he needs to get a leg up now if he's going to get another gold this year."

"You worry too much," Chris pulled me to his chest, doing his best to calm me down, "Yuri will be fine. He has an excellent coach and a better father that believes in him when he can't believe in himself."

"But his coach is going to have to miss a practice," I scrolled through my contacts, getting to the C's.

"Victor?" a thick, Italian accent barked on the other end, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I assured, "Celestino, I need a favor."

"Of course," Celestino agreed, "What do you need?"

"Can you take Yuri today?" I asked, "Just for practice. I can get him to his dance lessons, but I have an appointment today that I completely spaced and I can't miss it."

"It's fine, Victor," he assured, "I can take Yuri. That's no problem. Besides, what harm could it do to have him practicing with Yurio?"

"Yurio's a little hostile this morning," I warned him, "Be careful."

"I know how to work him, too," Celestino chuckled, "Relax. Go to your appointment."

"Thank you, Celestino," I took a heavy sip from my coffee cup, "You're a lifesaver."

"Just out of curiosity," he wondered, "Why are you asking me, not Violet?"

"We talked about this," I grabbed a seat at the table, "Violet, as much as I love her, is in no shape to coach. She's got herself to worry about right now. Any more on her plate and she'd burn out fast. I'd love for her to take care of Yuri and Yurio, but she's stretched thin enough."

"You underestimate her," Celestino argued, "Violet can be pretty tough. But right now, I understand your apprehension. She'll probably be juggling their practices next week anyway, right?"

"Yeah..." I bit my lip, "But thank you for taking them both. Really, I appreciate it."

"It's no problem," he promised, "I should be there shortly."

"Ok," I nodded, "See you soon."

"Bye."

Click.

Good. That's taken care of now. One less thing to worry about. This is why I liked having Celestino around. For the days when I can't coach Yuri like today. I did have an appointment to get to, though. Once the boys were ready to go, the four of us went out into the hall and started heading downstairs. However, on the way out, we ran into someone I didn't expect to see so early.

"Morning, Victor," Violet came down the hall with us, "Chris, Yuri, Yurio."

"Mama!" Yurio didn't hesitate. He jumped right into his Mama's arms.

"Mama!" Yuri wrapped himself around her leg. I guess those boys did miss her.

"Hi, babies!" Violet hugged them tight. Strange. When I saw her this morning when I came back from the gym, she looked like death warmed over. Now, she was so...put together. Was I just imagining things? No. There's no way. Violet, as much as I loved her and as adorable as she is, looked like absolute shit this morning. I've always heard about vitamin B being good for hangovers, but I never knew it to be so instant, "Where are we off to this morning?"

"Practice," I told her, "What about you?"

"Dance lesson," she reported, "If I'm late, Madame would kill me. She's already pissed that I missed one yesterday. Victor..."

"So, I wanted to hang out with my best friend yesterday morning," I shrugged, "Sue me. I cleared it with Madame first and she told me she was fine with it."

"Well," Violet threw her bag over her shoulder, "She's probably going to work me twice as hard now. Thank you very much."

"Blaming me, are we?" I glared, "Do you remember why we had to have yesterday morning?"

"What happened, Mama?" Yurio asked, laying his head on her shoulder, almost going back to sleep.

"Don't worry about it, Yurio," I stopped him before Violet could say anything.

"Is it because of Mama's new boyfriend?" Oh, out of the mouths of babes...

"Mama's got a new boyfriend?" Yuri squeaked, "Since when?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Violet clarified, "The man you saw the other day is just a friend of mine, Yurio. He's not involved in this."

"Mama's just been a little overworked lately," I covered, not needing to see Violet get cornered by our boys, "Nothing to worry about."

"By the way, Violet," Chris chimed in, a dirty grin on his face, "That's a very pretty choker you're wearing."

"Oh," Violet turned bright red, "Thanks. It was a present."

"Was it now?" He knew something. He only got that look when he knew more than he was letting on. And with Violet blushing so hard, it made me curious, "Whoever gave it to you has good taste."

"I should be going," she swept everything under the rug, "See you later, guys."

The boys ran ahead to catch up with Violet and I pulled Chris aside, "What do you know?"

"Me?" he couldn't wipe that smile off his face, "Whatever do you mean, Victor? What would I know?"

"Christophe," I scolded him, "Tell me. You know something. Don't try to hide it. What's going on with Violet that I don't know about?"

"Oh, Victor," Chris held my hand, "Have you never heard that ignorance is bliss?"

"Christophe..."

"Isn't that something you should be asking Violet, not me?" he wondered, "I thought you two were best friends. Like, the kind that stay up late during slumber parties and all that."

"Christophe..." If we were any closer to a window, he'd be pushed out of it.

"Alright, alright," Chris caved, "I'll tell you, but don't tell Violet I told you."

"Swear."

"I'm assuming she's told you about Mike," he began.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I actually met him yesterday."

"Really?" Chris beamed, "And what did you think about him?"

"Good looking man," I thought, "Seemed like a decent person. Obviously likes Violet. I don't think he'd treat her badly."

"Oh, Victor, Victor, Victor..." he blushed, "If you only knew."

"Get on with it!" my patience wore thinner.

"She hasn't called him her boyfriend, has she?" Chris asked.

"No," I shook my head, "Not yet anyway."

"How did she say they met?"

"Met him at a club," I remembered, "You were there when she told me!"

"I know," he nodded, "But I want to hear you say it."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I rolled my eyes, "I'm failing to see the connection here, Chris. If you could fill in the blanks here, I'd really appreciate it."

"Mike isn't the type to do a serious relationship," Chris explained, "He's usually a one-night stand type. Although, once in a while, something comes across his field of vision that he wants to hold onto for a while. Whether it's because they're attractive or they had an emotional connection or they're fantastic in bed or whatever the reason."

"Wait a minute," I cut him off, "How do you know him?"

"That's a tale for another day," he went on, "But another thing about Mike. What's something you noticed about his personality?"

"Well..." I thought back, "He did say he wanted to talk to Violet privately. Private person?"

"You would think," Chris had a spark of mischief in his eyes, "But no. It's more...territorial than private."

"What do you mean?" I felt a knot start taking shape in my stomach. Tell me Violet didn't do something stupid...My Violet is too smart for that.

"That choker around her neck," he pointed out, "That's not just any choker. I bet my next winnings check that Mike gave her that."

"What makes you say that?"

"You didn't catch her in the collar yesterday, did you?" Chris grinned.

Dammit...She did. I still continued to play ignorant, "No. Why would she be in a collar?"

"Oh, Vitya," he pulled me to his hip, "You're so lucky you're so pretty sometimes. Do you know why she won't call him her boyfriend? Because he's not her boyfriend. He's her dom. That choker is a more casual sign of his ownership. It's kind of like a wedding ring, but with kinkier connotations. Violet's more of a minx than we give her credit for. And if Mike's keeping her around, she's taken to submission like a duck to water."

Dammit, Violet. You've always been so independent. Why now? Why would you do something like this? I know you've been a little fragile lately, but to bend so easily to someone else's whims like this? That would explain some things. The late nights, her trips to Cosmos (where I'm guessing is where she met Mike), why she's been drinking so much lately. She's using him as a crutch and he's sucking it all up like a sponge.

"He..." I turned very quiet, "He wouldn't make her do anything too dangerous, would he?"

"No," Chris assured, "Mike's activities are usually pretty tame. As long as she behaves herself, things should go pretty smoothly."

If she behaves herself...Violet's mouth has gotten her in trouble a time or two before. There's no telling what would set this guy off. And with her high-risk career back in full swing, if he laid a hand on her in a way the rest of us would likely kill him over, there'd be no way to tell what was from her falling from skating or what was because of him. No. I'm overthinking this. From what I understood, he's not going to hurt her unless she asks for it. Or, in this case, begs. But I don't see Violet as the masochistic type. Then again, I never thought she'd ever do something like this, yet here we are.

I split off from Chris and the boys and started heading uptown. I still had an appointment to keep. I walked into a very nicely decorated office that I've seen the walls of a dozen times before and waited for this meeting to get underway. It made this a hell of a lot easier that the beautiful woman I was here to see looked a lot like Violet did after her first year in Russia with me. Long, soft, brown hair, legs for days, a little bit of an attitude that kept everyone on their toes...I missed those days.

"Hello, Victor," her soft, sweet voice chimed.

"Hello, Morgan," I smiled, "Always lovely to see you."

"It's too bad we had to meet under these circumstances," Morgan admitted, "But we're not here to talk about that. How are you?"

"Well..." my facade broke, "Not as good as what I'd like them to be."

"Let me guess," she assumed, "Violet?"

"Yeah," I let out a heavy sigh, "Violet. I did give her your number, though. I hope that's ok."

"That's fine," Morgan allowed, "Now, what seems to be the problem? Is your relationship with her on the rocks?"

"In a way," I confessed, "She's been going off the rails lately. She's been drinking herself stupid. She's out late every night. This morning, I came back from the gym in my building and saw her going into her condo at seven o'clock looking like she had been through the wringer. And now, I just found out about the guy she's seeing being a dominant type. I'm...I'm worried about her. I don't want her to get hurt, you know?"

"I understand," she nodded, "And what about you? What's going on in your life?"

"Chris and I are leaving for Malta tomorrow morning," I started to settle down a bit.

"And you're going to leave Yuri and Yurio with Violet, right?"

"Well," I bit my lip, "With the way she's been lately, I'm thinking about leaving them with Celestino instead. I know Violet is fully capable of taking care of the boys. I have no doubt in my mind. But given what I found out this morning and with Violet's head being on a little crooked these days, I'm torn. For now, I don't want Mike around my boys. Yurio has apparently met him, but it was only brief. They're still young and they don't need to see that. It's bad enough they're going to see Violet's program this season and from what I understand, she'll be doing everything but taking her clothes off. Unless she's doing that, too. I don't know."

"Look, Victor," Morgan settled me, "Do you love your boys?"

"Absolutely." The one thing in my mind I never had to doubt.

"And where do you think they're going to say when you ask them where they want to stay once you and Chris leave for Malta?"

"Violet, no question," I confirmed.

"Do you think she'll be able to take care of them?"

"I know she can," I assured, "But like I said, I have no idea where her priorities lie these days. One minute, she'll be more than happy to take the boys, but the next, she might decide she needs to go out, get shitfaced, beg her dom to get her off, and come home at three in the morning, if she comes home at all. I don't ever want to put Yuri and Yurio in the position where they don't know if Mama's coming home or not."

"Does she love them?" Morgan asked, scribbling her notes down.

"She does," my heart swelled at some of the happier memories we've had together. Every birthday, every Christmas...It warmed me on the inside.

"Then, they should be fine," she assured, "Your cautiousness isn't exactly unwarrented, but I'm sure Yuri and Yurio will be fine. You're just like any other new parent leaving their baby at home for a significant period of time without you being there."

"I don't know," I mulled it over, "I'm still a little uneasy."

"There's always the option of asking Celestino to check in while you're gone," Morgan suggested, "It's not like Violet doesn't see him every day anyway. He could be in and out of there completely undetected."

"And Violet wouldn't know the difference," I approved, "Alright. We can do that. Morgan, you're a genius. Were I an unmarried man, I might take you away instead."

"Victor, you flatter me," she awed, "But I don't play for your team. You don't play for mine."

"I know," I giggled a little, catching a glance at the sunset picture on her desk, "And how is Elizabeth doing?"

"Just fine," Morgan reported, "I had to take care of her last night, though. She had to put a couple dogs down yesterday and it broke her poor little heart."

"Send her my love and my condolences," I empathized.

"I will," she promised, "I think we're done here. If it's at all possible, I want you to see if you can get Violet to me somehow. I'd love to talk to her and pick her brain apart a little bit."

"It'll take an act of God," I jabbed, "But I'll try. I've dragged Violet out tooth and nail before. I'm sure I can do it again."

"You do have that kind of charisma," Morgan agreed, "Enjoy Malta. Truly enjoy it. No worries. You can always call Violet to check in or if you're not comfortable with that, call Celestino. Or even Yuri and Yurio directly."

"No," I shook my head, "I don't like fishing for information from them. It's not right."

"Alright," she let it go, "And I want to see you when you come back, ok? I want to hear about the trip. Malta's a beautiful country."

"I will," I nodded, "Thank you, Morgan. You're a saint."

"I'm no saint," Morgan giggled, "Just your therapist."

I checked out with her receptionist and set off for home. At least I thought I'd go home. Yuri was still at practice and Celestino had a handle on both boys. It wouldn't kill me to go to the rink myself. Just a little something to clear my head. Although, my last hour with Morgan was supposed to do that. She could only get me so far, though. Not that I'm doubting her. Morgan truly was a saint in these dark times. However, nothing could get me all the way there like a good run.

I skipped over to the quiet skating rink at Coney Island for nostalgic purposes. Yuri's birthday came to mind. And Violet's Lady Marmalade routine making its debut on the ice. That was a fun trip. We needed to do that again sometime soon. Regardless, I needed to get a good run in me. One was all I needed and everything would be fine again. I could already feel it working once I slipped on my rental skates.

Let's see...Do I put my playlist on shuffle and let it go from there or do I pick something? Nothing seemed to capture my current mood quite right. Shuffle, it is. It started out with an instrumental that I knew was from some video game Violet played (and in turn, Yurio), but it was only a piano. But it was slow and heartbreakingly beautiful. There was a strange melancholy in it. So, I started to pick up my speed.

A few spins here and there. A couple jumps. No. This won't do. This wasn't right. As much as I was loving it, this song wasn't working for me. It wasn't giving me the purge of my soul I was hoping for. Sorry, Mr. Kondo. Not today. Maybe some other time. After scrolling through a few more songs that weren't hitting me right, I found a familiar solace in a song I skated for Violet in my last season.

Oh, Vanilla Twilight. You put me back in a place that I longed for terribly. This song always reminded me of Violet. The lyrics were very spacy and despite our marriage only being a cover, I still loved her. I could spend hours getting lost in those big, beautiful eyes of hers. Like the stars in the sky found themselves there at the end of the day.

That day, when I skated this for her, I remember being in tears on the ice. But subtly. I didn't need the cameras catching that close up. I missed her so damn bad. Skating without her didn't feel right and knowing she was giving up so much for me to be able to do this tied me in knots. But the fact that I could care about someone so much to put me into that kind of situation...Such a beautiful feeling. Sure, it was melancholy, but I let it crash over me instead of consume me. And I went out with one of my best performances to date.

Maybe...Maybe I should come back to this. Skating has been one of the few things in my life that has ever made perfect sense. Not to mention, it's a hell of a way to get some of this weight off my chest. Dare I say it? I think I may want to make a comeback. The season has yet to start. I bet if I ask Yakov really nice, he'll take me in again...It's a thought.

A/N: Oh, yes. It is, indeed, a thought. I like this chapter. We got to play in Victor's head. This poor baby needed to vent something fierce and I'm here for it. I'm sure he talks to Chris for things, but now we know why Victor had that number to give to Violet when he told her to see a professional. She had the highest review on Yelp. I don't know. But now, he's giving his career another thought. Sure, Victor's retired now, but…maybe not. Semi-retired? He could stand to be a bit selfish, too. It's still up in the air, but I'm sure Malta will be good for him. See you next chapter! xx