Ah...Home sweet home. All that napping in the car cave Yurio a newfound fire. With all his extra energy he managed to produce naturally, Mama had to find it synthetically. If Victor wouldn't have woken me up, I'd be a little better off. However, that wasn't the case and I need to slam some Monster first.

"Alright, Yuri," I tied his skates, "What do you want to try tonight?"

"I want to try one of yours and Victor's routines," he demanded with such determination.

"Well," I thought it over, "You have been working awfully hard. And I didn't expect to see you pick up ballroom dancing so quickly."

"Please, Mama," Yurio begged, "I'm ready. I just know it."

"How about this?" I suggested, "I'll teach you a new singles routine."

"But...!"

"But," I scolded him lightly for cutting me off, "I will skate it with you. That way, you can get the feel of sharing the ice with someone. Because you've always skated alone, baby. It's a different monster when there's someone else there."

"Fine," he agreed, "We can do that."

"Fantastic," I queued up a song from an old routine Victor and I used to do in practice all the time, "When we're on the ice together, the goal is to not run into me, stay in sync, and try to keep up."

"Show me the routine first," Yurio leaned over the railing.

"Ok," I pushed the play button on the remote and the soft orchestral intro of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" echoed through the room. This routine would've been a hell of a lot easier if I had Victor here to help me through the jumps, but I'd have to muddle through. Yurio was too little to stand in for him. I guess I'd have to make it a singles routine on the spot.

When Victor and I got married, this was the song we ended our couples career on. We had gone to the courthouse earlier that afternoon (A simple ceremony. One would've expected actual diva Victor Nikiforov to have such a big spectacle of a wedding, but I told him no. And if that didn't piss my parents off. Then again, they didn't know I was even engaged until I came home with Victor on my hip. But on the day we decided to get married, we had a competition.) and our final routine was to "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". Still to this day, we consider that to be our first dance and it's been our song ever since.

Now, every time I skated to it, I couldn't help but think of him. I knew Victor didn't love me the same way I loved him. But we had a different kind of love. Something less physical and less passionate, but more unconditional. Like marrying a best friend, but those feelings never evolve past friendship. And we were both ok with that. Because I knew who he had the physical, passionate feelings for. And that's why Uncle Chris comes over once every month or so for games of Twister.

However, just when I think there was no one else I could love like Victor, a couple of little angels were dropped into our lives. That I couldn't help but love unconditionally. I knew we should've play favorites, but I had a softer spot in my heart for Yurio than what I did Yuri. Yurio and I had a few things in common other than our last name. As much as I love Victor, he's casted both of us aside for someone else. Yurio for Yuri and me for Chris. But I knew he still loved the two of us terribly. Just had a different way of showing it.

As the song came to a close, I skated over to the railing and grabbed my Monster can, downing the rest of it. I forgot how involved that routine was, "Well? Care to give it a try?"

"I don't know, Mama," Yurio backed off, "It looks awfully complicated."

"You can do it," I promised, "I know you can. Come on. I'm going to show you how to do this right."

"What do you mean?" I took his hand and started the music over.

"This is when you'd greet your audience," I explained, skating out to the middle of the rink with him, "This is the part when you get their attention. The key to winning gold isn't always the complexity or how elaborate your routine is, but this moment here. Win over the crowd, you'll win over the judges. Make them love you before you even start your routine. And with your cute, little face, it'll be impossible for them not to."

"You have to say that," Yurio giggled a little, "You're my mother."

"What do you think made me pick you?" I retaliated, pinching his little cheek, "That cute, little face of yours."

"Mama!"

"I'm sorry," I smiled, "Now...Before the lyrics start. Deep inhale...and begin."

And we started the routine all over again. But this time, it was different. I wasn't just showing Yurio how to do it anymore. Showing him how to do it for competition brought back a lot of feelings. An intense nostalgia wrapped itself around my throat, strangling me to the point of tunnel vision. But seeing Yurio doing it so flawlessly...And only after seeing it done once. Truly a sight to behold. He had gotten lost in it, too. And that's what made a great skater.

Once the song came to an end yet again, my eyes had sprung a leak. Not surprised, though. I missed this so much. The lights, the ice, the elaborate routines. This was where I was meant to be. But then again, I couldn't leave my boys. Any of them. No matter how much it hurt to hold on.

"Mama," Yurio took my hand again, "Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, baby," I wiped my eyes, "Don't worry about it. Just got a little emotional. I'm ok."

"That was a very clean routine, Violet," a voice boomed from the shadows, "Although, both of you, your last jump was a little sloppy on the landing."

"Thank you, Yakov," I smiled, bringing Yurio to the railing with me.

"I forgot you skated, too," Yakov shot glances over to Yurio, "So? Is your pupil going to train under me now?"

"Yes," I nodded, "With conditions."

"But..." Yurio squeaked.

"Yuri," I hushed him, "I'm at every practice. Every performance. Every competition. I'm there."

"Why?" Yakov scoffed, "It's not like he'll need you. He'll already have a coach."

"Yuri gets the occasional separation anxiety," I defended, "You want a good skater? You want your new champion? I stick around. Like it or not, he and I are a package deal, Yakov. If you want him, you're getting me, too. Not to coach me, but for me to continue coaching Yuri alongside you."

"Hmm..." he thought it over for a minute or two, "Alright."

"Yuri?" I looked down at him, "Thoughts? This is ultimately your decision."

"You're not leaving?" Yurio spoke softly.

"Of course not," I assured, "I promised you that I wouldn't."

"Good..." Completely out of nowhere, Yurio attack hugged my leg, not letting go any time soon.

"Wow, Violet," Yakov grunted, "It's almost as if you were his own mother."

"I am his mother," I confirmed, "Last time I checked."

"He's your son?"

"Victor's, too," I told, feeling Yurio tense up and cringe at the fact.

"What's your last name, Violet?" Yakov wondered.

"Currently?" I smirked, "Nikiforov. Used to be Plisetsky before Victor and I got married."

"Now, I remember you," the tumblers fell into place in his head, "What happened? You're a highly gifted skater, Violet. Why did you stop?"

"Him," I gave Yurio a little nudge, "And his older brother. I had two babies at home to take care of while Victor skated his last season."

"It's a shame," Yakov sighed out, "So much wasted talent. If you ever want to return to the circuit, Violet..."

"No," I turned him down, "That's done and over with. I couldn't do that anymore."

"Really?" he smirked, "Because from what I saw, you haven't lost a single step."

"That may be," I shut him up, "But I'm not going back to the circuit."

"Alright," Yakov let it go, "When do you usually begin your practices?"

"When this rink closes for the day."

"Nine o'clock tomorrow morning," he put his foot down, "You will be here. At the very least, he will."

"We can't do that," I rebuttled, "The following morning would be better. Yuri's sleep schedule is a little backwards lately. We'll need a day to get it back on track."

"Fine," Yakov allowed, starting to make his way out, "I will see you then."

I sat Yurio on the bench, took his skates off, and brought him home. It was getting late and I needed sleep just as much as the baby did. As I tucked Yurio in bed, doing my best not to wake anyone else, he curled into my side and rested his head on my hip. Usually he only did this when he was either just waking up or he was sick.

"Mama," Yurio let out a tiny yawn, "I don't know about Yakov."

"Look, baby," I set him down, pulling his quilt over him, "Give him a shot. Yakov is a very good coach. I bet you'll get to the Junior Grand Prix Final this year."

"You think so?"

"If you want," I pushed the hair out of his face, "I'll choreograph your routine. That'll be one of those surefire ways of bringing home gold."

"Ok," he snuggled down into his bed.

"Now, go to sleep," I kissed his forehead, "I'll get you up in a few hours."

"Why?" Yurio whined, "Why can't I sleep like I normally do?"

"Because," I reminded him, "In order for you to start training with Yakov, we need to get you on a human sleep schedule again. No more days are nights and nights are days."

"Fine..."

"Good night, Yuri," I blew him a kiss, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

I killed the light in Yurio's bedroom and walked across the hall. After the long, strenuous practice I had just done with him, a long, hot bath sounded like an excellent idea, but given the circumstances of said practice, I just wanted to crawl in bed with my husband. For however long we'd have left. Victor would probably be waking up soon anyway. But I just wanted to fall asleep in his arms.

When I went to get in bed with Victor, I noticed something off. Something more off than usual. Chris was laying in my spot with Victor's head on his chest. What the hell...? At least he had pants on, so there was no Twister going on. Whatever. At this point, I was too damn tired to care. Go ahead, Chris. Sleep in my spot. With my husband.

I grabbed a throw out of our closet and went to crash on the couch instead. I would've taken the guest room, but I knew who had been sleeping in there. I didn't want to think about what he did in there alone. Cringe. As I laid down on the couch and turned the TV on for some background noise, Makkachin jumped up next to me and nuzzled into my shoulder.

That was the thing about this particular poodle. He knew when he was needed. He truly was a friend. I gave him a little belly rub and shut my eyes. I wasn't going to want to wake up in a few hours to wake up Yurio and I'd stab a man multiple times to get a solid twelve hours of sleep, but it had to be done. I had to do it for him.

A/N: Ending it on a little bit of a melancholy note. But on the plus side, I'm getting better at this whole updating at a human hour! Good for me! Also, Makkachin is friend shaped. And so, Yurio's going to be training under Yakov after all. I do like how Violet basically, for lack of a better word, told Yakov where the bear shits in the woods. She's American. She's a little scrappy. And Yurio's a little scrappy, too. Must be something in the name. You don't mess with Mama's baby. See you next chapter! xx