Why, God? Why would you do something so cruel? Why would you plague my baby with wicked jetlag only to wake him just as he falls asleep? And on a day he has to compete? Not cool, man. Not cool. As much as it's going to kill me, I nudged the sleepy little tiger in my arms. I'm so sorry, Yurio. I wish it was different, but an unfortunate nature of the beast.

"Yuri," I spoke softly, "Wake up, baby."

"But I just went to sleep," Yurio snarled between his teeth. Oh, boy...

"I know, sweetheart," I empathized, "I totally feel your pain, but you have a competition to get to."

"I forfeit," he rolled over, "Let Piggy win again. Good night."

"No," I jostled him some more, "Come on, Yuri. I'm not letting you give up that easily. We still have to skate your special program. You still want to skate with me on a grand stage, don't you, dovahkiin?"

"Well, yeah..." I didn't like putting Yurio between a rock and a hard place like this. Playing low and dirty wasn't really my style, but as of now, it's a necessary evil, "But...Mama, I'm so tired."

"You can sleep before competition," I suggested, "If you situate your warmup bag just right on a bench in the locker room, it's rather comfortable."

"Is it really?" Yurio started coming around.

"I've been doing it for years," I swore, "It works like a charm."

"So," he sat up against the headboard, "I can still sleep through the competition except for when I have to skate?"

"Exactly."

Yurio thought it over for a minute or two, finally coming to a decision, "Fine. I guess I can make that work, too."

"Good," I kissed the top of his head, "Go on. Go get dressed."

"Ok," He slid down from the edge of the bed, making his first few crooked steps toward the bathroom. Oh, boy...And he has to skate today. Yikes.

Pound, pound!

"Violet!" a frantic voice called out from the other side of the door, "Aprire! Adesso!"

"I'm coming!" I sprinted to the door to find Celestino in a full-scale panic, "Morning, Coach. What's up?"

"You may want to sit down," Celestino began, "But I can't find Yurio. Have you seen him?"

"Yeah," I settled him, "Relax, Celestino. Yurio crashed with me last night. His jetlag wasn't doing him any favors, so he asked for my advice."

"Tell me you didn't say Ambien and a shot of whiskey."

"No!" I squeaked, "Maybe me in the old days, but never Yurio! Jesus, Celestino, give me a little credit! I'm not that stupid."

"If he stayed here then," Celestino wondered, "Where is he?"

"Bathroom."

"Yurio, hurry up!" he barked out, "We have to go and we have to go now! If we have any hopes of winning gold here, we need to get in some last-minute practice!"

"I'M COMING!" Yurio screeched, full on pissed. I remembered the feeling all too well. Celestino getting a little overly excited when I'm just waking up. It's hell. And with Yurio's current situation mixed with his natural angry personality, this won't end pretty.

"Yikes," Celestino rightfully cringed, "What bug crawled up his ass?"

"He's a little sleep deprived," I filled him in, "Please. Play nice."

"Let's go," Yurio angrily threw his bag over his shoulder, ready to collapse. Yeah. It's not going to take much to set him off today.

"Yurio!" Celestino mumbled curses under his breath in Italian, "What did I tell you? The most important thing you can do during competition is getting a good night's sleep!"

"I TRIED!" Yurio snapped. I'm pretty sure the whole floor could hear him.

"Yuri," I settled him, putting some distance between Yurio and Celestino, "Come on, baby. Tell you what. Why don't we go down to the rink and get some practice in, the two of us? Then, we can get you ready for competition, ok?"

"Ok," he pouted, in serious need of more sleep, "I'll be waiting outside."

"Alright," I sat back with a triumphant grin on my face while Celestino stared in awe.

"How?" he asked flatly, "How do you do that?"

"Victor says it's witchcraft," I giggled deliriously, "I just know how to work him. Once you figure that out, you're golden."

"Victor may be onto something," Celestino teased.

"Hey," I groaned, "Did you happen to bring any coffee with you, by chance?"

"I didn't," he winced, "I'm sorry, bambina. I didn't know you'd want some."

"Don't worry about it," I brushed him off, throwing my shoes on. As I was making my way out, I stopped in front of my grumbly grump son sitting on the floor outside the door, "Hey, I'm making a coffee run. You want anything?"

"Yes, please," Yurio nodded, almost asleep again. My poor baby.

"Ok," I kissed his little cheek, "I'll meet you at the rink, ok?"

"Ok..."

"Morning, Violet..." Oh, god. I know we buried hatchets in New York, but right now, he's the last one I need to see right now, "Is everything alright?"

"Yurio's jetlagged," I explained, "He's kind of a loose cannon right now, so I wouldn't get near his mouth."

"Why?"

"He bites," I chuckled, "You can ask Victor. He's broken skin. His left arm has a scar on it from him."

"Mama," Yurio looked up at the man standing next to me, "Is this that Doyle Wallace guy?"

"No," I lied for everyone's personal safety, "He's just a friend. Don't worry about it. What do you want me get for you?"

"Caramel coconut," he ordered, "Shot of espresso."

"You don't need..." I did one last assessment of Yurio's current state. He really is dead inside, "Alright. I got you."

"You're giving your son coffee?" Doyle wondered, questioning my parenting.

"Yeah," I nodded, "He's very tired and very jetlagged and he has a competition today. Care to join me?"

"I'd love to," he agreed, "But unfortunately, I need to go down to the rink and set my camera up. If I don't get any good action shots today, my editor will kill me. Not an exaggeration, but he will actually kill me."

"Well," I offered, "Do you want anything? I'll be bringing it to the rink anyway."

"No, thanks," Doyle smiled, "I really did have you all wrong, didn't I, Violet?"

"Don't feel bad," I giggled, "A lot of people do."

I walked down to the elevators and headed out the lobby. Coffee, coffee...I need a good coffee shop in London that's not too far from the rink, ideally. It's been years since I've been here, so I wasn't sure what's popped up and what's shut down. Luckily, I found a spot on the corner. Only a couple blocks away from the rink. It's going to be a good day. I mean, I still looked like a mess, but a mildly presentable mess.

"Good morning." That voice...I knew that voice, "Oh, hey! I know you!"

"Hi," I grinned, remembering that voice and those horribly calloused fingers, "William, right?"

"That's me," he confirmed, "And Violet, right?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded, "That's me."

"Where's your little friend?" William checked over the counter, "You two seem like you're inseparable."

"He's on his way to the rink with his coach," I told him, "They were looking to get in a little extra practice."

"Did he get any sleep last night?" he hoped.

"Maybe an hour or so," I bit my lip, "Why else would I be here?"

"A little young for coffee, isn't he?"

"Not really," I admitted, "He's not as young as you think. He's only nine, but I was drinking coffee at his age. And that's before I was competing."

"Alright," William let me go, "I won't judge. So, what do you need?"

"Two caramel coconut lattes," I ordered, "One double shot, one single."

"And you're giving him espresso?" he gasped, punching my order in, "Should I call CPS?"

"No," I assured, "The single's for him. The double's for me. I've seen pageant parents give their nine-year olds mixtures of Red Bull and Mountain Dew before. If you want someone to call CPS on, call on them."

"Yikes," Willian chuckled under his breath, "By the way, I get off in an hour. When's your little one's competition?"

"It's at two," I held back a smile. He remembered, "Will I be seeing you there?"

"Probably," he thought for a minute, "I'm sure I don't have anything else to do today."

"Awesome," I praised, "I'll see you there."

"Sure will," William finished up, putting the whipped cream on. One heavier than the other, "The single has extra whipped cream on it. He could probably use the sugar boost, too."

"Oh, he's dead inside," I awed, "Thank you, William. You're a saint."

"You're welcome," I dug around in my bag for some money to pay the man, "Oh, don't worry about it, Violet. I got it."

"No," I shook my head, finding my wallet, "I got it. I appreciate the sentiment, but I wouldn't feel right about it."

"Again," William was persistent, "Don't worry about it. I got it."

"Are you sure?" I still felt weird about it.

"Yeah," he brushed me off, "It's a couple pounds, Violet. It's not the end of the world."

"Ok," I let it go, taking the cups off the counter, "So, I'll see you at the rink then?"

"Sure will," William shot me a wink, "See you later."

"Bye," I like him. He's sweet. He understands I'm not in the position for a relationship, yet he still scores me coffee. God bless him. I walked off to the rink and looked around for my little angel. My little sleep deprived, cranky ass angel. Where are you, Yurio?

"No!" Found him, "I'm not doing it! Not yet!"

"What seems to be the problem?" I slid in, giving Yurio the Columbian gift from God.

"Celestino was trying to get me to practice without you," Yurio stood his ground, "I told him we were waiting for you, but apparently, you were taking too long."

"But I'm here," I announced, "Get some of that in you. William put extra whipped cream on it just for you."

"Yay!" Yurio popped the domed top on his cup and glomped down on the mound of fluff sticking out. That has to be my son. After all his whipped cream was gone, Yurio laid his head on my hip, "Mama…"

"Yeah, baby?" I wrapped my arm around him.

"I don't want to do this," his sleep deprivation was past the angry stage and into the tossing in the towel on life stage, "I want to go back to bed."

"I know, Yuri," I cradled him, "It's alright. It's just one competition. The first one on the road is always the hardest. We can do it, though. You and me. We're nothing if not a bit tenacious. And that's just out of spite."

"I know," Yurio mumbled into my side.

"You can nap in a little while," I promised, "Once that espresso hits, though, it'll be like you never needed sleep in the first place."

"Really?" he looked up at me.

"Trust me, sweetheart," I grinned, "Espresso makes jetlag disappear. It's your friend. Now, come on. Let's go skate Bubblegum. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah," Yurio pulled himself together and kept sipping down his latte. I may have created a caffeine addicted monster, but whatever gets him through. I'm sure one shot of espresso with his coffee isn't going to make his heart give out. He'll be fine.

Good old-fashioned Bubblegum Bitch. Definitely a catchy little tune. And I knew it would get Yurio all pumped up. Marina usually did. I know it did for me. We're going to going to hammer out a quick routine and everything would be just fine. Just one and he'd be able to go back out into the world, kick ass, take names, and chew…Well, bubblegum. And given my recent tryst with the media, I'd say I've become that bubblegum bitch.

"We did it!" Yurio folded over the partition, all energized and ready to go. This kid was ready to kill someone with his bare hands. Or skate one of the best routines of his life. Either one. We'll decide that on the way.

"Yes, we did," I hugged him tight, "I'm proud of you, baby. You've definitely grown since we first stepped on the rink together. And you didn't step on my feet!"

"And you didn't drop me!" Alright…The kid knows how to fire back. I'm impressed.

"Come on," I sent him off, "Let's go get you ready. Locker room. Now."

"Yes, ma'am!" I see the espresso's kicked in, too. Yeah. I've created a monster. Honestly, this was all I wanted. For this season to be me coaching Yurio while I still get to skate on the side. I just wanted to see my baby go on to do great things. But instead, I got too caught up in my own bullshit to even focus on his program. It's amazing what happens when I work with Yurio. It's centering, in its own special way.

"Violet," Celestino grabbed my arm before I had the chance to go to the locker room.

"Yeah, Coach?" Oh, shit. What did you do, Violet? What did you do wrong? Was it letting Yurio go for quads during practice?

Instead of a thorough ass beating, Celestino merely smiled, pulling me into his chest, "It's good to have you back. I missed you."

A/N: That last line gets me. Do you understand what that last line means? I do. Well, I hope so. I wrote it. But things are starting to look up for Violet. As long as they keep looking up, that's all that matters. And Celestino has come to notice that, too.

Now, for some real life business. I'll be up in Michigan next week, so we're going to have a canned update. Pray for me, friends. My last trip to Michigan wasn't pretty, so fingers crossed that this one is much, much better. Hopefully, we won't do what we did the time before last and take an extra week up there. You'll still be getting your update. Don't worry. I just thought I'd let you in on that. And as always, if you happen to see me (check Instagram for my face.), don't hesitate to come up to me. Chances are, I'll be thrilled and your virtual hugs can be redeemed. So, I'll see you next chapter! xx