A/N: Hi, guys…You doing ok? You want a cookie? Or a brownie? I made brownies the other day. They're mint chip brownies. And they're delightful. Granted, they came from a mix, but still good, nonetheless. Suspicious? I'm not acting suspicious. This is going to be a fine chapter. Everything's going to be fun and lighthearted and…and…You know I'm lying, don't you? You know that there are going to be moments in this chapter that aren't going to be nice and will slap you across the face with a freshly caught salmon. Keep that whole darkest before the dawn thing in mind, though. Because we'll get the dark, but we'll have the dawn, too. We'll be alright. Now, when you're ready, feel free to read on and we can talk later.

Fresh off Yuri's Junior Grand Prix win, the six of us went back to the hotel. Finally, the moment I've been dreading since Yuri got his medal. I can do this. Chris and Victor would be able to back me up on this. I'm not doing it completely alone. All I hope is this comes out with little to no bloodshed and the boys understand.

"I still can't believe I won," Yuri gasped, going through a minor existential crisis on our bed.

"I can't believe you beat me," Yurio pouted.

"Next year, Yurio," Celestino cheered him on, "If it's alright with your mama, I'd love to be able to coach you for next season when she can't."

"I appreciate the thought, Coach," I thanked, taking my own seat on the bed, "But Yurio and I are a package deal. I'm his only coach. And you're going to have your hands full with another skater next season!"

"True," he threw an arm around me.

"Thanks, Mama," Yurio curled up in my lap, "You'll really never leave?"

"Actually, Yurio," I let out a heavy sigh, "Your father and I need to have a little talk with you and Yuri. Celestino, could we have a minute?"

"Sure," he allowed, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I brushed him off, "Don't worry about it."

"Ok," Celestino gave me a little kiss on the top of my head and left us to our devices.

"What is it, Mama?" Yuri asked.

"Well, boys..." I tried to mentally prepare myself for this, but there was nothing that could. I might as well just spit it out, "I hate to do this to you after your Junior performances, but your father and I are getting a divorce."

"What?!" Yurio screeched while Yuri was shaking on the other side of me.

"Listen, baby," I put my hand on his shoulder, but Yurio shook me off, "I understand why you'd be upset."

"You made a promise to me, Mama," his voice broke...along with my heart, "You said you'd never leave me. And now, you're going to leave me with him? Of all people?"

"Yurio," Victor stepped in, "Hear her out. She's not leaving you."

"Is that not what a divorce is?" Yurio snarled, "You two split up, Mama leaves?"

"Listen to me, sweetheart," I held him against my chest, never wanting to let him go, "I promised you I'd never leave you. This divorce is between Victor and me."

"But we're going to have to deal with the fallout," he pointed out.

"There isn't going to be any fallout," I swore, scooping Yuri up, too, "Because I'm not going anywhere. In fact, our divorce is going to be a good thing for all of us."

"Why?" Yuri was skeptical, but hopeful.

"You guys like it here, don't you?" Victor wondered.

"Yeah," Yurio nodded, sharing his brother's skepticism.

"How would you feel," I smiled, "about moving to New York?"

"We're leaving Russia?" Yuri looked up at me, then over at Victor, "Are we really?"

"That's right, Yuri," Victor took him off my hands, "And that's not all. We're going to have a new apartment and Mama's going to have a new apartment."

"At my apartment," I knew this was getting Yurio. It had to, "When Auntie Nat sends Makkachin, she's also going to send a little tiger cub named Nadya to come live with me."

"I'm getting my kitten!" Yurio's face lit up. Yep. I got him.

"That's not the only new roommate we're getting," Victor bit his lip. I knew this was going to be hard on him. He knew how Yurio felt about Chris and since the boys were going to still live with Victor, this could possibly be like a nuclear bomb, "Instead of Mama living with us, Uncle Chris is going to move in."

"Really?" Yurio's smile went away.

"It'll be an adjustment," Chris chimed in, "But I think we can do it."

"Yay!" Yuri jumped into Chris' lap.

"I'm glad you think that, Yuri," he snuggled him, "It will be like when I come to visit, only longer."

"Does this mean I get to have a successful lock on my door?" Yurio kept his fingers crossed.

"You don't need a lock," I promised, "Don't worry, Yurio. I'll still be around. Besides, I'm pretty sure that both Victor and Uncle Chris are afraid to wake you up."

"I still have the scar to prove it," Chris chuckled, tracing the little crescent scar on his hand.

"Oven mitts," Victor suggested, "Oven mitts work like a charm."

"Or being me," I hugged my baby in my lap, "You wouldn't bite me, would you, dovahkiin?"

"You're smart enough to keep your hands away from my mouth," Yurio laid his head on my chest, "Those two aren't."

"Witchcraft," Victor claimed, "I swear it's witchcraft."

"So," I brought it back, "What are you guys thinking? You think you can do this?"

"Definitely!" Yuri squeaked. He always did have a soft spot for Chris.

"I guess," Yurio grumbled, "Only if I still get to see you."

"Of course you will," I kissed his cheek, "Every day. I still have to coach you, don't I? We're not taking second next year. We're coming for Yuri's gold medal and Victor's records. We've had this conversation."

"But Mama," he thought, "You have your comeback to worry about."

"And that's for me to worry about," I clarified, "You need to bring Mama home a gold medal. You worry about that."

"Ok," Yurio curled up into a little ball, "Mama..."

"Yeah, baby?"

"Since our special program is tomorrow," he suggested, "Will you skate Primadonna with me?"

This kid was going to be the death of me. I swear to God...Both Yurio and I knew his Primadonna set like the backs of our hands. That was our first practice song. We made a whole routine for it for fun. But I knew Yurio was a better skater now than when he first started. During our battle the day before his first competition, I couldn't go easy on him for the sake of my pride. I had a better idea.

"No," I said, "I'm not skating Primadonna with you."

"Please?" Yurio begged, "I want to skate Primadonna, but I don't want to do it by myself!"

"You're better than that, Yurio," I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and scrolled through my phone for one specific song, "Here. Put your headphones in. Listen to this. Learn it. Feel it. If we're going to do your special program together, this is what we're doing. Trust me. We'll bring down the house."

"Ok," he nodded, "As long as we get to skate together again."

"What is it, Violet?" Victor wondered.

"Not telling," I had a dirty little grin on my face. This was going to be Yurio's and my swan song/my reintroduction into the skating world. Like I was going to tell anyone other than Yurio, "I'll talk to Celestino and see if he can get us some alone time on the rink tomorrow morning to practice for tomorrow night, ok?"

"Ok," Yurio let out a tiny yawn, "But for now, can I go to sleep?"

"Sure, sweetheart," I laid him on the bed.

"Violet," Victor asked, "Are you busy tonight?"

"You know I'm not," I gave him a look, "Why?"

"Because," he smiled, "I have Celestino watching the boys tonight."

"I thought you weren't doing that," Chris chimed in.

"No," Victor shook his head, "I'm too committed."

"Where are we going, boys?" I asked, tucking Yurio in.

"It's a surprise."

That didn't make me worried. Not at all. This made me more nervous than telling the boys about our divorce. My slightly spastic future ex-husband/my best friend in the whole wide world...Especially when he was with Chris. Those two liked to gang up on me when it came to overly elaborate surprises. I had a feeling this wouldn't be any different.

I put my little boys to bed and went down to the lobby to hit the streets of New York with my big boys. God only knows what they were up to. I guess if I was keeping Yurio's special program to myself, Victor can keep his secrets, too. This felt just like the good old days. Fresh off competition in New York with Chris and Victor. I missed this...What I didn't miss was being completely mobbed by reporters in the lobby.

"Violet!"

"Violet!"

"Are you really coming back to competitive figure skating?"

"Who's going to be coaching you?"

"What can we expect from you this upcoming season?"

"Will it be anything like the video?"

"Can we get an interview?"

"Will you be couples skating with Victor Nikiforov?"

"Does your comeback mean you're no longer going to be coaching Yuri Plisetsky?"

"Are you two splitting on good terms?"

"No comment on anything for now," I tried to weasel my way out of the crowd, "Please. Can I go now?"

Somehow, we managed to get out alive and without any battle scars. I loved the feeling of the bright lights on my skin. I loved the coolness coming from the ice. I loved the roars of the crowd and the adrenaline buzz they gave me. But the press? The vultures they are? Not so much. Wait a minute...What video?

"Are you alright, Violet?" Victor checked me over.

"I will be," I promised, "What video do you think they were talking about? The one that guy got of us?"

"Probably not," he bit his lip, "Regardless of our divorce, you still love me, right?"

"Victor," I glared a hole through him, "What did you do?"

"Some of that might have been my fault," he cringed, "Answer the question."

"I don't know if I still love you," my blood boiled, "It all depends on what you did."

"Do you remember on Yuri's birthday," Victor sang, "and I kind of bullied you into doing Lady Marmalade on the ice?"

"Victor," I took a healthy step away from him for his own protection, "What did you do?"

"I might have posted the video after Yuri won," he braced himself, "And it might have already gone viral."

I did a little bit of deep breathing to calm myself down, "I'm going to kill you now. With one of my skates. I'm going to use the blade and cut your ass."

"Violet," Chris pulled me into his chest, holding me back, "Relax...It's been done. There's no going back. No sense dwelling on it."

"Doesn't mean I can't still kick the crap out of Victor for doing it in the first place!" I snapped, "Why did you post Lady Marmalade?"

"I would've put that video on the fridge if I could," Victor defended, "And I thought it would've been a nice way to announce your comeback."

"That was one of those things," I ranted, "I wanted to do on my own terms! That was for me to do, not you!"

"Violet, listen," he tried to settle me down, "It was just a video. I didn't realize that people were going to react that way. And you said you wanted to announce your comeback after the competition."

"Not seconds after!" I growled.

"Come on," Victor took my hand (because that's the only way to keep it from going around his throat right now), "I have something I want to show you that I think will cheer you up and help you forget about this whole mess."

"What?" I pouted.

"You'll see."

Victor, Chris, and I ended up in a familiar, little corner of Williamsburg that I happened to be at earlier in the evening. This took me back. Even after I started skating, I'd still come to see burlesque shows with my boys. These girls worked too hard not to be appreciated. What we were doing here now was beyond me.

Stranger yet, once we got inside the club, Victor managed to slip Chris and me. I gave him a quick poke, "Chris, where'd our husband go?"

"I thought he was with you," Chris assumed.

"You know we can't leave him unattended," I groaned. Victor was always the type to start chasing a pretty butterfly or a balloon and end up on a busy freeway at rush hour.

"I know," he sat down, "But I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere."

"Either on the six o'clock news or the most wanted list," I joked. But in all seriousness, despite me being a little pissed off at him, I was worried. Victor didn't just fall off the map like that.

But before we knew it, the lights were going out and the emcee was walking on the stage. The full house we had broke into a raucous applause, taking me back even further. The hits of nostalgia just kept coming and coming. A couple of tears fell from my eyes and Chris took notice.

"Violet?" he worried, "Are you ok? He'll be back."

"It's not that," I wiped my cheeks, "It's just...This is where our story began. You, me, and Victor when I was up there and I used to be Lady Marmalade."

"You're still Lady Marmalade, mon ami," Chris held my hand, "Deep down. And I'm not the only one who's seen it."

"How many views does the video have?" I asked.

"Hold on," he checked his phone, "A little over three million."

"Maybe Lady Marmalade can be my rebranding," I thought it over, "I was always pretty pure and innocent the first time around. Maybe it's time for a change."

"Maybe it is..."

"Hello, everyone!" the emcee barked out, "For one night and one night only, we're going to be revisiting a classic with a bit of a twist. So, please put your hands together and hold onto your hats. Ladies and gentlemen...Welcome to the Moulin Rouge..."

In that moment, I felt all the color drain from my face, "Chris, where's Victor?"

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"My ass, you don't know," I snapped, "Where is he?"

"I don't know!" Chris promised, "If I knew, Violet, I'd tell you, but I don't. I'm sorry."

Victor doesn't normally go missing long. I'm sure he'll be back here soon enough. Maybe he went to the bathroom or he stepped outside to get some air. Either way, the curtain went up and the usual suspects were front and center. It's been a long time, but the same girls were still there. I had heard they retired Lady Marmalade after I left. Maybe because this was a one-night thing, they brought the original girls back.

In that case, what was I doing down here? And why didn't I hear of this reunion tour? I still remembered the choreography. Obviously. I just made it viral! I was here earlier tonight talking to the madame. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to see me back up there again. Who did they have as their Lady Marmalade?

I kept an eye on the dancer in the back doing my routine without flaw. She's gorgeous. Porcelain skin, soft features, long, light hair. I couldn't make much of her face, though, but like me, she had legs for days, too. This girl was definitely a dancer. There's no doubt. She couldn't get muscles in her legs like that any other way. This girl was killing it! Almost good enough to replace me...

Until she made her transformation from innocent little angel to Lady Marmalade. Only she was no lady. I never thought I'd ever see the day where I'd see my future ex-husband in garter belts and a blood red corset. I didn't understand. I lost. What the hell was Victor Nikiforov doing dancing my burlesque routine? Don't get me wrong. He was doing it perfectly, but that was still MY routine. A part of me wanted to get up and kick him off the stage, but I didn't want to steal his thunder.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't have hesitated to involve me in said thunder. Victor wrapped his bright red feather boa around me, practically giving me a lap dance. A little weird he was making advances on me, considering we were getting divorced in the morning, and not Chris, but I'll take it. He made me feel like the only girl in that room and I wasn't complaining.

As the song came to a close, the room blew up. I guess people were into it and that's all that matters in the end. Victor jumped down from the stage and gave me a quick kiss, "Well?"

"You didn't have to do that," I hugged him tight, "I lost our bet."

"That was for the off chance that you and Yurio threw it," Victor confessed, "So, how did I do?"

"You're an absolute queen, Victor Nikiforov," I praised, "And let no one tell you different."

"Vitya," Chris had a little glint in his eye, "After we leave here, do you have any plans for the rest of your evening?"

"I thought about going back to our room and going to sleep," Victor left me and went over to Chris, "Why? Did you have something else in mind?"

"I was thinking we get a drink and play a little game," Chris suggested, "Perhaps some Twister."

"The night before our wedding?" Victor gave an overexaggerated gasp, "Christophe, you naughty boy."

"Who said we were getting married tomorrow?" Chris asked, "You're getting divorced tomorrow. What better way of celebrating than screwing around on your wife one last time?"

"Standing right here," I reminded them, "But go ahead. I'm beat. Make sure you stretch first."

"One pulled hamstring is enough for a lifetime," Victor chuckled, "We learned from that."

"I love you both," I gave my boys kisses, "And I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Violet," Chris reciprocated.

I headed back to our hotel by myself and was so ready to crawl into bed. It's been a very long day and Mama needed her sleep. When I walked into the room, Celestino had crashed on the couch and I didn't have the heart to wake him. Both my boys were sleeping like rocks and my coach wasn't much different. It was time for me to join them. Besides, I had to be up with Yurio early tomorrow morning. We had a routine to do.

A/N: So, Victor still did Lady Marmalade. What a queen. I love him. And the boys seem to be relatively cool with everything. Good for them. I'm so proud. Now, we have special program next week and I can't wait to show you that. See you next chapter. xx