A/N: This one's a bit cute!

I haven't seen Worlds yet, but I know JJ won five medals (four gold!). However, now I keep seeing people posting get well wishes on her social media, literally right after worlds ended! What's going on with her? Is she coming back next year?

JJ ruptured her Achilles in her right foot at the very end of her floor routine in the floor final. It was kind of bizarre, she completed her final pass (a full twisting double usually connected to a split jump), and it looked like she'd just tweaked her ankle when she rebounded into the jump, because she landed really heavily and kind of staggered onto her left foot to immediately shift her weight over. She actually remained standing and posed to finish the routine, but then the second she had saluted the judges, she just collapsed down onto the floor and burst into tears. Everyone thought it was a ligament injury or a fracture until she posted on Instagram the next day confirming that it was a complete rupture of her Achilles and she's definitely not going to be back for the spring season. I wouldn't count her out for next year though. She's always been a very quick healer with her major injuries and she has this uncanny ability to get back into world class shape for nationals year in and year out regardless of if she was healthy or injured over the winter. So don't count her out just yet, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her!

How is it that JJ is the product of a gym that no-one had heard of prior to her turning senior? How does someone like Nick, who had never had an elite before, produce such an incredible athlete?

A lot of it is natural gift. JJ is one of the lucky few who was clearly just put on this earth to do gymnastics because she is so damn good at it. Obviously she wouldn't have turned out exactly as she is regardless of what gym she was at, but I think she would have enjoyed a decent level of success no matter who coached her. It just so happens that Nick is clearly a very patient coach who knows how to pace his gymnasts, and he was lucky enough to wind up with such a natural talent like JJ. Without Nick, I don't think JJ would have anywhere near as many medals as she does - I think she still would have been great, but other gyms may have preferred to capitalise on her beam skills over everything else. Nick believed in JJ's potential to be as equally great on the other three events as she was on beam, and that's how he took her from being a lock for beam gold at her first Olympics to one of the greatest all-around gymnasts America has ever seen by the time she got to her second.

As she sat on the end of the bed watching her mom putting on her earrings, JJ had to smile. It had only been the other day that Sandy had come home from another widow's group catch-up, completely afluster as she revealed to JJ that Paul had asked to take her out on a proper date. She'd been divided ever since, constantly doubting whether she should go, whether the timing was right… but now, with a little encouragement from JJ and Will, she was going to go through with it.

"Oh, these earrings don't work… I'm going to try something else," Sandy muttered, pawing through her jewellery box in search of a new pair. JJ let out a little laugh.

It was kind of sweet how nervous her mom was. But also understandable. After all, the woman had been married for over thirty years, and here she was, ready to start it all over again.

After changing her earrings, Sandy took a deep breath, smoothing down her top as she stared at herself in the mirror. Silence fell for a moment, before she wheeled around to face JJ. "I can't do this, what am I, crazy?" she exclaimed. JJ chuckled, clambering off the end of the bed and hobbling over towards her mom.

"Stop it," she said gently, placing her hands on Sandy's shoulders. "It's going to be fine. You really like the guy, how hard can a date be?"

"I haven't dated since the 80s, JJ, things have changed," Sandy said dryly. "You should also not be standing on that foot"

JJ laughed. "You'll be fine, Mom, I promise. It's just dinner," she reminded her.

Sandy took a deep breath, nodding as she turned back to the mirror. "Just dinner," she breathed to herself. JJ wrapped her arms around her, placing her chin on Sandy's shoulder. Sandy smiled, tipping her head so it was resting against JJ's.

"You look amazing," JJ said softly. "He's gonna be the luckiest guy around tonight"

Sandy exhaled, turning her head and kissing JJ's temple. She glanced down at her hand, sighing again as her eyes fell on her wedding ring, still sitting on her finger where Michael had placed it all those years ago.

"I don't know what to do with it," she said softly, bringing JJ's attention to it as well. "I don't know if it's weird to still wear it, or if it's callous to take it off"

"Here," JJ said, straightening up and bringing her fingers to the clasp of the chain around her mom's neck. Unclipping it, she held it out to Sandy, who understood and slipped the wedding ring from her finger. Moments later, it sat on the chain, alongside Michael's.

"You don't have to wear it on your finger for Dad to know how much you love him. He'll always know," JJ said gently, bringing the chain back around Sandy's neck and clipping it up again. "And this way, Paul will know that it's important to keep a reminder of Dad with you"

"You're gonna make me cry," Sandy breathed, her eyes growing bright as she turned to face her daughter.

"No, you're not allowed to cry, you'll ruin your makeup," JJ laughed. Sandy grinned, fanning her eyes, before reaching out and pulling JJ into a tight hug.

"Thank you my sweet girl. I love you," she said.

"I love you too, Mom," JJ said with a smile. Downstairs, a loud knock on the front door echoed through the house. Pulling away, JJ gripped Sandy's shoulders with a smile. "You ready?"

Sandy took one last breath, nodding as she reached over and picked up her purse. "Ready"

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, with much difficulty on JJ's part, Will had already let Paul in, and as was Will's custom, the two were already in friendly conversation. Paul looked up as they approached, breaking into a wide smile when he saw Sandy. He was tall, not quite as tall as Michael had been, with a crop of curly dark hair that was already starting to show a bit of grey. He was quite handsome, and JJ had not missed the way his face lit up when Sandy reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi Paul," Sandy said, approaching him.

"Hi… you look amazing," Paul said sweetly, giving her a hug to greet her. JJ gave her a smug smile.

"I see you've already met Will," Sandy said as they pulled apart. "This is my daughter, JJ"

"Nice to meet you," JJ said warmly, taking an awkward step forward to shake his hand.

"Lovely to meet you too," Paul said sincerely, flashing them all a warm smile. "Shall we get going?"

"Sure," Sandy agreed. She smiled as Paul reached over and held open the door for her.

"Have fun!" JJ called after them, coming to stand beside Will at the door as they crossed the deck.

"Home by midnight young lady!" Will called jokingly, getting a laugh out of Paul and a shoo of the hand from Sandy.

"No hanky panky on the first date!" JJ called out, sending them all up in laughter.

"Goodnight JJ!" Sandy called forcefully, shaking her head with a grin as Paul opened the passenger door for her.

Closing the front door, JJ fell back against it, giggling all the while. Will chuckled, wrapping a strong arm around her waist and pulling her up, easily taking the weight off her injured foot.

"You know," he started thoughtfully, "since we have the house to ourselves… I had a little idea about some 'activities' we could partake in"

"Oh yeah?" JJ replied huskily, letting out a laugh as Will swept her up bridal style and carried her towards the stairs.

"Oh yeah," Will breathed, capturing her lips in a deep kiss. His body seemed to harden at the touch, and within moments, he had broken away and started up the stairs. He had every intention of slowly making love to JJ for the rest of the evening, marking and loving every inch of her body as his own.

"So you said you're a teacher? What do you teach?" Paul asked warmly, sipping from his glass of wine.

"History to junior high kids. It's an interesting challenge," Sandy chuckled. Paul grinned.

"No doubt about that. God, I remember when my kids were teenagers, lord help anyone who got them as students"

Sandy laughed, relaxing as she too took a sip from her wine.

"How many kids have you got?" she asked, setting her glass back down.

Paul gave her a sheepish grin. "Six"

"Six?!" Sandy exclaimed in shock, almost knocking over her glass. Paul laughed, nodding.

"Yeah… we had three girls, and decided to try for a boy… and got triplets"

"Oh my lord," Sandy moaned. "I don't know how I would've handled that"

"Oh, I definitely had a bit of a meltdown. We had to get a new car, a new house, three of everything… it was insane. But I love all of them more than life itself, and having six kids definitely made me look forward to the craziness that would meet me when I came home from work"

Sandy smiled, noticing the twinkle in his eyes as he spoke of his children.

"What about you? Obviously you have your daughter, JJ. Was that your son I met as well?"

"No," Sandy chuckled. "That's Will, JJ's fiancé. I have three kids. Jason is the oldest, and he lives in Florida with his wife. And JJ is the youngest. My other daughter… Roslyn… she passed away in 2005"

"Oh Sandy, I'm so sorry to hear that," Paul said gently, reaching across and placing his hand on top of hers. "That must have been really hard. On all of you"

"It was," Sandy said softly. "It took years, but eventually we all managed to find some sort of peace with it. She's gone, but not forgotten"

"Of course," Paul said warmly, gently squeezing her hand before pulling back again.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, each of them sipping their wine, before Paul spoke again. "You said Will is JJ's fiancé… I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but exactly how old is JJ?"

Sandy laughed. "She's 23"

Paul looked surprised, only making her laugh more. "I honestly thought she was about 15"

"Don't worry, nearly everyone does, it's because she's so tiny," Sandy laughed.

"Was your husband quite short?"

Sandy shook her head, still grinning. "No, he was well over six feet tall. JJ's the anomaly in our family. She trains as an elite gymnast, has done since she was four, so she's always been very small"

"Wow. Did she have a lot of success?"

Sandy bit back a grin. She didn't want to sound too braggy. "Well… she did go to the Olympics… twice… so I would say yes"

Paul laughed. "Wow. That's incredible! You've raised an Olympian"

"I guess I have," Sandy laughed.

"Did she earn any medals at the Olympics? Not that medals are the most important thing, I mean just going to the Games is incredible in its own right, but… I have to ask," Paul said. Sandy grinned, nodding in agreement.

"She did. Ten altogether"

This time, it was Paul who almost knocked over his glass. "Ten?!"

"Five gold… two silvers, and three bronze medals"

"Sandy… that's insane," Paul gasped, making her laugh. "This sounds like a stupid question, I'm fully aware, but do you realise how big a deal that is?"

Still chuckling, Sandy nodded. "I know. It's huge. But she's still just JJ who slams doors just like her father did, forgets to take her washing out of the machine to put it in the dryer, and has to be reminded twice a week to clean her bathroom. She's an Olympic champion, but she's also a huge pain in the ass at times. Even though I love her dearly"

Paul laughed. "Guess that kind of normalises things for you"

"What about your kids, are they into any athletic endeavours?"

"Well, Tim, the oldest of the triplets, he played football for Ohio State. But then in his junior year, he blew his ACL, and couldn't play anymore. He was pretty bummed about it because he loved his football, he was hoping to join the NFL. But he got a degree in sport science and physiology, and now he's a sport specialised physical therapist who kayaks in his spare time," Paul said proudly. Sandy beamed.

"That's great! Not great about the injury, but that he still found a way to be involved in his sport"

"Yeah, he loves it. He likes being able to help people recover from injuries that would otherwise end their careers"

"We were very lucky with JJ, she's only had a couple of major injuries during her career and both happened in the early years of her senior elite track. A dislocated shoulder and a broken leg towards the beginning, and now she's nursing a ruptured Achilles' tendon, but she should be back on her feet just after Christmas. I saw so many girls cycling through that national team that fizzled out from injury, which is really sad, but I'm very grateful that JJ wasn't one of them"

"What does your son do?"

"He's an aeronautical engineer. He works at Miami International Airport for American Airlines," Sandy said proudly. "He absolutely loves it, and honestly never has a dull story to tell"

"I would have loved to work with aircraft, I think every boy goes through that stage. Unfortunately didn't have the mathematical brain required for it"

Sandy chuckled. "If you never saw his schoolwork and just saw Jason when he was at home with us, you'd have thought he was an idiot, but he's actually incredibly smart. Michael used to claim all the brains came from him"

Paul had to laugh. "I think I've said the same about my kids, but in the other sense"

Sighing, Sandy lifted her glass, smiling as she took a sip. "We never knew what we were in for with kids. And honestly, the last thirty years or so of my life have been… insane, to say the very least. But they always end up making me laugh. And they have all brought so much joy into my life"

"That's what they're meant to do. Drive us nuts… then make us laugh about it"

Laughing, Sandy nodded. "Couldn't agree with you more"