A/N: Little surprise here!

The days in Rio flew by. The Olympic Village gradually filled up, each day in the dining hall bringing a new hoard of jetlagged faces who had clearly only arrived the previous evening. Excitement was building, as was the eager anticipation for all athletes to begin their events.

JJ's emotional status tended to rock back and forth on any given day, but one thing that did keep the grief at bay was throwing herself into the job she had been sent to Rio to do. She was determined to show Marta and prove to the world that she could handle the immense pressure as a defending Olympic Champion on top of everything else life was throwing at her.

They had been training as hard as they did at home, and having left home with a few more rough edges to round out, the team was looking incredible after a week's work. With podium training to be held in the competition arena the following day, the girls were getting excited; two more sleeps, and the Olympics would officially begin.

Will had called the morning previously to say that he and JJ's mother had arrived safely at their hotel with Sandy's mother in tow. Jason and Katie had flown in that evening, with Will's parents just an hour behind them. Together, the seven of them would form a support team that JJ couldn't have been more grateful for if she tried.

Knowing Olympic accommodation would be hard to come by, Sandy had joined forces with the Raismans early in the year to secure a group of refundable apartments in Barra Da Tijuca that they would all share, minimizing both the costs and the travel time; the gymnastics arena was only three streets away, meaning they were able to walk the distance to the events.

"Normally I'm exhausted at this point in a competition week," Aly chuckled as the girls walked back to their bags after a morning training session. "But I seriously can't complain when I'm at the freakin' Olympics"

JJ grinned, glancing over Aly's shoulder to see where Nick had gone; his phone had rung about ten minutes before the end of practice, and after checking the caller ID, he had excused himself to take the call.

"You hanging in there ok?" Aly asked quietly as she pulled tape off of her ankles.

JJ shrugged. "Yeah… you guys are helping me stay out of my head… making me laugh… it's really helping. I think… maybe everything might hit me when we go out to compete and I realize… he's really not there? But I think for now, I'll be alright. I promise I'm not about to fall apart on you guys"

"Jayje, you can fall apart if you need to," Aly said gently. "Holding it all in is gonna make you explode at some point, and I really don't want you to inflict that on Will"

JJ sighed, breaking into a gentle smile as she thought of her boyfriend. "He's good at dealing with me when I'm falling apart. Crying… snot, pushing him away, the whole shebang"

Aly laughed, patting JJ's knee in a comforting sort of way.

"Seriously though… if you get to ten pm the night before qualifications and all you want to do is curl up and cry, go for it. You've experienced a massive loss. It's ok to meltdown every once in a while. Besides… we know you'll go out and nail it when you need to. Look at the team final last year. You killed it despite having found out what you did the night before"

JJ took a deep breath, looking Aly directly in the eyes. How her friend always knew what to say, she'd never be quite sure, but her words were stirring something deep in her chest.

"Thanks," she managed to say as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. "Really, Aly… thank you"

"Love you like a sister," Aly said with a smile, reaching over and giving JJ a quick hug.

As they pulled apart, JJ spotted Nick walking towards them, tucking his phone back into his pocket as he did. His face read something in between utter bewilderment and sheer excitement, making JJ immediately curious.

"All good Nick?" Aimee asked as he reached the group.

"Yeah… that was Tash," he said somewhat lamely, running a hand through his hair and heaving a huge sigh.

"Anything exciting going on back home?" Maggie chuckled, pulling her jacket over her shoulders.

Nick swallowed hard, a giddy smile finding its way onto his face. "Tash is pregnant"

Excited exclamations left nearly everyone's mouth. JJ's jaw dropped, her face lighting up with joy for her coach. Even as she jumped up however, Aimee was the first to get to him, pulling him into a congratulatory hug.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" he gushed, the news seeming to sink in now that he had said it out loud.

"You're going to be wonderful," Aimee said happily, tears in her eyes as she watched the joy lighting up her friend's face. As she pulled away, JJ dove straight in, flinging her arms around Nick's midsection in a tight hug as he wrapped her up and gave her a squeeze.

"Congratulations Nick… that's amazing news," she said sincerely as they broke apart.

"Thanks kiddo," Nick beamed. "At least I've had years of practice with you, hey?"

"I'll teach mini Nick how best to give you hell, don't you worry," JJ said with a cheeky grin, making the others laugh.

"Of course you will," Nick laughed, turning to accept another hug from Maggie, and then Marta, before Laurent and Mihai approached to shake his hand.

Their bus ride back to the Village was buzzing with a new kind of energy after that. Nick hadn't been able to wipe the smile off his face, his eyes growing bright every so often as the thought of his unborn child crossed his mind. Seeing him so thrilled was truly warming JJ's heart; it seemed happiness was the medicine for her lingering sadness.

She still missed her dad terribly. And every time his face entered her mind, it sent a horrible stab of sadness into her heart.

But she was here, at the pinnacle of her sport. And hell would freeze over before she'd let her team, her country… or her dad down.