A/N: If you're reading this, then assume I'm currently in an undisclosed location being subjected to many CDC tests that may or may not include being attacked by a swarm of bees. No…I just being silly. In actually, I'm currently in upper Michigan, spending some time with the extended family and I miss you all horribly. I may or may not also have another slight surprise for you later, if I can find the time to do it. So, for now, I'm going to shut up and let you read this week's surprise chapter, ok? *Victor style wink*
"Ow!" Yurio winced, "Mama, that hurts."
"Sorry, baby," I apologized, pulling his hair a little too hard, damn near breaking the brush, "How do you end up somewhere with so much wind?"
"I was hot," he shrugged, "So, I stood in front of a fan."
"Yuri," I giggled, "You're too much. Did you know that?"
I just wanted to hug him right in the middle of the locker room. However, we had things to do. The hug could wait. Yurio still squirmed more than what I'd like, but he's a spastic little boy. I can't expect him to sit still for long, "I hate getting ready for these things, Mama."
"I know," I empathized. But it could've been much worse. When I was still skating, Celestino had an entire team for me. Yurio just had me. Simplicity, "I always hated it, too."
"Could you not have entered me in toddler beauty pageants instead?" he pouted, "It would've been just as much torture."
"You act like I'm shoving bamboo splinters under your fingernails," I teased, finishing off the intricate braiding on the side of his head, "You asked for this, kid. You wanted me to teach you to skate. You wanted to compete. I warned you about what that entailed."
"I know," Yurio grumbled, "But we're missing Otabek's performance. I like watching him skate."
"But...?" There was something bothering him. I could tell.
"But he's so good," his confidence was completely rattled. That was why we didn't watch anyone else except for Yuri's. That's his brother. He can manage that much. But any of the other skaters? They broke him.
"Not as good as you, though," I hugged him tight.
"Mama..." Yurio let out a heavy sigh, "He's really good."
I saw a look in my baby's eyes that I never expected to see. In Yuri? Yes. In Yurio? Never. The little boy that was so fired up to do this in the first place all those months ago. My sweet, little baby that was ready to kick ass and take names. My son that had the most awful nightmare. And he was scared. He was shaken to his core. And all because of one other skater.
"Yuri," I cradled him against my chest, "Relax. Who's my little warrior?"
"I am," he spoke weakly.
"Come on," I poked at his hip, "Who's my little warrior?"
"Me..."
"Who's Mama's dovahkiin?"
"I am!" Yurio squeaked.
"That's my boy!" I beamed, "You ready?"
"Do I look ready?" he asked.
"You did at practice this morning," I took his hand, "You do know you do that routine better than Victor did, right?"
"I did?" If that wasn't going to get him amped up again, nothing will. Yurio loved nothing more than hearing he was a better skater than Victor.
"Yeah," I nodded, "I skated with Victor many, many times, but you were a lot smoother."
"Really?" Yurio grinned, "You think I'll be able to win this round, too?"
"Don't worry about winning," I coached him, hearing Celestino's voice come out of my mouth, "You're here to dazzle the crowd, tesoro. And if anyone can do it, it's you."
"What's tesoro?" he gave me a confused look.
"I'm sorry, baby," I chuckled a bit to myself, "Some of my coach was coming out in me. It's darling in Italian. Do you remember Celestino? You were pretty young when you two met."
"No," Yurio shook his head.
"You'll see him again," I sat him on my shoulders, "You want me sing your music again?"
"If it's not too much trouble," he rested his head on mine.
"Never."
Although, I hated that a lot of people were paying more attention to me than Yurio. Maybe I could take a mic away from the rink. No. I had to be there for him. I couldn't leave him out there by himself. Sure, he'd have Victor, but Yurio wouldn't see it that way. He'd be out there, alone and terrified and I'll be damned if I put my baby through that.
As Otabek was finishing his routine, it was Yurio's turn. We had the luck of drawing second again. But I knew Yurio was going to go out and do amazing. Yuri, I was a bit worried about. He was going to be the one to close and he's going to put more pressure on himself. Yuri under extreme pressure isn't exactly pretty. Hopefully, Victor had some sort of remedy for that or Yuri's going to bomb.
"Yuri," Otabek stopped him as we made our way out.
"What?" Yurio jumped down his throat.
"Davai..."
He wasn't sure how to take that. It was all over his face. Was Otabek trying to get in his head or was that genuine? Yurio turned a bright shade of red. Unable to speak, he just gave him a thumbs up and got on the rink. My poor, socially awkward baby. But he'd be ok. Once he gets on the ice, Yurio will be perfectly fine. He'll be at ease.
"Alright, Yuri," I kissed his cheek, "Go make Mama proud and Yakov envious."
"Yes, Mama." That put a big ass grin on his face. I'm sure if Yurio had the opportunity I had, he'd jump. My babies could be scrappy. Yurio more so than Yuri, but Yuri's thrown down, too. But Yurio was my little warrior for a reason.
I started the song and Yurio started his routine. In the beginning, it did get him to relax a little more, but he started to get tired halfway through. Not good. We had a double axel in the middle that he needed to land perfect and a triple toe loop to wrap it up. Yurio scored the double axel, but he fumbled the last jump. I caught Yakov out of the corner of my eye with a dirty smirk on his face. He never liked when Yurio would go for triples during practice because he knew he wouldn't be able to land it. And right now, he just proved his point.
However, Yurio's score wasn't half bad. 88.43 beat Otabek's 86.63, so Yurio had that going for him. Regardless, I was still proud of him. He still went out there and dazzled the crowd. Just like his mama. It's times like these where I wish I still had Celestino here. He'd know what to say, what to do. We had one more performance before Yuri went on. Some kid from Thailand skating to some song from a movie that came out ages ago. He wasn't half bad either. And cute as a button! But then again, that was all of the kids at these things.
Yuri's turn finally came and I saw Victor coaching him a little way down from where Yurio and I were. Seeing those two together these days made my heart melt more than usual. Victor was a hell of a skater. Still is. But seeing him coach Yuri? Victor became a different monster. I'm sure he would've done the same with Yurio if I was back skating, but I couldn't leave my little dovahkiin in good conscience. He needed me.
91.01...
"He..." Yurio's face shattered, "He beat me..."
"That's going to happen, sweetheart," I sat him on my shoulders, "There's always the next one. I didn't always win gold at every competition I skated either. Did you do your best?"
"But it wasn't good enough."
"That's not what I asked," I shut that down quick, "Did you do your best?"
"I tried...":
"Did you enjoy yourself?"
"Yeah..."
"That's all that matters," I bounced him a little.
Yuri got his first gold and Yurio his first silver. Either way, we couldn't be prouder of them. I knew Victor was going to rub Yuri's gold in my face a little bit, but that's to be expected. What's a sport without a little bit of trash talk? There's a couch in the hotel, right? And that bed was awfully comfortable. And big.
As the four of us headed out, Victor had the biggest grin on his face. And it was perfectly understandable, "I'm so proud of you, Yuri! You won!"
"I did, didn't I?" I don't think it registered with Yuri quite yet.
When we made it to the lobby, I had a woman tap on my shoulder, "Excuse me..."
"Yes?" I stopped.
"Are you Violet Plisetsky?" she asked.
"Nikiforov," I corrected her, "But yeah. Why?"
"I saw you on the ice before the competition," the woman smirked. After that, eight different reporters flocked to us. That's weird. It's the first time they were here for me and not Victor. The little victories, I guess. If one could call it that.
"Violet!" one called out, "Are you coming back to figure skating?"
"The last time you were on the ice in Japan, you fainted. Care to comment on that?"
"Did the pressure finally get to you?"
"Are you coaching to make up for it?"
"Is it true you made Victor Nikiforov retire?"
"Vi," Victor took my hand, separating me from the crowd, "Come on."
Bless this man. No one could do crowd control like Victor and he knew how I felt about reporters. Unless they set something up with my coach beforehand, I wasn't going to say a word. All they'd do was make me anxious and that wasn't good before or after a competition. I just wanted to go back to my hotel and relax without being harassed. Was that too much to ask for?
"Damn vultures," I grumbled, throwing myself onto the bed, "Sorry, boys. You don't need to be subjected to that either."
"I've been getting it, too," Victor confessed, just as annoyed as I was.
"Maybe we should seriously consider hiding in plain sight," I suggested.
"Only when we go out," Victor agreed. Seconds later, his annoyance turned into joy, "Hey, Violet..."
"Victor," I let out a heavy sigh, "We're ordering room service. I'm in no mood to go out."
"That's not what I'm saying," he wrapped his arms around me, "Did you see where we're going next?"
"Where?" I laid my head on his chest.
"Barcelona..."
A/N: Do we remember the significance of Barcelona to Victor and Violet? Well, now you know where we'll be when we start bomb week up. Also, Otayuri. And a subtle introduction. If you picked up on it, you deserve a cookie. Now for the possible surprise. You may be getting a random one-shot soon. I felt like writing some sick!reader fic and I want to share that with you because I love you. But until June, see you next chapter! xx